okay, well instead of a lazy bump i'm gonna mention a few eps worth checking out.
starting with whats going to be, short of gross mismanagement, the summer track of 2007...
Justice - D.A.N.C.E.
as one of my design classes was winding down from studio and critique time, i heard the beginning sample played on someone's computer, i turn and go "FUCK. YES. that song is amazing!"
turns out he's on youtube and watching the video for the damn thing uploaded yesterday... he eventually think everyone should see it, so he hijacks the teacher's computer and plays it on the projector hooked up to the soundsystem. now, there wasnt spontaneous dancing because this world isnt that perfect, and also because people were fucking transfixed by it. amazing video for an amazing song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo_QVq2lGMs
as for the rest of the ep, it's got 2 b-sides. a total rework of the track called B.E.A.T which is a little more stuttered and thick, and "Phantom" which leaked months ao and had everyone saying "oh shit" thinking they might not just repeat the magic of their first ep "Waters of Nazareth" but might just top it. a dirty-ass track that sent their distorted bass into pure indulgence. they've branched out to have a more distinctive style otherwise, but we do have that one if we like to keep things simple and raw.
seriously. France is going to own this year, and Justice is at the front
Kavinsky - 1986 ep.
on tour with daft punk right now, this is a strange bit of genuine retro revival so strong you can see the goddamn leisure suits from miami vice. normally, this is lame, for the 80's rather blew, but since he knows that despite the schtick he needs to produce a solid tune, he makes tracks that are custom built for high hilarity on the road. driving on a freeway at night, you may as well be the goddamn nightrider. never has there been such a blatant, involuntary shift on the road from being impossibly bored at the monotony of it to feeling like you're the most ridiculous badass on I-5. sure, there's that 5-10 second gap where you're fighting the ridiculousness of it, but who are you anyway? if nothing else do it for the lulz, for there will be many.
Mr. Oizo - Transexual/Patrick122
we all remember flat beat and flat eric and lol and all that. thing is, quentin dupieux is kind of sparse with his music releases because he's primarily a video artist. the levi's thing was a fluke, and he hasn't really tried to be as kooky as that since.
he re-emerged in 2005 with the unlistenable "moustache/half a scissor" and by unlistenable i mean amazing. he confused the hell out of everyone who bought analog worms attack, where people were expecting a whole lot of flat beat and instead got a drum machine on loop and some uuuuuuugly computer bass. he started on a trek twords creating the kind of electro that wasnt for hip euro-trash but a true fascination with complete garbage. it's like electronic funk debris being blown here and there, deteriorating and filthy in a very non-sexy but immensely creative way. unabashedly cheap and more than a little caustic, he's developed this perspective into his subsequent singles, "Nazis" in 2006 and the just released "Transexual/Patrick122" his myspace pictures for each track features a cheap winking mannequin with a bad mouth and wig, and a WW2 pic of a soldier holding a sax.
'transexual' has a toneless voice listing different types of sexualities behind a rough beat before it dramatically breaks into cheap fx and starts over again. some things change here and there, but the shit is genuinely unappealing as hell. there's no point, it's rotten, but instead of just sounding like apathetic garbage, he gets into what makes rejected things vaguely appealing and executes it fantastically. he's got a mysterious funk in the back of those tracks that makes every cheap move not just acceptable but amusing and enjoyable. 'Patrick 122' is simply playing the Gary's Gang song "Do it again" starting at 30 seconds and going for two minutes with digital blurts added in the most ill-timed parts. for essentially just pressingly play for 2 whole minutes it has such a disregard for the material that he butts in with complete nonsense and turns the whole thing amazingly awkward, eventually he destroys it and brings in a different beat altogether and adds a goddamn saxophone. shit makes absolutely no sense but it's the most eccentrically catching pile of wonderful assery that he's about the most fun guy to listen to in a loooong time. he has a style, but i can't see what he's doing next. i certainly didnt see a fucking saxophone
Half Hawaii - Into You Out of You
usually, minimal techno is kind of a scam. it's assimilating different definitions like The Field's static overdrive and Villalobos' subtle club shifting to make minimal also mean a minimum of change for maximum effect, but generally, when you get minimal techno, you get a steady beat with a barely there bass, one abrasive effect that runs throughout, and some clicking.
this ep isnt
dramatically different from that setup. but the fundamentals groove first and allow the extra noise room to play and contribute instead of letting purism dictate by default that the beat is automatic backdrop. it's dark and it's bouncy. definately the right idea when i think of what minimal could be and not often is.
Pan Pot - What is what
more minimal. this one is a bit more difficult to swallow. it has a great ear for editing, and it sounds like most of the samples were recorded in a warehouse. sounds fade in and quickly snap shut or into something else. there's a few decisions about the programming that veer dangerously close to what's annoying about minimal, a slightly throwback effect used repeatedly, and some bad vocal (though only occasional) treatment, but if the track grooves, than most of it can be forgiven. this is even darker than half-hawaii, and not something that can extend to people who aren't that curious about minimal in the first place, whereas half-hawaii might have a better shot just because it has that extra funk.
Animal Collective - People
things like ths confuse me. you have 2 good songs, and instead of trying to make them gel beautifully within an album, it just get released. how do they decide these things? why even bother? we know these arent singles and we'll never see them again, why make a $6.99 ep out of it.
i guess it makes more sense in that was a tour-only ep to begin with, and demand became such that they commercially released it to prevent e-bay rape
but still.
it's not good enough to escape the feeling that this is 2 songs on a whole goddamned cd.
they're good songs. 'people' is a slow build of nice guitar, a warm and enveloping hum, and some good natural shouting and throwing shit about, but for a *really* linear track, it doesnt have a transcendant quality that kind of structure implies. the end of the ep has a live version, so they're shouting in concert this time.
'tikwid' is also pretty good. extending the kind of songs heard on 'feels' i wouldnt mind this one replacing that god-awful harp indulgence on that album, and it'd fit pretty damn nicely. but it's just AC being bubbly, not anything amazing.
so then we get a throwaway drunken blurt called 'my favorite colors' fro a minute and a half and there's yr ep.
i dig the songs, and it's a good time, i'm just not sure why this got released.