I meant to blog this remix last week. So good, but I am conflicted on the jam.
I love Nirvana and I love remixes. When I laid it down at Lucky Bar last week, people got grooving. BUT the song is about sexual violence. Just seems weird to play this dance song in a club where everyone is drunk and hooking up. Clearly I am an old man that thinks too much about this stuff as the remix is a monster jam and the dance floor went off when the song came on.
From the Ministry of Remixes of the songs from my youth. Check out this remix outta Portland by Stefan is Stefan.
I got a pile of bills sitting on the table. Ugh, giving me heart palpitations. Its my own fault. I let shit slide in the summer and its coming home to roost. Need to man-up and just dump my hoarded cash on it. Bummer man, I hoard cash like an Orc chief, but thus is life in Victoria.
More remixes came across the inbox today. One that grabbed my attention is another xx remix. This sexy rework comes courtesy Libations and Oscillations. I really smooth and easy take on The xx song “Sunset” from their latest album Coexist.
The xx – “Sunset” (Libations and Oscillations Remix)
The article talks about the life and finances of a “big indie rock band” and puts into perspective just how hard it is to make it. So good.
There is lots of talk of the importance of radio (what? nobody listens to the radio anymore)
The commercial system, he says, is “utterly fascinating and infuriating at the same time,” particularly the unwritten rules governing what is and is not deemed playable on the radio, and his sense that radio is still about the only way to reach people who don’t spend time actively seeking out new music. “I’ve always thought we write pop music,” he says. “I think songs of ours could be on the radio. They’re not.” The question of which bands get traction in the smaller indie world strikes him as a bit arbitrary and mysterious, too, but that’s a hurdle the band’s already cleared. Now it’s poised somewhere between rock-critical acclaim and genuine crossover. “There’s a ceiling that independent artists hit,” he recently told NPR, “and the only way past it is radio.” And radio “still feels very much controlled by major labels’ ability to use leverage—you still have to have the muscle. Very few indie acts actually have breakthrough radio hits.”
Interesting perspective from their side.
Well Grizzly Bear… lets have a listen to your song “Yet Again.” They play the shit out of “Yet Again” on SiriusXM U (god Sirius has the most tragic branding).
Last weekend, I traveled to Sequim, Washington. What a crazy and wonderful adventure. I didn’t know you HAD to make a reservation for the Coho Ferry that goes from Victoria to Port Angeles. I arrived two hours early Saturday morning and it was already full. Well that fucking sucks Black Ball. So it was a race to the BC Ferries, across the border, down the I-5. West at Burlington, over a bridge, along a windy Whidbey Island road, another ferry to Port Townsend, around a bay and on to Sequim. I arrived at 5PM, just in time for Stacy and Les’ wedding! What a drive.
Their wedding ended earlier than I thought and there wasn’t much going on… so I went to Seattle. I drove to Bainbridge Island, took another ferry and got to Seattle at 12:30AM!
I drove around Seattle for a bit then went, ahhhh I’ll just drive home. Stopped around Mount Vernon and slept; woke up… and back home on the ferry 24 hours after I got on BC Ferries. Good adventure, good people.
I woke up on Sunday to a couple emails alerting me to new comments on my blog. Some chick going off on an old blog post about Puscifer. Weird. But that’s the internet, people that don’t know you, can discover an old blog post, take it out of context and shit on you.
Maybe I should delete the post? She’s the second person to send me an angry tirade over a couple sentences.
Getting bogged down. Brain power is low, energy is low. So much work and projects that need attention. It didn’t help that sleep crept up on me last night and I crashed hard. Had to play catch up this morning. The one thing I really wanted to do was put together a mix of songs Coral found. We downloaded a bunch, but I fell asleep before I could craft a podcast. So… coming soon?
Did roll into the Zone to some fine music. Mumford & Sons… the band single handily responsible for bringing Depression chic back popped into the BBC 1 for a live performance. BBC shows always seem to showcase a cover which I love. Mumford & Sons tackle a jam from the British hipsters Alt J.
Cool song. I think they’re singing about a movie, but I get a Mexican Standoff vibe.
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I got an email the other day from some mucky muck working for Ghostkick. The duo reworked the massive massive from Phoenix, “1901.” This song has good propulsive energy for your running, workout of dance floor mix.
London’s The XX have a new record called Coexist out on September 11th. Already the album is streaming for those in the want. A remix floating around the blogs today comes from a Philadelphia producer named Skollo. One blogger described it as a moombahton style. Sure.
Right on Mumford… right on. Interesting character and a great way to start a book about ones and zeros and music.
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Some serious thought to wrap the grey matter of my brain around. I’ve also been thinking of writing a story. Ugh, two actually… but they are both so weird and niche and I don’t see the end or the point yet. That might take more meditation and a machine that adds a couple more hours to the day because right now, there just ain’t enough time.
I don’t know who Annie Mac is, but I love her. She has an accent and sounds like a sexy Replicant!
Annie Mac hosts a dance music show in England on the BBC. Turns out I have a Annie Mac megamix on my iTunes of a Vampire Weekend/Lykki Li mash-up song she did. Solid.
I was reading on Pitchfork about M83 doing a remix of the song “Reunion.” They also are performing in Vancouver on April 27th at the Vogue. Not sure if I’ll be able to make that show, but damn, I sure wish I could. The sample of the Reunion (Mylo Remix) that Pitchfork links to is a rip from Annie Mac’s show Friday night and posted to Youtube. Gosh dang, Annie Mac has a smooth voice, I’ll forgive the M-8-3 when she introduces the song (unless of course they pronounce their band name that way…in which case, please forgive me).
Plants and Animals were in town yesterday to perform at a packed Lucky Bar. Being an old man, I only stayed for part of the set then had to retire. Just HAD to… so tuckered out. I am so thankful they were able to stop by my radio show to perform my current favourite “Light Show” just for me (and you). Its not our best mix job here at the radio factory… but still, sounds pretty good.
Read THIS ARTICLE in the New York Times about the Old Fashioned cocktail.
Now I want to see if Ryan at Sauce will let me make a Don Draper Old Fashioned.
Surely, Don Draper, the essence of the Esquire Man, would have been acquainted with this compendium. Mr. Draper has been shown making his preferred drink, step by step, only once, in Season 3. His execution wasn’t the daintiest, but it was probably period-correct. He used rye, diluted the drink with club soda and muddled the cherry.
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Lastly… do I have any angel investors reading my blog? I have two price points for you to show your love.
I propose that YOU give me something like $20 million… I buy the Shore (for way less than the $20 milli, don’t worry, I need the rest to buy a house with a waterfall)… turn it into the radio version of this here blog… and like, I’ll totally pay you back.
02) $4,230 (plus tax and shipping!)
To buy THIS! First release? THIS! (on coral coloured marbled 7-inch)
What a wonderful weekend. Had lots of opportunity to hang out with Madelyn and Coral. We did some swimming, record shopping, thrift-storing (now a verb!) and coffee stops. Saturday night was the co-op pre-school fundraiser. Being the resident DJ Dad in the school, I got the gig of jamming the tunes. I’ll tell ya, that was a night. These folks went hard and raged it. Lots of Moms having a couple and getting weirdly close-talky to request Flo Rida cuts…should be an interesting Tuesday morning dropping Maddy off.
The night had good energy. I think any party where the beer comes in a can and the wine comes in a box will end well. Coral bounced a little early to hit the Acres of Lions show and I rushed there as soon as I could to hear the last four or five songs. Wild.
Also on the weekend I got to punch up M83 on the modern rock countdown. It was fantastic to get a flood of positive reaction from Zoners jiving on the cut, “Midnight City”.
The album Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming came out last fall… but as often happens with these things, sometimes it takes some time for the great songs to reverberate.
The song “Midnight City” is moving up the modern rock charts in the US pretty fiercely, propelled by its Phoenix-esque hazy vintage synth sounds.
Like an good electronic jingle… there is a remix. Check out this one.
Gotye is quickly becoming one of the biggest things on the radio in Western Canada right now.
The Melbourninian one has a bit of history. I got an email from my man Michael in Edmonton imploring me to check out the Supermayer Super Mess remix of an early 2008 single… “Hearts a Mess.”
Gotya – “Hearts a Mess (Supermayer Super Mess Remix)”
Oh this song sounds sensual. Locks into a nice groove that ever so delicately builds. I can already tell that this will be a big part of my lounge sets. Hearing this interesting remix got me wondering if there are any remixes of the hot jammer “Somebody That I Used to Know” on Soundcloud. Yup… a whole bunch. Here are a few faves from my audio adventures this evening.
If you have the song earwormed in your head like I do…then maybe these remixes will be useful to you. I know they’ll be pulling stud duty in my DJ sets for the next little while.
I want to be the Johnny Appleseed of the Sleigh Bells. The song “Rill Rill” is a current favourite of sexual energy. Not even sexual… more like first date, holding-hands and watching Titanic on the couch energy.
If I made a makeout jams playlist. Side one, track one is Sleigh Bells “Rill Rill.”
When she gets going on about the braces and her boyfriend’s opinion… well I just hope it is more innocent than maybe its intended to be.
I had a pile of excitement when A) we added Sleigh Bells to the feature rotation here at The Zone and B) they are playing in Vancouver at the Vogue on May 25th. I don’t know if I;d be lucky enough to go, but if I do… the opening band also has my ear.
Neon Indian is a group I have played tons during my lounge sets at Veneto. if I remember correctly, they were never a chillwave group my fellow chillwaver Huckdoll could get behind… but then, maybe she DID take acid with you, took her clothes off and jumped int he swimming pool. Sadly, I did not… and so the regret lingers. And that is what makes the Neon Indian song, “Should Have Taken Acid With You” so great (to me). Hipster regret.
Now I might be too old to be dropping some acid… but the sentiment remains… you should probably do it. Sometimes the world calls for bold action… or not… but then write a really good song about it.
The Morning After 