Our friends over at King's Head Records sent over the debut album 'Lies & Deceit' released today by their newest signing, one man bandCulture Prophet (who hails from South Carolina, but now resides in Miami). All we can say is wow! An uncompromising assault on the senses. From dark experimental tracks, to indie/punk anthems, and hard hitting industrial sounds, this album has a little of it all. You can tell he's been around the block a few times, and fine tuned his chops before he got to where he is now.
We are particularly digging the industrial sounding "Eating Concrete" and "Giallo" (which sound like they came straight from a classic 80's Front 242 record), the in-your-face indie/punk brashness of "Sleeping Lord", and our favorite, the dark middle eastern tinged "Assassins",which they have been kind enough to make as a free download for our readers! How amazing is that?!
Check out those tunes below, but really the whole album is excellent and deserves further delving. You can listen to 'Lies & Deceit' on their soundcloud, and purchase it on iTunes.
It had been a while since I last heard any news from one of my fave Aussie bands Midnight Juggernauts. Today they released a new track/video for "Ballad of the War Machine". Really great track with a trippy VHS looking Russian filmed video that they apparently released anonymously a few weeks ago, to see what kind of reactions they would get. Apparently they liked what they saw as they officially released the video under their name today. They promise more new material in 2013. Can't wait, for now check that out that new vid/track below...
P.S. Thanks to my friend Christy (mutual Jugg lover) for giving me the heads up on this.
The Burning Hotels list their influences as The Stills, The Clash, Depeche Mode, French Kicks, and The Cure. You are in pretty good company if you are able to come out with music that innovates and makes us want to dance.
I really enjoyed the array of sounds and colors their album, Burning Hotels, has. And they do have sounds that dip into industrial, electro rock, and indie rock.
The track 'Beard' reminds me of the The Killers a bit. I recommend you check out their whole album. They do have some good tracks.
How this Australian 3-piece slipped my radar for the last couple of years I won't ever know (sidenote: they were in my iTunes already). Not wanting to contemplate it much, just going to let the flood gates to their dirty dreamy electro/rock open. Art vs. Science is LIVE at Bardot (Miami) tonight, and there couldn't be a more intimately intense place to catch their live show. After seeing them at Bonnaroo this past weekend I can surely say this band has taken "having great energy" to new levels. Even though listening to their tracks on whatever outstanding equipment you may use still gives you a charge, you won't grasp full appreciation for these guys until you see them live in their silver metallic moon suits. This afternoon we'll be giving away 2 tickets to Art vs. Science's show tonight on OTR's facebook, otherwise you can get your tickets here if you're in Miami tonight.
Park Hotell is an indie electro pop group from Sweden poised for stateside success by playing SXSW as well as Pianos in NYC. The track "Low On Resistance" mixed by Bjorn Yttling of Peter, Bjorn and John is irresistible. I checked out the rest of their songs available for streaming and am really impressed with their sound. Reminds me of one of my favorite bands New Order which is about the highest compliment I can think of. Their first U.S. release 'Layers' drops March 13th. I will definitely be checking out their live show at Pianos on March 19th.
Oi! Sorry for my absence, but I just got back from a 5 week job hunt roller coaster ride in Los Angeles. I didn't plan on attending this year's Coachella, but I just happened to still be out there and was able to find a ticket, so of course I went!
This year's Coachella was more laxed because I didn't have to stress for scrounging up a ticket everyday like last year, but nonetheless the music experiences are amongst the best ever! If you are up for reading last year's adventures its here,here, and here. There was a lot more organization this year then there has ever been. I will say a big thank you to AT&T for finally having more coverage and being able to send/receive texts and phone calls during the festival. What a difference!
Throughout my four years of attending, I have never been so early everyday as this year, but it was solely because there were great acts scheduled to play early.
Here are my highlights and a couple that I saw that weren't highlights like I had expected.
Friday began with The Rural Alberta Advantage and what a way to start off the festival! I have blogged about them a couple of times and now I finally got to see them live. It's always great when you go to a huge festival like this because you get to see the people from all over the world who share the love for the band as you do.
They played a nice mix of songs from their latest album, "Departing" and the first album, "Hometowns". Fort McFurry, the lead singer has a very distinctive voice, one that takes a few listens to synch in. To me his voice is a bit reminiscent of Jeff Mangum from Neutral Milk Hotel. These are the voices you either like or don't, and I definitely like it. About halfway during the show McFurry's voice was a bit shot and he mentioned that he was battling a cold. Either way was a great show and I am so glad I didn't miss it.
!!!'s (chk chk chk) show was more of an electronic-rock dance party just like their albums sound like, but with the added live energy that you'd expect and hope for. The show was a great warm up for the rest of the day. I do think that they should have played at sunset or later in the night. It's crazy that the band has been around since the early 00's and they still only got an early afternoon slot.
!!! has become more popular with their 2010 release, "Strange Weather Isn't It". They mostly played from this album although I was hoping to hear my favorite track of theirs, "Me and Guilliani Down by the School Yard" (2003), but you just can't hear it all!
We went to Cold Cave for a few songs and their synth pop sound was just like that off the album, but I didn't feel that they brought that much extra energy to the stage.
For The Morning Benders being a new band they had quite the crowd. The singer, writer and guitarist, Chris Chu had a very good stage presence and really made the show as good as it was. I do think though that there was something missing from the show, but I can't put my finger on it.
We saw one of my all time favorites, Broken Social Scenenext and as usual I was not disappointed. I have seen BSS the most, tallying up to 7 times and they always put on a really great show. This was the first time however, seeing them at Coachella and they played at sunset...recipe for a classic show. Their last release, "Forgiveness Rock Record", is not my favorite album of theirs, "You Forgot it in People" (2002) is and I was so happy to hear them play great ones from that album.
Empire of the Sun was definitely on my top list to see since I had played their album over and over in 2009. The show was a very theatrical and entertaining with crazy costumes and visuals, and I would have to give them an A for that. My special someone whom I was with who is very knowledgeable in music did recognize that the band wasn't performing everything live, especially the drums. If you are going to bring out the instruments then play them!
Ohhhh Arcade Fire! They rocked it! Second time seeing them and both on the main stage at Coachella. The bands live performances have a mixture of many instruments, energy, and visuals, and they definitely know how to put them all together for an all out stellar show. During "Wake Up", the last song, they dropped hundreds of LED balloons on the crowd. I would rather not use this word but it's the only one that fits...EPIC! If you every get the chance to see them, they are a must and are definitely making music history.
The last show of the night was Cut Copy and it was an amazing way to end the night. It was a huge dance party where nobody was left out. It's a bit of a Coachella blur but I know I didn't stop singing and dancing until they were finished. Ahhhhh what a day!
Menomena, whom I have wanted to see since their first release, "I Am the Fun Blame Monster" (2003). They were a perfect way to start the day and I knew that within the first song it was going to be a quality show. We were able to get up very close because it was early in the day, and didn't have to finagle through the sweaty crowds. Each band member played at least two instruments and very well, they are a super talented band.
Being a new big fan (last year) of the Foals, I was very excited to see them. They were musically amazing, and the energy level of the band and the crowd were great. It was one of the best shows at Coachella this year.
CSS and I have to say that it wasn't as good as I hoped for, actually it was rather cheesy and didn't sound up to par. We left after a few songs to get some yummy cocktails instead!
The National made my top Coachella list this year, #1 or #2 with Arcade Fire. I have only seen them once last year in New Jersey at the Wellmont Theatre. We were standing in the very last row and at the very top that they looked like miniature people with instruments. This time, I was going to get pretty close. Just like Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, lots of great musicians on one stage who really know how to put everything together in a flawless way. Another band that I believe are making music history with their live performances.
If you have a list of things you have to do in your lifetime, Coachella should be somewhere on that list...without a doubt!
As many videos as I took, I was dancing and shaking the camera too much so I had to venture on youtube for some better videos. I didn't want OTR readers to get dizzy! ha Some of the audio on these aren't that great so watch your volume levels, but at least you can see the amazingness that is Coachella. Enjoy!
French electro-rock duoHousse De Racket that I wrote about previously here are back with a new single from their debut album 'Forty Love' about one of my favorite things "Synthetiseurs"! That and guitars makes me a happy man.
Anyways to coincide with the release they sent along a slew of remixes for us to giveaway. Plus if you haven't seen it before, belowis their video for the track as well. Great stuff! Bound to be some remix here you'll like.
Chicago trio Gemini Club who I posted an excellent remix they did for The Vanish in Marchhere are back. They sent me this great artsy video for their track "Future Tidings", plus an original track "Show Me a Showdown" and a remixDatabase did for their track "Mary's Day". Digging them all! High energy electro-rock for the dance floor. You'll never hear me complain about that. Download these babies and get your dance on! It is the week-end after all...
It's always a good day when I get new music by one of my favorite Aussie electro-rockersMidnight Juggernautsor Juggies as some fans like to call them. They are in the process of releasing their sophmore album'The Crystal Axis' the follow- up to their totally awesome 2008 debut album 'Dystopia'. Depending were you live it may be out already (Australia) or out soon (UK). A little confusing to be honest, but I'm sure their fans will figure it out.
August 2nd they will be releasing a limited edition 1000 vinyl pressings of the record on Acephale Records that you can pre-orderhere. Acephale sent us a b-side from the record "Michael's Deadline" + a remix of one of the tracks from the album "Lifeblood Flow" by Turkish Prison for us to give away and get fans excited. Loving them both! I for one am very excited to grab this new record and see what direction they are going in.
Here are those tracks, plus their latest video for "Vital Signs" that's been around for a bit, but I don't think we ever got around to posting. We posted "Vital Signs"here if you wanna grab that. Yay Juggies!!!
P.S. Just as I finished writing this I managed to snag a copy of 'The Crystal Axis'. So far, real good!!
I know it's been a week since Coachella Day 1 but I've been swamped with lots of new exciting, time-consuming projects for my portfolio! If you haven't read the craziness of day 1, it's here.
On day 2 I woke up refreshed and well rested, but still nervous on how I was going to get in (hoping it wouldn't be as much of a hassle as the first day). I had spoken to two friends the previous night and morning (one whom were in my crew) to see if they had any leads for my entrance. One of the girls I was staying with had a friend whom was working for one of the sponsor companies and he was pretty sure that he could help me out. We had to meet him in one of the parking lots so that he could pick her and I up on an employee golf cart. He gave me a wristband that wasn't the official festival bracelet but thought if I just wore it while on the golf cart just in case the staff was checking us back by the employee entrance. We rode right through the first check point and then right through the second one! Well that was quite a difference to the first day, fewwwwf! I was so excited for all of the bands I wanted to see that day and that I knew now I was going to see.
First stop was the end of The Almighty Defenders at the Gobi tent, which was a fun way to start the day and my first time being with my four friends I had come with. The crowd was in between still being tired and/or hungover from the day before and some people that had started swaying and dancing a little (especially those at the front, of course). That was the start of an amazing day.
I heard Camera Obscura for a second on the way to the beer tent for some refreshments and it sounded just as I had imagined, whimsical and pretty. Although I wanted to stay longer, we had an agenda to follow!
We all headed over to Temper Trap at the Outdoor Theatre and I'm glad we were able to see most of the show because they really played a great show with lots of emotion especially through the singer, Dougy Mandagi's voice. The Outdoor Theatre was really the hot spot for the day because following T.T. was Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, the XX, Hot Chip, MGMT and Dead Weather (although I didn't catch last two because I was running around elsewhere networking!).
For Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros we were pretty close up because we all really wanted to see them badly. Their song, "Home" had been our theme song the entire trip. My friend who helped me get in that day was the group photographer and videographer and she made sure to make a video of all of us in the car, dancing and singing to "Home" on the way down to Palm Desert on Friday. It was awesome!
The show was all we had expected and more. It was such a heartfelt, fun and so well instrumented show because of the chemistry between all members and especially by the lead singer, Alex Ebert and lead female vocalist, Jade Castrinos. During the show, Alex Ebert accidentally dropped the mic on a guy's forehead in the front row and gave him a nice gash that started to bleed. Alex took off his tank top and wrapped it around the guy's forehead! The guy seemed to be alright because he just stayed there the whole show and enjoyed it to the fullest like the rest of us did. Of course "Home" their big hit was played last and the whole crowd went as crazy as they could. It was a perfect ending to one of the best shows that weekend.
Our crew went for a little break after it was over and of course should have known we'd get split up from each other but the rest of the day was spent with various other groups of friends from MIA and NYC.
When realizing the XX was on, a group of us went running back to the Outdoor Theatre. Being as close as I was for the last show, I didn't mind standing back quite further as thousands of people were already close to the stage. The XX was one of my very anticipated bands on my list to see and I have to say they were just good not excellent. All the other bands had played such great live shows and the XX just sounded like the album (which I absolutely love) but there was no added goodness and extended rocking out like other bands had already done. The Outdoor Theatre is a huge stage and c'mon it's Coachella! They really needed to take it up a couple notches. Perhaps if they would have played on a smaller stage the impact would have been larger. Nonetheless, I danced and enjoyed myself especially to my favorite song, "VCR".
Over and over it was and Hot Chip was on! I've seen them 2 other times (Miami - Winter Music Conference 06 & Coachella 07) and it's always been a great show full of energy from the quirky band members and a whole lot of jumping and dancing coming from everywhere. We had about 7 of us there from Miami and all of us have done a lot of Hot Chipping & dancing at parties so we were all smiling from ear to ear and singing loud... awesomeness! I ended up standing right next to my friend's girlfriend from NYC whom was by herself (and her phone was dead so told her she should stick with me!). You never know who, when and where you are going to run into somebody at a festival of this magnitude!
Her and I ended up running through Faith No More'scrowd to go meet her boyfriend at the beer tent and do some mingling and networking. We heard a little bit of Muse while being up there but at that point I was just enjoying being right where I was.
With my new group of friends I had met we went off to Die Antwood (rave crew from South Africa as noted on their site) at the last tent, Sahara, all the way on the other side of the festival. I had never heard of them and it was definitely an interesting show to see with their costumes and visuals. I would have rather seen Dead Weather but because of who I was with really wanted to see them and having to leave with them afterwards, I really didn't have much of a choice at that point. I enjoyed myself of course and danced my little toosh off with the last bit of my energy left after 11 hours of goodness.
After Coachella we went to the Armani Exchange and 944 Neon Carnival party which was a lot of fun and a whole other story! Let's just say some of Temper Trap and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros crew were there and I got to pick up an Oompa Loompa! Haha
Sorry for such a delay, the last month's travels and playing catch up has been crazy!
This year was my 3rd year attending Coachella (2004, 2007, and 2010) and each year was quite an experience. I entered into the Coachella Recycling Bin Design competition and made it in the second group of winners...this is originally how I was going to receive my tickets to the festival but long story short they fell through. Although this year was a mess in numerous ways, not having any tickets and just getting in on pure luck was the everyday battle with the first day being the most emotional. Regardless in the end, it ended up being a great trip.
The previous two times I attended you could still purchase tickets outside of the festival. I thought this year was going to be the same despite reading certain blogs that said they were sold out and some blogs were arguing that every year they have a 10,000 person cap of extra tickets they keep to sell the days of the festival. So me being a positive person, I chose to believe the latter. Arriving at the festival on Friday around 2:30 p.m., we passed one scalper that was selling tickets but I was still banking on buying tickets at the box office on site. I jumped out of the car as the rest of my crew had tickets and they were going to drive to another entrance, didn't know at that point that I wouldn't see them until 12:30 a.m. (it ended up taking them 2.5 hours just to get in). I walked up to the box office with anticipation, excitement and nervousness hoping to purchase a ticket but I was quickly disappointed as the lady said, "It's sold out, no more tickets will be sold."
I spent the next 6. 5 hours trying to get in any way possible, there was no way I was leaving the site. I had to get in. I exhausted all of my resources through friends and nothing was working for one reason or another. It was the strictest year yet with lists and comps. I told my friends I was reaching out to, I have no problem paying, I just need to get in. The time I spent outside of the entrance was filled with hearing numerous kids stories about purchasing fake tickets from scalpers, girls with signs saying they will do anything to get in, getting interviewed to tell my story and my opinion on this year's problems, and sitting in front of a car in the shade while doodling. Being pretty bummed out the whole day and stressing, I was more worried about not being able to get in on Saturday and Sunday too.
I then met a kid from Colombia whom lived in San Fransisco and his phone was dead so he spent two hours with my phone trying to get in touch with his friends and girlfriend whom were all inside. Problem after using your phone so much, obviously the battery gets low and I had a long way to go and needed to save some battery to be able to meet with my friends. The other problem was the reception out there was terrible and you would get texts hours later and calls wouldn't go through. Oh how much we depend on technology!
At one point my new friend was going to be able to get two tickets for both of us but I left with a higher hope for my next attempt to get in.So what did I do? Sun was now down and time was ticking. I heard from a friend (only friend I would see till 11:00 pm) that there was a girl that paid $50 to a Mexican worker to drive her on the golf cart passed the first entrance (didn't know yet there was two). So I paid him $20 once I passed the first entrance and the camping ground. It was like I was crossing the border! ha. So I get to what is the next check point for wristbands and I have no idea how I am going to get past this one. I spoke with some people that were in the same situation and two guys had told me they sneak underneath the fence every year. I thought to myself I am too old for this; however, seemed to be the only way to get in and my determination was very high as it always is once I want something.
Two guys went under and held it up for me, I started to slide under and they get caught. I run. I run to the other side and am shaking a bit from the adrenaline and looking through my purse for my phone. Can't find it. Think to myself this is the last thing I need right now. I go back to the scene of the crime ha and can't find it anywhere, had some guys call it and no dice. Look to my left a bit and a girl was like, "Is this yours?" It was, it was! Fewf! As cliche as it sounds, good karma was on my side!
It was now somewhere past 9 pm and I had missed Hockey, Yeasayer, Passion Pit, Aeroplane, Ra Ra Riot, and She & Him. Having one girl tell me her group was going to climb another fence, I said to her, "Nope, not going for a second time, once was enough."I had one option left. I could just ask one of the workers (that were volunteers) that were checking wristbands to just let me in. I walked up to one of the volunteers whom I thought could be cool and when he asked to see my wristband, I just looked up at him with hope and a soft voice, "Could you please just let me in?" He looked at me, waved, and said, "Go ahead." I ran through the festival in the darkness with the biggest smile on my face! I was finally in after all that time! Of course I couldn't get a hold of any of my friends, so my solo adventure continued. I didn't want to use my phone to check set times (because of low battery) and I couldn't find a lil booklet so I went from stage to stage to see who was playing.
I saw Them Crooked Vulturesfor a hot second which sounded pretty good but was too impatient to stay. I ran to La Roux for a couple of minutes standing way in the back but wasn't able to enjoy it and was still impatient to see who else was playing. I then jump to Grizzly Bear in the next tent for 10 minutes. They sounded great and I was able to get a pretty good spot. I then found a booklet to check to see when LCD Soundsystem was playing because that was my major goal because of the time I got in.I had 15 minutes to quench my overdue thirst and have two ice cold beers and go to the main stage and see my first full concert of the day.Within the first couple minutes of complete LCD bliss, I realized that everything I went through today and my ambition to be able to get into this festival was all completely worth it. That is the third time I've seen them and it has always been an amazing set with James Murphy at the forefront pouring his heart into his lyrics and letting the band member's instruments mash up to be a big rocking dance party. That it was! I think the only disappointment was the number of glowsticks around me...enough already with the glowsticks! They played a couple of songs from the new album and of course classics; such as, "All my friends" (my favorite) and "Losing my edge". Of course during, "All my friends", the part where he sings, "Where are your friends tonight?", I threw up my hands with pure emotion because I couldn't find any of them and at that point I really wanted to see my friends! Nonetheless I had a great solo LCD experience and so glad that I was able to make it in!
When the show was over I went to see Fever Ray (Karin Dreijer Andersson - she is one half of the Knife) on the other side of the festival which had already begun. The Mojave tent was beaming with a serious light show that was mysteriously dark as is her music, it really put you in her world. I wasn't really close enough to see too much, particularly the costumes which for me was probably good because as much as I like the Fever Ray project, the visuals are too dark for me. I am easily scared and often have nightmares even from just watching the news! ha The music was beautiful and was quite an experience just from far away. My crew was up close and said it was amazing.
I left Fever Ray to jump over to Whitest Boy Alive in the Gobi tent. I was in the middle of the crowd by the outside which was nice and cool. It was a great change of pace from F.R. and especially for being my last show to close out my roller coaster day! They were playful and their easy listening tunes put the crowd in a very cheerful and dancy mood. Ten minutes in and I looked over to my right and poof! I finally got to see a familiar face, that was a great feeling! It was an old friend who randomly was on my flight from MIA to LAX. His friend came to pick him up at the airport and was so nice to give me a ride to my friend's place which would have been a $50-70 cab ride! So at last I got to share my story you just read with someone I knew, it had been bubbling inside of me all day!
During the show, I finally got a hold of my crew and we were scheduled to meet at the ferris wheel at 12:30. If you've never been to Coachella, for future reference you must have a meeting place with your friends, it is essential well because with 85,000 it's not so easy to find your friends! Upon waiting for them at the ferris wheel, I was nervous not to find them especially considering my phone had just died and the day that I had. Luckily 10 minutes later, I saw the lucky green tshirt my friend was wearing and ran to them! Oh it was a great feeling. When we finally go to the car, it took us 2.5 hours to get out of parking lot, it was a disaster! Well more a disaster for my friend whom was driving. I was planning on going somewhere after although it was just too late after that. After the day I had when we got home, it was time to just get some rest and hope that the next day wouldn't be nearly as difficult. However, I am sure if it came down to it I would do it all over again.
Radio Ink is an electro-rock outfit from Sydney, Australia. Previously I posted a great Diamond Cuts remix for their debut single 'Wish U Were Here' over here.
Recently they released new single 'Give Me What You Got' which is accompanied by this smoking video featuring the lovely Miss S in full rock star mode with screeching guitars singing how 'Anything can happen, with the lights out'. Yes! That means I got a chance! She's got a hell of a voice to accompany those model-like looks. They sent us a nu-disco radio edit to share with our readers. If you like what you hear the single + more remixes are available for purchase at your friendly neighborhood iTunes.
Posted an excellent Grum Remix of LA electro-rock duo Jump Jump Dance Dance'strack 'Show Me The Night' last week here. Today I found a shiny new video for the original. Pretty cool track/video! Glad to see color is still in fashion in 2010.
Big fan of Kent! They are one of the biggest rock bands in Sweden, unfortunately they're not as known around the world. In the late 90's they tried to reach outside their fan base by recording albums with English vocalson 'Isola' in 97' and 'Hagnesta Hill' in 99' in addition to recording in their native tongue of Swedish which they had always done. That was around the time that I got into them and fell in love with them. Both those albums are amazing! I highly recommend you look into both of those. Unfortunately their experiment wasn't as successful as they would have liked and they kinda gave up on the idea of recording albums in both Swedish and English and now only record their albums in Swedish. Check out this great post on Indie Paws if you wanna go more in depth on their entire history, album by album.
Recently they released their 8th album titled 'Rod' and even though I can't understand what their singing about their music is still as amazing and beautiful as ever! This new album sees them flirting more with electronic elements than the albums I grew up listening to, but they still have a good balance of rock and electronics and their trademark dark and moody flavor is still there.
Their first single from the album is 'Tuntarna' which they've put out this great video for. Here is that plus a high quality live performance and a couple tracks from the album. Keep it up Kent! You still have fans all around the world that love you guys, even in Miami! Who would have thought?
Midnight Juggernauts who I posted their new track 'This New Technology' a couple of weeks ago here, just released the accompanying trippy new video for it. It's an LCD blast! Mushrooms anyone?
One of my favorite bands of (07/08) Midnight Juggernauts are back with a brand spanking New Single entitled 'This New Technology'. Love these guys from down under! Their new single leaves right were they left off, kicking electronic rock ass! Can't wait for the long player which should be hitting us sometime early next year.
For now sample on this...
P.S.Pre-order the Limited Edition 7' Record with an Exclusive B-Side on their label Acephale Recordshere. Limited to only 500 one time pressings these will surely fly fast!
They sound like a mixture of Phoenix,Van She and The Cars. Which equals joy to my ears!
Been jamming their new album 'You Need Pony Pony Run Run' the last few days and I'd say that's a pretty accurate statement.
The first single's called 'Hey You' and is a grooving poppy number accompanied by a great summer video for it.
Seems they released stems to the single as there's lots of remixes out there for it. My favorites so far are their own PPRR dance remix (a bonus track on the album), the completely leftfield slower take by Mondkopfand the tweeked up version by Miami's own Mister James!, who's been putting out some great remix work.
All excellent remixes with their own unique take on it. Here are those for your listening pleasure. You can buy the album on Itunes now, like right this second!
WhoMadeWho were formed in 2005 in Copenhagen, Denmark. They infectiously blend rock, dance and the love of David Bowie into a euphoric disco-mash. One can definitely hear the post-punk and new-wave influences. Groups such as Magazine and A Certain Ratio come to mind.
The band just released their sophomore album The Plot on Gomma Records. The lead single TV Friend opens with an ominous woodwind arrangement before lead singer Tomas Hoefding begins chanting "No, No, No" over a slick nu-disco beat. The song Trickster is full of funky bass lines and surf-esque guitar licks. Debbie Harry would approve!
If you are a fan of disco-revivalists Hercules & Love Affair or Aeroplane then this band is for you. So to give you a little taste of the album, here is the club mix for the track The Plot as well as TV Friend.
Can't wait for the arrival of Franz Ferdinand's Highly Anticipated 3rd AlbumTONIGHT which will be released January the 26th in the UK and the 27th here in the U.S.!
That first self titled album that they put out back in 2004 was my absolute favorite! I couldn't stop playing that record for months. I had to have been one of their biggest fans. It spawned many hits starting with the classic high flying anthem 'Take Me Out' which still works to this day as well as providing the upswing for the 'Indie Rock' movement that took over for a couple years there, along with contemporaries The Killers, Modest Mouse, Interpol etc. You all remember those don't you?
They went on to release their second album 'You Could Have it So Much Better' the following year in 2005. It was more of a guitar record and although possibly technically better than their first, it didn't quite have that raw dance energy their debut had.
Three years on and 'Tonight' is upon us. The bands been saying this new record is alot more drug and dancefloor friendly than 'You Could Have It' and more similar to that first disc's energy and dancier grooves. If the first single in any indication they may be right. 'Ulysses' has lead singer Alex eniticng you to 'Let's Get High' and how wild that last night and how you're never going home, so that assessment may be right. Can't wait to hear the whole thing!
In the mean time here's first single 'Ulysses' plus my favorite remix for it so far by Herr Kaschke.I Miss My Juno did a pretty impressive remix also that can be found on Hype Machine. They released stems from Ulysess earlier last month for remixers, so we should be getting plenty different interpretations of Ulysses in the coming months.
Posted Heartbeat from UK's Late of the Pier not too long ago, but I've been digging their new album Fantasy Black Channel so thought I'd post a couple more. Seems they were produced by Erol Alkan (no wonder they're so good!). In the vein of bands like The Klaxons, they put out high energy electro rock suitable for the dancefloor.
They also recently made it on the cover of an old favorite of mine NME. Here's a snippet of what NME had to say about them.
"It's something fresh, original and very smart. Prepare yourself: this band are the future"
Now NME tends to be pretty fickle so who knows for how long they will keep liking them, but their off to a great start!
