The Whitest Boy Alive - Rules (2008)

Remember how I was saying that no one is cooler than Erlend Øye? Well, he just had to go ahead and prove me right. Coming up with the new album, Rules (2009) his project The Whitest Boy Alive has finally established itself fully on the electronic music scene. In my opinion far superior to their 2006 effort, Dreams (though it had its bright moments, with much-remixed "Golden Cage"), Rules provides an atmosphere of quiet brooding and restrained passion in the best tradition of the band's steady beats, scant strings and Erlend's soft voice - singing, as he often does, about everyday relationship conundrums, including love triangles, time bombs, break-ups, and reiterating the age-old agade about vain intentions. The album with its "much-celebrated" potential will become, in my mind, one of the best albums of 2009 - considering the blend of lrycs and music that are impeccable in their simplicity. Hurry and get on the "rollercoaster ride of emotions" - you won't be disappointed.

Download: mediafire

Or, sample a song: Gravity

OMG best movie evar!!!

Have I ever mentioned that Jurassic Park is my favorite movie ever? I've seen it at least 60 times. On par with The Big Lebowski, in my opinion.

Igloos!

That's right; its time to dance outside, at night, in January. Personally I'm gonna hit up Modeselektor (grab some of his tunes here) and Housemeister tonight, and next week Adam Freeland (!) and Evil Nine are coming through. Its about time we got some good European DJs around here.

Anyway here's what's on my playlists now:

Sex Bomb (Adam Freeland Remix) - Spinnerette; Kinda explicit but totally sweet.

Drop The Tough [The Twelves B-LIVE Remix] - Groove Armada; More Brazilian goodness

Krafty (Phones Reality Remix) - New Order; This one is amazing, but it ends short. If you can find another full version, please pass it my way!

Technomusic (Original Mix) - Polymorphic; Dark and gritty...nice.

stick around for some mixes later on this week.

Enjoy and keep warm.

Taa Daa! (Da)

Hallo, hallo!

First and foremost.

YUSEK's got a NEW ALBUM titled AWAY FROM THE SEA. Get it FEBUARY 2ND!

Here are some fresh Yuksek tracks to hold you off in the meantime. If you're still craving more, click here for another thirteen tracks.

Yuksek - I Could Never Be a Dancer
Birdy Nam Nam - TransBoulonge Express (produced by Yusek)
Zombie Nation - Peace and Greed (Yuksek remix)

That said, I haven't posted much this week and now I'm feeling kinda guilty. The only way to fix that is a MASSIVE POST!!!


Gotta love the Dada Life


This Swedish Electro-House duo is frickin' awesome. Olle Corneer and Stephan Engblom produce anthem after anthem, jam packed with bouncy bass and infectious riffs--and they do it well too. Check out this clip of Dada Life as they work the dance floor.

Laidback Luke at Cesar Palace (Break Down, Dada Life)




Here's their newest mix



Dada Life - January Mix 2009

Timelords – Doctor in Tardis (Dada Life Guerilla Fart #8)
Malente – Bring That Lead Back
Bird Peterson – Pete Goes Off
Fukkk Offf – Rave Is King (Le Castle Vania Remix)
Maskinen – Pengar
Alex Kidd – Rockin Down (Dirty Mix)
Lazy Jay – Float My Boat
Sharooz – Get Off (Miles Dyson Remix)
Mustard Pimp – Oh La La Satan
Chuckie – Let The Bass Kick
Super Viral Brothers – Back In The Swamp
Tiga – Mind Dimension 2
Dada Life – Rubber Band Boogie
Tim Healey feat TC – Out Of Control (Pablo Decoder Superior Mix)
Dj Mujava – Township Funk (Sinden Remix)
Siriusmo – Too Simple

Tracks:

Maskinen - Segertaget (Dada Life Remix)
Laidback Luke - Break the House Down (Dada Life Remix)
Dada Life - Rubber Band Boogie (Original Mix)
Lykke Li - Dance, Dance, Dance (Dada Life Guerilla Fart #4)
Eric Pyrz - Pjanoo (Dada Life Guerilla Fart #7)
The Timelords - Doctorin' The Tardis (Dada Life Guerilla Fart #8)
Dada Life - Your Favorite Flu (Radio Edit)
Boys Noize - Lava Lava (Dada Life Guerilla Fart #6)
Boy 8-Bit - The Suspense is Killing Me (Dada Life Guerilla Fart Remix)


Cheers to a new President!

Daft Punk + Barak Obama + a giant flying calculator = Hilarious video. It gets really good around 1m 50s.

Daft Punk vs. Adam Freeland - Aer OBAMA




Wait, there's more!


Quality Classics




Heartsrevolution - Ultraviolence (Vitalic Remix)
Vitalic - The Past
Vitalic - Trahison
Vitalic - La Rock 01
Vitalic - 30000 Feet Club
Vitalic - 30000 Feet Club (Live)




Roxy Music - Love is the Drug

love

neonguns

Bossa Nova: The Essential Brazilian 60's

It's cold here in Montreal! This week's temperature dropped below 20C. It may well be the time we should remember the sun and the beach. And even though not all of us have been as fortunate as Gui and Nextron, who were surviving in extreme beach conditions somewhere around São Paulo during the holidays, at least we can daydream of Brazil - the land of big Jesus, great beaches, beautiful women and, of course, unique music.



















I enjoy a good bossa nova song from time to time. All right, a lot of the time. So this post's purpose will be to counterweight all the dance music we usually post - just in case you're adventurous enough to try something new. Of course most of us know, or at least have a vague idea what bossa nova sounds like, and all of us have probably heard "Girl From Ipanema". Prepare yourselves, for MPB (Música Popular Brasileira) is much, much more than that. Seriously, that's not even a very good song, I have no idea why it's so popular.

But I digress; enjoy this special middle-of-the-winter compilation of sunny music from the bohemian '60s in Rio de Janeiro (not all of it can be found on CDs). The essentials, in my opinion are as follows:

1. Chico Buarque de Hollanda - Não Existe Pecado Ao Sul Do Equador
2. Paulinho da Viola - Bebadosamba
3. Gal Costa - Namorinho de Portão
4. João Gilberto - Hô-bá-lá-lá
5. João Gilberto - Insensatez
6. João Gilberto - Bolinha de Papel
7. Toquinho & Vinícius de Moraes - Essa Menina
8. A. C. Jobim - Three Note Samba
9. A. C. Jobim & Elis Regina - Aguas De Março
10. Gilberto Gil - Frevo Rasgado
11. Luiz Henrique - Samba Skindim
12. Toquinho - Tarde em Itapoã

Download
(iTunes required for some tracks)

God bless The Bossa Blog

2 4 1 (Seriously Modeselektor Siriusmo Selection)

Hallo hallo! You know how some things just go better together? Like cake and ice cream, and love and kisses? Well some DJs do too. In this new segment, 2 4 1, I'll be presenting artists who sound better together.

Today's post features Siriusmo and Modeselektor. Both groups are native to Berlin and their music shares the same bouncy bass-lines as well as an affinity for a melodic touch. Modeselektor were first signed in 1997, almost ten years before Siriusmo entered the scene. In fact, Siriusmo musically "grew up" with Modeselektor and their influence on his music is quite evident. The two groups have frequently worked together and, frankly, I believe their music makes more sense when played together. Try it out! Download all twelve tracks and play 'em as listed.

Godspeed - Modeselektor
Simple - Siriusmo
What You Want (Siriusmo Remix) - Housemeister
Black Block - Modeselektor
& Down (Siriusmo v. Boys Noize Remix) - Boys Noize
Fuckingham Palace (Modeselektor Remix) - Alter Ego
Wow (Modeselektor Remix) - Siriusmo
Allthegirls (Original Mix) - Siriusmo
Femuscle - Siriusmo
Deboutonner (Ft. Siriusmo) - Modeselektor
Edgar - Modeselektor
Wow - Siriusmo

Videos!

Ick Hab Wat Bessret Vor! (Dana & Siriusmo) - Elektroraum



Black Block - Modeselektor



love

neonguns

It's fucking cold

Oi!

Lo, Behold: I have returned to the land of the ice and snow, back from Brazil for another fun-filled semester of delightful studies and gettin drunk. Anyway, that's completely irrelevant to what's really important, the music:

For an ultra-fresh dance party, check out this new Database (They're actually Brazilian!) remix:

Move My Baby (Database Remix) - Superpose

Let us reflect upon 2008 with a Lykke Li remix by a up-and-coming Brooklyn producer, Pocketknife:

Breaking It Up (Pocketknife's Loosefoot Remix) - Lykke Li

And then to weird out we have a remix of Aphex Twin's classic:

Windowlicker (Zuckr's Breakbeat Chop Up) - Aphex Twin

When Foamo came to Montreal, I was a little underwhelmed. But that's because I have unrealistic standards. With this new-ish remix, its apparent he's holding to the good path of heavy electro:

Half in Love (Foamo Remix) - Mystery Jets

Enjoy, and expect more (like some beast mixes) in the near future! I'm off to read about contemporary European moral philosophy and foreign affairs. woo.



-Nextron

Chills from Norway: Erlend Øye

You may be cool, but you're not Erlend Øye cool. More known for his pop-folk duo with Eirik Glambek Bøe, Kings of Convenience, Erlend (born in Bergen, Norway) nevertheless has produced a lot of solo work, as well as taking on a side project, The Whitest Boy Alive while living in Berlin. This post, however, deals with his contribution to DJ-Kicks CD series. Wikipedia tells me DJ-Kicks started in 1995 and since then has seen some big-name contributors, such as Kruder & Dorfmeister and Thievery Corporation. Erlend's DJ-Kicks album is not new (2004) but it is my favourite, so I thought I'd share. I mean, it's got Phoenix, Avenue D, The Rapture, Röyksopp, and an amazing remix of Cornelius's "Drop" - what more could you ever need?

Enjoy
Erlend Øye - DJ-Kicks

or, download aforementioned song: Cornelius - Drop (KoC remix)

Fake Blood is an Alien

Hallo hallo! If you don't who know who Fake Blood is then you're completely hopeless. I mean, who doesn't know Fake Blood? Well, at least that's what I thought before I discovered something strange...nobody has any idea who the hell this guy is.
Say what?
Yeah, I said nobody. Nobody knows who Fake Blood is. He hasn't released any promotional pictures of himself, he's never been interviewed, and no one knows his real name. So he's what I could find...

My Space Location

London, UK

MySpace Self Description

I AM FAKE BLOOD.
I MAKE MUSIC - AND I TAKE YOUR MUSIC AND DO WHAT I WANT WITH IT.
IF SWALLOWED SEEK MEDICAL ASSISTANCE.
WILL STAIN CLOTHES.
WILL SOUND SPECTACULAR.

A Picture of Little Boots and Fake Blood (?) from Little Boot's Blog

If you're really desperate, you might find a video on youtube of a live set (after you sort through the million 'how to make fake blood' instructional videos) and catch a shadowy glimpse of him in the Dj booth. AND If you're lucky you might even find a crappy cam vid where you can see the fuzzy silhouette of Fake Blood's elusive face. If you're like me, and google's your only source of information, that's the most you'll find. For more info regarding the mysterious lack of info, read this article from analogue magazine.

That said, Fake Blood's produced some of the best remixes of the year and his track, Mars, was a missive hit. Here are the classics as well as some less circulated remixes.

The Kills - Cheep and Cheerful (Fake Blood Remix)
Underworld - Ringroad (Fake Blood Remix)
Uncle - Restless (Fake Blood Remix)
Armand Van Helden - I Want Your Soul (Fake Blood Remix)
Little Boots - Stuck on Repeat (Fake Blood Remix)
Hot Chip - Touch Too Much (Fake Blood Remix)
The Black Ghosts - Any Way (Fake Blood Remix)
Sinden & Count of Monte Crista - Beeper (Fake Blood Remix)
Fake Blood - Blood Splashing (Fake Blood Theme)
Fake Blood - Mars
Bonde Do Role - Gasolina (Fake Blood Remix)
South Rakkas Crew - South Rakkas Crew (Fake Blood Remix)
Dan Le Sac v Scroobius Pip - Look for the Woman (Fake Blood Remix)

love

neonguns

It's Electric!

Hallo hallo! Here are some videos for your viewing pleasure.

Tesla Coil Music



Star Wars Floppy Disk



Electric Stimulus to Face: Test 3



Deichkind - Electric Super Dance Band



If the video doesn't load properly, watch in HERE on youtube.

Bonus: Deichkind - Arbeit Nervt (Saint Pauli Remix)

love

neonguns

Many things are King, but foremost there is Rave

Sup sup y’all? We be broadcastin’ straight from Brazil (Bresioo to those in the know) after a horrendous fuck-up on Continental’s part in Newark. All we got in compensation was a free beer and 10% off a ticket! But it was worth it, best new years I can remember.



Here are some tunes to keep the less fortunate among you warm during '09, just a few songs I picked up between exams and traveling:

Chateau Marmont is fairly new on the scene, bringing a novel sound to the whole synth-pop thing:

Anything & Everywhere - Chateau Marmont

Lots of fun, I expect that they will achieve great happy success in 2009.
We Are ENFANT TERRIBLE, another new Parisian group, provides a more rock-synth sound, worth checking out

I Can't Help Myself - We Are ENFANT TERRIBLE

Of course we can’t forget the heavy stuff, the mighty grimy driving bass that wakes us up and keeps us going. Hopefully many of you have hit up some ill new years parties and with luck heard this:

Im not drunk (The Bloody Beetroots Remix) - Benny Benassi
played or spoken…either way it’s a good time.



And as a welcoming to 2009, I would like to remind you that RAVE IS KING! This track is taking the dancefloors by storm, and for good reason. Highly recommended.

Rave Is King (Le Castle Vania Remix) - Fukkk Off Its nice to hear that hard electrohouse isn’t dead.

Speaking of raves, this song has been on our ‘most played’ for a while. Its deceptively simple yet different from a lot of what we post, bringing a touch of almost trance-house into the melody. Or maybe it’s the bassline. They’re kinda the same in this one.

Rave Cave - The E.L.F.

To chill out we have a remix of Phoenix , a band I have only gotten into recently. They’re great and all, but I’m feelin’ this remix more than the original:

If I Ever Feel Better (Todd Edwards Better Dub) - Phoenix

Metronomy, one of my new favorite groups, finally released a video! Its totally genius:

A Thing For Me from Metronomy on Vimeo.

Anyway, I recommend this guy to store all the extra stuff you got over the holidays


Enjoy, and happy new year…bitches.

Anti New Year's Resolution

Hallo hallo! How were your New Year's Eve Celebrations? Has anyone made a New Year's resolution?

Yesterday a snow storm rolled through my area and deposited about eight inches on the ground. At noon six inches had already fallen, the wind was blowing twenty miles per hour, visibility was one hundred and fifty feet and the temperature hovered near fifteen degrees fahrenheit--so I decided to go for a walk.

If you've never taken a stroll during a snow storm, you should try it sometime. It's exhilarating. The rushing wind and soft crunch of snow fill your ears. The biting cold accentuates the tingling touch of snow flakes falling. Blinding white fills you vision. You leave behind all those qualities of you which, day-to-day, seem important and are reminded of those parts of you which are vital. Only you and the storm exist, in a manner that's somehow peaceful and comforting. It's a nice way to be.

As I walked, it occurred to me that a New Year's resolution is about becoming something more than you current self. Standing at the heart of a storm is about being less. I wondered, if I resolve to loose five pounds or pay more attention to the news, will these attributes I gain actually enrich my life? Will I be better? What if, instead, I were reduced to a more elemental me? The self I find in the storm.

This year I've decided on an Anti New Year's resolution. Perhaps by attempting to be less, I will actually achieve more. At least it's food for thought...

Now for some music! Since I've been feeling rather contemplative, here's some tracks that might suit you if you'd like to do a bit of thinking.



Soldout, from Brussels Belgium, have been around for a while. These are they're newest tracks, and they're a little toned down from the almost Garbage-esque sound of previous albums. Definitely worth a listen. Check out their MySpace page too.

Soldout - The Call
Soldout - The Cut

Some other of my favorite old and new tracks for introspective listening:

Maps - Back + Forth
Nathan Fake - The Sky Was Pink (James Holden)
Boys Noize - Shine Shine (Apparat Remix)
Para One - Finale
Saltillo - Remember Me
Sebastian, Oizo, Tellier - Exploites
Bek - Broken Drum (Boards of Canada Remix)
Unkle - Rabbit in Your Headlights (ft. Thom Yorke)
Air - Run

love

neonguns