Je suis un Rock Star

Common wisdom about French music for the entirety of “the rock era” was that it was, at best, schmaltz. If there maybe were a few solid French punk acts — notably Metal Urbain, the first band released by legendary postpunk label Rough Trade, and the super-fun New Wave dance act Plastic Bertrand — those simply served to reinforce the prejudice.

In retrospect, of course, louche/decadent singer-songwriter dude Serge Gainsbourg’s best albums rock harder than any L.A. hair band, even that one you still like a lot. And much of that swinging yé-yé stuff seems to be super awesome; I’ve really not investigated that much yet myself. The French seemed able to recognize great music, from all the African and “world” music that labels like Disques du Monde issued, to the way they treated so many American jazz greats with open arms and mints on the pillow when back home they couldn’t get a gig.

It really wasn’t until the 1990s that the French showed themselves to be masters of dance music, with the emergence of the Source and Solid labels with artists like Air, Alex Gopher, Cassius and of course Daft Punk. Ever since that stuff hit the scene, it seems like the French can do no wrong when it comes to making your booty move around to the flashy Gallic sounds. It’s weird the way the change seemed from the outside to be so instantaneous! The Ed Banger label has been the source for a lot of the best jams of the last handful of years of course, with the awesome and showmanly work by Justice at the forefront of it all.

I wish I knew the French word for “banging,” because it would probably sound a lot more sophisticated. Alas, my knowledge of the language is pretty much encapsulated in the way that Globey talks to Pee Wee. Please note that we made our way all through this introduction without talking about berets or funny looking bread loaves or clove cigarettes or Godard or even armpits! It’s all about the music here, and we hope you dig this selection of hot modern Frenchie jams.

—DJ Yeti

Happy Independence Day! July 4th, woo! I love the fireworks and do not eat burgers that often. But they always taste the best on July 4th, don’t they?

I have always had friends who can’t get into a holiday like this as it goes against their ambivalent-at-best feelings vis a vis American imperialism, etc. I myself prefer to not dwell on personal experience (including how messed up my Dad was for a long time by his tour in Vietnam) or stuff I learned in books (yeah, I read ‘Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee,’ Chomsky and Zinn as a kid, too).

Instead, I choose to remember that the American experiment is still that — an experiment, a living and breathing thing that’s still changing, daily. It can always get better — in fact, it seems to have in the last half a year, right? This year I’m heading to a small town in Oregon to see a real small town parade, too! How cute is that? I’ll wave the flag and listen to this song and have a grand old American time.

Hope you have a great July 4th, whatever it is you do — or indeed wherever you live!

—DJ Yeti

YACHT Is Not A Cult.

VIEW OUR EXCLUSIVE, DIY VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH YACHT RECORDED JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO IN A COOL CAFE IN PORTLAND HERE: ONE, TWO + THREE!

“Jona Bechtolt is no more a normal human being than a toaster is a Ferrari.” — austinist.com

Jona and Claire from YACHT both seem to have the Midas touch; just for instance, last year on a whim they came up with the idea for the perfect slipcase for the Mac Air, it totally took off. It’s now a major business whereas for you or me, it would be a forgotten idea that got scribbled onto a piece of paper and forgotten about (or worse, a business that’s bankrupt).

“YACHT smells wonderful. I must say, all the time he spent in our bus, it was as if a cool breeze was blowing through my mind. and good songs, too!” — James Murphy, LCD Soundsystem

Then Jona and Claire made this awesome little song that was a tribute to James Murphy and they friggin wound up on the label — with that tune, “Summer Song,” being released as a 12.” Like, who in the hell does that happen to? A new song of theirs gets posted on Pitchfork and Kanye weighs in, says he digs them. Krikey! If they weren’t so bitingly smart and viscerally nice, you’d want to hate them. But that would be like hating a panda… that does advanced math.

“YACHT’s not just music, it’s a way of life.” — PAPERMAG

And now we arrive at their strange, compelling and very fun album See Mystery Lights.The record finds their sound progressing towards fully contemporary avant-disco-pop, while the messages in their jams are more vibrant, glowing and… strange. Lyrics and slogans on their site have a distinctly cult-like affair all of a sudden. I even heard of some kind of document where they inform their fans of correct placement for their logo all over said fans’ body? It’s most likely a performance art schtick rather than some kind of L. Ron Hubbard deal — though he made music too. I really look forward to seeing how this all plays out. Stay tuned!

Throughout the month, we’ve got special YACHT loot you can win in the game — some of which even includes links to a special secret YACHT document and also our exclusive video interviews already mentioned above. Wow, it feels a lot like the future here doesn’t it? In our special, YACHT/ cult-themed playlist you can see that we took a wide swath in approaching the idea of “cults” — dreams, magic eyes, and breakdowns. We had fun with it and hope you do as well.

—DJ Yeti

New Loudness Tuesdays

It’s Tuesday, so we’ve got new songs for you that will fry your brain — and you’ll like it! I’m sorry, that was way too cheesey wasn’t it? What do I think I’m some ’70s classic rock radio DJ or something? Sorry, sorry. I’ve had too much coffee today.

The Colorado-based Pretty Lights contribute the groovy “Maybe Tomorrow.” And we’re stoked to have a new track from the LA-based shoegaze-y act Silversun Pickups, “Panic Switch.” Finally, Anjulie’s “Boom” is so super-sultry and slinky, it’s no wonder it’s being used on adverts for Top Model.

—DJ Yeti

They Won't Be Coming Back...

When the weather gets too hot to do much of anything, I turn to the music of Midwestern postpunk dudes the Embarrassment. Not sure why — I guess songs like “Don Juan,” “Art Party,” “Drive Me To The Park,” and “Sex Drive” are just perfect little songs that remind me of suburban air conditioned living? I grew up in Miami, FL and humid heat just makes me want to crank the A/C, watch cable, and consume Pringles and Diet Coke. That’s just what my people do — we’re not proud of it, but it is tradition…

I recently found this series of excellent, high quality videos on YouTube of the Embarrassment (who have one of the maybe top twenty best band names ever) playing in the corner of some party-bar in Wichita, KS in 1981. It’s so rad how unapologetically nerdy and stiff they look yet how totally they kick ass at the same time. This really was one of the great things about the New Wave/ punk era — the extent to which it was cool to look entirely uncomfortable onstage. So if you like nerds and ass-kicking, this might be your next favorite (old) band. This song here, “D-Rings,” about the Space Shuttle disaster, can most easily be found on a collection called Heyday.

—DJ Yeti

The Band that Would Be King!

With so much great weird new and noisy garage-rock going down lately, I keep waiting for someone to come around and stomp it all up in a big-ass big-band manner a la Baltimore, MD’s brilliant Half Japanese (1976 - present). There are some fun, more-than-four-piece acts out there — Thee Oh Sees, Fresh + Onlys, and I think King Khan is like that (they sound it). But none have the insane, rockin’ oooomph that Half Japanese provided, especially in their high point in the early ’80s, when they might have been the best rock and roll band in the world.

Half Japanese’s music has always been tough to pin down. What’s hard to convey, especially given its roots in the most basic rhythm and blues chord progressions, is how distinctive it is. It never really shared any of the thematic concerns of punk, but was too primitive and self-taught to qualify as postpunk. The music was too in love with good, old-time rock pleasures and structure to please many noise or art freaks, yet it’s way too fucked up to please most fans of good, old-time rock music.

What brings you back to Half Japanese’s music all the time is that even in its most menacing-sounding songs—say, “Walk Through Walls” or “No Direct Line”—it displays the total joy in acting like a kid that is really hard to carry on into adulthood. To make music that always sounds like it’s falling apart yet is fully infectious is a lot harder than it looks. Jeff Fuerzeig’s documentary on them is a readily available, and really fun, way to get hep to ‘em.

—DJ Yeti

So, it's about damn time!

As I’m sure you’re aware, nu-soul great Maxwell has finally returned from a lengthy, lengthy, rumor-laden, eight-damn-years absence to kick serious ass in the realm of Ultimate Smooveness. The album, BLACKsummers’night, isn’t out for two more weeks, but the three singles that have been teased from it are astounding. Supposedly it’s the first album of a trilogy, which might also explain the near-Beatle length of the thing — 36 minutes!

Have you seen the video for “Pretty Wings,” the best R&B track of this summer, and yes I’m aware that summer is all but three days old? It got taken down from YouTube, but hopefully this link works. Dude makes some sexy-ass videos. The song “Pretty Wings” is so amazing, though, really. This is apparent from the very beginning with that lovely sing-song-y, almost avant-garde looped-bell sounding bit that also repeats in the bridge. His voice remains such a strong instrument, and he uses it so tastefully, rising from a whisper to a shout without sounding cheesey. The horns that come in at the end are subtle; you don’t even notice them at first. Then it ends with the slowest of slow fades.

Now, that is some serious slow jam action there! I think I’ll need to get new silk sheets to go with this thing.

—DJ Yeti

New Loudness Tuesdays

Tuesday’s here which means we’re laying down some rad new jams:

“Down In L.A.” by Munk, the nu-disco-ish act overseen by German DJ/ musician Mathias Modica, the same guy who runs the Gomma label. Clearly, it’s good to be the king; Modica’s collaborated with James Murphy and Asia Argento.

Next up is “Heart Shaped Box” by the Crest, an indie hip-hop act who’ve been around for a dozen years or so now. This absolutely lovely and bouncy number has nothing to do with the Nirvana song, FYI.

And then finally we have “Green Leaves” by the Glass, the New York-based indie electro-pop act whose motto is “art demands victims.” OK, dudes — not interested in being victims for art, or anything — but thanks!

—DJ Yeti

Prayers for Rain // Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music

Today was supposed to be the first 2009 Garden Party-a BK summer outdoor fete I’ve been doing for a few years now- but the day was forecasted to be another in a two-week run of gloomers. Despite a scheduled appearance from Shawn Ryan (of the excellent Dollar Bin Jams blog) all the way from Philly, last night, me and my DJ pal decided to cancel.

So this morning I kind of felt like a chump (as the sun would peek its little head out from behind the clouds) but relieved when it did in fact downpour (quite nastily) this afternoon. I felt a bit guilty praying for rain just to save face, but later I realized it was because rainy days give a certain kind of opportunity.

Rainy days are kind of a wildcard, where you can get to working on shit you’ve been putting off (sad but true: my 2008 taxes) and also escape guilt as you tool around the web. Today, par example, I made a visit to somewhat shoddy yet still riveting Ishkur’s Guide to Electronic Music. Guitar people, take note: this site will answer all of your questions about that reliably cacauphonous oonst oonst oonst you’ve come to despise yet secretly enjoy.

-Fucci