POGO

Pogo lives in his own little word focused on childhood memories, distinctive beats, and magical rhythms. He uses the soundtracks of children's movies and the voices of their characters to weave a world reminiscent of long rainy days, spent cuddled up on the couch watching Alice In Wonderland, or Mary Poppins. It seems that Pogo has matured in the manner of music making, but kept his imagination like that of a child. 

Pogo also creates music videos for his tracks, made by piecing together scenes from the movie which is sampled in the given song. I highly recommend you jump on over to Pogo's YouTube account as well, where you can find many more music videos, including my personal favorite "Expialidocious." In the mean time, hold yourself over with Pogo's "Alice," an electronic trip through the looking glass using samples from Alice In Wonderland.

POGOALICE

RESCUE CAT - £10 BAG

RESCUE CAT is some good music for a great sunday... meow!

INTERVIEW W// DRUMS OF DEATH

So I had the chance to shoot over a few questions to Drums of Death, and took advantage. You can read my previous post on DOD here, and download a truly insane disco track by the voodoo hoody after the interview. 

1. So you've made some pretty sick techno music, but I was reading that you were originally in metal bands when growing up in Scotland. When did you first decide to start making electronic music?

I was always interested in electronic music of some type or another but it all goes back to my childhood. I remember the strange, almost alien sounds in government warning adverts and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop work in old TV repeats of 1970's Doctor Who episodes. Those strange tones and textures mixed with my immediate excitement for 80s pop like Tears For Fears and Michael Jackson started me off. However, my teenage years and need for screaming noise propelled me into grunge and metal bands and so . It finally took a friend taking me to raves that changed the course of my life.

2. What is your favorite part about making music? 
The finishing..? I love the playing piano part at the start, the ideas stage.... swirling possibilities and the potential for anything... and I also love the feeling of finishing a piece of music but almost everything in between is slightly irritating. I dearly want the sounds and music in my head to be realised faster than they currently do so there's a constant feeling of annoyance with myself and the whole process. I'm trying to work through such self-involved, narcissistic attitudes by occasionally leaving my apartment and seeing friends.

3. What people or bands ultimately inspired you to make music your career?

For my sound, no. I try to make a broad type of music. This is, however, definitely pop music. My pop music. There's particular artists that have in their own way inspired me and at various times of my life really altered my idea of music-making. These range from DJ Pierre & Green Velvet, Tom Waits, Michael Jackson (and Quincy Jones), Captain Beefheart, Radiohead, Betty Davis, Chilly Gonzales and Peaches.

4. What groups do you currently enjoy?
Starkey from Philadelphia, Debruit and Fulgeance from Paris. Two guys who make crazy sick hiphop. TV On The Radio, Queens Of The Stone Age. Joe played me 2 new Hot Chip songs... One of them is totally awesome.

5. What song that you've made best describes you as an artist?
Voodoo Lovers hits the broken Bacharach running through my veins, it's what I finish all my shows with.... but Work Yr Neck is the party alarm call at full volume. Both are equal sides to my music. As you will hear on my album. Love songs and rave horns.

6. What is the latest tune that has made you tap your feet?
My remix for Mondo Diao - Trance hiphop. They're a band from Sweden and I've been playing the instrumental of my remix for them in these USA tour shows... massive reaction. On the tour bus I've been listening to old Tool, BBC Radio spoken word theatre and new Animal Collective and Health.

7. What was the greatest live experience you ever had?
My debut live show at Glastonbury with Greco-Roman last year or Chigago on this USA tour with Peaches just last week. All I can remember is flashes, snapshots of some moments... I just remember after the show all the people screaming, I felt utterly ruined and couldnt give anymore and the atmosphere... I've never felt anything like it, not even close. I feel with these shows I'm getting closer to the live performances I want everytime. Raw and honest, punkrock energy and love song raves.

8. What are your plans for your debut album?
Generation Hexed is pop music from your new favourite voodoo hoodlum and will be released on Greco-Roman in September 2009. It was at first to feature lots of my friends...other artists and musicians. But through the writing process it became alot more personal. There's string quartets on it, there's crunchy 8-bit rave freakouts, ballads and breakdowns.

9. Other than that, what's next?
Travelling the world... Drums Of Death is eager to start work on his second album and the birth of the live band is near. Returning to the States in Winter then to Australia for Big Day Out with Peaches, Japan, Mars... Saturn. Onwards and inwards, downwards and under...

DRUMS OF DEATHDODFUCKSUPANESCORTTUNE

HEARTSREVOLUTION - 薔薇と彼女の王子

***

The electronic, time-traveling, sword-bearing astronauts Heartsrevolution, who were first introduced to us on Kitsune Maison 6 with their hit "Ultraviolence" are coming back full speed on Kitsune Maison 7, with "薔薇と彼女の王子 (The Rose And Her Prince)", a psychedelic, child-like wonderworld of bells and beats, perfectly illustrated by the above music video for the track.

***

Check out the tracklist for the highly anticipated Kitsune Maison 7 here, and download a free minimix for the complitation here.

NAPOLIAN

A 16 year-old LA slice of the greatest thing to come - a beastly electro artist - a modern-day Napoleon, destined to conquer clubs and pack dancefloors. Brutal beats striking harder than Godzilla's footsteps and radioactive synths that will take you back to another dimension, all in slow motion. 

So far, Napolian only has one original track up on the internet - an ill piece of dance music that best gets its point across with large speakers, strobe lights, and a dance floor full of people.

NAPOLIANPASTEUR

PROPAGANDA

Just finished my first Danish Poet promo vid ^ enjoy XD

THE SHINS LIVE @ TERMINAL 5, MAY 18

Two nights ago, I was fortunate enough to get to see The Shins at Terminal 5 in NYC. I’ll tell you, it was everything I’d hoped it to be. 

The opening act was Delta Spirit, and I can honestly say I’ve never heard of them before. The five of them were all very clearly and thoroughly passionate about their work, and they very easily won over the audience very quickly. They were very enjoyable, but I was thrilled to know that when they were done, The Shins were just moments away, and that kept me motivated through the pain developing in my legs. 

The lights dimmed and everyone lurched forward, starting to freak out as if it were The Beatles at Shea Stadium. When I saw Dave Hernandez come out first I was beyond ecstatic and seeing James Mercer really made it set in that they were here and only a few feet away.

 

They launched off with ‘Australia’ which is one of my favorites and I couldn’t help but get giddy. They then proceeded through the next two songs on Wincing the Night Away without stopping. After a song or two, they introduced a special guest joining them on violin, and when I saw her, I was visibly the only person flipping out: It was Rebecca Zeller, the violinist of Ra Ra Riot!

A few songs come and go, equipped with some new songs (that they didn’t have the decency to tell us the titles of), and a cover from, and I quote “One of the best f*cking bands in the world”, also known in James Mercer’s mind as The Beach Boys, all leading up to the best performance of the night: ‘Caring is Creepy’. Every one in the room was singing their lungs out to this song, so much so that even though I was very close to James Mercer I couldn’t hear him! When everyone is that connected and ‘into’ a song like that, how can that not affect you? 

After three more, they play the second best performance of ‘Sleeping Lessons’. It was another one where not only were the band happy and seemingly into playing it, but the audience was immensely enthusiastic about their choice as well. Even if they ended it right then and there, I can guarantee everyone would’ve been satisfied with the quality of their performance. 

For the encore, they play a Neil Young cover and the immensely popular ‘Know Your Onion!’. Throughout the whole show, in between songs, people would shout ‘New Slang’ prompting the band to reply with either a ‘We’ll get to all that” or James Mercer looking visibly miffed and then saying “That f*cking song…”, so the time had come for them to fulfill their promise. Everyone sang in unison and not frantically like the others. It was really very cool hearing "New Slang", the song that got me into The Shins, performed live. 

When the show ended, I can honestly say I didn’t want it to end. I loved every minute of it, and would easily do it again. I couldn’t stop smiling and I get filled with joy when I think of think of it! I still can’t get over that a Ra Ra Rioter was there either! 

As with every concert, there were a couple of disappointments. As you know, The Shins are a new Shins, with Marty Crandall and Jesse Sandoval out of the band, so they didn’t sound as immense or full like The Shins I’ve come to know and love. If they didn’t get rid of them weeks before the show, I probably wouldn’t have been as angry. And the only other turn-off was that they didn’t play ‘So Says I’ or ‘Turn On Me’. 

I would thoroughly recommend going to see them however, even if you only like them a little bit. They are a quality band and live act and it was well worth the wait!

///SET LIST\\\
Australia
Pam Berry
Phantom Limb
Girl Inform Me
Saint Simon
Red Rabbits
Sealegs
"New Song"
Mines Not a High Horse
Girl Don’t Tell Me (Beach Boys Cover)
"New Song"
Caring is Creepy
Girl On a Wing
Dry The Rain (Beta Band Cover)
Those to Come
Sleeping Lessons

///ENCORE\\\
Helpless (Neil Young Cover)
Know Your Onion!
New Slang

BY DOUBLE HAWK

FACEBOOK

IT'S HERE, IT'S FINALLY HERE

GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS

OK, so I've got some good news and some bad news concerning the days ahead:

GOOD NEWS: Drums Of Death is sending me some Qs to my As and I'll be posting the interview some time soon (YES!!!). Also, Double Hawk and I are going to a Shins concert tomorrow at Terminal 5 in New York City. That means a concert review will be on the way! BE THERE OR BE SQUARE. 

BAD NEWS: James Mercer, The Shin's frontman just let go of drummer Jesse Sandoval and keyboardist Marty Crandall... of course, right before the DP team gets to enjoy them live for the first time :p

DRUMS OF DEATH

Drums of Death is my happy horror story: Drums of Death came to be after an encounter with a dark priest on a sorrowful night in Haiti. A musician known as Colin Bailey emerged from this near fatal encounter as you see him now: dark, dishevelled and disfigured. Cursed by magick, Bailey’s heart was cut out and as he lay on the brink of death, the voodoo priest fixed a  into his chest. The voodoo machine pulsed its artificial rhythm through his chest and around his blood, helping bind him to the earth whilst further fuelling his dark desires and terrible urges.

If Ozzy Osbourne made techno, this hellishly brilliant remix is what we would have. But alas, we must rely only on Drums of Death. 

DRUMS OF DEATHOZZY! (BLACK SABBATH VS. DRUMS OF DEATH)

///US TOUR DATES W/ PEACHES\\\
May, 16 – Webster Hall, New York City, NY (!!!)
May, 17 – Paradise Theater, Boston, MA
May, 18 – Club Soda, Montreal, Canada
May, 20 – Phoenix, Toronto, Canada
May, 21 – Majestic Theater, Detroit, MI
May, 22 – Metro, Chicago, IL
May, 23 – Majestic Theater, Madison, WI
May, 25 – Gothic Theater, Denver, CO
May, 26 – In The Venue, Salt Lake City, UT
May, 27 – Knitting Factory, Boise, ID
May, 29 – Starlight, Edmonton, Canada
May, 30 – Ballroom, Calgary, Canada
May, 31 – Commodore, Vancouver, Canada
June, 1 – Showbox, Seattle, WA
June, 2 – Wonder Ballroom, Portland, OR
June, 4 – 211 North, Reno, NV
June, 5 – Regency Ballroom, San Francisco, CA
June, 6 – Henry Fonda Theater, Los Angeles, CA
June, 7 – Henry Fonda Theater, Los Angeles, CA
June, 8 – Pappy’s, Joshua Tree, CA
June, 11 – Emo’s, Austin, TX
June, 12 – Granada, Dallas, TX
June, 13 – House of Blues, New Orleans, LA
June, 15 – Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
June, 16 – Cat’s Cradle, Chapel Hill, NC
June, 17 – 9:30 Club, Washington, DC

FREEBIES ♥

Miike Snow | Punks Jump Up | The Presets | Cut/Copy | Weird Tapes | Passion Pit | Wallpaper.

MiiKE SNOWANIMAL (PUNKS JUMP UP REMIX)

THE PRESETSGIRL AND THE SEA (CUT COPY REMIX)

WEIRD TAPESNIGHTSTALKING

PASSION PITTHE REELING (WALLPAPER. REMIX)

IF I HAD A HEART (SPARKLETONE REMIX)

If any remix was to do Fever Ray's infamous "If I Had A Heart" justice, it would be Sparkletone's dark, droning masterpiece. It builds up, it lives, it dies. 

FEVER RAYIF I HAD A HEART (SPARKLETONE REMIX)

PTERODACTYL - DECEMBER

PTERODACTYL - the coolest punks on your side of the street

AUDIONITE

Audionite is one of the greats. He is an amp-blaster from Berlin Germany, with some raging late-nighters and a couple classics under his belt. He sent me a list of his tracks and I picked out a fave of mine called "Sonar", an epic, seven-minute journey through dancefloors and space. I highly recommend. 

AUDIONITESONAR

COLORTRONIC MIXTAPE

So I found this insane mixtape over at COLORTRONIC and thought I'd post it. It's got some awesome artists on there and helped me discover a couple of new loves. It's a great party playlist as well and overall just full of really good music. Check out the tracklist below and then download the playlist as a .zip file.

///TRACKLIST\\\
1 Tiger & Woods - Come Down
2 Cut Copy - Glittering Clouds
3 Kraak & Smaak - Plastic People
4 The Presets - Girl And The Sea (Cut Copy Remix)
5 Snowden - Black Eyes (Le Castlevania Remix)
6 Phoenix - 1901 (NightWaves Remix)
7 Empire of the Sun - Walking On A Dream
8 Pacific! - Number One

9 Frankmusik - Rehab
10 Futurecop! - Starworshipper
11 Justin Faust - The Capri Spinoff
12 The Very Best - Funa Funa

COLORTRONIC MIXTAPE #1

KITSUNE 7 MINIMIX

KITSUNE MAISON 7 MINIMIX

~KITSUNE~

IAN FRANCE - HOPE

I have finally completed my debut album, "Hope." Playing at 36 minutes it is a 10 track exercise in experimenting, and an experiment in making electronica music.

The tracklist is below, and if you click on any song title it will lead you to a free download link for that MP3. You can check out more of my music on my MySpace too. Remember to turn the volume all the way up. XD

Tracklist:

01 Nocturne

02 Now Is The Time

03 500 Souls

04 No Survival

05 Japanese Phone Call

06 Hope

07 What

08 You Know My Name

09 Shogunate

10 We're Not Connected

THE DURUTTI COLUMN

Sure, the main goal of this blog is to post some of the best, budding, indie/electro artists out there, but I think it's still important to appreciate old school - the good stuff that got music where it is today. 

The Durutti Column was formed in 1978 headed by guitarist Vini Reilly. He's getting on there in age, but nonetheless can still wind out some of the smoothest guitar solos of the decade. They're coming out with a new album on May 18th called "Love In The Time of Recession," featuring the melodically dreamy track "More Rainbows," that sounds as if Vangelis' "La Petite Fille De La Mer" was given a wicked electric guitar solo. 

THE DURUTTI COLUMNMORE RAINBOWS