Bon Iver makes quirk cool again

Remember when being weird was cool? Remember what the stranger and more off key vocals could get, the better? remember Alice in Chains? Well i do. I also remember when that trend was taken too far and it wasn't even about the music anymore. Keeping in theme with my last post about Fuck Buttons. Bon Iver has convinced me that quirky is cool once again.

Bon Iver - Skinny love (mp3)




Bon Iver - The Wolves [Part i and ii] (mp3)



Bon Iver - Creature Fear (mp3)

Fuck Buttons

The Buttons

At some point in everyone's life, however temporarily, you just can't listen to anymore fucking dance music. This occurred collectively after the mid to late 90's rush of dance hits whose demise was signaled by the wide acceptance of films like "A night at the Roxbury" as a mainstream hit.

There was just so many times the public could hear "What is love?" before all the "Baby don't hurt me"'s in the world couldn't stifle the average citizen's urge to indeed hurt him, and in away that incapacitates his ability to make infectious bad dance music.

We may just be approaching such a collective awakening ourselves, and the UK's Fuck Buttons may just be on to something.

Here they are at SXSW performing Sweet Love For Planet Earth.



Officially recorded as an "experimental noise" group, Fuck Buttons are gaining perhaps surprising popularity internationally and are touring in support of their album Street Horrrsing. I can't help but wonder what Fuck Buttons show is like, given most of the music has a slow, listen at home alone kind of feel. Give it a listen. Broaden those fucking horizon's.


Fuck Buttons - Sweet Love For Planet Earth (mp3)



Fuck Buttons - Bright Tomorrow (mp3)

Monday Re-up #6

Can you keep a secret? Yes? Good. I can't. But somebody kept Le Matos a secret from me until recently. They're a group of three guys, who might even be cousins, and are based in Montreal. I'm guessing they're new because I've never fucking heard of them, never seen them on bill for a show, on a poster or a blog. They have a facebook artist page though so i KNOW its legit. They do a tight Omnikrom remix of Prend une photo avec moi and even have some pretty fly instrumentals. Now before i run out of late 90's french prince of bel air inspired adjectives like tight and fly, let met just stop and let the music speak for itself.




Le Matos - Like Perfume on a Pig (mp3)



Omnikrom - Prend une photo avec moi [Le Matos remix] (mp3)

Plimsouls promise salvation, or just great instrumentals

If the salvation of our collective souls was based on the relative availability of catchy and inventive instrumental electronic music, then Plimsouls would be responsible for a lot of soul saving.

These British House Djs sealed the deal for me by remixing fellow Brit Get Cape Wear Cape Fly and well at that. Remixing an acoustic artist well is no small feat and save Van She Technologic's epic Feist Remix of 1 2 3 4, most DJs tend to stay away from that territory. Check it out.


Plimsouls - Contact (mp3)



Plimsouls - Plimsouls Theme (mp3)



Get Cape Wear Cape Fly - Find the Time [Plimsouls Remix] (mp3)

Crystal Castles @ Studio Just for Laughs this Thursday

The first time I saw Toronto's Crystal Castles was this New Years with Guns N Bombs at the SAT. As impaired as my judgement may have been, I recall them being great, the girl who does vocals got really into the performance and ripped off some of her clothes. Not in a attention seeking Uffie kind of way, there was no nipple in sight, the way it should be done, the Crystal Castles way.



This Thursday they hit Studio Just for Laughs with LA's Health, who in a way are responsible for the popularization of Crystal Castles, with their hit remix Crimewave. The Castles dropped some new tracks a few weeks ago, here are some originals to check out.



Crystal Castles - Magic Spells (mp3)




Crystal Castles - Courtship Date (mp3)

Monday Re-up #5 MSTRKRFT edition

MSTRKRFT and Boys Noize on Saturday night banged Metropolis for all it was worth and it showed. When I walked out of the show and headed toward St Lo a handful of riot police equipped with shields and batons were blocking the street. Apparently some kind of reggaeton show at Club Soda sold out and people got violent trying to get in. That's true dedication, I wonder if that would ever happen at an electro show.

Now these incidents are not necessarily related but anyone who attended the show will agree that both a riot shield and baton would have come in handy on the floor. Way too many people, but expected. Altogether a great show, we shot some footage there and threw it up on youtube. Enjoy.

Your Song is Good

A few years ago I walked into an HMV in Tokyo, convinced that i was going to walk out with some legitimately Japanese music. After twenty minutes of rifling through pseudo japanese western imitations, I came across a small rack of cds and vinyl in the back underneath a sign with Japanese characters that must have read something along the lines of Indie Japan. Just what I was looking for. I knew not much critical analysis was going to go into any of this since I had no idea what any of the bands were called or what genre they might be save what the album art may suggest, so I picked based on that.



What I walked out with was Your Song is Good, a Japanese ska band that didn't disappoint me in any way shape or form. Most of their tunes were instrumental with some shouting in basic english or Japanese. I've long been convinced that ska is a dead genre - and it really still is - but these guys are so unabashed about being a Japanese ska-jazz-fusion band that you can't help enjoy it.




They even did a cover of the little mermaid song that got put on Disney cover CD called Mosh Pit on Disney. Check out the video for the song Good - Bye Bye. I think the only lyrics in the whole song is the word Good-bye.



Here are some of the stand out tracks off the Album i bought, if you like it, try and catch a show or buy a disc.

Your Song is Good - "2,4,6,6,1,64" Number (m4a)




Your Song is Good - Good Lookin' (m4a)




Your Song is Good - Locomotion (m4a)