Prequel

2008 has ended. 2009 has begun.

Which is pretty much as expected. But what else can be expected? The unexpected?

Probably not.

But in terms of music... well... I expect that Coconut Records and Air France will get a bit more notice from the media at large, and start to prosper even more greatly in the blogosphere. The Script will hopefully die. Or just quit, I'm not bothered either way. Frightened Rabbit's rise to fame will no doubt deservedly continue, as will The Hold Steady's, and My Morning Jacket's - perhaps slightly less deservedly considering how unbelievably (frighteningly) good the Rabbit are... but nevertheless...

I suppose I could use this post to sum up my favourite songs/albums/bands from '08 and make some predicitions on gems for '09 but I think I'll save that for a special day when I have nothing but a hangover to deal with. In the meanwhile, some musical news:

Kris Menace is now masquerading as 'Jaunt', but hes managing to be as consistently awesome as ever so fair play I guess. The Twelves have started releasing pretty average tunes by their standards (the recent couple of tracks they did with Cicada were a crushing disappointment, I won't bother posting them). Designer Drugs have continued to be amazing, although in a slightly different (more bassy) way, as have Fake Blood (see below). Bag Raiders are still great. Hooray.

...

Also, I think that rambling nonsense has filled up enough space to warrant me posting all these amazing songs. Hooray again.

Coconut Records - Nighttiming Buy
UNKLE - Restless (Fake Blood Remix) Buy
The Black Ghosts - Lets Get Physical Buy
Modjo - What I Mean (The Crayon/Aloud Remix) Awesome

How did I miss this one?
Bag Raiders - Nil By Mouth (Knightlife Remix)

TEPR Eff

I've been listening to some flipping HUGE tunes lately, courtesy mostly of two producers. First up is London boy Bill Eff, competing with the French electro crowd and not coming off to bad at all. Fittingly, his remix of Yelle's 'Ce Jeu' is the best I've heard, thanks most to it's simplicity and epic use of reverb. A lot better than The Twelves attempt, which is usually saying something. Although in this case it isn't because their version wasn't particularly spectacular at all. As well as that, I've had Eff's tune 'Hate You' on repeat. It carries strong overtones of a kind of 'Flat Beat' tune, but a little more dubsteppy and with a few more levels. You can imagine it influencing a drug-related burst of paranoia. (Which is a good thing).

As well as Eff, I've been listening to the ever-popular TEPR. No idea what it stands for, or where TEPR is from. And I've put zero effort into finding out because as far as I'm concerned his remixes tell you all you need to know. Which is that he's pretty good. His version of Ironik's 'I Wanna Be Your Man' is kind of excitingly rectro in its use of sliced-up chipmunky vocals, but the real banger is his old remix of 'Dangerseekers' (which has already done the rounds on the blogosphere, but I thought I'd revive it in the interests of good music). It's a pretty straightforward track - some good old synth stab rhythms and a thumping dance beat. Plus a bit of harmless fidget here and there. Well done, Mr (Mrs?) TEPR.*

And also, Calvin Harris's remix of See The Light may start off as slightly annoying and ridiculous - but for some reason I played it 5 times in a row today. It cheered me up. Great use of vocals and nicely playful with the melody. Definitely a good one so I thought I'd throw it in.

Bill Eff - Hate You (See Below)
Yelle - Ce Jeu (Bill Eff Remix) Myspace
Kap10Kurt - Dangerseekers (TEPR Remix) Buy
Ironik - I Wanna Be Your Man (TEPR Remix) Myspace
The Hours - See The Lights (Calvin Harris Remix) Myspace

*By the way, just checked the French (apparently) producers myspace and there is an incredible remix of Ce Jeu on there. Very clubby, and competition for Bill Eff's.

Goody Bag

I just found out that if you enter the name of this blog and the exact details of my last post into google, this site comes up top of the search (!). Amazing. I can feel the intraweb hooking its shiny metal claws into me.

Moving on... every time I've loaded up iTunes this week I've made a beeline for 'Shooting Stars'. I'm pretty sure that its the greatest song ever made. Or pretty close. It's the only tune currently competing with Designer Drugs' stuff for playtime on my computer, anyway. Or at least it was, until I finally managed to find The Twelves remix of 'Rich Girls' this morning (Thank you Hype Machine).

I think the amount of bangers coming from those electro stalwarts is just about making up for my dissapointment with Danger's latest offering, his remix of 'My Way' not being quite as inspired (and banging) as most of his other work.

Also ... because life can't be all hardcore bangers ... I've been a bit keen on Lo-Fi-Fnk. 'Want U' is a surprisingly good cure for a hangover. And TV On The Radio might be horrifically commercial (in blogging terms at least), but 'Staring at the Sun' is an amazing song. And its about sex. I think. I hope.

Bag Raiders - Shooting Stars Myspace
TV On The Radio - Staring At The Sun Buy
The Virgins - Rich Girls (The Twelves Remix) Buy
Lo-Fi-Fnk - Want U Myspace
IAMX - Spit It Out (Designer Drugs Remix) Myspace