So I’m super excited because tomorrow I shall be in Toronto. OOOoooo WEEE it’s gonna be awesome. I am so pumped. So pumped. So, I have a few songs to share to get you in the mood too. So let’s party B, come and dance with me! Woop woop!
I love the Presets. They toured with fellow Australians Cut Copy and they kicked major ass. YEYE! Just as danceable as Cut Copy but totally different sound. The vocals are incredible, so raw. This, plus darker and deeper beats induce some dancing. Just a little. Un poco.
Can’t really go wrong with Dizzee Rascal. Awesome remix from Shazam who is also from Australia. I’ve been listening to this non-stop for the past couple days.=)
Exams are coming up and that means a lot of procrastination…I’m super good at it. In fact, I am pro. One of the things I like to do most while procrastinating is having dance parties. They are pretty sweet.
So, I’ve uploaded a playlist of songs I’ve been rockin’ out to lately. Old new retro nu disco minimal pop electro dance beatZ. It doesn’t matter the style ’cause it’s all awesommmme! Have a great weekend =)
When I saw the V-Fest line-up for Day 1, I was pretty pleased, these were all bands that I’ve seen before and I knew rocked. So I figured why not, it rocked the first time, why wouldn’t it rock the second? So instead of checking out more novel bands throughout the day, I stuck with the tried and true.
After waiting to get on the ferry for who knows how long, I was fortunate to get to the Virgin Mobile stage just as the Constantines were opening with Nighttime/Anytime. They played a solid, but short set. To be honest I’m not that familiar with most of the Cons’ material, but I enjoyed them headlining LOLAfest last year, and enjoyed them again this time.
After they finished up, I pushed my way up before MGMT’s set, since I hadn’t seen them yet. I’ve heard contrasting opinions of their live show. While they weren’t particularly outstanding, there was a palpable energy that hit the crowd when the band played the three best songs from Oracular Spectacular: Time to Pretend, Electric Feel, and ending with Kids. The performance of Kids struck me as particularly odd, as it played out as bad karaoke with the duo singing while dancing around the stage, but it somehow worked. Perhaps the hokey passing of the water bottle in tune with the lyrics got me. But hey, the kids were dancing so I guess they did their job.
The plan after this was to run over to the TD Canada Trust stage in order to catch my old friends Wintersleep. I call them friends because I once gave them bad directions to the nearest Tim Horton’s in Simcoe. We’re tight like that. I’ve seen them 5-6 times at this point, yet still make a point to see them whenever they come to town. They were scheduled opposite Against Me!, so was it really that much of a choice? Anyway, the second stage was running considerably behind schedule, so where I wanted Wintersleep, I got the Fratellis. Another iPod commercial band, for Flathead if I remember correctly. They seemed friendly and very Scottish. That’s the extent of my opinion of them, as I wasn’t really paying attention to the set, wondering why I spent six bucks on lemonade and where Wintersleep was. They attracted quite the crowd, so there may be something to them.
Anywho, Wintersleep got on stage nearly an hour after scheduled, opening with Miasmal Smoke, Archaeologists, and Jaws of Life. Still as good as ever, and after I got my dose of Archaeologists (in my opinion, the best song they’ve ever done) I felt I could make the move to go see Bloc Party on the main stage. Of course, as I’m walking away, they start playing a brand new song. I suppose that’s my fault for abandoning them.
With the opening chords of So Here We Are echoing across the park, my eagerness grew and I quickened my pace. Kele was chatty as ever, wishing a happy birthday to Owen Pallet followed by This Modern Love, among other things. The set was dominated by Silent Alarm material, however it was also dominated by technical difficulties. Looking up setlists posted up on the web today I see Flux on the bill, and I assure you, unless I was comatose after the Prayer, that did not get played. The set seemed conspicuously short, and I’m willing to bet the technical difficulties were to blame. Shame, as I would’ve loved to hear Flux. They supposedly played two songs from Intimacy, I can vouch for Halo but I can’t remember One Month Off being played.
After being shoved toward the stage, it was the Foo Fighters’ turn. Now, I love Dave Grohl and co., but this performance soured me on the whole day. Oh, it was rocking, all the hits were there, but the problem was I saw this same show back in March. No changes in the set list except shortening it and adding a cover of the Who’s “Young Man Blues.” The same noodling and guitar-wankery during Stacked Actors, the same banter (”How many of you are seeing us for the first time? What took you 14 fucking years?”) and even the same triangle solo joke. I know that they played Toronto two days after London, so this is really kind of annoying. It was like watching a DVD over again, it felt so rehearsed. I just wish there was a little bit of spontaneity, maybe some random song we haven’t heard in years. Aurora, preferably. Nate loves it. There was one ad-lib that did make me smile. After the first verse of Breakout, the crowd started singing the chorus and Dave abruptly stopped all the music and berated the audience. “That’s not how you fucking sing it! You’re doing it wrong!” Anyway, I got Everlong again, so it’s forgiven. Just try to switch it up a bit next time, ok guys?
So, while it was a bit stale, Vfest was a good show for me. I missed the freshness of seeing all these acts for the first time, but given that I’ve seen them all within the past year, I suppose that’s to be expected. I wish Spiritualized wasn’t conflicting with everyone else in the schedule, but I guess that’s the way it goes. Anyway, I got smashed and danced afterwards, so it all worked out for the best. MGMT - Pieces of What
What the hell is up with Bloc Party? After Flux (which I rather liked) came out late last year, I figured that they’d be moving in a more electronic direction in the near future. Little did I know how prophetic that was. Out comes the new single last week, Mercury. I’ve spent a few days trying to digest it, and I just can’t figure out whether I can stomach it or flat-out hate it. With a chorus consisting solely of the phrase “My mercury’s in retrograde” looped over and over, I’m left weirded out. I don’t hear a single guitar, just (presumably synthesized) horns and a cacophony of drumbeats. Perhaps I’m just baffled at how different this is from what I expect from them, but I guess we’ll see where they’re going with this in the coming months. I’m wondering if their set at VFest is going to be considerably different from the last time I saw them.
A quick post before I lose reliable internet access. You’ve likely seen RAC’s mixes floating around, and they’ve recently put together a 4-song Nintendo vs. Sega EP pitting Mario and Link’s iconic tunes against Sonic’s. Given my love of good video game music and the ensuing remixes, this is a great find to start the summer. Here’s a sample. It takes the Legend of Zelda Dungeon theme and mashes it together with the Hyrule Field theme and electrofies the crap out of it. Download the EP for free here.
College campus heroes Ra Ra Riot and Vampire Weekend have been buddies for years. Ra Ra spent 06 and 07 opening for the Editors, Art Brut and Tokyo Police Club. The release of their debut LP got delayed after their drummer, JR Pike, died last year. His untimely death inspired the song “Dying is Fine,” which is probably the band’s most interesting song yet. Vampire Weekend on the other hand has been all over the place this year, including here. Both bands are typically categorized as “Indie Rock/Pop”, although I’m going to have to check with Sabrina to make sure they’re not Lo-Fi Math Rock with a hint of Twee. Given this, it came as a surprise to me to hear the sound and style of the new project “Discovery”.
Rostam Batmanglij (the brains behind the VW sound) went to his buddy Wes Miles (lead singer of Ra Ra) and told him that he wanted to make an EP that sounded like a collaboration between The Album Leaf and T-Pain. The baby of this collabo is the “Discovery EP” which can be heard on the pair’s Myspace page. Rostam has Wes singing through an auto-toner on one song, uses fatter synths than DJ Toomp laid down on Kanye’s Flashing Lights on another track, while dropping poppy romantic lyrics like “Oh baby baby baby babe, how long am I supposed to wait, I think about you nightly, can you tell I’m nervous every time you speak?” over sweet sweet electro-pop beats.
The three track EP is sweeet and features three songs that I can’t download anywhere. So head over to their Myspace page and enjoy:
Who knew the 80s synthesizer could sound so COOL? I guess these artists did. If you like Kavinsky, you will have a hard time hating on the Valerie crew. They are my latest Parisian obsession and basically a neontastic music collective in western France. Maethelvin & the Outrunners= my favorites. Cool Feelings (Maethelvin remix)- The Outrunners
Today is such a wonderful day. My favourite record label, Ed Banger Records, is turning 5 years old!! Yay. And to add to this wonderfulness, some hardcore Justice fans made their own music video for Phantom II — one of my favourite songs on the album — and it’s kind of good. The whole video concept is some little girl’s birthday party. Her cake says Justice on it and the pictures on the wall dance — like in Harry Potter. I posted la chanson a while back but here is the video for your viewing pleasure.
And in keeping with the theme of little girls in videos……
I am OBSESSED with Larry Tee’s new song, I Love You. Check out the video. Some people are totally loving it. Personally, I don’t understand why little girls in electro videos are all the rage right now….I guess being 7 is like the new ‘in’ thing.
Here is one of my favourite remixes from les Ed Bangers, tis slightly old…(way back circa 2007)…but I still love it and it’s never been cavacooled before.
I have to include this last song because it fits perfectly with the ‘cool 7 year old girls’ theme of my post. This girl, Cerise, was a French child pop star in the 80s. And she had really cool crimped hair.
Primary 1 come from the homeland of neon and bedhead (London) which automatically gives them COOL status and The Shoes are from France…
London + France in one remix = ubercoolness
On this side of the ocean…Steve Aoki…I love him. LA Riots…I love them. Uffie…I love her, but she doesn’t show up for her concerts, so she gets less love than the others. Oh, and Scanners…they’re Euro and wonderful.
