Inbox Lurve

Clubfeet are electro-popsters from Oz that I came across earlier in the year but never posted about them. They are a trio from Melbourne who have just released debut LP Gold On Gold. Subtley shouted vocals, soft synths on Teenage Suicide, very nice indeed. Remixes of the track to come from Eli Escobar, Kasper Bjorke, Kap10Kurt, The Glass, Loose Shus & More.

Clubfeet - Teenage Suicide

Clubfeet


On a slighty more upbeat note (irony), five-piece electro-rockers Funeral Party have just released their Bootleg EP. From it we have Carwars, a delightful Friendly Fire-ish slice of Rapture cowbell-funk. Really good stuff.

Funeral Party - Carwars

Funeral Party

LYA

First up a rollicking remix of Escort's Starlight, Drums of Death beefs up the percussion and drags out the build ups only to smash them down into an epic death-disco house bomb. Also the superb original to go with.

Drums of Death - Dodfucksupanescorttune

Escort - Starlight

Foals were a group that really took me a while to come around to. But I must say my love has continually grown for the boys especially with some of the quality remixes that have been coming out of their tracks. These two are no exception, Tensake has made a dub-disco burner of Cassius (thanks Blouse) and the ever-reliable Diskjokke has turned Olympic Airways into a haunted space disco jam. Both impressive.

Foals - Olympic Airways (Diskjokke remix)

Foals - Cassius (Tensnake remix)

Lastly a couple of the standouts from the most recent Kitsune Maison 6 'Melodic One'. I am quite enjoying it, considering the most recent Ed Banger Comp sucked except for Mehdi's Pocket Piano. Ted and Francis are good Aussie boys and Lo-Fi-Fnk give us electro pop at its best.

Ted & Francis - I Wish I Was A Polar Bear (Arctic Urgency Edit)

Lo-Fi-Fnk - Want U

LYA

Deuce

This post is to the person who makes me feel better.

Amazing electro-pop first heard on the Hot Chip Dj Kicks

Grovesnor - Nightmoves

Their EP was just as good as the album

Fleet Foxes - Mykonos

My favourite song from the best album of the year

Friendly Fires - Jump In The Pool

Love yous all

And a bonus of pure summer love

Findlay Brown - Promised Land

Whaddup

Not sure if anyone still reads this thing. Have had other shit on my mind. Though one thing that hasn't dimished in new music. I'll attempt to share some with you.

Three tracks, all from aussie groups/producers, two at the top of their game, one taking a different direction for the group but no less impressive.

Stunning new original from the soon to be released (well in Oz anyway) Far Away EP, with a whole stack of other quality tracks. Cheers to Hyperboletron

Cut Copy - Sands of Time

The b-side from the recent Turbo Love EP is truly one of the tracks of the year. Amazing dancey synth-pop.

Bag Raiders - Shooting Stars

The last track is a demo from the newly duo Damn Arms and they have turned their hand to Breakbot like french house with just a splash of robot to go with. Very good.

Damn Arms - Destination (Removed)

Love yous all

The Birdsnest

I have really been pissed off with Channel 7's covereage of the Olympics, no field events, too much fucking gymnastics that's for sure. One thing that is funny is Kevin Rudd speaking mandarin. Jackass.

Here's a quick selection of tunes I have been digging recently:

Late Of The Pier are quite good, though it really pisses me off that any band that sounds noisy and uses electronic elements with a bit of rhythm are compared to Klaxons. Sublime psychodelic discofied remix from one half of Chicken Lips

Late Of The Pier - The Bears Are Coming (Emperor Machine Remix)

Lovely ol' school French house remix from one of my favourite bands Phoenix, anyone know when the new album's coming out?

Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better, I'll Go to the Disco (Said The Buffalo Bunch)

Blissed out remix of everyone's favourite swedepoppers by Studio, you know its good.

Shout Out Louds - Impossible (Remake by Studio)

Techno vs Disco, a match made in heaven, possibly Terje's finest work ever. Mesmerising

Simon Baker - Plastik (Todd Terje Türkatech Mix)

One of the strongest tracks from their debut last year gets a tripped out wash by Jas & James

Simian Mobile Disco - I Believe (SMD Space Out Dub)

While we wait for Holy Ghost's follow up to their amazing original Hold On, we get a remix by UK duo Mock and Toof who strip in back and polish it up again to a nice mirror ball shine.

Holy Ghost! - Hold On (Mock And Toof Remix)

Outstanding remix of the Juggers by Chateau Marmont who succeed where so many have failed before in managing to equal the staggering heights of the original.

Mignight Juggernauts - Into The Galaxy (Chateau Marmont Remix)

Lastly another, yes you guessed it, disco remix of the amazing Jens Lekman. He really does have a showbiz voice ol' Jens and Irkuk really manages to pull it off without going into cheese territory.

Jens Lekman - Sipping On the Sweet Nectar (Bogdan Irkuk Love Nectar Mix)

Hope everyone got their MGMT tickets :)

LYA

Gig Of The Year?

This



















Moving to this



















Plus This









Saturday December 6
MGMT @ the greatest outdoor venue in Australia, Belvoir Amphitheatre
Tickets on sale from Heatseeker Tuesday 19th of August, get em while they're hot kids, these are going to go like lollies at fat camp.

MGMT - Kids (Tronik Youth Re Edit)

MGMT - Destrokk

MGMT - Electric Feel (Aeroplane Remix)

LYA

Glasto Roundup

Hi kids,
A special treat today in the form of a Glastonbury Oh Eight review by none other than the male model from Claremont, the youngest of 15 children, Mister Thomas Rohr.


"Glastonbury is a festival we’ve all heard about how awesome it is and blah blah blah. For that reason I had absolutely massive expectations when going to my first one this year. I have been to Leeds Festival and a few other biggies before. However, this blew all of my expectations out of the water and more. It truly is a festival everyone has to experience to get a real grip on it. The main reason is that it’s about so much more than the music, it’s about the mud, the kids, the old school hippies, the incredible set-up of the vast different areas and pretty much the mammoth size of absolutely everything. 180 000 people went this year and to get a grip on the size of the whole site, it would take about an hour to walk from one end to the other. Along with this, there were one or two bands that played as well.

Day 1.

Kings Of Leon headlined on the Pyramid Stage on the first night and delivered another absolutely Stellar Performance that the music world has come to expect from this unfairly good-looking and incredibly talented Mega-band. However, before these guys played I had the great experience of meeting Franz Ferdinand in the crowd, as they were handing out flyers for their secret gig later that night. When this happened, I managed to get the drummer Paul Thompson to comb my hair with the comb in his back pocket. I did catch the first half of their gig before I went to Kings Of Leon and they played mainly new songs. Their sound was incredibly crisp and I think we are all going to be listening to another cracking album from this Glaswegian quartet very soon.

However, the biggest highlight of day one for me came from Foals. Foals album Antidotes is for me, one of the best releases of this year, so I was eagerly awaiting the opportunity to see them live. They produced an amazing live sound with front man Yannis Phillipakis playing lead guitar, singing and leading the band with a brilliant level of flow from beginning to end. They produced amazing synth driven breakdowns linking songs (not dissimilar to their album) and then had the crowd moving with their catchy riffs and ever-changing percussion beats.

Foals - 2 Steps Twice

Foals - Big Big Love

Day 2.

I started the day with a very average set by the teenagers. They were literally like a band you’d watch at school with there sound levels all over the place. The lead guy was trying to keep a good energy, but with the sound as shocking as it was, he was really pushing diarrhea up a snow hill. Which was such a shame considering the splash these French dudes have made on myspace over the last year or so.

Soko – Love No (Teenagers Cover)

After that Holy Fuck really lifted my spirits with an energising performance. The guy MC-ing the John Peel stage regarded them as one of the biggest highlights of Glastonbury ’07, which is a massive wrap for the 4-piece Canadian electronic outfit. Then I was lucky enough to catch Black Lips and Band of Horses back to back. Black Lips had pig heads on stakes on the front of the stage and one of the singers came out wearing almost like a scream like mask over his head. They had a massive amount of energy and probably one of the most rock n roll attitudes of any band I saw over the three days. A really great high-energy show concluding with one of the front dudes kicking over one of the pigs heads on a spike (they were real by the way). Band of Horses came through with a stirring set culminating in the chick standing next to me coming to tears during it. They are incredibly tight for a seven piece and have now 2 good albums worth of material which all culminated into an hour and 10 minutes of absolute pleasure.

Black Lips – It Feels Alright

Band of Horses – Is There A Ghost

Amy Winehouse who played before Jay-Z did finish her set early as she could barely stand and she also punched a guy in the audience (bless her cotton socks). The biggest highlight of the day and I would say the Festival was Jay-Z. This guy copped so much flack for being the headliner. A lot of people blamed the initial low ticket sales on him being named and the Gallagher brothers really let him and the bookers of the festival have it over his selection. This all proved as Fuel on a roaring fire as one of the biggest names in Hip-Hop put on a ripping show. He started with a 2-minute video, then he came out with Wonderwall over the top miming the words with a guitar around his neck. The whole crowd was singing along then he cut it and said “I just got one thing to say . . . I GOT 99 PROBLEMS BUT A BITCH AINT ONE”. That was the most responsive I saw the crowd in the whole 3 days. It was awesome! (check it out yourself).

Jay-Z - Renegade Feat. Eminem

Day 3.

The first band I saw on Day 3 that were worth mentioning would have to be the Duke Spirit. These guys are certainly up and comers. The lead singer is Kate Moss’s niece Liela Moss. She is incredibly fit and has a phenomenal stage presence. Along with that they have the music to back-up the look. They were playing on one of the smaller stages but still pulled a reasonable crowd and really rocked out with Moss wearing a lycra body suit and pulling out some unreal dance moves.

The Duke spirit – Love is an Unfamiliar Name

The Duke Spirit - Win Your love (live KEXP session)

Crystal Castles went absolutely nuts. The lead chick was climbing up the scaffolding, crowd surfing and genuinely going absolutely mental. So mental that after 20 minutes they pulled the plug. Then everyone went nuts and starting booing. So they played another two songs at that same intensity and then got pulled for good after a half hour. Who would have thought computer game music could get so intense. After this, I ducked over to see the Presets and you’ll be glad to know that they represented the homeland amazingly well. They had the roof of the dance lounge lifting. To finish up the festival, I caught the end of the Verve’s set. I would describe Richard Ashcroft as a mix of Ian Brown and Noel Gallagher. He was incredibly egotistical on stage. Either way, it was a comforting way to finish off the festival singing along to Bitter Sweet Symphony with about 120 000 other people.

Crystal Castles – Untrust Us

The Verve - Love Is Noise

It truly was a remarkable 3 days. I guess my only recommendation is to do this festival as many times as you can. I genuinely don’t think you could ever get sick of it. Along with that, I’m sure every year you go you would discover a whole new area and a whole new aspect to add to the list of things to love about this festival."

Thanks T. Rohr, sounded like a tough gig.
LYA

Axe Work

Why aren't there any good self-indulgent guitar solos any more? Modern bands too democratic? They certainly knew how to rock it back in the day.

Neil Young - Like A Hurricane (Rec'd)

Neil Young - Down By The River

Killer.

LYA

Mama Was A Pimp

A couple of bumping new hip-hop releases over the past few weeks. Everyone should listen to hip hop occasionally, good for the soul.

The first track is from local Aussie boys Bliss n Eso, who have recently released their third LP entitled Flying Colours. Definitely worth your hard earned this one. Take this taste track that samples Angus & Julia Stones folk anthem Paper Aeroplane. The MCing is tight and i've always thought the Aussie/US mix of MCs has worked well.

Bliss N Eso - Eye of the Storm

Angus & Julia Stone - Paper Aeroplane

Next is more Oz-hop goodness with East coast duo Muph & Plutonic (Muphin is the MC, Plutonic Labs the producer) with their latest single Size of The Soul. It use an absolutely perfect string drenched soul sample that really soars. I have read reviewers asking how many times hip-hop groups use a soul sample, but honestly who cares when it sounds this good.

Muph & Plutonic - Size of the Soul

Thirdly is one of the true godfathers of hip hop in Wu Tang numero uno and samurai sword specialist RZA. Under his Bobby Digital moniker, the new album is called Digi-Snacks and takes more of a traditional street thug attitude to his verses rather than the Shaolin orientated Wu projects. Sublime production, RZA's throaty delivery = Masterful. (Also a bonus as a cheeky guest on an absolute cracker from a couple of years ago)

RZA - Can't Stop Me Now

Handsome Boy Modeling School - A Day In The Life Feat. RZA, AG, The Mars Volta & Tim Meadows.

Lastly some smooth US hip hop from the mail bag, its a little cheesy but nice nonetheless. Title track from an upcoming album.

Common Market - Tobacco Road

Golden oldies, does it get any better? (well not that old i suppose)

Nas - Get Down

Mo' Thugs Family - Getto Cowboys (thanks to POW)

LvYsAl

I Wanna Funk With You Tonight

A trio of newbies that are guaranteed to get your groove on.

The first is a huge new remix from 4 Highlighter faves. It really is a big of a blog house party, everybody's favourite Frenchman Fred Falke and Australia's finest Miami Horror give a facelift to one of the strongest tracks from Pnau's self-titled LP of last year. Falke adds his signature live bassline and Horror throws some sublime synths in to make this amazing track even better. A massive thanks to Who The Hell... for the heads up.

Pnau - Embrace ft. Ladyhawke (Fred Falke & Miami Horror remix)

Next is a another storming remix from another Highlighter crush, local boys The Dirty Secrets. You may remember when we posted about them here and here and now we have a cowbell heavy remix of by PH DJ who I posted about here. "Dept. (pronounced "diˈpärtmənt") is the odd but superb musical alliance of superstar PhDJ and supernerd Black Anthony." A corking remix which we'll hopefully be hearing more of soon.

The Dirty Secrets - Devil's Inside (Dept. remix)

The last group need no introduction. Suffice to say they are the kings of cowbell and have a new single produced for the GTA IV soundtrack, produced by Timbaland, Banger.

The Rapture - No Sex For Ben

LYA

New Bloc Party

Aussies kinida get a little left behind with this sort of this. There was some countdown on Radio 1 in the UK for Bloc Party and it was new material for the London four-piece. Mercury is the spanking new single due for release August 11 and will be released with remixes from Herve, CSS and Flosstradamus.

Kele from BP has always crapped on about his love for experimental electronic music and this is really starting to become evident, first through Flux and now through Mercury. There's not a guitar riff or man-made bassline to be heard, with these being replaced by tribal percussion and distorted horns. One thing is for sure that Bloc Party are going to keep evolving and one can't really wait to hear the next album.

Bloc Party - Mercury

Maybe they might sound more permanently like this....

Bloc Party - The Prayer (CravingRemix807)

LYA

Quicky

Been away a while, Uni's finished so I'll be attempting to post twice a week now. Been to some great gigs recently the DFA mini fest of the Cut Copy shows, the epic Black Keys show last weekend and the Berlin Session a few weeks ago. Just watched The Darjeerling Limited last night too, was an amazing movie, the best I have seen in ages, can't wait for Batman.

Ok what's been happening on the music front? Well I think I'll just run through a couple of choice labels and what activity has been happening on their rosters.

Modular

Pip Brown and her alter-ego Ladyhawke are occupying centre stage, while murmurs from the Van She camp keep telling fans that debut V is almost upon us (August 7-8?), instead we get rumors about frontman and pornstar wannabe Nicky marrying Lost Valentinos/Ghostwood sister. Lucky Ladyhawke is putting out some quality new shit.

Ladyhawke - Paris Is Burning (Cut Copy Remix)

Teenager (Nick Pnau & Ladyhawke) - Alone Again (Van She Tech Remix)

Buy some Modular goodies

Gomma

Label boss and all round musical suavster Munk has just dropped a new album Cloudbuster and a semi-recent single Live Fast Die Old. Shit is fine, 'the German DFA'. Headman also has a new LP (good to see albums being still released in dance music) that has some weird and wonderful leftfield type disco.

Munk - Down in L.A.

Munk - Live Fast Die Old (Juan Maclean Remix)

Headman - Come On

Headman - Catch Me If You Can (Bag Raiders Edit)

Buy some Gomma tunes

DFA

See the shit is all linked somehow (remixers etc) one big blonggomerate. Next is of course our friends at DFA. There's already some fresh Juan Mac above but some more in the form of B-side remix from their storming piano-beat smash of earlier in the year. Lee Douglas substitutes that gorgeous piano riff for a funkified disco keyboard/bass section that compliments the track really nicely. Massive mancrushes on the Ghost! boys (thanks to HFC for the high bit). Missed Maurice Fulton last weekend, big shame, he's got a new album too under his Syclops mokier, should be original as hell. Also a new track from Murph, from the 21 OST.

The Juan Maclean - Happy House (Lee Douglas Remix)

Moby - I Like To Move In Here (Holy Ghost! Remix)

Syclops - A Lovely Sunday

LCD Soundsystem - Big Ideas

And I tell you what if my Holy Ghost! and JuanMac vinyls don't get here soon Insound/DFA there is going to be a sudden influx of DFA tracks appearing on this blg (jokes I still love you but give me my fucking vinyl)

Buy DFA kit

A few tracks from individuals and groups I've been enjoying recently:

DJ Mehdi going disco on the recent Ed Rec 3, absolutely storming, such a refreshing change.

DJ Mehdi - Pocket Piano

I still don't quite get Foals as much as I have tried to, I like them but I just can't see them as much more than a poor man's !!!. Favourite track from Antidotes plus a remix by everyones favourtite jazz-minimalist. I may be being a little harsh here.

Foals - Olympic Airways
Foals - Red Socks Pugie (Henrik Schwarz Remix)

New Phoenix. Don't really know what to make of it. Instrumental until just after the 5 minute mark. Like it though, what do other people think?

Phoenix - Twenty-One One Zero

Lindstrom cos I luv 'im and got my vinyl signed a couple of weekends ago

Lindstrom - Breakfast In Heaven (ARP's Worn Cassette Version)

Fresh Gotye remix this time by Kompakters Supermayer, rather breathtaking indeed. (Cheers to the always amazing GWFAS)

Gotye - Heart's A Mess (Supermayer's Supermess Remix)

Phew,

There's more to come too, more often, promise
Love yous all lots

Stuff Happening In Perf

This weekend is going to be massive.

First on Friday night is The Whip at Shape. 8-Bit rock at its finest that you can dance your ass off to. Riding the tidal wave of dance rock, get ready to be whipped into shape, ha sometimes I surprise myself.

The Whip - Sister Siam (James Rutledge Remix)

The Whip - Dubsex



Saturday night is the seven headed - 56 fingered juggernaut that is !!! rolls into town for what promises to be one of the shows of the year. The amount of good reports I have heard about these guys is just ridiculous and to say I can't wait would be one of the biggest fucking understatements ever.

!!! - Sweet Life

!!! - Take Ecstasy With Me (Magnetic Fields Cover)


Sunday will take in the We Love Ministry of Sounds the poor man's version of the East Coast tour but hey beggars can't be choosers. There are some good acts Mixmaster Mike, Cassius, Oizo, Ajax and Bonde De Role (with new femmes), hopefully they're all at the one venue so we don't have to venue hop too much.

Cassius - Feeling For You

Jamie Lidell - Little Bit Of Feelgood (Mr Oizo remix)

Bonde De Role - Solta o Frango (crstbl rmx)

Lost Valentinos - Face is on the Wall (Ajax Remix)


The Friday after that is the Berlin Sessions with electro-tech wizards Ellen Allien and Modeselektor and one of my absolute favourite producers of the moment LINDSTROM!!! Space disco is blaring out of my stereo a lot these days and Hans Peter Lindstrom is at the forefront. He and his Olsoians/Oslites??? (people from Oslo) buddies Prins Thomas and Diskjokke are killing it everywhere. Cannot wait for this one, get your tix early as I reckon this might sellout rather quickly.

Modeselektor - Sillkon

Ellen Allien - Caress

Lindstrom - Another Station (Todd Terje Remix)

And as a bonus mp3 cos its fucking hot (recommended)

Diskjokke - Folk I Farta

Love Yous All

Lots of good new shiznizzel

Van She and Pendulum are both back with new material. Pendulum's second album In Silico is out very soon and Van She's debut V is supposed to be out August but then again it was supposed to be out in Feb so who knows. When you cross them both you know you are in for something good.

Pendulum - Propane Nightmares (Van She Tech remix)

Buy Pendulum from Trackitdown

Minimal heroes Booka Shade also have a new album about to be release called The Sun and The Neon Light. It is simply superb, it is the best LP of the year so far and I wouldn't be surprised if it stayed that way till the end of 08. This is my favourite track from the album and will be the second single released. Check out some more samples at their myspace, and they won the Beatport award for best tech-house, fuck yeah.

Booka Shade - Charlotte

Buy Booka Shade stuff

The Ting Tings are hot shit at the moment. I am starting to hear them everywhere and for good reasons. Their first 3 tracks released have been gems and the Calvin Harris remix is very impressive. If they keep putting out tracks like this they will be around for a lot longer. For a two piece they have a great sound with strong percussion and drums rounded out with simple guitar and shrieky femme vocals. And yes she is hot.

The Ting Tings - Shut Up And Let Me Go

The Ting Tings - Great DJ (Calvin Harris remix)

That's all for now
Sorry about being away for so long

Back very soon

Bmite

When It All Just Seems Too Much....

Sometimes you listen to too much music that you think you should, rather than music you really want to listen to, it makes you lose enthusiasm for music. Does anyone else find this? I sometimes really think I only listen to albums just so I can say I have. Anyway babbbbles.....

After to listening to the genius that is Carles from Hipster Run Off's classic remix of Nude by Radiohead, I was thinking to myself "If I was an original, cool-as-fuck music artist, who would I want, besides Carles, to remix my track?"

Radiohead - Nude (Hipster Runoff Remix)

This is who I came up with:

For a playful electro remix I would ask either The Twelves or The Shoes.

The Twelves are a duo out of Brazil that rose to fame with their remix of M.I.A's Boyz and they keep going from strength to strength in everything they do. I really am a little bit over electro but these guys seem to keep it imaginative and fresh and I haven't found a remix of theirs I didn't like. The following remix of The Black Kids is simply outstanding.

The Black Kids - I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You (The Twelves Remix)

And the track that got them started...(I know it's a little dated)

M.I.A - Boyz (The Twelves Remix)

Next choice would be French kids The Shoes. They also do a great takes on indie tracks to make them a little more dance-able. I posted about their stunning remix of Primary 1 back here and now here is a remix of UK popsters Mystery Jets (which my girlfriend goes nanas for) and an orignal of theirs to top it off (which has a nice little "the drums!" sample too, perhaps from The Ting Ting's Great DJ?)

Mystery Jets - Young Love (Shoes Mix)

The Shoes - Knock out !

Enjoy ze weekend, LYA

Which Daft Punk vinyl to buy from Ebay?

This is a bit of random post but promptness will be appreciated as the bidding ends in 5 hours.
The choices are:

Daft Punk - Technologic:
1)Original
2)Peaches Remix
3)Vitalic Remix
4)Basement Jaxx Remix

Daft Punk - Prime Time Of Your Life
1)Para One Remix
2) The Brainwasher (Erol Alkan's Horrohouse Dub)

Daft Punk - Revolution 909
1)Original
2)Roger & Junior's Revolutionary War Mix
3) Accapella

I'm personally leaning towards this:

Daft Punk - Prime Time Of Your Life (Para One Remix)(Highly Rec'd)

Fucking amazing in my opinion.

PLEASE VOTE IN THE COMMENTS!!!

See you at Fred Falke tomorrow night.

The Whitest Boy Alive - Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix) (Highly Rec'd)

LYA

Peeps To Catch @ V Fest

With the rest of Australia having already enjoyed Richard Branson's fruits, it is now Dullsville's turn and I must say the lineup has come together quite nicely. Timetable clashes are inevitable at these things but hey, deal with it. In my opinion kiddies the earlier you arrive the better with quality acts on from the get go. With Modular newbies Plug-In City at 1:45 and ice-cold disco heroes Glass Candy at 2. Cut Copy will be giving their setlist a major makeover with the release of In Ghost Colours which should be a relief to die hard Perth fans that saw them on each of their four appearances across the nullabor in the past 12 months. Swedish pop geniuses The Tough Alliance may well unfortunately drag me away from Cutters as the Melbourne lads will be back soon but the same can't be said of the boys from Gothenberg. TTA will probably get an undeservedly small crowd to their clashing with Cut Copy but they will put on an incredible show i'm sure. Next will be a quick peep into the DJ tent to see Italians Do It Better head honcho Mike Simonetti who I hope will be pumping out some great disco and Italo. Then back to check out the Rakes who I have been a fan of ever since hearing 22 Grand Job about 3 or 4 years ago. Then there is a serious bit of clashing with Modest Murphy, ex-Moloko member Roisin Murphy and Gomma label boss Munk. I wasn't able to see them two years ago at Southbound but I heard they were a bit lacking anyway. Which ever ways the wind is blowing..... Anyway.....

Here's a few track to go with to get you amped. If you haven't got you ticket you can still get them now (like I just did) here.

Plug-In City - Broke On A Wheel

Glass Candy - Beatific

The Tough Alliance - Silly Crimes

Cut Copy - Feel The Love

The Presets - A New Sky

Roisin Murphy - Overpowered [Kris Menace Remix]

LYAllimite

I'm back (bearing gifts)

Hello and sorry about the significant lack of action in these pages in recent weeks. Uni and footy have both gone back and I have just been busy with lots of stuff. Saying that though, what I do have for you kids is PLENTY of good new music.

Starting Off With Some Disco...

As you are probably all aware, 2007 was the year of electro. Releases from the genre were being gobbled up like biccies at a kids picnic (or music festival). Outstanding albums from Boys Noize, Justice, Digitalism, Para One .... the list goes on, dominated a year culminating in the Summer festivals being ruled by chainsaw basslines and daft punk synths. But as I said, electro was so 2007 and 2008 will be the year that sees the return of disco. Leading the charge are James Murphy and the DFA. Their first album of the year in Hercules & Love Affair has exploded into the world with Anthony (yes from And The Johnsons who has that omni-sexual voice) contributing to vocals on a few tracks. Do your self a favour and BUY this album so you can show it off to your friends and when disco really starts rolling this year be able to say 'yeah i was there from the beginning man'. It's an electronica gem that never wants to sit still and the boys and girls from Brooklyn obviously paid attention when their parents were telling them debaucherous stories from their times at Studio 54.

Hercules and Love Affair - Blind feat. Anthony (Frankie Knuckles Remix)

Get the free track Hercules Theme from here

Next is Disco DJ/Remixer Jaques Renault. A very cool cat from Brooklyn also is throwing his hat in the ring with the big boys and has just released this stellar little number for Moby. Check out his RCDLBL page for a free track and some more info on his various releases is available here.

Moby - Disco Lies (Jaques Renault Remix)

Up next is Glaswegian remix master Maelstrom. I really like a lot of the remixes he is doing for some new and some older tracks. He has a great sound and i'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from him in 2008. Pick up his new 12" with 3 quality remixes here, check his myspace for a free mix. And here's a sweet older remix to dload.

Metro Area - Muira (Maelstrom Edit)

Scandanavia, well Norway in particular have been putting out some damn fine spacey type disco for a couple of years now. Prins Thomas, Lindstrom and Todd Terje have been at the forefront of this movement and are steadily building up healthy back catalogues as well as keeping up a steady stream of new releases. Their take on disco takes a colder, more minimal approach rather than lush strings and playful predictable basslines, they have sparse synths and more distortion but are still nevertheless disco at their heart. Tuck you earphones IN.

Lindstrom – Another Station

Dennis Parker – Like An Eagle (Todd Terje mix)

Buy some vinyl (and a turntable if you need to) from Lindstrom and Todd Terje from Juno

If we are talking disco, how can we discuss the subject properly without mentioning the French. Vocal/funky house pretty much evolved from disco in France with the ‘French Touch’ through people like Etienne De Crecy and Daft Punk. They are still some of the finest purveyors in the genre. Fred Falke is often only recognised with his partnership with Alain Braxe but deserves a lot of respect in his own right. Not only that he is touring throughout Oz in the coming months, so do yourself a favour and grab a ticket while you can. (Also head over to VHS or Beta's Last FM Page for a free mp3 of the original of Burn It All Down)

VHS or Beta – Burn It All Down (Fred Falke mix)

I was trooping through some old CDs the other day and found this absolute gem on the Music Sounds Better With You single. A blissed out early house classic from 1998, I can’t believe this was 10 years ago, it would sound equally as amazing if released today. It also shows that Sinclair was there at the beginning and he didn’t start his career with a song about whistling.

Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You (Bob Sinclair Remix)

Lifelike is another artist who is regarded very highly around the highlighter offices who is also blending the disco and house sound that is quite a distinctive when heard. He has influenced people like Cut Copy, as can be seen on his appearance on the So Cosmic Mixtape. Make sure you buy some Lifelike mp3s y’all.

Ericola ft. Annie – Follow Me (Lifelike Remix)

Arcade Lover are Darshan Jesrani from Metro Area and Dan Balis from Escort, a combination made in heaven if there ever was one. This has a perfect shaped discofied feel to it with it feeling like an Escort track but a little more cosmic. Get your best Sennheisers out for this one kiddies.

Arcade Lover – Fantasy Lines (In Dub)

Wrapping up the disco section of this post are Al Kent and his Million Dollar Orchestra. Kent is an avid vinyl collector and is credited as having one of the largest disco collections going around. After many years of collecting he decided to try his had at creating his own, and what a fine job he has done. Following in the footsteps of Escort and their modern day live disco, the Million Dollar orchestra has revived the live genre and has done a fantastic job. Larger than life sounds with live strings, hopping rhythms and great vocalists are features throughout their debut album Better Days, buy it from BBE

The Million Dollar Orchestra - Funky Funk Beat

Aussies Taking Over The World.

Lets not underestimate the amount of domination Oz artists are demanding throughout the world. New albums, fresh sounds and a shitload of touring are enabling our homegrown artists to garner worldwide respect in everything they are doing.

The first great album of the season has to be Pnau's self title third record. It sees Pnau venturing all over the electronic music ladscape, from the intense 8 bit bleeting of Wild Strawberries to the absolutely stunning collaboration with ex Teenager bandmate Ladyhawke. It is possibly their strongest ever track that has been on repeat on my shower CD for about the past 4 weeks. It is strange to see why the combination of Pnau's Littlemore and Ladyhawke couldn't seem to find the same magic with Teenager as they did with this track. Perhaps that is being a little harsh. Anyway enjoy this slice of Daft Punkesque house, and support Aussie music, buy a SIGNED COPY here for $20 or the Tour Edition 2CD for $20 as well!!!!

Pnau - Come Together

Next is Miami Horror and his harem called Gameboy/Gamegirl. Gameboy/Gamegirl have just brought out a stellar new EP, pick it up at Beatport or any good local record stores. Their sound is as fresh as newly cut grass, combining elements of baltimore, baile funk and glitch electro. Femme Fatale repeater vocals, booming beats and chunky basslines = party starting heaven. A few of the tracks have been floating around for a while but their sound comes out a lot better when refined on CD rather than a compressed mp3. They are coming to Perth to launch the EP at Shape with 80s electro genius Miami Horror also playing a DJ set. On a side note Highlighter besties Electrorash have his amazing new remix of Datarock's FaFaFa. Go and get it right now and a while your at it, grab your plastic and get a ticket to the EP launch too, I'll be there.

Gameboy/Gamegirl - Pumps And Rumps (Zombie Disco Squad Remix)

The Modular crew also have a very busy month ahead with anticipated releases from Cut Copy (which drops Saturday) and The Presets (around the 12th of April). I'd say head on down to your local record store to pick up Cut Copy if you're keen as (like me) to get your hands on it as if you order it over the net you will prolly have to wait till after easter to get it. If you can't wait until then they are streaming the whole album over on their myspace. While your there click the link over to their mailing list to get a free mp3 of Joakim's remix of Hearts On Fire and if you didn't have it, a free mp3 of So Haunted over at their Last FM page. The Presets though are a different story with you still being able to pick up a SIGNED COPY of their new album Apocalypso from JB for $20 effn bargain! Also head over to their modular page to sign up to their mailing list and get a free My People remix. Also head-hyperboler and all round naughty-boy Dave has posted the new Presets track over at Hyperbole.

And lastly we couldn't help but let you all know that masters of funky minimal Booka Shade are releasing their third studio album and follow up to Movements. It will be titled The Sun & The Neon Light and it set for release in May, I can't find a preorder for this yet but you can rest assured dear readers I will keep thee informed. A great remix from the 5 Years Of Get Physical compilation, buy it here.

Booka Shade - Vertigo (Henrik Schwarz Remix)

If you have read this far well done friend but I must make one last request. As uni is going back and my spare time seems to be diminishing steadily I am putting out the call to any budding music bloggers who would like to write for this esteemed journal. Whether you go to lots of shows and you want to contribute some reviews or are the first to get their grubby mits on hot new albums to share, Highlighter needs you. So no matter where you are in Australia or the world, if you would like to be a correspondent please email me at highlighterblog@hotmail.com and let me know.

The Beatles - Help!

Phew, love yous all

Benjimite Out

Sexuality

Thanks to Patrick @ Kyogoi for the photo (show Canada some love and check his blog)

No, as much as some people would like it to be this isn't a porn site. But we do have some love related goodies up our sleeve for the highlighter faithful and that comes in the form of Sebastien Tellier's new album Sexualtiy (buy it here). His gorgeous 2005 track La Ritournelle would still have to be one of my most favourite tracks ever (you can still pick it up here) and his third album just can't arrive soon enough. Luckily enough we don't have to wait anymore, produced by robot Guy-Manuel De Homem, Sexuality is Barry White for the noughties. Lush synths, rhythmic percussion and some sex vocals lifted off some sort of 80s porn. It doesn't get much better. NME has been kind enough to stream the whole album for you right here, you have to sign up to their site but it's no biggie. This would have to be one of my most anticipated albums of the year so sit back, slip your towelling dressing gown on, light some candles and away you go....

Sebastien Tellier - Pomme (From Sexuality) : Removed at labels request

Sebastien Tellier vs Vicarious Bliss - La Ritournelle (reprise) (Highly Recommended)

Sébastien Tellier, Mr Oizo & SebastiAn - Chivers As Female

Principles Of Geomoetry - A Mountain For President Feat Sebastien Tellier

LYA

ST Myspace

Buy ST Stuff

Feeling The Good Vibrations

A special stationary treat for you kids today, a guest post by good highlighter chum and chief hip hop head Jordy O, the Good Vibrations 2008 review, without further ado....

Good Vibrations 2008 started with a new venue and a fresh outfit. There was a good chance to check out a lot more festival get ups during the long walk from the entry point to the festival grounds. The hip hop heavy lineup was well represented in costume, especially from the lads. Amongst the girls, being hot was popular. I love summer festivals!

The first act that we saw was the really cool group Thievery Corporation who seemed to produce a new MC for every track. There was certainly a lot of energy coming from the stage and that was thrown back with interest by the crowd eager to get their dancing shoes warmed up for a big day ahead. It is always a good thing to see a big band jamming as there are so many things to look at throughout the set, whether it be the hand percussionist relentlessly slapping skin or the brass section adding some nice groove and intermitent stage dancing.

Thievery Corporation - Coming From the Top

From that set we wandered over to the Roots stage to see underground rap icon Pigeon John. Pigeon was very keen to get the crowd involved in the show and there were "Make some noise" and "If you hear me say ho!" comments being thrown around with almost reckless abandon. With just a DJ and a mic to help him out with his show, Pigeon John ran and bounced around the stage to put on a very memorable show. He is as funny as they come and not at all afraid to joke about his longevity/celebrity ratio. "Lemon to a Lime and a lime to a lemon/ Underground Hip Hop equals no women!" Pigeon was very kind to hand out his self proclaimed 68th and 69th copies of his new album to the Good Vibes crowd. I will definately be joining his quest to go gold in Australia.

Pigeon John - Hello Everybody

We then went back to the Good Vibrations stage (creatively named) to see Scotland's own Calvin Harris. Going from a funk laced reggae sound, to a solo MC, to an electro infused rock band highlights the range of genres at festivals these days. To be honest, it was a bit too much of a contrast for me to properly feel the vibe so to speak. Having said that, trying to leave the crowd was a very hard thing to do as the place was packed all the way back to the bar area. And once out of the sardine tin and with my ears suitably adjusted, I found myself enjoying the band a lot more. It was a good entree for things to come at the very least.

Our next big gig, after a walkabout, was The Rapture. We had a sweet spot, were well stocked with drinks and ready to rock our socks off. To my amazement, Lyrics Born came on stage to introduce the band. I couldnt believe that he was there for a start and almost felt cheated that, having been there, he wasn't performing. How could you have someone like Lyrics Born back stage and not have him grace the crowd with a set? I don't think I will ever understand it. Anyway, The Rapture was absolutely awesome! They were a highly anticipated act and they did not disappoint. "Don Gon Do It" and "Get Myself Into It" were crowd favourites that got a big sing along. The New Yorkers were a big hit.

The Rapture - Get Myself Into It

Following on the same stage was Cypress Hill. I was standing with a big Cypress fan and that made the set very enjoyable to watch. B-Real's voice and lyrical ability and Sen-Dogg's in-your-face attitude made for a great dynamic. They ran hot for their last half of the set where they came out with "Insane in the Membrane", "Hits From The Bong", "Dr. Greenthumb" back to back and "Rock Superstar" shortly after to wrap it up. They also came up with possibly the best stage prop I have ever seen, a massive inflatible gold buddah. While it was inflating, Sen-Dogg lit up a baseball bat and smoked that shit! We saw what we came to see.

We moved on to see Pharoahe Monch. I had not seen or heard him before but he came with a huge recomendation from two of my most respected opinions on all things hip hop so I was hanging out to see him perform all day. He was outstanding, a true highlight. His lyrical powers and versatility were off the heezy fo' sheezy (he has much better material than me). He looked the part too with a bid afro and a couple of guest MCs and backing singers added to a great atmosphere. I danced my little heart out.

Pharoahe Monch - Body Baby

The last act of the night was Kanye. He was a great showman and had obviously put a lot of thought into his show. I thought his sound levels were spot on and I did enjoy the set. For some reason though, I thought it fell short of a really good performance, for reasons I find hard to articulate. I think, unlike Cypress Hill, he spaced his fan favourites too far between each other and didnt keep the crowd up for long enough. It was a little bit up and down with the energy levels. However, the lights show was a really good asset to his show, and I thought his costume changes was one of the highlights of the day. What other male artist would wear three costumes on an hour and a half set? Also his neon watch was as unique as it was fantastic. Ending the show with his Daft Punk remix was the perfect finale.

Kanye West - Get 'Em High feat Talib Kewli and Mos Def

All in all it was a very enjoyable day and I cant wait for next year, I just hope Herisson Island can get a little bit more grass cover to avoid the dustbowl, but then again, it generated nostalgia about our beloved ampitheatre and this festival's former residence.

Flairs

In to my inbox floats a new couple of tracks by Englishman Lionel Flairs (sweet name), he has played bass with pretty much every musician in France.

The posted track is a little discofied electro burner which is rather cool, but much cooler is the A-Side to the single 'Better Than Prince" (unfortunately we arent allowed to post it) so you'll have to hit up his myspace and check it out. A bravado'd up, bass heavy bomb. I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from them.

Flairs - Truckers Delight

LYA

Obsessions

I just cannot get enough of these tracks at the moment.

Holy Ghost! - Hold On (Highest Recommendation)

Poni Hoax - Antibodies (Highest Recommendation)

Air France - Beach Party (High Recommendation)

Primary 1 - Hold Me Down (The Shoes Remix) (High Recommendation)

What's that? You want more from these top notch cool cats? Ok 2 more

Goblin City (Holy Ghost! Disco Dub) - Panthers

Poni Hoax - Budapest

Love Yous All

Big Weekend Out

Wowh, that was a big one. Saturday night at Shape for the DJ sets from Midnight Juggers, Battles and LCD Soundsystem, then the hot, overcrowded monstrosity that was BDO.

Bad Points:

- 15,000 too many people,

- bout 5 degrees to hot (one mate likened the people to cows following the shade outline of trees, classic!),

- and limited drink varieties to different areas of the showgrounds.

Good Points:

- Two bands that really reinforced their status as icons of the current musical generation.

1) Arcade Fire, their set was absolutely electric. You know there's lots of them but nothing can quite prepare you for the amount of people and musical paraphenalia on stage. No Cars Go was goosebumpy stuff and Rebellion was arguably my favourite song of the day.

The Arcade Fire - Broken Window

The Arcade Fire - Age of Consent (New Order Cover)

Foo Fighters - Keep The Car Running (Arcade Fire Cover)

Buy Neon Bible or Funeral

2)LCD Soundsystem, I know I have been crapping on about them a lot recently but they really were that good. Transforming pretty much every track into a live version, Murphy's voice was sounding really good and when he had a little cowbell solo I pretty much lost it.

LCD Soundsystem - No Love Lost

LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum (Onanistic Dub Mix By James Murphy and Eric Broucek)

Justin Timberlake - My Love feat LCD Soundsystem (Diplo Remix)

There are also a whole remix album of The Sound Of Silver available here which is full of cool remixes of underground producers. There are also links from here to remix albums of Chemical Brothers, Primal Scream, The Prodigy and more.

Buy Sound of Silver here

And finally I couldn't leave out some Aussie love and a group I always love to see at festivals (even though they seem to be at most these days) are The Hilltop Hoods. The boys always know how to get the crowd going and stalk the stage as well as any hip hop act i've ever seen. They also need more blog love.

Hilltop Hoods - Left Foot Right Foot

Hilltop Hoods - Full Tilt Boogie

Hilltop Hoods Dump Site - This site contains mp3s of their first two albums, no longer on CD release (for all you Hoods buffs) and some unreleased tracks and collaborations, SWEET.

Buy Hilltops Albums

Love Yous All

La Mode

La Mode are an electro trio out of Melbourne that have been doing good things in the scene as evidenced by the recent couple (here and here) of posts done about them by highlighter chums electrorash (check the posts out for a Bloc Party remix and original track). They have a quality oz-synth-electro rock sound that is going at the moment as highlighted by their commissioning by Kitsune to do a remix of Cazals 'Life Is Boring'. The boys are going places and their remix of Magnets by Germany's finest throws in a chunky bass line and some bopping cowbells (i wonder if they play them live like James Murphy?) that add to what is an already pounding track. The second track is an original that starts with a deep synthline and moves into some playful vocals and some sweet 80s fantasy samples in the middle which reminds me a tad of some wu-tang stuff which is always good. Anyway, La Mode, enjoy...

Digitalism - Magnets (La Modes Space Pirate Remix) (Left Click)

La Mode - The Curse (Left Click)

Love Yous All

Pieces Of The Ewan Pearson We Love

I'd always heard good things about Ewan Pearson and his ability to be at the front of dance music trends whether it be with his remixing skills or DJing. I know I am relatively late on this release but I bought the double CD package of his remix work entitled Piece Work (buy from Amazon or JB Hifi). It is an amazing collection of remixes from Chemical Brothers to Ladytron to Pet Shop boys and quite comfortably plays through every track when I listen to it without an urge to skip one. The two tracks posted below are a little different, The Rapture track an absolute belter, possibly my favourite remix of The Rapture I have heard. The Courtney Tidwell track is very different, for starters it clocks in at 11:57, but fear not dear readers/listeners, it is a beautiful track that develops and progresses and with Tidwell's haunting vocals over the top of it, it is an amazing track.

The Rapture - I Need Your Love [Ewan's Stay In School Mix]

Cortney Tidwell - Don't Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up [Ewan's Objects In Space Remix]

Love yous all.

Happy Australia Day!!

Just a quick one before i go out to get silly this afternoon and listen to the Hottest 100 on Triple J and be fucking pissed off when Silverchair win with Straight Lines. Anyway i've got two up and coming (sort of) Aussie artists on the opposite end of the musical scale. First are Perth local boys Red Jezebel who have been floating around the scene for almost a decade but have only really garnered enough praise for their second and latest album How I Learn't To Stop Worrying which is a blissful guitar pop-rock effort that is good for any mood.

Red Jezebel - Find Our Way Back Home

Red Jezebel - Lady Grace

Next is an electronc producer and DJ out of Brisbane and this year's number 4 DJ in the In The Mix Top 50 Tydi. 'Lost In Translation’, Tydi describes the track as “not exactly house and not exactly trance,” and it follows the success of ‘Meet Me In Kyoto’, which Tydi had signed to Armin Van Buuren’s Armada label in 2007. “While writing ‘Lost In Translation’ I met a beautiful girl from Norway named Annette who had a great voice, so I got her in the studio to improvise some vocal layers over the top,” Tydi explained, when we asked him to tell us a bit about the new track. “It’s not actual words but more ‘ooohs’ and ‘aaahs’. The result was HOT! The breakdown is long and hypnotic, it’s the kind of breakdown that sweeps you off the dancefloor and into you own little world… It builds up bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until that sexy bassline completely opens up and takes over!” It sounds like a lot of wank but the track is quite good, the other track 'I Like You Like' takes about 3 mins to kick but it's very good.

Tydi - Lost In Translation

Tydi - I Like You Like

Love yous all, happy Oz Day!!!

Big Day Out Mix Ceedee

I only recently acquired BDO tix as it kind of snuck up on me and I am poor from all the recent festival shenanigans. It's going to be crowded, 40,000 punters aye aye aye... The lineup is really good. A few clashes as always which is to be expected. Particularly looking forward to Cut Off Your Hands, Shy Child, Dizzee Rascal, Enter Shikari, Juggers, Battles, Pnau, UNKLE, Arcade Fire (FUCK YEAH!) and LCD Soundsystem (FUCK FUCK YEAH!). Without further ado the BDO Mix Ceedee. (In order of playing times)

The Dirty Secrets - Lighthouse
Cut Off Your Hands - You And I
Kate Nash - Pumpkin Soup
Shy Child - Drop The Phone
Enter Shikari - OK, Time For Plan B
Midnight Juggernauts - Raised By Wolves
Dizzee Rascal - Excuse Me Please (Live on Jools Holland)
Battles - Ddiamondd
Hilltop Hoods - The Blue Blooded
Pnau - Lover
Spoon - The Underdog
The Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
UNKLE - Burn My Shadow (ft Ian Astbury)
Silverchair - Without You
Krafty Kuts - There They Go [Acapella] Feat. Dynamite MC
Bjork - Joga
LCD Soundsystem - Time To Get Away
Rage Against The Machine - Guerilla Radio
Carl Cox - Funky Disco House

See ya there.