Australia’s The Bang Gang Deejays dropped their new album D is for Disco, E is for Dancing last week. The two disc LP features 67 of the hottest club and indie tracks. Check out a few of our favorites including one of our favorite groups, the Bag Raiders.
Purchase the album HERE
Soulwax, the dance rock group of many guises, is releasing a documentary. Part of the Weekend Never Dies compiles three years worth of footage that follows the group’s touring concept Radio Soulwax: A touring effort spanning the globe, showcasing the many talents of the group, and intertwining with other creative forces such as Klaxons, Peaches, and Busy P. From the stage to the hotel room, POTWND is a look into the lives of “four guys making people forget everything and lose their shit, day in, day out.” Directed by Soulwax with help from director Saam Farahmand (Partizan) Part of the Weekend Never Dies will be released on December 9 2008 along with plenty of bonus material of Nite Versions live at Fabric and 120 other places.
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I have been surprised that through hearing all the CMJ haps in the blog world, I didn’t hear the name Starfucker thrown around more. This may be my top band of 2008 (who came out with an actual release). Their self-titled album ruminates on its own obscurity, but ties strewn-about sounds together in a way that should make them the hipsters’ dream…until the masses finally get Starf***ked.
The band brought its unique set-up to Minneapolis on Tuesday. In all, I think there were three synths, two drumsets, a guitar, a bass, a turntable, and lots of effects for three people to play. I’ll give it to these youngsters on their musical exploration..
The guys pulled off a feat not many new-comers can do in Minneapolis. They got a hipster-laden crowd to move around like fools for a good portion of their songs.
Check out the band on tour
Buy their album HERE
Nathan Boon:
Sent over to us from RuNT records, Nathan Boon shows that The Bang Gang DJs aren’t the only ones rocking the underground in the Down Under. Boon cranks it hard with the jackin’ house beats, gritty bass, and glitched vocals resulting in a track that packs a serious sonic punch.
Leg-No:
British producer Leg-No has been killing it on the remixes lately taking on artists like Spank Rock and DJ Kentaro. Recently Leg-No caught our ears with his rework of Tricky’s Council Estate, giving it a different sound with chopped & screwed vocals, but keeping it nice and dark in the spirit of the original artist.
Mr. PheR:
Also representing the RuNT family, Mr. PheR’s track Ghettolbaster evolves through the many traits of fidget house sounding more like a mini-mix than a single track. WIth tastes of electro and break beat, Mr. PheR rocks the beats for the feet and plenty of bass to keep the crowd pumping.
I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m nearly the Miles Davis buff that I should be. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Miles, but I should be much more versed in the legend’s collection. But someone who does know their Miles Davis is The Apple Juice Kid of North Carolina.
His new Miles Remixed album/mixtape is one of the best things I’ve heard in awhile. AJK is able to subtly and seamlessly add 21st century production to the Davis classics. This is a must have for anyone trying to cop something a little different from their hipster realm.
MAX / MSP (Cycling ‘74)is a software environment in which artists can create a variety of virtual instruments, effects, and other manipulation devices for media such as music and video. A very in-depth and complicated piece of software, I’ll spare you the technical details and get to the point (though if it interests you, please dig deeper into this killer product). MAX/MSP is an excellent example of the relationship between music and modern technology. Though modern luxuries are often to blame for the fall of pop music, the following videos show that some technology (like MAX /MSP) have been a vaulting point for creative use of old tricks.
Using a computer, Rock Band guitar controller, and MAX / MSP, this video shows an amazing way to do an on the fly remix of Daft Punk’s Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.
Check out Johnny Greenwood, of Radiohead, using the software to make some crazy glitch effects on his guitar solo.
Lars Horntveth, the man behind Jagga Jazzist and The National Bank, is set to release his second album Kaleidoscopic. Playing horns, piano, and clarinet, Lars joins 41 members of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra led by Terje Mikkelsen (conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic & Moscow Radio Orchestra) to create a single 37 minute long composition. Not to be limited by structuring separate songs for the album, Lars wanted to create an album that flows through an endless score, “similar to (writing) a diary”. Out now in Norway, Kaleidoscopic will be available stateside January 27, 2008. Check out a music video from The National Bank as well as a couple tracks from Jagga Jazzist.
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The Monks were a five-piece band of American GIs who decided to make a go at music in post-War Germany. They called themselves the ‘Anti-Beatles’ as they rocked harder then any other progressive bands in the early ’60s. They modeled themselves after monks and were anti-government.
Filmmakers Dietmar Post and Lucia Palacios have made a documentary bringing this influential band to light. The Transatlantic Feedback is premiering in New York on Friday and will be showing right here in Minneapolis at the Bryant Lake Bowl on Saturday. Be sure to check out this piece of rock and roll history if you get a chance.
DJ C, the mastermind behind Mashit and one of our earlier interviews on ATF, has opened our ears to tons of new tracks. Always offering a wealth of dirty beats and bass, he recently shouted DJ Elected, and I just had to pass on the word. Check out a couple tracks:
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Purchase DJ Elected Tracks @ mp3.Soundquake
Purchase Mashit Tracks @ Mashit.com
Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Nintendo classics like Donkey Kong, Legend of Zelda, and Super Mario Bros) sat down with CNET’s Daniel Terdiman to talk about one of the newest releases for the Nintendo Wii: Wii Music. Using the Wii remotes, Wii Music gives its users the chance to play along, create, and share music with a variety of classic / modern instruments, and even gives players the chance to conduct an ensemble. The video game legend took a few minutes to talk about video games in the current economic climate and how this new interactive music game stacks up with the ever-so popular Rock Band and Guitar Hero… check out the video below:
