Not Pretty, Still Vacant.

December 9th, 2010

Fucking hipsters man…

I hinted upon this on my last post. I went to the Girl Talk show in Pittsburgh this Saturday. And while I had a blast at the show. Something struck me a bit…odd about the crowd.

Allow me to list some of the fashion decisions I saw first hand

  • Pink sequin dress with dayglo fanny pack
  • TWO white men dressed like Michael Jackson circa Beat It.
  • A woman rocking a full on Native American headdress
  • JEGGINGS EVERYWHERE
  • Fat men with sports glasses and bushy, unkempt beards (thanks, Dan Deacon)
  • Cute girls wearing sports goggles
  • Short gym shorts on men (also, its fucking COLD here)
  • A green suit guy
  • A man dressed as a banana
  • Two girls rocking full geisha wear

Okay, that’s it. I officially do not “get it” anymore. I’m old. I do not understand what is going on. Why the hell are these kids dressing up in clothes that are intentionally ugly as hell and in most cases, not at all flattering (jeggings notwithstanding) ? I think I know. Its the fucking hipsters man. They’re ruining it for everyone.

There’s been much debate over what qualifies a “hipster” these days. Some people think all you need to be a hipster is a love of ultra-obscure indie bands, but I think that has almost nothing to do with it – at least with the hipsters that annoy me.

Hipsters today…they don’t seem to really care about, or really love, anything. Everything is a joke or a show. Nothing is authentic. They’re pop culture tourists, grabbing snippets of things here and there for their own shallow needs. Some hipster kid sees Heavy Metal Parking Lot, so he downloads some Dokken and buys a cheap denim jacket. A hipster chick sees a Siouxsie and Banshees video so she decides that the Indian headress look is hot this year. Michael Jackson dies, so now everyone is a die-hard MJ fan again, and simply must have a vintage Beat It jacket. The don’t know anything about what they are cribbing from, other than that they think it might make them look uncool in the way that matters the most.

Remember back in the 90s when everyone wore inconspicuous thin-framed glasses? Then Weezer got cool again, and kids started rocking the thick frames like Rivers Cuomo (I’m sure there was more to it than just Rivers, but that’s the only example I can think of off the top of my head). They were so “uncool” they became cool.

Well, they’re no longer fake-uncool, they’re straight-up cool. So now hipsters are rocking aviator frames and sports goggles! Two of the most uncomfortable and disgustingly ugly forms of eye-wear ever devised by man! Just in an effort to be intetionally uncool in a way that might make them seem cool! What’s next? Monocles?

You combine this intentional “uncool” with the casual appreciation with things like 80s culture and vintage fashion, and that’s how a normally cute girl ends up wearing pink sequins, a turquoise blouse with shoulder pads and rocking a fannypack with neon highlights, looking like she was dressed by kids on the special ed bus.

But whatever, fashion has always been moronic, now its just ironically moronic. I can deal with that. The shit that really gets me pissed is the bullshit fake interest in everything. The appropriation of shit I love (80s music and fashion) into knock-off, intentionally “ironic” bullshit.  That’s how you get asshole fake retro-sounding bands like Owl City. Its not like these assholes are really appreciating this stuff, they’re just faking it. Pretending that they think its cool because other people told them that it might be someday. When its runs its course they just sell it all back to the thrift store they found it from and move on.

They kill culture, sucking up all relevance it had and turning into a joke, something they can ironically mock in a pseudo self-referential way while sipping PBR and listening to Broken Social Scene. They ruin it for everyone. Because after the hipsters make their way through a subculture or music scene, anyone who had any actual real interest in it goes away, terrified that they might be mistaken for one of those soulless asshats.

I’m just dreading when they move onto grunge rock (I’m already seeing the flannel look come back). I wonder if they’ll bother with other 90s music trends. Where’s the love for horrible 90s pop music? That’s it, I’m calling it – get ready for the big Jesus Jones revival in 2012!

Erasure
 Oh L’Amour (Tin Tin Out Mix)
Oh L’Amour (Matt Darey Mix)
Solsbury Hill (Manhattan Clique Extended Remix)
The Erasure love continues! Quick disclaimer though, the “Tin Tin Out Mix” is slightly messed up. There’s a very small skip in the middle of the song I could not fix, and the very last note skips once. I couldn’t fix that either. But neither gaff is really worth worrying about. Besides, the “Matt Darey Mix” is much better, and any version of Erasure’s cover of “Solsbury Hill” trumps them all.

Praga Khan
 Love (Insider Remix)
The Moon (C.S. Johansen Remix)
Love (Dan Maze Remix)
Praga Khan’s real name is Maurice. If my name was Maurice, I’d bastardize Chaka Khan’s name for my own personal gain as well. These are from the 12” single to “Love.”

Muse
Super Massive Black Hole (Phones Control Voltage Mix)
Songs about interstellar phenomenon should not be this sexy. From a bootleg 12” called “Indie Rock n Roll Remixed.”

Posted in Erasure, Muse, Praga Khan, rant, remixes | 12 Comments »

Although now that I think about it “Love Missile” sounds gross…

December 7th, 2010

Saw Girl Talk this weekend. Amazing show…odd people in attendance. Expect a full review later this week.

Right now its pushing 1AM, I have a ton of work to do and I’m tired, so I’m keeping this brief. I think the quality of tunes will make up for it though!

Erasure
Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) (Manhattan Clique Extended Mix)
Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) (Dan Frampton Radio Mix)
I bought many (many) Erasure 12” singles in Portland. Almost all at 2nd Avenue Records, which was very odd considering most of the stuff in that place was hip hop or punk rock. I was thinking of posting them all at once (making the most FABULOUS blog post ever) but I thought I’d draw it out a bit. I don’t know if my blog can take that music fabulousness at once and survive.

Sigue Sigue Sputnik
 Love Missile F1-11 (Extended Version)
Love Missile F1-11 (Dance Version)
Love Missile F1-11 (Single Version)
Oh hell yeah. I have been looking for this single for years! This totally made the trip to Oregon worth it. Well, that and seeing my family for Thanksgiving.  I love this song so much. It’s just everything great, new, weird, wonderful and stupid as hell about the 80s all in one song, which really makes sense when you find out that Giorgio Moroder produced the track. I own both Sigue Sigue Sputnik’s 80s albums, but nothing on any of them comes close to their remixes, especially the dance mix of this track and the various remixes of “Sex Bomb Boogie” and “Success!” I’ll have to dig those singles out and re-record them. I recorded those back when my turntable was only doing shit in mono. I’m sure they sound great in stereo. For those of you who may not know,  Tony James of the Sigue is now working with Mick Jones of The Clash/B.A.D. under the name Carbon/Silicon and they make wonderfully bizarre pop music together. Check them out.

Pigeonhead
 Battleflag (Lo Fidelity Allstars Remix)
Battleflag (Biopod Mix)
I did not know that Pigeonhead was a band until about 48 hours ago when I looked them up. I always assumed it was a dude who worked with the Lo-Fidelity Allstars. I’m even more surprised that Pigeonhead was an American band! From Seattle! During the 90s grunge boom! The wonders never cease. The Low-Fiedelity Allstars remix was eventually remixed even more and put on that band’s debut album. This version is not the same as that one, it especially diverges near the end. The Biopod Mix actually kind of…sucks, but is worth listening to so you can see how to NOT remix a track with an amazing vocal performance. Rule number 1, don’t bury the lead under stupid distortion effects.

Posted in Erasure, Lo Fidelity Allstars, Pigeonhead, remixes, Sigue Sigue Sputnik | 4 Comments »

Jack White is a Hypocrite and an Idiot

December 2nd, 2010

Man, and I almost thought I had nothing to talk about today.

Jack White (of The White Stripes, Raconteurs, Dead Weather…I’m sure I’m forgetting something) has his own label called Third Man Records. Jack White likes to release limited edition records through Third Man. Really limited, like 500 copies only limited.  In addition to that, there is also The Vault, a PAID member service that gets access to exclusive member-only vinyl.

All combined, that’s a lot of limited edition records for not a lot of people. So there’s a huge secondary market for Third Man limiteds. I’ve seen some get close to a grand on eBay. It’s annoying of course, but when dealing with ultra-rare limited edition records, it’s the name of the game.

Oh, but Jack White won’t have none of that. He considers that “flipping” and its a rip off of the fans! Jerk flippers (aka really good Capitalists) are taking records out of fans hands and selling them at jacked up prices on eBay right after they come out! Jack doesn’t like that at all! But not because it’s a rip off to the fans, but because he’s not making that money himself.

Now Jack is apparently selling limited editions records on eBay auctions. Skipping the whole middle man and flipping them himself.

Fuck you man.

The coverage of this on Antiquiet and Pitchfork hasn’t really touched the main issue, which is Jack White’ hypocrisy. A hypocrisy that became pretty damn apparent when Jack White went to the message boards and chat rooms of The Vault after the fans there nearly revolted. At one point he said “why should ebay flippers, who are not real fans, dictate the price, make all the profit”?

Well Jack, maybe because you encouraged them to do so?

From The Vault FAQ

“Why Should I Spend My Hard-Earned Money With you?”

Good question. In 2001 The White Stripes were featured in the Sub Pop Singles Club. It was a subscription-only service where the lucky subscriber received a 7” every month for a very reasonable price. A six-month subscription in 2001 would have cost you $35. The White Stripes’ Sub Pop single on Sub Pop now consistently sells for $250 on reputable online auction sites.

We hope you want to subscribe to our service because you’re a die-hard fan of the music comic out of Third Man. Even if you are not. It would at least be an investment plan far more reliable than Wall Street.

So Jack White wants you to buy the records as an investment…but never sell them. At least, not sell them right away, when he could be making that money.

Jack further ranted (in all lowercase), “don’t want a split colored limited edition record? then guess what? don’t buy one. don’t want them to be expensive? then guess what? don’t WANT them. it’s you and others wanting them that dictates the price and the entire nature of the idea.”

Once again, from The Vault FAQ

“I Want to Have a Copy of Everything Third Man Ever Releases…”

I’ll stop you rigth there Holmes. If you are one of those nuts (and believe me, we at Third Man are all those nuts too) who pays attention to every little detail of every record that you ever buy and keep a mental checklist of catalog numbers, then you have to subscribe to this club. Our numbering system will be inclusive of each of these Vault releases. You no subscribe to The Vault. You no have the complete run of Third Man Product.

This shows Jack White’s hypocrisy in two separate ways. First he tells why we should want his product, and then tells us that if we dont want to pay that much not to WANT it (as if that’s something you can turn off and on). Then He says that if you want every Third Man release then you HAVE to join The Vault to get them, but these auctions on eBay are public auctions, meaning that ANYONE can get the records, provided they have the cash.

So Jack, speaking as a longtime fan of The White Stripes, fuck you. Fuck your hypocrisy. Fuck your manufactured rarity. Fuck your bullshit indignation at people who are only doing what you want them to. Fuck your stupid overpriced records that you have to crack open in order to buy, and fuck your bullshit faux-down-home country lifestyle. You’re from Detroit  you prick.

Now here are some songs from records I paid less than $20 each for.

Madonna
Die Another Day (Dirty Vegas Main Mix)
Die Another Day (Thunderpuss Club Mix)
Die Another Day (Thee RetroLectro Mix)
Die Another Day (Deepsky Remix)
Die Another Day (Dirty Vegas Dub)
This is one of Madonna’s lesser tracks, but I still enjoy it. I’ll be honest though, I never saw the movie it was named after. The last Bond movie I saw was “The World Is Not Enough.” And yes, I am one of five people in the world who liked that silly mess of a movie. It also had a great song of course, but that’s not the focus here. These remixes vary. The best is the “Thee RetroLectro Mix,” which was by Felix Da Housecat. Although, I’m a huge fan of Felix Da Housecat, so maybe I’m a bit biased. The “Ditry Vegas” mixes are good, but like all things Dirty Vegas, they are also kind of boring.

Tori Amos
 Professional Widow (Armand’s Star Trunk Funkin Mix)
Professional Widow (Just Da Funk Dub)
Professional Widow (MK Mix)
Professional Widow (MK Vampire Dub)
I was really digging these remixes for a while. So much that I decided to revisit the original version of Professional Widow for the first time in probably a decade or so (man I’m old). After being reminded just how amazing the original version is, I ended up liking these remixes a lot less to honest. All the anger and intensity of the original is taken out of these mixes. Instead random snippets of Tori going “it’s gotta be big” and “suck it” turn it into a tarted up song about size queens. Oh well. They’re still good remixes. These are all from a 12” single. The “Star Trunk Funkin Mix” is on the Piano collection that Tori put out a few years ago, but this is the longer, unedited version.

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »

A Madonna Amos Mashup Waiting To Happen

December 1st, 2010

And so it begins.

I got two massive boxes in the mail today. They contained the 50+ records I bought in Oregon over Thanksgiving. I knew that was a lot of records, but seeing them piled up next to my feet right now (on top of the 8 billion other records I have yet to record) really drives the point of I have a lot of damn records in my home.

I’ve barely scratched the surface with them. I recorded three today, I had too much music to listen to for my actual job(s). I fear this pile will sit next to me forever. Although a lot of them are 12” singles, and those obviously take less time to record than, oh, lets say a collection of early 80s German electronic music (spoiler – that album is AMAZING).

Madonna
Hung Up (SDP Extended Vocal)
Hung Up (Bill Hamel Remix)
Hung Up (SDP Extended Dub)
Hung Up (Chus & Ceballos Remix)
Hung Up (Tracy Young’s Get Up And Dance Groove)
I bought this 2×12” single at 2nd Avenue Records in Portalnd. To further illustrate my previous point about their odd pricing, this two LP set cost 10 bucks, while their Bjork 12” singles cost 25 bucks! Why? Sure, I guess Bjork has a following, but not a $25 worth following. I’m not knocking the store (that much), it’s a great place. But someone needs to even out their pricing big time.

These remixes kick ass. Of course, that’s not that surprising because “Hung Up” is totally one of the best songs ever. The best use of ABBA in history.

Tori Amos
 Jackie’s Strength (Wedding Cake Club Mix)
Jackie’s Strength (Wedding Cake Edit)
Jackie’s Strength (One Rascal Dub #1)
Jackie’s Strength (One Rascal Dub #2)
Jackie’s Strength (Wedding Cake Meltdown Mix)
Jackie’s Strength (Bonus Beats)
Father Lucifer (Sylkscreen Remix)
Father Lucifer (Sylkscreen Instrumental)
So…funny story. After I got back from Oregon I started to organize my office/nerd den, going through the pile of records next to my desk so I could file and sort them. But then I realized that I hadn’t recorded over half those records! It was about 20 in all. These remixes are from a 2×12” single taken out of that pile. I guess my point is that I have a lot of fucking records.

Anyways, another Oregon story. One record I saw while crate digging in Portland was an original promo copy of Y Kant Tori Read, Tori Amos’ rarely heard debut pop album. I would love to own a real copy of that (I have a bootleg) but I was not going to pay the 90 bucks that dude was asking! That’s a fair price for that one I know, but I just can’t justify spending that much for a record that isn’t that good in the first place. The most expensive record I own is the original version of The Velvet Underground & Nico, complete with banana and the original back cover. That was worth the money. I guess I’m selectively stingy sometimes.

The “Jackie’s Strength” remixes are good, but the real highlight here is the awesome remix of “Father Lucifer.” That’s such an amazing song from such a great album. God, I’m having high school flashbacks now.

More Madonna and Tori Amos later this week. Why break the odd pairing now?

Posted in Madonna, remixes, Tori Amos | 7 Comments »

Crate Diggin’ in Oregon

November 25th, 2010

I am in Oregon to visit my mom for Thanksgiving, but my mom knows me (thank God one parent does) and she knows that whenever I go anywhere I want to find the nearest record stores and raid them all. So on Tuesday we made the trek to Portland to visit as many record stores as possible.

Okay…Portland kicks ASS when it comes to record stores. Holy crap. We went to eight different stores that day, and we still didn’t manage to make it to all of them. It totally blew my mind. Whoever said the indie record store is dead sure as hell hasn’t made it to the Pacific Northwest.

The stores were so amazing that I feel the need to share just how bitchin’ they are. So now I present to you The Lost Turntable guide to Portland/Salem/McMinnville record stores. Enjoy.

Everyday Music
 There are at least two of these in Portland, but I only went to the one by Burnside. Wow. This place is massive, easily the second biggest record store I have ever been in (next to Jerry’s), with a little less than half of its epic floor space dedicated to nothing but vinyl.  Not only do they have a shitload of vinyl, but they got it organized. Everything is in alphabetical order, and with no “miscellanous” sections. If they have a record by a band, then it gets a placard. So its possible to browse their hundreds and thousands of records in just 30 minutes or so. Most of their focus seemed to be on new vinyl LPs, not much in the way of used stuff or 12” singles, but I did find a few. That’s not an insult on the place though, it was truly amazing. I didn’t even scratch their CD section, but it also looked pretty impressive. To top it all off, the staff seemed very nice and friendly. A truly excellent all around record store.

Jackpot Records
 There are two of these in the greater Portland area, and I went to both of them. Both are excellent stores, with a small but diverse selection of rock and electronic LPs and CDs. I cleaned up at both locations, scoring some excellent new and used records that might be featured here in the coming weeks. I also bought an awesome 7” of Nirvana’s “Sliver” at one of the stores, which made my day. I didn’t really search their CD sections, but my mom (who has totally awesome taste in music, even if she does like Paula Cole) found stuff she liked at both stores, so that bodes well for them. The dudes at these stores were very cool, and even helped me locate other record stores in the area. A great store.

2nd Avenue Records
 This indie store (located on, shocker, 2nd Ave) is very uneven. I was able to score a crapton of Erasure singles at prices ranging from 2 to 5 bucks, which was awesome, but the Bjork singles cost $25! So the uneven pricing kind of annoyed me. Still, their selection of LPs is pretty stellar, with a good diverse inventory of rock, rap, electronic, soundtracks and even reggae. They have CDs too, but they were all under glass and seemed to mostly be punk and rock. The woman  behind the counter, who I assume was the owner, seemed very nice, but also a little quiet. This store was very good, but their pricing left a bad taste in my mouth. But depending on what you’re looking for, it could be quite the find.

Platinum Records
 This isn’t really a record store for the everyday consumer, it’s a DJ supply store that just happens to sell records. Their selection is obviously skewed towards this demographic; hip-hop, house, trance and pop for the most part, with some dnb and other electronic genres fleshing it out. Their shit is expensive though, I spent about 10 bucks per 12” single. Still, it was stuff I would have never found in any other store, so it was still worth it. The dudes working there were pretty cool, but they seemed confused as to why a big white nerd and his mom were browsing their progressive trance section.

Music Millennium
 Wow. This place is amazing. The entire second floor is dedicated to vinyl, and they have a pretty stellar collection of both new and used records. The first floor had much more, from CDs to DVDs to toys and all kinds of other stuff. This is definitely your all purpose record store, with something for everyone. I didn’t buy a ton here, but I sure as hell could have! One of the clerks called 7” singles “those funny little records that only have two songs,” so they aren’t all what I would call “knowledgeable” but they were all very nice and fun to talk to.

Crossroads
So this place is a little crazy. It’s one store, with one clerk/employee, but over 30 individual dealers have their own little areas with their own records. So its about as organized as my brain (so not at all) and a real crate digger could get lost forever in there. I didn’t go through everything, but by just skimming I spent about 50 bucks on records that cost anywhere between 3 to 12 bucks. It also has an amazing ceiling.

Ranch Records
 There are a few of these in Oregon and Washington, I went to two of them, one in Salem and the other in tiny little town called McMinnville. Judging from the massive collection of Elvis Costello bootlegs at both locations, and the Elvis Costello stained-glass window at the Salem location, I’m willing to bet the owner of this chain really likes Stiff records. Both stores had a great selection of newer vinyl as well as some choice older ones. They also had great collectibles, like a $250 Sub-Pop box set I’ll never own. Good CD selections as well and a very nice staff. Much like Millennium Music, this is a great all-purpose record store for both new and old music and it gets my highest recommendation.

Harvest Records
Quaint for sure, this tiny little hole in the wall in Salem doesn’t have a ton of records or CDs, but what it lacks in inventory it more than makes up for in charm. One dude runs the place, and he looks like he hasn’t left the store since 1977. I have a feeling that if you mention you like Pink Floyd or Rush to him he might become your best friend in the world. Shit, after talking to him for 10 minutes he invited me to hang out with him on Thanksgiving! Really cool dude. And while the store doesn’t have the greatest selection in the world, it does have a lot of quality shit. For example, everything from tonight’s post was taken from CDs bought at this store!

Information Society
Running (Calderone Leather Radio Edit)
Running (Robbie Rivera Diskofied Vocal Edit)
Running (Calderone Leather Mix)
Running (Robbie Rivera Smooth House Mix)
What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy) [Pure Energy 2001 Edit]
What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy) [Boris + Beck Exit Edit]
What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy) [Junior’s Blue Zone Club Mix]
What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy) [Boris + Beck Exit Mix]
What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy) [Sugarpussy Psychic Funk Mix]
Wow right? These are from two CD singles that I paid a whopping combined seven bucks for! Good deal huh? Most of these mixes are crazy long too, so this is about an hour of InSoc. Give thanks for that shit when you’re scarfing down turkey today.

Daft Punk
Burnin’ (Ian Pooley “Cut Up Mix”)
Burnin’ (Slam Mix)
I bought two Daft Punk singles at Harvest. Burnin’ and Digital Love. Unfotunately for all of you, all the remixes and b-sides from Digital Love are available on either Discovery or Daft Club, so I’m not posting them. These remixes for Burnin’ remain out-of-print however, so enjoy them while your stomach burns from indigestion and I’ll see you all again after the holiday.

Tags:
Posted in Daft Punk, remixes | 6 Comments »

Oregon Housin’

November 22nd, 2010

Well, I have bad news for those of you hoping I would be groped in the airport (you sick bastards), when I flew out of Pittsburgh on Friday the new scanners were not yet set up at the checkpoint I was at, which meant no need to worry about radiation, and no need to opt out and get my balls cupped by some asshole glorified rent-a-cop.

I did however, get struck with the worst headache of my life when the plane landed, thanks to my lingering head cold. I seriously felt like a giant sword-wielding dragon was going to burst out of my head and light my flying ass ablaze. And yes, I know that’s a weird mental picture, but I’m still under jetlag so my brain is only working at about 70%.

Anyways, the wi-fi in my hotel is shit covered in ass. But thankfully I anticipated this, and uploaded some tracks before I left. I have to spread them out over the whole week though, which means a few posts only a couple or so tracks. But hell, it’s free music, so don’t complain.

Death In Vegas
 Opium Shuffle (Monkey Mafia Mix)
Twist And Crawl (Dub)
I always think Death In Vegas was the act responsible for “Detachable Penis,” but that was King Missile. I don’t know how that happens. I also get King Missile mixed up with King’s X. I’m confused a lot I guess, even without the jetlag. “Opium Shuffle” is an odd track, and in case anyone is having a hard time recognizing the “Elvis was a hero to most but he never meant shit to me” vocal sample, it’s from Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power.” These are both from a 12” single.

EPMD
I’m Housin’ (U.K. Mix)
I know very little about EPMD, in fact I was entirely ignorant of them until Rage Against The Machine covered this track for their Renegades album. So, if anyone could tell me how exactly one goes about the practice of “housin'” I would appreciate it. I’m going to assume its not the same thing The Jungle Brothers are talking about in “I Wanna House You.” This remix is from a 12”.

Posted in Death In Vegas, EPMD, remixes | 3 Comments »

My Thanksgiving Groping

November 19th, 2010

I’m flying out to Oregon today to spend Thanksgiving with my mom.  I am stoked for that. What I am NOT stoked for are those lovely new TSA security guidelines. You know, the ones that violate your personal freedom while not actually making your flight safer? Ugh. Is there a bar in the ticket area? If I’m getting felt up by a fat man with a mustache I want someone to buy me a drink first…

Anyways, expect a full, possibly explitive-filled first-hand report of said possible molestation in my next post. Until then, we dance!

Alison Moyet
Whispering Your Name (Extended Mix)
Rock And Roll (Live)
F. O. S.
As you may or may not know, Alison Moyet was the lead singer of Yaz (or Yazoo, for my European listeners). I’m not that familiar with her solo career, but if “Whispering Your Name” is any indication, I can’t understand why she didn’t breakthrough into the mainstream. “F.O.S.” is a B-side and sounds as such, but the live version of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock And Roll” is pretty fucking amazing. All three of these tracks are from a CD single I bought for two bucks.

Chip Chip
 Never Say Goodbye (Extended Vocal Version)
Never Say Goodbye (Instrumental Version)
I have no idea who Chip Chip is. I bought this 12” single because it was on the ZYX label, and I pretty much buy everything ZYX released from the 80s, because almost all of it is crazy synthpop or electro. This is crazy Italo disco, and while that’s not as awesome as some wacky electro, it’s still pretty damn good. If anyone wants to fill me in on who these ladies are, feel free!

Posted in Alison Moyet, B-sides, Chip Chip, remixes | 5 Comments »

1988 Was a Good Year for Goofy Shit

November 12th, 2010

I believe I am getting ill. I blame Enter The Void.

Really quick, review time!

Nitzer Ebb – Industrial Complex: Holy shit. This album is amazing.

Mini-Mansions – s/t: QOTSA side-project. If you like Beatles in your Beatles you make Beatles this Beatles-sounding CD. Beatles.

All four of the tracks below are from the year 1988. I didn’t plan that, but I like to think I did.

I Start Counting
Lose Him (Pascal Gabriel Remix)
See How It Cuts (Limited Edition Extended  Club Dub Dance Remix Version)
Both these tracks are from a weird 12” I bought. Okay, so a lot to explain here. Firstly, I Start Counting is a horribly-named  80s synthpop duo who is still recording today under the much better name Komputer. They are, sadly, the least interesting thing about this release. You may recognize the remixer’s name, Pascal Gabriel. Even if you don’t, you probably have some music he produced on your computer, especially if you download music from this blog. The dude has produced music dozens of dance acts I’ve featured here, including Kylie, New Order and EMF. The dude is freaking prolific. Check out his Discogs entry to get an idea.

But what I really want to talk about is the name of that second remix. The “Limited Edition Extend Club Dub Dance Remix Version.” Before you ask, yes, that is the actual name of the remix, taken from the label of the record. I can’t figure out if that’s impressive or just stupid. Is the “version” really needed? Furthermore, is the “limited edition” really needed? And surely they could have chose either “club” or “dance”? So many questions I’m never going to get answered…

Oh yeah, the music. Yeah. It’ s not bad. You like Art Of Noise’s first album? You’ll dig this stuff. Its very “let’s sample a note and put it on our new, really expensive keyboard.”

Robotiko Rejekto
 Rejekto (Presentation Mix)
 Rejekto (Layout Mix)
 This track is also known as “Rejekto!” but I am against needless exclamation, so I am not calling it that. Besides, it’s not that exciting. This is German electro from the 1980s. And it is German as shit. Its also pretty stupid, basic and dated as all hell, but I dig it anyways. It’s like the soundtrack to a West German factory that makes funky robots. These too are from a 12” single.

Posted in I Start Counting, remixes, Robotiko Rejekto | 8 Comments »

Exit the Void

November 11th, 2010

Movie review time.

Pittsburgh is currently hosting the Three Rivers Film Festival. It’s a pretty amazing fest. Years past I’ve gotten to see Guy Madden’s Cowards Bend At The Knee, the amazing flick Bronson and a documentary about concert posters, the name of which escapes me now. The Three Rivers Film Festival is an amazing festival, and I’m so glad I live in a city that has stuff like it. This review is not a knock on the Film Festival. I didn’t like the movie that much, but I’m still glad I got to see it.

Enter The Void
Anyone here familiar with Gasper Noé? The dude likes to make very fucked up movies.

Now. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some fucked up movies. I’ve built much of my professional career off of my knowledge of fucked up film. But Gasper Noé takes things a bit too far sometimes. His most well-known movie is Irreversible. Which features a man getting beaten to death with a fire extinguisher and one of the most brutal rape scenes ever committed to film. I wouldn’t say I enjoy films like Irreversible, but I do think Noé made some interesting points with that movie. It wasn’t shocking for shock value. He was saying something with the gratuitious sex and violence.

Enter The Void doesn’t do as good a job with that. The movie is about an America drug dealer named Oscar who is living in Tokyo. About 15 minutes into the film he dies, and the rest of the movie flashes back and forth between him seeing his life flash before his eyes and him observing his friends and family from beyond.

The movie is shot amazingly well. The entire opening 15 minutes is done in first-person, which is a gimmick I always enjoy. The rest of the movie is either shot from behind Oscar’s head (think Gears of War, but with drugs) or still from his point of view, looking down from above. I don’t know how they got some of the shots they got in this movie. It really looks incredible.

But looks can only get you so far. The movie is 137 minutes long. And there’s about 90 minutes of good movie in there. The rest is nothing but long, drawn out shots of nothing, or extended sequences of painful flashing lights that will seriously cause seizures in some who see the movie. I get that Noé was trying to show how Oscar’s spirit is disorientated and traveling through space/time, but it just got old after a while. We can all tell you’re an innovative filmmaker Gasper, now get on with the story already.

Another aspect of the film that really put me off was the explicit sexuality and other graphic scenes. It didn’t offend me. Don’t get me wrong. I have rarely, if ever, been offended by something I’ve seen in a film. I enjoy seeing movies that push boundaries and shoot for the stars when it comes to showing messed up shit. I own Ichi The Killer okay? But I have a problem with movies that show graphic, unsimilated sex. I just don’t see the point. The only movie I have ever seen that has pulled that off was Shortbus, and since that was actually about letting go of your sexual hangups and being uninhibited doing anything less than actually showing full-on hardcore sex would have really been a cop out.

But in this movie its just stupid. It’s exploitive, but I’m willing to bet Noé would never admit that. He wants his exploitive smut to be taken seriously. Well, I got word for you dude, you can set up all the special crane shots you want, and you can add all the special effects in the world, but a cumshot is a cumshot. Get over it. And the graphic abortion scene? That just seemed like an excuse to trauamtize an actress who was desperate for work. I respect movies that are exploitive with the purpose of being exploitive, there’s a purity that you have to admire. But don’t show me a 10-minute sex montage and tell me you’re doing for any other reason than to shock/arouse the audience.

But even with all that, I’m having a hard time dismissing the movie completely. Like I said, it looks AMAZING. I have never seen a movie that looks like this. And while the second half drags to a near stop, the first half is near-brilliant. I guess I have to half-heartedly recommend the movie, but just go in knowing that its a rough ride, and it really has problems.

I just wish someone would grab Noé and reign him in a bit. He’s his own worst enemy.

Also, if you are looking for movies to watch while on acid, here you go.

Oh, and one more thing. This movie has the best opening credits I have ever seen. An odd comment I know. But DAMN.

Green Day – Live In Tokyo
American Idiot
Jesus Of Suburbia
Holiday
Are We The Waiting
St. Jimmy
Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
Enter The Void also annoyed me because it just reminded me how much I want to go to Tokyo. I’m planning to go there before I turn 33, so I got about a year and a half. I’m going to geek out like crazy there. Visit all the video games stores, buy more obscure vinyl than humanely possible, and  try to go to some concerts too. Ever since I saw X Japan I’ve been dying to see another Japanese band with a Japanese audience. Those mothers are insane. I would also love to see an American band with a Japanese audience, like this Green Day show that came the Target limited edition of 21st Century Breakdown.

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Linux and Ponies

November 9th, 2010

The following is really nerdy and has nothing to do with music at all. Its me musing about operating systems (Linux even!). You have been warned. I thought this might be interesting to anyone out there who is thinking about switching operating systems and/or experimenting with some Linux.

So after I got infected with a damn trojan simply by clicking on a link, I’ve been thinking about saying “fuck all” to Windows and finally jumping into Linux. Now, for those who don’t know about a lot Linux, there are about a billion different versions (or distributions) of the open-source OS. It can be a little bit daunting when it comes to choosing one for the first time. Since I used a Ubuntu Live CD (a version of the Ubuntu Linux you can run from a CD) to backup data on my hard drive after the evil virus attack, I thought I’d give that a go first.

I’m doing all this on my laptop, by the way, since it has two hard drives, making it possible for me to switch between Windows 7 and Linux.

So, installing Ubuntu was pretty easy, you can even do it in Windows. So that part only took a few minutes. But once I got it booted up I found the OS a little less than intuitive. Getting my network connection set up was a breeze, but when it came time to install Flash shit got sour. I am not yet familiar with Linux terminal, so I tried to install it like you would a program in Windows. Yeah, that didn’t work. Then when I finally did get it installed, playback was choppy as hell. Turns out the 64-bit version of Flash (I have a 64-bit motherboard btw) is in beta for a reason. Rather than try to figure out how to uninstall Flash I thought I’d give another Linux distro a go, since I was not enjoying Ubuntu.

Next up was Kubuntu (this time sticking with the 32-bit version), a variation of Ubuntu that is supposed to be simpler. Well, after spending about 20 minutes trying to get wireless to work on that I gave up. I was about to just say “fuck all” to Ubuntu and go for Fedora when I decided to give Linux Mint a try.

Linux Mint is the shit! Everyone goes on about how easy Ubuntu is to use, but Mint (which is a variation of Ubuntu) is way easier! Everything you need is pre-installed with the OS, and the Software Manger is way easy to navigate and figure out. I’m still working out the kinks, and the whole fact that it’s not Wndows is still a little jarring, but I think I’m going to be sticking with Mint. I recommend anyone looking to get their feet wet with Linux give Mint a go, it’s pretty rad.

Anyways, enough of that geeky bullshit. Here’s some music.

Bumblebeez 81
Pony Ride (Remixed by Photek)
Rappa (Remixed By Karuna)
Pony Ride (Remixed by TV On The Radio)
Rappa (Remixed By Bambino Big Dick)
Vila Attack
Music just moves too fast nowadays. Take Bumblebbeez 81 for an example. I remember kind of digging these guys. I even bought their CD. But I totally forgot about them until I saw this weird “Remixed” LP at Jerry’s this week. How long ago did their CD come out in the states? 2004! That’s how fried my short/medium-term music retention is now! It’s kind of sad.

Anyways, these tracks are pretty good. The Photek remix of “Pony Ride” is great, but the original is such a great track (crazy video too) it’s really hard to screw it up. It’s totally the second-best Australian rock song with the word “pony” in the title (here’s the best). The other songs are good too, although “Rapper” gets annoying after a bit.

Project 4
Waiting (Original)
Waiting (Ocean View Mix)

Undercover Agency featuring Trust
Sweetest Kind (Undercover Dub)
Sweetest Kind (Full Vox)
These tracks are all from an EP called Nude Directions. I’m going to be totally honest here; I bought the album for the cover. So sue me. The songs are average downtempo stuff. Good chill music.

Posted in Bumblebeez 81, remixes | 1 Comment »

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