The week-end is upon us....

The week-end is upon us and I haven't posted any tracks this week, so wanted to squeeze in a few before the week-end hits!

P.S. I'm gonna be heading to Chicago for Lollapalooza (MGMT here I come!) in a couple of weeks if anyone from the windy city can hook a brother up with some gigs, let me know. Have one already and working on another, but could always use more help. Also if you have any places you think I should check out whilst there send them my way::offtheradarfridays@gmail.com. Oooo also affordable Hotels/Apartments for rent near Grant Park/Downtown area. Nearly impossible to find online. Thanks!

First off here's a SUPER HYPER remix ddpesh from Brooklyn sent us of Diplo's Wassup Wassup. This track kinda gives me anxiety (it's so fast), but I'm sure it'll obliterate the dancefloor if dropped at the right moment. Try it on for size...

MP3: Wassup Wassup (ddpesh remix) - Diplo (feat Rye Rye) (YSI)

I love Ladyhawke and I love French vocals. Here Ladyhawke hooks us up with her big hit Paris is Burning sung in French! Sweet! Love the chorus... Pop genious!

MP3: Paris s'enflamme - Ladyhawke (YSI)

Speaking of pop genious here's a new track from Van She called Strangers. Love these guys, have a feeling they are gonna be huge. Especially if they keep cranking out hits like this. Love the bass line on this! They also do great remixes as Van She Tech which you should check out as well.

MP3: Strangers - Van She (YSI)

That's it for now... Hope you have a great week-end! Just found out one of my favorite all time bands James has reformed and put out a new album called Hey Ma! Can't wait for that! Tim Booth's completely bald now! So weird to see. He always had all that great curly hair. Getting old is a mother fucker! Still love him though...

Here's a classic James track that takes me back to my college days... Born of Frustration people, Born of Frustration.

Cheers!

Man of Many Projects

Maurice Fulton, I had no idea how many projects this guy is involved in. On top of the gazillion remixes (The Rapture, Annie, Hot Chip, etc...) he has done, and solo projects, he is also produced his wife's music project Mu (remember the track Paris Hilton?) and some of !!!'s early tracks and plays with his band, Syclops on Kathy Diamond's ridiculously awesome debut, Miss Diamond To You, and he has now just released my current obsession, the new full length from Syclops on none other than DFA.

Just look at how many aliases and projects he is involved with:

Aliases
Boof, Dr. Scratch, Eddie & The Eggs, Equal People, Javen Souls, Ladyvipb, Noize Boyz, The, Orphies, Sticky People

Projects
2 Flights Up, Chantilly, Hot Sauce, Moonwalkers, The, RWJ, Spenitch, Syclops, Watershine

Syclops first came under my radar with the track Mom, My Radio Broke on Four Tet's DJ Kicks (get it). Well that was the tip of the ice berg. The album drop kicked me in the face when I first heard it. Definitely different. It skips the 4-4 beat most of the time in favor of more experimental beats. An extremely progressive album. (Weird?) These are the types of albums that blow me away and I realize that there are still new ideas being created.

All of this from a Detroit DJ.

Maurice Fulton's name is one of those unexpected recurrences in dance music, I mean still knowing almost nothing about him he never seemed to merit mention along with Frankie Knuckles/Bones/Whoever nor in the Detroit pack of May, Carter, Atkins, and of course the master Craig or early euro-stirrers like Kirk Degiorgio and others. But none of that really matters, much like early hip-hop or the days of disco, house music wasn't created with the intention of lasting, crates of 12"s siphoned off the press with none of rock's bravado of "making it" either financially or into history. It was still somewhat naive. Fulton went a different route than many of his contemporaries. His work appeared on left leaning house label Warp records right alongside deep house classics . His music is more complex than Craig's or Knuckles, breezing through an mp3 can present you with 4 very different compositions in on track, yet on listen your only aware of one central conversation holding the entire thing together.

So what do I have for you today??? First up, is a DJ mix that Maurice Fulton made for Resident Advisor back in 2006. It really showcases his taste in music and his expansive record collection. Next up are a couple of Fulton remixes including the definitive Over & Over remix. (Can you believe this song came out in 2005??? Please don't start playing it again though... It's up there with Le Tigre's Decepticon already...). The Mu track smacks you in the face. He's married to that woman! Next is up is Brighton's disco chantreuse Kathy Diamond. Her follow up album is in the works for this year. And finally it is Syclops with their album opener NR17.

Kathy Diamond's and Syclop's debut efforts are worthy of a splot in your record library. Syclops's I've Got My Eye On You is currently on my shortlist for album of the year. THAT good.

MP3: Maurice Fulton - Resident Advisor - RA.021
MP3: Rollmottle - Take A Break (Maurice Fulton Remix) (ysi)
MP3: Hot Chip - Over & Over (Maurice Fulton Remix) (ysi)
MP3: Mu - Out of Breach (ysi)
MP3: Kathy Diamond - All Woman (ysi)
MP3: Syclops - NR17 (ysi)

Speaking of Lasers...

Ravers lose sight at Russian laser show
By Chris Baldwin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Dozens of partygoers at an outdoor rave near Moscow last week have lost partial vision after a laser light show burned their retinas, Russian health officials said on Monday.

Moscow city health department officials confirmed 12 cases of laser-blindness at the Central Ophthalmological Clinic, and daily newspaper Kommersant said another 17 were registered at City Hospital 32 in the centre of the capital.

Attendees at the July 5 Aquamarine Open Air Festival in Kirzhach, 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Moscow, began seeking medical help days after the show, complaining of eye and vision problems, health officials told Reuters.

"They all have retinal burns, scarring is visible on them. Loss of vision in individual cases is as high as 80 percent, and regaining it is already impossible," Kommersant quoted a treating ophthalmologist as saying.

Read the rest at Reuters...

You know, Glowsticks never hurt no one. That's all I'm sayin'.

Here is a reworking of a classic Orbital track Are We Here? I was happy to be able to catch them live before they retired. Anybody care to share their favorite rave tunes?

MP3: Do They Here? zshare/ysi

An Interview w/The Faint!

The Faint were kind enough to do an Interview for Off the Radar! I sent Jacob from the Faint some questions about a whole bunch of stuff and here are his answers... Great interview if I do say so myself. Not too shabby for my first ever! Hope you like it, more in the works!


1 - Hey guys big fans of The Faint at Off the Radar. Why has it taken so long to release this new record? Last we heard from you guys was 2004's Wet from Birth.

We're pretty slow at writing songs. We want to make sure that all five of us are happy with the outcome of each song we write. But this time took us an especially long time because we built a studio after we were done touring for Wet From Birth. We hired contractors and completely remodeled the building we practice in. The whole project took about two years, and we were writing that whole time. I think it was a bit of a blessing that it took so long for the studio to be built because it allowed us extra time to polish the songs for the record. It took us about five months to record the songs and two months to mix them. It took about another month to master it, but that's another story.


2 - Notice you guys are releasing the new record on your own label. Why is that? What happened with Saddle Creek who had released your previous records?

We've always talked about putting out our own records, and with the industry being in such a weird transitional state, it seemed like it might finally be the right time.


3- How Does your new record 'Fasciinatiion' compare to your previous ones?

It's hard for me to say. I can't really be objective about it. I feel like we've incorporated our favorite elements of each record into this one, as well as some new techniques that we experimented with in the studio. The process of writing the songs was even a combination of the methods we've used on the previous records. Some of it was written in that five-dudes-in-a-room style that we wrote Blank-Wave and Danse Macabre in, and some of it was written in the demo-and-record-as-we-go method we used on Wet From Birth. I think we got the best of both worlds.


4 - What do you think of the current state of the Music Industry? Blogs/Internet/Bands like Radiohead Releasing their Albums for Free, etc? Where do you think it's all heading?

It's exciting to see everything shifting. It seems like the heyday of major labels is over. They were so excessive with their expense accounts and A & R departments. We know first hand from having many of them take us out to fancy dinners. I think it means more artists releasing their own music and making money off of touring and licensing. At least that's the way it seems to be working at the moment.
I love reading blogs and finding out about music through the internet. But nothing beats seeing a good live show.


5 - What are your musical influences? What are some bands/artists you liked growing up?

I've listened to all kinds of stuff throughout my life, and I feel like it's all had an influence in some way. Fugazi, Gravity Records stuff, Men's Recovery Project, early Human League, Aphex Twin, David Bowie. I don't know. Tons of shit.


6 - How old were you when you first started playing music? Did you have a musical family? What was the first instrument you played?

My mom played the piano and can sing pretty well. She taught me the basics on the piano and then I kind of taught myself chords and scales from there. I never really learned proper fingering technique, I don't think. I played the French horn for a year when I was 13. I've had a guitar and a bass for the last 15 years, but I don't play them too much.
The rest of the band has all different kinds of stories about how much formal training they've had and what kinds of bands they've played in previously. For example, Dapose was in a death metal band, while Todd majored in classical guitar in college.


7 - How did The Faint members first meet/decide to start making music?

I think Todd, Clark and Joel were all looking for something new to do since Todd wasn't really supposed to skate anymore after he had knee surgery. They ended up seeing a local show where some bands that eventually became Cursive and Bright Eyes were playing and they got inspired to do the same thing. They thought, "These kids are our age and they're doing it. Why can't we do it to?" I had the same kind of revelation with hardcore bands when I was in high school. I had a hardcore band for a while that I broke up for good when I joined the Faint. I told them that it didn't matter because Black Dice was doing everything we were doing anyway, only better. That was back when Black Dice was a hardcore band.

8 - What new bands/artists have you been digging recently?

Late of the Pier is my favorite new band. I like the Whip. The new Kills record is good. So is the new Ratatat.

9 - Do you think music is better now or do you prefer older/classic stuff?

I just did an interview for NPR that was all about Yaz, so I listened to their first record again and it's really good.
In general I think that music is getting simpler and dumber, like lowest common denominator style. I guess I'm talking about pop music mostly. Like people did better work when the technology made it so much harder, and that seems really fucked up to me. I'll listen to a new band and think, "This is boring. It just sounds like Bruce Springsteen. There's no no ideas here. Now I just want to listen to Bruce Springsteen." And I'll put on the Boss's record and it's way better. But then something new will come along that totally blows me away and I'll think, "Wow, what a great time to be alive!" Like SebastiAn or Oizo or something that sounds really modern and uses new technology in a great way.


10 - You guys all still live in Omaha? What's it like there? How's the club scene there? Do you guys go out dancing/Djing alot? What do you do for fun besides music?

There is not much of a club scene here. Todd and I started a party with this kid Derek who plays in Tilly & The Wall. It was really fun for a while, but then we got busy with our bands again. There are gay clubs and the occasional night here or there but that's about it for dancing. So no, not a lot. House parties are kind of where it's at. A lot of people go to shows here now, which is great.


11 - Do you prefer recording or touring? Do you guys get on each others nerves while on tour or have you have you figured out a way to keep that from happening already?

They're both great fun and also can be very stressful at the same time. Nobody really gets on my nerves on tour, but I can imagine that I get on other people's nerves. I'm going to try to keep that from happening as much as I can on this next tour.


12 - What's your process for writing new music? Any new gear you've gotten/been working with alot lately?

We don't have one method. The best method is when Todd has a song comprised of a vocal melody, hopefully some lyrics, and a chord progression he likes. Otherwise we'll try to come up with progressions for him to build from. Sometimes just a beat and a synth sound is all it takes.
We use all kinds of stuff in the studio. I like to try my synth parts on all different synths and see which one sounds the best.

13 - I always love your guys visuals while your on tour/performing. Anything exciting for this tour? Who does the visuals for you guys?

Thanks! We do them ourselves and our sequencer keeps it on time with the music. We're switching it up for this tour, but that's what we're working on now so I shouldn't say anything or I'll jinx it.


14 - Any advice for up and coming new bands?

Get a fuel efficient vehicle for touring.

15 - Anything I've missed or you'd like to say to your fans?

Come to a show and dance with us. If you're in Florida, please be patient. We'll be there in a couple months!


Here's one of the Projection Visuals I was talking about for 'Desperate Guys', plus a couple classic tracks from Wet From Birth. Enjoy and go buy their new record 'Fasciinatiion' when it's out August 5th! The Geeks Were Right, their first single off the new album is available on Itunes now, for the backbreaking price of .99!

MP3: Symptom Finger (YSI)
MP3: Southern Belles in London Sing (YSI)

Sacre Bleu! Mixtape Time!

Sorry haven't posted for a bit, but I was pretty busy last week getting new music for my new Saturday Residency at Back Door Bamby/Vagabond. Had to find a lot of classic house stuff I didn't have. Still gotta go to Chris's sometime this week to get some more jams from him. Have to say I had a blast! It's fun playing a new genre that your not used to, keeps you on your toes.

Last Thursday Prince Language and Shaka 23 came down from NYC and TORE up our APT Party @ Love/Hate! We had an amazing turnout and there were amazing vibes all night long! It's so much fun when your at a party were you can tell everyone's there just for the music and to have a good time, not to be 'seen' or or any of that BS. Here's some of the pics from that night including our own Chris Mora and Myself in the last two...

Anyways I'm like one of the only people in the world who loves Mondays, cause it's my day off! I spent my day off doing the blog rounds and I found some great tracks for you! Here they are for your enjoyment!

First off here's a track by the Islands from Montreal/Quebec Canada. Seems they were formerly the Unicorns who had some pretty good stuff as well. We brought them down to Miami at some point. Loving this new track from them called Creeper. Great catchy pop track! Think you guys are gonna dig it. Their sophmore album is called Arm's Way and is out in stores now.

MP3: Islands - Creeper (YSI)

If dark Italo Disco is your thing then your gonna love Division Kent! This new track I got from them is hot! It's called L'Heure Bleue and it's pretty amazing! Smooth silky electronic rhythms coupled with sexy french female vocals. What more could you possibly want? Doesn't hurt that the singer is absolutely gorgeous! The original version is great, but I think this Keenhouse Remix is even better. Gives it that added dancefloor punch. See what you think...


MP3: Division Kent - L'Heure Bleue (Keenhouse Remix) (YSI)

Next here are a couple great instrumental dance jams that use great samples and killer beats to great effect! The first one is from Casa Del Mirto from Italy called Say Goodbay and the other is from someone who they've worked with and remixed some of their stuff Broke One called EVRBD! Both are killer tracks sure to get the crowds going. They match good back to back too. Got them that way on my Ipod playlist.

MP3: Casa Del Mirto - Say Goodbay (YSI)

MP3: Broke One - EVRBD! (YSI)

Finally I leave you with a killer Remix Midnight Juggernauts did of Sebastian Tellier's Divine track. Such a good remix, better than the original! I can hear this track over and over and not get bored. Beautiful!

MP3: Sebastian Tellier - Divine (Midnight Juggernauts Remix) (YSI)

4th of July Kick-Off Thursday @ APT/Love/Hate w/NYC's Prince Language + Shaka 23!!

Ready for a 4th of July Party??? Well 3rd actually...

Thursday, July the 3rd APT & The Colonel in Association with Love/Hate Present our Independence Day Jam!! NYC Rocks Miami Beach!!! We're gonna be flying in Prince Language (NYC) along with Shaka 23 (NYC) for a Big Ass Dance Party along with APT Resident's Jonathan, Josh and Your's Truly/Ray Milian. There's no Work or School Friday for 4th of July and an Open Bar from 10 to 11:30, so it's gonna get Crazy!!!

To help wet your appetites here are some Prince Language Remixes. Most recently he did a Great Dub Mix for DFA's Juan MacLean Happy House track. Here's that plus a great Remix he did for the Stateless track Prism #1 & NYC Beat by Armand Van Helden. There's also a cool Joakim Lonely Hearts Remix and a Remix of the Rapture's Get Myself Into It on his MySpace player.

Don't have any MP3's from Shaka 23, but not only does she have the looks she can mix too! She's gonna be spinning Saturday @ RokBar but you can catch her here first! Check out her MySpace page for press, pics and mixes from her. Can't wait!

See you there!

MP3: Happy House (Prince Language Dub Mix) - The Juan Maclean (YSI)
MP3: Prism #1 (Prince Language Remix) - Stateless (YSI)
MP3: NYC Beat (Prince Language Remix) - Armand Van Helden (YSI)

APT is held every Thursday @ Love/Hate
423 Washington Ave
Miami Beach
10PM-5AM
$5 Cover
OPEN BAR 10-11:30!!!
APT MySpace

Faint Feeling Fasciinatiion

Been awhile since we last heard from The Faint. Their last record 'Wet From Birth' came out in 2004! Boy does time fly! I've been a fan of theirs since 1999's 'Blank Wave Arcade' which featured the feverish 'Worked Up So Sexual'. I remember how that was the hot dancefloor track for quite some time around 2000 & 2001. It always made everyone go crazy on the dancefloor at PopLife when we were at Piccadilly Garden. I bet most of the kids nowadays probably don't even know who they are, which is a shame cause they helped usher in the whole electro dance scene as we know it today, along with a few contemporaries like Ladytron, Fischerspooner, Miss Kittin and Felix Da Housecat. Then they released 'Danse Macabre' in 2001 and they and Electroclash blew up. Every Indie Party in Miami which at the time basically consisted of PopLife, Revolver and eventually SpiderPussy were playing them.

I remember when I was with PopLife and we brought them down on a couple of occasions to the Polish American Club here in Miami. They were some cool ass dudes. The lead singer Todd went through my CD's while I was spinning and he was commenting how we pretty much had the same taste in music. Then I gave him some stuff to burn onto his laptop and he made me a CD with some of the music he was into. Included in that CD was a new artist by the name of Mylo. Didn't know it then, but they would go on to have a pretty amazing record 'Destroy Rock & Roll' not too long afterwards. Drop the Pressure anyone?

Anyways enough reminiscing. The Faint are Back with New Album 'Fasciinatiion' scheduled to be released August the 5th. Seems they're releasing it on their own label Blank.Wav versus Saddle Creek which put out their previous records. The first single is called 'The Geeks Were Right' and it's pretty much Classic Faint. If you've been a fan of theirs this should be right up your alley. Classic vocoder vocals, dancey beats and synths sure to get you shaking it on the dancefloor. Wondering how much play or how they will do in todays scene. Although they are pretty smart guys, so I'm sure they will be getting some cool new kids to remix their tracks and introduce them to a whole new audience. In addition here's a Classic Faint Track off of Danse Macabre.

The Faint contacted us saying they'd prefer if we use the player from their website for their new track, so here it is.



MP3: Your Retro Career Melted (YSI)

Fasciinatiion Tracklisting::
“Get Seduced”
“The Geeks Were Right”
“Machine in the Ghost”
“Fulcrum and Lever”
“Psycho”
“Mirror Error”
“I Treat You Wrong”
“Forever Growing Centipedes”
“Fish in a Womb”
“A Battle Hymn for Children”

Time to rock it from the Delta to the DMZ!

Goooooooooooooood morning Vietnam!In a role he didn't suck in. Like Mork and Mindy.

I loved the tag line of the movie. I still remember it.

The wrong man. In the wrong place. At the right time.

Perfectly 80's! It seems that decade could make light of even the heaviest thing. Speaking of heavy... (you like that?)

Has anybody heard the ridiculousness that is Sample and Hold? It is Simian Mobile Disco's remix album. It seems artists have been intermingling a lot more lately. And SMD have brought on Cosmo Vitelli, Joakim!!, Shit Robot, Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve and others to remix the last album Attack Decay Sustain Release.

Anyways, thought you needed something to wake you up on a Monday morning.

MP3: Simian Mobile Disco - Tits And Acid (Oscilation Remix) zshare/ysi

Link back ya here?!

Hit up Winnie Cooper for the Cosmo Vitelli mix...

And it seems the duo are the next in line for the FabricLive series. FabricLive 41: Simian Mobile Disco is out on August 11th. I am a huge fan of the series, so I cannot wait for this release.

Name Your Price

Following on the heels of Radiohead's experimental release for their last album, In Rainbows, Girl Talk just released his latest Feed the Animals, and you can pay whatever you want for it on the Illegal Art website. The CD and vinyl versions are coming at the end of summer.

However, if you pay nothing, you will have to give a reason why you want the album for free (320 kbps by the way). $5 gets you lossless FLAC files and for $10 you get a physical copy when it is released on September 23rd.

The Wikipedia article is the best part though, the album has a gazillion samples and the article helps identify those "I know that song, it's on the tip of my tongue" moments you will most certainly have while listening to the album.

Girl Talk - Feed the Animals via Illegal Art

MP3: Grizzly Bear - Knife (Girl Talk Remix) zshare/ysi

(whoa, just realized this is a newer version of the same remix I was playing last year, Girl Talk cleaned it up and gave it more punch...)

So does this mean that Radiohead's experiment might have actually caused some change in the industry?

Moon over...[insert your city here]

Tonight the solstice moon comes out! Look to the east and you will see a giant rising in the sky. The phenomenon could possibly be attributed to the ponzo illusion. From NASA:

After all these years, scientists still aren't sure. When you look at the Moon, rays of moonlight converge and form an image about 0.15 mm wide on the retina in the back of your eye. High moons and low moons make the same sized spot, yet the brain insists one is bigger than the other. Go figure.

A similar illusion was discovered in 1913 by Mario Ponzo, who drew two identical bars across a pair of converging lines, like the railroad tracks pictured right. The upper yellow bar looks wider because it spans a greater apparent distance between the rails. This is the "Ponzo Illusion."

Either way if the weather is right, you should an amazing evening sky. Take pictures and post them back! I'm going to try and sneak into my friend's soon to be new apartment in my building which has a PERFECT view of downtown Miami. So hopefully I'll get some nice moon over Miami shots.

That picture above is not the moon though, it is the cover for Studio's next release, Yearbook 2 coming out next week which is a compilation of their most recent remixes. I have been playing some of these out (if I see the moment is right, mood it is critical to these songs) and they are well received. So glad I am to see them finally get put together. In fact I personally vouch for the first three tracks. All are amazing. Preview the album here.

Also, listen to how they transform Kylie's track. From disco diva to almost Stevie Nicks mysticism.

YEARBOOK 2
1. Brown Piano - A Mountain of One (Version by Studio)
2. Impossible - Shout Out Louds (Version by Studio)
3. Turn The Radio Off - Love Is All (Version by Studio) MP3 zshare/ysi
4. Room Without A Key - Rubies (Version by Studio)
5. Escape From Chinatown - Brennan Green (Version by Studio)
6. 2 Hearts - Kylie Minogue (Version by Studio) MP3 zshare/ysi
7. Love On A Real Train - Williams (Version by Studio)

I pull the curtains down and leave the sunshine out...
I turn the radio on... Hey world! I've had enough...

POW!!! Dancefloor Stompers Edition

Time for some New Dance Jams! Fresh of the Press for your downloading/mixing pleasure... Don't you just love us! Download them and spread them like _____! (It's always more artsy if you use your own imagination.)

First off here's Canadian artist Vivek Shraya. Seems he's not signed yet, despite getting some pretty good blog love already. I like the original for 'If We're Not Talking' but this Rodion Remix being released June the 30th is even better, especially if you're thinking you'd like to try this on the dancefloor! Check out both their myspace's for alot more good stuff.

MP3: If We're Not Talking (Rodion Remix) - Vivek Shraya (YSI)

Next here's a track by French Man Joachim Garraud called 'The Sound of Disco'. Here it's remixed by Dani Deahl & Mike Gillenwater to great effect! It's a great track especially for electroclash lovers. Is that a bad word now? Don't worry you could probably call it electro house or a million other names so that your friends don't think you're a loser.

MP3: The Sound of Disco (Dani Deahl & Mike Gillenwater Remix) - Joachim Garraud (YSI)

Here's Kid Filthy's Remix of Foals track 'Electric Bloom'. The Foals are more of a minimal rock band from the UK, but this remix is made for the dancefloor. Second take I assume. Dark and Dancey, like I like'em. Look into the Foals regular material as well. Good stuff!

MP3: Electric Bloom (Kid Filthy's Take 2 Remix) - Foals (YSI)

What do you get when you mix Santogold, Julian Casablancas (The Strokes) and Pharell Williams? Easy! A Hit!!! Here's a track they did to celebrate the Converse 100 Year Annv! Chris sent me this track, but didn't wanna post it cause he thought it had been blogged to death. I figure some of you just find new shit from us. No? Fuck it, I'll post it anyways...

MP3: My Drive Thru (feat. Santogold & Julian Casablancas) - N.E.R.D. (YSI)

I Love Feist! Not only does she do amazing pop music, but her tracks are also perfectly suited for the Remix. Like this Escort Remix of 'I Feel It All' with horns, marching drums & clapping. Not a dance jam in the vein of these other tracks, but just as good.

MP3: I Feel it All (Escort Remix) - Feist (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.)

They Make It Good

Pick up this mix right quick. Expertly put together. Seriously. Damn good. Chris Devlin slaps togethers some choice tunes that seeminly do not seem like they would go together. They do.

"…not a dj mix in the live sense, but yea I am a DJ and i mixed/edited all these
songs and sound bytes together. I started with the basic format for a mix, other
peoples music. Not satisfied with that, I put in some original material I have
made or collaborated on, and did some edits of older songs in an attempt to
re-introduce them. "

-Chris Devlin

Previously, on Lost...

Don't worry, there are no spoilers here... unless you really want to know who's in the casket (it has been on my mind since the scene from Through The Looking Glass)!! It felt like it took forever for them to reveal who was in it and I kept on yelling at the camera man to move his angle. I sort of guessed it about 2 minutes before they showed us. I swear! My friend was there to prove it.

Not that he cares about the show... "So Lost is on? That's kinda an important thing right?" was his response when he had called me early. He just doesn't understand.

Anyways, so apparently the show is about some people on an island. And an archipelago is a chain or cluster of islands. So these next songs are not only appropriate but damn good. Both have a completely different feel to them. John Dahlback's sounding more exotic with his trademark melodies and Gui Boratto's track filling out any room with his atmospheric synths.

Both have had their albums released by German record labels but Gui Boratto (Kompakt) hails from Brazil and John Dahlback (from his own Pickadoll Records) from Sweden.

Gui Boratto's track is from 2005, before his acclaimed debut, Chromophobia (people are constantly asking me about the track Beautiful Life from that album when I play it out).

MP3: Arquipélago (YSI)

After messing around with his dad's Atari computer to make music John Dahlback released his first demo in 2000 at 15 years old! By 2005 he had started his own label Pickadoll Records with an impressive line up that included Laidback Luke, Robbie Rivera, Sebastien Leger and Dada Life. Houses Of The Archipelago, is from John Dahlback's just released Winner's & Fools LP.

MP3: Houses Of The Archipelago (YSI)

Why Don't I Do It?

Monday morning, Memorial Day weekend, I woke up early enough (better said my dog woke me up) and decided to just slap some songs together I have been listening to (on and off again) for the past few weeks. Some old, some not. I was surprised to record this mix in just one take.

It actually took longer to upload this mix than to record it! Crappy wifi kept on fading out on me. (I need to buy a new router.)

And since my early summer included my recent trip to Japan, I figure this is a good time to share a few of my pictures with you guys.

Early Summer Mix Tracklist
Clinic - Come Into Our Room
The Turtles -Happy Together (Wade Nichols Edit)
Chez Jankel - Get Yourself Together (Hercules & Love Affair House Mix)
The African Dream - Makin' A Living
Sally Shapiro - I'll Be By Your Side (Tensnake Remix)
(some beats from LCD Soundsystem - Time to Get Away (Gucci Soundsystem Remix))
The Knife - Silent Shout (Live in Gothenburg)
Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire (Joakim Remix)
Free Blood - The Royal Family (ACTH Remix)
Joakim - Lonely Hearts

MP3: Early Summer Mix (YSI)

Famous Glico running man billboard at the Dōtonbori Bridge in the heart of Osaka's entertainment district. Originally installed in 1935, the giant athlete is a symbol of Glico candy.

Inspiration for movies like Blade Runner and Black Rain in the Dōtonbori district.

House in an upscale suburb of Osaka.

Underside of an umbrella in Kyoto.
The top of Monkey Mountain in Arashiyama area of Kyoto where (surprise) Japanese monkeys (macaques) roam free.

Guardian of Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Kyoto

Wishing well I am pretty sure in Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Kyoto

Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Kyoto


Shops were typically a surprise since I could not read the signs to know what was inside.

新幹線, Shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo.

Shibuya crossing reportedly the world's busiest intersection. All traffic, in all directions stops and everyone scrambles to get where they are going.

Dinner was always a surprise. Here we have some of the ingredients for Okonomiyaki.

Seafood is everywhere.

View from the New York Bar at the Park Hyatt. Yes, where Bill Murray had drinks with Scarlett Johansson in that movie.

Forget trying to figure out the Tokyo metro map written in Kanji. But the Japanese are very friendly and helpful. I even had people approach me asking if I needed help (I did).

Shinjuku

Harajuku station. You can see a couple of the Lolita girls just hanging out.

Hello Kitty floor at Kiddy Land.

Barrels of sake donated to the Meiji Shrine.

One of the world's largest Torii (gate) leading to the Meiji Shrine complex.

Mt. Fuji from the bullet train.