One Year Ago Today

On the eve of the eve of All Hallow's Day, Let There Be Night was born. It was a momentous occasion and it has continued to affect our lives and the way we listen to music. We're still not sure where this is going, but we hope wherever it goes, you'll go along for the ride. So Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday. Here is a goodie-bag to celebrate. Be safe tonight and watch out for razors in your candy!


Kanye West - Love Lockdown (DYC remix)
Journey - Don't Stop Believing (Andy Clockwork remix)
Deadmau5 - Ghosts N' Stuff
Herve & Kissy Sell Out - Rikkalicious

Every time I Look Into Your Eyes I See WTF

Ok maybe I'm just not letting the music to hit me, but it seems like Tiga's Mind Dimension is a bit overhyped. I won't lie, I can't wait for his new stuff to drop and I can imagine this particular song feeling different on a dance floor, but until that happens for me, I'm gonna remain skeptical and very puzzled. One sure thing we can say for Tiga is that he does look out for us, promoting "Mind Dimension 1" in stream at Ohh! Crapp and allowing LAFriendly to post"Mind Dimension 2" as an exclusive. For those who are rather lazy or just like giving us the hits, we'll host it for a lil' bit:

Tiga - Mind Dimension 2 (Soulwax Version)

In other news, as most of you know, the US crowd is preparing for Halloween, and for the kids that means candy, for the adults that means parties....and shows. Here in the southwest part of the country, LA happens to be hosting the best concert of the year I'm not going to (sold out) and a 'Sin City' is having one of my favorite artists at another massive outing that I can't get to. I thought I was gonna have no sort of Halloween excitement, and then I saw that The Toxic Avenger and Franki Chan are gonna be in San Diego this Friday for the festivities, so I find myself graced by luck once more:

The Toxic Avenger - Escape (Damage Remix)
Franki Chan SXSW DJ Mix

In any case, if you happen to be going to any of these shows, I wish you a good, safe time with lots of chainsaw accidents, ouija board resurrections and Barack Obama/Sarah Palin costume hating.

Hot Hot Feet

Currently I'm unemployed and homeless. My days see a lot of cafe-inhabiting using wifi and intense mp3-browsing so that I can prepare for my DJ session for Halloween. Here are some gems I've come across so far that I'll be playing next Friday. First this Ladytron remix by Stray Dogs in Paris. Makes good use of piano without sounding too cocktail-partyish. We'll see if this one can keep the feets shuffling. It's good that's for sure, but it might be too slow. Let me know what you think.

Ladytron - Runaway (Stray Dogs in Paris remix)

Then there's this Tepr mix that I guess slipped through the cracks, mine at least. Somehow Tepr turns a Top 40s favorite into a electro slash Franz Ferdinand-sounding hit. This one has a good sample of everything.

Kid Sister - Pro Nails (ft. Kanye West) (Tepr remix)

And of course I'll play all the familiar favorites, including this one, MSTRKRFT's lovely remix of Metric's Monster Hospital.

Metric - Monster Hospital (MSTRKRFT remix)

Thriller Nite?

The release is tittled "Thriller". And no it's not Quincy Jones' and Michael Jackson's gem of an album. It's supposed to be a pet project of a well known producer from a well known record label in the dubstep, wonk-bass genre, and I have a pair of educated guesses but the guy is trying to keep anonymous, so I'll stay true to his schpeel and keep it incognito even if one of my guesses is rite. Besides, it's not ignorance of knowing who the artist is that has to be penalized here; the real crime would be not posting this amazing song from someone I hope we hear more from. The song "Genie" is the B-side (the flip side carrying the more hip-hop sounding "BBQ") and sounds like it belongs to Biggy during his 'Juicy' days, and in my favorite ways, it reminds me of Alan Braxe's short but well lived The Paradise project.

Enjoi:

Thriller - Genie

Watch You Gonna Be?

80% chance that I'll be DJing this Halloween (ahem, Let There's real birthday, Matt). I'll be the Karate Kid. And ya'll better believe I'll be playing this song. Whoever DJ Ayers is has made an apt song for the festivities; love the way Mobb Deep's chorus falls into place like a glove. Could this be the work of William Ayers, former domestic terrorist, and most recently reason for McCain to suspect Barack Obama? Guess not--better not get it twisted.

Mobb Deep vs. Ray Parker Jr. - Ghostbusters Got It Twisted (DJ Ayers remix)

Let me know if you want to come to the party I'll be DJing.

Back to the Bot

Well guess who's back. Ok, ok, I flew in from Thailand last Thursday. Sorry I didn't bring you any souvenirs. In fact, the only thing I brought back with me besides photos and memories is a Justice t-shirt. But more importantly for your ears, Breakbot is back with another great remix. I really don't know how The Frenchman does it so well. If you listen, you can hear the clear relation to Justice with the funky, light bassline, and yet he has his own, distinct sound. I really think Mr. Bot is in a league of his own. Check out his touch up of Digitalism's Apollo-Gize and be enlightened.

Digitalism - Apollo-Gize (Breakbot Hypnotoad mix)

To Die For

Is it Christmas time? I guess L.A. Friendly is always up on things, because he did get his hands on the new Mr. Oizo album "Lamb's Anger." For one, and this is always true of Oizo's songs, Steroids is totally messed up, and I really can't put my finger on it. I think I'll play it safe and say, "I just need loud speakers." The king of the snare has produced another bizarre track; really, it's a reassurance we get another anomaly like this. My best analogy would be there is a curious uncle who happens to come upon some drum machines/ production studio and he produces off-kilter yet interesting "I don't know what I'm doing" songs. The crescendo that points to this is when Uffie, totally out of note, says, "steroids." I can never fully say I dislike it, or fully know that I do really like it, because there is something always there that attracts me to both sides -- this could be novel in itself. Uffie is rapping about "I have no idea." The wave is in. There is a clear "Half A Scissor" sample, the same song that was later self-sampled for "HalfanEdit." I can't wait for the rest of this album. As for now, it's Friday folks.

Mr. Oizo - Steroids ft. Uffie

Mr. Oizo - Positif

Turpentine Kisses

I was thinking about remixing 'Zero' by the Smashing Pumpkins. No joke. Melloncollie and the Infinite Sadness was my favorite album from the 90s and I've played it out three separate times. That amount of playability is rare, especially with my tastes, which swing all over the place and try to dedicate more time to weird genres. That being said, it's impossible not to notice the potential of 'Zero' as a remixable song, or some of the samples within it, and Le Castlevania has just beaten me to the punch (not that I would've followed through with making a remix given my lack of skill) and made a pretty fun song; in the beginning of the song, the sample fades out underneath a bobbing trance rhythm, until the guitar riff sample hits, and then the electro banger elements climb in to give the chorus some depth. It is guilty of 'bangerism', the preferred style that exemplifies the electro scene's identity of excess and debauchery, a source of pride but quite possibly in the future, the source of its decline. No matter, there's no other way to do this song, and together with Patrick Alavi's Nirvana cover of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', we finally have another worthy addition to 90s grunge remixes.

Enjoi:

Le Castlevania - Zero Machine

Bonus:

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (Patrick Alavi Rerox)

BEST POST EVER

Of course it's not, but it's big. I'm really supposed to be studying for two exams I have tomorrow, but as of now, I guess I'm ignoring those. I was really excited for this post, but am now more or less let down.

Kavinsky used to be my favorite man, especially when Ed Banger was blowing up and Kavinsky had like the favorite E.P. around. Testarossa Autodrive was the most anomalous and successful song during that virgin time, in my opinion. And when everyone first heard the Sebastian remix during the Justice 2006 I Love Techno set, the world went madd. Anyways, that period is now over. I whine about it all the time; 90% of the artist we all blog about now owe responsibility to that interesting time that started somewhere in late 2005/2006. So, this Kavinsky remix is totally lackluster, sadly. When I think of Kavinsky, I think madd potential, but no result. 1986 is bonkers, but nothing has come to the surface, really, since the M.I.A. bootleg. Kavo wtf man? We want another EP, if not an album. The candle's slowly burning out . . . Boys Noize, wtf? One of the top remix spots in 2008, and we get this, more or less the 2 min. "preview?"

Sebastien Tellier - Roche - Kavinsky Remix

Late of the Pier - Focker - Boys Noize Remix

On a smaller note (jk), our blog has officially turned one year old. Oct. 30th was our birthday, but we've been that busy. We want to thank all the readers, some of which we know, many of which we don't, for stopping by to hear what's good. I want to also send kisses out to Alex and Albie, the other two bloggers. <3 <3 Since the 30th, we've been getting a ridiculous amount of hits, ridiculous for our standards. And we've never asked anyone to put is in their blogroll. Let's have fun!

In other worms

Personally, I don't understand the dislike for Crookers or their 'wonk' scene that is exhibited in the blog world and music forums. It's understandable that people want their music to be smart as far as structure, melody, tone, etc. but the nature of most of electro music scene is suited to clubs and to clubbers, which means noise, alcohol, and drugs, not exactly a place where you go to be intellectually stimulated. Not to mention that the wonk sound is really only suited for clubbing, so you can feel your entire body vibrate, not for a bike ride in the middle of the afternoon or for listening in your room as the rain hits your window, while your cozy in your bed or some shit. As far as the boring and bland tag they get sometimes, well, most of the time I hear something played by them, it gets people hopping, so it can't be that boring, can it?

What I'm getting to is this: ZZT is gonna release "The Worm" soon and it's closer to something Switch or Crookers might make than to ZZT's previous track, its philosophical opposite "Lower States of Consciousness". Can bad 'wonk' stuff be released? Sure, in fact it happens ALL THE TIME. But I hate the idea of disliking an artist based on reputation/sound they built up before. Instead, I choose to dislike things after I heard them. Apples and oranges, i guess.

Enjoi:

ZZT - The Worm (Original Munich Version) (from I Love Techno 2008 mixed by Boys Noize)

Bonus:

Fatboy Slim - Champion Sound (Switch Remix)