Ghetto Sunrise

tuesday night.. chill time in the 'hood.

one thing that i have discovered over the past few weeks is that chill time sure aint chill time without californian armon bazile (aka aybee) and his overwhelmingly smooth, soulful beats. i initially found it hard to pin down his sound, but have since learned to get over it and just love his irresistible blend of soul, house and techno.
this track, "ghetto sunrise" featured prominently on motor city drum ensemble's fantastic resident advisor mix from '08.. soft pads, a gently bubbling bassline and chanting. i can feel my eyes misting over already:

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what did everyone think of van she's 'ze vemixes'? i have to say that i wasnt overly impressed.
sure, the changes remix was banging, but it really seems like the boys are in the midst of a remixing (vemixing?) identity crisis: to go on making their once genre-changing indie bangers which are perhaps a little stale and over-copied, or to follow most other aussie indie producers of note down the nu-disco road and sacrifice the crazy reputation that they earned for themselves.. hmmmmm... quite a dilly.

with all that aside, here is their new mix of 'synthetiseur' by frenchies housse de racket.. a definite banger to help you reminisce on the good old vst days..

Housse De Racket - Synthetiseur (Van She Tech Remix)

ze vemixes

I couldn't help myself, so i kissed him. I had to express my pure adulation to Van She's vocalist Nick Routledge with the recent release of their remix album Ze Vemixes. It was foolish of me, and i could've blamed the wine, but we were both satisfied with my plush man lips pressed into his soft, boy-like cheek last Friday.

His petite girlfriend, sitting beside us in a booth at The Falconer, was equally as ruttish. I caught a hungry twinkle in her eye just as the camera snapped. The low lights burned softly as the air temperature rose around us several degrees. On-lookers began whispering.

Van She - Cat and the Eye (Van She Tech Remix)

To share in the euphoria you can pick up a copy of Ze Vemixes here, or get tickets to Van She's show at the Metro on June 26, with support sets from Bag Raiders and Ted & Francis.

Mwa x.

core-core

sunday music. day after music. train sitting music. break-up music. reading music. studying music.
comedown-core: the worst, most subjective non-genre since forever.
sure most of this music could and probably is filed under 'chillout' or something similar but i feel like these specific tracks seem to actually understand what im going through and are there to help me at my time of need.

the first and most obvious comedown-core artist would have to be m83. anything by m83. oh my god m83

m83 - Car Chase Terror

Van She - Kelly (m83 Remix)

might be my favourite ever. have nursed me through many a comedown-core moment. they are playing in sydney soon too. maybe you should buy tickets?

the second most obvious comedown-core artist would have to be cut copy. a perfectly intelligent mix of so many sounds that would soothe and numb even the most restless of minds. their tracks 'that was just a dream' and 'zap zap' (should just have been one song) are probably their most solid comedown-core works to date.. the fact that they were the permanent comedown tracks at kobi and lisa's (our old comedown shack) is a testament to this.
absolutely need to be listened to one after the other. but of course you already knew that.

Cut Copy - That Was Just A Dream

Cut Copy - Zap Zap

the new lost valentinos song serio also sits pretty underneath the fluttery cut copy flag. like i said before, i cant believe that this is the same lost valentinos that were floating around last year/the year before but i dont think that really matters. on its own merit this song is very damned sweet. comedown core sweet.

Lost Valentinos - Serio

this sun-speckled remix of asobi seksu by twins would also be a perfect addition to your next comedown-core occasion. all bendy hawaiian guitars and warm bass guitar.. so nice and hazy. the vocals offset the dreamy melody so well.

Asobi Seksu - Familiar Light (Twins Remix)

roxy music made some of the most classy and understated pop music of the '70's and '80's. now its the '00s (gonna be the '10s soon yo) and their music slides into comedown-core so easily. why cant pop music be this good nowadays?

Roxy Music - The Space Between

Roxy Music - True To Life

and what post would be complete without some kind of valerie connection?
pegase is absolutely one of the most rising of stars in that esteemed collective and i cant believe that i have never posted about him before. now seems like a good time though as this song fits the comedown core mold pretty well.
apparently this is a demo but to that i say "whatever". the wistful synths and choked vocals somehow bring '70s french movies to mind. weird hey.
if this song was approx three minutes longer it could totes be the score for c'était un rendez-vous

Pegase - Without Reason

ok im gonna stop now or else this post will go on for eternity. so many notable exclusions hey. oh well--more later. in the meantime maybe you can tell me your favourite comedown-core songs?

gloves

i remember hearing about a young fellow called GLOVES on the blogs ages ago..
he had a pretty rad 80's movie posterish press shot which impressed me, and his beats really stood out in a crowd of electro-y/fidget-y repetitiveness..

this remix of 'sweaty wet/dirty damp' by the incredibly over-rated gameboy/gamegirl is a recent GLOVES affair which i rather enjoyed..
he really brought sanity and production values to the song- which i thought was a tacky, underproduced spew fest prior..

Gameboy/Gamegirl - Sweaty Wet/Dirty Damp (GLOVES Remix)

GLOVE'S two new remixes which have recently come our way show an element of maturity and depth that has grown into his production.. his fresh new remix of 'changes' by van she is an incredibly lush track filled with soft alan braxe style synths and a warm bass..
his *also* fresh new remix of Listen to This Collision by The Death Set is more in keeping with his usual style but many of the hardcore electro-y elements have been toned down to somehow create a more frantic and claustrophobic feel..

Van She - Changes (GLOVES Remix)

The Death Set - Listen To This Collision (GLOVES Remix)

very clever is this lad
in his other guise he is known as Yama Indra from Damn Arms.. both he and his band have recently been signed so i could imagine that their lives are pretty much awesome right about now..

got my vans on but they look like sneakers

I dont think i can tell you how excited i am about the brand new album by Van She.. im sure im not the only one..

this album has been SUCH a long time coming.. i dont envy the amount of pressure they must have been under to pump out a good album after their sweet-ass EP..
after talking to keyboard player Mike sometime last year, i was shocked to hear that they had to scrap nearly a whole album's worth of songs that they thought were taking them in the wrong direction.. there really is a lot more to being in a band than meets the eye..

so after all the pressure and expectation did they manage to produce a good album? holy shit yesss..
this album is a lot different to what i thought it would be.. i have to admit that after the success of Kelly, i thought that 'V' would be an synthie 80's fuelled dance-off.. (i suspect that this was the direction that they were trying to steer away from).. instead however, i found it to be a deliciously diverse record that bounces from the 80's pop that has so strongly defined the band, to solid, wall-of-sound rock, 90's grunge, and 70's folk..

Van She - Virgin Suicide

Van She - It Could Be The Same

i think these two songs highlight the diversity of the album.. 'virgin suicide' is a beautiful retrospective track, while 'it could be the same' is a much tougher tune that goes from a bassline driven verse straight out of peter gabriels 80's into a nirvana 90's chorus..

one song that really surprised me on this album was the re-recording of the sublime kelly.. i think that this is perhaps how they would play it live.. everything just seems to be that much faster, louder and dancier

Van She - Kelly

i dont want to sound like papa van she here or anything but i really am proud of what they have come up with here.. it would have been so easy to pump out an album of kelly replica's that would have seen them forgotten overnight, but i think that by being patient they have won. yay
buy 'V' here

the Videodrome mk X

yippee!!!!

Van She - Changes

man i lurrvv van she- 'changes' is seriously made of heat.. please- do yourself a favour and get your bottoms down to a van she show in the coming weeks, i have no doubt that you will have a rather large smile plastered all over your face at the end of it.

Van She's Hybrid Live DJ Tour
18 July Prince Bandroom, Melbourne
19 July The Cross (above The Bourbon), Sydney
24 July The Bakery, Perth
25 July Beatnik Picnic, Singapore City
27 July Edinburgh Castle, Adelaide
15 August The Prince, Melbourne
16 Aug 2008 The Forum, Sydney

(as well as these dates, the boys are playing at the Splendour in the Grass and Parklife festivals, god bless them)

also, here is a mixtape that the boys have made that showcases some tracks that have influenced during the recording and etc of their new album.. it is super low quality though.. does anyone know where we can get a better quality one??

rush hour

uber quick post cos im in an uber rush...

everyone should already know Van She's latest single 'Strangers".. it is definitely an awesome song, but i reckon that most people would be quite over it by now (damn radio for killing songs by overplay).
anyway, also on the original release was a Strip Steve remix of Strangers as well as 'black dots' which will feature on their upcoming album.

Van She - Strangers (Strip Steve Mix)

Van She - Black Dots

get in quick sons and daughters.. preorder their album here

they are will also be playing some shows to support the release of the album.. it appears as though their live show has turned into somewhat of a party, with the likes of Ajax, Dangerous Dan, HOOPS, Modular DJs, Dirty Secrets, BMX, Like Woah, Andee Van Damage, Gloves, and Valentino Djs all set to spin or strum or hit things either before or after van she. wicked.
tour dates etcccc are available here

more later

the Videodrome mk VII

van she are awesome. this is a fact. everyone (except jack) knows this.

i wont waste time kissing their asses on this blog because that has already been done on every other blog on earth. instead, im gonna go against the grain and say that the songs that i had heard off 'V' before today have been rubbish.
Cat and the Eye was an ever so slightly uber M.O.R./pop jam. that got used as the channel 9 jingle (not that thats a bad thing but hearing that song during most ad breaks really did nothing for the song or me). shite.
and im not sure if Danny is a song off the album but whatever. im not even sure what was going on there.

but i dont care about these songs. all i care about today is Strangers.


Van She - Strangers

my boots are still smoking. how good is that song? GOOD! kind of a mix between kelly and sex city that somehow transcends both? PROBABLY WOULDN'T GO THAT FAR BUT ITS GOOD. do i have sun in my eyes right now thats annoying me? YES.

Van She - Strangers (Van She Tech Remix)

Van She - Cat and the Eye (Van She Tech Remix)

in other news there are a couple of newish van she tech remixes that somehow slipped under my radar.. weird..
again, i love van she tech. its true that for a while there all of their remixes sounded the same, but their newer remixes are a bit more different.. a bit less intense than the older ones.

Shinichi Osawa - Maximum Joy (Van She Tech Remix)

Martina Topley Bird - Poison (Van She Tech Remix)

actually come to think of it- im not 100% sure that these songs were actually remixed by van she tech but the track titles said that they were so the probably are.