Archive for March, 2007

30
March
2007
tags: Muscles, Terry Poison, Duke Dumont, Kris Menace, LCD Sound System, Remix, JoolsMF, Mp3.

Remix Friday Week 11: Shuffle It!

I have something to confess:

I’ve started using iTunes again = [

You see, trying to manage all the incoming music I get for both Resonator and for personal deejay is getting kinda out of hand for me (seeing as its just a hobby at this point and i usually pulll around 50-60 hour work weeks), so I’ve started to use smart playlist within iTunes. I now have a playlist of all unrated tracks to easily determine exactly what has or hasn’t been listened to, and it gives me an easily way to update the genre id3 tag to my liking. I can also easily import any custom iTunes playlist straight into Traktor… sigh, can’t believe I’m telling you all this. It still lags like shit and crashes on me from time to time, but not as bad as when I had those 150gigs of music loaded into it.

So.. I’ve no idea what I want to post this week. I’m just going to put this smart playlist on random and see what comes up (I’m tired and over-worked was up all night dealing with server issues, I think I’m started to bitch like Shaun):

First up. This is like a year old?


“Do You Wanna (JoolsMF Diskob0xx Remix)” - Franz Ferdinand

Not sure if I’ve dropped anything by him before, but he does some crazy chopped and screwed remixes of main-streamish songs, and I generally always like what I hear. His website makes me giggle like a school girl as well: http://www.joolsmf.co.uk/ Though it doesn’t look like its been updated in a while. Check his MySpace here

Haha ok. This one must be karmic revenge:


“Girlfriend” - Avril Lavigne

She’s like, so whatever… NEXT!

Ok, this one’s been around for a while as well, but I fucking love this remix.


“We Run This (Duke Dumont Remix)” - Missy Elliot

Duke Dumont being, well, the man. This track is sooo sick. Fluokids posted up a fanfare/deejay tools track he did not that long ago, and ChazOlogy posted up live rip of his remix of Debbie D’s “Music Makes Me Dance” as well.

What next?…Yay trance!


“North American Scum(Kris Menace Remix)” - LCD Soundsystem

I forget where I found this (I’m sure HypeMachine holds the answer) but its straight up OLD Rave. Like, Late 90s euphoric trance. This track has a surprisingly high number of really good, and really trancey remixes. Hey, no complaints here.

Ok, enough shuffle. But, since this track has been stuck in my head for, oh.. 4 months now?


“Ice Cream” - Muscles

Muscles!

I don’t need her number, I just want to dance with my shirt off. Or, as we drunkenly sing around here in Grant Park, I don’t want your loving, I just want to dance with my PANTS off.

Muscles on MySpace
Muscles inside pneumatic tunes

Bonus track:

“24 Hours” - Terry Poison

Dance rock, done right. I think I’m in love.

Terry Poison

Terry Poison Space
And on the interwebs (their site is pretty neato)

Have a good friday/weekend kids. If you’re looking for something to do in Atlanta:

Habersham (Official Audio Therapy EP release party) @ Sabroso — Tonight (Friday).
Snowden && Klever @ Lenny’s Bar — Saturday night.

</hacks>

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30
March
2007
tags: Human|Nature, Camp & Leutwyler, Mat Leutwyler, Ben Camp, Mp3.

Human Nature and The Broken Internets

Human|Nature

Its always a treat we we get something in our inbox/mailbox that makes you go “holy sh*t this is good”. Well that’s the case with the songs we’ve been getting from Human|Nature recently. Comprised of Ben Camp, Mat Leutwyler and Wally C, they are on a mission to create “quality music to share with the world, and to help others do the same”. From what I’ve heard so far? Totally on the right track.


“The Shuffle” - Ben Camp

This comes from their 1st official release, Ben Camp’s - The Internet is Broken EP. Its a throw back to some of older progressive house roots, but with way more energy and excitement. It starts with a simple and bouncy bass line leading into a catchy computerized vocal hook: “To all my people in the front, let me see you shake it”. From there it picks up more and more and peaks at around the 5 minute mark with a crescendo of gritty bass-lines and background guitar riffs. Its been a while since I’ve heard a solid track that’s both danceable all the way though, and yet takes the time to build up to something ever greater. I’m sure everyone is going to hate me saying it like this but: Ben Camp’s “The Shuffle” is the progressive house for new rave. Seriously, I’m not kidding.

I had a hard time choosing what to post from their sampler packs, but I ended up going with melodic piece from sampler pack 001:


“Paris” - Camp & Leutwyler

More on the trance side of the fence, “Paris” holds strong with its sweeping melodic harmonies underscored with measures of slow attack bass-synths. Its so far from what I normally post up, but its a complex 8-1/2 min stereoscopic journey though sound sure to illicit color-filled explosion inside your mind (got carried away with the descriptors there, sorry!). This is an excellent compliment to show the diversity in Human|Nature’s musical talent.

If you like what you’re heard, stop by Human|Nature’s music page to preview all the tracks from Ben Camp’s EP and also the first 2 sampler packs.

The Internet is Broken has a released date listed as 05 April, 2007 so look for it on

  1. iTunes
  2. Beatport (its there already, actually)
  3. Juno
  4. Or wherever it is you buy your electronic music.

Visit Human|Nature on the web.

Hey guess what? This post is 100% MySpace free!

</hacks>

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30
March
2007
tags: politics, Rich Boy, MC Rove, videos, Mp3.

Hide the children, the pets, your hip-hop cred…

It is, with great nausea, that I present to you today’s next rap supernotstar:

Watch the whole thing. No, really, WATCH. THE. WHOLE. THING.

For our friends outside the U.S., two things:

1) No, the Knife isn’t in this video

2) Yes, that’s Karl “Darth” Rove, Bush’s Deputy Chief of Staff, doing…something.

I insist again-you have to watch the *whole* damned video…but not, I repeat, NOT on an empty stomach. Karl Rove does NOT get to work at the Hip Hop Repair Shop (”he’s Kurtis Blow and he’d like you to know that these…are…your brakes!”), I assure you.

God, that’s a bad taste in your mouth, huh? Need something else to cleanse the palette? How about the lastest little bit of genius from Polow Da Don? Falling somewhere between the futurefuck of Timbaland and the southern mini-malicious sound of Lil’ Jon, we have Polow’ latest project, Rich Boy-and “Throw Some D’s”.

Rich Boy: Throw Some Ds (produced by Polow Da Don)

And, because imitation is the….something:

I went over to my friend’s house over the weekend, and his little brother was sitting on the couch looking like someone stole his puppy. I asked what his problem was, and he said that he got put on punishment. I was like “Why?” he said he got straight “F’s” on his report card, I was like “Word? Straight Fs?” He was like “Yeah, when I saw that report card, I knew I was getting my ass whooped, so I went to the teacher, tossed the report card on her desk and was like, ‘You better throw some D’s on that bitch.”

Oh, c’mon, god only knows what you’d do without us.

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29
March
2007
tags: Mp3.

R. Jamz presents: Bidnezzman’s Steak Dinner part1

It’s time to share with you, our adored readers, more music that you can rollerskate to®!

Man Dre - Freak is Nice

I won’t lie, I don’t know too much about this track. Searching for information about it on the series of tubes that is the internet yeilded barely anything, except that it appears on a bootleg 12″ along with other funk classics.
All I know is that you can rollerskate to it. And sometimes that’s all you need to know.

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29
March
2007
tags: New Rave, Housemeister, BPitch Control, Mp3.

Counterpoint: No, We Really DO Care About New-Rave

For those of you who read the blog pretty regularly, it must be rather confusing to have Hacks’ Friday remixes along side Shaun’s constant bitching about the very same music. The thing is, we started Resonator as a place to be able to express our opinions on new and not so new music, and it would seem that with this New Rave thing, we’ve got a pretty dynamic split over here on the Res front.

For the record, I DO care about New Rave. While some of it isn’t the coolest thing I’ve ever heard, I really respect that people are embracing the word “Rave” instead of trying to seperate themselves from such a thing. I love what Studio B is doing by bringing the best artists of New Rave and those who have been around for a few years during the dark ages of electronic dance music together at a superb venue. I love that in one of last month’s XLR8R DJ mixes, their editor who mixes under the name Star Eyes dug out some classic old skool rave tracks (and we’re talking older school than Global Underground– we’re talking Two Bad Mice) and hacked them together gorgeously with the New Rave stuff.

The Ellen Allien / Miss Kittin party at Studio B last week was amazing. It was sweaty, glowstick, silly clothes, gurning amazing. It was Ellen spinning for five hours (at least that’s what I heard from those who managed to get inside early without waiting 45 minutes in line) and still bouncing up and down while she sang over Kittin’s first three tracks. It was Miss Kittin singing a vicious, sexy version of “I Feel Love” over some wicked Berlin spine-shattering bass an octave lower than Donna Summer ever dreamed.

Ellen’s Bpitch Control label (one of the few things we’ve managed to agree on here at Resonator) is home these days to one of my favorite New Raver’s, a funny-dressed fellow calling himself Housemeister. His boshy tunes are smart little numbers to which you can lose your mind. He’s not got any dates scheduled in the US right now, but hopefully we can build a strong enough following to get him and his sideways baseball cap over to the states.First off, he’s managed to take MLK Jr.’s famous speech about peace and turn it into a twisted rave tune called “Destroy” off of his No.Games.No.Fun. EP. The deep basketball bounce of the offbeat makes it impossible not to bob your head like a chicken, so be careful where you play this.

Housemeister — Destroy

Next up is the tripped out squiggle mind-fuck of “Need Retro” from the Need Kick EP (which I can’t actually find a link to buy online– if you’ve got one, send it along or leave it in the comments!). This ones needs a BIG room or a good pair of headphones– there’s nothing small about it. You could get lost with your eyes closed down the rabbit hole of this simple but hypnotic bassline and never come out the other side. You’ve been warned.Housemeister — Need Retro

So see, readers, there’s no need for confusion– there’s room for New Rave, No-Rave, and Top 40. You read us because we tell you what we think, and sometimes, that’s not the same thing. And that’s why you have more than one friend and more than one record.

Though I’m pretty sure we’re all hooked like mackerel on Neon Bible… But that’s another story, for another day.

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29
March
2007
tags: ADULT., News, Album Reviews, Mp3.

Anxious Inclination

I keep on hearing all this stuff about Justice. All this stuff, really, about all this hot, twisted electronic music coming out of various camps in France (or Switzerland, or New York-same thing, right?).

I’ve listened to the Klaxons, I’ve listened to Justice, I listened to the god-awful Teddy Bears album that was supposed to change the freaking world last year, and I don’t hear what everyone else hears-the anxious, jerky, nervous energy that’s both heart-accelerating and heart-stopping.

And then, just in time to cause my heart rate to accelerate to a dangerous high and push me to a knees-to-chest panic attack in the best way possible, there’s a new ADULT. album.

cover2601.jpg

Make no mistake- ADULT., the husband and wife team of Nicole Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller remains one of the most cutting-edge bands in existence right now, but in recent years (read as: since 2005’s spitsnarl Gimmie Trouble) they’ve pushed the limits of what eviscerating, confrontational punk mixed with the most atonal, harshest electronic sounds can do. And, with Why Bother?, they’ve created a No-Rave masterpiece (and again, accompanied by the most fun-to-read press sheet I’ll see this year).

In ADULT.’s mind, this is a folk record. An album discussing the common experience. In the case of ADULT., that common experience is as it’s always been-the extreme social anxiety and phobia from day-to-day interaction. However, if the folk you’re thinking of is the soothing, coffee-house and atlas sound of Sufjan, or the hipster acoustic-freak of Joanna Newsom or Devendra Beardhart, erm, Banhart, Why Bother will sound like a beautiful, brilliant atonal crush of a sonic palette-and that’s exactly what it is. It’s a record that will either send you running towards or away from the speakers, to bury your head in safety or to bury your head in the sound.

Prior to this album, there’s always been a sense of melody accompanying even the harshest thrashes of ADULT.-now, however, in place of the jerky-yet-hummable “In My Nerves” (from Gimmie Trouble) is the ferocious, stormy hardcore rave meets hardcore punk anti-love letter “I Feel Worse When I’m With You”. Similar sentiments are echoed on the throat-shredding “I’m Inclined To Vomit”, which sees Nicola Kuperus upping her vocal ante-last record she started singing, this album she begins fucking killing. There’s a homage to their Crass-esque roots in the muddled, confrontational vocals of “You Don’t Worry Enough”, but there’s also an off-kilter, jerky no-wave snap that’s enough to break the hips and spine of any passerby (if, that is, they aren’t destroyed).

gt_at2.jpg

With the departure of the “permanent/not permanent” Gimmie Trouble-era third member, Tamion 12” bassist Sam Consiglio, ADULT. have behind the earthly trappings of any real instruments, instead beating the fuck out of their Moogs and drum machines until they become the sound of Paxil withdrawal. All in all, Why Bother? has, finally, the perfect marriage of sound and idea, intensity and echo (see the instrumental “Importance of Being Folk” compositions that bookend the album), insanity and venom that Adam and Nicole have always reached for-this time, however, they’ve pushed their electronics to the limit, and not in that obnoxious “robots-on-parade” bullshit way that heralded the Electroclash scene. No, ADULT. have now positioned themselves as the poster-children for the shirt-and-tie social-phobic electronic punk folkster army, and there’s no longer any turning back.. Not only are ADULT. your favorite punk band, they just killed your favorite folk band.

ADULT.:Inclined To Vomit

From Why Bother?-a ripping freak-out of an ode to social nausea, and one of the most fierce things ADULT.’ve ever done.

ADULT.: Don’t Talk (Redux)

A D.U.M.E. reworking of one of ADULT.’s oldest tracks-it’s the moment, at the end, when an army of Nicolas close in, insisting “don’t talk, just listen”, that this song reaches new heights of paranoia.

On Why Bother?, ADULT. return to making gloriously harsh instrumental tracks. This, the first Why Bother? vid, collects all three parts of “Importance of Being Folk” into one story, directed by Adam and Nicola themselves.

Ah, the tragecomic not-lovestory that is “I Feel Worse When I’m With You”, again directed by ADULT.

Buy Why Bother? at Thrill Jockey

ADULT. online

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28
March
2007
tags: Timbaland, Omarion, videos, Mp3.

Mr. Mose, whatcha got to say?

I don’t think there’s a living, breathing, functioning human being that isn’t aware of the genius that is Tim “Timbaland” Mosely. As a studio wizard and producer, I don’t even feel it’s necessary to list off the genius works he’s been attached to-hell, dude probably produced some phat-as-hell Jelly Roll Morton remixes. Last year’s obnoxiously awesome collaborative album with Justin Timberlake certainly didn’t lower his profile, bla bla bla yadda yadda TIMBALAND SOLO ALBUM FOR 07:

When I first heard about Timbaland Presents: Shock Value, my desire to hop around in rapturous joy like a Caucasian state-school undergrad who’d just heard “Crazy” on the radio for the first time was tempered, for a few reasons. The first is the most obvious-as the only music critic who really matters, Simon Reynolds, said recently-isn’t giving Timbaland a world of praise and appreciation for his production work a bit, oh, ten years ago?

And he’s right-it is. Is there anyone out there who is or will/would be listening that doesn’t yet know the whole “x pop/rap/whatever artist PRODUCTION BY TIMBALAND=SUDDEN GENIUS” drill?

Also…there’s two fears that circulate around the idea of Timbaland releasing an album based around himself. One is from the beatcrafting/production side, and one is from the vocals/rapping side. In regards to the latter, there’s this…fear. This irrational fear that Tim will blow his forward-thinking radio-ready funkrave load on 13 cohesive tracks and then have nothing to save us in the sure-to-be doldrums of 2007 winter radio.

What if his genius, like fossil fuel, water, and Britney Spears’ shed hotness, is a dwindling resource, and we’re forced to look on it with a sense of nostalgia, as we listen to Miss E-So Addictive for the eight hundred thousandth time and sigh “gah…remember when?”

In regards to the vocals on “Shock Value”, I can’t deny my one big fear was an hour of Timbaland rapping. His albums with Magoo are legendary for the suckitude, and there’s not a person living who wouldn’t have rather had him STFU and let J-Tim get on with the business of bringing SexyBack.

From what I’ve heard thus far, though, there’s no reason to fear:

Timbaland: Bounce

This is one fucking HELL of a rave-up. Timbaland’s bringing the days of dangerous electronic music back. With Dr. Dre, Missy Elliot and Justin Timberlake all as hands on deck, it’s quite possible this might be Shock Value’s crowning achievement. As Justin commands all in audience to bounce “like yo’ ass got the hiccups/like you was ridin’ in my pickup”, Dre talks about liking girls who are “Chinese like some young ho”, and, whoa, what’s that, Missy busting through the door screaming “hold up/hell naw/like Britney Spears I ain’t got no drawers”?

Fuck. Yes. It. Is. This shit would even make Granny horny.

This is what Timbaland does best-so damn offensive, so damn dark, so damn dirty-possibly his best contender for a single *ever*-specifically because it does the “this shouldn’t work on pop radio, but oh my fuck it DOES” thing so well.


Omarion: Ice Box

I don’t want to expend all of the surprises of Shock Value just yet (at least not until I finish the album, which seems to be falling apart at the end…), so this is another one of Timbaland’s 2006 masterworks that may have snuck by you. Turning Omarion from just another wanna-be R Kel into a fractured, emotive skitter-step crooner is just further proof of his genius, but that about-to-blow hoover snaking out at the end sounds a tad bit too much like an idea we’ve heard from him one too many times before…

Timbaland’s a fucking genius, there’s no doubt about that.He’s managed to ensconce himself in so many myriad genres, styles and scenes that it’s damn near impossible to imagine music as it is now existing without him. However, he’s beefing with Kanye. He’s beefing with Scott Storch. He’s probably beefing with the Burger King King. Has he just gotten too big for his britches (or too big for his bitches)? This, it seems, is the year Timbaland either puts up or steps down.

I’m anxious to watch this play out.

Pre-order Shock Value at Amazon, since the indie record stores apparently don’t realize Timbaland’s produced all those hot jams they try to pick up chicks to.

Bonus beat:

The “Ice Box” video…too good for words. “Got an ice box where my heart used to be”? As those poets Pusha and Malice once said-yeah, me too.

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27
March
2007
tags: Tokyo Police Club, Shows, Mp3.

Tokyo Police Club — Live in Atlanta.

Tokyo Police Club is a buzz-worthy young band (literally, they look 15) that’s been making it around the blogsphere recently. They came through Atlanta this past Friday, 23 March 2007, playing alongside Cold War Kids for a sold out show @ Vinyl. After downing a few pints @ ABC and grabbing a bite from the Brewhouse, I was prepared for a quick little 30 min guitar driven set to get me going for the weekend. After sitting through the opening band (they bored me, but I’m sure everyone else loved them) I was ready for something a little upbeat, but was quickly informed their drummer was too sick to perform.

Well damn.

We got a pretty unique show none-the-less which, i may add, improved directly with the amount of shots consumed on stage. It started of as a slightly subdued, pseudo-acoustic set, but once CWK and everyone else from backstage piled on - bringing every piece of percussion they could find, apparently - things finally got more towards what I was looking for. Though, as Ms. T pointed out: Their live show was briefer than their LP, and shortly thereafter it was over.

A video’s worth some arbitrary number of words, so here you go:

Toyko Police Club - Nature of the Experiment (Live @ Vinyl, Atlanta)


Tokyo Police Club - Nature of the Experiment (Album Version)

Overall worth checking out if they come to your city, however lets hope you get the full experience.

Visit Tokyo Police Club:
on MySpace
on The Interwebs
and purchase the album from Insound

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26
March
2007
tags: Columns.

No, we don’t care about the young folks talkin’ bout the nu-rave

As I’ve made blatantly clear, I find the indie rock scene’s sudden fascination with rave culture and everything hoovers-and-horns related to be both highly amusing and a tad annoying, if only because of the number of kids on their way to Foo Fighter shows who used to turn their noses up at the same stuff they’re now going out to dance to on Friday nights.

I just now happened across an article, detailing the *gasp, shock and awe* massive number of police raids and shut-down parties this year at the beardrock-and-beerswill fest that is South By Southwest, located at Austinist:

We might have been two of the biggest events to be shut down, but we weren’t the only ones. Parties in conference rooms, outdoor venues, established party spaces and downtown clubs were all affected. The Fire Inspector had direct orders to shut these parties down, not for safety issues, but for non-compliance to a mystery ordinance. Visitors from all over the world who descend upon Austin every year for the music festival were left wondering, what is going on?

Oh, NO WAY! You’re saying that, at times, county, city and state officials can be total ass-fucks in regards to allowing gatherings of people who are listening to music in a live format, either via DJ or band performing, to enjoy said music, drink and dance, regardless of the number of hoops jumped through to ensure said gathering of people follows every possible rule? Why could that be, do you think? They suspect drugs but don’t have any proof? They really hate that the youth get to party and they don’t? Any or all of the above, or other pieces of illogic?

83olnf38.jpg

No. Freaking. Way. Cut it out quit it. You’re pulling my leg. What. A. Travesty.

(yawn.)

Easy there, Jimmy CoolJeans. Before you get all Swayze and try to change the small town via dancing, realize: all of this has been done, this fight has already been fought, and lost/won/lost again. See, there was this little bill called the RAVE act, and it…

Oh, never mind. You’re gonna buy your $10 PBR-tini and listen to DFA Remixes of “Young Folks” while wiki-ing to find out who those “Daft Punk” folks are, anyway, so those of us who’ve done this already-the locked-down water spigots in bathrooms, the dehydration, the imposition on our legal rights by officers of the law who asserted we were breaking legal boundaries by the simple act of dancing (which is something that’s been happening since before Larry Levan was born-we’ll just sit down, shut up, and nod our heads quietly while you lament the fact that you didn’t get to set the world record for most Silversun Pickups shows attended in one day because some clothing store forgot to pay off their resident rent-a-cop. I mean, after all, ravers were amusing at best, annoyingly whiny when busted at worst, right? And that music, god, that music was all annoying and blaring and technoelectronica, yeah? Yeah…

It was once written that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. I don’t know what that means, but it doesn’t sound like I can dance to it, so I’m not interested.

!!!: Me and Giuliani Down By The Schoolyard



I mean, people always ask me “what’s so fuckin’ great about dancin?” Yeah, well, how the fuck should I know, even I can barely understand it…

1 Comment



26
March
2007
tags: videos, Arcade Fire, Shows, Album Reviews.

…if the neon bible is right. and it is…

I spend a lot of time around here bemoaning the current ElectRock aesthetic as being both dumbed-down and old-hat, and I don’t ever really take a moment to build anything up.

Fine. Today I won’t say anything mean at all. Not even about Steve Aoki. I promise.

………………….

See? Keeping my promise.

I’ve had the utmost difficulty even desiring to post about the sheer brilliance of Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible. There’s a problem with the band having created such an utterly brilliant album (these are not singles, nor are these tracks for remixing…ooh, I want to hate on the Klaxons right here, but I made a promise…damn it)-it’s damn insulting to try to break it down into singles, or even to try to review it. Neon Bible is the album of 2007, gather your toys, move on, and let’s let the rest of the top 10 fall as they may for the rest of the year, as there’s no use even in disputing it. Equal parts New Order giddy half-light rave-up, Appalachian folk revival and Armageddon come-on, there’s not an instantly accessible moment on Neon Bible that doesn’t at once imbed itself into memory and yet constantly reveal new sonic layers with every listen (my thought upon first acquiring an actual mastered copy? “Holy shit, there are bells on ‘Intervention’!”).

As such, this has been haunting me today:

Arcade Fire, from the awesome Take-Away Shows put together by La Blogotheque (that’s right, a French blog that doesn’t scream ED BANG…oh, wait, I promised no venom today. Damn. It.), performing Neon Bible’s title track in a service elevator. This is utterly, utterly captivating, and if this is the first or the hundredth time you’ve heard this song, it’s never sounded more beautiful-right down to the ripping of pages from a magazine to create a functional, subtle beat.

I honestly can’t fathom a band, at this moment in music, that does more to restore faith in the sound.

Arcade Fire: Age of Consent

Since I hold fast in my refusal to break the new Arcade Fire album into singles for fruit snack-esque consumption (though it’s easily available if you want it in that fast food gimme-a-cheeseburger way, as I realize you may), here’s this-Arcade Fire covering New Order, proving their ability to wrap themselves around that tongue-in-cheek beauty and twist a line, a lyric, a melody and rewriting the word “simple” to mean “haunting”.

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