We are so excited that The Golden Filter debut is on the verge of being released; as it's been a long time since we found out about them, got enthusiastic about their mysteries, brought them to one of our parties and became life-time fans of Stephen and Penelope's project.

The duo made available on their website the first official release of Voluspa - to be released on the 26th of April via Brille (home of The Knife and Good Shoes).

'Hide Me' starts sexy and keeps building until we hear a mix of progressive and danceable synths, just as like they promised they would sound. But we still can feel the disco vibration of the beats as well as the beautiful and mysterious voice of Penelope. Listen to the track below.

In case you recognize this song, 'Hide Me' has been floating the web for ages as a demo track which you can hear and download below. Also check the great cover of Voluspa.

What's going on here then? After the last thing they dropped which was that killer remix of O Children's 'Disco Dancer', The Golden Filter are back again dropping hints. Always the tease, but never the whore...check it:

O Children

photography by Guy Stephens

Two of IM//A\\PARTY's acts O Children and The Golden Filter have combined their powers and created a haunting, yet glittering remix of O Children's lead single 'Dead Disco Dancer'.

O Children are serious like a heart attack, innit (see vid below). But you know what, they can get away with it cause 'Dead Disco Dancer' is great. The Golden Filter give the track their midas touch; adding the clarity of Penelope's bell-like vocal, casually throw in some epic drums to frame Tobi's equally epic voice and find a superb balance between these with their typically impeccable, slinky and sexy TGF production. Wicked.

Check the original if you haven't heard by now (shame on you if that's the case) - that riff is inescapably catchy.

Some months ago, I described the new Golden Filter single, 'Thunderbird', as "a five minute-long jam that starts with pulsating drums and poetic lines sensually proclaimed by Penelope." And now they finally have a video for it and it was shot again by the amazing Australian crew of Moop Jaw.

You may remember that the song is about "a bird of Native American mythology used in chant ceremonies symbolizing purification and healing" and the video shows a ritual to evoke this bird. It's as mysterious as you know this New York duo can be.

If you are looking for something spookier and less pop, you might find the dub version a lot better than the original. The drums feel stronger, the vocal less present and the synths much more psychedelic than the single version would like to be.

And that is not the only different version of the song, Golden Filter just released through the great RCRD LBL a new version of the song. The 'With Beauty Before Me, I Walk Mix' is a sexy blend of strong drums and crying guitars that reaches a totally different dark side for the duo. We sure'll be watching for TGF's debut album. 

Thunderbird

Saying that we love The Golden Filter is redundant. IM//A\\PARTY's latest stars are releasing a new single, and as you can expect it's a marvelous and mysterious trippy disco piece. 'Thunderbird' is a five minute-long jam that starts with pulsating drums and poetic lines sensually proclaimed by Penelope. It is so inviting and visual that I can almost see Penny evoking her stage persona and clapping her way into people's hearts whilst Stephen creates the synth aura of the music - or should I say musical journey.

The duo focus the release on the legendary bird figure of the Thunderbird, which according to the press release refers to a "bird of Native American mythology used in chant ceremonies symbolising purification and healing". And by now you should know that they really mean it.

'Thunderbird' is due to be released on the 16^th of November via Dummy Records, but you can download the single for free now (although you will have to wait for the high quality file). The b-side is their amazing cover of The White Stripes' 'The Hardest Button to Button' and a dub version of the single. Get excited!

The Golden Filter // Penelope and Stephen

Photography by Santiago Felipe

The Golden Filter until now, have been made by the media a somewhat overly mysterious and elusive entity. Having recently dropped 'Favourite Things' on Kitsuné's latest compilation, this seemingly evasive pair first took the scene by storm when they released a faceless, somewhat prophetic and self-explanatory track 'Solid Gold' into the blogosphere. It had everybody talking about them, wondering, "Who the hell are The Golden Filter?"

The New York City based Penelope and Stephen (plus Lisa their drummer, who completes their live show) are the duo behind all the fuss and the brilliant bit of personal obscurity that inadvertently had the bloggerati abuzz. Whilst their tracks were slinking and gliding their way down headphones and out of speakers everywhere, the duo preferred to keep their heads down and let the stalking basslines and undulating electronica of their sexily hazy neo-disco do the talking.

But to part the curtains of myth and golden halos of hair and camera effects that they have hidden behind in photographs, I hung out with Stephen and Penelope for an afternoon, wandering the colourful streets of Williamsburg to talk it out. They were neither masked nor aloof despite previously having used  a vocoder in prior interviews and habitually hidden their faces in press pictures.

In fact, I found Penelope and Stephen to be thoroughly down to earth, pragmatic and frank; aware of themselves and the world that they're operating in, knowing exactly what they want and how to get it without losing themselves in the circus of The Biz that is the music industry.

Interview after the jump >>

Após trazer com exclusividade ao Brasil a cantora pop francesa Yelle e a dupla de synthpop australiana Bag Raiders, a festa IM//A\\PARTY firma parceria com o Clash, um dos melhores clubes do mundo, segundo a revista inglesa DJ Mag, e aposta no electro disco da dupla nova-iorquina The Golden Fliter.

A dupla que surgiu como projeto secreto no final de 2008, alcançou sucesso rápido com seu single de estréia "Solid Gold" que os projetou às passarelas dos principais desfiles do mundo - incluindo os brasileiros São Paulo Fashion Week e Casa dos Criadores, onde foi alçada a música oficial do evento - e aos principais clubes. Tamanha exposição acabou levando a dupla a assinar com o selo francês Kitsuné, onde lançaram a faixa "Favorite Things" dentro da celebrada compilação Maison Kitsuné 7, ao lado de nomes como La Roux, Phoenix e Heartsrevolution.

Após chamar a atenção dos principais blogs e sites do mundo, a banda recebeu inúmeros convites para remixarem oficialmente artistas contemporâneos como Empire of the Sun, Cut Copy, Little Boots, Peter Bjorn & John e Polly Scattergood. O duo nova-iorquino também foi escolhido pessoalmente pela dupla australiana The Presets para abrir os shows de sua turnê americana.

Dotados de sintetizadores, baterias, samples e voz, a dupla traz, pela primeira vez, o seu live ao Brasil. O som da dupla é um sofisticado encontro entre as melhores linhas de baixo dos anos 80 com a excelência de sintetizadores atuais. Sendo uma das principais bandas do movimento "Neo Disco", estilo no qual o jornal inglês The Guardian anunciou como sendo a aposta do ano. Neste momento a dupla encontra-se gravando o seu álbum de estreia que deve sair no primeiro semestre de 2010.

Ao lado dos americanos, o show dos brasileiros do Stop Play Moon, que dividem muitas de suas referências com o Golden Filter - da efervescência do mundo da moda ao imediatismo do mundo da música. Geanine Marques, a vocalista do trio, é a musa do estilista internacionalmente famoso Alexandre Hechcovitch, enquanto Paulo Bega, sintetizadores e guitarra, encabeça diversos projetos artísticos - da revista Gudi ao projeto solo Motel. Já o diretor de arte e DJ Ricardo Athayde comanda a bateria do trio, que se torna um quarteto ao vivo.

Os DJs convidados da noite são o Gil Barbara, Database e WE//R\\DJs, combo formado pelos organizadores da festa, os jornalistas Raphael Caffarena e Christel Escosa (AUS/UK).

O residente Gil Barbara é ícone da cena paulistana, tendo começado a tocar há cerca de 20 anos e se apresentado pelos principais clubes do Brasil. Gil também é responsável pela criação do primeiro e mais respeitado site de música eletrônica local, o rraurl, que já conta com 12 anos de existência. Sua experiência é traduzida no balanço entre clássicos e novidades da música apresentado com muita técnica. Espere ouvir o melhor do synthpop dos últimos 20 anos em uma hora de set.

Já o Database é a união dos produtores Yuri Chix e Lucio Morais que entre produções próprias, remixes e sets já chamaram atenção de nomes como Norman Cook, mais conhecido como Fatboy Slim, que além de encomendar remixes com a dupla, também está lançando um single deles por sua gravadora, a Southern Fried. A dupla, que já passou por festivais como TIM Festival, Haagen Dazs e Eletronika, está prestes a entrar em sua primeira turnê internacional.

IM//A\\PARTY @ CLASH (5 de agosto / quarta-feira) - 23 horas
- THE GOLDEN FILTER (live), Stop Play Moon (Live), Database (Ugly Edits set), Gil Barbara e WE//R\\DJs
R$ 40,00 COM FLYER E LISTA
R$ 50,00 SEM FLYER E LISTA
Clash Club, Rua Barra Funda, 969
tel: 3661-1500, censura 18 anos.
www.clashclub.com.br
Estacionamento com manobrista: R$18 

flier by the lovely Jack Hudson

IM//A\\PARTY has been reborn...

BIGGER, BETTER and MORE RIDONKULOUS than BEFORE!!

After bringing Brazil electro princess YELLE, Aussie synth-pop darlings BAG RAIDERS we're back to bring you the hype of neo-disco, the darlings of NYC:

THE GOLDEN FILTER

And this time we're crashing CLASH CLUB in Sao Paulo!

Having recently dropped 'Favourite Things' on Kitsuné's latest compilation, this elusive duo first took the scene by storm when they released a faceless 'Solid Gold' into the blogosphere. It had everybody talking about them, wondering, "Who the hell are The Golden Filter?"

Brazil! You may have heard them previously playing the catwalks at the most important Fashion Week in South America, SPFW as well as Casa de Criadores (Sao Paulo's new generation fashion event), and of course here on this very blog as well as countless others.

The Golden Filter recently toured the whole of the USA supporting epic dancefloor killers The Presets and have remixed the likes of Empire of The Sun, Little Boots, Peter Bjorn and John and Cut Copy...and now we're bringing them to play exclusively at CLASH this August.

With support from some of the best acts on the Brazilian scene to complete this extravaganza eleganzaaaa, we've got the musical project of Alexandre Herchcovitch's muse Geanine Marques, who with Paulo Bega and Ricardo Athayde make up STOP PLAY MOON.

We got DJ GIL BARBARA. Not only is he one of Brazil's most prestigious and highly respected DJs and member of super popular party posse CREW, but he's also one of the purveryors of music taste, being a founding father of RRAURL, the first indepedent electronic music site in Brazil.

And last but definitely not least, we've enlisted two-man party unit DATABASE to do a special Ugly Edits set for IM//A\\PARTY before they head off on their US tour. Also CREW members, they're one of the biggest electronic names in Brazil, having officially remixed the likes of Metronomy, MixHell, Larry T, Fatboy Slim (the BPA), Lightspeed Champion and Boss In Drama.

HOLY. MOLY. THIS IS GOING TO BE THE POO-CAKES.

SO TAKE A BIG WHIFF and EAT IT UP

WHEN:

Wednesday, 5th of August 2009

WHERE:

CLASH CLUB, Sao Paulo, Brazil

LINE-UP:

WE//R\\DJs

STOP PLAY MOON (BR)

GIL BARBARA (BR)

THE GOLDEN FILTER

DATABASE (BR)

ENTRY:

R$40 with the flier/list R$50 without