Something is getting us at least a couple places

Sure, Guns N’ Bombs single “Nothing Is Getting Us Anywhere” came out months ago, but titled as it is, fans may forgive the lateness of its requisite music video. Shot with a video camera either rescued from a dumpster or an uncle’s basement by Senior (of the Junior/Senior duo), the blurry vid is choppily and looped for maximum laughs and creepy moments. As puerile as it is, watching Filip flop to the ground five times straight or Johnny Love striding across a field in Echo Park like a hipster flamingo is entirely fitting of both the group and the tune’s resigned theme. Hopefully they can muster the effort to put out another single sometime soon.

Also, I wrote a review of Justice’s recent live show in Chicago which is now up on RA, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Tame the sea

Picture by LJ_brooksbaum

My review of Ed Banger’s Ed Rec Vol. 2 is now up on RA. It’s hard not to notice that the majority of releases of this nu-rave/French house revival have been receiving mediocre to poor scores from RA — and from myself in specific. And I’d like to believe it’s because they’ve earned them instead of some bias against the sound. There have been a handful of artists — Justice, Guns N Bombs, Digitalism, SebastiAn (occasionally) and Mr. Oizo (likewise) — whose style has wowed me by pushing farther from the key signifiers of the genre. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been digging deep enough, but it seems the rest of the acts I’ve come upon who are riding this new sound into the ground, well, are doing just that. And with Kitsune and Ed Banger (and Turbo Records, I guess) as popular as they are, everyone and their brother is trying to get their hand in the So_Me designed cookie jar. Not a huge surprise, but it hasn’t meant a proportionate swell of great records. I guess that’s how it should be, though it still feels weird, almost narrow-minded, to have such consistent critical opinions about a genre. Anyone reading know what the scene was like when this movement first grew legs in the 90s?

Oliver Koletzki, “Don’t Forget to Go Home” [Stil Vor Talent]

Heiko Laux, “Ornaments” [Kanzleramt]

Shinedoe, “Seek and You Will Find” [100% Pure]

CCCP, “Cosmodrome Baikanur” (Sleeper Thief Mix) [Sixty Four Records]

Perched

My first feature for Resident Advisor — a sort of “What’s Lindstrøm up to in 2007?” — went up this morning, which I’m quite excited about. Expect more of these sorts of features in the coming months.

I recently received a mix set from reader from Portugal who goes by the alias of Stuart. It’s an exhaustive French Touch/electro rock set leaning a little heavy on Justice that fits neatly in the iPods of SebastiAn/Guns ‘N’ Bombs fans. I’d be interested to know where else this sound is rattling teeth loose and making los ellos bailan.

Download Stuart’s mix, “Molotov”.

Tracklisting:

Does It Offend You, Yeah?, “We Are Rockstars”
Justice, “Waters of Nazareth” (John Reeden remix)
Kavinsky, “Testarrossa Autodrive” (SebastiAn remix)
Goodbooks, “Leni” (Kissy Sell Out remix)
Moulinex, “Salt”
Xinobi, “Turbonegro’s Lesson”
Justice, “Let There Be Light” (DJ Discrete mix)
Trashtalk, “Tankgirl”
Hystereo, “Validity Revision”
Franz & Shape, “Countach”
Digitalism, “Zdarlight (Paranoid Asteroid)”
Depeche Mode, “Never Let Me Down Again” (Digitalism remix)
Yuksek, “Composer”
Vitalic, “Candy”
Passions, “Emergency”
Toxic Avenger, “Kissin the Remix”

Fairies eat angel dust

Check out my review of Guns ‘N’ Bombs debut, “Nothing Is Getting Us Anywhere.”

Marc Romboy vs Chelonis R. Jones, “Helen Cornell” (Stefan Goldmann Macro Version)

Phonique, “What I Fake” (Sleep Thief remix) [peace, Modifyier]

Two track reviews later today.

Guns ‘N’ Bombs mixtape #2

Filip and Johnny, photo by Clayton Hauck

If Johnny Love (of Guns ‘N’ Bombs) took one thing from Chicago, it was the artform of the Chicago Hotmix — a blitzkrieg-style of live mixing known for its high track/mix length ratio. When I talked with him and Filip back in December for a forthcoming Alarm Magazine piece, he was unafraid to acknowledge the level of difficulty accompanying the execution of a electro house/French touch mix with that format: “A lot of the songs from that genre really aren’t made for quick mixing. When you play minimal techno you can do that because they’re not much going on; there’s a hi-hat coming in every two minutes.” Listening to the mix will help put this all in context, even if this one is a little less “Hot.” G’N'B’s nuanced and ultimately efficient mixing provides a new road map — hot off the press — of what’s going to be hot in the Justice/MSTRKRFT/electro rock scene in the next month or so. Though I don’t care for the Felix Cartel cut, even when they consult the Daft Punk handbook, this mix (especially the G’N'B’s material) seems to foreshadow a budding career.

Guns N’ Bombs – Mixtape #2

Tracklisting:

datA, “Aerius Light”
Does It Offend You, Yeah?, “We Are Rockstars”
Guns’N'Bombs, “Crossover Appeal”
MSTRKRFT, “Street Justice” (MSTRKRFT 07 remix) [mixtape EXXXCLUSIVE]
Felix Cartal, “Moss vs Tree”
Boys Noize, “Feel Good (TV = Off)” (Shinichi Osawa edit)
Yelle, “Short Dick Cuiz” (Tepr remix)
Christopher + Raphael Just, “Disco 128″
Surkin feat. Vyle, “Toxicoman”
The Futureheads, “Worry About It Later” (Al Dare Half Done refix)
The Teenagers, “Homecoming” (Guns ‘N’ Bombs 1996 XTC remix)