Speaking of Cut Copy, their label Modular is introducing two new artists' albums this summer: Ladyhawke and Van She.  The June Modular newsletter offered free downloads of Van She's new single Strangers and a remix of Ladyhawke's Paris is Burning.

Cut Copy and Aussie label mates The Presets just announced a North American Tour with a September 15 stop at the Record Bar in Kansas City, which makes me happy.

Since this blog has been an idea of mine for several years, it's fitting that my first post is about two years late.  Cut Copy released their debut album, Bright Like Neon Love, in 2004.  I stumbled upon Cut Copy's song Future about two years ago and was turned on to a new genre of music intersecting modern disco/80s/synth/electro.  iTunes calls it indie/electro.  Hipster runoff calls it blog house.  Whatever it's called, I'm glad it's here.  I've never been more excited about music.

Cut Copy released their sophomore album, In Ghost Colours, in March 2008 and it's by far my favorite of the year so far.  Their Hearts of Fire EP includes remixes by Calvin Harris, Midnight Juggernauts and Knightlife.  

Another exciting release last year was Cross by Justice, which was a little heavier electronic.  Justice has enjoyed more mainstream success, receiving nominations for Grammys and MTV VMAs, as well as appearing in this Escalade commercial.

Several other new artists are raising the bar with great new releases that I'll be blogging about here soon.  I think we are in the midst of a genre shift and I wouldn't be surprised to see this type of music topping the mainstream charts within the next few years.  I'd love to see Cut Copy on the iTunes Top 100. 

And just to be clear, I'm not claiming to be an insider.  The cool kids at hipster runoff and missing toof have been blogging about these artists for years.  I'm just trying to bridge the gap between the hipsters and the masses.  By the time something is verging on mainstream, the insiders have already moved on to the next shiny object.  My goal with Augur blog to shed some light on emerging trends in fashion, music and technology.  People are innovating at lightning speed...some will succeed, many will fail.  I'll be writing about what I think are the next "big things" in music, fashion and technology.  If you have any suggestions or comments, drop me a line.  Thanks for reading.

Cut Copy is an Australian band from Melbourne. The above song comes from their latest release "In Ghost Colours".

Read the Pitchfork Media review of "In Ghost Colours".

I arrived late on Saturday, after getting a later start than expected when a certain blogger was still a bit hazy following a late previous night stomping around at the Indie Queer Pride Discotech. This meant missing Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar and A Hawk and a Hacksaw, both of whom reportedly delivered very pleasing sets. My day, instead, began by seeing what all of the hype with provocatively-titled duo F*** Buttons was about. As it turned out, it was mostly about booming feedback mixed other sporadic noises -- not exactly my scene. After watching a few songs, I headed over instead to observe the brave souls who had already begun charging through the many muddy pits that remained on the grounds throughout the weekend following light rain Saturday morning.

Incidentally, I was equally "whelmed" later in the festival by two other blog darlings that I'd been very much looking forward to -- Vampire Weekend and HEALTH. VW's set consisted of crisp replicas of their impeccable debut album delivered with perfect posture worthy of Sunday morning at church with the family. Combined with the heat of the blinding Saturday afternoon sun and the expected overcrowding, the set was a definite miss. HEALTH perhaps suffered from the opposite problem and reminded me of an overly stimulated puppy. That said, the large crowd assembled at the new-and-improved third, side stage seemed to jive well with their sound.

Saturday's highlight, as it turned out, was a tie between the foul-Cockney-accent-mouthed British rapper Dizzee Rascal and the incredibly trippy end-of-the-night set from Animal Collective, followed closely behind by a disco-rific set from !!! (Chk Chk Chk), which thankfully woke the crowd up after being lulled to sleep by the faux-Transylvannian weekenders . Animal Collective's light show was particularly impressive, perfectly complementing the act's pulsating haunts, much to the amusement of the many, many festival-goers adding various illegal substances into mix for their set.. It was a sublime end to the night, coming just before being shaken back to reality by the cattle call to the train stop just outside the festival.

Sunday, I arrived on the grounds feeling rejuvenated and not-hungover, ready for more gratuitous samples of Fuze fruit drink -- orange melon was my flavor of choice, by weekend's end. Moments after stepping past the many fixed-gear bikes and the surprisingly attentive bag-checkers at the gate, I was greeted with a series of four gong hits -- Japan's Boris had begun their show, which was surprisingly pleasant for this non-metal head. Next, I ran over to the B stage to catch High Places, an entertaining calypso-sugary duo that put together a very nice set, before avoiding HEALTH's dying-raccoon-screeches by grabbing a piece of deep-dish Chicago pizza from one of the plethora of surprisingly delectable food vendors and collecting more free buttons, stickers and coupons than I knew what to do with.

Ready for more music, I hid under a polka-dotted umbrella-turned-parasol while catching the end of the Dodos' set and claiming a prime spot for M. Ward. The Dodos' sound was infinitely better in this setting than a few weeks prior at the MU Terrace, and their set was fantastic, only outshone by the artful mastery of music displayed by M. Ward in the set that followed.  His performance managed to give me, and likely many others in the audience, chills on the balmy summer afternoon -- a feat that requires true musicianship.

The series of fantastic back-to-back sets continued as I headed over to the B stage to set up camp for the triple threat that I'd been most looking forward to: Ghostface Killah & Raekwon-Bon Iver-Cut Copy. Ghostface and company delivered peace, love and hip hop in a set that provided a fresh take on old school -- the crowd ate it up. Bon Iver was equally satisfying, balancing his well-known falsetto with his clear curiosity of noise rock, and recruiting the audience as his own backing chorus, just as he had done back in April during his last Madison appearance at Orpheum Stage Door. A surprising bonus of the set was an impassioned Creedance Clearwater Revival cover, which helped sweeten the blow of the severe collective dehydration and claustrophobia of the large crowd gathered for the set.

The night ended with a bit of a downer, as it took festival organizers nearly a half hour past Cut Copy's scheduled start time of 8:25 to announce that the band was caught at the airport and was delayed -- it was all said and done, we unfortunately missed the abridged, reportedly amazing, set from the Australian wunderkids. Instead, we were treated to an ad hoc ensemble of the most intoxicated Chicago band members available at the time -- the singer from Deerhunter, drummer from the Ponys, and a few of their compadres. Following a lilting, improvised song titled "Jelly Roll," it was time to catch the last bits of Spoon's set from the very back of the large assembled crowd. Spoon's sound fits perfectly into a festival setting, and they did not disappoint.

As many warnings as I had heading into Pitchfork of its being unorganized and amateurish, I was repeatedly impressed by what the organizers had done catering to such a large crowd in a confined space. My only real disappointment was not being able to see all of the bands that I'd wanted to due to the packed schedule requiring that difficult decisions be made -- namely missing out on the Hold Steady (who went straight from P4K to rock the Majestic stage earlier this week), Jarvis Cocker and Spiritualized. Indeed, it seems the festival has overcome its growing pains and solidified a position as one of Chicago's greatest music festivals, one that I am looking forward to attending for many years to come.

-- Joe Erbentraut, True Endeavors Communications and Public Relations Intern

damon albarn and jamie hewlett (gorillaz) will be releasing a new album under the name of monkey later this summer and it will be based on their opera 'journey to the west' (which opens in london tomorrow night!) for more info click here.

the nationwide mercury prize shortlist (only uk musicians qualify) has been announced. radiohead, neon neon and 10 others were nominated. for more info click here.

james has announced a u.s. reunion tour. click here for more info and dates. in addition, they'll be releasing a new album called 'hey ma' in september.

conor oberst's entire new album can be streamed for free at his website.

my bloody valentine did an interesting interview with nme. you can watch it here.

cut copy will be touring north america with the presets starting in september. for tour dates and other info click here.

wtf!?!?!?! i just came across this tonight in my itunes recommendations - robert smith and tweaker doing a song called truth is from 2004. not really sure what i think but it's kind of funny hearing robert say oh baby over and over again. and then i found perfect blue sky that's robert and junkie xl rom 2004, too. i like this one. how did i miss these?

top 10

black magic - jarvis cocker

happiness - goldfrapp

this boy's in love - the presets

rock my boat - dntel

i want to touch you - catherine wheel

for love - lush

little bit - lykke li

the drugs don't work - the verve

i've been losing you - a-ha

this twilight garden - the cure

• Mission of Burma (Rating: 7.1) My exposure to Mission of Burma far exceeds my appreciation of them. I have 3 albums and have seen them twice and I don't get their celebrated status. Probably having something to do with when—not what—they played. That said, this wasn't too bad since they were restricted to playing their best album in its entirety. But that "roman empire" song stinks, even in context.
• Sebadoh (Rating: 6.5) I don't remember Bubble and Scrape and I don't think I would have liked it that much if I had. My experience of Lou Barlow begins with the beautifully sadsap Bakesale, and seeing this album in its live entirety kind of wants me to keep it that way. Lou delegated too many responsibilities back then it seemed.
• Public Enemy (Rating: 7.0) Everyone but me seemed to be swooning with anticipation. Britt Daniel even came out and stood next to me (I asked him to not suck). Never got into these guys and I lack the capacity to fake enthusiasm. Their songs seemed to die when Flavor Flav did that "Yeah Boy" thing and Chuck D seemed to be stuck in one militant mood. Still, Flav's television stuff and notorious undependability brought some celebrity and tension to the night. Was Flavor going to flake? But for missing the first song, he put in a solid show. Whatever people like of these guys, they liked this. Pitchfork Priceless Moment 1: As the crowd boos Flav for hawking his next reality television show (it's on Wednesday nights!), he responds "Why you booing? You a bunch of ghosts? Don't boo me, you fake ghosts!" Zing and zung.

Saturday—It poured all morning and was not letting up. It was far far from the nightmare that was Woodstock '98. Still, the sogginess would persist for the rest of the festival. And then arose the dancing mud people. Oh, dancing mud people, what do you do when you're not doing your filthy jive? Do you have jobs? Do you celebrate Thanksgiving with family? Do you even read blogs?

• Boban I Marko Markovic Orkestar (Rating: 8.5) Late start because of rain, but still kind of a nice way to begin the festival proper. Nothing of the raucous show they put on a few days before in Millennium Park. Yet, the unpretentious galvanizing gypsy horn tunes served as a nice palate cleanser. It's like they were wiping the slate clean for us, but we still end up chalking the same shit.
• Titus Andronicus (Rating: 7.9) I do like them. And I think they did well in the rain. It's still early Bright Eyes to my ears, but I don't prize originality that highly. I like the combination of modern overeducated-underexperienced disaffected white boy angst with unhinged 50's garage rock type pop. Reminds me of my dad. They didn't need to be on such a big stage, though.
• Jay Reatard (Rating: 6.4 by day; 9.1 by night) I'm a big fan of 2 minute songs. Get in and get out. And Jay is a master. No banter. Names the song title and boom he's going. But it doesn't work too well in the big outdoor setting. Way better for a musky windowless black room (where I would see them later that night).
• Caribou (Rating: 7.6): Much more rocking than expected from the ethereal Andorra album, but not that much more interesting. Stayed for a few and scooted.
• Icy Demons (Rating: 7.9): Way more interesting. And not so tricked out in weirdness, but definitely looking for new territory. Didn't close the deal for me, but I'm not walking away yet, either.
• Fleet Foxes (Rating: 9.1): I'm pulling for the Foxes to not be destroyed by their ridiculous press. They make pretty sounds, but they need better songs. But I think they're all only 12 and I need to work through some jealousy. Nonetheless, they do a great job of translating their 70's country folk sound live.
• Fuck Buttons (Rating: 3.2): Knob rawk, don't waste my time.
• Dizzee Rascal (Rating: 5.1): Oh Rahzkooh, why do you hate us?
• The Ruby Suns (Rating: 9.1): Their show minted at least one new fan. The breezy disjointed Carribean grooving were an unexpected treat as the sun came out.
• Vampire Weekend (Rating: n/a): Didn't see them. Just wanted to say again that I think they're the Jar Jar Binks of Indie Rock. That's copyrighted, btw.
• Elf Power (Rating: 5.0) They're like the Platonic Ideal for 90's indie rock. If we ever do one of those satellites we fill up with crap to launch into space for aliens to find and then use to conquer us (wa-wah), we could do worse by throwing in an Elf Power CD. Completely what you (or I) would expect. Stayed for 2 songs. The aliens will have our number, for sure.
• !!! (Rating: 6.2) I probably needed to be closer to appreciate this show. I had my !!! experience 2 years ago and was content to keep it distant. And it's hard to get into dance-punk with a backpack. The kids seemed to like it, so good for them.
• The Hold Steady (Rating: 9.2) I spent the first 3 songs trying to will myself not to like these guys. And I can't do it. It's almost un-American. Fist-pumping sing-along anthems about the self-destructive brats. They have embraced they're place in pop and made it they're own. I've heard Craig Finn say 3 separate times that there's so much joy in what they do, I almost believe it.
• Jarvis Cocker (Rating: 9.6): Holy mole, this guy puts on a show. I have a solo album and liked it alright. I liked Pulp, but then my exposure was only through albums there, too. The performance is a revelation. How can I become Jarvis?
• No Age (Rating: 8.7): Wanted to see more, but was delayed by being unexpectedly impressed by and unhealthfully wanting to be Jarvis. Then they were having problems and I'm like the wind. I got to hear "Teen Creeps," the Pitchfork 08 anthem I think.
• Animal Collective (Rating: 9.2): Knob rawk, but on a much higher level. I was expecting something much more sloppier, befitting an Umphry's McGee (or whatever) opener. These guys were tight. And efficient. They came to work. I wasn't putting up with much by then. I just might learn not to regret buying "Strawberry Jam.

Sunday—It was a scorcher. Applied sunscreen 4 times to my sweat-slick forehead and I'll still burn. But it was cost effective. Made 4 beers feel like 8.

• Times New Viking (Rating: 7.3) I was expecting both much worse and much better. Their ridiculously low-fi ecstatic recordings portended either a brilliant live show or just sloppiness. Nonetheless, the short set of minimalist bursts of atonal poppy screaming didn't offend or inspire.
• The Dirty Projectors (Rating: 8.1) Maybe I'm just overly impressed that they can play Dirty Projectors' songs. So oddball and overly constructed. But they sounded like the recordings. No fist pumping sing-alongs, though. And did they need to be on the big stage? Stay in the library, you nerds. I change my mind. 4.3.
• Boris (9.1 for content; 4.3 for length) Japanese lady shreds. Drummer wears white gloves and plays a gong. But the token metal group only goes for 25 minutes? They flew from Japan for just 25 minutes of stage time. What kind of carbon footprint did that leave? Drummer says something about "electrical problem" but I can't understand him.
• Apples In Stereo (Rating: 8.5) Exactly what I expected. More nerd pop. At least these nerds were trying to be likeable. They were the eager-to-please waterboys to the indie jock squad.
• King Khan and His Shrines (Rating: 10.0) I pretty much hate anyone who has not seen King Khan live. That casts pretty big net, I know and sorry. But by missing the rarely US-touring Canadian-Indian paunchy naked-but-for-lavender-hotpants-and-a-gold-beaded-head-dress Memphis-style soul-punk KING, it probably says something about them missing something rare and essential to life that I just can't abide. Pitchfork Priceless Moment 2: I score a press pass gaining me front stage access. While the KING unnecessarily pantomimes lyrics from their transgendered anthem "I Want To Be A Girl," my head ends up about a foot from where he has unsecurely tucked his manhood, exposed for all to see. Some see too much.
• The Dodos (Rating 8.2) They probably need a smaller stage and to not come after King Khan, still the 3 guys do pretty well for the little instrumentation they bring.
• M. Ward (Rating: Whatever) I've seen this guy so many times. And he doesn't need anymore press.
• Les Savvy Fav (Rating: 7.80 They're alright I guess, but I've seen too many unappealing naked bodies today to be shocked by this guy's antics. But still, they do an old school Superchunk cover. 
• Spiritualized (Rating: 6.9) I really like Songs in A&E. But this seemed kind of boring here. But maybe I'm still coming off my Khan high. Too bad. He had some soulful backup singers that ended up doing too much of the lifting. Saw 3 songs and moved along.
• Bon Iver (Rating: 9.3 for the originals; 1.2 for the Talk Talk cover) There were some really nice moments here. The crowd participation was well managed and made the experience almost cozy in the overflowing crowd. Pitchfork Priceless Moment 3: Bon Iver makes a very wrongheaded detour with an overlong cover a forgettable Talk Talk mess. The confused crowd politely applauds and yet someone shouts "More Talk Talk!"
• Dinosaur Jr (Rating: 7.9) Holy guacamole, J Mascis is old. He now reminds me of this creepy dude who used to clean the pool at our YMCA when I was a kid. Or a short pudgy Gandolf the Grey. And say what you will of his reunion with Lou Barlow, I'm not too sure they deserved the prize spot they get in the schedule. But it was sweet that people still seem to like them. For me, that ship has sailed.
• Spoon (Rating: 9.0) They did their job as headliners. Nothing too mindblowing, though. Speaking of jobs, I have one to wake up to tomorrow in 5 hours. I'm no dancing mud person.

First of all, I'm really pissed I missed Cut Copy when they were in town. I know their show here wouldn't have been as epic as the above video, but shit, they're so good. Anyways, there've been tons and tons of remixes filtering through the blog-o-sphere, but you haven't heard Tenzin's yet... One word: Fire (pun).

Also, the Cut Copy CD is still the best album of the year in my book. Give me an album that's topped it and I'll mail you a cookie; swear to god.

Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire (Tenzin Remix)

Beats™

I love Goldfrapp! I mean look at what she's wearing. Such a classic babe.

In other news, Cut Copy and The Presets will stop by Canada on their tour, however, they are skipping Ottawa. Quelle surprise! You must travel to Toronto or Montreal in order to catch them. Quelle malheur!

image from brooklyn vegan

Nick Zinner of !!!, doing what Nick Zinner does.

I'm currently working on my annual "trend spotting" type list of what I saw at this weekend's festivities. (You can check out last year's here.) If you are not aware, Pitchfork is a festival that brings local, national and international talent together, so they can all look at how each other are dressing. Oh yeah, there’s music there too.

It was a pretty good year, actually, but I was hoping for more in the "style" department, not sure why. It could be for anyone of these three reasons:

1. As Pitchfork notoriety has grown in the last three years, perhaps the fest’s “edgy” feel has worn off a bit, and with that, it’s forward-dressing attendees have diluted.
2. My disillusionment and unending distaste for anything new or old
3. I am WAY ahead of all trends now.

Bradford James Cox of Deerhuner and Mark Sultan of King Kahn attempt to entertain impatient Cut Copy fans. "A" for effort.

The feast was actually really fun. !!! killed, which is no surprise. Les Savy Fav was awesome, also no surprises there. Biggest issue with the event was actually Cut Copy’s failure to make it from the airport in time for their closing set. Though that’s no fault of their own, it’s still supremely disappointing. In what allotted time was left, they made the most of it, banging out both crowd-bouncers “Light & Music”, and “Hearts on Fire” to an enthused (but obviously peeved) crowd. Those that stuck around to see the hyper-abbreviated set worked very hard for an encore which didn’t come -- chanting “Five More Songs, Five More Songs” probably didn’t help.

Before I write about “trend spotting” thing, which I’ll post about tomorrow probably, I wanted to mention things I didn’t see but expected to...

• Party-Rappers: I saw very few nu-rave/b-boy kids. There were a few zany fluorescent windbreakers in the crowd, but surprisingly few retina-burning limited-edition hightops, Kanye-esque Venitian blind sunglasses, and “crosscolor” wear.
• American Apparel Smack Girls: Emaciated heroin-chic AmAp mannequins, looking like the Olsen twins on a budget, did not take over the fest. I’m not particularly against American Apparel at all, but sometimes their style and color-choices are very disturbing. Just because you bought your entire outfit at the same store does NOT mean that it will automatically go together. They should put that as a disclaimer on the bag.
• The Unapologetic Prep: With XRT-approved artists Vampire Weekend and Spoon both playing, and with coverage from outlets like Chicago rag The Red Eye, I anticipated seeing a lot more Chad/Trixie presence. V.W. especially, whose style is particularly "high-prep" did not bring out the J. Crew slew. Surprisingly, the most evidence I saw of this was on Friday during Public Enemy!(?) Who woulda' thunk it? While Chuck D was talking about war, racism, Darfur, etc., there was a dude next to us going on a tirade about Chicago’s 10.25% sales tax. When Chuck was talking about the drug trade and Big Pharm, this guy started screaming about how much money he lost with his Pfizer stock last week. I’m NOT making this up.
• Mud People: I’m am SO impressed with the lack of Mud People over the weekend. The hippie count, though present at the fest, was still at very low levels. Very few idiots thought it a good idea to douse themselves completely in mud. Yes, L.S.V. did it, but they’re on a stage -- you are not.

Check back soon for a quick overview of what was stylin' this year, and what you will soon see in your local bar if your local bar has Yo La Tengo on the juke box.

Oh, and just to streamline the process, here's all the missed connections posted from this weekend so far. You're welcome:

Jul 21 - My new friend from the East Coast - w4m - 29 - (Pitchfork)

Jul 21 - Pitchfork -- the draw of the music kept me from stopping to chat - m4w - 30 - (Pitchfork)

Jul 21 - Broken arm dude at pitchfork - w4m - 22 - (pitchfork)

Jul 21 - giant camera lense and gray cut off jeans boy - w4m -

Jul 21 - To all the beautiful women at pitchfork that I missed (and still miss) - m4w - 28 - (Union Park)

Jul 21 - I saw you yesterday, but we still haven't seen Of Montreal - m4w - 22 - (pitchfork)

Jul 21 - you asked if i'd blow the next hit in your mouth - m4w - 25 - (pitchfork animal collective)

Jul 21 - Rae...Ghost...Empty Cups...Backpacks - m4w - (pitchfork)

Jul 21 - your friends called you caleb - 25 - (pitchfork)

Jul 21 - Pitchfork: owl belt buckle both days - m4w - 26 - (union park)

Jul 21 - To The Hula Hoop Chick From Pitchfork (Saturday Night) - m4w - (Pitchfork)

Jul 21 - Can I see you again? - m4w - 28 - (Pitchfork) pic

Jul 21 - Hey, another pitchfork post - m4w - 24 - (The pitch)

Jul 21 - pitchforked - m4w -

Jul 21 - Pitchfork's No. 1 Boobs - m4w - 27 - (Pitchfork Music Fest)

Jul 21 - Pitchfork glance - m4w - 26 - (Pitchfork)

Jul 20 - pitchfork guy at cut copy - w4m - 21 - (pitchfork)

Jul 20 - pitchfork - w4m - 24 -

Jul 20 - Brad on the No. 9 to Pitchfork - w4m - 25 - (Ashland to Lake St.)

Jul 20 - tennessee and pitchfork boy - w4m -

Jul 20 - Cute girl at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Saturday - m4w - 26 - (Chicago)

Jul 20 - Pitchfork -- Throwing up near the entrance - w4m - 21 - (Union Park)

Jul 20 - saw you at the art museum AND pitchfork -

Jul 19 - Katie, this is Alex from Pitchfork - m4w - 22 - (Union Park)

Jul 19 - Pitchfork--your friend asked to unzip my shirt - w4m - 25 -

Jul 19 - you were working by the jewlry - w4w - (pitchfork)

Jul 19 - pitchfork - (indielove)

Jul 19 - Pitchfork Fest - 25 - (Union Park)

Jul 19 - pitchfork girl with guy's face tattooed on left arm - m4w - 27 - (grant park)

Jul 18 - Pitchfork Cutie - Blue Cubs Hat and Glasses - m4m - 33 - (Pitchfork)

[embedded YouTube video; if you can't see it, click here]

I think that Sunday's highlight was Cut Copy, despite everything. They were delayed at the airport and ended up doing an abbreviated set that conflicted with the headliners, Spoon. While the real diehards waited it out through Mike Reed's 'psychedelic doo-wop stylings,' the rest of us (like me and my friend Jon) headed over to catch the Spoon set, keeping one ear out for the sounds of joyful electropop from the Balance Stage. We returned to immerse ourselves in the mass of dancing indie fans and catch the last couple of songs - it was a great close-out to the fest. And short but intense wins again.

Download: The Hood Internet - Cut Copy x Dizzee Rascal

FutureFlash Presents Future Disco Vol. 6

Tracklist:

1. Anoraak - Nightdrive with You (GRUM Remix)
2. SymbolOne - Love Juice (Loose Shus Remix)
3. Cryptonites - Cant give you up (Alfa Remix)
4. Edwin Van Cleef - Tracer
5. Mr. Bing - Lifting
6. Felix da Housecat - Artificial
7. B 52s - Juliet in the Spirits (Saint Pauli Remix)
8. GRS Club - Fake (Tom Deluxx Remix)
9. Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopia (Cut Copy Remix)
10. Xinobi - Day Off (Anoraak Remix)
11. Nite Cells - Try It Feel it (FutureFlashs Remix)
12. Rayflash - Your Love
13. Streetlife DJs - We love the disco sound
14. Danger - 13h12 (Live Edit)
15. PNAU - Embrace (Fred Falke & Miami Horror Remix)
16. Autokratz - Stay the Same (80Kids Remix)
17. Division Kent - Lheure Bleue (Keenhouse Remix)
18. Moulinex - Come on closer
19. Eric Prydz - Pjanoo (Fred Falke Edit)
20. Sebastien Tellier - Lamour et la Violence (Boys Noize Remix)
21. Heartache - What does it mean (Calling in sick Remix)
22. Breakbot - Iron Zombie

Cedi uma entrevista e podcast para o site Misturinha. Bati um papo com o produtor carioca Jenner e falei um pouco mais sobre minha carreira de Dj, Produtor e ilustrador.

Segue a entrevista reproduzida:

Misturinha 211 Dj Bezzi

Conheci o Bezzi por uma amiga em comum. Antes de ouví-lo tocando como dj e produtor - conheci sua arte gráfica. Achei ultrafoda e o desafiei a fazer posters. Comprei os 2 primeiros, fiz moldura e estão bem aqui na minha frente no estúdio. Todos que aqui chegam sempre comentam e se interessam pelos desenhos. Um cara 100% do bem e muito talentoso. Torço por ele e sei que a recíproca é verdadeira. Abaixo, uma pseudo entrevista ou um papo de amigos para os outros verem.

Jenner: Como foi que você começou como dj ?

Meu background continua o mesmo de sempre; Djs veteranos com referências, especialmente os que tocavam (tocam) rock e suas vertentes. Quando via os djs graúdos de música eletrônica, achava que nunca poderia tocar como eles. Já os Djs de clubes pequenos e underground tinham um estilo mais simplista zelando pelo bom repertório e isso me encorajou muito.

Estou feliz que agora, é possível tocar um pouco de tudo em seu set. O radicalismo morreu. Atualmente, apesar de ter muitos profissionais do ramo, acho que a aparelhagem está melhor, temos mais opções além do vinil e cd (essa opção eu não largo) isso leva a discotecagem para um nível superior.

Quem tiver bom gosto vai saber usar essas ferramentas com sabedoria e não as levará para o lado negro da força! Esse ano estou tão motivado quanto no início de carreira, fechei parceria com uma produtora independente (Tronco Produções) que está me ajudando no fechamento das datas e adquiri respeito da velha e da nova geração por nunca ter esmorecido nesses dez anos.

Fiquei emocionado quando dois bons djs novatos me disseram que começaram a tocar por minha causa. Coisas como essa, fazem eu esquecer a parte ruim da profissão e dão forças para continuar.

Jenner: Devo fazer a clássica pergunta sobre o CSS ?

Bem, o que está feito, está feito! (rs) Sempre irão me perguntar sobre a música, mesmo tendo passado cinco anos que não tenho contato com a banda. Como tudo na vida, tem seu lado bom e ruim. O lado bom, é que gera curiosidade de pessoas que acabam conhecendo meu trampo de Dj, produtor e ilustrador. O lado ruim são as pessoas desinformadas que usam meu sobrenome como nickname e acham que apareci depois da música... Isso é um absurdo pois tenho 31 anos e toco desde 1999!

Jenner: Tenho acompanhado suas produções e remixes...

Eu comecei a produzir remixes de forma acidental (como quase tudo na minha vida), estou treinando para me aperfeiçoar e ter trabalhado com artistas como Forgotten Boys, Tetine, Edu K, Manta Raya (Argentina), Private Dancers e Club Silêncio, foi uma honra.

Jenner: Já te falei isso algumas vezes e talvez muita gente não saiba ou não conheça o seu excelente trabalho de artes gráficas, ilustração etc.

Esse ano eu tive trabalhos expostos na “Expo Stickers” de Curitiba, No espaço “Casa de Quem” de São Paulo e fiz algumas ilustras que foram publicadas em revistas e sites fora do Brasil.

Sou louco para criar uma nova linha de tênis, a que produzi para Mad Rats esgotou e queria fazer coisas novas. Quero muito voltar a trabalhar na área gráfica, mas enquanto isso não acontece, estou me jogando de cabeça na produção musical caseira e continuo com minha coluna semanal no chic.

Jenner: Quem te influenciou?

Uma grande influência pra mim eram os cartunistas marginais dos anos 80 como Angeli, Laerte, Glauco, Ota e Henfil. Posso citar também desenhos e seriados japoneses, quadrinhos da Marvel, muita coisa!

Jenner: Que tal 2 listas?

Adoro fazer listas. É uma coisa que herdei quando trabalhava em loja de discos bem antes de ler o Alta-Fidelidade do Nick Hornby.

Dez coisas gringas bacanas de 2008 pra mim foram:The Teenagers, Koko Von Napoo, Cut Copy, Zombie Disco Squad, Gentle Touch, Crystal Castles, Girl Talk, Dj Treasure Fingers, Ladyhawke e o selo Italians Do It Better.

Dez coisas nacionais bacanas de 2008 pra mim foram: O coletivo de Brasília Indiecent Music, A festa Funhell e Party Íntima de São Paulo, Roots Rock Revolution, o dj carioca Edinho (sempre), Klientss, Tetine, Database, a banda curitibana Copacabana Club e a variedade de bons blogs que pipocam na internet.

Playlist

1-MICKIE CHUNG-BREEZIN´

2-HOT CHIP-ONE PURE THOUGHT

3-GHOSTHUSTLER-PARKING LOT NIGHTS

4-ROISIN MURPHY-YOU KNOW ME BETTER

5-ROOTS ROCK REVOLUTION-SHORT W.A.Y.U.H (MASHUP)

6-THE SHOES-KNOCK OUT (80 KIDZ MIX)

7-POMOMOFO-WHITE HORSE (LAIDBACK COVER)

8-GENTLE TOUCH-EXPECTATIONS

9- THE TEARDROPS EXPLODES-TREASON

10- PETER MURPHY-DEEP OCEAN VAST SEA

11-SUPERGRASS-SEEN THE LIGHT

12-SIMPLE MINDS-ALL THE THINGS SHE SAID

BEZZI

Despite all the hype, I'm not a huge fan of Ladyhawke's supposed "summer hit" 'Paris is Burning'. The melody sounds infuriatingly like Gary Numan's 'Cars', the song is very repetitive and her husky and strained vocals begin to grate after the first chorus.

Remixers to the rescue then! Like Sharks circling waiting for the kill, various remixers have flocked to this potential summer anthem, hoping to get a piece of the action. Amongst them are the ever reliable Cut Copy and the ever unpredictable Peaches.

Both remixes offer considerably different spins on the song and thankfully they're both, in the opinion of somthing who dislikes the original, far better than the original. Cut Copy turn it into an altogether more funky and danceable prospect, whereas Peaches goes, as you would expect, a bit more abrasive and nasty.

Also as a sort of a relevant aside. I couldn't help but post this gem on Ladyhawke's Myspace.

Enjoy!

[Audio http://jorichards77.googlepages.com/02-paris-is-burning-peaches-remix.mp3]

MP3: Ladyhawke - Paris is Burning (Peaches Remix)

MP3: Ladyhawke - Paris is Burning (Cut Copy Remix)

(Sorry I can't get a stream for the Cut Copy Remix. My googlepages isn't uploading it for some reason)

2 bands qui n’en finissent plus de se remixer l’un et l’autre pour notre plus grand bonheur.

Cut Copy – Hearts on Fire (Midnight Juggernaults remix) (mp3)
[audio=http://basementbeatz.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/hearts-on-fire-midnight-juggernauts-remix.mp3]

Midnight Juggernaults - Dystopia (Cut Copy Remix) (mp3)
[audio=http://basementbeatz.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/dystopia-cut-copy-remix.mp3]

L’album Dystopia des Midnight Juggernaults est dans mes coups de coeur 2008.  Un espèce de mélange entre Daft Punk et The Klaxons minus les néons verts fluos qui sortent de partout.

Midnight Juggernaults Myspace
Cut Copy Myspace

It's been a few weeks, so sorry for the delay, but it's...well...tough shit, and quite frankly I got a whole load of sweet and magical posts to swing by your ears so you are soon going to luuurve me for forever, so sit back, read away and click, upload and prepare to watch me fly...

With this Gig List I'm gonna focus solely on the upcoming LOOP FESTIVAL based in Brighton's busy centre on 16th August. What a totally super-sweet line up it's forged for this year. After last years success this is now an annual event and the set up is going from strength to strength. In a city known for its new music scenester festivals and particularly for breaking acts, Loop stands tall.

Amongst others, this year holds up; New Young Pony Club, The Bays, Caged Baby, , Primary One, Transformers and the fantastically named Holy Fuck. Nice!

However, I'm blowing my top over the following two awesome bands...CUT COPY and THE SHOES. Both are right up there with the best in both cracking tunes and blinding live sets.  Brightons going to swing until it goes boom!

CUT COPY - As tasty as Indie-Dance gets quite frankly. If you wanna know more then I've already posted about them below in The Recommender Number 3, so go have a look-see. Inspiring acts such as The Presets and Midnight Juggernauts they can do no wrong in my books - woo, and indeed, hoo!!

ACT:                     CUT COPY
VENUE:                 LOOP FESTIVAL, HUB STAGE, VICTORIA GARDENS
COST:                   £25  (£32 for after-party club access)
DATE:                   16th August 2008
WEBSITE:               http://loopbrighton.com/

THE SHOES - Woah Nelly!!!! These guys are freeeeekin awesomeness personified. Totally on the button if you ask me. Another French Duo punching you with rocked-out electro beats, but before you go ranting about Justice and Daft Punk, you really need to consider this crew. I've been so impressed by them I simply cannot resist giving them a slot on The Recommender Number 5 (Due up real soon...), so learn more about them then.

ACT:                     THE SHOES
VENUE:                 LOOP FESTIVAL, FUTURES STAGE, VICTORIA GARDENS
COST:                   £25  (£32 for after-party club access)
DATE:                   16th August 2008
WEBSITE:               http://loopbrighton.com

OK I got soooo much to post I'm bursting at the seam so I'm going to leave it there, except to say that The Presets were amazing at Digital the other day, so I hope you were there to enjoy it too. If not, then what ya doing!!!? Shoulda listened to your old faithful 'Gig List' eh!!!?

I sincerely hope you do this time as LOOP FESTIVAL is going to be totally buzzing.

Until the next time ladies and fellas...

Mike

whats with modular?

i have a huge problem with them.

they know something you dont.
everything they touch turns to frickin gold.
the midas touch.

i cant be bothered because Ladyhawke is filling up the friday void with ease.

Ladyhawke aka Pip Brown will smack your world with dirty, glowing, electro+disco pop.
its about time we all pay attention to this girl from kiwi who is based in london at the moment.

paris is screaming all night long.

im not letting up.

these remixes are MAD MAD MAD.

mp3|Ladyhawke - Paris is burning (Peaches remix) / (zshare)

mp3|Ladyhawke - Paris is burning (Cut Copy remix) / (zshare)

mp3|Ladyhawke - Back of the van (Fred falke remix) / (zshare)

Ladyhawke website

Ladyhawke myspace

Ladyhawke singles

Yeah for me when I'm sitting in my pod life train rattling home nothing helps to lift the grey worker ant mists more than a top tune on ipod; if I have a good book in my hands then even better and on occasion I grab for my notebook and pen and scribble down something inspired, unforced that will hopefully become part of something bigger perhaps a story at a later date... who knows?

I guess music like books and films carries a story, the code if you will that gets the neuro transmitters in our grey matter firing. My current favourite flavours of inspiration would have to be Angels and Airways  and Cut Copy. So to that end get your pens poised and listen to the CC clip below. Enjoy; right I'd better get back to that post on Story I've been promising now... oops. Dave.

It took a while for the Midnight Juggernauts' latest album Dystopia to really set in for me, but parts of it have since grown on me and I just can't stop listening to tracks like "Into the Galaxy" and "End of An Era." The Midnight Juggernauts track that really hit me over the head was "Shadows", mostly because of the dance-heavy rhythm and those colorful psychedelic synths. Another thing I thoroughly enjoy about the track is that bass that just thumps incredibly hard, similar to that of someone who's been raging on X for hours on end . I imagine that when they play that song at concerts the crowd turns in to an absolute madhouse.

But while I'm quite fond of the majority of Dystopia, some of the more downtempo mellow tracks caught me off guard, one of those being the title track. Not to say that the song is a bore, but with this remix of "Dystopia", Cut Copy of course adds their ubiquitous club-ready new wave influences and transforms it in to something that's completely their own.

First off, I think Cut Copy's production skills are absolutely insane (as evidenced by their #1 spot on my Mid-Year Favorites of of 08 list) and they assist in making this track so much more exciting and catchy. Some may call them corny, but your girlfriend has a good reason for heading to the dance floor every time a Cut Copy song comes on. They make awesome music, that makes you want to dance and bask in the face of the normalcy of everyday life.

Now this blog Hipster Runoff jokingly theorizes that there is an upcoming Electro-War between Australia and France, because so much amazing electronic music comes out of each country, that they might eventually go to war over it. But when it comes down to it, Australian and French electronic music are two totally different sounds. They both have equally amazing talent; France with Daft Punk, Mr. Oizo and Justice; Australia with artists like The Avalanches, Midnight Juggernauts, and Cut Copy. If one thing is for sure though, it's that in the past year, Australia has been putting out some fucking amazing electronic music. Why not top it off with a new Avalanches album? Please?

Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopia (Cut Copy Remix)

1. Music videos from Islandrecords artists Sam Sparro and Cut Copy. I've been in desperate need of some music to dance to and since my finger and toe tapping Girl Talk days are in need of a break, I feel that I've found a decent replacement.

2. The Wire. This show is badass. McNulty is perhaps one of the best alcoholic, hard headed, cops television has seen in a long while. Everything you hear about this show is true, it is addictive and awesome.

3. Missed connections. Craigslist has been a source of sheer amusement for me as of late with the multitude of "missed connections" posted daily. There's a guy crushing on a girl in the red tube top driving a Mazda down I-20, a teen that frequently shops at Best Buy because of the cashier that rang him up on check-stand 3 and then, of course, the Marta train encounters. Endless entertainment.

4. Trivia Night Okay, so I can't really count this since I only went once, but I'm all about winning free food and drinks for my varied pop-culture and worldly knowledge.

5. Frederico Erra's photostream on Flickr, particularly "violet place".

6. GOOD Magazine. It's tag line "GOOD is for people who give a damn. It's an entertaining magazine about things that matter." With it's stimulating commentary on important environmental, economic, and cultural issues as well as it's unique coverage on unknown objects and quirky travel spots, this magazine is what it says.

7. The Black Keys and Sea Wolf. I already went through a Black Keys stage where they were all that was buzzing on my iPod for weeks, but now I've revisited Magic Potion and I can't get enough of it. Leaves in the River is also some really swell stuff.

I'm in the process of writing another short story as well as expanding and editing a story I wrote for my short stories course. Expect something of the child's tale type genre involving oranges someday soon. Farethewell.

(Leo Cackett)

How can you tell that the U.S.A. is really ready for change? The reemergence of disco as a credible and, gasp, popular form of music stateside. Helping lead the dance revolution is the Melbourne, Australia-based group Cut Copy, whose latest record, "In Ghost Colours," has become a mainstay for music blogs, fashion shows and house parties everywhere. Mixing a range of disparate but spirited musical influences — the '80s house-hop pioneer Rob Base, Fleetwood Mac and classic garage punk, to name a few — Cut Copy's sound is a studied but effortless pastiche of dance music history. Here, the band's lead singer, Dan Whitford, discusses the perks of being a compulsive record collector, the band's collaboration with DFA's Tim Goldsworthy and his current music obsessions.

I hear that you were a D.J. before you started Cut Copy.

I started out just collecting records. After I finished high school, I had a radio show on public radio. From there, I started playing clubs as well. I’m just a music collector, not someone that went to clubs or discos or anything like that. I started discovering dance music just through collecting records.

This was all happening in Australia, where you grew up?

Well, I was in Melbourne. And I was doing my radio show, on just the student radio station there. That experience led me to actually starting to write music as well.

What kind of records did you collect?

I'd always been into more classic indie guitar stuff from the ’90s. From guitar music, I started getting into more, I suppose, proper dance music and even hip-hop. I would discover new kinds of music and then start to trace it back to the roots of that kind of music, stuff like Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream. Ever since then, I've always been fairly interested in tracing stuff back to where it came from, where certain sounds originated from.

Was it easy to find these older records in Australia?

Well, kind of. There’s an abundance of certain records in Australia; stuff like Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream and some of the prog stuff was actually not that hard to find, interestingly enough. Certain records that were more things along the lines of disco or funk and soul were harder to find just because there's not such a history of that music in Australia.

I would search pretty hard at record fairs and hope that someone had come in with their whole collection of kind of weird, obscure stuff that I could kind of troll through. Disco never really had a big following here, even when it was big in the rest of the world. Those types of records are probably a lot easier to find in the States or in Europe.

So how did this evolve into a band?

I come from what can be considered a creative background. I studied art and ended up going to art school to do graphic design. So I've sort of always been from a creative background. And I always just, I guess, been sort of reasonably competent. [Laughs]

More importantly, I’ve always been interested in trying things and seeing whether I could do things like create music or at least attempt things like that. If I am into something, I always try and do it myself. So it was a natural progression, I guess, from D.J.-ing. I bought a cable and a microphone and a sampler and just started kind of mucking around.

And just like that, you became a functioning band.

I don't know, we just became more real over time and eventually people believed we were actually a band even though we were just sort of mucking around. [Laughs]

That's important: if you trick people into thinking you are a band, you are one. [Laughs.] And how did Tim Goldsworthy, from DFA, get involved with the most recent record, "In Ghost Colours"?

Initially, we sort of had the idea that we'd work on the record ourselves. But our label pushed the idea of us working with a new producer; so we thought, Well, if we're going to work with a producer, then we'll sort of throw a few names in that we're interested in. Tim Goldsworthy was one of them. We thought about all of the records he had done over the years and his solo stuff more recently with his Loving Hand project. We thought his direction mirrored a little bit what we were sort of doing with the Cut Copy sound, sort of making it a bit more layered and textured and sort of a little bit trippy.

What's your kind of take on finding a niche over here in the States? Some of those music blogs seem to religiously follow you guys.

I've been pleasantly surprised. We toured a few years ago, and that was the first time I'd really seen all of America, or a lot more of the middle of America. I had seen New York and L.A., but it's not really so representative, I suppose. [Laughs]

Having the press on our side this time and having the kind of whole broad dance culture as well being a lot more developed over the past few years means that, you know, the response to our music is a lot more immediate. We've definitely benefited from the exposure that kind of thing's given us.

To be honest, we always thought that we'd sort of have a bit more potential for success in the U.K. and Europe. The States were a bit of a mystery to us. We didn't really know exactly what goes on in the States. [Laughs] When we first started, the U.S. was the kind of place where people made a kind of rock music, some R&B and hip-hop. But, with the kind of music we're making, we didn't think there would be a following for it. But I guess we were sort of wrong about that and we've been really, really surprised about how people have taken to it. Particularly for this record for some reason. I'm not sure I've got an explanation for it, but we're sort of enjoying the fact that it's happened.

All right, here’s my final question for you: What records have you been listening to recently that you can't stop playing?

Ah-hah. This question I always struggle with because I listen to so much different kinds of music. But I guess I've been listening to a whole bunch of disco stuff. I bought a few records from this old D.J. from the '70s and '80s and he just sold his collection. In terms of actual albums, I guess most recently I've been listening to the MGMT record a bit and the Yeasayer record as well. There's an Australian label called P.A.M; they do these amazing combinations of just the weirdest music you could possibly imagine, like disco and Italian film soundtracks to funk and hip-hop stuff. They are just the most crazy combinations of stuff, and I can’t stop listening to them.

Read previous installments of Catching Up With here.

Another remix for you guys

This time it's the Cutters turn to remix the Juggers

Dystopia would have to be my least fav track from the album by the same name, but I am digging this Cut Copy remix

Dystopia - Cut Copy remix.mp3

Plus

Hearts on fire - Midnight Juggernauts remix.mp3

45 & rising - Cut Copy remix.mp3