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TigerCity - Are You Sensation (remix).

Let me introduce you to your new favorite band. It's been a long time since I made a bold statement like that around here, so believe me when I say it.

I have two words for you: David Byrne's Disco Years Fronting the Time. This is your art rock Ice Cream Castles. This is everything that we've been talking about for years in one shoe-shuffling sharkskin sensation. Just listen. The production, the beat, the lyrics smooth like a marshmallow on a river of buttered honey. It's all there. This is Hall 'n Oates for the non-ironic set.

So - even though it's winter - get in your car, right now. Roll down the window, open the sunroof (you know you got one), hang your cabbie-arm out the side and get driving. The destination is not important, because TigerCity is navigating. You will get there on time. It's their promise to you. Feel better? I knew you would. I'm not about to let you down.

Listen. This is by no means their only good song. This is not some one-hit-wonder blog money lap dance. Go to their myspace and check out the other jams. I sat and thought for ages deciding whether to post this one or Solitary Man--- which starts out with some nasty Morris Day keyboards before ending up with a coda that makes the Killers look like...well...the Killers. But speaking of codas, the quiet synth rollout that closes this song is mesmerizing. They've thought of everything.

You can currently buy their EP, direct from the band for only six bucks. The more we spend the sooner they can get in the studio again and cut a new record, which I'm told with contain roughly 10 new songs. I'm definitely looking forward to it. Highly recommended.

Oh how I wish Gwen Stefani’s The Sweet Escape had been worth writing about. Sure, it is charming at moments, but overall The Sweet Escape was totally uneven and really seemed nothing more than a way to cash in on the success of Love Angel Music Baby… just in time for Christmas. Hell Gwen, when Fergie is copping on your sound it’s time to switch it up hard.

That said — Bedtime For Toys’ newest track, “Say BOOM”, makes up for any pop disappointments of The Sweet Escape. The first time I heard Bedtime For Toys I immediately thought of an indie Gwen Stefani… but this time around Stefani should take a hint from the Toys.

Boom, here’s the latest party track from Bedtime For Toys. If “Say BOOM” is any hint of Bedtime For Toys’ album then we are in for a special treat.

Bedtime For Toys - “Say BOOM” (mp3)

Sideshow - Philly Soundworks

Just a quickie today, featuring a tasteful tech-house tune courtesy of Sideshow, a production alter ego of musician, remixer and producer Fin Greenall, aka Fink. Fink has been releasing music on Ninja Tune and associated labels since the mid-90s. He started his Sideshow project in 2003 as an opposing force, musically, to his Ninja leanings - an outlet to make more straight-up techno flavored dance music, as opposed to the turntable-DJ and scratch/beat heavy output of Fink. Fin has since released a handful of singles under that name on Simple Records and its young sister label, AUS (started by Fink and Will Saul), with a number of high-profile producers stepping in to handle remix duties, including Lee Jones, John Tejada, Mathew Jonson and Jesse Rose.

This song has all the makings of a funky disco-tech jam: sweet, swirling keys, a driving live feeling bassline, and just the right amount of cowbell. It originally appeared as a single, but will appear on the soon-to-be-released album's worth of Sideshow songs, simply called Sideshow - the album collects a few of his previous 12"-only releases, and makes them be available as a download-only album, as well as a limited-edition CD. The album includes a few techno tracks, but also shows some of versatility by including some crazy dubstep-style tracks, and includes the remixes I mentioned above (especially great is the Jesse Rose remix of this track).

Visit the Simple and AUS websites for more information on Sideshow, and to get links to the US + UK download outlets (Beatport and DJ Download), and check the AUS myspace page to hear more. Enjoy.

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PS: Tonight, head to Fontana's in NYC for some sweet dance-party action, courtesy of We Are Your Friends. Friday I'd hit the DFA Holiday party at Studio B. Saturday, the Modular monthly at the White Room (for which I'm still looking for a winner to give a pair of tickets to - contest is here). Get your dancing shoes on. Now.

Secret Mommy - Kool Aid River.

Canada is just full of surprises, eh? I had never heard of Ache records before this disc slid across my desk. Now I see that they've released DFA1979, Hella and Four Tet. So that makes sense. They've also put out a few Secret Mommy releases, which now I'm going to have to track down.

This album, Plays, is nothing short of amazing. Kool Aid River gives you a nice taste of what to expect. The title track is also spectacular, with sampled clarinet and early Mercury Rev "wooooohs." Actually, now that I think about it, this album does kind of remind me of BOCES. So there's that. Much more subdued though. Same sense of controlled chaos though. Our boy here screams like teenage emo heart throb, and somehow it comes off sounding awesome instead of contrived.

Secret Mommy works in the same territory as Matmos, mining samples from acoustic objects. He stresses that nothing electronic was played on the album at all, which is novel. The result is absolutely amazing. I don't know what he used to get the bass tones, but they're downright nasty. The chopped-up acoustic guitar is a nice treble-heavy backdrop for his low-bitrate vocal samples.

The album will be out in February. In the meantime, you can pick up his older stuff through the Ache store. I'll recommend the Wisdom EP - recorded using only the sounds of his wisdom teeth removal. Highly recommended.

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Also:

If anyone knows of any decent apartment openings in Los Angeles (preferably los feliz, silverlake, atwater, etc) for one or two people, please let me know. I need something ASAP.

Client - “Lights Go Out” (YouTube)

Client’s schtick hasn’t changed that much in the past five years… although I guess we get to see the Client’s faces now. Their new single and video has a certain Goldfrapp-ish Glam Disco influence to it. A step in a good direction.

Purchase: eMusic | Out Of Line

DJ Mehdi - Lucky Boy feat. Fafi

Those of you who have been reading MFR for a while know that we've been doing our best to follow along with the booming dance-music scene overseas in Europe, specifically with the rise of the new-Parisian scene that includes the folks at the Kitsuné label, the Institubes label, and the Ed Banger label.

If you're familiar with the Ed Banger visual aesthetic, you may even recognize the artwork of their in-house designer, So_Me, without my having to tell you that this Lucky Boy is a new EB release (and is actually first full-length artist-album) by veteran Parisian producer, Mehdi Faveris Essadi, aka DJ Mehdi. Mehdi has been involved with music for a decade: in the mid-90s, he was working as a producer of French hip-hop, and in the late-90s as a dance remixer (I've got his dope remix of Cassius' "Feeling For You"), and has been releasing his own work since the early 00s, including his first full-length (The Story Of) Espion (which is another of his aliases, and also just so happens to appear as the B-side to the original Justice vs Simian 12").

Anyway, the point being that DJ Mehdi knows what he is doing when it comes to booty- and party-rocking beats, and his new album is full of jams. When I first heard it, I was literally compelled to listen to the whole thing twice in a row because there is so much going on. Mehdi swings between electro, hip-hop, pop and disco-tech-house styles so effortlessly, it seems everyone else in the game must be missing something. The album features appearances by Feadz - a solid producer and DJ in his own right, who's been linked, production (and otherwise) with Ed Bangers' Lucky Girl, Uffie - Parisian MC Xanax, the NYC-Toronto duo Chromeo, and Fafi, Mehdi's wife, whom he thanks profusely (and, from the romantic in me, I will say very touchingly) in the amazing liner-notes.

Speaking of the liner-notes, Mehdi makes it clear that the album's title, Lucky Boy, refers to him - he is clearly thankful to be able to make music, and to be surrounded by the Ed Banger crew and their associated friends, musicians, artists, and producers. I am really glad to know that he has been hard at work for this long, pushing things forward and keeping a love of music and dancing at the forefront. When he DJ-ed with the Ed Banger crew here in NYC earlier this year, I got to talk to him for a minute, and thanked him for coming to rock the party - he seemed genuinely grateful to be in the city and get to do what he loves, so I wish him, and the Ed Banger crew, well.

Lucky Boy is available from our friends at Turntable Lab and anywhere fine dance music is sold - very highly recommended. Also be sure to check his myspace page for more music and information, as well as info on this amazing upcoming party on December 16th Ed Banger and Institubes are putting on, featuring Busy P, Das Glow, Justice, Orgasmic, Para One, Sebastian, Surkin, Tacteel, Uffie & Feadz, DJ Mehdi and surprise guests... anyone want to get me a plane ticket to Paris? Oh, also be sure to check out the new issue of XLR8R, with Justice on the cover as their pick for best of 2006 - heyo!

Hiem is a duo from the land of Sheffield. Releasing their EP 1/2 back in May of this last year on the amazing White Label Music. It is a nice teaser for what is sure to come. I heard them for the first time on the Electronic Music Bible with their song “Tweak” and was hooked immediately.

Their sound is one of a kind and to be honest really changes from song to song on this EP. Their influences are all over the place, which is highly enjoyable since some electronic albums tend to sound like one long song all the way through. You can definately hear some new wave, psychedelic, experimental, noise, and disco.

You should check out their website and look under personnels, it’s pretty funny. This duo comes out of nowhere. Like a manlier, more hetero(does that exist?), more psychedelic Junior Senior, haha. I’m going crazy. I love this track ‘Borderline’, you’ll see why. It has a little something for everyone, and I just fucking love the trumpet like sound or sample.

Check them out and check out White Label Music.

Hiemspace

Hiem- “Borderline” (mp3)

The 2006 Reader’s Poll nominations are all in — we’ve narrowed it down to the most nominated for each category. I couldn’t have made a better list myself.

Voting to pick the winners opens today. Poll closes December 12th!

Edit: Voting closed. Winners announced soon. Nominations below:

Favorite Album

Belle & Sebastian: The Life Pursuit
The Blow : Paper Television
Cansei de Ser Sexy: CSS
The Game: Doctor’s Advocate
The Gossip: Standing In The Way Of Control
Herbert: Scale
Hot Chip: The Warning
Junior Boys: This Is Goodbye
Justin Timberlake: Futuresex/Lovesounds
Klanguage: Klanguage
The Knife: Silent Shout
Lily Allen: Alright, Still
Lo Fi Fnk: Boylife
Love Is All: Nine Times The Love Song
Midlake: The Trials Of Van Occupanther
Motor: Klunk
MSTRKRFT: The Looks
Peaches: Impeach My Bush
The Presets: Beams
The Rapture: Pieces Of The People We Love
The Scanners: Violence Is Golden
Soulwax: Nite Versions
Spank Rock: Yoyoyoyoyoyo
Spektrum: Fun At the Gymkhana Club
TV On The Radio: Return To Cookie Mountain
Whitest Boy Alive: Dreams

Favorite Song

CSS: “Let’s Make Love and Listen to DFA”
Data Rock: “Fafafa”
The Gossip: “Standing In The Way Of Control”
Hot Chip: “Over & Over”
Junior Boys: “In The Morning”
Justice: “Waters Of Nazareth”
Justin Timberlake: “My Love”
Klaxons: “Gravity’s Rainbow”
The Knife: “We Share Our Mother’s Health”
Midnight Juggernauts: “Shadows”
MSTRKRFT: “Easy Love”
Nelly Furtado: “Maneater”
New Young Pony Club: “Ice Cream”
Para One: “Dudun Dun”
Peter Bjorn and John: “Young Folks”
The Presets: “Are You The One?”
The Rapture: “Whoo! Alright - Yeah… Uh Huh”
Sally Shairo: “I’ll Be By Your Side”
The Scanners: “Low Life”
Simian Mobile Disco: “Hustler”
Spektrum: “Don’t Be Shy”
TV On The Radio: “Wolf Like Me”
Uffie: “Pop The Glock/Ready To Uff”
Van She: “Kelly” Yelle: “Short Dick Cuizi”

Favorite Remix

CSS: “Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above” (Spank Rock Remix)
Franz Ferdinand: “The Fallen” (Ruined by Justice)
Goldfrapp: “Slide In” (DFA Remix)
The Gossip: “Standing In The Way Of Control” (Soulwax Nite Version)
Hot Chip: “Boy From School” (Erol Alkan’s Extended Rework)
Hot Chip: “Just Like We (Breakdown)” (DFA Remix)
Justice vs. Simian: “We Are Your Friends”
Kelis: “Bossy” (Alan Braxe and Fred Falke remix)
Klaxons: “Atlantis to Interzone” (Crystal Castles remix)
Klaxons: “Gravity Rainbow” (Van She Tech remix)
Kudu: “Bar Star” (In Flagranti mix)
Metric: “Monster Hospital” (MSTRKRFT Remix)
MSTRKRFT: “Work On You” (Para One remix)
New Young Pony Club: “Ice Cream” (Bang Gang remix)
New Young Pony Club: “Ice Cream” (Van She remix)
Robbie Williams: “Lovelight” (Soulwax Ravelight Dub)
Spank Rock: “Bump” (Switch Remix)
The Knife: “We Share Our Mother’s Health” (Ratatat Remix)
The Knife: “We Share Our Mother’s Health (Trentemøller Remix)
The Presets: “Down Down Down” (Midnight Juggernauts remix)
The Rapture: “Get Myself Into It” (Sebastian remix)
The Teenagers: “Homecoming” (SLUTTT 98% Done Remix)
Uffie: “Pop The Glock” (Sebastian Remix)
Wolfmother: Woman (MSTRKRFT remix)
Young Love: “Discotech” (Ocelot remix)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: “Cheated Hearts” (Peaches Remix)

Favorite Record Label of 2006

DFA
Dim Mak
Ed Banger
Gomma
Kill Rock Stars
Kitsuné
K7
Last Gang
Modular
Moshi Moshi
Mute
Ninja Tune
SRVICE
Sub Pop
Troubleman
Unlimited

Artist of 2006

Cansei de Ser Sexy
Goldfrapp
The Gossip
Hot Chip
Justice
Klaxons
The Knife
MSTRKRFT
New Young Pony Club
The Presets
SebastiAn
Simian Mobile Disco
Soulwax
Spank Rock
Switch
Uffie
Van She

Oh cool. Guns’N'Bombs have remixed The Teenagers. I don’t remember 1996 sounding this good, but yeah. Totally different than the SLUTTT mix… the GNB remix might actually take my top spot for “Homecoming.”

The Teenagers - “Homecoming” (Guns’N'Bombs XTC RMX 1996) (mp3)

Oh and. Guns’N'Bombs have their first 12 inch coming out on Kitsuné. They sent me the following mixtape a month or so ago… I guess it’s making it’s way around some blogs. Good stuff. I am never going to get sick of that Soulwax/Gossip remix. Never.

Guns’N'Bombs - “Guns N Mixtape” (mp3)

Oh my.

1) Congrats to Trevor for winning the Modular Does LA Party contest! If your name is Trevor, and you didn’t get an email from me then I’m sorry… you didn’t win. If you didn’t win you can still buy tickets at Groove Tickets OR try winning at Gang Of Neon.

2) The reader survey/contest ends Monday, December 4th at 6PM EST. The responses so far have been overwhelming. Thank you all for your kind words! We should have winners and results up by the end of next week. Update: Survey now closed.

3) And last: Our Best of 2006 Reader’s Poll Nominations also ends Monday, December 4th at 6PM EST. We’ve had over a hundred nominations in each category… crazy. I don’t like making plans, but we should be able to narrow it down to the top nominations and open voting Monday night. Lots of fun! Nominations now closed: Go Vote!