pretty girls don't just park where they want to

When romance is great, fine yes, there is no say there is no masochism to it. But love, can be terribly sadistic if it doesn't work out right. It can be one of the worst things that you can go through. It can be some of the biggest pain you'll ever feel in your life. So I do think there's a correlation between the two - we don't live in this kind of tactile sanctuous culture anymore where we feel things. Everything is digitised, including our love lives, including how we hook up with people, how we listen to music, read books, get our information. We end up creating a society full of narcissists who then adapt to the culture of narcissism and it's no longer cultural narcissism. It becomes the norm.

- Bret Easton Ellis in a Guardian interview


Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Sink/Let It Sway

Discovery - Swing Tree

Pantha du Prince - The Splendour (mp3)

Crystal Fighters - Xtatic Truth

you're tangled in those dreams

Feeling a little lazy today.


Beach Fossils - Youth
Superb opening riff worthy of these beach bummers. Will the lo-fi dreampop genre ever be saturated? Me thinks it is, but I love them all the same. The sweet tangy smell of youth - I don't want to lose it.

Beach Fossils - Daydream
More summer love. Their song titles are so laidback you'd actually wonder if they composed wrote and did almost everything save for recording on the beach. Maybe the recording studio's by the beach. Sweet.

Pantha du Prince - Lay In a Shimmer
A sparkling stunner more than worthy of it's title. Basking in the beauty of green towering trees, huge leaves with dew drops scattered all over, as the warmth of the sunlight filters through the leaves and a kaleidoscope of colours abound in the air as the light refracts. Elves dance. Butterflies flit. We revel.

Pantha du Prince - The Splendour
Well, the song is full of well... splendour.

The Saturday Mix #43

And "The Saturday Mix" is back and ready to throw out some fine rerubs of the latest songs out there.


Feist - Sea Lion (Chromeo Remix)

Marina and the Diamonds - Oh No!

Marina and the Diamonds - Oh No! (Grum Remix)
Less grrl power and rahrah than the original, but way more oomph.

Cullen - Easily Impressed (Calling In Sick Remix)
That's some wicked, ditty, deep in the deep bass intro.

HURTS - Wonderful Life (Mantronix Remix)

The xx - Shelter (Flinch Dubstep Remix)

The xx - Crystalised (Andy Murphy remix)
Said to be one of the best DJs Down Under, he runs his fingers through ATS favourites The xx's Crystalised. Awesome ear-pounding solid beat that stamps it's mark on the song.

i just wanna read your mind

It’s hard to imagine a more fundamental and ubiquitous aspect of life on the Earth than gravity, from the moment you first took a step and fell on your diapered bottom to the slow terminal sagging of flesh and dreams.

But what if it’s all an illusion, a sort of cosmic frill, or a side effect of something else going on at deeper levels of reality?

So says Erik Verlinde, 48, a respected string theorist and professor of physics at the University of Amsterdam, whose contention that gravity is indeed an illusion has caused a continuing ruckus among physicists, or at least among those who profess to understand it. Reversing the logic of 300 years of science, he argued in a recent paper, titled “On the Origin of Gravity and the Laws of Newton,” that gravity is a consequence of the venerable laws of thermodynamics, which describe the behavior of heat and gases.

...

What is new, he said, is the idea that differences in entropy can be the driving mechanism behind gravity, that gravity is, as he puts it an “entropic force.”

- A Scientist Takes on Gravity on The New York Times


Glass Vaults - Set Sail (mp3)
This is what is said on the band's label "Richard and Rowan have taken their guitars, voices, drums and dream-triggering gadgetry, drenched them in the vapour of clouds and given birth to an intimate and sentimental sonic experience. It sounds like nature is patient and melodious on the farm where this here EP was recorded! Five beautiful pop delights with the added bonus of lost-in-the-ocean vibes, all freely downloadable and soon to take physical form.". So all we know is that they are Richard Larsen and Rowan Pierce. And hail from Wellington, NZ. NZ was the last place I'd expect such music to come from, but boy, their precocious affecting music sure struck a chord with me. I see them deriving inspiration from the awesome scenery they have throughout their entire huge-ass country. Sounds like perfect music for a drive through South and North Island. Epic soundscape at best, haunting at it's worst, Set Sail soars through the clouds, untethered and unencumbered. Utterly spectacular, they meld the different layers with panache to deliver a song so beautiful and enchanting. Oh the pleasant shivers it sends up my spine.

Glass Vaults - They Will Grow (mp3)
An ambient instrumental piece that is sentimental and achingly affecting, the occasional plucks of the guitar reaching out and tugging at your soul. A muffled underlying hum is weaved into the fabric of the song, as the reverb of the guitar string echoes into oblivion with each tentative pluck, they display deftness of touch in creating this endless space that we yearn to reside in.

Get the 5 track EP here for free.

put all five senses back to where they're meant to be

Tame Impala - Lucidity
Psych rock quartet Tame Impala from Perth dazzle with a rockin' good track off their debut album "Innerspeaker". Blissful trippy beats and fuzzy guitars make this quite the treat. Signed to Modular Records, the people who brought you Cut Copy, Tame Impala is definitely set to start rocking our ears.

Tame Impala - It Is Not Meant To Be
Guitars take centrestage in this mindblowingly amazing song. Underneath all the new wavey comfy rhythm is a simple straightforward song about a guy who wants this girl, but she doesn't like the laid back life of weed and bumming that he leads. Although he knows he can't get her and she'd prolly just remain his friend, he's more than happy just to watch her.

LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean
What a long song. Clocking in just under 9 minutes like many other songs in the album (i think it's bordering on insane), James Murphy slowly but not painstakingly (this man revels in his craft) builds layers upon layers in this song. An extended and almost repetitive intro that could have been a song unto it's own, I say almost because it has slight twists of lyrics that make it different in each verse. His easy speak-sing along with that regular tock totally doesn't prepare one for the ear-bliteration that occurs at 3:09. Here you see the legacy, of marrying new wave, 80s synths, electro-funk and what not artistically, that James has built. And as fitting a lead-in track for "This Is Happening", it also more than suitably marks the end of LCD Soundsystem, at least for quite some time to come, according to Mr Best-creator-of-dance-music. Meanwhile, just soak in the vibes and dance yourself clean.

you love me like a bull in a china shop

Famous Italian designer Luciano Barbera and British designer best known for being the dress designer for HM Queen Elizabeth II and their take on men's fashion. Timeless advice indeed.


A man should own as many shirts as he wishes - the more the better. I personally have so many shirts that I sometimes walk into my closet, pull one out, and think to myself, “Now where did that come from?” Having lots of shirts will allow you to surprise yourself with your own good taste.

- Luciano Barbera


Approach to dressing is a delicate subject. A preoccupation with dress is unpleasant in a woman and repellent in a man; but both sexes should pay each other the compliment of giving the appearance that trouble has been taken if no more. A man should look as if he had bought his clothes with intelligence, put them on with care, and then forgotten all about them.

- Hardy Amies



Tesla Boy - Synthetic Prince
Tesla Boy is a trio of Russians, Anton Sevidov, Dima Midborn and Boris Lifshits, and for starters, they call themselves mind-blowingly good. Synthetic Prince is resonant with the 80s disco groove of yesteryears, reminding one of Giorgio Moroder and the subtle nostalgia of Tears for Fears. Despite this, they throw in a modern blend of electronic like The Golden Filter and Cut Copy. Epic and full of its own identity, it slowly takes root in your consciousness and demands your complete attention.

Dragonette - Easy
Hard as it might be to think, this is Martina Sorbara in a stripped down electronic ditty about a woman's simple love for a man. There's ample space for Martina to express her surprisingly lush vocals, without being overwhelmed by super synths and millions of layers of sounds. What's not to like about this electronic ballad?

jj - Ceo Birthday
Initially I thought it was their dedication to labelmate's ceo. But further listening yielded their own take of Jeremih's Birthday Sex. It was dropped on their label with an odd and mysterious message "here's to those moments when the illusions of separation collapse and we are one, we are life. here's to bonds stronger than blood. cin cin." A quick search shows that cin cin could be an italian way of toasting or saying cheers. (urbandictionary)

The song is astonishingly beautiful and ethereal if you ask me. Very simple yet larger than life, it is played out on the piano to an exquisite rhythm. Wonder why it wasn't released with "jj n° 3". Cin cin.

Get it from their label right here right now.

come and sing along with me

Plej - You
Well, like a user who said it's perfect for a sunday morning, i have to differ (personal opinion of course). I like my loungey chillout tracks on a solid lazy late sunday afternoon. Uber perfect. Sax samples? Oh boy, this just shot up my list of favourite tracks. Subtle trace of jazz-funk that makes this liquid track oh so delicious.

Phonique - For The Time Being (feat. Erlend Øye)
Mr Awesome-Half-of-KOC lends his vocal prowess to this song. One fine lush track with electronic beats contrasted by Erlend's languid vocals. It's like rushing to work because you're late, yet taking time to savour the awesome baguette you're eating on the way.

Astrolabe - Atlantic Surf
Love the house vibe, seemingly downtempo yet with an urgent beat that does send adrenaline rushing into your head and resonating synths that go swimmingly well together. Maybe if someone did a remix, tuning it down by 2 or 3 notches plus more spacious sounds, it could well be an awesome ambient track.

Hird (feat. Yukimi Nagano) - Love Again
Ms Nagano here has featured in many songs and this is among them. Lush vocals suited to jazz beats to a T. Awesome stuff that makes me want to open a jazz lounge too!