Samhain

The ancient Celts used to believe that barrier between this world and the Underworld was thinnest around this time of year. A time they used to call Samhain, or ‘summers end’. Spirits, good and bad, were able to pass through, from one realm to another and it was thought that to avoid being harrassed by a nasty spirit it was advisable to get yourself dressed up like one. The name Halloween probably comes from Scotland in the 16th century, where they celebrated All-Hallows-Even, or mass day of all saints.

…sorry, forgot where I was there, for a moment.

Nicki Minaj has an ass that makes J-Lo’s ass look like Kates Moss’s ass. It really is tremendous. She also, more importantly, has an album out in November. Pink Friday is her debut and features collabs with Rhianna, Drake, Will.I.Am, Kanye West and Eminem. It was on Kanye’s ‘Monster’ that I first became aware of Nicki, she stood out a mile with her sharp rhymes and flawless delivery. She reminds me a bit of a young Missy Elliot.

This collaboration with Eminem is just so good, stripped back and mean as fuck. Possibly the best I’ve heard Eminem spit for a while

Nicki Minaj feat Eminem – Roman’s Revenge

I’ve not really caught much of Kid Cudi’s stuff, but this track with guest Mary J Blige is spot on. Down tempo and dark, it sounds like Cudi is stuck in a corner, snorting something to help him get from verse to verse.

 

Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge

Alan Partridge is back, after seven years, as the trailer for Mid Morning Matters would attest. He’s not managed to get a new series commissioned though (you shit!), but the new series will be internet only. There’ll be a number of mini episodes as a promo effort with Fosters beer, with the first available on November 5th, on the Fosters Funny site at 11am (so take your headphones to work, I suppose).

Crystal Castles feat Robert Smith – I’m Not In Love

I think I’m in love. I’m in love with a song. I’ve honestly had this on repeat for about an hour now. Today this is my song of the year. If anyone ever asks you to define kizmet, play them this tune. They’ll have no clue what you mean, but that just means you’re cleverer than they are.

Rare Exports – A Christmas Tale

Music Ed #2

The 80’s were rubbish. I never liked the whole decade very much. People look back on it now and they’ve got a rose tinted view of how they were, or they are too young to remember how crap it really was. Clothes were horrible, hairstyles were pretty horrific and most of the music of the day was asinine and dull. We were under the Tories, we’d had the Falklands and pretty soon we would be watching the police battering the miners on TV.

The New Romantics were everywhere, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Kaja-king-googoo and their like, strutting about with impossible barnets and frills. I never bought into the NR fashion, mainly because I wasn’t comfortable dressing like a ponce and makeup played havoc with my adolescent skin.

There was some good music out there. It was around this time I first got into electronic music. I’d heard Gary Numan ‘Cars’ at a mates house (his dad was a bit weird, into Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream and Can, while most dads were into the Beatles, Status Quo and Del Shannon) and thought it was a bit ‘dreary’, but I enjoyed the plinky plunky bits. The first record I brought (not ever, but of the genre.) was ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’, second hand 7″

It was the Vince Clarke sound that caught my attention, I think, just so simple. The sort of thing you could get away with, one fingered on the piano and still the only thing I can play (badly, only when drunk). He continued the sound with Yazoo. One finger, in the dark. Piece of piss

Bear in mind that, at about the same time, raging with hormones I was getting into a bit of punk, some early metal and you can imagine what my bedroom sounded like. My folks must have thought there were three different people living with them. When they saw me. Us.

The life changer though was catching New Order on Top of the Pops performing Blue Monday in 1983. That properly blew me away. Here was a band that didn’t dress like a bunch of nobs, playing music that caught me immediately. It had drums, it had guitars, it had synths it had maudlin lyrics – it was fucking brilliant.

Have a listen to ‘Confusion’ which was released in 1983 (twenty seven years ago!!). Ground breaking stuff and still the foundation of everything I love about music.

Kitsune Maison 10

The new Kitsune compliation, number 10, is out November 15th and it’s looking as strong as ever.

Tracklist
01. Cacadeur – Walker (Early Remix)
02. Guards – Don’t Wake The Dead
03. Is Tropical – South Pacific
04. Yelle – La Musique
05. Two Door Cinema Club – What You Know (Mustang Remix)
06. Beatacue – Disque Oh
07. Strange Talk – Climbing Walls
08. Punks Jump Up – Blockhead (Edit)
09. The Aikiu – The Red Kiss
10. Flight Facilities feat. Giselle – Crave You
11. Jolie Cherie – Insomnie
12. Wild At Heart – Get Related

CD2
01. Clock Opera – Once And For All
02. Icona Pop – Manners (Extended)
03. Young Empires – Glory Of The Night
04. Housse De Racket – Chateau
05. Teeth – See Spaces
06. The Heartbreaks – Liar, My Dear
07. Waylayers – Fires
08. Digitalism – Blitz
09. Black Strobe – Me & Madonna (Twelves Remix)
10. Justus Kohncke and Alexis Taylor – Sorry
11. Psychobuildings – Terror Management
12. Palbomen – Moon Children
13. May68 – The Prisoner (Cecile Remix Jerry Bouthier Edit)

I love the video teasers that herald the arrival of a new Kitsune Maison, not because I’m some sort of perv, who likes to watch attractive people get dressed, you understand. As a snapshot of what Kitsune is about, chic cool, they work perfectly. In this video I also love how Nane (the girl) effortlessly gets her kit on, whilst Hadrien (the fella) is obviously trying his hardest to win and is visibly fucked off when he doesn’t Hard luck, Hadrien. Next time imagine you’re getting the clothes off and there’s a shag at the end of it.

One of the bands featured on the compilation is the Waylayers. If you go to their site you can download three of the bands tunes for the price of an email address. Well worth the effort. I’m certain we’ll be hearing more from these. Check out the vid of ‘Big Machines’ down there.

Also check out

Waylayers – Hear No Lies

 

UPDATE –

J-Bag has put together a mini mix of the album. Part 2 is coming up next week

 

http://official.fm/track/167772

A Quicky?

Just a quicky, catching up with some things I’ve missed.

First up is a new live vid from Run Riot, filmed at Solfest, where he appeared alongside New Young Pony Club, The Japanese Popstars, Utah Saints (U-U-Utah Saints), Adam Freeland and Far Too Loud. It features his new tune ‘The Life’ which he plans to release some time in December this year.Great to see the crowd so into this. Wish I’d been there.

Beat Assassins have been around since 2006 and have drifted by me, in the periphary, as often happens with me and tunes. Their 2007 track ‘We Run Things’ is actually on my I-pod and apparently has been played fifteen times. If you’d asked me who did it though, I’d have coughed, embarrassed, and tried to change the subject.

Now they’re giving away part 4 of their Urban Electro Project, which essentially grabs the lyric from ‘Lions Den’, that Miss Dynamite perfomed with the Nextmen and pastes it over the Assassin’s own ‘Straight To The World’, but it works well. This is the Peo de Pitte remix. Grab it here (well, down there…)

Beat Assassins V Miss Dynamite – Lions Den (Peo de Pitte Remix)MP3

Professor Green – Coming To Get Me

Very clever 360 degree video tech alert. I haven’t tried the interactive side of this vid, where you can click and drag the screen to choose which angle to view, because my laptop won’t let me. Don’t know why. Probably for the same reason the touch pad goes mental every now and then and closes all my tabs.

EDIT: Been informed by someone a lot more savvy than me that this is the unwrapped version of the video. You can go to Doritos youtube to get the whole thing in 360 wonder

Two Big Dogs

Two relatively new kids on the block to liven up this lazy Sunday afternoon.

First up are The Hats, from Jersey, signed up to THaF Records. They make the sort of electro house that hits me in all the right places. It goes where it’s meant to and does the trick nicely. To be honest I miss these sort of beats. Electro is swiftly becoming synonimous with ‘shit’ and it’s nice to have something decent dropping for once.

The Press Play EP is out now. Also have a listen to The Hats rather nice remix of Lipps Inc’s ‘Funky Town’.

Next is Clouds who hail from over the border in Scotland and are attached to Fake Blood’s new label, Blood Music. They released Liquid as a single last month (buy it here) it also inclouded Mauful Sir, which you can listen to below

Clouds – Mauful Sir

Proxy  – 8000 (Clouds Remix)

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The Subs new mix is out and here it is – really glad they’ve included the Siriusimo track – topper

Alex Clare

Fourth time I listened to this I realised I had to post it. Produced by Diplo & Switch, two of this blogs fave producers, Alex Clare’s ‘Up All Night’ is a guitar chugging classic, with a sneaky reggae flavour.