The Saturday Mix #46

Delorean - Real Love (LightsoverLA Remix)

Tame Impala - Solitude Is Bliss (Canyons Remix)

Massive Attack - Pray For Rain (Tim Goldsworthy Remix)

Massive Attack - Paradise Circus (Zeds Dead Remix)
Fucking epic.

Passion Pit - The Reeling (Sammy Bananas Big Choon Mix)
It's rare that a remix can make one feel so euphoric. Above the clouds and high on oxygen.

Au Revoir Simone - Only You Can Make You Happy (PUNCHES Remix)

Annie - Songs Remind Me Of You (The Swiss & Donnie Sloan Remix)

don't i know you better than the rest

Simian Mobile Disco - Nerve Salad
A sobering beat that conceals a certain frothing excitement that slowly spills over. SMD are back with a purely electronic piece devoid of vocals; some might say back to their roots as DJs. A delectable delight of snazzy synths and increasingly urgent beats, they suddenly revert back to spacious sounds that fill the space, and then back to those pacey doowops. It's nice to see some action from SMD after their last release, "Temporary Pleasure".

Crystal Castles - Knights
Set to Japanese teens imbibing alcohol and taking drugs, it's pretty much a neat metaphor for this spell-binding song by CC. This would definitely rock the dance floor with its bouncy synths and undulating beats that wouldn't seem out of place amongst a host of grinding bodies.

Beach House - Zebra
Significantly deviating from their dreampop signature as they lean towards a regular indie sound, they nevertheless can depend on Alex Scaly's drawn out mellifluous vocals to give that tinge of haziness I so desire. Again, I like this stripped down version of their usual stuff, banking on the drawing power of Scaly's vocals and thoughtful arrangements that never fail to charm.

The Saturday Mix #45

I've decided to give LightsoverLA a little love for this issue of The Saturday Mix. The first of their remixes I heard was Crystal Castles' Vietnam and I thought it was mind blowing. So I checked out their youtube page and here we are.

Crystal Castles - Suffocation (Memory Tapes Remix)
Haunting.

Wave Machines - Keep The Lights On (Artwork Remix)
Sublimal.

Two Door Cinema Club - What You Know (LightsoverLA Remix)
Thumping!

Crystal Castles - Vietnam (LightsoverLA Remix)
Wickeddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd.

Miike Snow - Billie Holiday (LightsoverLA Remix)
Magnificent.

Local Natives - Wide Eyes (Suckers Remix)
Subdued.

Midnight Juggernauts - Into the Galaxy (Danger Remix)
Over-revved.

The Saturday Mix #44

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Home (RAC Remix)

Local Natives - Wide Eyes (Fool's Gold Remix)
Some R&B elements incorporated by tropical indie band Fool's Gold.

Sunday Girl - Four Floors
Ms Jade Williams Broxbourne, hereby also known as Sunday Girl is super gorgeous. And fittingly, she makes equally awesome music, so liquid and sensuous.

Sunday Girl - Four Floors (Diplo Remix)

Sunday Girl - Self Control

Sunday Girl - Self Control (Fenech-Soler Remix)

Tesla Boy - Electric Lady (Baxter Remix)

you're the piece of gold that flushes all my soul

But the iniquity of oblivion blindly scattereth her poppy, and deals with the memory of men without distinction to merit of perpetuity. Who can but pity the founder of the pyramids? Herostratus lives that burnt the temple of Diana, he is almost lost that built it. Time hath spared the epitaph of Adrian's horse, confounded that of himself. In vain we compute our felicities by the advantage of our good names, since bad have equal durations, and Thersites is like to live as long as Agamemnon without the favour of the everlasting register. Who knows whether the best of men be known, or whether there be not more remarkable persons forgot, than any that stand remembered in the known account of time? The first man had been as unknown as the last, and Methuselah's long life had been his only chronicle.

- Hydriotaphia by Sir Thomas Browne


Kidstreet - X (mp3)
Go to their myspace for a free download of new song X. Exciting and full of electrofunk, dotty synths twinkle off as vocodered vocals sing of "wanting you so bad". Midway, sensual vocals take over and mesmerise you. Further emphasis on "I want you so bad it's wrong" clearly shows it should take it's rightful place on the dance floor.

Air - Playground Love
You can trust the French to come up with such affecting music, and for a film adaptation of the splendid book "The Virgin Suicides". Gently stirring up an ambient mood, Thomas Mars' (of Phoenix) drawl and the slow pace combine fluidly to evoke a dreamy yet lustrous sheen to the song. Jazz samples punctuate the chorus, amplifying the underlying romantic theme of the song. Sensual at best, perfunctory at worst, this song is a definite treat for your senses.

Phoenix - Playground Love (Air Cover)
Check out the acoustic cover by Phoenix. It just serves to reinforce the stereotype that French are romantic and sentimental, and are capable of awesome music.

Air - Alone in Kyoto
No wonder I thought this song was familiar. It was part of the soundtrack for another fantabulous movie, Lost in Translation. And if anyone notices, both Lost in Translation and The Virgin Suicides were directed by Sofia Coppola. And she's in a relationship with Thomas Mars. Extremely soothing and calming, if not retrospectively caused by the title of the song, I could imagine walking through the bamboo groves in Kyoto, chancing upon a quaint shrine by a stream. Brilliant composition.

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

The Saturday Mix #42 - you gotta step up your game to make to the top

Marina and the Diamonds - I Am Not A Robot
Her videos are always so glitzy and glam. She's got pretty damn good control over her range of vocals. A loveable power ballad, singing about vulnerability that a person has but yet puts up defenses.

Marina and the Diamonds - I Am Not A Robot (Doorly Remix)
I'm sorry Marina, I'm just hooked on this uber dope remix. The intro is so upbeat and there's that pert bounce which makes me really wanna get out of my seat and bounce to the beat. The dubby thing going on after is pretty neat, befitting of the overall mood of the song but it does cover the vocals a little at times. It's so unbelievably catchy, and that robotic voice that just repeats the word robot at the repetitive chorus is funky! Really slick remix that in my opinion came undone by the unnecessary extension of doowops and more repeating of the word robot.

Miike Snow - Silvia (Roboberget Remix)
Fantastic remix with plenty reverb going on. "An extended track length (eight minutes), a slightly boosted tempo, and an assortment of futurist synths — some washy and cinematic, others arpeggiated and video game-like — it's a new, but not unfamiliar, incarnation of Silvia, crafted by those who know it best." as said by someone. Right on the dot. I love the 8-bit video-game-ish sounds, it's just wicked.

Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work
Here's some music maths. Catchy lyrics + breezy synths + funky guitaring = please-dance-to-it-synthpop. Alright full marks, thanks!

Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work (The Twelves Remix)
The start of the remix sounds suspiciously like La Roux's Bulletproof, which is repeated a couple of times later. Nevertheless, it doesn't take the shine off the magic of The Twelves. Just when you think the songs can't get any better, brazilian duo The Twelves trots along and their electro-disco twist makes it an irresistable hit.

Monarchy - Gold in the Fire (We Have Band Remix)
That's some monster drumbeat.

Monarchy - The Phoenix Alive (Kris Menace Remix)
As mysterious as the band itself (no one knows their identity yet, I think), Kris Menace brings this seriously dope remix to our ears. Thumping bass that threatens to pound your eardrums to bits, even more doowops than the stars in their eyes, this is mind-bogglingly amazing.