New Year's Eve Eve

This is my favorite song about the new year.

A factory that only produces sparks.

Hi guys!

You know, I could be all like 'I have returned! But did I ever leave?' But I won't.

I'm trying to make a point to troll Hype Machine every day or two. I get really lazy when it comes to digging for new tracks. People make fucking resolutions about going on the treadmill so they can keep on eating deep fried cheese curds with impunity and fitting into that wedding dress, or else they're convinced their husband will never love them. Feel free to lump this declaration as one of those.

Anyone who calls himself the Cavaliers of Fun deserves a listen in my book. Discovered via Hype Machine via Tracasseur.

Here are some tracks from that blog post that tickled me:
The Teenagers - Feeling Better (Cavaliers of Fun Remix) - I remember when the Teenagers were hella buzzy (bzz-bzz-bzz-bzz) and then they just kind of disappeared. Off the face of the Earth. Seeing this remix makes me smile. For all sorts of reasons.

Dragonette - Fixin To Thrill (Cavaliers of Fun and Anagramme Remix) - The title makes me think of AC/DC (Shoot to Thrill) and it makes me giggle. You may remember James blogging about Dragonette in the past. And for me it's kind of hard to divorce thinking about Dragonforce every time I listen to Dragonette. This song makes me want to sex.

Cavaliers of Fun - 2012 - Very Futurcop-ish. With lyricism!

Bonus Track:
Bestrack - Do it all Night - This song has that IT factor for me. I can't say what it is, because I am barely literate. I think I found this track off of Disco Workout a couple of months ago.

Why do I need to bother to listen to music when I can just have music critics and their best-of lists tell me what to listen to? This goes ten times over seeing that the decade is up.

k fellas

Hated the name of this band initially, but once I heard them, it became clear why they've been making so many top 10-of-09 lists. I love their sound - a blend of Stars pop and My Bloody Valentine fuzz. A+++ will trust next time

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Young Adult Friction

oh happy day!

No Christmassy theme in this post, only a few bigname tracks I've been looping as I recover from a laparoscopic hernia repair. (OH BABY)

Tesla Boy - Runaway Man - was scrubbin Youtube for Chromeo videos and Tesla's name popped up in a user comment, making this the ONLY good to come out of a Youtube comment in I don't know how long.

Monarchy - The Phoenix Alive (demo) - blog-friendly band on the rise lately. Shades of Kylie Minogue in the instrumentation, this track's right up my alley.

Daft Punk - Night Vision (Daft Punk cover) - not quite a fivestar track, but so loopable, 'n has the "hey neat!" factor. Recently heard it in the latest Essential mix The Twelves just dropped which is, for the record, fckn incredible.

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance (Starsmith remix) - guilty & synthy! Starsmith makes this track way better than it has any right to be.

Only xmas-related thing I WILL recommend in this post is Maria Bamford's homemade Christmas special, because I have yet to find a comedian who's anything like her. She made a load of money off a Target commercial earlier, then paid her fans back with this hour special - that's how it's done, son. (SON!!!)

it doesn't get a whole lot better than this.

Calvin Harris

I have to admit, Calvin Harris is a pretty chill bro. And he's like my age, which would make me jealous if I was into producing music.

(k maybe I'm still a little jealous)

ANYWAY

His early disco-house work is solid, and some of the stuff off his (poppier) second album is infectious as hell. I'm talking Capsule-tier infectious. Harrible.

Calvin Harris - Merrymaking at My Place

Calvin Harris - The Rain

Calvin Harris - Stars Come Out

Do you even know what the kids are listening to?

With The Ballad of Gay Tony coming out for Grand Theft Auto IV coming out today, with its focus on the club life of Liberty City, and mostly taking place in Manhattan's analogue, Algonquin (if I remember right) I figure this track would be the perfect accompaniment.

Disco, motherfucker!

Laura Greene - Manhattan

Lowering the Bar

Let's get this out of the way first:
I am no authority on music. Quite the opposite. I'm not sure if I'm even qualified to be writing about music (even in blog form). I don't got much of a grasp on what music sounds like, so don't expect lengthy descriptions about song structure or anything of value.

I got an affinity for anything pop, synthy, drum machined out, hand clapp'd, and female vocals. Just in case you ever start noticing a pattern with the songs I post. And chances are you probably heard these songs before, and as you read my posts to come, you'll probably snicker at how behind the times I am. I bet you.

Anyway, on with the songs you probably already heard.
Every time I think of Ladyhawke, I think of that Snoopy shirt she was wearing in her video for 'Paris is Burning'. To wit:



















I also can't shake the feeling that the opening notes to 'Back of the Van' sound exactly like the opening notes to Van Halen's 'Dreams' - as featured in the first Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers movie. Compare and Contrast. It's probably just me. Forget I said anything.

Anyway, I found this remix via Tiff Chow and its a remix of my favorite Ladyhawke song, 'Back of the Van'.

Ladyhawke - Back Of The Van (Fred Falke Ultimate Beverly Mix)

Lastly, Juiceboxx is an emcee out of Wisconsin, and he reminds me of Marky Mark era Marky Mark and the Funkybunch. Maybe we'll get to help make his video someday (fast forward to 0:18). The following song is a song about sweat.

Juiceboxxx & Dre Skull - Sweat

Thank you for putting up with me.

I'M FROM S.T.A.R.S.

Oh hello there. In true Assist OK! fashion, I will be assisting James in the posting on radical music on Assist OK!

I gotta warn you though, the first thing you should do when you read my posts are to set expectations to lower'd.

In fact, the songs that I post and get all HYPE for the first time are probably songs you've all probably heard months ago. Until further notice, you can call my posts 'songs you've probably heard before.'

-Get with it, Grandpa!-

sry for the delay!

Been meaning to post this Little Boots!! GET HYPE

Little Boots - Every Little Earthquake (Yes Giantess remix)

pop break

Could NOT wipe the grin off my face the first time I heard this song. Too good.

Dragonette - Okay Delore

(extra credit: They're Canadian.)

crap workday

And these two songs juust hit the spot - lengthy, layered, and minor key.

Empire of the Sun - Standing on the Shore (Lifelike remix)

Lindstrøm - The Magnificent

now if you'll excuse me

new chromeo!

You can thank me later.

tuff guys

Kavinsky's rad. He brands himself as an undead comic book hero who drove a Ferrari off a cliff, and his work sounds like a slew of unreleased Knight Rider tracks.

Kavinsky - Dead Cruiser [2007]

Major influence on Kavinsky: italo-disco pioneers Kano. "Ikeya Seki" is one of those definitive cinematic 1980s tracks: tense, scaling synths that I can't stop playing in my car. Always feels like I'm out to whack someone who kidnapped my girlfriend.

Kano - Ikeya Seki [1983]
(fun fact: it's also the leadoff track to Chromeo's upcoming DJ Kicks album =)

tuffness bonus: A-Trak - Roder (Kavinsky vs. MIA)

beaches 'n friends

I love everything about this track, from the start/stop buildup to the keyboard hits to the DFA-style vocals. Then the Twelves go and totally flip the song to sound like a new wave summer drive. Enjoy 'em both!

French Horn Rebellion - Beaches and Friends

Database vs. French Horn Rebellion - Beaches and Friends (The Twelves remix)

okay go!

I noticed that I'd been posting up mp3s almost daily to tweeter lately, and I might as well have some sorta repository for it all. I figure my friends have enough tweets to wade through anyway, and when I find something good, I can just tell people to check this blog. Done.

Stuff I've been bumping lately:

The Tenderlions - In Addition (SF locals, haw)

Russ Chimes - She's Got the Heat

Diamond Cut - Teardrops (Woman & Womack cover) - too catchy. The Treasure Fingers remix of this is just as good.

I've been listening to EDM on 'n off since high school, but I'm damn impressed at what's coming out lately. My interest in full albums is dwindling lately - instead, my playlist's chock full of singles, EPs, and remixes. I love the raw, boom-KAKK sound that disco's taken on - with an unashamed weak spot for synthy retro-future tracks (i.e. just about anything from the Valerie collective). Born in '85, I never really had a proper 80s childhood, so it's exciting to see producers are taking that same melodic italo-disco sound and putting their own spin on it - even using the same technology, in some cases.

I've started this to pass on what I like to people I like, and to learn more about the music in the process. Thank fuck stuff like anthem trance is laughable now (or maybe it always has been). Independent producers and DJs from around the world are getting constant support and exposure from us junkies every day, and to that I say ASSIST OK \o/