“Give Up the Ghost”

Flying Lotus performed at an after-party for the Ann Arbor Film Festival (AA represent!), where he unleashed a re-working of Radiohead’s Idioteque. He has been on the Radiohead tip of late, with his recent collaboration with Thom Yorke for his new track …And the World Will Laugh with You. Flying Lotus is in town this weekend as well playing Barfly. RSVP HERE to get $5 entrance ($10 w/o rsvp).

Radiohead – Idioteque

Flying Lotus – …And the World Laughs With You (Feat. Thom Yorke)

Use a pirate dictionary.

My latest obsession has been researching lawsuits of music piracy, which I’ll be posting about regularly in the near future. For now I thought I’d put up a related video on the subject–starring two Radioheaders.

By the way…does the opposition think it an insult to call us pirates? We relish pirate mythology (yo-ho-ho)!

Easy Star All-Stars are one of the dopest projects out right now. They are putting a fresh dub spin on some of the most classic music of the past 40 years.  They have already released Dub Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd Cover), Radiodread (Radiohead Covers), and most recently Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band (Beatles Covers). The group is touring right now and will hit the Midwest in May at the Summer Camp Festival in Chililicothe, IL. Listen to a couple of the group’s tracks:

Easy Star All-Stars – Paranoid Android (Radiohead Cover)

Easy Star All-Stars – Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Beatles Cover)

Then you were wrong. This mash-up by Paris resident ComaR of Radiohead’s ‘No Surprises’ and M.I.A’s ‘Paper Planes’ is actually very dope. I thought it would be a long time before I could listen to the overplayed track again, but mixed with the best band on the planet; it was bound to find a surprisingly fitting result.

Radiohead vs. M.I.A. – Surprise Paper Planes (ComaR Mash)

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.

• MP3: Daft Punk – “Around the World / HBFS (live)” (buy)

Check out Johnny Greenwood, of Radiohead, using the software to make some crazy glitch effects on his guitar solo.

• MP3: Radiohead – “Reckoner” (buy)
• MP3: Easy Star All-Stars – “Airbag (Radiohead cover f/Horace Andy) (buy)

Wow, this week has a seen us post a lot about competitions, but Radiohead is following up their groundbreaking idea for their single Nude with another remix competition for their track Reckoner, which is probably the highlight of In Rainbows. They said to check back on Tuesday via their remix site

• MP3: Radiohead – Reckoner
  
• Gnarls Barkley – Reckoner (Radiohead Cover)

There are few things I love more than opening up my email to find that our friends over in Budapest, Hungary have sent another grinding electro track, and today is one of those days.  The newest track by We Plants are Happy Plants, “Trance Steel“, takes the four-on-the-floor beat out of the spotlight, slapping you in the face with hard grinding buzz-saw synth.  Trance steel feels like sunrise, when the tired have staggered home, and only the die-hard are left as the synth swirls around the heavy-dancing, wide pupil lovers of all things electronic.  As an added bonus, check out WPAHP’s remix of Radiohead’s nude, which is always a good way to wind down the night… or the early morning.

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• MP3:  We Plants are Happy Plants – “Trance Steel”
• Radiohead – “Nude (WPHP Remix)”
  

I had a lot of reasons to head to Chicago on Friday for Lollapalooza, but we all know there was only ONE reason I HAD to go. Even though I was all the way back behind the soundstage, the show’s energy went from linear growth to an exponential explosion (literally…with fireworks):

Other than Radiohead, the highlight of the day was Grizzly Bear’s flawless set that featured four new songs. Their version of Knife was perfect as the sun was beating down on the crowd.

The band was followed up by CSS on the same stage. Check out CSS’ cover of Grizzly Bear:

MP3: CSS – Knife (Grizzly Bear Cover)