Okay. I get it. More snow. Seriously. If you’re reading this and anywhere in the northeastern part of the United States, you will understand why I’m pissed off. All over facebook, I have friends that have these stupid status messages saying something to the effect of, “I get it, it’s going to snow. Welcome to New England.” No, assholes, this bullshit isn’t natural. I want some fucking sunshine. And this is where my music addition for the day comes in. To all you people saying, “Suck it up, it’s New England”? I want to slam your genitalia into a car door. If you’re just as pissed as I am? Enjoy this music. It makes me look forward to this god-forsaken winter ending.
Not sure why, but the title used is from Derrick Carter’s “Where U At?” I guess I could say it works in this sense in that here I’m just sort of showing the extent of influence late hip-hop producer Jay Dee has had. Now, I had done a post based around one of his tracks a few months back, but this post is more to show his reach in music.
Yep. Jay Dee had a hand in that. Crazy, eh? Or how about these two songs?
Yep, more production work by Jay Dee. Having worked with Q-Tip and the Pharcyde is just the beginning, really. You guys should check out the full list of stuff he’s had a hand in. Oh, and the best part is that the video for “Drop” by the Pharcyde was a Spike Jonze product. Did you notice Ad Rock pop in there?
So the last surprise of work by Jay Dee was a Slum Village remix of “Aerodynamic” by Daft Punk. You heard right. As a way for Slum Village to avoid paying for the use of a sample, they were asked to create a remix for Daft Punk’s Daft Club, and the resulting remix is here.
So boys and girls? Now you know. And knowing is half the battle. Yo Joe! Umm…..yeah.
Ever wondered what that song was that peeps played when the New Year rang in? It’s called “Auld Lang Syne” and translated from Scottish, it means “old long since” if very literally. Basically, it means “days long past”. A way of remembering the year that we just finished. Well, house music producer Slow Hands has made a really cool jam that can bring the new year in in such fitting fashion. It’s a remix of the traditional track you hear that was recorded in this instance by Guy Lombardo.
Anyhow, do check this one out. The original is there for you all, also. I hope all of you have a happy and safe New Year!
I had plans to write about some punk albums this week. I had plans to do a lot of things. I’m in the weeds at work. I’ll be in the weeds well into the new year.
Really, I just never got around to listening to the punk albums I wanted to talk about for the post.
Honestly? I just still can’t stop listening to the new Kanye album.
In the near future I am making the staff give me the top ten albums released this year for a week of “Best Of” posts at the end of the month.
I’ll give you my number one album now. It’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Lyrically and musically it’s fucking fantastic! You already know how I feel about that album since I wrote it up a few weeks back. Since I am under the gun though, you get more Kanye. This time it’s the leak and remix promo Kanye is doing for his fans. In August Kanye West proclaimed on twitter (of course…) that he would release a “new joint from our family“on his website every Friday until xmas.
He dubbed it G.O.O.D. Fridays and then the gems started dropping. I was there every Friday like a hungry dog begging for a biscuit.
Power Remix Track Art
The first track dropped was a remix of the song “Power” off the then yet unreleased new album. The song featured Jay-Z and Swizz Beats and mashes up Snap’s “I’ve Got The Power.” It’s got hot, hot alternate verses from what ended up on the album version.
We livin’ in that 31st century, futuristic fly shit
The penthouse is the projects and everybody flies private
New watch, know what time it is, watch us (You see us)
There were 12 other releases packaged up into the G.O.O.D Friday project, and then nothing new after My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was released. I’m assuming Yeezy just wanted to make sure the focus stayed on the new album for a few weeks before he starts back up on the G.O.O.D. Fridays series. That would make sense anyways. One can hope! You can check out the thirteen tracks for yourself here. An email address gets you access to download them all. I suggest you do. Then buy his new album if you haven’t already.
There are a few moments in life you’re thankful for witnessing. Even fewer that you witness and catch on video. I got one of those, and oh god, it’s epic. I really don’t know how to describe this. Check it out.
Anyhow, this was at a birthday house party the other night, as my buddy Gray showed off his skills dancing to Outkast’s “Bombs Over Baghdad”. Re-watching it later, I was nearly in tears from laughing so hard. Considering it’s Thanksgiving tomorrow, I have to say I’m thankful for catching this brilliance on video. Oh, and here’s your music. Since I guess that’s why you came here, right?
Back in 2003, I had the chance to see Royksopp here in Boston. It was one of the better shows I’ve seen, to be quite honest. If I could find the pictures I took, I would share those with you in a heartbeat. That same night, I then went from the Paradise over to the Phoenix Landing to check out Fish Go Deep. Fitting that it was the day before St. Patrick’s Day. Just one of many amazing days I’ve experienced in my life where music was involved. I think we can all agree that music inhabits a certain place in all of our lives. It’s honestly a big reason why George started this blog, in my opinion. We get to share not just music with you all, but who we are, as shaped by the music we’ve grown up around. Well, I have shared just that. And hope to keep doing so for all of you. Do you guys have any good stories from shows? Shows or nights out that helped define the person you are? If so, let ’em rip.
With that said, it’s time to bring it back to the original topic, which is Royksopp. They’ve released a new album, entitled Senior. Fitting since their last one was Junior. The mood of this one is decidedly more mellow, and shows the scope of who Royksopp are. In fact, check out the video for the tune “The Drug”. Mildly disturbing, at points, but the music is pretty grand. Definitely a keeper of a track.
Now, this post? I’m actually going to dig back in time with these guys. You’re going to be treated to a couple of remixes off of their seminal album Melody AM. Those in charge of the remixes here? None other than Tom Middleton and Derrick Carter. Those of you that have been reading for a while may remember my interview with DLC, the Chicago house music legend. If you don’t? Hell, go read it now! And Middleton is a familiar name to those of us that have followed electronic music for a while. He was half of both Global Communication and Jedi Knights. Pretty good resume of music, in itself.
Anyhow, Derrick lent his boompty remix skills to the first track of Melody AM – “So Easy”. Middleton’s crafts are on display with his remix of the track most people would be familiar with – “Remind Me”. Enjoy these tunes, guys!
I sometimes wonder if Lady Gaga just bit all the great things about pop stars like Michael Jackson and Britney Spears, sexed it up, magnified it, perfected it, and then realized… oh…I could have just stolen all of this from Peaches!
The Canadian-born Peaches has always been completely out there and on the edge of performance art. She has pushed past comfort levels on sex, gender, and fashion. She’s been doing that for over 10 years. That means all the women pop and rock stars who have a bit of extravagance in their albums and on stage did it in the wake of the very talented Peaches.
Some of the Peaches first shows included strap on dildos and stage blood. She’s recently performed with what she calls a “pussy-light”
You might think Peaches is just shock and awe. I had thought that before, until I learned that she plays all her own instruments, programs all her own beats, and produces her own albums.
She was signed to Sony but was dropped after her big budget video was released. It revolved around Peaches sitting in a locker room while her armpit and pubic hair grew to Rapunzel-esqe lengths. Peaches has opened for Queens of the Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails, and Marilyn Manson.
If that isn’t enough to get the message across to you about her eccentric individualism, I’ll tell you a story about the one-woman show interpretation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Sir Tim Rice musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” that she decided to take on earlier this year. At first, the people who owned the rights to the musical said nope… but she was persistent and finally got the opportunity to put on the show on March 25-27 an Berlin’s HAU1. You might be thinking it was a disgusting disaster. Right?
“Not only did Peaches set it off, she managed to surprise us all by showing off an expansive vocal range, a musician’s natural sensitivity to the dynamics of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score, and an emotive prowess that is rarely if ever displayed in her own, less holy, music.”
I’ve only seen parts of this musical, and it doesn’t seem totally outside what she would be interested in. Still, I had to learn why she wanted to do this. It’s a lot of work and probably was exhausting to make it happen and then to perform it alone all night. Doing a bit of research I found this quote from The Peach herself:
“When I was 16, I often sang the whole musical to myself all alone in my room. It tells an entire story without spoken text, only with vocals, in the style of a rock opera. I’m a performer, my concerts are extravagant and play with exaggerations. This project allows me to do without all this. I wanted to confront this task totally exposed, because it is a possibility. It’s a question of stamina. Performing ‘Peaches Christ Superstar’ is the most intense and powerful stage experience I have ever had.”
Those of you who are intrigued but dissapointed you missed those dates in Berlin, never fear. She’s coming Stateside and it’s probably a once in a lifetime kind of event.
Here are tour dates for ‘Peaches Christ Superstar’:
Dec.10 — Boston — Institute of Contemporary Art Dec 11 — New York — The Concert Hall at New York Society for Ethical Culture Dec 14 — Chicago — Portage Theater Dec.17 — Los Angeles — Orpheum Theatre Dec. 18 — San Francisco — Herbst Theatre Dec. 21 — Toronto — Queen Elizabeth Theatre
But wait there’s more! Because I like you, I want to give you a BONUS! A remix treat just for you.
I honestly am at a loss for what to post today. So why not post remixes of everybody’s favorite indie-rock darlings – Animal Collective? There was the ever popular remix that was done by Dave Wrangler of “My Girls”, which admittedly gets played quite often by myself, still. We also had the flip of that, where Animal Collective were on the remix tip. They did justice to French band Phoenix’s “Love Like a Sunset”.
Well, now I feel like bringing you a little more of the awesomeness. These aren’t necessarily new remixes I’m bringing you. However, this is what I’ve been listening to as of late.
The first two are remixes of “My Girls”. It is off of their almost two year old album Merriweather Post Pavilion, which became an unexpected landmark of an album for these guys. With that sort of success in hand, it should be expected that people would start wanting to remix your work. Well, with the success of “My Girls” came just that. As I mentioned, Dave Wrangler took a stab at it and did a great job, in my opinion. Well, now we have a couple more remixes. These were done by Mexicans With Guns and HATCHMATIK. I have to be quite honest. The name Mexicans With Guns might be, right now, one of the most unfortunate names in music. Considering everything going on in Mexico, and all. But I have to admit that I love the name. So here are the remixes done by HATCHMATIK and Mexicans With Guns.
The last of the remixes is a chilled out one of Animal Collective’s “Daily Routine” by St. Louis’ Phaseone, also off of the same album. This one is a bit of a re-working, as it adds more fullness to the original, with an electro feel to it. It’s also well over two minutes shorter than the original, which is odd for a remix, too. So enjoy this one!
weep for yourself, my man, you’ll never be what is in your heart weep little lion man, you’re not as brave as you were at the start
One of my good friends shared an album with me on Friday that really caught me off guard. It’s rare that someone shares music with me that I haven’t heard about. It’s rarer still to have someone suggest a band to check out that is as successful as this band has been.
Mumford and Sons has sold out just about every show on their U.S. tour. They are playing just about every major festival in the states. In the U.K. their debut album, Sigh No More has gone Platinum.
rate yourself and rake yourself, take all the courage you have left wasted on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head
Check out the video for one of the best songs off the album in my opinion:
but it was not your fault but mine and it was your heart on the line i really fucked it up this time didn’t I, my dear?
It’s one of those songs that, after the first time you hear it you just put it on repeat! I love the F-Word and I love the banjo!
I was immediately curious what the lyrics of the song were trying to convey. I had some ideas, but I looked it up anyways. Check out what Marcus Mumford himself has to say about Little Lion Man:
“It’s a very personal story, so I won’t elaborate upon it too much. Suffice to say, it was a situation in my life I wasn’t very happy with or proud of… and sometimes when you can’t describe a feeling with your own words, it’s almost easier to express in a song. And then, when you get asked about the songs, it’s quite difficult to explain. It’s a conundrum — you don’t want to seem self-indulgent explaining yourself; it’s always awkward. Which is weird again, because it’s never awkward actually singing them. I suppose the song should stand on its own and people draw their own interpretation from the words.”
Mumford and Sons reminds me a lot of The Snake, The Cross, The Crown (or TSTCTC for short), another band I love. Since it appears that TSTCTC are breaking up, I guess I am doubly thankful for having someone recommend Mumford and Sons, as I have a hole to fill.
Cause you told me that I would find a hole, Within the fragile substance of my soul And I have filled this void with things unreal, And all the while my character it steals
This is going to be a brief one. I have to say I love the bootleg house remixes. A lot. I mean it. I heart the good bootlegs. Two of these are from the same EP. One of them? I have no clue about it and just heard it today. The last of the four? Is one I used to beat to death when I was still DJing.
The first two were done by Kaskade. Somehow, that man has blown up. And it’s not pretty. He’s helping to now make some pretty crappy electronic music. It’s sad, really. A basic attempt to make money. And he’s bought into it. Well, we can remember the good times. These are two off of the Lake Geneva EP. They are remixes of “Invisible Sun” by The Police and “Much Too Late” by Julian Lennon. They are what they are. Simple, fun bootlegs. So enjoy!
Next up is one I just heard. And it’s really pretty bad in a cheesy way. If anyone is old enough to remember Christopher Cross, you may cringe now. This is a remix I found of “Ride Like The Wind” that is just so damn awful that it’s good. I would play this in a set just to fuck with people. It would be funny if it filled a dancefloor. And come on. It’s fucking Michael McDonald on background vocals. That alone should make you happy.
The last one is a legitimately great bootleg. It’s one I picked up almost ten years ago on wax. Hall and Oates’ “Can’t Go For That” and we’re still trying to figure out who did it. A friend of mine says it was probably the artist known as Illicit, but that’s not certain. This is a seriously awesome track. You all should download this one ASAP.
