Bufi :: The Dancefloor Slayer

Hmmm seems I've been hearing more and more cool stuff coming out of Mexico lately. I never would have thought. Possible scene developing there? We shall see...

Got this great italo/electro-pop sounding track the other day called 'We Begin' from Bufi who is Mateo Gonzalez and resides in Mexico City. On top of doing amazing remixes for artists such as Cassius he also has a record label called Le Touch Records along with a sweet matching blog of the same name 'Le Touch' . Didn't know he ran it, but Le Touch also happens to be the only spanish music blog I read on a consistent basis. Great content on there! Definitely worth checking out. Seems they have a Black Jesus over there as well. Mario and Xavier you better look into that ;)

Here's We Begin plus an older, but equally as impressive instrumental track from him called 'Make it Over'. Thought I posted back in January, but I can't find it so here it is.

MP3: We Begin (YSI)

MP3: Make It Over (YSI)

Mail Bag

Been awhile since I've done a Mail Bag. Good stuff sent in to us?! Us bloggers love that! Not having to search for new music just open up our inbox and bam there it is! Can't beat that! If you guys have cool stuff you'd like featured on our blog feel free to send it our way. I'd prefer you send mine to offtheradarfridays@gmail.com, AOL's a bitch sometimes. Send MP3's 192 Kbps or better if possbile. If it's good/matches our style we'll put it up. Simple as that...

Here's some of the latest goodness that's been sent our way...



First here' a couple of tracks from Canadian Electro-Pop duo Bikini. Go to their myspace page to read up on some of their history, pretty interesting. One's an original track 'I Remember Being Young' and the other's a cover of Feist's 1234. Not too shabby...

MP3: I Remember Being Young - Bikini (YSI)
MP3: 1234 (Feist Cover) - Bikini (YSI)

Next here's a young man called White Williams. You can see an interview of him on my previous Public Access post. He's on Domino Records and supported Vampire Weekend on their last tour. His new album's called 'Smoke' and is apprently doing pretty good. Here's a track they sent me from the album called 'Fleetwood Crack' and his latest video for his new single 'Violator'.

MP3: Fleetwood Crack - White Williams (YSI)

Next from NY we have Samuel. Love that name, very Biblical. Samuel sent us a great track called 'Say Goodbye'. It's very poppy and very easy to get stuck in your head! Apparently his band features Wade Oates from The Virgins as well. See what you think. He's got a few more on his myspace page if your hungry for more.

MP3: Say Goodbye - Samuel (YSI)

Finally I leave you with a Smoking Hot Danger TV remix they sent me of We Are Scientists' new single Chick Lit. The original version of this track rips off the Daft Punk 'Robot Rock' riff pretty badly, but it's nowhere to be heard here.

MP3: Chick Lit (Danger TV Remix Edit) - We Are Scientists (YSI)

488 Words About Styrofoam

Not quite, more like this guy... Arne Van Petegem, a one man glitch electronica artist from Antwerp, Belgium better known as Styrofoam. Having worked with the cream of the crop in his genre (The Notwist, Lali Puna, mum, The Postal Service, Das Pop) and been signed to Morr Music, the definitive IDM label, he has been able to fine tune his style and it shows in his latest release A Thousand Words. He has a slew of guest vocalists backed carefully crafted beats and electronic flourishes. I have only been playing the album for a couple of days, but I can see myself setting this record for a long play. The different vocalists help to keep things interesting, and the tracks going beyond those ethereal sounds some electropop songs have that might put one to sleep. Maybe this is the next The Postal Service Ray has been waiting for?

I really need to stop referencing that band as the go-to example for any electropop band this decade, for example Styrofoam was around a few years before PS's Give Up. The Postal Service might have been the one to break into the mainstream but they are not necessarily the ambassadors of the genre. Ben Gibbard actually also just recently quelled some rumors about the futures of The Postal Service...basically don't hold your breath.

“The second Postal Service album is threatening to become the Chinese Democracy of indie rock,” Gibbard tells Rolling Stone. “It will come out eventually, or maybe it won’t.”

Back in 2004, Ben also did the vocals to Styrofoams track, Couches in Alleys.

Anyways, back to artist named after packing material,his music, as opposed to sounding cold and robotic as the genre he falls into (by default) implies, has depth and a definite human touch. With each successive listen, you peel a layer back just to find something new you had not heard before...

Oh and he also has a blog, Styrofoam's Starry Skies.

I am including a remix Styrofoam did of a local Miami band (and very good friends of the blog) Dance, Jenny. Check them out too. I have an (quite possibly the only?) autographed copy of their album La Música Pop. Maybe I should drop that sucker on eBay and score some big bucks! They had a free remix EP up for download a while ago called McDonalds Put Me To Work featuring the remix below by Styrofoam and others by chiisai-oto, Sleepy Eyes, and the_viirus. If you guys are nice, drop me an email (and a comment or two every once in a while would be nice too) and I'll send you a digi-copy.

And after talking so much about The Postal Service... why not a Styrofoam remix of said band also?

MP3: The Postal Service - Nothing Better (Styrofoam Mix)
MP3: Dance, Jenny - Sex is Free (Styromix by Styrofoam) // (zp3)

From A Thousand Words
MP3: Bright Red Helmet
MP3: A Thousand Words

(And yes, according to MS Word (minus this note) the blog is 488 words long.)

Classic Album Spotlight :: Lali Puna - Scary World Theory

Boy does time fly! Doesn't seem that long ago when I was really into this German band known as Lali Puna on Morr Music. In 2001 they released their lo-fi masterpiece 'Scary World Theory'. They had already released the excellent Tridecoder a year prior, but it wasn't until Scary that they really hit their peak. A beautiful melancholic electro-pop record! The album garnered many rave reviews as well as endorsements from big artists such as Radiohead who were praising this record/band around the time of Kid A's release.

Lali Puna consists of Valerie Trebeljahr and members of Notwist/Console. Around the early part of the new millenium Morr Music was releasing some of the best music on the planet with bands on their roster such as Lali Puna, Ms. John Soda, Notwist and many others.

Valerie's voice in particular really brings the songs on Scary World Thoery together. She has a calm soothing voice unlike any singer out there. Sometimes singing in different languages the whole record can be played from top to bottom with not a bad one in the bunch. The music has tons of beautiful glitches, sounds and pop hooks that stay in your head for days on end. Extremely well produced! I can't remember how many times I listened to this album as well as Figurine's classic 'The Heartfelt' circa 2001. To this day I still enjoy listening to Scary World Theory, particularly as the night sets in. It's a perfect late night record that doesn't get old or boring, even with repeated listenings.

Highly Recommended!!! If you enjoy this I also recommend you grab Tridecoder. Almost as good of a record and definitely worth owning.

It's hard to choose, but here are a few of my favorites from this amazing album....

MP3: Contratempo (YSI)

MP3: Don't Think (YSI)

MP3: Come on Home (YSI)

Here's the video for Middle Curse the second track off of the record.

Zeigeist Release Debut 'The Jade Motel'

One of my favorite electro-pop bands Zeigeist from Stockholm, Sweden are finally set to release their Debut Album 'The Jade Motel' April the 30th! Pretty excited, been digging them for awhile. Even picked their single Black Milk which is also on the album as one of my favorite singles of 2007.

Fans of bands like The Knife who they are constantly compared to (her voice's resemblance is uncanny!) will love Zeigeist. They are a great mixture of bands like early Fischerspooner's live theatrics and The Knife's dancey sound.

You can preview the whole thing albeit 30 sec samples on amazon. I managed to get a hold of 'Humanitarianism' which is set to be their first single and the lead-in track to the new album and 'Bunny' which I bought on Itunes. You can also listen to 'Wrecked Metal' another new track on their MySpace player.

If you like these I recommend you pick up the whole thing when it becomes available later this week. Not sure if it'll be on Itunes, but I think you can buy it directly from them on their MySpace page and on Amazon Wednesday.

MP3: Humanitarianism (YSI)

MP3: Bunny (YSI)

Here's a Live Concert of theirs at a Pop festival in Europe condensed into 4 in a half minutes. Some of the cuts are pretty crappy, but at least you can see what a great live show they put on...

Never Too Late To Discover New Artists

I just came across this video directed by the Gondry brothers Michel and Oliver Gondry for the artist Lacquer. The track is Behind and was released in 2003 (along with the video). The video is reminiscent of Gondry Bros. standout music video for me, Star Guitar by The Chemical Brothers. This time the method of transportation is a 1966 Chrysler 300 (convertible of course) versus a train. And the landscape is a cross country tour from New York to L.A. in seven days.
RES's Sandy Hunter: "The video consists of digitally fast forwarded time lapse 16mm photography shot from a rig set up in the back seat. The entire seven-day journey, shot at one frame per second of driving (one frame per 10 seconds at night) is compressed into less than four minutes."

But is it Olivier's editing that syncs key moments in the trip with the music that makes this video interesting. It is subtle but noticeable with key changes in the music or bridges in the song. I t particularly like the changes from day to night.

I last heard Lacquer on Kitsune's 2002 compilation Kitsune Love. All the tracks on that compilation are stand out and I highly recommend it. Though it is not a "mix" CD the tracks flow smoothly from one to another. I usually follow up on artists I hear on comps to see what else they have done and I cannot believe he slipped through the cracks. So five years later (wow... but for a pop song to sound fresh after 5 years is not bad...) I find this excellent piece of electro pop. It definitely has that driving bass that was popular a few years back (think Mylo, Kylie, etc...).

I have include the track from Kitsune Love, both are available on Lacquer's debut album Overloaded.
MP3: Behind (YSI)
MP3: X (YSI)

MP3: The Chemical Brothers - Temptation / Star Guitar (Live from Brixton Academy) (YSI)

Lacquer - Behind


The Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar

Blak Swan

Our homeboy Danny Ashe of Marqui Adora / Lunabelle fame, as well as being a long time popular Miami Indie DJ (Off the Radar/Chocolate Sundays) has started a new electro-pop side-project through his alter ego Jules Vega called Blak Swan.

He's released two tracks so far 'A Perfect Day' and 'This Isn't It'. Heard he's gonna be adding female vocals to 'This Isn't It' to make it a male/female duet. Should make that track even better, it's already my favorite. If you enjoy these go to his myspace page at myspace.com/blakswanmusic and add yourself on as a friend to keep abreast on his new releases.

Here's also a great dance jam Marqui Adora had in 2005 called 'Empty'. Used to play it out all the time, still holds up pretty well I think.

MP3: Blak Swan - This Isn't It (YSI)

MP3: Blak Swan - A Perfect Day (YSI)

MP3: Marqui Adora - Empty (YSI)

I Lust U

Loving the new song & video from Neon Neon called 'I Lust U' featuring guest vocals by Cate Le Bon. It's top notch electro-pop and it has those great back and forth male/female vocals I love. Kinda like Postal Service did with 'Nothing Better' or Human League with their Classic 'Don't You Want Me'. Damn good stuff! The whole album is pretty amazing (I Highly Recommend that you go buy Stainless Style right this second!) Gruff Rhys is a genius! Here's the track and the video plus the Postal Service and Human League tracks just for fun.

Enjoy and have a great week-end!


MP3: Neon Neon - I Lust U feat. Cate Le Bon (YSI)
MP3: Postal Service - Nothing Better (YSI)
MP3: Human League - Don't You Want Me (YSI)

Cut Copy NEW-NESS

It's been a long wait since Cut Copy's amazing debut album 'Bright Like Neon Love' which came out in 2004 and shined a spotlight on the Australian dance music scene. The album featured many great tracks like Time Stands Still, Future, Saturdays & Going Nowhere. Since then others like The Presets, Midnight Juggernauts, Riot in Belgium, PNAU and many others have benefitted from having the media looking down under for other up and coming artists.

I wasn't digging the preview singles Hearts on Fire or So Haunted so much before the release of their new album 'In Ghost Colours' out now, but in the context of the whole album it works pretty good I think. Chris wasn't digging the album so much when he gave it to me, so I was hesitant to post anything from them right away, but I've been listening to it the last few days in the car and at home and I think it's pretty damn good. It's produced well and like the first album it's probably one that will grow on you. Feel the Love reminds me of late Suede stuff. The voice is dead on Brett Anderson!

You can pretty much get all the tracks on Hype Machine already, minus the interlude 1 min tracks. You can also stream the full album on their MySpace page. Here are a few of my favorites so far... If you like these I recommend getting the whole thing.

MP3: Nobody Lost, Nobody Found (YSI)

MP3: Out There on the Ice (YSI)

MP3: Feel the Love (YSI)

Ladytron

Just added some Velocifero cover art! -CM.
Just got a new Ladytron track, 'Black Cat' from their forthcoming 4th album 'Velocifero' which comes out in June. Pretty sweet track. Love the long instrumental intro, the dark synths and that banging beat, which builds until her vocals kick in. Is it in French or German? Either way it's a pretty impressive lead in track. If the rest of the album is as good as this we're in for a treat. At least for me, I love the dark electro-pop stuff.
They're also gonna be playing in Miami @ Studio A around the time of the release on June 12th. Should be a good show their last performance here was pretty impressive and long overdue! I remember people telling me they weren't that good live before the show, boy were they wrong!!

MP3: Black Cat (YSI)

Don't Let Go

Kelley Polar needs you to hold on and he breaks the rules for future pop albums. Julliard trained Kelley Polar has a ridiculously long bio starting around when he was 3 years old with a plastic Fisher-Price turntable and bunch of discs from his 6 year old "disco-loving" sister.

Several awards later, advanced studies at Julliard, Polar found himself a chance meeting with none other than the head of Environ Records, Morgan Geist. Geist was looking for string musicians for their own album. Polar quickly gathered a group of Julliard musicians to play as the Kelley Polar Quartet and they ended up up on several of Metro Area's biggest tracks, Miura, Caught Up and Dance Reaction.
Fast forward to 2004, expelled form Julliard, but with a flourishing record career (honestly, who would stick around school??), Kelley Polar decided to move out from the city (rural New Hampshire) and this is where the solo artist emerged. Focusing pop music rather than floor thumping dance hits, he honed his musical style.

After a year in "isolation" he returned to NYC to record 2005's Love Songs of the Hanging Gardens, with Morgan Geist.

Spin magazine praised the album as “romantic, nogravity dance pop.” The New Yorker called it an “ambitious new age disco record.” Stylus Magazine named it one of “Best Records of 2005.”

Now in 2008 he is set to release the follow-up I Need You to Hold On While the Sky Is Falling. And I honestly cannot stop playing the album. I first mentioned it with the Junior Boys mix CD a few weeks ago where I found an instrumental remix of Rosenband. Here is the original.

I am anxiously waiting for his name to pop up on some Winter Music Conference flyer.

Get this album. Seriously, get it.

MP3: Rosenband (YSI)

Side note: Attention Japanese readers!!! I'm going to Japan at the end of April. PLEASE feel free to send in any suggestions. I will be staying in Osaka and Tokyo. (chris @ offtheradarmusic.com)

Chairs in the Arno

If your a fan of bands like Barcelona, Figurine, Freezepop or even Postal Service then California band Chairs in the Arno should be your cup of tea. Bands are always being compared to some of the bands I mentioned above, but upon inspection they usually don't measure up or sound completely different. Chairs delivers on simple electro-pop and reminds me most of Figurine (especially their first album, Transportation + Communication = Love). Male and female vocals going back and forth over simple bleeps and melodies. Simple can be good as long as the ideas are there. Just listen to Magnetic Fields '69 Love Songs'.

Chairs has released an 8 song album called 'File Folder' which even has artwork reminiscent of early Figurine. Here's a couple tracks. Check out their MySpace for a couple more.

MP3: Input Delay (YSI)

MP3: Size 30 (YSI)

No Kinda Boys

This one is going to be REALLY quick. Things are busy at work and a guy's gotta have his priorties.

Anyways, The Junior Boys are still working on the follow-up to their brilliant sophomore album This Is Goodbye. In the meantime, they hooked up with Germany's Get Physical Label (M.A.N.D.Y., Booka Shade)to put together Body Language Six which includes an exclusive new Junior Boys track.

Among the artists the guys have selected are Matthew Dear, Studio, Supermayer. It's a really well put together set. It might be a little minimal for some but the Kelley Polar track is INSANE.

Anyways, I am ambivalent about the Junior Boys track. It really belong as the album closer but I think they felt it strange to end with their own track and dumped it in the middle of some others.

Take a listen (Oh, it is a DJ mix CD, so the tracks are seamless between each and you are going to hear the start of the next song at the end):

MP3: No Kinda Man (YSI)

And Miami, they're coming back this way for WMC on March 27 to Studio A . If you missed them last year, you have a second chance! I'm wondering if this is a DJ set though? Last year was a full concert with Lo Fi Fnk opening. Great show! And I even got to hang out with them during their sound check during the day.

Oh and remember Inner City? Good life... Good life... Good life... Good life... well they're back, kinda, with a remix of another song from the same period. What makes it a big deal is that Simian Mobile Disco is the one that produced the remix. Paris Grey's vocals take me back. (When's the Soul II Soul reunion?)

Check out the video for Good Life at Nefarious Girl!!

MP3: Big Fun (Simian Mobile Disco Remix) (YSI)

*UPDATE: It's a WMC DJ set. So I wonder if this Body Language album is a preview? Or if they go in a different direction when DJing live?

Everybody Likes Their Twenties

Being a huge fan of Metronomy (signed copy of Pip Paine (Pay The £5000 You Owe) anyone?), I listen to any recommendations he makes. Particularly if the band is a side project of bassist Gabriel Patrick. No worries, he is still part of Metronomy. In fact they are embarking on a headline tour through the UK in February and March and their new album entitled Nights Out has been submit to their label. (Note, I find it strange that Metronomy is one person but has band members, so I apologize from switching between he and them) Aaaaannnyyywwaayyss... isn't this a funny keyboard?

As far as the new band, its name is Your Twenties and their music has melodies reminiscent of 60's pop. Plenty of humable melodies (is that a word?) and catchy hooks

Check out a few songs on their MySpace profile. I cannot stop playing Caught Wheel. I like how it is a play on cart wheel. I wish I had some music of theirs to post or a video but seems like they are still in the demo phase.

Your Twenties has a few shows coming up in London next month.

• Feb 4 2008 //8:00P - DURRR @ The End, WC1 London, London and South East
• Feb 5 2008 // 8:00P - Club Skulls @ The Old Blue Last London, London and South East
• Feb 8 2008 // 8:00P - Put It On @ The Trinity, Harrow North West London, London and South East
• Feb 11 2008 // 8:00P - Wolfboy @ The Amersham Arms Saaaf East Lahndahn

The Love Is All remix album appropriately titled Love Is All... Mixed Up is awesome. Then again you cannot go wrong with getting remixed by Hot Chip, Optimo, Chicken Lips and Studio (and Metronomy). They hail from Sweden and have had a few high profile appearances such as touring with Maximo Park and being featured on Peel Sessions in the UK. They are currently signed to What's Your Rupture with label mates The Long Blondes.

So here's a little diddy that ties this whole post together and a b-side or something from Metronomy.

MP3: Love Is All - Spinning and Scratching (Metronomy Remix) (YSI)
MP3: Metronomy - Heart Rate Rapid (YSI)

Oh and here are a couple of Metronomy videos including their newest one for Radio Ladio (it's a featured video on YouTube's home page today!). First up is Trick or Treatz.


Trick or Treatz


Radio Ladio

By the way, the whole point of this post when I started was to highlight Your Twenties, so at least check out their tracks. I got carried away with all the side projects and remixes and videos etc...

Bits & Pieces

It's incredible how much great new music is out there at any given time... I stayed up just last night looking through the blogs and found like 40 great tracks. Enough to fill like 3 cds worth! That's just looking through my usual spots. If you search Hype you could probably find tons more. So there really is no excuse for not finding great new music. Lucky for you guys that we love to do it for you!

Anyways I still need a few days to sort out which ones make the final cut (only the best ones make it on our little blog here), but right away I know there are some amazing ones that I can share with you guys.

The first one is by a band from Stockholm called Rocca. What is it with Stockholm, they have so much great dance music over there. I'm gonna have to pay a visit one day. These guys ooze pop sensuality. My favorite track is Carrie-Anne. Been burning it out for a couple of weeks. It's an electro-pop gem in my opinion. See what you guys think. After all 'It's all for Carrie-Anne..'

The next one is by one of my favorite singers Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals. This guy is so prolific. He had a solo album and a full album with SFA last year and yet he still managed to do this project as well called Neon Neon with Boom Bip from Los Angeles. This track is more electronic and dancey that what I usually hear from him. Seems like he may be trying to do something like what Ben Gibbard from Death Cab did with Postal Service and have a more dancey side project. Even the artwork looks very Italo Disco. Can't wait to hear the album which comes out in March and also features Spank Rock and a few other collaborators. Check out their MySpace page for a few more treats.

Been awhile since we heard from The Helio Sequence and they didn't waste one minute. This track of theirs Can't Say No is spectacular! They got a couple more you can download on the Obscure Sound blog as well (all good) as well as interesting reading on how the singer almost lost his voice and how singers like Bob Dylan helped inspire him to get through it.

Run Dan Run are from Charleston South Carolina and they put out some great Indie-Pop. My favorite track so far is 'Your Name Escapes Me' and you need to check it out.

Finally here a slinky/groovy dance jam called New Romantic Sounds by a band called Superheroes. There's so many bands called Superheros on MySpace, I had no idea. Couldn't figure out which was their page. You figure it out.

Enjoy!


P.S. I took the picture on top in New York a few of years ago at the MoMA. Can't remember the name of the artist but it was pretty sweet. Pieces of this persons body displayed on all these different sized monitors.

MP3: Rocca - Carrie-Anne (YSI)
MP3: Neon Neon - I Told Her on Alderaan (YSI)
MP3: The Helio Sequence - Can't Say No (YSI)
MP3: Run Dan Run - Your Name Escapes Me (YSI)
MP3: Superheroes - New Romantic Sounds (YSI)


I leave you with a great video I saw on Headphonesex for Zongamin's track Azzazza...

Freezepop Touring Florida + APT 407 DJ Set Thursday

Hey guys our good friends Freezepop are gonna be in Florida this week-end to do some shows in support of their latest album 'Future, Future, Future, Perfect' and to escape the North East Cold! Gotta Love Miami, 75 Degrees in mid January! Friday they'll be performing @ Respectable Street in West Palm. They put on great high energy live shows, I highly recommend you check them out... Click on their name above to check out their MySpace page for full tour dates, pics, music etc.. They will also be in Miami Thursday to check out the Beach and for a DJ Set at our very own APT 407 Party @ Abraxas! Come hang out with the band and see what new bands/tracks they've been digging. Liz was the first person to introduce me to electro-pop band Tribeca a couple years ago, so I'm anxious to hear what other great stuff she might have in store for us.

Below are a couple tracks to wet your appetite...

See you Thursday and Friday for the Show!!

APT 407 is held Thursdays @ Abraxas

407 Meridian Ave

(Corner of 4th and Meridian Ave)

Miami Beach

No Cover!!

11PM till 5 AM!

Music by our very own Chris Mora (Off the Radar Blog) + Friends!

Free Champagne Toast for All in Attendance @ 1 AM!

Over 110 Intl Beers, Wines and Champagnes to choose from!

$4 Rotating Intl Beer Specials as well as Reduced Beer & Wine Specials from 11-12!

MP3: Thought Balloon (YSI)

MP3: Parlez-Vous Freezepop? (YSI)