Keep Me In My Plane

Between going to the supermarket and returning to being in the midst of the Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett hubbub yesterday, the world did turn on, as ever it does.

Though, much like in WhoMadeWho's latest video for the third single from The Plot, 'Keep Me In My Plane', when the world turns on, no matter how apparently good or bad you have it, sometimes all you just want to do is to sit in the bathtub with your rubber ducky and a toaster.

Not a great video; depicting an incredibly dead pan Tomas in various aspects of his so called life. A weak video is forgiveable though with a band like WhoMadeWho because we love their music so much (remember, we even interviewed them months back). We blogged earlier about Modernaire taking their skilled little hands to remix the track, but for your convenience, cop it below the video.

There is something magical happening with the UK's new singers; they either share a passion for synths or for Kate Bush. And on special occasions, both. Marina (as in the Diamonds) is a girl with a tiny waist and a monstrous voice who just did a song that's adorable, interesting and yet simple. 'I Am not a Robot' has a lullaby melody that will put your shoulders to move in opposite ways of your head, but the great star here is her voice: angelical, precise and sparkling.

However, her sparkling voice is no matching for her glittering outfit (can we consider body paint an outfit?) used for the video clip. A naked Marina, shot from her shoulders up, is fully dressed in black shiny make up that justifies the Diamonds in her artist name. She is also painted in different colours, one that is quite similar to those crazy Lovefoxxx looks, and one that's more viva glam - there is also the natural Marina.

And it wouldn't be a 2009 release without the remixes - and in this case she is backed by three good releases. The Aspirins For My Children remix is as good as the original (dubstep beats, atmosphere feel and europop synths), whilst The Shoes remix stress her position as the English answer to the Canadian singer Feist, and finally the Starsmith representing a more introspective side of the dark synthpop.

The Crown Jewels EP, which also has two new songs, was released on the 22th of June via Neon Gold.

There are few labels around the world like DFA. If they get a new act you might not know (and it’s almost 100% of chance you haven’t heard of them before), you surely will be loving them some months later. And trusting them as I do, I downloaded a song from this new band called Holy Ghost! a couple of years ago. The song was ‘Hold On’ and you probably know it’s one of the best songs of this decade.

And as I waited for their next single, the duo became one of the hottest remixers around lending their disco lines to the likes of MGMT, Cut Copy, Phoenix just to name a few, helped record Juan Maclean’s latest album and DJ'd around the world. But now they finally have a new single, and it's really good.

The song is called ’I Will Come Back’ and it’s an homage to New Order! According to the press release, “the drum fill is a nod to New Order's hit ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’”. If you are worrying you will hear a cheap version of one of the most played out club songs ever, you better download the song below and be proved wrong.

The video, which hasn't been released yet, is going to be a remake of New Order’s ‘Confusion’.  "We were going to have James Murphy play the Arthur Baker character," says Millhiser, "but one night we were out at a bar and we ran into Baker. Alex told him about the video, and James said, 'I want to play myself.' We couldn't really say no!" I really can’t wait to see that! Welcome back, Holy Ghost!

Aaaaand as well as the above mp3, you can go cop some more cool shit from GreenLabelSound.

The real story

Fashion fans are you ready? Methinks that The September Issue is the everything The Devil Wears Prada was supposed to represent. Here's director and producer R.J. Cutler's documentary of the making of Vogue's September issue; of Anna Wintour, her team and their lofty positions at the top of the fashion ladder.

I must admit I do adore Ms Wintour and all she stands for; if there's one things that signals success - whether they be using their powers for good or evil is another debate - and that's uncompromising vision. That's most definitely what the ol' girl's got. Props.

The September Issue is due out in theatres late August.

Chew Lips have a new single out and it's better than the 'Solo' for many reasons: Tig's (diva) voice sounds more trained and polished; the lyric features the amazing line that names the track "You're an ocean, I'm salt air"; the electronic instrumental suits her voice better; and finally, it's simply a catchier song. Think of a more classy version of Gossip's 'Standing in the Way of Control' for a whole new synthpop generation.

And all you fans of sepia colors and old-looking graphics will be pleased to know that the video features exactly both of these technologies and shows the band doing a live performance. Don't forget to note that Tigs (the singer) has got one point hotter after becoming really short haired and another for becoming blonde (although she was still a brunette in the video).

If 'Solo' had Tepr and David Sugar remixing it (check both versions here), 'Salt Air' got Jupiter, Two Door Cinema Club and Dekker & Johan in which Valerie's Jupiter is clearly a stand out with his '80s synths and fresh feel (try to work that out in your head), but it doesn't mean the other remixes are bad. Two Door Cinema Club's version sounds like early CSS stuff - dancefloor electro; while Dekker & Johan explore synths in a very '90s way. 'Salt Air' will be released via Kitsuné on the 6^th of July.

Modernaire

I've been a huge fan Modernaire since mid 2007, when I first heard them play in a dingy pub in Manchester with Dolby Anol and this awful awful act called Bitterly Ironic (of all things). They stood out a mile, with their eerie girl vocals in perfect harmony and their dirty dark, swashbuckling pop electronica. I've said before that the band on first glance might seem a little pretentious; but their razor sharp wit and a tidy vocabulary belie a sense of humor that's rarely seen in the current musical climate.

They've been fairly quiet since they released their EP 'Velvet Never Dries' in 2007, only hitting out occasionally with wiiiicked remixes for the likes of Metronomy, MGMT and Empire of the Sun (cop them all below). All of them are brilliant, seriously, keeping the soul of the original tracks but injecting some of their very own deliciously noir, eerie pop chic into their remixes.

Now on releasing 'Faites Vos Jeux' they've also remixed WhoMadeWho, continuing the build their stellar portfolio of excellent remixes for great bands. Modernaire's treatment of 'Keep Me In My Plane' is an echoey disco number, playing around with percussion, putting the bouncing guitar into the background and filling the space with dirty mid-range synths, that have a vague Metronomy feel. It's a super clever remix as all of their remixes are; taking into account the whole personality of the original track and restyling it a la Modernaire without obscuring WhoMadeWho in the slightest.

The single Faites Vos Jeux drops next week on roXour Records (alongside our friend TEPR) in the UK, but we've got it here for youuu:

Rumble on the, erm, 'river'

So for the month of June, The Rumble Strips were curating CTRL for Topman this month of June. The lads chose Golden Silvers, Everything Everything, My Tiger My Timing to play their CTRL gig at Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff earlier this month. To date the CTRLlers have been an esteemed list of Metronomy, Ladyhawke, and Lightspeed Champion.

And as of July, Sam Kilcoyne, founder of the Underage Club, will be taking over, pulling in a massive line-up including Metronomy, Little Boots, grime artists Tinchy Stryder and JME, Esser, grime and dubstep DJ Plastician, Rusko and Caspa, and the infamous Tomb Crew all coming to a head on the 2nd of August when the Underage Festival hits London's Victoria Park.

In the meantime, whilst we're waiting for Sam to take CTRL, here's a video of The Rumble Strips experience as well as their chosen three having a chat about being in control.

If you ask me, I have no idea what's meant to be going on with the career of the band Thieves Like Us. I think I've had their album (which I'm not sure is an official one) since 07, but I keep seeing them releasing the same songs over and over again. This is one of the cases - but at least it's not a re-re-release of their biggest hit 'Drugs in my Body'.

Really Like to See You Again, the EP, features four tracks - including the homonym song and a different version for 'Desire' - and it expands on their journey through their Manchester '80/90s sound. 'Really Like to See You Again', the song, played with warm synthetic lines, a strong sad bass line and a cold dead vocal. It might me be the missing link in the Joy Division/New Order evolution. 'American Skies' gets groovy in the most dated way possible, and this is not a criticism. While the new version of 'Desire' makes it much more interesting, the ever 'released' 'To Joy' shows that they've evolved a lot since that.

And I think this evolution is expressed in all its colors in this superb remix for Miss Kittin and The Hacker's 'Party in My Head'. If the original is one of those minimalism techno songs that I love to ignore, the remix surprisingly paints it with disco lines in one of the best of the year.

And as it wouldn't be Thieves Like Us without mentioning 'Drugs in My Body' this France based band (two members are from Sweden and the singer is American) asked the French trio The Teenagers to lay their hands on their little gem and the result has a weird drum'n'bass taste. It feels like the band played with all the samples that they have at the moment.  Not great, but quite acceptable.