Coconut Records- Any Fun

Phoenix- 1901 (Live on Letterman)

Controlled rage. Gotta give it to these dudes, they are pitch f'n perfect in every aspect of their performance, and their performance at Bonaroo was supposed to be the stuff of legends.

Can't wait to spend a Sunday with the French!

Top Singles of 2009 and their remixes

I think one of the few actual positive to come out of the decline of the music industry is that techonolgy has allowed anyone and everyone to breakdown well....literally everything about music. Apple especially has done an amazing job to create and evolve their products such as Garage Band and Pro Tools to help even the coolest, most badass Haiwaiin emo-remix-rappers get their things heard stateside.


I bring this up because I am working on some reviews and lists for this site being we are officially halfway through this year and the seasons they bring. One of them is going through the best tracks of the year, and no doubt Phoenix's 1901, Animal Collectives My Girls and The Black Eyed Peas Boom Boom Pow will top that list when it's done.




If you notice....these tracks almost borrow from each other in a good way. Popular music is picking up on the things band on the indie side (like a Phoenix and AC) have been doing for the last four years-- making dance music without it really being labeled in the techno/house. V-necks and jeans, not pacifiers and glowsticks.

And where I think this trend has picked up is YouTube. People (like our favorite Haiwaiin noted above) can take music and interpret to their own styles, likes and dislikes. You don't have to just throw on a uptemo time signature anymore. You can pick apart the pieces, throw it against a canvas and add your own paint to the mix, creating something highly unique and standalone as art. Here are my three favorite remixes of my three favorite songs (so far, but it will be hard to top-- here's hoping the Dr. comes out to play):

3OH!3 & Kid Cudi- Don't Trust Me Remix

This is more of a mash-up than a remix, but check out this all-star pairing:

http://usershare.net/pix4mehzbord

Enjoy the Parade LA

"I can't stop thinking about Joey Buss. Granted, there's a chance I would have been just as tongue-tied on national TV at age 19. But who thought it was a good idea to have him speak extemporaneously in front of a worldwide audience? How did he become the "alternate governor of the Lakers," and what does that mean? Are people in Southern California frightened that two of their governors are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Joey Buss? Did they throw him out there to answer the question, "What would have happened if Fredo had gotten control of the Corleone family?" Did they bring him out to make the Maloofs feel better about themselves as overmatched legacy kids? Has he ever been discreetly stared at by a bunch of country club workers and had one of them say, "Fifty bucks says the Buss kid picks his nose." Do I have to retire the Unintentional Comedy Scale now?

Where was Jerry Buss? Where was Jeanie Buss? How did this happen? How can I get more Joey Buss in my life? And why didn't I know about him before Sunday night? More importantly, when are they putting the Buss boys in charge of the Lakers????? I vote for right now. Like, today. This moment. Please. I am begging you. This would be like a cross between the Hank Steinbrenner Era and "Tommy Boy." I never thought there would be a silver lining with a Lakers title, but dammit, there was."

-- Bill Simmons A) always provides the opinion I have, better and B) reminds me why I love the intricicies of life, laughter and the shitshow that is the Los Angeles Lakers. Good luck with the "Demand of More" from everyone, including Sasha.

And once again may I remind you this guy (not Sasha) tagged along and will get a ring, and will likely have to fly in from some podunk European country where he is playing to collect it. He will hold it up to the crowd and get no response whatsoever except for the drunk middle-aged "WOOO!" women in attendance.

Kasabian- Fire

Have yet to divulge in the British band's third effort that came out last week, but so far the singles have been very promising from the quasi-electro psych band. Britpop (Oasis) meets Hot Chip.
Kasabian - Fire

--Via Subterranean

Animal Collective- Daily Routine (Phaseone Remix)

This was the remix I was hoping for off their tremendous new album. "Daily Routine" has an amazing organ-tape crazy synth f*** that opposites perfectly with Panda Bear's Beach Boy dream vocals. One of the few "letdowns" or comments I had to make about the previous album was the last half of "Routine" is very polar opposite of what the entire Merriweather Post Pavillion and its dance-trance-pop tendencies and attitude stood for. This remix captures the first half of the songs deep bass and drum vibe without the letdown.

White Rabbits- Percussion Gun/ It's Frightening

At present, NY-via-Mizzou sextet White Rabbits have more buzz about them than a honey farm (pssst, bees make honey). They’ve got the songs, the looks, the swagger and now the video.

White Rabbits "Percussion Gun" Music Video from White Rabbits on Vimeo.

Their new album, It's Frightening (judging a book by its cover would seem so) is a perfect blend of the sparse punk and multi-instrumentation/genres they displayed on their debut and an added touch of rhythm from Spoon's leader Britt Daniel. Frightening goes from Spoon-style acoustic grooves to menacing crack-hop beats (like "Percussion Gun" above) to Radiohead-esque influences on piano and percussion ("The Company I Keep," "The Salesmen").

Frightening is one of the best "out-there"/indie/non-mainsteam releases so far of this mid-way point of 2009. While it won't make most Top 10s (probably including this one), it is certainly not a sophomore slump, as WR have found a producer (Daniel) that is at the point right now, better at their type of music than themselves.

All they need now is for a major media outlet to give them some exposure, so hopefully someone else will pick this up. (They have: Letterman, posted below)

Mickey Avalon- F****n Em All

Mickey Avalon's new single off his yet-untitled new album, which was co-produced by Travis Barker of the newly back together Blink-182 and +44.

But you already new that.

It's said that the 2nd album is the hardest to write, because you've had your whole life to write the first. Has fame gone to our boy Mickey's head? Sure seems so. Will the tales of his hard-knock life and upbringing be forgotten in exchange for some production value? Sure hope not.

Animal Collective- Summertime Clothes

--Via Pitchfork

Waie'hee Walkways

--Taken from a shitty old Verizon. (The bridge, known as the "swinging bridge," is one of two that follows 100+ year old channels & ditches through the West Maui rain forest to the 5,800-foot summit of Puʻu Kukui. The bridge is over 1,000 feet long that literally hangs--or suspends-- 80 feet above the river below.) It was fucking scary.