smorelectric tunes

continuing with the dj mixes, soulwax put together nearly two hours of sixty-three sort of girl-talky jams that weave in and out of each other faster than a school of fish avoiding hungry dolphins. this comp will probably make you want to mix your own favorite songs down to one track just for ease and fluidity of listening.

soulwax - 50,000,000 soulwax fans can't be wrong (2005, pw: nodata.tv)



cd1 tracklist:
1. intro (0:43)
2. david bowie - rebel rebel (soulwax edit) (4:00)
3. soulwax - e-talking (soulwax nite version) (4:15)
4. märtini brös. - big and dirty (tiga remix) (2:50)
5. thomas anderson - washing up (1:14)
6. puffy & felix - jack u (4:08)
7. bob seger & the silver bullet band - ramblin' gamblin' man (1:26)
8. whitey - y.u.h.2.b.m.2 (2:09)
9. ladytron - sugar (1:52)
10. fischerspooner - just let go (thin white duke remix) (2:17)
11. sweet light - trixx (soulwax edit) (2:49)
12. puffy & felix - 20-minute versions (2:50)
13. vitalic - valletta fanfares (0:57)
14. miss kittin - requiem for a hit (soulwax edit) (3:06)
15. simian mobile disco - the count (1:38)
16. whomadewho - satisfaction (1:52)
17. jackos - bats danse (1:30)
18. zongamin - bongo song (1:42)
19. midnight mike - hot in the kitchen (2:10)
20. hot chip - over and over (3:16)
21. ampex link (0:21)
22. beastie boys - stand together (soulwax edit) (2:29)
23. annie - chewing gum (a cappella) (0:54)
24. [unknown] vs. first it giveth (nocturnal emissions vs. queens of the stone age) (2:26)
25. ol' dirty bastard - got your money (0:54)
26. fatal error - fatal error (1:14)
27. adriano celentano - prisencolinensinainciusol (2:00)
28. the girls - zebra jeans (2:36)

cd2 tracklist:
1. intro (0:06)
2. kling klang - heavydale (0:55)
3. lcd soundsystem - daft punk is playing in my house (soulwax shibuya mix) (3:59)
4. franz and shape - countach (3:16)
5. yellow house - jack my body (1:11)
6. jersey devil social club - homage at 121 bpm (1:13)
7. tiga - louder than a bomb (2:15)
8. !!! - hello? is this thing on? (thomas' n eric's rub and tug throwdown) (1:42)
9. whitey - leave them all behind (soulwax mix) (3:28)
10. blues explosion - mars, arizona (dfa remix) (3:12)
11. tiga - move my body (3:56)
12. linus loves - night music (1:35)
13. lopazz - blood (tiefschwarz remix) (1:34)
14. static - dream it (u.s. rave mix) (0:21)
15. cubik vs. dominator (808 state vs. human resource) (5:07)
16. audion - kisses (1:30)
17. mu - paris hilton (2:00)
18. mr. oizo - flat beat (1:44)
19. ark - sucubz (mr. oizo remix) (1:51)
20. soulwax - teachers (1:46)
21. gary numan - steel and you (1:59)
22. the jimi hendrix experience - little miss lover (0:07)
23. m.i.a. - galang (0:09)
24. jay-z - 99 problems (0:24)
25. zz top - cheap sunglasses (3:15)
26. public enemy - she watch channel zero?! (0:51)
27. snoop dogg - drop it like it's hot (0:22)
28. kraftwerk - the man machine (0:14)
29. dj shadow - the number song (0:29)
30. dutch breaks - full block (0:22)
31. ronnie james dio - dream diver (1:42)
32. the animals - a girl named sandals (1:35)
33. the chemical brothers - galvanize (0:23)
34. dizzee rascal - fix up look sharp (0:20)
35. db - future now (2:25)

madlib - beat konducta (vol. 5-6)



fantastic tribute to dilla recommended by avey tare. 'nuff said.

madlib - infinity sound (never ending) (vol. 5)
madlib - anthenagin' (?) (vol. 5)
madlib - first class (the best catalogue) (vol. 6)
madlib - smoked out (green blaze subliminal sounds) (vol. 6)
madlib - show me the good life (chip stack) (vol. 6)
madlib - smoke interlude (hawaiian punch) (vol 6)

toro y moi - causers of this (2010)



chill-wave.

toro y moi - lissoms
toro y moi - causers of this

omar rodriguez-lopez - solar gambling (2009)



dude from mars volta. solar gambling literally screams of the energy and intensity that comprises the former. i picked this up for the album art and thoroughly enjoyed parts of the record. if i were a hardcore mars volta van i'd probably love this a lot more. either way, it's worth hearing/feeling.

omar rodriguez-lopez - un buitre amable me pico
omar rodriguez-lopez - miel del ojo

related: the mars volta - frances the mute (2005)



the mars volta - l'via l'viaquez

sort of related: spoon - gimme fiction (2005)



spoon - the two sides of monsieur valentine







fader media collaborated with animal collective on their latest mag. this issue includes noah lennox interviewing eric copeland of black dice and brian weitz interviewing cast members from the state, among many other ac-related goodies, including music, film and art. the mag is fully and freely downloadable here in print and here as a beautifully mixed audio playlist starting with an abby portner jam that segues into what would i want? sky, which in turn morphs into black dice's earnings plus interest. so on and so forth for 45+ minutes, including the new panda bear/pantha du prince track, the splendour. this production offers an amazing recent insight to the band and the current goings-on of its affiliated, artsy compadres. this is super duper bluper highly recommended, especially if you dig ac.

related: here is an old pitchfork interview with a pre-feels animal collective from 2003.



there is so much life-affirming music out there. you should experience it.

much love

headphones times! rounding out december, eeking in my last picks for music we like--and music i affirmatively love very much--before the year ends.

four tet - much love to the plastic people



mexcellent new mix from four tet, set to release his upcoming there is love in you in late january. just over 78 minutes of reasonably moving music from what is, perhaps, plastic people's favorite man at the helm of a set of turntables. what starts out as a compilation of four tetty dancefloor jams relaxes into some truly fonkay jazzy and tropically inspired afro tunes. this mix is perfect for starting out in a certain headspace and ending up in a completely different, albeit wholly pleasant, mindset.

related: burial/four tet - wolf cub/moth



i listen to this pretty much every night on the way home from work as the clock nears midnight. sharp, invisible, complex beats that skate on thin ice and keep me conscious enough to speed over it with them.

four tet/burial - moth

also: white rainbow - new clouds



upward dripping, otherworldly elements floating up into the ether and bumping each other harmoniously along the way, melding and morphing into sonic dreamscapes. bottoming out at twelve minutes and topping out at over twenty, new clouds will please and ease your unwinding mind. mmmm.

white rainbow - tuesday rollers and strollers

with special guest: washed out - fantastic symphony mix



twenty-some minutes of music like a sunset.

1. arch m – bedrm band at caf nva (edit)
2. the samps – magnetic thys
3. samiyam – wrap up
4. toro Y Moi – brubek
5. koushik – homage
6. osborne – afrika (bullion remix)
7. iasos – inter-dimentional music
8. jack nitzsche – untitled (edit)
9. the khalsa string band – song of bliss

bonnaroo is in six months

yesssssss bonnaroo 2010 yessssssssssssss.



las grecas - gipsy rock (1974)




las grecas - la zarzamora
las grecas - asingara

soul jazz records presents: tropicalia - a brazilian revolution in sound


soul jazz records can do no wrong. every compilation they put out is phenomenal and chock full of completely unheard of, incredible songs from around the world. this comp is full of scratchy, sharp guitars and brillo paddy horns ranging from ultra soft to wholly assertive. soaring brazilian vocals. super duper highly recommended for people who enjoy music.

os mutantes - a minha menina
gilberto gil & os mutantes - domingo no parque
caetano veloso - alfômega

black dice - repo (2009)


on repeat. textures, textures, textures. sounds a lot like the album art looks, and i picked it up in amoeba because it caught my eye and i'd been meaning to give black dice another serious go around in my headspace since hearing two excellent compilations featuring their music.* the more you get into this album, the more it gets into you. repo is sort of the aural equivalent of putting all kinds of toys, children's or otherwise, into a garbage compactor and squeezing it out of a massive playdough extruder.

black dice - glazin
black dice - earnings plus interest
black dice - vegetable



*black dice - pigpen (from the ultrafluid two-part living bridge comp; pigpen is also on black dice's load blown, released in 2007)

other notables on living bridge (2008):
avey tare - i'm your eagle kisser
telepathe - i can't stand it
fischerspooner - amuse bouche



*black dice - trip dude delay (from hisham bharoocha's they keep me smiling... compilation, released april of 2004. the above image is not the album art as drawn by hisham, but it conveys his similarly happy, confused, bubbly vein of collage/line art. zang.)

other notables on they keep me smiling...:
gang gang dance - rugs of prayer
animal collective - the kite
delia gonzalez & gavin russom - relevee
tes - it's like dat

dreamweapon

spacemen 3 - dreamweapon (1988)







spacemen 3 - ecstasy in slow motion

planetary scientist carolyn porco shows images from the cassini voyage to saturn, focusing on its largest moon, titan, and on frozen enceladus, which seems to shoot jets of ice.



brightblack morning light - s/t (2006)



brightblack morning light - everybody daylight
brightblack morning light - star blanket river child

with new data from the keck telescopes, andrea ghez shows how state-of-the-art adaptive optics are helping astronomers understand our universe's most mysterious objects: black holes. she shares evidence that a supermassive black hole may be lurking at the center of the milky way.

turkey cacciatore

for $2
i could make you a minister

various artists

kurt vile - childish prodigy


like a one-man white denim on xanax. electric, atmospheric, grungy, haze that glimmers in a shiny sheen over my neurons at nighttime. good for long solo drives. at nighttime.

kurt vile - dead alive
kurt vile - freak train
kurt vile - blackberry song
kurt vile - amplifier

kid congo & the pink monkey birds - dracula boots


this record sounds like a half-hearted grunge-cabaret joke for the first few songs, but segues into a seriously crazy psychedelic grunge-cabaret face melter. the lyrics abruptly stop and the musicmakers jam the f out for the rest of the tunes. i get the feeling this album was recorded in one go. beginning where it gets good:

kid congo & the pink monkey birds - black santa
kid congo & the pink monkey birds - pumpkin pie
kid congo & the pink monkey birds - rare as the yeti
kid congo & the pink monkey birds - kris kringle ju ju

beck - record club: the velvet underground & nico (1967)


beck - run run run
beck - all tomorrow's parties (feat. thorunn magnusdottir)
beck - i'll be your mirror
beck - european son

various artists - strike 100



totally self-explanatory. the music is two hours of fluid sonics delineating the album art.

johnny cash - i heard the lonesome whistle blow (apparat remix)
jan jelineck - happening tone
peter grummich - solarain
anders ilar - 1003 lullabies

fall be kind

animal collective - fall be kind ep





headphones.

animal collective - what would i want? sky
animal collective - on a highway

pensando enti/brindo

pensando, cada día, cada hora
pensando enti
caminando, mi cesta llena de moras
son para ti
temprano, por la tarde, por la noche
sueño de ti

devendra banhart - pensando enti

no pienso enti
solo te siento
pasando por me
como un dulce viento

devendra banhart - brindo

what will we be

heard this playing in amoeba, apparently the guy is from california. when it came on the speakers, i thought, "wow, this sounds like a follow-up to windsurf's 'coastlines.'" according to his myspace thing, it is indeed the same bloke that makes this music. it seems that hatchback + sorcerer = windsurf. how about that. a simple lil' equation for ya.

sorcerer - neon leon


sorcerer - algorhythm
sorcerer - chemise
sorcerer - el condor
hatchback - closer to forever
hatchback - white diamond
windsurf - pocket check
windsurf - future warriors

gaslamp killer is another amoeba pick. this guy is also making music in california; more specifically, he's located somewhere around los angeles. more good mashup sampling and dark mixing styles happening here. "all killer" is one track yielding just under an hour of music that will make your head nod affirmatively. "hell and the lake of fire" is broken into five tracks and runs like a precursor to his newer stuff. not quite as fluid, but choppy beatmaking has its place, too.

the gaslamp killer - all killer


the gaslamp killer - hell and the lake of fire are waiting for you


the gaslamp killer - part 3


5: 5 years of hyperdub (cd 1)


black chow - purple smoke
quarta 330 - bleeps from outer space
zomby - tarantula

5: 5 years of hyperdub (cd 2))


burial - south london boroughs
burial - distant lights

on a radically brighter note: ralfi pagan knows what's up. he will get your hips a'shakin', and may lure you into his bedroom if you're not paying close attention to his flouncing ways.

ralfi pagan - with love (1972)


ralfi pagan - mi chamaco
ralfi pagan - to say i love you
ralfi pagan - make it with you

closely related: michael ian black - captain's blog

been waiting on the new devendra for a while now. it does not disappoint. his music always speaks for itself, whether it's intolerably goofy or intolerably heart wrenching. i like a singing guitarist who's in touch with more than just his emotions, and devendra covers that base with grace. this has been on repeat since i acquired it last week. "what will we be" holds my attention longer than his previous "smokey rolls down thunder canyon." the latter is very scatterbrained and hops from one theme to the next and across disparate genres at the drop of a hat. it's a fun listen, but doesn't hold my attention from start to finish on a standard run-through. this new album feels like a longer, more focused glimpse into a slightly more experienced devendra, if not a more mature banhart. at the end of the day, i just enjoy the muck out of the noise made by devendra & co. i've yet to be significantly disappointed by anything he's piloted.

devendra banhart - what will we be


though every song is legit dy-no-mite, and one link in an unbreakable devendralbum chain, here are SOME standouts:

devendra banhart - angelika, this guy's getting into the habit of weaving differently shaped and sized themes through a commonly threaded song, and i approve wholeheartedly. "la lágrima en tu corazón / suéltala, suéltala, mi amor." devendra comforts me poetically and bilingually.

devendra banhart - chin chin & muck muck, one of the goofier tracks on the album, this song sings like a story of two hyperstrange friends who are perfect for one another. any tune that analogizes thoughts with hairs on a wild boar's head (and continues the conceit over multiple verses) is a friend to me.

devendra banhart - rats, this record's seahorse.

devendra banhart - walilamdzi, listening to this song is to contemplate devendra's most powerfully delicate composition since korean dogwood. it takes my mind to another place, and it's so lush with soft beauty that i never want to leave.

kooza

yessssss.

radiohead - the trickster (*pwing*)
quiet village - circus of horrors

ricardo

matthew mcconaughey
explains to his friend rich
that he forgot his dr. pepper.
by dede preno

(1/18/07)

rich. my friend. mi amigo. i must, say at this moment. that i—have forgotten your soda.

this is not a story of hardship. this is a story of loss; it is a story of remorse. you may ask yourself, was the weight of the responsibility of picking up wendy's in time for heroes a burden on my shoulders? or was the responsibility of picking up wendy's a weight for us all? i did not know if it would be a weight. i believe this was not a weight. everyone had their heads and hearts in the right place. i went through the drive-through purely. asking not about the 99-cent menu, but personally as matthew mcconaughey about the jalapeño cheddar double melt. some characters walk through first with their chin, some with their chest, some with their shoulder. i walk with the heart and mind aligned first through that door. although that door for me was at the second window. all right.

now, ricardo. you may think, in the deep recesses of your mind, your heart, your soul, did this man that is i become thirsty? did i become enslaved by thirst so that i consumed your frosty beverage? no, i feel that the dr. pepper consumed me. that there is a great freedom in allowing oneself to become consumed by commercial soft drinks. as well. by, the fast-food industry itself.

continue...or else.

--
been listening to a lot of kaki king lately.



kaki king - night after sidewalk
kaki king - the exhibition
kaki king - the government



kaki king - ingots
kaki king - doing the wrong thing
kaki king - nails



kaki king - gay sons of lesbian mothers

nocturnal wonderland

holy krishna.


day bug from 2009's burning man


filled with dancing people at night


many lighted setup


CUBITRON. giant light installation comprising a grid of roughly twelve million golf ball-sized, independently controlled bulbs syncing to the music.


people crowded under and around it for hours


amazing


amaaaaaazing.


belanterned palm trees


burning women


costumed people roaming all around the festival grounds


spinning flower fire/ heart fire


night bug, with proboscises firing in rhythm to the music


the lake


that sacred night, where we watched the fireworks explode at random times throughout the night


resting by the lake, watchin' the cubitron


end of the festival, last glimpse of the lightgrid

this festival was a glimpse into an entirely different world filled with intense music, lights, dream characters, and joy. comparing it to bonnaroo wouldn't do it justice, and comparing bonnaroo to nocturnal wouldn't suffice, either. just implausibly grand. it was actually this much fun, minus the final frame: