blog 2009/06/23 - The gears grind forward and we hunker back in to this mundane ritual of wake/work/revenge/sleep
Oh meow meow, we are back! Back in style, back on time, back in business.
Since I now will be posting these updates at http://djcpi.blogspot.com/ as well, I am going to try and be more web friendly and list URLs from artists here.
Please check out everyone you love. I am posting mostly new music, and so many of these bands will be on tour to a city near you!
Onwards and spinning....
I want to start near the end and talk about Terre Thaemlitz for a bit, who has revived their alias DJ Sprinkles for the new album "Midtown 120 Blues", which as it turns out is one of the most introspective and rewarding electronic/house music albums released since that really good 'cid was passed around in that Future Sound of London Lifeforms CD case way back when.
"Midtown 120 Intro" introduces the concept of the album, offering a brief deconstruction of house and a short history lesson as to what was lost and what truly birthed it.
That, coupled with Ball'r, combines wonderfully to give a sentimental glimpse back to a moment in time that was almost erased by Madonna and popular electronica markets. It all underscores how house was regional, and a moment in time, and how it was the sexual minorities, the gender minorities, the racial minorities that were all integral to the intersections from which 'house' arose as a movement, and was quickly co-opted and marketed. Well, marketed once they were able to cleanse it off any pesky 'gay'/undesirable associations.
"Ball'r (Madonna-Free Zone)" is a beautiful restrained minimal house track that slowly builds because it has nothing to prove to you or nobody; it knows the time. It feels sad, like a memorial for the ball scene of the 80s which Thaemlitz grew up around.
And it all perfectly underscores why as a DJ I seldom ever have any Madonna in my crate.
For more casual music fans, and people on casually involved with club culture, it's history, the struggles of the people that defined it, and the roots of the music that build it's foundations, this album might be a bit harder to get in to. It might not offer you the big pop rewards and sidechained basslines.
But if you know where this is coming from, this album is a bittersweet beauty.
http://www.comatonse.com/thaemlitz/
Antony and The Johnsons - The Horror Has Gone: This beautiful b-side is from The Lake EP, circa '05. Stunning, palatable and sweet.
http://www.antonyandthejohnsons.com/
Bad Sector - Radial Body 2: The 2008 album "Storage Disk 2" is a bit too uneven for my tastes, but there were some glitchy/housey/minimal tracks like this on there that are super sweet. I love that swelly-choppy-housey sound. yum.
http://www.bad-sector.com/
Common Market - Back Home (The Return): "I'm hollering at your feminist side" has to be the most pleasant opening line to a hiphop song I've heard in a while. A dope chill track, I wonder why if you kind of sound like Common in his heyday, do you name yourself Common Market? Ahh well, just enjoy the grooves. And Funkdoobiest scratch samples seal the deal.
http://www.myspace.com/commonmarket
I really don't know much about Cut Off Your Hands. It is another case of random MP3s falling in to my lap and them pop-rocking their way in to my heart. You keep rocking, rockers! 'lest my heart clog and sieze. They have that upbeat energy of The Wombats and a delightful accent that reminds me of The Futureheads.
http://www.myspace.com/cutoffyourhands
Fever Ray - When I Grow Up (Dan Lissvik Version): Oh snap, the Fever Ray album is super hot and you damn well know it. I love how this remix pulls out the Ace Of Base/Architecture In Helsinki style low-key grooves, letting the vocal work take center stage.
http://feverray.com/
Ian Brown - Sister Rose (Various Production Remix): Baaaad ass bass slams in around the minute mark, solidifying my love for devastatingly bassy pop music.
http://www.myspace.com/ianbrown
Ida Maria - Oh My God: Classic chanter bar-room rock. Please place this on any boozing mixtape you ever construct.
http://www.myspace.com/idamaria
Men - Off Our Backs: Men are the new band by the mustachioed member of Le Tigre and follow in that same vein that Le Tigre pioneered and Hercules Love Affair and DFA minted: The indie disco rock. They are currently on their first tour ever, and only had a 3-song EP available, but they can rock and write some deliciously catchy songs. For fans of Tegan & Sara, Le Tigre, Hercules & Love Affair, Juan Maclean, etc etc. Recommended!
http://www.myspace.com/men
Page France - Love and Interruption: I was recently listening to Page France's 2005 album "Come, I'm a Lion" and pulled this track from there. And no, I don't just like this album because I am a big fan of absurd first person declarative statements! (but that certainly helps in the wooing)
http://www.myspace.com/pagefrance
Rocco DeLuca & The Burden - Lilja: I love me some dark n moody banjo. This is what triphop sounds like, unplugged.
Ottawa people take note, they are playing Bluesfest on July 15th! A must-see!
http://www.roccodeluca.com/
Röyksopp - Happy Up Here (Breakbot Remix): As I said before, the new Royksopp just wasn't grooving me, but leave it to Breakbot to toss in some digital Parliament funk riffs and sass it up to perfection. And the greatest thing about Breakbot remixes? They are perfectly short. Delicious. Just right.
http://www.royksopp.com/
Saigon & Statik Selektah - Spit: I like the fusion of the old-school flute samples with that new school creeper funk bass with that after school scratch chorus.
The Temper Trap - Science Of Fear (Herve Dub): Herve is one hot mother houser, and a cheeky bugger too, so when you get the reversed guitar + shaker intros, and then the vocal lead-in... you're just waiting for the boom. There is supposed to be an earth SHATTERING KABOOM. And then oh shit, there it is. Kaboom. Yes! Herve takes a note from the dubstep bassheads and does a full frequency spectrum assload of bass for 30 seconds. Hot. (note: spellcheck does not recognize ‘assload’ as a valid English word. Fuck that!)
http://www.myspace.com/thetempertrap
Timmy Vegas & Bad Lay-Dee - Another Dimension (Danny Byrd Dub Mix): Like Herve above, Danny Byrd is one of those people (Trevor Loveys another one) whom when you see their production credits on a remix, you have to flip to that single ASAP. There is a 50% change you might have gold, as opposed to the usual 1% chance in the quality-to-crap game that DJs play. We strike gold again, this time with time with some liquid tech-step awesome. Thank goodness Byrd had the foresight to release this dub version, because the full vocal version kind of sucks, even with Byrd behind the boards. No amount of awesome production could cover the cheese vocals. So what's the best solution? Ax the vocals altogether and get all ravey up in the place.
http://www.myspace.com/djtimmyvegas
THIS WEEK'S TRACKS
Antony and The Johnsons - The Horror Has Gone
Bad Sector - Radial Body 2
Common Market - Back Home (The Return)
Cut Off Your Hands - Still Fond
Cut Off Your Hands - You and I
Fever Ray - When I Grow Up (Dan Lissvik Version)
Ian Brown - Sister Rose (Various Production Remix)
Ida Maria - Oh My God
Men - Off Our Backs
Page France - Love and Interuption
Rocco DeLuca & The Burden - Lilja
Röyksopp - Happy Up Here (Breakbot Remix)
Saigon & Statik Selektah - Spit
Terre Thaemlitz (Dj Sprinkles) - Ball'r (Madonna-Free Zone)
Terre Thaemlitz (Dj Sprinkles) - Midtown 120 Intro
Terre Thaemlitz (Dj Sprinkles) - The Occasional Feel-Good
The Temper Trap - Science Of Fear (Herve Dub)
Timmy Vegas & Bad Lay-Dee - Another Dimension (Danny Byrd Dub Mix)
And turn and pose and bend and pose and strut and pose and yes! http://thetastates.com/mp3s/blog/blog20090623.zip
Stay on top of everything new at http://djcpi.blogspot.com
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Enjoy!
~CPI
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