..blouse..

see ya bye

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:04:00 +0000

hola from south america! today im doing it in style and typing a post from an internet cafe.. oh la la.

i dont really know if its the backpacker lifestyle, the buenos aires nightlife or the two combined, but i have never partied this hard in my life. i think its pretty much standard practice around here to walk out of a club at around 7am.. we havent really been in any state to "check out the sights".. but i hope that will change soon.

anyway, with all these late nights/early mornings and attempts to sleep in swelteringly humid conditions, my music choice has been somewhat chilled.. this track by tensnake is one of the sexiest chilled songs i have heard in a long time.. it is an early-morning/just-woke-up bed burner that builds slowly slowly and ends with the most subdued, sophisticated fireworks ive heard in a while.

Tensnake - Congolal

its a shame that i didnt get to fire off a post before i left australia.. being disorganised is apparently something that im good at.

my last weekend in sydney was pretty choccers with amazing music..
friday night was the sydney festival future classic night which featured personal favourites aeroplane and trevor jackson.. i dont particularly feel the two sets gelled, but both were fun in their own way. trev jackson brought some tough, slinky tech house while aeroplane packed their usual bunch of party starting disco and filter house.. so much fun

Low Motion Disco - Love Love Love (Aeroplane Remix)

saturday night saw onthefly and deep impressions joining forces to bring dfa stalwart shit robot to goodgod.. jimi polar started proceedings for me incredibly with a motley collection of disco, tech-house, and indie dance.. i dont claim to know everything about music, but the fact that i knew hardly any of these amazing songs really surprised me.
shit robot came on a little later after much jimi polar buttering, and i have to say that his swirling, sometime tickling/sometime stabbing tech-disco went down a treat.. he didnt look at all like i thought he would, but by this stage i had wandered a little too far down the "farewell sydney - let celebrate!" path to care.. good god may be a little smelly but the night was again, so much fun..

Dondolo - Dragon (Shit Robot Remix)

so anyway, i wont be back for a few weeks.. have fun without me.. ill try and have fun without you

sebastiAn & busy p: a conversation

oham4774@gmail.com (Omar) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:09:00 +0000

Busy P: Bonjour Sebastian, come in and sit down. What’s going on in electroland? Ça va? Do you have le new track ready?

SebastiAn: (lights cigarette) Oui Pedro. I finished it. But i had no idea making an LP was so feuking hard.

BP: Aw-haw-haw-haw monsieur, that’s right! Making an album is harder than it looks (racks a line off a Kitsune Maison 8 CD case). If you want to contribute to zis feuking label – then albums need to appear you silly motheurfuckeur!

S: Well, I thought about how to make it big like Gaspard and Xavier. It’s like they didn’t actually `reinvent’ house, they just found what was already populeur and used it in creative ways.

P: Excuse moi. I have no feuking idea what you mean. You feuking bassterd.

S: I mean, is making an artistic impact about being the most populeur produceur, or the most innovative?

P: Sacre bleu! Have I taught you neuthing? It’s about how much pussy you get.

S: (lights another cigarette before finishing the first one) Come on Pedro. I’ve been thinking about zis for two years now. Pitchfeurk keeps asking me about new material. I need to release this album and it has to be incredible.

P: Relax mon ami. Look at Guy-Manuel and Thomas. I banged zis American geurl in ’05 and told them her snatch looked like a glowing pyramid. Look what they did with that idea, you feukwit.

S: Well you told moi to take a different direction from the 'Cheep and Cheerful' and 'Golden Skans' remixes. You said le public are getting tired of le four minute banger.

P: Exactly Sebby. You need to do something that’s never been done before. If you’re not going to reinvent electronic music, which you probably won’t, then use this feuking album like a billboard for how big your balls are!

S: Honestly Pedro, I think I’ve done it.

P: So you’re going to show moi this track?

S: O-oui. Here it is (connects his iPhone to Busy P’s amplifier).

SebastiAn – Threnody

SebastiAn - Threnody (Capt and Cooked Edit)

viva la zevolution

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:19:00 +0000

happy new years everyone! sorry its taken me so long to get a new years post out.. i thought id start the year in style and quickly go over the excellent re-edit compilation put out by the infamous ze records late last year..

a bit of background: ze records was an incredibly influential label from the early 80s who led the way with their combination of disco, post-punk and pop sounds.. ze records disbanded in the mid-late eighties, but reformed in the early naughties to reissue and revive some of their iconic sounds.
their latest project is a re-edit collection that sees many of their finest artists (like was (not was), alan vega and kid creole & the coconuts) revised by current style-setters (like todd terje, pilooski and leo zero). disco on disco. yess
uk luminary greg wilson was the curator of this project and he really did well in collating a bunch of tracks that stayed faithful to the original deep-chequered-fun, late-night tango-esque vibe that ze records were all about. good job!

these two edits by fat camp and new york scenesters rub n tug are particularly tickling my fancy at the moment..
the extended axe-shredding in rub n tug's material edit made me want to whip out the air guitar more than any other disco song i have ever heard, while the thick funk in fat camp's version of dave gamson is pretty damned irresistible..

Material With Nona Hendryx - Bustin' Out (Rub N Tug Edit)

David Gamson - No Turn On Red (Fat Camp Version)

grab your copy of "zevolution: ze records re-edited" right here

ps: i would really like to get all stabby with the person that stole my shoes.

warm butter

oham4774@gmail.com (Omar) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 02:05:00 +0000

Last night at a Darlinghurst bar i told some friends that wearing Calvin Klein underwear is like smearing warm butter on your ass.

Consequently they’re all coming to my place this weekend.

While they’re over i’ll play this song:

The Field – Over The Ice

Swedish minimal tech via Axel Willner.

neon indian is here today

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 09:01:00 +0000

Neon Indian said this in an interview with Pedestrian:

You seem to be roped in with acts such as Memory Tapes and Washed Out in this vague probably non existent genre called Chillwave/Glo-Fi. Do you have an affinity for those guys? I like those acts for sure. I just find it kind of odd that the internet doesn't really let you pick your own musical movements anymore. Whereas before you could say that a genre developed in a certain city by a community of friends who were all drawing influence from each other or shared overlapping musical objectives, now a blogger or journalist can just draw a few ambiguous commonalities between you and a two or three other bands in different areas of the country or world for that matter and call it a movement.

This is 100% true. As a journalist (and mostly a music journalist), I write so much shit! Everything is a "trend". My new year's resolution is to stop writing crap. I proposed this to my boss and he agreed with the "no shit" part but not really with the "no trends" part because a newspaper is all about trends. I also proposed writing in a more freaky deaky gonzo post-modern style and he said "no". I will persevere on the gonzo front. I feel this post isn't the best start to my "no shit" resolution.

Au Revoir Simone - Another Likely Story (Neon Indian Remix)

Neon Indian - Should Have Taken Acid With You

2009 According to Rachel

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:58:00 +0000

What does my Best of 2009 say? I feel it reflects my poor taste in music. And possibly an identity crisis. And it seems to be full of epic and monumentally moving songs which kinda masks the fact that I spend a lot of time in a club listening to bangers and I’m not an epic and monumentally melancholy person but it’s about the songs that stick with you right?

And while I do agree that it was the year for dubstep (ew), dream pop, nu-wave and whatever else I was also happy to see it was the year for folk and folktronica and excessive portmanteaus to describe genres. 2009 for life x

The Juan Maclean - Happy House

In 2009, the people I most wanted to be were: Nancy Wang, Lady Gaga, Natasha Khan, the winner of the lottery, Tao Lin and Michelle Obama. There were a few other 90s sounding bangers around that took my fancy too, Shit Robot’s Work It Out, Siriusmo’s High Together and this 11 minute track but it wasn’t a standout year for club music. Dizzee Rascal seriously go fuck yourself.

Antony and the Johnsons - Aeon

No music “affected” me more than Antony and the Johnsons in 2009. It’s so overwhelming I often have to turn it off. Sometimes people get so wanky when they start talking about the impact of music but I couldn’t help it with The Crying Light. A beautiful album and a beautiful song that eschewed the zeitgeist.

The xx - Crystalised and Stars (pre-album version)

The xx were probably my favourite discovery for 2009. I like the delicate and almost childlike simplicity. It's kinda magnetic and just quite unusual music and not like much I've heard before which is all I really hope for.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Streets of Philadelphia

I just love anything that comes out of Owen Ashworth so it’s kinda irrelevant to the year but it was one of the best gigs I saw in 2009. Is lo-fi nu-wave indietronica trendy? I’m not sure.

Fuck Buttons – The Lisbon Maru

Really, all my list of honorable mentions should be in this spot, I can't decide. But it was the year for Fuck Buttons and beautiful hardened electronic soundscapes and experimental synth orgies. I love rude levels of grandeur in music. When I ranked my itunes according to “number of plays” yesterday Camera Obscura was the first song but I was secretly wishing it would be The Lonely Island.

And an Australian top 5 because it was a super good year for music. I am so obsessed with the music that comes out this country, and Sydney in particular.
Crayon Fields – All the Pleasures of the World
Tame Impala – Remember Me
Paul Dempsey – Ramona Was A Waitress (Faux Pas Remix)
Bag Raiders – Shooting Star
Philadelphia Grand Jury – Going to the Casino

DOWNLOAD RACHEL'S 2009 (zip file)

DOWNLOAD ENTIRE BLOUSE BEST OF 2009 (zip file - 187mb)

Honorable mentions
Air – Sing Sang Song
The Big Pink - Dominos
Boy and Bear - Mexican Mavis
Camera Obscura – French Navy
Washed Out – Feel It All Around
Hot Chip – One Night Stand
Memory Tapes - Bicycles
The Lonely Island – I'm On A Boat
Temper Trap – Sweet Dispositions
The Middle East – Blood
Phantogram – Mouthful of Diamonds
Jay Z and Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind

2009 According to Steve

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:20:00 +0000

writing a personal 2009 music summary is really hard. it feels a bit stupid to say that i avoided all party music, but it is actually the truth.. instead of nodding away to bangers, i found myself chasing the more refined sounds of disco and chillwave. which was ok cos it was apparently a great year for the more chin-strokey and misty-eyed beats anyway:

Washed Out - Feel It All Around

some people might say that 2009 was the year of dubstep. i on the other hand would argue that it was the year of dream-pop and nu-disco.. boat club, toro y moi and memory tapes may have all flown that dream-pop flag high with some amazing releases, but the simplicity, reverb and "oooooooo's" put forth by washed out's 'feel it all around' managed to cradle me into misty-eyed bliss more any of them.

Telefon Tel Aviv - Helen of Troy

i had this song jammed solidly on repeat for basically the entire start of '09. their album 'immolate yourself' may have been a fantastically whacked out prog-journey in itself, but as a single, 'helen of troy' was like the soundtrack to my dad and i discussing the meaning of life. an absolute standout.

D-Pulse - Highway To Saturn

the disco genre apparently decided to take in the intergalactic scenic drive in '09.. cosmic tracks were plentiful, and i have to say that the mateship of strong funky basslines and echoey, soaring vintage synths really floated my boat. big time. to me, d-pulse's 'highway to saturn' epitomises this cosmic '09 sound. funky, classy and oh-so-cool, this track may be more 'logan's run' than '2001: a space odyssey', yet definitely does not suffer for it.

Space - Just Blue (Ichisan's Quatro Diversion)

sitting proudly alongside lindstrom & prins thomas, d-pulse, acos coolkas et al as the solar crown princes of this cosmic sound is ichisan. powerful, all-encompassing productions are ichisan's game and in '09 he certainly played well.
this remix that he turned in for the space remixes project pushed my buttons in every way.. epic, pounding pianos, rolling basslines and more drama than your nye with the phantom of the opera.

Lindstrom & Prins Thomas - Gudene Vet + Snutt

where to start with a duo like lindstrom and prins thomas? 2009 again presented these guys with a commanding view of the lush disco landscape after several top-notch remixes and a couple of impressive lp's between them.
it is hard to pick one stand-out track from them, but the hammock-inspiring "gudene vet + snutt" was an absolute standout from the majestic "II".. rocking a distinctly relaxed air-air, this track is truly all orange sunshine and yellow sand: summery disco at its very finest.
i know i talk about songs being soundtracks to things very often, but if this song was the soundtrack to anything, it would be this.

DOWNLOAD STEVE'S 2009 (zip file)

DOWNLOAD ENTIRE BLOUSE BEST OF 2009 (zip file - 187mb)

Honourable Mentions:

Miike Snow - Silvia
Siriusmo - High Together
Tesla Boy - Neon Love
Toby Tobias - In Your Eyes (Tensnake Remix)
Memory Tapes - Green Knight
Junior Boys - Parallel Lines
Fever Ray - Dry & Dusty

2009 According to Omar

oham4774@gmail.com (Omar) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 08:57:00 +0000

It's a new year, it's a new decade.

Lots of cool sounds went through the blouse office in '09 and it's hard to rank these tunes from 'great' to 'made our year'. So here's a slice of some tracks we liked as a reminder of the memories made in 2K9.

Major Lazer – Pon De Floor

The first time i heard this song i repeatedly cried out “YES, YES, YESSSS!!!” It’s the greatest party starter i’ve heard in a very long time, rubbing a dirty Dancehall beat in your lap while rabid laser samples and militant snares completely annihilate whatever senses you have left after the first 90 seconds.

Animal Collective – Brother Sport

This is an ode to mateship employing kooky samples and symbolistic lyrics. It sounds a bit jarring until the build-up begins, which culminates in an afrobeat mashup of tangled samples and disjointed synths before bouncy harmonies bring it all together.

Washed Out – Phone Call

Released on the cassette-only album High Times, this track is not one of Ernest Greene’s most popular. But its summery, Mungo Jerry-esque piano riffs and gushing harmonies are testament to what’s so good about post-electro indie. It’s Lo-fi, it’s Chillwave and it symbolises summer. Guess time will tell if it lasts the winter too.

Telefon Tel Aviv – M

'M' is a dark synth-fest married to moody vocals. Carrying with it the zeitgeist of New Wave with unusual confidence, the eerie nature of this track hints at the intense emotional depths band member Charles Cooper might have entered before he was found dead, the result of an alleged suicide, two days after the release of Immolate Yourself.

Florence & The Machine – Dog Days Are Over

This project has received remarkable hype this year. The opening track to Lungs encapsulates a folk aesthetic that’s ‘big’ enough for a stadium, yet yielding enough for headphones. It strikes the perfect balance between fist-in-the-air up-tempo rock and group hugging at a Janis Joplin acoustic gig.

DOWNLOAD OMAR'S 2009 (zip file)

DOWNLOAD ENTIRE BLOUSE BEST OF 2009 (zip file - 187mb)

Honourable Mentions:

Fuck Buttons – Space Mountain
Junior Boys – Bits & Pieces
Midnight Juggernauts – This New Technology
Bachelorette – Her Rotating Head
Logo – Junocide
La Roux – Quicksand
Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks
Phoenix – Lisztomania
Neon Indian – Deadbeat Summer
The Flaming Lips – Silver Trembling Hands

HiBeams

dcupmusic@gmail.com (DCUP) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:24:00 +0000

Tonight HiBeams make his debut performance at the Velvet Lounge and later, the newly reopened Lady Lux, showcasing a bouncy technotronique technique that is about to take Sydney by storm.

Enjoy this loose joint to start your afro party
Myd - Train To Bamako

interview: (pretty) girls & lasers

oham4774@gmail.com (Omar) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:53:00 +0000

Most band names are a play on words, an onomatopoeic orge of vowels and syllables. They can also be something boring, like a singer’s `real name'. But there are very few stage names that can excite the kid in all of us. An electro outfit from New York has a name that does though, harking back to our first disco, first romance, or first laser tag game. (Pretty) Girls & Lasers is comprised of Jack and Levi, two guys that see the NY club scene as a social aphrodisiac - and electro its oyster.

This year they’ve released top-shelf mixes dripping in something between mango juice and Megan Fox’s cleavage sweat – a delicious combination of hot electro and a mixture of older and obscure tracks. Coupled with a residency at the NY club Arlo & Esme, Jack and Levi are flying the electro banner high.

We recently chatted about when their careers started up, the nuances of the NY club scene and what they’ll be excited about in 2010.

So it’s Jack and Levi? Which one of you guys is which?

Jack: I’m Jack
Levi: And I’m Levi.
J: Seriously though. I’m the tall one and Levi is the somewhat taller one.

What part of NY are you from?

J: I’m originally from Long Island (I know, I’m embarrassed by it too) and Levi’s kind of from all over, but was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.
L: Space.
J: Yeah. And we do all of our production work in Manhattan.

What’s with your stage name? Tongue in cheek eroto-sci-fi?

L: I don’t know. We just wanted to make up a cool band name, and (Pretty) Girls & Lasers is what we came up with.
J: We wanted to pick something that sounded fun, a little bit indie, and different from most of the dance music acts out there.

When and how did you get into DJing?

L: Well I got into producing trance music with a friend of mine in college, and Jack’s dad was a pretty big DJ during the disco era, so he’s been around dance music his whole life.
J: Yeah, we’ve both been pretty into music – dance music, indie-rock, classic rock, all kinds of stuff – pretty much since birth.

What artists have you been spinning lately?

J: All kinds of stuff – we’re both constantly listening to new music and finding stuff to play. Between the two of us we probably listen to almost a thousand new tracks a week. Obviously most of it’s crap, but you have to go through a lot of stuff to find what’s good.
L: Yeah. As for artists, Justin Faust out of Germany has had some great stuff lately. Will Eastman out of DC, The Twelves, Treasure Fingers, Death to the Throne, Yuksek, A-Trak, 80kidz are some other artists that are pretty consistently good.

So you guys produce as well as mix? What software/hardware do you use?

L: Yeah. We’re actually in the process of working on a bunch of remixes and original tracks right now – they should be coming out soon, although we haven’t set a date yet.
J: We’ve experimented with a bunch of different software, but are mostly using Ableton with a handful of different synths right now.

What’s the club scene like in NY at the moment?

J: Depends on the night and it depends on the place. NYC is big enough that there are always decent places to go if you know where. On the weekends it can be hard to find them because so many people commute to the city for the nightlife, and they’re there for the scene so much more than for the music. They make a lot of the clubs –especially the bigger rooms – pretty intolerable.
L: Yeah, but if you’re plugged into the scene you’re always able to find good parties.

You've said you’re trying to spread the indie-electro sound in NY in response to the dominant hard house and prog trance scene there. What’s the inspiration behind that?

L: I don’t really have the energy for that kind of music.
J: I’ve actually got nothing against hard house or progressive trance music. A lot of it is really good, and when I’m in Europe or even Canada I like going to see a lot of that stuff. But the scene around that music here in NYC is kind of becoming a parody of itself – everyone’s there for the bottle service or for the drugs, and that’s fine, but it just seems like no one’s really there for the music.

How’d the Arlo & Esme residency crop up?

L: We were looking for a place to get our music out, and Arlo & Esme is a really cool room we found ourselves going to anyway. The owner Gage dug our music so we started putting something together there.
J: Yeah it was all pretty organic.

Your latest mix is mostly soft electro-pop in comparison to your previous mix. Is there a reason? Do you think bangers have had their day?

J: Not really. We put out our previous mix at the end of the summer here, so it kind of made sense for it to be a little more up. The most recent mix just seemed to fit with how we were feeling at the time we made it.
L: Yeah, it kind of just worked out that way - we don’t really spend too much time thinking about that kind of stuff.

Which producers/bands are on your radar for 2010?

J: We’re both kind of into all different stuff. When I’m not working on music or trying to find new stuff to spin I’ll spend a lot of time listening to indie-rock stuff – bands like The Rural Alberta Advantage, Liam Finn, The Dutchess & the Duke, The Tellers, Marina & the Diamonds, The Xx and The Pixies. I’m also really digging a lot of Kid Cudi’s stuff.
L: Cavaliers of Fun, Discovery, Russ Chimes, Chiddy Bang, Coconut Records, Wolfgang Gartner, Miike Snow, Sebastian Tellier, People Under the Stairs. Too much good stuff to name.

If you had to incorporate lyrics from your fave song/s into a pick-up line, what would you say?

L: “That’s the first thing I say to you – how’s it goin’? Are you flowin’? Listen honey, thinkin’ ‘bout a couple things to say to you. Showin’, growin’. And I’d like to place my hands upon your fuckin’ sexy ass and squeeze, and squeeze.”
J: I can’t wait to see you use that one this weekend.

(Pretty) Girls & Lasers Late 2009 Mix Part 1

(Pretty) Girls & Lasers Late 2009 Mix Part 2

tracklist in the comments for all you curious souls..

the videodrome mk XXXIV

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:21:00 +0000

Jens Lekman - Sipping On The Sweet Nectar

so this old jens lekman song is awesome and definitely worth a post, but this is only half the reason i posted it.. check out the slack-jawed, vacant stares that this guy rocks at the start of the clip. so seedy, yet so naive. how does this happen?

vacant stares aside, the real reason i posted this video was because of the stunning remix of it by bulgarian personality bogdan irkük.. solid snares coupled with fuzzy bass and luminous arpeggios can only equal success to me.

Jens Lekman - Sipping On The Sweet Nectar (Bogdan Irkük's Love Nectar Mix)

i have to thank the excellent acos coolkas and their "warm layers of atmosphere" mix for giving me the heads up on this track.. if you havent checked out any of the smooth, inter-galactic mixes from these guys, you should get out there and get acquainted now.

apologies

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:19:00 +0000

with all this silly silly season action floating around at the moment, we have found it a little hard to find time to make post..
please please accept our apologies and this deep, crisp, trip-hoppy remix from the excellent joy orbison.. with heartbeat drums and jittery, reverb-ridden vocals like these, it is easy get all glazy and drift off into some sort of jazz trance.. just what you need on a monday..

Four Tet- Love Cry (Joy Orbison Remix)

full posts will find their way back onto blouse again in the next couple of days

xx

metro area inside sydney

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:01:00 +0000

is it weird that it is only tuesday and i am already planning my weekend? probably not that weird huh.. especially when it promises to be so so good.

ive already touched upon the wondrous modular christmas party which is happening on saturday (tix still available here), but i havent yet sprouted any excitement about the effervescent darshan jesrani, who will donning the dance commander hard-hat at goodgod on friday.

for those of you who may be a little behind the whole disco thing, darshan jesrani is one half of pioneers metro area, whose 2002 debut long player "changed the landscape of dance music." (thank you picnic facebook group)..

i was personally (fashionably) late to the metro area party- only stumbling across them at parklife last year.. in a grotty landscape filled with "team parklife '08!!!!" singlets and shittingly repetitive electro, metro area's funk and disco fuelled set was like an oasis.. it wasnt until much after the festival that i realised how groundbreaking and influential these guys are.
compare their beats with stuff produced by artists like holy ghost! and aeroplane to see what i mean..
here are a couple of treats to get you started:

Hugh Masekela - Mama (Metro Area Birthday Dub)

Metro Area - Read My Mind (Special Dub)

this is being billed as one of the events of the year.. so if time, money and health is in your favour, you have no excuse to miss out. grab tickets nownownow.

bonus:
Escort - Starlight (Darshan Jesrani Parks Dept. Dub)

question time in space

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:18:00 +0000

how do you feel about the recent influx of dream-pop? do you find it boring? do you think it all sounds the same? is it the new form of emo expressionism? is 'dream-pop' a dumb buzz word? hmmmmm..

it might not come as news for you, but i for one am particularly enjoying it.. the craft, subtlety and talent evident in the raft of dreamy pop groups is music to my ears.
i do sometimes worry when i see other people not getting into it, because i feel like my love for this genre is reflective of my newly acquired 'grandpapa' status, but then i only have to listen to stellar tracks like these two below and my worries disappear.
all of them.

Boat Club - Nowhere

i was initially reluctant to heap praise onto swedish fellows boat club, as their sound is so very similar to that of washed out or countrymen air france, but then i thought "f%*k it". when you do something this well, you absolutely deserve heaps of praise.
the name 'boat club' is entirely perfect for this group as the free-flowing percussion, calypso-esque guitars and breathy vocals appropriately conjure images of yachts and catamarans.. mmm all at sunset with people on them drinking champagne and expensive sounding beers. it is beautiful music that will soothe your ears on hump day.
grab their ep 'caught the breeze' here

Toro Y Moi - Talamak

i have a firm belief that toro y moi are one of the most "different" dream pop bands floating around at the moment. while most of their debut album "causers of this" is harmonious and melodious, it is the abstract, disjointed animal collective-like noise/art-pop sections that really stand out. you can grab this debut album early next year, or pre-order it right here.

offices = prison

oham4774@gmail.com (Omar) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:18:00 +0000

I’ve been very happy/depressed lately. I’ve also been listening to so much Animal Collective my iPod clickwheel chimes when i slide my thumb over it.

Annie are coming to Australia to round off touring for their lastest album Merriweather Post Pavilion, which has kept them out of the zoo/Baltimore all year.

Their December 11 Sydney sideshow (while they're here for Meredith) will be at the Enmore. They'll play the epic psychedelic-noise-folk-pop they’re now a little too famous for. Regardless, i can’t wait for Brother Sport, My Girlies and - let’s hope - Winter's Love.

As i'm still an Annie virgin, one dude i’m rlly eager about catching is Pander Bair. He’s like the best friend I’ll never have. I wish i knew more bros as tender as he.

Annie will be supported by Bachelorette.

Buy dix to their show here.

going to the roller derby this weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:04:00 +0000

I saw Casiotone for the Painfully Alone play a couple of weekend ago. It was seriously up there with one of the best musical experiences I've had, mostly because it was so different, mostly because his music is incredible. Also, maybe because he is one of my most favourite artists of all time. Also maybe because I seemed to be obsessed with lo-fi indietronica in the same way I was obsessed with lesbians when I was 19.

Some of my all-time faves from Casiotone's back catalogue, mostly from this year's Advanced Base Battery Life but also highly representative of Young Shields and Twinkle Echo:

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Hot Boyz (Feat. Dear Nora)

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Streets of Philadelphia (feat.Concern)

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Sunday St

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - White on White

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Giant

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Roberta C

Is this too many songs to post in sequence on a blog? I feel it might just be.

the videodrome mk XXXIII

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:56:00 +0000

you might have seen some of blu's work in the past.. it is nothing short of incredible.

this is a recent collaboration that he did with david ellis:

wow..

DCUP in SA

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:54:00 +0000

Hey ya'll.
Played rAdelaide last night. It was rad. Yolanda Be Cool came down with me and banged on after my set till 4am. Around that time I had a line of something, a shot, my eyes pointed out in different directions like one of those ugly dogs, and next I woke up in the hotel. They dont do half measures.

Galactik Knights - Falling In Love

(Galactik Knights myspace)

mr robot

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:42:00 +0000

sweaty sweat it out-er harris robotis has just popped out a new single.. it is called 'up all night' and is a twitchy 90's flavoured tech monster destined to have many a cowering punter crawling to a discreet corner to cover their heads.

Harris Robotis - Up All Night

haha well maybe it isnt that brutal.. but it sure is aggressive. it might be the refined cousin of a song like that.

the release also features an auspicious remix from herr knightlife.. i kinda figured that every one had heard this mix before (it is also known as 'go!' and has been floating around blogville for nearly two years) so here is the intriguing reprise of up all night which features some superb slap bass and some strangely off-kilter piano..

Harris Robotis - Up All Night (Reprise)

up all night is out now.. check it out here

well

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:30:00 +0000

its friday today and that can only mean one thing. techy tech bangers as far as the eye can see. if i wasnt going to canberra to have a nice civilised dinner, i think the weekend would consist of me sweating it out between some sweaty gurneys in a darkened sweaty, debauched sweat den.
ahhhh sweat, tech's closest and strongest ally.

if i was to compare this style of eye beast to any sort of animal, it would have to a kangaroo.. bouncing seems to come naturally to this track and it would probably kick the s**t out of you ran into it in a dim sweat-house.

Style of Eye - Kirstenbosch

this popof track is so supreme in the way it channels other tech-noise masterpieces like 'church of nonsense' and 'hot knives', yet also manages to throw in a kind of upbeat sophistication into the mix.

Popof - Mr Orange

while im discussing sweaty techno, i would also like to mention my main man honnery's birthday which is on sunday.. you might know this fellow as "chris" from the brag or as half of local sweat-makers diatribe.. im sure he will be out at some point on the weekend (probably at spice) so if you know him and happen to see him, please wish him a happy birthday from me.

something to do

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:55:00 +0000

well well.. it only seems like yesterday that i was whinging about how cold it was. one blink and ive suddenly find myself smack bang in the middle of november and right at the feet of what is surely going to be the best summer ever.

it seems that modular are every bit as excited for the 'silly' season as everyone else.. accordingly, they have decided to throw 2 massive parties in sydney and melbourne... maybe its their way of say "thanks" for supporting them through a tough 2009. or maybe getting everyone together to have one last trashy modular party for the year in the name of christmas was just a bit too tempting..

the line ups that they have assembled are really quite good and read like a "who's who" of the excellent modular artist roster (probably cos thats exactly what they are).
check out the line up of the respective parties below.. mouth-watering summery fun:

Melbourne at the Espy, 19th of Dec
Tame Impala, Jonathon Boulet, Muscles(??), Bang Gang, Canyons, Knightlife, Andee Frost, Bongmist, Toni Pepperoni, Nick Foley, Modular Djs

Sydney at Beach Road, 12th of Dec yo
Tame Impala, Jonathon Boulet, Ladyhawke (DJ set), Bang Gang, KIM, Canyons, Tim (Cutters), The Swiss, Graz, Anna Lunoe, Modular Djs

the sydney party is only a somersault away from my house, so my ticket is already procured. just thought i would let you know.

sydney peeps can get tix here and melb peeps can get tix here..

modular have kindly provided us with ticket-purchasing/thinking music by promising newcomer jonathon boulet.. an introspective look at his first single "a community service announcement" from the album leaf

Jonathon Boulet - A Community Service Announcement (The Album Leaf Remix)

jonathon "boules" boulet's debut album is really really just about to drop- if you are excited by this, you can pre-order the album here or sip a drink to toast young bouley here

icky space

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:06:00 +0000

good news! 70's cosmic disco extraordineer space has just been officially signed to nang! that means that over the next year or so, space's albums (which sold over ten million copies f.y.i.) will be remastered and re-released. exciting times indeed.
it really is a testament to the quality and timeless..ness of his sound that labels are still keen to re-release his work thirty years after his hey-day. good work!

to celebrate, nang are releasing a space remix cd packed full of reworks, rejigs, rethinks and versions from the likes of bottin, acos coolkas, d-pulse and all-time blouse favourite ichisan.
while the entire release might sound like roger troutman and h.a.l. having a no-pants party, it was ichisan's contribution that really caught my attention:

Space - Just Blue (Ichisan's Quatro Diversion)

the raw drama that a song like this can conjure is enough to make me blush. any band/man that is willing to passionately pound as many power chords as these will always have a spot in my bed. probably.

to check out the re-released albums or to grab your copy of the remixes vol 1 compilation, head over here.

in other related news, ichisan has been busy bee of late.. i stumbled across this new track a few days ago and still cant seem to pry it out of my headphones. compellingly sophisticated space funk fo' dat ass:

Ichisan - Full Bet Rule

catch up with your man ichisan right here.

past blastin'

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:49:00 +0000

friday seems like a perfect day to listen to one of the best songs ever crafted by man:

Malcolm Mclaren - World's Famous

enjoy your happy friday: i hope malcolm mclaren inspires you to have a fun time..

the videodrome mk XXXII

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:10:00 +0000

have you checked out the latest diogenes club tracks? if you havent, they are well worth your time..
previous releases had me expecting lamborghini-electro-funk, but what i actually heard was laid-back lush restraint.. if you feel like 'nice', check out this remix they did for london up-and-comers eat more cake:

Eat More Cake - Red Sky (The Diogenes Club Remix)

listening to these diogenes club tracks prompted me to do some myspace stalking..
and after jumping over to labelmate casio social club's 'space i discovered this slice of lemon cheesecake from '98.. oh my god:

Zapp & Roger - Summer Jam '98

who are zapp and roger? am i a fool for not knowing? do you think chromeo are quaking in their boots after i have discovered their sole inspiration?

the raveonettes and some other things

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:07:00 +0000

Oo I do love a danish noise rock duo eating smørrebrød. The Raveonettes have been satisfilling my desire for lo-fi 60s inspired indie rock for a long time now. If my hair ever starts growing again, I would like it to look like Sune Rose Wagner's. I can only dream.

The Raveonettes - The Chosen One

I don't know if I feel the same need to be satisfilled with 80s tinged remixes of scare bangers. But I do love Australian bands with kooky men on vocals and I do love disco reworks. Put them together and what do you get...

The Scare - Could Be Bad (Gloves 12" Megamix)