ACE

2 years late on this one. I feel like I could listen to this stuff forever:

CFCF's 2008 Discobelle Mix

Thoughts after Pitchfork Music Festival

for some reason, i've been thinking about this a lot lately, and in Diplo's P4k interview today, I kinda got inspired:

"So this year I realized, if I don't do the stuff I feel like, if I make rules about what I can't do, someone is going to take my rules and fuck it and do it better than me. Someone like will.i.am will do a record that sounds like something I did and sell a million copies. What are we fighting for? You just have to do, you can't live by the rules of what you're supposed to do. I think every person is good at something and you just have to push that forward. If I can go from doing a record like Snoop Dogg, and then Rolo Tomassi, a punk record, and then work with Robyn and then Tiësto, I just think that's funny."

okay, maybe this quote doesn't totally capture it, but I realize a lot of what I/Everyone tends to do is try to recreate what other people have done in the past. Or, more often, take a bunch of things they've already heard and put them together in a blender and spit out the results. I mean, the Major Lazer show is a great example of something that really seems like something paving its own way. Let's look at it like this and break it down. You have:

-An insane hype man that seems like a dude from a different planet
-A DJ that plays everything from crazy-ass minimal miami bass music to dubstep to Ace of Base to Ska
-A completely bonkers theatrical narrative to an hour set (from chinese dragons to ballerinas to dudes jumping off of ladders and tying chicks in military outfits up with rope and "daggering" them)

Keep in mind Major Lazer has only been a real thing for about a year. ONLY ONE YEAR!!!

When people talk about there not ever being another MJ or Beatles or whoever, I don't think they are following things the right way. They're looking for someone with a TALENT larger than these idols in a kind of old-school way. Like looking for a better singer or dancer or better chord progressions or whatever. In my opinion, the new next level talent lies within what Diplo is talking about. The ability to evolve. The ability to break rules and make things that are amazing. To constantly push ones self and allow for mistakes to be made. While the Beatles and, to a lesser extent, MJ evolved from record to record, what I'm starting to see now are the great artists evolving in very large ways ON A MONTHLY BASIS. Which is something I find myself struggling to keep up with. Like I feel like by the time I figure out how to be as good as some of my current idols, they will have already gone on to somewhere five-levels beyond that.

Anyway, this is all exciting and exhausting and kinda makes me want to give up making music sometimes. But most of the time, it inspires me. Every time I think of giving up making music and just being lazy and listening to it and being a DJ or whatever, something out there online gives me a kick in the teeth and gets me back to my laptop, headphones and keyboard.

Balearic as Fuck

So the sun is out. People are shedding layers of clothing and skin as music seems to keep pace with genres being shedded and metamorphizing into new rebirths. Not to be one of those dudes that lumps thing into groups and declare some sort of overarching humanistic movement, but this is the way we get the blog hits, I guess, so here I go.

Indie rock seems like all about dead. Chillwave is splitting and self-replicating into sub-stems of even more hilarious monikers: Witch House, Chill House, Beach Glitch, Sun Pop. Some of these will come, some of them will go. There is no doubt, however, we all like to feel something when we hear music, and lately that vibe has been mostly, well, good.

This post is basically an excuse for me to post about one of my favorite bands this year, whom I consider an important precursor to a lot of stuff that is coming out now and is very, very good and very, very under-appreciated. That band is the Tough Alliance, and they look a little something like this and sound a little something like this:


Tough Alliance- Hung Up on a Dream (Zombies Cover)

And then here is some other great stuff:







So yeah, they're basically like the Beach Boys meet the dudes from the movie "Funny Games" meets Swedish production. They fall into what some are calling the "New Balearic" movement. Not to be too reductionist, and this genre can probably mean a lot of things, but to me it means electro-tropical with a retro sentimentality. Kinda like the beats from Gloria Estefan's "Conga" slowed down a bit with people singing sort of nostalgically over it.

So what else is following suit? Groups like Delorean, Aeroplane, and Tanlines riff heavily on this kind of stuff, but I feel like the best is yet to come. Get ready for more posts on this and enjoy the fucking weather when the sun is shining down.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti- Before Today album. Disgustingly good. Maybe a little mind-blowing.

Here is a song from it:



PS the image above is a drawing by Pink. The rest of the fuckupness can be found on his Angelfire account

Look I Found Her

James Blake, yep he's good.

I wish I was an electronic computer wizard at 21.

This really works best with headphones and non-Youtube quality.

Lone

Like if Flying Lotus, J Dilla and Boards of Canada had a beach party. You're all invited.

A whole ton of chillwave

Ride the chillwave until you get sucked out into the peaceful ocean of forgotten dreams.



MP3



MP3



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MP3

New Das Racist Mixtape

These guys are as divisive as health care. I feel like I'm on the right side of things when I say they are a Big Fucking Deal. I also feel like I should have posted this a week and a half ago when that reference would be relevant and this was fresh out. Anyway, peep this:

Das Racist- Shut Up Dude Mixtape

Das Racist

Like this response, like this song, like this video.



Village Voice: Your PR materials insist that you "have a great deal of street cred." I am frankly skeptical. Can you elaborate?

Das Racist: Rick Ross was a corrections officer, Ice Cube was the son of two college professors, Tupac was a theater kid in high school, Drake was on Degrassi, De La Soul are from the suburbs. The Clipse, Andre 3000, and Kanye have written and spoken openly about not having street cred, etc. I just mentioned like a dozen people with one biographical note about each of them that goes against the archetypal understanding of them, but I still didn’t actually describe who they were. These were all real people with long and complex lives who made/make real and effective art that has had an impact on black people and white people, rich people and poor people, Americans and the rest of the world. Bob Dylan was a college-educated Jewish man singing like a dustbowl sharecropper, and he got booed offstage when he went electric for sullying his folk purity, as if he had any to begin with. Do people get mad at Martin Scorsese for making gangster movies even though he hasn’t “lived the lifestyle”? I’m not arguing that context is useless for understanding art—on the contrary, there is no way to understand anything without context. My argument is for a less static and qualified idea of what “purity” is.

AlsO

Is one of you the Hipster Runoff guy? Just checking.

H: The fuck is a Hipster Runoff? Is that a YouTube?

V: It's a blog. I just Googled it.

New Hudson Mohawke Mix

Still great. I think I might drive up to Chicago to see him in a coupla weeks:

Red Bull Radiate Mix


The newest Aeroplane chart mix is also just as delicious, just in a different way:

Aeroplane "Chart Mix" February 2010 by Aeroplane (Official)

The sexy, funky stuff

All I have to say is please, DJ's, start playing more of this stuff instead of all that other garbage. K? Thx.

Sincerely,

Elderly Music Fan





Pegasus-I remember loving you

Conway and Temple- Love Lights

Isaac Hayes- Moonlight Lovin' (Menage et Trois)


Seriously, the best. Thank you late 70's/early 80's producers.

The sexy (sorta) dark stuff

Again, I'm new to this 'dance genre', so some of this old sexy italo disco/disco lemonade/funk stuff may be like been there done that, but I thought I'd whip up a batch of the freshest shi*. Most of these have that elusive "gauze of nostalgia" without sacrificing top-dollar production value that I think everyone is looking for in these scavenged-over gemmies.



Gino Soccio- Dancer


Project Sandro-Blazer


no preview vid for this one, but get it too:

Ripple- The Beat Goes On

You Will Join a Cult

I used to be obsessed with movies. When I was a kid, before imdb, rottentomatoes, and online movie trailers, I would pour over thick movie guides and entertainment weeklies trying to find things that would tickle my interest. Then, eh, movies kinda started not taking the same risks they used to take and then music went and filled in that gap. I pretty much watch 2-3 movies in the theater a year now, and I usually can only come up with one movie each year that I would strongly recommend. This post is intended to break up some of the monotony of the mp3s postings and let me talk about something else. Blah, no one reads this blog anyway.

Anyway, welcome to Distracted by Movies (tm)!

Here's a few flicks I've seen in the past year that are totally worth checking out if you are sick n tired of the Hollywood turd-machine.

1) House: It was at the point in this movie where the young Asian woman gets assaulted for 5 minutes by flying mattresses that I knew I had made an excellent choice.



This movie features: a floating head biting a girls butt; a killer fluffy kitty that looks like its from those Fancy Feast commercials; a piano that eats people; a man inexplicably turning into a banana-man; an incongruous 70s psychedelic pop soundtrack; and a million other visual non sequiters. Petition your local cinema to acquire this nu-cult gemstone.

2)In Bruges: This movie is seriously like the best movie I've seen in the past few years. I think it's destined to become a late night cult favorite too.




Features: A midget dressed in a schoolboy outfit getting it's face fully blown off by a shotgun blast; Collin Farrel as a good actor; tons of funny suicide jokes; cocaine use and guns being used to casually gesticulate or scratch heads; and children being murdered in churches followed by funny visual gags. Oy vey, rent this from your local mom-n-pop DVD mailing service, now!


3) The Room: Look, if you haven't seen this, get on it. And make sure to bring tons of friends. The easiest film in the world to make fun of.



Features: Tommy Wiseau's bubble-wrap, crater-ridden ass; Music and lyrics by Tommy Wiseau; Mr. Wisseau attempting to speak but more sounding like he's chewing something large; 6 million dollars in production values; A legion of fans that will put the Rocky Horror Picture show out of business.

God Bless the Aeroplane

One of the best mixes I've heard in a while. Just stellar:

Aeroplane "Chart Mix" January 2010 by Aeroplane

Let's Look Inside a Crazy Person's Mind

There are certain high points I hit on the internet where I'm staring at my web browser and whatever is on it and I'm like "uh huh, this pretty much smashed everything else to smithereens". Lately, I've been feeling like the smashing to smithereens--while once too far and between--is now almost happening frighteningly too fast.

Here is a brief collection of things I've seen the past few months that I feel like might be front runners for "The Perfect Entertainment" that David Foster Wallace alludes to in Infinite Jest. I feel like these things kinda capture the zeitgeist pretty well, with just about a thousand layers of different things going on to the point it comes at you like a weird, hypnotic scream:

1) Earth vs. Funk. The aural and visual equivalent to getting Nickleodeon slimed while on a pep-pill buzz. This video is like some futuristic, insane homage/parody of the evolution of the internet, completely with bizarre, bargain-basement flash animation, obscure pop culture (Colin Mochrie's disembodied head?), and an unparalleled manic intensity. Be prepared to feel like you live inside a cartoon dreamworld after this one.

2) The Anger of Bonobo Violent. Upon rewatching this, it doesn't have quite the same impact as it did on me several months ago, and I'm kinda like "ho hum, dubstep, wampity wampity, who cares" now, but the editing and music on this video is scary intense, but kinda a fun rush too.

3) Die Antwoord. There's just a lot going on here too. They're from South Africa, and kinda make me want to move there to explore whatever the hell this art scene is. Also, this one about being in love with a Ninja is pretty great. It's kinda like Chris Cunningham meets Michel Gondry, or something like that.

4) Johnny Depp in China. This clip features: Crazy Japanese culture Bizarre yet adorable children; Hitler moustaches; Out of control music and choreography AND; an increasingly awkward American celebrity by the name of Johnny Depp. The clip starts out innocent enough, with a cute japanese kid wearing a Jack Sparrow outfit waving at Depp, and then the insanity hits the fan pretty quickly. Watch it.

CFCF-Come Closer

This track is just amazing. Sexy and dark and head-bobbingly awesome, I can't think of anything I'd more rather hear at the beginning of a DJ set in a dimly lit club. Kinda like a cross between Junior Boys and Burial:

CFCF-Come Closer

Ready for Summer?

Seasonal Affective Disorder has started effecting everyone, and I plan on changing that with a little bit of summer time rap. Feel free to bump these out of your boom boxes underneath those rain-soaked awnings or inside your winter cave; music can make the seasons change, baby! Here are some standout sunshine rap trax:







PS if anyone has the Deniece track that is sampled on this, I would love to have it. Pretty hard to find, for some reason, despite it's sampling ubiquity.

Beach House

Beach House have a really amazing album coming up, and are also going to be playing with our favorite glo-fi dude Washed Out in Nashville at the end of April. Here's a fantastic track from their forthcoming Teen Dream. Wonderful melody over a complicated yet simple chord progression. Sounds like Grizzly Bear a bit too much, maybe, but you probably can't go wrong ripping those dudes off:

More Nashville Stuff: Non-Jersey Shore Edition

So first off, I'm new to this city, so anything I post here about the goings-on is bound to be old hat amongst the cool kids, but here's some stuff I'm into:

1) JEFF The Brotherhood: These guys are probably like the Nashville equivalent to Portland's Starfucker (Ahem, I mean PYRAMID). Not so much music-wise, but in terms of the precipice of popularity they are currently resting upon and how many boners bloggers around here seem to be sporting over them. They have a new music video here, which isn't like the next On To The Next One mega-production, but a pretty good visual equivalent of what I think they're trying to get at sonically. House parties, slightly psychedelic slo-mo, aura of nostalgia and sentiment; a very simple video for a pretty darn good song.



2) Natural Child: These youngsters remind me of the Black Lips, since they look a little ratty but sexy too and they play jangly, who-gives-a-fuck guitar rock like champs. Gonna go check 'em out soon.

3) LOCAL SHOWS! We have some pretty decent shows coming here, finally. Of Montreal rides in on their psychedelic unicorn February 6th at the Cannery (the same night Girls play at Exit/In, way to go shitheads). Passion Pit plays Vanderbilt April 24th, so get ready for some insanely high-falsetto vox coming from the campus that day. Then, of course, those bepolo-ed light and catchy indie-rockers Vampire Weekend will be hitting up the Ryman April 5th.

Cool, man. Now we just need a good electronic/dubstep independent promotions company around here like Portland's Abstract Earth Project (who brought around the likes of Skream, Joker, Rusko, Nosaj Thing, Flying Lotus etc. to Stumptown before they were super-huge) and we can truly call this place Music City. Right guys?

Some Exciting News From Nashville: Jersey Shore Edition

Oh sorry, I didn't notice you. I was rubbing suntan oil on this Boys Noize 12"

When I first moved here, I was excited to explore and understand the music/dance scene. Like, do people out here know how to dance without forming in a line and doing synchronized moves while the music tells them how to perform those moves? What exactly is a honky-tonk and do they allow black people? And where can I buy rhinestone-studded mudflaps?

I've been out and about for around 3 months, and my thoughts on the "scene" here are probably for another time and another blog. Let's just say so many bands have skipped over this town, I was genuinely shocked to find out Girls decided to schedule a date here (after they had made their tour schedule, too). Anyway, to sum it up, I've been a little frustrated with what Nashville has to offer in terms of music I like and want to see live.

That was, until I found out this was happening.

That's right, Pauly D AKA DJ Pauly D AKA The Man with the Tan has decided to grace us with his presence right here in Nashville downtown at McFaddens in 2 weeks. If you haven't seen the Jersey Shore, then you probably are trying to detect if there is hidden sarcasm in my writing. THERE IS NOT. I will firmly stand behind the statement The Jersey Shore is the greatest show about New Jersey since The Sopranos without a smirk, and also say that during the episode where Pauly D "Rocked it on the 1's and 2's" at club Karma was fantastic. I couldn't help but pound on my hardwood floor to the kick-drum crescendo he dropped before doing a few flip kicks and fist pumps. Thoroughly stoked for his arrival.