remix monday: two door cinema club invades your jogpod

Two Door Cinema Club is an act to which (or whom, rather) I've slowly become attracted. From Northern Ireland, they have made a quick mark on the Euro Alt/Rock Indie scene with a sound that is delightfully familiar, without boring the hell out of its audience. Pop-heavy, but not rotund, they show signs of great promise for a band that has been together only three years. Keljet has been mentioned a few times on here before. Once again, they have worked some fantastic magic here with what is to be Two Door Cinema Club's next single, What You Know. This will be one of those moments, I'm sure, where the remix actually makes me like the original track more that I would have otherwise. Additionally, the remixed song becomes addictive much the way that its band has: it is pure without simplicity and challenging without becoming arduous. Well done. Oh, and I definitely recommend this song to start your jogging mix. No joke.

random holiday laughs

Take a good look at the singers... and then realize this is at Liberty University... love it.

fresh: DJ Kue makes Far East Movement tolerable

DJ Kue (Mike Morales of Sunnyvale, CA) has apparently made a wonderful practice out of making terrible pop songs tolerable to me. This is yet another example of his wonderful sense of electro-pop humbling my oft-hatred for radio pop. Far East Movement blows something terrible, I have to admit, and the original version (see video below) of this song is no less terrible, but Kue makes me hate it a lot less. Vocals are provided by Ryan Tedder, who recently has become known as the lead singer of OneRepublic (also known as shoot me in the face right now), but years ago did a lot of vocals for Paul Oakenfold. Alas, I think this video would have been much better served if they just would have played it over the Kill Bill fight scene between Black Mamba and O-ren Ishii where Lucy Liu gets her head cut in half. YES! That would have been amazing. Check it out!

flashback: Janet "You"

Doesn't she look happy?
2nd best live show I've ever seen. No joke. I was 16 and was absolutely floored by her show(wo)manship. Insane. I have seen her twice since, and each time was great... but The Velvet Rope tour was the best. Absolutely flawless. This track, You, was intense live. I was at the Nissan Pavilion show the day before this one was aired live from Madison Square Garden.

essentials: Midnite Vultures (Beck)

...and then there was Midnite Vultures. Beck changed everything with this album. He proved he could bring funk back in a big way, as well as properly infuse it with everything from heavy electro to a goddamn banjo! He also gave the how's your father to those that said he'd never top Odelay. And, lastly, he made me love everything about him. This album is amazing. Here are two tastes... and if you are ever so daring, a link to download the entire album. You know you won't regret it.

remix monday: think it OoOover

Everyone loves a little disco, especially when it's The Supremes at the helm. Alloinyx remixed this tune properly, and I would have more to say about the remixologist if such was available on the interwebs... or if I cared more. There isn't much to say otherwise about this tune except that you should turn it up and appreciate the amount of depth added to this 45+ year old track. Enjoy, crackahs.

get ready.

3 tracks - snow patrol


So, it's snowin'... how about that? Despite how much I detest any kind of precipitation, it did get me in the mood to listen to some beautiful music. Snow Patrol popped directly in my head, so for this week's 3-track-Thursday, we dive into my favorite Snow Patrol songs.

These tracks come from one of the best indie/alt-rock albums ever, Snow Patrol's first major label release, Final Straw. This album was the band's third, but first to be picked up by the big boys. Granted (probably due to a shuffling of members) the band's output has decreased in quality, but I'll forgive them that. Final Straw was simply magic. It slowly leads you in with How To Be Dead, remains solid, and then hits you with the 1-2-3 punch of Spitting Games, Chocolate, and Run. Here are three tracks from Final Straw and additionally, I wanted to put down the one track that I love the most of their remaining work (they've had two somewhat unbecoming albums since), a tune called You Could Be Happy... which had to be the Irish cutter's anthem of 2006. Hooray!

Anyway, the Final Straw album is definitely worth owning. So, go do that.

fresh: lykke li gets her some

Lykke Li, Sweden's (god they keep producing good artists, don't they?!) 24-year-old indie darling released a new track this week that is completely ruining me in all the best ways. A preview for her upcoming sophomore release, Wounded Rhymes, Get Some is the perfect direction for a star whose first album's popularity did just enough hint that she was capable of great things. I hope she keeps producing quality tracks, as this song is infectious enough to get (even) me excited. I also attached a remix by one of my gods, Beck, which is definitely worth a listen... but the original takes the proverbial cake. When is someone going to throw a Swedish dance party? Let's call it MEATBALL... no?...

essentials: bronski beat & erasure

It is no secret that I love me some New Order, Depeche Mode, and Tears For Fears, and often play them in my SHIFT sets when they're remixed properly. The big three faces of the New Wave movement definitely are a staple for any fan of the genre, but (sadly) there are two bands who deserve as much recognition: Bronski Beat and Erasure. For those of you that love modern new wave, synth-pop, and what-have-you similar genres... you owe a great deal to the work of these two acts. For those that love openly gay (and also activist) groups out there... you owe a massive amount to the pioneer efforts of these two acts. They gave a giant 'fuck you' to the mold of hetero-normative rock and roll and, above all else, produced great songs that did what punk rock often failed at: demanded more of what inspired you.