Case Of The Mondays

Just a couple of songs for you today. Here is Vitalic releasing his single "Second Lives" remixed by the ever-present and hard-working Lifelike, and here is the remix for Tiga's excellent "What You Need" remixed by 80's synth R&B vanguards Chromeo.

Vitalic - Second Lives (Lifelike Remix) (alt)
Tiga - What You Need (Chromeo Remix) (alt)

Infinite Punches

Songs from around the blog world/our inbox to get your weekend going. Enjoi!

Phoenix - Fences (Friendly Fires Remix) (alt)
Vitalic - See The Sea (Red) (alt)
2020 Soundsystem - Closure (alt)
Meroz - Your Lover (alt)

Mob Hit

The before electro blast of Pascal Arbez, aka Vitalic, was followed by an immediate submersion, a dormant period away from the hype and the fads of electronic music. It was this blogger's hope that the dissapearing act was due to work on a new album, and I'm glad to have had my hunch proved right. Vitalic will be back with a new album tittled Flashmob, out on Sept. 28th in Europe ( Nov. 3rd for the US) and I'm expectant to listen to it. To get the hype train rolling, here's a minimix of the album:

Vitalic - Flashmob Minimix (alt)

Thanks to Bigstereo for the mix.

Rain Cover For Sunshine Weather

Birdy Nam Nam - The Parachute Ending (Vitalic Remix) (alt)
Vega - No Reasons (alt)
Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed (Jakwob Remix) (alt)

Pascal Arbez

For a while, it seemed certain that I would only be listening to Kings of Leon (my guilty pleasure, loved the first album and most of the second) but that was soon to change. Technology was catching up to some of the talent already out there in the electronic dance world, DFA the main culprits and the emerging French and Australian scene to follow.

What happened between my love for indie poseur music and my electro-nic slide can be largely attributed to Pascal Arbez aka Vitalic. I wasn't aware of his Poney EP, and it was one of those rare gems I came across randomly. His songs were intense arranged cacophonies, with its thumping bass, the crashing cymbals and hi-hats, it's intricate beeping Moroder melodies and of course those shearing, shrapnel-infused, roaring rock/metal synths, a staple sound for Arbez that surprisingly found a vacant melodic niche in the dance world. At the time, Vitalic was the best thing to happen to the people who secretly flirted with the idea of actually liking Ministry of Sound albums, but couldn't come out of their musical credibility closet. In my opinion, Vitalic played a major role in changing the perception of dance music to the general public. The Poney EP, consisting primarily of anthem La Rock 01, Poney Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 were to be successfully translated to his 2006 LP Ok Cowboy, an album that was met with both critical acclaim and popularity amongst the masses. The release of the album marked Arbez' rise to prominence, which came with with noteworthy remix work for artists such as Björk and Röyksopp.

French contemporaries have since pushed his sound away from a larger mass appeal, and besides playing many festivals, Arbez has been missing in action due largely to a lack of new original or remixed material. We hope that its because of a return to the studios rather than other circumstances, and we hope to hear more from one of the significant figures in dance music.

Vitalic - La Rock 01 (alt)
Vitalic - Poney Part 1 (alt)
Björk - Who Is It? (Vitalic Remix) (alt)
Röyksopp- What Else Is There? (Vitalic Remix) (alt)

Go to the Vitalic Myspace and give him some love.

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

SPARKS

Just came across this track, and it's magic. Truly hope this isn't my subjective superstition; this song has been on repeat now for two days, and the vocal riff at 3:42 is as good as when first hearing it. Excellent dance track too. Somehow it manages to escape the early italian disco graveyard of similitude that's hard to escape, well, if you're stuck there. I'm sure everyone would want me to be agreeable and mention the producer of the this track, Giorgio Moroder. No suprises here. French artist Vitalic has called "Tryouts for the human race" his favorite track ever -- I can't blame him.

Sparks - Tryouts for the Human Race (1979)




**Note: I had the 12'' version up before; I changed it to this shorter version that I've had, the one I like better.