CATCHING UP ON LINKS

• A day in the life of First Avenue
  From lights on to lock up, a journey through Minneapolis' landmark nightclub.
  
  
• aM laboratory - FL909
  FL909 attempts to simulate the original sound of the Roland TR-909
  
  
• havefunclub. - THE BEE BIT MY BOTTOM, NOW MY BOTTOMS BIG
  best blog post ever
  
  
• S/FJ: AN ANTIDOTE TO THE SELF-LOATHING THAT IS CRIPPLING OUR YOUTH
  best blog post title ever
  
  
• Little White Earbuds » Did you check the toaster?
  Syclops, "Where's Jason's K" [DFA]
  
  
• Black Mountain: In the Future: Pitchfork Record Review
  Black Mountain mainman Steve McBean here finds more room for the rest of the band's burgeoning personalities, and the resulting record raises the stakes of the debut considerably, leaving the band's musical talents to play catchup with their new material'

HERE WE ARE

Here are a couple photos from the show with We Are Wolves on Wednesday. Check the rest here.

EAU REALLY?

Tonight my friends and I are driving out to Eau Claire, WI, to rock faces. Myself, Jonathan Ackerman, and Dan Cruse will be joined at the Stones Throw by DJ Tanner and friends. Be there Eau Claire!

LINKS

• The Year In: Techno
  A bit belatedly we take a look at the best tracks and moments from 2007, including works from Noze [above], Ricardo Villalobos, and Radio Slave.
  
  
• Pitchfork Feature: NO!: The Origins of No Wave
  In the late 1970s, a loose collective of New York bands created a radical reaction to New Wave and Punk that came to be known as No Wave. Led by Mars, DNA, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Sonic Youth [above], and the Contortions, No Wave tossed dynamite into...
  
  
• VAMPIRE WEEKEND: Fact Magazine
  Thanks to McCartney-esque pop miniature (and recent single) 'Mansard Roof', together with a clutch of cheekily titled tracks like 'Oxford Comma', 'Upper West Side Soweto' and 'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa' that've been blaring sonorously from their myspace page
  
  
• YouWorkForThem | Profile Magazine: Aesthetic Apparatus
  Often considered Minneapolis' best totally unknown design super team, Aesthetic Apparatus was founded around 1999 in Madison, Wisconsin by Dan Ibarra and Michael Byzewski as a fun side project from their 'real' jobs. Over the years their limited edition...
  
  
• Adega Rock: Black Sabbath - Discografia
  download all Black Sabbath
  
  
• Pitchfork Feature: Interview: Atlas Sound
  Just before the release of his Atlas Sound debut, we talk to the loved-or-hated Bradford Cox about the future of Deerhunter, how meeting electronic music pioneer Pauline Oliveros influenced his new record, about lovesickness and Loveless...
  
  
• RA: RA.086 Juan Maclean Podcast
  On the podcast this week: DFA disco kid Juan Maclean.

QUICK FIX

Late notice, but I will be having a new mix air on Radio K's Soulful Science today at 6 p.m. central. It's the show's new time, so make sure to take note. Listen at RadioK.org. I will have the mix edited and up for download soon, I think.

WE ARE WOLVES

Busy week here at SPHQ... let's get it started riiiight. I'm playing tonight with We Are Wolves at the Entry. Montreal post-punk, f yeah. Doors at 8, 18+, $6, see you there.

IT'S ALRIGHT TO BE MEAN

Love. Love love love.

SOME LINKS

• antville Music Video Awards 2007 The Winners !
  can you imagine if the MTV VMAs were like this?
  
  
• Can musicians blog? - Times Online
  They've sung to us, they've played to us... now every self-respecting rock star wants to write a blog for us. But have they anything to say, do they dish the dirt – and can they spell "ciggarettee"? Our critic casts an appraising eye over seven...
  
  
• DANCEBLOGGA : Dennis Romero's 2007 Top 10:
  Dennis Romero's 2007 Top 10:
  
  
• The Black Ghosts: Anyway You Choose to Give It EP: Pitchfork Record Review
  Former Simian vocalist Simon Lord teams with ex-Wiseguys DJ Theo Keating to create a sort of sugarcoated Simain Mobile Disco, aiming to craft pop songs using dance music only as foundation.
  
  
• Pitchfork Feature: Guest List: Black Mountain
  Black Mountain's Jeremy Schmidt tips us off to Canada's newest record shop, recalls a showstopping stage fight at a Sunn O))) concert, and tells us the best place to take in a gig when visiting Holland.
  
  
• Advice posters 2007 - a photoset on Flickr
  An ongoing series of posters designed by graduates of University College Falmouth for the purpose of pasing on advice e inspiration to first year students.
  
  
• 10 Celebrity-Trashed Hotel Rooms
  There are so many creative ways to trash a perfectly good hotel room--it's come naturally to rockers and divas like these for decades.

PUT YA LEG UP

Whew! About to fly back to Minneapolis. Thursday with Fly by Night and BFF were fucken great. Sorry I had to cancel Friday at Schubas. More on all that later. For now, Minneapolis make sure you come out tonight! Heat will be brought. Everyone's fav Mike 2600 will be joining me at Too Much Love.



Also, best flier ever. Thanks Mike!

WHAT'S THE SAGA?

I am a huge fan of Queens of the Stone Age, if you didn't already know from reading the site. Like a lot of people, their third LP, 2002's Songs for the Deaf, was when I really started to pay attention to the band. However, I always sort of hated the radio "theme" that ran through the album, in the form of a number of interludes and between-song banter from fake radio DJs. I often wondered what the album would sound like without the radio stuff, and recently I realized it wouldn't be hard to just take it out using Live. So that's what I did.

Here are the edited versions of the 8 tracks that contained radio "banter". I edited it out, cutting out the DJs and using a little bit of reverb on the end of tracks that got cut off by radio static. I also tried to make sure that song lengths, like the drum intro the begins the album, and the extended silence before the "hidden" track at the end, were kept the same.



Songs for the Deaf [No-Radio Version]

To listen to it correctly, unzip the tracks, put the album in an iTunes playlist with these "No-Radio" songs, and delete the duplicates from the original album. Sort by track number.

I haven't listened to it more than once, so I don't know the full effect yet, but my first impression is that it makes the album go down almost a little too easy. But part of me thinks that's just because I'm so used to the radio breaks that I expect to hear them as part of the album. So I don't know how I feel yet. I do know that I almost kept in the Russian sounding lady near the end of the album because that was the only DJ I actually liked... but for consistency's sake, she's gone too. Let me know what you think.

LINKS

• How to Make a Disco Ball With CDs - wikiHow
  
  
• Humor Sliced and Diced
  A Night Out With Tracy Morgan
  
  
• American Athlete: 2007 Year in Review
  Well the end of the year is here and it was one of much discovery for myself. This year will go down as the year I became completely infatuated with everything disco
  
  
• Format Magazine: Urban Art + Fashion » Top 10 Album Covers of 2007
  Top 10 Album Covers of 2007 (in no particular order) by Dust La Rock
  
  
• HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR: Fact Magazine
  interview/feature
  
  
• The Minneapoline 1/5 TML
  
  
• Stairway to Here: Musical Events: The New Yorker
  Led Zeppelin returns.
  
  
• How to Wake Up Early
  self-explanatory
  
  
• Trance Out - Los Angeles CityBeat
  Leave this tired genre to the trendy and aim for real innovation
  
  
• The FADER - Listmania 2007!
  Once again, The FADER and its extended family present our version of the Best of the Year list type things, none of which have anything to do with anything that will help Mom and Dad buy you something cool. Sorry! Click more for the real talk.
  
  
• Little White Earbuds » LWE’s Top 50 Tracks of 2007
  
  
• Little White Earbuds » LWE’s Top 20 Albums of 2007


• Earplug | Ewan Pearson Chart
  This is Pearson's list of "ten very lovely dance records with strings in 2007."

TOP 15 MOST ANTICIPATED RECORDS OF 2008

1. The Black Ghosts - LP
This album is supposedly finished and I can't wait to see what's on it and finally hear it. The Black Ghosts were, in my mind, underrated and one of the best singles band of 2007 with "Some Way Through This", "Any Way You Choose To Give It", "I Want Nothing", and the Switch remix of "Face". I've started to assemble playlists of tracks from all their different releases and I'm very excited.

2. The Kills - Midnight Boom (Domino)
My favorite band produced by one of my current favorite producers, XXXChange. He says that the slower tracks turned out best.

3. Hercules & Love Affair - s/t (DFA)
I finally obtained a hi-fi copy of "Blind" featuring Antony. I waited to listen to it until I played it out at First Ave on Saturday. It sounded like god. It's the only track I've ever played twice in a set. That's how good it is. Can't wait for the LP which is supposedly life-changing.

4. Sinden & Count of Monte Cristal - LP (Domino)
These guys consistently put out bangers, but also often manage to surprise, so I'm especially anxious to hear how they go about making a full length instead of just a 12" or remix.

5. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours (Modular)
I was very surprised that "Hearts on Fire" wasn't on way more best of lists for 2007. It was definitely in my top 3 tracks of the year. Their first album always kind of underwhelmed me, but this Goldsworthy-produced long player shouldn't disappoint.

6. The Juan Maclean - "Happy House" or anything else (DFA)
I'm sick of reading about this track; I want to fucking hear it!

7. Dead Meadow - Old Growth (Matador)
This and a number of other records on this list have already leaked, but I'm waiting for hi-fi copies to come out and/or the right moment to listen to them. Dead Meadow added a fourth member for their last one and lost that fourth member before this one, so it might sound a bit different than Feathers, an album I adore.

8. Hot Chip - Made In The Dark (EMI)
Hearing a lot of mixed stuff about this one. I like "Shake A Fist" and "Ready for the Floor" but I guess I'm not totally nuts about them.

9. Black Mountain - In The Future (Jagjaguwar)
I will see this band at the 7th St. Entry for the third time on March 24th, and I can't wait. Fucking love this band.

10. The Futureheads - LP (Longest Mile)
Supposedly one of those "return to form" albums, released on their own label. Let's hope so.

11. Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
I'm actually nervous to listen to this one. I felt that Black Cherry made a lot more sense in context after hearing Supernature, so I'm sort of disappointed to hear they're ditching the glam.

12. R.E.M. - Accelerate (Warner Bros.)
I'm actually one of those people who LIKED Monster, so I want to hear this.

13. Deerhunter - Microcastle (Kranky)
I was extremely surprised, but despite Pitchfork constantly over-selling this band, Cryptograms was one of my hands-down favorites for last year. Maybe this will be as good.

14. Be Your Own PET - Get Awkard (XL)
I'm not sure why this band doesn't seem like my thing, but they don't, and they are. I would marry Jemina Pearl. Just sayin'.

15. Foals - Antidotes (Sub Pop)
I avoided these guys for a really long time, but when I finally heard them, ahhh they ain't so bad. Maybe they won't start sucking big time like Bloc Party. Gosh I'm eloquent.

BEACH BABY

I will be DJing this free promo event on Thursday night. It's a pretty elaborate production, with a big set-up, surprises in store, and free high quality drinks and food. Click the image for more info. It'll be worth checking out and I hope to see you there.



Malibu Winter Beach Bash
featuring SOVIETPANDA
free drinks and food
free RSVP required

Thursday 1/10/2008
8pm - 11pm
@ Myth
FREE
Click here for free RSVP

To help get you in the mood, here's a song I heard for the first time ever on my favorite radio station ever last week. It's a high-gloss Beach Boys rip-off by Tony Burrows' act First Class. Apparently Tony Burrows is the only person to have ever appeared on Top of the Pops three times in one episode for three different acts (and he was subsequently black-listed by the industry since the public doubted someone could credibly front three different popular acts). This song is insane. It has a horn breakdown, like French horn-horn. Who thinks of that?

First Class - "Beach Baby"



If you have a better version of the mp3, send it along.

Please spread the word and tell your friends. Thanks!

YOWZA

The first Essential Mix of 2008 is by none other than one of my favorite duos, Sinden & Herve. Woo! Download here.

Thanks to the excellent Electric Zoo for the link.

DANCE ROBOTS, DANCE!

These guys played Hotel @ the Kitty Cat Klub last night, and I've very rarely seen that place so psyched for DJs. Don't miss this tonight!



TOO MUCH LOVE
Saturday January 5 2008
@ First Avenue

with
DANCE ROBOTS, DANCE! (OKC, OK)
featuring B. & Joshua Distance

plus host/resident-DJ SOVIETPANDA

10PM / 18+ / $3 or free with student ID or mention the City Pages ad

WHY AM I JUST SEEING THIS NOW?

DOMINO DANCING

I just found this track, "Domino Dancing" by Mel Merio, on my hard drive, and the video for it was upped on Monday. My question is, why does every Christopher Just track use that same sample? The one in "Popper"? And is that from "Funkytown"? It's like some kind of demented joke, but it's still really funny.

LINKS

I'm starting to really wish Blogger did this automatically. Oh well... there are some good links in this bunch.

• Downtown Club Parties
  The unexpected demise of Misshapes party left the skinny-jeans-and-Converse crowd asking the question: What's next?
  
  
• A.W.K. Archive | Andrew W.K. | Videos
  "Crashing With Andrew W.K. #1"
  
  
• Culture Apocalypse 2008: Vulture's Calendar for the Year Ahead
  Funny forecast for 2008
  
  
• T A P E: Top 100 12"s of 2007
  
  
• THISISNOTANEXIT: Top 2007 Records
  Here's 130 records you really should have bought, begged, stolen or borrowed (and not given back) in 2007.
  
  
• City Pages - Malibu Beach Bash
  ad for event I'm DJing
  
  
• The Minneapoline - New Year's
  1/1 - Solid Gold New Year @ First Ave
  
  
• 2007 Year In Review :: Reveille Magazine
  Reveille isn't even a year old yet, but it's that time of year when every music critic answers the deep primeval call within him or herself to make lists of things.
  
  
• THE OSCILLATION: Fact Magazine
  We collared Demian for a chat about cats, tablas and taking The Oscillation out on the road...
  
  
• EMI: Radiohead Demanded £10 Million Payday At The End Of Its Rainbow
  Radiohead's former label, EMI, has taken to the business pages of the London Times to strike back at its former art-rock poster children, saying that Thom Yorke and his merry band of thieves walked after demanding a deal that would have cost EMI more than...
  
  
• No. 4: Fall Out Boy Have Smiles On Their Faces
  And the song at No. 4 invites you to open your mind and shake your behind.
  
  
• E-Music for Everyone
  Dance delirium ruled the '07 for cool kids, hip-hoppers, and pop stars
  
  
• Covert Curiosity
  Here's a two-hour Hot Chip DJ set from last night's broadcast of the Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1.
  
  
• Let It Rip: Musical Events: The New Yorker
  Punk rock flourishes in Los Angeles.
  
  
• The Kills third album gets US release date | News | NME.COM
  The duo recorded the record in Benton Harbour, MI with Spank Rock producer Alex Epton aka Armani XXXchange, and the entire record was inspired by a documentary called 'Pizza Pizza Daddio', which focuses on children in inner city schools in 1960s Ameri...
  
  
• Putting The Heads Back On The Chickens: David Byrne Thinks The Music Industry Might Just Be OK (Provided Everyone Stays Cool)
  That's why David Byrne has penned a guide for young bands on how not to drown in the currently muddy industry waters, augmented by audio interviews with Radiohead's management, Brian Eno, Merge Records co-founder Mac McCaughan, and others.
  
  
• PANDA BEAR: Fact Magazine
  We recently caught up with Panda Bear to talk about the making of the LP, other music that's been exciting him in 2007 and his plans for the year ahead.
  
  
• FOALS: Fact Magazine
  We caught up with their tea-sipping vocalist Yannis Philippakis to talk New York, banal pop songs and kicking through walls.