Thursday, March 26, 2009

Zombie Love


Handsome Furs' I'm Confused was my favourite indie rock track of all of February & March combined (whoa, hyperbole!), and their newly released video is threatening to be my favourite for April and May as well. Let's hear it for zombies, hotness!

NSFW Disclaimer: Not for the faint at heart, or mormons whose eyes will melt out of their orbit at the sight of boobs and vag.





You can get the song on Urbn Outfttrs Listen No. 3

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Steve Aoki Will Scare You!

Whilst wearing his Balmain jeans and you will LOVE it.



These Bloody Beetroots motherfuckers are at it again, this time,with Warp 1.9.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Cobrasnake is Dead!


And that...is the caption I read, leading me to the now hotly celebrated Night Booth. In the cold cobble-stoned streets of Paris, through the slinky and sweaty hallways of the Regine, Rémi Ferrante makes his way; snapping models, socialites, music heavyweights, and fashion elitists alike, accompanied only by his MacBook Pro. Night Booth came to light during Paris Fashion Week 09, and is a favorite of Mila Jovovich, Kanye ‘Barely Needs Any Introductions’ West, Lou Doillon, JCDC, and countless others. He’s even got A-Trak intrigued, when the other half of the Macklovitch family spewed onto his twitter: “Dude walking around the club with an open laptop taking pics of people on Photobooth.”



And he does exactly that. While the average MacBook-possessing individual utilizes Photobooth for giggles and jokes (ah, face distortions, so fun!), Rémi Ferrante saw otherwise, and turned this ingenious little carnival-inspired tool into a brilliant, yet simple innovative way of capturing the parties, people and places we only hear about from other people, with low lights, and heavy grain, making you feel like a peeping Tom by default (but in every good sense of it, of course). Surely, Night Booth will live on beyond its Parisian borders and transcend onto the party scenes of London, New York, LA, and/or Tokyo in no time; but Rémi can assure his position as being the first to introduce this to the dark-lit social rooms.


And when he's put down his computer, he's busy being a legit photographer, with a real camera.

All Photos by: Rémi Ferrante, Night Booth.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

"Mom! The Boys Are At It Again!"

Right, So We've Got Two Things To Cover In This Post:

First -
You've possibly seen the commotion by now, another disco themed track, another radio rip, another Mehdi Pinson collaboration, another day and a new Justice track gets fed to the masses. Whether you've jumped the boat soon after the Coca Cola incident, or jumped in right after that (because, admit it, you know some people who did), you couldn't help but give We Kids a listen.
Now, am I going to front as if I own every Justice-induced merchandise, or attended every gig? No, not really, but it doesn't take a sound engineering degree, a full knowledge of Ableton live and the precision of a brain surgeon to know that We Kids < Everything Else Under Cross & Ed Rec. V. III Combined. Dare I say it? Fuck yes, these are not the same French bastards who released Planisphere, it can't be. The kids out there, have been living on a diet of recycled Justice tracks for the past two years, occasionally, some 'banging' remixes have been added as a treat, tease - and the promise of a new studio album in the works have kept them all going; in order not to raise a full blown fury among the 14-26 demographic, the boys sort of have to show who's boss, shut them all up with a new, but ear-raping track, and keep everyone else in the mix happy.



Second -
However, and this needs mentioning - Another plausible theory about We Kids, is that it isn't even produced by Justice, at all. Making all of my first paragraph completely void. Word on the street is that the aforementioned track is that of Keedz, some call them, "Justice under Disguise", or "Justice Rip-Offs". If I am to believe that second theory - and I do; putting aside my temporary ban on Justice material because of said track recycling, these guys wouldn't put out something this terrible given what they've produced last season for Dior, and the MGMT Electric Feel remix - and with that! comes a sight of relief. Creative Borrowing? Aesthetic Inspiration, perhaps? Yes, maybe, because this is some bullshit that castrates anyone who dares explain, or defend it.

What do we learn from this? Justice or Not, We Kids is 'de la merde'.

photo: Turkish Homework.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Just Aiming To Please

If there are any bands who are certain to blow up this year, it's got to be at least these two: The XX & The Virgins.

The XX hail from Southwest London, and sound so good it's impossible to hate them even if you try. There's no loud tones, just sweet sweet melodies to woo you off your feet, and spazz you out. With a full EP in the works (and nearing completion), this quartet is sure to please ears from all sides of the border.


Womack and Womack - Teardrops (The XX Cover)



As for The Virgins, I'm starting to think that it's not a year of musical explosion unless one band from NYC isn't part of the hype. There seems to never be a shortage of good bands from NYC, and The Virgins don't do a bad job at maintaining that musical reputation. I feel no need to describe these fellas' 'game' any further, you should hear for yourself. Here's a pretty awesome remix of Rich Girls done by The Twelves.


The Virgins - Rich Girls (The Twelves Remix)


Photo Credits: Vice, & Starworks Blog Storage

Friday, March 6, 2009

What To Make Of This?


At first glance, I thought MGMT went all holy military on me with some new material I haven't heard of yet, but then I leaned in closer and I busted out a sly 'Oh Shit' to myself: That's not MGMT, is it? No. They're Empire of the Sun. One half of Pnau, and one half of The Sleepy Jackson Apparently, they're the new 'hot thing' under the radar right now, at least in the U.K. (I am anticipating how U.S. fans will greet these two)

I know what you're thinking, maybe they just look the same, maybe musically speaking they're totally different?, in fact...polar opposites? But NO, wait a second...what's THIS video all about?


Guys, what's with the war paint? the tribal dances, and the feathers? All the 'quirkiness'. What happened to originality? did it get butchered in the back seat of a convicted murderer's van?
Ha! boys...I don't know what to make of this.

I'll give them that though, they don't sound terrible.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Centième


Well, I suppose if it is any indication of a lack of consistency in posting, it's certainly only due to the fact that during the time elapsed from my last post to this one, I've crossed oceans back to London, went on a 'let's follow all these bands for a whole week' tour with a few friends, and miraculously manage to attend sociology classes all in between!

My god, I've finally reached 100 posts. That's nothing though, is it? That's like rookie years, I assume, but a full time undergraduate 18 year old with an immense love for music like me, has a hard time sticking to consistency when it comes to this blog. I feel as though I've neglected it, so much so, that a month's passed since I last wrote on here! this is ludicrous!


Right, right, evading from my lack of posting, here's what I have been doing these past days, because...while I may not be writing about music, I am most definitely downloading it, making it [with two friends, it's sort of like an embryonic project, but it promises!], and attending shows. The latest spark in my mind is to start band/live events photography, though I may not have a penchant for tits like Bronques, or really skinny and heavily tattooed yet adorable gay boys & Leigh Lezark like Geej, or even underage girls/boys at sweet 14s *coughs* M.Hunter *coughs*, I do have a real pushing from a few people, and seeing as how I get a real kick trotting my 'guns' to parties, I fairly enjoy it.


The Bloody Beetroots in Lessons on How To Tear Shit Up, in Islington.
Fight Like Apes also in Camden


Data.Select.Party, Shoreditch
& Acoustic Night, & Colour, and Loads More Here.

Surely the best music news I've got all month was the release of Yuksek's brand spanking new album, Away From The Sea, (it even features tracks with Chromeo, and...get this, Amanda Blank). Also, Phoenix's back with some brand new material, it's been a while; their newest single 1901 which the band is giving away gratuit is classic Phoenix, and anticipates a pretty damn good album for late May.

Now that this is all out of the way, I'm jumping off to finish a Criminology essay, and before I sign off...I suppose I'll mention this little piece of 'gem', that was featured on The Selby a few months back. Yes I am obliged to refer to it as an 'it', and 'gem', because frankly, the amount of hilarity and gloom this gives me at the same time is overwhelming. Pay strick attention to the bloke named 'Bunny', the intern who looks about 30 and the color-coordinated books.
Note to these new residents: If you don't like plaid shirts so much either A. Don't wear them, yes that means YOU Bunny - or B. Move out, I'm pre-tty sure you can find a plaid-free zone in Brooklyn. Fuck Off.