Palease

...

More proof that Count Bass-D could be the Moshiach.

Count Bass D & DJ Pocket – Palease [In The Loop, 2009]

Top bands of the 00's

Liars: Basically, they owned the decade. Their first album both started and finished off an entire genre (dancepunk), then they put out three more albums, two of which will be influential for years. A fifth album (which is completely MASSIVE) is also coming out just a few weeks into 2010. They've been totally inscrutable - it took me a couple weeks to figure out They Threw Us All in a Trench, but four years to figure out They Were Wrong...

Liars - Grown Men Don't Fall Into The River, Just Like That [They Threw Us All In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top, 2001]

Broadcast: I may have listened to Broadcast more than anyone else. Tender Buttons in particular really grew on me - my pick for "most underrated album of the decade."

Broadcast - Corporeal [Tender Buttons, 2005]

Akron/Family: The most exciting band of the decade, and they're still getting better.

Akron/Family - Dylan Part II [Akron/Family and Angels of Light, 2005]

MF DOOM: Operation: Doomsday! was 1999 but Madvillainy and tons of other solid albums/projects (MM..Food? was ignored for some reason) are more than enough to put DOOM here.

MF DOOM - Hoe Cakes [MM..Food?, 2004]

Tom Ze: On this list for Estudando o Pagode. It seems appropriate to make blustery proclamations here, so: best album of the decade.

Tom Ze - Mulher Navio Negreiro [Estudando o Pagode, 2005]

The Fall: I think the 90's weren't very kind to The Fall but they put out three really good albums in the 00's - Real New Fall LP, Fall Heads Roll, and Reformation TLC.

The Fall - What About Us [Fall Heads Roll, 2005]

British Sea Power: their first album is still their best, but despite "getting bigger" their newer albums are still good. A lot of reviewers mentioned Echo and the Bunnymen when they first came out, I think that's still a good comparison considering their popularity/ability to stay somewhat "true" to their music.

British Sea Power - Remember Me [The Decline of British Sea Power, 2003]

Honorable Mention:

Out Hud - real sad they broke up, I'll be first in line to buy tickets for their money-grubbing reunion tour after the hot dance producers of 2040 champion them as pioneers ahead of their time ["How Long"]
Brightblack Morning Light - my favorite hippies of the 00's ["All We Have Broken Shines"]
Count Bass D - so underrated as a producer and rapper it hurts ["Antemeridian"]
Skygreen Leopards - great under the radar California jams ["Belle of the Woodsman's Autumn Ball"]
Mclusky - "Collagen Rock," among others, made Do Dallas an essential... well... college-rock listen ["Collagen Rock"]

Best of the 2000s

Hey folks. I reeeeally shouldn't be starting this list now, as I have two exams in the next five days. But here goes. Here go six, rather. For now.

1.jackson and his computer band: smash

No album of the 2000s blew my mind quite like this one. An old review described it perfectly: 'Jackson Fourgeaud doesn't write songs. He builds elaborate toys that run on their own silicon-plated gears.'

Jackson And His Computer Band - Radio Caca [Smash, 2005]


2.plaid: double figure

Plaid – Twin Home [Double Figure, 2001]


3.ellen allien: berlinette

Ellen Allien – Open [Berlinette, 2003]


4.luke vibert: lover's acid

Luke Vibert – Gwithian [Lover's Acid, 2005]


5.diplo: florida

Diplo – Way More [Florida, 2004]


6.stephen malkmus: face the truth

Stephen Malkmus – Pencil Rot [Face The Truth, 2005]

and finally, yes, you knew it.

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+
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Alan Braxe and Friends – Rubicon [The Upper Cuts, 2005]

Lucio Battisti!!

yeah that's seriously him, awesome right

OMG we're back. I'm excited. I listened to a bunch of good music over the summer and now I can blog it - bless Fileden. Unless it dies like our last "storage solution."

Anyway dig on these tracks from Lucio Battisti. This stuff sounds like a raving Italian stumbled into a Mutantes jam session circa 1970, but the music is actually made by other Italians. I wish that it were just Lucio Battisti running around banging on all the instruments himself but it's totally not, Wikipedia told me so.

This stuff sounds so fresh, like you KNOW that if some 20 year olds in Brooklyn had hit upon this it would be totally big - and with good reason!! Somehow old Lucio created songs that lasted a solid 30 years. But he wasn't actually some recluse living in his basement, he was a giant pop star who was mourned by all of Italy when he died. Or that's what Wikipedia said at least. The tracks aren't as good but I just want to copy and paste the titles of some of the songs on this album, Amore E Non Amore:

• "Seduto Sotto Un Platano Con Una Margherita In Bocca Guardando Il Fiume Nero Macchiato Dalla Schiuma Bianca Dei Detersivi"


• "7 Agosto Di Pomeriggio Fra Le Lamiere Roventi Di Un Cimitero Di Automobili Solo Io, Silenzio Eppure Straordinariamente Vivo"


• "Davanti Ad Un Distributore Automatico Di Fiori Dell'Aereoporto Di Bruxelles Anch'io Chiuso In Una Bolla Di Vetro"


• "Una Poltrona, Un Bicchiere Di Cognac, Un Televisore. 35 Morti Ai Confini Di Israele E Giordania"

Actually it's sad, I like the songs with regular titles way more. "Supermarket" is totally a song about stuff he's buying at a supermarket. Dig!!

Lucio Battisti - Dio Mio No [Amore E Non Amore, 1971]

Lucio Battisti - Supermarket [Amore E Non Amore, 1971]

OK OK OK

No new files up yet. The old files are basically dead. Sorry about that. We feel your pain.

But hey. You can listen to a couple of rad-badical tracks over at Tumblr.

Also, check this out. My sister made a pretty sweet new website which has mixtapes. I'm enjoying the first one.

Yo yo yo

All of our files are down, we know. We're all kind of busy right now but we'll figure something out eventually. The music must go on right? The world needs our mp3s!

This summer I'm listening to Nagisa Ni Te, check out their album "On The Love Beach." How's that for some avant garde mp3 blogging huh?? HUHH?????

Could have been a jackrabbit [Skygreen Leopards]

New Skygreen Leopards!
New Skygreen Leopards!

The new album, Gorgeous Johnny, is good. "Just in time for summer." California California California San Francisco, "lazy," "slow," "kind of hippy." I dunno what to say about music anymore. Skygreen Leopards are my favorite band from SF, so I'm just happy to listen to be able to hear new stuff, they've been off and on over the past few years.

The Skygreen Leopards - Gorgeous Johnny [Gorgeous Johnny, 2009]

The Skygreen Leopards - Paid by the Hour [Gorgeous Johnny, 2009]

King Khan sound from Japan [The Ton-up Motors]

The Ton-Up Motors live at Bar Jam in Shinjuku, Tokyo

Finally spending time in Japan yields a good new band. The Ton-Up Motors played an amazing show when I saw them a few months ago, playing a very LOUD style of rock that reminded me right away of King Khan. The lead singer is crazy although not in the don't-give-a-fuck way like Khan, more in an "oh my god is he gonna kill me?" kind of way. Click on that first picture to see his facial expression better, he's really into looking right at people in the audience. It's exciting, I enjoyed it.

The band plays soulish punk rock, and the singer has the Suntory-and-cigarettes voice to back it up. The recording of their album was a little bit cleaner than I would like, but I think you can still that they're a real rock band. Enjoy!!

Note: I used online translation for some parts of the titles, so the English is not exact. Strangely enough I am most sure about "Right Hand Man Fire"

The Ton-up Motors - Stupid Smile (バカ笑い大将) [Soul is Dynamite, 2009]

The Ton-up Motors - Our Ballad (俺達のバラッド) [Soul is Dynamite, 2009]

The Ton-up Motors - Right Hand Man Fire (右腕ファイヤー) [Soul is Dynamite, 2009]

BRUTAL BASS SOUND [RSD]

I'm living in Japan now. A friend here recently sent me an email with a link to a mix he did, saying "enjoy brutal bass sounds." I've never really gotten into dubstep (still do not understand Burial except when paired with Four Tet) but this is gonna do it for me.

RSD - Jah Way

I Was Wondering How You Felt.

I'm going to go with this.

1) Wowee Zowee (Black Out!)
2) Slanted And Enchanted (Zurich Is Stained!)
3) Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (Stop Breathin'!)
4) Brighten The Corners (Stereo!)
5) Terror Twilight (You Are A Light!)

Pavement – Black Out [Wowee Zowee, 1995]

Black Moth Super Rainbow

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Black Moth Super Rainbow – American Face Dust [Eating Us, 2009]

Major Lazer

MLlll

Major Lazer: Diplo, Switch, Santigold.

Thank You For Making This Happen, God.

Major Lazer – Hold The Line [Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do, 2009]

UPDATE:

Major Lazer – Hold The Line (Ghislain Poirier Remix)

Great moments in Hey! Student comments

La Dentista! has left a new comment on your post "AFX Coachella set [Aphex Twin]":

I Saw Aphex Twin this year, on the 4th of April. It was BRUTAL.
After 2 hours of awesome acid/techno, the visuals were replaced by autopsies of transexuals and sickening scat porn.
Nobody danced, nobody leaved..You werent sure why you were still looking at the screen, while the most gruesome noise was coming out of the speakers at 120 dB.......
It took about 25-30 minutes till the promotor pulled the plug out.

Only Richard D. James could get away with that!

Hey! Student Mixtape #1

Today's a particularly wonderful day in New York City, a balmy though pleasant 85 degrees and sunny. To celebrate what I'm calling the first day of Summer in NYC, I bring upon our loyal readership the inaugural Hey! Student Mixtape.

I laid down this 30-minute bite-size mix earlier this afternoon. Styles that can be heard run from italo disco to french house to electro revival, and all of it will surely get you in the dancing mood.

Hey! Student Mixtape #1

Tracklist:

1) Five Letters – “Tha Kee Tha Tha”
2) M.E. –“R&B Drunkie”
3) Alan Braxe – “Most Wanted”
4) Material & Nona Hendryx – “Bustin’ Out”
5) Kaos – “Feel Like I Feel”
6) Was (Not Was) – “Out Come the Freaks”

Any feedback is appreciated. Enjoy!

Not-new Super Furry Animals

SFA OK

Matt's post about the new SFA album comes at an interesting time, as I have just been heavily digging their last one, Hey Venus!, which is great. It never showed up on my radar, but I picked it out while flipping through the catalog at this place in Phnom Penh which sells you mp3s. Such is my laziness...

The songs on this album are definitely up to the standard set by their "golden" albums like Radiator and Guerrilla. (I like Phantom Power a lot too) This one has a track called "Baby Ate My Eightball." That's a funny title, plus the song is good.

Super Furry Animals - Baby Ate My Eightball [Hey Venus!, 2007]
Super Furry Animals - The Gift That Keeps Giving [Hey Venus!, 2007]

New Super Furry Animals

The SFA

Haven't heard the whole album, but wanted to post this song, as this is the Internet age, and I've already lost my patience somehow.

Before I go, though, I'd like to take a moment to celebrate the fact that, you know: SFA are great. Rather: Were, are, will continue to be. Some of my fondest memories of college are biking to the cleaners to Rings Around The World – especially 'Receptacle,' right before it descends into a Gwarr-y hellscape.

Well done, guys.

Super Furry Animals – White Socks / Flip Flops [Dark Days / Light Years, 2009]

Blitzen Trapper

So, Blitzen Trapper. I like these guys okay...Say, 7 out of 10. It's easy folk, and, for all of the Pavement comparisons they get, they're actually much closer to something like CSNY: good'n'pretty'n'kinda'boring. However, when it comes to their Big Hit, Wild Mountain Nation, I've got to tip my hat, avert my eyes, bow in gratitude, and slink backwards out of the room. Malkmus, who ended up doing a few shows with them last year, summed the situation up nicely:

I was blown away by that (song). But then Janet’s like, ‘That song is absolutely amazing, but don’t worry, not every song on the album is that good. They’re not going to completely shred us.’

Honestly, I'd be shocked to see these guys doing any shredding whatsoever, let alone of the fucking Jicks. But this song will make your day, gar-on-teed.

Blitzen Trapper – Wild Mountain Nation [Wild Mountain Nation, 2007]

Two dancefloor burners

Nothing much to report here. Just two tracks of pure disco enjoyment, and a picture of Superpitcher to get you in the dancing mood.

Mark E - R&B Drunkie (10/10 hotness factor)
Panthers - Goblin City (Holy Ghost! Disco Dub) (like 8/10)

In The Studio: Dan Deacon

Above: Dan Deacon puts the finishing touches on his new LP, Bromst.

"What's the significance of the title?"
"Bromst? It's like when a dragon wakes up and it's not horny, but it knows it could easily become, ah, horny."

New DFA goodness [The Juan Maclean]

image courtesy Google Reader

I think the new Juan Maclean Album is a small success. Less Than Human was kind of like the underrated #7 hitter to LCD Soundsystem's cleanup swagger. (These are the kind of metaphors you get with an off-brand mp3 blog) It made sense for LCD and Juan to tour together back in 2005 (the Sony Playstation tour, ha) but that's not true anymore: LCD has stayed somewhat close to a "rock" sound on the last couple of albums, but Juan Maclean is going very electronic on this album.

With the exception of the single "Happy House," this album is not quite ready for the dancefloor, but it's pretty close. I think Juan might be just be waiting for a couple of friendly remixers to come along to really make these songs bump.

In a way this album is like what Out Hud did going from their first to second albums - this one is a lot more stripped down, closer to the dancefloor and features female vocals (from LCD's Nancy) up front.

The Juan Maclean - The Simple Life [The Simple Life, 2009]
The Juan Maclean - No Time [The Simple Life, 2009]