Space Invaders

It's too bad they can't hear you scream in space, cuz your screaming would probably one of gleeful euphoria if you were listening to Cut Copy's remix of The Juan Maclean's "Happy House". The original is one of the better tracks TJM ever released, but this facelift is highly welcome.

The Juan Maclean - Happy House (Cut Copy's Space Is The Place Remix) (alt) via

Blow Them Away

What Kind Of Breeze Do You Blow? has been one of the better blog bands of the year, surprising us with a sound that can more or less characterize the year: transition from the hard stuff to softer tunes, but still wanting to keep what felt so good about the recent dance scene. Fortunately for us, WKOBDY? is not just blog music, they will probably start making a bigger splash soon with the release of their EP on Brilliantine by mid-December. To start the ball rolling, they left us with a track with dramatic razor synths, and whining pitches reminiscent of Symbolone. Enjoi:

What Kind Of Breeze Do You Blow? Unanswerable (alt)

BONUS:

The XX - Night Time (What Kind Of Breeze Do You Blow Extended Edit) (alt)

Continuity

It's not a bad thing to post this track after my previous post. This way we can attest together the coolness that is a sound transitioning from one decade to another. It is a Lady Gaga track, but so what, production from H&LA tips the balance here.

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance (Hercules & Love Affair Remix) (alt)

A (Small) History Listen

There are songs that help to define the musical identity of an era so, that when we look to categorize that particular time, some songs instantaneously come to mind. One of these eponymous songs was Yazoo's (Yaz in the US) "Situation". Bundled as a B-side with single "Only You", "Situation" offered italo disco synths sequenced with a hip hop loop by Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Erasure) and a songstress in Alice Moyet that carried the song with both angst and detachment, elements that are not only key in characterizing a sound for the decade, but that helped shape it and have been an influence for contemporary acts such as Hercules & Love Affair. In no short esteem I speak for myself and my blogrades in our acknowledgement of Yazoo's "Situation" as a pivotal song of electronic dance music and of the 80's.

Yazoo - Situation (alt)

Harder, Better and Nowhere To Be Found

I couldn't have said it better than the peeps over at TMS. SebastiAn and Ed Banger have been so quiet, that it's no surprise that the banger era they helped to vanguard has recently become passe in dance culture. Do they think their time is up and that their music now suffers from being dated by and because of the quickness that the blog world has consumed/failed to imitate anything Ed Banger? Are their big guns fatigued from all the attention received and are they fed up with an environment in which they can't work due to their high profile, one that inhibits creativity in order to sell/give what the people want? Or are they just simply waiting to rip everybody a new one when they least expect it with what they least expect in terms of music style and catalogue? I'm not sure, but in the meantime, in hopes of getting them out of their slumber, an unreleased SebastiAn track, ripped from a set.

SebastiAn - Unknown (alt) via

Parallel Universes

There was a time when I though RJD2 was electronic music's answer to hip hop's DJ Shadow. Not so much an answer, in the sense of competition, but definitely a comparison in sense of style and sound. I was so into "Ghostwriter" my freshman year of college, I used to write my essays to it (that and to Tatu's "Nas Ne Dogonyat"). It was music that really made you feel very bohemian, that had soul, funk and felt soft enough to read to, with enough beat to bop your head to. My guess is that good music has the ability to transform itself for different purposes and different contexts.

That being said, RJD2 started experimenting into being a pop-rockstar shortly after that, a love-it-or-hate-it experiment that did not put his reputation into dispute. That good faith is now being repaid with another wonderful song by RJD2 for his new EP, The Tin Foil Hat, and the song is reminiscent of that hip-hop ambient, with Madvillain-esque production. Check it out:

RJD2 - When It Wobbles (alt) via

Safe Promotion

Nice to know the Pixies look out for the fans. Listen in, tell them what you think, I think it's pretty good.

Double Standard

So lately, we are getting booed off by the record companies for posting their artists songs, our posts kicked out. Though we get a notice of it, it seems a bit weird that most of these songs are able to exist elsewhere but not here. I guess we can't really play with the big boys anymore. I'll be the first to say, we as a blog are not perfect, we don't always ask before we post because, well, a lot of times we know we are getting music from other blogs, and those blogs are ones that have countless of times said that they will not post without asking for the artists permission first; not only that, but we have attempted in past occasions to have access to these artists, most always never having a response, inciting neither negative nor positive inclinations to our reviewing and promoting of their music.

Having said that, I apologize to any of the artists we have financially hurt through our actions, to the companies who pay them and to other blogs who promote them and do it well. My mission statement for this blog is to promote music, not to severely deteriorate artists' means of income. From our side of things, we'll try to do the right thing, and try not to provoke the ire of the folks whose product we are trying to popularize.

Azari & III - She's An Illusion (alt) via