This is likely to be one of the clubbier tracks that I’ve posted in a while, but it’ll be a nice change up. The song is from Win Win, a group that (as I learned on WeLikeItIndie) was created by Spank Rock founder XXXChange who approached one of his friends Chris Devlin of Devlin & Darko (who just so happened to be the fantastic post show DJs at this years Yeasayer NYE extravaganza) to make some music, and the two then joined forces with visual artist Ghostdad to round things out. The group has released their debut album with an impressive roster of guest vocalists like Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip and Lizzie Bougatsos from Gang Gang Dance. “Interleave” is the Taylor-sung track and XXXChange has taken on the remix duties himself on this one and the end product is quite enjoyable (partially because I enjoy just about any tune that Alexis Taylor sings with his instantly recognizable voice). This is the type of electronic track that hasn’t appealed to me as much lately as it once did, but I think this one works perfectly. I guess Taylor’s voice acts as a sort of comfort blanket in that big and scary world of clubby electronic tracks.
Is it really November already? Based on the fact that my toes have been cold for a few days now, it’s safe to say that it’s here. But October was great for several reasons. Like the fact that we saw some of our favorite shows of the year (can you say Gorillaz, Blonde Redhead and Hot Chip?) and a whole slew of great new tunes. Here are your favorites from last month, and a nice list it is.
In case you couldn’t tell from my review/pics from last weeks LCD Soundsystem/Hot Chip show right here in Deeetroit, I’m now pretty much obsessed with all things Hot Chip. And at that time, I discovered this remix but decided that I liked it so much that it was worthy of being highlighted on it’s own rather than being mashed into a giant review full of awesome/fantastic/luminary photographs (whoever that photographer was, someone needs to buy him a drink). But interestingly enough, this Osborne remix of “Take It In”, the first tune I ever heard off Hot Chip’s 2010 album One Life Stand is so great to me because it’s kind of the exact opposite of everything I admire about Hot Chip. I guess that although I always thought it, I never knew what a massive powerhouse this group was until I saw their live show last week and witnessed the internal organ-shaking bass and non-stop dance parties that they were capable of. But Todd “Osborne” Osborn has taken the road less traveled, and that has made all the difference. Check out his laid back quasi-house (well, at least near the end) take on a great Hot Chip jam. And if you have any doubts about Osborne’s legitimacy, then I can tell you that he is, in fact, a Ghostly International artist, which means he is the real deal.
This was one of those shows that I was totally on the edge about, and looking back on it I can’t imagine why. I’d seen LCD Soundsystem twice before, so a third time seemed like a low priority in the midst of a busy October concert schedule, especially by Detroit terms (which begs the question, do more people come to Detroit now or do I just like more music?). But then I remembered how much I enjoyed the two times I saw them before, and I was still feeling a little guilt for missing out on Hot Chip at Coachella, so I decided I needed to go. Let this go down as one of the best decisions I’ve made in the last week, if not fortnight.
I’ve always been a huge periphery Hot Chip fan. I wouldn’t generally think to listen to them, but I always go nuts for them when I do remember, but I still had to imagine that their funky and unique albums would translate pretty well into a live setting. Little did I know that they would bring the beats harder than I ever imagined, all while electronically shaking me to the core, literally, all with the heaviest bass I’ve heard in a while. Bone-shaking even. I think my favorite party about their just under an hour set (not nearly long enough even though we were sweaty and worn out from the constant movement) was that they got the crowd riled up right off the bat with a version of “And I Was a Boy from School” with an unsuspecting slowed down intro, and then they kept us there the entire set. No, they didn’t pull the classic Phish move of tearing the roof off the place and following it up with a slow ballad. They just went for it. And from what I can remember, they represented every one of their albums equally. A move that far too few bands employ these days. It’s perfectly OK to play the same amount of songs from each album, even though you just released a new one this year. I only wish that they had more time to keep it going. Oh yeah, and their gratuitous use of the steel drums definitely did not lose them any points. Did not see that one coming even though it was clear as day.
In retrospect, it goes down as one of my favorite sets in a long time, based on how much I thought about wanting it to happen again throughout the day today, and based on how incredibly their music does translate into a live setting, far more than I thought was possible (maybe because I didn’t know there were 6 people in the band before?). It also made perfect sense to me why Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem are the perfect bands to tour together. I never really saw the parallels until last night, but they are pretty apparent. I kind of regret having not seen them at Coachella, but at least I am sure not to make that mistake again. And the best part was, I knew that there was still LCD Soundsystem to play.
As for the song below, I figured I’d make today an all Erol Alkan day on dailybeatz.
After a thankfully brief intermission and some fresh air, Rachel and I gathered our bearings and made our way back up through the easily maneuverable crowd to a nice spot near the front as the lights went down for the next set to begin. As I heard, LCD opened the set with the song made to open a set, “Dance Yourself Clean”. Every show should begin with a song that starts out suspiciously subdued despite the fact that the whole crowd knows it’s about to blow up. And this one blew up 2 or 3 times. I sometimes question if I’m being obnoxious dancing while I’m taking pics, but I can’t really help it, and I don’t really understand how the others do.
I was obviously less surprised by the greatness of LCD Soundsystem as I’d seen it a few times before, but that doesn’t mean I enjoyed it any less. James Murphy is a presence, as are the rest of the who knows how many people on stage. From what I can remember, there were 7 or 8 but I might be wrong. LCD could have also fallen into the trap of disproportionate representation of their albums but they stayed strong as well. Their light show is also something to talk about, although I question why there was only one laser beam that only showed up in one song. Their now trademark giant disco ball (“That’s the biggest one I’ve ever seen!”) made a few appearances as well, and it’s funny that no matter how many times you’ve seen a giant disco ball illuminate a huge theater, it never really gets old.
I’ll let you take a look at the setlist (which I’m not sure changes much, but it doesn’t really have to, it’s all good). While one of the more downbeat tunes, my highlight was perhaps “Someone Great” since I hadn’t heard it yet when I saw them before and I think it’s musically one of the most interesting songs they’ve got, but it was all a homerun, slam dunk, wham bam thank you ma’am. And to think I almost didn’t even go.
Also, I might have taken a lot of pictures of Nancy.
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.
last years “merriweather post pavilion” by animal collective was clearly one of the blogospheres favorite albums of the year, virtually guaranteed to be seen on almost every top 10 list of 2009. and of those great tracks, “bluish” was always among my favorites. i think i liked the laidback chillness of that song compared to a lot of the others on the album. but even as accessible as this animal collective album was (compared to albums of anco past), there were still some people who were kind of afraid of it and missed out on its beauty because of that. entre sondre lerche.
the norwegian singer songwriter recently released an acoustic guitar version of the track, and it definitely accentuates the fact that the fellas of animal collective can really write a great tune when it comes down to it. i feel like some people think of them as hiding behind their electronics and effects, but even a completely stripped down version like this is a great listen. dare i say that i like this version just as much as the original?
and since we love the fans so very much, a bonus track for you today. and its another case of one of our current favorite artists doing an excellent acoustic cover of an electronic tune from another of our favorites: grizzly bears cover of hot chips “boy from school”. a great twist on one of my favorite hot chip tunes.
before we begin, im asking for some audience participation! in compiling my favorite tracks and albums of 2009, i need your help. please go to the dailybeatz facebook page and post some of your favorites!!
new hot chip! woohoooo! hot chip might be one of my favorite groups that i always forget about. but when i do remember how much i love them, its always a good thing. and in just a few months, there will be a little more to love when their upcoming album “one life stand” is released in the stated on feb 9 of next year. seems already from what i can remember off the top of my head that feb will be a good music month.
the first track weve heard from the upcoming album is “take it in” which is slated to be the closing track, an odd choice for everyones first look at the new stuff. but luckily this track is so great that it dont matter one bit. its got a bit of a darker sound than im used to from hot chip. while their stuff is often a little minor sounding, its usually over some awesome beat that just makes you want to dance anyway. this one is much more subdued but theres some nice beauty in the contrast between the verses and the chorus. looking forward to hearing more from the album, and hopefully they will be adding a few more american dates to the few that have been announced already. i could go for a live hot chip party during these upcoming cold winter months.
two or three years ago, i was getting a late night burrito when i ran into my friend dan. he and his friends had just graduated from law school that day and were having a little party at his friend vinnys place just up the street. we headed over there and were playing beer pong listening to a pretty cool electronic mix when suddenly something sounded familiar. it was “something great” by lcd soundsystem, but it was only the music, not the lyrics. i assumed that he had just gotten some sort of dj track of it that was music only and that the cd we were listening to was some kind of mix.
i asked about the track and he just told me it was lcd soundsystem, which i already knew, and that he was going to see them in a few days at the majestic theater. i, too, went to that show (on my top 10 most fun shows list i believe) and anticipated hearing this song live but they didnt end up playing it. the coolest part about their show is that while theyre an electronic group at the core, their live show is almost completely played live and without recordings. i also just learned that al doyle is also a member of hot chip. that is kind of awesome. definitely a talented group of kids if you ask me.
i planned on looking for the instrumental track when i got home from the post-graduation celebration but completely forgot, until today when i heard “someone great” on the radio and remembered this instrumental track id heard a few years earlier. so i googled “someone great instrumental” and kept getting results for something about 45:33 and part III but i had no idea what this meant. after a little further investigation, i discovered that nike had actually commissioned lcd soundsystem to create this 45:33 minute track as a reward to all of their nike+ users in celebration of the program logging its 10 millionth mile. pretty cool/crazy that i never heard anything about this. but now i know all about it and am eagerly anticipating listening to the whole thing again. the 45:33 track was later re-released by dfa records (of which lcd soundsystem front man james murphy is the co-founder) and split into parts, so what youre hearing today is part III, which later became the music for the track “someone great” on lcd soundystems “sound of silver” album. the track below is a little lengthy but i still like it a ton. the little bit that comes into the mix at around 1:20 kind of just ties everything together for me.
buy all of 45:33 on itunes
