parklife

This coming Sunday Parklife will hit Sydney, a long weekend and celestial Spring weather. There really is no better combination to usher in the festival season. The only thing that could compare is if the moon became a strobe light on NYE. Or spun around and said something dopey.

Fellow Parklifers, there are things you should and shouldn't do this weekend. I'll illustrate.

*Cue dark synths and smoke machines* It was way back (last week), one sunny summer afternoon in a Potts Point apartment. A raving buddy and I hung our arms from the breezy window, above a fucking hipster's balcony. We smoked cigarettes like air, drank Vodka like water and debated the "way of the rave" for hours.

We discussed 'rules' for Field Day 2010, but the ideas applied to any festival. Like Confucius, my buddy's words echoed through time like planets colliding. Her name is Lauren Murada. She is also a hipster, loves Top Shop, indie-electro, will trip in heels of any height and reckons chicks go to dubstep nights to experience vibrating toilet seats. This is what she said:

"My advice would be to definitely leave your shirt on. Don't wear thongs. Invest in a pairs of Cons or High Tops. Wear sunscreen. Don't pass out before 1pm and don't wet yourself. Oh, and see the Juan Maclean."

Empire of the Sun - Standing on the Shore (Cassian Remix)

Miike Snow - Black & Blue (Tiga Remix)

La Roux - I'm Not Your Toy (datA Remix)

La Roux - In for the Kill (Diplo and Bot Edit)

Services - Element of Danger (MSTRKRFT Remix)

Late of the Pier - The Bears are Coming (Joakim Remix)

Bloc Party - Hunting for Witches (Crystal Castles Remix)

Claude Von Stroke - Who's Afraid of Detroit? (Audion Remix)

Metronomy - Not Made for Love (Joakim Remix)

The Rapture - House of Jealous Lovers (Morgan Geist Remix)

Sydney Parklife 2009 set list.

the departed

What happens to someone’s Facebook when they die? Do their next of kin close it down? Does it go to heaven, stored in the MacBook of the departed, nostalgically displaying in 15 LED-backlit inches the comments that friends wrote to them about this LOL scenario, or that OMG moment, or trashy photos tags after they open-mouth kissed their second cousin at World Bar? Or does their guardian angel appear every night to update their status and wall-flirt with secret crushes? What about a Facebook cemetery? Is the Death Note app effective? Is Mark Zuckerberg god?

I had a dream last night that i was consumed by a bright red light. Inside was my guardian angel - it was La Roux. I think she's going to rock my world at Parklife.

Here's a snapshot of the better remixes from material off her debut self-titled album.

La Roux - In for the Kill (The Twelves remix)

La Roux - In for the Kill (Techjio remix)

La Roux - Bulletproof (Hoshina Anniversary remix)

La Roux - Bulletproof (Midfield General Remix)

bangers after all

I saw the Parklife lineup and i jizzed in my pants.

Hello my little chickens. You may not read this until the end of the long weekend. You mightn't remember to check Blouse in your haste as you fumble in the shower (boys don't call it that), squiggle on that eyeliner and face the mirror to adjust your skinny black tie. Don't forget the keys, hun.

When you do end up reading this you'll wonder why my post took so long. I'm not the most prompt lad but i have reasons. The main one is that i've spent most of the week cleaning earth off my car. A thick layer of red dust i mean. It became glued to the paint of my Skyline after going for a touge run through the Royal National Park one rainy bitch of a night. Now, there was a section of unsealed road that was slightly damp. As we drove over it sprayed dirt around like an airbrush, leaving our cars looking like fucking off-roaders. Uluru meets Osaka.

Well, after wiping the car down i was able to finish penning my review of Remix After All. Seeing as there's too much happening in it to give a skimpy summation, i've gone and dun'd it track-by-track so you feel all the love, rather than just my glutes.

Human After All (The Disco Villains Remix)
This one's flatter than the girl i lost my virginity to. It doesn't take the original song anywhere important, let alone exciting. C'mon TDV, gimme MOAR!

The Prime Time Of Your Life (Tits & Clits Remix)
Total yum. Influenced by the likes of Justice and MSTRKRFT. Is it just me, or do i hear a distortion sample from Justice's D.A.N.C.E. Pt. II, which was sampled from MSTRKRFT's remix of D.A.N.C.E.? And that buildup... it's tougher than the Vietcong swinging from misty branches. Great showmanship.

Robot Rock (Immuzikation Remix)
Not sure about the jungle bongos. Worst buildup. Ever.

Steam Machine (The Company Kang Remix)
Great tech-house grinding like teeth against the curb. Amazing Enya-like piano section halfway in, with the "steam" sample dropped in nicely.

Make Love (Chew Fu and Substantial Small Room Sax Fix)
All i want to do is laugh. I ain't making love to this shit. You can't have sex to a swarm of flies playing the didgeridoo. This track has an annoying Ku Klux Klan chorus, cheesy and cliche Eminem rip-off raps joined by a sax played with a flatulent anus.

The Brainwasher (Melee Beats Remix)
Great electro-tech number. Well controlled song progression. Could be used on the Wolfenstein 3D or Goldeneye 64 soundtracks, until the ghey piano kick in.

On/Off (The Noizy Kidz Daft Zapping Remix)
Don't get me wrong, this is quality craftsmanship. But it sounds like every other remix ever created. Yawn.

Television Rules The Nation (Dirty Disco Youth Remix)
DDY is a great fucking remixer. He delivers the kind of bangers that will lift you by the scrotum/labia as a comedown sets in before you want it to (which is never). This is another example of chargy, frantic electro-dry humping. Keep an eye on this guy.

Technologic (Kids At The Bar Remix)
I've always loved how this song's film clip turned that cute "technologic" sample into a fucking evil "Chuckie's right behind you, with a razor" piece of work. Oh, i forgot. The remix. Doesn't take the original anywhere special. The 1990s C&C Music Factory-esque percussion is very nostalgic. Doesn't make it any better though.

Emotion (Werewolf By Night Remix)

From the first few bars i liked what WBN have done with this track. They've created a new angle for the song, breathing fresh life into it, then massaged the "emotion" sample in with care - unlike some other remixers i don't care to name *cough*Noizy Kidz*cough*. It's an 80s synth-fest on this one, kind of if M83 were house producers.

I give the album 3.5 stars.

To send you off here's the perfect young-and-free track for a long weekend.

The Juan MacLean - Happy House

outcomes

so.. parklife is over and done for another year and everyone seems to be nursing sore heads and mouths.
i guess that this means that some parklife reflection is in order hey?? damnnnn

i think ive heard some really mixed reviews about the day, but luckily my reviews are far from mixed.. (in a good way)

sitting pretty atop the pile o' artists that i enjoyed on the day are the effervescent soulwax.. i was most looking forward to seeing these guys live and luckily (for them) they didnt disappoint.
seeing dance music played with instruments is always a nice gift and these lads were seriously like santa..
when they played robot rock and then went straight into phantom pt2, i think everyone lost their respective shit(s). everyone was either saying or thinking OMG:

Daft Punk - Robot Rock (Soulwax Remix)
into
Justice - Phantom Pt 2 (Soulwax Nite Version)

OMG OMG OMG LOLOCOPTER

or something along those lines.

when they took the stage again later on that evening as 2 many djs it was really very good.. by that point everyone had lost their shit so many times over that there seemed to be a very 'desperate to keep dancing' vibe in the air which wasn't helped by the breaks and drum & bass that crept into their set toward the end.
however, them playing

John Paul Young - Love Is In The Air (Ballroom Mix)

was beyond genius. i have never seen as many people smiling or hugging in my entire life. tinglicious yo

moving away from Dewaele related matters now.. another good act to play were Metro Area.. having only heard a remix of theirs on a DFA compilation, i didnt really know what to expect. to be honest, i have no idea how i ended up at their stage (and for a long while i didnt even know who they were) but im really glad that i did because they played the funkiest and most upbeat brand of disco and disco house that i have ever heard..
one of the first post-parklife things i did was to go and get their self-titled album which although containing some very very good lo-fi indie disco numbers like this,

Metro Area - Pina

Metro Area - Square-Pattern Aura

was very different to their dj set at parklife.
i looked for any dj sets that they'd done in the past and managed to track down this mix- which may or may not have been done as a promo for a bacardi b-live event (or something)..

Metro Area B-Live Mix

very funky and chilled but i have a sneaking suspicion that it would sound very nice on some large speakers.. if this is how this whole disco thing turns out when/if it does turn big then i would be very happy..

diplo was the last dj that i wanted to praise.. i must admit that i dont really remember a whole lot about the set except that i was made very happy by it and danced a good dance to many of the songs that he played.. i had pre-thought that he would play a lot of hip hop and real MIA-ish b'more but it really didnt come across like that (too much)

The Pack - Vans (Diplo's Vans 'Til Infinity Remix)

Spoon - Don't You Evah (Diplo Mix)

The Pixies - Hey (Diplo Mix)

ok ow now ive been looking at this screen for too long and my head is aching. time for retreat

***PS*** i dont think that i got to see much of fake blood at parklife, and im really sad that i missed them cos i just recieved word that they were rather good indeed.. our friend dj AKA milo firewater has put together a nice dubby/breaksy flavoured remix of 'mars' which im sure absolutely destroyed things at parklife..

Fake Blood - Mars (Milo Firewater Remix)

blocklife

10:27am Steve
i need to write a parklife post but i cant think

10:28am Kate
ill write it for you.

here goes.

cough cough...just clearing my throat....

10:29am Kate
well electro-junk heads...its that time again, when we slip into the omnipresent mist of fake tan and boobies that is the world...the very skanky world, of parklife....

(thats the start)

(then you could say something like)

10:31am Kate
yes....as we all do when it comes to this wonderful time of year...i pretended to buy my ticket to hear the staged-sex of peaches....lyrical saunter of goldfrapp and the derogator of blackalicious...but truely im there for a PERVE....i love you short shorts

10:32am Steve
where are you getting this from

10:32am Kate
i made it up!

my brain

wait....ive got the close too....

10:32am Steve
did you really make it up

10:32am Kate
YES!

i really did

wait for the close....

10:35am Kate
welcome to the couple of months that we save for every year....its time to bow your heads and thank god that its festival time again...and thank fuck that it starts with the amazing sounds of tanned honeys and backless bathers that is the life within the park....

10:36am Steve
Kate is no longer online. The following was not sent:

thank you (send as a message)

Sunny Day Sets Fire - Adrenaline (XXXChange Remix)

Young MC - Bust A Move (Diplo Remix)

Boy 8 Bit - Wild Beasts

Yuksek - Everywhere in Town (Cosmo Vitelli Remix)

Familjen - Det lilla livet

Daft Punk - Technologic (Peaches Remix)

trees and sunshine

di doo

for some reason i always associate summer with digitalism.. weird hey.
when i think of summer, and in particularly summer festivals, visions of digitalism playing at parklife last year spring to mind (even though parklife isn't technically in summer haha)..
it wasn't the performance that particularly blew me away, (the sound was terrible and their whole rig broke down halfway through their set) but the muggy temperature and excited yet relaxed vibe strongly resonated with my idea of summer.

so i guess that in this run-in to summer (and parklife), its really nice to see some very lush, summery and overall digitalism(ish) sounds making their way into the blouse offices..

first up are awesome local boys One Glove who i first heard of a few weeks ago, just after they won a part of the JJJ Unearthed competition (congrats lads). they seemed to be getting massive props everywhere i went, but i don't think i realised how epic and mature their sound would be until i heard it..

One Glove - Radiator

i think that the whole upbeat, yet deep indie/electro/disco sound that digitalism made their own is a really untapped resource.. i would have thought that a lot of people would have tried to cash in on this sound in some way but i haven't really heard anyone (except perhaps the presets)come close to this sound.. until One Glove..

One Glove - Tell Me Something I Don't Know

like digitalism, one glove's use of flowing, engulfing synths and amped up drums is genius. one glove though feel much deeper in lyrical content and musical arrangement, which really floats mah boat yo..
not to sound too cheesy or anything, but theirs is that perfect sort of music that you have to shut your eyes to on the dance floor.. where you actually pay attention to what is being played and sung. absolutely compelling and engrossing.
amazing coming from these dudes who (i think) are only in their early 20's

One Glove - Origin

along with winning the JJJ unearthed competition, these boys won a slot at this year's parklife.. im pretty stoked to be seeing them there- i can only imagine what these beats are like live.
my prediction is that we will be seeing much much much of these boys in the future.

on the other side of the digitalism coin of course, is their incredible remixing ability.. they have an uncanny ability to inject a large amount of toughness and masculinity into any song. take their remix of 'skip to the end' by futureheads for example- they took a weak britpoppy mess of a track and turned into a tough, don't-mess-with-me strutter that simply destroyed any d-floor it encountered..
although there are many artists out there that make tough dancefloor destroyers (thank you boyz noize and bloody beetroots), i haven't really come across too many that do it with the same funk or style.. frenchies Dead Rock Machine definitely do though..

Dead Rock Machine - Ante

this is the sort of electro house that i still love to hear out.. its hard but still has intelligence..
although Dead Rock Machine share a similar confident toughness and funk with digitalism remixes, one thing that does differentiate them from.... them is an element of optimism or upbeatedness.. they don't seem as dark.. and i guess that is a good thing

Metronomy - Heartbreaker (Dead Rock Machine Remix)

all up, these boys are pure class- like one glove, i'm sure we'll be hearing a lot from them soon..

and finally.. here is a slice of disco that everyone has been DYING for.

Casino - Penthouse Affair

casino hail from tha ukizzle and apparently are kind of a big deal in and around europe.. this sound is very cool- very funky really sounds authenticish like its really oldschool..