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.