Ellen Allien Suns the Rain
Ellen Allien Suns the Rain
LOTP + Soulwax = freaky
LOTP + Soulwax = freaky
Besty Coasty Mixy Tapey
Besty Coasty Mixy Tapey
Chilly Gonzales is Bittersuite
Chilly Gonzales is Bittersuite
BEFORE TODAY by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
It doesn’t take much to make me feel stupid. Trying to find the words to describe the debut album of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti at 4AD is just one of many examples I could give you. To me, ‘Before Today’ sounds like an album that Kevin Barnes could be recording if he loved goth bands more than funk ones. Or like the cold wave genre entering a multicoloured psychedelic stage instead of glazing at it's own depression. Don’t mind my threadbare examples; this is the album that will make it onto every interesting top 10 of the year and you don’t wanna miss it.
Nathan Smith
I can't resist (probably overpriced) basics-with-a-twist. My wardrobe, full of T by Wang, Oak, Bassike and yes, American Apparel is proof of this; and since in Australia, a new favourite has emerged in the form of Nathan Smith. His selection of supersoft tees, tanks and dresses have sucked me into buying multiples of a number of styles in different colourways. You just can't go wrong with these though! Addictively and endlessly wearable - and not in actual fact, overpriced in the slightlest - Nathan Smith is the way forward for your wardrobe.
Freaks and Geeks
I don’t think any series will treat teenagers the same way that Freaks and Geeks did almost 10 years ago. Although relying on every teen American cliché they could, this series was the closest thing to reality you could get whilst still being something fun and interesting to watch – cause, you know, life is boring. With bands like The Who, The Clash and XTC being either part of episodes or the soundtrack, this 80’s based cult show was short-lived (only 18 episodes), but long enough to enrich the careers of some young actors (i.e. James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Busy Philipps and, erm, Linda Cardellini) and is greatly missed. Can we have a movie about them meeting again in the 00’s?
Rong He
Once, a friend of mine wanted to take me to this 'cheap Chinese restaurant', situated in the heart of Liberdade, a Japanese neighborhood in São Paulo. When we got there the place was packed, but because it looked cheesy and kinda poor, I didn't want to wait it out. It took another friend for me to go back there and fall in love with it. Now, every time the mood for some freshly made noodles (you can watch the chief making the noodle dough through a window) framed in some horribly painted pink walls takes me, I go for Rong He. Did I mention the food is also incredibly generous and cheap?
The Selby Is In Your Place
The ultimate in peeping tom into other, cooler, more fashionable, richer, quirkier and more-hipster-than-thou lives is Todd Selby's The Selby. Having previously been an internet only voyeur's dream, Todd has just last month released The Selby Is In Your Place, a coffee table tome full of twee drawings, colourful interiors and people showering. Half of the images in the books are favourites from the website and the other is stuff he hasn't published online yet. So go check it out, maybe buy it if you can to make your crappy coffee table in your crappy apartment that little bit cooler with pictures of someone else's cool stuff.
Posts tagged with buraka_som_sistema
Better a late summer anthem than never // After Dark

the count & sinden video shoot 3 lo-res

 

Mystery Jets Just released their third album, Serotonin, but as much as we like the band we couldn’t find any proper single within the eleven songs. Fortunately, we have the likes of The Count & Sinden who invited the band to make a track for their debut album, Mega Mega Mega, and with this came that missing star choon.

 

Everything about ‘After Dark’ screams “HIT”; from the Johnny Marr-ish guitars to the summerish percussion and let’s not forget a chorus that's readymade to become a new anthem for hooligans. If it was released a few months ago, ‘After Dark’ would’ve become the summer anthem of 2010.

 

the count & sinden video shoot 2 lo-res
another backstage pic

 

The video, directed by Jo Apps (who also did the Simian Mobile Disco, New Young Pony Club and Fake Blood videos), shows a band formed by two members of Mystery Jets and The Count and Sinden playing for a dance competition on a TV show. Simple and fun.

 

The Count & Sinden featuring Mystery Jets - After Dark

 

 

For the remixes, there are works from Buraka Som Sistema, Oliver Twizt and (our favorite) C.R.ST., which makes the track sound like a proper old school house song. Download the remix below and watch ‘After Dark’ take over the world.

 

Flash Content
The Count & Sinden - After Dark (C.R.ST. Remix) [mp3]

Blood Diamond Mixtape
buraka_blood_diamond
Buraka Som Sistema's Blood Diamond Mixtape

 

So more Buraka Som Sistema news - they've dropped their latest mixtape entitled the Blood Diamond Mixtape, conceived, mixed and produced by J-Wow aka Lil John.

 

This mixtape ain't just a diamond, it's a GOLDMINE (HA feeble I know, I know. Look, its 7am. 'Nuff said). It's also a perfect example of the further cross culturality (is that a real word?) in music and new contexts that the current wave of '3rd world beaters' are putting various 'ethnic' influences into.

 

Like, when the guitar riff sample kicked in on the Radioclit vs Guns 'n' Roses track, my eyes widened in mild disbelief - I mean, I realise that 'Sweet Child 'O Mine' is as much of a party choon as the next total cheese ball, but after having heard it twice in as many days in this kind of context I can't help but feel I'm missing something...when did the Gunz actually get cool? I didn't realise that they'd gone so far into being good that they were bad, that they had come back to good again.

 

Another moment was Toy Selecta's remix of Buraka's latest single 'IC-19'; reminded me of DFA's remix of Paper Planes - enjoyable.

 

The whole thing was handled with mad skillz; this mixtape is super nimble. For some reason I generally associate a heavy weight feel with kuduro and Buraka Som Sistema in general, and this was as light footed as their previous work on Lykke Li's track. Some wiiiicked beats are dropped, and I was utterly sold by the time I hit 'Aqui Para Voces (Favela Funk Samba BSS Mix)' as it contains one of my favourite funk samples EVER (vamos começa essa brincadeira gostosa?).

 

All the tracks are super short, the shortest clocking in at 42 seconds and the longest by far being the Buraka remix of Lykke Li's 'Dance Dance Dance' coming in at 3mins 42. The brevity of the tracks was a great move, offsetting the wit of the mixtape brilliantly, showing off Buraka's nicely exercised musical muscle on this one without at all being strained.

 

HAWWWT.

 

Cop the mixtape HERE. RUN. NOW.

 

Tracklist after the jump >>

IC 19 explained
buraka_som_sistema
Buraka Som Sistema

Photograph by Richard Kelly

 

When I interviewed Joao, Kalaf and Conductor of Buraka Som Sistema in 2008, the boys explained to me what the now upcoming single - due out in the UK on the 20th of July - 'IC 19' is actually about...

 

JOAO: There’s a song on the album called IC 19; it’s actually a road. We did that song cause a lot of people, well, do you know about tuning here? Like when people race…[illegal car racing]


KALAF: It’s kinda like pimp my ride –


JOAO: No, pimp my ride is kinda like ‘make my car look beautiful’. Tuning is like, make my car go 300km per hour and make a lot of noise. And that road, during the day time, is the busiest road in the whole country...So we named the song that, cause if I was driving my car while listening to that song, it would make me want to step on the gas.

 

[CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE INTERVIEW]


And you know what, the track is actually pretty fast and the furious; reminiscent of revving up an engine to a roaring frenzy of adrenaline pumping percussion and undulating electronica - even the pauses in the song are like a sports car shifting gears. The track has been remixed by James Talk, A1 Bassline, Mikix the Cat and Deathface (half of the brains behind the now extinct Guns'n'Bombs).

 

The two best remixes of the package (cop them below) are James Talk's and A1 Bassline's. James Talk's edit has more of a [Tokyo] drift feel with a kind of tropical flair, maracas decorating the beat.

 

[Removed on request]

 

A1 Bassline add in what I like to call 'wowow' (check the track, you'll get what I mean) and develop 'IC 19' into more of a journey with some awesome peaks and dance-outs.

 

[Removed on request]

 

Deathface keep it pretty cut and dried, whilst giving it more of a zippy toy car cruising feel rather than a raging machine, building the track into a zippy little number. Vrrrroooooom.

 

Flash Content
Buraka Som Sistema - IC19 (Deathface Remix) [mp3]

 

And for extra measure, here's the L-Vis 1990 remix that didn't make it onto the single as well, with it's deep hyper rubber bass.

 

Flash Content
Buraka Som Sistema - IC19 (L-Vis 1990 Remix) [mp3]

Lykke Li Remixed by Buraka Som Sistema
Buraka_Som_Sistema-Richard_Kelly
Kalaf, Conductor and Lil John

Photograph by Richard Kelly

 

I love it when worlds collide. Buraka Som Sistema have collided beautifully with Lykke Li in their gorgeously subtle remix of 'Dance Dance Dance'. Buraka enhance the gently funky beat of the original track by amping up the drums and flavouring them a la Pictureplane. This, Lykke’s ethereal and occasionally echo effected vocal, combined with Buraka’s unmistakably banging, booty shakedown produces an unlikely marriage that somehow works.

 

I adore both Lykke Li and BSS in their own right, and was curious as to how this was going to turn out. BSS handle Lykke with a light handed touch – yet somehow, do this without taking away any of their usual explosive energy – keeping the track as agile and quick footed as the original. With this remix Buraka Som Sistema have proved to me that there's more to them than what I originally thought (and loved). I can't wait to see what else they have up their collective sleeves.

 

I also got wind that Buraka were going to be working with M.I.A.'s other kid prodigy, Afrikan Boy. Stay tuned for the exclusive interview with Afrikan Boy coming up later this week!

 

Flash Content
Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance (Buraka Som Sistema Remix) [mp3]

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