Available in iTunes: Issue #3 Discosalt Magazine
Discosalt video of the week 5/30/10: The National’s newish video for “Bloodbuzz Ohio” off their new album High Violet features charismatic National front man, Matt Berninger, cleaned up, beard trimmed and donning a handsome suit in black and white doing sort of a lazy mans electric slide.
Director Martin de Thura re-unites with Danish indie rockers, Mew to direct their new video for ” Beach”. Another installment in a series of ambitiously shot, mysterious, strange, eerie videos to promote their just as ambitious, mysterious, strange titled album “No More Stories/Are Told Today/I’m Sorry/They Washed Away/No More Stories/The World Is Grey/I’m Tired/Let’s Wash Away”…and breathe! There is a camp of dirty pale kids, a peering mountain, a spinning dreammachine headed dancer and some creepy animation to the soundtrack of one toe tapping catchy tune. Check it out.
Los Angeles-based electronic-pop artist Active Child releases his debut EP titled Curtis Lane on FILTER US Recordings today. The EP can be purchased digitally through the iTunes music store HEREor on 10″ white vinyl, which is available through his official Web site.
Active Child is the new project from choirboy-turned-indie pop musician Pat Grossi. The influence of chorale singing, along with the sensibility of non-secular music, is as apparent in Active Child’s work as the influence of cherished pop bands like New Order, Joy Division and Tears for Fears. Active Child has already garnered complimentary critical praise from the likes of notable outlets such as NME, The Guardian, LA Weekly, Pitchfork, Stereogum and many others. Active Child’s debut collection of songs features the skilled use of various ’80s-tinged synths to create ethereal, soaring soundscapes punctuated by crisp electronic drum samples and handclaps. All of this lays the groundwork for Grossi’s exquisite vocals which, with their unearthly sound and evocative lyrics, take on an enchanting, hymnal quality that would not be out of place amongst the richly colored sunlight of a church’s stained-glass interior. Active Child’s songs are an intriguing study in contrast. The organic elements of Grossi’s angelic vocals and the occasional delicate strumming of a harp cast light on the eerie darkness created by the haunting synths and cavernous reverberating of percussion.
Currently touring the UK with White Rabbits, Active Child will be performing Stateside on Monday, June 7, at Mercury Lounge in New York City and on Friday, June 18, at the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles, CA, to showcase the hypnotic and otherworldly sounds contained within his exciting new body of work.
Tour Dates:
June
7 New York – Mercury Lounge
18 Los Angeles – Bootleg Theatre
Somewhere in the recesses of your early nineties record memory, you probably remember the Cowboy Junkies cover version of The Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane” on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack. Well, the band is still together, and one of the few bands that has lasted so long with their original line-up intact. Fewer, still, have created as consistently satisfying a body of work, since 1985 with some milestone albums in the nineties that chronicle the bands creative path which has remained impervious to trends in popular music.
For the first time, the band is now completely free of any recording contracts and obligation and they have recorded a new album Renmin Park. Inspired by a three-month stay that Michael Timmins of the band spent in China—which he describes as “an other-worldly experience”— Renmin Park is the first of four releases planned over the next 18 months, collectively titled “The Nomad Series.” Renmin Park (translated means,”People’s Park”) is a celebration of the sights, sounds, and characters of Jingjiang, a small town situated on the Yangtze River. Several of the tracks were actually built on loops made from “field recordings” that Michael made in China where he recorded a myriad of sounds from music and conversations—from badminton games to students chanting their lessons. The album also includes covers of songs by two of the country’s most important rock artists.
This album will soon be followed by Demons, on which Cowboy Junkies will cover the songs of their late friend Vic Chesnutt, who passed away in December 2009. “His catalogue is so deep and, for the most part, so overlooked,” says Michael. “It will be a labor of love.” The final two volumes of the Nomad Series will be titled Sing in My Meadow the contents of which are still being discussed and The Wilderness, a full album of new songs. The band’s recently revamped website will play an important role in the Nomad Series by taking fans inside the creative process. Timmins adds that the band will be blogging about the series from the inception to conclusion of each album and will be posting demos, works in progress, rough mixes and the occasional aborted effort. After all four volumes are released, plans call for a book that will delve into the character, nature, and inspiration behind each of the albums. It will be published by Whale and Star, the publishing house of the band’s friend Enrique Martinez Celaya, a Cuban-American artist whose “Nomad” paintings helped inspire the series. Michael sums up the band’s motivation for taking on such a massive project quite simply. “The main reason for wanting to do it,” he says, “is that, as we steam through our twenty-fifth year, we feel that we have the energy and inspiration to pull it off.”
Check out a free MP3 Download from the band below:
MP3: COWBOY JUNKIES-”CASCADIAS”
Just in case you cant find that mix-tape your girlfriend/boyfriend made for you in junior high, here’s one for old time sake:
Here is a preview of this weeks Rooftop Films:
Thursday, May 27
ETIENNE!
Directed by Jeff Mizushima
NY Premiere! A quirky slacker road movie comedy about a man and his hamster.
Etienne! tells the story of Richard, a shy type who spends his days taking care of his best friend, Etienne, a dwarf hamster. One day Richard finds out that his hamster has terminal cancer. The veterinarian recommends euthanasia before the animal begins to suffer. Before he lets his best friend go, Richard decides to take Etienne on a bicycle road trip and show it the world.
http://www.rooftopfilms.com/2010/schedule/6-etienne
Where:
On the roof of Brooklyn Technical High School (29 Fort Greene Pl., Fort Greene)
When:
8:00 Doors Open
8:30 Live Music by Natureboy
9:00 Films Begin
Friday, May 28
DARK TOONS (short films)
Tales of friendship, love, loss, and coming to terms with one’s own mortality.
Our Dark ‘Toons program enters into realms of the unconscious often left untapped, encompassing fantasy, tragedy, and romance. While not all these characters are human, the emotions expressed, from pain to aspiration, are the most human we have.
http://www.rooftopfilms.com/2010/schedule/7-dark-toons
Where:
Open Road Rooftop above New Design High School (350 Grand St. @ Essex)
When:
8:00 Doors Open
8:30 Live Music
9:00 Films begin
11:30 After Party with FREE Radeberger Pilsner at Fontana’s (105 Eldridge St.)
Saturday, May 29
HOME MOVIES (short films)
Home movies about families and lost love, these range from melancholic to marshmallow sweet.
What is it about home movie footage that feels so bittersweet? Home movies, while often funny, make us think about those we’ve lost in our lives, and the decisions we’ve made. These films range from deeply personal stories of failed or transformed love, to hilarious perspectives from different generations.
http://www.rooftopfilms.com/2010/schedule/8-home-movies
8:00 Doors Open
8:30 Live Music
9:00 Films begin
11:30 After Party with FREE Radeberger Pilsner at Fontana’s (105 Eldridge St.)
WHEN: Sunday, May 30th
DOORS: 9pm
WHERE: Element
TICKETS: $20 adv, $30 door (advanced tickets available HERE )
On Memorial Day weekend, the folks behind Brooklyn Yard, MeanRed are bringing together established and emerging talent from around the globe to lay down the future: MJ Cole, Ikonika, Actress, Michna, Kenny Dope, House of House, Worthy, Nick Hook & Egyptrixx. Each of these artists are visionaries, pioneers, and icons… many of whom rarely play in New York. (This is Ikonika’s first performance in NYC!!).
Come out for some historic sets and interactive art to wrestle nightclubs from the grip of scenesters, b & t and tourists and to bring you to the dark side of disco. Grab reduced tickets in advance before they run out!
on deck:
MJ COLE
M. J. Cole is a British house and UK garage producer and remixer, regarded as one of the innovators of the 2Step or UK Garage sound. He came up in the Drum & Bass scene during the late 1990s and early 2000s, and has, in the past two years re-emerged as a serious electronica futurist.
Ikonika
Sara Abdel-Hamid – aka Ikonika – is one of UK dubstep’s sharpest talents. Born and raised in west London under the roar of the jets coming in and out of Heathrow, where her Egyptian father and Filipino mother met, a sound that finds its echo in the towering walls of synths that drench her debut album, Contact, Love, Want, Have. She first became involved in music drumming in hardcore and metal bands, dabbled in hip-hop and dubstep, then she crafted her own singular sound built around messed-up rhythms, off-kilter melodies, eight-bit bleeps that recall the computer games of her childhood and, of course, those vast, monolithic synths.
Actress
Actress, aka, Darren J. Cunningham not only runs the Werk label and has discovered / released some of the most widely talked about artists of the emerging bass generation (Disrupt, Zomby, Lukid and Starkey, to name a few) but he produced the exceptional “Hazyville LP” drawing cries for a Mercury Award Nomination. Actress has performed stunning live shows at Fabric London and DJ’d alongside the likes of Juan Atkins, UR, Modeselektor, Radioactive Man, Dabrye, Kode 9 and Flying Lotus. DJ sets are variable depending on the night and mood, but generally programmed to suit afro-futuristic sounds of all persuasions.
“An artist so underground that even his own friends doubt his existence” -Dazed&Confused Magazine
“Working under a mysterious guise, his tunes are shrouded in a mist of grays, beiges, and whites, perhaps depicting a murky London skyline or just a cloudy day anywhere in the world. The music of Actress is intimate, inquisitive and intricate all at once.” -URB
“One of the UK’s most fascinating musical figures” -Fact Magazine
Michna
Growing up in both NY and Miami, Michna is that unique breed of artist that draws from both the urban and the tropical. As a youngster, Adrian started DJing parties with cassettes and playing trombone in a band on the NYC bar circuit including the infamous Lion’s Den and CBGB’s. Currently based in Brooklyn NY, Adrian Michna (aka DJ Egg Foo Young) has become a staple in the NYC club scene. While working on his solo album, he also found time to remix the mysterious Jandek (the only artist ever to do so) and produce on Brazilian group Bonde Do Role’s debut LP for Domino/Mad Decent. His debut LP “Magic Monday” and the elevating single “Triple Chrome Dipped” are works of pure glitch glory.
House of House
House Of House is the New York City-based dance music duo of Saheer Umar (Afrika Islam’s nephew) and Olivier “Liv” Spencer (Still Going, DFA, Manthraxx). In early 2009, NYC-based duo House of House honored that rich history by creating and releasing the beast that is the “Rushing to Paradise” 12″ on cult label Whatever We Want Records. Instantly coveted and championed by cutting edge DJ’s, record collectors and cultural connoisseurs, “Rushing to Paradise” quickly moved up into the upper echelon of “years best” lists, even before the records official release date. Clocking in at 13 minutes and weaving through the highest peaks and deep valleys of human emotion, House of House gave birth to an epic opus. Their deep, rich, soulful house is set to rescue NYC from clutches of mindless dance music.
Kenny Dope
Three-time Grammy nominated Kenny Dope, one of the most prolific artists of the modern music age, has been entertaining and astounding the masses alike with his fusion of house, hip-hop, Latin, jazz, soul, and broken beats. Known as a living encyclopedia of beats, Kenny Dope grew up in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park and by the early eighties he was absorbing the hip hop beats that were being played at the local street parties. Since then, he went on to create an explosive catalogue of work with Louis Vega under the Masters at Work alias, and has traveled the world as living legend.
Worthy
SF-based DJ and Dirtybird label founder, Worthy was bred on hip hop, breaks. techno and drum ‘n’ bass. He later conspired with Christian Martin, Justin Martin and Claude VonStroke to co-create a fresh take on outdoor parties, rightly named Dirtybird. The Dirtybird parties have quickly become an institution for San Francisco die-hards and a destination for international travelers. These days, Worthy’s music production has been showing up on DJ charts across the world and has been played by everyone from Carl Cox to Sven Vath to Ben Watt.
Nick Hook
Hometown hero Nick Hook has been a staple of the NYC music scene for years. A genre chameleon by nature, Nick has lent his talents to projects as diverse as Men, Women & Children, SPORTS and Cardboard Collective. He has performed alongside talent such as Drop The Lime, Cage, Yak Ballz, and remixed tracks for countless artists. These days, when he’s not planning the infamous Dre Day NYC party, he is heading up the post-punk noise funk band Cubic Zirconia, and releasing music on his recently formed Don’t Cry Recordings.
Toronto-based producer (a.k.a.David Psutka) has been fiddling with beats for years; Psutka’s knowledge runs deep, allowing him to thoughtfully pull from house, techno, dubstep, UK funky, and whatever other genres he needs (gothy drone rock, anyone?) to create a unique sound that he likes to refer to as “celestial club music.” With appearances booked across Europe and North America this summer, Egyptrixx is poised to take a whole lot of clubbers much deeper than they’re accustomed to going.
Grab some free music HERE
Two voices are better than one – or so goes the mantra of believers in the cult of Peggy Sue. Best friends and creative compatriots Katy Young and Rosa Slade, along with drummer Olly Joyce, bob and weave their soulful, R&B-ready voices in and out of complex vocal interplay achieving sonic qualities all their own. A folk power trio of sorts, Katy, Rosa and Olly blend minimalist drums, acoustic guitars, accordion and strings into a soul-folk shotgun blast that is much more than the sum of its parts. Emotionally, the album centers on the darker side of love, with sharp-penned one liners smoldering like embers ignited by the breath of Klaw and Rex’s voice and furious strumming. A folk-punk wake-up call and their debut full length, Fossils and Other Phantoms signals Peggy Sue as one of the UK’s most promising imports.
“There’s kind of theme that runs throughout the album, because it was written over one period of time,” Rosa said. “The process of writing songs is very therapeutic. It usually tends to come at a time when you need the outlet for something … There’s quite a lot about what remains after something’s ended and … absences that still occupy spaces and remnants of things that have passed.”
CATCH PEGGY SUE ON TOUR
June 9 @ Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia, PA
June 10 @ Piano’s in NYC
June 11 @ Paradise in Boston, MA
June 12 @ Le Divan Orange in Montreal
June 13 @ Sneaky Dees in Toronto
June 14 @ Schuba’s in Chicago IL
June 20 @ Mississippi Studios in Portland, OR
June 21 @ Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco CA
June 22 @ Spaceland in Los Angeles CA
In their much-anticipated second album, New Medium, Faded Paper Figures return with a richer, fuller sound, even as they maintain all of Dynamo‘s indie-tronica charm. Fans of the band will be happy to hear all of the familiar blips, harmonies, and intellectual pop-references, but with even more life and energy this time around. Striking melodies, lyrical images, and classic pop forms–New Medium‘s lush electronica feels both intimately familiar and astonishingly new.
Kids Of 88 have teamed up with the Remix Artist Collective to bring you a free download of their “My House” remix. Download the track below:
MP3: KIDS OF ’88- “MY HOUSE (REMIX)”
McCarthy rules vocals, programming and “complaining too much”. While partner-in-heartbreaking Arts, plays synths, programming and “not complaining enough”.
The twosome describe their music as a “whimful combination of dirt spitting kicks and feathering grit. An overdose of nightlife; the lubricated moan of spilt vodka. The hard realization of concrete and the happiness of blurry vision. An alleyway gangbang between Grandmaster Flash and The Knack.” The rest of New Zealand know Kids Of 88 better as architects of the Platinum selling debut single “My House,” and follow up single “Just A Little Bit” which is a top 3 seller at iTunes. And the rest of the world? A UK Ltd Ed 7” of “My House” already released through Dryden Street / East City Records, official remixes for Ke$ha & Cobra Starship , and Zane Lowe recently playing new demo “Ribbons Of Light” on his UK Radio 1 Evening Session have certainly paved the way for arresting first impressions.
Discosalt Video of the Week 5/23/10: This weeks video of the week is Drive-By Truckers new video for “Working this Job” off their eighth studio album The Big To Do. Its a more melodic and rocking sounding track than anything since disc 2 of Southern Rock Opera and the perfect disgruntled working man’s anthem to start your week.
And since we are talking sh*tty jobs, If you are sick and tired of slaving your life for the man, Discosalt made you a mix tape: “Take this Job and Shove it: Disgruntled working man anthems.” So, if you hate your job, put down the TPS reports or the fries basket for a few and enjoy…its almost time to go home…sort of….
SIDE A:
1. “Working This Job” 
Drive-By Truckers
2. “This Job Is Killing Me”- The Walkmen
Just in time for the weekend we have the perfect video for you to watch while getting ready to head out.
Red Wire Black Wire is a Brooklyn based 6-piece that creates music with the immediacy of a DJ and the subtlety of film score. The band’s recordings combine dense but precise layers of synthesizers, guitars, strings, horns, and pounding drums. Eschewing irony, singer Doug Walters focuses on the melancholy; critics have compared him to Robert Smith, William Burroughs, and Frank Miller. Red Wire Black Wire fuse electronic and organic counterpoint to create catchy, textured, and revealing compositions.
The band formed at Wesleyan University in Connecticut where they fleshed out Walters’ basement laptop compositions. The band self-released the 5 song Compass EP in 2008, which was later re-released by Tough Customer Records in the same year.
In 2009, the band moved to Brooklyn, New York and completed their first full-length album, Robots & Roses. The album’s synthesizer drenched, heavy-hitting, melancholic songs tell the story of Walters’ long New York nights from bars to bedrooms. His lyrics range from dreamlike and surrealistic portraits of city life to direct confrontation of lovers. They are stories of irresponsibility and indignation; love and loathing; sincerity and sarcasm. The album sounds just as great on a lonely subway ride home as it does on booming dance floor speakers.
