The other weekend I had the pleasure of going to dinner at smunderground, done by Sachin and Meagan, two culinary experts and entrepreneurs in the Chicago underground dinner scene.
Beef cheek brisket with pureed kale, sassafras sauce, fried sweetbreads and cream, vacuumed potatoes turned tots, fennel/cilantro salad
Not only was the food incredible, a lot of the songs that were playing caught my ear. In particular, I heard this cover of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' in the style of bossanova. Wow.
When I saw that day9 (yes, I play starcraft on occasion) posted an Isolee video on the f'book, he instantly got another 5 points. When I went to conspicks to see if I had put up an Isolée post anytime previously, I was severely disappointed. I'm confessing and the following is my repentance to Rajko Müller, Mr. Isolée himself.
If you're looking for lyrics, you won't find them here. We Are Monster is a collection of distilled, up-beat microhouse (think minimalist dance w/ 4x4 beats). I remember making up a dance with my friend Dan's then-girl Abby sticking my wrists out my sides and treating my phalanges as fins while bobbing like a buoy to 'Jelly Baby/Fish'. Probably one of my favorite samples ever is 4-3/4 min into 'Schrapnell' where he takes the sound made through a speaker when a cell phone about to ring near an amp/mixer/recording device. Brilliant.
Last year he put out Well Spent Youth. He keeps to his truncated groovy roots and at the same time smoothes it out more to take a deep house turn. I can't say that I'm a big fan of the genre in general since I feel that there's a persistent discontinuity. 'Palorma Triste' and 'Trop Près De Toi' are closest to what I'm used to from him and consequentially the one I find most appealing... and not coincidentally they are the tracks that have the most number of samples creating that weave.
Müller understands balance, and that's what gives his cuts longevity. Repetitive dissemblance with a memory is the key to good production and too often you hear artists with the loop button pressed a little too long. This is not a new concept. Probably the most famous example is Beethoven's 5th symphony; it's the same damn duh-duh-duh-duuuh thing over and over again... but not. The modern day version of this departs to the 4/8/16 bar loop, but Müller must, else it wouldn't have the house slant.
The other positive aspect in all of his work is the amount of detail that extends throughout. You can be minimalist but that doesn't mean you lack effort in the form of content. It takes a lot of leaves to make a tree and someone's got to put them there. It's great that the focus can be on the details of singular items, but I would prefer that that appreciation happen in a sub-layer of the overall design, otherwise there's less to recognize.
Good ole Christopher put this up for me a while back and I haven't had a chance to share. Christopher is the kind of fellow that always has solid gatherings and because of his positive radiance, he has a smorgasbord of contacts that are willing to do anything for him but he doesn't really need anything other than enjoying people interact. That and he really likes minimal house and most things DFA. Hence:
Those Holy Ghost! chaps got a lot of help on this one to really make it kick. Not only did they get DFA's king and queen on the track and the video, they also covered Ministry to get it all done with a pinch of nu-disco.
What's more, to make apply a holy trinity of musical divination on the track, the video itself is a cover of none other than Rad, the righteous over-the-top movie from 1986 about falling in love, being the town hero, standing up to evil corporations, all via BMX tricks. And Lori Laughlin is a total hardbody.
And just because I love them so much, and I think that the frontman of Real Life sounds a lot like Klaus Meine of The Scorpions, you need to hear this song too. (This is where the covers end, unfortunately.)
Mike, listen to a group that takes every bit of the Valerie Collective's pre- and post-Drive fame: Midnight Club. Imagine gentle synth hands with shimmering cherry-polished fingernails glossing over your earlobe. She's telling you a story and you can feel the puffs of breath on your neck, but you need to step out to pick up a couple more Vangelis tapes for the deck. You get out to go; she gets out to stay. You turn around and see:
They are off of On The Fruit records (which has excellent pieces like this and this) and they are every bit of the aural bits you want them to be whenever you and your dame's moods point to a T-top cruise in between Medusa's on the way to the Warehouse.
Yes, 'now' really was back in July, but since I haven't been paying attention to one of my favorite artists lately, they slipped right past the lighthouse. These guys are always a hoot and this album is full of happiness. 'Unite Us' is somewhere between doing cartwheels on the 4th of July at night and exchanging smiles with your best friend at a wedding. It should be no surprise that 'Unite Us' could feel a little like 'Come Together', and since I'm smitten by the smiles I really don't care as I'm sailing in these fellows' positive breezes. 'Everyone' reminds me a little of the Presets, vocally, but is distinctly PNAU with the waves of cymbals, octavonal synths, and never in a minor key. I'm trying right now not to beam too much, but it's a real trick especially after just watching Love Actually (my #2 uplifting movie next to High Fidelity).
Part Deux: Spank Rock has a new album Not only was I sleeping for PNAU, I did the same for Spank Rock who apparently was hiding over in Deutschland with Boys Noize, not only working on an album, but signing up with them. Same old quality dirt. Yes.
By the way, the director of the video, Allen Cordell, loves the ridiculously / disgustingly / disturbingly / visually awesome (I think the hot pink, telekinetic Telly knockoff vid is my fav).
The other day I was in my car driving around and I experienced a "song in your head" moment with Mein Vater war ein Wandersman (Der fröhliche Wanderer) from German class circa 1998. It was part of our compulsory repertoire, however hearing more of them piqued all of our desires (like Himmel und Erde) to sing them more. After getting that in my head I was craving going to a German beerhall and swinging steins.
In the same vein while drinking one of the best oktoberfest beers during September is:
This is a great waltz, and waltzes make for great tunes while holding a litre and rocking back and forth while staying on your feet because the entire bar is swaying like kelp in a constantly changing tide.
Do you have any pub songs? I'm looking forward to having a pile of mates pinting away.
I've been on the prowl to collect a mess of WBMX tapes and let them ride in the Accord. Deephousepage is a great resource and I'm a total new noob when it comes to 80's house. (I'm totally mining that decade for all it's worth.) I try and get this guy from work to come out to Neo all the time, but he says he's past his prime and besides he was Mr. Industrial. As he explains it to me "it took me a while to figure out that no girls liked Nitzer Ebb."
Naturally, I can't find these jams anywhere, because it's either the live mix or it's some rare mix that I can't find. Partial tracklist nonetheless: Double Exposure - My love is free Carl Bean - I was born this way (Better Days Mix) (vid) Luthor Vandross - The Glow of Love Fatback - Backstroke (vid) Take That - Relight My Fire (vid)
The primary motivation of me even listening to these guys is the return of Larry to Chicago for my bday:
I'm normally not a Britpop listener, but for a solid 2 weeks I've had these guys on repeat in my car and felt compelled to share. The tracks hark back to the days of Lipgloss in Denver for me, especially 'Disco 2000' where it begs to drink $2 gin/tonics while jumping up and down in everything Buffalo Exchange. Even further back, 'Underwear' was my exact feeling in high school at my crush sophomore year while she was dating this really cool fuck-up:
I couldn't stop it now. There's no way to get out. He's standing far too near. How the hell did you get here. Semi-naked in somebody else's room. I'd give my whole life to see it. Just you stood there only in your underwear.
Like my own from the same era:
Stop it Conrad Stop looking at my legs 'Cause if I catch you You'll be walking on pegs
Different Class totally characterizes all the babe angst I've had throughout the years. Maybe I should have been writing music about all my failings so I could fall into the stereotype of musician-has-following. Every DJ gig I had included a fangirl or two with the same foolish output: "beat it, I'm working here." I now understand why parents give their kids advice... I just need to figure out a better marketing method than normally employed by the olds. You should have figured out by now that naturally I know nothing about Pulp... except for them handing me an old summer preview TV Guide with Season 2 of Voyager and the ghosts of girls past, my hands never held their ass.
I've seen YACHT before. I've heard YACHT before. The more I read about and experience YACHT, the more I want to read about and experience YACHT.
I'm standing at the head of the crowd at the feet of the lead guitarist; he's well put-together with his slick grey shirt, plain grey pants, no belt and haircut that reminds me of a young David Byrne. Claire Evans peels off layers of a white suit jacket, to a white thigh-length skirt, to just a wifebeater and white spandex shorts. It perfectly compliments the angelic perception I have of her enlightened soul.
Most times I go to a show and perceive the band's stage visuals while sipping my greyhound and being crowded in with the occasional patchouli fellow or sweet-scented female. This time, my divine essence is tickled. Truly the experience of hearing Yacht both in melody and in conversation conveys an embodiment of balancing subdued, Gaian worship with exercising group party yoga to advance human consciousness. At the show, Claire told me where their spiritual center is and now Marfa is my Mecca.
Which brings me to YACHT as a brand: human love and the pure, positive human experience. I can't think another appropriate word for it as the concept of a brand is fabricated, but YACHT's entire artistic vision is more of a discovery that they want to share in a focused manner with their audience. You could liken it to a religion but there is nothing overt or pressing about their message. Excerpt from their pamphlet "The Secret Teachings of the Mystery Lights" that I picked up from Jona Bechtolt himself:
Thankfully, the Universe need not be worshipped. The Universe is not self-conscious, not self-organized. It is merely an awesome extension of the space which we inhabit. We are part of its makeup as stars and planets are part of its makeup; if the Universe is infinite, then size becomes subjective. We are as relevant a part of it as anything else.
It may be difficult for you to picture yourself as an actual part of the Universe, to see your physical body as a visible nature through which the structure of countless waves of evolving life are unfolding their latent potentialities. But it is the case. Just as every cell in your body is an infinitesimal part of the system that is you, so you are an infinitesimal part of the system that is the Universe. And as we are part of all things, so we are capable of knowing all things.
I'm not there yet. The 90's are not back yet... not for me. The closest I've seen grunge make a comeback are folks wearing plaid shirts, but the long hair isn't there yet, nor are the Vans, the JNCO jeans, or Daria. What are back are the early 90's, only insofar as an extension of the 80's. Case in point:
Many moon ago at Coachella 2007, I was walking along and heard some real grooves coming out of one of the side dance tents. I'm always a fan of the fag jams, and with the boys' presence on stage, that solidified the atmosphere. It was a big girl, with big hair, and a hot dress pushing up her girls, going all out with her mix. "Damn she's the jam." Who was it? It seriously wasn't until a couple of days ago when I became reacquainted with Deee-lite when I heard that Lady Miss Kier was DJ'ing at Berlin this Sunday (seriously, a gay club on Easter Sunday and a school night?) and hence this post. Now I can't get enough of her.
Reading about her influence on the NYC dance scene in the early 90's and the fact that she was already heavily a club fashionista makes me even more drawn to her. Her relations with Grace Jones and Bootsy Collins make my social libido percolate and her rampant self-canvasing makes me want to be my future-daughter's tailor. Now that she's coming (back) to Chicago, I can only imagine what she's got in store for the current scene... and what she's wearing.
Living under a rock does have it its advantages...
1) You get more time to yourself 2) Nobody will judge that 6" beard after you keep telling yourself you'll get around to it 3) You can appreciate Lady Gaga two years later after The Fame since you just got it
Trends have flown past tending not to knock on their way through town. Fortunately, your radio that interprets frequency modulated air waves have given you a cracked-open window view of the music world. Enter WLUW, Loyola University's radio station. It's rare to hear the same song twice during any given month of listenership, so the opportunities to write down picks is on par with a grizzly bear catching horny salmon.
This is the kind of band that I want to see in my brother's basement, the Ice Factory, or the Mopery. (Oops, those are all gone.) Gruff, sweaty, and on Whistler Records, this pair are like a garage band for your next beach party: gleefully serrated. Alex White's sweet voice balances out the over-the-top drums of her brother Francis and is a perfect complement to her bad axe (do people still call it that? and bad = good, duh). Try their single on for size:
I went to Buenos Aires my buddy Larry to visit our buddy Timmy, and if we weren't in a parrilla, he was searching for the new Strokes album. The obsession became most evident when I went to check my mail on Tim's computer and all the tabs in firefox were: "angles leak" "strokes angles early release" "strokes angles forum mp3" "strokes angles advance copy" He would shuffle around our rental apartment after eating breakfast, then finally leave, exiting with "I'm going to go upstairs and listen to the album"... which was the 30sec snippet version of each track on youtube.
I even played my hand at it and called a couple of people since, after all, I agreed with Tim: how can a major cd release be under wraps for so long? Have the record companies figured it out? Was no human used in the manufacture and storage of these pieces of plastic?
After all that, a couple of tracks did peek out and we would sit around staring at various objects while Maccu Picchu would blast around us. Why is this so important? Simple: We want it to be the new 'Is This It?'. We want to be a stallion in college jumping up and down at a sweaty show in our sunglasses around beautiful friends and future friends... again. For a group whose public image smiles less than Thom Yorke, the Strokes are the reincarnation of the leather jacket, copious hair, converse, and the singular pair of jeans that only get washed once a month. They do everything rock and roll except elect a cab rather than chopper.
As for the album, they've chosen against the muted/distorted vocals that was (thankfully) everywhere in 'Is This It?' and picked the polished sound of First Impressions. (In contrast to Angles, First Impressions sounds a little like a modern day Scorpions but without the ballads.) Angles wins on well-placed subtleties where necessary and muted vigor elsewhere: Macchu Picchu is golden. But right now, listening to "Two Kinds of Happiness", the verses belong in Bright Lights Big City (that's a compliment), but the chorus needs to be turned down a little in favor of the rest of the album.
So til Tuesday, before you go to Twist and Shout or Reckless, you can listen to Angles here on the Strokes site.
"The best artists are the ones that work the hardest, and if you work hard enough, you'll eventually experience the happy accidents that are art. I learned that from my stepfather." - Julian Casablancas
This weekend has been a whirlwind of festival get-togethers (my next door neighbor was standing next to me randomly. I love this fest.) I need to get out of the house to get to Best Coast right now. They really are wonderful. Below is the schedule and my projected path if you want to follow, or tell me about my maybies. Find a fellow and grab a ticket outside the gates for $20 if you can.
I really should be napping, but this nagging mix really should be reposted. Recently I picked up yet another one of Aeroplane's monthly boss mixes. The one from 3 months ago that they did for Radio 1 is no exception of excellence. It starts out a little slow, which makes the mix a little short, but then again if you are itching for some more pulsating rhythms that means they are doing a good job. Also, the big hullaballoo on this is that they are Radio 1's 500th DJ's to be on their show.
Aeroplane April Mix on Radio 1. (In case you don't know how to download off of soundcloud, there is a little download button just above the play button. Sometimes it's activated and sometimes it isn't, depending on the artists. Click that button!)
Tracklist: 01. Aeroplane - We Can't Fly 02. OTP Party Breaks #1 - Lifetime Groove 03. Radiorama - Vampires ( Remix ) 04. Marta Acuna - Dance, Dance, Dance 05. Lucio Battisti - Ancora Tu 06. Aphex Twin - Iz-Us 07. Friendfly Fires - Paris ( Aeroplane Remix ) 08. Flight Facilities - Crave You ^^ 7+8 mixed create: Friendly Fires vs Flight Facilities - I Crave Paris (Aeroplane Mix) 09. Human League - Don't You Want Me (Instrumental Edit) 10. Black Van - Yearning 11. Les Rythmes Digitales - Sometimes 12. Casco - Cybernetic Love 13. Fox The Fox - Precious Little Diamond ( Shep Pettibone Remix ) 14. Patrick Cowley - Right on Target 15. Goldfrapp - Alive ( Joakim Dub ) 16. Lime - Unexpected Lovers 17. Children of the Mission - Tears
I always get a little giddy when I hear good DJ's play tracks that I have, especially if I have them on vinyl. I randomly got the Human League track a while back and it wasn't labelled as such, but it's instantly recognizable. If I rip it (unlikely) or find it online (more likely), I'll update this. Enjoy!
Let's not talk of our brief separation and just work on getting back to having some sort of friendship. Let's go to all the things we find and then tell everyone the story. We're always there together, but I can't have you acting too clingy because that doesn't make me want to write. Let's be relaxed about it so you can be important in my life, but I need to get out there and do different things too. I know I want to write a book, but I know it can't be with you, and you know that too. You love all the same music I do, but dare I say that I need to look at the other blogs? I'm a man afterall. I actually have another blog. I never told you but there it is. It read you one day and it didn't like the fact that I was posting, but that was to be expected; I would imagine you would have the same reaction. Towards the end there I was writing over there more and I realized that I couldn't keep both of you up forever. We had a long stint at Coachella, then Soundset, and I'll see you again at Pitchfork for sure, but I need to write for the other one. I'm sorry it had to be this way. Can we just listen to music like old times?
Speaking of dreaming, even though Cut Copy hasn't made an album in ages.. AGES I say, Dan Whitford (Cut Copy * 1/2) and Joel Dickson (Riot In Belgium) have come together like hydrogen and oxygen to explode into this fluid fantasy for my aural entertainment. How could you not play this at eleven? You can definitely hear the Cut Copy arpeggiation, the signature synths, and catchy chorus. Can't characterize too much of Dickson since I don't know too much about him other than RIB's "The Acid Never Lies" (fantastic) off of Azuli records. Clicky!
Little note behind AC & DC. After the advent of the electric lightbulb, cities were considering switching from their night light fuel from gas in favor of electricity. One region in particular was around Niagra Falls where a hydroelectric plant was beginning to be built. (side note: did you know that because of all the generators in the area, the falls actually used to pump out about 20x more water and were that much more awe-some?) There sprung a debate about how to carry the electricity from source to bulb over the huge distances of demand via cable. On one side was Nikola Tesla (of the Tesla Coil), proponent of the AC system and on the other was Thomas Edison with the DC system. DC was what Edison's lightbulbs used, batteries inherently have DC, no AC motors were around, not to mention all of Edison's patents were using DC. Unfortunately, AC had the super-advantage since transmission costs ($ per mile) for DC were much higher than AC since DC required additional generators ever couple of miles because the power lines would lose current and heat up if you tried to push it further than 2 miles. AC needed a similar station every ~15 miles so building sending electricity in rural areas was much more economical. Niagra was a done deal with AC and Edison ate his hat. More. I love being a geek.
Found on youtube, then led to the website of DM ecstasy, and after massive difficulty (via Rapidshare) and patience, I am pleased to present Dominatrix, aka Andrew Ektom. Man I love the internet.
This guy remixes Depeche Mode songs. But unlike many other remixers, he does it as if it were the second track on the B-side of the single. I feel like he had Martin Gore standing over his shoulder the whole time while he's making this stuff. Needless to say, I'm putting this on before my Saturday night Neo trips.
I'm trying to get more right now by cross-referencing via his youtube (he has 300+ tracks!) to make sure I'm getting exactly what I want. Check it out yourself.
Once again, my heartstrings are pulled for the same reasons: that sure-fire distortion synth, the lyrics a la lady, and quality pop structures. It's like they came up with a formula and targeted it for me:
"What would Conrad like? What if we could work on a song with someone like Little Boots singing, but with actual lyrics, and turned it into something hard that Moullinex would be proud of, but just a little smoother so Classixx would approve." "Yeah, and let's use that sweet bass synth that Futurecop! has in Eyes Like Ocean." "Dude, this will be so jam."
There is a great debate between my friend Jenny and I: how do you say Coachella? Is it Coh-chella or Coh-ah-chella? Our ears were perking up every time somebody said the place and each time we were racking a score for our respected sides. According to my unbiased buddy Larry, only me and Prince say Coh-ah-chella whereas the rest of the world does it the other way. Obviously Prince is correct...
What is NOT up for debate is what a fantastic time people had. We all saw (in order of aud/visual enticement, yes ranked):
La Roux This should come as no surprise as who my #1 pick is. After some initial hesitation starting up with Tigerlily, Elly took control and had a blast on stage especially when there was a roar in the crowd of everyone singing the lyrics with her (I lost my voice as a result). I appreciate the fact that Elly doesn't seem to smile to change the mood, but rather to reinforce it.
2manydj's In a close second is Mr. Dewaele showing up and rondvoll killing it. There isn't much time to set up after Die Antwoord's 20min set, so to get things kicking he plays around with a radio trying to find a proper station while the background the equipment is getting connected. He finds a station he likes and then starts mixing their version of Hey Boy Hey Girl into it, quickly moving to Dominator. Damn it's a jam... especially 5 people away from him.
Fantastic energy notwithstanding, probably the best aspect of the show is the fact that while doing the mix, his brother (I'm assuming) was doing the VJ work by taking the album covers of the remixed tracks and turning them into a Monty Pythonesque Flash animations. After looking for videos, it's not a new concept to them but I had never seen it before so Larry and I were blown away and the sheer simplicity and joking manner in which they were done.
Gossip I can't listen to Music for Men all the way through, but individually they hold muster well... and at the show they are amazing. Beth Ditto has amazing presence and an equally amazing voice. She always connects with the audience with he chatty Kathy attitude and what seems to be everyone she meets. Damn she's good. But what really got me piqued is the finale. They already did Standing in the Way of Control, they already did Yr Mangled Heart, Coal to Diamonds, Dimestore Diamond, what could she have up her sleeve? ...how about a Grace Jones cover? Perfection:
Major Lazer I couldn't believe that I was finally going to be able to see Switch & Diplo do their thing. I missed them in Chicago... twice. I can't imagine a similar show being done at the Metro or Smartbar: people flying off ladders, booties in the air, ...CHINESE DRAGONS! Oh shit. I wish I could experience it from a 15-year-old's perspective. This was a show and a half.
Fever Ray We had a quick glimpse of Fever Ray. Same setup as at the Metro but it didn't have the same ambience as there were too many people that were already pumped up rather than being in a relaxed w/ pupils wide open state. It was still intense for me with its Nordic soundtrack of wicca approaching on tundra while riding Banthas. I highly recommend going to see their show.
Phoenix Great show at the Aragon. I took a nap. Great show!
Passion Pit Ahhh! I had to skip them in order to go to the La Roux signing. I don't care, I'd do anything for Elly. Great show at the Congress!
Gil Scott-Heron I'm an idiot. I thought Gil Scott-Heron was Jill Scott, which my senior year art teacher would play on repeat while giving my friend attitude. I should have come early and not been so ignorant of the sweet tunes that they played. Billy Glen Turner, the fellow on bongos killed it at the end (when I got there), after the rest of the group got off. Gil's voice is the perfect raspy embodiment of blues: too much singing, too many smoky rooms, and just the right mumble. Even his look is classic: overgrown facial shadow, needing a haircut, worn jacket, and flat cap that comes to his eyes almost like Rudy from Fat Albert. If ever I have the chance to see him at House of Blues in Chicago or hopefully at Kingston Mines, I'm def there.
Hot Chip After seeing their show at the Aragon the day I came back from LA, they totally got cheated out of an extra hour they needed to do a proper show. Part of the issue at Coachella was that the vibe also wasn't there but if you go to a sold out show, you have 5000+ people going nuts for the one artist while being squashed up in the front jumping up and down (this is turning out to be a theme in my life). Yay!
Mayer Hawthorne Winner. See him. Once.
the XX I love the XX, but I just grazed by them this time. They were unfairly scheduled between the Gossip and dinner. Go see them for sure. They opened up for Hot Chip at the Aragon and they blew my mind. Again.
Gorillaz I always like Gorillaz, but I never delved into learning more about them or hearing the latest album. So if you already know, skip this part. Gorillaz is a collab between the fellow from Blur, Damon Albarn, and the co-creator of Tank Girl, Jamie Hewlett. I didn't know anything about Tank Girl but now the animation style carries over. The trouble is, I never was a fanatic about Blur, nor do I read comic books so I wasn't instantly captured by them. Knowing the premise now, and the fact that they opened up with Snoop Dogg doing Plastic Beach as well as seeing all the intense animation I'm more interested. I think I'll pick up their DVD's as you'd think this would be the true method to experience these guys, other than the actual show. Larry, Jenny, and I skipped the last half of the show to jet back to LA early and beat everyone else. For kicks, here is my favorite Blur song, that I found using Soulwax as my source (of course)...
Matt & Kim Saw them from a distance. Seems like the same show everytime and everytime they play it's awesome. No show would be complete without Matt standing on his chair but still playing the piano at seat-level. They are so intense.
Jónsi I listened to enough to know that I need to investigatemore. He was excellent to just hang out and take a mild nap to. He, the lead singer of Sigur Rós, has a voice that can melt Reykjavik away. What I like most about his work are all of the different instruments that he brings into it. Executed incorrectly it can propel into cacophony, but in this case it makes the pieces well rounded by telling a story through the different voices. I feel like this is the kind of stuff you need in order to test hi-fi systems since everything is so balanced.
Beach House These guys are nice to listen to and it's cool to see how they've progressed since I first saw them at Pitchfork '07. They seem to be a staple at every festival. Yup, that's about it.
MGMT I can't say anything about these guys that hasn't been said already. I'm a little disappointed that they decided to take their music in a departure from Oracular by not being as dreamy and druggy and turning more into what I regard as the general alternative genre. Have they gone mainstream? Oh shit...
Die Antwoord Um. Who are these guys? There were a pile of Antwoord fans as we were waiting for 2manydj's to come on and they were going nuts. Nuts! This guy was explaining to me that this was their debut performance outside of South Africa. And they only had a 20min set. Unfair, right? Dude comes out on stage and starts up the bumping tunes. All of a sudden, this little girl comes out on stage and starts rapping. Crazy! No way! This is fantastic. She's wearing white sweatpants and a white hoodie filled with black doodle tags. Then she takes off her hood and keeps going. I'm feeling it and it's pretty good. Then the guy comes on. Ok tight flow, he's got the same tight clothes. Aren't these guys getting warm? They think so too and they start taking off their hoodies. Ok, this girl is not a little girl but just looks like a little girl. The guy has a sweet flat-top that reminds me of Guile from Street Fighter. Now the visuals are turning into some sort of happy hardcore, flash-based, cartoony yet suggestive, trippy craziness. "Huggy Huggy Party Party Fun Fun Fun!"
And then the masked fat guys with no shirts came out as backup dancers...
By the way, according to this video, this actually wasn't their real US 'debut' but it happened before at a Dim Mak party night.
Z-Trip Larry and I have decided that Z-Trip is old. Whereas mashup styles have been cool, he really has been stuck where I first saw him back in Denver in 2004. Style notwithstanding, he is a fantastic scratching DJ, something that is seemingly rare nowadays especially with the perpetual rumors of hip-hop falling off the face of the earth (P.S. it's not true, it's just not as popularized). Also the guy has great energy and loves the stuff that he does. I just found myself getting bored at his sets because of his selection. I think the most recent track that I recognized was Pon De Floor... which is turning into MGMT's Kids in my book.
Gah! Don't end it on a low note! Go to Coachella next year! Find a cheapo hotel! Have a fantastic time! Here, get excited about this:
Most recently I was referred to this vid by Art. My jeans were tighter for sure after watching that. In the same vein of 80's excellence but not as italo, is Sandra. Similar vocal impressions as Sabrina, but less uber-dancy. Now that spring has sprung in Chicago, these will be the jams for this weekend year.
Although the goal here is to make more people aware of music that's out there (that I like), if you are would rather not see the music posted on the site because you own the copyright, send an email to duconrad at gmail dot com and I'll remedy that.
just above the play button. Sometimes it's activated and sometimes it isn't, depending on the artists. Click that button!)![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhuy8OaEf0MNVjyALUT-HQHtP2thQsDgdOhhkMBocEVNfYEYt1DZ34qU2M6qkFQTVtlU-aOHCCIJwpY5pFP9Wpy9krxG6zjnamdNZXVXMaW3Uv_qaCwSFNIz37HVnBVOxg5j4fAiQxvg/s400/l_32883b8ae6a946b2ac63db9ce8407327.jpg")
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_RrsrSzHlclqOzIsZFhB83bdgfh1NI10vLhDd5_M2e2M8Y5BVvBjGSuqUYyo-sL2Z5CipPLS-st3MWSsaKRfSnLGf3DCkYQJTDNZoMhWJmQTnON2SCE9Ntp8g0X8xh4Tobmfgo6_Vdno/s800/diamond%20cut.jpg")
