yesterday i had the longest ever dream that the world was endless with possibilities

The Sound Of Arrows - Magic
For those who've heard this song before, and wondering why the name is slightly different, it's because the band has renamed it from M.A.G.I.C to Magic for it's new release as a single. It also comes with one of the most amazing music videos I've ever seen.

A real sugary electropop ditty, it's catchy with all the prerequisite hooks and lyrics you can easily sing along to. Cue a video about 2 kids who wake up to realise they are the only ones left in their town; the adults are all gone. They go about their deserted town doing various things kids would do. The childlike innocence makes you smile inside, and it explodes into full blown fuzzy warmth when you see them packing for a road trip on their own. They meet other kids and "Where The Wild Things Are" type creatures. Pure pop bliss at its best from, you've got it right, a Swedish duo.

Yes Giantess - You Were Young
Bright synths and and a melody that just screams fun.

The Radio Dept. - Domestic Scene

i could stick around and get along with you

Feeling really sluggish today so the post will be short.

Austra - Lose It

Martin Solveig - Hello (feat. Dragonette)
Main characters of video: Martin Solveig and Bob Sinclair
Cameo: Novak Djokovic

Martin Solveig - Ready 2 Go (feat. Kele)

the distant hum that blooms as we run

Memoryhouse - Caregiver
Deeply affecting piano-based song, at once full of grandeur and excruciatingly intimate with surrealistic vocals that speak of ghosts and cracked spools. It is because of songs like that that I ache to be able to create such amazing music, yet I know I have no talent for such. I'm pretty sure even the most undiscerning ear can appreciate this precious gem.

Wolf Gang - Lions in Cages
Good song but I don't feel it as much as The King and All of His Men. I think it's really awesome and super catchy now, it's grown on me!

Wolf Gang - Back to Back
Curiously different from the kooky catchy The King and All of His Men, it presents a more mellow and emotional side of Mr McElligott, who seems to wear his heart on his sleeve in this number, as he hits an extended falsetto crooning "sleeping with my back to yours, back to back, back to back were strung out". Interesting stuff, keep a look out for his new album next year - "Suego Faults".

Click through the banner below the video for a download offered by the man himself.

The Vaccines - Blow It Up
Oh my, what awesome guitar skimming riffs that just ooze 80s rock.

Blow, blow, blow it up - this might just be the birth of a new rock band. Warbly guitars and hazy reverbs abound, they are certainly making known their arrival.

like a shotgun needs an outcome

The Hundred In The Hands - Pigeons
The Hundred In The Hands is Eleanore Everdell and Jason Friedman (I think by no means related to Milton or even Thomas Friedman). Lovely electropop, or what some would term indietronica. Buzzy hooks and a catchy chorus are a prerequisite, so it's no surprise there. It'll definitely be glued into your head and you might inevitably find yourself bopping to the thumping backbeat as you walk down the street at night, wondering if you'd start spewing out fire. Love the video, both the videography and editing.

The Hundred In The Hands - Commotion
They've got another video for yet another of their song. I think some remixes of their songs are due to make it ripe for the dancefloor.

Lykke Li - Get Some
Oh, Swedish indie darling Lykke Li seems to be channeling some of her inner Fever Ray in this uber not-so-indirect track. It seems to be about a lover taking control of her man. This stuff is different from Youth Novels and while it's good, I'm gonna expect much much more from her.

Röyksopp - The Drug
Following "Junior", fellow swedish Röyksopp have dropped "Senior", filled with atmospheric and expansive sounds. How they make everything work in tandem, I don't know, all I know, is to appreciate the good stuff. And with a name like The Drug, it's no wonder I'm kinda hooked on it.

Röyksopp - The Alcoholic
More "senile" stuff.

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)

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.

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.

you hear the day beckoning

Two Door Cinema Club - Poker Face (Lady GaGa Cover)
These geeky dudes sure know how to work up a cover. Kevin Baird and his kooky "muhm muhm muhm", ginger haired Alex Trimble with awesome vocals and Sam Halliday with his straight-laced rendition of the chorus. These guys are dope.

Two Door Cinema Club - Come Back Home
Irish electropop group TDCC certainly knows how to work the beats and hooks. And they've got a really mind-boggling split reality music video. The insane pop hooks littered all over the song are extremely infectious and really gets you going. I think being signed to Kitsune Music certainly helps, for they've got the cred and ability to spot brilliant potential acts - just look at what they have in their barn and you know TDCC are in good stead.


Playing up the mystery and certainly no less hype surrounding them, enigmatic and still faceless duo that is Monarchy became the first band to perform a live broadcast into space. Fitting for a band who've built their music on space-like synths and hypnotic grooves.

Monarchy - Love Get Out Of My Way
And next up is a super dope video to accompany a Michael Jackson moonwalk-ish song. Slick pop ditty with sleek synths that while may not be as good as their previous singles, is still pretty damn good. That said, it's got the pace that was lacking in the more cool and collected tracks released earlier. These guys are as good at concealing their identities (word has it that they're actually Milke, not too sure though) as they are at fanning the flames of hype surrounding them. With singles such as Phoenix Alive and Gold in the Fire, and numerous remixes of hot tracks, they deserve mad props for making everyone want to know who's behind such fantastic music. And I need to get this off my head, the popping moves and choreography of the video is fucking sick.

Monarchy - Love Get Out Of My Way (Benny Benassi Remix)
This is like a steroid-pumped version of the original. Decidedly more dancey and featuring deeper bass, plus it's own music video to boot. Hot stuff.

they tell their lives through sunken eyes

When I was a young boy, my parents bought me a set of The World Book Encyclopaedia. On any day I would reach for a book and lose myself for hours in its endless pages of maps, photographs and texts. Even when I had a purpose in mind - for instance, a homework assignment on salamanders - I would invariably find myself reading, instead of Salem and its witchhunts or of Salamis, where the Greeks routed the Persians in the fifth century BC. Like all encyclopaedias, it was arranged alphabetically, based on sound and without regard to subject. As a child, I saw it wondrously whimsical and exquisitely inefficient. Perfect for exploration. The "S" volume alone could lead me down 10,000 unconnected highways.

- Ken Robinson in "The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything"


ceo - Prologue
Aptly titled Prologue, this track is shrouded in mystery, takes a pop at the unknown and gives us a little insight into what "White Magic", the debut album of ceo, might be like. A teaser of sorts. Vague and unfathomable. ceo is Eric Berglund, one half of electropop group The Tough Alliance, who founded Sincerely Yours which has the likes of jj, Memory Tapes, Air France and The Honeydrips under it's umbrella.

ceo - Come With Me
A euphoric journey through Eric's vivid imagination, the sweet melody of said song and the not so subtle chanting of "mamma mia" in the background takes you beyond the clouds, but not before putting a smile on your face or your soul. Definitely contrasted with that bad ass mask devoid of expression that Eric puts on in the video. Hurry and get the mp3 from RCRD LBL here.

jj - Things Will Never Be The Same Again
I thought, since I was already at it, I might as well feature stuff from the Sincerely Yours label. Curiously, the bands under them sound similar. Anyhow, going by a multiple thumbs up-ed post on youtube that goes "this song makes me feel like i am on my morning jog, which i loathe, and suddenly without warning a beneficent parrot swoops down and snatches me up by the shoulders. his claws r soft and velvety, however, so i am unharmed. the beauteous parrot takes me up, up, and up into the sky, where the clouds roam. i grab a piece of cloud and taste it, blueberry cotton candy, wonderful. the parrot and i continue our ascent, and we approach the blue ceiling. we gain speed, and pass through the ceiling. love", I guess one could really get high and super duper happy on their songs. I think it's got something to do with that empty yet ethereal sounding voice.

Memory Tapes - Easy Pert Mom
Memory Tapes has been oft cited as chill wave (there's that thing about genre classification) along with Washed Out, Neon Indian. Whatever the case, the new wavey synths, blips and bloops, vague and spacey rhythm never fails to blow my mind. It's spectacular and imperious, and you get the idea Dayve Hawk actually knows what magick he's conjuring. I like.

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.

we mostly work to live until we live to work

Vampire Weekend - Run
Preppy boppy and fun all rolled into one tight song. Bleeps and bloops scattered about as Erza goes on about taking two, and running away to someplace else, just the two of them, leaving the rat race behind. Behind all the lightness and fun, the song is actually grounded in much starker truths. The you-oohs are just so catchy and downright addictive.

The Big Pink - Velvet
Synths lead this song into full grandiosity as you feel it's entirety looming upon you, the grandeur of the towering vocals contrasted with the echoing voice in the background. Fuzziness interrupts only but for a while, before the song delves deep into the emotions of electro rock, drawing from strength to strength, as the lyrics oddly resonate and find place within you.

We Have Band - Divisive
I love creative funky videos like this. Many of compared them to Hot Chip, and the similarities could be observed. Addictive hooks and catchy repetitive lyrics, they brought a little to mind YACHT as well. Does anyone see a little OK Go! in them as well? But whatever it is, I love their quirkiness and they definitely have a lot more to offer in their latest album "WHB".

Massive Attack - Pray For Rain
It feels tentative, but in a good way. It sets about in an unhurried manner, vocals just above minimal production, yet it belies the gloom and moodiness brought about by the frenetic pace of tribal-esque drumbeats midway through the song, just like the charged air and rumbling before a thunderstorm. But like all thunderstorms, it always breaks and gives way to sunshine, and this is no exception. Around the two thirds mark, the song not as much as transit, and suddenly turns on it's charm and uplifting mood befitting of a sunny day. It rounds off nicely, with dotty synths and baritone vocals and makes you think that the wait for Heligoland was absolutely worth it.

The Saturday Mix #41 - just gimme a second and i'll tell you

Got the picture of the cassette from here.



Hidden Cameras - Underage
Really comical video whatwith all the painted faces, even more so when they go "wa-ooh-wa-ooh-wa-ooh". Right off the bat as they stare at each other and break off in unison after a cacophony of birds chirping, it somehow feels right. Lovely catchy beat and lyrics I've yet to fully comprehend. And the shower (of I don't know what) at the end is beautiful.

Hidden Cameras - Underage (Holy Fuck Remix)

Sebastian Tellier - La Ritournelle (Mr. Dan's Magic Wand Remix)
Twinkly xylophones (probably a sample) dot this relax soundscape by Mr Tellier.

Shout Out Louds - Fall Hard
How does a rock song feel so elegant and punchy at the same time?

Shout Out Louds - Fall Hard (Passion Pit's Summertime Radio Remix)
This sounds like a keeper. It has a Neon Indian feel to the remix, going all psych rock on this song. The synths add a different dimension to this song, lovely.

Music Go Music - Warm In The Shadows (Fred Falke Remix)
Fred Falke does an 8-bit treatment of this song. Feels really warm and summery. Let's do the boogey now and get sashaying down the streets!

Florrie - Panic Attack (Fred Falke Extended Mix) (mp3)
Link provided by her own site.

Ooh, one woman show it seems. And if Fred Falke graces her songs with his magic, he's prolly seeing something in her. And rightfully so, she sounds polished and that bassline sounds sweet as hell.

The Saturday Mix #29

Monarchy - Gold in the Fire (Diamond Cut Remix)
Remember Monarchy from yesterday? Diamond Cut's here with a remix of Gold In The Fire. The remix has more depth, but less buzz. I think I like the original better; the deeper beats sort of take away the allure that his voice gives to the song.

Penguin Prison - A Funny Thing
Penguin Prison as a name, certainly makes you think twice about whether you want to take a listen or not - I mean Penguin Prison? BUT, nowadays there's all sorts of quirky, kooky, random names that you can't let the band name affect you. And it helps that there's been some hype surrounding this one man show. As with his previous single Animal Animal, his brand of electro-pop certainly gets you moving.

another day has come and gone/i feel the same/i can't be wrong

Penguin Prison - A Funny Thing (Monarchy Remix)
And now, we have a Monarchy remix on the above song. Pretty interesting outcome, hear that distinct but not overtly overwhelming beat in the background? (some remixes turn on the beat so deep and intense such that it totally drowns out the original) Kinda nice - sounds like the electronic.

Delphic - This Momentary (ALGERONICS Remix)
This is a not bad remix, but I had to settle for this cos I couldn't find the one I wanted. Still, quite a decent mix by ALGERONICS. Very trance-ish.

Thieves Like Us - Drugs In My Body (Designer Drugs Remix)
I bet it's no coincidence they decided to remix this song. I mean Drugs in the song title, and Drugs in their name? HAHA! The original was way trippy if you've heard it (or if you haven't, click the Thieves Like Us label at the end of this post and you can prolly find it in one of the posts), and this remix is uber sleek. It's like taking ecstacy on the first song, and the remix is taking ecstacy plus weed. It's not overwhelming, it's bass-y, in one word - DOPE (pun intended, totally).

Mayer Hawthorne - Green Eyed Love
The video is really really funny, and his voice is cute/pitchy/wtf? I mean how can he keep it that way for the entire song?! Unless he sounds like that normally which I doubt so.

Mayer Hawthorne - Green Eyed Love (Classixx Remix)


Note: Vote for best album of 2009 here.