A must-read piece by NY Mag's Ben Williams on Scott Walker.

Claro Intelecto- Nobody
Colleen- Everyone alive wants answers

Squarepusher- My red hot car

An interesting piece in the Guardian by Nick Paton Walsh, reflecting on his past four years reporting on the Presidency of Vladmir Putin.

Petter-Some Polyphony
Keith Kenniff- Door of our home

The new Stylus Beatz is out today, and I've got a review of the new Padded Cell 12'. Check it!

FYI: Philip Sherburne's new Month in Techno column is up at Pitchfork.

Kelis feat. Too $hort- Bossy
Bossy (Alan Braxe & Fred Falke Remix)

Thanks to Toby for pointing the remix out. I'm also keen to hear the Switch version.

Oh, what a feeling!

Headman- Moisture (Mustapha 3000 Remix)
Lionel Ritchie- Dancing on the ceiling

Popnoname-On the Run

Attention New York City: Mathew Jonson is playing live at PS1 on the 19th of August. Don't sleep on this one.

A quick mid-year, top-ten chart of albums/ singles/ ep's that have been doing it for me so far:

Marsen Jules- Les Fleurs (City Center Offices)
Burial-s/t (Hyperdub)
Cobblestone Jazz- Dump Truck/Peace Offering (Wagon Repair)
The Knife- Silent Shout (Rabid)
DJ Koze- Kosi Comes Around Remixes Part 1 (Kompakt)
Dabrye- Two/Three (Ghostly)
Dwayne Sodahberk- Cut Open (Tigerbeat6)
Padded Cell- Are you anywhere (DC)
Alex Smoke- Paradolia (Soma)
Delta 5- Singles and Sessions 1979-1981 (Kill Rock Stars)

And- drumroll please...My favorite ever mix from Beats in Space:

The Avalanches- November 29, 2001

Listen to the Beach Boys "Matchpoint of our Love" into a slowed down Chemical Brothers "Star Guitar," into a sped-up KLF "3 AM Eternal" into what sounds like West London broken beat version of "Breathe, stop" played at plus 8 like whoa. Highlight? Dropping the intro to the live version of Underworld's Cowgirl/ Rezza over "It Began in Africa" and mixing in the intro to "Welcome to the Jungle" over it. Listen please.

Roni Size- Brown paper bag
Roni Size- Share the fall
Boom Bip- Closed shoulders (cLOUDDEAD Remix)
Fennesz- Perlen Für Euch

A few quick tracks before I'm off to California:

Psychonauts- Magnetic
Psychonauts- Hips for Scotland
The Spades- We sell soul
Spacemen 3- We sell soul
Mylo feat Freeform Five - Muscle car (Justus Kohncke workout remix)

Interesting NY Times travel piece on Tbilisi, Georgia.

Franz Ferdinand- Outsiders (Isolee remix)

Troy Pierce- GRVL

Slate's Fred Kaplan weighs in on the lack of any substantive US diplomatic involvement.

Rhythm & Sound- Dem Never Know (Sleeparchive Remix) w/ Jah Cotton
Sleeparchive- Bleep 4

Oh, and Mr. Ewan Pearson has some new recommendations for you over here.

MONDAY MONDAY

The Emperor Machine- Lift up chong and see
Boards of Canada- Eagle in your mind
Unai- Heart is to the left

Gregory from Belgravia Dispatch weighs in on the lack of US diplomatic involvement in Israel over the past few days:

Hezbollah rocket-fire kills 8 Israeli civilians in Haifa, and over 100 Lebanese (mostly civilians as well) are now dead too in the ongoing violence. Olmert is promising a response with "far-reaching consequences" to the Haifa attack. Israeli infantry reserves are reportedly being called up, and there are reports Syrian reserves are as well. It is not unlikely, given the escalating violence, that a major Israeli ground incursion may be in the cards over the coming days, especially if continued application of airpower over the coming days does not serve to prevent further major attacks on the Israeli heartland. Meantime, the U.S. Secretary of State is not traveling to the region, or even, apparently, thinking in serious fashion about the broad parameters of a realistically workable cease-fire, as apparently events don't yet warrant such expenditure of American diplomatic prestige and capital. That's rather interesting, you might say.

Also, an analysis re: why the US is looking to others in this instance. Some key points:

The reasons the U.S. is watching this crisis from the sidelines are many: The Bush administration has been preoccupied with Iraq, it does not have diplomatic ties with the Middle Eastern countries that matter in this escalation, and it has been unwilling to pressure Israel to avoid military response when Tel Aviv's security is threatened. The U.S. position represents a change from earlier days — such as the administration of the first President Bush, who enlisted diplomats like James Baker and Brent Skowcroft to ease tensions — when America brought pressure to bear on all parties, including Israel, to slam the Pandora's box back shut.

Sort of an odd track, but you've gotta love the bassline in this one. It'll grow on you, promise.

Paul Kalkbrenner- Dockyard

Slate's Jack Shafer on Gawker Media's Nick Denton.

I realize these have been floating around elsewhere, but grab 'em if you haven't had the chance to listen:

Henrik Schwarz/Ame/Dixon feat. Derrick Carter- Where we at?
Brightblack Morninglight- Everybody Daylight

Also, in some sad news, Syd Barrett, of Pink Floyd fame, passed away today.

How to smile 63 percent more during the day:
Download Royksopp's Eple as your polyphonic ringtone. Tried and true.

I've got some downtime after having just missed an early AM flight, so a few things for you:

I don't know much about this mix other than a. its quite good and b. it was handed out at the Kompakt beach party in Barcelona during Sonar. I'm assuming it has something to do with Mayer and Lazarus' London and Ibiza-based Stink nights. If anyone has additional info, please pass along and I will update accordingly. Cheers to Jimmy Jung for sending this.

Michael Mayer/ Damian Lazarus mix.

Other stuff:

-The new issue of the Pop Manifesto is up and running. Check out my brief interview with Vitalic if you get a second. There's also a cool interview with my pal Gordon Hull of Surface 2 Air.

-Richard Carnage of Tape fame with his "Don't Techno for an answer" mix available for your consumption here. Tracklist here.

-One Louder with a good post on the KLF.

-Nick Parish with some good Sonar photos and recaps.

And a few reposts for good measure:

Love is All- Make out fall out make up
Broker/Dealer- Stormy
Unkle- In a state (DFA mix)

Happy Fourth!

A few things:

-My friend and Boldtype editor Toby Warner reporting from Senegal.

-Rory Stewart's account of his 2002 walk across Afghanistan is a must-read. Check out an NYT review here.

-Stop by Modifyer for a weekly smattering of the most interesting new electronic tracks. This girl spends crazy time listening and discovering new sounds for your benefit.

-Philip Sherburne's got a new mix up from Lolita in Barcelona. For those of you in the area, he plays with Konrad(ical) Black at Raum the 27th of July. Check it if you can.

-DJ Rupture's blog is a must for your bookmarks. He's got plenty of great mixes on there.

-Sick Girls!

-Wagon Repair's put out the new Cobblestone Jazz EP, and Mr. Soft at Tape has one of his incredibly insightful (and hilarious) reviews included in a comprehensive roundup of new rackords.

-In case you missed it from a few weeks back, here's my Flavorpill review of Dwayne Sodahberk's new one. It is a really cool record that's worth your time. Promise!

-Finally, a cool mini-Minus doc via Youtube, which brought "Gem Sweater" to this blog earlier in the week. Thanks to Hector for pointing it out.

DJ Shadow- Three Freaks

Green Velvet- Flash

Aphex Twin- Xtal

The Knife- Silent Shout