The keyboard wealding guy riding in his porcupine is Mocky. Currently residing in Berlin, this Canadian born singer is getting ready to release his new album Navy Brown Blues. Mocky makes music which is always hard to describe - a weird mix of electro, soul, r'n b and rap. He describes it as: "My vision of pop" - This seems a reasonable catagorization, but you don't need to worry about that. You need only enjoy his smooooth voice and funny texts, a good example being breakthrough single Mickey Mouse Motherfuckers, which was his personal lament about having his name confused with mickey mouse (Something that would piss most of us off!)
When Mocky is not doing his thing he takes part of hilarious puppet rap group the Puppetmastaz. Besides that he is also a good friend of other Canadian ex-pat's Peaches, Jamie Lidell and Feist! One cool guy eh?
First song is the official single heralding the new album - Fightin' away the tears. A wonderful tune sounding like what you expect from a Mocky album with added vocals from Feist. I really like the very leaned back attitude of this song - actually this would probably make good café music. It sound like what Nora Jones would sound like if she was any good, plus its funny. Finally note the ooouuh ohh ouuh of Mocky, that a man who knows what it takes to be cool.
Second song is like the first song from the new album. Actually I like this song more than the single, but that only means that the album is going to be really good. What is there to say... Good dance tune, good vocals, a bouncy beat and good rhymes. This is what it feels like to actually have to climb a mountain of whipped cream wearing protection pads - it's that smooth!
So, this is as long as I could possibly hold this of. This post is going to be about my personal electronic guru, or what you might call him. So without further ado - Tiga! This Canadian DJ/Producer burst onto the music scene, with electroclash anthem sunglasses at night - A song which along with his good looks made him a spearhead of the scene. Once in an interview he was asked about why he makes the insanely good dance music he does - he answered: “We live in the Age of Cruelty and every day I struggle to find my place in it. All I know I can offer the world is a thousand more adventures through dancing and light.” - Hell Yeah! You gotta love a statement like that! After 'glasses Tiga released his excellent DJ-kicks album (This I feel is a must have in any dj's record bag) and along with that came the rather comical cover version of Nelly's Hot in Herre, still a bomb on the dancefloor. Bombs on dance floors is actually what Tiga is all about. I can't remember one single Tiga song or remix, that isn't like that. When it comes to Tiga, it's not a question of whether it is going to be a bomb, only how big it is going to be!
This post is also a part of the ongoing Roskilde Festival Warm-up series. I was really pleased to see that he was coming to Roskilde, actually ecstatic is more correct. I think the safe bet is on him getting the electronic tent Saturday evening, or at least that's what I hope. Hopefully this will not only be dj-set - I would really like to see him strut his stuff with some of the material of his new album, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
Finding songs for this days post was really hard - It was not a question of finding something to post, more a question of deciding what not to post. Seriously, I can't really find one single bad Tiga song/remix.
First song is of the new album Sexor (You gotta love that title!) and is called Far from Home. This song is basically the love child of Billy Jean and Stayin' Alive, just better. This song is not only perfect for every disco move in the book, but also for sort of walking like John Travolta (Picture the start of Saturday Night Fever) - Listening to this song while walking makes you so alpha you can't believe it, it's just that effective!
Second song is Tiga turning the right dials and knobs on an LCD Soundsystem tune. This remix is not typical of Tiga, normally he sings his remixes himself. Yet another reason to love Tiga. The original song by LCD Soundsystem was good, but when Tiga really kicks in the bass drum on this number, you are just transported to a whole new level. James Murpheys vocal on this number is also worth watching out for. In a sense this song is also Tiga being true to his roots; look at the title of the remix
Do you remember how Annie out of nowhere suddenly was slapping her own bottom on Mtv? Where had this Norwegian pop sensation come from? Who had discovered this delightfully electropoping sensation? The answer is to be found somewhere in between the wonderful world of Mp3 blogs and the I Love Music forum. Thus finally the music geeks have the power to decide when something good actually needs to be big! - About time! A safe bet these days is that the wonderful Lily Allen is going to be the next artist, to be made big by the geeks of the net, at least if the concept of fairness exists! She seems like mix between The Streets and Amy Winehouse and as good as them both combined. I am really thrilled by this girl and her music. This officially heralds in my summer, now it doesn't matter whether it's going to rain or shine, my summer will be perfect.
First song is about Lily's old nan, who seems to be in need of a 2000000km service checkup. The prechorus are really good, actually quoting Limp Bizkit and not being bad! This song has some of the funniest rhymes that you are likely to come upon in this year and the word colostomy bag appears!
Second song is Lilys's homage to London, her city of living. Hopefully radio will adopt this tune as the official summer theme which will make for long summer, which in turn will mean a boost in turism for London. The listener is never in doubt about how much love Lily has for this quaint little metropol:
So who is this guy then? That's Phillipe Zdar, real name Philippe Cerboneschi, part of Cassius, Motor Bass, La Chatte Rouge and also known under the alias A Bass Day. Thus it's probably fair to call him one of the big wheels that has kept on pushing French house into the musical mainstream. Under the moniker Zdar (Star) he has taken his musical influences away from the now a bit worn house scene of France and gone for a more midatlantic post electroclash sound which sounds fresh, but at the same time it gives a nod to the scenes from which it was born.
First song of the day is taken from the Super Discount 2 record which was almost as good as the first one. Whereas the first Super Discount was an effective calling card for year 2000 French house, this one manages to do the same some five years later. The biggest difference I see between the two is this great love for monosynths which has sneaked into almost every musical genre of music at the moment anyway, but enough said - Enjoy Phillipe Zdar and Etienne De Crecy:
Second song of the day is a remix of new single Don't U Want by electro god Tiga. This is how the collaboration came about: “I first met philipe zdar when he rented my nightclub to do a video for cassius. A long time ago in a galaxy known as Canada. I knew about MC Solaar and I dug Cassius and I thought he had a very cool little mini-DV camera. We asked him to do a mixCD. It almost happened. We lost touch. Next time I met them, Cassius were djing at a big party in montreal. We hung out. That night, before, during and after their set, I got a little, ummmmmm...... How can we put this??? Wasted? I have vague memories of trying to hug Phillipe......mumbling things like ".....no, REALLY, I mean this night is incredible". The next day, high on a potent cocktail of professional shame and personal shock......i resigned myself: destiny had closed the door, however gently, on a ZDAR-TURBO alliance. But time heals all wounds. When 5 years later, I received the demo tracks.........i instantly knew our moment had come. ZDAR's crystal production had always been impossible to ignore but now......now there was something more: the man himself. His voice, his vision, his dreams.....all on CDR.I choose 2 tracks. Any more, and it would be a fatal dose offunk”
Tiga , montreal feb 2005
A heart warming anecdote from Tiga there - And the actual song? - Brilliant with a dash of Tiga, now dance!
A band with beautiful woman rapping/ toasting/ whatever in front of a bass player and a guy twiddling the knobs on a computer? Yep - This is another M.I.A. inspired band, but whereas rap midget Lady Sovereign takes her inspiration into the rap genre Jahcoozi take theirs into the more Jamaican inspired part of music. I was lucky to catch them an event held by some German phone company which was actually quite good, and of course free (This part of corporate sponsoring is a good thing!) The event was held in association with Berlin label Kitty Yo, so besides Jahcoozi, I also got to see Chikinki and German singer/songwritter Maximilian Hecker, who I both found sorta semi boring, but ok. Jahcoosi on the other hand was anything but boring. The ragga-tech really got the crowd going and even though the singer was sick with the flu, they put on a good show. At least it was rather understandable why a German phone company would want to associate their name with this band.
Bonus facts about this band: 1 - Formed in 2002 in Berlin. 2 - Sasha (the singer) was born in Sri-lanka, but grew up in England (talk about an M.I.A. reference.... Dancehall/Ragga/Grime/Electro must be an important part of being born in Sri-Lanka). 3 - Probably the first band to do a gig in a doner kebab shop in Kreuzberg.
Both songs today are lifted of from the first album Pure Breed Mongrel.
First song of the post is the Jahcoozi at their most M.I.A. sounding. Shake the Doom sounds like it is lifted directly of the infamous Diplo mixtape: "Piracy funds Terrorism", which of course is nothing bad especially the beats! The chorus is ofcourse a whole other story, I'm pretty sure they would get even the most mainstream R'n'B girl to shake her doom.
Second song Fish is a bit more laid back, thus displaying that they are more than just really good clones of a certain somebody. It is not nearly as accesible as the first song, but I think it would make a really good soundtrack to a late afternoon buzz on a beach somewhere. Jahcoozi - Fish Buy Jahcoozi here
Today's post will send us to Sweden. Interestingly I had to wait until my 5th post to do anything Swedish - This must be some sort of unofficial Mp3-Blog record! I'm doing this post to sort of celebrate that the new Lo Fi FNK album is released next week, at least according to their website. Their site is actually totally uninformative, so the best place to get some info about the band was here (A Swedish site, so consider yourself warned). On another note I of course just learned that they played in Copenhagen last week - Why am I always the last one to know everything? Well too bad, now all there is left to do is to cross my fingers and hope for an appearance at Roskilde Festival.
How does these two hip-cats sound then? The only band that more or less gets name checked when talking about Lo Fi FNK is N.E.R.D. which is fair comparison. I actually think it's more on an attitude level, than on musical level. Both bands share a very enthusiastic approach to making music, which incedently is also why I took notice of Lo Fi FNK. The first track which stuck to my mind was Unighted which just blew me away with it's, ironically, lo-fi electro sound.
Enough chatting heres the music - The first tune is the radio edit, the version of the song that in an ideal world would be all over the radio, of Wake Up. Actually the song reminds me quite a lot of a weird mix between labelmates Hot Chip and some italio disco band that never made it big - That presentation should tickle everyone's fancy right?
Besides doing their own thing, Lo Fi FNK also do some good remixes. This one is of a Le Tigre song, and I think they do a rather good job. In a sense they fuse the sound into the song that Junior Senior should have put into Nanny Nanny Boo Boo, but sadly didn't.
The world's most dangerous animal, the arctic monkey
Today's post will be the start of my weekly countdown to this year's Roskilde Festival. British media darlings The Arctic Monkeys are this and last years hype propelled band - With good tunes mind you! NME in their almost defiant lack of reality announced that Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not was the fifth best British album of all time... They were announced for the festival quite early to sort of counter weigh the fact that there was a distinct lack of good rock bands until Guns N' Roses were announced a short month ago. When the first mentions of the Arctic Monkeys started hitting various centres of hype around the internet I must admit I was more than sceptical - "Oh god no, yet another 'We really think The Libertines are cool'-band". Luckily enough all my worst fears were more or less made to shame. Though it has taken me the better part of six months to warm up to them, (At some point in your life you always start asking yourself about how many more indierock bands you can handle before going berserk?) I have now become quite fond of them. These young desperados have this almost endearing indie rock and roll quality that you as band either have or not - No middle ground! Plus they have an aggressive sound for an English band, which is always a good quality.
So strike up the tunes! - The first song of the day was probably the main reason why I really did not understand Them Monkeys. I found the "rough" quality of the number annoying and I found the vocals annoying - Yep, this was initially NOT my cup of tea, but then I made these two lines out from the chorus, and after that resistance was useless: "I bet that you look good on the dancefloor Dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984"
*For any one liking a bit of good pop - The Sugarbabes have done an excellent cover of this song! On the note of cover songs we go directly to the second helping of the day which is a cover of a Girls Aloud song. Nothing much to say except that it actually sounds really good, and I might even say that this song works better as a rock song than as a pop song.
So the guy on the left, holding his copy of Dare and looking pissed, is the pop-guru Richard X. The producer/DJ made his rise to fame with the bootleg Girls on Top EP, probably the main reason why we still can't seem to be free of the scurge that is bootlegs. Actually that EP more or less started the avalange that stills seems to bury mainstream music today. After that, admittetly brilliant EP, Richard was set to become one of the new hip and happening underground producers that you would go to if you needed to get some of that, hard to get, pop-credibility - something the pop world always seems to crave. He has done some production on last years M.I.A. album Arular, Rachel Stevens' grossly neglegted album Come And Get It and of course on the album of Norwegian pop-princess Annie. Richard X productions are hard to describe - maybe the most precise word is delicate? At least his songs and remixes seem to have a sterile quality to them, nothing bad of course and they always seem to start of rather slowly, but in the end you're always dancing!
The first of todays two songs is a remix of the old song Bizarre Love Triangle by one of my favorite bands New Order. His remix removes all the notions of MTV-jingles that sort of got attached to the original and instead makes sound like a song you would listen to while skiing downhill at insane speeds - if that makes sense at all. Sufficiant to say that is really really good:
The second song today is also a favorite of mine. I haven't been able to get it completly out of my head even though its over 2 years ago that I heard it the first time. From the aloof vocals of Tiga, the church bells/organ in the beginning to the oooh sooo effective breakdown towards the end, this is my ideal picture of a party in heaven on infinite repeat soundtrack. Enough said: Richard X feat. Tiga - You (better let me love you X4) Buy it here
"BECAUSE WE - ARE - YOUR FRIENDS! - YOU - WILL NEVER BE ALONE AGAIN!" - Imagine a whole dancefloor singing this, eventhough they never heard the song they are yelling along to before. That my dear readers is the power of Justice. Besides the drop of destilled electro genius that is We are Your Friends, Justice is mainly famed for making som incredible remixes. If you are lucky enough to find a song that has the words "Justice edit/remix" at the end, you know you're getting an anthem-like song., thats going to tear the dancefloor apart. His remixes are always rather heavy hitting in the most bass-drum sense meaning of the word. For some reason his remixes always have what appears to be a rock like quality to them, without actually using guitars.
The first song of the day is his recent edit of Franz Ferdinands "The Fallen" - an already great song even by Franz Ferdinand standards. One of the surprisingly many plusses of this song is the fact that Justice makes Alex Kapranos come of as an electro rapper from the future. The song is amazingly consistent and even though it seems to go all over the bord you never actually seem to loss ear of the original.
Franz Ferdinand - The Fallen (Ruined by Justice) Buy it here
The second song is more electroish in the same vein as We are You're Friends. It's a wonderful remix Scenario Rocks - Skitzo Dancer. From the almost comically deep voice telling us that "it's just before midnight" to the gut pounding drums - Pure genius, nothing more, nothing less! I dare you not to get you're adrenalin going when hearing this remix.
Scenario Rock - Skitzo Dancer (Justice Remix) Buy it here
********** Note! even though the posts these first few times have been rather consistent at least on the level that they appear on a regular basis, I think I have to say that there might be days when I can't be arsed to a post - Bear with me! **********
Todays post is about, one half funk-monster Prince - one half nice indie boys Travis, Hot Chip. I was lucky enough to see them at the Watergate club in Berlin. Five man strong, on an extremely small stage. They were excellent and really got the crowd going after a rather slow-paced show by Gavin and Delia.(Jean Michel Jarre did not live in vain) I must admit I was rather sceptical about Hot Chip before going to see them, but as soooo many times before hype was right. The band has a really, and I dread this word, funky sound made from a weird cut and paste mix-up of various very analogue sounding instruments. On top of this two rather querky singers offer some actually quit funny lyrics: "I'm sick of motherfuckers telling me to get down with Prince!" - Amen.
Todays two songs demonstrate the Hot Chip'ian versatility:
This first one is a remix by German Kompakt Wunderkind Justus Köhncke. Leaving the traditional non-computer sound of Hot Chip Justus instead dips this track into the great electrical bucket of fun. The result is an even more danceable version of the original:
The second track is actually not a Hot Chip song, instead it is a remix by them. The Hot Chip sound is in many ways similar to that of their remix victims: The Go! Team. Ladyflash in this version actually sounds more like a cover done by Hot Chip than an actual remix:
The Go! Team - Ladyflash (Hot Chip Remix) Buy it here
Bonus: Tim Sweeneys homepage offers a DJ set by Hot Chip if you don't mind rumaging around a bit. It should be quite good, judging by the tracklist.
This will be my first post, and what better way than to do a post about the lovely Ewan Pearson - man of not a few pleasent remixes. Pearsons remixes always seem to be aware of its starting point, the original song. He never totally mangles a number into something which does not resemble the original - Something which at least makes sure that you almost always know what you're getting from him.
If you look at his homepage you can see one of those playlist/favorites list of music that a DJ apparantly always needs to have. (Not at bad thing actually since it lets us mere mortals get a chance at knowing whats going to be cool next). From this list-thingie it looks like he has done a remix of Franz Ferdinands "outsiders" - sounds thrilling. Lets hope it gets a release soon.
Anyway now for some music: These two remixes are relatively new, both rather brilliant.
The first one is probably my favorite remix of the moment. Pearson has taken Goldfrapps already great song Ride a White Horse and given it the massive reworking that leads to the telling remix title a Disco Odyssey Parts 1 plus 2. An odessey is actually what this song is, comparable to The Odessey of Homer we are taken through a long journey, but we never loose our focus, vintage Pearson: Goldfrapp - Ride A White Horse (Ewan Pearson Disco Odyssey Parts 1 plus 2) Buy it here
The second one is Pearson and Al Usher having some fun with Feist. The song actually sounds like what you would expect from a classic Goldfrapp, but this of course is no bad thing. It carries the typical half stripped down sound of Pearson, focussed on making people dance. The song is actually an old school disco sounding radio friendly song made dancefloor ready and stripped of vocals in this nice dub version: Feist - Inside and Out (Ewan Pearson and Al Usher Dub) Buy it here
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