Remix Sunday: Steve Aoki

There's shit show in the air today around the streets of downtown Toronto. A certain brand of shit show which is reserved strictly for the parties brought by Hollywood, CA's most hipsterest DJ/party monster Steve Aoki.

Tonight, Aoki brings his asian-sweat dance party to the recently-opened Tattoo Rock Parlour, along with Ed Banger supercutie Uffie. The pair, who have built incredible buzz despite having yet to release any records, are a prime example of the "attitude-over-talent" approach which has hit a chord with today's party-goers worldwide. Neither are producing any content indicative of overt musical prowess, in my opinion, but none of this really seems to matter to the legions of walking/talking American Apparel ads who have been shitting themselves over this party, put on by the Queen of the Toronto party scene, Anna Von Frances of Pink Mafia.

With about three-zillion kids RSVPed on effbook, It's likely I'll be the only human being not at Tattoo tonight. Not that I deny it will be a fantastic party, because it certainly will be. I guess I just don't care that much. That, and my one-piece bright purple unitard is in the wash.

Aoki's debut album, Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles, which at times treads the line between remixing and straight-up thiefing the music of others (check out the 1:53 of untouched Refused sample which kicks off album snippet #1 on his myspace page), is out January 22nd on Thrive/Dim Mak. Apart from the questionable Refused usage, however, the album does boast some pretty interesting remixes (most of which aren't his own) and features a whole whack of guest vocalists, including Peaches, Hot Hot Heat's Steve Bay, and Todd Fink of the Faint on his remix of Goose's Bring it On.

Uffie's album is due out sometime later in 2008.

Bloc Party - Helicopters (Weird Science Remix ft. Peaches)

Goose - Bring it On (ft. Todd Fink of the Faint)

- bbbykmbrly.

Taken Too Young

The Tough Alliance were responsible for one of my favourite releases of 2007, A New Chance. Not included on that album was the excellent single 'Taken Too Young', released back in August. The track is actually a remix; the original is by Taken By Trees, the project of fellow Swede Victoria Bergsman (formerly of the Concretes). The original is great, and TTA's remix is possibly even better.

The Tough Alliance - Taken Too Young
The Tough Alliance - Taken Too Young (zipped)

- a.m.p.m.

I Swore to Kill Every Last One

The Mars Volta are one of the first bands that I absolutely fell in love with upon first listen. I remember I was sitting on a plane on my way back from Italy and my friend handed me their then-recently-released De-Loused In The Comatorium. By the end of Intertiatic E.S.P, all I wanted to do was run up and down the aisles screaming, "NOW I'M LOST. NOW I'M LOST."

Classic moment. De-Loused is definitely one of my favorite concept albums of all-time and even though their second full-length, Frances the Mute, does not reach such a standard, it is a brilliant prog-rock album that will rock throughout the ages.

Amputechture? I don't want to talk about Amputechture.

Now the former members of At the Drive-In are set to release their forth full-length album entitled The Bedlam in Goliath and it definitely has been set up as their return to a more instrument based spacey sound, and not just "we did lots of acid and thought the ambient noise on the moons of Jupiter were fucking rad" sound. The first track released, Wax Simulacra, cuts out all the fluff that surrounded much of the Volta's previous albums and hits right to the point with great effect. The music is as hard-hitting as it was on De-loused and Cedric's lyrics and vocals keep the same ethereal sound scape that they are known for.

The album is set to be released on Jan 29th and they have put up a website with a puzzle that supposedly gives away details about the background concept for the album.

Welcome back to Earth boys.

[MP3] Wax Simularcra - Mars Volta

[MP3] Goliath - Mars Volta


[Video] Aberinkula - Mars Volta


Cheers,
MF Blaz

The Constant Constantines

Ok, the title is totally lame; but really "constant" or "consistent" are the words that best describe The Constantines, the boys from Guelph, ON. Releasing three great albums and three great EPs in the span of four great years it was safe to assume that after the demise of Three Gut Records they would press on and press on they did. They even landed a spot on one of Canada's premiere indie labels, Arts & Crafts, who will be releasing their latest sometime in April. The untimely demise of Three Gut happened right smack dab in the middle of the recording sessions for their forth album and from the sounds of things it has helped the band grow and progress.

They will be releasing their first 7' EVER, Hard Feelings, next week on Tuesday but it will also be available as a digital download at those popular digital download websites.

[MP3] Hard Feelings - Constantines


Cheers,
MF Blaz

MGMT/Yeasayer Ticket Giveaway

Today is an exciting day in BTA land. It marks the first-ever contest that we've hosted, and I personally can't think of a pair of bands that I'd rather be sharing this monumental occasion with than MGMT and Yeasayer.

Thanks to our friends at Red Ink, we've got a pair of tickets for their February 9th show at the El Mocambo in Toronto, as well as a copy of MGMT's debut album, Oracular Spectacular, due out January 22nd in Canada.

This news comes on the same day that MGMT is making their major television debut, performing on David Letterman tonight, January 8th. Tune in and check it out.

So, to enter this inaugural BTA contest, email us with "MGMT/Yeasayer tickets!" in the subject line, and answer the following question: which song did MGMT perform on Letterman? Also include your full name and contact info. We'll be drawing a winner from successful entries on Friday, February 1st.

MGMT - Weekend Wars

Yeasayer - Sunrise


- bbbykmbrly.

Juno Soundtrack to be Released Digitally January 11th

Acting on a tip from a friend, I checked out Juno a few nights ago and was suitably impressed. Not only is it a clever and engaging film, but I was especially taken with the excellent folksy/twee soundtrack. Belle & Sebastian, The Kinks, Sonic Youth, The Velvet Underground, Cat Power, and Buddy Holly are among the artists featured, and Kimya Dawson contributes a handful of sweet gems to provide consistency. A few cuts are available below, but I highly recommend picking up the entire album.

01) "All I Want Is You" – Barry Louis Polisar
02) "Rollercoaster" – Juno Film Version - Kimya Dawson
03) "A Well Respected Man" – The Kinks
04) "Dearest" – Buddy Holly
05) "Up The Spout" – Mateo Messina
06) "Tire Swing" – Kimya Dawson
07) "Piazza, New York Catcher" – Belle & Sebastian
08) "Loose Lips" – Kimya Dawson
09) "Superstar" – Sonic Youth
10) "Sleep" – Instrumental - Kimya Dawson
11) "Expectations" – Belle & Sebastian
12) "All The Young Dudes" – Mott The Hoople
13) "So Nice So Smart" – Kimya Dawson
14) "Sea of Love" – Cat Power
15) "Tree Hugger" – Kimya Dawson and Antsy Pants
16) "I'm Sticking With You" – Velvet Underground
17) "Anyone Else but You" – The Moldy Peaches
18) "Vampire" – Antsy Pants
19) "Anyone Else But You" – Ellen Page and Michael Cera

"Tire Swing" - Kimya Dawson

- a.m.p.m.

Lust, Cubed

Vice will be distributing The Raveonettes long-awaited album Lust Lust Lust on Feb. 19th in North America. Early press has suggested a bit of deviation from the aesthetic found on Pretty in Black, saying that the instrumentation strays farther from 50's and 60's rock and roll into more fuzzed out 80's territory. This progression has been greatly exaggerated, however, and though songs like "You Want the Candy" are certainly louder than what the band's put out, tracks like "Dead Sound" or more common and sound similar to what we're used to from the band. Check the tour in a town near you or take the family on a road trip to Hoboken, New Jersey, what the heck!

January
19 New York, NY @ Terminal 5 (with Blonde Redhead)
February
29 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
March
1 Pomona, CA @ Glasshouse
2 Costa Mesa, CA @ Detroit Bar
4 Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theater
5 San Francisco, CA @ The Independant
7 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
8 Vancouver, BC @ The Plaza Niteclub
9 Seattle, WA @ Neumos
12 Austin, TX @ SXSW
13 Austin, TX @ SXSW
14 Austin, TX @ SXSW
15 Austin, TX @ SXSW
16 Austin, TX @ SXSW
17 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
18 Chicago, IL @ Double Door
19 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
21 Toronto, ON @ Opera House
22 Montreal, QC @ Les Saint
23 Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwells
24 Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
27 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas
28 Baltimore, MD @ The Ottobar
29 Washington, DC @ Black Cat

The Raveonettes - Dead Sound
The Raveonettes - You Want the Candy

- B.A.

Radiohead Loves The Internet

So not only did they release a full and unreal album on the net for however much you wanted to pay for it but now radiohead has also released a 60 minute DVD quality video of them preforming all the songs off In Rainbows. The video, Scotch Mist, shows the band in the studio rawking the instruments. Let me tell you, it's great to see Johnny helming a guitar again and not some random 1950's synth or Thom belting out the lyrics to Bodysnatchers while hammering away at his 6 string. Anyways, it goes without saying that the video is worth every second of watching or even just let it play in the background as it sounds great as a live set.

Lets All Drink Scotch and play in the mist.

[Video] Radiohead - Scotch Mist


Cheers, MF Blaz

Not Much To Say Today....

I just want ya'll to know that my music collection reached its second milestone:

It may not be absolutely ridiculous but it's fairly ridiculous and that's all from me today.

Cheers, MF Blaz

oh, and ps: I do not have any individual tracks in this collection. It's all LPs, EPs, and demos.

before it's too late: best of 2007 vol III.

When it comes to year-end, it seems like everyone has to weigh in on what their favourite music of the past twelve months. In bloggerland, this is especially true. At BTA, we're no different except that there are multiple opinions that get expressed.

This is the third full mix posted by us, both MFBlaz and a.m.p.m. have beaten me to the punch (which isnt hard to do considering we're nearly a full week into 2008). But not to be outdone, here is a mix of what I consider to be the finest music of this past year.

Since I'm notoriously poor in the technical department, the mix isn't mixed per say, but that doesn't mean that thought wasn't put into the order of the songs.

Download the entire mix right here, or click below for individual tracks.

Gruff Rhys - This is Just the Beginning
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Rockers to Swallow
Les Savy Fav - The Year Before the Year 2000
LCD Soundsystem - Watch the Tapes
Bombay Bicycle Club - How are You
M.I.A. - Paper Planes
Kanye West - Barry Bonds (ft. Lil Wayne)
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Cloud Cult - Chemicals Collide
Broken Social Scene ft Kevin Drew - TBTF
Tegan & Sara - Like Oh, Like H
The Wooden Sky - When Lost at Sea
Of Montreal - The Past is a Grotesque Animal
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Satan Said Dance
Vampire Weekend - Bryn
Spoon - You Got Yr Cherrybomb
Kings of Leon - Camaro
Black Lips - Veni Vidi Vici
The National - Fake Empire
Bright Eyes - Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed)

A lot of the above have wound up on many people's best of's (at least the artist/album, if not the song). But if i could personally recommend one of the lesser-knowns, I'd like to point you, the BTA faithful, toward Toronto indie folk/country wonders the Wooden Sky. Their 07 release When Lost at Sea is definitely a contender for my favourite Canadian album of the year. I've been meaning to post fully on these guys, which I still intend to do - so keep your eyes (and ears) out.

For nostalgia purposes, my 2003 mix is available here.

- bbbykmbrly.

Crystal Castles samples DFA on first track.

I don't really have time to get into the details for this post but I recently (as of 10 minutes ago) got my hands on the first track off of Crystal Castles highly anticipated self titled debut set to be released for mass consumption in March. The Toronto natives first track off their new album album is a great indication of what we have to look forward to.

[MP3] Untrust Us - Crystal Castles (off their upcoming debut)

[MP3] Alice Practice - Crystal Castles


Cheers,
MF Blaz

Hot Chip, Hot Single

There is much that can be said about this five-piece from London. Headed by 8-bit star Alexis Taylor and certified beat muncher Joe Goddard, Hot Chip has eased their way onto dance floors around the globe. And when I say "eased their way" I really mean it; Hot Chip does not have the super fast dance sound that seems to be popular these days, but they take it easy. The first few lyrics of their 2006 smash hit Over and Over start with Alexis muttering "Laid Back / Laid Back / I'll give you laid back". Early in 2008 they are releasing a new disc entitled Made in the Dark to follow their well received The Warning (coming in fourth on NME's best of 06) and it seems like they're taking it even easier. The first single entitled Ready for the Floor is very laid back and plays into the dualities that Hot Chip have expressed over their 2 disc career.

My chips are melting already.

[MP3] Ready for the Floor - Hot Chip

[MP3] Shake A Fist - Hot Chip

[MP3] Kids with Guns (Hot Chip Remix) - Gorillaz


[VIDEO] Ready for the Floor - Hot Chip


Cheers,
MF Blaz

The (Real-Life, Emotional) Teenagers - New Album Countdown

As a socio-demographic, teenagers are acknowledged to be hormonal, dramatic, and generally irresponsible, but a shit ton of fun. In fact, most any washed-up, fattened middle-ager has no qualms about admitting that being a teenager is certainly as good as it gets.

Carrying those same stereotypes to their keypads and distortion pedals are Paris, France's the Teenagers. Unless you're a rarely-to-never music blog frequenter, there's a solid chance you've caught wind of these characters at some point in 2007, likely as providers of some of the sweetest remixes of some pretty stellar bands. BTA first reported on some of these mixes in April of this past year, and they're in absolute abundance on hype machine and others. But January 15th sees the digital release of their debut album, Reality Check and subsequent North American touring, followed by the worldwide physical release March 18th. Their 12-stop jaunt across North America begins on the 18th of January in Vancouver, their first of three Canadian dates.

January 18 - Vancouver - Richards on Richards
January 27 - Toronto - Social (tickets)
January 29 - Montreal - Just For Laughs

The album seems to be made up tracks previously available on the interweb, but may serve as a mainstream introduction to the crude, ironic electro-pop that has already caught the attention of many o' youth and young adult.

01) Homecoming
02) Love No
03) Feeling Better
04) Starlett Johansson
05) Streets of Paris
06) Make It Happen
07) Wheel of Fortune
08) Fuck Nicole
09) Sunset Beach
11) III
12) End of the Road

Plus, a brand new track, which isn't included in the upcoming release.

Teenagers - Tiger

- bbbykmbrly.

Best Hip Hop of 07

My more committed BTA brethren have promptly contributed great selections of 2007's best, with one category left largely untouched: Hip Hop in '07. If we are talking the best, all aspects considered, then the self-proclaimed best rapper alive is king. Neither Kanye, nor Common, T.I., or anybody else could even touch Weezy F. Baby this past year, which he so eloquently articulates by saying "I'm so motherfucking high I can eat a star." Better yet, "Understand I am Michael Jordan ballin'." Bold, yes...from anybody else these bars would sound plain horrible, ignorant even. But he's not bullshitting you, because when your 2007 mixtape record reads like the following:

Bad Ass Grasshopper, The Beast and The Hustla, The Best Rapper Alive, The Best Rapper Alive Vol. 2, The Best Rapper Alive Vol. 3, The Best Rapper Alive Vol. 4, The Best Rapper Alive Vol. 5, Carter Files, Carter vs. Carter, The Carter Meets The Cartel, Da Drought 3, The Drought Is Over Pt. 2, The Drought Is Over Pt. 3, The Drought Is Over Pt. 4, From 9/11 to Katrina Vol. 1, Jackin for Beats, Lil' Wayne vs. Weezy F. Baby, Lyrical Homicide Pt. 1, Lyrical Homicide Pt. 2, New Orleans Nightmare Pt. 1-7, R & Weezy, The Rapper Eater, SQ7, Wayne's World Part 3, Wayne's World Vol. 2, Where's My Crown At? Vol. 3, Young Money (The Best of Lil' Wayne), Young Money Millionaire, Young Money Millionaire Pt. 2, Young Money Millionaire Pt. 3, Young Money Millionaire Pt. 4

...and you are, like Wallace and Carter before you, known for writing nothing...and your freestyles are limitless...and Pitchfork digs you as much as those in any hood...and you came out with "Upgrade," which contains:

It's a new game and I'm the coach like Avery
Leave it to the flow we getting dough like a bakery
I don't really want to but these niggas makin' me
Put a motherfucker on ice like the Maple Leafs
That's a hockey team and I ain't on no hockey team
But I'm a champion, where's the fuckin Rocky Theme
Damn...rest in peace Apollo Creed
I'm a monster. Everyday is Halloween

...then you win. The most notable Toronto sports reference in hip hop history comes courtesy of the New Orleans quote machine, go figure. The Carter III reportedly drops February 15, 2008.

Lil' Wayne - Upgrade

Enough praise for one talent, check out also some other standout tracks of 2007, a short list the BTA writers will pad as needed (minus Soulja Boy, which yes, was fun, bet let's move on). Paper Planes is on everybody's radar, rightly so...how about the remix with Bun B and Rich Boy?

M.I.A. - Paper Planes feat. Bun B & Rich Boy
El-P - Dear Sirs
Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass
UGK feat. Outkast - International Players

- B.A.

Smashing Pumpkins release American Gothic EP; no one really cares.

Alright, so I might get some flak for the title of this one (especially from bbby's better half) but it's true. No one really cares about the Smashing Pumpkins anymore. Sure they released a full length back in the heat of '07 that surpassed all expectations for the newly reformed Pumpkins, but did that really catch the attention of the music world? Not really. The LP was only slightly better than expected but it still wasn't that great an album. Not only that but the "new" Smashing Pumpkins are just a different reconfiguration of Zwan...so in fact you can say that the "new" Smashing Pumpkins are actually just a "new" Zwan playing Smashing Pumpkins covers...does that make sense?

Anyways, yesterday they released a short 20-minute 4-track EP entitled American Gothic and it's...uh...well...it's actually alright. The lyrics still lack the torment of old Billy; the first lines of track Again, Again, Again go "I love you / I don't even care." - masterful Bill, masterful. The lyrics, although shitty, do work well with the sound but is it just me or do they sound like they're trying to be the Foo Fighters? Anyways, the EP is worth the 20 minute listen but don't expect too much.

I'm going to throw on Mellon Collie and cry over spilt milk.

Smashing Pumpkins - Again, Again, Again

Smashing Pumpkins - Pox

Cheers,
MF Blaz

Best of 2007 Volume 2

a.m.p.m.'s 2007 mix:

01 Franz Ferdinand - All My Friends
02 Okkervil River - Unless It's Kicks
03 M.I.A. - Paper Planes
04 Justice - Valentine
05 Yeasayer - 2080
06 The Tough Alliance - Looking For Gold
07 Handsome Furs - Dead + Rural
08 Band of Horses - The General Specific
09 Black Kids - Listen To Your Body Tonight
10 Feist - My Moon My Man
11 Spoon - Rhthm & Soul
12 Of Montreal - She's A Rejector
13 The National - Slow Show
14 Radiohead - Faust Arp
15 Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma
16 Tokyo Police Club - Box
17 Crystal Castles vs HEALTH - Crimewave
18 Rigas - The Hardest Pocket To Pick
19 Tullycraft - The Punks Are Writing Love Songs
20 Architecture in Helsinki - Heart It Races
21 The Weakerthans - Night Windows
22 Seabear - I Sing I Swim
23 Calexico - Ocean Of Noise

DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE MIX HERE

My 2006 mix is also still available here.

- a.m.p.m.

(thanks again to tapedeck.org for the image)

MSTRKRFT: Doing big things in 2008

The other night I had the chance to help a friend out by covering a MSTRKRFT show and interview. Now, I feel I shouldn't say too much about it as it hasn't been aired yet, but we did get the chance to talk about the ever changing electronic music scene, the art of remixing, and what the guys have in store for the new year. The guys explained that they were going to try to stay away from the remixing for a while to focus on other things. We then asked them if they ever wanted to dabble with any hip-hop remixes, as their tracks to date are almost exclusively indie rock or dance groups. They revealed that they had in fact been recently approached by a hip-hop artist, not really indicating though if this would be a remix or collaborative effort. When we tried to get the name of the artist out of them they kept quiet, but did say that to do something like this, it would have to be someone fairly significant in the game and a means to move them forward as artists. I like to think it's going to be with Kanye with the whole A-trak connection. As for the set itself, I had heard mixed things about their performance, but I was pretty into the show. In between filming I was able to dance to a great remix of 'Genesis' by Justice along with some other unheard goodies. Too bad the girl beside me kept calling me a Unicorn..and other various mythological beasts.



- Matty B.

MSTRKRFT - Paris

Looking Forward: 2008

Above Photo by No Pattern
So I hope that everyone got belligerently drunk last night and had an excellent new years eve. Bbbykmbrly, a.m.p.m, and myself headed over to the party at Sneaky Dee's and had a most excellent time; even running across the street to Bistro at two in the morning to catch some eight dollar pitchers. But now let's put the past behind us and look towards the future. The future of rawk and roll. There are some releases coming out in the next few months that are worth noting and I'll provide you with a little list of the sound that is to come.

Looking Forward 2008
Please note that all release dates/album titles are subject to change.

January
[Artist/Album/Label]
08th Syclops / Where's Jason's K? / DFA
15th Constantines / Hard Feelings, Easy Money 7" / Arts & Crafts
22nd Cat Power / Jukebox / Matador
22nd MGMT / Oracular Spectacular / Columbia
22nd Steve Aoki / Pillowface and his Airplane Chronicles / Thrive
22nd Times New Viking / Rip It Off / Matador
29th Helio Sequence / Keep Your Eyes Ahead / Sub Pop
29th Louis XIV / Slick Dogs and Ponies / Atlantic
29th The Mars Volta / The Bedlam in Goliath / Universal
29th Sons & Daughters / The Gift / Domino
29th These New Puritans / Navigate, Navigate 12" / Domino
29th Vampire Weekend / Vampire Weekend / XL
29th Xiu Xiu / Women As Lovers / Kill Rock Stars

February
[Artist/Album/Label]
05th Hot Chip / Made in the Dark / DFA, Astralwerks
05th Jason Collett / Here's to Being Here / Arts & Crafts
12th British Sea Power / Do You Like Rock Music? / Rough Trade
19th 65 Days of Static / The Fall of Math / Monotreme, Cargo UK
19th Crystal Castles / Crystal Castles / Last Gang Records
19th Joy Division / Let The Movie Begin LP / Ozit, Cargo UK
19th Ravonettes / Lust Lust Lust / Vice
26th B-52's / Funples / Astralwerks
26th Born Ruffians / Red, Yellow & Blue / Warp
26th Del the Funky Homosapien / Eleventh Hour / Def Jux

March
[Artist/Album/Label]
18th Be Your Own Pet / Get Awkward / Ecstatic Peace, Universal
18th Destroyer / Trouble in Dreams / Merge
18th These New Puritans w. Silver Mt. Zion / Beat Pyramid / Domino

April
[Artist/Album/Label]
08th Animal Collective / Water Curses / Domino
08th Breeders / Mountain Battles / 4AD
08th Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds / Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! / Anti-

Cheers,
MF Blaz

Mixed Tapes: Best of 07

You can download the individual tracks or download the zip file provided below.

The Snob Machine Presents: The Best of '07
Hello! - Junior Senior
Hip Hop A Lula - Junior Senior
The Year Before the Year 2000 - Les Savy Fav
Someone Great - LCD Soundsystem
Labyrinthian Pomp - Of Montreal
Ddiamondd - Battles
$20 - M.I.A
Driving Me Wild - Common feat. Lily Allen
D.A.N.C.E (Mstrkrft Remix) - Justice
Kiss Kiss - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
McFearless - Kings of Leon
Mistaken For Strangers - The National
Don't Make Me A Target - Spoon
Wet and Rusting - Menomena
All I Need - Radiohead
Northern Whale - The Good, the Bad, and the Queen
We've Got Everything - Modest Mouse
Hunting for Witches - Bloc Party
Box - Tokyo Police Club
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa - Vampire Weekend
My Body is a Cage - The Arcade Fire

DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE COMPILATION HERE.

Cheers,
MF Blaz

Klezmer...wtf is Klezmer?

[Video]: Socalled - You Are Never Alone

Cheers, Happy New Years
MF Blaz

It's Hard to Admit Sometimes...

/start rather pointless ramble...

nerd:

1.	a stupid, irritating, ineffectual, or unattractive person.

2.	an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit: a computer nerd.

Ok, well, the definition of "nerd" is one that isn't as pleasant as I expected. I was going to write "Hey, look, I'm a nerd." But now, it's hard to justify that title with a definition like that. But alas, I am a nerd, a geek, a gamer and internet whore. I like video games and MMORPGS, I like reading about wormholes and about the possibility of life on other planets. But I also like music. One of the reasons I began to really listen to whole albums as opposed to single tracks is because when I played World of Warcraft (yes, WoW, I played it. I played it hard.) I would throw on an album and just leave it. By doing this I discovered an untold amount of music by just letting my playlists play or letting shuffle do the work for a couple of hours.

Ok, so now you might be asking, "why the fuck is Blaz (which happened to be my name for two years on Azshara/Mug'thol [70 Warlock]) admitting that he is a loser?". Well, it's because I recently fell in love with a song by the artist known as Datarock.

/end rather pointless ramble...

So I know that Datarock has been around for some time, their debut album Datarock Datarock was released in 2005 on the band's own label YAP (Young Aspiring Professionals) and was met with generally favourable reviews; the deities at Pitchfork gave it a 7.8 which isn't so bad. One of my favourite Datarock tracks, and the one that caused all this rambling, is entitled Computer Camp Love and is probably the best pseudo-cover of a song from the movie Grease. Yes, you read correctly, it's a pseudo-cover from the movie Grease. It's not a true cover but it uses elements of the song and you can tell it's sort of a tribute to Summer Lovin'. Rather brilliant if I can say so myself. So, if you are a self respecting "nerd" I urge you to listen to the track below and have yourself a laugh.

Listen, life's alright outside the screen...it's just better inside.

Datarock - Computer Camp Love

Cheers,
MF Blaz

oh oh wait, and ps.
if you act now you can get this really great fan-made music video for the incredibly low price of free ninety-nine.

Happy Festivus for the rest of us...

So it's christmas time and everyone is probably opening presents and getting nice and toasty with their families and bottles of spiced rum.

Spiced rum, Santas favorite. Speaking of favorites, one of my favorite groups, Belle & Sebastian has been a bit quiet since their last record The Life Presuit and they finally have released some new music just in time for the holiday. It's even holiday flavoured! Are You Coming Home From Christmas is avaibable only for the next 24 hours at Belle and Seb's website here and it's a nice little holiday diddy.

Cheers, happy holidays.

-MF Blaz

Family Time

French-Israeli duo Winter Family represents the type of cultural fusion that often works suprisingly well musically. Israeli artist Ruth Rosenthal supplies vocals and French musician Xavier Klaine creates the music; the result is quiet magic. According to Sub Rosa Records, the 14 tracks on their debut double album (released back in August) were recorded in three apartments, a parking lot, a club in Tel Aviv and a church in Lorraine.

Winter Family will be at the Horse Hospital in London in May, and I will be there.

- a.m.p.m.

Winter Family - Auschwitz
Winter Family - Garden

Archangel of London

If you haven't heard Burial's new album Untrue yet, check out the track below. Any fan of this dubstep shizz will find that the rest of the disc is equally tight, so ask for it for Christmas or go buy it or something. It's well worth it.

- a.m.p.m.

Burial - Archangel

Ice Cream is Going to Save the Day...

Let's look back to what I refer to as the golden years of my music listening career. I was young, I was bold and I certainly would never dance at a disco. If you were to hand me tracks from Girl Talk or The Knife I would scoff at you and give you an At the Drive-In record or the DFA '79 (RIP) demo. Fast-forward a few years and I can dance with the best of them. In fact, dancing to the likes of Justice or MSTRKRFT has become a well-enjoyed weekend pastime for me. I have no one else to thank but my dance-loving friends from university and a little place in Ottawa called Zaphod Beeblebrox. Don't get me wrong, bands like ATDI and DFA still top my favourite artist lists, but dance artists have become a mainstay on my ipizzle.

The electroclash/dance artist from Melbourne, Aussieland known as Muscles is the latest addition to my ever-expanding music collection. His late 2007 release Guns Babes Lemonade is an eclectic mix of pop songs and dance floor anthems, all with brilliantly laid out tongue-in-cheek sing-alongs that blur the line between laptop pop and arena chanting. On the album's stand-out track (and my personal favourite, the song that got me hooked) Ice Cream, Muscles juxtaposes club violence "he could have a knife / stab me in the gut / bleeding on the floor / shoulda kept my mouth shut" with dancing with our shirts off " i just wanna dance with my shirt off".

Bloody brilliant. Electro-pop may be on its way out but it's albums like this that will make me fondly remember the days when I was just another sweaty body in a sea of happy, sweaty people.

Muscles - Ice Cream

Muscles - Sweaty

- MF Blaz

Daft Punk: Electroma

Two Fridays ago saw Vice Canada (and perhaps others) presenting a midnight screening of Daft Punk's feature film, Electroma at the Royal Cinema, conveniently located a half-block from my house. Given that it was a one-time only showing, it was so close, and Daft Punk made a movie that I hadn't yet seen, there was only one Friday night option: get baked and go see this 1-hour long offering from France's favourite robot brothers.

I'll be honest - my expectations weren't that high. I already knew the premise, read some lukewarm reviews, and knew that sitting through a silent film at midnight while high without falling asleep was going to be a chore. But I did it, and I'm a better person for it.

That isn't to say it was particularly good. In fact, had I known that IMDB's eight-sentence plot summary was actually a fully description of literally everything that takes place in the film, I may have stuck around the homestead.

But given that I can't take back the 74 minutes, I opt instead to think of what was good about the flick: a diverse and fitting music soundtrack, scenes of dramatic robot suicide, and the hilarity of drastically oversized human heads.

Actually, writing off the remainder of the film as mediocre-to-terrible is probably unfair. Instead, Electroma's failure lay almost exclusively in the Vincent Gallo-esque pacing - each scene realistically could have been portrayed in one-fifth the time it took to actually unfold. Instead of being captivated, the audience felt more like with the beginning of each scene came the understanding that they could rest their eyes for the following 7 minutes and still awake in time to gather the gist of what happened in time for the next scene change.

But yes. Robots do melt and explode, and their human-replica heads are reminiscent of a bobblehead come to life (think: the ever-amusing "big head" option in NHL 2005 for PS2). So in that, Electroma can't be that bad. And, the music really shines.

Somewhat surprisingly, the soundtrack is comprised of nothing Daft. Instead, it includes everything from Chopin to Curtis Mayfield and psych-rock forefather (and Liv Tyler's adopted father) Todd Rundgren, as well as a signature ethereal offering from Brian Eno. Each track does its best to bring a sense of identity to otherwise bland series of scenes that are at times difficult to sit still through.

From the Electroma OST

Todd Rundgren - International Feel

Sebastian Tellier - Universe

Curtis Mayfield - Billy Jack

Bonus: from Alive 2007

Daft Punk - Robot Rock/Oh Yeah

- bbbykmbrly.

Free Black Kids Shows

Yes, you read correctly. Our friends at VICE are giving away free tickets for their live tour featuring Black Kids, Friendly Fires and Ipso Facto. All three bands are pretty darn good, but as previously reported, Black Kids have a special place in the hearts of those of us at BTA.

Lucky fans in London, Manchester and Bristol can register for free tickets here; band bios and myspace links can be found here. The gig in London is at 93 Feet East, which is wicked. I think it's first come, first served, so reserve your place now.

- a.m.p.m.

Black Kids - I've Underestimated My Charm (Again)
Friendly Fires - Paris
Ipso Facto - Balderdash

bonus random cover:
Kate Nash - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You (Black Kids cover)

Middle MGMT

The story of Brooklyn, NY's MGMT (pronounced "management") is that of two friends who consciously opted to cash in instead of packing it in. In 2002, while studying music at a nowhere university in nowhere, Connecticut, Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser formed a "band" - an electronic rock two-piece whose first gig consisted of a never-ending rendition of the theme to Ghostbusters in a dorm room.

In the half-decade that has passed, the duo have come from playing music for their own amusement, to almost playing none at all, to forming a full band and touring with the likes of Of Montreal and the Fiery Furnaces, to shamelessly signing to Columbia records. Their debut album, Oracular Spectacular, was released this winter in the US and hits Canada January 22nd of the new year.

Produced by Flaming Lips' go-to guy Dave Fridmann, Oracular blends elements of electro, prog rock, experimental/indie and disco. Each of the 10 tracks have an entirely unique flavour, and one can assume that their list of influences might read like a detailed history of a Syd Barrett-inspired generation.

The obvious stand-out track is the first one. Time to Pretend kicks off the album with a flashy combination of crunchy bass, an impossible-to-ignore keyboard hook, and lyrics which display their tongue-in-cheek viewpoint on life as a rock star. Time to Pretend has single-handedly landed the band on the "top artist to watch in 2008" radar for Rolling Stone and others, and recently found itself in Pitchfork's top 100 songs of 2007, released late last week.

Other highlights include Weekend Wars, whose vocals rip a page from Ziggy Stardust, the undeniable disco-funk of Electric Feel, and the synth-rock gem Kids.

MGMT kicks off their North-American tour with a.m.p.m's latest discovery, Yeasayer, January 16th and includes a stop at the El Mocambo in Toronto on February 9th.

MGMT - Time to Pretend
MGMT - Electric Feel
MGMT - Kids

- bbbykmbrly.

Looking Back: 2003

As previously acknowledged by a.m.p.m., this the season for kicking off free-time afforded by Christmas holidays by dedicating it to rifling through all the best music of the past year. Here at BTA (and with many others), it's a tradition to create year-end "best of" compilations and trade them around with each other and our friends. These compilations serve as a time-capsule for the soundtrack that lead our lives in previous years, and thus are always interesting to revisit.

With that, here's my own "best of" mix from the calendar year 2003, posted below. As I listened to it today for the first time since soon after it was created, I was at once nostalgic, entertained, embarrassed, and intrigued by the selections of my then 21-year-old self. Some of these songs truly stand the test of (four years) time and have become representative of some great moments in the not-so distant past, whilst others are, well... not going to resemble much on my upcoming 07 mix. I'll leave it to you to guess which are which.

The whole mix is available as a .zip file here. Single tracks are below.

Cursive - The Ugly Organist/Some Red-Handed Slight of Hand (from the Ugly Organ)
the Strokes - Reptilia (from Room on Fire)
Motion City Soundtrack - Don't Call it a Comeback (from I am the Movie)
Ryan Adams - This is it (from Rock n' Roll)
the Dandy Warhols - the Dandy Warhols Love Almost Everyone (from Welcome to the Monkey House)
the Postal Service - Sleeping In (from Give Up)
A Perfect Circle - the Nurse who Loved Me (from Thirteenth Step)
Matthew Good - 21st Century Living (from Avalanche)
Hey Mercedes - We Had a Blast! (from Loses Control)
the Stills - Still in Love Song (from Logic Will Break Your Heart)
Junior Senior - Move Your Feet (from D-D-Don't Stop the Beat)
Brand New - the Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot (from Deja Entendu)
Coheed and Cambria - A Favour House Atlantic (from In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth III)
Moneen - To Say Something that Means Nothing to Anyone at All (from Are We Really Happy With Who We Are Right Now?)
White Stripes - Its True That We Love One Another (from Elephant)
Alkaline Trio - Blue in the Face (from Good Mourning)
the Weakerthans - Reconstruction Site (from Reconstruction Site)
Buck 65 - Roses and Bluejays (from Talkin' Honky Blues)
Lucinda Williams - Righteously (from World Without Tears)
Mars Volta - Son et Lumiere (from De Loused in the Comatorium)

In general, revisiting this mix is a lot like flipping through the scrapbook that your mother has been keeping of you since kindergarten; equal parts bad haircuts and great memories. As much as you don't want your new girlfriend to see it, you still take great joy in flipping through it yourself.

- bbbykmbrly.

Oh My God

A few weeks ago I had the chance to see Ida Maria for free. So I did. And it was great.

The group is technically from Stockholm but is fronted by Norwegian Ida Maria Børli Sivertsen. The Guardian describes Ida Maria's sound as "Sugarcubed Strokes or a less fluffy Cardigans", which is fair enough. Comparing bands to other bands is not my forté, so let's just roll with that description.

I had only heard a handful of tracks before I caught the Swedish group at Islington Academy, but those few songs were strong enough to pique my interest and at the reasonable price of free-ninety-nine, I was sold. As it turns out, the band has a great live show; Ida lost her freaking mind during most of the songs during the short set while shyly addressing the audience with typical Scandanavian politeness between numbers. By the time recent single 'Oh My God' made its appearance Ms. Sivertsen had already collapsed in convulsions at various points, thrown microphone stands and flung her guitar around stage. I later read that at a previous show she cracked her ribs so badly she couldn't walk for a month, and another time head-butted a guitar with such force that blood gushed down her head for the rest of the gig. In any case, her histrionics at the Academy didn't distract from the music and the crowd ate it up.

Oh My God was released as a single on October 1st and the video was made available on November 22nd.

- a.m.p.m.

Ida Maria - Oh My God
Ida Maria - Louie

Remix Sunday - Slow Show

What we have here is the demo version of 'Slow Show' from the National's wicked-awesome album Boxer. Noteworthy differences from the final version include an alternate chorus ("everything you say has water under it"), a different bridge, and no '29 years' part at the end.

This demo version was included on a free disc called the Liberation CD that the band distributed in France to coincide with the release of their new album. Also included on the disc was a demo for an unreleased song named 'Tall Saint' which is definitely one of the National's best tracks. As the Christmas season is now upon us and I've been overwhelmed by the spirit of giving, I've included it below.

- a.m.p.m.

The National - Slow Show (Demo)

The National - Tall Saint (Demo)

2006 mixtape

In late December of 2006 the BTA members' circle of friends threw the inaugural year end "best of" mix CD party and it was a resounding success. Not only was it a great excuse for creating the ultimate personal mix to share with dozens of fellow music lovers in the Christmas spirit, it also exposed each of us to amazing music we had somehow missed during the year.

As I'm currently working on the 2007 edition I figured it would be interesting to take a trip down memory lane and post my 2006 mix. My mixtape was designed to expose friends to bands and tracks that might have slipped under the radar, so there are some obvious exclusions in order to include lesser-known 2006 gems. Nevertheless, it's a great bunch of tracks.

Download the zip file to get all the mp3s at once or grab individual tracks. They're all mixed together in high-tech style in an effort to make the sum greater than its parts.

By the way - what's on everyone's list for 2007?

The Year In Review: 2006 From Me To You

01 Belle & Sebastian - For the Price of a Cup of Tea
02 The Knife - We Share Our Mother's Health (Ratatat Remix)
03 Phoenix - One Time Too Many
04 Kallioinia - Castle Pop
05 The Strokes - Heart in a Cage
06 The Format - If Work Permits
07 We're From Barcelona - I'm From Barcelona
08 Ghostface - Be Easy (featuring Trife)
09 Think About Life - Serious Chords
10 Tapes 'n Tapes - Insistor
11 Built to Spill - Liar
12 The Sounds - Painted by Numbers
13 Ellen Allien and Apparat - Rotary
14 Junior Boys - In the Morning
15 The Thermals - I Need You to Kill
16 Dosh - Um, Circles and Squares
17 My Latest Novel - The Reputation of Ross Francis
18 Arctic Monkeys - Mardy Bum
19 Hot Chip - Boys from School
20 Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of this Country
21 Figurines - All Night
22 Final Fantasy - This Modern Love (live)
23 Band of Horses - St. Augustine

- a.m.p.m.

(thanks to tapedeck.org for the image)

Faust Arp

Somewhat inevitably, some dude has already got his hands on a copy of the lyrics book from Radiohead's upcoming retail version (read: physical album) of In Rainbows and made it available online. Go here for the scans and here for the ensuing discussion.

Not that having the "official" lyrics really helps, as it's all typically cryptic Radiohead fare. Take, for example, 'Faust Arp':

Wakey wakey rise and shine
It's off again on again
Off again on again
Watch me fall like dominoes
In pretty patterns
Fingers in the blackbird pie
I'm tingling tingling tingling
It's what you feel no what you ought to
What you ought to what you ought to
Reasonable and sensible
Dead from the neck up
I guess I'm stuffed
Stuffed
Stuffed
We thought you had it in you
But not
Not
Not
For no real reason

Squeeze the tubes and empty bottles
I take a bow take a bow take a bow
It's what you feel no what you ought to
What you ought to what you ought to
The elephant that's in the room
Is tumbling tumbling tumbling
Plastic bags with nothing in them
Nothing in them
Duplicate and triplicate
Dead from the neck up
I guess I'm stuffed
Stuffed
Stuffed
We thought you had it in you
But not
Not
Not
Exactly where do you get off?
Is enough
Is enough
I love you but enough is enough
Enough of the stuff
There's no real reason

- a.m.p.m.

Radiohead - Faust Arp

Catch Me On Dateline

"Let's celebrate."

No, Ghostface isn't talkin' Christmas or Kwanzaa. When the Wu Ironman spits these words on The Big Doe Rehab, his follow up to Fishscale and More Fish due Dec. 8, he's talking celebration like his "squad won the Superbowl." It's hard to argue that Ghost isn't today's Pats of the rap game, playing calculated, cutthroat, consistent ball, with nary a misstep. (I realize that a perfect season, or what looks like one, doesn't mean Superbowl, but bear with me) Given that the upcoming Wu full length is getting pushed back to make room for this album, you have to figure there's not only a monster of a product here, but also that Ghost's steady stream of front to back, no-filler albums has earned him a Don-like respect within the camp. Hell, we already know that he makes his Wu-Tang boys stronger through collaboration, but even U-God sounds good on his featured track. Rehab's tone is consistent with the last two efforts, with only one track that's yet to grow on me. Yeah, "White Linen Affair" runs down the list of today's stars with respect given to everybody from Lil' Wayne to Norah Jones, but Lenny Kravitz? Ghost doesn't need to namedrop Lohan and Spears to show that he's up to date on his pop culture, we know he's got the pulse, and parts of this song are just reaching. Outside that one song I have no complaints and anybody who dug Ghost's last two should love it. The Ironman doesn't need to legitimize that alias at this point in his career, but continues to do so nonetheless.

Ghostface Killah - 3. Yolanda's House (feat. Raekwon & Method Man)
Ghostface Killah - We Celebrate (feat. Kid Capri)

- b.a.

The White Eyes - Taipei

As you know, I've been scouring Taiwan for music wort mentioning and I always find myself back at The Underworld in Taipei. So far, it's proven to be the place to see the bands you don't hear about in Taiwan.

This weekend I was able to see the best live show I've experienced in Taiwan. The White Eyes played an aggressively raw set to a decent crowd on Saturday night. Their sound fits somewhere between Le Tigre and Metric. Obvious comparisons include the female vocals that range from strong melodies to brash rants.

As with every band I've seen in this country, the band is tight. Lead by the incredible riffs of Telecat and supported by complex bass lines and drum beats, The White Eyes play infectiously dance-able rock; never mind understanding the vocals. This band can play and provide the perfect soundtrack for a night of partying.

Once again, the only songs I can offer are from their myspace page. Check out "rookie agogo". The good news is that they are in the process of working on an EP for release in the near future.

Can't wait to party with The White Eyes again soon.

The White Eyes - Myspace

Marc

Tough Shit

Hey kids, I'm back from the dead. November was the most BTA-unfriendly of months due to lack of internet access (moving to a new place in London is an extreme hassle), a punishing workload (jobs suck) and international travels (AmsterDAM).

But enough with excuses; let's get to the music. In the quiet interim, I've amassed a huge amount of excellent new music to share and the 2008 "best of" list grew in leaps and bounds.

First off, The Tough Alliance. A few weeks ago I promised more sweet Swedish sounds, and today I finally deliver. Hailing from Gothenburg, these guys self-released their incredible second album A New Chance in May on their label sincerely yours. It’s unquestionably electronic music, but with strong pop sensibilities and an 80s new wave vibe. Every track is solid, but reggae-infused masterpiece ‘Looking for Gold’ is without a doubt one of my favourite tracks of 2007.

Oh yeah, the duo (Henning Fürst and Eric Berglund) is also known for swinging baseball bats during performances, and have been thrown off stage during a show in Stockholm. Nice.

Check out the tracks below and then get the rest here. The whole album is only £3.50 and totally worth every penny.

The Tough Alliance - Looking for Gold

The Tough Alliance - First Class Riot

The Tough Alliance - Neo Violence

- a.m.p.m.

Night Vision

There's been a pretty good amount of Hot Chip buzz floating around lately, what with their new disc, Made in the Dark, due out in the winter months. The DFA-release's first single, 'Ready for the Floor', has taken a couple days to grow on me, but now I can't shake it. I have only started to look back at what my favourite tracks, albums and films I loved this past year, but already I can tell that this is going on either this year's list or 2008's. Apparently some people haven't been digging it, but I say it's Hot Chip at their catchy dance pop best. Give it a try. As a bonus, below is another track by said band from a recent limited EP. It's some pretty sweaty electro-funk. Enjoy.

Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor (from forthcoming Made in the Dark LP)

Hot Chip - So Deep (from Normal limited EP)

- AW.