I’ve listened to “Pulling Our Weight” countless times. The Radio Dept is a band from Lund, Sweden (no that’s not the only reason I like them, shut up) and have been around since 1995. I saw them perform live a few years back at Hiro Ballroom at the Filter Magazine Marie Antoinette album release party along with Bow Wow Wow. They are dream-like and beautiful and everything romantic you would want in ambient music. I loved the tracks Sofia Coppola chose to complement her film and “Pulling Our Weight” was no exception.

The Radio Dept.’s next album, Clinging To A Scheme, will be officially released in March, through Labrador Records’ online store. You can glimpse some preview tracks on their MySpace in anticipation of the full release.

The Radio Dept. – Heavens On Fire

And one of my favorites off the Marie Antoinette soudtrack:

New Order – Ceremony

We recently caught Radio Soulwax’s “Part of the Weekend Never Dies” with some of our favorite friends on a calm Sunday evening – probably the worst setting to witness this magnificently chaotic documentary, in which every minute begs you to get up and dance – hard.  Soulwax is Belgium-born brothers David and Stephen Dewaele, who lead intertwining, yet separate projects known as: Soulwax and 2 Many DJs, performing live as a DJ/band experience. Part of the Weekend Never Dies follows the brothers, their band members and their fans on an epic 2006 summer tour.

Directed by Saam Farahmand and Soulwax, the film came out in 2008 and was noted by Time Out UK as: “…a testament to Soulwax’s never-ending dedication to giving their fans the most worthy ‘morning afters’ of their lives.”  I haven’t experienced them live YET but when me and KC finally encounter this bliss, I’m sure it will be addicting, to say the least.

In addition to their many projects, Soulwax are master producers with an impressive list as contributors/creators for artists including Daft Punk, LCD Soundsystem, Tiga, Gorillaz, Klaxons, Justice, Hot Chip, The Chemical Brothers, MGMT and more.

Their European tour this December is called Soulwaxmas and debuts December 11th in London (sold out both nights on the 11th & 12th) and continues the 16th-23rd in various UK cities, ending in Paris. The Soulwaxmas tour features some of our favorites including Aeroplane,  Breakbot and Boys Noize.

forthebeat’s favorite Soulwax track is called “Krack,” and what a fitting name it is…listen and fall in love:

Soulwax – Krack

“This is not a love story…it’s a story about love.”

That’s the tagline for 500 Days of Summer, a new film starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, which hit theaters this past weekend.  We happened to catch the Gen Art screening here in NYC a few weeks back, where one of the writers, Michael Weber, was on hand to introduce his film and answer questions following the screening.

All we can say is wow!  This is by far one of the best films we’ve seen in a while.

500 Days of Summer tells the story of “Boy meets girl…Boy falls in love…Girl doesn’t…in Momento,” as Weber put it.  The film jumps back and forth over the course of the 500 days the two main characters are together.  Following the film, someone in the audience asked if it was written this way, or if the “Momento-effect” was added during production.  Weber explained that it was written intentionally, to depict how one remembers a relationship.  You never remember things exactly as they happened or linearly.  Rather, memories are the result of how you choose to remember a situation.  Effects were added throughout the film to augment this, including an “Expectation vs. Reality” split screen, and a kick ass, hilarious “dream sequence” set to Hall & Oates’ “You Make My Dreams.”

We also asked a question, about the soundtrack, which is phenomenal.  Regina Spektor’s unique, sweet and haunting voice opens the film, and one of our favorite tracks is Wolfmother’s “Vagabond.”  Here’s the full track listing:

1. A Story of Boy Meets Girl – Mychael Danna and Rob Simonsen
2. Us – Regina Spektor
3. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out – The Smiths
4. Bad Kids – Black Lips
5. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want – The Smiths
6. There Goes The Fear – Doves
7. You Make My Dreams – Hall & Oates
8. Sweet Disposition – The Temper Trap
9. Quelqu’un M’a Dit – Carla Bruni
10. Mushaboom – Feist
11. Hero – Regina Spektor
12. Bookends – Simon & Garfunkel
13. Vagabond – Wolfmother
14. She’s Got You High – Mumm-Ra
15. Here Comes Your Man – Meaghan Smith
16. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want – She & Him

You’ll definitely want to pick this up, especially for the unreleased cover of The Smiths by She & Him, Zooey Deschanel’s band with M. Ward.  It’s the last track on here, but it’s not featured in the film.

xx kc