"If I'm sued into submission, I can still come home to this."

'Ow do!

Couple of things to get through this Bank Holiday (or Memorial Day, if you're North American scum. Joke. No offence.) evening. First things first...

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - ALL MY FRIENDS (DFA/EMI)

Okay, hands up who saw this one coming? A surefire front-runner for single of the year is released today in the form of 'All My Friends' by LCD Soundsystem. I'm sure you all know it off by heart by now, but this bumper pack gives a new spin on the song (not that it really needed it, mind, but a little enjoyment enhancement is no bad thing). I wittered on the other day about the John Cale remake, but the Franz Ferdinand cover has its charms too. Granted, they over-egg the pudding with regards to the original's New Order-isms, but at least it's got some energy.

The cover of Joy Division's 'No Love Lost' that was originally supposed to be on one of the 7"s is conspicuously missing in action (it's excellent and well worth seeking out*), but we do get the bananas new song, 'Freak Out/Starry Eyes' for our hard-earned. An epic cut-and-shut of two entirely different songs - the first being a magnificently strident dub-disco workout, with added horns and the second being a slice of Nancy-sung, camp psych-electro, doot-doot - it's yet more proof of LCD's stature as one of the best bands around right now. Oh, and there's a DJ Harvey remix too, that's typical Harvey and bears very little resemblance to the original whatsoever. Buy it! All four formats, people!

Download the video from Cliptip!


Did somebody say remix of the year? No? Okay then, here goes nothing. Prins Thomas' jaw-dropping re-version of Hatchback's 'White Diamond' has certain areas of the disco underground frothing at the mouth at the moment and it's not hard to see why. The art of the remix is an oft-sullied one, with many of its practitioners preferring the take-the-money-and-run method of reinterpreting other people's work. There are some remixers out there however who take what they're given, break it down and remould it so that the end product bears their own indelible stamp or trademark. Carl Craig is one, Henrik Schwarz another, but Prins Thomas has really come into his own this year, reaching a peak with this peerless piece of music.

It really is a "piece of music", too. There's no other way to refer to it. The words "tune", "track", even "song" seem too trifling and insignificant tags. A deliberate, slowly-unfurling slab of aural bliss, clocking in at a not-long-enough seventeen minutes and eighteen seconds, it bears comparison to works from artists such as Brian Eno, Phillip Glass, Steve Reich, The Orb (when they used to knock out stuff like this for fun) and Terry Riley, but is most definitely a Prins Thomas production. I know very little about the source track (Hatchback is one-half of Windsurf with Sorcerer, I know that much), but this seems like very much a stand-alone thing.

Minimalist in texture but vast and expansive in feel, Prins Thomas' mix of 'White Diamond' is, barring some other heart-stopping wonder coming out of the blue, THE remix of the year. Now that I've built it up waaay too much, find out for yourselves, for one week only...

Hatchback - White Diamond (Prins Thomas Miks) (mp3) (link removed due to attack of conscience)

It doesn't happen often, but I felt guilty enough to actually take this one down. If you grabbed it in the 24 hours it was up, please cherish it, keep it close to your chest and if you like it, buy the vinyl when it comes out. If you'd like to hear a snippet and you don't mind listening to my voice, then check out this week's edition of Blog Fresh Radio.

Coming this summer on This Is Not An Exit.

In other news: Over at High Voltage, you can find out what I got up to at this year's Futuresonic and what I think about the newly-released Sunkissed mix of Norwegian disco and the like.

Also, find out just what the Kathy Diamond live experience is like over at The Console and read my thoughts on the season finale of Lost on my TV blog, No Flipping!

Laters,

JMx

*Oh, what the hell, may as well go for two cease-and-desists for one post...

LCD Soundsystem - No Love Lost (Joy Division cover) (mp3)

Listen up!

Howdy!

Just thought I'd drop in on you all, see how things are. How are things with you? Life treating you well?

I went to Futuresonic over the weekend, which was nice. I missed Faust though, due to a bout of man 'flu, which wasn't all that nice. Did manage to catch TTC, Black Devil Disco Club, ex-Kraftwerkmensch, Wolfgang Flur and some hippy woman making music out of running a mallet around some bowls filled with different measures of water. A fun time was had by all.

Anyways, I'm writing a feature on that for High Voltage, so I'm sure you'll get to find out more in the not-too-distant future.

Haven't done this in a while...

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Escort - All Through The Night (Escort)

I think I make this the third time that Escort have been my single of the week, after 'Love In Indigo' and 'A Bright New Life'. This concludes the run of singles that precedes the guys locking themselves away in the studio and coming up with what should be a shoe-in for disco, nay, pop, nay, all-genre album of the year. 'All Through The Night' is probably their most upfront cut to date, featuring sexed-up lyrics, squelchy synths and some unabashed 80s electro-pop nods. Fantastic, life-enhancing disco that makes you wonder why all the bands who aren't as good as Escort haven't just thrown in the towel yet. A liberal dash of radio play and a CD release away from world domination. Just remember where you heard about them first. It probably wasn't here but, y'know, remember anyway.

Buy it from Piccadilly Records

So lately, I've been experimenting with Audacity software and having a crack at putting together a mix. I'm not a DJ (although I would like to be if anyone fancies putting me to work), so the mixing nous is a little lacking, but if you're willing to listen without prejudice, the first fruits of my labour can be found both here and over at The Console, for your listening (dis)pleasure.

The mix that I threw together for The Console is a kind of fuzzed-out, psych-garagepunk-funk-soul affair, taking in the likes of The Sonics, Love, The Staple Singers, Eddie Bo, Baby Huey and loads more. Let me know what you think.

The mix I've compiled for this very blog, however, is a more discocentric one and I've given it an intentionally pompous name...

Yer Mam!'s Disconautical Journey Across The Discoverse In 72 1/2 Minutes

Tracklisting:

01 Karma - Beach Towel (I:Cube Remix)
02 Lindstrom And Solale - Let's Practise
03 JJ Cale - Ride Me High (Mischief Brew Re-edit)
04 Lopazz - Migracion (Fujiya & Miyagi Remix)
05 Black Devil Disco Club - The Devil In Us
06 Glass Candy - I Always Say Yes
07 LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
08 Magnus International - Kosmetisk
09 Fleetwood Mac - You Make Lovin' Fun (Trail Mix)
10 Escort - All Through The Night
11 Toby Tobias - A Close Shave (Brontosaurus Remix)
12 Kelley Polar - Rosenband
13 Baby Oliver - Hypochondriac
14 Blondie - Llamame (Call Me) (Original 12" Instrumental Mix)

Like I said, these are my first cracks at actually putting a mix together, so be nice. I promise I'll get better in future. I intend to make this a running feature. Any feedback whatsoever will be appreciated.

Laters,

JMx

Exclamation points ahoy!

Hi there!

I realise that I've not been updating this thing as much as I should/would like to, so I thought I'd fill you in on some of the stuff that's rocking my tiny little world to its foundations right now.

1. Andre 3000 rapping again!

Yes, you read that right, Andre 3000 aka Andre Benjamin aka Possum Alowishus Jenkins III is back doing what he does best. Sure, boy can sing and, y'know, can act a little, but busting strange, wonderful rhymes is his forte and it appears that he's got his rapping mojo back for the first time since Stankonia. He's made a few guest appearances recently and showed that he hasn't lost it. In fact, in every tune, he steals the show.

He blows away Snoop (not too difficult) and Devin The Dude (a sterner test) on 'What A Job' on Devin's new album (a tune that can be found elsewhere on these pages) and he makes the likes of Jim Jones, Paul Wall, Too Short and Lil' Jon irrelevant on remixes of DJ Unk's 'Walk It Out' and Rich Boy's 'Throw Some D's'. He's at his best though opening UGK's hot newie, 'International Player's Anthem'. No-one else can come up with lines like "I cc'd every girl that I'd see-see 'round town", "Wetness all around me, true, but I ain't no island. Peninsula, maybe" or "We got your back like chiro-prac-tic", so it's great to hear him back.

I would post that soon-to-be classic, but Fluxblog beat me to it. Here, instead, is the song that provides the sample. Enjoy!

Willie Hutch - I Choose You (mp3)

2. Arto Mwambe brings the Detroit!

Arto Mwambe's (no, me neither) new release on Brontosaurus, Mudhutma! is one of the best techno releases of the year. Not minimal in the slightest, unlike most other techno these days, it's two full-on Detroit-style bangers. Just who Arto Mwambe actually is, is unclear (his MySpace page doesn't help much), but it's clear that there is more than a little genius at work. 'Ombala Mbembo' on the b-side is the one for me, but I'm saving that for a future mixtape (watch this space), so sample a little bit of Mr Mwambe with this little groover from the a-side.

Arto Mwambe - Noh Ngamebo (mp3)

3. New Glass Candy!

Glass Candy have posted a new song, 'Rolling Down The Hills' on their MySpace and, I'm pleased to report, it's absolutely amazing. There's choppy, wah-wah guitars, a groovy bassline, spacey synths and soulful horns! Yes, soulful horns! I'll type it again, in case you're still rubbing your eyes in disbelief, SOULFUL HORNS!!! The kind of horns you used to get on Philadelphia International 7"s. I'm tempted to say that it's Siouxsie Sioux meets Gamble & Huff, but that sounds way too soundbite-y. Plus, it doesn't really do it justice. Just go over there, listen, repeat, listen again, ad infinitum. So looking forward to the album now.

4. Joyful Norwegian Post-Rock!

Is there anything that those Norwegians aren't good at in the world of music? Tuna Laguna's new album, Ripples And Swells is a genuinely surprising, out-of-left-field treat. I'd never heard of them before but thought I'd check it out anyway and it's just sublime. There'll be more to come from me on the subject of Tuna Laguna in the future, so for now, just seek out the album, but try before you buy with this little taster.

Tuna Laguna - On To Tarmac (mp3)

Also, head over to their official site where you can download their first album, It's The Fudge gratis.

5. Remembering how good The Pipettes are!

I went to see them at Manchester Academy 2 on Tuesday night, not really expecting to be blown away, but I was. All over again. This was the fourth time I'd seen them live, so you'd think that their gimmick (because that's what it is, let's have it right) would be starting to wear thin. Well, you'd be wrong. They were just as effervescent, joyous and (ahem) poptastic as they were the previous three times. Songs like these don't age. Remind yourself of how you fell in love with them in the first place...

The Pipettes - Tell Me What You Want (mp3)

If you must, you can read my review of the gig for High Voltage here.

6. I'm going to be reviewing Futuresonic!

Futuresonic, Manchester's yearly electronica and audio-visual festival runs from 10th-12th May and I'm going to be there reviewing it. Black Devil Disco Club, Faust, TTC and Wolfgang Flur! All for free! Can you tell that I'm excited?!

Black Devil Disco Club - On Just Foot (Dub) (mp3)

In other news...

I've reviewed Kathy Diamond's Miss Diamond To You for The Console. Read it!

I stumbled across this blog the other day, purely by accident, only to find that it only started up this week. There's tons of great music, but no waffle. The keeper of Naive Melodies is a man/woman/thing after my own heart. It appears that he/she/it's from Manchester too. I flung him/her/it an email the other day, but whoever it is is deciding to keep a low profile. So let me boost it for them.

Naive Melodies

If you go over to the Get Girl. Kill Baddies. Save Planet. MySpace and scroll down to the comments, you can see a picture of yours truly spinning some discs (of the compact variety, might I add). Clue: I'm wearing the same t-shirt that I've got on in my profile picture. It was all I had clean!

Right, I'm off. Look out for more posts soon.

JMx