SOLID GOLD

I'm playing at First Ave's Solid Gold New Year's party tonight. Doors have already opened so I doubt anyone will read this... but I want to try and step up my blogging game. I go on after midnight. See you there!

NAUGHTY2NITE

I'm back in the states, just in time for the last TML of the year with Naughty Wood. See you there!

XXXCITED

If you check the site you'll notice that I was wrong about who produced "Control"; of course only a beat that fresh could be done by Armani XXXchange (he of Spank Rock fame).

Funnily enough, I have internet access for a day and just found out that XXXchange is behind the decks for most of the tracks on the forthcoming LP from the Kills, Midnight Boom, via NME. Wowowowow, as if I didn't already want to hear this album enough.

LINKS

Last post until I find out if I get wireless on the beach... (knowing me I'll probably try). Can't wait to check out that Cut Copy mix (I hate Bob Marley).

• Cut Copy "So Cosmic" mix
  fuckin rad space disco
  
  
• Pedestrian.tv :: Blog :: OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SHIT. UFFIE NUDE
  Uffie posing, not really nude
  
  
• David Byrne's Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — and Megastars
  
  
• David Byrne and Thom Yorke on the Real Value of Music
  
  
• Liars | Dazed Digital TV
  In the third of five videos from ATP's Release The Bats gig at the Kentish Town Forum, check out mercurial noise-rock trio Liars as they play songs from their self-titled fourth LP, and frontman Angus Andrew does his best Hannibal Lecter impression.
  
  
• Ohh! Crapp...: Interview : The Black Ghosts!
  Hey Simon & Theo! Shall we begin….
  
  
• SAVE YOUR CITY: New York rock in the years to be hated
  FADER story and video
  
  
• Pitchfork Feature: Top 50 Albums of 2007
  We close out 2007 with our annual review of the year's 50 best albums-- and start a new tradition with our first Pitchfork Readers Poll!
  
  
• Panda Toes: All Bangers, No Mash: Talkin' Trash with Guns n Bombs' Johnny Love
  Johnny Love of LA-Based Electro duo, Guns N Bombs, waxes poetic/frenetic on the subjects of raves, industrial music, Chi-town Mexican gangs, and the Swedish House Mafia.
  
  
• Techno Duo Justice Lays Down Its Fave 5 Party Tracks
  "We don't have a huge electronica background," deRosnay says. "This is the music we love to play and listen to."
  
  
• Panda Toes: The Guest List - The Glamour Checks In
  A long time ago the Glamour promised to do a guest blog for us.
  
  
• Orange County Weekly - The Efron Scandal
  Lil Wayne's New Project Puts the High in High School Musical
  
  
• Hardformat - Reaching for the sublime in music design.
  
  
• Sleevage » Album Cover Blog. Music, Art, Design.
  record cover blog

DIRE MAKER

I'm leaving for a week in Jamaica tomorrow morning. I don't know what my internet access is going to be like, so this may be my last post for a while, we'll see. In honor of that, here's the song I appropriately can't get out of my head.

Led Zeppelin - "D'yer Mak'er" [YSI] [DivShare]

So a week away in the sun. But what a weekend I'm missing!

The biggest thing is this week's Too Much Love, which promises to be zany to the max, as usual. DJ STV SLV from the sensational Chicago blog the Hood Internet will be laying down a very special guest DJ set. The HI's trademark blend of the indiest of indie rock with the crunkest of hip-hop has been featured on Pitchfork repeatedly, and promises to be a fun time for all.

Also in town for the holidays is the extremely talented Willy Joy of Fly By Night - this cat always annihilates it when he plays, so don't sleep! Curating the whole thing in my place will be Twin Cities wunderkind Jonathan Ackerman. 10 p.m., 18+, $3, free with student ID, you know the drill. Don't forget to ask Ackerman about the after-party too, which will be bonkers.

Tonight, be sure to stop by the VIP room for Honeymoon V, hosted by my compatriots in the Moon Goons. $3 gets you in, but $10 gets you in plus a free limited-edition t-shirt. My bol Mike 2600 is playing, and Adam from Chromatics will be dropping a guest set too. He's probably just as likely to play gangsta rap as Italians' stuff, so check it out and let me know what happens.

One more party of note - if you're in the Chi this weekend, definitely don't miss out on the coming together of Prime Time of Your Life and Life During Wartime at Darkroom for - that's right - Prime Time of Your Life During Wartime. All the regs will be coming together - Bald Eagle, Mother Hubbard, Poptastic and Mister Wolf - plus very special guests JDH and Dave P from the outstanding Making Time party. Yow.

AZZAZZA

New Zongamin. Thank god it doesn't have bongos.

PRO CLAWS

Damn, I knew Kid Sister reminded me of someone!



I also want to point out how sick the production is on "Control". It's A-Trak, right? That song fuckin' bumps everytime I hear it, and then he sneaks in these total Alan Braxe/Fred Falke type synths in the end. Killer.

THE FACTS

Pissed about Pitchfork's singles and albums lists? Of course you are, they're terrible! May I heartily recommend taking a look at FACT's albums and tracks lists, as they have a worthwhile take on music in 2007.

LINKS

• Pitchfork Feature: Top 100 Tracks of 2007
  From tracks by LCD to M.I.A., Panda Bear to Caribou, Beirut to Of Montreal, these are Pitchfork's 100 favorite songs of 2007.
  
  
• Exclusive: Live Justice Mix for FADER 50
  We were just now a week later pretty much fully recovered, mentally and physically, from Justice's DJ set at our FADER 50 party.
  
  
• THE 20 BEST ALBUMS OF 2007: Fact Magazine
  Here, we present the albums which are, in our humble opinion, the best of 2007, arrived after much argument and agonizing among our crew of critics, DJs, record shop workers and tastemakers.
  
  
• TOP 100 TRACKS OF 2007: Fact Magazine
  
  
• The Minneapoline 12/15 - Too Much Love / Clubhouse Jager
  
  
• Pump Up The Volume : The History of House Music
  THIS IS ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS. No more asian babies, somebody get me this on DVD.
  
  
• In Minneapolis, a Block Transformed - New York Times
  THE Phillips neighborhood, just south of downtown here, was riddled with vacant and run-down properties 15 years ago. It was an area where the drug trade was rampant.
  
  
• The Wire: Burial: Unedited Transcript
  Mark Fisher's unedited transcript of his interview with underground dubstep artist Burial
  
  
• 127 Foods That Fight Fat - Yahoo! Health
  Weight loss starts with shopping. Taking control of what you eat begins with taking control of what you buy.
  
  
• The Ultimate Bootleg Experience

MORE LINKS!

• Francis Ford Coppola - Deborah Solomon - New York Times
  The director talks about why his new movie is not for everyone, why making money no longer matters and what he'd like to be remembered for besides ''The Godfather.''
  
  
• How To: Make the "Pro Nails" Video
  But a lot of credit has to go to veteran director Ruben Fleischer who shot the video on a shoestring budget and sold the Fool's Gold executives on the genius concept of finger dancing.
  
  
• Record Envelope
  A reference for vinyl geeks and graphic artists. Ms Kavel Rafferty's collection of company sleeves.
  
  
• Virgin America: Like a Multimillion-Dollar IPod. That Flies. | Gadget Lab from Wired.com
  Virgin America launched its U.S. air service yesterday, and immediately staked a claim as the most geek-friendly airline yet invented. It's also one of the most comfortable and pleasant to fly in -- and it's reasonably priced.
  
  
• brooklynvegan: Faux Punk, Alive, Tiefschwarz, Electroma & some contests
  homemade Daft Punk costumes
  
  
• Videodrone: Queens Of The Stone Age (Kinda) Rock The Travel Channel
  Still, here they are talking about what made them decide to hook up with Bourdain in the first place, plus their alternative soundtrack for last night's show
  
  
• FOOL’S GOLD » Blog Archive » A-Trak Glows in the Dark
  I just finished the European leg of the Glow In The Dark tour with K-Dub and I simply had to let the ink pour.
  
  
• RA: Justus Köhncke preps Safe and Sound. Music News
  Third album from the Kompakt discoteer promises to dispense with the vocals (mostly) and keep its eye on the dancefloor.
  
  
• Christian Martin's "Groundhog Day" | RCRD LBL
  interview
  
  
• Little White Earbuds » Simian Mobile Disco sounds off to Little White Earbuds
  I managed to steal member Jas Shaw away from his studio for a bit to chat about the road, remixes and kids who enjoy nibbling on cables.
  
  
• Remixes From the Masses
  Trent Reznor embraces populism, and another great NIN remix album is born
  
  
• Vice magazine: THINGS THAT GUYS IN BANDS LIKED IN 2007
  To begin, we asked some random guys in bands about their favourite records of 2007 and about their most memorable moments of the year...
  
  
• Pitchfork: Marina Leaves Bonde do Role
  
  
• Play | Rhapsody Editorial Music Blog: 10 Minutes With Bradford Cox (Deerhunter, Atlas Sound)
  As the theatrical vocalist of Deerhunter, Bradford Cox is known for making dramatic punk statements...
  
  
• Video Static: Music Video News: November 25, 2007 - December 1, 2007
  IN DEPTH: Snoop Dogg "Sensual Seduction"

DISCO FEVER

Best flier ever? See you there.

DISCO PARTY

Join Jackerman and mah boy Midnight Energy for some disco tonight at KCK, ya heard?

BAPTNOK

FADER points to a stream of Mahjongg's new album Kontpab in its entirety. Funky.

MORE LINKS

Some real good stuff in this batch, don't sleep! Check out Radiohead's first in-depth interview after releasing In Rainbows, Herve's new project the Dead Soul Brothers, an explanation of the "Ready for the Floor" video, a crazy drug-induced mix from Mike Simonetti at Italians Do It Better, and Deerhunter's frontman interviewing Pylon. Whew!

• Pay What You Want for This Article
  Radiohead's pay-what-you-choose gambit didn't just set off economic debates. It should also establish 2007 as two kinds of tipping point for recorded music.
  
  
• The Greatest Songs Ever! Black Dog
  How a week in a haunted English manor in the dead of winter inspired Led Zeppelin's smoldering blues-rock come-on. "Hey, hey, mama…"
  
  
• The Daily Swarm - Mel Cheren, R.I.P....'The Godfather of Disco' and founder of the Paradise Garage...
  
  
• TRASH MENAGERIE | The Dead Soul Brothers finally emerge
  
  
• Deerhunter | Dazed Live Sessions
  We meet the swirling Atlanta psych-punks at ATP's Release The Bats.
  
  
• Brooklyn Radio :: Tune In :: Fool's Gold
  For this week's Tune In, DJ Ayres caught up with new label owners A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs of Fool's Gold Records.
  
  
• Hot Chip's "Ready For The Floor" Video Explained, Kind Of!
  In case you didn't catch the reference (we didn't the first 20 times we listened to it), after the jump is a partial explanation of what's going on in Hot Chip's video for "Ready For The Floor," gleaned from an interview we did last month with Alexis Taylor...
  
  
• The Year of Dressing Dangerously - New York Times
  In tribute to the year 1992, an elevated D.J. segued through records by erstwhile hip-hop artists like K-Solo and Apache and into dance music by Color Me Badd and Bobby Brown, while members of the crowd swarmed the bar and contorted in dated dance steps.
  
  
• Italians Do It Better: djhistory.com mystery mix up now
  this mix is called "Mike's (near) Death Mix".
  
  
• What to Use Instead of OiNK
  links to BT trackers
  
  
• Remix - remix.nin.com
  remix Nine Inch Nails song
  
  
• deerhunter / atlas sound / lotus plaza: Altas Sound Meets Pylon Uptown
  Last Night I had the opportunity to speak with a band that was very influential on my early musical development. Pylon played their first live show at a party in March 1979. They were one of the founding bands in the Athens scene of the 80's that is so...
  
  
• SINDEN`S 2007 END OF YEAR ROUND-UP: Fact Magazine
  Sinden trawls through his hard-drive to give us his essential picks of 2007's global street-level sounds, from hip-hop and R n' B to niche and 'booty house'. Featuring MIA, Dude n' Dem, T2, Buraka Som Sistema, Radioclit, Herve and many more...

LINKS

• Pitchfork Feature: Guest List: Shocking Pinks
  Shocking Pinks' Nick Harte reminisces about his favorite preteen jams, discusses the influence of Andy Warhol on album art, and realizes that that even includes his new records.
  
  
• l'étoile magazine's Holiday Gift Guide
  
  
• modyfier - Claude VonStroke
  process055 :: claude vonstroke
  
  
• RA: M.A.N.D.Y. mix Fabric 38. Music News
  Get Physical DJ team M.A.N.D.Y. sign on for the latest Fabric mix.
  
  
• ’Stroke-ing Electro - Los Angeles CityBeat
  Claude VonStroke remixes and reinvigorates a classic e-music sound
  
  
• Pitchfork Feature: Interview: Simian Mobile Disco
  We sat down with James Ford, one half of SMD, to talk about their marvelous year-- their debut Attack Decay Sustain Release, globetrotting on a string of high-profile support slots for Klaxons and the Chemical Brothers, and remixing Björk-- and look ahead...
  
  
• Disco Workout - Baron von Luxxury interviews Midnight Juggernauts
  I'll make no bones about being a huge fan of Midnight Juggernauts. So when the opportunity came to interview them before their show with this small French band they're touring with, I hopped like a Kangaroo. Get it? They're Australian. Har.
  
  
• Get The Curse | infamous music
  French electronic music site
  
  
• Jacques Renault - Italians Do It Better [gtc12] | Get The Curse
  Time to spread some sweat on the walls with Jacques Renault, the man behind the first Italians Do It Better release
  
  
• Idolator's Year-End Top 40: Because You Can Never Have Enough Download Recommendations In Your Life
  Every day, for the rest of December, we'll be posting two entries counting down Idolator's 40 favorite songs of 2007.
  
  
• BIGSTEREO :: Remix Contest! Yelle
  Yelle is having a remix contest!! Get busy.. here's the official word from her camp:
  
  
• Dance Dance Revolution - City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul)
  DJ Jonathan Ackerman's journey from Texas to the Moon (Goons)

I.M.A FEVER

My little Kills community has been helpful of late. Here's the new video for short but sweet new single "U.R.A Fever". The new album is called Midnight Boom. Check here for a summary of their interview on EVR Monday morning.

THERE'S FUN TO BE HAD

Many thanks to Eamon Harkin for coming up and rocking faces at Too Much Love this past Saturday. This was one of my definite all-time-favorite TML sets, as he played a great, great mix of new disco - all on vinyl! - plus threw a few curveballs in there, including the original "Star Guitar" (still vinyl!), Moby (!), and this...

Sons & Daughters - "Dance Me In (JD Twitch And The Truffle Club Optimo Mix)"

#1. I haven't heard this song in years.
#2. I had no idea there was an Optimo mix.
#3. Fucken sweet.

Be sure to check out all the great stuff Eamon is doing and, of course, the FUN party at Studio B. Stay tuned for his mix to turn up on the podcast, which will officially relaunch after New Year's. Cheers!

LINKS

Oops, dropped the ball on my linkage. Expect a few more updates this week...

• vita.mn guides - Online Music Basics
  from local Mediation blog
  
  
• airoots » A night in Philly & interview with DJ Diplo
  Last September our friend Jasper brought us to Mad Decent's new recording studio in the ghostly inner-city of Philadephia. There we briefly met the label's founder DJ Diplo. At the time he was too busy making everything happen for a talk, however he...
  
  
• Little White Earbuds » Matthew Dear sounds off to LWE
  But why was I elated to find Dear's music in a Hummer commercial?
  
  
• Glass Candy: B/E/A/T/B/O/X: Pitchfork Record Review
  A fall-tour exclusive (currently available in limited quantities through the Troubleman Unlimited website), B/E/A/T/B/O/X boasts nine tracks and over 40 minutes of exclusive material from one of the Italians Do It Better label's flagship artists.
  
  
• Pitchfork Feature: Interview: Duran Duran
  We talk to bassist John Taylor about Duran Duran's new record, Red Carpet Massacre, their rock album that wound up being shelved, covering "Warm Leatherette", rehab, and his iconic band's experimental streak.
  
  
• Wonder Woman: Musical Events: The New Yorker
  Chan Marshall's transformation.
  
  
• Dexter - Television - New York Times
  Two-thirds of the way into its second season "Dexter," Showtime's highest-rated series, is better than ever, deriving its suspense from our fear that its hero's peculiar exercises in paternalism will fall under the harsh judgments of the law.

THUMBS UP

TOO MUCH FUN

This week's TOO MUCH LOVE is a very special event - I'm super psyched to bring in EAMON HARKIN from NYC to DJ tonight, Saturday, December 8th.
Eamon Harkin is the resident DJ at the weekly FUN party at Brooklyn's Studio B, arguably the hottest party in the country right now, and has worked on events with Melody Nelson (Calling All Kids) and Justine D. Eamon has booked and DJed alongside acts including Joakim, Kavinsky, Battles, Chromeo, Afrika Bambaataa, Lady Sovereign, Escort, Glass Candy, Metronomy, Diplo, A-Trak, Girl Talk, The Glimmers, Flosstradamus, the DFA and more.

For more info, check out his website, bio, podcast with downloadable mixes, or MySpace.

SINDEN BOY TELL'EM

Sinden has a 2007 year-in-review up at FACT. Uh, dude knows what he's talkin about, to say the very least. Although I'm not sure what's up with those lizards.

I FEEL GANGSTA

Bald Eagle's got a new jam up on the ever-excellent Hood Internet today - mavado vs. Lindstrøm aka "I Feel Gangsta".

Dude also has an excellent weekend lined up, welcoming Eamon Harkin to Chicago before he hits Too Much Love tomorrow, and opening for Chromeo in WI. Check it:

12/7 - Life During Wartime (Bald Eagle & Mother Hubbard) feat. Eamon Harkin (FUN, Studio B, NYC) at Darkroom, Chicago

12/8 - Chromeo, Bald Eagle, and DJ Sean P at Eagles Ballroom, Milwaukee [RSVP and get in free]

12/9 - Baby Loves Disco at Metro, Chicago

NEW OLD GROWTH

Sweeeeet. Dead Meadow's new record Old Growth will be released on Matador on February 5th, 2008. Here's the track "What Needs Must Be" for download until the rest of the album surfaces.

There's also some dealie where you can buy tickets to see them at Bowery Ballroom and get the CD too, more info on that at the Matablog.

ACKERMAN ABOUT TOWN

Yay, more friends! Jonathan Ackerman is featured in the latest issue of City Pages. Check it out for info on Dallas, Conquest Inc., the Moon Goons, and all kinds of creepin' goodness.

I'm glad they were nice to him.  Although that headline looks familiar...

BIRD'S THE WORD

Discobelle has some new heat up from my man Bird Peterson. Check "Twurk Central". Just the title gets me going.

LINKS

The Babytalk label is something I was previously unaware of... same with that DB mixes site, which is crazy... and the Rob Liefeld dissection is funny.

• BIGSTEREO :: MSTRKRFT
  I managed to track down AL-P from MSTRKRFT for an 'interview' on their stop thru San Diego.
  
  
• CHECK IT: RCRD LBL Artist Jacques Renault DJ Sets | RCRD LBL
  You'll be hard-pressed to find a DJ in New York that's busier than RCRD LBL artist Jacques Renault.
  
  
• Setting the Beat, and the Style - New York Times
  female DJs, including Justine D
  
  
• The FADER
  Babytalk, aka DFA-ite Eric Broucek started his own label, Sticky Disc...
  
  
• Pylon: Gyrate Plus: Pitchfork Record Review
  The legendary Athens band goes from being hipster homework to being easily appreciated thanks to a DFA reissue that includes every song from both versions of Gyrate, plus a few singles and extras.
  
  
• ALLEZ-ALLEZ: Fact Magazine
  Allez-Allez, aka Sam Willis and Steve Nolan, have somehow managed to become much-admired figures on the London club scene, without compromise, and with a broad musical policy that flies against the arch scenester mentality so much a part of the capital's...
  
  
• BRODINSKI: Fact Magazine
  Surfing into our lives on a frothy wave of blog and DJ hype, Brodinski's irreverent, youthful take on techno has already won him a sizeable legion of fans, but that legion looks set to multiply over the course of '08.
  
  
• androïdes et moutons électriques: train wreck mix
  rub-n-tug mix
  
  
• Main Page - MixesDB
  tons of mixes for download
  
  
• Turn You On - The Stranger
  As European artists took note, they initiated their own blend of disco that came to be called Italo disco.
  
  
• Daytrotter | Inconsequentiality Still Needs An Attempt
  Deerhunter live
  
  
• Progressive Boink
  Rob Liefeld's hilarious worst work
  
  
• RA: Goldfrapp prep Golden Tree. Music News
  Electronic pop duo Goldfrapp have announced the release of their fourth studio album Seventh Tree.
  
  
• The U.S.S.R. Is Back (on Clothing Racks) - New York Times
  
  
• The FADER - Schnipper's Slept On
  Each Tuesday, FADER editor Matthew Schnipper highlights an underappreciated recent release he thinks we need to know about. This week it's Vampire Weekend's B-side "Ladies of Cambridge" which you can buy here or Listen to "Ladies of Cambridge" down below
  
  
• ____ Together ____
  
  
• Bonus Mixin’ It Up: The Glass mix for Discobelle
  Since we're dj'ing with the good people in The Glass here in Malmö tonight, they were kind us enough to give us this sweet mix of theirs.