“Live Progressive Breakbeat House”

The New Deal: I  can still listen to their albums from start to finish over and over without ever getting sick of them. Receiver was released in 2001 as TND’s first EP and was deemed, appropriately, as progressive. The title track revolves around a message left on lead singer Dan’s machine notifying him of being fired and ineligible for  the 1 year severance package, since he was 8 days short, having worked 357 days. A self titled album supplemented the EP later that year and the second most notable album from the band was 2003’s  Gone Gone Gone.

I’ve seen the band live over 15 times from Berkfest to a castle in upstate New York to Bowery Ballroom, all memorable and incredible shows.

They recently played Brooklyn Bowl and I was “too tired” to go- I’m an idiot. Anyways, some side projects have evolved from the three piece including The Join and Dragonette :

Dragonette remix below to add to your playlist:

Dragonette – Easy (Fabian Remix)

But nothing’s quite like the original:

There’s a New Cut Copy Song

Take my hand if you know where I’m going to…

There’s a New Cut Copy song…!!! It’s called “Where I’m Going.” After waiting patiently with our hands clasped in our laps after In Ghost Colors lit up our worlds in 2008, finally there’s some new material to keep us going until the next album officially comes out in 2011.

Cut Copy plays Brooklyn on August 8th, at the free Jelly NYC Pool Party with Memory Tapes, Glasser and Restless People starting at 2 pm, curated by their label, Modular.

We’re thankful they are releasing some singles beforehand to keep us going before the album release. An old favorite and the new one. I dare you to sit still while listening…

Cut Copy- Where I’m Going

Cut Copy- Hearts on Fire

You can download it from the Cut Copy website; sign up via e-mail and download “Where I’m Going” @ cutcopy.net

White Hinterland and Neon Indian

White Hinterland is Casey Dienel and Shawn Creeden, whose most recent album Kairos was released earlier this year.  If you don’t recognize the band name, you will recognize the songs and Dienel’s beautiful voice.  Promise.

The two have done a really great job of building buzz by slowly releasing tracks and accompanying videos, and most recently, covering Neon Indian’s “6669 (I Don’t Know If You Know).”  While I love White Hinterland’s musical aesthetic with many layers and textures and Dienel’s confident but breezy voice, I’m not a huge fan of this cover.  But I am a fan of their original material, as well as the Neon Indian song in it’s original form.  So listen to the tracks below, and if you want to hear the cover, head over here.

White Hinterland – Icarus

Neon Indian – 6669 (I Don’t Know If You Know)

New Keepaway Track

Listen to this song when your toes are in the sand.  You are drinking a Mai Tai.  Or it’s a balmy Friday afternoon in NYC and you need to get the F out of work.

I first saw Keepaway at Zebulon a few months back, and it was magical.  Frank beat the $hit out of the drums, Mike provided beats that one can only craft while wearing some extreme neckwear, and Nick’s blonde locks looked like they were caught in a breeze coming from an imaginary fan.  There was also a guy in the crowd who kept running up to slam the cymbals with his hands.  He might have been my favorite.

Well that was a fun night, but then I caught Keepaway at Brooklyn Bowl during the Northside Festival showcase thrown by FREEwilliamsburg, and I was blown away.  I thought they were good the first time I saw them, but man did they kill it that night.  Want to hear for yourself?  NYC Taper recorded the whole set, which you can download HERE.

The band is playing a few local shows here and there this summer while recording their full length, so sorry the rest of America.  However, when they hit the road, be sure you are there to catch them live.  I would definitely place their Brooklyn Bowl show among my Top 5 best performances of the summer thus far.

Here’s the latest from the trio:

Keepaway – 100

Walter Sobcek –> Part Deux

I’ve been a fan of Walter Sobcek for awhile now. He was one of my favorite little Parisian discoveries and I will stick with him 4life. His remixes and originals are fantastic, check out his Phoenix 1901 remix but what is even better is his original track, “Traci’s Party” which I absolutely love. His new tune is a cover of Hall and Oates “She´s Gone”.  While I love the tune, I love the video Walter did even more.

The video is set to the John Hughes 1991 film Career Opportunities, whose tagline is He took the job that no one wanted…and got the girl that everyone did, which fits into Walter’s world perfectly.* This video is a truly entertaining match to the beat Walter perfects himself.

Walter Sobcek – She´s Gone from Walter Sobcek on Vimeo.

Walter Sobcek – She’s Gone

*If you don’t know Walter’s story, it’s simple: Walter Sobcek is a man. He likes girls like Traci Lords or Marilyn Jess. However, he is in love with Chelsea. A 20 year old girl. She is blonde. She is beautiful. She left him. To forget her, Walter also left.

New Artist: The Young Maths

This week punk must be pumpin in our veins, yesterday with Juiceboxxx and today with…

The Young Maths. The Young Maths are 4 guys from McAllen, TX. The Photon God likes them and we like The Photon God so we gave it a listen, liked it a lot, and then came the interview…

When did your EP come out and what song are you most excited about?

The EP was released on May 15th but we’re currently in the studio working on our next EP, hoping to release it late August. We’re most excited about the reaction that “fingered on the dance floor” will receive. *(Fingered on the Dancefloor!!! WOW)

What was the best show The Young Maths ever played and why?

Our EP release show was amazing.  We played on the floor of an art studio owned by a sculptor. There was no A/C and the floor was spotted with dried  clumps of clay and dust.  It also helped that fans filled the entire floor, crowding around bronze sculptures of god-like figures and animals made of stone.

What color would describe your band’s aura?

Each song / EP has a different mood.  I’ve always felt the EP, Thank you, Goodnight! sounds like night-club spot light lights smothered by a the smoke of a cheap fog machine.

What’s the most shameful song on your ipod?

The most ’shameful’ song on my ipod is probably “the boy is mine” by Brandy & Monica. Except i’m kidding; I love that song.

Stream the entire high energy EP here. The Young Maths will also be touring throughout Texas + Louisiana this August with Dignan, an indie band also based out of McAllen, TX.

Make sure to check out Sheets, and The Science...Body Bags here:

The Young Maths – Body Bags

New Artist: Juiceboxxx

I call forthebeat’s KC juicebox so when I found Juiceboxxx I was really curious.

Juiceboxx is a rapper from Milwaukee, whose sound is hip hop and dance.  But if you see him live, it’s more like a loud chaotic punk show; Pictureplane described it as “personal cathartic releases that sometimes make people feel uncomfortable and awkward,” which coming from Pictureplane, I find interesting…

He’s been in different punk and hip hop projects since he’s 15 and in 2005 released “R U There God?? Itz Me Juiceboxxx,” which is just a perfect name really. The new mixtape is called “Thunder Zone Volume One” and you can get it off his website. The video below is for 100 MPH and it’s mesmerizing, from his unnerving stare into the camera to the forest shots to the girls ending at the diner stuffing their faces with hamburgers, I love every second of it.  I’ve listened to the original and a bunch of different remixes, the AC Slater one is the best.

Watch the video below and stream the track for a repeat.

Juiceboxxx – 100 MPH (AC Slater Remix) from Scion A/V on Vimeo.

Juiceboxxx – 100 MPH (AC Slater Remix)

Friday Jam: Tanlines

I was listening to Tanlines today and realized that we’ve never had a dedicated post on them – so today is your lucky day, Tanlines.

This Brooklyn duo comprised of Jesse Cohen (drums, music) and Eric Emm (guitar, vocals) barely need an introduction.  I first fell in love when I heard their remix of the Glasser song “Apply.”  They are one of those groups that are as well known and influential for their production re-workings as they are for their original material – evidenced by the fact that they have fully infiltrated the scene with only a few singles and an EP.

Here’s a little summer jam for you – happy weekend!

Tanlines – Real Life

Le Miel du Mois: Juillet

Et Musique Pour Tous publishes my monthly mixtape at the 1st of each month. The mixtape is available to stream as individual tracks or you can download the entire 1 hour mix to your ipod as one track.

A fan of the tapes described one of the summer mixes of ‘09 like this: “it’s like dancing around the edge of a pool late night with a drink and a cigarette and oversized t-shirts and sometimes getting pushed in and you never remember the photos that get taken but you laugh the whole time,” I hope you’ll agree the 2010 Le Miel du Mois summer tapes envokes the same. The picture above is from Polock, Valencia based band that just released their EP. Definitely one to check out if you haven’t already; another is Baby Jazz (Elgin Braden of Aux Arc and Sam Cooper of Sunglasses) with the opening track “The Song for the Season” with lyrics including “Yes, its Christmas time” I knew this was a perfect opener for the July mix… Happy Independence Month.

Two Door Cinema Club – What You Know (LightsoverLA Remix)

Charlotte Gainsbourg – Time of the Assasins (XXXChange Remix)

Full track list and listen here.

Yawn is a band

A little tribal and a lot sunny, Yawn is Chicago-based foursome Adam, Daniel, Jorge and Sam.  They remind me a bit of Fool’s Gold with their African-inspired beats and harmonies that make you want to move around — even when you’re listening to your iPod on the subway with a bunch of people sitting next to you, who all think you’re weird because you’re twitching – but really you’re just stifling your dance moves.

The story of Yawn goes like this…

There were a bunch of guys in a band called Metrovox, but after a few switch-ups and re-groupings, Yawn was born.  They played a festival in Europe, hired a some expensive producers, and spent all their money.  So going forward, they decided that everything worth doing was worth doing themselves.  This lead to the DIY recording, producing and releasing of their self-titled, debut EP.  And you guessed it, you can download it for free here and the remix album here – no, you’re not crazy, they are both at the same spot on the internets.  In March, they played the Fader Fort at SXSW, started to receive a bunch of critical acclaim, which brings us to this…

A definite summer jam; get this on your next pool or roof party mix:

Yawn – Kind Of Guy

Coming up, YAWN are playing a Pitchfork Festival after-party with Local Natives in Chicago before heading out for a few East Coast dates, one of which will bring them to Bowery Ballroom in NYC on July 20^th.  If you can’t make it to a show, just watch this video over and over again.  Yes, this suffices as a substitute for their live show.  And if the live show was anything like this video, it would be the greatest night of your life.  Unfortunately, this just isn’t real.  (Sit tight through the first minute or so…)

YAWN – Kind Of Guy from Druid Beat on Vimeo.