As previously reported, At Mount Zoomer is out July 17th. Rumor has it that the boys are exploring more Sunset Rubdown territory, though I'd have to disagree from what I've heard. Everyone, just please remember that Dan Boeckner is in the band too and not just Spencer Krug!
(Sorry, got into a discussion with someone the other day who had no idea who Dan Boeckner was but listened to every Spencer Krug project.)
Wolf Parade - Language City
Wolf Parade label site
Wolf Parade on MySpace
New Ratatat, holy schnikies! LP3 is out July 8th. I'd also love to hear a Vol. 3 of their remix series. Guys, help me out?
Ratatat - Mirando
Ratatat official site
Ratatat on MySpace
Labels: INDIE POP, INDIE ROCK, RATATAT, WOLF PARADE
The Let's Sexy Fighting team hit Bimbo's right before 120 Days took the stage. Some people upfront were yelling, "Yeah! Sweden!" much to the dismay of 120 Days. This resulted in lead singer Adne (sounding somewhat drunk-like, or was that just his accent?) replying with "Ignorant Americans! We are from Norway!" The LSF team had a good laugh at that one. Videos down below...
Ratatat took the stage later, a little sloppier than usual, but still rocking the house. More videos would have been taken of Ratatat, except for the security guard who came over and stopped me in the middle of "Crips". Also, there was a funny tidbit when their projector started going on the fritz and demanding that the air filter be cleaned.
Good news! They also were selling their Ratatat Remixes Vol. 2 with more rap set to Ratatat. It's pretty slick, check it out below...
Biggie Smalls - Party & Bullshit (Ratatat Remix)
Z-ro, Devin the Dude & Juvenile - The Mule (Ratatat Remix)
120 Days - Come Out (Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone)
120 Days - Sleepwalking
120 Days - Old Song
120 Days - New Song
120 Days - Come Out (Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone)
Ratatat - Crips (partial)
Labels: 120 DAYS, BIMBOS, ELECTRONIC, INDIE ROCK, RATATAT, REMIX
Let's face it, remixes of the indie rock have gotten huge within the last couple years. I've come across enough of them to justify having a "best of" list just for remixes. You've got indie headed into electronic music, and you've got BBC Essential Mix quality DJs mixing indie rock into their sets. It's high time.
Top 10 Remixes:
10. Lily Allen - Smile (Mark Ronson Revisit)
Mark Ronson's "revisit" of Lily Allen's "Smile" turns a breezy summer song into a wintery, 60's girl pop song. A fine example of a remix that doesn't have to turn it into a dance track. That being said...
09. Gorillaz - Dare (DFA Remix)
The fact that numerous people were running to this 12 minute remix proved to James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem and DFA fame) that long, organic, dance tracks could provide the proper motivation for a workout. Armed with this knowledge (and a paycheck from Nike), he created 45:33.
08. Grizzly Bear - La Duchess Anne (Safety Scissors Remix)
The original version of this song is a slow, acoustic dirge. The remix treatment retains the feel by converting it to a moody, claustrophobic, downtempo electronica song (which would be later stylistically popularized this year by Hot Chip).
07. Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars (The Hey Team Remix)
The Hey Team Remix finds Snow Patrol's latest arena-lighter-anthem exploring more atmospheric, Postal Service-esque areas. All is normal until about halfway through the song - then video game bleeps randomly come in and out. What is that all about? I don't know, but it's cool!
06. The Bird And The Bee - Fucking Boyfriend (Peaches Remix)
Peaches does an amazing remix with this song. While the original song had a creepy electro-samba feel to it, the Peaches Remix really explores the more menacing side of the song. Add in a crisp beat, the occasional power chord, some flittery 808s, and you got a goth rave masterpiece in the making.
05. Snowden - Black eyes (Le Castle Vania Remix)
Le Castle Vania has quickly come up in the ranks of remixers guaranteed to strike gold every time. Here they run Jordan Jefferes' voice through the Daft Punk vocoder, then electro-fy the whole song, while maintaining the downtrodden dance-punk vibe that's going on. Maybe I need to listen to less depressing music!
04. The Knife - We Share Our Mother's Health (Ratatat Remix)
Already a contender for song of the year on many other lists, "We Share Our Mother's Health" gets the "white crunk" treatment by Ratatat. If you like Ratatat, or The Knife, you will love this. Everybody wins.
03. Hot Chip - Over and Over (Diplo Remix)
Again, "Over and Over" is a strong enough song in its own right. How does one improve something that's already good? Not sure, but Diplo does it - he injects the song with some rapid fire hustle-flow to keep up the energy!
02. Ratatat - Wildcat (E*vax Remix)
So I already used Kayne's term to describe Ratatat earlier in this article - white crunk. Anyway, I would say "Wildcat" is already pretty "crunky". But also I'm going to tell you this remix is even crunkier!
01. Metric - Monster Hospital (Mstrkrft Remix)
Who knew that Jesse from Death From Above 1979 had aspirations of being an electro-dance DJ? His (now fulltime) gig as one half of MSTRKRFT involves cranking out remixes for popular acts. And they have not misfired on a single one yet! Emily - sure, I'll hold your hands down...
Honorable Mention:
Beck - Ghettochip Malfunction (Hell Yes) (8-bit)
Beck asks an unsigned nerd-rap group that uses nintendo synthesizers to remix his song. Band thinks he is kidding and tells him to fuck off. This is what happens after the confusion clears.
Thom Yorke - The Clock (Surgeon Remix)
Late addition for this year, but it's quality. Yes, Thom, you might actually get played in a club with this one. Quick, someone do a remix of "Dick In A Box" so I can put it up here...
Wolfmother - Woman (MSTRKRFT Remix)
Like I said earlier, MSTRKRFT (pronounced masterkraft - yes, they've been hanging out with Motorola too much) could do no wrong this year. I don't expect anyone to be able to get me to dance to young-ozzy-fronting-led-zeppelin, but these guys do it. Gotta love that arpeggiator!
Hot Chip - Just Like We (Breakdown) (DFA Remix)
The DFA's just got an ear for these sprawling club mixes.
Labels: 8-BIT, BECK, DFA, DIPLO, E*VAX, HOT CHIP, LE CASTLE VANIA, MARK RONSON, METRIC, MSTRKRFT, PEACHES, RATATAT, REMIX, SAFETY SCISSORS, SURGEON, THE HEY TEAM, THOM YORKE, WOLFMOTHER, YEAR IN REVIEW
This is a little tack from my usual music journalism, but I think it's applicable to us, purveyors of the digital era - I can tell you guys I had a hands on with the much hyped Zune, the latest and greatest iPod killer. Let me first hedge a bit to say that it's not as bad as I would have expected from a first attempt from Microsoft. That being said, onto the critique!
The feel and texture of the Zune is rather plastic-y with a chalky texture. Feels kind of cheap. Of the 3 color combinations, white looks the best. Is this because it looks like an iPod? Not necessarily. On the white model they shoot a clear plastic over the opaque white. However, on the black model, they shoot a poorly chosen blue over the black, and on the oft-griped brown model, they shoot an ill advised light green over brown. As Engadget put it, "My Zune looks like swamp water Jello".
The UI of the Zune looks good at first. Animated transitions, some interesting menu ideas. However, after about 30 seconds you realize it is way too busy and distracting. On top of that, there is a slight delay before the transition begins, where the menu actually blanks out. This delay is also from the button press. Speaking of buttons, they feel kinda cheap, and loose. The UI itself is a cross between the Xbox 360 interface (which is decent) and the Windows Media Center interface (which is horrible). Way too many clicks just to play one song.
To make concessions, the wireless feature is an interesting idea, but will need to mature a bit. I don't like the fact that it wraps all songs, even ones by your band or originally DRM free tracks, with a 3 play/3 day DRM. I don't understand why Microsoft disabled use of it as an external HD. Why is it also 60% bigger than the 30GB iPod? And still bigger than the 60GB iPod? Also, giving Universal Music a royalty for each player sold is simply retarded. Should every DVD player manufacturer give the movie studios a cut of each player sold? Maybe the baseball bat companies should pay the ball companies for every bat they sell.
In any case, Microsoft has put their foot in the arena, and we all know they have the resources to throw at it until it becomes viable. They did decently with the Xbox. I expect the 2nd generation Zune to be much more competitive. Probably still retain the microsoft wonkyness, though. For now, pass.
Happy Belated Thanksgiving, folks. Some rarities:
Animal Collective - Polly (Nirvana Cover)
The Knife - We Share Our Mother's Health (Ratatat Remix)
Animal Collective on MySpace
Ratatat on MySpace
Labels: ANIMAL COLLECTIVE, RATATAT, REVIEW, THE KNIFE, ZUNE
