The Supersonic Cumberbun

Cymatic Futures

2010-08-30T22:51:00.000-07:00

(Image courtesy of Cymatics.org, a wonderful repository of liquid sound imagery and other related resources)

Scallywag - Cymatic Futures

(direct link - right click save)

Tracklist:

1. Deadboy - Heartbreaker
2. Pariah - Railroad
3. iTAL tEK - Moon Bow
4. Pariah - The Slump
5. Ramadanman - Glut
6. Flying Lotus - Roberta Flack (Martyn's Heart Beat Mix)
7. Indigo - Fading
8. 16BIt - Skyline
9. James Blake - Foot Notes
10. Kyle Hall - You Know What I Feel
11. Joy Orbison - So Derobe
12. Untold - Gonna Work Out Fine
13. Untold - Anaconda
14. Ultravid - Clan Of Wow (Kingdom Remix)
15. Gang Gang Dance - Bebey (DJ /rupture and Matt Shadetek Remix)
16. Zomby - Digital Fauna
17. DFRNT - Headspace (Scuba Remix)
18. Jack Sparrow - The Chase
19. Subeena - Circular
20. Monolake - Atlas
21. Mordant Music - The Tower (ExhuMMed)
22. CEX - Freq
23. Starkey - Black Monolith
24. Holden - The Wheel
25. The Black Dog - ...Short Wave Lies
26. The Black Dog - Silipher
27. Eskmo - Process
28. Stagga - Lopside (Doshy Remix)
29. Lorn - Suicide Note
30. Aardvark - Untitled (Bloom 4)
31. Darkstar - Video Tape
32. Mount Kimbie - Taps
33. Sigha - Remembrance
34. Breakage (feat. Burial) - Vial
35. The Big Pink - Velvet (Mount Kimbie Remix)
36. Moderat - Rusty Nails (Shackleton rx)
37. Distance - Fallen (Vex'd Remix)
38. Roof Light - In Your Hands
39. Sigha - Light Swells (In A Distant Place)

Hey again. Probably pretty evident that I abandoned this blog for greener pastures (read: more buzz-worthy mediums..namely tumblr and twitter), but figured I should post this up here should there be any stragglers.

So yeah, all kinds of advanced wave patterning inside this one. It's based around all these new ideas that have been rippling out of the hardcore continuum over the last year or so, stuff that I can't help but follow closely, seeing how the broader sound manages to mutate just about every other month or so. Right now I feel like it's pretty tough to burn out on something that moves this quick, especially when the inertia pulls in all these talented people who then inform the larger about a whole other sub-set of influences. On top of that, because you have all these media outlets and communities providing instant critical commentary - most of which subsist on their ability to champion innovation - that process tends to generate this self-preserving dynamic to counter rapidly dwindling attention spans. Even though it's tougher to find the appropriate venues to play this stuff out (at least in the US), I feel like following it all is, at the very least, an amazing way to aggregate across multiple genres. Plus you eventually get this condensed sense of how it's all evolving in real-time, which just adds another layer to the addiction for me.

But yeah, in general, it's centered around the moodier strains of what's been spidering out of dubstep's wake, along with a couple other genres I've pulled in for effect. Part of the reason I made this is just to showcase as much of it as possible for those who are unfamiliar, but the bigger focus in this for me was to really draw out the emotional weight inherent in a lot of these tracks...as far as that goes, all I will say is that I put a lot of thought into sequencing and mixing this...

Anyhow, it clocks in at around 1:40, super lengthy for a mix these days, I know, but I was trying to go wide-screen with this one. If you liked The Distant Haunts, it has a pretty similar arc. Things really start to come together around the 40 minute mark, so let it run awhile if you want to see the whole vibe I'm getting at start to...make sense?

....annnd might as well mention that you can get most of my mixes easily by subscribing to my podcast. All different genres, plus I just realized there's a mix in there from a few months ago that I never posted here.

Oh...and lastly... if could you do me one small favor, please:

listen to this at night.

Thanks....

Hidden Shores

2009-09-03T04:58:00.001-07:00

DJ Scallywag - Hidden Shores

1.Memory Cassette - Last One Awake (Friend Version)
2.Ghostape - Your Eyes (Round Table Knights Remix)
3.Miike Snow - Animal
4.Jack Penate - Tonight's Today
5.Joakim - Spiders
6.Spirit Catcher - Sweet Deal
7.Major Lazer - Cash Flow (Clasixx Glass Bottom Dub Mix)
8.The Octopus Project - I Saw The Bright Shinies
9.Chymera - Parelo
10.Washed Out - You'll See It
11.Washed Out - Lately
12.Ytre Rymden Dansskola - Kahlula Madness (Remix)
13.Desire - Dans Mas Reves
14.Florence + The Machine - Rabbit Heart (Leo Zero Remix)
15.Kleerup - Until We Bleed (w/ Lykke Li)
16.Can - Sunday Jam
17.Talking Heads - This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
18.Beatconductor - Carribean Path
19.Star You Star Me - Vega Cruises
20.Gatto Fritto - Hungry Ghosts
21.Memory Tapes - Green Knight
22.Grovesnor - Drive Your Car (Hot Chip Remix)
23.Passion Pit - The Reeling (Sammy Bananas' Big Choon Remix)
24.Memory Cassette - Body In The Water
25.Atlas Sound - Walkabout (w/ Noah Lennox)
26.Bibio - Lovers' Carvings

So here we are again with my annual "summer" mix. Normally I feel like a duncecap for getting these out so late, but this one actually has a nostalgic quality that works perfectly - sorta like the soundtrack for clinging to these last dog days. I think this is my favorite one of these I've done so far, kind've a mix between Endless Baleria and Listen & Glisten. It came together pretty easily too. I don't know if you noticed but there's been, like, a lot of summer music this summer.

So yeah, there's a bunch of great new songs, some older stuff as well, but it's all hyper-melodic and within the theme, and everything's still mixed all tight and proper-like. I tried to make it like the daytime companion to The Distant Haunts. Maybe you'll pick up on that.

Anyhow, hope you enjoy. In fact, bask in this one; get lost in it. Run into the waves, roll in the tide, let the sea wash over you as the sun cuts low across the sky. This is your place now too: a secret place, far away, where it's always warm and the sun is forever setting, and you've finally found what it is you've been looking for...

_

The Distant Haunts

2009-06-23T18:05:00.000-07:00

The Distant Haunts

1.CFCF - You Hear Colours
2.Cage and Aviary - Television Train
3.John Forde - Stardance
4.Jackson Jones - I Feel Good (Pilooski edit)
5.The Chromatics - Night Drive
6.Bergheim 34 - Take My Soul
7.The Isolators - Concentrate on Us
8.Carol - Breakdown
9.Fad Gadget - Collapsing New People
10.Pankow - Girls & Boys (Betty Botox Edit)
11.Lobt Noch Irrt - Heizgas Meter
12.Andreas Dorau & Justus Kohncke - Was Zu Sagen War
13.Yukihiro Takahashi - Drip Dry Eyes
14.Only Fools and Horses - Spectacle Wins (Holy Ghost! Remix)
15.Weird Tapes - The Heavens
16.Hedford Vachal- Toys (Richard Sen Remix)
17.Goldfrapp - Happiness (Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve Re-Animation)
18.Black Devil Disco Club - Is Sorrow (Brain Machine's Lucifer Rising Dub)
19.Dj Koze - I Want to Sleep
20.Grackle - Jungle (Disco Uno) (Unit 4 mix)
21.Muscleheads - Phospherescence
22.Simian Mobile Disco - I Got This Down (Invisible Conga People Remix)
23.Photonz - Trembler (Discodeine Remix)
24.Franz Ferdinand - Fade Together (The Avalanches Remix)
25.Canyons - Big City Lights
26.James Pants - Ka$h (A-trak & XXXchange Remix)
27.Plastique De Reve - Lost in the City
28.The Presets - Anywhere (Still Going Remix)
29.James T. Cotton - The Second Night Cycle
30.Orchestral Manouvers in the Dark- Of All The Things We've Made

Ok, I'm back. and I made a new mix. All I really ask is that you listen to this at night, hopefully while making a long trip in a car or train, so that it seeps in right.

But then again, sometimes things manage to seep in regardless…no matter what you do…

As far as this one, for genre, I'm going with ALLWAVE, but a lot of it is the current disco type sound mixed with a bunch of older, timeless gems. Lots of edits/tweaks/thought in there as well. It's also the longest one I've ever done, clocking in at a little under two hours. Feels like the long-form mix rarely ever get nailed down properly in recorded form. So many legendary sets lost in the ether, now just low hums of resonance cradled in the minds of the grateful. Probably the way it was meant to be, but still, also a little sad when you think about it. Just kinda funny how we're finally completely free of any sort time constraints due to mediums, yet most mixes available for consumption are running about thirty minutes or less.

But I get it though, gotta keep pinging 'em. You exist, gawdammit! Plus, it's sorta fool-proof, innit. That being said, I intend to make at least one more attempt at something way more dense and involved then necessary, seeing as it's almost a lost art. Plus I think it's kinda suited if you're aim is to, I dunno, invoke some towering epic grandeur. So, ya know...hang in there.

Also, I have been semi-active (under my Scallywag alias at least) over here...

As far as that goes, as much as I think the associational nature of how I've tried to present stuff over there is kinda cool, djing with pictures basically, it's also waaay too time consuming, especially when crediting ppl. I'm gonna shift things to be a little more thematic so I can keep up with all things amazing, and try and make the focus on bringing in more secrets from the innernaut abroad. Not gonna just completely buckle under the weight of a little cost-benefit analysis, but I'm also not gonna let a missing puzzle piece stump me anymore. Plus I'm doing it all wrong as is if I consider workflow and efficiency, not even using tags n such, just piling things around my hard drive. But there have been a couple stretches of content so far that I've been pretty pleased with, so feel free to go dig those out before things pick up around there.

Anyhow, until we meet again, keep spreading the fascinating parts, and don't forget to cut out the 'just because'. super important in this day n age.

::dissolves::

Scumcast! 10: Basswave Zero

2008-11-10T21:49:00.000-08:00

BAH BAH BAH BUUUUMMMMMMM.... 10th Scumcast, how about that?

Oh we've come so far (only not really though). Still struggling with effective anti-marketing and the circumventing of necessary evils. Not exactly delusional about it anymore though, so I should be taking some steps to rectify that shortly...in the meantime, if you are here, thanks for listening. And again, please feel free to talk shit or say hi or whatevers. Feedback is pretty crucial for improvement/motivation/knowing what other people think about what you do.

Anyhow, the last couple Scumcast's have been pretty damn focused whereas the first couple were kind of a free for all. I enjoy both approaches so with this one I was trying to manage a best of both worlds type thing.

DJ Scallywag-Scumcast! 10:Basswave Zero

1.Bass Clef-Welcome Back to Echo Chamber
2.Boxcutter-Windfall
3.Clouds-Elder (Rootah Remix)
4.Roommate-Rocksteady
5.Martyn-Vancouver
6.F-Phase One
7.The Bug-Skeng (Kode9 Remix)
8.DZ-That Bongo Dub
9.fliPPo-Techno Ghosts
10.Pinch-136trak
11.DJ Distance-Dark Crystal
12.Shackleton-New Dawn
13.Shackleton-shortwave
14.3RDEYE-Irish Wind
15.Bass Clef-One Hundred Point Three
16.Various Production-Thunnk
17.King Cannibal-Arigami Style
18.Aaron Spectre-Say More Fire
19.Chase and Status-Eastern Jam
20.Joker-Gully Brook Lane
21.Kosh-Funeral March
22.Ghislain Poirer-Blazin' (Modeselektor Remix)
23.The Bug-Jah War
24.Emalkay-Frequency
25.Emalkay-Gut Feeling
26.Coki-Spongebob
27.Benga-26 Basslines
28.Unknown Artist-Dead Letter Drop #2
29.The Count and Sinden-Stinging Nettle
30.Rusko-2NAQ
31.DZ-Down
32.TC-Where's My Money (Caspa Remix)
33.Caspa-Cockney Violin
34.Plastician-Japan
35.Various Productions-The World is Gone
36.Broken Note-War in the Making
37.Vex'd-Angels
38.Starkey-Angel
39.Radiohead-Nude (Eskmo Remix)
40.DFRNT-Aftermath

So this one is a dubstep mix, if you didn't notice. I've been meaning to do one for a minute and now seems as good a time as any, seeing how the genre has finally gained considerable footing outside of the UK and into slightly wider demographics. I started simply enough, but things got a bit interesting while trying to cram all the different variations of the sound into one cohesive statement. I ended up with a pretty thorough survey though, charting the heavily dub influenced stuff, the heady hypnotic strains, the rowdy floor fillers (both wif and wiffout wobbles), and my personal fave, the straight up devastating shit.

Oh...and I added a bunch of vocal snippets detailing how easy it might be to destroy the world instantly once we progress a bit further with certain technologies. Sorry bout that, kinda got inspired cause I thought McCain was gonna win when I started putting this together. But I kept it because it's still far off/out enough and I think it works well with the sound and the pacing of the mix; creates a cool little story arc, so to speak. Just know that the main narrator is one of the world's leading architects in computing and information technology, and not some internet crackpot (cough). I'd name names but I'm not so sure dude would appreciate me sorta demonstrating his point, if if only for edutainment purposes. But outside of the "PSA" framing, it's basically my best of dubstep mix that steers clear of only the most obvious hits (No Burial, No 'Night' no 'midnight request line' etc). Oh and the flow of the mix is loosely based on From Dusk Till Dawn and Pirates of the Caribbean (the actual ride, not the movies). :|

Anyway, I put a good deal of time and thought into this one, despite it clashing with my recent spike in hope regarding human destiny...so maybe think of it as a psychological thriller of sorts, relating some distant but inevitable paranoia. In the meantime, let's say we get together and try and fix all this other shit that is presently falling apart at the seams, yeah?

PS the more bass you employ, the better this sounds. thats just kinda how this stuff works ya know...play it loud.

This is what happens when my immune system does not function properly :|

2008-09-19T06:03:00.000-07:00

Wells, here I am, wriggling around in a swamp of my own makings, just trying to convince my mind that we don't want to actively experience this icy hot mess of an existence anymore. (Not today, no sir...not in this state.) Still, can't seem to get the autonomics to cooperate right now, so tonight, I'm actually gonna humor one of the little bloglet dillys that tend to buzz around my periphery. I'm not exactly sure wtf that means or wtf a bloglet evens is (sounds kinda retarded to me)...but basically I know that they are made out of internets and they kinda feel like tiny gnats bouncing up against the back of my eyesockets. I catch em hovering around the outskirts of this old dilapidated cumberbun quite a bit these days. Couldn't tell you why either, I've had the wherewithal to keep the little bastards at bay for a good while now. I just have to assume that my weakened state has allowed some sort of leakage to seep through the anti-germination foam we use to plug the holes around the blood-brain barrier... because all the sudden its like, "dood! how am I NOT gonna post a youtube to every music video ever featured on Beavis and Butthead back in the day that I can remember and still appreciate...right???"

Anyway, that's the plan tonight. Looks like the hyperbole and the meta-wallowing are also making some fast inroads again, so before we start a tone war and threaten all the progress we've made in not blogging...let's just quickly point out that the hardcore reminisce that took place during that last mix must've spawned this. and that Mike Judge had dope taste in music and did a really good job of subversively exposing a lot of cool shit back in the day.

But enough!!! Let the embeddening...BEGIN!

So I've been on a big industrial kick lately. Since the advent of free everything, i've gone back and explored a fair deal of what I missed. As far as NIN I've been all about it since Pretty Hate Machine. Or at least I might I claim I was... I'm just realizing I totally wrote Trent off as too old in an arena rock kinda way after With Teeth. Its tough for shit to get under your skin when things get too anthemic and overproduced, ya know? I can get down with a little bit of his new shit though for sure...

Ministry. In case you didn't know, this song is siiiiick! The vid reminds me of the movie Hardware. It was this super awesome early 90's sci-fi horror flick starring D. McDermot and Burglekutt from Willow. They actually featured "Stigmata" in it as a music video, but put a Gwar vid as the actual footage. That gets my vote for illest mashup of 1990 easy. Historians take note.

oh shit, here's that clip!

Question: who had the cowboy/dreadpirate thing going first, Al Jourgensen or Rob Zombie???

...

White Zombie-Thunderkiss 65

...

dammit, i can't embed that. bitch ass universal music group disabling me by request...making my blog look all slapdash.

but anyway, yeah also still an awesome song. I can't answer my own question via teh googles so I'm gonna give the title to Rob, just because his get-ups are pretty much outta control. That one where he looks like a Gen X pod racer??? Yeah, I don't even know, i guess he's kinda got like a post-apocalyptic yet proto-hot topic thing going on??? ...but peep his dance moves like a minute in though. hahahahah i totally didn't remember it like that. XD

"Kill Everything. Kill Everything. That's not Enough..."

What do you think you'd be like if you had to listen to that sample everyday all the time? Also, it's pretty hard to deny the aesthetic simplicity of bold typography...did KMFDM influence the huge surge in loud block capital tees over the last two years? Also, you think Shepard Fairey liked this video? Hmmm?? Also, what if you had like a little side tv built in your vision and all you saw was clowns exploding all day non-stop? would you be able to deal?? i bet that'd be worse than having the hiccups forever. Anyway, art and animation by Brute.

Bizarro Alice Cooper named his band Alien Sex Fiend, and thats cool by me. Do you think dude liked japanese tentacle porn stuff? It feels weird to me that that concept is so old in my head. Like shouldn't I be worried that that doesn't even strike me as all that strange anymore, relatively speaking? I bet if I showed my poor grandma 1/100th of the shit I'd seen on the internet over the years, her eyes would roll into the back of her head and her soul would have no choice but to rocket out the back of her head. And then I think about all the shitty little myspace tweens who've seen the shit before me! THATS when I really start feeling zombified.

I've seen a couple prominent culture kids about town bringing back the flipped Suicidal Tendencies brim. Gotta strike when the irons hot, right? Not hating though.

Rollins Band coming with the similarly bipolar song structure. LOVE THIS VIDEO. The sets, the colors, Henry Rollins getting progressively grimier throughout while busting out with the maniac eyes. Bonafide classic for both Headbangers Ball and the Alternative Nation.

grrr...another universal owned vid... Primus-My Name is Mud

this goes next because of the ill shots with the tree and the dead sky remind me of some of the colors in the last one. also cause les claypool nails the scumbag role.

the comments are pretty hilarious, too.

Dude 1: PRIMUS SUCKS!!
Dude 2: FUCK YOU! PRIMUS DOES NOT SUCK!
Dude 3: you fucking dumbass you didnt know that "PRIMUS SUCKS" is their motto. you don't know shit! fuck you turdfuck!
Dude 4: Actually, I'm a REAL Primus fan. I spend all my time reading Les Claypool interviews and happen to know he doesn't particularly care for the phrase "PRIMUS SUCKS" anymore.
Dude 1: I was there man! I keep it real! PRIMUS SUCKS!
Dude 5: FUCK YOU! PRIMUS DOES NOT SUCK!

X 100+ pages.

I vaguely remember Plant Man and thinking dude was awesome in a cracked out uncle kinda way. I didn't know he used to be the drummer for Pavement though.

Quoted from Gary Young's wiki:

The final straw came when Young allegedly pulled a gun on Malkmus. When Young ranted about how he’d survive a nuclear war by finding a way to cook dead animals that would eliminate the radioactivity from their bodies, Malkmus joked exasperatedly, “You’ve got to shoot them right between the eyes with a silver bullet.”

hahahaha...good shit plantman!

The beginning part with swami Ted Danson seems heavily influenced by the Church of the SubGenius. No mere blogpost could ever contain my reverence for the organization nor posit some sort of convenient explanation as to what it all entails, so I'll just leave you with THE LINK.

Give Me Slack or KILL ME!

One of my favorite really crappy videos ever. Maybe it's just cause I dig this song a lot but whatevers, it totally works for me. Just some slow mo illin' in the woods... doing crazy fresh hand gestures and thinking bout the end of days.

I grew up near Venice Beach, but I don't remember seeing a lot of hobo humpin' slobo babes around. Maybe they were just kinda slick about their hobo humping?? I don't know, I guess I was kinda oblivious as kid...like I didn't even realize Squints from the Sandlot was in the band. :|

never really conceived of detachable penises before I heard this song so I have to give King Missile props for opening some major doors for me as a kid. But they also paved the way for a bunch of other shitty rock bands where the lead singer just kinda talks and stuff (Cake, Bloodhound Gang,etc.), so I might have to take it back.

Remember that movie Posse with Mario Van Peebles? Yeah, I never saw it either but I assume it was a lot like this video.

I always had an affinity for the lead singers squinty eyes. he looks kinda damp too, doesn't he?

anyway, dope song. hard as hell on Guitar Hero though!

so I didn't really know shit about Ween when I saw this and pretty much assumed that the dudes at the shwarma shop recorded this blown out demo just so they could yell at some cameras. Then mtv caught wind of it and threw it on the television because they thought it was hilarious. hahahhah, what a lil dumbass I was...

I've been playing this out a lot over the past year. It doesn't even get a great response, a little bit of scattered acknowledgment that dies off fairly quickly, but hey...doing top 40 gigs, you have to find small ways to entertain yourself. this is one of mine. can't front on that simple organ progression.

wasn't exactly all about this one but it did manage to stick. now I kinda appreciate that how honed in they had the "nerd rock for awkward people" back in the day. i was more into stuff like sublime and beck and smashing pumpkins around that point though. weezer and they might be giants were as far as I got into dork jams. maybe if punk rock girl wasn't so busted?

oh and I was REALLY into Soundgarden. This was the one that got me hooked. Back when Chris Cornell's mane was wild yet intoxicating and Kim Thayil couldn't decide if he was a rasputin or a nordic frost giant.

Grace Jones was another one of those artists I can recall but didn't really get at the time. She was just that one weird terminator broad who looked like a mannequin. Now, while I'm not the biggest fan of all her music, I still gotta give her mad respect for being on her own shit. She's definitely got some jams though.

Can we ever get back to the point societally where this is prime time entertainment? Honestly, I don't think so. But at the same time, I wouldn't be surprised if there was blog house or bmore remix of this shit. <- It scares me that that is a true statement. I'm too afraid to go on the hype machine to find out if I'm right.

Bauhaus. I always kinda equated Peter Murphy as the dude in the walls from People Under the Stairs because of this video. The guy who had no tongue and was also in that got milk commercial (ya know, Awwon Buhh...AWWON BUHH!)? But yeah, dude does a mean ass ziggy stardust.

Saw Gwar the first night I moved to NYC. It was everything I hoped it could be. Even got elbowed real hard in the face once I mustered up the courage to jump in the pit. We somehow wound up at the Guggenheim later and my roommate ended up stealing a bottle of vodka from the bar. She then proceeded to drop it out of her purse 5 minutes later while we were walking up the spirally part. Right in front the security guard. We all just kind of looked at the broken bottle, then at dude, then a the million dollar paintings, and then back at the bottle for what seemed like ages. Then our eyes all just kinda glazed over in unison and we awkwardly shuffled away. Didn't even get kicked out. Kinda wacky.

BONUS!: Oderus and Beefcake running circles around Joan Rivers on her show circa back in the day. Specially dig the part about self-destruction being a consumer need.

I'm not sure I've ever hinted at it on my blog, so I will do so now. Tom Waits has got to be one of my top 5 all-time favorites. He's one of those true artist types, who've fleshed out there range and depth over the years while still maintaining a certain mystique. From the beautiful booze-soaked piano ballads to his avant garde experimentalism, dude has done in it all with style and self-assurance. And now he is old as fuck but can get away with making albums where he just yells a lot while banging on pots and pans. That gets him awarded legendary status in my book.

K, looks like the sun is up and I officially can't think right anymore. Plus my keyboard is overflowing with snot rockets and I'm worried it might electrocute me. Sure I missed some crucial ones but no worries, this post is already significantly overboard so my job here is done. And the "bloglets" have retreated temporarily. they did hint at a stockpile of dope visual artists and how its been awhile since I went off about that so i don't know...

to blah blah blahg or not to blog...sometimes its one of those questions. :|

Scumcast! 9: G-Willz Presents: Fly Like Junior High Vol. I

2008-09-01T00:23:00.000-07:00

DJ Scallywag-Scumcast!9: G-Willz Presents Fly Like Junior High Vol. I

1.Dr. Dre-Let Me Ride
2.Ice Cube-You Know How We Do It
3.Warren G-This DJ
4.Snoop Dogg-G'z Up, Hoes Down
5.Domino-Ghetto Jam
6.2pac-I Get Around
7.Twinz-Round and Round
8.Dr. Dre/w Snoop Dogg-Nuthin but a G Thang
9.Masta Ace-INC Ride
10.2pac-Bury Me a G
11.Mista Grimm-Indo Smoke
12.Above the Law-V.S.O.P
13.Mack 10-Nothing but the Cavi Hit
14.Dj Quik-Hand in Hand
15.Suga Free-If You Stay Ready
16.LV-Throw Your Hands Up
17.Dove Shack-Summertime in the LBC
18.Dj Quik-Pitch in on a Party
19.Bone Thugs-Thuggish Ruggish Bone
20.Bone Thugs-For the Love of Money
21.Nate Dogg-G-Funk
22.MC Ren-Voyage to Compton
23.Too Short-Gettin It
24.E-40-Captain Save a Hoe
25.Luniz-I got 5 on it
26.Kid Frost-Eastside Rendezvous
27.Cypress Hill-
28.Mc Eiht-You Can't See Me
29.Ahmad-Back in the Day (jeep mix)
30.Ahmad-Back in the Day
31.Ice Cube-It Was A Good Day

So I meant to have this done two days ago so you could have 3 separate days to potentially slap this while giving one last shout out to the summertime, but I lagged a little just to make sure everything was up to par. Sorry bout that, but anyway... so this is an iTape that I collaborated on with hands down one of the best dudes I know on all fronts, the inimitably fresh G-WillZ aka the G Willy Masta (always representing for $uper $tack Mode). Needless to say, I'm pretty damn satisfied with how it turned out. Basically, this one is 99.9% the result of being bored at work, being on gchat, and doing some real deal reminiscing. Like talking "Box Tops" for days, going on about how at first it was all about how you could see the blurred out hats and jerseys in all the videos, and then that one girls titties in Nuthin but a G Thang, and finally everything culminating (for a budding punk ass kid) with the video for Sir Mix-a-lot's Put Em On the Glass. Also how Ruthless Records ran shit on the Box while MTV held out forever...and how you could catch the video for Mother '93, Cotton Eyed Joe, and some Meatloaf in between all this. Yep, those were crucial times for a (dangerous?) young mind.

So anyhow, at first the idea was a smoothed out mid 90's summertime rap mix. Then the more we got down to it, the more we realized we needed to keep it west coast centric. It's not like I wasn't trying to fit in some fond memories of my older cousin blowing my little mind with his Geto Boys and Mobb Deep tapes back in the day, but at a certain point you just gotta simplify in order to get shit done. So the finished product is mostly LA/G-Funk centric with a small shout out to the bay. Oh and that Masta Ace track gets a pass because of the Delicious Vinyl connect. But all in all, while I'd say there was a tiny bit of digging involved, it's primarily a nostalgia-fest with a lot of bonafide classics, ranging from about when The Chronic hit to when DJ Quik started getting on that really clean Puff Daddy steez and was like half that, half G Funk.

Anyway, I KNOW you didn't see this coming, but I hope you enjoy it and hopefully it brings you back.

tomorrow+you+sun+bbq+your iPod with this throwback rap tape inside it= B-) B-) B-)

oh and I made that gif at like 5 in the morning practically delirious and feel like I should at least get some images with the same resolution or dimensions, but idk, at the same time it's pretty unintentionally bootsy, so i kinda likes it.

Scumcast! 8:End of the World Party

2008-07-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

Here again. Meant to return sooner but as per the usual, every piece of technology I own decided to break the fuck down on me within a three day span. I don't know why this in unison bs always happens to me. Granted, some of this had to do with me knocking my laptop off my bed after passing out drunk and cracking the screen (twice in a one month span), but still all the other stuff was pretty uncalled for, gawdammit. I'll spare you the details... but yeah, maybe it was more like a mix between a firestorm and my own personal shitstorm. O wellll....

But I hope you didn't go and get the idea that I'm all about <3-on-yr-sleeveyness and twirling around forevs and evs after that last one. It's all one giant see-saw to me and after that one I got the urge to balance the fucker out in a way I've been threatening to do for awhile now. Yeah that's right yall, it's time for another ELECTROINDIEBLOGHOUSEBNGATHON.....M0THRAFUGGZ0RZZ!11!!1

DJ Scallywag-Scumcast! 8:ENDOFTHEWORLDPARTY

(Like how I followed every rule in the book with that art? I did right click save the zombie ravers from some unknown source, so if anybody knows who did that, lemme know...)

1.AGF-Presswehen
2.Free Blood-Never Hear Surf Music Again (ACTH Remix)
3.Microchip League-New York, New York
4.Egyptian Lover-Freak A Holic
5.Alter Ego-Why Not?!(Tim Deluxe Remix)
6.Workidz-Twisted
7.Hostage-Blackout
8.Machines Don't Care-Beat Bang
9.Top Billin-Breath
10.Kid Cudi-Day N Nite (Jokers of the Scene Remix)
11.Marc Houle-Techno Vocals
12.Midfield General-Disco Sirens (D.I.M. Remix-Von Party No Vox Edit)
13.SebastiAn-Motor Interzone (Clash the Disko Kids Edit)
14.Simian Mobile Disco-Hustler (Joakim Remix)
15.Crookers vs Salt N Pepa-Love to Push It (Ursula 1000 Edit)
16.Shadow Dancer-Poke
17. DJ Gero-Savate
18.Proxy-Dance in the Dark
19.The Presets-Kicking and Screaming
20.Math Head-Get Hype
21.Hostage-Mash Up The Speaker
22.HEARTSREVOLUTION-C.Y.O.A. (Dan Oh Remix)
23.Outlander-The Vamp (Kevin Gorman Remix)
24.Surkin-White Knight Two
25.South Rakkas Crew-Mad Again (Boy 8 Bit Remix)
26.Boy 8 Bit-Bulbs Burn Out
27.Drop the Lime-I Love NY
28.Pop It Off Boyz-Crank Dat Batman (Starkey Adam West Mix)
29.N.E.R.D.-Everybody Nose (Official Remix)
30.Lil Wayne-Milli (Say Wut Remix)
31.The Bug-Poison Dart feat. Warrior Queen
32.HEALTH-Triceratops (CFCF Remix)

Now before you start trying to think, let me say a few things about this one. First, I'd say it's probably my first ever "official" dance mix. That is, this is the first one where I stuck to my guns and didn't wander into heady territories or veer off course into experimentalism because I felt compelled to do so. Granted this has everything from old school industrial to street bass to techie minimal stuff...but the main gist of it is dark, hard, evil blog jams and heavy basslines galore. This is built exactly how I would want a dance set of this type to go energy-wise and as far as I'm concerned, I murdered it.

But anyway, I decided to do this mix for a couple reasons. For one, as far as I can see, the new electro movement has reached it's zenith. Like, I'd say pretty much everybody who is gonna know about Justice knows about Justice. And cause of the myspace and all that, the young ones are all about this shit. At the end of the day, you really can't argue with that. I follow everything I can because I can't really help myself and I have definilly collected plenty of jams of this variety over the past 3 years or so. So I figured my job here is to steer new dance fans young and old away from the mountains of god-awful hipster bullshit clogging the intertubes and towards the dudes who are really doing ill shit within this spectrum.

Also, I won't go and say that this is on some deep serato crates shit either. A lot of these are the big 'choons that you might've heard dudes like Erol or Boys Noize playing out. A couple are even probably a few weeks too old (gasp!). But as far as what I like and can get ahold of, this is a fairly thorough survey of the past couple months. Most importantly to me, it's mixed really fast and well and makes me think I could be rocking festivals or something. Sighhh, if only I was well connected and knew how to properly market myself... ::wamp womppppp::

But anyway, it's out there, right here at the high water mark, before the great electro recession of 2009 and all the impending devastation that will follow in the years to come. For more on that, consult the growing inkling that is worming around in the back of yr mind...or go and check out the makeshift gallery I put up within the shitty confines of the picture section of the myspace. I've been doing a great job of being brief and ominous over there, so hopefully you didn't come from there and are now reading my nerd out and are all bummed that I'm anything but vague. Be sure to check it out soon though cuz myspace doesn't seem to enjoy how deep my internet gets. They've already been pruning pictures left and right and threatening to shut me down. Thanx Rupert (OoOops, I mean "Tom")!

Anyway, I should be back with a whole new angle fairly soon (time frames are my own personal joke so im gonna stop alluding to them). In the meantime, go ahead and blast this shit when you need to wyle the fuck out like there's no tomorrow. Who knows...there just might not be :)

Scumcast! 7: Listen & Glisten

2008-06-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

Time to get it going againnnn.

Whellp, I know I have been really shitty about the monthliness of these Scumcast dealies...but I did forecast that being the case...so props to me for making sure that all prophecies have been self-fulfilled. I plan on making amends by dropping no less than 3 over the next month's* span, followed by a big mix that I've been working on for a minute, which has also spawned several little splinter mixes in my head, so don't count me out just yet. I've still got a ton of jams that you need to hear, all I gotta do is line 'em up properly. Until then, I intend to keep you guessing a little bit. For starters:

Scumcast! 7: Listen & Glisten

1.Double- Woman of the World
2.Double- Woman of the World(Tangoterje edit)
3.Hercules & Love Affair- You Belong
4.Kelley Polar- Here in the Night
5.Neon Neon- Raquel
6.Jape- Floating (Prins Thomas 0.75 miks)
7.Cut Copy- Feel The Love
8.Ratatat- Shempi
9.Woolfy- Looking Glass
10.Diskjokke- Staying In
11.The Whitest Boy Alive- Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix)
12.Daso- Meine
13.Cari Lekebusch- Shaded Compuphonic & Kolumbo Remix
14.FPU-Ocean Drive (Tiga's White Linen Vox)
15.Metronomy-Heart Rate Rapid
16.Santogold-Unstoppable
17.Feist-I Feel It All (Britt Daniel Remix)
18.Feist-I Feel It All (Escort Remix)

This is a spring mix that I made with females on the brain. Alls I'm gonna say is that yes, I took it there. It's pretty unabashedly poppy, but I stand behind all the songs on it. A few tracks are fairly obvious if you follow mags and blogs and all that, but as far as the vibe I was going for, I think I pretty much killed it. I figure if you manage to make this one the soundtrack to your lyfe for a quick minute, then you are doing pretty well for yourself. Oh, and here's some associational pickers to accompany. Enjoy things...we'll talk again soon.

*or so... (failsafe asterix)

MODESELEKTOR JUST BLEW MY BALLS CLEAN OFF

2008-03-22T05:16:00.000-07:00

TRUE STORY..SOOOOO HEAVY. AND I DON'T EVEN BLOG NO MORE. BUT DAMN THIS IS KINDA NECESSESSARY. OH AND IF YOU GO TO STUDIO B AND YOU DON'T STAND IN THE FAR RIGHT CORNER OF THE MAIN FLOOR (FRONT LEFT OF THE MAIN STAGE) THEN YOU ARE NOT EXPERIENCING THAT SHIT TO THE FULLEST. KNOW THAT THAT IS WHERE THE BASS IS. UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS THE IS THE TOTALITY OF MY KNOWLEDGE.

PS. ON THE WAY BACK HOME ON THE SUBWAY, THIS RAT JUMPED OFF THE STAIRS GOING DOWN TO THE LOWER LEVEL AND HIT THIS POOR LADY RIGHT IN THE FACE! UNBELIEVABLE. I DIDN'T EVEN THINK THAT WAS POSSIBLE. SHE LITERALLY RAN AWAY SCREAMING! TALK ABOUT NIGHTMARES UNFOLDING BEFORE YOUR EYES... IF I WERE HERE I WOULD GO HOME AND PEEL MY FACE OFF LIKE THAT DUDE IN POLTERGEIST. AND DO YOU KNOW THAT MOVIE WAS RATED PG. WTF, RIGHT? HOW ABOUT YOU RUIN MY LIFE AT AGE 5, WITH THAT AND THE TREE AND THE CLOWN. MAYBE THAT'S WHY EVERYBODY IN THAT MOVIE DIED IN REAL LIFE,
INCLUDING YOU, CRAIG T. NELSON.

edit: wow, ok, forgot about the late night power blogging...sigh...i mean this is more retarded then embarrassing...still deserving of a facepalm though. I'm actually surprised I've never really done this before now...or at least published it that night. Kinda compliments all my "waking up at 5 AM somewhere deep in Jamaica,Queens" rather well. Shouts to all the other dudes who stay steady keeled over out there with me. Just don't try and grab at me and my shit anymore, k guys? I am a beast when I'm on the autopilot and have been invoking serious comparisons to tourette's guy as of late.

I WILL start hucking your shopping bags full of newspapers onto the tracks if you test. Spread these words around the hobosphere.

::cough:: but yeah, Modeselektor killlled it though. Seriously awesome. I forgot to mention Bjork was there just Bjorkin' it up like it was no thing. That was pretty sick. Between them and Cut Copy and Crystal Castles, shit has been a good couple of daze. Well done, NYC.

PS New stuff soon....oh and go look at real-life homer and mario.

Pixeloo

and check out Megasoid's Tank Thong mixtape. It's in the Ghislain Poirer/Glitch Mob vein, but I think I digs it more. That Masta Ace remix is fire.

King of all Lollygaggers

2008-01-30T13:52:00.000-08:00

O hai guyz...

Soo...looks like I'm peeking out of my fortress of lolitude a little earlier than expected this year....hope all is good with you and the stuff that you do...

First things first, a new Scumcast...

Scumcast! 6: Mongoloid Chic

1.Pilooski-Love Is Wet

2.AN2-Lazy Sun
3.Panthers- Goblin City(Holy Ghost's Disco Dub)

4.Sneak Thief- My Sullen Mistress

5.Michoacan-Sabor
6.Mekon ft. Rita Brown-Boy Bitten (Padded Cell Remix)
7.The Emperor Machine-Pop Goes the Spaceman
8.A Number of Names-Shari Vari
9.Black Devil Disco Club-I Regret the Flower Power
10.Tussle-Disco D'oro (Munk Mix)
11.Neighbourhood Romeo-Thighs
12.J.J. Fuchs-stick it in t' middle
13.Rework-Jogging Beat (Roman Fluegel's Tender Feet Mix)
14.Sharpe and Numan-Change your Mind
15.Metro Area-Erodyne
16.Dubious- Field Trip (Electronic Boogie Band Remix)
17.Elmore Judd-Disco in 4 Pieces
18.Kaos-Feel Like I Feel
19.Outhud-dad, there's a little thing called too much information
20.Invisible Conga People-Cable Dazed

Tried to stay thematic with this one. It goes back and forth between some ultra classy cocktail dance jams and some tripper disco stuff...hence the title. I've kinda been on a kick with this stuff as of late. 95% of the time, moving forward is just about picking up on the right point in the past at the right time, right? It's crazy thinking about how every little piece of cultural detritus has a relative velocity within the context of a given time period...and how when the climate is right, certain bits suddenly become primed for a major reinsertion into the here and now...whip up some minor repackaging, attach it to a currently buzzing cultural beacon (a person, a scene,a venue, a movie, 3 seconds of a drumbreak,etc.) and then bam...threads of stagnant aesthetic thought/energy are once again flowing through networks...and things manifest...

That being said, I'm really hoping the lens shifts away from all this electro-noise and bratty indie rock and stuff like this finally blows up on the same level. With DFA and now Italians Do It Better getting a lot of press in America, I'm getting the feeling that this type of vibe could finally creep out from the realm of the elite record nerdus and into broader stretches of cooldom.

Also...I've sat on a little top albums 07 list for a month now and it keeps reminding me that it needs to go somewhere where eyes might chance upon it. I actually ended up compiling my 2006 one in Mid-March of last year like that was somehow remotely acceptable behavior...so yeah, this is an improvement actually, even though I didn't get around to posting it until now. Again, I'm the first to admit that I've never been doing this "the right way" in the first place. Lord knows I would love to just launch into all of that for like 3 pages as usual, but as far as I see it, all the backpedaling in the dark doesn't help either so fuck it...it is what it is...an attempt at defragmenting my internal world by filtering yours. Just know that I wouldn't bother if I didn't have all kinds of tastemaker creed. Anyway, on with it.

Top albums of 07
---------------------------

Reiterating what they already told you:

LCD Soundsystem-Sound of Silver
Panda Bear-Person Pitch

Caribou-Andorra
Burial-Untrue
Radiohead-In Rainbows
Chromatics-Night Drive

Personal Picks:

Carlos Nino and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson-Fill the Cup Shaped Heart

Cinematic Orchestra-Ma Fleur
Efdemin-Efdemin

Eats Tapes-Dos Mutantes

Thomas Fehlmann-Honigpumpe

Kalabrese-Rumpelzirkus
Eluvium-Copia
Stars of the Lid-And Their Refinement of the Decline
Black Moth Super Rainbow-Dandelion Gum
Brother Reade-Rap Music
Modeselektor-Happy Birthday

Skull Disco-Soundboy Punishments

Victor Bermon-Arriving at Night

Starkey-Street Bass Anthems 2

L Pierre-Dip

Some names to watch for in 08: Fake Blood, Hudson Mohawke, Mike Slott, Invisible Conga People, Treasure Fingers, Rustie

(BONUS!!!!)
Best Online DJ Mixes:

Starkey Dark Nights and Street Bass

Cut Copy So Cosmic

Jokers of the Scene-Disconnected 5

Rodion Lungomare Mixtape

SECOND BONUS! (The only two covers for singles that I can think of right now that were really doing it for me...)

For the most part, I'd say 2007 fel like an extension of all the 2005 and in 2006. (edit:haha, wow...yeah, looks like I managed to sum it up better than I can ever thought possbile!!!) Basically, on the broader side of things, even more regular people know about Justice, Chromeo, MIA, LCD, Hot Chip, Diplo, and Animal Collective. My favorite trends were the 8-bit resurgence, stark minimal disco, and the street bass sound. I'm curious as to what's next. There's a push for early 90's type stuff but I feel it's too premature. There's a lot of forced early house stuff that still doesn't sound "hot" to me...however, incorporating the primitive drum machine styles from early chicago/detroit stuff IS really starting to catch my ear, after I've been fairly neutral to that sound all my life. The good stuff though like Kevin Saunderson or Mike Dunn; I'm hating on the La Bouche/Snap! sounding tracks. I'm still not a big fan of 8 minute long 303 workouts either, but if you layer that syncopation with something melodic and engaging then I'll bite. Then there's the 4X4 bassline stuff outta the uk...maybe that could catch on here more and bleed into other genres. And things could get interesting if mainstream rappers start doing their thing over 130 bpms rather than some dude on Ableton so we can get some official raverap. It's probably more likely that there's gonna be a lot more sampling of dance music for 80 bpms though. Anyway...speculating...but hopefully some kid who sayy, likes Modular, Tempa and Border Community in equal parts, finds some sort of seamless logical connection between them and keeps me stoked on new tunage for another 365.

Oh wait...like 330 at this point. Somewhere in there...boi-yoi-yoi-yoi-yoinggg...

Yeah, here are some of my favorite music videos of the year (that I didn't post at some point).

Liars go Mouth of Madness v Lost Highway in a deathrace for the disembodied. Directed by Patrick Daughters, who also directed all those dope one take Feist videos.

Black Dice with the meltiest mediascramble of the year. It's like someone made a TV Carnage vid outta those TV Carnage vids. Drain Bamage!

Cyriak is king shit of all things internet. He's responsible for a very significant portion of the animated gifs you see circulating the web. I'm pretty sure I've randomly posted some of his stuff before. His approach is fairly lo-fi, but completely legit because it's so awesome conceptually. You can tell he just churns this stuff out by himself too, like he's making a desperate attempt to keep up with his own mind. That's always a good look, imo.

Here's the video he did for what had to be the re-edit of the year. He manages to squeeze an entire world out of 5 seconds of old Frank Valli clips. Awesome. Someone needs to give this guy a studio with a budget.

Cross-cultural toobin' is a small passion of mine. Chinese auto-tune+power-up noises+skeletal puppetry+ magical glitter+lush space botanicals+Thing n'Co+eyeballs galore= yet more fantastical awesomeness of which I totally approve.

From even deeper in the interbutts.

So, back in the day, did you ever begin to think you could get this raw with yer Mario Paint? Naw, you probably drew a couple crude dicks, spent 5 minutes trying to make a song out of meow meows and tugboat noises, and then put that shit down forever because you thought "man, this game sucks!"

Little did you know...it was YOU that was sucking all along...the least you could have done was like, suck awesomely like these dudes.

Oh, and they're called Shit the Bed. I'm pretty sure they had that going for them before it became the hot phrase that it is. Double whammy.

more jokes...that last one reminded me of it...weezy and kanye made ridiculous, but definitely on point enough for it to really hit...too many retarded quotables to even list.

Alright, kinda got off topic. Back to real deal videos. I feel this one should have been made a long time ago, but maybe this x-ray camera deal is some sort of new technology? Regardless, it's utilized to great effect; this doesn't come off as gimmicky and it looks amazing.

Patrick Watson-The Great Escape.

this one does me in every time...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, I'm spent...see why I don't blog?...I make it into an ordeal every time...plus I haven't done it for so long...I'm feelin mad outta shape here...anyhow...enjoy...I'm gonna go sprawl out on the bleachers and dream about Funyuns or something...see you next time I make an attempt at getting my shit together...

R.A.M. III: Hello, Fluorescent World

2007-11-01T23:55:00.000-07:00

DJ Scallywag- Hello, Fluorescent World

1.Braun & The Mob- da pluster up (aller a...ist schwer)
2.Jamie Lidell-When I Come Back Around
3.James Figurine-Ruining The Sundays
4.Cut Copy-Future
5.Casco-Cybernetic Love
6.Console-14 Zero Zero
7.Modeselektor-Silikon (Serious Mo Rmx)
8.Morgan Geist-Most of All
9.Alex Smoke-Never Want To See You Again
10.Dntel-This Is The Dream Of Evan & Chan (Superpitcher Remix)
11.Minotaur Shock-Mistaken Tourist
12.Hot Chip-The Warning
13.Burnto Bertolucci-Bake Me Dome Tonight
14.Modeselektor-Vote Or Die
15.Tricky Disco-Tricky Disco (Plone Remix)
16.Ulrich Schnauss-In All The Wrong Places
17.machinedrum- offs (cassis wings remix by Secede)
18.Johannes Heil-Last
19.I Am The Robot And Proud-Osaka (Girls Are Short)
20.Computer Rockers-Green Screen (DMX Krew Remix)
21.Solid Groove & Sinden-Overbooked
22.Spac Hand Luke-Psycho
23.Daedelus-Samba Legrand
24.Cut Copy-Time Stands Still
25.machinedrum-cherokee lectro mix by Acid Wolf
26.Copy-Like a Turtle
27.Mobius Band-The Loving Sounds Of Static (Junior Boys Remix)

Hello, internet.

So if you don't read the words gathered in this here scramblepatch, then do yourself a favor and skip this. I'm just trying to talk my way out of an imaginary corner that I may or may not have painted my way into...however I made a mix that sounds nice and/or good. You should check that out.

If you do read this then, well, I hope you weren't too confused by that last one. I was in a bit of a tizzy when I wrote it and threw in some of that patented mobius logic for shits and gigs. Who knows what I've been aiming for by doing that. But honestly, without sarcasm or spin or unsubstantiated weirdness, these are the details on my current situation.

1. I'm moving to New York tomorrow. This has been in the works for some time and the best reason I can come up with is "because it's something that I need to do." I know, right? But I'm actually dead serious about that being the case...logistics be damned. So yeah, this is probably the ballsiest thing I have done in my young life. Or maybe the most retarded. Or possibly even the best? We shall see...

2. I'm most likely going on a substantial blog hiatus because I will be needing to get my shit together on the non-internet front. I will try and be semi-good about the Scumcasts though, if time allows.

3. I'm not gonna finish R.A.M II. In case you remember me mentioning it, it's this mix that I've been futzing with on and off for a long ass time...like at least a year and a half. I've already built it up to near completion only to dismantle it and start from scratch...twice.

But just in case you were wondering, it was called Intravenous Digitalis and it involved a lot of caustic idm-style music interspersed with snippets about human progress, technological integration/paranoia, and ideas about the universe. Like, stuff about viewing life as a self-preserving program with a seemingly inescapable trajectory towards combining and complicating...or some things regarding the idea of purpose as it relates to the aggregate of data we accumulate as a species, and then pondering how that knowledge is being assimilated and interpreted in the collective sub-quantum repositories on which our reality is erected...and of course, plenty of things revolving around our inability to deny the selfish animalism embedded in our survival coding, and how that fact, combined with our current means to manipulate the natural world on a global scale, seems to inevitably put us on a crash course towards one dismal ass future...

::cough:: so yeah, fun stuff like that. You can probably see why trying to tackle something like this could make me get exponentially weirder, huh? But I finally (FINALLY!) realized that not only is all this head-churning, asymptote-overload bizz way too much for just a "mixtape"... it's also waaaay too much for me to really try and effectively communicate at this point in my life. Maybe one day when I am more established, and technically adept, I will be able to do justice to the concept without sounding like a nutbar. But from this point forward, I gotta focus on the here and now. Things that I can actually benefit from. This little tangent is the only piece of that endeavor that'll see the light of day.

All that being said, I conceived of this project as a 3-parter. I've actually had the third one done for at least a year. Needless to say, it's much simpler in scope, just a collection of songs I was digging at the time that were in some way computery, but still had a strong emotional component. There's also a heavy boy/girl undercurrent to it too. The highs and the lows. Actually, a lot of highs in this one surprisingly...there's a string of 5 or 6 songs in the middle there that sound, like, mind-bogglingly optimistic. That's why it was the last one, to kind of pad the hecticity of the middle one with a bit of hope. Anyway, I really should have let this one loose at the time, but right now is a pretty decent "release date" too, considering my sitch. It shouldn't sound too dated, simply because there are some really great songs on it. Enjoy.

Here we go...headfirst into the unknown.

Scumcast! 5

2007-10-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Get it?

Cause it's the 5th Scumcast!...and I'm still "a-live!"...and like, bang! the pope!

.....

meh, 2 outta 3 ain't bad.

Scumcast! 5

1.Adventure Time- This Dome Is Our Home
2.Zongamin- Tunnel Music
3.Chin Chin- Appetite (A Chicken Lips Dub)
4.Olav Brekke and Sideshow Jogge- Gul Boss
5.Mock and Toof- Brown Bred
6.Smith and Hack-Falling Stars
7.The Beat Broker-Get Down On Love (Dub Mix)
8.Bang Gang-It's Alright (62 French Girls Can't Be Wrong Remix)
9.A Certain Ratio-Knife Slits Water
10.Joakim-Come into my Kitchen
11.New York City Survivors-The Game
12.I-F - Space Invaders are Smoking Grass(Alden Tyrell Edit)
13.The Octopus Project-Mmaj
14.Dominik Eulberg-Adler
15.Secondo-Unstedt (Secondo Reshuffle)
16.Swayzak-Blufarm
17.Odyssey-Who

I tend to describe what I did in the mix here, don't I? A-hwellll...it starts off with that retro futuristic stylee...so there's some oddball disco, some jams that are heavy on the arpeggiator, that type of thing. Then I got that depraved look in my eye again there for a second before shaking it off with some nice "listening" techno.

Other than that, again, sorry for the lack of random nonsense on here. What can I say? Yes, I'm a total derelict. I'm definitely in "blog limbo" for the second time, and I'm pretty sure that that's just a subsidiary of a much larger man/boy limbo deal that I've been wrestling with for far too long.

But it's cool, it's taught me a few things.

In a nutshell, I've learned that my personality mixed with the concept of having to fill some abstract, boundless marketing criteria makes for some strange ass results...especially when you never take the time to even try and define said box. I think the only rule I've been running with is "well, it's the internet...so it's not really real... so why not loon the fuck out!"

Basically, I figured it'd be fun to exploit some neurotic tendencies by projecting them into an exaggerated persona. This would, in turn, serve as a bit of promotion for the mixes I was doing and make them semi-useful, right? Yeah well, I think even nurturing these things knowingly has had some errr...adverse effects. Most of the time I think I've said too much. Sometimes I feel I'm in too deep (like Omar Epps). But I'm fairly sure I've embarrassed myself on more than a couple of occasions and I'll probably never even know it. I guess I thought my blatant disregard for proofreading or spell-checking was somehow endearing in a rag tag sort of way. Looking back, ind it kind of obnoxious. The wonders of a disposable medium, ey?? Oh wellz.

Actually, I think the biggest reason I've stopped is not so much that I care about coming off as a nut, but rather because my business cards do actually say DJ Scallywag. I'm thinking it might have cost me a few potential regular folk dj jobs at this point, due to some unwanted googling. Seriously, I actually started laughing to myself when I finally realized, "hey that blog is the first thing to pop up. That could kinda make it like a resume in a sense, huh? doot da doot da doooo......oh...ohhhh shit."

I'm sure my myspace page hasn't helped either...but since I'm about to change it, I'd also like to say that for the past half a year or so, it was intentionally set-up to look like "some hipster shit" at first glance, then "some anti-hipster shit" if you actually delve into it, complete with yet another degree of alienation and retaliatory commodification. I find the whole denial spiral thing attached to these established stereotypes to be pretty fascinating, not to mention all the snowflake syndrome stuff. I tried to address that in my own weird way. At this point, I feel like I could go on and on with little theories as to how these current trends will grow culturally, but since they are pretty much ultimately pessimistic, it's not too important to me right now. Speaking of which, there's also a lot of bonus material in there too, mostly of the bleak and confusing variety, so peep the insanity while it lasts. Oh and there's another huge reason why I haven't been doing this anymore...the real biggest actually...but I think I'll just leave that for next time.

ANYway, so back to the subject...I can't approach this blog like it's the fractured byproduct of my existential puttering anymore. Also, I feel like sometimes I cheapen artist's mp3s with my scattershot ramblings and general lack of focus. So, I'm stripping it down to just mixes for the foreseeable future. That was my initial goal anyway and the only thing I tend to not be wildly irresponsible with. As of right now, I'm actually looking to come off as the approachable, well-balanced, T-Pain-loving American that I pretend to be when working in real life. Terrible, right?

(Hahaaaaa! No it's brilliant! So what, did I like, finally win or something?!? What's my prize??? No more ridiculously self-involved, pseudo-intellectual bullshit to wade through?!? An actual attempt at furthering your creative endeavors without shooting yourself in the foot every time? Yeah, Ok! Sure! I'll take it! As in starting now! That is, unless you want to claim that all of your previous syntactical nightmares have actually been made to look that way on purpose? Or that all of your failed attempts at coming off as clever or cool were actually meant to be perceived as such? Hmmm? -Ed)

Oh what up, broooo!!! Hey, I'm glad you popped in because I've been wanting to tell YOU something!

Dude, you are seriously the weakest, most obvious gimmick ever. Honestly, who the hell would be like "oh yeah, you've got some random blog that you only manage to take half seriously? Sweeeet! I was totally thinking of starting one of those too...but instead, can I just like, edit yours and talk shit about you the whole time?" Haaah. Yeah, okay! I mean, if that WERE the case, I might even kinda understand why you were such a dick. You're like, the worst editor ever! I'd be super bitter. But unfortunately, because you aren't even a believable construct, all you've ever really done was make me look marginally crazier. Plus, you're right, I just admitted that I'm actually sane as fuck...so hey congratulations...you've got nothing on me! Anyhow, I still can't believe I edited out that part where I killed you sometime last year. So hey, guess what?

Now you die for reals.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

thinkthinkthinkthinkthinkthinkthinkthinkthinkthink!!!

( for good this time...at least on the internet. -Ed)

I run the self-deprecating humor around here, fool! Ka-boom!!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whooooo....noiyce.

hey, so check me out!

::wipes chunks of imaginary rainbow-flavored brain matter off of face...then busts a slick little spin move/jazz hands combo::

Super Employable!

Unnnnnnnhhhhhhhh!!!!!

PS. Serious though, model citizen...1-2-3 Go! :)

Endless Baleria...

2007-09-02T18:45:00.000-07:00

Scumcast...Turbo Edition!

Scumcast! 4: Endless Baleria...

1.Lovebirds-Modern Stalking
2.Tangoterje- Diamonds Dub
3.Blackbelt Andersen-Sandoz
4.Sorcerer-Hawaiian Island
5.U-tern-Daft Punk Vs. Gwen Guthrie
6.Stardust-Music Sounds Better With You (Miami Horror Remix)
7.Stockholm Cyclo-Sticky
8.David Joseph-You Can't Hide
9.Putsch 79- Doin It (Daniel Wang Remix)
10.Blackjoy-Moustache Diskodub
11.Tony Allen- Ole (Moritz Von Oswald Remix)
12.Business Man-Dubby Games
13.Metro Area-Caught Up
14.Lindstrom and Prins Thomas-Suppegjok
15.Induceve-Jazz Chops
16.Diesler-La Playas
17.Daniel Wang-Unhouse
18.Anja Schneider & Sebo K-Rancho Relaxo
19.Jona-Full Pool
20.Jurgen Paape-So Weit Wie Noch Nie
21.Lazyboy-Police Dogs Bonfire
22.Hot Chip-Colours(Fred Falke Remix)
23.Pepe Braddock-Deep Burnt
24.Beatfanatic-Jorden Skall Kala
25.Bent-Always

Sooo, seeing as how me and time haven't exactly been seeing eye to eye lately, I'm guessing right now might thee perfect time to drop a summertime megamix...but ay, I guess that's kind of the point of summer, right?

Anyhey, about a month ago, I figured I'd make an attempt at scoring a ton of cool points by doing an Ibiza-style mix. You know, something invoking white sand, exotic lotions, oversized sunglasses, hours of casual fist-pumping, eternal bliss via self involvement and indifference, etc, etc. And I did actually intend to set about working on it that way, but as you might have guessed, the idea of doing an all day eurotanning sesh mix just for the ""context of it all"" wore thin pretty quickly (like after two or three songs really).

So instead I tried to cobble together an island beach party vibe using stuff I genuinely like from a couple different genres, doing my best to bridge the whole chill out beach thing with stuff that actually sounds good when it enters your ears. In the end, I opted for some classier jams, but there is still a decent amount of guilty pleasure kitsch in there. Oh, and we're rolling with the original title, Endless Baleria, as well because hey...I've got the re-emergence and subsequent co-opting of said pan-atlantic buzzword ALL figured out.

You know how it is, when you are real busy being too cool for words and all the sudden the blog house and electro ease up a bit and those previously abrasive textures take a sudden turn for the smooth. It's like you have no choice but to turn to the asshole next to you and go, "woOOOow, it's getting like, massively Balearic in here...u wanna go do another bumpy, ba-bro brah?"

I mean, that's just how it works in the 07, right? Right?!? Of course it does. But yeah, to all my twenty-something yacht rockers the world over, just know that the title was kept for your enjoyment. Here's to the cycle coiling in on itself once more!

But serious, curiously misdirected ranting aside, if you do find yourself beach or poolside on Labor Day, then try bumping this as the sun is starting to set...

Scumcast! 3D

2007-08-15T23:52:00.000-07:00

Scumcast! 3D

Tracklist:
1. Chromatics-Hands in the Dark
2. Escort-All That She Is
3. Crystal Castles-Crimewave
4. Rodion-Love Tongue
5. The Juan Mclean-Every Little Thing
6. Diskjokke-Flok i Farta
7. Kango's Stein Massiv-Tobakk
8. Rhythm King and Her Friends-I Am Disco (mia rmx)
9. Federico Franchi- Cream ( Franchi Alternative Mix)
10.M.I.A.-Bamboo Banga
11.Von Sudenfed-Fledermaus Can't Get Enough
12.In Flagranti- nonplusultra (Sex Schon Remix)
13.Proxy-Din Dah (Sleazy V Re-Edit)
14.Zzt-Lower States of Consciousness
15.St Plomb- A Bat in my Shoe
16.Worthy-Irst Te (Christian Martin Remix) and
17.Modeselektor-Black Block (Scallywag's Three Men and A Bay Bay Remix)
18.Burial-Exit Wounds
19.Armand Van Helden-NYC Beat (Emperor Machine Remix)
20.Panico-Lupita (Zongamin Remix)
21.Senor Coconut (feat Towa Tei)-Mambo Numerique

Remember that game "telephone" we'd all play back in the day during snack time or juice time or since like, the dawn of time? Where someone would whisper something and you'd whisper what they said in the next persons ear all the way down the line and the last person said what they were told and it was usually something totally different?

Yeah, I loved being the one to twist the words around too. Y'know, for posterities sake. Just to do my civic duty in skewing the lens a little further. I'm wondering if these Scumcast deals could be a little extension of that? Only this time, I get to whisper sweet nothings into every single link in the chain. Ahhhhh...

(Inner)Peace through subversion? I'd like to think so.

This time we started off oh so collected with the austere sleekness, then things managed to turn comfortably sinister for awhile before resurfacing with a bit of the worldliness I was leaning towards from the get go. The live aspect got bypassed this month, mainly because it was late at night and I was trying to quietly brainstorm with the Ableton and some headphones and things just sorta went from there. I tried to make amends for that by throwing in a little bit of extra digital wankery. That ying yang twins/david banner/hurricane chris medley is my first and last attempt at doing the "name your mashup!" thing. It's track 17. Give yourself a good minute to soak up all the levels on that one.

Seriously, I retire undefeated from the game...maybe not sonically (the qual on the banner acapella was pretty shammy), but uh, titularly?!? No contest.

("Ay Bay Bay's Day Out" was another contender...but I felt it was a little too obscure/not at all relevant to anything...except for how much I miss watching guys like Joe Pesci or Joe Mantegna or any Joe Sicily types getting caught up in the screwball antics...only not really...pretty much just for the purposes of saying that right there I guess...actually, I think i just wanted to claim a little Baby's Day Out...man, that little dude just kept on crawling his way out of trouble there, didn't he?...foiling capers and shit..oh and you know John Hughes wrote that movie?...guess he knew he had a good thing going with the whole bumbling criminal thing after Home Alone...dude also wrote the story for Maid in Manhattan apparently...so yeah, if you want to reminisce something fierce, then check out his IMDB from before '91. Soooo many classics!)

Yeah, talking about stuff is great....

Which brings me to my next topic: this fuk-ging blooooogggggggg-gu-gu-gu-guuuuuhh...

Yeah, looks like I am suck at doing this again...at least in terms of frequency or volume or circumference. I still can't figure out if that's a good or bad thing. I mean it's all good fun to sit around and talk to yourself about whatevs, whenevs (I know, thats why crazy people do it all the time! -Ed) but I feel I've pretty much proven that part already...of this vague point I've been trying to make...to myself. That might not make a lot of sense...

Maybe the whole "splayed out thought process" approach was too much. From now on it'll be all subtlety and coded expression. Trust me, it'll make me seem so much cooler. Watch, I'll reel in all these tangents and keep it all packaged and discrete, all while angling this shit a little harder at your preconceptions by feeding you exactly what you are trying to buy into. You'll get totally caught up in the mystique. That way, when you are fully primed, anxiously willing to really listen, the sudden onslaught of overwhelming beauty/despair will resonate that much deeper, maybe even freeing/frying your emotional core...forever??

Then we'll all have much more in common, yeah? :)

Anyway, I just want to show you some stuff. Radio silence. Startiiiiiiing.....now.

Visualati Substantia (Redux)

2007-07-21T19:26:00.000-07:00

I feel like I've been drabbing it up real hard over here with all this typing and pouting and what have you, so today is mondo picture day. It's been awhile, and I've got a ton of great things to choose from, so this might be very reminiscent of those monster posts from yesteryear. Not to say that I've really gotten much better, but hey now. Can't you tell I'm all about the overkill? It's all or nothing.

(And by "all" I guess I he just means larger doses of half-acidness. -Ed)

Yeah, well you know what, I'm gonna let the art do the talking today. But speaking of half-assing it (^^^this guy thinks he's clever...) , I also toyed around with the template a little...tried to make things look a little poppier or zippier or zangier or some shit. So yeah, let me know if that's giving you a headache. I'm thinking I might just make everything grue and bleen, and have the whole page strobing violently fast...cuz that's the color of magic!

Anyway, fire up those eyeballs.

James Jean

This guy is pretty much my favorite artist right now. So amazingly versatile. I can't wait to see what happens next.

The Vader Project

Some favs...

Jim Koch

Shag

Plastic God

d'Holbachie-Yoko

RMND

Kristian Olson

MR. Oppositeface

Audrey Kawasaki

Thymann

Tim Hawkinson

Theo Jansen

One gripe...what's up with that lil' lo-fi jazz interlude? Kinda like, ummm ok...

Other than that, quite an inspirational cross-pollination of disciplines, yeah?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phew! OK, I'm cutting myself off. It is now time to go watch 2 robots and their friends make an entire arena full of people go absolutely insane. Yesssssssss!

Daft Punk-Human After All (Sebastian Remix)

Daft Punk-Technologic (Basement Jaxx Remix)

Ratatat-Goose

Edit: yeah, so that once again confirmed my suspicion...one of the best possible experiences in life is to be surrounded by people and then collectively releasing ridiculous quantities of positive energy and elated thought...and to be instructed to do so by lords of the man-machine mind meld via 4/4 love and intradigital telepathy? Wow. Undeniable.

Note To Self: look into streetwear that is fully equipped with state-of-the-art fiber optic wizardry such that every day folks can rocket minds out of cranial cavities with the skin-peeling velocity usually reserved for ejector seats and/or space travel. 2008 will be the Year of the Technicolor Dreamcoat!

Scumcast! 2

2007-07-09T21:48:00.000-07:00

Y'know we lookin' fly man/
Peculiar Purple Pie Man/
Lasers shoot out my eyes that straight up re-attach yo' hymen/

Check Checkuh 1-2. A-Mickey Mickey Mickey Mouse, Rock the House.

Scumcast Round Two ba-buh-buh-baby! jyeeeah....

Scumcast! 2

1.Kilo-Paradiso
2.Thomas Fehlmann-Schaum
3.Kalabrese-Hafenlied
4.White Magic-The Gypsies Came Marching After (Pocketknife's Silk, Wool, and Rust Remix)
5.In Flagranti-Bipolar
6.Escort-All Through The Night (The Rapture's Hush Hush Remix)
7.Lil Mama-Lip Gloss (Kid Fresh & Haterboy Refix)
8.M.I.A. feat Timbaland-Come Around (Eli Remix)
9.Diplo-Work Is Never Over
10.The Black Ghosts-Any Way (Fake Blood Remix)
11.Stanton Warriors-Pop Ya Cork
12.Kocky-Keep Ballin
13.Alex Smoke-Prima Materia (Abort Mix)
14.The Field-Silent

Subscribe to the Scumcast!

Again click that to subscribe with whatever you use. Also you can feed this xml to itunes or whatever you use. I'm accommodating like that.

http://www.djscallywag.com/Mixes/Scumcast!.xml

So yeah, another live mix for your ears, ranging from pretty new to brand spanking new joints. It's kind of a quick peak time party set wedged between some shimmery, hypnotic post-techno songs...so there's some stuff that's really detailed (yet hazy) and some stuff that beats you over the head.

Huh? Yep. I guess Scumcast's are gonna be crazy like that?

It actually turned out alright though...always curious to know what people think, by the way. I like feedback. I actually like constructive criticism even more. Don't be afraid to tell me my shit sucks if you can back it up with valid points. I encourage it.

(Yeah, c'mon people! It's so easy for me to call dude out on his shit that it barely even phases him anymore. Where are all you other condescending fuckheads at? -Ed)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In other news, I've convinced myself that I'm moving to New York at some point. It's pretty damn amazing. So many people from different walks of life just stacked right on top of each other...all this sensory info jampacked into every nook and cranny...plus not fucking with cars and the little bubble that that creates between you and the world...all of it is pretty invigorating.

Granted my whole trip was basically just a hardcore bender, but good things managed to occur. There was this whirlwind of awesomeness amidst all the massively intensive bev'n that kept me going strong. Towards the end, my blood literally felt like it was trying to leap outta my body... sort of like in The Thing when they do that blood test shit and all hell breaks loose. Such a sick movie. It was probably trying to stay there cause it knew I was leaving, right?

Serious though, shout outs to everybody that was accommodating. Apologies to the chick from Thunderheist for thinking it was ok to get up there and dance with you while you were performing. It's cool though, the security guard decided to choke me out for you after he dragged me off the stage. Also apologies to the girl in the makeshift bathroom at that loft party in BK. I thought the drapes they used as walls were pretty funny or fun or whatever. I guess I was so stoked about dropping that deuce that I felt obligated to tear da club up immediately afterwards (basically just punching the curtains while stomping around I think...). I didn't realize there was another "stall" directly adjacent. Your screams scared the fucking shit out of me!

(WE SOME HEADBUSSAS!!! WE SOME HEADBUSSAS!!! -ED)

But yeah, fun times were had. Only real complaints? Lots of flow was required (but I knew about that). Mostly, it was just the mug factor that was pretty intense. I'm dainty as fuck when it comes to temperature, and the humidity plus the sun beating down was a little much at times. Plus when you throw some of those hard wiffs from the subway in there...whooo boy. That gust of pure hot muggage that you get hit with on the first couple steps down into an entrance?!? Goddamn...that almost bowled me over a few times.

Also, there was this person on the subway that I can't stop thinking about and I was wondering if anybody knew more of his story.

We were in Manhattan, I think it was the E train, and I was super hung over/zoning out really hard, and all of the sudden this tattered old blind man comes limping in through the between car doors with a large husky type dog in tow. He had a microphone and an ancient looking speaker strapped to his hip, as well as all of these laminated newspaper clippings taped to his chest. I tried reading them a little, but I was still in a stupor and wasn't processing all too well. I remember one said something about glitches...glitch face or something. Anyway, after he entered he stood there for a second, all rickety and mangled, then proceeded to moan into his microphone. It wasn't just a moan though. It was the most somber, devastating wail I think I've ever heard, like a horribly drawn out death bed lament, only eerily melodic. Hearing it through the crackly old speakerbox gave it the strangest echoed out quality as well; there was a distance to it that was so haunting yet visceral, but he was standing right there, contorted like a zombie, eyes soaked in emptiness.

As he started to lurch forward I noticed that my friend, who was sitting on the opposite side of the train, had struck up a conversation with the lady sitting next to him. She had just put some money in the man's cup and was going on about how she sees him all the time and how she feels so bad for the dog. She said she works as a dog walker, and she could tell by how the dog walks with his tail between it's leg that it was very, very sad. Looking at the dog as it passed, I saw how it was shuffling along with heavy steps, almost dragging its paws. Its head was low to the ground and its eyes were focused on the floor. And yeah, she was right, it's tail was between it's legs, but more so then any dog I've ever seen. Its tail was literally buried between it's legs, like it had been pulled as far forward as possible and then stapled to its stomach. At the same time, it became pretty apparent that the lady was completely strung out. She kept nodding off while my friend was talking to her, swaying slightly and slurring her speech while her eyelids hovered at half-mast.

I was starting to reel as all of these feelings were hitting me at once, colliding with my previous drone state, fucking up my head. Then all of the sudden, the wave of polarity eased up slightly, just enough for me to snap back into the moment. Maybe it was because the box was actually a foot away from my face at this point, spewing its mess of sound directly at me. I leaned in and I swear I could hear a seemingly lucid speaking voice trapped in the white noise. There was a half-formed murmur, some scattered makings of a message trying to cross planes, but I just couldn't make out the words; They were buried too deep, lost in a wash of static and hiss amidst the rhythm of subway tones. I looked up to see if the man was really trying to communicate with me, trying desperately to tell me that he knew exactly what he was doing here, that he completely understood the gravity of what it was he was trying to show everyone - the reason he persisted - but he just kept shuffling forward with his neck swiveling sideways back and forth and his mouth slung low and crooked and his eyes wobbling around clouded and aimless in their sockets. Everybody else on the train kept to themselves as he passed by.

I've lived in LA my whole life and have seen and dealt with plenty of derelicts and crazies in my day, and while they are all difficult to deal with emotionally, I usually don't dwell on them. Still, everything about this man was so intensely world-weary yet still forcefully present that I can't decide if I saw a ghost, or a living monument to the true depths of human sadness.

I figure if he's a regular on the subway then somebody has seen him and read those clippings he had dangling from his torso. I was curious as to what they say or if anybody knows anything about this guy or if he's just one of many fractured souls that you can't help but mentally phase out while living there...y'know, in order to maintain some sort of positive outlook about how real life relates to our well-meaning but logically delusional feelings regarding universal morality/karma.

Anyway, I just want to know more and I really hope someone with a more poetically inclined delivery has done this guy justice. He needs a Hubert Selby or William Vollmann level of empathetic understanding.

...

Soooo...anybody in the mood for some mp3s?

Peder-ache

Peder-timetakesthetimetimetakes

I guess I got caught up in the wonders of melancholy there for a sec. Here's some top notch moodiness courtesy of Peder off Ubiquity (a consistently great label that I guess is isn't really "indy" enough to be "blogworthy"). Peder is a part of OG production/remix team, The Prunes. As in really dope remix on the Beastie Boy's Sure Shot Ep back in the day Prunes. Or all over the classic Mo Wax Headz 2 compilation, remixing DJ Krush in his prime Prunes. These are from his new solo album, "And He Just Pointed To The Sky". Yeah, how on point is that for a title of a somber record?

Black Moth Super Rainbow-Sun Lips

Black Moth Super Rainbow-Rollerdisco

These guys also have really nice melodic leanings that I'd say are steeped in melancholy, only their brand of it has been sandblasted with psychedelics in order to maintain some semblance of bliss. And they got the always crucial P-Fizzy review so you know Internet Town is lit up with positive approval. Sun Lips is a gorgeous whirling lobotimizer that has been scorched with a pleasantly grating emphasis on blaring tonality. Rollerdisco is the inferred intersection between old school Boards of Canada and overdosing a few times too many.

Dj Lobsterdust-Baby Arrow (Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells V Album Leaf V The Carpenters)

Best straight mash-up I've heard since Flosstradamus's Twista Versus Sigur Ros or Cosmo Baker's Applause Riddim Versus Papa Was A Rolling Stone. Super choice combo with the key's matching like gloves (plus some lovely bonus humming courtesy of the Carpenter's). Lobsterdust is an awesome dj name, btw. It's up there with DJ Rumpelforeskin, only with a 5-MEO-DMT nod.

Ohzz, and also, I love how much shit gets talked on mash-ups, yet how kinda necessary they are if you are trying to make a name for yourself as a dj. Especially considering that the difference between a mash-up and sampling is basically how far you strive to make both elements recognizable in a pop culture sense. If it's obscure, it's sampling. If it's old, it's sampling. But if it's recognizable or was released fairly recently, it's looked down on (yet eaten up at the same time). Yes, I know the main reason there's a stigma is because it is so easy to make a shitty one and there are tons of them, but as far as branding goes, shit still seems to be very lucrative.

Back to the subject, look at Kanye, who pulled a super cheap shot with the Daft Punk sample for his new single, even though it is conceptual gold as far as pulling in the whole indy market that I'm sure he became intently set on after being burned by Justice at the MTV Europe awards, and then catching on to a couple of the ins and outs (most likely via A-Trak). It's an empty power move, but considering how high profile he is makes it genius in a business sense...like a certain hollow kind of genius that can't be denied because that's just how our world works...but hey, I'm sure Daft Punk was more than happy to take his money. I mean, it's not like they got a new album coming out or anything. The just got zeitgeisted back into the fray because of an awesome awesome stage show.

Ginny-Can't Be Serious

This could soo work as the Scarface End Credits Theme. A slow motion Pacino/Phife Dawg montage would kill this shit! Or even better, a music video with random business dude tied to a chair,a cloth around his mouth, and Ginny with the big hair and pink fog machine action acting all hard like she's gonna execute his ass while he squirms and sweats. Instead, she just feigns all kinds of sinister, kinda grinding on him and slapping him around a little while going back and forth between him and her girlsquad to throw down some hot steps. Mane tossing abound.

Strategy-Running On Empty

This is a great forward thinking fusion of downtempo and dub inflected beats that's nice and clean but somehow not innocuous. Ohh, I'm kinda loaded and just typing a bunch of hooey now.

Ennio Morricone-Cavallina A Cavallo

Ennio, one of the greatest composers evaaaaaaa. Here he is forgoing all that cinematic grandeur in favor of some bubbly light-heartedness. It's like a combo of 70's porn music and detergent commercial jingles. Nice!

Jimmy Ross-First True Love (Larry Levan Mix)

Ok, but sirius. New York was dope and lived up to my internal hype after fetishizing it's culture for so so long. Here's some real deal realness courtesy of the don of NY flavor. Has he been called the Quincy Jones of Disco? Cause that could be a good claim. Man I feel like I've made a lot of claims tonight. Whatever. I'll deal with it later. PUBLISHHHHHHHH.

777ULTRABLISSOUT777

2007-07-07T19:30:00.000-07:00

Hey. What's up.

Sooo, a little recap on today. I wasn't rocking a powdery white tuxedo and top hat combo...I didn't have some stunning fem dressed in victorian garb at my side...there was no gigantic lake nestled high in the clouds...it wasn't filled with cream soda and giant sherbert mounds...and we definitely didn't get to peddle around it in a little foot powered watercraft shaped like a swan, giddy with the majesty of it all.

Instead it was grey outside all day and now I have to go and play "party like a rockstar" for a bunch of people that don't actually like music...just collective acknowledgement.

:/

Fuck. I actually gotta get going.

Ok then, well I'll post the new Scumcast! I recorded tomorrow(ish). Here's a good jam for today.

Dondolo- Fluffy Angel

X

2007-06-19T23:03:00.000-07:00

I'm a little curious as to the logic behind The Hype Machine (how they filter, how they choose what blogs end up on the front page, and so on) because half the time my posts don't show up there, and when they do they end up on page 6. I'm assuming some sort of hierarchy is in place. Not that I deserve a higher spot, but still, I've chopped up one of my shitstorms into 3 parts so that it looks a little bit more like what normal people posts tend to look like (even though I did the damn thing in one sitting as usual). I'm just gonna try and give off the illusion that I didn't do this the retarded way for once. Oh and for the record, I assume this tendency has something to do with always procrastinating with writing papers or doing projects for school and then churning them out at the very last minute (and I say always as in "every single time ever")...that's managed to translate into blogging. Pitiful!

But yeah, meat. substance. not semantics. I will just say real quick that I'm leaving for New York tomorrow for the first time in my life and my pump is through the roof and a good portion of the trip is gonna be funded by selling a bunch of First Generation Transformer toys on Ebay after they have been kicking it in my parents attic for the past 15 years or so and I think this act has got to entail some sort of symbolic representation of my existence in a wierd way. Also I've had diarhhea for the past month. Anyway, if anybody from New York has some suggestions as to where it's going down at night, please feel free to let me know! Fridays a toss up between Yo Majesty and Tim Sweeney and Saturday is a Trouble and Bass event at Tim "Love" Lee's party in Brooklyn.

OK, um I'm gonna get high now because it doesn't feel like this thing is gonna write itself today.

...

(I guess that means he's getting high right now. Kinda explains why he's so random with the ellipses. Kinda. -Ed)

::cough:: YO LES DO DIS!

I'd say this is the funniest internet thing I've seen this month. Seriously, stick with it.

I gotta give it up to this one on multiple levels. I mean, if I was an avid churchgoer and my youth minister played this for me, I'd probably be genuinely tickled in the way they intended me to be. But I've got an aunt and uncle who are TBN power preacher status now with Porsches and facelifts so I've got that level too. Even the jumbo sized version that dude rocks couldn't handle all of my "Why's"...

100% Pure Highsauce. This makes me miss Wondershowzen...

Warning! These next 2 videos could be too awesome for your own good. This is from some movie that I really want to see now...

And this is more exploding psychology from Sekitani. This is a video for a group called Obakejaa. Ahhh, my mind has been scissored with funshine!

Some ultravans from Japan. They all tend to have those spikes, btw. The comment that I remember from wherever I got this?

"Yo, where all the tentacle-rape-themed vans at?"

Seriously!

Ok, music blog mode, GO! Here's the video for the first single for MIA's new ish. More of that lo-fi colorblast stuff that I've been claiming, only this is done with an early 90's Afrojamaican aesthetic. Is afrojamaican a real term? I figure its gotta be, right? Anyway this is cool.

Justice Essential Mix

Here's the essential mix that Justice did for Radio One. A lot of old school stuff and influences mixed together with their sound. I was pretty impressed. Here were my favorite tracks minus that Syreeta Wright jam because I don't have it. I really liked how they mixed back and forth from stress into that zzt-lower states song, it breaks up the monotony of it a little. Zzt is Zombie Nation and Tiga and they're gonna release the song shortly. Considering the names behind it and how many times I've heard people play Higher State of Consciousness in the last year, I'm assuming it'll be huge.

Alan Braxe and Fred Falke- In Love With You

AKA the other other Daft Punk.

Chic- Everybody Dance

Chic had way more to offer than just Le Freak and Good Times.

M83-Run Into Flowers (Midnight Fuck Remix by Jackson)

At least these guys acknowledge Jackson and his Computer Band, because he did end up doing what they are doing first. They tend to do it better though. Dancier and less randomness just for the sake of it. Also can't wait for a new M83 album. In a year maybe?

Dabrye-Game Over (Flying Lotus Remix)

Flying Lotus's beats have been steadily progressing towards greatness. Warp took notice and signed him. 1983 was cool, but I have a feeling this dude is just getting started.

pear

2007-06-19T23:00:00.000-07:00

(note: I figure I might get cease and desisted while I'm away so I'm putting these on a yousendit just so I don't end up getting sued to pieces while I'm gone. Or wait, no, I found these on yousendit so I decided to link to them. Yeah.)

Anyway, this portion is dedicated to dudes from my teenage years that are still throwing down even after I thought I could right em off.

Chemical Brothers-The Salmon Dance Feat. Fatlip

So I figure you'll either love or hate the first one. I've always had a soft spot for Fatlip after seeing him spill his guts to Spike Jonze on that What's up Fatlip documentary. I recommend seeing it, if only for the no joke tranny recap. But yeah, I mean joke-y songs usually only got like one or two listens in them, but this shit is dope. It's full of bleepy goodness. That bass that kicks in when Sammy mentions Japan? Unnh! But mostly I just want "The Salmon" to catch on in the club. That would be awesome.

Chemical Brothers-The Pills Won't Help you now feat. Midlake

And if that one doesn't prove that these guys are still paying attention, then this should at least let you know that they still know how to make a great song. They get cred points for pulling Midlake, but regardless, this song is wonderful. Plus I assume if you were huge into the Chemical Brothers in 94 then you realize how true this song rings at this point. Fuck knows I do. The new album, We Are The Night, drops July 2nd.

Beastie Boys- The Rat Cage

Beastie Boys- Freaky Hijiki

So this new instrumental Beastie Boys album just kinda crept out of nowhere. I was depressed by how shitty "To the 5 Boroughs" was, considering that I loved every other Beastie Boys album and consider them one of my favorite acts of my teenage years. But dudes are old as hell so I'd really rather not have to watch them pull a muscle while trying to keep things all rambunctious anyway...and I REALLY don't want a whole album full of preachy filtered vocals.

This was the perfect move at this point. Not only that, but it's pretty damn good! It's funky as hell, raw, and its got a bit of their punk influence, as well as a lot of spacey vintage keys. Some backwards retrogear association thing is telling me that it sounds like a mix of the stuff that DC Recordings and Truth and Soul are putting out now. The In Sound from Way Out 2 may be a more logical way of looking at it though.

And because I've got nothing but opinions, I'm gonna claim Ill Communication as my fave. Licence to Ill may have had the biggest cultural impact and Paul's Boutique may be the most critically acclaimed and groundbreaking as far as sampling is concerned, but I'd say that Ill Communication had the best spread of irreverance, musicianship, and thoughtfulness. Plus in 8th grade, I rode around the city cramped in the trunk of an Explorer filled with like 8 high school kids, getting drunk and blasting Sure Shot for like 3 hours straight so done deal.

Oh it looks like the Beasties have a little blog too. Stole these clip from them.

In high school there was this one dude's house that was like the afterschool refugee camp for everybody that was destined to fail. I really wanted those type of guys to like me back then. I remember the grandma of the house was super senile and dudes would get high and start fucking with her mercilessly. One time she ate all the cigarette butts from the ashtray. I wasn't there but I heard everybody just sat around and laughed and encouraged her while she did it. Then she had to get her stomach pumped. You couldn't fuck with Grandma after that because I think it was made very clear that her social security paid the rent. But the dude's sister was like 15 at that point so everybody just ended up fucking with her instead. Get it?!?

Anyway, that place was terrible.

Sesame Street most certainly was not. Way hopeful. This has to be the funkiest a children's show has ever gotten. Goddamn, Stevie. And that one kid on the ledge?!? He's like my idol.

a mint

2007-06-19T22:56:00.000-07:00

Dizzee Rascal- Where's Da G's feat. UGK

Dizzee Rascal- Bubbles

Dizzee's got a new album, Maths and English, due out the 21st here in the US. UGK is on that bitch! These are my two favorites tracks from it.

Roll Deep-Celebrate (JME Remix)

Other then Dizzee and Wiley, I've pretty much completely fell off with the grimewatch now that the hype has faded. I was always basically just about the beats when it came down to it anyway, so dubstep and other uk bass stuff has been more up my alley. Skepta's verse on this is a good example of why. Something along the lines of "I'm in Roll Deep but I live in North London so I only see them on the weekends but I'm still in Roll Deep, I swear, even if it doesn't seem like it, so uhh...Young Jeezy." Is that how you're supposed to represent on a posse cut? I guess rhyming a word with same word all the time doesn't really do it for me. This track is still hard as fuck though. JME's got good uptempo stuff.

JME-Duppy

True Tiger-Bare Face What

Here's another good JME produced posse cut that's a little older as well as the instrumental for that Bare Faced Dynasty track from the Run the Road 2 comp. It's a big ass industrial track that gets mac truck'd by some sinister horns, but the eq sounds all kinds of fucked up on this version. I'm offering it up because I want to know if it was a shitty vinyl rip or if that's how it was pressed. I can't really hang with the original vocals, but i figured i might be able to throw some trick daddy over it or something. It's got a scene tag so I assume it's the engineer's fault, but I would love a cleaner, bassier version if it exists. Don't really expect an answer on this one though. (Yeah, I figured you knew that all the questions you pose end up rhetorical at this point -Ed)

But anyway, back to UGK, I know I ragged on International Player's Anthem versus just regular old Player's Anthem because of Andre's verse bobbing around all over the place and taking up all kinds of time before the beat drops...but the video makes it come together so well that I take it back.

Paul's Rowdy Roddy Piper claims...Pimp C and Bun B's gear...those super focused hand claps in the car...and of course, ya boy Lukas Haas tenderly imploring Three Stacks to keep his heart. Everything about it is amazing. I don't think I can imagine myself enjoying any rap song more than this for a good while. Int'l Summertime Anthem as well.

Willie Hutch- I Choose You

Here's the original track. Between this and Stay Fly, I'd say the South owes Willie a whole lot of love. And don't even get me started on the Moby and Chemical Brothers samples, let alone the Dr. Dre or Biggie ones! He's up there as one the greatest in my book.

And on that note, shit, I gotta pack. Peace LA.

SCUMCAST!!

2007-06-05T17:08:00.000-07:00

So I should've been doing this a long time ago, but I think I'm finally inching towards the "Go For It, Dude" point in my life. Not all pistons firing full speed do-or-die status yet, but closer towards that mythical place in my head where I feel I'm not just a huge waste of space and am actually taking steps to dig out this potential that I've been told I possess. I usually take forever to put together the mixtapes I offer up, just to try and ensure that when I do put something out, it is well worth listening to. But I've also realized I need to supplement the more crafted ones with something more consistent. Y'know, to keep my name hot in the streets. Plus djing all these standard working gigs has been slowly eating at my soul. So yeah, I took an hour out of my incredibly hectic schedule of constantly listening and hoarding, to actually string together some of the records that mean something to me.

And so, the SCUMCAST! was born.

SCUMCAST! ONE

1. Baby Oliver- Primetime (Uptown Express)
2. J.R Writer- Get 'Em (Dev79 Street Bass Refix)
3. Justice- Valentine
4. The Chromatics- In the City
5. Padded Cell- Unknown Zone
6. Feist- Sea Lion (Chromeo Remix)
7. David Bowie- Pretty Thing (The Scar Remix)
8. Goodbooks- Leni (Crystal Castles Remix)
9. Feist- My Moon My Man (Boys Noize Remix)
10.The Hasbeens- Make the World Go Away
11.Charlie- Spacer Woman
12.Giorgio Moroder-The Chase
13.Black Devil Disco Club- The Devil In Us
14.Curses!-Tearing Me Apart
15.Surkin vs Khia-Radio Fireworks+My Neck My Back (Courtesy of DJ Eli)
16.Buraka Som Sistema-Yah!
17.Bonde Do Role-Marinha
18.James Braun-James Brown is Dead 3
19.UHU-Virtual Network
20.Dopplereffekt-Voice Activated
21.Stupid Set- Hear the Rumble (Pinktronik Re-edit)
22.Boom Bip-The Pinks
23.Digitalism-Echoes
24.Efdemin-Bergwein
25.Junior Boys-In the Morning (Hot Chip Remix)
26.Matthew Dear-Deserter (Four Tet Remix)

So yeah, this one's got new Justice, Bonde Do Role, Environ, Kitsune, some peak time party shit, some claustrophic robot shit, old italo stuff, all capped off with a heart bursting ending.

Again, I'm gonna stress that this was live. It's basically me just randomly pulling records from all kinds of genres and doing my best to put them together on the fly, brain-storming session style (I made an edit from that Boys Noize remix to the Hasbeens because I stopped and thought a nice long blend would sound good under the acapella part). There's some ugly blends and there's some decent ones but no straight trainwrecks so I figured might as well post it to help get over being super critical of my shit. My unk -> mims -> t-pain -> "some fucking Nor*Cal fratboy douchebag yelling in my ear to play some Mac Dre, son" game is immaculate though, btw. Oh yeah, and the left ear of my headphone isn't working. I've gone through like 4 headphones in the last year or two. Word of advice: Headphones don't got Lamborghini doors.

I'm gonna shoot for this being a monthly podcast so be sure to feed this .xml link to your podcaster.

http://www.djscallywag.com/Mixes/Scumcast!.xml

For itunes just copy the link into the "subscribe to podcast" option under the advanced tab. I also put the whole blog on some RSS shit via Feedburner but because I just use bookmarks like a dinosaur, I can't really say I know how that all works yet...not that I really feel all that dumb for not walking around with bluetooth gear strapped to my head, shooting all these rogue frequencies into my skull, rerouting crucial thinky-paths. Just don't come crying to me when you are busy spending all your moneys on little wheelbarrow sidecart thing to rest that lumpy-ass mess of a headgrowth you've got going on there. ( Um, yeah I didn't wanna say anything, but those anti-pulsing meds you've been taking don't really seem to be working...)

PS I still intend to post mp3's and rant about minutia and it'll still probably look like sloppy joe's only with words, so don't think you're off the hook.

Neil with the Deal ain't got shit on me!

2007-06-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

So if you fuck with all this internet blog nonsense (you do), then you might have noticed these ad's for Wakeyz in the sidebar under sponsored ads. Or you might not have. I was under the assumption that my attention doesn't even begin to encroach on those dedicated "sell you shit" spaces. I figured I just had blinders on due to sheer conditioning at this point. Statistically, I'd assume that the auto-filtration of any sort of casual ad-related ANYTHING is pretty collectively developed by this point, at least on a conscious level (unless you are your grandparents or something, which again, you aren't...)

However, in the last couple days, my peripheral has been getting lit up by all these Dr. Mario pills raining down on a huge cracked out Residents' style eyeball guy, so my inner fiend begged me to take notice. Then I saw the words "Drug Mall" and floors and floors of condoned chaos started wildly sprouting up in my mind. Sedative Stands. Hopped up Haberdasheries. Wide eyed Willy Wonka shit as far as the eye could see. So not only did I click on it, I did the rapid fire multiclick thing while looking over my shoulder (I live alone).

So I hope you clicked on the Wakey's link. It'll be helpful if you are actually reading this and want to make sense of what I try and communicate. Lord knows I have enough trouble attempting to meet all you phantom people half way as it is. My ability to focus is pretty garbage pail kids (criterion edition). Ok, so if you care to, at some point you'll see a blue page slide down over the wakeyz products you are looking at and hopefully it'll all be clear. That's your signal to turn the page back here.

So obviously, the site is well designed, they went through great lengths to come up with the names of funny drug infused food supplements with graphics, menus, flash, all of that (I liked the ChloroFoam face mask and electrified cutlery). But turns out...it's a fuggin' mattress company! Huh? I thought mattress companies were terrible at marketing. The best thing mattress dudes got going for themselves here in LA (main guys being Leeds and Sit and Sleep) is that they battle to see who can outcheese each other with the low-budget factor. This here is like some Nike level consumer manipulation. By pretending to offer these ridiculous products, they call out our societal obsession with energy drinks and other "fda approved" stimulants. Yet at the same time, they are actually selling all this merchandise that coincides with the fake Wakey's ad campaign. Shirts, mugs, stickers...everything. Is this the ad guys way to circumvent that feeling of disgust you might feel when someone is trying to sell you something using methods that are transparent or beneath you? Is this self aware notion really that inherent to so many twenty-somethings nowadays? It does seem hard to deny that many many ideas are being increasingly re-examined and then coupled with a shit-ton of irony...repackaged by people that see the fault in everything. So it does make me think, are these guys trying to be the "indy" Tempurpedic? And is anybody actually buying their bibs or bumper stickers?

Anyway, biggest point being, I've never taken a marketing class or anything but I was kinda impressed by their tactics and how they tried to sell me some boring ass shit in a clever way that also entertained my eyes. The fact that they advertise like this on the hype machine, blogs, etc. just makes me curious as to how large this demographic has really gotten. Guess what, kool kids...even the mattress guys have this figured out to a certain extent. Uh Oh.

I guess the only recourse is to go ultrahypermeta, right? Then they'll never be able to stake a claim on you. I can't wait till people have to explicitly specify what level of irony they're on. (Oh darling, do you not see, I was making a level 7 double reverse pretzel comment on that subject, you must've thought I was addressing you in a level 4 way. Ah! You poor thing, you really couldn't tell I was inferring two more double negatives?).

Anyway, hit me off with that e-mail you promised and I'll tell you were to send the free full size queen, fellas. ::wink::
------------------------------------------------

So, there's my referential jump-off. I swear I told myself I was going to make these short and to the point. Instead I've got a page long tangent about some random ad I saw. Terrible! Plus all these blocks of text just look so uninviting.

(I believe it's called self-sabotage, my man! -Ed)

Meh...hey look, it's drizzling pictures.

I'll do another big art post again soon. But for the readers (people read?), I'm gonna tie this into my own promotionally-inclined inclinations by giving you one more natural alternative to restless nights. It's a mix I made three or four years ago, the first ambient one I ever made. Posting some old Xela and Super Numeri made me want to dig it up. I made it pretty much for myself, for utilitarian purposes, but my friends have said they like it and go to sleep to it too, so here it is. The only version I still have is already chopped into mp3's. Hopefully that gapless playback thing in iTunes will compensate.

Sleep Spindles 1: A Blanket of Stars

1.Ovuca-Untitled
2.Aphex Twin- SAW II Disc 1 Track 3
3.Aphex Twin- SAW II Disc 2 Track 5
4.Prefuse 73-Untitled
5.Xela-Bobble Hats in Summer
6.Bola-Vm8
7.Delarosa & Asora-Suki Swims
8.The Gentle People-Relaxation Central
9.Monolake-Indigo
10.Biosphere-Mestigoth
11.Fog-Plumb Dumb
12.Super Numeri-Electric Horse Gardens
13.The Album Leaf-We Once Were One
14.Labradford-Soft Return
15.Casino Versus Japan-Trad Velicido
16.Atom Heart-Acid Magic
17.Bochum Welt-La Nuit
18.Octavius-Artificial Spark of the Electrical Stripping
19.Biosphere-Kobresia
20.Biosphere-Poa Alpina
21.Brian Eno-Becalmed
22.A little thunderstorm action in case you haven't drifted off yet...

I'll just say, it's no Aurora Borealis in terms of arrangement or attention to detail, but it does start with Track 3 off Selected Ambient Works 2, which is one of my Top 5 recorded pieces of audio ever...so there's that. "Bobble Hats in the Summer" is also top 10 track that nobody has ever heard. The ending of that track? Tear-inducing. So beautiful.

Anyway, sorry for talking so much to myself while being watched from a two way mirror that I set up, ya know. From now on it'll just be party pictures with that one filter. You know the one.

Stay tuned for my Justice vs T-Pain mash-up, Buy you a D.R.A.N.K. There's bmore drums over it too. How do I do it, right?

Dntel-To a Fault (feat. Grizzly Bear)

Dntel-Last Songs

Jimmy Tamborello had quite the bevy of high profile indy people guest on just about every song from his last album. Makes sense though, it's common knowledge that he invented the genre together with Zach Braff. Anyway, The Grizzly Bear collabo was tops for me. That other song is Pre-Postal Service, back from his first full length from 2001, Life Is Full Of Possibilities. I stumbled upon it right around then and being big into samples and electronic stuff, I was really captivated by how he chopped up those acoustic guitar loops back in the day. Still a great song, though.

The Virgins-Rich Girl

I've dipped into pretty much every genre imaginable, and I know that jangly British guitar rock is not my strongest trait, tastemaker-wise. Certain genres like dancehall, hardcore, early house music, folk rock, etc. all have stuff I like, but I'm not driven enough to really turn them out and dig through them them. I leave those ones for others to inform me when shit is really good. I don't get a constant stream of blood and dopamine trickling out my ears this way. I think I was tipped to this joint on EVR. I like it a lot for what it is. Catchy riffs, clever lyrics, nice drawl, and a sick disco bassline. I'd say it sounds kinda like the Arctic Monkeys or the Strokes meets The Rapture, but I could probably break it down even better than that if I knew more about this stuff. That hard panned hi-hat kinda fucks with me though.

Dimlite-Lullaby for Gastric Ulcer

Dimlite-The Way Blood Travels

My original genre of choice was stoner downtempo stuff in the vein of Mo Wax or Ninja Tune. Nowadays, it's real hard to find artists that can really innovate with this sound, pushing it in a new direction while keeping things appealing but not strictly experimental. Dimlite's one of those guys whose forged his own sound but can still keep your head nodding. I'd say his stuff references J Dilla and Four Tet in equal parts. For fans of Daedalus, Caural, Flying Lotus, etc.

Cozy Powell- Dance With The Devil

This is a great but pretty obscure track that all the of sudden decided to randomly crop up in my life in a crazy little trifecta. I heard DJ Harvey play it his Sarcastic Disco warehouse party two weeks ago (dope as fuck btw), and then I listened to the new DJ Food Solid Steel mix, Now, Listen Again, and there it was again (this is also real good, but get's a bit too British with the Pendulum tracks towards the end). Then I saw the movie Hot Fuzz (hilarious) and guess what track pops up. Wierd shit. Anyway, this track is a monster, it's basically just a real heavy drum workout with some classic rock power chords but it is heavy heavy. If this is how the forces that be are deciding to collude on my fate, then sure, go ahead I guess, as long as you keep hitting me with jams of this caliber. Sidenote: If you look at dude's room in Shaun of the Dead, he's got a bunch of Ninjatune posters on his walls. I remember seeing that back in the day and I started geeking out and rocking back in forth in my seat while looking around the theatre smiling...nobody else got it. Story of my life?

Michael Rother- Silberstreif

Here's some more rock stuff from German musician, Michael Rother. He was in Kraftwerk in the early 70's, before they turned into robot. He also recorded with Brian Eno under the name Harmonia. This is like krautrock mixed with thinking back about how you used to go wind surfing all the time and how killer that was. In fact, some weekends, you like to take the Saab out and cruise the shoreline with the top down, and when this tune really gets going, you swear you can feel the ocean spray as your hair whips around in the breeze.

Anthony Rother- No Love

Anthony Rother- 10,000 Dancer

And here's another german Rother who makes electro that is obviously informed by Kraftwerk. Association City, huh? This is from his 04 album, Popkiller. I figured more people would know about his shit now that electro is big again.

No Bra-Munchausen

And now that we are in Germany here's some of that Level 3 irony we discussed earlier, courtesy of No Bra. The beat sounds like it was concocted in some pitch black underground fetish dungeon. Everything is made out of latex and the clientele use butt plugs like battering rams. The lyrics are a pretty hilarious though. It's a pretty scathing indictment of disaffected socialites who claim to know about everything. Thankfully, I only get like half of the references. Did you click that picture? Yeah, she just cruises to parties like that. Gravity has not been kind to this woman and she wants you to know this. I'm curious if she has a line drawn in her head where she knows just exactly how much she does this to make a social statement versus how much she does it to alienate people while still drawing attention towards herself in a publicity stunt kind of way. Or does that only matter to me?

Supercheap-Super Rich

I don't especially like this song, I just feel like I'm tying shit together left and right today so I thought I'd pull out the theoretical female response to that Virgins song, just to bring everything super full circle. I still like it though, it's just the chorus is a little disappointing. This comes from a comp from last year, Berlin Insane IV. See, it's German too! Yeeee. I have pleased myself once again. (I so let you slide this week -Ed).

PS Oh yeah, and I notice those match.com ads on myspace, i'd like to say mostly because of the fast loading streaming video, which seems like a kinda new advent. They are pretty funny to me. Like, how much body language they throw up in there because there's no audio or how they have semi-obtainable looking girls on it versus real model types. Like the nerdier looking chick who takes her glasses off and next thing you know, she's all that. Smart thinking, ad guys. Still haven't clicked though. Should've mentioned a drug mall.

My Atomic Nintendo

2007-05-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

I found this piece of paper in a wad of crumpled necessities the other day.

The following was scrawled in my handwriting:

------------------------------------------------------
INVEST WITH SEISMIC TUMOR FARMS (STF)

nanotech+trannies+akira=corporate success (malignant!)

buy buy buy radiation poisoning=blessing in disguise sell sell sell

exploit your dna, sell the adspace, put this on wikipedia+pictures of Rupaul+Robocop melted together.

------------------------------------------------

I'm tempted to present this like "yoyoyo, thaz jus my nerdpoemz god, Charles Schwab'n that shiit, iz kinda magikal ya know, we in shamblez.."......but I just said "I'm tempted to present this" before that, which cancels out the tone so I shouldn't have said anything in the first place, so now I think I'm gonna dork out and start picking at it instead.

I'm not a hundred percent, but because it was kinda unhinged (even for me) and I don't remember writing it at all, I'm gonna assume I scribbled this down while falling asleep. Ever since college, I've been able to get some pretty gnarly non-linear outro monologues going. It's gotten to where I can acknowledge them fairly easily, and in turn, can wriggle my way out of shutdown mode. I mostly come up on random unfiltered streams of whatever...pretend conversations, channel surfing, dream logic type stuff. I just try and do my best to cradle the interesting bits. Hopefully things start to crystallize around their original form before the ego goes to town. But yeah, I'd say I've gotten pretty damn good at straddling the nethers, y'know. So if you see me shining while panning for whirlpools of raw consciousness, then hit me on the sublow.

Anyway, I'm gonna string this into some mp3's by also admitting that I often hear weird 8-bit sound effects too as I'm dozing. It's not how it is when you remember what something sounds like, or there's a song stuck in your head, because there's that wall between the recall and the sound. It's like I actually hear it, but I know it's in my head because they don't sound directional at all (like they would if they were situated in a speaker) and they are very short and quiet and fleeting in a way that is kind of difficult to explain...like when you try and actually look at those magic eye things once you start seeing something. It used to scare the shit out of me though. Now, it doesn't bother me when my thoughts start flowing all loosy-goosy like that, mainly cause I'm used to it, but also because lets me know I am about a minute away from falling asleep, which is always nice. Sleep still gets my vote for best place ever (when it works right...)

Oh, and it's not ALWAYS as creepy as the above, by the way, if you were assuming that...

(I assumed this all had something to do with a week long meth binge and you losing the tv remote while huddled in a room full of shredded newspaper, like you "got stuck" on CNBC or something. Either way I think the secret message you were sending to yourself is "please don't breed......ever." -Ed)

Oooooh, ouch. If I ever tried speed (no way in hell ever) and was forced to watch Mad Money with Jim Cramer, I could totally see myself jamming a screwdriver through my temple. Seriously, ten minutes. tops.

But see, I would've just kept all this post-psychonaut debris to myself, but I figured it's now officially dope as fuck cause all these instances of childhood fallout are sneaking their way into cool world. Finally! I'm telling you, once time inevitably turns innocence into shrapnel wounds, you might as well scour the ruins and get some mileage out of the decay...

I've been on a kick with the electronic type posts too anyway so why not keep it going, yeah? First, the self promotionally inclined, then the less socially mandated ones.

Crystal Castles- Trash Hologram

Straight up Zelda 2: Adventures of Link. Rolling around the towns with all those purple and red shirted people cruising by. Cool breezin, not worrying about all the bad guys outside, just trying to pop by that one orange chicks house that gave you your magic power back.

Actually, shit, now that I think about it, some of the later towns had possessed people who turned into bats when you talked to them (they'd say ... and then bam they were instantly a bat.) That was kinda fucked, because the towns were supposed to be like safe zones, and then they go and flip the script like that. And remember those fuckers with the shields! How you had to juke the shit outta them to get a hit in. Plus your sword was like barely a shiv in that game. No reach whatsoever. But hey, why go on, I know you know what I'm talking about...

but seriously, my point was if dude wasn't scruffy with a hoodie and leather and chick didn't rock the dyed black angular haircut (plus she's real cute), nobody would have ever heard of em. They'd just be another nerd making chiptunes...instead they've got like 500,000 myspace hits and they've made like 4 songs, total. 7 inch vinyl releases for 8 bit music. That's some power marketing.

Dan Deacon-Snake Mistakes

Dan Deacon- Big Milk

This guy Dan Deacon is getting some shine now that his album dropped. I've picked up random tracks of his here and there and they are mostly awesome. Snake Mistakes showcases his lyrical talent (as well as that vocoder effect he likes - cool but borders on gimmicky). Big Milk is the winner for me, beeyootiful chimetime action never fails.

Here's the video for Crystal Cat. Remember like a month or 2 ago when I posted a video that was exactly like this one and was like there's gonna be more of this in the near future. Yeah, well there it is. This doesn't piss me off too much, mostly because dude looks like he's homeless and he gyrates like he doesn't give a fuck and I like the sounds he's making.

This was a video that had Deacon's name plus this Liam Lynch guy attached to it. It made me laugh. I'm sure there's huge stockpiles of shitty 90's 3d modeling stuff to play with out there. Glad somebody's putting it to good use other than ITT tech.

Eats Tapes- Face Shredder

Eats Tapes- Full Blast

Oh man, this shit gets me going. Coarse analog circuit bending set to deep bass at 150 bpms. Could've sworn this has been done before, but it rarely sounds so primitive yet so utterly danceable. My favorite thing Tigerbeat6 has put out in awhile.

Copy-Zipper Problems

Copy is dope too. More stuff in the Nintendo vein, but with big ass beats and really catchy melody lines. This is from his second album, Hair Guitar, go out and get Mobius Beard if you haven't heard it. He puts his stuff out on Audio Dregs, home to Evan Mast of Ratatat's output as E*Vax. If you haven't ever checked out his 01 album debut, Parking Lot Music you might want to give it a listen. It's nice and clean and peaceful.

Bone Thugs N Harmony-Ecstacy (DJ Copy Remix)

Here's a remix Copy did of Bone Thugs. If you do a blend with Bone Thugs, you have to know about music and keys. You actually don't have to know a thing about Bizzy or Krayzie or Thuggin in general. Just Harmony. This is what an on key blend sounds like people; thuggish ruggish bubble bobble action.

Mark VII- Spherical Rhymes (Bussa Bus)
Mark VII- Comic Enemy (Chuck D of Public Enemy)

Here's some sick ass bit-crushed remixes by some dude by the name of Mark VII. I had these mp3's for a couple of years and never ever heard anything by this guy again. Again, dope video game versions.

Covox-Computer Love

A cover of my favorite Kraftwerk song off the recent Kraftwerk tribute album, 8-bit Operators. Same great song only more, you guessed it, video gamey.

Islaja-pysahtyneet planeetat

Islaja-Suru Ei

This sucks that I'm gonna say this but it's really exactly what I'm thinking so...Finland's starting to sound like the new Iceland.

They cut the funniest part out of the Clell Tickle Human Giant sketch when they aired it on Mtv. They had the head of Pitchfork on the telephone say something like "Yeaaaah, ok, well, Stockholm is the new London is the new Prague, sooo...". I thought that was jokes. They left in the part where's he's getting roughed up like, "owww 7.4, awwww, ok, 7.8" . Again, great, but I'm not sure how that translated and the other part didn't.

Anyway, they've got a good thing going with the tripped out melancholy in Finland.

Balun-Moving Pictures

Balun-Snol

Alright, it took me a long time to make my mind up on this debut from Puerto Rican outfit, Balun. Their album, Something Comes Our Way, was one of those ones that I knew had something from the get go, but couldn't quite accurately assess how much I liked it in one or two listens. (Yes, it happens sometimes where I'm kind of on the fence about things, especially when I know I'm not giving an album a concentrated enough listen). After a couple of months of sitting on it and listening to it again here and there, I realized it's a nice album, but I finally extracted the choice cuts. Sometimes it's a little more of a process. Like I said, nice, charming, happy, good, yay, wee. On fire with these descriptions right now, huh. Adjectives for days. Guess that probably means it's....wait for it....GAME OVER.
(::CREEAAAAAMMMM:: - Ed)

PS I didn't post that on wikipedia btw. The subversive aspect was silenced by the cathartic one, I guess.

(God help me if I actually ever start editing that thing, this shit right here is bad enough...you can have the Encyclopedia Galactica, nerds. -Ed)

Ahhh, good sir, I think you meant, fellow nerds.

(Who's this guy, Mr. Walkway? Mr. Walkway, walk down me. Lead ME to the building. Hunh, Fuck you. -Ed)

The Human Giant Guys...

2007-05-18T20:31:00.000-07:00

just made MTV play the video for Aphex Twin's Come to Daddy, in it's entirety, during primetime. It's also playing on the jumbotron in Times Square. That's the new best thing ever. Seriously.

They've also promoted a million good bands and comedians. How the fuck did this happen? What's MTV thinking? Is this because Myspace puts some decent bands on the frontpage of their shit, so MTV wants to show that they can level the playing field too? Do people that actually watch MTV, watch Human Giant? Are they trying to pull in an "indy" demographic? I'm so confused. I'm pretty sure it all revolves around the internet and strengthening the bond between that and MTV. Or, maybe, some exec is going through a midlife crises and realizes that the network he runs used to do some really creative, inspired things and that might actually be a GOOD thing to feed to impressionable young minds, every once and awhile. Regardless, even if the show gets cancelled (I'm not so sure the polls are real in terms of accuracy, btw) these guys are gonna be heroes for how much exposure they've brought to all this stuff. 24 hours straight on MTV right now.

Mandatory Post Day.

2007-05-18T02:04:00.001-07:00

I really do kinda wish I was disciplined about this blog thing for whatever reason. Like everyday, I'd post the good stuff and write a quip here and there and hyperlink every reference diligently like all the other well mannered lads I see doing this. Instead you get some willy nilly shit that usually alludes to me being a moody ass motherfucker. My bad, y'allz.

That being said, this post is definitely a guilt post. To give you an idea, now that I've got a little momentum going again, I started to feel guilty not posting right around the one week mark. I guess that's indicative of how I've aligned my internal time with "blogger time," based on how many people read my shit. I probably would've caved in around then, but I've spent the past week dealing with my computer after it got chomped to fucking pieces by every virus ever imaginable. So now I just want to chill with all the clicking and typing, but it's like, oh but I'm a blogger now. I blog, y'know, it's just this thing I do, I hop on the computer and just start, like, blogging, and it's like, if you don't do it alotalotalot, you basically suck at blogging, soooo...

Sorry, I heard some newly christened haircut chick say that verbatim the other night and nobody even motioned to kick her in the face or anything. They just shook their heads in vague agreement. It was kinda disheartening.

Anyway, so yeah, there's no such thing as free porn. I thought with the rise of all these blogs and yousendit type deals, I had stumbled on these secret dirtball loopholes... but turns out, them holes were teeming with disease and pestilence, so be warned, y'know? Funny thing is, for some reason, I have never really gotten porn off of file sharing programs like I should. Maybe it's because I'm at a loss when it comes to actually typing in porn search keywords. Like, I've paid money just because I want to see "some hot chick that I haven't seen before get banged out", while everyone else has got it narrowed down to "piping hot dumpster sexxx" or "convalescent creampies".

Actually, now that I think about it, I kinda do miss all the spam I used to get. Not the avalanche of moral depravity that used to clog my inbox, but I wouldn't mind getting the occasional message from Meatball M. Pheremones, urging me to click on his barnyard free-for-all in some priceless first take on English, all bookended with cut-up phrases from 19th century literature and other bits of intellectual wreckage. I used to save some of the really next level ones, but I guess I deleted em at some point. Dang. If there's a really hilarious hall of fame of that stuff (I figure there has to be), someone let me know what's up.

(Ok, so you start off about feeling all angsty about expectations, and then you have the gall to go off about porn and spam? Dude, this is the reason why burying-your-face-in-your-hands was invented... -Ed)

Yeah, huh. Ok, well, point being, I'm kinda surprised we all don't need to watch videos of three legged dogs drinking out of toilet bowls in outerspace just to get hard in the pants these days...hopefully we'll just wipe ourselves out before it gets to that, right?

Right, wow, ok well, this turned out to be a mess today, I probably shouldn't post any mp3's huh. That'd probably be disrespectful? Instead, here's a random tribute to some of the various tangents the world has to offer. Deeper and deeper...

Superjail. It was my fave of the pilots they aired on Adultswim last Sunday...reminded me of Liquid Television. It's sped up a little to fit the 10 minute youtube criteria, the opening song doesn't sound that goofy.

And so, I forever remained...mystically gay...

I'm starting to get into all this old school Russian animation stuff. There's alot of it and it's all pretty nuts.

Plastic Little's done their share of drugs too!

Paprika Trailer

Paperrad

WyldFile

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111.com

superbad

subculture

absurd

Sekintani

I'm gonna pipe back up just to caution you a little with this one above. You'd probably have to be pretty internet'd out to not get a little freaked out by his stuff. I think it's pretty intense but amazing. (I'm not really sure how some people would perceive his images...like if you were a born again or something, it might just activate that mental bypass thing that you are so good at, so you could just be staring at a blank page while your subconscious is busy imploding.) But yeah, it does pull together a lot of visceral madness, so I'm just gonna say that if you start clicking around, it'll probably leave a mark. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Viable?

Did you click on all that stuff? If so, then congratulations, you are one step closer to Eternity (for men, by Calvin Klein). Now do yourself a favor and turn off the internet.

Midnight Pump Up Sesh...

2007-04-25T23:33:00.000-07:00

I've got Coachella fever and the only prescription is more BLOG ABOUT IT.
(wow, definitely the worst one yet! -Ed)

For reals, i don't think i'm going to sleep anytime soon and I am getting fiery about it, even though they've got the set times all fucked up...like almost enough so to make me really discouraged.

Just a couple examples:
(Soulwax v Junior Boys)
(Ghostface v Coco Rosie)
(Blonde Redhead v Justice)
(Richie Hawtin v CSS v Konono No.1)
(me v a bunch of squelchy ass electro for more than thirty minutes in the burning hot DAYTIME)
(bonus!: me v paranthesis everywhere all the time, huh)

Yeah, there's always some conflicts, but this is kind of a mess for my tastes...i might have to compensate by ramping up the drug and alcohol intake...which is daunting, considering the past couple years. I'm not trying to end up, for example, super drunk at 4pm right near the front of the stage for Roots Manuva, with the sudden urge to lay down and take a nap...the last thing I remember probably being my friend looking down and saying "Um,I'm not so sure that's a good idea, dude". He later (hypothetically!) said that I got in at least one "naw dawg, it's chilllll" plus 2-3 minutes of actual passed outedness before being kicked in the head really hard and before realizing that yeah, I WAS actually completely engulfed by people and that that sleeping there was gonna kinda suck.

I (theoretically!) woke up a couple hours later over in the Sahara Tent, shivering my ass off to the constant thud of 4/4 bass hits. I'm not sure how I got over there, but in some strange turn of fate, I did manage to randomly find some other friends in like two minutes. They happened to be rolling balls. I was offered a pill. What with me being all groggy and scattered yet really happy that I wasn't gonna end up lost the whole rest of the time, I swallowed it just before the logic train kicked in. I ended up peaking during Nine Inch Nails. Jumping up and down and singing along to every word in "Hurt" in a state of utter elation made absolute perfect sense at the time...or at least I assumed it would ::aaa-wink::

Anyway, not the circus sideshow full o' drugs that I see some of you gonzo ass motherfuckers on, but I'm semi-reformed now and not trying to get too incriminating on the internet. What else...I figured I might post some Coachella related tracks but that's way too easy and I'm absolutely sure it's gonna be done by every other "empowered music fan" on the internet.

So here's a bunch of bedroom electronic type stuff then, so there.

Nosaj Thing-Aquarium

Amazing little downtempo thumper that shimmers with all kinds of untold treasureness. It's a little bit like looking into the eyes of a new born, only it's from Atlantis. The vocal cuts also contain a certain womb-like warmth that is rarely achieved with choppy Prefuse style sequences.

This version is 128kbps low rez-ed out, though. His EP "View/Octupus" is available at Turntable Lab, or itunes iTunes

Here's more kinda idm-ish songs that remind me of being really young and new at one point. Lullatone's got a new cd out semi recently called Pajama Party Pour Vous (I think?) but I haven't heard it yet.

Lullatone- Leaves Falling

Anne Laplantine- Dicipline 7

And here's one to remind me of WHAT I'VE BECOME!!!!

Otto Von Schirach- Submarine Mammal Milk

This is definitely my go to track if I feel like making a little scene and being a subversive dick ( usually in a crowded parking lot in my car). So far I've blasted this while pretending to be asleep on my steering wheel, as well as while smoking a blunt and doing a slow motion version of that thing you do with your hands at underground hip hop shows (y'know the point at the stage and sideways wave your hand above your head thing that shows you're all about it?). Anyway, some girls looked sorta baffled. It was mad crazy, yo.

Serious though, I do think Otto's shit is cool to listen to in a sound design kind of way. You'll probably either like or hate his stuff, but it's hard to deny that he's got the most well-honed visual component for an artist that is trying to go as balls out crazy as they can (Silver medal to The Locust and Yip-Yip in this category). Much props to AS1 for doing the artwork for a good portion of his output. Seriously, if I ever get my shit together and make an album and it's dope, I'd love for AS1 to do the cover. He's responsible for a lot of old rawkus and dnb covers too, as well as a bunch of stuff for more out there electronic producers. Recent fav was the severed cow gearwork contraption on the cover of the last Venetian Snares album.

Again, AS1.

Oh, and there's lots of clips of Otto's live show all over the youtube. This one shows you what a real mash up is supposed to sound like.

Speaking of mash-ups...BurglePuft Remix? Unnnh!

Paul Kalkbrenner- Steinbesser (Wighnomy Brothers Remix)

Oh and speaking of idm and sound design and movies, this sounds like an electronic score to some haunted sewer flashback scene (like a dark ass sewer or cave with like some weird glint off in the distance that you keep running towards, cause there's a little bit of "wonder" in the track too.)

Oh, I still remember part of my dream from last night! Ooooh, I can catalogue it, like a dreamlog or something. Seriously, I always want to do this and have only actually done it like 3 or 4 times.

So the part I remember was with a bunch of huge pillar towers (like Tower of Pisa style only no lean) in this big ass lake surrounded by some grand canyon style cliffs. Anyway, there was a diving board at the top of each skyscraper like tower and I got to jump off these badboys into the water way way below. Some of them even had crags and other stuff I had to avoid as I fell and it was kinda hectic but when I did hit this one time I kinda bounced off video game style so it was all good. The kicker though was that to get to the top of these towers, there was a ring shaped elevator platform and at the center of the ring was the core of the tower, which was composed entirely of shelves with all kinds of bomb ass donuts on it, like all those rippled ones, and the twisty ones, but really Willy Wonka'd out. So while I was getting transported up to base jump with no parachute, I was grabbing huge assortments of donuts like it was no thing. I think for some reason Madonna owned all this shit too...I remember seeing plasma screens on the wall with her explaining stuff. Anyway, it's always nice to have a dream that was fun and (sorta) made sense and wasn't just some jumble of frustratingly hallucinogenic and confusing crap.

Uhhhh, and on that note, midnight funzone time is over. Looks like the randomness won this round. See you after Coachella (if I can still figure out how to work the computer!) ::bicycle horn:: DOINK! ::whatever makes that a-wooo-gaaa sound::

Hyped up?

2007-04-13T01:42:00.000-07:00

So apparently my shit is on the Hype Machine now. Um, thanks guys? I guess this is supposed to mean I made it in blogworld? I'm not really sure what to make of it, but now part of me feels like I should start being super responsible free promo guy or something...which is a pretty daunting thought. If I stopped picking songs apart or denying my inner hater, I'd definitely be at a loss. So, I guess to compromise, I won't be blatantly irresponsible and do something like post an mp3 and saying it sucks point blank. I think I only did that a couple times in the past, but from here on out, everything will range from good to the best jams ever, so y'all betta get HYPE! ::insert that little keyboard build from Technotronic's "Pump the Jam" here::

Speaking of hype, I finally listened to Ed Rec. Vol 2...really not that impressive, kids. I mean, I still ride hard for Sebastian but this new showcase for the roster seems just barely above mediocre despite being the most agreed upon thing in dance music (at least for people that don't really listen to dance music). SO ME's visuals are great and this promo clip thing is really awesome and I'm stil gonna check for all their new stuff obviously...but I'm just saying shit is not the end all be all of "cool music".

Also, on a little broader scale, I think this mythical rave explosion 2.0 business no longer has me starry-eyed at the possibilities of it all...

Here's a simple way to sum up what I thought I saw coming...

BEFORE

Some nutball freakout shit where people are going animalistic while colors are erupting all over the fucking place and the everyone is on some retro burnout steez and having seizures like it's their jobs.

NOW

That, only the whole idea is blanketed and commodified by a "Oh, look at us, we're raving" hipster asshole slant, where the entertainment is about going through the motions of some "quaint" period, rather than actually experiencing and engaging something head on. Shit is already destined to not work out right because rave is "in" and "passe" at the same time, and that seems to matter more than whatever it IS that is actually happening. Also, this nu-rave stuff only engages a narrow selection of old rave really, and believe it or not OLD RAVE IS STILL AROUND, at least in the US. I still see flyers for Moonshine-era relics like Rabbit in the Moon, Ak1200, Uberzone, etc. Its not like you see those dudes blowing up the blogs or anything. So yeah, dance music, sure. Rave, not so much.

Fuck yeah, first little spike in new exposure and I start ranting my ass off IMMEDIATELY. Anyhow, here's some shit that I guess is a little more in line with what's happening on this side of the divide...or not, these are just some synthy ass jams that you need in your life.

Carl Finlow-Anomaly

First to counteract all that dirty bizness we just discussed, here's some clean ass, bouyant, simple yet effective "listening" electro from around 2003. Carl Finlow's done a bunch of good stuff under various alias's, the most known to me being Silicon Scally.

A Number of Names-Sharevari

Such a jam, from like detroit 1981 or so. The vocals are inimitably dope. This type of stuff is kind of blowing my mind right now. Here's a video of local dance show called "The Scene"

I should say I heard this jam on the sickest mix I've heard of other electro, italodisco type stuff, I-F's Mixed Up in the Hague Vol.1 It's from 2000 or so, and I probably heard it around 03 and now that this stuff is blowing up, I've listened to a bunch more and it still is number one in my book. Pure heat. Cybernetic Broadcasting System all day. Also it features Mr. Flaggio's Take A Chance, which has gotta be one of the sickest songs of all time...Fuck it, I gotta post it.

Mr. Flaggio-Take A Chance

This is from that actual mix, it's the only trace I've ever been able to locate of this song so if anybody has a 320k version of this track recorded clean from vinyl, dude, PLEEEAAAASSSEEEEE hook it up.

Black Devil Disco Club-I Regret the Flower Power

On the retro synth tip, I only just recently heard Black Devil Disco after Rephlex put out the EP 28 After. It's supposed to be a collection of unreleased old space disco stuff that was found at a carboot sale or something, but this shit sounds WAY too absolutely fantastic to be recorded back in the late 70's, in terms of quality of the recording (lot's of low end, etc), so I am very skeptical. Still, one of the best things I've listened to this year, every song is worth purchasing.

Black Devil Disco Club- H Friend

Here's one of the real authentic ones made way back when. The same amazing song structures and haunted disco spacechants are there, but you can tell it's recorded on OG equipment.

Bernard Fevre-Pendulum

This is some solo stuff from the last surviving BDD member, Bernard Fevre. It's a lot more Tomita-fied then Morodor-esque. Still, way way ahead of it's time.

Pole-Tanzen

The I-F tip got me thinking about the good ol' days, buying all kinds of crazy European cd's and compilations back when I first started really getting excited about exploring music. I heard his "Space Invaders are smoking grass" on these Freestyle File comps that !K7 used to put out towards the end of the 90's. That reminded me of Pole, another distinctly different artist I found out about through those comps. He used a broken Waldorf 4 Pole-Filter (hence his name) to generate all the blips and crackley minimilism on his dub inflected beats. Nowadays that kinda clicks and cuts type deal has been done to death, but back then it was pretty striking. Anyway, he just put out a new album too. While not ground breaking like back 98, he still is pumping out jams like Pferd, so much respect new and old.

Pole-Pferd

--------------------------
So there you go hype machine, you have been fed some no nonsense jams, don't go imploding on me now, y'hear?

My mental space is soo the result of an overabundance of technology...

2007-04-10T09:42:00.000-07:00

Serious though. The limitless excess that is internet world has forever altered my ability to be stimulated by conventional means...

Not to sound redundant...but seriously. That being said, I absolutely love how hard my tastes have splintered over the years and i get the feeling that the bird's eye view of the whole thing must look like some sort of hydra-fied rainbowblob...y'know, with little close quarter scrubbers sweeping the well trodden areas diligently, while the long bioluminescent probes are busy lugging in pieces from the deep, pulling them in closer to the core for a more thorough inspection...anyway, here's a small peek at some of the recent haul.

edit: Cease and Desisted y'allz..., how do you do the line through the text thing

CocoRosie-Rainbow Warriors

CocoRosie-Raphael

Kookiest dames in the game are back. Way more awesome sound effects(standard lo fi and more distinct ones too), and noticeably less of a "actually, we are trust funded out our asses but we made an album one day while we were tripping balls" vibe (which I guess is my way of saying that they sound like they are actually delving into themselves, rather than reveling in the comfort of their smokescreen of oddities?). The new album, The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn is out today on Touch & Go. It is similiar to their older stuff but at the same time, very different. Definately worth checking out if you dig their quirky/eerie brand of fractured beauty.

Here's the video for the best song on their last album, Noah's Ark. I wouldn't be surprised if the treatment was just a crumpled piece of paper with "Gwen Stefani+way more drugs" scribbled on it.

UGK-Player's Anthem featuring Three Six Mafia

It's been awhile since I posted some rap so here it is. Goddamn, when southern tracks have those amazingly soulful old samples (Willie Hutch, baby...so necessary) strapped to that super quantized style of boom bap, my ears get pleased on so many levels. Crime Mob's Circles is another great new example with the same feel. UGK's new album, Underground Kingz, got pushed back to May. This will tide me over.

(Update: I knew I'd heard this before. Project Pat used that same beat on Choose You from his 02 album, Layin' da Smack Down. Anyway, this new one's tight. Fuck that Andre 3000 version. 3 stacks, just cause you're one of the greatest ever, doesn't mean you don't have to rhyme on beat. I know it's on purpose cause you're crazy like that, but c'mon, you know syncopation is naturally more pleasing to the ear. That's cop out innovatin')

Paul Wall-Bangin' Screw

Paul Wall's new shit is already out and it has some bangers on it too. The two singles are fiery, I'm hoping "I'm throwed" blows up because I am in need of some new heat (that people will actually appreciate if I throw on). This is the sleeper hit of the album though, that 4 bit ringtone sound is awesome. I bet whoever produced this heard about how Timbaland got caught biting that chiptune track straight up for that Nelly Furtado song (google it if you don't know the story) and realized that that type of shit sounds great with 16 note high hats cutting it up. That clean ass organ sound is ill as well.

edIT-Southern Belle

So this dude edIT comes from an idm/drum n bass background but has been doing a crazy sliced and diced version of southern rap and crunk for a minute now as well as rocking parties as part of the Glitch Mob (I posted a link of his mix for Hefty many moons ago, it might still be up). He has an album, Certified Air Raid Material, which has been held back for what seems like forever now, but I'm assuming it'll sound like a combo of all these things. However, this song, off a comp called Morrow Choral Orchestra, is some bubbleworld goodness with no trace of southern swagger.

Peter, Bjorn & John-Young Folks (ORtzRoka Remix)

This sounds nothing like the original outside of a similiar chord progression and some dubbed out vocals, but it's the best remix I've heard of it yet. Side note(aren't they all?): I DID hear a Baltimore Club version out the other night and I had to bury my face in my hands for a minute (while a couple assholes were geeked on it, like it was some amazing concept at this point...). Basically, as soon as I heard it start, I knew exactly how the whole thing was gonna sound, and I found that to be pretty depressing. Stop people...just please, stop.

La Bionda-Wanna be your Lover

I love that I am still hearing jams of this caliber being unearthed from the timefog that is the 80's. Popcorn synths, retro spaceship talk, voxed out foreign male/female vocals, and then a killer little synth solo as a hook. Fuck irony, this is just good music.

Smokey Robinson-Responding

Ahh, Smokey. No need to say anything except that it's not my birthday but when I throw this on it feels like it is...and I JUST realized (after trying to place it for FOREVER) that it was Nightmares on Wax that sampled the awesomely optimistic string line back on OG favorite, Smoker's Delight. A great song and one less itch to scratch for me.

------------

Here's to soaking it all in...I hope this makes perfect sense in your own little world as well.

F(n) = F(n−1) + F(n−2)

2007-04-05T14:54:00.000-07:00

So I had this idea about going all Fibonacci with the posts by having each new one combine elements of the previous two to form a semi-relevant jumping off point. Then I realized this idea would appeal to approximately nobody (including myself), and more importantly, it would require even more effort then regular effort takes. So that idea gets scrapped, along with any other semblance of structure...but I still kinda figured out how I would want to jam this together at least once, so here you go...

Thinking about Amy Winehouse's surprisingly enjoyable and respectfully updated hommage to doo wop, as well as the stark, wind weary tie between the songs in the post before that one led me here...

Ekkehard Ehlers-Ain't No Grave
Ekkehard Ehlers-O Death

All I'm gonna say in regards to this is that it's from a white German artist whose work is heavily steeped in academic philosophy and theoried approach and that I tend to avoid stuff like that like the plague because it usually acts as mere justification for loads of intrinsically boring, overly pretentious "sound art installation" bullshit. However, these tracks hit home with visceral authenticity while being tastefully augmented by the modern studio trickery.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Yeah, those tracks are definately awesome, but a couple more posts like this and I'm just gonna end up hammering square pegs into round holes. Oh and uh, please pay no mind to how I too developed a bogus theory just to present this guy's stuff...or even how I start breaking out the wordage when I'm merely tryin' to drop some blogs on dat azz...cause that'll just cause more unnecessary confusion on everybody's end....unless you are straight postulatin' that the real conceptual adhesive here might be the search for an honest middle ground between sensational and cerebral enjoyment? Eh? Ehhh? Yeah, way lofty...

For now, i guess you're just gonna have to be content with a couple of mp3s from yet another self reflexive asshole (with exceptional taste).

Totally had some baller ass tangent going in my head...

2007-04-02T23:14:00.000-07:00

...while sitting here all by my lonesome, but as soon as that "Hot dog! This stuff is gold!" light came on, said train of thought must've decided to nonchalantly coast back into "not thinking about thinking" zenmaster world. Fuck dude, fuck. Now all I can come up with is "hey, well then why not post a Switch remix!".

Ok not really, but I can totally get away with posting this Junior Boys/Hot Chip collabo with out feeling like I'm from hypeland USA, cause this shit is very necessary for your ears.

Junior Boys-In the Morning (Hot Chip Remix)

This really is one of those majestic displays of combined awesomeness that works just as well in theory as it does on paper. Hell yeah. Starts off on some Audion type hypnotic bleepfest, then all the sudden the ground gives way and you are carried off in a gush of slow motion stardust and cascading wonderfalls. Only complaint would be that it is a little too drawn out, but if you are a dance dj and you can get away with playing all 10 minutes of this ballad of ballads, then damn dude, you are on some next shit. Teach me.

Hmmm, ok, so now is this the part where I post some new Ed Banger? Oh, you can find those jams everywhere else ever? Oh ok , well then here's some older electro covers from EVEN BEFORE the time that you claim you started to be "all about electro". No shhh...don't worry, it's cool...I know you actually kinda did privately like Daft Punk back in high school. That has to count for something to someone!

Product.01-Heart Ov Glass

Not sure how hard this knocks on a huge system, probably a a little bit too idm-y to sweat it out too, but still it's got glitch in spades so if you like you some Sebastian or Mr. Oizo, and some Blondie (is it possible not to?) then this is a no brainer.

Simian Vs Aaliyah-Try Again

Found this on some old Simian Mobile Disco mix that was also pre-hypestorm. Again a little bit chintzy with the dynamics, but i've got a good feeling you rock everything through your stock computer speakers anyway, so it's worth a go...if only to hear that little squiggly flute-y synth do the hook for this song. Always gotta rep a well down tremelo, not to mention some catchy ass 909n'.

Kosh-Funeral March

Dubstep rocks my face. Seriously, on a good system, my little babyface will actually physically get juiced up with intense kinetic motion (kinda like that old stereo ad with the paid-looking sunglasses guy in the chair, only a lot more goofy I assume). Anyway, this jam's got 16-bit Genesis flashback written all over it. Golden Axe-Death Adder themesong 2007, mothafuckaz! This, a trip to Ahhs!, and a throne made out of skullz and subwoofers are all I need to fulfill my destiny. (Update: So I heard this on this Belgian guy's blog, BUNZERO, and the mc started doing an atonal "Pass the Dutchie on the left hand side" and it made me go "oh yeah, huh!" Thought I'd share...plus this guy is way up on his dubstep, so check out his mixes if you like this stuff)

BTW, I guess this is as good a time as any to tell the internet that I still kinda resent the backlash against drum n bass in popular opinion. Just cause the market is completely watered down and the majority of the shit sounds super contrived and I barely listen to it anymore, DOESN'T mean that nobody is making tight shit...Counterstrike, Ewun, Spor, etc. are still making intensely heavy angerfests that are great in the proper context (for example, when you want to drive really fast or like, when you hate the world). But as a forward minded dude, I feel I gotta to prioritize with the new hybrid bass styles. Keep switching it up guys! Serious, you dubstep producers have to make a conscious effort to innovate at this point because everybody still remembers how dnb ate itself.

Oh I just remembered one little piece of the thought process that sparked me to get on the 'pute and let loose!

I am kinda stoked that Amy Winehouse is getting shine. She's waaaay waay better than weak ass Lily Allen (I'd hit it though) and even though she is riding on a lot of sell points with the "look how well I can do mo-town for a jewish girl" thing, her shit sounds damn good. However, I'm really curious if my opinion of "Rehab" is gonna swing as drastically as it did with "Crazy" last year? I guess it depends on how big it is, but since everybody and their mother is on some tabloid generation bullfuck these days, I can see myself legitimately hating the droves of drunk chicks that will spew out wobbly eyed requests for this 6 months from now...but had you mentioned this song last October and you were a semi coherent female, I probably would have instantly had a secret crush on you. Strange, huh? Right now, you'll still get a genuine smile and a "sure!", so get 'em in before the weight of it all crushes my spirit once more (or request he could only hold her..that's the real jam of jams).

K, that wasn't nearly as amazing as I thought, just kinda paints me as the overly opiniated music guy that I really am, but honestly, the real deep shit that I think about every OTHER second of every day somehow got lost on the trip from my bed to the computer...uhhh, but hey that last post was awesome by the way, even if I decided to do it in magical wispy indy dude mode. No ambivotext to muss it up, y'know? Anyway, I hope you listened, whoever you are...

The sky is breathing...

2007-03-25T17:56:00.000-07:00

Boduf Songs-Two Across the Mouth

Benoit Pioulard- Ext. Leslie Park

Explosions in the Sky- Catastrophe and the Cure (Four Tet Remix)

Eluvium- One

Warp

2007-03-23T18:25:00.000-07:00

Goddamn, what a label. I found out about Aphex Twin way back in high school, right around the time I started spending every last penny of my money on weed. Needless to say the combo knocked me on my ass and it's been on ever since. At this point I've listened to probably 80-90% of the labels massive catalogue and I have always been amazed (and super pleased) by how they stay consistently relevant and ground breaking while expanding outwards in many different directions. They've opened sooo many doors in my head over the years. In short, I think they are one of the greatest creative institutions on the planet, so I got the jonsing to fawn over their awesomeness, especially since it feels like they are back on top these days).

Yeah, so here's some recent videos.

Clark-Ted. Amazingly detailed footage of insects that have been moded out with some Japanese mech style enhancements. Video by 1st Ave Machine . You should actually watch this on their website instead because the video isn't as compressed as YouTube's, plus there is an equally amazing video for an Alias song. These guys are setting the bar REAL high.

Grizzly Bear-The Knife. This one got my anxiety juices flowing even harder then those bugs. At first I was like jesus, what the fuck was that, where was the knife? But I watched again and I think I get it...it's us, right? We've got the give and take all fucked up and one-sided and she's sad (or pissed). So then it's about the resulting subconscious turmoil, and how its presence hints that it's only a matter of time before the fundamental interconnectivity of our relationship with the planet is consciously realized, at which point, we'll be consumed? Cause that's what I'm picking up on...still, I can't tell if Star Trek guy is our creator or an alien observer, and if he's pining for the Earth's essence after she leaves or if he's just starting the draining process anew...or if the video is just the result of a bunch of dudes on drugs and I'm reading into it way too hard. Either way, thought-provoking stuff courtesy of Encyclopedia Pictura. Again, way better quality on their badass website plus a bunch of other videos with amazing CG organics.

Also, this reminds me a lot of Saul of the Molemen with it's campy yet visually unsettling approach. Random, but hey, sometimes that's how associations work.

Battles-Atlas. It's taken me awhile to warm up to these guys, but the more I listen, the more I like. I have a feeling they may be the new Animal Collective if they get enough exposure...they're equally unbridled and volatile, and they're getting surprisingly catchy. Diggin' the advanced vocoder action and the Superman 2 factor.

A deeply rooted nexus of amazingly talented people that are pushing the boundaries of human experience...or just a really really solid label. You choose.

Best of 06: OMG! Fix Your Life Edition

2007-03-16T16:08:00.000-07:00

And so I lumbered forth once more from the digital ether, dragging a virtual hobocart's worth of shiny a/v stimulants...

or something like that...

Sooo...yeahh, as soothing as it was to submerge back into obscurity and traverse the net in OG stealthmode, I've been feeling the edgeless discomfort of some amorphous internalized pressure trying to burrow it's way out of my head. Whatever it is, it's leading me to believe that, at this point, I can only silently comb our collective consciousness for so long before I am overcome by a misguided obligation to spread the things that give me mental sustenance.

SO so completely knew I shouldn't have broken the seal...now I gotta feed some newfangled tendency towards compulsory display case-ing for faceless eyes...as well as the need to garnish it all with undercooked wordmush, before (knowingly!) casting more defunct synaptic patterning into the abyss. But even if it's just so that my hesitant sputterings can be swept away in a massive tide of time sensitive commentary, I do take comfort in the fact that it motivates me to milk little driblets of life from my fingers. So even if it's all for nothing and I'm just getting my rocks off by unloading all these built up pretensions, I can still just write it off as some sort of biological mechanism to ward off embolisms. or ghosts. or ghostjism. Hmmm, GhostJism(TM)...

Ok, so I think you get it, I'm a weirdo oops sorry. Anyway, it's liquidation time, people. Hopefully you are not ridiculously on top of your shit otherwise this post could be a whole lot of yesterday's news (Actually, you probably only have to be marginally on top of shit at this point). For those of you who still consume culture at a rate that doesn't threaten your cranial integrity, there should be at least something in here that is worth your time.

You wanna know why? I'll tell you why. Cuz it's a best of 06 shakedown, bitch! only 2 1/2 full months late! (in REGULAR people time!!!), in internet time, what is that, an eon? a fucking aeon flux capacitor??? Y'know????? Can you feel it???????? Fshoooooo....the time dilation is palpable in this town...

But really, honestly, I'm fucked...I can't help but try and wrap my head around all this goddamn media...

Sooo, in accordance with the flow of information that I attempt to absorb officially shifting from "Insurmountable" to "Defcon 1 Cultureblast", I present to you my best of 06 mix, as translated through my indiedancebloggeryi-i-ibeonthatcomputershit type likings.

The Innernet Ruined My Life... (Best of 06?)

Tracklist:
1.Klaxons-Magick (Simian Mobile Disco Remix)
2.Soulwax-Krack
3.Dj Mehdi-Pony Rocking
4.Mustapha 3000-kongo thong
5.Outhud-Panarava(Rub n Tug Remix)
6.Riot In Belgium-The Acid Never Lies
7.Ying Yang Twins feat Pitbull-Shake
8.New Young Pony Club-Ice Cream
9.My Robot Friend-Rapture
10.Martin Bros-Stoopit
11.Bonde Do Role- Melo Do Tabaco(Jokers of the Scene Remix)
12.Sharon Phillips- Want 2 Need 2 (Trentemoller Remix)
13.DJ Delicious/Fam-Lay & Pharell - "Let It Drop" (Red Foxx Chopped & FX Edit)
14.Spank Rock-Sweet Talk(Kalbata Remix)
15.Yo Majesty-Club Action (Bagraiders Remix)
16.Chromeo-Breathe (Al Dare Remix)
17.The Presets-The Girl and The Sea
18.The Presets-THe Girl and The Sea (Cut Copy Remix)
19.Ready For The World-Oh Sheila (Trackademicks Remix)
20.Peaches-Downtown
21.Sally Shapiro-I'll be by your side
22.Sally Shapiro-I'll be by your side (Rude 66 808 Remix)
23.Whitey-Can't Go Out, Can't Stay In
24.Hot Chip-Boy From School(Hot Chip rework)
25.Bonde Do Role- Melo Do Tabaco(Radioclit Remix)
26.Lil Scrappy-Money in Da Bank (Bird Peterson Remix)
27.Tigarah-Money (Speed Dub Remix)
28.Simian Mobile Disco-Hustler
29.C.l.a.w.s.-Claws theme(Passions Remix)
30.Rick Ross-Hustlin
31.Cansei De Ser Sexy-Superafim
32.The Myrmidons-Clap(See the Stars)
33.Lotterboys-Animalia
34.Vive Le Fete- Liberte (Sweetlight Remix)
35.Dj K-What you know about Deus Ex Machina(TI VS. Paper Cranes)
36.Tom Vek-I ain't saying my goodbyes(Phones Remix)
37.Spank Rock - Bump
38.MSTRKRFT-Paris
39.Rich Boy-Throw Some D's
40.The Klaxons- Gravity's Rainbow (To My Boy Remix)
41.Drop The Lime-Wake Up Call
42.Peter,Bjorn, and John-Young Folks (Beyond the Wizard's Sleeves Remix)

What can I say? I lag. Fulltime.

But really, I'm gonna try and get better with the turnaround time on the megamixes this year(while still making sure I don't feel like I'm wasting your time). Honest. It's my Mid March Resolution...

Anyhow, so yeah, '06 rundown...there's even some late '05 stuff... again, i know...woefully out of touch, right? Guess that's why I felt obligated to toss in a little '07 too, just to soothe some of this burning hot shame. I also feel compelled to cover my ass by saying that I tried constructing this beast in a sort of holistic manner. Meaning, I was leaning more towards presenting a whole array of styles that seem to be converging on a kind of unified mindset, rather than your standard emphasis on flow and continuity (so think sampler platter, not a zoner-outer journey deal)

Hmmm, that still probably made no sense...or maybe just sounded kinda ridiculous. Alright, real quick then...

For the uninitiated: if you see a late teen/20 something walking around and they look like they are from the not too distant future and/or the past via the future and/or they are rocking a bunch of confusing shit that jams up your senses and makes you think "what the fuck is happening here?"...then this is like my abridged version of the soundtrack to that lifestyle, minus a lot of indie rock (cause I can't really mix it) and all things disco related (cause that's a whole other cd I really need to make).

For those of you as culturally obsessed as myself: Yeahhh, kinda old news, but I think I make a pretty good argument here for technorap (or whatever the term will end up as) being something that needs to be honed in this year (tastefully, though, tastefully). What else...oh that Myrmidon's joint was seriously slept on. It shoulda been feelgood haircut jam of the year, specially for the ladies, but seems it slipped through the cracks. So yeah, get up on your grrlbounce. Actually, come to think of it, this whole thing just might have been an elaborate excuse to throw together some of that pink lemonade passion that I've been cultivating as of late. So midway thru, please do not be afraid to get your dreamweave on.

PS I know I am blowing it huge with all the yip yap (y'know, like, spelling things out rather than alluding to them all coy and wink wink-like), so if you are still reading because you are bitter about my lack of restraint, just pretend I said "06:We still 'bout it 'bout it" instead of all this other stuff (but in a cooler font or something).

-------------------------------------------------------------

OK so there's that. Enjoy.

I should probably add at this point that it's not like I've been terribly busy or nothing either. I've been dicking around at your local fucknuttery's, quietly attending to my fergie->nelly furtado blends and sighing wistfully. So as far as goods go...I've just been hoarding for a minute, that's all. I don't think I can adapt to the post post post post post mentality of the more influential blogs, both due to quality control concerns and massive bouts of laziness. Still, rather than implementing my usual "well why try then" logic, I figure I should just do it to do it while still reserving the right to bow out politely at a moment's notice.

Cool? Cool. Ok, but before I start trying to get into some NEW shit, I figure I'd go ahead and recklessly post some GOOD shit.

As in B-B-Best of 06 videos!(that I haven't posted at some point)

DJ Mehdi feat Chromeo. Slick Lettermans, even slicker handshakes. I got away with playing this song a bunch at my normal folk gigs this year and none seemed to be the wiser. SO subversive. (nerd note: Montreal version though, fuck that atonal chorus version.)

CSS. I have this one secret type of boner that possesses an overwhelming amount of virility, but it's reserved solely for Lovefoxx.

Actually, that's bullshit, any girl in this video would get me all shy and level 5 advanced boner-y too. This Saam guy has been real good with the videos. I guess he realized it and so he did the "I'm a fucking director" video that all aspiring young upstarts secretly want to do. Hell yeah, dude! Thank you. Only complaint is thatI'm not feeling the excessive overdub effects though. Watching these girls get down is totally justified without unnecessary "art stuff", bro bra.

Next 3 videos are all by Chad VanGaalen. He does the songs and then animates the videos...

Definately give him props for the full package approach, it's inspiring...

Still, I got to say the videos are the real meatyness for my tastes. I've got a soft spot for tripped out morphy drawrings.

Softlighties. Not too keen on their particular brand of heart on your sleeveyness (I've been sticking to Voxtrot when I'm jonsing for some aww geee style wonderpop), but goddamn, this video is an amazing little labor of love. Seriously, director Kris Moyes deserves a real big hug for this.

Boards of Canada. Although I was kind of bummed out by the demistified route they went with on the new record, this video still smacks of unspoken awesomeness. Yes, that footage is real. Google Joseph Kittinger if you want to know more about skydiving in outerspace.

Subtle. Tried posting this awhile ago but it got taken down from Youtube. Now it's back. I already said my piece on Subtle some time back (I'll add that i really don't think I devote the time necessary to absorbing their work), but I can not stress how ill the visual collective SSSR is.

This is a trilogy of videos, btw.

Stop motion, cg, hand drawn animation, cut outs, it's all far game with these guys.

This is a separate deal from that little trilogy (it's another subtle song from their last full length) but still really crucial for your eyes. Creepy eastern european type puppets mixed with an old school cartoon vibe.

Klaxons. Damn, the innernet got super Klaxon'd out, huh? Good testament to the power of these little blog dealies. Anyhow, this shit looks cool...and it confirmed my suspicions...glowsticks ARE evil, it just took this long to feel the aftereffects of those terrible little "light shows" your gay raver friends use to give you.

Claude Von Stroke. Fun video from a dude who makes some fun ass music. Seriously, his style is super accessible, even if you don't like dance tunes.

Ugly Casanova. Adorably disgusting and hilariously stylish. Hah! That kid just got blasted! What a fuckin incredible mix of associations...again, a perfect testament to my fascination with Japan.

Vitalic. K, this is probably my favorite video of last year. It encapsulates so much about how I feel about right now, while saying so little. And it's done with puppies, so you are forced to like it no matter what because dogs are the shit from now till infinity. Genius.

Bonus Vid. So Adidas launched an Adicolor campaign last year to do the Nike thing by tastefully blurring marketing with legitimate artistic endeavors, in what appears to be an attempt to circumvent the 20 something demographics apparent disdain towards being marketed to (at least that's what it seems like from my angle).

By itself, this video is definitely intriguing, albeit creepy as hell, for a number of reasons (the song, Made by Greg Weeks, is awesome, huh?). But seriously, what the fuck does a metaphor for the female loss of innocence have to do with shoes?? You mean to tell me that the tie-in is seriously just a certain color of Pink that a shoe could come in? Really? O-Ok...

Now I'm not saying that this isn't interesting or that the director sold out because he obviously got the funding to do something he wanted to do, but the connection between these two worlds, even if it's a slightly noble undertaking by Adidas to foster creativity with corporate money, just seems so odd.

So is it possible to make a huge company's attempts at gaining tastemaker creed a truly charitable endeavor? Is the branding of everything inevitable?

Is this the future?

Oh wait, fuck, i was doing an 06 summary in March....
------------------------------------------------
Best Albums of 06 (in no particular order and without commentary because it'll be healthier for me to do it this way)

Alex Smoke-Paradolia*
Mr. Flash-Monsiuer Sexe*
Beach House-Beach House
Broadcast-The Future Crayon*
Skream-Skream
Caural-Mirrors For Eyes*
Clark-Body Riddle
Clipse-Hell Hath No Fury
Truth & Soul-Fallin' off the Reel*
Zilla-Grinted and Brawlsville*
Felix Laband-Dark Days Exit*
Ghostface-Fishscale
J Dilla-The Shining/Donuts (Can't decide which was better, both are essential)
Junior Boys-So This Is Goodbye
Kitsune Maison Comp 2
Burial-Burial
Lindstrom-Another Side of Lindstrom
Nobody-Tree Colored See*
Bibio-Hand Cranked*
Belbury Poly- The Owl's Map*
Helios-Eingya*
Loscil-Plume*
More Melting Pot Music Sound*
Ratatat-Classics
Trae-Real Talk*
Tapes N Tapes-The Loon
Secret Mommy-Very Rec*
Chrome Children-Chrome Children
Ellen Allien-Orchestra of Bubbles
Trentemoller-The Last Resort
Hot Chip-The Warning
Claude Von Stroke-Beware the Bird
CSS-Cansei De ser Sexy
Daedelus-Denies the Day's Demise*
Spank Rock-YoYoYoYoYo
Dictaphone-Vertigo II*
Drumcorps-Grist*
I am a robot and proud-the electricity in your house want's to sing*
mordant music-dead air*
Minotaur Shock-Maritime*
Karl Lagerfeld-My Favorite Songs*
Voxtrot-Soft and Warm
Fujiya and Miyagi-transparent things

The ones with stars next to it are more personal picks that are awesome albums that didn't get hyped to death by the powers that be. Seriously, I'm beginning to think that Pitchfork has the end all/be all opinion regarding popular consensus of alternative music. Not to say that they are completely off base, but I will never get over how they have the fucking gall to dish out numerical ratings to A TENTH OF A WHOLE NUMBER. It's called rounding you self serving fucks...a person's encapsulated being does not translate into a 7.3, no matter how much naval gazing you do. Please stop making people think it's ok to be this uselessly anal, the ripple effect is awful (as in more fucking hipster parrots that ACT like they actually THINK like how these geeksquad reviews SOUND, just because they just bought a striped sweater so they can dance real hard to "We Are Your Friends".

(Ed note:Nice, got a last minute rant in there too...don't worry, they didn't hear you)

Yeah, I know, but talking to yourself on the internet always seems to bring about surprising results, huh? Yeah... Ummm, here are a couple names to watch for this year...Duke Dumont, U-tern, Mathhead, Starkey, Kid Sister, Anders Ilar, Padded Cell, Bauchamp, Zilla.

Phew,did it...dead last. Now that's cutting edge.

DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB

2007-01-17T15:20:00.000-08:00

On Friday, down near Irvine, I will be getting the party started before The Federation comes on stage and show's you what this hyphy shit is all about. I'm fucking puuumped. I know it's deep in the OC, and that's a trek for you LA people, but I'm gonna try really hard to arrange some deal were there's like um, like a flatbed truck with beds or something, so you could dumb out huge until you hit blackout mode, and then you just have to stumble upon one of these magic beds, and when you wake up, you're inside Disneyland! OHHHHHHHH!

yeah, ok, obviously this won't happen because my ideas are retarded, but still, how awesome would that be? Waking up in Tomorrowland all bleary eyed and disheveled, squinting through your stunna shades like...whoa, is this the future?? And when you realize it's not, it's like fuck it, you still get to go on space mountain!

Anyway this is the venue:

Belluno 12361 Chapman Avenue, Garden Grove, CA 92840

Random Access Melodies One

2006-12-28T18:56:00.000-08:00

So I've had the intention (for quite some time) to post all 3 R.A.M. discs at once. Why? I dunno. Strange internal logic? Yeah, that's probably the bulk of it...problem is, the middle one is not done yet and I kinda burnt out on it for a minute. I know, waah waah waah, right? But hey, motivation can be a tricky bitch sometimes. Why the hell is the will to do things so goddamn unwieldy and intangible? Isn't it about time we get a pill for this? What's the hold up, Pfizer?

Anyhow, these other two have been done for a minute and are steadily gathering dust on my hard drive. (Digital dust. Yeah.) It also dawned on me that you can't listen to all 3 simultaneously. Or rather you shouldn't. It would be a bit confusing, I'm sure.

So, in light of all these mini-epiphanies, I've decided to dish these things out over some indeterminate amount of time. Seems like a rock solid plan, maybe. Whatever, it's a good time for it at least, in my opinion. This is always such a strange week for me. It's not a fresh start new year yet. It's not christmas anymore, so that familial pandemonium is slowly subsiding. It ends up being this big lazy holiday week, only a week feels like too much time to not busy yourself with something...all you can do is float. It's like no man's land... ::cue a long, windy stare into the horizon at dusk::

So, yeah, here's some computer music. That'll anchor you good.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
RAM 1: Sounds From The Robonursery

Shhh. Do you hear it? Come closer...closer...good. Now listen...Do you hear them? They're little baby circuits. Listen to them, cooing and calculating, gurgling and processing.

They've gathered together here because they want to tell you about what they do. You see, every moment of every day they are busy playing with electricity. They stretch it and squish it and fold it and kneed it as it travels through them. It makes them happy. They play with electricity all the time and when they are done playing with it, they make sounds. And they can make so many sounds, from the purest of sine waves to a flurry of blurts and squiggles. Only problem is, they can't hear what they make. They don't have ears, the poor little guys...

But hey. You do. I think that's why they want to share their tiny melodies with you...so you can hear them. Because, you see, these little machines, I think they are just as fascinated with us as we are with them. They find this whole "purpose" concept that we play with intriguing, despite it being a bit silly. It's the only thing in the world that causes them to voluntarily stop doing-doing-doing, if only for the briefest instant. But still, these infinitesimally small moments of introspection, they linger inside the machines. And I'm pretty sure it's because of this that they want you to hear their sounds. That way, you can carry them around in your head. Anytime you feel like humming, you can just hum the sounds they made. I'm pretty sure that that makes them happy too. It's nice, huh? Simple even, like the thoughts of a newborn. They want to affect life because life has effected them.

Or at least that's what they told me...

Tracklist:
1. Milosh-Push
2.Bochum Welt-Feelings on a Screen
3.Wilt-Life In Rain
4.Isan-RoadRunner
5.Tipper-Adrift For Days
6.Helios-Two Mark
7.T.F.O.M.S. Project-C.O.M.
8.Mum-The Ballad of the broken birdie records (Ruxpin Remix)
9.o9-terminal red
10.Arovane-A Secret
11.Euphone-Red, Blue, Yellow
12.Casino Vs. Japan-Come Along Do
13.Project E.L.F.-Newton
14.Xploding Plastix-Huncher
15.Chimerical Child-Serene
16.Aphex Twin-Alberto Balsalm
17.Animals on Wheels- Never In and Never Out
18.Piano Overlord-Spring's Arrival
19.Kelpe-Knock, Turn
20.machinedrum- Yo Half The Izey Rael (Logreybeam's 20yrledaig Mix)
21.Isan-Calf
22.E Vax-Neon and Aluminum
23.E Vax-What We Meant
24.Landau-Oustduo
25.B. Fleischmann-Sleep
26.B. Fleischmann-sidonie
27.To Rococo Rot-Das Blau Und Der Morgan
28.Ezekiel Honig-More Human Than Human
29.Solvent-A Panel Of Experts (Lowfish Remix)
30.Kelpe-Age Sculpture
31.Xploding Plastix-Dizzy Blonde
32.Minotaur Shock-Four Magpies
33.Ratatat-Cherry
34.Manitoba-Dundas,Ontario
35.Boom Bip-The Move
36.Melodium-iopak bis
37.Mum-On the Old Mountain Radio
38.Signaldrift-Strategies For Success Boxes
39.Brothomstates-Mdrmx
40.Trentemoller-Take Me Into Your Skin
41.Copy-Tailored Pants
42.Rod-All My Love
--------------------------------------------------------------

Tricky Disco, one of Warp's first acts. This was a big song in the English rave scene back then. For 1990, this video is so next level that it's still next level. I can only imagine what went through some people's drug addled minds, seeing this projected on a wall at some proto-rave. "Wwweee arrrrrrennnn't rrrrreeeeaaaaddddyyy fffooorrr thhhiiissss. Ttthhhheeee iiinnnntttteeeeerrrnnneeeettttt ddooooeessnnn'tttt eeevvvvveeeennnn eeeexxxxiiiisttt yyyyyeettttt. OOOH. YEAH! OOOH. YEAH! MMMMEEEEELLLLLTTTTDDDDOOOOOWWWWWNNNN!!!!!!!!

Oh wait.....blogging.....yeahhh. Ahem, well, uh, obviously I fell off. I might start up again. But I also thought "maybe I'll make it one of my new year's resolutions to blog more". And then I thought about that thought and I was like "jesus christ, what is the world coming too?"

But I also got jams like this that people really should be up on. So we'll see...

In case you haven't heard...

2006-10-25T16:28:00.000-07:00

I ain't dead!

On the contrary, I've been sharpening up my photoshop sabotage game. Whoa now.

But fer reals...Downtown Warehouse Mania. Arts, Musics, Fashions, Acupunctures (<-yeah that's right...next level homeopathic destressification while you wait). I'll be there rocking as many tunes as possible. Sensual sounds, maybe even some dancefloor action if that pans out. Regardless, it's sounding pretty worthy of some sort of "Be there or Be square" type statement.

Also, ladies of the eve, my friend Oliver over at Solid Gold Rags is debutting his fall line of female apparel...basically some damn fine clothing to accentuate your sexy and rock people's worlds on the daily. Be sure to come by and check the catwalk for a sneak peak.

Oh yeah, you can dress up too.

I'll be rocking my "true colors". Don't be shy, say "Hello".

24 Hour Particle People

2006-09-14T23:14:00.000-07:00

Guess who's timely? Woo-haa.

This is the last excessively large installment of The Bun so soak it up. It goes something like this: visual assaults->japanese wackiness->just plain wackiness->mp3s with reviews (they start semi-literate and quicky devolve from there so be sure to read some of the later ones. Plus superstar guest reviewer, Schertz AKA Schertzer McNasty, CEO of Spicy Preteen Records, shows you how to review some shit big league style while not coming off all ambivalent like yours truly). Then I'm topping this off with the keys to the craziest thing ever concievable and my quasi-philosophical, mostly just really stoned response to it. It was supposed to be my opening rant but it turned into a mega-rant so it's on the backside for this one. Trust me, it's for the best. So now...for openers...meh, I've got nothing...sorry...

SIKE!!!!!!

LAZERZ!!11!!1!! pew pew pew !!!!!! NEEEEEEEEeeeeerr.....POOOOOOOSHH!!!!!

(ed note: wow, i quit. )

Banksy is the dude. He's been killing it for almost two decades over in England with his graffiti and guerilla stencil art. It usually entails a subversive blend of cheeky humor infused with some sort of pertinent sociopolitical gutcheck. Nowadays he's getting major shine. His work has become so infamous over there that his exploits even recieve national media coverage and he's become a minor celebrity, a modern day Robin Hood of sorts (even though his real identity remains shrouded in secrecy). Rightfully so, though. He deserves his recognition. He's a man with a cause and a message, not just, saaay, some worthless trainwreck of a whore that gets thrust into your face because she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Yeah, you know who I'm talking about...Paris Hilton. The worst thing to happen to popular culture since forever. She perpetuates obscene ignorance and superficial elitism with every breath she takes, and unfortunately, people eat it up. I'd go so far as to say that she's the posterchild of the whole guilty pleasure media insurgence and at the very core of what is making our culture morally and mentally destitute. The fact that she actually gets validation is a sad indicator of our shortcomings as humans. She is fucking awful and I hate everything she stands for, which is kinda odd when I think about it because the whole thing is that she doesn't "stand" for anything.

Yet, while I've sat here and bitched about her existence for the past couple years, Banksy, a man of action, has decided to take his game to the next level.

This is courtesy of The Independent Online Edition:
Banksy has taken aim at the cult of empty celebrity and its current poster child, Paris Hilton. The secretive artist has smuggled 500 doctored copies of Paris Hilton's debut album into music stores throughout the UK, where they have sold without the shops' knowledge.In place of Ms Hilton's bubble-gum pop songs, the CDs feature Banksy's own rudimentary compositions. On the cover of the doctored CD, Ms Hilton's dress has been digitally repositioned to reveal her bare breasts; on an inside photo, her head has been replaced with that of her dog.

Thank god for this man. I hope this gets people's attention here in the states, too. Here's the pictures of the doctored album cover, a youtube video showing his process along with some of the music he put on the cd (apparently produced by Danger Mouse?), a feature on Banksy from a British culture show, and a set of pictures of his other work.

He is having a secret show for three days here in L.A. starting on the 15th. Details will be on his website. You best believe I'll be there.

(update: so much for being secret...that shit was a zoo! Lot's of cool shit though. I almost bumped into Sasha Baron Cohen...he was rocking a Celebrate America! shirt. Good look. There was also some girl OD'ing in a corner. Not a good look. PS At a crowded ass art show?? Who does that?

Flickr photo set of Paris Hilton cd

How on point is that laundromat audio clip!

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Some music videos I've come across as of late that had me raise an eyebrow or three.

The Klaxons are at the head of what is being dubbed as "new rave" by the media. They are definately reminiscent of the bugged out Madchester era. Plus, this video for Gravity's Rainbow harkens even further back to the earliest of MTV video's (video killed the radio star, hey mickey), only whacked out on some high grade wacky. Original. Directed by Saam.

This video for Carpark North has inexplicably wormed it's way into my head for whatever reason. I dunno what to make of it, it fucks with my equilibrium or something. I think because it's cheesy, and then awkward, and then actually kinda cool all rolled into one. It's like a Tool video, only with little kids instead of nightmare people and other disturbing shit, which actually makes it come off even wierder for me. Eh, couldn't tell you...just thought I'd share.

Chris Cunningham's first music video in like 6 years. It's for some obscure british punk band called the Horrors. Why he chose them I dunno, but it's definately one of his videos. Not particularly impressive, but cool none the less. Oh yeah, and "Sheena" is Samantha Morton, PreCog extroadinaire.

Polysic's. Goofy Japanese group. I think that one kid is from the breakdancing video that everybody and their mother has seen. At least if their a nerds like me. Anyway, fun Stuff. Oh, and it transitions nicely into...

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Even more Japanese antics. Their culture keeps me alive and well.

How does a whole country of people get to be so loopy? Well teaching your kid's to be friends with their shit and piss is a good start. Personally, I'd caution against it because if something happens and there's like, a falling out or something, and you are no longer on speaking terms, then you have to spend the rest of your life dealing with awkward potty time. Also, regarding the live action segment at the end, think about what that red "all done!!!" button must look (and feel) like after about a week....yeah, I bet it's pretty ill.

Please don't kill me...

I think the Japanese are immune to nightmares.

Here's the kicker: TARAKO is the ovaries of a cod fish.

You do have to admit, we have nothing on their TV shows. Fun Fact: The big black guy is a famous kickboxer from the Netherlands.

AOL Search leak. I'll update this later, suffice to say it's insanely hilarious/really scary. Look at Part 1 first, it's the best. People are shitball loco in the head out of there gourd crazy when they think no one's watching. It makes me think every bad thought possible has already been absorbed by the internet. Stop being crazy, people. It just makes things worse.

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Aight, enough funny business. This is some real deal actual factual. Listen. Music is great right now. It's flourishing. People just get it. It's making the world a better place. Hell yeah.There's all these great new bands coming out of the woodwork and to top it off, 5 of my favorite acts just released, (or are about to release) ba-ba-ba-brilliant new material. Bonobo, Quantic, Squarepusher, J Dilla(RIP), and Junior Boys all have new albums and I am totally digging each one of them.

Bonobo-Nightlite feat. Bajka

Bonobo (aka Simon Green), in my opinion, is the quintessential downtempo artist. His compositions are lush, beautiful, relaxing, haunting, engrossing, uplifting, reflective etc. etc. etc. Most of all, he's remarkably consistent. You can tell he doesn't half ass anything. So album 3 rolls out and I look at my crossed fingers like "what the hey now", as if this guy has ever done me wrong. But then I hear tale that almost half the album is featuring a female vocalist known as Bajka. Uh oh. Call me sexist or whatever, but downtempo and female vocals are a very tricky mix. Many a great track has been ruined by cheesy, over the top songstress types (certain songs off Nightmares on Wax's album Mind Elevation come to mind, off the top of my head). It's the whole sultry but excessive house diva thing that usually buries it. When done right, it's a beautiful thing...obviously there's Portishead... and Martina Topley-Bird, Mia Doi Todd, and Alice Russell seem to sound amazing way more often then not, but these are definately the exception. Most of the time, the tasteful balance just isn't there, and when the music is unexceptional as well, you get some of the most painfully generic shit there is. My bones literally ache everytime a coffeshop throws on Chilled Out Ibiza Vol. 14 and some douche thinks to himself, "ooh, is this Zero 7?".

But I digress. On paper, Days to Come may look like the formula for Thievery Corporation-lite (languid beats meet an exotic chauntese who suggests we all get along) but Green, always on point with the quality control, utilizes Bajka's voice with an amazing amount of restraint and class, and she ends up complimenting the album perfectly. Her voice is definately unique. She has this mysterious, almost hypnotic quality that threads its way in and out of the music, providing a seamless counterpoint to Bonobo's otherworldy majesty. The instrumental tracks are incredible, once again displaying Green's innate ability to make epic beauty sound effortless. Recurring and Ketto are on par with the best tracks off Dial M for Monkey, which is definately saying something. The album is delivered with the refined sensibility of a man who has mastered his sound while still managing to infuse it with a marked concern stemming from world politics.

Quantic-Absence Heard Presence Felt

Quantic is the man too. He's kind of got a kindred spirit thing going on with Bonobo (they were labelmates on Tru Thought back in the day) but his stuff seems a little more directly influenced by hip hop, deep funk and South American styles. His new album, Announcement to Answer, is great. The opener, Absence Heard Presence Felt, sounds like old school DJ Krush as realized on a bright, sunny day. Be sure to check for his faster, funkier songs too, his uptempo game is among the best of it's kind.

Squarepusher-Bubble Life

Tom Jenkinson=Mad Genius. That's the best way I could describe his musical offerings. To me, a very sizable portion of his back catalogue is made up of impenetrable insanity. He has tons of hyper-sequenced and thoroughly punishing tracks that, sadly, do nothing for my meager little head. But it seems at least once each album, he'll tone it down slightly, just enough to let you know that he has completely mastered music as far as mere mortals can conceive it. As a result, he's humored us over the years with masterworks like Iambic 5 Poetry, Squarepusher Theme, Come on My Selector, and Tommib, to name a few.

Yet as shocking as it may be, his new album, Hello Everything, could almost be described as downright accessible. Maybe even upbeat...well, y'know relatively that is...it's still Squarepusher.

The different styles and extremes he's unleashed over the years are all accounted for, from the Drill n Bass Atari Meltdown that was Big Loada, to the claustrophobic free jazz of Music Is Rotted One Note, but they are presented in a surprisingly approachable manner. The example provided, Bubble Life, opens up in a room full of spacious clickery and boiling chemical trickery, sounding like something you might here coming out of Willy Wonka's basement at night. Gene Wilder Version, that new shit doesn't really count. Sorry, but yeah. However, the initial wierd is quickly offset by subtle percussion and some of Squarepusher's inimitable double bass lines (the super complicated yet warm and funky ones). It ends up having this authentic 70's studio session vibe, yet it's thoroughly tripped out and unmistakably modern. The majority of the album follows suit, allowing the Squarepusher sound to be poked and proded without all the abrasiveness of it's past incarnations. Even his obligatory 303 noodlings and amen workouts sound surprisingly inviting and organic, acting mostly as the subtle framework for bells and warbles to dangle from. When viewed as a whole, I feel it's his most enjoyable album to date. Aside from one midalbum dronescape and a couple of tense moments that sound like an alternate score to Clockwork Orange, it deftly toes the line between pleasant and intricate, live and electronic, nostalgic and modern. It's really only in the last 2 or 3 songs that Jenkinson feels the need to re-inform you that he is still way crazier than you'll ever be...or perhaps just light years beyond our comprehension.

Junior Boys-High Come Down

I'm a preface this whole section as SYNTHPOP MANIA. With words ( <- those words), that is, because I ain't to handy in the ways of formatting and presentation. Sorry, but I'll probably rock the arts and crafts dropout style to the day I die. Some elbow macaroni, some sparkles, and a lot of glue on a paper plate. Baam. Done.

So, the Junior Boys first album, Last Exit, was the first thing I can remember hearing that made me really dig the 80's pop revival in a truely legitimate kind of way. A few years ago, I don't think I could differentiate between what I considered enjoyable about the retro aesthetic in a kitschy kind of way versus what was actually enjoyable in a genuine way(damn you, post-ironic culture!). Hell, I don't think I ever consciously tried. Pretty much everything that is actually from the 80's is pretty much dope in it's own compartmentalized way. Even the shit that sucks is kind of like, "meh, well that's pretty shitty, but hey, it was the 80's, give it a break". It seems like it was hard to be hyper critical about anything at the time, what with people being all stoked all the time and all, so it's hard for me to judge it objectively using the current standard. Even when I hear a song I've never heard before from the 80's, I feel like I judge it using some special criteria, at least more so than any other generation of music.

Anyhow, so my first real whiff of this concentrated re-inventing of the ME generation was the whole electroclash thing, but what I heard and saw was too smarmy and fashionista'd out for my liking. But, about two years ago, I heard the Junior Boys and got this funny feeling like, wow, there's no tongues, there's no cheeks, they are just picking up where New Order and Depeche Mode left off and they're carrying that torch forward. So I feel this lends itself to a more direct kind of scrutiny from my generation, based on a certain level of awareness regarding the current cultural climate.

Junior Boys-Fm

I dropped the homey a line to get his opinion on a few of these new school synth jams, and instead of responding with some sort of "yeah they're cool or whatever, listen I actually have a real job sooo..." deal, he hit me off with some bonafide opinionation. Here's what the magnanimous Schertz AKA $chertzer Maximillionz, had to say about FM.

"Shit is on that whispers in the pink mist synth tip. Down with the driving intro-synth, sweet harmonies, and angelic-hums. Plus when that bridge hits at 3:53, it’s like I should be jumping to and from trampoline clouds, with this jamming on my super puff, 80’s headphones... Pure Glitter World jamz"

You heard it hear first...we likes our sparklemotion raw as fuck.

The new album,So This Is Goodbye, is as good if not better than Last Exit. It's got some really undeniable instrumentation, bordering on pure synthetic bliss. Yet, it still hit's me with this John Hughes movie feeling that makes all these guilty pleasure bells go off in my head. It's definately over the top, especially when Jeremy Greenspan's voice goes so far into ooey gooey overdrive that you feel naked, but it's still real solid. Yes, when I hear Greenspan sing a tiny voice inside me want's to go "dude, this shit sounds pretty gay". But something about the music manages to override my machismo. The funny thing is, Greenspan's voice reminds me a lot of the dude from Death Cab for Cutie, and when I hear him, a BIG voice inside me goes "DUDE, THIS SHIT SOUNDS PRETTY GAY". So I think the deciding factor for the double standard is that this type of gushy crooning really just sounds right in a bed of warm, glistening synths.

morgan geist-most of all(feat. Jeremy Greenspan)

Oh yeah, and there's this Morgan Geist single with Greenspan that would have fit perfectly on the album. You can tell people have finally got the 80's new wave aesthetic down pat. When you mix in that modern day sheen and, in this case, a subtle strand of that electrohouse sound, you are definately doing the damn thing.

Schertz chimes in:
Yeah, definitely heard this before. Greenspan takes his supple crooner vocals to the next level with this one. But Morgan holds it down as usual. A very chill 6+ mins. of synth stylings. And like you said, super clean.

Yep. On point like digital mousse. I'd say for me, the sound is entrenched in my brain from childhood, so the questionable lyrical stuff gets the right of way for whatever reason. I'm sure some socialogy type could go all modern theorist and write a paper on the interplay of sentimentality with the current trajectory of irony and how this all ties in to the cyclical nature of trends, but it sure as hell isn't gonna be me.

Alls I know is if you keep your synths clean and your shit catchy, you can go sap factory on me anyday.

Morgan Geist,Junior Boys, and guys like Cut Copy or Chromeo are all doing big things.

Midnight Juggernauts-45 and Rising

Speaking of Cut Copy, they signed these guys to their Cutters label. Imagine all the stuff we just talked about combined with rock, metal, and Daft Punk,who've obviously been down with that ol real shit since day one, and whose sound is influencing just about everybody right now. I think the Daft Punk show at Coachella was so epic that it shorted some circuitry and rewired the brains of everyone in attendance...The world is definately feeling the ripple effect. Good shit, Australia, keep it up.

(PS Croc Hunter RIP, he was the realest of the real).

Department of Eagles-Sailing by Night

Ok, this isn't synthy but I'm on a roll with the softer shit now so we might as well slip this in because it's real good. Department of Eagles' first album from a few years ago, Whitey on the Moon, was all over the place. Like ALL over the place. No two songs really sounded the same, one would be instrumental moody downtempo, one would be all drum machine-y, one sounded like some shit you would sing at Ye Olde Pub. I don't know, the best I explanation I can come up with would be some bizarro Beta Band amalgamation (back when they were tight, that is). Definately hit and miss, but when it hit, it was some original shit. Sailing by Night, the standout for me, starts off with some breezy guitar and chugging muted percussion, but the vocals end up being all wistful, setting the stage for some proper introspective seagazing. Everything seems laid out properly for a good song, but just when you think it's about to end, a kazoo pops up, the drum machine starts getting rickety, these orchestral strings coming rolling through, and things build to a frenzy. Then to top it off, this gnarly ornate Nintendo melody and dogpiles the whole thing. Real dope.

Department of Eagles-Deadly Disclosure

This one is from their new album, untitled and unscheduled as of yet, but I'm stoked. It's dreary too, in an awesome kind of way, sounding a little like a cross between Bob Dylan and Calexico. When the choral backing comes in, all I can think about are those haunting vocals from old Disney movies. Like, say, that one part in Alice in Wonderland where she's lost in the woods, balling her eyes out and singing "soooomedayyyyyy" and then the ghostly choir responds "sooooomedaaaaayyyyy" while the little duck horns and eyeglass birds and other wierd critters are getting all choked up. That shit always got me. So does this.

James Figurine-55566688833

OK back to synths. Just to flesh things out a little more and let you know where I stand, this is when things start getting convoluted for me. It doesn't evoke the retro override thing and the vocals are shy and subdued so we're getting into rough seas. When Jimmy Tamborello starts singing, at first I got a "hey, speak up there, ya pussy" crotchety grampa kinda feeling, but then the chorus comes in with that high pitched squigglefest, and suddenly I'm like...aw crap, who am I kidding, I like this too. And then I deciphered the lyrics and realized what the song title meant I was like, "goddamnit...that shit was pretty clever...and timely...dude just wants to snuggle or something...fuck, now what?"

Schertz seems less wary of this songs ability to turn people hugga-bear homo at a moment's notice:
Texting be on that get down tip now. Werd. For some reason I’m really feeling this song. That first thirty seconds got me. First impressions are a bitch a guess. But in this case it really didn’t turn out to be such a bitch for Figurine and Schertzdog. Don’t really know why. All introverted and shit, the beat even sounds like it’s got some miniature Japanese gnomes twirling happy swizzle sticks around in the air like nobodies business. And the distorted Mario Inc. drum beat is pretty power-up shit. By far my favorite out of all four and I don’t really know why… just cuz. Sucks that text-typing’s giving this guy so many problems. Maybe he should just switch back to a pager?

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone-Young Shields

Shit, shit, shit. This is troublesome. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Yes, thats the name of this guy's one man band. Yes, the music is even more emotronic than the name implies. Yes, this guy sounds like the biggest snivelling bitch ever (I didn't wanna play football, Dad! I DIDN'T WANNA!!!!!) And yet, this one song managed to snag me somehow.

Schertztown breaks it down to a fucking tee on this one:
Suicidal-dopamine-deprived-post-three-day-coke-binge-trust-fund-closet homo from Chelsea, who's life is spiraling out of control and the ‘rents “just don‘t understand.” I have a feeling if you gave Cas, say, ten years to have a few more of those ‘significant life experiences’ adults are always talking about, this guy would be able to re-write some pretty on point, mature lyrics to match the level the rest of this song is on. That said, the killer wailing guitar ending is top of pops. And the beat on this is striking a chord with me… or shall I say beating my drum. Maybe just cause I keep listening to it over and over. This guys whining chorus just pisses me off for some reason.

Woah, how'd you do an ellipse without using periods? Fancy typin' ass Schertzer. What a guy.

Man, so yeah, the chorus, the chorus. It makes me want to sock the shit out of dude in the face really hard with my fists, and on top of that, his voice also reeks of some hardcore sulking in the corner. I start getting fidgety when you hit me too hard with that boo hoo kind of mope. But some of the other lyrics ain't half bad and I'll be damned if these synths aren't just synthing it up real fucking hard. So yeah. That's why I'm listening to this again. It's just these catchy electronics getting the best of me. Right guys? Haha. R-Right?

So...conflicted...gasp...and vulnerable...must...return back...to the safety...cough...and comfort of my... fortress of irony.

Captain Ahab-Girls Gone Wild

Captain Ahab-I Can't Wait for Summer

Phew. That was close. Ah, sweet irony. So secure...like emotional immunity. Nothing can affect me here...

Extending the fortress metaphor over to these guys just a little bit so as to create a nice little segue (and to be lame)...yeah, with the two tunes above, these Captain Ahab dudes have constructed some impregnable shit. I'm talking like, Tower of Babel-sized fortress, only the walls are made of titanium and it's surrounded by a moat of purest sarcasm. Which I guess would mean that the walls would be actually be fashioned from locks of tightly wound, jet black hair, culled from a whole months worth of Myspace haircuts...and then the moat would be filled with Pegasus Tears??? Yeah...anyway, these guyses album is titled After The Rain, My Heart Still Dreams. The cover art has fairies and unicorns and shit. Yeah, it's like that. Some Hollywood scenester style shit...y'know, where everyday is opposite day? Birthplace of the ironic moustache?(Hey, look at my gay ass moustache, I look creepy, remember when people used to do this?, how lame were they?, I'm cool because I obviously acknowledge how gay this shit is. That's why I took a lot of time and effort to grow it. Yeah. Why do my parents hate me?).

That's great fellas. Real good. Still, the only way I'll buy your "Life is a joke 100% of the time" shtick is if you yourself actually pull off some airtight, super scathing shit like these two songs. Then you're cleared for whatever. Headbands all day. Short shorts. Listening to the Misshapes awesome dj sets. Knock yourself out. Otherwise, fuck you. You are overdoing it and giving the 9 to 5 smartass's a bad name. Stick to the standard 80% sarcasm/20% "I mean what I say" ratio like the rest of us. It'll give you some breathing room and you won't hate yourself as much in a few years.

Anyhow...Girls Gone Wild, biggest anthem trance hit ever. So brilliant. It's basically the epitome of Eurotrash supercheese, but the kicker is the tune is so well made and really fucking jamtastic that it will fuck your shit up from here to infinity. plus a million. to juan.

I took one listen and all of the sudden I'm thinking being down in Cabo...beefcaked out...tanning saloned up......drinking since 10AM...shirt long gone...neck bursting at the seams...hair gel with a hold factor of 11...500 dollar chick sunglasses...on the stage doing that fist pump shit...my dick all rubbing up against the insides of my boardshorts after I've slathered it in cocoa butter...

yeah, that could actually be the best thing ever.

And then midway through, when they ramp the vocoder up an octave, you could probably drop a nuke on my head and I would be losing my shit so hard that the Fuck Yeah Factor would shield me from the blast. I'd be all alone, surrounded by complete and utter devastation, with only these small little clumps of resilient std-causing bacteria serving as placeholders of where people stood...hostless puddles of virulent disease speckled across the charred blackness...a solemn reminder of the meatmarket that once was...

Then I'd dance till the sun comes up, replaying the song in my head while I chew the inside of my mouth clean off.

And I Can't Wait For Summer perfectly mocks the vocal stylings of all the whiny bitch rock that has dominated MTV since Carson Daly came into power. It pretty explicitly breaks down all that waah waah teen angst shit that they peddle. The funniest part is that MTV has driven youth culture so far into the ground that this song isn't even that big of a stretch anymore. Things are looking pretty horrible over there too. I can't believe how hard they pander to the stupidest of stupid shit now. They are grooming this upcoming generation to be the most obnoxious little shitfucks. Not even just the music, Laguna Beach, Sweet 16, I Wanna Be Cool Like You or whatever that shit's called. FUCK that. Seriously. Get Adam Curry or Riki Rachtman or Martha Quinn or hell, Bill Bellamy back in there and fix this fucking mess.

Friends With You-OTTO vs Juice
Ok, ok, got myself worked up there...tirade's over...time to cleanse. Friends With You are a toy company specializing in some sacchrine sweet overdrive bizness, only real bugged out and creative. I found this tune on their myspace and it kind of sums up their whole vibe. If I was trapped inside a Gameboy (original B&W one), living in Hello Kitty world, this would be the town anthem. I'd wake up, smile, walk outside, and then smile and wave at Kerokerokeropi all day while we alternate between two different poses in unison. Y'know to give the illusion of animation...I hope you follow me on that...hmmm, basically, the best post-lobotomy theme song I've ever heard. Also click on their website for a nice 4-bit Britney Spears rendition.

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So I've been looking at other blogs and I'm realizing I'm going about this all wrong...diatribes and big posts aren't the way to go...apparently blurbs and updates, updates, updates are the name of the game... Oh well, fuck that. I'm definately too lazy to get super gung ho about this on the daily...I just don't have the drive to lay everything out all proper like.
...at least, not like this guy...

Ulillillia

This is probably the most utterly fascinating, insanely ridiculous site I've ever seen...like actually, literally, this is it...I don't think it can be topped in terms of scope anytime soon. Hang with me a sec so I can help you get your barrings.

Fuck using myspace to quell your voyeuristic urges...this guy's site is probably bigger than that whole mess anyway...and it's strictly about him. I'm talking every single detail of this kid's existence laid out in convenient FAQ form.

Yeah, whatever right? Well, the more you read, the deeper you go, the more you'll understand. I have literally been reading this for an hour with my jaw on the ground and I've barely scratched the surface. Here's some excerpts:

"In my mind game, I sometimes, but rarely, have cases where I can choose to send the two-tailed fox from some high cliff into regular water, blue water, mud, or lava (sometimes another one is involved). I had to battle the fox to get it to go off the cliff. Sometimes it'd end up in the blue water and 30 seconds after touch it (even if it gets out), it dies."

Wait...mind game??

Yes, mind game...

"a futuristic-like video game I play in my mind often. There are many strange things featured in my mind game that I do almost daily in some way. These are as follows:

1. Supernatural abilities used in real-world type situations, like jumping off of a balloon and bouncing to a stop around supersonic speeds as shown in the animated GIF above. The abilities featured are the 90-foot jumps (officially, it's 91 2/3 after working out the distance-acceleration formula), the flash attack (one of my favorites), and the bounce**C03-001**.
2. Intense speeds which allow me to cruise anywhere in small amounts of time. No machines required. Though, making tough turns on a raceway can be difficult.
3. Fully customizable physics where I can change the force of gravity from 21.9 mph per second to 20 or 80 mph per second. I can constantly speed up forever while falling and when I land from intense speeds, a huge shockwave is emitted, or I may just bounce up at half the speed and weaken the effects of the shockwave.
4. Run without touching the ground and without using machines at speeds exceeding well past the speed of sound (for horizontal movement, I've reached about mach 2.5 or about 1800 mph).
5. Extremely large expanse of menus and controls. Though the menus are almost never used, except to check some stats and to view the big map. "

So, how does one develop a mind game? Apparently from video game addiction, of which he attributes as the source of many of the mental problems he has today...

"During the days of the Nintendo, I was playing my games for ten hours per day on weekends and 4 to 6 hours per day on school days. This caused problems with school. While in school, I was often jumping like crazy (as if jumping on one of those turtles in Mario) almost everywhere I went where walking was involved. Some well-recalled events are these (memory jogged from running events in my mind game):

* There was a "turtle" in the basement area of my elementary school. The turtle went all over the place. I had to be careful to avoid it, unless, of course, I "hopped" on it. Source: Mario. Time period: only in my elementary school (up to grade 6).
* At lunch time at my elementary school, the red ketchup bottles and yellow mustard bottles were considered as "lava". Source: Metroid. Time period: 2nd (or 3rd) to 6th grade.
* Colored tiles that were odd as well as lines, and even shadows (rare) were "enemies" that I had to bop (jumping on it to get rid of it) to disable it. Source: Mario. Time period: 3rd grade to about 8th grade (still present today, but no where near as bad - only used for entertainment while waiting for something).
* Sunlit areas were "lava". Source: Metroid. Time period: 2nd or 3rd grades only (not sure which).
* If you touched any water from a pool or outside, you'd die because the water was "blue". Source: many games in which water, being blue in them, took your player's life away. Time frame: 2nd or 3rd grade until July 21, 1997 around 10:00 AM (yes, I'm that certain on the time).
* The red stage in the elementary school's basement was considered as lava. Source: Metroid. Time period: 2nd (or 3rd) to 6th grade.

These pertain to just the Nintendo alone."

Here's another snippet regarding his favorite song that should help you round out your understanding of this young man.

"Topping my list, as it has been for 11 years (since mid-1994) is Out Where the Lake Is (988.3 compatibility, twice as good than the next highest). My calculations show that I've listened to this song anywhere from 900,000 to 1,200,000 times (each loop is 63.5 seconds long at the average 76% true speed). Next up is Desert Zone (around 984 compatibility) which has anywhere from 300,000 to 600,000 plays. These are the two most listened to songs. This isn't a joke either. If you check my blog, for example, you can see that, when I get a new song, it'll often be played for several thousand times before I get bored of it and switch. See the "music" section for more details on this. Both of these songs are from "Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind" (levels 10 and 7 (7 after the train)). In general, however, songs that are purely instrumental are the only types of songs I truly enjoy. The most- liked song that has lyrics is "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" - the oldies version in particular (at 932 compatibility, about 1/30 as good as my top favorite, or 56 times better than neutral, still very considerable)."

One last thing before I set you lose...A quick click over to the Section 4, Major Fears reveals even more "no fucking way" moments as 4.2.1's fear of Two six-letter p-words...

"I no longer write, speak, or read the word aloud. I can, however, only very indirectly mention it (more directly through a bunch of clues).

The two "bad" words are:
1. A single human. Has the same beginning sound of "purse", the thing females carry around often. (used in a common phrase: "meet in ______")
2. Multiple humans as a group. Has the same ending syllable (for the sound) as "apple" and the same beginning sound as "P" as said as a letter. (Fill in the blank: "A stadium holds about 50,000 ______.")"

Wow. Wow. Wow. Brains are a fucking crazy ass thing, sometimes it takes a slightly tweaked one just to reinform you how incredibly complex merely existing is. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that (even though he doesn't explicitly say it, I don't think) this kid has the gnarliest case of OCD ever, coupled with Asperger's Syndrome (Yay, BA in psych, you paid off!), but that's only using our current understanding of psychology and it's limited diagnosistic criteria. Regardless, his website is the most in depth self purported case study you'll ever find.

I'm not really trying to come off as exploitative here. I find this to be truly fascinating, especially when viewed in the context of how we, as a society, are basically evolving with machines. This guy is obviously very, very intelligent, but his brain seems to works in such a way that his obsessions confine his thought process to rigid sets of instructions or rules that dictate his mental activity and behavior. And it also seems like the majority of these rules are the same rules that we apply to organize, manage, create content on computers. Being as the brain is so malleable when we are young, it's basically as if his mind has grafted the rules governing video games/computers onto his own mind. In a sense, it seems as though he is part computer because he has been structured like one due to the inflexible nature of his brain and how he consciously and unconsciously has integrated the sensory input from his environment. His ridiculous math abiliies and attention to numerical details only reinforce that impression, in my mind (maybe his mind game is partly the result of his superior ability to multitask with numbers, thus generating the image he sees by actually crunching numbers in a semi-conscious manner?!?)...regardless, it seems as though it would just take a certain type of person to enable something like this at this point in time. Someone with an abnormal biological propensity towards obsessive behavior to be born into an environment rife with technology. Yet, because of the emotional component, probably the biggest and most complicated factors that differentiate how we process information vs a real computer, it's almost like he's a cyborg, albeit a completely organic one...that is, the thought processes he executes are so confined that they are like code running on organic circuitry. And a brain is a computer in the loose sense, a gigantic hub of data processing, the most complicated singular structure in the known universe actually (I think I read somewhere that one brain is still more complicated then all the connections and wiring involved with the entire telecommunication industry on the planet, but don't quote me on that). It's that unfathomable complexity that allows for our tremendous variability in action and feeling. It enables us to effortlessly percieve existence with a relatively free-flowing simplicity, such that we are only beginning to understand the millions of processes and events that are occuring in our bodies at all times. We are only privy to the end result of all these occurences withen our bodies, and that is what we utilize to structure our internal world and how we react to the environment.

Now, I am over extending the "cyborg" thing for argument sake, but it makes you think, huh? Especially given the telescoping nature of technology and evolution as well? With Myspace and YouTube and everything, it's safe to say we've reached a tipping point, at least with youth culture, as to how we percieve integrating technology into our lives. I mean, the internet is no longer just for nerds. It is being widely utilized by a much wider and more socially adept demographic,. Kids being born now will find all these things second nature because they will be exposed to it during that fertile time in their lives when their brains possess a great deal of plasticity, and because of the ease of which they use and understand technology, they will be able to perpetuate more innovation which will allow for more technology. All signs indicate that this feedback loop will just get tighter and tighter when measured against time. Even so, we are probably hundreds of years away from developing real AI with emotional components and everything, but a human adapting the logistical components of a computer through conditioning? Apparently it seems that's not that far off. It certainly seems the more feasible outcome, given that the innate ability of the brain far surpasses our current computer technology. Studies have shown nature and nurture to be basically inseperable in real world situations regarding mental health. Logic kind of dictates that to be impossible, given the amount that biology influences the environment that in turn influences our biology.
But as a society, we are most definately contributing a lot more weight to the nurture side of things by coating our worlds with gadgets, enabling behavior like that of our friend at Ulillillia. We are already in the initial stages of seeing microchips and electronic devices incorporated into our bodies. We've already got massive online games like World Of Warcraft where a number of people spend the majority of their waking life. All of this in the past 20 years or so. It's not slowing down either. If nothing else, you gotta see this kid's website as truly being a testament to the power of the internet, and society's amazingly complicated and eerily inextricable relationship with machines.

When I get old, shit is gonna be absolutely nuts.

Random Access Melodies, a three disc musical exploration of electronic music, will be the next post. It will incorporate this theme.

Back with an 808...

2006-08-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

Got burnted out there for a sec. And I'm not even low on the goods. Actually, I've got this obscene pile of "hey, would you look at that"'s and "well, I'll be"'s bookmarked for the sharering but it's like guuuuuuuuuuuh. Overwhelming. Tap dancin' with the words and all. Just thinking about it is like mental quicksand to me....ahhhh! ::smother::

Oh, and as you might have guessed, there's "Reason" too, trying to wedge it's way into my life all like, "ummm..wait, now why exactly ARE you doing this? No no no...serious...like, what do you actually GET out of this??? And don't give me some cornball shit about personal satisfaction...", at which point I usually go "Hold up, I gotta phone call i gotta take...hello...who's this?...LDP (Lou Diamond Phillips)! My man! What the fuck is up, money? Really! No shit! Wow, that's a lot of dead hookers! Oh yeah, I've been super busy too! Yeah yeah, fucking swamped, but hey listen...the meetings with New Line have been going great! Yeah, they seemed super excited about La Bamba 2...yeah no, trust me...I told them it'd basically be like a two hour long version of the video for "Thriller" and Harvey just about shat himself! I know, right!!! Wait, can you hold on for a sec, sorry, I got another call...it's Paul Rodriguez...wait...Lou...oh my god, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" $$$$$$$$!
It's usually around this point that the dial tone switches over to that "doo Doo DOO if you'd like to make a call" thing and I die a little bit more on the inside.

Sooooooo, yeah, that's pretty much why I took a break. Yet, try as I might, I am always at the mercy of my kingly benevolence, and it's sheer blinding white blindingness has once again pierced this thick mire that so often clouds my logic.

(huzzah? fuck, I'm such a nerd...)

More accurately, when the whole future-oriented-goal-structure thing (that I think is supposed to be built into your head or something?), isn't functioning properly, it's amazing how much cool shit your aimless nature can direct you towards. Here's to life in the slow lane.

The Knife. I likes 'em. They bring a good deal of artistry to techno-y/synth pop type stuff, which is normally pretty faceless. Heartbeats is one of the catchiest underground pop tunes I've heard in a long while. Their new album, Silent Shout, is pretty sick too. And hey, their videos are dope. The whole package comes correct with that "I'm close to the Northern Pole of this Planet" wierdness. Scandinavia and Iceland are definitely on some other shit. Anyways, you should see them sometime...the videos that is...yep...you really should.....dot dot dot......dot dot dot.....Oh Hey!

A The Knife video showcase!

The first three are from Silent Shout.

We Share Our Mother's Health

Really dope animated video by Motomichi Nakemura...her concise visual style (heavily informed by graphic design) lends itself perfectly to this odd dystopian vision.

Marble House

This one's even more avant-garde...kinda Cirque Du Soleil'd out. I bet you Matthew Barney has jerked off to this.

Silent Shout

This one goes back and forth between hardcore rave visuals and shots of wierdos that look like they're descended from centuries of inbreeding. Whoa. That's what I call juxtaposition.

Pass This On

Transexuals are gross, right? Well this one almost made me change my mind. While I might not be down to get all hot and bothered with one, I definitely would be poppin and locking with all these other homies after I too started to "get it".

(ed note: What are you taking about, Scallz? You bang out trannies like it's your job. The only difference with this one is that when her dick flops out, you'd actually be genuinely surprised instead of your usual "I had no idea...ohhh wellll, here we go" routine.)

You Take My Breath Away

I guess this is what happens when you let dancing skeletons loose in Pee-wee's Playhouse.

Handy Man

I like when the hammer licks the knife. That's a nice thing.

Heartbeats

This video is kinda cool in it's quirky low fi-ness. Who would think to freeze frame a clip of some kids getting all Dogtown and then cut a little flying birdy out of it and have it play with some primitive 3D rendered geometric shapes? I would've said nobody (but hey, I would have been wrong). Super meme'd out.

Also worth noting is this Sony Bravia commercial featuring an absolutely beautiful cover of Heartbeats from Jose Gonzalez. Thousands of bouncy balls going down hills in San Fran. It's one of the best commercials ever.

Visual Artist of the day: Oliver Hibert. Looks like the Yellow Submarine visited Japan before heading out to deep space...

Have you ever seen Fantastic Planet? Y'know, old school french cartoon? with the aliens? they had those bugged out red eyes that made you feel kinda anxious? No? Well, that shit is tripped out. Here's a link to the entire movie, only it's been rescored by some nuts to make it even nuttier. I recognized a bunch of shit...Prefuse 73, Amon Tobin, Boom Bip, Mum, Clue to kalo, Pole, Autechre,etc. It's tight if you got the time for it and can tolerate some of the more blistering kind of idm.
Fantastic Planet rescored by everyone.doesntexist

Trouble and Bass NY based crew getting down with some bass heavy shit. Members include Drop the Lime and Mathhead. You should check out TnB mix 4 by Drop the Lime. Crunk, grime, B-more, a bunch of shit. Tracklist available on their homepage.

Future Me. This is cool. You write yourself (or anybody for that matter) a message and it will e-mail it to you in the future date you choose. I've got the 5 year one, the 10 year one, and the 20 year one already written. I'm sure it'll wig me out when I get them. Actually, it'll probably be massively depressing. I was dropping ultimatum's like a motherfucker, like I was my dad or some shit, so I better be on point by then. I already got one back in early May that said I better have finished working on Random Access Melodies. Ouch.

Hitler Cats.This is what happens when you make some shit like the internet and let people do whatever they want on it.

Exhibit B. Some dude created an account on Ebay and spent a good deal of time leaving random people positive feedback comments with completely random bits of crazy. Some of the shit is really funny. Examples:
"Rainbows are pretty. I don't know why I shoot at them"
"When my dog looks at me, does that mean he WANTS to be hit?"
"Remember when you spit in my mouth when I was sleeping? Well, I was awake. A+"
"Harriet Tubman was so great. She was black and that is great."
"Very HIGH QUALITY preserved cancer tumors. I ate them. I know it was wrong."
There's like 9 pages of this, plus some confused "Um...you didn't bid on anything?" type replies.

Perry Bible Fellowship has moved over to it's new home and is sporting a new look. PBF is a weekly comic strip with little in the way of structure, except for it is always ridiculously imaginative, presented with a child like sense of wonder but a grown up's wit. The author, Nicholas Gurewitch, utilizes a large range of visual styles, as well as ways of presenting humor. You realize after reading enough of these strips that it has everything: It's hilarious but insightful, fucked up but sweet, and ridiculous yet subtle. The last couple comics have been great too, a nice return to form. Here's some favorites.

And last but not least...an invasion of mp3s.

Ratatat-Tropicana

Ratatat-Wildcat

Ratatatatatatatatatat....tatatatatatatat. yes. yes. yes. I love these guys so much. I randomly checked their self-titled debut from a couple years ago and was completely floored by EVERY SINGLE TRACK. So, so rare for me, definitely one of my favorite albums of that year, if not my favorite. These guys have this formula, and it's kinda absurd, but they try and make every song they do as utterly melodic as possible. Crazy, right? And then, on top of that, they rock the fuck out. Real hard. Seriously, every song they do, it's like they have this map of my brain as related to music, and they just play all the right notes, in the right order, at the right time, all the time, like it's no big deal. Well guys, it IS a big deal. Every time I listen, my face gets torn to shreds by the megablast tonality of their analog buzzsaw guitars, but everything's dandy-the chord progression somehow ensures that every incision made is instantaneously filled with this gauzy mixture of liquid awesome. I think it's like marshmallows and Snuggle Bear detergent combined or something. Oh, and it looks like Pepto-Bismal, all pink and thick and super soothing. And it makes me feel like I'm Arnold in Pumping Iron. Everything I do I'm cumming...I move my arm, I look at something, doesn't matter...I'm creaming out.

So how does the new album compare? Well uh, put simply, it's fucking great! Obviously! It retains the same amazing understanding of melodic structure, but addresses the main criticism of the last album; it's restrained sonic palette. I guess it sounded too same-y for some. Well fine, check Tropicana then, and soak up the mixture of vintage guitar, electric piano, and violins, all powered by some rickety steam engine percussion. It almost sounds vaguely like some lost Beatles record, but when that 8-bit organ comes in you go "nuh uh, that's some Ratatat right there all DAY" and then the only thing you can possibly think after that is yes. and good. so good. For people like me who were never complaining in the slightest, Wildcat has their signature swelly video-game-guitar sound in spades, complete with Thundercat calls and the obligatory epic breakdown at the end (where they just like rock out as hard as humanly possible and you are like just like fuck...these guys are KILLING ITTTT!!!). The new album, Classics, drops August 22. Buy a million copies.

The Album Leaf-The Light

The Album Leaf-Red Eye

The Album Leaf, aka James LaValle knows all about this formula I speak of too, although his take on it is decidedly more pensive and melancholy. His last album, In a Safe Place, began with Windows, one of the must excruciatingly beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard. Literally, it almost hurts me to listen to it, a strange feeling that I can only attribute to a very small number of musicians (him, some songs off Max Richter's Blue Notebooks, and certain Aphex Twin stuff [like the violin refrain in the middle of girl/boy song, for example] come to mind). The opener of his new album, the light, is also amazingly beautiful and wonderful, but not as imposing. It leads nicely into Always For You, a pleasant, sensitive vocal track. Honestly though, it's the actual music that really does it for me with LaValle. Redeye's a good example. Epic and beautiful without iffy lyrics to cloud my judgment. The album on the whole isn't as strong as In a Safe Place, but it's still very, very nice. I kind of expected that anyway since he doesn't have the Sigur Ros factor on this one (there's nothing along the lines of say, Over the Pond, another track off the last album that destroys my heart in a gloriously sad kind of way.) The new album, Into the Blue Again is out Sept. 12. Also, his earlier, completely instrumental albums (Orchestrated Rise to Fall, One Day I'll Be On Time), are great too, if only slightly more bedroom-y (not a bad thing).

Celebration-Holiday

For me, it takes a bit more something for haircut rock to get under my skin. This song had that certain something. Damned if I know what "it" is. Alls I can say is that this is not your typical holiday. Do I smell irony?

Marc Moulin-Balek

Smoky old school, throbbing jazz number that informs you (again) that most of the tight shit you hear today was already perfected years ago.

Q Lazarus-Goodbye Horses

Same thing I said about Marc Moulin only this song is from the 80's so it's even more relevant right now, considering how this retro aesthetic revival thing is about 5 years old, yet somehow just keeps growing and growing (and actually sounding better and better). However, this shit right here is the original Kathleen Turner Overdrive.

Gianfranco Reverberi-Nel Cimite

The sample for "Crazy". Not surprisingly (now that I hear it) it's some spaghetti western/Ennio Morricone shit. It's nice...too bad I want to kill myself every time I hear that opening. And to think I used to love Crazy about 9000 listens ago. Thanks for ruining that one for me, world.

Speaking of MySpace (ed note: oh snap!), I actually find a lot of good shit through there, or more often then not, it finds me via friend requests. Here's some recent goodness.

Saraswa- The Boat
Dokkemand-Knapp
Tim Twinem-Evergreen

Take that, you motherfucking hiatus!!!!

Visualati Substantia 1

2006-07-14T19:08:00.000-07:00

I am and have always been extremely inept when it comes to creating anything remotely visually appealing.

And this bums me out huge.

As animated as my visual vocab can seem at times, when it comes down to actually translating any sort of mental to the medium, everything must be funneled into the motor system and then fumbled out of my clumsy little hooves. Unfortunately, seeing as my fingers have been blessed with the dexterity of a cerebral palsy victim, my wayward scribbles have never progressed much farther then the linings of some notebook pages. So, I've got loads of respect for those who just bleed pictures.

These dudes are on some peel-the-lids-off-your-third-eye shit. Check it.

(Oh but be sure to stick around for a brief mp3 giveaway bonanza following the presentation...basically this is an audioblog+ now)*

*The plus is for additional content! Wink!

Presenting DJ Scallywag's Dandy Little Art Symposium Vol 1.

Thomas Han

King of the dayglo-pastel, Dr. Mario-pill-rocking, cute-but-crazy school of art.

MARS-1

I want to go to the places he paints more than anywhere else I've ever dreamt of. I hope I get to go when I die. Please God, let me tear around these environments in some sort of gnarly organic spacecraft at some point. I promise I won't pretend to be retarded in order to skip the lines at Magic Mountain anymore (for reals though...).

Kozyndan

White guy, Japanese girl artist couple. By the looks of it, a match made in heaven. Their shit is soft and intimate yet bugged out. Bunnies, Giant Robots, mutants, school girls. You name it. Awesome. Their city panoramas are the jam.

akiza

Akiza's got the real honed in iconographic thing down pat. Now all this little shapeshifting china doll needs is some homies to help her get all viral in the States. I would love to see Akiza's start creeping across the urban landscape, covering up all these borrring Obey and Seizer posters.

Alex Pardee

This dude is definitely insane...insanely talented that is! A-haa!

No seriously, this guy is insane. He's also the best demented artist in the world, bar none.

He does the awesomely awesome comic Bunnywith and His Secrets of Hollywood book is also hilariously fucked up/brilliant.

Craola

Greg Simkins aka Craola is right up there in Pardee's range though. Simkins is the random tentacle go to guy fer sure.

Naoto Hattori

Ooops, almost forgot ya boy Naoto. Japanese transplant who specializes in extracting the gnarliest part of that one trip where you were just like "Fuuuuuck,this is tooo much...does this shit ever ennnnnd" and some transdimensional entity's all, "No! this. is. ETERNITY..." and you go "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck". Yeah, he can paint that part no problem. He's like the illegitimate mutant child of a Geiger/Cronenberg headfuck.

Ok, now a smattering of random images...some of these just got right click saved with the quickness so I don't have the Artists name. Apologies. If anybody knows who's responsible for the one's I don't list the name on, by all means, hit me off with that info.

Initiate Eye Candy Overdrive Round 2

Alessandro Pautasso

Blaine Fontana

Stan & Vince

Chuck Anderson

High horse please...thank you. Can I get a monocle or something too...no?...alright, no, it's cool. Ahem...

As you've no doubt deduced at this point in our proceedings, I tend to gravitate towards art that exudes an air of, shall we say, universal peculiarity? Imagery perhaps best described as though the artist has somehow siphoned large swaths of raw, unconscious understanding from an unbound pool of creativity. Yet, without the application of extravagent analysis, the art still manages to stand alone as being aesthetically distinct and immersive. Alas, these inconsequential little trifles that so effortlessly circumvent the whole laborious process of overwrought scrutiny (as is dictated by the so-called "art world"), are, in turn, dismissed as merely "lowbrow" meanderings. As such, they are shunned for their abilitity to elicit,umph, gutteral reactions from those of us too enamored with these spastic utterings from the recesses of the reptilian part of our brains.

Well, aren't I the brute then! ::Laughter like the in the movie Amadeus:: Really...And so, I've no choice but to adopt a philosophy as follows: If you can't topple the oligarchy, then why not just disregard it entirely! ::Roomfuls of Amadeus laughter:: Hmm, yes yes, well allow me to speak frankly about the matter for just a moment...

I could gives a fuck about the supposed sea of metaphors and sexual parallels that surround your big ass red dot, shitbag.

Oh look, it's being bisected by a dashed line. I can not begin to fathom the implications. Oh and the edges are offset ever so slightly. Catch me, I feel faint. How large did you say? 50 feet across? My that's a lot of canvas. No mere peon could afford that, let alone get the studio space to house it, let me tell you. But I guess that's why you're the artiste and they're just poor! Ah! Oh, and will you look at these paint speckles in the corner. Was that an accident? No! Then here's a million dollars. Now where are my pills...darling, fetch me my pills...I'm restless. My mood has gone a pale blue...or is it...crimson?

Fuck that. Your shit looks laaaame. The 5 paragraph essay detailing precisely how hard you are blowing my mind is just the icing on the cake. That's the real high art...concocting some ultra premium bullshit statement so impenetrable, yet seemingly profound, that all the other overlords of bullshit feel the need to cozy up to your brilliant little enigma. Then the dominoes start falling and the next thing you know you're the Toast of the Town, the Belle of the Ball! ::Amadeus:: Pffff. Whatever helps you sleep at night. And not to say this isn't how things are with everything subjective: music, movies, fashion etc...but with "art" art (high fashion too), it just seems sooo much more painfully obvious that shit is arbitrary and people are fickle, sheepish, and most of all, retarded. All I can see is the man behind the curtain, surreptitiously sucking his own dick.

But hey, I'm young and naive. Look at me, trying to fight pretension with pretension like I'm the first person who ever questioned the ridiculosity of the system. Sigh...when will I learn. But truthfully, I just don't usually find the need to treat art like it's this Rubik's cube, when it can be this direct pipeline of communication, bundled as is for consumption. That inexplicable personal magnetism that a piece of art has, where you are subconciously deciphering and integrating the styles and symbols that have also been subconsciously embedded and layered, and you either connect or you don't connect, that's what fascinates me. When two extraordinarily complicated beings, the observer and the art (borne of another person's observations), each beset with countless rules, ideas, understanding, pasts, futures, etc., engage each other, the fact that a clear cut attraction or repulsion from this huge fucking equation can be reached at all, let alone in mere seconds sometimes, is amazing. Same with a song, same with people, same with anything. And when it's abstract, it's communication on a path seldom travelled, where certain logics and associations can be overwritten or dismissed and can spark a reaction or interplay not familiar to any other form of expression...but still it's there, that feeling. Maybe it's a clue to unraveling the world, maybe to understanding yourself, or maybe it's nothing at all, but it's personal, it's honest, and basically, it is what it is.

Yep.

Aw shit, I said mp3's too, huh. *(&$(*%$@@!!. (that was supposed to look like swearing in comic books or q*bert or whatever).

Cut Chemist- Spat

Cut Chemist- Storm (featuring Edan and Mr.Lif)

Maaan. This shit (Audiences' Listening) took forever, it was supposed to be fucking mindblowing. It's just good. Not even great. Oh well. It's basically exactly what you would expect from Cut Chemist if you weren't expecting an album like 5 years in the making. "Slap" is cool in a Kid Koala kind of way, just doing something goofy but inspired with turntables. And "Storm" would rock my world if it weren't for those fucking turntable stabs mixed waaay too loud that hit every bar. Why is that shit in front of the vocals??? It would be dope as a little background thingy but it kills this awesome song for me. Shiit, I wanna hear Edan. I can't even concentrate on his verse with that shit. Is that just crazy talk or are my speakers fucked up or what??? Help me out here.

Still, other good jams are The Garden, that Hymnal cut (check out Omid's Monolith for more of him, he's ill) and 2266 Cambridge.

Thom Yorke- The Eraser

Thom Yorke- Atoms for Peace

I like this. Yay. I was pretty worried I wouldn't after Hail to the Thief, but this definately feels like a solo affair. The density of the tracks are stripped down a great deal, straddling the line between complicated and accessible, which allows plenty of room for Yorke to do his thing. The over all feel of the album is much closer to Kid A, which is a good thing in my opinion. It's not amazing but it's really really good, which is more than I was hoping for.

Burial-You Hurt Me

Burial-Gutted

Burial-Forgive

Best thing to happen to dubstep since the Vex'd album. This self-titled album by Burial is fully shrouded with this deep ominous mystique that makes it shine above the standard dubstep club tune. The depth of production is amazing. The cryptic vocal sample intro and outro and the ambient interludes make it completely necessary to listen to this album as a whole in order to get the full effect. In fact, "Forgive", essentially an extended two bar loop, is one of the most beautiful things I have heard in a great while. It sounds like an angel, stuck halfway between two dimensions, singing a misty hymn that's being refracted by cracked mirrors through a blanket of fog. Sleep Spindles 3 material.

Dr. Octagon- Our Operators Are Masturbating

Dr. Octagon- The Turtle Skit

These two skits from the Return of Dr. Octagon are the best things off the album. The 3 new Kool Keith projects (this, Project Polaroid, and Mr. Nogatco) are as follows: weak, weaker, and fucking weaksauce. Dude's basically not even on the Return Album, the highest profile one, apparently over some gay ass dispute. There's some ok tracks (that one that's like mufucka's dress like they from Pakistan) but, aside from the skits, this shit does not feel like the legit return of the good doctor. Booo.

Wizone-Dissect the Style (feat Kool Keith) (Ming & FS Remix)

Here's some rarely heard Kool Keith over some vintage Ming & FS dnb/hip hop. See how much better he sounds with decent beats?!? But speaking of which...fuck man, what happened to Ming and FS!!! Subway Series was awful and Back to One was pretty crappy too. Aside from maybe this track.

Ming & FS-50 ft. Moleman

They need to bust another one of these epic transformer jams ASAP.

Ming & FS-The Human Condition

Ok, now some high flying pump up tunes to brighten your mood and mine. We got the ball tingling combo of Chromeo and Ed "so hot right now" Banger records, plus some obscure slap happy electric oompah jam that can and should generate smiles for miles.

DJ Mehdi feat Chromeo- I Am Somebody (Montreal Version)

Sagor och Swing- Not even gonna attempt typing the name...just dl it.

Goddamn. And now, a thousand years of sleep.....................

MEATY!!!

2006-07-03T20:24:00.000-07:00

Today I'm gonna make an effort to beef this bastard up with less fluff and more stuff.

Translation: Here's a fat gaggle of mp3s.

I'm going full on menagerie mode here. Genre's are just a crutch for the weak. Now get to getting.

Hot Chip-Colours

Hot Chip-The Warning

Normally, I am kinda flabbergasted by how hard people dickride everything the DFA do. However, I gotta give them respect for swooping on Hot Chip and giving them the coveted James Murphy nod of approval. These nutty little English dudes are making some fucking SONGS and they are crazy original. There's some electro, some dance, some idm, but the key component is just really really awesome melodies and lyrics. Their new album, The Warning, is similiar to their debut, Coming On Strong, just a little more polished, and a little bit DFA-ified. I love the single, boy from school, but it's actually their goofy/sweet shit that really does it for me. Colours and The Warning, for example, are mad tender, even if the chorus on the latter is "hot chip will break your legs, snap off your head". Sensitive thug's take notice.

PS Shining Escalade (off their first album) is the bizness. The tenderest of all thuggage.

DJ Shadow-This Time (I'm gonna try it my way)

From his forthcoming album, The Outsider, this one isn't all hyphy like 3 freaks or that David Banner song. It's actually a really authentic sounding soul jam with some soaring strings plucked straight outta Marvin Gaye or Bobby Womack's arsenal. Super shitty mp3 quality though, but it should be enough to wet your whistle for the album.

Bronx River Parkway- Nora Se Va

Jackie Mitoo- Black Organ

Some more badass old shit. The first is a sick latin jam and the second is some dope roots reggae.

Brookville-Nothings Meant to Last

This song is pretty soft but whatevs...I dig the lounge tropicalia and that chicks voice in the chorus.

Jamie Lidell-What's the use (Mocky Remix)

Best song off the otherwise mediocre remix album, Multiply Additions. Stick to the original Multiply. It's pretty timeless and amazing.

Dabrye- Encoded Flow

I was anticipating Two/Three pretty heavily. While it doesn't quite live up to my (really high) expectations, when it does hit, it hits hard. This beat sounds something like listening to an Apache helicopter stalling while being swallowed in a pit of quicksand. Meanwhile, back on the surface, newcomer Kadence spits the cold, hard factual. It's the type of track that should make El-P and Co. wanna step their game up (or at least sign Kadence). Bleak Futurism at it's finest.

Dabrye-Air (featuring MF DOOM) (Remix by 100dbs)

The homey 100dbs snagged DOOM's verse from Air a little while back and whipped up this headnodder. If you ask me it's even better than Dabrye's version. It's featured on his new album, Brenner's Breaks, which should be dropping very shortly. You can also download his ridiculously good Black Album Remix project, the Argyle Album, on his page. Dude is sampling the Cure, Modest Mouse, Aphex Twin, all kinds, putting the Grey Album to shame. Expect big things from this guy in the future.

tstewart- A World Generated Every Answer Ever for All To Know

Known primarily as machinedrum, Travis Stewart proves on his latest outing, Living Exponentially, that he's much more than Prefuse 73-lite. His work as tstewart shows that his compositions have progressed significantly in complexity and scope. This track has a live jazz feel, with subtle strands of idm and hip hop woven through it. I bet you could slap Four Tet's name on this and people would eat it up. Point being, this kid deserves more shine. Also, the Machinedrum remix album, Mergerz and Acquistionz, is surprisingly good. You'll be hearing tracks from it shortly when I finish (PLUG!) Random Access Melodies.

Drumcorps- Grist

May seem a little to generic-deathmetal-meets-electronics at first, but at about the two minute mark, these gatling gun drums come careening out of the time-stretched oblivion and the next thing you know, the walls are painted with the remnants of your melted brain. Yeah, no you've got it, your face exploded because that shit was so fucking hardball. And even though the last thing you thought was "but I don't even really like metal", the epic stadium riffs that are unleashed henceforth demand that your headless corpse throw up "the horns" and start wriggling like an epileptic. I hear Satan is so impressed by this shit that he actually gives you a minute after the song ends to let it all just soak in before he devours your everlasting soul. Full length album coming in September.

Metronomy- You Could Easily Have Me

Post Punk Munster's theme song? You tell me. Alls I know is that if I ever made a hardcore haunted house, this song would be playing on loop in every squatter-filled room.

Plastic Little- I'm not a Thug

Best opening skit for a rap song ever.

David Shrigley-Dont's

A dash of the twisted, delivered with that deadpan british wit.

Caribou- The Snow Capes

Caribou had a tour cd he made while touring around promoting the Milk of Human Kindness last year. I thought it was almost better than the real album. Here's a nice blurry downtempo number.

Pepe Deluxe-Real Simple

One from the archives (meaning 2003: not new, but not old enough to be "rediscovered"). Still, an overlooked gem in my opinion. A lazy downtempo track with some nice wispy vocals.

Hmmm, yep.

The gamut has definately been run.

If it ain't baaaroque...

2006-06-22T17:57:00.000-07:00

Well I got all stoked on sharing today after seing SSSR's 20 minute video done for Subtle's new cd/dvd, Wishingbone. It was on YouTube yesterday but now I go to link and nada. I guess the powers that be saw it and removed it. Damn. This whole information age vs. intellectual property thing is quite the fiasco, huh? Well anyway, it was way nuts and just bursting at the seams with creativity and you need to make it a point to track it down now.

Oh wait, one of the parts of it is actually the Fuck Kelly Osbourne vid...

Go on now...click it...

Yeah so if you dug on that at all, the rest was even better. Cell animation and CG and live video all coalescing into something way different and otherworldly (yet still tinged with political undertones). In fact, it's so solid, you'll actually be able to tune out that mad scientist circus act schtick that Dose One does. Sorry, but for reals, I can't hang. I've heard a lot of his stuff over the years (nutty instro's!) and he actually says some pretty crazy poetic things but I still can't deal with that creepy crawly rapid fire nasal shit. Oh well. To each his own. I'm claiming SSSR all the way on this one though, definately a talented visual collective to look out for. In fact, the full video has already won some prestigious British Animation Award for best music video. Them gills packed with skills.

Hey look, I found this too right now while I was rummaging for shit...this is actually kinda awesome...again definately on the fence with Why? (Hymie's Basement was the shit though) but the video is pretty sensitive guy creative and cuddly. It reminds me of Me and You and Everyone We Know, only in music video form. Best part is all those words and razors tumbling out that one pooch's mouth. Awww!!! Directed by Ravi Zupa.

Wow, and then I find this...Yip-Yip? Don't know too much about these guys, just sounds like some fuzzy lo-fi synth jams for wierdos, but on the visual tip...goddamn do these fools know a thing or two about seizure inducing insanity! This makes that Pokemon video that left all those poor little Japanese kids with scrambled circuitry look like um, well, Pokemon! (god, please don't leave that). Ok, how about, makes it look like child's play ::wink:: (Jesus...even lamer...you've got no trajectory today Scallz, no trajectory. Just stop typing and put Rubber Johnny up here or something and go take a nap).

Fine. Rubber Johnny it is. Just make sure it's night and your lights are turned off.

First time I saw this I was at an opera house in Italy. Warp was touring around Europe with the London Sinfonietta, re-interpreting Aphex Twin songs with an orchestra and other high brow shit. I remember watching the faces of all those affluent season ticket holder types who decided to come to the theatre for an elegant night of culture...sheer hoity-toity horror. About half the audience started wigging the fuck out and next thing you know people are leaving by the droves. I was busy cheering like crazy while taking schwaps from a handle of Jager we snuck in. It was awesome.

What else...oh yeah, obviously YouTube quality brings this down more than a notch, as shit is hyper-hyper detailed (slow mo it if you can), so I really would recommend the DVD, if only for the 40 page book of the most awfully twisted shit any human brain has mashed together at this point in history. I just found out that that whole sea of ballsacks and hairy appendages and teeth or whatever the fuck it is, is in fact all Chris Cunningham. What a nut. After looking at this and then his drawings, I start to get the feeling that dude's day to day mental activity must be something akin to getting in a severe car accident while peaking on acid. Just waaay too intense. Thanks for sharing though, mate!

But heeeey now! It's summertime! G'on now! Fuck that wierd shit! Beaches and BBQs, y'know! Poolside! Ay yo, spark that L! Summertime dro anthem!

Tyte Wurk - Mary Jane

And here's some borderline retarded nursery rhyme shit for for your guilty pleasure bin...fully primed to bounce around in your head all damn week.

Jibbs- Chain Hang Low

Oh yeah and a sneek peak of the MF Doom Ghostface collabo coming out in fall on Lex! Whatchu know about the epic string/horn combo?

DOOM & Ghostface- Angeles

Audio/Visual Mindmeld XXXtranvaganza

2006-06-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, as much as I wanna keep the last post up top, I've just got too much good shit to share. So in the interest of keeping tings moving right along, I've got all the mixes on a sidebar now, along with a top 10 and some links actually worth clicking on. If you want a track list plus longwinded speal for any of the mixes, scroll past this post or just click on the 6.6.06 post. Yaay.

Anyway, today's topic is music and video and the funny feelings that arise when you splice those two things together.

First off, Ninja tune has been seriously on point as of late.

Fucking. Amon. Sickest nutjob in the game (by a long shot). Up to no good again. Here's a sneak peek at his next album. Apparently, it's all centered around field recordings, and by the sound of the preview, I'm guessing shit will cause your skull to cave in on impact. My eardrums are still covered in jagged scars and third degree burns from the last time I saw him...totally worth it.

Just saw these kids too. Damn good live show...even if the crowd was mostly of the accesory-overload, GOD-I'm-so-fucking-cool-it-hurts-I-wish-I-had-a-twin-who-dressed-just-like-me-and-there-were-mirrors-everywhere-so-I-could-watch-as-I-fuck-the-shit-out-of-my-selfabsorbed-ass-all-day-every-day-even-though-I'm-over-it persuasion. I swear there's gotta be some giant alpine horn up in the hills around Hollywood that they blow when certain acts are playing...

::Buuuuh BAAAAAAAAH:: SILVERLAKE...ASSEMBLE!!! DON YOUR PINK AND GREEN EYESORE ENSEMBLE IMMEDIATELY!! FORGET NOT, YOUR PARTY SCARF, LEST YOU BE THE LAUGHING STOCK OF ALL THE OTHER ASSHOLES! SEE YOU GUYS ON FRIDAY FOR MSTRKRFT!

That aside, shit still got me all danceypants. Plus, this video, with the throwback stock footage and neon partymode 5000 action, is actually really fucking undeniably cool.

Super secret nerd shout out to having Spank Rock out (guffaw) in front of a screen with a picture from the nintendo game, Crystalis. Shit was the most unsung super sick game ever on NES, like Zelda times 100, and it never got it's due. So props to Spankrock (and the rest of the hipster crowd) for being huge geeks back in the day...not that that wasn't obvious?

Also, I swear to god I saw Dave Chapelle after the show but no one believes me. Fuck you...it was him...I saw him...you didn't...eat a dick.

Daedelus, on the other hand, is comfortable being the unabashed oddball loner type, complete with some hardcore mutton chops and a public obsession with Victorian Era Dandyism. I'm guessing this probably translates into him staying at home more often than not, where he churns out boatloads of some of the most utterly unique music ever concocted. Well thank god...that's exactly what he should be doing. Sundown could be my favorite song he's made thus far. The Colecovision keyboards, the unintelligible crooning, the breakdown featuring a mob of fired up revolutionaries armed to the teeth with cowbells...yeah, dude is for real. The video is equally amazing...the shitty youtube quality doesn't really do it justice here. Hit up the ninjatune website (now also conviently located on the sidebar) to see it in better quality...also check out the Coldcut True Skool video and the new Loka one too while you're at it.

Now for some random eurotrash videos that rock.

Thomas Bangalter with that retirement home disco pimp shit.

This song (along with Royksopp's entire last album) is pretty forgettable but the video is one of the most original ideas I've ever seen, executed perfectly.

Chemical Brother's. This is a shitty song too but the concept is dope and it has a couple of real tight moments.

However, nothing will ever top this Chemical Brothers video by the ridiculously brilliant Michel Gondry. Crappy My First Video Editor effects morphed into real life representations. Again, the video quality kinda fucks this up, but you already own the Director Series DVD of Gondry's work (along with Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham's DVD's), so who cares right?

RIIIGHT?

6.6.06 YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

2006-06-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

Day of Reckoning. You know those cryptic billboards you've seen round the way that had you going what? Yeah, that was me...Anticipation got you all crazed today, huh? I bet by the end of the day there's gonna be all kinds of sinister yet seductive pink ticklemist just starbursting around the city like at the end of Ghostbusters...at which point I'll probably be downtown, getting all primal, Vinz Clortho-style.

Anyhow...without further ado...the Yin Yang twins of mixes...Thug n Bass and Aurora Borealis. I'd file these two under "Extreme Sideprojects"...basically some specialized listening excursions curated for opposing levels of the emotional fringe. If you can't hang, don't worry, I'll be back to not-as-gnarly-and-intense mode shortly. In the mean time, I've posted two older mixes (The Eclectic Kool-Aid Acid Test and Phlutter) that are much more digestible. If you are feeling particularly generous and want a hard copy of these on CD (complete with artwork, separate tracks n better sound quality), e-mail me and we can work out some 5 dollar pay pal nonsense. Otherwise just download and enjoy.

Thug n Bass

IT'S MURDER DEATH KILL IN THE YEAR 3000 MUTHAFUCKAZ!!!

Thug n Bass, a head on collision of hip hop, drum n bass, and other forays into dark futurism featuring the lyrical venom of gangsta legends such as Tupac, Eazy-E, Trick Daddy, Big L, and Enya. Not for the faint of heart or even the mildly squemish... but be sure to bump this while operating heavy machinery. In fact, make this the soundtrack to your next high speed pursuit. 130 mph, drunk as shit, Fox news choppers hovering above, blinding you with your 15 minutes, both glocks in the air, and the steering wheel on random...

Or maybe you could just go somewhere secluded, get wasted, and blast this at full volume while punching the dashboard until you break something. Shit works wonders for that intense suburban aggression too, son!

Also, subs are a must for this one...don't let me catch you fucking with this on your tinny ass computer speakers! Double also...it eases up a little bit towards the end if you're kinda curious as to what it is that I'm doing but you take a listen and freak out because you're a little bitch. But like I said on them billboards, you've been warned.

Now go wreck some shit.

Thug n Bass tracklist

1. Phantom Audio-Heavy Handed
2. MC Eiht-Thuggin it up
3. Kryptic Minds-Whiplash
4. Kool G Rap-On the Run
5. Hive-Keep Runnin
6. Dom and Gridlok-Moodswings
7. Ghostface- Run
8. Hive + Gridlok + Kaos-Dead Planet
9. Calyx-Killa
10.Notorious BIG-Gimme the Loot
11.Kryptic Minds and Leon Switch- Prejudice and Politics
12.2pac- Homeboyz
13.Pendulum-Masochist
14.Kane and Abel (featuring Twista)-Straight Thuggn
15.Future Prophecies-Warlords Rising
16.Wu-tang-Cream
17.Method Man-Plo Style
18.Ghostface-Daytona 500
19.Rza-NYC Everything
20.ODB-Shimmy Shimmy Ya
21.Chase and Status-Call to Prayer
22.Eastbush Flat Project-Tried by 12
23.San Quinn-I run the city
24.The Upbeats-Oiled up
25.Westside Connection-Bow Down
26.Dylan and Ink-California Curse(Dylan & Loxy remix)
27.Hive + Keaton + Gridlok-California Schemin
28.Eazy-E-Real Muthaphukkin G's
29.Company Flow-gigapet epiphany
30.Tech Itch-The Calling
31.Noisia-Block Control
32.Shadowhuntaz-2020
33.Loxy-Jinnel Killa
34.Spor-Dreadnought
35.Children of the Corn-American Dreams
36.Skream-Lightning
37.Mike Jones-Still Tippin
38.Vex'd-Pop Pop VIP
39.Trick Daddy-Naan
40.Mark One-stargate
41.Three 6 Mafia-Stay Fly
42.Bone Thugs-Da Introduction
43.Bone Thugs-Shotz to tha Double Glock
44.Company Flow-Shadows Drown
45.Nephilim Modulation Systems- Brave New World
46.Saskrotch-The Legend of Zelda
47.Drumsound and Simon Bassline Smith-The Odyssey
48.MOP-Ante Up
49.Subfocus-X-ray
50.Crime Mob-Knuck if you Buck
51.P Brothers-Make it Better
52.Pendulum-Slam
53.Futurebound and Jaquan-Blind Cobbler's Thumb
54.Project Pat-Ballers
55.Kid 606-Phat with a a Phd
56.Enya-Only Time
57.Juelz Santana-Dipset
58.High Contrast-Natural High
59.Lil Troy-Wanna be a Baller
60.Geto Boys-Damn it feels good to be a gangsta

Aurora Borealis

The second installment of Sleep Spindles...ambient music to assist you with your daily dissolution of consciousness. Like the northern lights, the soundscape slowly undulates, softly cresting between hopeful dream weaving and mournful stargazing, while carefully unraveling thoughts so that they might ripple skywards. I recommend you let this unfold right as you are going to bed, with the volume at about 1/2 to 1/3 of your normal listening level so you aren't disturbed once you drift off, but hey, feel free to do as you please. I'm looking forward to hearing this while deep sea diving with ghosts, or while peacefully being consumed by the all encompassing whiteout of a thousand year blizzard...

Perfect for ending...only to begin again.

Sleep Spindles 2: Aurora Borealis Tracklist

1.cLOUDEAD-Apt. A
2.Stars of the Lid-Requiem for Dying Mothers, Part 2
3.Eluvium-I Am So Much More Me That You Are Perfectly You
4.M83-Slight Night Shiver
5.Loscil-Brittle
6.Mr Projectile-Underneath the Evening
7.Marsen Jules- Fans D'Automne
8.Manual-As the Moon Spins Around
9.Tiki Obmar-Ankeny, Iowa
10.Bibio-Cherry Blossom Road
11.Susumu Yokota-Wind Wave
12.Fila Brazillia-July 23
13.Eluvium-taken
14.Rothko-Harold Budd
15.Pan American-Christo en Pilsen
16.Labradford-P
17.Stars of the Lid-Even if You're Never Awake
18.Casino Versus Japan-Vessels That Float Out of Metals That Sink 2
19.Mum-Smell Memory (Traktor Remix)
20.Biosphere-White Lightning
21.Max Richter-Organum
22.Deru-The Reasons
23.Dosh-Rock it to the Next Episode
24.Tower Recordings-whitewood
25.Parallax-Track 3 from Le Symphonie de Rien
26.The Album Leaf-Seal Beach
27.Charles Atlas-The Deadest Bar
28.Dollboy-Splash
29.Secede-Ballroom Arcade
30.Biosphere-meltwater
31.Growing-Primitive Associations/Great Mass Above
32.KM Krebs-The Unassailable and Eternal Sovereign of the Lunar Body

And for a less ummm...polar affair, you should check out The Eclectic Kool-Aid Acid Test. This one covers a lot of bases while keeping things cohesive and accessible.

The Eclectic Kool-Aid Acid Test

Or you might take a trip with Phlutter and coast thru smoke-filled lounges cushioned with crushed velvet, to lazy river rides through lush lunar vegatation,to secret asylums filled with electronics that whirr and pitter, all before tumbling back down again.

Phlutter

How's that for a 1-2-3-4 punch combo?

Also stay tuned for Random Access Melodies. Hopefully, it'll be done by the end of the month. It's shaping up to be a 3 disc 4 hour 150+ track ultrabeast at this point so who knows...but expect it to be the definitive guide to musical ones and zeroes.