Ten Tracks You Need #27 (300th post edition)

It's Friday people! Unlike last week, we actually have a Ten Tracks You Need this week. In fact, we have an expanded mp3 edition of Ten Tracks You Need. Think of it as a little bit of a make up present for not having a post last Friday.

It's hard to believe that The POP! Stereo is 300 posts old. What originally started out as a blog designed to promote my DJ night has now sort of taken on a life of it's own. In little under a year it's grown exponentially and thanks to this little thing I've come in contact with and/or met so many people from around the world that I'm constantly in awe. It's always fun when 50% or more of the visitors to TPS are from outside the US. It reminds me of the days when I used to do a fanzine (go ask your parents kids) and would get snail mail with demo tapes from the four corners of the globe and speak to people in the remotest part of Norway as they flipped through my little magazine. It was crazy stuff then and still is today.

To celebrate our 300th post, the first three people to email me at djpaulpop@yahoo.com will win themselves a POP! Stereo Prize Pack with CD's, Vinyl, and more!

Ok...enough giving away stuff, reminiscing and sentimentality. Off to the tracks. Have fun, thanks for the support, and here's to another 300 posts.

Ten Tracks You Need
Stuart Murdoch - Come Monday Night

Donny Hue and the Colors - Steps

Paul and the Patients - Blogspot

Future of the Left - Armingerirtrea

Mean Creek - The Sky (Or the Underground)

The Sounds - Dorchester Hotel

School of Seven Bells - Face to Face on High Places (Jesu Remix)

It's Elephants - Better in 77

Dark Room Notes - We Love You Dark Matter

Hollands - Coughing Boy

Living Things - Oxygen

Santo Gold - Anne (King Britt Moody Remix)

Major Organ - His Mister's Pet Whistles

O Spada - Time

Forcefield Kids - Since We Last Spoke via Rapidshare

RCRD LBL (opens in a seperate window)
Scott Hardkiss - Hey Deejay (Jimmy Edgar Remix)

Chairlift - Evident Utensil (Sinden Remix)

Free Energy - Dream City

Passion Pit - The Reeling (Miike Snow Remix)

Moby - Pale Horses (Apparat Remix)

Blank Dogs - Tin Birds

Forever the Sikki Kidz

Sikki Nixx has no recollection of anything before the age of 23 when he woke up in a government facility. After a dangerous and lengthy escape, (think Alias) he went to work as a mercenary overseas for a while. That's where he met Sid Licious, an orphan abandoned by his family at age 2, while he was playing buckets and pots in a crowded plaza in Bangkok for donations.

Sid, as it happened, also worked part time as a moonshine bootlegger and serviced wealthy debutantes for a steep price. Sikki and Sid quickly became good friends because they were both kinda jerks to each other, spent much of their time talking shit to each other, drinking tall cans, and playing golf. Of course they also made music and the two eventually joined forces with one goal in mind: to play a lot of golf...no, wait...complete and total world domination... oh, and to be pretty good DJ's as well.

If you believe that...I've got some beachfront property in Nevada I'd like to sell you. All kidding aside, these two trouble makers crank out some pretty damn fine little tunes. If they get sued by the Sex Pistols or Motley Crue, they'll be super famous and superstar DJ's.

Download: Pornstar (ft. F.E.R.) via Zshare
Download: No Love for Sikki Kidz via Zshare
Download: The Rapture - House of Jealous Lovers (Sikki Kidz Remix) via Zshare
Download: Depeche Mode - No Disco (Sikki Kidz Remix) via Zshare
Download: Digitalism - Taken Away (Sikki Kidz Remix) via Zshare
Download: Sikki Kidz Mixtape volume 1 via Zshare

Ruby Isle Are At It Again...

The crazy kids that are Ruby Isle have been going nuts lately covering songs by other artists. They've been taking cues from everyone and everywhere over the last three weeks and have given songs that you would never think of electronically a stroke of electronics to make dreadful things sound better.

It's fun to hear what they've come up with, especially since they're a fantastic band to begin with. They've done three covers thus far and I have to say that they're all really really good. Even the Bon Iver cover.

Anyway, check out the covers below and check out the older Ruby Isle post I did as well. Synthpop shtick awaits you.

Download: Ruby Isle vs. Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
Download: Ruby Isle vs. Bon Iver - Skinny Love
Download: Ruby Isle vs. The Decemberists - The Rake's Song

Original Ruby Isle post: HERE

Fake Shark Real Zombie

Normally, when I see the words post-hardcore, I kind of just move on. But every once and a while a band comes along that's a bit more daring then the rest of the pack and demand that you pay attention. Fake Shark Real Zombie is one of those bands.

Often called the Canadian Blood Brothers or some other screamo, hard core, black hair dye, skinny jeans wearing band that loves white belts, the band obviously comes from a certain school of thought. But musically, this band isn't too proud to allow others to tinker with their overpowering tunes.

And tinker people have. Fake Shark Real Zombie have fallen prey to the remix monster and who has taken something that was once far more obnoxious, beaty, strange, and pretty damn good. And if that wasn't enough, Portishead has even taken a liking to the band and remixed their cover of "Sour Times."

Download: Angel Lust (Ghost Frequency Remix)
Download: SOS (Kevvy Mental Remix)
Download: Sour Times

Art Whiplash Kills!

What would happen if Boys Noize got really pissed off? Art Whiplash would. You see Mr. Whiplash aka Vincent Jardin creates a whole hell of a bunch of racket that sounds like a pack of T-1ooo's unleashing death upon your stereo.

His latest outing, Party Sex and Bullshit is a violent little EP that is a bit Atari Teenage Riot, Revolting Cocks, Justice, and the aforementioned Boys Noize. To say that the combination of those kinds of influences is nearly lethal would be an understatement. It's harsh shit that throws you up against a wall, beats the living hell out of you, and then thanks you for the experience.

Throw in remixes by the Toxic Avenger, Youth Attack, and Kiwi and you have a four song EP that will lay waste to anything in its way. The Toxic Avenger is probably my favorite rework. It's like listening to a Speed Garage record while being fed through a wheat thresher and for that very reason it rules.

Thanks to Vincent being one hell of a cool chap, he's giving you the whole EP for FREE!

Download: Party, Sex and Bullshit
Download: Party, Sex, and Bullshit (Toxic Avenger Remix)
Download: Party, Sex, and Bullshit (Youth Attack Remix)
Download: Party, Sex, and Bullshit (Kiwi Remix)

Nothing Like Some Peachcake To Go With That Coffee

Peachcake, the spectacular, incredibly strangely named but positivity-charged audio-protectors from the Planet Awesome, have come to rescue you from the mundane and take you away to a soundtopia of electronic pop extraordinaire, with the their recently released album What Year Will You Have The World?

Say what you will about the name...and yeah, it borderlines on being just plain dumb, but Peachcake make up for it with sugary sweet synth pop that will give you cavities. The stuff sounds something like Magnetic Fields if Stephen Merritt ate a lot of candy...a lot...and then recorded everything he said while he was on a sugar high or the Pet Shop Boys if they were indie.

If that wasn't enough Peachcake's eclectic and extremely interactive live show is rounded out by a rotating cast of characters and is renowned and revered for its use of full-on crowd participation. This includes but is not limited to props, pajamas and dance circles. The result is a show that commands your complete enjoyment and audiences routinely leave (against their will) knowing that the sound waves are safer.

Download: Welcome To The Party To Save The World

Put Some Passion Into That Pit of Wallpaper.

Back in the beginning of April, Fingers On The Pulse announced a contest encouraging all to try their hand at remixing one of the year's best songs, Passion Pit's "Sleepyhead". But in the end, only one rang victorious in eyes of Passion Pit - Oakland, California's Wallpaper. was declared the winner. Wallpaper. is the enigmatic onstage existence of Eric Frederic. In another life, he fronts a prog-rock powerhouse (indie stalwarts Facing New York), but in this one, he's a pop-pushing kingpin as interested in art as artifice.

While on the subject of remixes, on December 23, Wallpaper.'s T REX ep will be re-released in new form, as T REX RMXd. Enlisting the help of friends Andrew Maury of The Remix Artist Collective, Bomarr of Restiform Bodies (Anticon), and Gavin Castleton (Five One, Inc.) to remix the ep.

Download: Passion Pit - Sleepyhead (Wallpaper Dio Remix)
Download: Wallpaper. - Evrytm We Do It (RAC Maury Remix)

My Synthesizer Won't Behave

For its fifth release, Monsta Music is proud to present the debut solo EP from George Cochrane, aka Origami. Though his name may be new to the ears of many, his music has been heard by the dance music community for years through a variety of partnerships, including his work with DJ2, Andrew Phelan & Origami, Cubik & Origami, and The Fingermonsters.

The Spencer Spiketail EP has been getting rave reviews, with a perfect 10/10 in iDJ, comparisons to Green Velvet, Freaks, and Classic Recordings, and DJ support from the likes of Satoshi Tomiie, Luke Solomon, Laurent Garnier, Johnny Fiasco, Onionz and M.A.N.D.Y. to name but a few.

It's one heck of a tech house tweaker that kind of klangs along while Cochrane rambles on about his set up. You can almost picture him kicking his synths as he was recording this tune and the machines responding back. It's pretty clever stuff and it's quite good to boot. It'll definitely remind you of Green Velvet, all that's missing is the "I don't give a shit" chorus somewhere.

Top stuff. Download's courtesy of SoundCloud.

Download: My Synthesizer Won't Behave (Original Edit)
Download: My Synthesizer Won't Behave (Andrew Phelan & Origami Edit)
Download: My Synthesizer Won't Behave (The Fingermonsters Edit)

Not From Sweden: Jensen Sportag

Jensen Sportag over the past week has gotten tons of press Fluxblog, MYOKB, Tripwire, etc. In case you’re unfamiliar, Jensen Sportag is a Nashville-based artist who creates some laid back housey vibes with a bit of downtempo thrown in for good measure. Their tunes have a bit of an 80's vibe mixed with some Ibiza lite to create a sort of live organic feel that's a bit abstract but still ridiculously catchy.

They’re releasing a short-player on December 2nd called Sergio. The duo has made fast friends out of the Paw Track stable of artists – Ariel Pink contributed vocals and cover art to their self-titled 2007 debut, and new-signing Dent May recently invited the band out to his Mississippi ranch to collaborate.

They’ve also got a big fan in the form of Domino Records’ Max Tunda, who recently released a promo mix featuring one of their songs, "Cocktease," (and if you pay attention to his version of Hot Chip's Playboy, you'll notice he replaces the line "Blazin Out Yo La Tengo" with "Blazin out Jensen Sportag"). He's also tapped the boys for his forthcoming remix LP, and has invited them to open up for a forthcoming tour.

Download: Power Sergio
Download: 2x2
Download: Max Tundra Promo Mix

They're Our Heroes

Heroes of The Dancefloor will release Torch and the lead single “Same Scandal” on INgrooves over the Thanksgiving holiday. ALL of the proceeds from the sale of Torch will go to two charities working with the homeless in New York: Picture The Homeless (LINK) and Coalition For The Homeless (LINK). NO money will go to the musicians including any mechanicals, royalties or publishing.

Torch features Gary Alesbrook who tours with Kasabian and Scissor Sisters on Trumpet, James Morton on Sax and Dan Moore on Keyboards and Bass (who both tour with former James Brown sideman Pee Wee Ellis), Guitar by Alex Hutchins and Vocals by Mamazu. Mixes and remixes have come from top US DJs such as Nick Chacona and Anthony Mansfield and top US and UK engineers including Adam Noble in the Strongroom, Joe Fields and Sam Dillon in Soho Studios, Doug McBride in Gravity Studios in Chicago, Grammy-award winning Thom Russo in Los Angeles and Grammy-award-winning Mick Glossop in London.

Download: Ricky
Download: Same Scandal

The Bodies Have Been Obtained

Conceived in Detroit and named for the Joy Division song “Day of the Lords,” The Bodies Obtained reveal their “art-damaged selves” through timeless electro gloom that could’ve been conceived in 1978, 1988, 1998 or 2008: it’s the sonic documentation of an ongoing project that spans electronica, experimental rock and synth-pop.

Listening to these guys is like listening to the Road Warrior soundtrack in a collision with the Blade Runner soundtrack mixed with a healthy dose of Suicide on tons of drugs. It's crazy noisy jittery post punk that will rule your world!

They've just released their album From The Top Of My Tree and it's a doozy. You can order it via CD Baby.

Download: Hear and Believe

AmpLive Is In Disguise !

With the January 27th release of The Take Over growing closer by the day, Zion I’s AmpLive and Zumbi are fanning the flames of anticipation with the release of The Search and the Seizure Mixtape.

In keeping with the title of their forthcoming album, the mixtape finds the Bay Area duo commandeering other artists’ tunes. What did you expect? Sinatra covers?

The A-side, if you will, features a run of hip-hop classics, complemented with verses from Talib Kweli, Deuce Eclipse and Codany Holiday. The B-side finds Amp and Zumbi stepping into indie and electro territory, with remixes of Muse, Santogold, MGMT and much more, so boom-bap addicts and fans of Amp's recent remixes for Radiohead, Jamie Lidell, Tapes N Tapes and more should have plenty to sink their teeth into.

Download: The Search and The Seizure Mixtape (via their site)
Download: The Rebel
Download: Gotsta Chill (Temperature RMX) ft. Talib Kweli
Download: Santogold One RMX ft. The Grouch

Put On Your Buffet Pants!

Ladies and gentlemen, The Buffetlibre DJ's are back with a new mixtape: Hit! .

Two months after their last mixtape Verbena 5, and one month before the releasing of Rewind Part 2, Hit! is nothing but a funny experience they compiled from some of the hits that we they've played at their gigs.

And if you're lucky enough to live in Europe, you can see them live! Check out the dates...

27 November 2008 - Noise Club (Barcelona)
28 November 2008 - Obbio (Sevilla)
29 November 2008 - Fever (Bilbao)
3 December 2008 - The Ruby Lounge (Manchester, UK)
4 December 2008 - Sick Note (Edinburgh, UK)
5 December 2008 - Whip It! at The Amersham Arms (London, UK)
6 December 2008 - The Lock Tavern (London, UK)
18 December 2008 - Cultura Club (Palma de Mallorca)
19 December 2008 - Be Cool (Barcelona)
25 December 2008 - Noise Club (Barcelona)
26 December 2008 - Pop Bar, Razzmatazz (Barcelona)
31 December 2008 - Verbena Fin de Año en Be Cool (Barcelona)
9 January 2009 - Club Gare (Porto, Portugal)
10 January 2009 - Minimercado (Lisboa, Portugal)
24 January 2009 - Low Club (Madrid)
31 January 2009 - Cotton Club (Lleida)
20 February 2009 - Sixty Million Postcards (Bournemouth,UK)

Download: HIT (32 tracks in all one handy dandy mix!)

I Heart Little Boots

The arrival of Little Boots has signalled something of a collective epiphany. Sometimes you don't know what has been missing from your life until it's right there in the room with you, and then you wonder how you ever managed without it.

It has been barely a year since her solo project tentatively began, and already Victoria Hesketh is UK pop music's most talked about new star. Ticking off every major piece of next big thing feature press before she had a properly released single to her name, she's a rare instance of mirrored and completely justified industry and public hysteria. Each crystal-tipped sabre of dance-pop truth is as instant and succinct as it is pulse-racingly powerful.

Her first EP has arrived in America under the name Arecibo. It's amazing stuff and one of my Top 10 Singles of 2008. To celebrate the release of the single Stateside, IAMSOUND gives you the a remix of the super classic Meddle single! Download it, and buy Arecibo from ITunes or straight from IAmSound.

Watch... (Download at the bottom of post)
Meddle Live


Stuck On Repeat

Download: Meddle (Baron von Luxxury’s Technicolor Remix)

My Dear Disco

My Dear Disco’s latest full-length, Dancethink LP, features mixes by Grammy-nominated engineer Mark Saunders and his multi-platinum record generating studio in New York, the same people responsible for the sound of Shiny Toy Guns 2007 Warner Brothers release We Are Pilots, Tricky’s Maxinquaye, David Byrne’s Feelings, and The Cure’s Wish.

With music featuring electrified Irish Bagpipes, and a line-up including a two-time International Acoustic Music Award winning composer, a three-time Ireland’s World Champion instrumentalist, a first place Michigan Idol winning singer, and two first place M-Block Records “New Music on the Block” winning recording artists, My Dear Disco has just about got it all.

Think of My Dear Disco as a bit Hercules and Love Affair, a bit St. Etienne, a bit Intastella, and a bit Donna Summer. One listen to lead track, "White Lies," will pretty much confirm that. It's a huge pop production that sounds like it belongs on FM radio and in huge mega clubs. Not bad for a band from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Download: White Lies

Lowfish Is Frozen and Broken

Lowfish's clinical production style is both very modern and built on the DNA of early new wave and IDM. Sometimes dark, often melodic and multi-layered, Lowfish tracks strive for meaning, timelessness and quality. The weapons of choice are what they have been from the start; semi-operational analog synths, temperamental drum machines and scratchy recording gear. The name Lowfish is a reference to these dusty machines and his early lo-fi “ish” sound - thus Lowfish.

With six albums and a stack of singles behind him, 2008 see’s Lowfish aggressively pushing his sound forward. He’s been hard at work distilling his pristine electro and throbbing analog buzz into a new techno variant. The playfulness of yesteryear is somewhere deep in the background with the fine detail of machinery and staccato bass lines taking the fore. The result is frozen&broken on Noise Factory Records. Ten brand new tracks of edgy analog electronica reminiscent of Lowfish’s famed Suction Records era IDM and an aberrant dance floor sound built from his most deviant sound palette to date.

Download: Things Fall Apart
Download: Frozen & Broken
Download: DFD

Painfully Alone

In support of the just-released The Town Topic EP, original soundtrack to Laurel Nakadate's debut film "Stay The Same Never Change," Casiotone For The Painfully Alone announces a slew of new Fall tour dates.

Here they are...
10.10.08 - Northfield, MN - Carleton College
10.11.08 - Iowa City, IA - PS1
10.12.08 - St Louis, MO - Lemp Arts
10.13.08 - DeKalb, IL - House Café
10.14.08 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
10.23.08 - Medford, MA - Oxfam Cafe (Tufts University)
10.24.08 - Annandale-on-Hudson, NY - SMOG (Bard College)
10.25.08 - Ridgewood, Queens, NY - Silent Barn (7pm show)
10.26.08 - Hoboken, NJ - Maxwells
10.27.08 - Providence, RI - Club Hell
10.29.08 - Athens, OH - Crystal Castle
10.30.08 - Cincinnati, OH - Northside Tavern
10.31.08 - Louisville, KY - Pour Haus
11.01.08 - Indianapolis, IN - Locals Only

The Town Topic EP collects tracks from two limited, vinyl-only EPs plus bonus track “Lesley Gore on the Tami Show.” The Town Topic EP consists of thirteen instrumental pieces, book-ended by two vocal tracks. “Ice Cream Truck,” a simulated July soundscape of Mr. Softee jingles, cicadas and trunk-rattling bass from passing cars, tells the story of criminal-minded kids who go joy-riding in a stolen ice cream truck and make other poorly-informed decisions along the way. “Green Cotton Sweater (version),” features blown-out drum machine rhythms, clattering pianos, and loads of vintage amp abuse. Other stand-out tracks include “Town Topic (instrumental),” easily mistaken for the backing track of a long-lost Patsy Cline hit, and “Nashville Parthenon (instrumental),” which re-imagines the original electro arrangement as a lovely and minimalist electric piano lullaby.

Download: Ice Cream Truck

That's Konrad to You

Konrad is just one of many different musical persona's employed by studio savant/song constructionist Jeffrey Konrad. In the past he's recorded as an 8-bit obsessed electronic musician by the name of Robot USA, an emo indie rocker known as eggspout, and a folksy singer/songwriter called "Nigel Jeffrey" who cut an album titled Struggle in the Hive with Patrick Stolley of Marlboro Chorus and Daytrotter.com. And those are just his "official" credentials, he's also released dozens of underground mix tapes and collaborated on a countless number of other projects with musicians from across the globe.

Now he's dropping his full-length solo debut as Konrad called Loose Canyons; a seeming amalgamation of all his past and present musical personalities all mashed into one meticulously produced package. Combining the old school synth sounds of Devo, the ironic b-boy style of Dan Deacon and the sardonic wit of Hot Chip, and a bit of more recent blur for good measure Konrad is poised to be an underground pop hero or another reason why Jeffrey Konrad needs serious mental help.

Download: Osh Kosh
Download: Canyon Blue
Download: These Nights

Rebelling Against French Horns

FRENCH HORN REBELLION are brothers Robert Perlick-Molinari and David Perlick-Molinari. Residing in Chicago and the other in New York, the two create fun boombastic electro induced pop. With Robert as a French Horn major in Chicago where as David is a producer in New York (he produced the first MGMT EP), the duo are prepping to release their next full-length.

Their track from self-titled and self-released full-length "Up All Night" (download below) has been featured by the likes of MTVu and CMJ. The track is twee pop synth heaven in a kooky Magnetic Fields meets Paul Simon sort of way. The duo are also set to release this tune as a single with some extra bombastic remixes.

Download: Up All Night
Download: Bad Arse
Download: Ivy League - London Bridges (French Horn Rebellion Remix)

It's So Downtempo

Between its title and content, the Phoenix-based trio Mr. Meeble’s sensual and soulful pop meets dark electronica record is bound to drop jaws, turn heads and offend, oh, maybe about a billion people. It’s nothing personal… well, except for the one nameless female who inspired this collection of songs that tell stories of the denial and despair of lost love, personal accountability, remembering, mourning and finally, just maybe, a glimmer of hope.

Reminiscent of fellow French band Air, Never Trust... has moments of smooth, breathy vocals over spacey synths, chilled-out Rhodes and orchestral strings. At other times, it sounds similar to Massive Attack’s Mezzanine and Thom Yorke’s Eraser with its emotive, pained vocals over minimal, tense electronics.

Never Trust's curious mix of stops, glitches, pops, whizzes, bleeps, stutters, and scratches together with sweeping, sometimes unnerving, visceral emotion is as close to opposites becoming singularly effective as you will find in music, or any art form, for that matter.

Download: Fine
Download: I Fell Through