Christmas! Nathan Fake & Lindstrøm

Hey! Wow, it's going to be Christmas in a couple of days. Great! Great? Hmm..

I might be a special case (or just a grinch), but one of the biggest grinders of my Christmas gears would have to be the carols.
 
If you feel like changing - or spicing - things up a little around the tree on Christmas Day, here are a few songs that I found to be suitably 'festive' for this stressful period..

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I Want It

sun outside? yep. probably a good day for some prins thomas & lindstrom wonderment.

first up is a no nonsense balearic edit from prins thomas. it is an edit of marius vareid's track "netlop".. love how he takes such the simple rhythm from the original, strips out all the fluff and compacts it into a driving, d-floor presence:

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moi from helsinki

fuck. don't listen to what anyone has been telling you. 28+ hours of travelling is definitely not fun. 3 continents, 4 flights and 1 aching back later, here i am writing the first post from the new finnish outpost of blouse. hello!

im still trying to figure out how to get this new fangled internet connection to work properly, but in the meantime i just wanted to share a little bit of my scandinavian excitement with you.

norway's own rune lindbaek is (for me) one of the unsung heroes of the whole scandic disco movement. his vintage cinematic sounds have a real, organic feel to them. such pure, refined productions.

lets not mince words: his '07 lp "klubb kebabb" is frikkin awesome. it is an album of disco edits that definitely rival terje's for quality and diversity.. featured on it are edits of toto, boney m and a collab with terje, but one of my favourites is the 'fra lippo lippi' sampling "til lippo lippo".
a slice of amazingly cheesy 80's pop, "til lippo lippo" comes complete with heavy snares and lengthy guitar solos and melancholic vibe. if you liked leo zero's edit of prefab sprout, you will love this:

Rune Lindbaek - Til Lippo Lippo

grab "klubb kebabb" here.

his '01 album "sondag" is probably even more impressive. predating the funky disco of "klubb kebabb" by around 6 years, this album is instead packed with hazy, warm balearic beats that channel the likes of lemon jelly and royksopp. beautiful music that is best listened to under a palm tree.
"nattvandring" is typical of the warm, breezy vibe and old-school cinematic sounds on "sondag". have a listen:

Rune Lindbaek - Nattvandring

grab "sondag" here.

and finally, this is a remix that prins thomas did of lindbaek & lindstrom's track "aliens in my pocket" back in '04. it is absolutely one of my favourite thomas remixes with its driving drums, funky, progressive bass and delicate, ethereal synth touches. amazing.

Lindbaek & Lindstom - Aliens In My Pocket (Prins Thomas Remix)

cant wait to explore this place and find some local finnish and scandinavian djs and bands! very excited.

2009 According to Steve

writing a personal 2009 music summary is really hard. it feels a bit stupid to say that i avoided all party music, but it is actually the truth.. instead of nodding away to bangers, i found myself chasing the more refined sounds of disco and chillwave. which was ok cos it was apparently a great year for the more chin-strokey and misty-eyed beats anyway:

Washed Out - Feel It All Around

some people might say that 2009 was the year of dubstep. i on the other hand would argue that it was the year of dream-pop and nu-disco.. boat club, toro y moi and memory tapes may have all flown that dream-pop flag high with some amazing releases, but the simplicity, reverb and "oooooooo's" put forth by washed out's 'feel it all around' managed to cradle me into misty-eyed bliss more any of them.

Telefon Tel Aviv - Helen of Troy

i had this song jammed solidly on repeat for basically the entire start of '09. their album 'immolate yourself' may have been a fantastically whacked out prog-journey in itself, but as a single, 'helen of troy' was like the soundtrack to my dad and i discussing the meaning of life. an absolute standout.

D-Pulse - Highway To Saturn

the disco genre apparently decided to take in the intergalactic scenic drive in '09.. cosmic tracks were plentiful, and i have to say that the mateship of strong funky basslines and echoey, soaring vintage synths really floated my boat. big time. to me, d-pulse's 'highway to saturn' epitomises this cosmic '09 sound. funky, classy and oh-so-cool, this track may be more 'logan's run' than '2001: a space odyssey', yet definitely does not suffer for it.

Space - Just Blue (Ichisan's Quatro Diversion)

sitting proudly alongside lindstrom & prins thomas, d-pulse, acos coolkas et al as the solar crown princes of this cosmic sound is ichisan. powerful, all-encompassing productions are ichisan's game and in '09 he certainly played well.
this remix that he turned in for the space remixes project pushed my buttons in every way.. epic, pounding pianos, rolling basslines and more drama than your nye with the phantom of the opera.

Lindstrom & Prins Thomas - Gudene Vet + Snutt

where to start with a duo like lindstrom and prins thomas? 2009 again presented these guys with a commanding view of the lush disco landscape after several top-notch remixes and a couple of impressive lp's between them.
it is hard to pick one stand-out track from them, but the hammock-inspiring "gudene vet + snutt" was an absolute standout from the majestic "II".. rocking a distinctly relaxed air-air, this track is truly all orange sunshine and yellow sand: summery disco at its very finest.
i know i talk about songs being soundtracks to things very often, but if this song was the soundtrack to anything, it would be this.

DOWNLOAD STEVE'S 2009 (zip file)

DOWNLOAD ENTIRE BLOUSE BEST OF 2009 (zip file - 187mb)

Honourable Mentions:

Miike Snow - Silvia
Siriusmo - High Together
Tesla Boy - Neon Love
Toby Tobias - In Your Eyes (Tensnake Remix)
Memory Tapes - Green Knight
Junior Boys - Parallel Lines
Fever Ray - Dry & Dusty