I Am The Crime
A Fine Mess
A Dark Cloud Full Of Rain
Sep 1st
To celebrate that autumn has (more or less) started to arrive where I’m at, I decided to make a mix. It’s pretty mellow yet slightly dark at times, but there’s a bit of sunshine in there as well. Tracklist is as follows:
Eux Autres – “Rosehill”
Laetitia Sadier – “Long Legs”
Fever Ray – “Mercy Street”
Wildbirds & Peacedrums – “Fight For Me”
Random Patterns – “Every Eye Is On”
The Foxglove Hunt – “Alone And You Like It”
Stripmall Architecture – “Radium Girls”
Dag för dag – “Wouldn’t You”
Exit Calm – “We’re On Our Own”
Kim Taylor – “Lost And Found”
Then It Hit Me – “After Disaster”
The Smittens – “Pretty Boy” (Premix/Remix)
Savoir Adore – “The Garden”
Panda Face – “A Dark Cloud Full Of Rain”
Jordan O’ Jordan – “Speed Of Light”
Jay-Z vs. Sleigh Bells…
Aug 17th
Yes, this is an actual…thing. Someone (DJ O-Face, to be precise) took my beloved Sleigh Bells and mashed them up with Jay-Z. Perhaps it isn’t as horrible if you’re a fan of him – it might even be good in that case – but since I’ve never really liked his music, this is rather painful for me. Plus I can’t really take mash-ups seriously anymore and supposedly this is to be taken seriously. But that’s my personal opinion. Make your own by going here and listen. And hey, if you like it, you can download it for free. Although I’d much rather see you pick up a copy of Sleigh Bell’s debut album Treats instead…
Kim Wilde Comes Back Out To Play
Aug 16th
Kim Wilde, one of my (many) childhood idols, is following up her 2006 comeback by releasing the new album Come Out And Play on August 27. First single “Lights Down Low” (with B-side “Snakes and Ladders”) came out a few days ago and is very much in the same vein as on her ’06 album, Never Say Never: cheesy glorious European pop. So yeah, totally a guilty pleasure but whatever. The tracklisting for Come Out And Play is as follows:
1. King Of The World 2. Lights Down Low 3. Real Life 4. Greatest Journey (feat. Glenn Gregory) 5. I Want What I Want 6. Love Conquers All (feat. Nik Kershaw) 7. Hey! You! 8. Suicide 9. This Paranoia 10. Loving You More 11. Get Out 12. My Wish Is Your Command 13. Jessica
~ Feeling B – “Kim Wilde” ~
Crime Waves
Aug 3rd
~ Pinkshinyultrablast – “Blaster” ~
And we’re off! While dreamy and shimmering as any other shoegaze/post-rock/whatever you want to label this, this track certainly lives up to its name as it blasts off right from the beginning. Sharp and soft at the same time.
~ Lissie – “Wedding Bells” ~
While I like her album Catching a Tiger, I find it a bit too slick and controlled at times. This track however sounds much more stripped and – dare I say? – real. It’s simple yet completely captivating and very, very beautiful. Plus is makes me think of a really sad scene in the movie “River Queen”…
~ The Dreams – “Better Dead Than Brian Adams” ~
I already featured The Dreams when writing about BEKO but I had post this track as well. No only is the title funny, but the song sounds like a forgotten track by The March Violets (pre-Some Kind of Wonderful soundtrack, thank you very much) or some other 80′s goth band.
~ Nick Jaina – “Another Kay Song” ~
Your standard singer-songwriter material, perhaps, but also a very nice track. Added to my list of songs that would be perfect on the soundtracks of various TV-dramas. Don’t worry though, the list is only in my head.
~ Wolf Parade – “What Did My Lover Say” ~
Rawr! No, seriously, that’s all I’m gonna say about this song.
BEKO Digital Single Label
Jul 22nd
Recently I stumbled upon BEKO Digital Single Label, a French online label that releases a new single every Monday, as well as various compilations now and then, all for free. Their main focus is on shoegaze, pop punk, glam and electronica. Below are some of my favorites and if any of them strikes your fancy I implore you to seek out their website and download to your heart’s content. For info on the artists you can go to BEKO’s MySpace which seems to link to most of them.
~ The Dreams – “Negative Streets” ~
~ Death and Vanilla – “Ghosts In The Machine” ~
~ Greatest Hits – “You’re Just An Uptown Girl” ~
~GOBBLE GOBBEL – “Cat Eggs” ~
~ Eternal Summers – “Pure Affection” ~
~ La Femme – “Télégraphe” ~
Robyn on The Late Show
Jul 20th
Hey, Robyn, want to trade lives?
I love this song, even if I’m getting a bit sick of it due to repeat plays (hence the silly mash-up by DJ Schmolli below to switch things up a bit).
Chew Lips – “Slick” (Neo Tokyo Remix)
Jul 11th
Once again I must apologize for the lack of posts. It’s currently very hot here which is making me even more lazy than usual, plus there seems to be a bit of inspiration lacking. Someone who’s not lazy or uninspired though is Ben Watts, also known as remixer Neo Tokyo. Here’s his latest take on a track, “Slick” by Chew Lips. It’s perfect if you want to party it up like you’re on Ibiza (although personally I don’t understand how you’d find the energy. What? I hate summer, OK?).
