Take Me With You

I’m going away for a week or so… just thought i’d leave you with a few things to listen to while i’m gone.

Top of the Pops is the forthcoming single by South Central. Remember that incredible remix of Metronomy they did? How much do I love that. This new one came in an envelope with stickers all over proclaiming ‘The British Justice’. I think they may be selling themselves a bit short with that really… I couldn’t imagine Justice coming up with a press release full of Burroughs / Crowley inspired mysticism. Anyway, I don’t have time for much chit chat. Just fire it up.

SOUTH CENTRAL - NOTHING CAN GO WRONG

Stupidly I missed ‘em at the last Bloggers Delight…. but no doubt though they will be pretty inescapable in the coming months. Has anyone got their mix of Klaxons ‘The Bouncer’? It’s caused a bit of controversy apparently. I’d be grateful for an mp3!

OK, so you’ll also want the new single by Friendly Fires. No, you really will. It’s a 10″, and the b-side features a cover of Frankie Knuckles’ ‘Your Love’ done in an indie rave style. It’s magic. Absolutely magick. I have to thank Hianta for bringing that to my attention, however if you didn’t get it from Fluokids go and listen on their myspace.

This is another track from the same single. It sounds like an old shoegazing record by Ride or something. It’s excellent. ‘Your Love’ is going to get all the attention, but I feel this is the conoisseur’s choice.

FRIENDLY FIRES - IT’S OVER NOW

Next up, here’s a re-rub of Infadels by hot remixers Nightmoves. Slowly winding up to action in a similar style to the recent Simian Mobile Disco / Erol Alkan mixes, you might find your head exploding scanners-style about 6 minutes in.

INFADELS - GIRL THAT SPEAKS NO WORDS (NIGHTMOVES REMIX)

Finally, and best of the lot, some Baile Funk for you to get your teeth into. I love the Baile Funk big style, but unfortunately don’t really know any of the artists. So it was great to find this lot on myspace & get my ears round four absolutely cracking tracks.

All the essential ingredients are present & correct - cheap sounding 808 beats; well known & obvious samples; and Brazillians shouting incomprehensibly (and no doubt filthily) over the top. Who can tell why it works so fucking well! Goddamn, this lot need to come to the UK pronto….

Maybe I ought to write ‘Britney Spears’ just to welcome in a whole new load of perverts.

BONDE JAMES BONDE - DETOX

BONDE JAMES BONDE - PANCADAO ROCKER

Be good when i’m gone. And i’m still waiting for your CDs!!! Don’t forget…..

Michael Rocks

Michael says he’s amazing.

And he is!!

Clever fucker

,-)

Listen Up!

Adventures Close to Home have done a new mix. It’s fucking awesome. Like, seriously fucking awesome.

Kelis vs Kongo Thong (ACTH Edit)
Ali Love - K Hole (SebastiAn Mix)
Epicman & Plan B - More is Enough
Uffie - Hot Chick
Yo Majesty - Club Action
DJ Mehdi - Boggin’
JME vs The Eraser (ACTH Edit)
Carl Craig - At Les (Russ Gabriel Mix)
Indo - R U Sleeping?
Various Production - What About Them?
MIA - XR2 (ACTH Raveon Remix)
Klanguage - Priceless Things
Diplo vs Ramirez (ACTH Edit)
Klaxons - Magick (Simian Mobile Disco Mix)
Futureheads - Worry About it Later (Switch Mix)
(Lotterboys - Superdope
SebastiAn - Ross Ross Ross
Justin Timberlake - FutureSexLoveSound
Standing in the Way of Control - The Gossip (Headman vs Tronik Youth ACTH Edit)

ADVENTURES CLOSE TO HOME - NOVEMBER MIX

Directions for Use

1: Watch this (with sound down)

whilst

2: Listening to this (with sound up)

THE ALIENS - THE HAPPY SONG

tip: for best results hit play on the video at the end of the song intro…. so after the song’s been playing 14 seconds.

Trust me!

If anyone can do this for me properly i’d really love ya!

3: Be Happy

You Are The Music In Me

Perhaps at times I should stop gabbing on about football & glowsticks and just post some good music up. God knows I have enough of a backlog.

This is a new Playgroup remix of M.Craft, forthcoming on 679 Recordings. I don’t know too much about M.Craft, but this mix by Trevor Jackson is superb. It’s blissful spun-out sunshine disco, and as such is probably being released about 3 months too late. But the last embers of summer are just about holding on, and perhaps if you fix yourself a cocktail, lower yourself into a deckchair and slap this on the stereo, we might make it to November without coats. This dub is perfectly constructed, and the vocals hit at exactly the right moment as far as i’m concerned, giving a lovely release to the track after such a patient build-up.

Our Martin:

Our Trev:

Our Disco:

M.CRAFT - YOU ARE THE MUSIC (PLAYGROUP DUB)

Trevor Jackson’s Output label of course went to the vinyl factory in the sky recently. But you can download MP3s from some of their last releases here. I’ve not listened to any myself, so can’t recommend anything. Perhaps if you hear something that gives your ears an erection you could let me know in the comments….

Something that’s stuck on my stereo since I was sent it a few weeks ago is a lovely album by Cacoy called ‘Human is Music’. It’s quirky Japanese electronica, with a real pop edge. The beats and melodies are beautifully (and by beautifully I mean stupendously) produced by DJ Klock, and Saya’s vocals are full of innocent joy and wonderment. The album seems to have taken a strange route to these shores, having been released in Japan in 2003 then re-released by a Danish label (Rumraket) in March this year. However it made it, i’m glad it did. It’s been my bedtime soundtrack for many nights recently.

CACOY - MURAL OF MUSIC

Finally here’s a track from a mysterious 12″ out this week by The Black Ghosts. Supposedly the work of some famous producers under a concealed identity, i’m not sure it’s as dark and ghoulish as their myspace profile tries to paint them…. but it is a catchy as fuck bit of electro pop that will keep kids dancing. You’ll find it on Southern Fried records this week.

THE BLACK GHOSTS - FACE

Is it an Atom Bomb?

This is gonna be a pretty lame post, as I have to leave for the football in 20 minutes. But I ought to tell you about Wednesday’s superb Modular records gig. Midnight Juggernauts, Shitdisco (again) and The Presets made up the bill, and all completely slayed it.

Looking back retrospectively, Midnight Juggernauts seem to have been modelled on fellow Aussies The Presets. And indeed they’ve recently remixed each other’s songs. Guitar, Drums & keyboards set to ‘Daft Punk’. And an abundance of great tunes.

Their mini-album ‘Secrets of the Universe’ is well worth a purchase. The track below is the second I’ve posted from the album, and I still haven’t posted the best one (’Shadows’). Also…. they’re playing for FREE at Adventures Close to Home next Friday. Check it out:

MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS - TOMBSTONE

ShitDisco rocked it once again as far as I was concerned. But I won’t bang on about them again. Here’s a photo.

Headliners The Presets aren’t too well known here, but seem to be pretty huge back in Australia. And since if there’s one thing London isn’t short of it’s Aussies, they were guaranteed a good turnout. The room suddenly became completely packed, and pretty soon the entire place was jumping. My friend Mike & I both remarked completely seperately ‘Pet Shop Boys’. And indeed reading an article since, it appears the band originally bonded over a love of the PSB. They’ve got a much harder danceable edge than Tennant & Lowe though, and the gig really kicked off when they slapped a sample from Daft Punk’s ‘Rolling & Scratching’ into one of their songs… there was no looking back from there. It was an hour-long set that seemed like half that, and didn’t let up for a second.

The photos really don’t do them or the atmosphere justice. But here they are all the same.

It seems a shame to post remixes of their tracks up here, but these versions are closer to how they sound live. As you can probably tell I was well impressed, and i’ll certainly try & catch ‘em again next time their in the country. The Van She mix in particular is highly recommended.

THE PRESETS - ARE YOU THE ONE (VAN SHE NYC TECH MIX)

THE PRESETS - DOWN DOWN DOWN (DIGITALISM MIX)

Something to make you smile on a dreary Friday afternoon

This is undoubtedly the best thing i’ve ever seen….

EDIT: For the benefit of Julien, and myself, i’ve ripped it as an MP3. Obviously the quality’s not great, but I doubt a better version would ever show up. And this is class!

MP3: INDIAN THRILLER

Also, i did have a wee chuckle with myself in yesterday’s Telegraph (it’s usually lying round at work) after seeing an obituary for a Lt Colonel Pine Coffin.

Foolishly, I didn’t read the text. One of the many highlights of his remarkable military career:

On coming ashore, plastered in mud and wearing only a red beret and a pair of flippers, he was confronted by a party of armed Cubans. Mustering as much authority as he could in the circumstances, he informed the group that they were trespassing on British sovereign territory and were surrounded.

The following morning, when the Royal Marines arrived to rescue him they were astonished to find him and his radio operator in a clearing standing guard over the Cubans and a pile of surrendered weapons. He was appointed OBE.

elsewhere:

His parachuting career was brought to a premature end when he landed in the dark on a tractor and broke several bones in his feet.

and I enjoyed the image brought up by the following encounter:

When he came across a number of heavily bearded men hiding in a monastery, Pine-Coffin suspected that they were Eoka terrorists in disguise and asked his sergeant to give their beards a sharp tug. These all stayed firmly in place and he had to make a swift tactical withdrawal.

He sounds remarkably like Peter Cook’s creation ‘Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling’.

“We like you too much to see you killed”

Turbo Fun

Last night I was finally indoctrinated in the ways of “nu rave”. For I witnessed Klaxons murdering the dancefloor in Oxford. Yes, revolution was in the air. As I supped my nu rave pint of bitter and waved my nu rave glowstick (well, a fag) in the air, I prepared to close my eyes and enter the Interzone.

When opened again, the main difference I found between a nu rave gig and a normal gig is that as well as the bands I got to hear the Justice remix of Franz Ferdinand played 6 (six) times. For the Simian Mobile Disco mix CD that accompanied last week’s NME was played from track 1 at every conceivable opportunity. And every time the CD skipped and fucked up at around track 4, they started it from the beginning again.

I dunno, I thought it might have been good if they’d turned it into a proper rave, and kept people dancing all night with the aid of some decent DJs. But what do I know?

The other difference was of course the glowsticks. Glowsticks everywhere. And though I initially scoffed, you know what… glowsticks are FUN! Yeah they’re daft, but once you’ve had 8 glowsticks it’s pretty hard not to dance. I imagine. I mean, i’ve never done 8 glowsticks in a night before, but I have friends who have. They make your eyes widen, they make you wave your arms in the air, and dance like a pillock. And it was indeed stupid fun. Particularly since the majority of the crowd were far younger and less cynical than me. Dancing, laughing, blowing whistles, painting each other with glowstick fluid. And going absolutely crazy to all the bands.

So yes, everyone agrees that this whole concept is a load of old shite. But that doesn’t matter a bit. Because last night was great. I even let down my grumpy old man facade and waved a glowstick around myself. Fuck yeah! I’m down with the kids.

Datarock opened the show. And, well I have to say they were a little disappointing. They have grown by two members since last time I saw them….. and unfortunately it’s not an improvement. All the electronic beats and bleeps and clicks and fuck yeah’s produced by the gnome in the middle were pretty much inaudible, due to the pointless addition of a drummer and another bloke making noises at the side.

Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t bad by any means. They were very far from bad. They were ace. But they weren’t as good as they should have been had they not decided to become a ‘proper’ band. There are loads of ‘proper’ bands. I liked the fact they weren’t a ‘proper’ band.

The other mystery is why once again they didn’t play either ‘Computer Camp Love’ or (to a lesser degree) ‘I Used to Dance With My Daddy’. Both of which would have made their set much much better.

Of course they have a devastating weapon up their sleeve.. being ‘Fa Fa Fa’. Which i’ve decided I want played at my funeral. (although, perhaps the ‘going nowhere’ could be construed as a threat).

But seriously guys…. just fucking play ‘Computer Camp Love’ will you!

Next up ShitDisco, taking things a little darker, a little more menacing. A lot more punk rock. And sending the kids even more crazy. They were great.

The three songs I knew - ‘Disco Blood’, ‘I Know Kung Fu’ and ‘Reactor Party’ stood out. But they didn’t let up on the tunes or the energy the whole way through. Turbo Fun indeed.

The fantastic ‘Reactor Party’ comes out as a single on 23rd October, backed with remixes by the likes of Nightmoves and James (Simian Mobile Disco) Ford. I don’t know where I got this remix from (probably somewhere slightly dubious), or anything about it…. and it doesn’t appear on any of the single formats. But I like it a lot.

SHITDISCO - REACTOR PARTY (ARNE BLACKMAN CLARKY CAT REMIX)

So then we waited for Klaxons, whilst being treated by three more low volume plays of the Justice FF mix (by this time I was very grateful that it was on quietly!). This kicked any dance energy out of the audience, so they sensibly ripped their glowsticks apart & covered themselves in the contents instead.

However when Klaxons did appear from beneath the lasers it was probably to more hysteria than when I saw Arctic Monkeys at the same venue last year.

To be honest i’m not sure they’ve quite got the material to justify the hype yet - with a short set including two covers (’The Bouncer’, and ‘Not Over Yet’ - which was amazing). But it’s said the secret of good showmanship is to keep them wanting more, and they certainly did that. From ‘The Bouncer’ to ‘Four Horsemen of 2012′, with all the hits packed in between, it was unrelenting magick the whole way.

This one is slightly dissimilar to the rest of their set, but you may not have heard it yet.

KLAXONS - GOLDEN SKANS

and this the one you’ve been waiting for…. their rocking cover of Grace’s pop trance anthem ‘Not Over Yet’.

KLAXONS - NOT OVER YET

And lastly this is the brilliant video for ‘Magick’ - directed once again by that man Saam.

I am truly sorry

Thanks to Rich for sending me something that has literally changed my life.

Pass me the pills & the razor blades.

PETER ANDRE & JORDAN - A WHOLE NEW WORLD

In case you’re not from the UK, this is NOT a Peter, Bjorn & John tribute act.

Can we do a swap for Kevin Federline please?

source

So I Can Say What’s On My Mind

Thanks to the marvellous Modular records for sending me some really great stuff last week. I’ve been particularly enjoying the forthcoming single by The Presets.

The track’s called ‘I Go Hard I Go Home’… and much as I love the original (and I do, lots. Especially the Led Zep riffs that infuse it), you can and should hear it on their myspace page, so there’s not much point in posting it up here.

This remix is very different, but strangely the original has the vocals chopped up beyond recognition, whereas they are reformed into comprehensible shape in this remix. Which is a different way round to how these things usually work. Sounds more like the original is a remix of this.

So what can you expect? Shouted vocals a la Rapture; a noisy squelchy bass line; and a groove that you’ll find it pretty fucken hard not to dance to. You’ll like this one….

THE PRESETS - I GO HARD I GO HOME (ASCII DISKO MIX)

The single also has a mix by The Juan MacLean, so it’s well worth your money & attention.

The Presets are playing a great looking gig next Wednesday. I’ll be going along for sure.

On a rather different tack are new signings ‘The Soft Lightes‘. This debut single ‘Girlkillsbear’ sounds to me awfully like ‘Her Space Holiday‘, but there are also a lot of hints of The Flaming Lips in their sound.

Again you can hear the single on their myspace page, so i’ll post up the remix by Lo-Fi-Fnk. Which I think I prefer anyway. It’s quite similar to the original, but with lots of added Lo-Fi-Fnk noises. Handclaps, cheap synths and chanting. It’s blissful electronic pop that will slap a big smile across your face.

THE SOFT LIGHTES - GIRLKILLSBEAR (LO-FI-FNK REMIX)

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REMEMBER : I NEED YOUR CDS

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