Merry Christmas everyone! Though I don’t really celebrate this holiday and find it just like any other day…I figure I’d conform to the conventional gift giving and give you fellow readers some presents! In the form of music! Hoooorah! I never share full albums on this site because all the songs I post are samples in hope that you fall in love with the artist and support them by buying their albums and going to their shows and yada yada yada you know the deal! But I thought I’d make an exception on this holiday and share 3 favorite compilations of mine this year. One is a live compilation. One is a DJ compilation. And the other is a highly anticipated album to be released in 2010!
Stayed tuned for my kickass mixtapes to come! And also my Top Lists! More after the jump!
Y’all know how much I love Jedi Electro. Ever since my discovery of them since the MJF, I have vowed to go see every single one of their shows in MTL, and I have. EVERY MONTH, they usually play at le S.A.T. which is close to the corner of Rene-Levesque and St. Laurent. All three shows were ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Though they do recycle some of the same beats, every time it’s a different product. Their music is completely improvised, and usually every show, there is a guest player/singer and the crowd always ends up being a 6th member with our chorus like wailing. Sparklers are handed out. Superman and various other blow up objects are thrown. It’s the best deal out there for 2.5 hours of SOLID music for only $10. I said this in July and I will say it again, JEDI ELECTRO IS THE BEST GROUP RIGHT NOW IN MTL! I feel like they’re like mobile versions of Kraftwerk. Creating, innovating, and Godfathers in their own right.
EVERY single show, I bring my camera, hoping to film a part of the show to share with you guys so you know what I mean, and hopefully the word will spread, but I never end up filming anything. i can’t seem to hold still at all to film one minute’s worth. And seeing their videos does NO JUSTICE to their live act. They truly are meant to be see live…their sound and their Force will never be able to translate on record as good as they do live. But I did find a few videos fo them…keep in mind that they are 3485890346x better live than seen in these videos! You can also check out Jedi Electro’s Vimeo!
Enjoy the videos and stay tuned for my NYE and NYD mixtapes as well as my year end lists!
Y’all all know how much I love Beast…right? I saw them way way way back when I used to live in Edmonton at the tiniest venue that is the Pawn Shop. In the review that I gave directly after the show, I said that it was one of the best shows I’ve seen ever. And you know what, after tonight, I guess I’ll have to take that back because shiiiiiiiiiiet tonight had NOTHING on the Pawn Shop show. After the jump for videos, music, and petit recap!
Winter is upon Montréal. It’s not that cold…yet. Negative 16 with bouts of snow but nothing like the -40 my home town of Edmontontians are suffering from. I find myself naturally going for specific albums during the winter time. Among these wintery albums is good ol’ Rufus Wainwright. This native Montréaler started when he was 6 and hasn’t quit.
He’s a vibrant live performer (if you haven’t seen him live in concert yet, do it, his voice is exponentially more amazing live than on record) who is always making jokes, cracking at heterosexuality, and has a plethora of costumes which I will happily forever keep in my mind.
His music on the other hand, is a compliment yet a contradiction to his onstage demeanor. His albums are filled with deep love songs, about heartbreak, about sex, lust, loss, and all the in betweens. Not only are his lyrics unbearably heartwarming, lovely, and wonderful in all the ways lyrics should be, but the way he sings, his voice, I swear I could hear only this without all the instrumental accompaniments and be equally if not more happy to have more of something so immaculately good.
The beauty of winter, the snow, the people, the collective cuddles and silenced complaints amidst a white winterland can only call for the joie de vivre and melancholy that is Rufus Wainwright. So, I share three songs from one of my favorite albums of his, Want One released in 2003.
P.S. I know I said the updates will be coming more often, but truth is I am in the process of making ridiculously awesome New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day mixtapes for you guys, as well as my top lists…so there will be music GALORE here soon. I just don’t wanna share all the good stuff just yet
Hey guys! Hope y’all enjoyed my mixtape! Sorry I’ve been a bit absent. But coming up this week will be a lot of new music I’ve been meaning to share for ages and I gotta get it out before New Years yo! I thought I’d start you guys off this week with some good ol’ Kraftwerk. The Godfathers of Electronic music YEEEEEEE! They recently released a remaster of nearly ALL THEIR ALBUMS and it sounds sooooooooooooooooooo good. Here are a few of my favorites off of Tour de France. Stay tuned for more!
This has been so long overdue it’s not even funny. This mixtape was probably made a few months ago with a few tweaks here and there…and I wanted to make more changes as every week brings new music and would work so well in this mixtape but alas, no more procrastination! <Clear the Runway> is pretty awesome. Not gonna lie. It has a some songs from my previous mixtape but no worries, it remains Awesome. Perfect for the weekend. Body movin’ body movin’ we be gettin’ down and you know we’re crush groovin’.
Saw these guys at B.B. Kings in NYC along with Raekwon, Kid Cudi, Jadakiss, and Styles P. Defs the highlight of the show…more so than Raekwon. Who despite being super sick and barely being able to speak, showed up anyways, and called himself a “real nigga” ’cause of that. Yes. Yes. Too bad it was a super disappointing performance of under 60 minutes. Oh well. Curren$y and Wiz TORE SHIT UP! Along with Jada and Styles P. Shit. All for twelve pieces. Thank you OnSmash and NahRight. You guys fuckin’ rule.
Y’all know my obsession for Drake. Seriously if his mixtapes So Far Gone and Property of October didn’t already leave you completely satisfied, as well as the “Forever” track featuring Eminem, Lil’ Wayne, and Kanye, well, you need to get your priorities straight! This boy is seriously blowing up! Not even an album and already he’s got a Grammy nomination. Watch out for some crazy Drake mania in the two zero one oh. This is his best song. Hands down.
03 Spank Rock – Loose
Off the Bangers and Cash EP. So dirty it’s right. COP IT NOW!
Aaaaah my favorite German electronic artists. WHy oh WHYYY aren’t they more well known. It makes me angry. Yet at the same time I’m happy that I have them all to myself…well and a few others. They’ve already released two albums, Happy Birthday and Hello Mom which are ridiculously amazing and seriously unrecognized. They are amazing live. I can’t wait to hear a new album, which is hopefully in the works?
06 Moderat – A New Error
Modeselektor + Apparat. In case you didn’t know. Two huge German powerhouse electronic artists come together and made easily one of the best albums this year, self-titled Moderat. Electronic music, though rising, is continually under-represented! Errrrrbody is all up Indie’s ass with the St. Vincent, Dirty Projectors, and Animal Collective. Sure these albums are great (they really are). But electronic music in the decades and end of year lists are seriously on the back burner. Shit. Moderat is easily in the tops in the decade and end of year for me.
Yet another German electronic artist. This is pretty much all I know. I can’t find an ounce of info on the guy that’s not in German! Bah! Mais, on s’en fiche! I don’t know if he will have an album coming out soon but DO DO DO cop the Sweet Settings record. Fantastic smooth house in just six minutes. Awesome.
Another German powerhouse DJ. I swear I don’t do racial profiling when I look for music! Somehow everything I end up liking a lot ends up being German…or British jaja. En tout cas, Siriusmo is from Berlin and is signed to BoyzNoise Records. He has a bunch of records out but I only started listening to him after hearing Body Language Vol.8 which was mixed by MODESELEKTOR! GAAH! If you’re a fan of Kompakt releases, the Kitsuné releases…and so forth, get Body Language releases now!!! Itis a compilation released by Get Physical, a wicked wicked label housing artists such as M.A.N.D.Y., Noze, and Booka Shade. The BL’s and Siriusmo’s albums are all you’re gonna get from him because he won’t perform live. Apparently due to conflicting interests. Hmm. Fun fact: he is a pretty great graffiti artist. Respek.
Aaah the Cranberries. These Irish rockers have had a piece of my heart since forever. Every few months I relapse into a Cranberries phase, listening to nothing but Cranberries for weeks on end. Screaming to the top of my lungs to “Promises”, “When You’re Gone” and the many other songs that Dolores O’Riordan flawlessly sings with her ridiculously lovable voice. It’s been seven years since they’ve done anything together. I love them. Love love love. I had to see them. One last time…
It sold out it minutes and alas I did not have a ticket. Craigslist and Kijiji tickets were going for three times the price! And people were buyin ‘em! Outside the venue, the normal scalpers (who I now know by name) sold all of theirs for $200 a piece! Shit! After being robbed of tickets because people who JUST ARRIVED decided to cut in line and gobble up the freed up tickets from the people who waited HOURS. People were crying, spirits were crushed, and emotions ran red because the management at L’Olympia ARE HORRIBLE. Saying it was sold out when it wasn’t. Releasing one ticket. Sold out. Then another. Sold out. Then two. Sold out. They sold them to people who WEREN’T EVEN IN LINE AND JUST GOT THERE. Finalement it was sold out. Calmez calmez…The show started and 15 minutes in, I tried my luck once more with a bouncer I recognize at most shows as being quite generous and hooooorah! He let us all in for free just in time for the start of “Dreaming Your Dreams”.
Denis Aydin and Andreas Rathgen, both from Germany, usually play some pretty hardcore psychedelic trance. You might know them as Day.Din and Radisnak. But I guess they decided to join forces and make music for those who are too fuckin’ tired, spaced out, drugged out and loopy to move even their eyes anymore. A Deep Dive is definitely in my tops for ambient music along with Tosca’s No Hassel, A Sunny Day In Glasgow’s Ashes Grammar, and the massive Life Through Bombardment by Eluvium, this year. It’s a great listen if you’re in the mood for just chillin’ (and rollin’). It’s special in that it’s a bit more than just the drones meant to cull you to sleep. A Deep Dive definitely has touches of Day.Din and Radisnak’s psychedelic and trance background. A few experimental tweaks and layers keep you attention yet mentally relaxes you at the same time. Imagine the technological sound of Trickform and Telefon Tel Aviv slowed to a heartbeat mixed with some of the black bass of Fever Ray, deep trance diminished to the basics, and the psychedelic nuances of Rathgen and Aydin. Yum. “Silk and Roses” and “Lost in Translation” are obvious faves for me on the LP.
Mmmm mmm mmmmmmmmmm. Merrill Beth Nisker, or as we all know her, Peaches, the foul-mouthed, androgynous, dick, tits, and all, has wowed the Montréal crowd once again at the Métropolis. Sporting capes, donning skin colored skin tight jump suits, and a flashing clit, Peaches is true to her own hype. She fuckin’ rocks. With her cock out. For real. I am quite surprised that dildos did not make an appearance throughout the show. At least fake boobies did! Hooorah fake boobies! But first, a lady quite deserving of being a Peaches opener…Amanda Blank!
Live in Show: Peaches with Amanda Blank @ le Métropolis (MTL; 17 11 09)
I first saw Amanda Blank when she toured with Trouble Andrew and Santigold. Regrettably, I only saw her perform for 15-20 minutes due to my usual and unsurprisingly-me tardiness. What I did see though, was a female fierceness that can only come from women that self-empowered and confidant. Once again, she delivered a big fuck you performance. She makes it. She takes it. And godddddddddddd do we feel it in our pants when she does.
Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power of Fuck Buttons have done it again. They gained underground indie stardom after the release of Street Horrrsing in 2008, easily one of the best progressive experimental albums of the year and had one of my top songs of the year with the ten minute bender, “Sweet Love For Planet Earth”.
A few months back, they released Tarot Sport EP, a short three song EP which teased Fuck Buttons fans like no other. Shortly after they released the full-length. The ten minute track “Surf Solar”, easily the best track of the album and one of the year’s best for sure, is the first track and sets the rest of the mood for the next 60 minutes. You aren’t gonna end up back where you started with their tracks that loop in and out of each other like tidal waves. And like the unpredictability of the LP title suggests, you aren’t gonna know where you’ll end up either.
I feel like Tarot Sport is just another wave off of Street Horrrsing, picking up right from the end of “Colours Move”. Except this time, the second half doesn’t feel as dark and moody as the first did. And this time, the Tarot Sport uses more optimistic tones throughout and still retains the melancholic feel. The progression is all there. The formula’s the same yet it’s completely superimposed. It has the exact reverse opposite in terms of how it makes you feel but in the end, it’s still so so great. Innovative, wild, psychedelic and precociously awesome. And that’s why this album is one of my tops of this year.
I love music and want to share as much of it as I can! My promise with this site is that I will only post things I like. You won't find an MP3 on here that I haven't danced and sung my heart out to or other forms of art that I don't absolutely adore...etc. Hopefully you might grow to feel the same way too!
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