Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Aeroplane February 2012 Mix



Get a roaring start on March with Aeroplane's end of February 2012 mix. Artists include Videodrome, Cosmonauts, Gucci Vump, and more. Popular favorites on the sound cloud page included Mam's 'Modern Heat' and H.O.S.H's 'What Do You Want Me To Say', but you are sure to find your favorite. Count me in for David Hernandez' remix of Lisa Shaw's Honey. If, as George Herbert suggests, "February makes a bridge and March breaks it", then what a bridge this is.




Trackslisting:
1. This is A Recording - Southern Neon Lights ( Gazeebo's Northern Funk Remix ) 
2. Charlotte Gainsbourg - Paradisco ( Joakim Dub Remix )
3. Days of Funk - Dance School
4. PBR Streetgang - Downstroke
5. Videodrome - Tempation's Daughter
6. Mam - Modern Heat
7. Cosmonauts - Stardusts
8. Lisa Shaw - Honey ( David Hernandez Dub )
9. Arsenal - Melvin ( Diskjokke Remix )
10. H.O.S.H. - What do you want me to say
11. The Mekanism - Can't Believe ( Mario Basonov Remix )
12. Gucci Vump - Feeling

Summer Camp - Losing My Mind (Video)


Summer Camp releases a marvelously uncomfortable video for 'Losing My Mind'. There are no crazy pyrotechnics or psychological breakdowns. Instead, the director chooses to show us a kind of craziness that only exists in the most formal and controlled of things: Photoshoots. The video's aesthetic looks like a 3 minute dedication to an Edward Muybridge-like assemblage of Every Awkward Yearbook Photo Ever. Chin up. No, just a little bit to the left. To the right. No. My right, not yours. Ok, let your arm hang loose. That's too loose. Smile. And remember, above all else: Act natural.

Picture Book-Sunshine (Justin Faust Remix)


Justin Faust remixes Picture Book's Sunshine. Faust classifies this free remix as 'Gangsta Swing', and you could kind of see Dr. Dre dancing to this funk in his sequined suit days (really, Dr. Dre used to dress Glam. Look it up). Vocalist Greta Svabo Bech is a perfect fit for Faust's bright aesthetic. She delivers to full effect, alternating sound-out and smooth, gliding over the instrumental and under it when need be. Now that's gangsta.

Bear in Heaven - The Reflection of You (CFCF remix)


CFCF remixes Bear in Heaven's The Reflection of You. The track takes as its instrumental a gorgeous interloping of vocals that sound like a mix between Siri and Steve Reich. The amount of control in this remix is something to admire. Hi, DM. Hello, intelligent dance music.

Bon Iver - Towers (Official Video)


Bon Iver (AKA Bonny Bear) takes a break from serenading Blue Ivy to release a video for 'Towers'. The video is appropriately elegiac and pastoral. It follows a country man making a journey from preserved Native American land in Washington State into the endless ocean. Director Nabil Elderkin highlights the simultaneous creation and destruction that nature has wrought, and the complicated human response. Where lies the final harbor?

Monday, February 27, 2012

Astrolabe- C ave Disco (Discotexas Edit)


From Discotexas' 'Bucket of Love Vol. 2' comes this unreleased cut by Cave Disco. Astrolabe is a slow, cool burner. It begins with spare instrumentation, then a ever increasing drum beat, rising synth breaks, and, finally, an all out explosion around the 1:40 mark. This is expertly paced disco (complete with (what may be) handclaps at the end!). Give it a spin, and go undercover with Agent Disco.

Work Drugs - License to Drive


It is actually legal to drive with these drugs. Work Drugs releases a track, License to Drive, perfect for afternoon cruising. The track is set with light chords and orange crush drums, and gentle falsetto recalling the teenage days of license = complete freedom. The days when even wall-to-wall traffic was a novelty to be celebrated. Think of it as a reminder that driving doesn't have to be all Scorpion Jackets and murdering goons.

Violens - Unfolding Black Wings


From three-piece Brooklyn band Violens forthcoming album 'True' (May 15th, Slumberland Records) comes Unfolding Black Wings. In case you think the title is epic enough, check out how Violens define the track: "the bands aural approximation of a Goya etching, a nod to 'Daydream Nation' Sonic Youth and Thinking Fellers Union". Add a throbbing head inside the mouth of a Dinosaur (Jr.) and you've got an inkling of this adventurous record: Twitched guitar tunings, surreal lyricism, and infectious melodies. In Unfolding Black Wings and the upcoming 'True', Violens has dropped the 'I' on violin and added the glee in 'E' (that includes quirky).

Friday, February 24, 2012

Andre 3000, James Murphy, & Damon Albarn - DoYaThing


The latest three artists to unite to record a track for Converse are undoubtedly the most anticipated trio in the series: Damon Albarn(of Blur & Gorillaz fame), James Murphy(head of the lauded LCD Soundsystem, and newly retired), and Andre 3000 (3 stacks. 50% of the group OutKast and 100% of what hip-hop has been missing the last few years). We are happy to report that 'DoYaThing' finds all three artists at their best: The beat recalls the best of the Gorillaz Demon Days, James Murphy has clearly not lost his nervous cool, and Andre 3000 can eat up whatever rapper you'd tangle in his cord. In the reactions across the web after 'DoYa Thing' came out, most claimed that Andre 3000 took top billing on this track. But be careful with your praise: Andre 3000 has said that he does not like the pressure of people saying he's the greatest, and this can probably be considered as a partial reason for his scarcity of extended material in recent years. He says the adulation doesn't motivate him. It does the opposite. Fine. Andre 3000, you are terrible. Please never make music again. And please, for the love of God, please never reunite with Big Boi and put out another OutKast album. Because that would be the worst.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Blondes - Amber (Video)


Blondes release a hypnotic video for their track 'Amber', off of their self-titled album on RVNG intl. The video is a series of light oscillations that would make even the Silver Apples seethe with envy. For a music video, it is refreshingly strange. More and more, the music video is the picture of the ADD-generation, hyper and hallucinatory. How refreshing it is to have a video with stays still, no jump cuts or slash-through, and lets you treasure just how immovable and slow time really is, like a fly trapped in amber.

YUKSEK - Off the Wall (Video)


With videos like the one for YUKSEK's 'Off the Wall', maybe Michel Gondry has to introduce himself to a new whimsical director on the rise. The video, directed by Romain Segaud, is a playful celebration of doing. Any images of actual people are removed, and what remains are just spare limbs which transform themselves into new forms: two pairs of arms combine to create lips, eyebrows, etc etc. 'Off the Wall's video reimagines what the body can do, the life it can give when it reacts to everything around it. Plus, well, the video just looks cool (how many total arms are in this video? We've tried to count. 4 times) . Stay tuned until the end.

The Scotch and Murder Channel 


Perseus - Seychelles


Perseus offers up Seychelles, a swaying combination of 90's R&B sampling and 00's disco disconnect. Toni Braxton's "You're Making Me High' gets the sample treatment here, and all sultriness is removed in favor of an affecting longing with uncertainty of ever being satiated. Braxton's trademark lowwww voice gets pitched up here, but is a credit to the adeptness of Perseus that the emotional weight does not get lost (We had the same initial reaction to the pitch change as we did on Jay-Z / Kanye West's 'Watch the Throne', when they auto-tuned Nina Simone. But, strangely, it worked, and a similar technique works wonderfully in Seychelles). The pull of the voice, on Seychelles, desperately tries to be one with the vibrant, jumping beat. But perhaps the inevitable weight of the voice only serves to highlight how far apart beat and voice really are. And isn't distance seen, close-but-no-cigar, the very essence of longing?

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Cinnamon Chasers - The Day That Never Came (Official Video)


Cinnamon Chasers release an official video for The Day That Never Came (a track off their upcoming album slated for release in Summer 2012). The video follows the night of a young woman unmoored in every manner, going out 'far into the night', as the deep voice on this track artfully laments. One of the brightest things about the video is that it remains faithful to the ethos of the record: Its end doesn't cheat the viewer into believing the woman is guaranteed to find any hope. The video remains firmly in the middle, and in doing so provides a far more rewarding experience. If you're finding the wait until summer 2012 for Cinnamon Chaser's album too painful, good news is here: A new 4 track EP is out on March 5th!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Leger De Main-The Dark Side of My Room (MixTape)


Scotch and Murder is happy to feature a mix from one of our very favorites, Leger De Main. The artist writes that his latest is a mix of 'dark techno, deep, and minimal'. True to the name, Leger De Main's offering is slick, deceptive, and smart. Check out the liquid breaks at minute 15; the abrupt bottom-out at 28 minutes; the way an instrument is almost melted into a vocal around the 33 minute mark, for instance. 

Nothing is ever what it seems. Leger De Main shows us the cards, only to up-end them right after. The Dark Side of My Room is 'dark techno, deep, and minimal', but it is much more. For the 21st century artist, perhaps aiming for the dark side of the actual moon is far too far. The room, the endless world and sounds that can be made inside ones personal room and laptop, is close enough to create a whole universe . Pay attention, and, of course, enjoy the show.



Track List:

Grand Centrl Pt. 1 - Dj Sprinkles
Like a Summer Rain (original Mix) - Alex Q
Sumore - Kiki
Impressions of a Rainstorm - Levon Vincent
At Les - Trickski
Slight Needles (Barem Remix) - Lorenzo Bartoletti
Deepbassline - Peter Horrevorst
Infinity (ORiginal Mix) - Marek Hemmann
Tales of Tomorrow (Original Mix) - Dosem
Lemonade (Gesaffelstein Remix) - Boys Noize
Callgurls (Original Mix) - Boys Noize, Mr. Oizo
On'n'On (Brodinski Remix) - Justice
Time (ORiginal Mix) - Pachanga Boys
ID - Dapayk Solo
The Void (Trentemoller Remix) - Darkness Falls
Temperance - Slam
A Walking Contradiction (Joseph Capriati Remix) - Adam Beyer

Processory - Young Italians (CFCF Remix)


A little throw back for our yah. CFCF remixes Processory's Young Italians. It's a wonderfully fuzzed and fragile mix. The song opens with a bare, unmistakably gorgeous scale. The first vocals appear a full minute in, alongside a well-placed slinking drum. There is a definite hint of Romantic 80's throughout the track. One imagines it might a perfect soundtrack to a Molly Ringwald dance party in polychrome & Videodrome.

Justin Faust - High Hopes (Jay Lamar & Jesse Oliver Remix)


Jay Lamar & Jesse Oliver return the favor (Justin Faust once remixed their single 'Diamonda) by remixing Justin Faust's High Hopes. Jay Lamar & Jesse Oliver present a glowing, spritely mix. If their remix of 'High Hopes' is not the epitome of the setting sun, then the sun has never set. Have fun with this one. And one commenter on the sound cloud page summed it up succinctly: "This is all sunglasses and trampolines!"

Summer Camp - Losing My Mind (St. Etienne Remix)


St. Etienne rolls out a stellar remix of Summer Camp's 'Losing My Mind'. The remix begins with classic lonely Old-West whistles, then evolves into a 22nd century dance hall. The fact that these two forces can co-exist in one track (and not even co-exist, but compliment) is a tribute to St. Etienne's skill. Synths wail, theremins throb, whistles thin; everything seems a back up singer to the lead woman's longings for love (and sanity). The prospect of losing your mind never sounded more compelling. Oh yeh, as usual, we love Summer Camp.

Santigold - Disparate Youth


Santigold releases her second single off of her upcoming album, Master of My Make Believe. 'Disparate Youth' finds Santigold in a less optimistic manner than her previous single ("Big Mouth"), but no less rebellious. Behind a slower, dance hall instrumental, Santigold sings for the hunger of more: 'Oh ah, oh ah/you know that we want more/oh ah, oh ah/A life worth fighting for'. Between these two singles, it's clear that Santigold is aiming for something larger than the sheer sonic voltage of her debut. Disparate, but not dispirited. A full 'Disparate Youth' EP is available on iTunes today.

YACHT- Shangri-La (Video)


YACHT lets us into their 'Shangri-La', and it's a golden-tinged valley. You can't spell 'Shangri-La' without LA, after all, LA is the land of lullabies-la la, la la la la la la, la la la la la. YACHT's ode to LA is a refreshing one to a city that does not lack for odes. Check out the Shangri-La EP on iTunes.

(Warning: Do not watch video from claustrophobic apartments in the middle of a NY winter. Video will evoke feelings of extreme envy and pastoral longing. )

The Magician - Magic Tape Twenty


The Magician just released another wild success in Magic Tape Twenty. This 47 minute mix tape runs the gamut from Toni Braxton to Theremins. Some highlights include the sinking rhythm at minute 18, and the breakdown around the 43 minute mark. Magic Tape Twenty is a perfect Tuesday pick-up. What are some of your favorite moments?



Track List:

1.-Perseus -Seychelles
2.-Lancelot - Spoken Word
3.-LeSale - Make Me Feel So Good
4.-Softwar - This Time Around
5.-Chris Malinchak - There I Was
6.-" The Supermen Lovers - Say No More (A.N.D.Y. remix) "
7.-Lauer - Trainman (Tensnake Franceman remix)
8.- "?? Classixx ?? - ?? I can't take it anymore ?? "
9.-James Curd - Guide Me (Gigamesh remix)
10.- ?? - ??

Lancelot - We Can Dance (Fabian Remix)


Fabian remixes Lancelot's We Can Dance. Fabian writes that it is 'one of my favorite remixes I've ever worked on'. We can see why. It's some of Fabian's finest work yet (and that's no small statement). The remix flows on a manically minute and intricate progression, the sonic equivalent of juggling seven medicine balls while skating on marbles. Well done.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Bag Raiders - Monthly Mixtape (February Edition)


As we reach essentially the midpoint of February, what better way to celebrate than listening to another great monthly mix from the Bag Raiders? It's funny that they call themselves the Bag Raiders. Raiding usually implies a complete sweep and theft of everything. There is no discernment between gold and gunk. This could not be more untrue with the Bag Raiders. Each track is perfectly selected, and fluid, to make another whole, filling mix. Call them the treasurers.




Tracklist: 
Killing Jokes I - Jokers Of The Scence 
Cold As Ice (Louie Fresco Remix) - Modern Amusement 
Romcom - Chicago Damn 
Rainbow Road - Tornado Wallace 
You Rock Me - Larry Heard Presents Mr. White 
Living Without Your Love - Walter Jones 
Gee Up (Cosmic Kids Edit) - Kindness 
Reach feat. Safiyah - Soho808 
Tell Me Why (Brendan Green Version) - Art Department 
Taken Liberty - Softwar 
So Will Be Now... (feat. Pional) - John Talabot 
What's His Name - Sambu 
Mind Games - Audiojack 
Intimantis - Los Suruba feat. Louisahhh 
Rally Racquet Club (Original Mix) - Homework 
Chris Malinchak - There I Was 
Had Enough (Original Mix) - Cubiq, Real Nice

Josh Beech and the Johns-Lights(Monarcy "Aurora Borealis" Remix)


Josh Beech and the Johns' 'Lights' gets the remix treatment from Monarchy. Listen for the fist raising (the vertical, empowering kind; not the pumping Jersey Shore kind) synth rise around the 1-minute mark. It's hard to make out what the vocalist is saying. It could be 'it was all lights on you', or 'it was all like something'. Sense would say it's more like the former, although the latter is an equally appropriate testimony: Beneath the lit beat,it was all like something, that intangible, special 'something'.

Tennis - Origins (Official Video)


A very comforting official video for Tennis' Origins. At times it seems a tribute to 70's home videos, and to the studio visions of Robert Altman (McCabe & Mrs.Miller, to be more precise). In that film, a radical reworking of the traditional western led it to abandon the individualistic, rigid ethic, and lead toward a lovelier, associative effect. The same goes for the video for 'Origins', which associatively tracks a ski trip gone awry, blown by bits large and small and sparkling.

The Drums - Days (Trentemoller Remix)


A pair of Scotch and Murder favorites get their collaboration on. Trentemoller remixes The Drums' Days. An unusual pairing to say the least. However, the differences between them showcase how talented both artists truly are. The beat is built around hypnotic claps, clicks, and cadences. Mathematical but moving. And the days go by/and I never needed you. Click, click, click, click, click click, click, click.

Smalltown DJ's - Love Decoy(Oliver Remix)


Oliver remixes Smalltown DJ's Love Decoy. Decoy is a fitting term for what Oliver does with this record. It begins with an industrial vibe, then morphs into a knotty techno, then fuzzed-out beachwave, and back and forth, back and forth. There is an endearing awkwardness to this record. It really is almost like that of a Smalltown DJ; experimenting with, and shoving in, different sounds with complete love and earnest.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Flashlights - Fireworks (Fabian Remix)


Fabian lends some oomph to Flashlights' Fireworks. Fabian cocoons the original, treating it with minute care and respecting its boundaries, while staking his own claims where it is appropriate. The verses are somber and treated as such beneath a lilting piano and groove beat. When it hits the chorus, things break loose, but it is orderly chaos. The transitions seem effortless, which means a great deal of effort and attention went into it. W-w-w-w-W-w-w-w-Winter Months.

Swan + Antler + Feldt - Heart Murmur


A collaboration between Oakland vocalist SwanANTLER, a Brooklyn-based electronic/r&b/soul producer, and FELDT, a Berkeley-based producer, brings us the moving Heart Murmur. The production is dark and mannered, and you're likely to hear the sexiest Chewbacca sounding back vocals you'll ever hear. The lead female vocals are velveteen and reflective, perfect for the morning after Valentine's day. Heart Murmur is in collaboration with Grounded TV Network. To download the track for for free head over Grounded TV

Chris Malinchak-There I Was


Out of a (perhaps Valentine's inspired) impulse, French Express and Chris Malinchak released 'There I Was'. This house track will most certainly make you remember where you are, if only because you'll be dancing to it and taking pains to not knock anything over. Only one vocal glides over the spacey instrumental, and I believe it says 'Don't wait!' And if it doesn't say that, I'm taking the advice anyway. Why should you wait? As Malinchak writes: 'If we're not speaking the language of love, who is.......just one last question (in the words of LL Cool J), who do you love? Champagne for everybody"!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

RxGibbs - Lumiere


RxGibbs lets some light in on 'Lumiere'. Lumiere is a delicate, expertly paced, soft record. It follows a hushed backbeat, and what this listener likes to imagine as a layer of light rainfall and white noise combined. Better yet, the instrumental is adjoined with abstract vocals that enliven the ear rather than merely soothe. It is Cocteau Twins meets Girls, with a sprinkling of Dead Can Dance. We look forward to hearing more from RxGibbs.

UNKLE - Another Night Out (Video)


UNKLE's 'Another Night' comes through with a somber visual meditation on guts and (little) glory. A narrative told through stark black and white, it follows an aging boxer who must fight to accept and make the most out of what his body has left(and by nature, his soul). What will become of the boxer, we don't know. Because no eye is on the sparrow. Now close his glassy eyes, will you?

Lancelot - We Can Dance (Goldroom Remix)


Lancelot's 'We Can Dance' gets the spin-around courtesy of Goldroom. A 'mellow and tripnotic' mix. A friendly cousin to the original, Goldroom's remixes substitutes the 5 P.M fading sun set vibes of the original into vibes of a 5 A.M, cold and bright sunrise. The track is available for free download today! (just click on the highlighted Goldroom name above!) Look out for Lancelot's full 'We Can Dance' EP to be released February 20th on Binary Records.

Disturbia X Owl Vision - Beware the Night


Disturbia and Owl Vision link up for 'Beware the Night'. Disturbia is on the guitar & bass, Owl Vision on everything else. Beware the Night is an appropriately menacing track. Buzzsaw guitar, punching drums, and a uppercut for a groove. If it's going to be in any way associated with a love fest like today, it's firmly in the 'Bloody Valentine' camp. The track is available for free download off Comorbid Records.

PLASTiC PLATES - More Than Love


Plastic Plates pitches 'More Than Love' (quite a title for Valentines Day, right?). More Than Love is an infectious, bloop friendly track. It's a track that you may come to, dare I say it, love. Keep an ear out for a slick breakdown and buildup around the 2:23 mark. Even on Valentine's Day, there remains more than love (or perhaps an essential adjoining part of love): Music to unabashedly dance to, whether alone together, together alone, alone, or together.

Childish Gambino - Heartbeat (Justin Faust Remix)


Childish Gambino's 'Heartbeat' gets a kick from Justin FaustFaust provides Gambino's standout track with some prime-Mayfield-level strings running alongside a relentlessly upbeat drum package. The remix exhibits a level of fun that can only come from when one has reached the final hurdle of a breakup, and can look back comfortably, smiling(gritting teeth a little, but still). Valentine's Day is a day to love the one you're with, but it's also a day to celebrate the ones you're without. And it's worth wondering if Faust made a deal with the devil to create a remix this fun.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Selebrities - Night Heat (Video)


A late night video offering from Selebrities and their track 'Night Heat'. The video is decidedly late night, basement haze trippy(and directed by band member Jer Robert Paulin). The track itself is like if you put a boombox in the bottom of a lava lamp, and the video is a fitting rival in fidelity. It's an altogether fun, cerebral video. If celebrity is the withholding of contempt, this Selebrities video is the outpouring of affection.

We Have Band - Where Are Your People? (Remix EP)



We Have Band, a Scotch & Murder favorite, offers up one alternate version of their stellar single 'Where Are Your People' and five remixes. It is always fascinating, in a remix series, to see which parts artists emphasize. Ternion Aside opts to highlight the originals ethereal vocals, and make it into a jolting dance record. Walls chooses a decidedly slower and sinister direction, with a low baritone rolling in. Aashton & Swift put the vocals seemingly miles behind their nu disco backbeat, the vocals only coming through in the audio quality tin soup can telephone games. These are inspired remixes with ingenuity worthy of the band they remix.


Sun Glitters - High (Video)


Sun Glitters offers up a sparkling(you'll see) video for High. When considering the quick flashes of heat, of light, in the track, the music video is near perfect. The track almost seems to mimic the design. A high-pitched, explosive vocal rest upon a sturdy beat, much like the ephemeral sparklers depend upon the support of their base to ever come to life. Check out Sun Glitters' High EP, and see what other visuals you can conjure up while listening.

School of Seven Bells - Lafaye (Scissor Sisters Remix)


Scissor Sisters remixes School of Seven Bells 's Lafaye. (How's that for alliteration?) A lilting 'Oooohhhhh' voice glides over the intro, only to then be morphed into a twisted auto tune. A cut worthy of the Scissor Sisters. The new album, 'Ghostory' will be available February 28th, off of Vagrant Records.

Miike Snow - Paddling Out (Jacques La Cont Remix) + (Original Video)


Miike Snow's Paddling Out gets the remix treatment from Jacques La Cont. The playfulness of the originals is combined with Lu Cont's ascendant, almost baroque synths. Lu Cont goes on extensive, fascinating digressions with the original. Check out the cacophonous turn taken around the 3:55 mark. These are but a few things to unpack from this full but never overstuffed remix. Miike Snow's 'Happy to You' will release in March.



Miike Snow gets a genuinely fun and surreal video for 'Paddling Out'. Magic shoes atop Grecian stools, ax murderers, spaceship captains, women in 16th century wigs, middle aged men trying to discover rhythm, break dancers in leather pants, houses on top of said spaceships with captains, Jeremy Lin, the Perfect Human, 30 clones. Only one of those things is not actually in this video (you should check just to be sure, though). This video for 'Paddling Out' is so gleefully ambitious, and unconcerned to seem cool. So real its surreal.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Scotch and Murder The Playlists: Le Disco Love

Oxford Fixer - Iron Deer Dream (Keep Shelly in Athens Remix)


Keep Shelly in Athens remixes Oxford Fixer's Iron Deer Dream. Oxford Fixer describe 'Iron Deer Dream’ as featuring 'chiming guitars, soaring melodies, five part harmonies and lush production.' Keep Shelly in Athens' genius is maintaining this joyful house of cards vibe, while artfully plucking away the synthesizers and vocal cards for emphasis. It's less a mix-er, and far more of a re-mix. Oxford Fixer's debut album, We'll Be Moon, will be released on May 14th.

The Young Professionals- DISCO (Yusek Remix)


Yuksek remixes The Young Professional's 'DISCO'. Yuksek creates an incantatory track, both lyrically and sonically. The song begins with a bewitching backbeat, and, at about 2 minutes, a voice breaks out to join the flux, singing words even less clear than the elusive beat. The all-caps is in reference to the sound, not the lyrics; there is an interplay of capital S sonics and lower case l lyrics. Sometimes the most affecting lyrics are the most indirect: I wrote some letters on the paper in your house/it had a meaning no one else could figure out.

Jay-Z & Kanye West- Niggas in Paris (Official Video)


Jay-Z & Kanye West (there's a Facebook link, but I'll guess you've heard of these guys) unleash the long awaited video to the massive hit single 'Niggas in Paris', off of their Watch the Throne LP. It's well known that, on their tour, Jay-Z & Kanye West have taken to performing 'Paris' multiple times at one concert (17 times in Chicago and 19 in LA). A mix of sheer daring and (we now know) calculated effect was the reason. The 'Niggas in Paris' video is a fish-eyed collage of concert performances of the very track. It's a video that's deliciously surreal, a compendium of bizarre influences, much like the record. We'll always have Paris, anyway.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

The Kronicles of Krychek Part Trois


Krychek makes a major return with part three of his Kronicles. Trois is an appropriate term in more ways than one-the mix hits the trifecta, the triad of head, heart, and body. Highlights include a wonderful interpolation into a mix of the late Arthur Russell's That's US/Wild Combination, and a cold come-down from a Quinten 909 & Livian remix of Cassette Club's 4 Me to Jacque le Cont's Church, to name but a few. You're sure to find your own favorites along the way. On the soundcloud page for this mixtape, one user commented that it has inspired them to get back to mixing/dj: Though some listeners may not be mixers or dj's, almost anyone can understand what he means. 

Hearing this mix, your own mental music connections begin to fire, and you realize that they have come back to you in this mix in some kind of alien majesty (that feeling when someone articulates a feeling you are intensely familiar with, but could not have represented nearly as well). And, finally, to answer a question posed by a woman in this greatly rewarding mix: She asks, around the 8 minute mark, 'Someday, somewhere?' The answer is: right here, right now.





Track List:
Mark Ronson & The Business INTL - Record Collection (Plastic Plates Remix)
Moullinex - Modular Jame (Justin Faust remix)
Shapeshifters - Pusher (Lifelike Remix)
Michael Cassette - Pangea (Envotion Remix)
Grandtheft - Let Me out (U-Tern REmix)
AutoReverse - Martine Hilton
Lemaitre - The End
Arthur Russell - That's US/Wild Combination (Estate Remix)
Jay Lamar & Jesse Oliver - 22
Seya - Blacklight
Grum - Runaway (Nightriders remix)
Oliver - Dirty Talk
Chromeo - Needy Girl (Lifelike Remix)
Montauk - Holiday (Justin Faust Remix)
Odahl - Just be Easy
Volta Cab - We are Martians
Para one & Tacteel - Rome
Mute Box - Chain My Brain
Childish Gambino - Heartbeat (Oliver Remix)
Plastic Plates - Toys
Lexicon Don - Student Body (Bit Funk Remix)
Only Children - Be the One
Moon Boots - Off my mind (Le youth remix)
Chris Malinchak - Deal 'Em
Mystery Track
ODahl - Dance Mama (Alfa remix)
Arnaud Rebotini - Another Time Another Place (JBag Remix)
Demon - Dont' Make Me Cry (Lifelike Remix)
The Scientists of Modern Music - Girl on Top (Vanguard Remix)
Strange Talk - Sexual LifeStyle (Vanguard Remix)
Daft Punk- Fresh (Patchwork Remix)
Cassette Club - 4 Me (Quinten 909 & Livian Remix)
Jacques lu Cont - Church

Gesaffelstein - Remix EP + Viol (Brodinksi Remix)


Gesaffelstein gives us a remix EP studded with stellar work from artists like The Hacker, David Carretta, and Glass Figure. This six track EP is at turns menacing (check the ferocity with which Milano remixes 'Opr') and merciful (look toward Brodinki's graciously hedonistic 'Viol'). With such a diverse array of names, it is a wonder that the EP holds together (magnificently, we might add). Of course, that is the nature of a conspiracy (one of the track names on this EP, remixed by The Hacker): everything falls exactly into place. We leave you a little taste below.




Gesaffelstein - Viol (Brodinksi Remix)

Grimes - Circumambient (Unofficial Video)


David Dean Burkhart's unofficial video for Grimes' Circumambient is a marvelous testament to ingenuity. Using clips entirely from the 1968 film La Prisonniere, the video perfectly matches the sense of the track while disorienting the viewer with pre-existing visuals. The video is a masterpiece in editing. The director uses a infinite amount of jump cuts, flashes, 70's honeycomb lenses, and more. Add fragmented faces, bondage, cascading waves, purple and red fun houses, and you've got quite a video worthy of the artist it aims to represent. Circumambient is from Grimes' album Visions, out on Artubus/4AD.

St. Lucia - We Got It Wrong (Starsmith Remix)


Starsmith creates a vicious remix of St. Lucia's We Got It Wrong. The song is a dynamic triad: It begins with cutting synths and a woman lamenting 'Broken-n-n Apart-t-t-t', then shifts into an ascending uptempo with a man yelling 'Go! Go! Go go away!', and then a taut breakdown reminds that 'you can't remember how-w-w-w in the morning sun'. It is a true cacophony of voices, unable to discern who is really at fault, and perhaps even what was wrong in the first place. All that is known is that something is lost. Order the We Got It Wrong 12" Remix EP directly from Neon Gold Records or iTunes

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Keenhouse - Better Days EP


Keenhouse was kind enough to give us a sneak peek at his upcoming electric EP, Better Days. The track is a new style for Keenhouse: An ever evolving artist whose every EP and album sound different. Better Days finds Keenhouse in a nimble and vocal mood(no surprise for an artist who has a way with both words and sonics). He once wrote "Artificial intelligence will come from the Internet. Next generation Clouds will bring just one step closer at a time. If this happens soon enough I want to play a live concert in there. But then I'm thinking what a waste of the body." What a waste, indeed. Dance to Better Days past, and, hopefully, if Keenhouse has anything to say about it, ahead. Better Days is set for release March 5th on Beatport and March 12th worldwide.

Simian Ghost-Wolf Girl(Torkelsen Remix)


Simian Ghost's Wolf Girl gets a re-imagining by 22 year old Norwegian crate-digger Torkelsen. The Wolf Girl Remixes are available for free download on Simian Ghosts' page, and Torkelsen's work is a definite highlight. Torkelsen slows it down, adding some well-placed keys and spaces. This track is the gentler sequel to the original. You can consider it a welcome tribute to the peaceful moments after Wolf Girl has agreed to stay a while. Torkelsen's self titled debut album will be released March 6th on SellOut! Music.