The Ting Tings Chat w/Off the Radar!

My friend Nikki who represents a bunch of cool artists like MGMT & Ting Tings got my questions for an interview over to the Ting Tings and Jules from the band was kind enough to answer them for us! Here's what he had to say... They're gonna be at Lollapalooza Saturday, Aug 2nd. I'll try to get a few pics of them while I'm up there.

Enjoy!

1 - Were are you guys from?

I’M ORIGINALLY FROM LONDON BUT HAVE LIVED IN MANCHESTER FOR 6 YEARS.
KATIE’S FROM MANCHESTER

2 - Whats the scene like there? Any good dance clubs? Do you go out dancing alot? Whats the best club/party/city you've been too?

WE’RE NOT THERE OFTEN THESE DAYS FOR TOURING BUT NORMALLY IT’S BRILLIANT, FULL OF ARTISTS, THE CITY IS NOT OVERSIZED YET!! THE NORTHERN QUARTER IS A BUZZ PLACE TO BE.

3 - How did you guys get started making music? Did you have musical/artistic upbringings?

NO MUSIC UPBRINGINGS, WE BOTH FELL INTO CREATIVITY. I STUDIED FINE ART AND KATIE USED TO DO BALLROOM DANCING. WE ALWAYS DID MUSIC AND FINALLY WE MET AND SPARKS FLEW.

4 - What are your influences? Who artists/bands did you dig growing up?

TALKING HEADS, TOM TOM CLUB, MADONNA…

5 - Whats the best Live show you've ever seen?

NOT THE BEST BUT SEEING HARMAR SUPERSTAR SNOGING HUNDREDS OF GIRLS FROM STAGE IN MANCHESTER EARLY LAST YEAR. THAT WAS A TREAT.

6 - What new bands/artists do you like?

THE GOSSIP

7 - Do you think music is better now or do you prefer older/classic stuff? If older, whats your favorite era? 70's, 80's etc...

LOVE ELVIS PRESLEY BUT LOVE TODAYS MUSIC MORE SO.

8 - Are you guys a couple???

NAH

9 - Are you guys surprised by your sudden success? I first found out about you guys because you were #1 on Hype Machin'es most blogged/searched artists.

WE’RE NOT THE SURPRISING TYPE. WE’RE LEARNING SO MUCH ON TOUR AND HAVE BEEN ON THE ROAD FOR MONTHS. TO US IT DOESN’T SEEM SO SUDDEN THOUGH EVERYONE KEEPS TELLING US THAT FOR A BAND THAT FORMED IN JAN 2007, THIS IS QUICK. SO BE IT.

10 - What's it like to Debut at #1 on the UK Charts? Did it change anything with your lives?

WE’VE GOT EVEN BUSIER, WITH MUCH LESS SLEEP. WE’VE SEEN MORE COUNTRIES AND CITIES. MET SOME AMAZING FOLK, SOME ARSES, APART FROM THAT THINGS ARE PRETTY MUCH THE SAME.

11 - Have you guys performed in the U.S.? If so what'd you think? Gonna be touring the States anytime soon?

WE’VE BEEN OUT ON EAST ANS WEST COAST TOURS. THEY WERE AMAZING. WE LOVED THAT THE INTERNET GAVE US AN AUDIENCE TO PLAY TO. WE FLY OUT ON MONDAY 21ST JULY FOR A 2 WEEK TOUR. LOVING PLAYING THE STATES.

12 - 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 ALL HEADING WHERE IT ENDS UP. THAT’S THE BEAUTY OF MUSIC. THE INDUSTRY HAVE TRIED AND TRIED TO CONTROL IT. TO CONTROL THE INCOME IT MAKES. BUT IT’S THE ARTISTS THAT REALLY CONTROL THE MUSIC BIZ. THEY CREATE IT AND BREAK THE RULES. INTERNET HAS OPENED THE UP WORLD AND WE’RE COMING TO TERMS WITH THAT NOW. IF YOUR MUSIC IS GOOD, THE DIGITAL AGE IS A GOOD THING CAUSE PEOPLE WILL LIKE GOOD MUSIC FOREVER MORE.
RADIOHEAD RELEASING FOR FREE IS A FALSE START. THEY CAN ONLY DO THIS CAUSE THEY PROFITED FROM YEARS OF SUCCESS. I THINK ALL ART SHOULD BE VALUED EVEN IF IT’S A MERE CENT.

13 - 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?

LOVED RECORDING THE ALBUM AS WE PRODUCED IT OURSELVES AND MADE UP ALL THE RULES.. SINCE TOURING STARTED, WE HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH IT. TRAVELING CAN BE A PAIN BUT PLAYING GIGS IS NOW KING.

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

USED TO WORK ON PRO TOOLS AND GARAGEBAND (FOR QUICK STARTS) BUT NOW USING LOGIC TOO. MIXING ON THE MOVE. HAVE BEEN COLLECTING SOME NICE GUITARS TOO, NOT STUPID PRICES BUT GOOD SOUNDS ON STRINGS. WE DON’T WRITE ON THE ROAD. WE WANT TO CREATE ANOTHER ALBUM IN TIME AS WE DID THIS ONE, LIKE A SNAPSHOT OF OUR LIVES THERE AND THEN.

15 - Do you guys use visuals on tour? If so whats that like? Who does it for you?

WE CREATE ALL OUR OWN ARTWORK. VISUALS TOO. WE START OUR UK HEADLINE TOUR IN SEPTEMBER AND WILL BE TAKING OUR VISUALS OUT THEN ON FULL SCALE. WE’RE SO LOOKING FORWARD TO IT AS IT’S WHAT WE’VE BEEN WORKING ON FOR A WHILE.

16 - When you guys perform live do you use a backing band or is it just the two of you? If only the two of you does that limit what you can do?

JUST TWO OF US. WE FIND MORE ENERGY WITH TWO OF US THAN 5. WE WERE IN BANDS BEFROE TOGETHER WITH MORE MEMBERS AND WE’RE JUST TOO CONTROLLING AND NEED TO CHALLENGE OURSELVES. TWO GIVES US ALL THOSE CHALLENGES AND LIFTS US TO NEW LEVELS LIVE EACH TIME. WE USE LOOP PEDALS CONTROLLED BY OUR FEET TO CREATE LAYERS OF SOUNDS BEHIND OUR GUITARS, DRUMS AND VOCALS. NOTHING IS ON PLAYBACK ORTIME CODES, IT’S ALL LIVE.

17 - Any advice for up and coming new bands?

ARTISTS SHOULDN’T TAKE ANY ADVICE, JUST BE INFLUENCED.

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

COME TO A GIG TO SEE THE REST.


Thank you!!!!

THANKS
J

Here's a sweet Kasper Bjorke Remix of Ting Tings 'That's Not My Name' which I've been playing out lately plus a Live Performance of That's Not My Name at Radio Ones Big Week-end. Their New Video for Shut Up and Let Me Go is pretty sweet also! Check that out here::http://youtube.com/watch?v=StP-yIQeT2o

MP3: Thats Not My Name (Kasper Bjørke Remix) - The Ting Tings (YSI)

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

The Darkness...

Ha, not that crappy band.... I mean more of the dark tracks variety. Got a little time till I gotta get ready for work so thought I'd share some darker tracks I've been digging lately. You know I love the dark pop stuff. All stems from my Goth upbringings, can't shake it loose.

First here is a great slow brooding Remix Diplo did for Black Ghosts track Repetition Kills You. Sexy as hell!

MP3: Repetition Kills You (Diplo Remix) - Black Ghosts (YSI)

Here's a Fake Blood Remix of Stuck on Repeat by Little Boots. Didn't realize what a cutie she was. Like her better as a brunnete. Love when the break comes in around 3:45 and the vocoder kick in. Check out her new track Meddle as well! Good stuff!


MP3: Stuck on Repeat (Fake Blood Remix) - Little Boots (YSI)

Heres a new band I found about called The Phonograph. Don't know that much about them but I've been loving this track The Abscence. Kinda reminds me of a band like The Editors or The Whip. Check it out...

MP3: The Abscence - The Phonograph (YSI)

Thats it for now... Gotta run! Let me know if you guys hear of any cool new videos for me to post. Wanted to post one but couldn't think of anything right now.

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...

Beck is Back

Beck is Back. This time he's brought a little help in the form of indie producer du jour, Dangermouse. (Do I have to? Okay, The Gray Album, Gorillaz, Gnarlz Barkley, Danger Doom, The Good, The Bad and The Queen you get the picture...). In this album we see Beck going back a bit to the 60's. Apparently the new album called Modern Guilt has the definitive mid-century London garage sound.

Album details were sketchy in the beginning of the year, secret product, end of the year release date, etc... But all those questions have been (sorta) answered and the LP should drop sometime this month. Oh and did I mention that Cat Power has a guest spot on it?

The first single, Chemtrails, was released a few weeks ago and premiered on no less than BBC Radio 1 (has a better ring to it than Y-100. Radio in Miami is ridiculously lame...).

And so far so good, I have always been a fan of Beck and I do not think he is going to disappoint with his 10th full length release (TEN!!!). I am digging the guitar solo at the end of Chemtrails. I read some comments on different blogs making comparisons to Caribou. What do you guys think?
Anyways, here is a lowish-bitrate but listenable MySpace rip. Also, grab a cool remix of Nausea by XXXChange (Spank Rock crew) that might allow you to forgive me for the quality of Chemtrails. XXXChange is on a roll, check out his remix of Thom Yorke's The Eraser and Bjork's Earth Intruders if you have a chance.

MP3: Chemtrails
MP3: Nausea (XXXChange Remix)

Here is a video of the title track, Modern Guilt, performed a couple of days ago at a secret show in L.A.

Public Access

Check out Public Access for some great Interviews with up and coming bands such as Health, M83, The Teenagers, Dandi Wind, White Williams and many more... Just kinda stumbled onto that. Thought I'd share.

Here's a couple of the Remixes Health talk about in their Interview. They're a pretty cool L.A. band I recently found out about. These remixes are much dancier than what they usually sound like (they're much darker, experimental & rocky), but that's the point of the remix. Plus they want DJ's playing these out, so get to it!

MP3: TRICERATOPS (CFCF RMX) - HEALTH (YSI)
MP3: HEAVEN (NARCTRAX REMIX) - HEALTH (YSI)

Symphony of Machines

Have you guys seen this? In case you guys don't know, Radiohead had a remix competition for the song Nude. You can take a listen at the site of all of the entries. Holy Fuck had their remix in the top 10.

But I am pretty sure this is the only one that has ever been mentioned on the Radiohead blog.

James Houston, the creator/composer/remixer/producer(?), took the competition to an entirely different level. He explains:

"Based on the lyric (and alternate title) "Big Ideas: Don't get any" I grouped together a collection of old redundant hardware, and placed them in a situation where they're trying their best to do something that they're not exactly designed to do, and not quite getting there.

It doesn't sound great, as it's not supposed to."

Equipment used:

• Sinclair ZX Spectrum - Guitars (rhythm & lead)
• Epson LX-81 Dot Matrix Printer - Drums
• HP Scanjet 3c - Bass Guitar
• Hard Drive array - Act as a collection of bad speakers - Vocals & FX

MP3: Nude (Live at the BBC Radio Theatre, London, April 1, 2008)

Give the video a minute or so... you'll understand. By the 1:37, the brilliance of the video appears. And by the way, no human voices used were used.

Big Ideas (Don't get any) from 1030 on Vimeo.

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.)

MGMT = Electric Feel

Damn! I was gonna post the New MGMT video for their 3rd single, 'Electric Feel', but it's embedding has been disabled by the band it seems. Sucks! They had a video for Electric before, but this new one is way better. Click HERE to check it out directly on youtube.

I have to say I wasn't the biggest fan at first, but they've grown on me and now I can't get enough of them. Their debut album 'Oracular Spectacular' has got to be one of the best albums of 2008 so far. Also just found out Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev) worked with them on the record. How great is that!? No wonder the album sounds so good. Dave's one of the best sound engineers/producers on the planet! He makes every band he works with sound that much better. How great is it to get to work with him on your first record out!

Here is an interview they did for NME plus them Live on Letterman and a few mash-ups/remixes I have for them. I particularly like the Hip Hop mash-up DJ Topcat did with them and Talib Kweli. Works perfect.

MP3: Time to Listen (DJ Topcat Mashup) - Talib Kweli Vs MGMT (YSI)
MP3: The Youth (MMMatthias Remix) - MGMT (YSI)
MP3: All My Children (Immuzikation Mashup) - LCD Soundsytem Vs MGMT (YSI)

Good Morning

Good morning everybody. Busy weekend. It is kinda crazy when Monday mornings seem quiet?!? I had a little bit of everything this weekend. Family, friends, chores, and parties...

I missed Modeselektor (and wasted a ticket...) but I heard it was amazing. I managed to make it out to downtown around 3am, I think... things got a little blurry around that time.

MP3: Junior Boys - In The Morning (Hot Chip Remix) (YSI)

I love when the synths and vocals come in around 1:50.

Audio Junior Boy's "In the morning" set to Godard's "Bande à Part" dance scene.

Remixes + Stuffs

Thought it was a coincidence the first two tracks on my new comp CD both happened to have girlfriend/boyfriend in the song titles.  Hmmm, wonder if it means anything? How about the intro to a new post!

The first track here is a Twelves Remix of The Black Kids 'I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance'.  Great dance remix from this Florida band which has been getting tons of Press and Blog Love.  We were lucky enough to see them perform here in Miami @ Circa before they got too huge not too long ago. Free too! Not too shabby.. 

MP3: I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance (Twelves Remix) - The Black Kids (YSI)

  

The second track is by my one of my favorite Norwegian guilty pleasures Annie.  Haven't really heard too much of her new stuff, but this Remix by Get Shakes for 'I Know Your Girlfriend Hates Me' is pretty solid and a sure-fire dancefloor hit.   

MP3: I Know your Girlfriend Hates Me (Get Shakes Remix) - Annie  (YSI)

This next band The Ting Tings I noticed was listed on Hype Machine as one of the most searched/blogged bands the other day.  Pretty impressive, usually the bigger names/more well known artists get those honors.  Anyway's don't know that much about them yet, but this track I have from them 'Shut Up and Let Go' is pretty sweet. Reminds me of bands like New Young Pony Club.

MP3: Shut Up and Let Go - The Ting Tings  (YSI)

     

Finally I leave you with Woolfy.  Not the best name out there, but good music beats out a crappy name anyday! Just think how many crappy band names there are out there. Woolfy is a British transplant who resides in California. Recently he's been putting out music on Rong Music, which is Lee Douglas' label (who we recently brought down for WMC.)  This new track of his 'Oh Missy' is catchy as hell! Still trying to get that 'Oh Missy, Oh Missy, don't break my heart' chorus out of my head.  This might take awhile..  This track also has that great mid-tempo groove I love. 

Enjoy!

MP3: Oh Missy - Woolfy  (YSI)

P.S.  Not digging the new Death Cab for Cutie album 'Narrow Stairs'. What happened? Doesn't sound like a cohesive album to me.  There's a good song here or there, but as a whole just kinda sounds like a bunch of different styles thrown together with no rhyme or reason. Pretty disappointed.  I loved Transatlanticism and some of their earlier albums.  Can Ben just take like 6 months off at some point and put out a new Postal Service record. Thank you! Out!

 

L I F E L I K E

LifeLike is Laurent Ash from Paris, France. Nice hometown! This guy's been on a roll... He does his own music 'Discopolis', remixes for tons of varied artists such as Front 242, Annie, Chromeo, Sneaky Sound System, Does it Offend You, Yeah and many more. Plus to top it off now he's on tour with Alan Brake! Lucky bastard!

I've been playing out a new Remix he did for The Presets called 'This Boy's in Love' off of The Presets New Album 'Apocalypso'. It's a great one! Really kicks the track into a peak time dancefloor stomper. Also been playing out his disco tinged Remix for Alyoa's track 'It's Been Too Long' which should blend in really well with any nu-disco/classic disco mixes you may have going on..

Here they are for your enjoyment... I'll be doing a Review of the New Presets album soon as well.

MP3: This Boy's in Love (Lifelike Remix) - The Presets (YSI)
MP3: It's Been Too Long (Lifelike Top Gun Mix) - Alyoa (YSI)


Here's the R rated (late night Cinemax) video for Discopolis... Umm, nice!

Musical GPS

I love my iPhone again! (I'll admit it I have one - all those times I said iPod I was lying). Anyways, I finally got new music onto it. I had a bug (?) in one of my Smart Playlists and no new music was coming onto it. Look up how to use them, it is a pretty handy feature in iTunes. Since my iPhone (8GB) cannot hold my entire music library AND I like to listen to different music all (most) of the time, I use Smart Playlists to update my music based off of things like last time played (or never played) and date added, etc... Well the point is a BUNCH of new music made it to my iPhone. So here is my recent journey during my lunch break through my new music. Oh and when I mean new, I don't necessarily mean new release (but there are a few of those too).

First up, I finished a pretty big project at work this morning and so far so good, no problems. Kinda funny that this next song by Chaz Jankel popped up at lunch. It is from the 1985 movie Real Genius starring Val Kilmer. I kinda felt like Val in the poster at work. Except I'm in a suit and tie and and I don't a CRT monitor or bunny slippers. Or blond hair for that matter. I DO have the alien antennas though.

MP3: Chaz Jankel - Number One (YSI)
How awesome was that movie? (Um Uncle Rico - Napoleon Dynamite as Laslo?!?!) When I saw it (yes, in the theatre when it came out), I always thought college was going to be like that. Lasers and secret government missions. And mansion in the desert filled with popcorn. But um, yeah FIU's engineering campus in Sweetwater is, um, in Sweetwater.

So Chaz Jankel is still extremely relevant (Ray posted his new track back in November). How about a fresh release of the track with a Hercules & Love Affair remixes and a Todd Terje re-edit b-side) (that was a mouthful) Okay, I'll post one and you go buy the other and let me know which one you like? Deal? (Wow they are both so good...).

MP3: Chaz Jankel - Get Yourself Together (Hercules & Love Affair House Mix) (YSI)

The next track reminded me why I like to DJ. Even though I took a brief hiatus, I know I'll find myself DJ'ing again. I can't help it. I have too much good music to share. I pretty much expect this next song to be my set opener. I prefer the shock-n-awe technique to DJ'ing. Juxtaposing weird (but still danceable - at least on some planet) beats and textures next to each other. And this new track by Free Blood from the upcoming EP Part 2 is INSANE. I can see myself going crazy on the dance floor to this song. And the funny thing is that of all days to post this song, I'm not even grumpy...

MP3: The Free Blood - Grumpy (YSI)

And since all this happened while I was driving my car, why not put on some Hot Chip offshoot- Grovesnor and a remix of the Drive Your Car by Bird Peterson?

Let's pretend I was driving this car...

Wow the bass just drops to the floor and rubs itself in baby oil after the chorus break.

MP3: Grovesnor - Drive Your Car (Bird Peterson Remix) (YSI)

Leopard skin and tiger eye...

I love the "Gears Changed by..." on the cover.

Soooo basically, the point is, I need to DJ again so you guys can hear these tracks in all their thunderous glory. Zshare is having some difficulties so I'll try (yeah no) posting them later there.

I know all of you chismosos wanna know what I ate for lunch. I had a papusa and taquito from Paseso Universitarios (say that three times fast) at Mall of the Americas. A few doors from Last Chance (you chongas know what I'm talking about.. I kid! I kid!) Papusas are some damn good tortilla concoction from El Salvador. I got the pupusa mixta with Quesillo, beans, and chicharrón. It's the pancake looking thing on the right. And now I'm stuffed. And clicking on publish post...

Micro (Minimal) Post

I already posted about the original version of the new track No Kinda Man from Junior Boys. But this version is niiiiiiice. I don't know if they have a new album coming out soon, they just released their Body Language compilation so maybe that is why there is a bunch of Junior Boys hype going around. They also just completed a remix of Sally Shapiro for her new remix album is out next month based off of last years Disco Romance called Remix Romance. Check out who got remix privileges:

Junior Boys (duh - we just talked about them), Lindstrøm, Holy Fuck and Juan Maclean.

Um, yes please.

Segueing from Junior Boys to Chloe, you can't get much deeper than the Suspended track from her debut, The Waiting Room. And Ce Kul is... cool. It's not as minimal as the previous track. This post is for all you house heads out there. It is a fine week for you guys in Miami.
Who is Chloe anyways? A veteran of Karat, Gomma and Bpitch Control, this French DJ released her micro house tinged debut album, The Waiting Room last year on Kill the DJ records.

MP3: Sally Shapiro - Jackie Junior (Junior Boys Remix) (YSI)
MP3: Junior Boys - No Kinda Man (Chloe Remix) (YSI)
MP3: Chloe - Suspended (YSI)
MP3: Munk feat. Chloe - Ce Kul (YSI)

(Micro as in music style not content. Four tracks fo' yo' ass!)

Optimum Posting

I'm back. It's been a while guys. Sorry about that. But you know how life is... priorities.

But like Lassie, I'm coming home. So much is going on in the magic city. WMC, duh... it got every single bloggers' (local and not) panties in a rage. I just hope the coverage is not like this years (over) coverage of the SXSW festival. I think I just started ignoring any SXSW post after day 2. And they kept coming even after the festival is over. If people really want to see what it is like, they need to just go there. There is no way that 20 blog articles (with way too many angles of the same lead singer) is going to convey the same feeling as being at a club listening to live music.

Tonight is the Off the Radar 3 year Anniversary party (the party not the blog - same thing but we'll have another party for that). Along with APT, we got Lee Douglas, Jacques Renault and Justin Miller to spin us into a disco frenzy. Details are somewhere in a post below. (UPDATE - Updates are fun. And last night's party was awesome. DFA was in the house. Rub-n-Tug. And the finest crowd on this side of the Atlantic.)

What else is going on... spring is here. Well, in Miami that means the weather, um, stays the same. But I'm sure for everybody else it is a big deal. I guess. It does mean beach weather is coming. Come to think of it, I think that the ocean temperature is the only thing that changes with the seasons here. Yeah I don't go in the water if it is below 80 degrees. No can do, I can't go for that. No. Speaking of ocean temperatures, come to Miami before it disappears!!

Okay, music that is why you're here right? So let me start by saying, "I'm sorry" to anyone who has submitted music in the last, um, month and a half. Let's just say I ran out of hard drive space and have a kinda backlog of music to go through. BUT despair not, I just upgraded my hard drive and now have a ridiculous amount of space.
Did I mention that Apple MacBook Pros have teeny screws that are easy to lose on a concrete floor?
Renzo helped me find them. I ended up dropping 3 in the course of the upgrade.But the fruits of my labor have been reaped and my Western Digital Scorpio (250 GB if you care) plays nicely with laptop. Did you notice the ridiculously cool wallpaper? Courtesy of Kitsune Noir's (not the French label) Desktop Wallpaper Project. I think somewhere around 20 of Kitsune's favorite artists contributed designs and a new set of wallpaper (computer and iPhone and PSP sizes) is available every Wednesday. (UPDATE: -Bobby from Kitsune Noir just told me there are over 70 artists involved. Well over a year's supply of desktop eye candy.)
But I still have not heard any of the new music in my special music listening chamber (aka my car) since it is all sitting on my work computer right now.

Sooooo, instead I'll focus on a duo (they were a trio at one point) from Scotland that go by the name Optimo. They have weekly also called Optimo (full name Optimo Espacio - but nobody calls it that) and also put out various remixes under the Optimo name. (Note to self, too many uses of the word Optimo in close proximity.)
Since we are on the subject of the name. It is inspired by the Liquid Liquid release on 99 Records entitled... you guessed it, "Optimo". You can read about 99 Records here, the article will do the label better justice that I ever could. It is actually written by JD Twitch which is one half of the current Optimo that I am writing about. The other half is JG Wilkes.
Optimo started in 1997, suffice to say, they have quiet an impressive discography of remixes.
Colder, Prinzhorn Dance School, Pharoahe Monch, The Glimmers, Love Is All, Peter, Bjorn and John (I still play this edit out), Tussle, The Gossip, Franz Ferdinand, Sons And Daughters, Rinocerose... do I have to keep going? The party is every Sunday at The Sub Club from 11pm-3am (WHAT? Sorry, I still am amazed that Miami has probably the most lack liquor licenses in the world...) and the guys are pretty much everywhere else during the week.

MP3: The Shortwave Set - No Social (Optimo Espacio Remix) (YSI)
MP3: Love Is All - Busy Doing Nothing (Optimo Remix) (YSI)

MP3: Liquid Liquid - Optimo (YSI) (UPDATE - Just wanna say I think this track kick started the party as soon as Matt Cash dropped it last night.)

So as far as my blogging, though Ray thinks I forgot about the blog, I have not. Just think, quality over quantity. One hit wonders are fun... for a bit. But classics rarely get deleted from the iPod. By the way, did you notice the slick photos I took with my new camera? All in preparation for this little trip I'd like to call JAPAN bitches! Don't forget to send in any suggestions for my trip!

Jim, the Jimmeister , Jaiminator, Jimbo, Jiiiimmm...

Sometimes you need a break from the 4/4 beat and the electro-crunchiness that is sweeping across "indie" dance floors. You need something you can groove to, sing along too, that's where Jamie Lidell comes in. He some how manages to distinct himself from more mainstream modern blue-eyed soul acts similarly to how Jamiroquai did it (shall I say?) at the turn of the century. Perhaps it is the influence of his label Warp Records (