Hello blogosphere, my name is Adso and I will be helping Jimps out with the blog from now on. With that awkwardness out of the way, time to get into some tunes.
I picked up Franz Ferdinand’s new album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand recently and have been really impressed with the catchiness and diversity of it. Just when you think a track sounds identical to its predecessor, they go in a completely different direction with the track while still managing to keep the album sounding cohesive. On the first listen I was shocked and thrilled at the same time when I heard track 10 Lucid Dreams. The first half of the song is not too shocking at all – although it is noticeably different to the leaked version that Triple J were playing for a while. However, at the 4:45 mark the song turns into a distorted electronic nightmare – in the best way possible.
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Franz Ferdinand – Lucid Dreams
I also got Yuksek’s first album recently entitled Away From The Sea. It’s a pretty sweet electro album that’s not all just non-stop heavy bangers. The tracks I Could Never Be A Dancer and So Down (Featuring one of my favourite bands Chromeo) display Yuksek’s diversity by proving he can make funky chilled out tracks too. I actually prefer these kinds of tracks he makes over the harder ones, but sometimes you just can’t go past an awesome banger like Break Ya, which I swear I’ve heard on some sort of Bang Gang compilation or mix before.
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Yuksek – I Could Never Be A Dancer
Yuksek – So Down feat. Chromeo
I went to the Gold Coast leg of the Big Day Out festival not too long ago and suffice to say I had an awesome time. The highlights for me were TV On The Radio, Lupe Fiasco, Simian Mobile Disco, Hot Chip Holy Ghost! and of course The Prodigy. Being about 10 people back from the front at The Prodigy was probably the craziest atmosphere I’ve ever been in, closely followed by Rage Against The Machine at the same event last year.
Lupe impressed me with the energy and intensity of his performance which was the perfect thing to get warmed up to in the late afternoon. I’m sure many of you have heard his track Daydream so I’ll post the original song that he pretty much add lyrics and lays a beat over to create his own version, which is just as good I think.
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Hot Chip were my favourite act of the day. The way they extend their songs for the live show is just amazing; it even made one of their most overplayed songs Ready For The Floor seem fresh. You have to be there to appreciate the greatness of their live versions and they haven’t officially released any live recordings, so I’ll post their recent cover of Joy Division’s Transmission, which is just fucking brilliant and I can’t stop listening to.
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Hot Chip – Transimission (Joy Division Cover)
Finally, Simian Mobile Disco were a very close second favourite on the day. They put on a live show unlike anyone else going around with the switchboard-like machines they use and their awesome light show. The track below is an older song, released in 2004, it’s a bit different to what you might expect, but it’s got such a sweet bass line it’ll be hard not to like.
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Simian Mobile Disco – Upside Down
