Saturday, April 30, 2005

yancey strickler with a brief but insightful post re: Boys on the Bus, Timothy Crouse's history of the White House press corps during Nixon.

speaking of which, the idea of careerism and the white house press corps (especially today) has always fascinated me. if you are a rabblerouser doing the type of reporting that reporters are supposed to do, then you're not going to last long in this administration's briefing room. its two-fold: you want to keep your high-profile position that will surely lead to something more lucrative (why do you think cnn's john king is still doing the obligatory white house west stand-up in front of the hay bale?), and if you write something that pisses off the white house communications office, bloomp! there goes your access. in essence, they have reporters by the balls, right where they want them. the solution to this? one positive is the development of people like josh marshall, bloggers who wont swallow mclellan's rhetoric from the podium verbatim, and have developed enough influence (hill and beyond), to set an agenda and keep things in the spotlight that need to be. its not the be all end all, but its a good start.

my question is, the way things are now, why even have a white house briefing room?
ROCK ROCK ROLL PLYMOUTH ROCK ROLL OVER
this came to me courtesy of an early smile bootleg that my friend karl briedrick passed along. much better than the version on the formal release, in my opinion...

the beach boys- do you like worms?
LABEL HENCHMEN GO AWAY

the new nine inch nails record, with teeth, is far from the disappointment i feared. i'm really, really vibing on it. buy it when it comes out on may 3rd, but here's a taste to whet the appetite:
nine inch nails- the hand that feeds
and
nine inch days- every day is exactly the same
I SAW YOU DANCING ON THE STREET

ok. this track has been getting a LOT of music blog attention from perpetua and the like. i didnt quite get it at first (likely due to the whole distracted two-second listen at work thing), but wow. i get it now.

captain comatose- to my song


ill be singing this on the street for the rest of the day. i can already imagine the music video in my head.
BREAKING

riff central interviews rex the dog. but not really
speaking of electronic music (as i often do), the new earplug.cc is out. please let us know what you think of it here.
RUN INTO FLOWERS

My friend philip sherburne on the new superpitcher remix of m83 and why (nova)mute is owning things right now. He's one of my fav music writers (to see why, click here to read his piece on new order in sf weekly), so read his blog if you dont already mmkay?
I WAS YOUNG I NEEDED THE MONEY.

i cannot wait until these, and these photos show up at a senate confirmation hearing in 20-30 years. the internet remembers. totes not SFW.
THREE FOR BURNT HEROES

jackson c. frank- blues run the game

big star- kanga roo
spiritualized- the ballad of richie lee

all three of these make my head spin. no other commentary. just download.

Thursday, April 28, 2005

RUNON SENTENCES

I just hate their self-righteous “we are so so ethical and anti-sweatshop but will totally capitalize on the fact that our models look like they are 15 and bent over a crappy ping pong table in stoner daves basement," vibe.
MAGDA MADE ME FLAPJACKS ONCE, FOR REALS.

This is one of the best things I've come across in awhile.
A choice excerpt between Richie guys Hawtin, Magda, and Ricardo Villalobos. Apologies for the ridiculously esoteric minimal techno nerdiness.
Download a nice mix from the guy responsible for the site here...

Richie: Magda, when I found you I told you that I would be the wise one and you would be the grasshopper?
Magda: Yeah Richie I remember that and if I should forget, you remind me of it every day!
Richie: Well its about 3pm Magda and its time for a cup of tea! Can you put the Philip Stark designer kettle on please?
Magda: PG Tips?
Richie: PG Fucking tips? Im Richie Hawtin! I don't drink PG fucking Tips! Get me a cup of that Lapsang Souching and make it snappy grasshopper!
Magda: One day you're gonna be sorry for this Richie
Richie: Do I have to remind you that Miss Freaking Dinky is after a room in a trendy central Berlin duplex??
Magda: I'll put the kettle on.
Richie: Make sure its a minimal cup grasshopper.
Ricardo: Did someone say minimal?
Richie: Hey Ricardo!
Magda: Hey Ricardo!
Es gibt ein Pinguin auf meinem Schrank.
THE REALLY GOOD ONES

My roommate Greg K. played the stellar Kieran Hebden edit of The Kills' The Good Ones out the other night. We first heard about it on Ewan Pearson's blog, where he says, "...hopefully someone will do the same with 'Hot Wow'; it already has a rhythm track which sounds something like Plastikman through an AC30."

With a description like that, I had to re-listen to the track, and confirm now that he's dead fucking on. Have a listen for yourselves...and someone please fire up your Ableton and have a go at a quick dancefloor edit!

The Kills- No Wow
This one comes from Markus Guentner's new LP on Kompakt, 1981. It's easily the best piece of new electronic music I've heard yet in 2005 (though this might change when i get my hands on the new Isolee LP). Up there with Konrad Black's White Cigarettes as my favorite droney/ ambient house tune.

Markus Guentner: Jellyfish
I'm very keen to check out his 2001 release In Moll, evidently made when he was twenty years old...
The folks at Stylus magazine have a great section called The Stypod. Download the the Ants in My Trance Vol II Mix here.
Some highlights: YYY's Y Control (Tommie Sunshine Brooklyn Fire Retouch), Out Hud - "One Life to Leave (A Requiem), Roots Manuva - "Colossal Insight (Soft Pink Truth Remix)" (Big Dada, 2005)

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Been looking back through stacks of CD's and crates of records, revisiting things I haven't heard in awhile.

...Enjoying the Trapist album Ballroom, that came out on Thrill Jockey around a year ago. Here's a little review I wrote for earplug

Artist: Trapist
Album: Ballroom
Label: Thrill Jockey

The first studio album from Vienna-based trio Trapist, Ballroom, is improv jazz first, electronic music second. The musicians — bassist Joe Williamson, Radian's drummer Martin Brandlmayr, and the prolific guitarist Martin Siewert — laid down the original tracks live, with no predetermined structure, and then went back to edit and overdub. What's notable about the recordings is the degree to which texture is made audible: a drumstick scratching back and forth over the snare drum head, the dull ring of a hand-muffled ride cymbal, perhaps even the creak of the drum stool. Silence is almost as important as sound, as evidenced by the vast, empty spaces of "Time Axis." Spacey yet restrained, chaotic yet rhythmic, Ballroom argues for the symbiotic relationship between electronic music and improvisational jazz. (CJN)

Trapist- The Meaning Of Flowers
Ed DMX, who's released on Rephlex and his own Breakin' imprint, lays down a nice electro breakz set for MP3 download here. Check out the tracklisting.
Lex records' Subtle remixing Beck's Farewell Ride. Really good stuff. Direct download here.
Dj Rupture's blog is probably one of the most interesting reads ive come across in some time. Everything from downloadable mp3 mixes recorded for german radio, to musings re: the implications of the new pope's anti contraceptive stance for the 120 million black Catholics in the AIDS-ravaged African continent.
hello to catchdubs readers!

im reposting this for your benefit. jamie lidell live in london. watch it now. trust me.
ACIDISCO

im convinced luke vibert smokes spliffs like cigarettes a la steve zizou. all of his stuff just blows me away, most recently his kerrier district disco LP

this is from his acid record, YosepH, which came out on warp in 2003. its not all blurty, nostalgiac 303 blurps though... you'll find there is a very modern sheen to things.

i love acid

people that grew up in/around cornwall (off the top of my head)
luke vibert
richard d james (aphex twin)
tom middleton
mark pritchard

all of which are stunningly talented producers/ djs.
And the light it blinds my eyes.

Underworld were one of the bands that served as my introduction to the house/techno side of electronic music (photek handled the dnb/ breaks side) back in the day.

Underworld: Dirty Epic


This track makes the hairs stand up on my arm. Its the feeling of a late night transatlantic plane ride when you're awake and everyone else is asleep.

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

The Guardian on the UK's "Happy Slapping" craze
Excerpt:
In a comment recently posted on a London community web forum, "Happyslapper2" described the craze as a "joke", writing: "If you feel bored wen ur about an u got a video phone den bitch slap sum norman, innit."

erm.
the folks at gomma have a great mix archive going on. i've been vibing on the munk and kiki mixes lately...check em asap.
been revisiting the absolutely brilliant super_collider record lately. it was far, far ahead of its time, and i hope people will get on it.
an excerpt from my friend aaron rietz' prefixmag.com review:

Opener "Messagesacomin" is the sound of an otherworldly elastic dance floor, stretching and confounding space-time. A sci-fi feel, but less Max Rebo Band and more a robo-funk Prince promising things about 1999, if you get my angle. The sonic minutia is astounding, similar to the last few Autechre records as a bar-by-bar evolving beast. It conjures up images of a giant swirling android floating among the wrecked and twisted debris of an urban dystopia. Gears a-whir, "Messagesacomin" picks among the surrounding trash, dull and shiny bits alike, while hovering about, processing the pieces, shooting them back at random. The whole thing coalesces into a maddeningly ephemeral rhythm. You want to dance, but to do so properly would only be to flail about and stutter. This is music to have a seizure to.


also, be sure to check super_collider TV, which is a series of short videos set to the music that influenced the record- from ESG to Del Shannon Ennio Morricone.

Monday, April 25, 2005

my friend nick catchdubs has really stepped up his djing game as of late. check his new mix: oh snap. i put it in about an hour ago, and im completely sold.
wha?
a really clever idea from the organizers of glastonbury. essentially, due to noise restrictions past midnight, they are handing out 3,000 sets of wireless headphones for people to listen to the DJ set with.

Emily Eavis, one of the organizers said, "I like the idea of people dancing in total silence," said Emily Eavis, one of the festival organisers and daughter of the founder Michael Eavis. "Imagine if you were feeling a bit worse for wear and thought, 'This would be a nice quiet place to sit down.'

"You would be completely freaked out to see 3,000 people dancing in silence. It's certainly quirky, but our big push this year is keeping the noise down because that's what the council is keen on."

Attention New York club owners! Spare yourself the money for the fuck off system that you'll never really be able to crank up due to pesky neighbors and noise ordinances. Buy tons of amazing sennheiser wireless headphones and do the aforementioned instead. I'll be there.
a creepy, yet timely, little interlude in boards of canada's geogaddi

energy warning
and
one of their more tripped out & percussive tracks
gyroscope
i wrote about marsen jules' debut LP a bit earlier in the week. here's a beautiful rework he did for autoplate artist arrial:
aarial- shiver (marsen jules rework)

Sunday, April 24, 2005

hi to everyone visiting from sarah's blog. i hope you find something you like.

on to the music:

super_collider- messagescomin'
in anticipation of jamie lidell's new LP on warp, here's a taste of his earlier project with christian vogel. absolutely warped electofunk with soulful vocals.

****as an added bonus, check out this live video of lidell performing in london! jawdropping stuff.

joy division- love will tear us apart (squarepusher cover)
stumbled upon this the other day, and its fucking sublime. thankfully, squarepusher didnt decide to get all syncopated on us, and stayed fairly true to the original.

akufen- skidoos
my favorite track from montreal microhouse producer akufen's debut, my way. this is much more on the ambient house tip, and doesn't get too glitched out. a beautiful track

superpitcher- lover's rock

one of the best electronic producers at the moment, hands down. though he's known for his remixes (most recently of m83), this track comes off of his debut, here comes love. best described as melancholic pop polished to a sheen.

deadbeat- port-au-prince
another one from the montreal scene, most of deadbeat's productions can be best decribed as dub techno, in the vein of pole. this is off his to-be-released new world observer LP.

bollywood freaks-she rocks my prada, i dior her chanel.
a one-off cut they did for a collette compilation CD.
once, just once, do i want to hear this played on a new york city dancefloor. then i will die happy

Friday, April 22, 2005

Kompakt launches digital downloads
forthcoming in earplug.cc

Kompakt, Cologne's powerhouse techno label, distributor, and retail store, has announced the launch of a new MP3 download site, giving electronic-music fans around the globe access to the label's back catalogue, along with releases (and audio samples) from 50 associated imprints such as Traum and Areal. According to label co-founder Wolfgang Voigt, traditional wax remains the label's most important format, but new media offer an easy way to distribute music around the world. Additionally, Voigt suggests, the label needs to embrace a broader market: those who listen to music on their iPods, as well as the new class of digital DJs. Individual tracks may be purchased from the site for 1.29 Euro, and at reduced cost for full singles and full albums. Record crates just got lighter; and so did wallets. (CJN)
Check this absolutely amazing Seraph mix by Pablo from the Psychonauts.
Also, the free association mix is well worth checking out. Its pab mixing tunes from David Holmes' Free Association record that came out in 2003.
some tunes:

Gwen Stefani - What You Waiting For (Jacques Lu Cont's Thin White Duke Vocal Mix)
future misshapes anthem like whoa!

The Normal - Warm Leatherette
one of my fav tunes ever. released in 1978 on Mute and based around J.G. ballard's crash. piss-take of a song (or is it!?), but bear in mind this when this was made.

OMR- The Way We Have Chosen (Ellen Allien remix)
super punky slab of electro. amazing.

Halloween trance remix
Yes, that's right...a trance remix of the halloween theme. A karl briedrick partymix favorite, this was alledgedly done by a member of arab strap. dont quote me on that, but im pretty damn sure.

Rachel Stevens- Some Girls (radio edit)
schaffel-pop rumbler produced by richard x. one of the catchiest things to come out in '04

Boards of Canada-1969
Love this one, especially at 3:21 or so. check it and you'll see.

Lindstrom- There's a drink in my bedroom and I need a hot lady
Norwegian disco with colliding Moroder-esque basslines that sounds like Can doing disco remixes. This track rules.

Bone Thugs- Tha' Crossroads
I'm too tired for any commentary, but I think this one speaks for itself.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Jess Harvell's excellent Pitchfork feature on DJ Clever, one of the most important figures in the drum & bass scene today.
ewan pearson's latest music picks. guy's got amazing taste, writes well, and is one hell of a remixer. check it asap.
a little mix for april.
email me if you'd like a copy

No G.D.M. / Gina X
Trans Europe Express/ Kraftwerk
Pendulum / Broadcast
That's The Way I Like It/Pixeltan
Magnetic/Psychonauts
And Many More /John Tejada
Rise /Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom
To My Song /Captain Comatose
Got It Twisted Sister (The Rapture Vs. Mobb Deep)/Dopplebanger
Do They Owe Us A Living? (Crass)/The Soft Pink Truth
Ghost Rider/Suicide
Vitalic/ Fanfares
My Red Hot Car / Squarepusher
Hi-Jacked /Markus Guentner
Dexter/Ricardo villalobos
Love Will Tear Us Apart/Joy Division (Squarepusher cover)
Maps / Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Ada cover)
Marsen Jules
Herbstlaub
City Centre Offices
a version to appear in earplug

Though the literal translation of Marsen Jules' debut album is "Autumn Leaves," the album pulses with a vitality perhaps better suited to the budding leaves of an impending spring. Consisting of both live and sampled instrumentation, Jules has created a cohesive ambient work that draws equally upon electronics and subdued orchestral arrangements to convey a range of emotion, from warm childhood nostalgia and elation, to the doldrums of melancholy. The tracks unfold their limbs in an organic fashion, with no defined structure, but rather a hazy, open sprawl. "Tous Les Coeurs De Cette Terre," the album’s most emotive piece, consists of gentle string plucks nestled against warm tape hiss and understated swells of sound -- reminiscent in tone to Colleen’s debut LP, Everyone Alive Wants Answers. “Aurore” is considerably more uplifting, with warm, watercolor tones panning and surging. The track, like many others on the album, allows for vivid visual imagery, a testament to Jules promising talent as a composer.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Streams: DIRTY

Forthcoming in Flavorpill.net

Always quick on the draw for new music, the folks at Dirty have stepped up their considerable game to another level. The site now features in-depth interviews with ones-to-watch Hot Chip, as well as Chicken Lips Andy Meecham’s sci-fi disco prototype side product, The Emperor Machine. On the mix front, Richard Fearless from Death in Vegas, who’s new LP Satan’s Circus drops May 24, lays down a stellar dub set that’ll leave the heads satisfied. Dj Rupture mixes his twitchy blend of beats, breaks and machine funk on three decks, while the Optimo DJ’s present one of their splendidly eclectic sets from Sub Club in Glascow.

Richard Fearless: Dirty Mix
(Dub)

Dj Rupture: Dirty Mix
(Breaks/ Machine Funk)

Optimo: Sub Club live set
(Postmodern clubbing)
oh dear.
can't sleep.

some tunes:
ellen allien- down
from her forthcoming LP thrills. mmm. tunes for dark berlin basement bassbins.

mylo- in my arms
too fucking good.

beck- broken drum (boards of canada mix)
how often do the boc remix anything? last things i remember were their forgetable mix of clouddead's dead dogs two, and a super good remix of boom bip's last walk around mirror lake-- which is the most stoned out name for a track ever.
the best house track i've heard in a long time.
familiar to most as the opening track on mmayer's fabric 13 mix, and the closer

heiko voss- i think about you (original mix)



also, the soft pink truth- do they owe us a living

and the ada cover of yyy's maps
hm.
been awhile since any sort of actual update.
how about a session of feeling/ really feeling/ a la blissblog?

really feeling:
platinum pied pipers- triple p
silouette brown- self titled
colleen- the golden morning breaks (wow!)
fannypack- see you next tuesday
ellen allien- thrills
dedbeat- new world observer (wow!)
alex smoke- incommunicado
jaga- what we must
solvent- elevators and oscillators
markus guentner-1981 (wow!)
the glimmers- dj kicks
ellen allien- thrills


feeling- death in vegas- satans circus (have a feeling its a grower)
monika force comp
max hecker- lady sleep

singles:
lady sov- random
jamie lidell- multiply
maps (ada cover of the yyy's)
beck-broken drum- boc remix.

stay tuned for an mp3 blog in collaboration with nate cunningham.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Fluxblog

from 4/19 Flavorpill.net

Part of what makes music blogs so intriguing is that they enable you to dig quite a bit deeper than usual and revel in obsessive fandom. As such, Fluxblog is an essential daily read. Founder Matthew Perpetua mines genre after genre, selecting the freshest, freakiest, and finest tracks — based on pure merit and/or what's close to his heart — and writes a synopsis of each one, providing plenty of context for further exploration. It's a great way to discover new sounds, and Perpetua conveniently links to a purchase site for those who want to own the entire record. Curious to hear the original track that LCD Soundsystem covered when they played NYC recently? Want to read an insightful review of Annie's US debut? Fancy a cut from the forthcoming Fannypack LP? All this and more lies within the Flux. (CJN)

Monday, April 11, 2005

It's refreshing to see someone rewarded for his hard work and dedication to disseminating underexposed music. Since his early days as a student at NYU, Tim Sweeney's been doing just that as both one of NYC's hardest-gigging DJs, and as host of the Beats in Space mix show. Over the years, his guests have ranged from the turntable cut-and-paste dons Coldcut, to innovative DJs like Maurice Fulton, and beyond. The past few weeks have seen a high level assortment of musical talent, including Germany's Thomas Fehlmann (with a live laptop set), a new mix from Output's Trevor Jackson, and an in-studio appearance from Mu. (CJN)

Thomas Fehlmann: Live in-studio (Minimal/dub)

Trevor Jackson: Live(Electro-disco)

Mu: Live in-studio (Mutant disco)
Polymorphic Music was founded to showcase the label's artists, as well as to serve as a free, high-quality clearinghouse for the more experimental side of electronic music. It's not all spaced-out ambient and drone, however. Bands like Psapp feature handcrafted, textured electronic pop, while Kieran Hebden's influential post-rock project Fridge gets equal play. In this installment, check the new White_Line offering, featuring the astonishingly talented Marsen Jules, as well as Lusine and Taylor Dupree. Next, J. Auer showcases the best of the Detroit-influenced Boltfish and Rednetic labels, and finally, Hal's Assembler brings in electronica, jazz, and even krautrock. (CJN)

SI_COMM: WHITE_LINE 5 (Ambient)

J. Auer: Rednetic mix(Detroit house)

HAL: Assembler mix(Electro / krautrock)

Saturday, April 09, 2005

Artist: Evil Nine
Album: You Can Be Special Too
Label: Marine Parade
Release: March 29

After a series of high-profile remixes for the likes of Steve Bug, UNKLE, and Ils, Evil Nine have taken their rough 'n tumble approach to breaks and applied it to a cohesive artist album. The duo's music features meaty, overdriven live bass lines and raw, organic drums that stand out as fresh amid a breakbeat sea of recycled sounds. "Crooked," featuring Aesop Rock, is the album's standout — a hip-house/breaks number blending rapid-fire vocal delivery and menacing synth stabs with big room atmospherics, it's a tune that could work in a sweaty hip-hop backroom, or on one of the world's biggest systems. "Pearl Shot" uses the same formula, with a more standard B-boy delivery over taut breaks and distorted guitar. Though a few of their technology-obsessed samples seem overdone, Evil Nine inject a much-needed dose of rock 'n roll swagger into the mix. (CJN)
Annie
Tribeca Grand Appearance
April 14, 2005

A version to appear on www.flavorpill.net

Norway’s Annie, much like M.I.A., has ascended to popularity vis-à-vis the international blogging cognoscenti. So quickly in fact, that Pitchfork named her single, “Chewing Gum” within the top 100 singles of 2000-2004 and “Heartbeat,” the best single of 2004. Her sound is pop with electro undertones, and quite simply, it’s the most addictive thing you’re likely to hear in some time. With high profile remixes from Royksopp and Headman, and some production on her forthcoming LP, Anniemal, from Richard X, the result is a perfect mix of studio-savvy and can’t-get-it-out-of-your-head pop sensibility. Tonight is her live US debut.

Note: Annie is joined by James Friedman, Max Pask, and the Misshapes Djs.