The Great folks over at Continental Breakfast have presented a mix looking back over this decade in the club sound. The tracklist is a collaboration of many of the artists we have all grown to love. But their not dropping their own work, they're selecting and offering up their favorite tracks of the decade. Definitely worth the download. For many this will be a groove down memory lane, and for others a new level of education for a musical genre thats just opening up to them. Either way, enjoy this one!!
Rustie, hailing from Glasgow, bringing the world downtempo beats, bleeps, glitches and mad dirty grumbling bass - in the tradition of edIT, Prefuse 73 and Machine Drum. In this track he drives it home with a straight forward R&B remix of Keyshia Cole's "Shoulda Let You Go. Add to that a relentless basline and soaring synths and you'll repeat (at least a couple times)!!!
Monsieur Adi, from Italy (i know, the "monsieur" threw you off), is slowly stepping into the electro scene with a gorgeous sound, otherworldly vocal robotics and haunting remixes. These guys are some to keep an eye on this next year, because you will definitely be hearing more from them.
This track is reminiscent of Justice's Planishpere and the obvious Daft Punk glory, but without the monotony and over abundant sampling. A beautiful track. Be on the look out for this EP and grab it. If "We Are The Romans" is anything like the rest of it, this EP will be well worth it.
Picture the scene: You just drive up on a collision between a cargo train and a SUV. Rubble and bent mettle scatter the countryside. Whats left from this collision between Jean Michel Basquiat and Robert Raushenberg looks something like the bent humor, and cracked creative prowess of this San Franciscan artist. Enjoy his portfolios and his many projects.
Four Tet (aka Kieran Hebden)’s new album is due January 26th. I've loved Four Tet for years and am patiently and eagerly awaiting this new drop (his latest in 5 years). He's creating as much hoopla as he can. He's let fellow Londonite Joy Orbison remix his first single off the new drop, Love Cry (as heard above). And Now, Four Tet is giving away this incredible DJ mix. This mix, “Much Love to he Plastic People” was passed out exclusively to the folks at the Plastic People, a club he’s held residency at in London. And nnow, you can find it on the net. Probably will be one of my fave mixes of the year. (mediafire link after the jump)
JOYEUX NOËL from UnitedFakes on Vimeo.
Festive stop motion from a Barcelona based animation group who call themselves United Fakes (so much good stuff on their site). Enjoy, and have a Joyeux Noël!! Then watch the vid they created on how they created their creation!!
a match mad in heaven doesn't even begin to describe this. Star Wars and Adidas have combined to create the inpenatrable jugernaut of marketing sweetness. Peep here. Them Yoda's are mine!!!
Also take this track from M83 remixed by one of my new faves Death to the Throne:
Fantastic stop motion animation from a loopy and ultra creative animation group simply named: PES. Browse their website and the other shorts and animations there.
Also a gret stroll through amnesia lane via Atari and shark's teeth?
If you want to find a classic text book version of bad remixing, then head over to iTUNES and grab yourself a digital copy of Phoenix's new remix album. This bad boy is chocked full of four-on-the-floor beats slathered over the occasional chopped-up vocal, awkward synth lines, and a bevy of glitchy stabs. If you have a palette for mediocrity like aged Gouda, then get on it. However, if i were to compile a remix album for these explosive French rockers, I'd start with these two tracks. First up from the French duo "Walter Sobcek" who just finished up their first LP in the land of L.A. I can't tell you how many different remixes i've heard of the now exhausted track "1901," but this one breathes new life. It takes a complete 180 and approaches this joyful dance hall filler into a deep, lush melancholy gem. Love it!!!! Next is Def Starr's take of Fences. Gorgeous, simple, straight forward, without pretention. Both a softer take to the pseuo-bangers we've heard in the past.
Words can't even begin to describe how i fealt when I happened upon this series from Alex Beltechi called, simply, "Draw." His other work seen here is all very text based and has a much more digital feel. These are way too much my vibe not to drool copiously over. Illustrators, commence salivation.
Synth based (haven't heard that description before, huh?) pop music from South London. Unlike the others in this ever growing group of amorphic genre bending synth-mongers, these guys have deep influences in modern R&B. You'll definitely hear the tinges of radio ready hip-hop tracks, the Neptunes, Babyface and Timbaland (everyone's favorite plagiarist). These two smoky remixes coincide perfectly for these new cold nights.
First ones coming from a producer from Phoenix, Arizona's Death to the Throne, whom I originally heard blow Lykke Li's "little bit" out of the water. The next one is from UK brother Pariah, off of the R&S label. This one's sultry. So shut off the light and turn up your headphones...
I think of Natalie Portman telling Zach Braff in the movie Garden State, as she hands over her headphones to the main character. As ultra-idealistic to borderline hoaky as that one line may sound for the too-cool-to-be-genuine hipster crew out there in Blog-land, that line happened to me. It was 2001 and I'm surfing (haven't heard that phrase for a few years) the web, and I happened upon a new band that just released their first LP on Hefty Records. I found Telefon Tel Aviv's title track "Fahrenheit Fair Enough" on some ancient new music blog-thing. It quickly engulfed me, and was overwhelmed by the intricacies of this melancholy lullaby. It literally moved me to tears. And yes, it did change my life: Changed my perspective about down tempo (that its not just fodder for hip-hop), it changed how I approach my own music and it radically encouraged me as to what electronic music could be and it's potential to emotionally move people. I was moved to tears again when I found out that Chris Cooper, one the the two guys behind the TTA sound, took his own life earlier this year. There needs to be a greater understanding for what the weight of genius mingled with fame and demand can do to someone's heart. After four albums these guys are still inspiring me and I hope they do the same for you.
This is perfect cold weather music, and i've been hibernating with my headphones. FFE is one of my favorite albums ever, and has not yet been far away in my playlists.
I would suggest you begin by purchasing their debut release Fahrenheit Fair Enough.
Here's the title track:
I happened upon this video project a kid produced for one of his classes. Using TTA's track FFE with clips from the video Baraka as the backdrop, the video fades through our perspectives of liberty and freedom with tenerness and conviction. Hope he got an A.
As a designer and artist that hasn't fully exploded out of the microchosm of arts/music/design that I have localy flourished within, I am still amazed at the amount of work from others that is either overtly inspired by or straight-up copied from me or my other design/artist friends and colleagues. For this reason, I welcome you to a blog that will be a quick bookmark on this here BWillackers Blog Facey Face Blog. You Thought We Wouldn't Notice is an art/design blog by the same type folk and is an open Blog. Meaning, anyone can post. This Blog is whistle-blower on those who don't have enough creativity to come up with something original. It's an eye opener, and partially hilarious.
Self serving to say the least, but hey it's my dern blog! rekkonize! My first game system was an Atari 2600, then one Christmas I received the glory of glories: my very own NES (Nintendo Entertainment System)! In their hay day The good folks over at Nintendo had it going on musically with game loops and riffs that have permanently implanted themselves in our cerebral cortex(don't really know if that's physiologically the proper spot). Ogeretsu Kun, Manami Ietel, and Yuukichan's Papa
were the three who composed both Mega Man 1 and Mega Man 2 and are both stellar compositions. Impressively complicated in parts, they are catchy and, with the onslaught of the 80's synth electro resurrection, they are ironicaly right in-step with the present musical movement. Love it!!! Remixes of this junk are everywhere on the imternet (some excellent and many grotequely idiotic). Check here for all you nerds for the latest in good and awful video game remixes: Overclocked Remix
Above is a super fun remix and vid of Mega Man 2's Dr. Wiley stage. This exhibition of rewired nostalgia has been brought to you by none other than Johan Agebjörn, producer of Sally Shapiro.
Ciara Phelan's work reminds me of the Dadaist collages from the turn of the century and the most recent work of Jan Dziaczkowski, but with less of the Nihlistic tendencies. This is one of those processes i wish i could do better/more....sigh....Ciara makes it look so stinkin easy. Check out Ciara's website here.
Visit Jan Dziaczkowski who's been workin on a series called Keine Grenze (german for "no bounds") here
Sensual Harassment, a trio from Brooklyn, is creeping across the blog-o-shpere and seeping into the hearts of many a music lover. With tinges of Flaming Lips funk and an excellent balance of icy synth-pop and rawk these guys will be etching a place in every hipster's need-to-know list. According to their press release, the Brooklyn-based trio Sensual Harassment is "a Reptilian Humanoid alliance utilizing sonic mind control through beat-driven psych-pop." Whatever that means.
Work from designer Albert Exergian. I've been following his ever growing experiment in minimalistic Television Series posters. Ingenious work, and in some cases (nip tuck, macguyver, monk) hilarious. All of his work is clean, simplistic and striking. Follow him from now on.
Also, for no applicable reason, download some Alex Metric (flippin love this guy) Remix Glory!!!!! Here he gives the electro-makover to Fenech Soler's track "Lies." This one is a turner-upper!!
N.A.S.A.'s new track "Spacious Thoughts" takes on a rare combination of Kool Keith and Tom Waits. This excellent track gets a proper marriage to a nice young production studio out of Canada, Fluorescent Hill. The visuals can become a bit overwhelming, yet correlates well with Tom's engulfing growl-of-a-voice. I would attach some sweet N.A.S.A remixes but none of them entice me enough to go through the trouble. But this video deserves attention. Watch the full vid, visit Fluorescent Hill's exquisite website. Watch their other videos with bands that include The Album Leaf, Cadence Weapon, the New Pornographers etc. Here is an extensive interview from BoingBoing.com with the cats from Fluorescent Hill (believe it or not only two fellas did that video). Wonderfully in depth interview. inspiration x 50!!
Yes, the Wu-Tang Clan has found its way to the world of dubstep, through the release of “Wu-Tang Meets The Indie Culture Vol. 2: Enter The Dubstep”. It’s a full album containing 19 of their tracks, remixed by artists like DZ, Excision & DatsiK, Matt U, Stenchman, Evol Intent and many more.
This is a fantastic move from a Hip-Hop group that has never successfully crossed the tight wire of mainstream stardom. Their monstrous success has however been found in the narrowcasted audiences who have been turning off their radios and rarely shadowing the door of MTV. The Wu navigate the slaloms of psychotic mediocrity with the reflexes and prowess of a downhill skier. All the will pulling millions from various niche markets down the slopes with them. It's collaboration like this that gets me excited - cross genre pollinating. This is a gigantic "middle finger" to all of the hipster purists and borderline prejudice segregation-minded music lovers. Those who believe music can only be enjoyed in certain genre's purest forms and only performed by those musicians pre-approved by the hierarchical hipster echelon. This is creativity and ingenuity at its best. Here’s a link to the Wu’s explanation of the album. “this one of a kind compilation is at the forefront of an emerging cultural and musical blend that is taking place on the margins of the mainstream, but will be talked about for years to come….”
Here is a track from the forthcoming album Wu-Tang-Do-It-Big(Baobinga-Id-Remix).mp3
Go buy this album and support creative venture like this one and many others bold enough to blur the borders of music genres.
ADDED BONUS: Fantastic old school remix of C.R.E.A.M. by Terry Cole. This'ns obviously not on the album, just wanted to share it because it's so good, plus I like you!
Strip Steve just dropped his Delta Disco EP on Boys Noize Records a bit ago. Ugh it is so stinking good. I like it a lot. For a little preview, heres a minimix to tease the appetite. Included here is a remmix of the Das Glow track "Lite Brite" that I cannot get enough of. If you enjoy dancin' and smilin' during aformentioned action, then go purchase his EP. love love love it!! Haus-fo-eva.
Tucked into an ex-Tower Records space in Los Angeles is the gallery PRISM. Right now they are having an exhibit titled "Mind the Gap." In this exhibit are two of my favorite po-mo/outsider artists (blah blah blah) Barry McGee and Phil Frost. I found out about this out-a-site show over at Kitsune Noir. Barry's over-the-top color patterns are as whimsical as they are engaging. For me, I enjoy art that makes me smile. I am fully aware of the borderline juvenile nature of that notion for someone who claims to be one of this ilk himself . Nonethelss I stand behind my childlike wonder and snot-nose fascination over pattern, color and subject matter. Go ahead, judge me. You'll remember Phil Frost's work from Dj Shadow's legendary sophmore release "Preemptive Strike." I dug trenches in those records. Take a gander at these images and this spectacularly currated exhibit.
Improv everywhere does it again. This time with a rather intricate musical number celebrating the glories of Lunch! Performed at Trump Towers. I want to be a part of their gang!
My oh my! The soundtrack to this amazing project is a remix of PNAU's "Baby" remixed by my fave: Breakbot. You can find that track on this here legendary blog!!
Here's the repost PNAU_Baby(Breakbot remix)
Twenty years ago the Berlin wall fell under the wake of Liberty. So in commemoration, here's a sick grinder from our favorite Berliner (thanks Kennedy), Alexander Ridha a.k.a. BOYS NOIZE!!! The remix comes at us from another rising German star AUDIONITE.
Just had to pass this along to you. Everyone's favorite mashup blog site the Hood Internet's doing it again!!! Their Fourth instalment in their mixtape extravaganza dropped @ six a.m. monday morning. On the off chance that you live under a rock and have never heard of The Hood Internet, this mix will serve as an excellent primer on one of Chicago’s favorite electronic acts. Language warning to all you kiddies out there....
I knew I liked this guy. First off he's directed videos for such musicians as the Dismemberment Plan, M.I.A., the Stands and our fave new femme Kid Sister for her first single "Pro Nails." And now he has shot out of the blocks with his premier full-length freature presentation: ZOMBIELAND. If you're a fan of Kid Sister or Zombies (or maybe you're me and you love them both) - over at Fool's Gold they sat down with the now legendary Ruben Fleischer and picked his brain (no pun intended) about everything from music video's to directing zombie's. Also here is an NPR interview with both Flieshcer and George Romero, the original Zombie flimaker. The debate gets heated when discussing the paleo vs. neozombies. Which one is creepier: fast zombies or slow zombies?
Also, I had to drop this. One of my faves in the business Rusko recently remixed Kid Sister's "Pro Nails." Herrr it is, son! Kid Sister_Pro Nails (RUSKO RMX)
Autism is a topic close to my heart. So when I see stories like this, in the art realm, i have to pass it on. Autistic artist, Stephen Wiltshire, drew the New York skyline from memory after merely taking a 20 minute helicopter ride to gaze at the panorama. Full story here at Daily Mail
FLORAFAUNA is Minneapolis based design/screen printing studio who make some of the best concert posters I’ve seen in a while. Dig through their immense archive and patron their store. All of their posters are extremely well done as you can see above, and as far as I saw they were all priced around $20 – $30.Your hipster friends will love these for the holidays. Designers-be inspired. Cool kids-this will keep you in the pack
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