Wednesday, May 27, 2009

DEMF


Cassie, I love you for giving me those tickets.

Monday May 25, 2009 was unbelievable. This year's Detroit Electronic Music Festival was coming to a close by this last day of acts, but the energy in Hart Plaza was still fully charged. I took the tunnel bus over with my buddies George and Chris just in time to catch the start of Tiga's DJ set, which was incredible. I think the track that really shot the electricity through my veins was his remix of The Knife. After his set was done, and a few beers and thousands of cigarettes later, we made it over to the Red Bull Stage to see Busy P. In my opinion, his set was the best of the evening (and yes, I might get flack for saying this, but: he was better than Benny Benassi). When his remix of "Kids" by MGMT came on, I literally lost my mind.

Lastly, back at the Beatport Stage, Benny Benassi finished off the night with an electrifying DJ set performance. By this time it was past 9:00 pm and the sun was fading, so the lights and strobes were coming on. Benny's set was probably the loudest of the night, with bass so deep you could literally feel your lungs vibrating. The crowd was so thick that you couldn't move around (not that anything but jumping up and down was needed anyway), and everyone was in the heat of the moment. Great line-up, great people, great time. If you didn't make it this year, go next year.

Addicted


Well we can all blame Nicole Markham of CJAM's Washing Machine for inexplicably getting me absolutely hooked on this new female, Canadian artist. Vancouver-based electro-pop wonder Christer has blatantly demonstrated to me, yet again, how catchy and damn fun the right combination of pop vocals and playful synth-keys can be. Her 2009 album Techna is a powerhouse of a demonstration of her skills to pull off this combination. On the assumption that a few of you will pull the whole "Man, electro-pop is so played out" or "I'm so sick of all of this postal service-style stuff", blah blah blah. I can say with conviction that Techna will break you from this rut.

The album starts off with the supercharged "How You Like It" slaps down warming vocals that wrap around your entire head when you have headphones on and continues its assault with deeper, acid-like riffs that eventually are gift-wrapped with colourful strings to play the song out. Other tracks like "Cadaver" and "Trees And Rockets" use more pinpoint keystrokes and bass kicks to complement the vocal work in an effective and thoroughly enjoyable fashion.

If you're a fan of Ladyhawke, you'll love this. If you're not a fan of Ladyhawke, you'll still love this.

Tracklist for Tuesday May 26, 2009

Christer - Cadaver (Body Parts Remix)
Beast - Mr. Hurricane
Crystal Castles - Vanished
The Crystal Method - Come Back Clean (Featuring Emily Haines)
Fischerspooner - Best Revenge
OHGR - Eyecandy
Time Lock - Hyber Nation
Tosca - My First
Faunts - Twenty-three (Cadence Weapon Remix)
Christer - How You Like It
The Knife - Like A Pen
Royksopp - This Must Be It
Telefon Tel Aviv - The Birds
Cut Copy - Out There On The Ice
The Faint - Glass Danse
Justice - Phantom Pt. II
The Postal Service - Brand New Colony
Tycho - Systems

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Tracklist for Tuesday May 19, 2009

The Presets - Talk Like That (Miami Horror Remix)
Junior Boys - Parallel Lines
Cybo - Disseminate
Justice - Waters of Nazareth (Justice Rework)
Montag - La Symetrie Du Coeur
Love Pink Pony - Crossroads
Yppah - Ending With You
SoSo & DJ Kutdown - Under the Yoke
Mondkopf - Sainte
Arc Lab - Boreal
Riceboy Sleeps - Happiness
Deastro - The Shaded Forests
Faunts - Feel.Love.Thinking.Of.
Revolte - Guess What
Royksopp - Happy Up Here
Siriusmo - High Together
I Am Robot and Proud - The Catch
CFCF - Arctic
Bandit - Plastic 101

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Tracklist for Tuesday May 5, 2009

MSTRKRFT - Fist of God
*Four Tet & Burial - Moth
*Wisp - Keeper of the Hills
Bitrate - Ecstatic Exchange
TMDP - Glades
*Helios - Fourteen Drawings
The Postal Service - Nothing Better
Amon Tobin - The Killer's Vanilla
Crystal Castles - Black Panther
*dntel - Incomplete 4
*Uh Huh Her - Covered
Artist of the Year - Yeah!!!
Holy Fuck - Royal Gregory
The Knife - Heartbeats (Rex the Dog Remix)
*City Center - Open/House
Royksopp - Tricky Tricky
Kylie Minogue - Wow (MSTRKRFT Remix)
*Tepr - Minuit Jacuzzi (DatA Remix)
Yuksek - Tonight

*Brand new albums from these artists.