It seems like just yesterday that Aeroplane, the now one man show that has been such a big part of my musical year in so many ways, so memorably remixed Breakbot‘s “Baby I’m Yours” (you can check it out here if you missed it). But in fact, it was 5 months ago. This is both a testament to how legit that remix was and to the fact that I have no sense of anything time-related. And now, it seems that Thibaut Berland has returned the favor and himself remixed Aeroplane as part of the newest single “Without Lies” featuring Sky Ferreira on vocals. And based on past history, I will typically automatically enjoy anything with the words “Breakbot” or “Aeroplane” in the title, so when you’ve got both of them, it’s really a Guaransheed. A French/Belgian explosion of awesome, so to speak. Breakbot totally discofunkified this song to the max, and a little discofunk goes a long way with me.
Despite my less than favorable view on camping festivals (I’m exhausted enough at fests even with the luxuries of beds and showers), the on-paper highlight of this year’s Bonnaroo festival for me was without a doubt Daryl Hall & Chromeo. Those funky beats with that iconic 80s voice were sure to be something for the books. And with all the buzz I’ve heard this summer on NYC’s Holy Ghost!, there was plenty to look forward to when I found out both bands would be playing together at the Majestic Theater.
Holy Ghost! was just as dark and funky as I’d expected them to be. The set seemed a bit slow at first but that’s how their music rolls sometimes, and the energy level definitely picked up throughout the set. After opening gigs for LCD Soundsystem and now Chromeo, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear about these guys a lot more often in the coming months. MVP award goes to the guitar player in this round. And Chromeo rocked what must have been a sold out crowd (the most packed I’ve seen that venue) with their unique blend of funky fresh beats, the wicked guitar and vocals of Dave 1 and the hot keys and talk box of P-Thugg. An all out dancesplosion, and just what Detroit needed on a hot Thursday night.
Check out the pics below and some more on our flickr page.
Just because a track is a few years old, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t see the light of day once it’s time has passed. And such is the case with “Midnight Love”, the house/lounge track from Tennishero, the Swedish duo of Jens Anderrson and Alexander Berg. I would say that compared to it’s percentage of the world’s population, Swedish music is WAY disproportionately more awesome than you would expect based on the numbers alone. “Midnight Love” is the type of song that has a great beat, but that knows it can make you want to dance without trying too hard. The type of song that would fit perfectly within an Aeroplane DJ set. You know what I’m talkin bout.
Can you believe it’s already July? More importantly, can you believe it’s already July and I just got my first tan (read:extreme sunburn)? It’s pretty embarrassing, but luckily June was a great month so we don’t feel THAT bad about it. We released the second of (hopefully) many mixtapes to come, the Summer Drive Mixtape (know it, live it, love it), and while it didnt have all the hype of the Blogwave Summer Mixtape, it definitely had all the energy and summer sizzle. And I got to see tons of acts I hadn’t seen before, many of which are on the precipice of hugeness. And now I present to you your favorite tracks from the month of June. And I think you all did a pretty good job of loving some awesome tracks the most.
Since it’s only been a few months since my obsession with Aeroplane began on that fateful Friday afternoon in Indio, California under the shade of the Sahara tent as my first true Coachella set (the 15 minutes that were left of Yeasayer by the time wristbandgate 2010 had ended doesn’t count), I was saddened by the recent news that Stephen Fasano and Vito De Luca would no longer be performing together as Aeroplane. But I was also very happy that De Luca would be keeping the legacy alive as Aeroplane on his own. And luckily, since this news broke, Aeroplane seems to be showing no signs of wear or of slowing down. And last week, in gratitude for reaching 10,000 fans on Facebook, the group offered up this gem to it’s fans – a mashup of their remix of “Paris” by Friendly Fires and of the sultry “Crave You” by Flight Facilities. The track was originally found on their 500th Essential mix, which you should probably check if you haven’t already.
The perfect marriage of two tunes I inevitably associate with Aeroplane. The “Paris” remix, for obvious reasons, and “Crave You”, one of my favorite tracks from that memorable Coachella set. I thought this might be the perfect tune after an extended sunny holiday weekend.
If you recall from my “We Can’t Fly” post from a few weeks back, I am a huge fan of just about every Aeroplane remix created since the dawn of man. But damn, this remix of Breakbot‘s “Baby I’m Yours” is pretty near the top of my list. If you wanted Aeroplane to bring it, just take a listen and you will quickly realize that it’s already been broughten. Sure, I posted a youtube version of this track last week. But let’s be honest, it’s really just too good not to be posted in a proper 6.5 minutes of heat mp3 format.
With all of the ridiculously fantastic remixes we’ve heard from Belgian duo Aeroplane (not to mention their highly delectable Coachella set that I was fortunate enough to witness in person), it’s hard to believe that they are just releasing their first LP this September. But, alas, it’s true, and we are pretty excited about it. In preparation, the duo is releasing the first single “We Can’t Fly” on July 5. On top of that, they’ve done a KILLER Breakbot remix which I believe it out now on Beatport, but you can hear it in the youtube video below (it’s worth it).
Wasn’t that fun? I thought you might like it. Anyway, if Aeroplane is coming to a town near you, go see them. You just have to.
For the last three days, you’ve all been hearing about the video. I’ve never made a video before, so I was a bit worried about it, but just tried to capture as many moments in time as I could in hopes that they could be spliced together into something not terrible. And now that the video is complete (thanks to iMovie being super easy to use), the time has come to share it with the world! I’m mostly happy because normally I would talk about doing something like this and find myself with 15 seconds of video at the end of the weekend. So I was happy to learn that I can, in fact, sometimes follow through.
WARNING: This was all shot on my old point and shoot camera, so the quality is going to look extremely grim in comparison to any other Coachella videos you’ve likely already watched. But I think it gives mine a more “authentic” feel to it. The everyday man’s Coachella recap video.
The theme of the video, much like the weekend, is night and day. And this seemed to be the perfect song to use for such a theme.
Wasn’t that fun? Did it make you a little nauseous? I hope not, but I can see how it could.
Here are some other final thoughts on the weekend, and then I will stop talking about Coachella, except for constantly and incessantly referencing it.
- This was my first Coachella ever, so I have no frame of reference, though it seemed like a lot of people were bitching about how crowded it was. Compared to other fests I’ve been to, this was by far the least crowded, and not only that, it was extremely easy to get relatively close up for almost any show, minus maybe a headliner or two, without camping out all day. It seemed that for the most part, this crowd didn’t really stick around from one show to the next, so if you were in position as soon as the previous show ended, you could usually get within the first 15 or 20 rows without a problem. Major plus.
- Favorites of the weekend. In no particular order, Fever Ray (queen of darkness), Local Natives (killer afternoon set. Just killer), Miike Snow (they always bring the heat, but it got even more broughten in a packed tent as the sun went down), Aeroplane (of all the fantastic DJs I saw all weekend, their mix of songs was the most right up my alley. And they saved what started out a miserable day). Honorable mention to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. I loved everything about it but I couldn’t get over the vocal issues. That being said, they got huge bonus points for happiness, quirkiness and energy and general fun. But really, I enjoyed most of the acts I saw quite a bit.
- Wish I would’ve seens. Thom Yorke, not sure what I was thinking on this one. Hot Chip, because I don’t know when I’ll get to see these guys again. Deadmau5, despite conflicting with Fever Ray and even though I just saw him recently, mostly because of this video I saw of his SIIIIIIIICK dj table. Shit looks crazy!
- I said it before, but the Sahara tent is off the hinges. The crazy lights and all day dance party are not to be missed. The only downside, the kids and their drugs. I’m not juding anyone based on what drugs they want to take, but I am judging people who are stupid and irresponsible about it. I had at LEAST 5 people directly surrounding me throughout the weekend just collapse and pass out. It was really gross to see. At the Gorillaz show, the guy behind me collapsed right on his face and didn’t wake up for a solid ten minutes. His friends’ response? “He’s done this a few times today, but he always gets right back up.” Like I said, I’m not juding anyone’s recreational drug use, but at least try to be responsible about it, and look out for your friends. It didn’t help that most of these people looked like they were barely old enough to drive a car.
- Cancellations. Shit happens, and it sucks. Nothing anyone could have done about any of it, but still grim to say the least. But overall I was happy with the acts I did get to see. And the people who are like “I maybe saw one good performance this weekend” on the message boards need to stop going to shows, because what’s the point if you never have a good time?
- The overall ambiance of the fest is the best I’ve ever experienced. The Chicago skyline as the backdrop of Lollapalooza is pretty spectacular, but being surrounded on all sides by endless palm trees and mountains is both spectacular and extremely relaxing.
- The layout of the fest is also one of the best I’ve seen. The long and narrow Lolla setup leads to inevitable clusterfucks left and right. And Bonaroo’s circular setup is a better alternative. But it seems like it only takes 10 minutes to walk from one end of Coachella to the other. A major plus when you’re trying to catch consecutive shows at opposite stages. The setup does lead to some issues, however, like when the whole world was trying to see MGMT and the crowd was essentially surrounding the Outdoor Stage (where the band was performing) and extended all the way back through the Gobi and Mojave tents.
- Cameras. What do people think about bringing their nice cameras? I saw millions of them and it seemed like security was allowing them for some reason, so I was debating all weekend if I wished I would have brought mine. I think that I wouldn’t want to have to worry about it getting damaged, a very distinct possibility in those crowds, but I was also pretty underwhelmed with my shots, so I guess it’s a trade-off. I think a small handheld video camera may be in order for my next fest, however.
- Diplo got some major props this weekend. Aside from what I hear was an absolutely bonkers Major Lazer set, both David Guetta and supergroup Club 75 included “Pon de Floor” in their sets. Not too shabby.
- The tents. The tents are good and bad. If you are inside the tent, they are amazing. I love the enclosed feel, the shade they provide, and the great sound. However, when the tents start to overflow and you find yourself on the outside, they kind of blow. But as long as you can arrive a little early to the show you’re seeing, this is usually not an issue.
Misc.
- Throw away your garbage, people.
- Children, stop trying to get to the front 5 seconds before (or after) a show starts with all 45 of your closest friends hand in hand. Spend more time making sure your 45 friends aren’t on course to have a drug-induced death scare before the day is over.
- What’s with all the feathers and face paint?
- There’s going to be traffic whenever tens of thousands of people are in one place. Deal wit’ it. Or drive over the fence like the guy in front of me did, saving me at least a half hour on the way out.
Thanks to Beta Mike for the rad pic above that I stole from him.
Here’s to a great Coachella 2011. I leave with a few remixes by Aeroplane, the act that really kicked things off for me this year.
