Lassen Sie es Gibt Nacht

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is the the pet project of Riton, who this year has given us some great remixes for Hercules & Love Affair and Mickey Moonlight, and I have to say, I am surprised. Not because it's well done, Riton usually never lets me down in that regard; rather, I'm surprised of the song choice. La Serenissima is a famous Italian song by Rondo Veneziano, and was featured in Justice's rejected FABRIC Live mix. Riton keeps the focus of the original and embellishes on the rhythm section, making it a more dynamic and deeper track with a more modern tone.

Peep it:

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - La Serenissima (alt)

Bonus:

The Sunshine Underground - Borders (Goodbooks Remix) (alt)

P.S. Sorry if my German isn't top notch, my German-literate sister is in Berlin time, hence my being lost in translation.

Bombs Over Blog Land

Seems to me like Guns N' Bombs has done enough (Kitsune work, remixes for reputable artists and some outstanding, high energy mixes) to deserve a little more hype than they get. Sort of a shame that they've been confined to a secondary role while others within their genre receive all the accolades. I guess since they don't whine for themselves, we will do it for them in hopes to raise a profile that is already high enough to be recognized but is inconsistent in exposure.

Dig on some of this stuff:

Guns N' Bombs - Riddle of Steel (alt)
Guns N' Bombs - Riddle of Steel (Para One Remix) (alt)

Bonus:

The Teenagers - Homecoming (Guns N' Bombs 1996 XTC Remix) (alt)

Hit up the guys at their official myspace.

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.

There's Nothing More to Say

It's Cut Copy, it's marvelous and it's new. Get it you fools:

Cut Copy - Sands of Time (alt)

Thanks to MassHyperbole for this wonderful track.

What's In Your Pocket?

Every once in a while in remix land, a DJ outdoes himself. Ed Banger's DJ Medhi provided the interesting--to say the least--canvas for remixers to work called "Pocket Piano." I'm at a loss to place Medhi in Ed Banger's history. Not quite the hard-rock, mind-trip feel of Justice or Sebastien, part classical, part rap, just a little bit of everything; this song seems to line up accordingly with the Mickey Moonlight direction. Joakim's remix clocks in at just under 10 minutes making it the "Sinnerman" of the French-electronic genre. And with the pianos governing the track throughout, I don't feel the comparison is too far off. Wherever you decide to play this--in your earphones or at your next fondue party--don't pass it up. It's wonderful.

DJ Mehdi - Pocket Piano (Joakim remix) (alt)

Justice - A Cross the Universe

It's not easy being breezy, beautiful, cover boys. I mean . . . people love to hate them, and they love to love them. I'm not 16, but I still love them. Order the DVD HERE. Trust me it's good; I haven't seen it yet. ;)

Justice x Metallica (ALT) A Cross the Universe CD

NY Excuse (Soulwax/Justice Remix) (ALT) A Cross the Universe CD

P.S. I did not get NY Excuse from KidzbyCorrupt ;)

Willow II : 2010

Just Kidding about the Willow II thing. That was a leaked mistake.

We can't help it. Shazam is putting out quality material left and right. We know how much Discodust and MassHyperbole are fans of Shazam, and we here have nothing less to say of him than that we love him as much. How old is he, 15? Will this turn into another Mary Kate and Ashley Olson millionaire baby-gone-bad story? His sound is definitely fitting in really well, from super unpolished tracks with his first Sweaty remix by Muscles, which we wrote about here, to polished production, round basses we all better know as House Music that can be noticed in this remix. What's Next? Shazam will soon remix Sneaky Sound System, and you guessed it, Empire of the Sun. I caught this on Discobelle the other day (Ohhcrapp-- it's not Disocbelle ;) Enjoi.

Tough Alliance - Neo Violence - Shazam Remix (ALT)

In other news, check out a potential TOP TEN ARTIST OF THE YEAR, Empire of the Sun. They have a new trailer for the "We Are The People" music video shot in Mexico. Reminds me of that Jennifer Lopez movie, minus Jennifer Lopez, plus Empire of the Sun.

The Kids Are All Right

Remixes can make a familiar band anonymous. Who knows who's the brains behinds all those Hot Chip remixes, for instance? Vampire Weekend recently received some treatment from the duo who's had a little more practice with the dance floor, Chromeo. Not to say 2008 hasn't been a great year for both these bands--even my mum knows who Vampire Weekend is thanks to NPR. Yet, it remains unclear whether this was a team-effort or the product of one of the two's free time--I'm leaning towards P-Thugg, but I could be wrong. In any case, give this one a listen, it's sure to brighten up anyone's day with a perfect blend of that effortlessly pure voice of Ezra Koenig's and a light techno feel. The kids are sure to dance!

Vampire Weekend - The Kids Don't Stand a Chance (Chromeo remix) (alt)

Oh, and anyone planning to see the first of probably many tween-novel adaptations to film, Twilight, have a nice "vampire" weekend.

Jackson Fourgeaud

To every story, there is the wizard, the wise man, the magician. Always kept on the shelf for certain measures, little does he talk, but when he does . . .

Jackson Fourgeaud, or more popularly known as Jackson and His Computer Band, in this cess pool of right-now's banger-crap, is one that stands out, noticeably. One-of-a-kind, sure, but I don't want to hear that again. It sounds too far away to be true, but I originally heard my first Jackson remix five years ago. This was the period of the failed record label GOOOM. From GOOOM, the remaining survivors today are TEPR, Yelle's current tour drummer, and M83, who got played out real hard once PitchForkMedia gizzed all over Anthony Gonzalez's most recent EMO album. But that's beside the point. "Run Into Flowers" was the single remixed by Jackson as the "Midnight Fuck Remix." And there happened, I think, a great schism. There was such a new sound brought to the table, namely those super compressed snare drums all to reminiscent of the snare drum King, Mr. Oizo. Jackson Fourgeaud has been an inspiration and influence to virtually every member on Ed Banger family, but that's no big deal. C'mon -- it's Warp Records. They kinda know what they're doing.

Enough of my silly poetics; Jackson is a much more charming man than I am as he speaks about music, remixes, and influences. We wont mention his production horizon. Let's all hope he's working on new material.



M83 - Run Into Flowers - Midnight Fuck Remix (ALT)

Panico - Illumination - Jackson 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.