HYPED

When i started this blog I was under the impression it was going to be a matter of minutes until the Hype Machine lovingly welcomed me. 11 months later, I Am In. The shameless whiney email paid off, and Zoya told me she'd added my blog (Thanks Zoya!). At least i think so, because at the moment i can't find it anywhere. But I think this might be because as of yet I haven't posted any mp3 links that aren't via zShare. Anyway to celebrate here is a really nice track by Late of the Pier. It's one of those songs that make you feel really alive. Not saccharine-sweet happy-clappy sugar-pop, not crying-in-the-corner emo-pop, it's just a really nice song. I'm not 100% sure what the significance of 'Fairy Lights' is, if it's been remixed by Fairy Lights or that's just the name of the mix by LOTP, but it's really wicked anyway.

Late of the Pier - Broken (Fairy Lights Mix)
zShare | YouSendit

And the latest offering by Lillica Libertine is similarly brilliant. This is what I imagine the papparazzi were listening to when Diana's face got sprayed across the tunnel.

Lillica Libertine - Britney Spears
zShare | YouSendit

Oh and don't be tempted to try to put these two wicked acts together. No offence to Lillica libertine, but his remix of Bathroom Gurgle is waaaay below the standard he's usually at.

Eurovision.

Tomorrow night. It feels very strange to actually care about who wins. Tellier all the way.

Sébastien Tellier - Divine (Danger Remix) (zShare | YouSendIt)

From what I read in Kruger magazine, Sébastien Tellier's next album may or may not be about mental illness. Buy 'Sexuality'.

Danger for French Eurovision '09?

Scenesters, Sneakers, Hipsters, Blogs

(image credit: karina shah)

Blood Red Shoes released their debut album on monday. I'm about ten blog years behind with this, but it's well good. I was reading in the enemy and the reviewer was saying how the guitars were full of 'raw sexual energy' or something - I'm not too sure if the guitars are all that 'sexual', but there's some really good tracks and what I really like about it is the way it's got a whole range of emotions, including all the more negative ones, they are properly shouting and it's got loud aggressive guitars - but it's still about a thousand miles from the border to emo territory. Playing the whole album, some of the songs are a little bit same-y but I think you can forgive that when the songs are as good as they are, and on their own each track can stand up as a decent bit of rock and roll. There aren't any cringingly awful tracks, unlike say 'Good Time' or 'Numbers', on Crystal Castles and These New Puritans' debut albums.



And now onto SebastiAn, king of whoosh noises and glitchy violin masterpieces. Four new tracks have surfaced all at roughly the same time, on the Motor EP are Motor, Momy and Army; all quite nice and relatively standard Ed Banger industro-techno that we've come to expect from SebastiAn. And soon to be released on Ed Banger Records 3 is Dog, the most insane change in direction since Marilyn Manson recorded that folk-pop album in 2004. It's got unintelligible Metallica-style vocals and heavy metal guitars. It probably was put together electronically, and still sort of fits the style of a HGHLY BLGGBL BNGR, but if you close your eyes you can almost see Jimi Hendrix's corpse jamming it out. Judging by the 'minimix medley' put out by Feadz, Ed Rec 3 is gonna be pretty amazing. Some of the stuff on Ed Rec 2 got boring very quickly, such as Limousine by Vicarious Bliss (which, if I ever hear again, will probably lead me to kill someone). And 'Robot Oeuf' by Uffie may be the best thing she has ever done.



Oh and be jealous - look who rolled up to Rough Trade and bought the t-shirt. Oh yes, I did. The fact I am semi-terrified of wearing it out for fear of ruining it I am counting as irrelevant. Seriously though, So-Me is possibly the best graphic artist of the 21st century. I'm not saying he has superhuman photo-realistic drawing skills, and I'm sure most of his work is photo-traced, but he has brilliant taste. And he's better than Kate Moross anyway.



This year's Underage Festival: The line-up is not that impressive if I'm honest. It will still be fun but I'm not buying the souvenir t-shirt this year. zShare time!

Blood Red Shoes - This Is Not For You zShare
SebastiAn - Dog zShare

Love Music Hate Racism Carnival

On Sunday 27th April the 30th anniversary of the 1978 'Carnival Against the Nazis' is being celebrated by another open-air concert in Victoria Park, organised by the everyone's favourite music-related anti-racist charity, Love Music Hate Racism. It's going to be fun. The full line-up can be viewed here, but rather than bore you with a massive list of acts you and I have neither heard of nor would particularly like, I will tell you now that Patrick Wolf, Babyshambles, Bishi and the Roll Deep Crew are all performing live, and as well as that there's going to be loads of speakers including Tony Benn. Try to ignore the fact that Hard-fi are playing, I think the best option would be to just pretend you haven't noticed.

Also, I think I may have forgotten to mention entry is entirely free!

Patrick Wolf's set is going to be particularly interesting, seeing as he'll hopefully be playing some entirely new and unreleased tracks from his upcoming fourth album. A new demo surfaced on his myspace a while ago (it's now been removed) but luckily the ever-brilliant Saam at Keep Hope Inside managed to speedily rip it and put it up for download. Read the full post for some in-depth discussion.


DOWNLOAD: Patrick Wolf - Wargames (Demo) (Yourfilehost)

So, unless you've got something better to do in three sundays' time, or maybe you're a racist, why not roll up to Victoria Park?

NEWS NEWS NEWS

BOLT ACTION FIVE IS DEAD.

I am sure in a few years one of them will be an folk-pop singer songwriter, and the twelve-year-olds of now will be the sooooo up-to-date Bolt Action Five fans of tomorrow.

LYKKE LI'S ALBUM IS REALLY GOOD.



I like it a lot more than I thought I would. i think the steel pans or whatever they are in 'Little Bit' put me off a bit but there's some real gems on it. My favourite has to be 'Complaint Department' which is all sort of moody minimalist techno and sounds like it was produced by Kraftwerk of something.

CUT COPY'S ALBUM IS REALLY GOOD.



Apart from the weird noises in between songs - literally the last 35 seconds of 'Out There on the Ice' and the first 14 seconds of 'Lights and Music' should just be cut. They are horrid.

CRYSTAL CASTLES' ALBUM ISN'T OUT.



Which is weird, because usually all their stuff is released in the UK first. On the other hand they are now on a canadian label, and it's not like it matters, seeing as I have all the mp3s anyway, which will do me fine for now. 28th of April is, I think, the UK release date.

TREVORBROWNCRYSTALCASTLESMADONNABLACKEYEGATE.



OK, they completely ripped him off and he now hates them, which is fair enough from his point of view. But I am not capable of feeling any sympathy for a man who earns a living making this sort of stuff. Seriously, do not click that link. I think I am actually glad they were such utter bastards to work with (Trevor Brown has now given up trying to get payment from them) because I am really not sure how I would feel wearing my CC/TB shirt if i knew that my money was going into that man's pocket. To label him as a paedophile would be unfair, but he clearly has a lot of unresolved mental health issues, as do his fans. I can't remember where I saw this or who wrote it, but to quote/paraphrase an unnamed blogger/internet lurker, "Madonna is going to owe Trevor Brown a lot of money if she ever gets a black eye".

THE PRESETS' ALBUM IS PROBABLY GOOD BUT I HAVEN'T HEARD IT

Apart from 'My People', which is a bit like having your head stamped on but definitely in the good sense.

I'M GOING BANKRUPT



My recently discovered sense of not wanting to illegally download everything I listen to is not sustainable, I am going to have to either
a.) rob a bank
or
b.) make a cool band and sell loads of t-shirts with a stolen Trevor Brown design.

You Have No Idea What You Are Getting Yourself Into

(artwork by me)

Does It Offend You, Yeah?'s debut album dropped today. Buy it. It's a horrible mish-mash of of rock, electro and, surprisingly, pop. The first three tracks are all pretty heavy stuff, but at number four, 'Dawn of the Dead', it goes all indie-pop and conventional. Although not necessarily the best track on the album, probably the most inventive would have to be number six, the brilliantly-titled Attack Of The 60 Ft Lesbian Octopus. It's a two minute instrumental that is just begging to be the theme to a low-budget eighties sci-fi film of the same name.

Important People in The Film Industry: if you managed to make $2.7 billion from a film based on a theme-park ride (according to wikipedia anyway) then just think how successful this film could be. And, er... give me some of the money, thanks.

DOWNLOAD: Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Attack Of The 60 Ft Lesbian Octopus (zShare)

I quite like comix too, actually

Time to pretend I'm part of an American superblog! Franki Chan, Superstar DJ/President of Blog/Record Label IHEARTCOMIX has been very busy making a mixtape. I know I only just posted about one mixtape, but this one is seriously too good to wait. It's one second short of an hour and includes 19 tracks, 10 of which are completely brand new IHEARTCOMIX tracks, 8 of which are exclusive remixes made just for the mixtape by RADIOCLIT, FLOSSTRADAMUS, DESIGNER DRUGS, MIAMI HORROR, MANO feat HOLLYWOOD HOLT, TOM NEVILLE, LIES IN DISGUISE and LA RIOTS and 2 other originals just for the mixtape by ACID GIRLS and HEARTSREVOLUTION. Here's the tracklisting:

1. ACID GIRLS – Intro Track
2. THE GLAMOUR – Respect The Party
3. THE TOXIC AVENGER – Pokerface (Lies In Disguise Remix)
4. HEARTSREVOLUTION – Switchblade (LA Riots Remix)
5. OCELOT – Lo Sforzo (St. Andrew Remix)
6. MATT & KIM – No More Long Years (Radioclit Remix)
7. HEARTSREVOLUTION – C.Y.O.A. (Flosstradamus Remix)
8. HAIL SOCIAL – Heaven (Designer Drugs Remix)
9. GAMEBOY/GAMEGIRL – Fruit Salad
10. MATT & KIM – It’s A Fact (Printed Stained) (Mano Remix feat. Hollywood Holt)
11. PROTOKOLL – Moving Forward (Designer Drugs Remix)
12. THE DEATH SET – Negative Thinking
13. TOTALLY MICHAEL – Winona (Miami Horror Remix)
14. HEARTSREVOLUTION – Dance Till Dawn
15. ACID GIRLS – Matter Made
16. SURKIN – White Knight Two
17. THE TOXIC AVENGER – Stage Divin’
18. OCELOT – Our Time (Tom Neville Remix)
19. FUTURECOP! – Starworshipper

DOWNLOAD: IHEARTCOMIX RECORDS REMIXED - FRANKI CHAN MIXTAPE (zShare)

The 8 new remixes are going to be surfacing as separate mp3s soon enough, one that I personally cannot wait to get my hands on is the the LA Riots Remix of HEARTSREVOLUTION's 'Switchblade'. I think it's an undeniable fact that it's very special. And here's something not on the mixtape they also sent me:

DOWNLOAD: Toxic Avenger - Escape (LA Riots Remix)

And everyone's Myspace:
myspace.com/lariotsofficial
myspace.com/dreamburger
myspace.com/heartsrevolution
myspace.com/officialjuiceboxxx
myspace.com/mattandkim
myspace.com/ocelotmthrfckrs
myspace.com/protokoll
myspace.com/oxycottontail
myspace.com/toxavanger
myspace.com/thisblush
myspace.com/totallymichael
myspace.com/thefuturecop
myspace.com/surkin
myspace.com/gameboygamegirl
myspace.com/thedeathset
http://www.myspace.com/mattandkim

Oh and seeing as I've mentioned HEARTSREVOLUTION a few times in this post, does anybody know where this came from? It's some kind of remix/mash-up that's about 90% CYOA and 10% Love Will Tear Us Apart. Who made it? Where can I get a lovely 320kbps mix of it? I NEED ANSWERS!

Un mixtape pour vous et aussi un chanson avec un piano

32 double DJs are three 16 year-olds and they want to spin some vinyl at as many gigs as possible. If you're a venue/promoter/dictator of a small foreign country, email them now. They're very nice people too. Probably.
They've got a fair few mixtapes on their myspace available to download, but everybody hates the nasty 96kbps myspace compression, so here's a lovely zShare link to their 'Electro House' mixtape. It's short and sweet, here's the tracklist:

New Jack (Steve Angello Mix) by MBG and SDS
We Run This (Duke Dumont Remix) by Missy Elliott
Enur Ft Natasha - "Calabria 2007 (Hatchmatik Clubabria Remix)"
Stuck on Repeat By Little Boots
Like This Like That (Count of Monte Cristal Remix) by SE:SA
Put Your Hands Up For Detroit - Fredde Le Grand
Perfect Exceeder by Princess Superstar
Out At The Pictures by Hot Chip
Polkomatic by Vitalic

DOWNLOAD: 32 Double DJs Electro House Mix (zShare)

oh and seeing as it's on there and everybody loves it at the moment:

DOWNLOAD: Little Boots - Stuck on Repeat (zShare)

***BONUS: Little Boots - Stuck on Repeat (Acoustic) (YSI)

I won't post the Hot chip dub version because I don't like it. But if you think you might - knock yourself out.

(For more about Little Boots, check her Myspace or read this interview at ohhcrapp.net)

Album Review: Crystal Castles

Today the Crystal Castles album dropped. I am currently wrapped up in a duvet on the sofa on the laptop, having spent most of last night vomiting into the bath. My original plan of preordering it off Rough Trade sort of slid off the to-do list at around the same time I found an entire leaked copy of the album as a zip file, after searching google for 'Crystal Castles album' to find the release date. At some point I will probably roll up to HMV and buy it anyway.

The album is 16 tracks long and includes a massive range of different styles. Because daytime TV is not what it used to be, here's a track by track review of the album.

01 Untrust Us
This song could be described as beautiful. It's strange and ethereal, like some kind of alien opera.
02 Crimewave (Crystal Castles vs. HEALTH)
An old favourite. It's a bit contraversial I'd say to put a remix on an album, but with HEALTH basically saying how completely in love they are with Crystal Castles at just about every oppurtunity they can get, it's not as if they are likely to object.
03 Alice Practice
Listen to this on headphones as you walk down a busy street and try to not imagine you are Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator. YOU CAN'T.
04 Magic Spells
The thing with these subdued sounding tracks is that they can sound almost more scary than the more 'thrash' songs. and the video makes it even worse.
05 Xxzxczx Me
AIDS ROBOTS
06 Air War
This song is incredible fun.
07 Courtship Dating
How Timbaland can claim to not have stolen the backing music from this is a miracle.
08 Vanished
A remix of Van She's 'Sex City', I am told. I have to say I prefer this to the original.
09 1991
I'm sure this used to be called 1983
10 Good Time
the only track that does nothing for me. A poor bit of album filler if you ask me.
11 Love And Caring
Step into the shower. Turn the shower on. ARGH that's not water that's tiny shards of broken glass pouring out the shower ARGH I'm bleeding everywhere.
12 Knights
My five year-old brother said this song makes him think of monsters and the monsters are scary.
13 Through The Hosiery
This is basically a pop song that Girls Aloud or something could have done. And that's a good thing. I might be wrong and it might all be sorted on the actual album, but the vocals in this song seem to be a bit too quiet. And the last verse just fades out which is annoying. Otherwise, good.
14 Reckless
BEST INSTRUMENTAL CC SONG EVER
15 Black Panther
The tune is brilliant, but the vocal effects are a bit distracting. It was quite charming on the old tracks where the awful sound quality was due to the band using old broken microphones, but these effects here are just sort of distracting from the actual content opf the song.
16 Tell Me What To Swallow
What the hell? It's a bit of a cliche to have an acoustic track at the end of an album, butI think the idea of Crystal Castles conforming to a cliche is probably more surprising than them not. This really is not a brilliant song, but the bizzare soundscape just adds to the dizzying effect.

OK that was rubbish but I'm ill so you'll have to forgive me. Most of the new tracks are better recorded in the vocals, but also stylistically different in that none of them are really shouty thrash-rock. Which is OK for on the one album, but let's just hope it's not a decided change in direction for the band. More scariness please.

A Thought

Why is it that I still feel disappointed that I'm not going to SXSW, when it is blatantly obvious that there was never any chance of me going? I feel genuine upset that I will not be attending. What is wrong with me?

BLOG MORE WRITE LESS

I need to post more. I always write these massive essays, then I go ages without posting anything, because it's too much effort to write. so anyway, here are some tracks that have been getting a lot of play in the old windows media player, and they're offered with no explanation. AT ALL.

But first, picture made me incredibly happy:


All these are on zShare

DOWNLOAD: HEALTH // DISCO - Triceratops (Acid Girls Before Dancefloorasauruses Ruled the Earth Remix)

DOWNLOAD: HEALTH // DISCO - Zoothorns (Nastique's Thornzoo Remix)

DOWNLOAD: Björk - Wanderlust (Ratatat Remix)

DOWNLOAD: Channels 3x4 - Meeting

DOWNLOAD: Sébastien Tellier - Sexual Sportswear (SebastiAn remix)

DOWNLOAD: Crystal Fighters - I Love London (Vocal) (zShare)

Crystal Castles - 'Through the Hosiery' Lyrics

Once again I have been trying to decipher the words of a Crystal Castles song, because is there really a better way to waste a sunday evening?
The track 'Through the Hosiery' appears on Crystal Castles self released album, which is out march 18. The thought of uploading one of the previously unseen unseen album tracks (unseen on the blogosphere anyway) is very tempting, but realistically I'd rather not live in fear of being emailed with copyright notices. Crystal Castles love leaking their content all over the internet and have been doing so for the last 2 or 3 years, so it's not like you can't wait another 3 weeks to hear the 5 or 6 songs you don't already have. If you are going to buy one album this year, make it Crystal Castles. You owe it to them.

Anyway, here's my attempt at guessing the words to one of the tracks on the new album. I'm guessing these are about 50% right, so if anyone's thinks they have a better idea of what the actual words are, I'd be delighted to hear. Leave a comment or something. I'm not hosting the mp3 but you can probably find it on the Hype Machine.

**Altered a bit on 26/03


You want it all but don’t care what you want
Feel complete, uh it’s good
You sleep by my side, it’s understood
It’s not too late you wanted it good

Through the hosiery
To the ovary
To the nothing
How do you feel when you can’t feel nothing?

Feel so good, You said it before
To your feet, you fall to the floor
Deep inside you still want more
Deal or not, you look to the door

Through the hosiery
To the ovary
To the nothing
How do you feel when you can’t feel nothing?

You can’t get, you’re waiting for me
You put it in, You need discipline
Cover my head, but you can’t beat nothing
Blood on my hands, you can wait on something

Through the hosiery
To the ovary
To the nothing
How do you feel when you can’t feel nothing?

Drink some more, feeling opened up
We’re holding it in, now look what you’ve done
One more go, you can’t hold it back
Drink some more, get it off your back

You can’t get, you’re waiting for me
You put it in, You need discipline
Cover my head, but you can’t beat nothing
Blood on my hands, you can wait...

I originally thought it was armoury, but that didn't really sound right or make any sense. Ovary it is.

I really do like this song a lot, my only critique is that it's a bit annoying at the end where the last verse just fades out halfway through the line. And the vocals seem a bit quiet. But it might be to do with the mp3 I have of it being a leak and it's not the real thing. Who knows? And here are some lovely Crystal Castles and rap mash-ups, made by the wonderful ABX at thehoodinternet.com. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD: Crystal Castles vs Nice & Smooth - I Rhymed Slow in 1991 (ABX Mix) (zShare)
DOWNLOAD: Crystal Castles vs The Pack - I'm Shining Like A Crystal (ABX Mix) (zShare)