Today just a small quicky with Danish band Oh No Ono. 80's disco rock funk merger with quirky synths! Hurrah! Having not read alot of Danish music mags the last year I can't tell you that much about them. Apparently they are from the northern part of Jylland/Jütland and went to the same school. That's all I'm sorry to say.
I highly recommend looking further into their music though!
Here is, I think, current single Practical Money Skills for Life - sounds like let's dance trying to cover an obscure Prince B-side. That is meant in the best way possible! Enjoy:
For some reason it is as if the new Scissor Sisters album Ta-Dah! has been forgotten already. It's weird, I don't think you'll find many people that didn't like the first album with it's weird mix of carbarat, disco, electro and rock, so why hasn't the new album become a succes? The songs are still in the same vein as the first album, but maybe the act is wearing a bit thin for some people? I admit to being only a fan of the uptempo dancy songs, and I think the slow stuff is dull - why did they choose Land of a thousand words for that all important second single I'll never get. Of course I don't feel like dancing is definetly the best thing on there, but there are other really good tracks as well:
In the attempt to get more people to look back on this album, I'll post my current favorite track I can't decide. If you remember the piano player from the saloons in the old Lucky Luke cartoons this is what you should hear in your head. Cast as a gangster of love Mr. Shears musses over the fact that he apparently is willing to go all the way to make people like him. The ambivalence in this song is really interesting, the sadness that he can't really say no to sex. He knows he should because the sexual leftovers will return to haunt him, but on the other hand he knows himself enough to tell the listener to lock the doors and close the blinds, we are going for a ride.
Norway and Sweden are apparently doing some battle of pop queens. Just when one country plays a card, the other plays an even stronger card. You might have heard of this weeks princess, she is Sally Shapiro of Sweden.
She has received an increasing amount of hype this almost last half year - and quite rightly. Her take on the classic pop genre is merging it with sexy Italo disco! A genre that never fails to entertain, instantly dancy, instantly camp.
Fun fact: No one knows her real name, she hasn't given a live concert nor any interviews. Thats Sweden for you: "No we are not in this for fame, we are only in for the music" - seriously, when Swedes do this they actually mean it.
First song is Hold me so tight, a dancefloor gem which, if there is any justice in this small world, will be a classic of Kylie'ish proportions. Especially look out for the synth disco bass - that is ladies and gentlemen what music should be all about. Dream yourself back to the 80's:
Sally Shapiro - Hold me so tight Get the album here (Danish link)
Second song is the Rude 66 808 Remix of I'll be by your side - The remix infuses this song with echo's so cold that the snow outside my window seems warm. I see myself riding a car at night, heading towards some eighties destination, neon raining down in the horizon.
Sally Shapiro - I'll be by your side (Rude 66 808 Remix) Get the single here
So who is the this nice looking chap on the left? Alain Quême of course... What, it doesn't ring a bell? OK, then you might know him as Alan Braxe - one of the select group frenchmen to bring housemusic to the masses. He scored bigtime with Distortion Disco favorite Music Sounds Better you - seriously, has there ever been written a better lovesong? The very premise that music sounds better with someone is great and oh so true.
Well as things go, people sometimes go back into the underground, which was what mr Braxe did until Norwegian electro nerd Erlend Øye rediscovered him and his great track Rubicon. Since then he has been a firm favorite on the remix market, constantly reminding us what was so great about French filter house while at the same time updating the lush synth sounds with an even smoother sound... Yes, apparently that was/is possible!
First track is one of last years greatest remixes in this blogs opinion - A great buildup, synths as wet as a trip through the rain forest, patience is the key word. What I really like about the track is the fact that nothing seems forced everything fits like a gem-studded white glove.
Second songs is the recent remix of Shakedown's Lonely Road. If Kraftwerk had been forced to watch icky fleshy real life human beings believe that music sounded better with a significant other, then this is probably what they would have made on the following album - again his buildup are immaculate. Shakedown - Lonely Road (Alan Braxe & Shakedown Mix) get it here
I'm currently rereading the very excellent Can't Stop Won't Stop - A history of the Hip Hop generation by Jeff Chang. It's a most read if you want the inside story of one of the most important musical genres since rock. While reading about B'boying I had Itunes hammering away tunes at random as usual. Turning one of the pages I reach a small picture of a group of boys standing along a wall and my computer goes: Rock.... Steady.... Are you ready?
This oldskool electro dance gem is seriously a delight, the basic premise being dance - of course not good as the Rock Steady Crew, but dance none the less. Listen to the drums, dream yourself away to 1983!
I'm not sure how exactly it is they do it, but every half year seems blessed with another Norwegianpopfairy. I have a theory though:
Somewhere in the cold Norwegian fjords is a small waterfall, and behind that, a small cave entrance. Inside this cave is a swarm of small Stock Aitken and Waterman lookalike elves. Every day they furiously dissect pop music into it's smallest atoms. They see what is good - they see what is bad - They take note. The results are then scribbled unto a small piece of white paper, in codes which would make normal human beings die of instant bliss. This little document is the carried by high security elves to the testing rooms. Here enslaved members of every musical subgenre are blasted with highpotency pop in order for elves to make a poptune with maximum effect.
When done the musical notes are genespliced into a small egg, which contains a new pop fairy. The multicolored egg is carried down the hall of Annie and the laid to hatch in a small incubater shaped as a discoball.
Now the waiting part.... .. ... .... Suddenly crack, the egg opens: A new pop fairy is ready to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting world! Meet Margaret Berger!
First track sounds like Soulwax's great NY Excuse being taken over and having nails done by Kylie. Not in your face pop, but nice. Very norwegian sounding. The elves are happy:
Second track is the single of the album Pretty Scary Silver Fairy (she even accepts the fact that she was born in a cave...). She isn't that scary though and this number 'Samantha' sounds like it raided the Madonna album, learned from the fact that the synths were the only good thing about it and then went on to add vocals on top.
The rain is pouring down. I walk faster just wanna get home - have the feeling someone is following me. I look over my shoulder, but no one is there. What the fuck is this? I try to take a shortcut down a small alley way, I jump some puddles, looking nervouesly at a homeless guy sitting against the wall. . . . Aaargh... The feeling of metal in my gut. Something is pounding my intestines to pieces, I get pushed over, my ears start to go deaf (or am I actually hearing the sound of electronic heaven?) - I slump over and see a person stepping into a Ferrari Testarose down the end of the alley. Fuck, he got me again - Next time I'll get SebastiAn!
I have set a trap - this time he is mine! The subway station is covered, I have surveillance, I am wearing earplugs, the station is empty, he is comming, he is finished! Waiting nervously in a dark corner of the station I notice him walking casually down the stairs - He will never know what hit him. I sneak closer, he is unaware of his imminent demise. I raise my sonic blaster - ZOOOOM everything goes dark - I am hurled to the floor - The trains run by the station at insane speeds. Lights is on again he is gone! So close. . . I look at what my surveillance cameras can tell me. . . One of them shows SebastiAn, me close behind, and then what appears to be like some sort of sonic boom going out from the gut of this sneaky French devil. Fzzzzz the camera only shows noize...
So how is this new year shaping up? Last year was the year of the 'new paris' wave, distorted dancefloor beats, stadium sized techno and alot of crossover. Hopefully this year will be just as good!
Judging by the first few tracks to be released, it is already shaping up to be it! Courtesy of Fluokids, Erol Alkan dub of the Klaxons:
The Klaxons where probably one of the most IT bands last year, releasing a series of really good singles backed by great remixes and having a solid liveshow. I think it is safe to assume an album of them sometime this year. Until then here is a nice dub of Golden Skans made by none other than man of many names Erol Alkan. The sound is prolonged, leaning towards some form of minimalism, developing like a small plant, but not at all boring! A great moment is the destinctly 90's sounding drums in the background.
Also Justice is (finally) releasing an EP, a fact which should send shivers racing through your spine and have your foot tapping a steady solid beat. I think my favorite track of last year was Alkans remix of Justice, if some of that energy is to be found on the new album I'll be one happy camper! Phantom the new single zoom bang direct of Myspace is a worthy precurser to the album, the trademark bass-drum, and the unschematic breakdowns. Let this be the year where the French people decide to vote Justice presidents and let them declare a new republic of distortion:
Distortion Disco is not dead! Christmas celebrations, eating, new years, and more eating got the best of me (or at least gave a blow to the stern), but I will hopefully resume normal transmission during this week. Also I had finished the 3rd dogma mix, but then accidently deleted the damn thing... which pissed me off...
Anyways, a couple of things for you to enjoy:
I hadn't actually heard the real version of 120 Days' Come out (come down fade out be gone). It is actually really good, the buildup immaculate:
All MP3's are for sample purposes only, and will be taken downimmediately upon request. They will remain up for approximately 1 week by default. Please buy records and support artists. We need music dammit! If you have any music that you feel would be in the taste of this blog send it to Distortion Disco
