Remix Sunday: We Must Smoketh the Joint-th

How was everyone's Halloween? I hope it was filled with drunken debauchery and lots of stumbling. I gots a few remixes for you here; not really gonna write anything today, my mind is basically a bowl of brain soup. You may or may not enjoy these but trust me on the DFA mix of Paper Planes though, the music is hella tight... but it just doesn't fit quite perfectly with Mia's flow.

M.I.A - Paper Planes (DFA Remix)
TV on the Radio - Crying (Telepath Remix)
Radiohead - Reckoner (Spoolwork Remix)

Remix Sunday: Justice on the Radio Weekend

Tomorrow I start my adventure to become a studio engineer. I'm so excited that I'm at a loss for words for pretty much any conversation. After a year and a half of straight working my bawls off I'm going back to learn how to record your favorite bands and maybe win a Grammy. Yeah, that's my ultimate goal in life accept an award from the awards show that is just basically a circle jerk for industry hot heads. I wanna be one of those hot heads. Money, power, women, sold out arenas, music videos with naked bitches and champagne. That's the life for me. Oh wait, this is a music blog not my stoner dreams blog.

Theres a few remix's that I've been listening to non-stop this week. I thought I was tired of all this remixing and jive talking but I guess there are still some quality ones out there. First off there is obviously huge hype surrounding anything TV on the Radio these days. There new album 'Dear Science' is a strong candidate for album of the year already and really, who expected any less. Every TotR record put out so far has been an almost instant classic. Here's a remix to every ones favorite TotR song;

Staring At The Sun (Byran Hyde Remix) - TV on the Radio

Next remix? Justice. OH EM GEE! JUSTICE DID A REMIX?!!! HOW SURPRISING!!! It even sounds like a Justice remix. Who woulda thunk it? Still good...

As Above, So Below (Justice Remix) - Klaxons

Last on the docket comes a remix from a record that I consider to be the best of the year. Vampire Weekends' self titled debut has been played over a thousand times in my car and is probably gonna get spun a few more times before I throw it in the discount bin in my basement.

Oxford Comma (Burntpiano Edit) - Vampire Weekend

Thanks to The Mixtape Podcast for these lovely remixes and, by the way, when I'm inside Jessica Alba, I'll let you all know.

Still Staring At The Sun

Get over it, TV on the Radio are awesome. Without question, I hold these guys as one of the most innovative and captivating rock bands in operation today. Sure, everyone thinks that 2006's, Return to Cookie Mountain, was the cat's pyjamas and how can you beat powerhouse tracks such as "Wolf Like Me" and collaborations with Bowie. But newly released Dear Science is just as good - if not better.

The truth is that TV on the Radio have been making incredible music for the majority of my credible music listening years. Their sound is accessible in some aspects and totally abstract in others, sometimes I can understand the lyrics, sometimes I can't. Regardless, they make exciting music and it keeps me interested longer than a week. And I have ADD bad.

From Dear Science (2008):

TV on the Radio - Halfway Home
TV on the Radio - Crying
TV on the Radio - Family Tree

*The new disc in it's entirety is spinning over on the band's myspace.

What started it all for me, from Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (2004):

TV on the Radio - Staring at the Sun

Festival Season: Ottawa Bluesfest

Day 1 = sunny, musically diverse, a success. Of the handful of acts we were able to see, here are the notables.

People Project, a Canadian-Mexican hybrid built on Latin rhythms and cross-cultural unification, is an extremely talented bunch of dudes. A few members are also part of Ottawa-based SoulJazz Orchestra (MySpace), great in their own right, who happened to join People Project on stage at the end of the set. The songs on their MySpace don't do the improvisational live show justice, but "People," the highlight of the set (with beat-boxing intact) is definitely worth a listen.

José González. What more can be said about this guy, no stranger to the world circuit. He's in his own league with songs ranging from timid to unnerved, at times hopeful, always earnest, sometimes even a bit pissed off at accepted practices (see: "Cycling Trivialities" from last year's In Our Nature). The subtly winding latino and classical guitar riffs sound just as good in the open air as they do in a pair of headphones. If you haven't seen him live and are unsure, here's our stamp of approval (as though that's needed). As an aside, I got a chance to have a couple words with the bearded Swede about the festival circuit and playing Ottawa, one of the highlights of the night.

TV on the Radio. Luckily these boys were delayed in starting, allowing some stage to stage travel time after "Heartbeats" and the like...From "Province" to "Wolf Like Me," and the appropriate "Staring at the Sun" (this was around 8:30, or just before sunset), they did a fine job of commanding the stage and trying to reach out beyond the obvious fan base to those waiting around for The Hip. Very charismatic, passionate performance.

The Tragically Hip. A rare band whose popularity in Canada is wildly beyond that of anywhere else they have a fanbase. As patriotic as you can be, they sang of small-town life, hockey, loyalty, "Courage," and on and on. They covered most, if not all big hits. The following day's paper reported around 25,000 in attendance, if that's so, they seemed to all be standing between my friends and the stage. A sea of people rippling with national pride is captivating, no matter where in the world that may occur. For those outside Canada who know little of The Hip, please check them out to get dose of real Canadiana.

José González - Down the Line
José González - Cycling Trivialities
TV on the Radio - Province
The Tragically Hip - Fireworks
(thanks to Wolves Hawks & Kites for that last link)

- BA