DISCO DEVIL [Lee Perry]

Matt's already posted about Lee Perry a couple of times, once to show him hanging out in the studio with Andrew W.K., and again to run down a live show.

Lee Perry was in San Francisco about a month or so ago, and the show was great. Matt said it before, but at 72 years old he's still full of energy. At some points he was literally trying to lead the crowd in group exercise: "Hop! Hop! Hop! Now jog!"

This song "Disco Devil" is one of Lee Perry's older jams. It's seriously great, super dubbed out with great backup singing.

Lee Perry & Full Experience - Disco Devil

[Brighton Port Authority]

Fatboy Slim, David Byrne, Dizzee Rascal.

Is there more to be asked for in this life?

[Kid Sis]

I've got a secret. I LOVE DAVID BANNER.

Summer's not over yet, friends.

Kid Sister f/David Banner – Family Reunion [Dream Date, 2008]

i love kompakt so much [Superpitcher]

MEINE NAME IST AKSEL

Saw Superpitcher last night. It was fantastic. Many future Hey! Student bloggers and commenters saw him a few years ago in Chicago, and this was just as good. I love how he rocks out on the mids so much... I can't resist this track.

Superpitcher - Fieber [Speicher 6 12", 2002]

RJD2 - "Work It Out"

Mesmerizing.

The best wake up song ever [Cornershop]

lead dude

Woooo we're back after some file issues. After the break I want to give a shoutout to Justin's last post highlighting Death From Abroad artists, because the two tracks there are super hot.

Today I am just throwing up a track by Cornershop, this is the first track off of the When I Was Born for the 7th Time album. You know, the one with "Brimful of Asha"! I bought Cornershop's second album a few weeks ago but I couldn't really dig it. This track is essential though, if American audiences were ready for "Brimful of Asha" (something that still baffles me) then this track could have been a hit too. In my mind at least.

Cornershop - Sleep on the Left Side [When I Was Born for the 7th Time LP, 1997]

Live Review: West Meets East [Calexico]

Victor Gastelum, Calexico's Artist of Choice

In effort to escape the public hysteria over the slow train wreck that is the U.S.'s economy, I took some time yesterday to see in concert one of my favorite bands, Calexico, at NYC's Webster Hall. For the uninitiated, Calexico is one of the more interesting and talented musical acts today, and to witness their live shows is something of an event.

The group, founded by John Convertino and Joey Burns, is what I like to think as a musician's band. Incredibly technical though organic, Calexico breeze through multiple music genres to craft consistently beautiful and well-textured music. Though much has been said about the group's unique blend of mariachi, country and spaghetti western film scores, Calexico have recently over the last five years evolved into something greater. Much of the Calexico's recent work, starting with 2003's Feast of Wire, has channeled the group's now complex and expansive musical palette into the traditional song format, creating music that can balance the substance with the expansive style. The group's latest album, Carried to Dust, could be their best, and I've included the opening track, "Victor Jara's Hands", below for download.

Back to the show. Prior to last night's show, I had seen Calexico twice (2004 and 2006), both times of which I had been put in a complete trance. This time was no different. The group opened with "Roka", a Spanish/English vocal faceoff paced to slow, steady horns and percolated piano work. I quickly snapped a picture as I listened and watched:

Much of the setlist was drawn from Feast of Wire and Carried to Dust, though the group also played concert staple "Alone Again Or", a fantastic cover of a Love song of the same name, and the rambuctious "Crystal Frontier", a song that closes out a majority of Calexico's concerts. I've included both below for your downloading pleasure.

In watching and listening, I realized the tightness of Calexico's performance is unmatched. Every musician was in perfect communication with each other, and the best part is that the group has an absolute blast when doing so. In addition, Calexico has become truly international, as nationalities from around the world were represented on stage. What was once a Tuscon, AZ-based side project of the alt-country group Giant Sand has now evolved into a world act, now including members from Berlin, Munich, Madrid and Nashville.

The group is on tour now, so do yourself a favor and see them live, even if you've never listened to their work. A testimony from one of last night's patrons: "that was one of the happiest moments I ever had in New York." Take it from me, you'll likely feel the same.

Viva Calexico!

Calexico - Victor Jara's Hands [Carried to Dust LP, 2008]

Calexico - Alone Again Or [Convict Pool EP, 2004]

Calexico - Crystal Frontier (Widescreen Version) [Even My Sure Things Fall Through EP, 2001]

Live Review: Trip Over the Light Fantastic [Mercury Rev]

On September 10, I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Mercury Rev's "Trip Over the Light Fanstastic" at the Stone in NYC.

First off, before entering into a discussion of what the show was, I'd like to point out that the Stone is literally a box, seating no more than 20 people and tucked away at 2nd street and avenue C. The Stone is not-for-profit music space run by avant-garde musician John Zorn, and hosts a variety of atypical music performances.

Mercury Rev is one of my favorite bands, and I've followed them ever since their release of Deserter's Songs, an album I believe is one of the best musical pieces to come out the 1990s. Comparisons to the Flaming Lips are multiple, as the two bands are led by singers with similarily high-pitched wails, though I always thought Mercury Rev was always a little more out-there, if that's possible.

Back to the show. As I entered the Stone at around 9:40 PM, I immediately went directly to the front row, and found myself literally a foot-and-a-half away from the microphone of Rev's lead singer, Jonathan Donahue. A scene before the performance:

Then, at around 10 PM, the band came out in a very "un-rockstar" entrance, crawling over patrons that were sitting on the ground and nearly tripping a couple of times. People around me were asking me if they knew what was going to happen, for which I gave a big ol' shrug. One guy to the left of me thought it was going to be a full-blown concert, but I knew that wasn't the case, given the setting.

Mr. Donahue stepped to his mic, but then he put on this strange headset, which was hooked up to all sorts of machinery, and then sat down in his chair. Alex Chechile, a Brooklyn avante-garde artist that accompanied the Rev, brought along a hand-built electroencephalograph, or EEG, along with a computer program that was used to modify music in real time according to one's own brain activity. Like something out of a movie, Alex had hooked up Jonathan to this machine, and the band began to "play".

"This is the sound of my brain" cooed Jonathan, as loud though rhythmic thumps emanated from the Stone's crackling speakers. In the background, two individuals touched two light beams to create a strange visual that I won't try describing, but maybe this picture does:

As Donahue manipulated brainwaves, Grasshopper, Rev's guitarist, played percolated riffs and noise, which was also sonically manipulated through his computer:

The show was a good 45 minutes, and though it wasn't a typical Mercury Rev performance, it wasn't what I expected, which is refreshing coming from a band that's been on the circuit for two decades. Even after all these years, Rev is still keeping their experimentalism alive, confirming the notion that this is one of the great American bands to have surfaced in the last twenty years.

Euro meets Americano [DFA + Supersoul]

Leap-frog

We here at Hey Student! are not shy in expressing our love for German house and techno.  Already numerous articles have been written on household names Kompakt and Bpitch Control, and in keeping with that theme, take a gander at the new compilation released by DFA's sub-label Death From Abroad, Nobody Knows Anything.  Compiling the works of upstart Berlin-based Supersoul Recordings, this compilation kicks, containing hot dance tracks and sensitive bangers that encompass the best elements of acid house, euro-crunk (a la Modeselektor), detroit techno, electro and minimal techno.

With this release, DFA has helped in bridging the gap between the always dynamic European techno scene and dance-rock of the U.S. underground.  I hope DFA continues to release compiliations like Nobody Knows Anything, not just because the music is killer, but also to expose American listeners more to techno.

Two tracks are posted below, which could not be more different from each other.  The first one, "Deuteronomy Brown (l-f Edit)", is an absolute dance-floor grinder, while "Stropharia" is a sensitive banger, more suited for 5 AM rides home from the club.  Kick it.

Walter Jones - Deuteronomy Brown (l-f Edit) [Nobody Knows Anything Compilation, 2008]

Max Brannslokker - Stropharia [Nobody Knows Anything Compilation, 2008]

Artist: [Flying Lotus]

Flying Lotus

Say hello to Flying Lotus, the newest addition to Warp Records. His sophomore album, Los Angeles, is a slow-grooving, Tricky-like delight that I'd describe as perfect for the bedroom, were I ever able to play music there with a woman present. The first track, Parisian Goldfish, is the only uptempo thing on the record, but works nicely, and should completely destroy your brain at approximately 1:50. The second, Camel, is more representative of the album, and seems like it may have borrowed the beat from that Beck song, Missing. An exciting record indeed.

Flying Lotus – Parisian Goldfish [Los Angeles, 2008]

Flying Lotus – Camel [Los Angeles, 2008]

Flaming Lips, 90210

Onion AV Club: How did that Beverly Hills, 90210 thing come about?

Wayne Coyne: ...I think it was more just a matter of convenience and luck, and us saying, "Hell, yeah, we'll do it!" I think people expected that we would be so guarded and above it all that we would smirk and say, "We'll never do bullshit like that." But as soon as you get the opportunity, you jump right for it.

O: Did Ian Ziering really think you guys "rocked the house"?

WC: Um, no, not at all. They said all that stuff long before we played. It was at the end of a long week of shooting for them; we got there on a Friday, and it appeared to me that they usually wrapped it up around 7 o'clock. And at about quarter to seven, they started shooting our segment. You could just see the yawns and complaints and, "When the fuck are we going home?" We knew, then, what real TV is all about.

Computer Fairyland

Little Boots

Little Boots Mixtape. Discovered on Sasha Frere-Jones' wonderful TNY blog.

If the bass line at 15 minutes doesn't make you want to dance, I don't know what to tell you.

Little Boots - Computer Fairyland Mix

Mental sweep [Buffalo Daughter, Monster Island Czars]

Over the past week I have been listening to two songs at least once per day. They're pretty different.

#1) Buffalo Daughter - "Mirror Ball": I really did not know that Buffalo Daughter was this into repetitive jams. It's always impressive to hear how much noise three people can create, I really like the bass line of this song. It's kind of long but there's a good payoff. I need to listen to more Buffalo Daughter, this song is very Kraut-sounding but made with a clean, alternative rock sound.

#2) Monster Island Czars - "Escape From Monsta Isle": This is a track produced by MF DOOM, featuring his posse. The beat is great and the rappers are actually really good, even though most B-team posses are lame. How's that for a backhanded compliment?

Link to another Buffalo Daughter track.

Holla Atcha Boy! [Hollertronix]

Already his reputation infamous on Hey Student!, Diplo perhaps did his best work as part of the DJ duo Hollertronix, based straight out of Philly.

Much in the vein of the previously discussed I Like Turtles mix, Never Scared, Hollertronix's seminal piece, is a sample-heavy clash of musical styles, ranging everywhere from Dirty South rap, punjabi, 80's electro and, of course, Bjork. When the Clash literally "clash" with Missy on the track provided below, the musical moment is so golden it may bring you to tears.

Summer can still live on, despite it being September. This shit is mad decent!

Hollertronix - Never Scared [Never Scared LP, 2003]