Just Like You Wanted

This is what SebastiAn has been opening his sets with for a while now. Some people say it's a message to his fanbase. Whatever it is, the man knows how to build up tension in a song.

SebastiAn - Threnody (alt) via

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

Firestarters

Have been searching the interwebz for SONAR videos, and of course, for the SebastiAn live set from last friday. Suffice it to say no one has really unleashed a video that shows anything new in full, though I'm sure it will surface. It looks like it was fun regardless:









P.S. That is Busy P handing out masks on the last one...

BONUS: Boys Noize - Starter (alt) Thanks LAFriendly

Music In Media

Ok, as promised here is the Fred Falke remix of Lykke Li's "I'm Good, I'm Gone," fresh as this morning's baked baguettes. Since I last posted about her, Lykke Li has seen a surge in popularity (no correlation, right? nah), especially with the debut of her album "Youth Novels," so this remix couldn't come at a better time. And it's easy on the ears too.

Lykke Li - I'm Good, I'm Gone (Fred Falke remix)



The arrival of this anticipated remix gives me the excuse to write about something else that I've been noticing in the past few days: electronic music in the media. It seems like the kind of music we post about here, from Australia to Sweden and back, is starting to get picked up by those in high places. Songs I never thought I would have heard outside of my own room are popping up in the most peculiar places. I don't know if it's just coincidental or just a sign of the times to come. I have to admit, it gets me excited.

So, when else can you hotwire a car, do several drive-bys and get chased by the FBI all while cranking out the sweet sounds of Justice? I got a chance to play Grand Theft Auto IV this past week. Simply put, it's amazing. Just by chance I had recently noticed that on Kavinsky's site, he had advertised that "Testarossa" was featured on the "electrochoc" channel, so the first time I did my own hotwiring I immediately tuned in. I was thoroughly impressed with the tracklist and quality of mixing. To my surprise, searching for the ramps to drive my car off of, in addition to SebastiAn's remix of "Testarossa Autodrive," I heard "Waters of Nazareth" by Justice, "Tits & Acid" by Simian Mobile Disco. Albeit lo-quality, you can listen to the radio station yourself without playing the game here and here.

When I checked the tracklist on wikipedia, I was shocked to see names like Boys Noize, Bag Raiders and even Black Devil Disco Club. How the hell did Rockstar catch wind of Bag Raiders? Ah, then I saw that DJ and producer François K compiled the list. Still, it makes playing GTA IV that much more enjoyable. There are other quality songs on the other stations as well. I've heard !!!, LCD Soundsystem (while buying a chicken sandwich), Q-Lazzarus' "Goodbye Horses," and even Philip Glass (while getting into this epic six-star wanted level chase on the train tracks).



On Tuesday I was invited to go to a film at the SFIFF called American Teen. The documentary, directed by Nanette Burnstein, attempts to tell the story of the American High School Experience more realistically than its predecessors. The movie features a wide array of songs, but I did notice"Kids" by MGMT and "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You" by Black Kids.

Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You

Sometimes when I'm bored I surf trailers and I recently caught an independent French film called Naissance des Pieuvres or in Engish, Water Lilies. The trailer features Vitalic's "Trahison." The trailer renewed my love for Vitalic and it looks like an interesting film itself that I will have to catch once it comes out.

Vitalic - Trahison

Only Joking!

As many of you know, Coachella kicked off today. Today's lineup is probably already closing, if not closed. Tomorrow, Youtube will be flooded with video footage and blogs will be blogging about all kinds of hype that went down. After Sunday there will be an untold number of videos of Justice, whose 2007 appearance was their first live show in the States.

There was a long period of waiting and teasing the virgin crowd. Just as the sun had set, Justice came on. The cross was lit. Many people in the crowd didn't even know who Justice were; emaciated scenesters from LA with really, really cool tattoos about meanings exclusive and unbeknownst to those that have no tattoos confidently told other emaciated scensters (...) "they're cool, plus they're from France, meaning they're not from the States." And other people knew well who Justice were, but had no idea what to expect from them. At that point in time, Justice had only a slew of remixes under their belt. Still, a slew, but they had produced no original material themselves. Close to two years of touring, what would they offer at Coachella?



Everyone there remembers it. For the people that were there, at the moment when Genesis dropped, it was impossible, it was music from another planet. In a word, ineffable. Genesis was not the only song never before heard. Their first "live show" consisted of their never before heard album. Unfortunately, and it is sad, that moment will never happen again.

Now to be anti-climactic. What may happen Sunday maybe exciting for many of the fans Justice have come to win over. SebastiAn's EP has recently been leaked, and in a different medium, Motor had leaked much earlier. Somehow I managed to end up here:


Justice have remixed Motor, least to mention Underworld, and it will probably be dropped Sunday. Why not? It turns out the best blog is Wikipedia. I've been careful not to use this word before, but Let There Be Night has exclusive news. Even Google can't compete.

New SebastiAn

Pic: Cobra Snake

Remember when everyone thought the Scenario Rock - Both Gotta Move On "Hey Champ" remix was the SebastiAn remix? People, it turns out the "Hey Champ" remix is not, in fact, the SebastiAn remix. Considering how much hype this guy gets, the Sebastian remix is surprisingly on the DL. It hasn't leaked yet, or so it seems. However, you can hear the song in its entirety at Scenario Rock's Myspace, or simply purchase the "Both Gotta Move On" single, including the said remix, at Arcade Mode.

As far as 2008 is concerned, I think people will be surprisingly impressed with the album from Sebastian, which is said to drop in "Winter Spring" 2008, whatever that means. He's already given the public a ghostly track "untitlted." With better remixes under SebastiAn's belt, this track is nothing exciting. Probably, SebastiAn specifically put this track out because it's the least personable track on the record. Justice did something similar when they made a faux version of "The Party," (and people were actually liking it!!?!) prior to the drop on the album, almost as a spiteful scheme to the blog community. When the real version finally appeared, people were pleasantly surprised.

That said, here is a video of a brand new SebastiAn track that he dropped at Dafunkfest in Tokyo. The youtube author has disabled embedding *by request,* so you'll just have to follow the link. Pharoahe Monch - Simon Says sample?. Notice the distinct resemblance to Justice's sound, or is it Justice's resemblance to SebastiAn's sound?

Have you heard:

Sneaky Sound System - UFO - SebastiAn Remix vs. Blaze Tee Rerub

Three Dead People

Yesterday while I was at Amoeba, Weston called me. His voice sounded urgent: "Dude, Michel Gondry is speaking at the Apple Store tonight." We had already waited in line to see a free screening of There Will Be Blood last week and failed that, so we wanted to get to this event really early. We headed downtown at half past 3 and walked down Market cigarette in hand. We were putting our cigarettes out as the store came into view. From a distance we could see a line of only two girls. I told Weston, "I don't know how comfortable I feel about being the first in line." We ended up waiting for about two hours, but were able to get some pizza by writing on the sidewalk with chalk where we were standing, "Alex and Weston will be back in 20 mins." Probably no less than 100 people came up to us or the girl in the very front to ask what we were standing in line for. We began experimenting with responses: 1. "to buy an iPhone... the 2009 edition," 2. "free iPhones," 3. "to see Mariah Carey," 4. "we actually don't know why," 5. "to see director/screenwriter Weston Green," 6. "what're you in line for?"

Seeing Michel Gondry was pretty exciting. Although I can't attest to being the hugest fan, I could feel the excitement. He was a very inspiring person, and his accent made me very Franconostalgic. Since he was promoting his new film Be Kind Rewind, Mos Def--who coincidentally happened to be in SF as well--also showed up. Mos Def made the crowd laugh the most by adding his "regular guy" persona to the group. The interviewer probably tried too hard to ask "intellectual" questions. And Michel Gondry was very inspiring; I especially was pleased to hear him talk about his gripes with too high production, his inspiration for different music videos and films, and how Kanye West was hard to work with. I loved how at times he would be really into explaining something from his oeuvre and he would get really into it and keep talking as the interviewer tried to intervene. Then, as she finally was allowed to speak, he would stop paying attention for a moment, look down at the ground, and smile, as though in talking about such a project he was reminded of something from his past that made him laugh.



Justice - D.A.N.C.E. (Benny Blanco Mix ft. Mos Def)

Lately I've been doing some intense research on new music, so today I have three songs to write about. Let's start with Sebastien Tellier. His "Ritournelle" for me is one of those perfect songs, but I have been wary about any of his other songs. The original "Sexual Sportswear" is alright, though repetitive and a bit boring. SebastiAn makes it more dance-floor friendly, and without putting too much grinding computer sounds that he seems prone to use (on songs like "Smoking Kills" or his "Ready to Uff" remix).

Sebastien Tellier - Sexual Sportswear (SebastiAn Remix)


Next up we have perhaps DFA's most bizarrely named band, Hercules & Love Affair. Is it the name of two people or is it a mysterious story based on Greek mythology? Well, Brooklyn-based Hercules' songs have a disco-feel, but are mostly heavy. In "Blind," however, they've enlisted the help of Antony Hegarty (of "the Johnsons" fame). Antony, mostly known for his sad, resonating and often twisted songs, gives this track a sort of timelessness. With its bongos, bouncy synths and walking bass, this one definitely deserves some radio play.


Hercules & Love Affair - Blind




And then the best for last; I can't get enough of this one. Judging from his get up My Robot Friend electrifies indie rock and is making Devo cool again. And with the presidential primaries in process right now, the song is doubly poignant: "Everything I say about bad education/ a million broken records have already said."

My Robot Friend - Robot High School