For CC: It's A Lovely Thing When People Just Click

it's a promise - 2007 it is.
for showing me that you care everyday... this is for you.

Stellastarr* - "Sweet Troubled Soul (James Iha Remix)"
Okay, I'll bite. This remix of Stellastarr* has been floating around the blogosphere for a few days now and I've been trying to resist posting it but my knuckles are turning white from all the pressure. It's just too good not to post. James Iha, formerly of the Smashing Pumpkins and regular nightlife fixture, gave the song the full-on remix treatment and it's almost (dare I say) better than the original. (via MOKB)

King Seven - "Simple Folk"
There are only a handful of bloggers out there that I contend really know their music and venture outside of the confines of what is standard fare. If I could, I'd give each of them A&R jobs. Now before you start typing up your hate mail... don't get me wrong: I love the standard fare. I listen to standard fare. I own the standard fare. But no offense, sometimes it's all a homogenized blur. I need something to stick out, jab me in the gut and knock me off my feet, even if it's in subtly. Steve over at Scissorkick has a knack for finding things that I don't find elsewhere. Perhaps you fine folks in Leeds know King Seven (aka James Hoffman)? By virtue of the fact that Steve can find the correlation between Bonobo and King Seven wins me over... because it's true. I love that conga and those breaks. Gorgeous. More info on King Seven here.

Bonobo - "Gypsy"
All this talk of Bonobo (aka Simon Green) has gotten me in a particular mood. This track from Animal Magic is an outstanding example of this Brighton boy's aptitude for chilled beat-driven music. It's a sonic hammock of immaculate production skills and live instrumentation, spiked with a good mix of funk and downtempo jazz. Sublime and subtle. If you're a fan of Blue States, Lemon Jelly, Mr Scruff or Andy Votels, you should hear this. If there ever were a song to listen to while you were, say, smoking one of those wacky cigarettes (I'm drug-free, thanks) this would be it. And if you happen to have any of those wacky cigarettes, feel free to send them my way *cough*.

Christof Dienz - "Zither (Hubl Greiner & Ewald Hugle & J.P. Volk Remix)"
I'm going out of town for the next couple of days so I needed to tidy up my apartment. Choosing the right background music is a crucial part of my cleaning routine. I hate cleaning so the music better fucking motivate me. Thankfully, my friend Robert who lives in Austria sent me this song that automatically shoots me into hyper-mode. Dienz is a Vienna-based musician and film/theater composer who only uses analogue acoustic tools like officeclips, wooden sticks, tuning forks, plectrons and a loop generator which allows him to work with his instruments of choice, the zither and bassoon. There's a definite theatric to the song, full of crescendos and suspensions. Can't you almost picture Christopher Walken soft-shoe dancing to this?

and finally: the "fuck yeah" song of the day is...

Magnetophone - "Kel's Vintage Thought" (via Stereogum)
Thanks to Jason at One Louder (who's all over this one), I was reminded of Magnetophone The Man Who Ate The Man. It's been a whopping four years since they came out with I Guess Sometimes I Need To Be Reminded Of How Much You Love Me but this one is a tasty little bit. I first heard "Kel's Vintage Thought" as an Out Hud remix on the DJ Kicks: The Glimmers which released back in April. Pitchfork gave it a 7.5 but frankly, I think it could have fared with a better grade. At any rate, The Milk Factory interviewed the Birmingham duo that is Magnetophone. The Man... is something to behold with all its junkstore electronic effects. In between the drifts of ambience are elbow nudges of whomping breaks and percussive beats. While the formula isn't exact, it sounds equal parts Boards of Canada and Nine Inch Nails which isn't a bad thing at all if you can imagine the possibilities at its best.


And if you're interested, here are some additional clips:

Magnetophone - "Kel's Vintage Thought (Out Hud Mix)"
Magnetophone - "Kel's Vintage Thought"
(This is hauntingly slowed down and almost sounds ripped from a Nine Inch Nails track)






Gotta get back to cleaning. CC is bringing the Mr. Clean... bleh.