I promised to do a post on Albin Myers, so here it is. Albin Myers is an electro house prodcuer from Sweden on Joia Records (which has seen releases by such giants as Axwell and John Dahlback) with some minimal aspects to him (kinda like Dahlback). That alone should be enough to prove this guy's worth. He's no stranger to the blogs, but he definitely deserves a post. I'll post some favorites and my collection at the bottom.
Jacked (Original Mix) by Albin Myers, for some reason his music kinda reminds me of certain levels of Donkey Kong, but like souped to be awesome. Really catchy song.
Times Like These (Club Mix) by Albin Myers, taking that Foo Fighters song chorus and turning it into a house song, fantastic. Definitely been getting a lot of attention. Unfortunately, as I actually like the original song, it kinda makes me wanna hear the original. But it does have that cool sound from Burnin in a way.
I'm pretty sure I've figured it out! Steve Aoki is the male Paris Hilton. Paris decided she'd become famous by spending her daddy's money and partying all the time, everyone knows that, and her looks didn't hurt, either. Steve Aoki is the son of the owner of Benihana, therefore grew up with lots of money. He wanted to be cool, so he played in screamo metal bands. However, this musical career didn't seem to work out very well, so he decided he'd use his daddy's money to start a record label and buy bands that he liked. Now he gets to dance on stage / "colaborate" with guys like The Bloody Beetroots and MSTRKRFT. And the guy didn't really start producing by himself until he signed all his favorite electro producers to his label, which makes me wonder if his solo remixes are really so solo (he is best buds with Bob Rifo, afterall). So, Paris used her daddy's money to make herself as sexy as she could; Steve used his daddy's money to make himself as cool as he could. It's a match made in heaven, they should get married and have The Cobrasnake photograph their wedding.
-M
UPDATE: His sister is also a model and an actress. Forgot to mention that her phone book probably played a big role in his career as well (Thanks GuessWho?).
Gotta love them Technics RPDH-1200's. Here are two tracks that I got today that are both so great I just had to post em. Both are extremely poppy, but are guaranteed to make you happy.
Cry For You - September Super Euro pop. Sounds a lot like the infamous Axwell and Angello remix of Supermode since its got the same chord changes. Be careful, because you might end up listening to this one on loop for an hour without realizing it. Cheers to Ilictronix for the track.
So this is the second time in a row that I've fallen asleep early and suddenly woken up at a very early time (8 am yesterday morning and 6 30 am this morning), I don't know what the fuck is going on with me, but at least I don't feel super tired, and I have the whole day ahead of me now, unlike before when I would wake up and it would already be dark.
I know I said I would do a post on Albin Myers, but I decided to do this first to add a few more bangin electro house tracks after talking to my friend Tony yesterday, the Oberlin electronic prince (I'm the King, sorry Tony). I could have sworn we did a post on Thomas Gold, but I guess that never happened... Expect one about that hero sometime in the future, especially as I have so much stuff by him. Instead I'm going to post some stuff involving both Thomas and another great producer Chriss Ortega. It's basically one remix that they've done which promoted me to do so. These guys have an extremely recognizable sound, which will be apparent in their production. Really great stuff. There's obviously a bunch of their stuff I don't have, but I don't want to overload it, I'll probably go looking for more of their stuff some other time.
-J
My Favorite remix by far, and a song which really defines their sound for me:
In Heaven (Ortega and Gold remix) by Alan Pride, What an amazing song, such a catchy line, and just in general the sound they use is really good. The Buildup's great (especially with that guitar), and though the voice is cheesy and in some way kind of annoying, I can't get it out of my head. I discovered this song quite a while back, but it's made a comeback and it's one of the things I have been listening to on repeat. Definitely playing this at the next party I play.
Bol (Ortega and Gold Remix) by Valeria (might be Valeryia, that's according to my Russian teacher), M guess what, they remixed the same Russian pop singer that we did for my Russian class (at least I'm pretty sure, sounds like her voice). Ian Carey did a remix of the same song too, but I like this one better, you can get that here. Same sound as the other remix, and of course it has a catchy line, but breakdown is really well done and the Russian Lyrics are pretty cool actually.
Fake Blood just burst onto the scene so suddenly with an arsenal of kick ass productions. He's definitely the best Fidget House producer. He'll be at EDC Friday night, boys and girls. You love him, I love him, so let's make sure we're all on the same page track wise.
I thought the British and the French hate eachother, what the hell is the UK doing producing the best French House revivalist producer. Here are Louis La Roché's remixes, some old one new. Be sure to visit his myspace to grab his first EP for free in case you missed it.
Wow, just got through listening to Nosaj Thing's debut LP, Drift, which just came out yesterday, and I have to say Jason Chung has succeeded in creating quite the work of art, ghostly filtered electronic soundscapes, haunting, epicly beautiful experimental beats with classical sensibilities, with this release he has easily become one of my favorite beatmakers, i implore you to support this artist, whether it be by seeing one of his live shows (For those of you in LA, he's playing several times this summer, including his record release party at Low End Theory on Jun 10th, before heading off for an Asian tour) or by actually purchasing the album, available on Itunes/Bleep/Boomkat, or on hardcopy next month. Hes been getting alot of airtime lately from the likes of Mary Anne Hobbs and Pete Tong on the BBC, and is sure to blow up this year, anyways i just know your going to love this one>
Jean Moustache is an anonymous DJ/producer from France (and apparently Beverly Hills?) that's working to bring back the French House sound, and I must say his efforts so far have been incredible. I just recently picked up his album, which he's giving out for free, and it's one of the best things I've heard in a long time. Great explosive disco rhythms with the weirdness of Mr. Oizo and influence from a lot of places, especially in the later songs (there's even some French Rap). I feel like he's going to turn out to be some producer that we all know who's just trying to reinvent himself, but we'll just have to wait I guess. ALBUM IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, in case I didn't make it clear enough
Here are a few links I should post Right click save as, the titles don't come into Itunes I know its annoying but some great songs: Big Funk! by Fedde Le Grand
Now there's a lot of Rapidshare links in that post. What's the best way to go about getting all this shit without waiting and coming back a bunch of times? Why Skip Screen of course. Just open all the rapidshare windows you want and let skip screen take care of them automatically when they're ready to be downloaded. That lets you go do other things while they're downloading.
Edit: A lot of these seem to be starting early and weird,
EDIT part 2: While some seem to be ending early, a lot of them actually seem to be fine. Not all are the best quality but man are there some amazing tracks in there. -J
Here's our second post about this guy, here's the first. Someone can't say they listen to house and not know John Dahlback. Dahlback is in no way new, but he definitely deserves to be posted about. He's one of the heavy weights of house, and there's definitely a reason behind that. Aside from creating one of the most well known songs in house today, his production in general really stands out. I guess literally Dahlback would be considered electro house, but he's more minimal then that, and in some ways he has a prog side to him. But in the end if you don't know who John Dahlback is, then it's about time you get on the ball.
Dahlback hails from Sweden and owns Piackadoll Records which has releases from such names as Sebastien Leger and Dada Life (Our Post on Dada Life). In case you were wondering I know I was kinda, Jesper Dahlback is his cousin and fellow producer. They produce minimal as Hugg&pepp and John also releases stuff under Hug. If I ever find a bunch of Hug stuff I'll be sure to post it.
Almost everything he does is good, and I have way too much to put up in this post, so I'll post a few really great ones and my collection on the bottom. My collection doesn't even begin to scratch the surface with how many productions this man has created. Expect a part three in the very near future. It's amazing. In case you didn't go to our first post, I'll reitterate some of those amazing songs and add a few.
Out There by John Dahlback feat. Basto I need you in my life. Very indie rock in a way, at least the buildup. And got a better version then in the other post.
I understand it's hard to go through someone's collection on Mediafire. I'm only posting it so that if anybody really really want to get more Dahlback, he has this option.
Edu K has brought such an awesome sound to Funk Carioca it's unbelievable. Ravey electro-house meets the Latin beats and Portugese rap of Baile Funk. Edu K is one of the artists responsible for bringing the sound to an international audience, making waves with his first release Frenetiko, which is a little closer to classic Rio Funk with some definate New Wave,80s, and House influences, since then his music has just gotten more and more infused with this ravey electro sound to a very good effect, honestly he just keeps kicking out banger after banger. Most of his releases have been on Man Recordings, who also released the Funk Mundial Series, the compilation of which i posted (here). His Brother also raps alongside him fyi. Anyways, i'm sure your gonna love this stuff, check it out, sounds like it would kill live>
I know it's a horrible title but Audible is fucking awesome. Unforunately all I can think about when I think of Audible, is the blog Audible Musings. But I guess that's the way things are. I know M hasn't been a huge fan but I really like most of his stuff. I'm not really sure how much stuff he has, but I think I have a pretty fair amount of it. There's obviously stuff I'm missing, but I really do have a lot of it. Audible can best be described as a mix of Progressive and Tech, more progressive for sure though. However, other sides of him pop out. He's just a great producer. Audible has been receiving much blog love, and for good reason, not someone to be overlooked.
It's like being given candy (I'm surprised these havn't shown up at raves yet).
Clocks (Audible's Reboot) by Coldplay, As much as the original has been overplayed, I still love it. Audible does a fantastic job with this song, I'm really impressed. Really fucking cool the way you can hear the originals feel about when the piano comes every once in a while.
Rhea by Alaa, Alaa sounds very similar to in Audible in some ways, or maybe it's the other way around I don't really know or care. Expect a post on Alaa sometime in the near future. If you want this (and you do) get the Ep above.
Tesla/Trigger Ep by Audible, I should be considered a pro music-pirater because I found this in 320 with album artwork. It actually wasn't that hard. I'm forcing you to get the EP though I do have both uploaded, it's worth getting the EP.
Tesla this song is catchy but at the same time kinda annoying. I both love and hate the song, I don't really know what else to say about it.
Trigger is the fuckin bomb from this EP. I can't remember which blog so rightly pointed out, this reminds me very much of Pryda. Part of me wishes all of his productions sounded more like this cause it's so cool. Don't miss this track.
Thanks to Extra Music New, pretty sure it gave me both of the above Eps.
White Mouse (Original Mix) by Audible, I just got this song today. From first listening its pretty catch and definitely well produced. Gotta love this song.
Forever/Moments EP by Audible: I'll post these seperately.
Forever by Audible, this song just reminds me how much I like Audible's bass sound. It's great, they're all pretty great.
Moments by Audible, I'm just ok with this song, I feel like a really good remix could come out of it.
Havn't posted in a while, I've been working on songs, playing resident evil 4, and sleeping. But I should be doing at least 2 more posts in the very near future, so be ready.
I first got introduced to TV Rock by their productions with Dirty South (their skitzo dancer remix). TV Rock are in no way new, and have always had great stuff I've loved. So I decided to do a huge search and find more stuff by them. TV Rock are definitely some of the best electro house producers out there, with a very similar style to Dirty South, but not as hardcore as Dirty South, much calmer, yet his songs still kill. If anybody doesn't know who TV Rock are (and that seems like such a doubtful thing), it's worth getting all of this stuff, it's incredible.
So I've uploaded all 25 TV Rock songs I have. There are obviously a bunch I don't have (M or Jumpman if you have more please add em to the post), but my collection is pretty good. But I'm obviously not gonna post all 25 songs right now, instead I'll post a few and give the link to the mediafire link where you can get the rest if you so choose.
I Want Your Soul (Tv Rock Remix) by Armand Van Helden, the fake blood remix is incredible, and I will say that it beats this remix, but this one is still pretty great. I mostly posted this one because of the fake blood remix we all know.
Go Go Go Go. But I will say that both my friend Tony at Fake Tattoes and Dirty House Kids (oddly enough I remember them posting two tracks not just one) beat them to the punch, good for them. However, the other stuff in the Swehouse post is definitely worth getting.
The Moderat (Modeselektor + Apparat) album was posted on our brother blog, FakeTattoos, so I highly recommend you head over there and grab it. This has definitely got to be one of the top albums of the year. And I also highly recommend that you head over to their myspace and make sure to catch them live while they're still in the US, as it was one of the most unbelieveable concerts I have ever attended (check out the review HERE). Not really quite sure what genre to tag this as, though.
-M
P.S. Let me know if the link gets taken down there (or if anyone finds a 320 version), so I can ask the Moderat fairy to help us out in the comments.
Procrastination from the bay area is back to lay down your dose of electro, psytance, and awesome synth lines for the day. Why he insists on using an iDJ, I'll never understand, but his strength is clearly in his production so who gives a shit anyways.
Just A Band just recently released their newest EP, To Hell With Gravity, and I just got my hands on it and listened through it, so I figured I'd put it up here. If you're not familiar with Just A Band, check out our old but fairly recent post on them HERE to get a bio / grab lots of tracks. My faith in electro has just been getting stronger and stronger recently, makes me happy.
Not on the EP, but AMAZING nonetheless and brand new. Don't think I can say its better than the Foamo remix (LINK), but I really do love this one. J will probably like it more, I'm just still going through Fidget phase.
In Anima Vili - Just A Band Not as dancey as their other stuff, but definitely a fantastic track. This was the track that they let leak before this EP's release.
Bob Sinclar has done it again and made a house jam that's going to be played on repeat everywhere. Is it as good as World, Hold On? No. But this song is so goddam catchy. He even enlisted the help of Sugar Hill Gang for this one. Yes, it's pure pop house, but you love it because it makes you feel so happy. Hopefully the Bob Sinclar Fairy (pictured) will place the link to this track in the comments, because I'm afraid the Web Sherrif's gonna be all over this one, since its not posted on ANY other blogs.
Gigi Barocco is here to save electro. Hailing from Italy, he blends good ol' Italian electro like classic Bloody Beetroots and Crookers with Fidget House, resulting in fantastic bangers. This guy is seriously awesome, and I'm pretty sure he DJs in that green robe you see in the picture. He's released an EP on Hervé's label Cheaper Thrills, which is a sub label of his main label, Cheap Thrills (what's the deal with sublabels, Institubes has some too?). I was waiting for Jumpman to post on him, since he showed him to me and said he would, but I figured out that it'd be much easier to just do it myself, might do the same for Edu K, as we've been waiting over a week for that post (it'd be nice if Jumpman added that awesome mix to this post). For all of you who are fans of The Bloody Beetroots, Crookers, Don Rimini, Foamo, Herve, Jack Beats, et al, then Gigi Barocco is a MUST HAVE. He has yet to create an electro track that is beautiful in the way that BBR have, but he's got the insane electro style down.
-M
I Hold The Crown (Gigi Barocco Remix) - Redman Pure BBR and Crookers influence. This track in particular may not be his most original, but it fucking KILLS. It will make everyone smile and remember the good ol' days when you were first discovering electro. Currently on loop.
So, as anyone who reads this is probably aware, I was pretty fucking pumped for this show, and it was in no way a let down. In fact it even exceeded my expectations for how awesome it would be, and keep in mind I was driving so no other factors affecting my disposition. Here's the play by play:
First up was Destructo. This is the guy that created/runs HARD events, so I already love him. He's done a fantastic job creating an electro rave scene in LA, a gap that desperately needed to be filled, by holding giant events with incredible lineups. He played the best set I've heard him play (third time seeing him), of all great electro/fidget house tracks. The most memorable track was Get Down - Jack Beats (check out our post on Jack Beats and grab the track HERE). He wasn't doing anything really spectacular in terms of mixing/effects, but his song selection and transitions were great. He was a perfect start to the night.
Here's a video of him playing at The Avalon (couldn't find one from this night):
Then Moderat set up and started playing. Jumpman and I were actually on our way to the bathroom but immediately ran back when we realized it was Moderat and not Tiefschwarz. I cannot explain really accurately in words how amazing this show was. They played live, Apparat even sang on a few songs, in front of an incredible visual display possibly the most awesome light show ever. I couldn't help but just stand still and stare in awe. I would even catch myself with my jaw dropped, but wouldn't care to correct it because I knew it would just drop again in a matter of seconds. The music was beautiful and incredibly ravey. I guess here's what best describes just how amazing they were: during their buildups/silences,etc., the crowd would just start clapping and cheering without and egging on by the DJs (you know how DJs usually get the audience clapping by starting it themselves). They just had the audience completely overwhelmed, I even saw people in tears. I couldn't believe that Deadmau5 chose such an unbelievable opener. It was like M83 made rave music. Hopefully Jumpman will see it fit to post their album that he's been holding onto for a while now. Hopefully Jumpman will see it fit to post, period.
Found one from the Palladium:
Up next was Tiefschwarz. Poor guy, he had the worst time slot really. He had to follow one of the best live shows I've ever seen, and play right before Deadmau5, meaning that people would start Deadmau5 cheers during his set. And I have to admit I was right with the crowd. He was playing really awesome minimal house/techno, and every so often I would find myself just getting really into the tracks, but I wasn't really dancing, I was more just comprehending what I had just experienced along with getting incredibly amped for what was next. As soon as he finished his set everyone erupted into applause and pushed forward.
Tiefschwarz @ I love Techno
Deadmau5 is a god. From the moment he got on the decks to after his encore, he didn't loose the slightest bit of energy. The crowd went nuts the entire time (all 2 hours), and it was impossible to keep even a group of 2 people next to each other. I managed to work the mosh pit and make my way to the front. Great thing too, because Deadmau5 was actually interacting with the people up front, making faces and gestures to particular people (I got a thank you and a point for rocking out). There was also one time when he had come to the front of the stage to jump around a bit when he then jumped onto the table from the front side so that he could put on effects for the buildup. I have to say I really loved when he played his more progressive tracks, because it's very rare when you get to hear those types of songs played live. I'll let these videos do the talking, then try my best to remember his set list:
Here's the setlist, or my best attempt to remember it
FML (Unreleased) Unkown + teasing Ghosts N Stuff Ghosts N Stuff The Reward Is More Cheese The Reward Is Cheese x Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (A Capella) Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Deadmau5 Remix) - Daft Punk (*Note at this point I heard someone next to me say "Oh no, Deadmau5 has a remix of HBFS, he's gonna play that shit out so much." Hasn't that been out for 3 years now?) Catbread Sometimes Things Get, Whatever Unknown (Progressive Track) Not Exactly Slip (I forget how many tracks happened at this point, probably 2 or something) Unkown (Minimal Track) x I Remember (A Capella) I Remember Arguru (Encore)
Hi Friend was in there somewhere but I forget where.
Biggest coup of the night, managed to get Deadmau5 to sign my ticket. Had to go through THIS to get it, and yes I can see myself in that one.
-M
Failbait - Deadmau5 *Myspace Rip New Deadmau5 instrumental hip-hop track, the man can do no wrong.
So I got to participate in a riot for Deadmau5 when his more people showed up to his free show last night at the Apple Store in Santa Monica than expected. I feel like only expecting 250 people to show up for a free show from the man voted #11 DJ in the world and one of the best producers, if not the best, around right now, was a pretty bad idea on whoever's idea this was. It was a blast banging on the glass, shouting at the cops, and being a general hooligan. Regardless, I'm getting ready to see his not free show tonight at the HARD event at the Palladium with Moderat. Here are some Deadmau5 tracks you might not have:
-M Slip - Deadmau5 This is the UNMIXED version from his Slip Vinyl rather than from Random Album Title, meaning that its DJ friendly. This was my first favorite Deadmau5 track. Slip (Sebastién Léger Remix) - Deadmau5 Amazing remix. This track makes so much more sense on big speakers. Also form the Slip Vinyl. Still have yet to see Sébastien Léger live, I'm sure he's fantastic. There might be a Sébastien Léger post in order, but I fear for how massive it would be. Bad Clock (Deadmau5 Broken Clock Remix) - Sébastien Léger God I love this song. Very simple edit of the original, but SO much better.
I somehow missed this track during my giant search through every blog for all his tracks. Good thing I stumbled upon it too, because it's definitely one of his better and more accessible tracks. Would be a sure bomb live.
A while ago while reading the DJ Mag top 100 poll, I noticed that they had quoted Daft Punk as saying that These Shoulders by Signalrunners Featuring Julie Thompson (Anjunabeats) was their favorite track of 2008. I don't know if you happened to be familiar with Anjunabeats, but that's the label owned by Trance gods Above & Beyond, so it came as quite a shock that our French heroes would name a Trance track as the best of the year. I had downloaded the track, forgotten about it, and everything related to it until recently when I stumbled upon it again. I went to go check out the DJ Mag's website again and also noticed that they listed Daft Punk's style as "Progressive electro-edged trance," and knew that this must be a mistake. Turns out Lange, who was voted one higher than them (Blasphemy!), had the same description and favorite track. Well, having listened to the track, I think its good enough to share, since its actually got an awesome electro.
Bird Peterson, although fairly new to the scene, has grown in a very short amount of time to earn a reputation as a great producer and DJ, earning a spot on tour with MSTRKRFT and even at Electric Daisy Carnival. In case you missed our post on him before, you should go HERE to grab some of his tracks. On recommendation from our previous interview with The Disco Villains (LINK), we would like to present our interview with Bird Peterson:
Apes With Barrels: If you had to give birth to the child of a DJ/producer, whose child would you have?
Bird Peterson: Norman Cook. NEXT!
AwB: What’s your musical background? What made you decide to go the route of synthesizers, computers, and decks?
BP: I'm a big fan of all types of music. What I've learned is dance music is the only genre where you can cross-pollinate without it sounding corny as hell. So when i started doing this stuff I was able to really sink my teeth into it in the way I was taught by all other genres.
AwB: We read that the name “Bird Peterson” is a combination of Charlie Parker and Oscar Peterson. If this is true, what got you into Jazz, how do you feel about contemporary Jazz, and how do you think your name reflects your music?
BP: That was just a story i made up. I really don't remember where the name came from. But, damn, do I love jazz. Miles Davis' In A Silent Way, Coltrane's A Love Supreme, and Sander's Elevation were my gateways. I'm a big fan of the really spiritual and lush sounds of the late 60s. I feel like you can here it in my funkier jams, but also in the chaos of my nutso ones.
AwB: When you play live, what kind of equipment do you prefer to use and what drink do you prefer to have?
BP: Serato, two Technics, an 800, and a Mountain Dew.
AwB: What has been your favorite gig so far?
BP: 1st Ave in Minneapolis with Dave Nada, Stareyes, Mike 2600, and the Moongoons kids.
AwB: What was the best concert you attended before you became Bird Peterson and how would you say it affected the creation and inspiration behind your music?
BP: Akron/Family in 05. It was the most amazing show i have ever seen and nothing since then has come close. I don't know how it has affected my music personally, but I know it has affected everything else. Seriously, go buy every album by Akron/Family.
AwB: What do you use to produce? Do you prefer analog equipment or are you strictly a software guy?
BP: I use both digital and analog.
AwB: There are so many different and ultra specific genres to describe all the electronic dance music coming out right now. We hear a variety of influences in your music, from electro and house to fidget and dubstep and hip hop. How would you categorize your music and who else would you say, if anyone, has a similar sound to you?
BP: Let's call it.... Birdtronica. It's mine! I like to think I really have my own genre that not many people have ventured in to.
AwB: Do you have any future collaborations in the planning?
BP: Ohhhh... just you wait, friends.
AwB: We know that you’ve been on tour with MSTRKRFT, but are there any other guys out there that you enjoy to play live with?
AwB: As I’m sure you’re aware, the new MSTRKRFT album, Fist Of God, didn’t go over so well, and I’ve already said that your remix is the best thing to come of it. What are your thoughts on the album and their future in general?
BP: Those dudes are fantastic producers. Listen to the songs from the album on a big system at a club and the whole thing will make sense to you. They made an album to reflect their sound, and they did a great job of it. And trust, these dudes will be around for a while.
AwB: What was going through your mind when you made that MSTRKRFT remix?
BP:Well, the rule of thumb for a remix is to make it your own, but do your damnedest to blow the original out of the water. It rarely happens, but when it does, man oh man. I was very very happy with the outcome. It Ain't Love (Bird Peterson Remix / JFK Edit) - MSTRKRFT Third time this song has been featured...
AwB: What is your favorite thing that you’ve made (the most satisfying, the hardest, the best…)?
BP: It's a tie between my remix of Hyperactive by Malente and Dexter, and my original Big Weapons Anthem.
AwB: You happen to be form Texas, and the only DJ/producer from Austin that I’m aware of is Wolfgang Garter, and this blog is certainly a big fan of his. Are there other artists from your home state that you think people should check out?
BP: Literally every rapper from Houston, Melody Murder, Vega, Praddaman, Mugsy Flows, Problem Child, Big Face, and a shit load of others.
(We actually posted a Vega track as a bonus a little back, you can cop it HERE)
AwB: A lot of people view electronic dance music in a very negative light, saying that it all sounds the same, requires less talent to create, and encourages drug culture. How would you respond to these people?
BP: I'm too busy encouraging drug culture to respond.
AwB: Anything else we should expect from Bird Peterson in the near future?
BP: Lots and lots! Get ready!
AwB: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing right now?
BP: Finishing my historical novel about the discovery of sugar in the sugar mines of New Mexico.
AwB: Parting question: Excited for Electric Daisy Carnival? Because we sure as hell are. Thank you very much for your time, we can’t wait to see your performance.
Well there you have it, one of the big up and comers in the electro scene happens to also be a historical novelist and enjoys a good Mountain Dew (Mountain Brew?). I wonder if we can pirate that book too? Also, once again, if you happened to miss our first post on him, you should go HERE and grab his tracks. Also, during the process of this interview, I found that Bird Peterson has the same management as Mstrkrft, Felix Cartal, and The Bloody Beetroots, and that can only mean one thing: Bird Peterson is a member of Dim Mak.
Yeah, I was pretty confused when I saw that lineup to. Dopplereffekt is basically Kraftwerk from Detroit, and I've had their cd for a while which is cool but definitely not danceable, and then I love Nadastrom (check our post on them HERE), and Discobelle DJs (Discobelle being a blog I check often). The night was free of charge since Scion is trying to appeal to us youth (and have access to the infinite funds of Toyota) so Jumpman and I had to check it out (unfortunately J is stuck in Boston because he still has to deal with that whole arrested thing).
First up, the Discobelle DJs. Great song selection. They played a lot of cool house, some of which was on the minimal side and very ravey. Unfortunately, not great DJs, they should really stick to bloging. They had very shakey transistions a lot of the time, and sometimes just flat out fucked up, more than once too. Their transistion into Shake It Down in particular was horrible, as it wasn't on beat and in the middle of a buildup. Oh well, they were only the openers, and they did a good enough job I guess but certainly not impressed.
Shake It Down - Laidback Luke Feat A-Trak (Removed)
Then the curtain went down, so Jack and I sat on the edge of the stage waiting for Nadastrom. But in 10 or so minutes when the stage rose, there was Dopplereffekt with the coolest stage presence I have ever seen. They (a guy and a girl) were standing in front of synths facing each other with creepy black masks on in front of a screen with strange projected images. I got really excited, but then her keyboard wasn't working and they had to leave the stage and bring the curain down again until it was fixed. They tried the cool intro again, but unfortunately their music just didn't hold the crowd. We thought the music was cool, but it was definitely the wrong venue for it. They just didn't have enough energy at all, and eventually people in the crowd just starting talking or occasionally yell things at them, like, "Drop the BASS!" At the end of their set they just quickly walked off stage. It says that this was their first live US performance... (LINK)
Here's a video of them playing live in Paris:
Then Nadastrom stepped up to the decks. The place had already emptied out a fair amount after that train wreck of a show, but everyone immediately got excited when they appeared. They had a good intro track (don't remember what it was), and then busted into their style of electro/house/rave and just killed it. The people that were there just started going nuts, and they were incredible. Their setup was something I'd never seen before too, as it was literally TWO set ups: one guy with a Serato set up and turntables, and the other with Serato and CDJs. I guess they mixed into eachother, which is really cool. And they were getting really into which helped the crowd get into it even more, and they weren't douchebags at all either. They stayed after their set to talk to the little crowd that was their, shake hands, etc. They're from D.C., and I highly recommened any of you if you have the chance to catch them live, and if you are unfamiliar with their tracks, check out our post on them HERE.
The crowd wasn't as big as in this video, but they played the same song and had the EXACT same stage presence:
Turns out Scion's throwing another free party at the same venue (that's The Roxy on Sunset), on June 17th with dubstep acts like Zomby and Joker. For you LA kids, you should go, all you have to do is RSVP and its free. And I don't think that's going to turn out like this one, since they don't have a revivalist headliner, and dubstep KILLS live.
This post is mostly for the other half of Bastille, but any DJs out there might wanna listen up too. I've been doing my research on finding acapellas and well, I've come to find quite a few great sites and a bunch of acapellas. I'm not going to post all the acapellas I found, but I will say a few sites where we should both post acapellas we find, and request those we want. More importantly, we need to learn how to isoalte voices better, that's the real lesson here, but until then, let's be content with searching for acapellas. Acapellas4u : Here's a site where you can get a bunch of acapellas. Really great collection. Unfortunately you only get 5 free downloads a month and can't request any acapellas. However, you get one extra acapella download for every acapella you put up which isn't on the site. Worth it.
BlackLabelled :This site is better in some ways. The collection isn't as big, that's for sure, however, it lets you download as many as you want without uploading any. It also lets you request acapellas, but first we have to do 10 posts, but that really shouldn't be that bad. It's worth posting on this site until we can isolate our own shit.
Here's something I know the other half of Bastille will be happy to see I found:
Electric Bloom (Acapella) by Foals, it was obviously isolated because you can hear the backing track a very tiny bit, but it's so slight that putting anything else over it should drown it out.
Or something which I downloaded which is really funny:
Jared Paul is a hip-hop producer that goes to my school and does a lot of collaborations with WordSmith. These are the guys I opened for Brother Ali with. Well, I recently acquired a mashup album Mr. Paul made in which he mashes every song from Ratatat's Classics in order. It's fantastic. The mashups are the exact kind of mashups I enjoy and try to make, aka, the ones that really make sense and last longer than Girl Talk's ADD ones. He really spent the time to find raps that really worked over these songs, and I really recommend this album, its a great alternative to those incredible Ratatat Remix albums.
Also, if you're interested in his other productions, you should definitely go check out an interview he did with Are You Here To Confuse Me, which you can see HERE. AYHTCM also interviewed Bastille, so you can check that out HERE. And here's a fantastic collaboration between Wordsmith and Jared Paul.
Book Of - WordSmith Fucking beautiful. He samples a folk song to amazing effect. The chorus kills me every time.
I am not a fan of The Decemberists, which you can probably guess very easily given the kinds of stuff I post on this blog. That said, I got an invitation along with a free ticket to see them tonight that I clearly had to accept, and I must say that I was blown away. I don't really go for 'emotional rock,' and I just tend to hear vocals as just another instrument in the mix and let the music do the talking. I have never been to a show or see a band play like these guys. I know you're probably thinking: "Of course not, M, because the shows you go to are full of candy kids with pupils as big as their wide open, gaping mouths."
And yes, you're right, those are the concerts I tend to frequent. But as they played through their newest album for their first set, I couldn't help but find myself completely drawn into their music. They music had incredible transistions that would abrubtly change tempo and bpm but so naturally, and they would bring back musical and lyrical motifs. It was just incredible. They came back for a second set where they played their earlier work, which was good but I definitely enjoyed their first set more. Here's a review my friend wrote of their most recent album (LINK), as well as a download link if you're curious to hear it (LINK).
It also happened to be the same venue where I shall see Deadmau5 and Moderat in a few days. I'm sure I'll enjoy that more.
-M
P.S.
We're going to be featuring another interview with a guy that has also been featured on this blog very soon, we're just finalizing the questions and about to send them off. HINT: He's playing at Electric Daisy Carnival.
The Widdler is a dubtep producer from New Jersey who makes really dark but hard hitting tracks. His music is NUTS. Just check out this youtube video of his track where he samples The Shining (NOTE his other tracks are not nearly as terrifying and are much more danceable, and you should also have speakers/headphones with adequate bass):
According to his myspace, he produces with Reason and DJs with Traktor.
Here's some great throwback tracks for yall. Modjo is a French House duo composed of producer Romain Tranchart and singer Yann Destagnol. These guys are just fucking classic. I wish I had more of their stuff, but its pretty hard to find.
-M
Chillin' - Modjo Really digging this track at the moment. Fantastic sample. This is a shining example of what French House is. Grab a great remix by The Buffalo Bunch that we posted HERE.
Lady - Modjo You have heard this song before. It was released in 2000 and was on the top charts for many countries, even reached #1 in the UK. French House rules.
Lady (Tom Reason Remix) - Modjo I've posted this before, but I've been coming back to this sucker again and again. Fantastic electro house rendition, highly recommended.
BIG UPDATE Found their album, you can grab it HERE.
