we'll be back someday hopefully. check out the blog list in the side bar if you still like music
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
129. YOUTHLESS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW + TRACKS
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
i heard about youthless because zack posted their music video here a while ago for "good hunters." knowing a great thing when i see it, i contacted alex klimovitsky (vox + drums + synth + more) and he's such a great guy that he agreed to an interview with us AND give us a couple of tracks for us to share. in describing their sound, i steal from zack's description, which i couldn't agree with more. you can hear "a bit of hooray for earth and the rapture with a twist of metronomy." to further break it down: they've got that pseudo-grunge guitar and heavy bass going with lo-fi synth that hooray for earth has perfected, vocals and lyrics with the type of personality that those two dudes in the rapture bring to the table, and clever mastering of instruments like metronomy. i love those three bands, so of course i love a band that draws similarities to those three and still remains unique. Youthless - Good Hunters (Download)
(preview in the video below)
Youthless - Golden Age (Acoustic) (Download)
(preview in the soundcloud below)
starting with portugal, the two guys in youthless are taking the world by storm. the music video we posted last month is currently #4 on the mtv portugal hitlist. we agree that it's a great fuckin video, but how come it can't beat out the bieber? you can do it guys! along with gearing up to beat out the tween prince and driving a concert around europe, they are zoning out to the beach boys and planning their lo-fi / acoustic covers of classic rock and experimental electro. youthless is two creative guys with dozens of different influences and an output that has a pretty huge range. we can't wait to hear (and see) what's next. here's the interview:
slam: I'm assuming you and Sebastiano met in Three and a Quarter and then continued on with Youthless. That band is more in the ska / dub category. What brought you guys together and to the different electro / rock sound you have busted out with Youthless?
alex (of youthless): Sab and i met in the same class in high school. We were the only two angalfone's in an all Spanish speaking school (I had just moved to Lisbon from NY via madrid and Sab had changed over from an English school a few years earlier) and had a lot of common interests: noise bands, skateboarding, ditching school.
Us and Guillermo, the third memeber of our old band, were all starting to play guitar at the same time so we used to skip class together and jam and that's how our first band started. Old Jamaican dub and 2-tone brit ska were big influences in our old band but we've always played loads of different stuff and have been in all kinds of different noisey projects together.
Youthless came about as a fluke, I wanted to learn to play drums so we decided to start a two person Black Sabbath cover band just to mess around.. that idea really only lasted 20 mins cause we immediately started making up tunes. I think the electro thing was a joint result of my upstairs dj neighbors feeding us minimal techno day and night for a whole year and the fact that i could only play 2 types of beats and sing at the same time when we first started. That and the effect that the monster two amp bass sound that Sab came up with had on the way we played.
slam: It seems like a lot of good music is coming out of Portugal; you guys and the Disco Texas Label to a name a few. Any bands from around there that you'd like to do a show with or that you're excited about?
alex: There is a lot of cool stuff going on in Portugal right now. PAUS is a band that we're close with and really love. They're on the same Portuguese label/booking as us, Enchufada, who also do Buraka Som Systema, Octa Push and Macacos do Chines, all fantastic groups. Batida is another local project that we're really fond of.. all definitely worth checking out!
Youthless - Good Hunters (on Vimeo, so what if we posted this before?)
slam: (I'll get on it!) I found out about you guys through one of our other contributors who featured the video for "Good Hunters" and it's been on repeat since. I was just watching the video again - it looks like you don't just sing and drum at the same time, but you also play the keyboard. Pretty rad. Other than that sax player in The Rapture (and bands like !!!), I haven't seen multi-tasking on that level in a while. Is this something you do in your live shows too?
alex: Yeah... there are a few tunes on which i play drums and keys at the same time. we also sometimes have people sit in on keyboards during some live shows (Shela from PAUS and Helena Fagundes from Las Dirces have played with us a bunch so far). we keep trying to come up with new ways to keep the songs interesting as a two man band so Sab does a bunch of juggling between his foot pedals on both amps he uses too.
slam: Sounds like an intense live show. Can't wait to see it when you guys come to the US. Any touring plans?
alex: yeah, live shows are super fun and always different. Sometimes they're really focused, musical and beautiful, but sometimes hectic, drunk and mainly about jumping off of high things onto the crowd. We've had a few offers to play in NY but we'd really need to get a whole bunch of shows to pay for our trips over, etc. and we still don't have any type of representation outside Portugal (label/distributor/booking/etc) so we're still waiting for the right opportunity to break out of "the little country." A lot of my friends have really great bands in BKNY right now and we'd love to come over and open for them but UK is a little more within our grasp at the moment.
slam: (Backtracking a bit) One thing I really like about the video is how it's basically a traveling party in a VW bus. What brought you to the idea for the video and would you consider Youthless a traveling party?
alex: The idea was Marco Espirito Santo, a good friend of ours who directed the video. We needed something we could do for free and we wanted something fun and relaxed that we could include our friends in, so it was perfect.
Youthless is just Sab and I, so the type of band we are has a lot to do with the mood we are in at the time. It also can have a lot to do with the type of entourage we have with us. We have a lot of really great friends who've known us since we're kids and travel with us to shows just for the adventure. Sometimes things get pretty rowdy with all of them around... which can be a lot of fun, or trouble (which is fun). But often Sab and I are more of a "chill and stare at the ocean" or "veg out and listen to the beach boys" type of band more than a party band.
slam: I'm loving your acoustic and minimalist electro tracks / covers. They are like lo-fi heaven. What made you guys start doing this series and what are your plans for it?
Golden age by YOUTHLESS (SoundCloud)
alex: the idea came about because Sab and I sometimes carry around our acoustic guitars to mess around before shows while we're waiting for other bands to soundcheck, so we were figuring out a bunch of cool covers and i asked a very awesome radio DJ friend of ours, Henrique Amarro, if he would like us to perform some of them on the radio. He liked the idea so much he asked us to do a whole week. He turned it into a show he calls "Jukebox" and now he invites well known Portuguese artists to come do covers of some of their favorite tunes and talk about them a bit (we didnt put up our talking bits on soundcloud cause its all in portuguese). we're actually going to put out all the covers on our first Youthless mixtape... probably through Enchufada's website (it will be a free download... check our facebook page and myspace for the link in a few weeks) and we might do another round of covers heavily featuring the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album, Sam Cooke, Al Green and maybe even some Black Sabbath.
slam: When can we expect another EP or even a full-length?
alex: Recording wise, we're simultaneously preparing an LP an EP and a mixtape right now, we're just not exactly sure how we're going to release it all yet.. but we should have something new out relatively soon.
make sure you follow youthless on facebook, and listen to all of their music which they've generously put up on their soundcloud.
___________________________________________________
we've been around for 1 year now. pretty exciting!
please follow youcantstopah on FB, it's about time (links on the right).
128. EVERYTHING IS MADE IN CHINA - SLEEPWALKING
i saw everything is made in china's music video for "sleepwalking" a while ago, but just got a memory refresh when it was posted on antville. EIMIC is from russia and plays music that blends shoegaze with folk-indie, sometimes some grunge sounds, and something erlend oye might have had his hands in (think kings of convenience, not whitest boy alive). lots of reverb, synth and electric guitar. if you click on the soundcloud link (below), you can preview their "automatic movements" lp in its entirety before you buy it. that's pretty cool of them.the video is really simple, but excellently executed and real entertaining. it's like one of those books where you can choose different portions of different people's faces to make other faces except it's a video and it's way more interesting (no offense, norman messenger). the director, modestnikov, has directed two different videos fro EIMIC that both focus on visuals and amazing editing. it makes you rethink what's possible with editing a lower budget video. extremely creative and very fucking cool. even cooler: they incorporate some of these visuals into their live shows and it looks like its the same director, good call. something definitely not to be missed. hopefully they'll be doing something stateside in the near future!
Sleepwalking from modestnikov (on Vimeo).
follow EIMIC on facebook.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
127. MONEYPENNY IS COOL & THE GANG (NYC SHOW 6.26)
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
moneypenny just released their new website and it looks pretty nice. they got a sexy web design makeover with new promo shots too. definitely hip + with it.with the release of their new website, they've decided to give out their track "cool & the gang" for free. the track is like america's answer to yelle, but it's 2010 now and it sounds like calvin harris helped out with the production; all of those r&b, house and trance sounds fit perfectly into a really nice track.
Monday, June 21, 2010
126. BLOCKHEAD
Monday, June 21, 2010
"The Music Scene" (Vimeo)
You got to watch this video - its super spectacular. The animation is solid, colorful, a bit mind-boggling and its synchronized to the music across the board. My hat goes off to the animator, A.F. Schepperd.
The music is by Blockhead, a busy producer. He has some solo work, but is most known for his work with Aesop Rock. He produced 9 tracks from the critically acclaimed album Labor Days, and has worked on a total of 8 releases from Aesop Rock. You can download a megamix of his album, The Music Scene, from the record labels website. I'm listening to it right now and its awesome.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
125. BUBBLE CLUB
Sunday, June 20, 2010
So we got some brand new goods for you today. Bubble Club, the creation of West London producer Dan Keeling is sounding like a sure thing. The first of 3 planned releases "Violet Morning Moon" is a beautiful Balearic disco gem. The funky bass, breezy guitar and percolating percussion are about as tight and well orchestrated as you can ask for. This is most certainly not just dance floor fodder, (though the Dr. Dunks remix definitely pumps) this is a song you'll remember for a while and come back to summer after summer. Have a listen and make sure to stick around for the ecstatic finale.
Hit up Bubble Club's Soundcloud or Myspace to hear more including their next EP released on the 17th called Morning Star that's just as brilliant.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
124. BROKEN BELLS
Saturday, June 19, 2010
how did i miss this?!? this side project duo has been around for almost a year and i didn't find out about them until today. what an embarrassment. i guess that happens when you never listen to the radio or read pitchfork. oops! broken bells is the project of producer danger mouse and the shin's james mercer. it's exactly what you'd expect from such a combination: greatness. in terms of production, you can expect some similarities to the gorillaz and danger mouse's other projects, but it's all twisted up with an indie + classic rock / oldies feel. the single "the ghost inside," which you can preview or watch the video for below, sounds most eerily familiar to me (listen to that bass and the percussive elements and see if it rings any bells). i'm loving it and you probably will too (if you aren't way ahead of me already).
they just released their debut self-titled lp this past march and you can grab the whole thing right here.
Broken Bells - The Ghost Inside (no download available, stream available from Rock The House)
the video stars christina hendricks (of mad men fame) and includes an appearance by mercer + danger mouse. the video is pretty cool - about a robot's dreams of going to a beautiful resort, and in order to get there, she has to sell off parts of her body. she must be a robot, right? it's a pretty rad video: great effects, directing, cinematography and acting.
Friday, June 18, 2010
123. CHK CHK CHK RETURNS
Friday, June 18, 2010
after a while without any news of a !!! release, i was starting to get antsy. biting my fingers off sort of thing. boom boom boom / pow pow pow / chk chk chk are always touring all over the world, but their website and myspace hadn't really changed since myth takes came out in 2007. well, prepare for the future...
they're offering a free download of their new track "am/fm" right here and you can preview it below thanks to warp. you can expect a development of their usual sound; a hybrid of post-disco, dance-punk and electronica with the sexiest of vocals (think r&b). from the now 14 year old band, the new single goes back to their routes, but with better production values. makes me think of out hud and !!!'s self-titled lp, but they're definitely shifting their sound. the track is simultaneously environmental and funky; experimental and kick-ass. my little macbook speakers can't do this song any justice, can't wait to play it on my speakers when i get home.
their new lp, "strange weather, isn't it?" is coming out august 24th 2010 (USA). that's pretty soon. very very exciting news. you can already pre-order it right here.
!!! (Chk Chk Chk) - AM/FM (taken from Strange Weather, Isn't It?) by Warp Records (on SoundCloud)
Thursday, June 17, 2010
122. BREAKBOT
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Breakbot - Baby I'm Yours (feat. Irfane) (Vimeo)
So as you may know - we've featured Breakbot a few times here and with good reason! He's another long-haired Frenchman signed to Ed Banger, but his music is smooth... real smooth. To accompany his track, "Baby I'm Yours ft IRFANE", this video was released last week. Made up of about 2000 watercolor painted images, it's a solid bit of eye-candy. Enjoy.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
121. ROCKETS CLUB MONSIEUR
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
god damn, i fuckin love disco texas. here's another track from rockets: it's got the funk-disco guitar, the smoothest of bass lines and some solid beat mashing. this is a 5-course electronic meal. builds are perfectly spread out, not too far apart and not too long either. "club monsieur" makes you feel like you're getting down with chic in a futuristic discothèque. the song has 16th notes on the hi-hat and are those occasional claps i hear? it's got the slow up on the high-eq to a creative bass line that's almost always present, but shifts around throughout the entirety keeping you thinking. at about 3:00 a synth comes in before the final breakdown. this is a house track that has all the elements you're looking for. this is inspiration.
you can preview AND download the track below. high generosity from portugal.
120. NEW SINGLE FROM BAD VEINS + NEW OUTLIERS EP
first off, apologies for being out of it for a week. i went to get a little vaca action.
they're also offering an additional free download from their self titled lp. the track comes in with some high-eq'd percussion that sounds like something from a 90s casio keyboard, then it jumps into serious rock and roll where the bridge between verses is led by a guitar riff that'll knock your socks off. the chorus has some serious beeping synth over the vocals and eventually, you'll be taken to the breakdown where strings come in, there's a build up, and everything comes back together. just what the doctor ordered this morning. in comparison to the other tracks we've posted from bad veins, it is a bit heavier and more up tempo.
Bad Veins - Falling Tide (Download)
you can buy the full lp (which we've reviewed before) here.
if that isn't enough for you, they're also touring throughout the summer with the dig, kevin devine and thrice.
June 15 2010 @ Phoenix Concert Theatre - Toronto, ON
June 16 2010 @ Le National - Montreal, QC
June 17 2010 @ House of Blues - Boston, MA
June 18 2010 @ Toad’s Place - New Haven, CT
June 19 2010 @ Chameleon Club - Lancaster, PA
June 21 2010 @ Northern Lights - Clifton Park, NY
June 22 2010 @ Crocodile Rock - Allentown, PA
June 23 2010 @ Trocadero Theatre - Philadelphia, PA
June 24 2010 @ The Fillmore - New York, NY
June 25 2010 @ Starland Ballroom - Sayreville, NJ
June 26 2010 @ Recher Theatre - Towson, MD
June 28 2010 @ The NorVa - Norfolk, VA
June 29 2010 @ Cat’s Cradle - Carrboro, NC
June 30 2010 @ The Music Farm - Charleston, SC
July 01 2010 @ House Of Blues - Lake Buena Vista, FL
July 02 2010 @ Revolution - Ft Lauderdale, FL
July 03 2010 @ State Theater - St. Petersburg, FL
July 06 2010 @ Warehouse Live - Houston, TX
July 07 2010 @ Emo’s - Austin, TX
July 08 2010 @ The Palladium Ballroom - Dallas, TX
July 09 2010 @ Cain’s Ballroom - Tulsa, OK
July 10 2010 @ Midland Ballroom - Kansas City, MO
July 11 2010 @ Ogden Theatre - Denver, CO
July 13 2010 @ In The Venue - Salt Lake City, UT
July 15 2010 @ Marquee - Tempe, AZ
July 16 2010 @ House Of Blues - San Diego, CA
July 17 2010 @ Fox Theater - Pomona, CA
July 18 2010 @ House of Blues - Las Vegas, NV
July 20 2010 @ Club Congress - Tucson, AZ (Bad Veins only)
July 21 2010 @ Corazon - Santa Fe, NM (Bad Veins only)
don't forget to become a fan on facebook.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
119. LIFELIKE EP
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
can you believe it's been since april since we covered lifelike? right now, he's gearing up for the release of his love emulator ep off of the young french label computer science.
this guy is one of the few that never puts out anything that i am disappointed in. his work is always great, always smooth. the bass line makes you want to relax and to party - musically, it's hard to do both. it all comes from r&b and funk. even alan braxe and fred falke's intro (one of the best french house tracks of all time) isn't good to put on as "chill" music. somehow, however, lifelike has managed to become a master at the combo. it's electro french-touch / feel-good at it's best. his work is one of the reasons i wish that i could read french, so i could learn just a little more.
lifelike's music is all over the place, and he has created quite a following by releasing excellent remixes one after the other. starting with that beautiful original track "so electric," i've never looked back. he got us hooked - and now that we have to wait for this ep before we can listen to it on our ipods or whatever, it's killing us, slowly - me, anyway, for sure. as soon as the digital release comes out in the US, it'll be on my credit card (like everything else these days). this guy is a fuckin pro.
all of these songs are gems. perfect for the beginning of summer! my personal fave of the three below is "silicon love." grab the whole ep digitally on june 14th off of the computer science page (linked above). it will also be available on itunes, beatport, etc by mid july. i would definitely buy the ep in its entirity because it'll be packaged with a bonus track called "bright city nights." this is going to be a good one, mark it down on your calendars and become a fan of lifelike on facebook.
LIFELIKE / YOTA / NAMEBRAND Love Emulator (Original Mix) by LIFELIKE (on SoundCloud)
118. SIDWHO?
After last year's "Vote Bowie For President" found it's way into the sets of such disco royalty as Todd Terje, Tim Sweeney and Prins Thomas we've all been waiting to see what Sidwho? would do next. And here it is, Pay For Love EP out on the Australian Future Classic imprint.
The EP has 3 excellent mixes varying from disco funk to classic acid house sounds. The Jamie Paton edit takes us on a 13 minute long white-hot funk odyssey. The group vocals, chorused bass line and squiggly synth lines add up too one hell of a boogie machine. Daddy like.
On the flip the Azari & Ill Remix cleans up some of the rough edges, throws some tight 909 drums in and pumps the bass for an all around crowd pleaser. My personal favorite though is Jamie Paton's Acid Remix. Here all the funky lines from the original get the attention they deserve leading to a slow burning spaced out acid-fest. With such a wide range of sounds lets hope Sidwho? keeps the goods coming.
Be sure to hit up Sidwho? on myspace.
Monday, June 7, 2010
117. KNUCKLES + PAUL BRYAN
Monday, June 7, 2010
KNUCKLES | BLAKE - WHAT I LIKE (Vimeo)
Slow motion relay race through the subways of Paris? Yes please! I can't really find much on this Knuckles guy besides the fact that he is now going by the name Sovnger. And apparently (according to his myspace...) DJs such as Diplo, Breakbot, Etienne de Crecy, and Alex Gopher play his stuff in their sets. He also has a mixtape on soundcloud and posts a new one each month.
And definitely check out the director, Paul Bryan. He has a solid collection of work including same great photographs of people.
116. THE NAKED AND FAMOUS
oh man oh man oh man. i barely need to say anything at all.
just listen to "young blood" by the new zealand band, the naked and famous, and then buy it for a dollar. it's incredibly worth it.
this track is summer at it's best (even though it's cold in new zealand right now). it's fucking perfect. i loooovvvee it.
also: check out the music video for the song at the bottom of this post.
The Naked And Famous - Young Blood (on Vimeo)
become a fan on facebook please.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
115. SPACE LIFE
Sunday, June 6, 2010
i love when i hear good music from bands that started in boston - passion pit, hooray for earth, yes giantess to name a few.
yesterday a friend of mine sent me an email about the boston based duo dubbed space life. they are chris and jeff, they've been friends since high school, and only started their collaboration four months ago. they work well together because they share a lot of interests and take their influences from the same genres (70s funk + disco).
their music grabbed and is still holding my attention. it makes sense because they are one of the freshest electronic groups around - as in they're rolling out AND yo that's fresh. the trouble with electronic music is that it's very easy for artists to pigeon hole themselves into a single style that they can't get out of it. like surkin or dj mehdi, space life doesn't make predictable choices with their music. it's all over the place.
Voyager III (on SoundCloud) you can download it! AND they're working on a music video for this track.
Voyager III (on SoundCloud) you can download it! AND they're working on a music video for this track.
if you head over to look at the rest of their soundcloud and do a quick browse through all of their tracks, you'll learn that they have a real tight musical aesthetic and that they're very versatile. a lot of rick james + prince synth and guitar, but also a lot of french touch similarities. they use EQ'd out samples like classic french house: think alan braxe & fred falke, knightlife, or louis la roche. they also like to key the low-end and high-end and slowly bring it in (or out), it's one of the simplest things that happens in electronica - but they have it down perfectly and are creative about when (and how) they use it. check their remix of empire of the sun's "walking on a dream." out of what feels like hundreds of remixes of that track out there, space life's is one of the more original. in terms of the bass line, space life generally uses that funk-electro sound that you'd find with artists on ed banger - think a hybrid between justice and breakbot. sometimes you'll also hear that metal / electro style guitar that MSTRKRFT really popularized. if you listen to their remix of mj's "rock with you," you'll remember that jt really, really, wants to be the next michael. i like both of those guys, but yeah the correlation is a little crazy. the remix sounds like if pedro winter and jt's producers worked together on "off the wall." this is a very good thing.
what stands out most about space life is that if you listen to the first 30 seconds of a track, it doesn't mean that you can assume what the rest of it sounds like; you won't expect the obvious.
SPACE LIFE - Anatomy (Feat. MSF) (on SoundCloud) no download available. sorry!
Friday, June 4, 2010
114. NEON INDIAN
Friday, June 4, 2010
obvi.
if you haven't heard of neon indian yet, you're really missing out. we first heard of alan paloma (neon indian is one of his projects) when he was a part of ghosthustler (remember "someone else's ride?) that song is fuckin' amazing. we blasted that at parties all the time in 2008. grab it for free off of missingtoof right here.
we were all waiting for ghosthustler to EXPLODE, but the band broke up and alan went on to produce music as VEGA, which is in much of the similar vein as ghosthustler. where he's been most successful is with his work as neon indian - which definitely carries some of the same electro sounds, but it's engineered in a sleep lab with hallucinogens and a dreamy-psychedelic induced future dropped right on top. since his appropriately titled psychic chasms ep release last april (and the lp in the fall), we've been stoked about what's to come next.
this isn't a new track, but it's being offerred for free right now and is a great introduction if you haven't listened to him yet. download Neon Indian - Sleep Paralysist on green label sound (mountain dew). look on the right side of the page and then drink some yellow / green soda. also: check out the video for the same song below - it's prettttttty dope.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
113. HEY CHAMP MIXTAPE
Thursday, June 3, 2010
i love being subscribed to mailing lists. it's a huge part of bands marketing to have these lists and facebook groups and twitter and so on and so forth. up until a few years ago i was hesitant to join these lists because i believed that they'd be primarily junk mail, or that they'd sell my email address or whatever. some companies still do that - but i would say that musician's mailing lists are safe and really only reward the fanbase for joining. they grab your email or you become a fan on facebook and you get stuff like free tracks, mixtapes and discounted tickets. point being: signing up is the best choice.
hey champ is one of the better bands to subscribe to or follow on facebook because they give away free tracks and great house mix tapes. their jet set tape is one of the better house mixes i've heard in a while and the tracklist is great. it's also a legit dj set, all the tracks are remixes by hey champ. you're going to hear samples of the beastie boys and the gap band and that'll take you into yeasayer and t-pain... mmmmm it's 56 minutes of delicatessen. one of the best perks is that the tracks are split up! just make sure to think before you listen and set that shit up for gapless playback. i'm serious.
Hey Champ - Jet Set Mixtape (click the link, after you become a fan on facebook you get a .zip)
Tracklist:
1. Hey Champ DJs - In The White City
2. Prairie Cartel - Cracktown (Hey Champ RMX)
3. Hey Champ DJs - Strobe
4. Ying Yang Twins - Drop (Hey Champ RMX featuring DJ White Shadow)
5. Hey Champ DJs - The Way You Feel
6. The Empires - Howl (Hey Champ RMX featuring DJ White Shadow)
7. Hey Champ DJs - Metropolis
8. Hey Champ DJs - Early Sensation
9. Yeasayer - Sunrise (Hey Champ Remix)
10. T-Pain (ft. Lil Wayne) - I Can't Believe It (Hey Champ RMX feat. DJ White Shadow)
11. Hey Champ DJs - Shibuya
12. Hey Champ DJs - Fallujah
13. Hey Champ - Cold Dust Girl (80Kidz Remix)
yoyoyo:
those of you in NYC + BK are lucky because hey champ will be doing a set tonight, june 3rd, with shy child (!!!!!) in the studio at webster hall (tickets) and tomorrow, june 4th, at the bell house (tickets). do it to it!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
112. BIRDY NAM NAM
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Birdy Nam Nam - Abbesses (Youtube)
If you like The Avalanches or Kid Koala or DJ Shadow - you will like Birdy Nam Nam. They are four DJs from France and MASTER turntablists. If you can get your hands on their self-titled album - do it!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
111. CEO
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
from our favorite australian label (duh) comes ceo, the new project of the tough alliance's eric burgland. i love the new name.
coming out on june 29 in the US is ceo's debut release "white magic." i am stoked for it!
if you like bands like air france, the similou / plej or delorean you'll love ceo.
ceo - come with me (Download)
preorder the album right here.
Monday, May 31, 2010
110. ZOOT WOMAN
Monday, May 31, 2010
you have to enjoy the UK electro group zoot woman.
putting out tracks like "it's automatic," "grey day" and "hope in the mirror" you know you'll love whatever comes next. today marks the digital release of their "just a friend of mine" remix EP which features remixes by the penelopes, dinamics and something a la mode. this is a single off of their LP "things are what they used to be" (released last august) and the second EP that "just a friend of mine" has been featured.
you know the original version of this track is exactly what you want, but i decided to feature the penelopes' remix instead because it pulls the smooth out of the original and takes it too an electro - beach - dream.
UPDATE 6/2/10, the corrected version of the remix:
it's almost june. happy memorial day, americans. celebrate the temperature by becoming a fan of zoot woman / the penelopes on facebook / facebook.
Friday, May 28, 2010
109. FADED PAPER FIGURES
Friday, May 28, 2010
one of my favorite things about working on a music blog is when we get a submission / recommendation that we follow through with and find some musical perfection. it's the best!
faded paper figures are a 3 person band based in LA that have a really interesting combination of sounds. they can be loosely put into the indie / electronica category. let me break it down for you: synth, 80s video games, lo-fi electro that you'd find on ed bangar, indie vocal harmonies / bells / guitars, occasional vocal samples like you'd find with the avalanches, and driving bass lines and percussion. they are hard to really lock down because their sound is really all over the place, but i can say that if you put them in a mix with starfucker and the whitest boy alive, you're making the right decisions in life. it's music you can dance to and listen to: our favorite combo.
Faded Paper Figures - Small Talk (on SoundCloud)
108. MOULLINEX MIXTAPE
one of my favorite mixes of all time is moullinex's "libère la femme vol. II." it's a dancing powerhouse and all you need to get the party started.
i just grabbed moullinex's new may mix - i've only listened to the first ten minutes and i already know it's going to be great. it's got some of the smoothest transitions i've heard in a while and it's funk / disco level is on the same page as breakbot's valentine mix. do yourself a favor and take a look at the tracklist and then download it for obvious reasons. you don't want to miss out on this!
Moullinex - Villains Have Feelings Too Mixtape (Download on SoundCloud - or click the arrow in the embedded player below)
Tracklist:
Pink Floyd - Time [EMI]
Blackstrobe - Back From Beyond [Supersoul]
Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere (Psychemagik Edit) [Shotgun Edits]
Fernando - Blade Drummer [Redux]
Toba - Moving Up [Connection]
Rainbow Team - Dreaming [Full Time]
Alexander Robotnick - The Dark Side of The Spoon [Crème]
Strip Steve - Breakin' (Lorenz Rhode Remix) [Exploited]
The Heels Of Love - Quiet Please (Fabrizio Mammarella Remix) [Mad on the Moon]
Giorgio Moroder - e=mc2 (In Flagranti Remix) [Discotexas]
Siriusmo - Femuscle [Exploited]
Azari & III - Hungry for the Power [I'm a Cliché]
Methusalem - Robotism (Edits Piaf) [unreleased]
Juan Maclean - Feel So Good [K7]
Ichisan - Global Pillage [Airtight]
Moullinex - Superman (Lorenz Rhode Remix) [Gomma]
Nightriders - A Love Feeling [OMG!]
Munk - La Musica [Gomma]
Spirit Catcher - Sweet Deal [20:20 Vision]
DJ T - Funk On You [Get Physical]
Professor Funk and The Chicago Hous'n Authority - Visions [DJ International]
Paperclip People - Throw [Planet E]
DJ Kaos - Love the Nite Away [Rong/DFA]
Rodion - D.I.S.C.O. Rewind [Gomma]
Fast Eddie - Acid Thunder [Westside]
Hard Ton - Flawless (Snuff Crew Remix) [Permanent Vacation]
Four Tet - There is Love in You [Domino]
Pulp - This is Hardcore [Island]
become a fan of moullinex on facebook immediately.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
107. CASIOKIDS MIXTAPE
Thursday, May 27, 2010
anyone who spends any time in my apartment knows that i'm head over heels for casiokids. their musical aesthetic is all about fun - if you like the beach boys, metronomy, and hot chip - i promise that you'll love their music. it's indie music with up-tempo bass lines and a bunch of people harmonizing things like "yeah, yeah" and "la, la." unfortunately, most of their lyrics are in norwegian so i have no idea what they are singing about, but it's like riding your bike in the summer.
their new album "topp stemning på lokal bar" is a two-disc extravaganza. disc one is all original tracks and disc two is all remixes. pre-order it on polyvinylrecords right here - coming out June 8th in the US. my personal favorite is "togens hule." update: which you can download at the bottom of this post!
today, i found a featured mixtape by ck's own ketil kinden endresen.
head over to this is tomorrow (thanks guys!) to grab the tape and learn more. tracklist is below:
“The Blessing Song” – Build An Ark
“Loe Bar” – Bjørn Torske
“Sexual Healing” – Hot Chip
“Goldmine” – Sa-Ra
“Can’t Help It” – Michael Jackson (Tangoterje edit)
“I Like You!” – Arthur Russell
“1er Gaou” – Magic System
“Wing Body Wing” – Four Tet
“Love, Love” – Julian Priester & Pepo Mtoto
“Moonshake” – Can
“Inner City Blues” – Marvin Gaye
“The Highways of My Life” – The Isley Brothers
Also check out their video for "en vill hest" directed by kristoffer borgli. it's a pretty crazy video, with solid cinematography and some cool actions synchronized with the music:
Casiokids - En Vill Hest (on Vimeo)
update 5/28/10: i just got permission to post + share "togens hule" - it's really an incredible track **high rec**:
Casiokids - Togens Hule (Download)
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
106. ROCKETS
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
the artist formerly known as discorockets, now goes by rockets. the bass lines are still smooth, funky and simple - the way they should be. this comes as no surprise as he is on discotexas, the same label that houses moullinex and xinobi. discotexas, though having no real affiliation with texas itself, is one of the dopest labels around right now - still small and with really talented musicians + producers. discotexas is french touch / electro / house at its best - on the same level as valerie, but with a different aesthetic.
i have a lot of respect for rockets because of his tagline: "are we in this thing alone?" woah! that's what we say too. also, his work is infinitely listenable.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
105. YEASAYER
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Yeasayer - Ambling Alp (Vimeo)
Two words: spectacularly strange! This video employs a great mix of beautiful imagery, experimental visuals, and odd concepts. You got to love that drummer pounding away up on that ridge.
The band, Yeasayer, is an experimental rock band based out of good old Brooklyn. This track, Ambling Alp, is a single off their second album, Odd Blood, which was just released this past February. The album has this worldly and diverse sound to it - partly due to the help they received from Peter Gabriel's drummer, Jerry Marotta. He helped them record the album in a studio packed with synths and percussion from around the world. You can download a track for free from their site or by using the embed below. Enjoy!
Monday, May 24, 2010
104. JUL ET MAT
Monday, May 24, 2010
Metronomy - On The Motorway - by JUL & MAT (Vimeo)
Here's a bit of eye candy to start off your week. This unofficial music video for Metronomy's On The Motorway was made by Jul and Mat, a director duo from France. Expect more to come from them - they've been pumping out some real simple and creative shit lately and I anticipate good things to come! Enjoy.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
103. MONEYPENNY + HEY CHAMP
Saturday, May 22, 2010
here's a fast-paced saturday remix of moneypenny by hey champ.
both groups are from chicago. moneypenny is just getting started and has only released a few tracks. they fall under the pop / electro / club aesthetic, think yelle americana x2. hey champ has been around a bit longer and i would consider them electro / indie, think of bands like phoenix or penguin prison.
hey champ is giving away "cold dust girl" and "neverest" on their website for free right here. sure you have to sign up for their newsletter, but it's well worth it + all you're going to get out of it is more free music and info about a solid band.
Moneypenny - Say No (Hey Champ Remix) (Download)
Hey Champ - Cold Dust Girl (on SoundCloud)
Friday, May 21, 2010
102. THE BUDOS BAND
Friday, May 21, 2010
the budos band deserves vinyl treatment. you listen to a single song of theirs and you feel like you're going back to the future. they are ripe with retro sounds and are the contemporary funk band you've been trying to find for years. their sound is original and is the best parts of a quentin tarantino soundtrack. this eleven member soul / funk / jazz group comes from bushwick, BK and they are going to be huge. just wait for it.
on june 11th, they will be playing on the rocks off concert cruise in nyc. if i was here that weekend, it would be a priority to have some serious drinks cruising around on a boat in the nyc harbor. sounds awesome.
The Budos Band - Chicago Falcon (Download)
*highly recommended*
Thursday, May 20, 2010
101. SAVOIR ADORE
Thursday, May 20, 2010
savoir adore is another band for you to fall in love with. look at how cute they are! it's almost disgusting. the duo hails from brooklyn and their debut lp "in the wooded forest" is available on itunes. savoir adore is something special, bringing a lot of electro dance + club characteristics to indie pop. it's a daring and wonderful combination and after listening to their myspace for a bit now, i can tell you that it is worth investigating. check out the original version of "bodies" in this lo-fi repping the miniDV music video:
Savoir Adore - Bodies (Vimeo)
and here is a remix by french horn rebellion, another brooklyn duo that can be put next to a decked out disco gang and a bunch of computers with artificial intelligence and still fit in just fine. a nice party tune.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
100. YOUTHLESS
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Youthless 'Good Hunters' (Vimeo)
Found these guys this morning - I like the video and I'm loving the track. I've been trying to put my finger on who they sound like, but I think in the end they're a bit of a mixed breed. I'm feeling a bit of Hooray for Earth and the Rapture with a twist of Metronomy. Youthless is a "club and garage" duo from Portugal and, at this point, relatively unknown. Check them out, you can download their EP for free here (upon registration of course).
And what about us reaching the 100th post?! Shots of Alexi vodka anyone? C'mon it says its distilled four times!
99. THOMAS BANGALTER
i'd hope that you all know who the big leaguer, thomas bangalter, is: one of the biggest french house and electronic musicians / producers / one-half of daft punk + stardust ("music sounds better with you") + together ("a time has come to make a decision, are we in this thing alone, or are we in it together"). he is also responsible for one of my favorite remixes - dj mehdi's signatune (one of my favorite music videos too, btw).
obviously he's a bit busy right now, working on tron legacy's score along with the other half of daft punk. i'm real stoked, both for the movie and the killer sound track.
in this TB down time, i wanted to provide you with a bangalter classic off of his 1995 (woah) solo ep "trax on da rocks" and another off of his 1998 follow up "track on da rocks 2." this is french house at its best and the craziest part is that it won't feel dated because it's on the same level as (if not better than) a lot of today's electronica. since they are both great summer time kick offs, hopefully they inspire both mixed drinks and beaches:
Thomas Bangalter - Club Soda (1998)
99 posts on youcantstopah. i love you guys.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
98. MIAMI HORROR
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
miami horror blasts back into action with his "moon theory" single. when i first heard miami horror, it was just some dude mixing some perfect 80s influenced electro jams and doing some solid remixes for PNAU, stardust, the presets (and many more). lots of synths and electric guitars, sunglasses and red corvettes. now, miami horror plays live with a four piece band and the tracks he puts together in the studio have dynamic vocals that follow a similar aesthetic. if you go back you'll find some older miami horror that's a little less produced and has no vocals. he has definitely grown a lot as an artist, but don't forget the old stuff - it's good too!
everything off of his last ep, bravado, is fantastic. check out "make you mine" and "sometimes." they are some of the best summer jams - on par with bands like the similou.
what's coming next is a full length miami horror lp that i can't find any details on other then it's expected release is sometime later this year. "moon theory" is basically a combination of the 80s synth aesthetic and some epic western gun fight with clint eastwood feeling extremely lucky. i'm not sure why (probably because of the occasional twang), but it feels like sepia and neon, and it works well. vocally, it sounds a little bit like hercules and love affair. you will enjoy it!
Miami Horror - Moon Theory (Radio Edit) on SoundCloud
go to their fan bridge page here to sign up for their mailing list and grab the baby monster remix
Monday, May 17, 2010
97. MICHAEL LEONHART & THE AVRAMINA 7
Monday, May 17, 2010
Michael Leonhart & Avramina 7 - Dreams Of An Aquarian (Music Video on Youtube)
michael leonhart is a songwriter, a producer, and a musician on truth & soul records - a brooklyn based indie label that specializes in contemporary funk and soul. YEAH YEAH! michael has worked with some amazing talent across multiple genres: mos def, brian eno, steely dan (those guys are picky), david byrne and has worked on over 50 truth and soul recordings. bottom line is that this guy is fucking talented.
the avramina 7 are a group of NYC studio musicians who have played with el michels affair and tv on the radio (to name a couple).
what they've done together is create a concept album "that would meld the styles of Bollywood funk scores, 60's psychedelic rock, and the mythical storytelling of artists like Peter, Paul, & Mary and Donovan." as far as i can tell, they did a great job - you can for sure hear the bollywood funk! it's reallllll funky.
here is one of my favorite tracks off of the album:
Michael Leonhart & the Avramina 7 - Scopalamine (on SoundCloud)
grab the whole thing, extremely well priced, on itunes right here.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
96. ANTIVJ
Thursday, May 13, 2010
AntiVJ - ENGHIEN (Vimeo)
AntiVJ is a visual label that presents these incredible audio/visual performances. They're simple and spectacular, mixing electronic music and projection mapping. Like this video, they often make buildings come alive. Its fucking awesome - definitely the best mapping work I've ever seen. Check them out and expect more to come.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
95. AU REVOIR SIMONE
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
i fell in love with au revoir simone when i first heard the teenager's remix of "fallen snow." their vocals inspire good feelings! it's been a while since we posted some solid electro/disco remixes on here - where that bass line is so hot you could burn this disco out. this track has everything, the horns, the break down, the disco strings, and the part where you roller skate backwards. PUNCHES are from BK (let's hang out guys) and have only one other track on their myspace - that's equally as funky. definitely check that out!
this is another song i heard first through et musique pour tous. thanks for the education! they put together a stellar mix once a month called "le miel du mois" (french for-) and this was one of may's featured tracks. check out all the mixes here, you'll for sure have a good time. it comes highly recommended from me to you!
make sure you grab au revoir simone's latest album "still light, still night" off of itunes.
94. MARTINA TOPLEY-BIRD
here's something that's a little different
she's opening for massive attack and neon indian tonight in NYC @ terminal 5! tickets here. she's headed to the west coast afterwards, where she'll continue to open in LA, then san fran.
Martina Topley-Bird - Baby Blue (Download)
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
93. AMARI + FRANCESCO CALABRESE
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Amari - Tiger (Vimeo)
It looks like this band, Amari, was warped into a mixed-up alternate universe of Star Trek and 2001: A Space Odyssey, and they're all living strange lives through the eyes of others. Rock solid video and loving the music too. Seems like they got their hands on a bunch of sci-fi films from the 80's and pasted the bands faces on all the characters. Nothing I recognize, but I wasn't much of sci-fi fanatic. I think I see some Russian writing in a couple of the shots... Great directing job by Francesco Calabrese.
The song, Tiger, is a single set to release this thursday (May 13th). It'll have accompanying remixes by Cècile, NT89, Bunuel, and Cerronza. Check them out:
Monday, May 10, 2010
92. CHANGES + SOMETHING GOOD CAN WORK
Monday, May 10, 2010
things are changing with youcantstopah. today we become part of a bigger network of blogs (ran by our music video writer fwack) called "the king of clouds." oh yeah!
the only real difference you'll see here is that there's a navigation bar at the top of the page that'll more easily help you access some of the other pages within the network. this isn't some sell out plan, and it's not like we're garnering any type of advertising space that'll ruin the aesthetic of our pages. hell yes, i'd like to be making dollaz, but that isn't the immediate goal. what we're shooting for is creating a set of pages that hold many of your (and our) interests together in one place.
what are these new pages?
boombox - public art. any thing that can create a shared experience for the viewer(s) in public spaces. very excited to see this develop.
pixels - this page is made up of a select group of invited artists who post images, videos and photography (basically any digital art). the categories will range from bad photoshop to crazy digtal illustrations. i'm very excited about pixels because i'll for sure be using it as an outlet. think of it as a more collaborative and multi-faceted tumblr image blog (that also posts videos). all original and "remixed" material.
youcantstopah - we're not going to change, but you'll see some definite improvements, almost immediately, we will be adding new contributors and we're real stoked about it! we'll still be posting about music, music videos and events - only we'll continue to post even more than we ever have in the past.
emporium - merch and more, baby. mostly for the digital art that comes out of PIXELS, but maybe some youcantstopah will be up there in the future. we'll keep you posted.
here is some good music for you, you really deserve it for making it this far:
i put the twelves remix of this track up in april and had no idea the original was so good. moulinex did a remix of their "i can talk" - should have known - when both moulinex AND the twelves remix a band, the band has to be good. i just heard the original of this track for the first time a few days ago and am very impressed. the vocalist for these guys is original and creative, super quick delivery and real smooth. a lot of up-tempo, 16th notes on the hi-hat and positive guitar riffs. they are the parts of bloc party that don't depress you. two door cinema club's album "tourist history" just came out. grab it on itunes here, it's reallllly good.
Friday, May 7, 2010
91. GRIEVES + BUDO
Friday, May 7, 2010
90. THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS + ADAM SMITH + MARCUS LYALL
The Chemical Brothers - Swoon (Youtube)
You most certainly should check out this video. It's simple but stunning, and probably one of the best uses of stock(-esque) footage. Released yesterday, the music video is for the single, Swoon, from The Chemical Brothers' upcoming album, Further, set to be released this June. The exciting thing about this album is that each of the 8 tracks will have a corresponding film that developed concurrently. The Chemical Brothers established this partnership with two of their long-time visual artist buds, Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall. Smith has been behind every visual backdrop for every Chemical Brothers concert since they debuted live!
Sounds like an awesome idea and I am excited to see the rest of the videos look like. The videos will be released as a special edition DVD. They will also be available for download with the LP on iTunes.
ALSO, if you don't already follow us via any of those social networks, might I suggest you check out our Facebook, Twitter, or Myspace?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
