New York City’s The Golden Filter may have just put out one of the sexiest jams of the summer with “Solid Gold” and no one knows a single thing about them. A revved up, glittery disco-bassline and icy synths anchor your feet to the dancefloor while airy female vocals breeze past on rays of golden light – a combination that’s enough to cool you on the most humid of days. The track’s slick production work doesn’t fall far from the DFA tree and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re an offshoot of an act already signed to that label. Then again, I could be way off and this could be a new jam that Nghia pulled together in drunken haze one night and just hasn’t told us. Either way, grab “Solid Gold” below and check out the equally addicting “Hide Me” on the band’s mysteriously just opened MySpace page.
This mixtape pulls together a collection of some of my favorite French music from the 1960s through today to celebrate Bastille Day. The French national holiday (which was celebrated in Philadelphia over the weekend at Eastern State Penitentary), commemorates the storming of the Bastille, which took place on July 14, 1789, marking the beginning of the French Revolution. The largest celebration of the holiday, which is like July 4th to us Americans, is in, you guessed it, New York City. To celebrate in a low-key style, grab yourself a nice bottle of Beaujolais, along with a Godard or Truffaut flick and download the mix below.
Today marks the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, with the sun not setting until a late 8:31pm. Kick back with your favorite iced cocktail and chill to the dubbed out cosmic-disco vibe of Studio‘s remake of A Mountain of One’s “Brown Piano.” Go ahead and make the track your jam for Summer Solstice ’08 – staying up late and waking up even earlier as the planetary grooves play out in the background. Summer’s officially here. Embrace it.
On the heels of last year’s captivating Yearbook 1, the Swedish duo are primed to release seven more unique takes on everything from pop princess Kylie Minogue to California folk act Rubies to the aformentioned remix of England’s dreamscapers A Mountain of One.
Yearbook 2 is out June 23, on Studio’s own label Information. Check out the preview video for the record above and grab “Brown Piano (the Studio way)” above.
However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poorhouse. The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the almshouse as brightly as from the rich man’s abode; the snow melts before its door as early in the spring. I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there, and have as cheering thoughts, as in a palace. The town’s poor seem to me often to live the most independent lives of any. Maybe they are simply great enough to receive without misgiving. Most think that they are above being supported by the town; but it oftener happens that they are not above supporting themselves by dishonest means, which should be more disreputable. Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Turn the old; return to them. Things do not change; we change.
Damn you Woody’s and your stiff drinks! I got a late start today (read: I woke up on the couch with my clothes, shoes, and coat still on) and totally missed the Radiohead presale on Waste. Don’t bother, the site is fucking clogged to shit and the presale is sold the fuck out. Not to mention, my waking call was a friend rubbing it in my face that he got three tickets to for Radiohead’s Camden show. Three? Why not get the max of four? Ugh.
Anyway, a couple of quick things. Gui Boratto was brilliant last night at Woody’s in Philly, it was great to finally see/hear him live. If you can make it out on Saturday to see him at Studio B, definitely do so, he spun and incredible set with a whip cream topping of “Beautiful Life,” sending us off into the early morning streets of Philadelphia happy.
Philadelphia faves and friends The War on Drugs are giving away their Barrel of Batteries EP. Get it here FREE of charge. The psych/country/shoegaze outfit will be releasing their debut full length, Wagonwheel Blues, via Secretly Canadian later this year. Catch them tonight at the North Star Bar in Philadelphia.
FRICTION alums HEALTH are set to drop a remix album titled HEALTH/DISCO, which sees their debut remixed by the likes of CFCF, Curses!, Philly’s Pink Skull, and more. Full details here.
Lastly, I’d like to say happy birthday to my little beast, Ms. Shelby, who turns seven today. I know she’s not much of a blog reader, but I hope she sees this.
The refrain of “There’s no escape from this circling place” on The Notwist’s new track “Where in This World” can be taken many different ways. It can be looked at as the daily routine of life that many of us endure that at times may feel like being stuck on the tumble cycle in the dryer. The soothing orchestral compositions merged with gentle electronic beats and Markus Archer’s innocent uttered vocals on “Where in This World” provide relief from the sometimes cyclical routine of everyday life. Of course there are other interpretations of the lyric as director Markus Wambsganss shows in his video for the track where a young couple that builds a flying apparatus to escape their humble abode. Failed attempts, cold cans of beans, and frustrations don’t prevent this couple from reaching for the sky.
“Where in This World” appears on The Devil, You + Me, which is out via City Slang in Europe in late May and Domino in North America in early June.
Avante-garde post-rock outfit Apse are gearing up for a busy 2008. The last time we checked in with the Cape Cod, MA six-piece was in 2006 on the heels of their elegant LP Spirit. Originally released on Spanish imprint Acuarela Discos, the record will be re-released in May this year (according to the band “60 days from March 5th”) via ATP Recordings.
In addition to the re-release of Spirit, the band will also be dropping a 45-minute EP titled Eras initially in a beautifully packaged vinyl-only format in April and eventually in CD/digital format by mid-summer. The extended EP “will feature new material, covering a range of different kinds of songwriting and experimentation. It has musical ties to Spirit, but is the most progressive, experimental and exploratory record the band as made to date.”
Following the EP, the sextet plans to unleash a brand new full-length in the autumn which is currently in the works with over 30 new tracks. Apse won’t just be busy in the studio though, they have lined up an aggressive European tour that kicks off on April 24th and continues well into May, including a stop at All Tomorrow’s Parties. Here’s to hoping for some U.S. dates (outside of New England would be nice).
The tracklisting for the EP along with some mp3′s to tie you over are below, including the grinding “Up In The Eaves” from the Eras EP.
