No! Christmas is coming!

But - this year that does not only mean musical horror, according to Sounds Familyre:

"Beginning Monday, Dec. 10, at the Sounds Familyre blog, we will be posting Christmas mp3s from the Sounds Familyre Famile: new interpretations of traditional Christmas carols as well as original songs! A new song every day! The twelve days of Christmas, Sounds Familyre style."

Remember the Sufjan Stevens Christmas albums released last year? The Sound Familyre Famile include Danielson, Soul-Junk, Sufjan Stevens and Woven Hand, among others. Sounds Familyre style is folk, a bit weird, small, creative and personal, among others. This might just be the perfect antidose to the annual wham/dion/etc.-madness - the first song, by Danielson is a perfect start.

All heavy laden, get ye to the Sounds Familyre blog.

Let The Inlets In!

Sometimes you find an album that feels to be made personally for you. The Vestibule EP of Inlets is such a record for me. Inlets is Sebastian Krueger, who also plays guitars, clarinets and bells and sings falsetto in My Brightest Diamond. This time Sebastian is accompanied among others by Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond and Marla Hansen, who are both also playing with Sufjan Stevens. The names of his friends tell something about the music, but it is still rather unique. There is the banjo of Sufjan Stevens, the falsetto of My Brightest Diamond, the loops of Steve Reich, the folk of Marla Hansen, but also a lot of his own. The sphere of the Vestibule EP is intimate and special. I can still listen to it daily, a year after getting to know the music. There are close harmonies on this record, layered upon Fender Rhodes, banjo and guitars. Sparsely drums, bells, violins and clarinets are played. Everything was recorded in the bedroom, but it sounds extremely warm and close. Maybe you should download the EP for free and let yourself be overwhelmed in a positive way. Watch out: when you let it in, it won't go out!
You can also watch cool boat performances on blogotheque!

From 8-Bit To Warm Orchestral

Have you ever seen an album box as cool as this one? It's modelled after the floppy-reader of a Commodore64 computer and there's also a beautiful flyer in style. The Commodore64 Orchestra finally released their album and it’s fantastic. Earlier I wrote a post about their live performance, but the album is worth another post. The orchestra plays tunes of C64 games from the 80’s. Inside the cool box are two cd’s, one with the original computergametunes and another one with the orchestral versions. It is striking how much wonderful melodies were incoporated in these simple games.

As a bonus there’s additional multimedia on the cd. It features an interview with Rob Hubbard and Jeroen Tel, the original composers of the music. You can also find a trailer for the project. The coolest thing supplied with the album is a zip file with three seperate tracks with the flute-, bass-, and stringparts of the track ‘Monty on the run’. These tracks can be used for a remix-competition. The 20 finest remixes will be released! More zip files will be posted on their website, so check that out if you like it. The album can be bought here.

Rob Hubbard - Monty on the run (mp3)

C64 Orchestra - Monty on the run (mp3)

The Remix

The remix has come a long way.

A remix used to mean the track just got doubled in length or a thumping club beat was added, preferably both. In 1982 both Soft Cell and The Human League released an entire album ful of remixes. After that remixes become more popular but only since a couple of years have remixes gotten more creative and are seen as something that could be as cool as (or even cooler than) the original. Now an artist's worth is also judged by the remixes they make and the remix artists they choose for their tracks. Bands like Depeche Mode show they're still 'hip to it' by choosing artists like Tiga, M83, Jacques Lu Cont, Goldfrapp, Richard X and Boys Noize to remix their tracks. And who knows where The Klaxons (remember them?) would be if it hadn't been for the Soulwax, Kavinsky, To My Boy and especially the Van She remix?

Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus (Boys Noize Remix) (mp3)

The Klaxons - Gravity's Rainbow (Soulwax Remix) (mp3)

2006 and 2007 were important years for remixes; acts such as Justice, Digitalism, Boys Noize and Simian Mobile Disco gained a following based almost solely on their remix work before releasing an album.
Several indie bands released remix albums; Architecture in Helsinki, Stars, Xiu Xiu, My Brightest Diamond, and At The Close of Every Day for example.
Soulwax released an album with remixes they did for other artists and started playing them live (!).

Architecture in Helsinki - Do The Whirlwind (Metronomy Remix) (mp3)

Don't be too afraid, it's quite lovely: Xiu Xiu - Hello From Eau Claire (Gold Chains Remix) (mp3)

2008 will bring a new album by Metronomy and two new ‘remix acts’ will release albums that are highly anticipated. Some remixers have original takes on a song, some remixers even improve it but the two remix acts I’m talking about consistently impress the hell out of me with their remixes.

Van She improved The Klaxons ‘Gravity's Rainbow’ by about 300%, had something new to say about Tiga’s ‘I’m Gonna Want You’ and clubbed Feist’s ‘1 2 3 4’ to the next level. Their EP featured ‘Kelly’, one of the most cathy popsongs of 2006. They’ll release their as of yet untitled debut in 2008.

The Teenagers did a kick-ass Lo FI-Fnk remix for 'City' (try to sit still to this one!), cut up Au Revoir Simone’s ‘Fallen Snow’ and added some bass to Simian Mobile Disco’s ‘The Beat’. Their current single 'Starlett Johansson' is a sure-fire hit and will most likely be featured on their debut album that’ll be released in 2008.

Feist - 1 2 3 4 (Van She Technologic Remix) (mp3)

This one's for you Wiegertje: Muscles – One Inch Badge Pin (Van She Tech City Gym Remix) (mp3)

Van She - Kelly (mp3)

One of my favorite remixes ever: Lo Fi-Fnk - City (The Teenagers Remix) (mp3)

The Teenagers - Starlett Johansson (mp3)

Busy

It's been a busy week.

Last thursday Loney, Dear played in Utrecht. His performance suffered from the same thing as the the last one I saw; the supporting act was better. First time Patrick Watson opened for him and left me pretty breathless (I hadn't heard of him then), this time Neonbelle opened for them and again they proved to be quite talented.

Then it was time for STRP on friday. STRP is a festival where technology and art meet. Which meant there were different installations (a lot of interactive videogames and light installations) and some music shows in the evening and DJ-sets all through the night. Unfortunately I was only able to see Apparat & Band and Roisin Murphy play (had to miss Soulwax, Modeselektor and Goose among others).
I wasn't all that impressed with Apparat who started a bit...lackluster in my opinion. Apparently it was a subtly built set and it got a lot better, however by that time I was gone to see Roisin Murphy. Roisin presented herself as a more intelligent version of Kylie or Madonna even. Highlights were of course 'Movie Star' but there also was a song from her previous record (I assume) that was very trance-inducing and 'Dear Miami' and 'Primitive' worked rather well live.

Sunday iLiKETRAiNS ended my busy weekend. I was surprised to see they were a lot younger than I had imagined since the singer has a very low voice I associate with people like Nick Cave or Lou Reed. They played their set well but played only two songs from their EP Progress/Reform which is a lot better than their current cd which features two many bleh songs and isn't produced very well. The visuals were nice though; a projected chessmatch to the drum of 'a Rook House For Bobby' and a very psychedelic everchanging rorscharchtest.

Next up: The National


Entire EP! Neonbelle - In a Cabin With... (free download)

Roisin Murphy - Primitive (mp3)

iLiKETRAiNS - A Rook House For Bobby (myspace)

Apparat

One of my favorite electronic records of last year was 'Orchestra of Bubbles' by Ellen Allien & Apparat. I knew Ellen Allien, Berlin Techno-diva and founder of BPitch Control music label but hadn't heard Apparat's music before (although he worked on Ellen's 2003 'Berlinette') and was very curious about it. Apparat is Sascha Ring, electronic musician and one of the owners of Shitkatapult records who released 'Walls' in may this year.
Walls is a surprisingly eclectic record. It features pure dance-pop (Hailing from the Edge and especially Holdon), darker Junior Boys-y songs (Limelight) and M83-like synth-shoegaze (Headup). but my favorite is the two-part Fractales. Part 1 has beats that would make Timbaland go fetal in a corner with jealousy but at the same time are much more subte and delicate than his. Part 2 is a fragile melancholic dreamy synth-scape with lots of strings.

This friday I will have to face a difficult descision; at STRP festival Apparat and Roisin Murphy will partly play at the same time. What should I do?


Best dance song from 2006: Ellen Allien & Apparat - Do Not Break (myspace)

A beatmaster at work: Apparat - Fractales part 1 (myspace)

A remix from BPitch control's hipsters and one of Thom Yorke's favorite band's: Apparat - Holdon (Modeselektor Remix) (mp3)

Beer's gone. So now what?

Some personal information probably no one will care about: I'm from a small town in the middle east. Of the Netherlands that is. It's where they speak the dialect the name of our blog is taken from.

To add some trivial knowledge certainly no one will ever care about: just a couple of years ago our local pride Grolsch Beer moved its fabric to a nearby region, which left some hardcore locals with a severe identical crisis. This week it became public Grolsch is about to be sold to a South African brewery. [sentimental mode] Serves them right, those bastards who stole our pride away. [/sentimantal mode]

But we don't need Grolsch anyway. We've got Junkie XL. He's from our part of the country and proud of it! To kill the pain of losing a major brewery, he comes up with the perfect solution: Fuck more! I say we act in accordance with his suggestion.

Junkie XL - Fuck More (video)

(I'd link the mp3, but then you'd probably skip this awesome video)