M83 is the master of creating nostalgic and emotive slow-motion music that borders being a form of novelty music but somehow he makes it work. This time with “Midnight City” he steps it up by throwing in an epic 90s Sax Solo. I don’t even know where to begin with this track. All I know is that I like it in a non-ironic way. I am so serious. See.
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Download:M83 : Midnight City
[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/JULY%202011/Midnight_City.mp3]
Jim-E Stacks’ Lemme has been on repeat for me during these warmer times and I am sure it will be well into the end of the summer #summervibes. Mr. Jim-E was kind enough to answer a few questions revealing why cassettes are the ideal musical medium, that Leighton Meister’s music and Drake’s beats are the future and that he <3’s Jerome from LOL Boys with all his <3.
Check out Jim-E Stack’s latest remix of Chaos in The CBD’s “Birthday Song” – a feel good bumper of a tune that includes some lovely chopped up RnB vocals.
Club music. I guess my music is stuff you’d hear and dance to in the club…I hope. If I tell my aunt and uncle from Indianapolis that I make “club music” they can understand it in a general sense, so that’s cool. So many heads say they make this future-post-house-step-bass or whatever it is, but how are your aunt and uncle from Indianapolis supposed to understand that? Maybe they don’t need to. I dunno.
What was your first musical memory?
My little brother and I used to share a bedroom back in San Francisco, where I was born and raised, probably in 1998 or 1999. I remember our family didn’t seriously bang with CDs and stuff yet, only our parents had a CD player. But my brother and I had this lil cassette player boom-box in our room. We’d hit up the Warehouse Records in the neighborhood to get cassettes every once in a while. When we were going to sleep at night I remember popping in the Eiffel 65 cassette or the Backstreet Boys cassette. I’d chill in bed like, “Yep, this is dope.”
What are your biggest influences, musical or otherwise?
People. I think there are people or whatever that influence me musically, and then there are people that influence my music. My favorite musicians, whether they’re DJs, producers, or singers like Leighton Meester, all influence me musically. I hope people get my dumb jokes. But anyways they shape who I am as a music listener and lover, not so much a music maker.
My boy Jamilio is gonna call me a groupie for this but whatever I guess I am one. Noah “40” Shebib has seriously influenced me musically, as a listener. The stuff he’s done with Drake in the last few years, and some recent stuff with Lil Wayne opened me up to a deeper, more ambient side of hip hop, or hip hop/rap in some iTunes libraries, that I didn’t really get down with before. Listening to 40’s mellower productions brought me back to some records with more R&B vibes that I’d owned for a while but kind of put aside. Like Aaliyah or Cassie. All that obvious R&B shit that everyone is wet for. As much as I sometimes wish I was a devout, self-righteous R&B head or whatever, I’m really not. I didn’t grow up listening to SWV records or anything. I got into it backwards.
There are also the people who directly influence my music. They have an impact on the way I make music. Some of these people aren’t even musicians. They’re just the kids I want to see having a good time dancing to my tunes, or some girl who I’m thinking about while making some beat on my computer. NGUZUNGUZU is a group that has really influenced my music and the way I make it. Shout outs to Asma and Daniel. Their music is so weird and crazy, but it’s totally their own. Sometimes I hear them ignoring some subtle production standards and just doing shit their way. That really helps push me towards doing my shit my way on my own tracks. NGUZUNGUZU always inspires me to be myself with my music, so I’m really making songs for me, not just the listeners. I think that’s what counts ultimately too. If I’m not trying to make music that’s uniquely me, and special to me, it’s never going to stand out to listeners, so why bother.
Jerome P of LOL Boys has probably influenced my music the most out of any artist or porn star or animal. I met him two years ago in San Francisco and ever since then he’s been putting me on to the weirdest music and been pushing me to make my music distinctly my own. I would not be the DJ/producer or musician I am today without him. Respek Jerome. Love you. [Read more]
A-Trak is a “DJ” and here is a Mini Mix that he finally made for Annie Mac where he does “DJ things” like “mixing and scratching” that is sure to make people dance – all in a matter of 5 mins.
[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/JULY%202011/A-Trak%20Annie%20Mac%20Mini%20Mix.mp3] A-Trak Annie Mac Mini Mix
The next single from the master of BIG POP, Penguin Prison is “Fair Warning” and here is the music video. I don’t really care for the music video but I love this track in all its Pop glory. Note the magic of the half chorus the first time around as a little teaser before the full blown chorus comes in the second time around.
Giorgio Moroder, Jean Michel-Jarre, Kraftwerk, Jan Hammer and now Para one & Tacteel. These two Frenchmen have teamed up to continue this tradition of exploratory/cinematic electronic music with a touch of 2011. I was intrigued by this project when I saw
this video of the two gentlemen a few months ago in the studio twisting knobs and noodling on synth keys. It is always refreshing to see electronic musicians using analog hardware rather than starring at a laptop screen. I assume that hardware jam session gave birth to this “Fair Enough” EP which is out now on Fools Gold Records. It is a collection of 5 songs that exist in our forever expanding post-genre world. You may listen to these tracks on an iPod/Mac Laptop Speakers, on a proper soundsystem and you may choose to dance or ponder life – the choice is in your hands.
Bonus: Check out this 45 min live performance by Para One & Tacteel as they twist, turn and dial in the perfect sonic combinations that may make you dance or ponder the meaning of life.
The Avalanches’ “Frontier Psychiatrist” is a music video and song that has stuck with me for years. It is hard to believe that this album is already 10 years old and now due for a re-issue via the Modular Records gang. It is of course a deluxe re-issue that feature a list of impressive remixes/re-works by Jackson & His Computer Band, MF Doom, El Gunicho, and this Stereolab remix of the title track.
Chromeo enlists the Frances ambassador of boogie disco, Breakbot to bless their next single “When The Night Falls”. The main hook has a super house cut-up disco vibe a la Todd Edwards with a serious funky bassline. This remix is all that Breakbot has to offer, definitely a dancefloor pleaser.
I had an iPod shuffle nostalgia moment this weekend when this Buggles tune, “Technopop” came on. This track is a surprisingly forward thinking pop song that I feel stands the tests of time. There is still great energy and vibe that resonates today even though production-wise it is very 80s. Do yourself a favor and give The Age of Plastic a good listen because once you get past “Video Killed The Radio Star” you will find some amazing gems such as “Elstree” and “Astroboy (And The Proles On Parade)”.
[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/JULY%202011/10%20Technopop.mp3] The Buggles – Technopop
Who knew mannequins could be so mysterious/sexy/trippy. “Wonderfox” is the 2nd single off of the self-titled Stepkids’ album coming out Sept 27 on Stones Throw Records.
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buy their merchandise, see them live, support them, tell your friends about them, love them, cheers.
