Shapeshifters

Geez I'm stuffed! Love them Thanksgiving leftovers that keep giving and giving...

In keeping with last weeks post were I left you with a House track over the week-end. Here is another shining example of what good House music should sound like, at least to my ears.

In this track Henrik B remixes London duo Shapeshifters Chime. Great remix! Even at 9 plus minutes it manages to keep things interesting. It builds up slowly then kicks in strong. It's got all the things I look for in a great House track. Dark pulsing beats, great synth lines and great breaks. This is one that will surely get you moving on the dancefloor. I can picture the crowd at a club going nuts if this is mixed in at the right moment.

Try it on for size.

Enjoy and have a great week-end!

MP3: Chime (Henrik B Remix) - Shapeshifters (YSI)

Good Grief!

And now for some holiday cheese... I"m a sucker for nostalgia... (as you can tell from my previous post)

Last night, I turned on the TV to watch Dexter (dvr) and ABC was tuned in. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving had just started. Charlie and Lucy were discussing the traditional Thanksgiving football game and poor Chuck was falling for it hook, line and sinker. I couldn't resist. Dexter wasn't going anywhere.

It had been years since I had seen any Charlie Brown special. The stories were simple. The dialog short. No fancy CGI... and well an AMAZING soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi. And they have stood the test of time. The cartoons themselves have become an Thanksgiving (and Christmas) tradition.

I usually play the Vince Guaraldi soundtrack once every holiday season. The music is sophisticated considering the intended audience of the cartoons but not out of reach. Go figure, a kid might grow up and listen to the Vince Guaraldi soundtrack but I highly doubt listent to a Dora the Explorer song past the age of 10.

What I'm trying to say is

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!

Have a safe and happy holiday weekend.

Vince Guaraldi's ode to Woodstock stuck out for me last night.

MP3: Vince Guaraldi - Little Birdie

And yeah, I watched Dexter right after. In life it's all about balance.

Here is the scene where Snoopy gets into a little altercation with a folding chair as Little Birdie plays in the background.

Beta Testing

Whoa, found this today and it brought back a bunch of memories.

Back in 2000? during Napster's heyday there was a copy of Daft Punk's soon to be released new album floating around the P2P sites. Buzz of Discovery was all over the place. (Remember, all we had before this was Homework and Music Sounds Better With You. No robots, just a couple of guys in dog masks.) I am pretty sure One More Time was already out and you know how big that track blew up. Suffice to say people were eager to hear what the duo was putting out next.

So a couple of pranksters did what was pretty popular at the time of dial-up connections, take the tracklist of an upcoming album and replace the music with alternative songs. I know I shouldn't have been frustrated for waiting 3 hours a download of a free album but when it is not what you're expecting, well you get "annoyed".

Honestly, when I downloaded this album, it was the opposite. Some of the stuff didn't sound like Daft Punk but there were enough bits and pieces of the new album to make it believable.

Harder, Faster, Better, Stronger.... W.O.W. Nothing sounded like it (not even a Kanye West song!). And it wasn't even the full version (some extended mix by an unknown Djnikkolechinois). High Life, Voyager, Veridis Quo share elements of their proper release. Then there was the Pierre Stupide track. Horribly recorded, but genuinly interesting. You kinda figured it was part of a bigger whole. Once the album was exposed a fake. 1My next mission was to find out who some of the original artists were. Particular who was behind Pierre Stupide. There had to be a better "original version" on somebod'sy hard drive. But all I had to search on was the title "Pierre Stupide" who was the artist? Back then Alta Vista though it returned a lot of "hits" was limited and Hot Bot wasn't much better.

Nowadays, a quick Google search gives you (gave me) the history of the song. DJ Fistfunk, born in Lier is a natural born music addict and was the creative brain behind "Pierre Stupide", a "Napster-Prank" set up in August, 2000. One day, he was bored and ended up mashing some random samples... added some effects, and shared it out to the Napster as:

"daft punk (new album 2000 promo) - pierre stupide.mp3"

Remember this was 2000, the word 'blog' didn't even exist. So the joke just took a life of it's own. It ended up getting reviewed, played out on some radios and even mentioned in a Mixmag article. To further add to the confusion, in an interview with NME, Daft Punk commented, "Who says it's fake?" Some lucky Italians even got a chance to pick it up on a white label with One More Time on the a-side.

Check out more of Fistfunk's mashups (is that a dirty word?) at his MySpace profile.

So here is the only released version of Pierre Stupide. In the spirit of Napster, I'll keep it labeled as Daft Punk.

MP3: Daft Punk - Pierre Stupide

And here are a couple of I:Cube remixes from '96 and '97... I'd say they fit right in with some current music trends.

MP3: Daft Punk - Around the World (I:Cube Remix)
MP3: Cheek - Venus (I:Cube Remix)

The best part of this was built into Napster was a chat function. That was basically how word of the genuineness of the album spread. So like the person that told me, I told the next person that was downloading from me. 8 years late we're still great friends and I hopefully will meet his brother who is in town next week for Art Basel. Oh and the coolest thing was he lives in Berlin and would send over music they were listening to over there and vice versa.

Lovers Electric

Once again Australia is on my RADAR! This time from Adelaide, Australia are electro-pop duo Lovers Electric.

This Sam La More Remix that I got from them last week for their track Honey is certified dancefloor gold! I played it out last week at The Vagabond and the crowd went nuts! There's several times when the beat stops, the synths build and when the beat kicks back in, watch out... Use with caution. Only recommended for fun parties were dancing is desired.

Love their promo pics too. Took me awhile before I decided on this pool boy pic, but check out their myspace they got a bunch of great ones.

Here's that remix plus the video for the original version of Honey.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

If you're in South Florida be sure to swing by The Vagabond Tonight for the 6th Annual 80's Prom party were I'll be spinning. Always a ton of fun and you get to re-live the 80's just like you were in a certified John Hughes 80's movie. 'Pretty in Pink, Isn't She...'

MP3: Honey (Sam La More Remix) - Lovers Electric (YSI)

People from Venus

Friends of mine Paul and Ari who have been making amazing music for quite some time recently started a new project called People from Venus. They released first single Lipstick last week and as always I was quite impressed! They got almost 10,000 hits the first day it was released! Can't wait to hear the second single/album. I'm sure it'll be amazing!

In the meantime here's the gorgeous ear candy that is Lipstick. Be sure to add their myspace link above, I'm sure we'll be hearing lots more from these amazing musicians.

P.S. How amazing is that guitar/synth outro that comes out of nowhere in the last minute!?! Stellar!

MP3: Lipstick - People From Venus (YSI)

FREEZE>>>POP

Our good friends Freezepop recently released a new EP 'Activity Motion' featuring remixes from their 2007 album 'Future, Future, Future, Perfect', including this new one from Designer Drugs.  They also made this great taxi video for Frontload, which if memory serves features some of their friends in on the action.  Must've been a blast to make!

Liz from Freezepop also informed me they should be in Miami in the next couple months. They're from Boston, so I'm sure our brutal South Florida winters of 65 degrees makes for an opportune time for a visit.  Can't wait!! 

Here's the goods, plus a track off 'Future...'

MP3: Frontload (Designer Drugs Remix) - Freezepop  (YSI)

MP3: Less Talk More Rokk - Freezepop  (YSI)

Shiny New Video

Magic Monday cover art by Friends With You

Yo, been mad-crazy busy at work but just had to put this up.

Michna (aka Miami homeboy Egg Foo Young) released his latest (first?) video for track Triple Chrome Dipped... I missed his performance in Miami a few weeks ago due to my infected lungs.

This new track--heck his entire brand-spanken-new album, Magic Monday, is out on (my personal favorite label) Ghostly International. It's been spinning around on my iPhone for a few weeks now. Go ahead and grab it at your favorite musical retailer.


Michna - "Triple Chrome Dipped" from Ghostly International on Vimeo.

The video for "Triple Chrome Dipped" – a collaboration between Michna and Philly-based video artist System D-128: nostalgic footage of the artist's New York coming-of-age in the early '90s. It's unconventional, but it works on the strengths of Michna and System D-128's obvious artistic chemistry.

Filmed entirely on a Hi8 analog camcorder purchased in 1989, the footage shows flashes of Adrian Michna's youth from 1989 to 1995: the local pizza shop; the Metro North from Westchester through the Bronx and into Manhattan; skateboarding through Brooklyn; Michna's little brother staging toy-robot wars; band practice; doing donuts in high-school parking lots.

--Ghostly International

ghostly.com/artists/michna

(Oh and I'm pissed b/c someone stole my chrome mechanical pencil from my desk at work this week. I'm on the hunt for you cubicle thief!)

Marcus Rombo

The problem with house music is that sometimes it can get a bit repetitive and boring. If you need a model of how it should be done check out this 8 plus minute track that keeps things interesting from new Swedish artist Marcus Rombo. Go to his myspace for another killer track from this as yet un-signed artist. Sure that won't last very long if he keeps making music this good.

Have a great week-end!!

MP3: Bringing - Marcus Rombo


* Track removed by request from Marcus, but he promises to keep us in the loop and send us new stuff very soon!

Solid Gold

Recently found out about Solid Gold from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Seems they were asked by The Ting Tings to open up for them on their recent U.S. tour were they created a nice buzz and won over some new fans. From the looks of their MySpace they've already performed in Iceland & London as well.

Anyways I contacted them and they were kind enough to send a copy of their full length debut 'Bodies of Water' for me to review. Upon first listen I am thoroughly impressed! They're a great mix of rock, pop and electronic elements. From slower downtempo tracks to full on dance jams, it's got a little bit of everything. Guitars, synths, horns, strings, melodies and great beats. They definitely have a great ear for pop music. The lead singer's voice is stellar as well.

So far my favorite tracks are the catchy mid-tempo 'Get Over It'. The dancey pulsing 2 min 32 sec stomper 'Bible Thumper'. The dark sounding, slow brooding 'Just Like Everyone Else' with beautiful strings & piano. The mariachi sounding horn stomping 'Neon Rose' and the psychedelic closer 'Who You Gonna Run To.' But I have to say there isn't a bad one in the bunch. I've listened to the whole album a few times already and it's excellent! No filler here! I recommend you go out and buy this album asap! You won't be disappointed!

In the mean time they've been kind enough to let me post 'Get Over It', so you can get a taste of their music. Go to their MySpace to sample a few more songs and add them up. I'm sure we'll be hearing alot more from them.

MP3: Get Over It - Solid Gold (YSI)

Classic Album Spotlight::Figurine 'The Heartfelt'

One of my favorite electro-pop records of all time is 2001's 'The Heartfelt' by Figurine.

This simple/beautiful record features a young Jimmy Tamborello from DNTEL/Postal Service fame and in many ways is just as good as Postal Service's also classic and much better selling 'Give Up'.

There are many similarities in this work and what would later be the trademark Postal Service sound. Simple synth lines, great beats, beautiful melodies, catchy/smart lyrics, back and forth male/female vocals. It was all here before there was Postal Service.

Can't remember how many times I've listened to this record throughout the years and it still sounds fresh and like the title implies full of Heart (which is hard to accomplish with electronic music sometimes). Amazing from beginning to end...

Love the slower melancholic tracks such as 'Rewind' & 'Stranger', the gorgeous atmospheric opener 'International Space Station II' and the dancier tracks like 'Way to Good', 'Lets Make our Love Song' & 'IMpossible' which became an underground hit for them and is probably their best known song.

You can't go wrong with this album. One of the first records I make sure is always on my Itunes.

Jimmy Tamborello did a follow up solo project called James Figurine which although not bad, didn't quite live up to the amazingness of The Heartfelt (with the possible exception of '55566688833').

Figurine also had a pretty good albeit more erratic first album called 'Transportation + Comunication = LOVE' which is also worth checking out. It features 'Batteries' and 'Wait for You (By the Telefone)' the first song I ever discovered from them.

It's hard to choose, but here are a few of my favorites, plus their video for 'IMpossible'. A track about the perils of long distance relationships and instant messaging.

MP3: International Space Station II - Figurine (YSI)
MP3: Way too Good - Figurine (YSI)
MP3: Rewind - Figurine (YSI)

TUNE IN >>> Tahiti 80

Today is a beautiful day! Just found out French pop band Tahiti 80 have released their 4th Studio album 'Activity Center'! (When I say released I mean only France & Japan, they're huge there!)

I've known about Tahiti 80 for years. Used to play them back when the Miami Indie Scene was still in it's infancy circa '2000' era PopLife. Their first album Puzzle featured the amazing Heartbeat which would get tons of play from us back in the day. Even to this day whenever I hear that track it brings back feelings of nostalgia. Except nowadays it's mostly an at-home endeavor. Not too many people play out Indie Pop anymore.

The new tracks I've heard so far, (about 6) are all stellar! They seem to have tonned down their trademark synth sound for a more conventional live band sound, but it's still fantastic and totally them. A good pop hook is a good pop hook and they have tons of those. Plus amazing guitar strumming and the lead singer's voice is still one of the most beautiful singing voices out there.

Check out these great new tracks 'Tune In' (my fav!) and 'Ear to the Ground', plus their Video for First Single 'All Around'. As a bonus here's Heartbeat as well.

Enjoy!

MP3: Tune In - Tahiti 80 (YSI)

MP3: Ear to the Ground - Tahiti 80 (YSI)

MP3: Heartbeat - Taihiti 80 (YSI)

L.A. Dreaming w/Munk

Don't know much about Munk from Germany, but this Shazam Remix I heard for his track Down in L.A. is stellar!! Excellent mid-tempo dance groove with lovely female vocals and great synth lines... I can hear this track over and over and not get bored. Gives me the feeling of actually being in L.A. on a nice summer vacation in the span of a 4:46 minute pop song. The underwater video is excellent too! Matches the vibe of the song perfectly! I'm sure you guys will enjoy it as much as I do. Makes me wanna go visit L.A. If there's any L.A. readers with DJ/Club connections, hook a brother up so I can go visit your lovely city.

MP3: Down in L.A. (Shazam Remix) - Munk (YSI)

Cure ME!

The Cure aren't exactly an Off the Radar band, they're living legends! One of a handful of bands that helped shape who I am today. I remember as a teenager when I would get sad I would play their CD's and it would always make me feel better. At one point I went out and bought every album they had (including The Gloves side project Robert did with Siouxsie Sioux). I'd buy them at used CD shops cause I could get them there for only $5 each. I loved them all! The poppier ones (Head on the Door, Wish) as well as the full blown darker goth ones (17 Seconds, Pornography, Disintegration, etc).

This is their 13th studio album and it's entitled 4:13 Dream. Hard to believe they've been at it since 1978! How many classic tracks has Robert Smith penned in that span and how many fads have come and gone?? Too many!

Although I am not as big of a fan of The Cure as I used to be (I started phasing out around 96's rather disappointing Wild Mood Swings) everytime I see something new from them I have to pause and check out what their up to. If nothing at all at least for respect for all that they have accomplished and the impact they had on my life as well as many of my friends lives. It's obvious when I go to one of their shows, last time I saw them at the 2004 Coachella they headlined in front of 70,000+ people!

So far the tracks I've heard are pretty good. Some of the reviews I've been reading have been pretty harsh. I know it's hard to live up to some of their past glories, but they can still run circles around most modern bands. Robert Smith's vocals still sound as amazing as ever! Everytime I hear his voice/music it transports me to a more innocent time in my life and for that I will always be grateful...

Here's a couple of my fav's so far and their video for The Only One, their first single.

P.S. On this new record Porl Thompson an original Cure member who was last with them on 92's Wish album returns after playing guitars for Led Zeppelin. He looks way different now with shaved head and tattoos all over, including his head. Also Roger O'Donnell long time synth player for them is not in this Cure incarnation. So at the moment their a 4 piece with the amazing Simon Gallup on Bass and Jason Cooper on Drums.

MP3: Underneath the Stars - The Cure (YSI)

MP3: Sirensong - The Cure (YSI)

Friendly Fires

Ray has twice mentioned Friendly Fires in the last two weeks. It's time to give this nugget of a band that sometimes collide with Tears for Fears and M83 the spot spotlight they deserve. I first heard of Friendly Fires via "Matt Pinfield Plays Whatever He Want" on Satellite Radio (check it). Their 'Paris' hit (overseas of course) instantly caught my attention. Their new single 'Jump in the Pool' is now on heavy rotation on same Satellite Radio station.

Even though their sound is not groundbreaking, they are a good addition to your CD rack or MP3 files. File next to Hot Chip, Klaxons and New Order. If you have yet to download 'Paris' (feat Au Revoir Simone) (Aeroplane Remix) do it now! While doing so check out the video for 'Jump in the Pool from fame Price James.

Pure Awesomeness!

MP3: Jump in the Pool – Friendly Fires (YSI)
MP3: On Board – Friendly Fires (YSI)
MP3: In the Hospital – Friendly Fires (YSI)
MP3: I’m Good I’m Gone (Lykke Li Cover) - Friendly Fires (YSI)

Sail Away....

MORE YACHT ROCK!!!!

In keeping with Chris' Yacht Rock theme, here are a couple tracks I heard this week-end that I thought would totally match that genre.

The first track I heard while watching one of those I Love the 70's VH-1 shows. They played a 5 second snippet of this song called 'Kiss You All Over' by Exile. I recognized the track right away from somewhere in my collective unconscious. At some point in my life I had heard this song played on the radio. Right away it reminded me of Yacht Rock. This track seems tailor made for that genre. The chorus is one of the smoothest things ever... That deep voice singing 'I wanna kiss you all over, till the night closes in...' It's Yacht Rock Gold!

MP3: Kiss You All Over - Exile (YSI)

The other track is from one of my favorite movies 'Running with Scissors'. If you've never seen this movie before I highly recommend you check it out! Based on a true story, it's amazing! With a great soundtrack and one of the best casts.

There's a scene in there towards the end when Annette Bening completely loses her mind and she starts spinning around and snow seems to be falling from indoors when this song by Manfred Mann 'Blinded by the Light' kicks in. Sheer brilliance! One of my favorite scenes in the movie. Perfect song for that scene and it totally reminds me of the Yacht Rock theme, although maybe a little rockier than most of the smoother Yacht Rock tracks, it's still excellent.

P.S. As I was researching Blinded by the Light I found it was originally a Bruce Springsteen song. It never did that well, until Manfred Mann covered it and it went on to reach #1 on the charts. Seems the mangled Deuce lyric which Manfred Mann appears to be saying Douche is one of the reasons Bruce attributes to the cover's greater success.  

MP3: Blinded by the Light - Manfred Mann (YSI)

Here's the trailer for Running with Scissors...

Aeroplane

Belgian duo Aeroplane have been on a roll lately! How great was that Friendly Fire/Au Revoir Simone Remix for Paris I posted last week?? They've also done remixes for many up and coming artists such as Cobra Dukes, Das Pop, Low Motion Disco and The Shortwave Set.

In addition to their remixes they also made their own original disco tinged track Whispers with Kathy Diamond on vocals that came out earlier this summer. I remember Hercules and Love Affair's Andy Butler asking me if I'd heard the remix he did for that track when he was down here.

Many other big name artists such as Laurent Garnier, Mylo, Optimo, Danny Howells, Joakim, Mike Simonetti, Lindstrom & Prins Thomas have also sung their praises.

Their set to release an album of original material next year in 2009. Can't wait for that!

In the meantime grab all those remixes and here is another excellent one they did for 70's/80's diva Grace Jones.

MP3: Williams Blood (Aeroplane Remix) - Grace Jones (YSI)

M.I.A. + Rye Rye

As I'm sure most of you already know M.I.A. is pregnant as you can see in this pic I got from her myspace. That means no new album for us for a bit, but I'm still happy for her! Hope everything goes well...

In the meantime I found this great track called Tic Toc featuring her and her up & coming protege Rye Rye (also in the pic), which is damn good! Not sure when it came out. Can't find much info about it on hype, but it's new to me so I'm gonna post it.

Glad I found it too, cause I'm kinda getting tired of playing the same M.I.A. tracks from Kala. As good as they are, something fresh and new is always good...

MP3: Tic Toc - Rye Rye & M.I.A. (YSI)

Ladyhawke

Up and coming European pop star Ladyhawke who've I've posted about before and already had major success with tracks like Back of the Van & Paris is Buring recently released her debut album in the UK. Not sure when it will be available in the U.S. (Figures!)

December 8th she's gonna be releasing new single My Delirium and she already has a cool video for it. Here's that plus my favorite remix for it so far by Chateau Marmont. Don't know why, but I get the feeling she's this years Annie.

MP3: My Delirium (Chateau Marmont Remix) - Ladyhawke (YSI)

DD Pesh

First off congratulations to Obama!! Yesterday really restored my faith in the U.S. as I'm sure it will for us all over the world. Even Florida turned blue for only the 3rd time ever! Good job! I'm proud of you Floridians!

Well besides all the Obama news I woke up today to find this fresh new remix of Cut Copy's Far Away by Brooklyn based duo DD Pesh sitting pretty in my inbox. You might remember the amazing DD Pesh Diplo Remix feat Rye Rye that I posted a few months ago for Wassup Wassup. I play that track out all the time and it always gets the dancefloor jumping! Sooo much energy! This new remix they did for Cut Copy is on par, plus I'm a huge Cut Copy fan so I couldn't resist not posting it. Be sure to add up their myspace to keep up to date with their new remixes/dj gigs, etc...

MP3: Far Away (DD Pesh Remix) - Cut Copy (YSI)

National Pride

A good friend of mine texted me last night, "So this is what fucking pride in your country feels like! Woohoo!" I could not have said it better. We have ALL taken part in a monumental period in American history. But we cannot sit idly as this is only the start of change and there is a long road filled with many more decisions to be made. It takes more than a president to build a great nation.

A song dedication to a nation of immigrants (and native Americans).

MP3: Neil Diamond - America (ysi)

"I urge all Americans -- (applause) -- I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary compromises, to bridge our differences, and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited."

Senator John McCain
November 4th, 2008

Illustration by Patrick Moberg.

Where Are They Now?

It's been about one year since I first mentioned the name Not Wave sounds of Free Blood. (Check it) and in the last 12 months, the band comprised of John Pugh (former !!! drummer and vocalist) and Madeline Davy (Octopi NYC) has steadily gained momentum and built a catalog of songs that they are finally releasing as a singles collection this week. Considering their first two songs took a couple of years to finish, I would say the release of The Singles on November 11th is quite of feat (that's today by the way). After listening to this band quite a bit, I realized why I liked !!! so much and I am wondering now that John Pugh is gone, will I like them again?

In a recent Q/A with New York Magazine, the duo discussed what they went through to record the tracks. The band began with a old beat up drum machine Pugh had that he compares to "having a really drunk drummer who's trying to play beats." They even had another machine die out on them a day before a show, so Pugh had to run out and buy one and recreate all the songs. Understandably, all of these drum machines mishaps have left a bitter taste in their mouth, so they basically plan to make an electronic dance album with no electronic instruments. (I really hope they don't let go of the drum machine just yet).

This is what they have collected so far:

1. Never Hear Surf Music Again
2. Quick and Painful
3. Grumpy
4. Royal Family
5. Parangatang
6. Weekend Condition
7. Never Hear Surf Music Again (Barfly Mix)
8. Weekend Condition (Scotty Coats and Wes The Mes Mix)
9. Royal Family (Brothers Mix)
10. Grumpy (Greg Wilson Mix)
11. Parangatang (Tim Love Lee Mix)

Most of these have been available on one of limited vinyl pressings but there are a few new remixes that really standout for me (British disco legend Greg Wilson smooths out Grumpy so much it is practically a different song). I think Grumpy is the duo's best effort yet. It takes all of the separate ideas from earlier singles to create a sweaty dance floor mess. I mean mess in a good way. The album should be out in your local online record shops on Rong/DFA momentarily.

Here we have the album producers, The Brothers who also produced !!!'s Myth Takes taking a crack at their own work and take it waaaay deeper into the night. The part of the night people blackout during. Ugh, it's only Tuesday.

MP3: Free Blood - Royal Family (Brothers Mix) (ysi)

Check out the duo performing Royal Family on Nigel Godrich's show "From the Basement".

Here is a photo I took (with my iPhone, I apologize...) of Free Blood's performance in Miami at PopLife's 8 Year Anniversary earlier this summer.

Hey if anybody is listening can I PLEASE get a bloody Free Blood shirt? Just tell me where to buy it!!

Just Vote Already

Spank Rock and Santo Gold Rock the Vote


TV on the Radio Rock the Vote


Broken Social Scene Rock the Vote


Funkmaster Flex Rock the Vote


Got the hint?

Need some more?

Rock the Vote

Overload vs. Lockdown = Pain

I honestly cannot listen to another genre of music. Lately I’ve been on music overload which sometimes leads to music lockdown and forced to hear something entirely different or even worse: listen to top 40. This in turn does not end up being all that regretful. At times it seems I’m listening to something new and at the same time keeps me in the know on what [us] mainstream folks should [ ] listen to.

This is not about T.I., Katy Perry, Rihanna, Kanye or Leona Lewis. It’s not even about M.I.A. It is about POP… indie pop that is. As much as I would like to write an epic explanation on indie pop (as Pitchfork did about 3 years ago) I could not even begin to undertake what Nitsuh Abebe wrote on the somewhat complex genre, other than he did NOT mention any New York bands. For this reason I give you The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

As one friend would agree, their name is not all that appealing[1]. What is ear-catching[2] is The Pains of Being Pure at Heart take from The Ramones, My Bloody Valentine and Kurt Cobain and presents us with poppy melodies, melancholic lyrics and riffs; together with synthesizers that infiltrate your skin and will not want to make you stand still from beginning to end with their fuzzy warm sounds; either that or it will make you gaze at your shoes as you have never done before. Though they were pinned as a band to watch a year ago from a major blog/web site, the band was clever not to blow up just yet. The Pains are about to embark in a vast tour in the UK and will be playing for Twee as F*ck[3] in London. So I’m guessing we will not only be watching, but listening to them sooner than later... [You] can listen now!

MP3: Come Saturday - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (YSI)
MP3: Stay Alive – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (YSI)
MP3: Everything With You – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (YSI)

Bonus – New Demo
MP3: Gothenburg Handshake – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (YSI)

[1] He won't listen to certain bands if he doesn’t like their name. Dumb! I know, but what can I say? Not to mention he officially banned listening to any band with a two word name, the first being "The" a few years back, plus does not like bands with the word wolf or vampire (with the exception of 3 bands).
[2] The sound and music should be the only thing that matters. Though I recognize it’s difficult to achieve this as a priority when [we] look at image first.
[3] Also see http://www.tweeasfuck.com/ and listen to a plethora of twee (or INDIE POP bands) @ http://twee.net/

Welcome Victor!

Just a quick post to introduce our new contributer Victor Castro! Victor has been a loyal Off the Radar fan since we started our little blog here and he has impeccable taste in music. We are glad to have him join our team of crack-pot scientists. More posts = more music for all of us!

Rock on Victor!!

P.S. Go Vote!!!! For Obama preferably :)

Bjork vs TV

I got a little worried I was not going to like the new Björk / Thom Yorke collaboration Perhaps it was missing the frenetic sounds of her earlier albums. Volta had a bit too much Timbaland for my taste (but it had some good singles, just didn't sound like a cohesive album). It also should just be a solo effort but I guess to bring attentions to the cause behind it, Thom's name is tacked on... Nevertheless, this single track has all the right elements, Thom Yorke on wailing backing-vocals (that only Thom can do), Matthew Herbert on bass, Mark Bell on whatever he touches is gold, and Lightning Bolt drummer, Brian Chippendale, who adds the most haunting touch to the single, the drums (he played drums on Dull Flame of Desire).

Most importantly, all proceeds from the track will go towards the Náttúra Campaign.
You can find it at nattura.info and at nattura.grapewire.net.

MP3: Björk - Nattura (ysi)

Björk (Feat. Thom Yorke) - "Nattura"

This video below (not the music video) pretty much embodies why I find Bjork so intriguing (and why I decided to even write this post).

Björk vs TV

Goodbye Horses...

I guess since it's been Halloween season they've been playing Silence of the Lambs on cable like crazy. One of my favorite/creepiest parts in that movie is at the end for the Buffallo Bill scene when he's dancing in drag in front of the camera to that amazing Q Lazzarus track Goodbye Horses. (Which was also spoofed to great effect on Clerks 2)

I don't know much about Q Lazzarus or what else he's done, but this track in particular is a classic! Everytime I play it out someone either (a) comes up to me to ask who is that? Or (b) comes up to me to tell me how much they love that song. I love it too! Been playing out every chance I get. So to that end I thought I'd post it here so you could have it for your own collection, that is if you didn't already have it, you enlightened Off the Radar reader you...

MP3: Goodbye Horses (Extended Version) - Q Lazzarus (YSI)

To refresh your memory here is the you tube clip of that Buffalo Bill scene from Silence of the Lambs...