Last Sideshow

Damn Arms did break up, but Bang Gang is gonna leave us with a remixes release of their last single, Destination. I'm pretty excited because Destination has been one of my favorite songs to play anywhere, even if it is one last hurrah for a group who I thought were meant for better. Here's a couple of the remixes, one from the consistently good Ted & Francis and the other one a bombastic, eerie gem from Jaunt.

Damn Arms - Destination (Ted & Francis) (alt)
Damn Arms - Destination (Jaunt Remix) (alt)

Hype and Music On My Mind

Far Away is the new single by Cut Copy that will be released digitally by Modular on November 24th. Some blogs are displaying their displeasure at the overkill of extra Cut Copy material released in the past year, but most have been looking forward to it. Mass Hyperbole has been waiting anxiously for this particular release, but it seems BIGSTEREO beat them to it:

Cut Copy - Far Away (Damn Arms Remix) (alt)

Hit up Cut Copy and Damn Arms and buy the Far Away single.

Space: it's up there!!!

Duh! Who doesn't know that?

Perhaps you were quick to agree that space is, truly, "up there", but not everyone can be quick acknowledge who the Midnight Juggernauts are. We must travel far, perhaps to the edge of the ocean, to arrive at the homeland of this trio, the land which naively so, for me, remains a dream image somewhere between the thematics of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, dust and diesel, and the dreamy space landscape artists Midnight Juggernauts create in my mind. Like artists previously written about on this blog, Midnight Juggernauts hail from the current hotbed of nouvelle-vague artists, Australia. Take a glimpse at the cover of their first full length album, Dystopia, and you'll quickly understand a shade of their gestalt, a space-centric theme. What does Dystopia mean? It can be "a work of fiction describing an imaginary place where life is extremely bad because of deprivation or oppression or terror." Couple this definition with the idea of an infinite space, Korg synthesizers, and you have one of the top independent albums of 2007. Who's Radiohead? (Only joking!) In fact, outside of friendly cooperation with other artists and labels, Midnight Juggernauts have no formal record deal. With the gravity they have achieved in """"today's day and age,"""" to use that hackneyed phrase, their success is unique and commendable. Least to mention, they were picked up by Justice to open for their World Tour, and have gained the two French boys' vote as favorite album of the year.

If you want to make a memorable impression this season, I feel confident in recommending the purchase of this album for that not-so-musically-inlined friend, the one that likes all those bands from LA, with all those tattoos, you know? Did I mention LA? The Dystopia album may be purchased here. I also feel confident in communicating their appeal by only posting this remix of fellow OZ musicians, Damn Arms.

Damn Arms - The Cormorant (Midnight Juggernauts Remix)

As a bomus, enjoi this informal genealogy of sounds.

Electric Light Orchestra - Here is the News (1981)

Space Art - Onyx (1976)