Thursday, August 27, 2009

Hands off! Dance off!


5min wake up bike ride at the company gym and a red bull later, work was still fading me. Luckily there is the Accord and the Bang Gang DJ's (another post). After seeing my downstairs neighbors take the dog out for a spin, that leaves me power on the 200W amp...

Yello - Oh Yeah

(You will recognize that from Ferris Bueller). Still not satisfied as the song that kind of goofy in its entirety (sampling is great of course), I needed to kick it up a notch.

Boxcar - Free Mason

80's ladies and purveyors of classic fag jams will love this one. If someone is interested in opening up a discotheque with me whose digital effects consist of massive 7-segment displays and a programmed, backlit dancefloor sign me up. Neon is a must. Once we get there, the first playlist will consist of:

DVAS - Eternity (Beyond Forever)

Jan Hammer - Payback (DVAS’ Nash Bridges Edit)

Grace Jones - Williams’ Blood (Aeroplane Mix)

Funky Family - Funky Is On

K.I.D. - Don’t Stop

Force of Nature - I-ight

Kris Menace - Metropolis (Serge Santiago Italo Boot Edit)

DVAS - Le Tino (Radio Edit)

Tangerine Dream - Le Parc (DVAS’ Norman Tuttle Edit)

The Korgis - Drawn and Quartered (DVAS Edit)

Zombi - Zapphire (Escort Remix)

Danny Howells - Right Off (Faze Action Remix)

Fallout - The Morning After (Sunrise Mix)

DMX Krew - I Won’t Forget

Hot Cold - I Can Hear Your Voice

To really put yourself there, close your eyes and click...

DVAS - Panoptic Animations

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Midnight mixtape wednesday


cred


You know how Sunday is supposed to be named after the sun? Monday after the moon, saturday after saturn, thursday after Thor, what about the rest of them? I'm glad you asked.

They are all named after pagan symbols and gods (for those too lazy to click)
Sunday - Sun
Monday - Moon
Tuesday - Tew
Wednesday - Woden
Thursday - Thor
Friday - Frigg
Saturday - Saturn

ok, how about that mixtape? basically it's what i have been listening to for the last hour or so (with the shit removed for you, naturally).

Empire of the Sun - We are the people
!!! - A new name
Thunderball - Solar
!!! - Yadnus
Vega - No Reasons
White Lies - Death <-- I should have saved this for later
White Stripes - Jolene (Electric Ladyland Sessions)

K, that was in honor of Mike showing off fridaymixtape to me.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Sundaze

I should probably throw up my Lolla picks for Sunday. Man, that Friday post took me long enough to do that I don't want to do anything so epic for the other days. By the way, winners so far in order of excellence:

Diplo
Miike Snow
Santogold (I don't care that its not her name anymore)
LA Riots
Hollywood Holt
Million $ Mano (Yo, you plugged your boys, I know that's great, but I came to see you.)
DarkwaveDisco DJs
Crystal Castles

Notice I didn't mention Depeche Mode. They decided to play a lot of their new album. My my my, does it suck. Old? Busted? I hope not. Day and night comparison to them at Coachella. They killed it there.

So, what's on tap for Sunday? I'm glad you asked:

Deadmau5 (Perry's 8:30pm) or The Killers (Chicago 8:30pm)
MSTRKRFT (Perry's 7pm)
Boys Noize (Perry's 6pm)
Lou Reed (Budweis 6:30) ahhhh, so much conflict!
Passion Pit (Citi 5pm)
The Hood Internet (Perry's 3:30)
Kaiser Chiefs (Bud 2:30pm) maaaaaaybe
Car Stereo (Wars) (Perry's 1:30) or Bat for Lashes (vitaminwater 1:30) Ahh x2!

Damn I need to get there at 1:30? Shit. See you there! Go afterparties!

The XX are smart



Have I mentioned that the internet is great? Good ole wearehunted told me about The XX. They have it right. Probably the easiest way to describe them is Lykke Li if she had a dude with her and they danced in a candlelit room solo with a wooden dancefloor and they are dressed to the 9's

The XX - Basic Space

The XX - Crystallized

Enjoy.

Tracks stumbled and found through Punkreas though... after wearehunted.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Whom to see Saturday edition

In true style of doing things at the last minute, here's the proposed course for Sat at Lollapalooza. Apologies for the lack of detail. Trust me on these though:

Miike Snow (1:30, Vitaminwater)

Miike Snow - Cult Logic <-- Winner

Santogold (5:30, Playstation)

LA Riots (6:30, Perry's)

Diplo (7pm, Perry's)

Major Lazer - Hold the Line

transitions well with (duh)...

The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird

Dick Dale - Miserlou (Pulp Fiction intro)

Yeah Yeah Yeah's (8:30 Bud) or get ready for afterparties

Afterparties.

I'm going to throw this out there too because it's too tight.

Holy Ghost! - I will come back (Classixx Version)

Oh hey non-paragraph form. Let's throw a Teddy III shot in here for good measure.



Oh La Roux, why did you cancel on Lolla?

La Roux - Quicksand (Beni's sinking at 1.56 mix)

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Whom to see, whom to see...

Lollapalooza is this weekend, and I've been garnering some research in order to figure out my route. Naturally I'm looking back at prior gatherings and being reminiscent. I'm very lucky to have been to so many great shows at these festivals. Here are the current winners that I can think of in 5min in no particular order:

Daft Punk (Coachella 07), feet so tired from dancing
Spank Rock (Coachella 07)
Depeche Mode (Coachella 07) sneak
Out Hud (Intonation 2005), a religious experience
Flaming Lips (Lollapalooza 07, Pitchfork 09, Monolith 08)
Justice (Coachella 07, Coachella 08)
Kraftwerk (Coachella 08)
Prince (Coachella 08) very talented
!!! (Coachella 07, Lollapalooza 08)
Of Montreal (Pitchfork 07) Kevin Barnes' wife in a gold leotard...
Klaxons (Pitchfork 07 Coachella 08)

I'll give you the advice, but naturally this list is very Con-centric. I'm trying not to put up a band's remixes no matter how good it is (We Are Scientists - Chick Lit (Danger Mix)... Ay Ay Ay!) since obviously they won't be playing those at the shows. By the way, have you utilized hypemachine's mp3 player? I just really starting using it just now. Now, here it is in a true betrayal to proper chronological order:

Friday August 7th

Depeche Mode (8pm Chicago Stage)

No contest. When I saw them at Coachella last year, they put on a fantastic performance. Two UFO's of electrobrilliance to put forth their amalgamation of massively pumping masterpieces and breath-inducing jams. Dave Gahan's resonating voice is def in my top 5 all time male vocalists. Again, no contest.

(waiting and pressing to get closer to DM) (6:45-8pm)

A-Trak (Perry's 6-645pm) or taking a bathroom break
It's not very flattering to be pitted against a port-a-potty... and lose. However if I don't have the urge to purge then I'll stop by and check out A-trak. You know, if I remember correctly, there are some stages that are not listed on the program schedule especially the dance tent(s). Maybe I'll check that out instead. In any case, maybe my company will want to eat dinner or something. Ha, sorry A-T.

Crystal Castles (Playstation, 5pm)

nicked

...or...

Fleet Foxes (Vitaminwater, 5pm)

nicked


I've seen Fleet Foxes before and I wasn't crashing down the doors in order to see their show. After seeing it however, with their chatty cathy antics and hearing Robin Pecknold perform 'Oliver James' and melting into the person next to me I'm a fan.
Crystal Castles however, I have not seen. I've heard some less than favorable things about their live show in terms of their audience interaction, but I have higher hopes. Plus, it's dancy electronics versus more acoustical vibes (and relatively stinky audience members) and dance tends to beat chill like scissors vs. paper.

Hollywood Holt (Perry's 3:45pm)

Yeah, I just saw him at Sonotheque on Friday, but the guy's stage presence is remarkable. He's slightly shorter but the energy he puts out in jumping up and down on stage and going absolutely nuts is a fantastic sight to be seen.

Now we get into the realm of exploration. Most times in the early afternoons of the concerts are great because they are a chance for trying new things. So we have a couple of options here.

The Virgins (Citi, 3:30pm)
Indie-pop that is worth mentioning. Depending on who I'm with at Lolla, I may check them out.
The Virgins - Rich Girls

Darkwave Disco (Perry's 2:45pm)
The DWD Conspirators - Photo by Tyler Curtis
My old standby. The reason I go to Sonotheque. The reason I listened to bangers. The reason I love the electronic dance. It's another guaranteed show even though I haven't been to Darkwave in a while (actually I don't think they do it anymore). Truly though, I feel like it's the old me of 2005-2009. Oh shit, am I getting old?

White Lies (Bud 2pm)
It's tricky for me to go see a band that I haven't heard before a couple of times, but that's why I'm doing what I'm doing right now. The couple of songs that I have heard just now are interesting enough for me to check them out. Again, it is the vocals that are attracting me to these guys. I think the guy's voice sounds like a cross between of Paul Banks of Interpol fame and The Killers' Brandon Flowers. I don't know who the gal is on the cover song below, but winner too. Downside of these guys? Very poppy and overly refined.
White Lies - Death
White Lies - Death (Chase & Status Mix)
White Lies - One Ones Who Know (Arctic Monkey's Cover)

Amazing Baby (Citi 2:15pm)
Yeah, you know... these guys haven't done it for me. I feel like I should see them just because they are in town. They were supposed to be the next MGMT according to this guy but they may afford that more to the fact that they are buddies with them. I think the blogworld response to them has been super hyped and their association to hipsterdom doesn't help their cause in my world either. Eh, you make the decision:
Amazing Baby - Supreme Being

Dental Appointment (Dr. John 10am)
No seriously, I need to go to the dentist in the morning.

Nothing else is really catching my attention in the morning. Maybe I'll just wander and try not to tempt myself with buying stuff at the Virgin store.

(Hmm... now I have to do Saturday and Sunday. Next one...)

"Smashing Greg, Simply Smashing"



Hopefully this post isn't getting deleted immediately. I found this guy while looking for a little icon to make bulletpoints on another post. The above shot is one taken by Greg De Stefano. I think it's amazing as usually Mr. Mario isn't some angry character trying to actually smash people into smithereens but bounces on those goomba heads with a smile and a wink. Looking at his other stuff, the use of personally costumed photography looks good. This one's for you Sam & Mike.