March 24, 2009
February 24, 2009
The Ready Set Touring! New Single!
The Ready Set is Jordan Witzigreuter of Fort Wayne Indiana. His debut album “Tantrum Castle” is available at your favorite music retailer. Featured below is his song “The Scientist”, which features pop punky vocals with the autotuner turned on high as a hamster dance backing track wiggles and explodes with joy.
February 18, 2009
Chiptune Cover of Blondie’s "Atomic"!
“Atomic” cover by Glomag f. stealthopera @ Blip Festival 2008 in NYC from 2 Player Productions on Vimeo.
Blondie – Call Me
February 12, 2009
Sportsday Megaphone’s New Video & Single "Meet Me in The Middle!"
Hugh Frost of Sportsday Megaphone has been busy! Not only does he have a fantastic new video that starts off all cutesy that warps into something that might make all you bunny lovers a little queasy, he has a whole new album called “So Many Colours, So Little Time” which is chock full of electro/synth-pop goodness. If that weren’t enough there’s also a cornucopia of remixes and one excellent cover available below.
Meet Me in the Middle (Vincent Oliver Remix)
Meet Me in the Middle (David E. Sugar Remix)
January 19, 2009
Red Light Company Covers The Ting Tings! & Remixed By School of Seven Bells!
The Red Light Company is a rising band from England whose line-up consists of 4 British guys and one American bassist who sold everything to play with the band in London. With that kind of dedication their music is bound to turn some heads. Their music springs forth with anthematic hooks that the Arcade Fire or Stars would be proud of and a classic rock fervor that Sebastien Grainger would surely throw up the infamous “Rock Hand Sign” for. Their new single “Arts & Crafts” has just as much emotion and passion behind it as well as a cover of The Ting Ting’s “Be The One” and a remix by The School of Seven Bells. Pretty cool.
January 9, 2009
A Flurry of Dirty Disco Youth Remixes!
Dirty Disco Youth is the project of Phil Speiser who resides in Hambug, Germany where he spins his prodigiously hard mixes.
January 8, 2009
Heads We Dance Covers Kraftwerk’s "Computer Love"!
Leeds England’s own Heads We Dance have flawlessly stepped into the skin of an old Kraftwerk Classic and put their own signature stamp on it. It comes complete with boy girl vocals, vocoder, and plenty of twinkling melodies. A minimal dance extravaganza perfect for a snow day dance party.
January 4, 2009
Exclusive! 10 Questions with Thieves Like Us!
10 Questions with Thieves Like Us (#2 Best album of 2008!)
By: Aaron Z. Lee
Thieves Like Us is an electro band that’s two thirds Swedish, and one third American that creates indie electro pop that’s akin to a sonic mix of New Order and Daft Punk. I corresponded with their singer, Andy.
1. You’ve said that Play Music is your autobiography. What kind of events and experiences do you draw from to write a song?
Most of the songs on the album were about breaking up. The three of us were living in Berlin. I had gone there expecting a crowded German metropol… I hadn’t even done my research that the town had been bombed. And I thought everything would look like Christiane F. But. The town was empty. People were only listening to techno. No pretty girls would talk to me. The music scene sucked. But, there was this promise, that you could make something in Berlin. AS, it wasn’t a “finished city” like NYC or Paris. The three of us were all down, I suppose. Bjorn and I hated everyone and everything. I was binge drinking. Every day. Starting at noon. All through the night. Luckily Pontus stepped in. He wasn’t on this mad romp in substance abuse like Bjorn and I were. I had met a sexy Austrian girl. she sang in Sex In Dallas. Which I thought were shit. But she was good in bed. And seemed to love me. I was acting stupid. And I freaked out one night cos of the booze. She just split up with me. And then, I think most of the songs were about losing. We are a band of losers. I think Miss You is the only up song on the album. That one is about being a waitress in a nightclub and also about Angela and David Bowie (I had a dream about them). I don’t want to keep writing about losing, though.
2. The sonic vocabulary you guys employ on Play Music is like a rediscovered language of electronica, beyond New Order, where do you guys look for inspiration?
Bjorn and I were sampling our favorite records. And I had two really expensive old delay pedals. I don’t know. At that time. We wanted to sound like some late seventies kraut record. I think now… hmmm. We are listening to a lot of seventies stuff. I think Hate it Or Love it by 50 cent is a great example of a song which combines this sixties soul feeling with some modern keyboards. I also think V-2 Schneider and Sound and Vision on the Low record by David Bowie are a really cool fusion of 60s soul and “THE FUTURE”. So, I guess we want to combine the past with the far future.
3. How is it to work with bandmates who are from different countries? What unique influences do each of you bring to the music?
Bjorn and Pontus are more pop or up than me. If it weren’t for them, I think every song would sound like Broken Heart by Spiritualized. Bjorn is always researching some older obscure music, to look at. Pontus. He. I think he had listened to alot of R and B and soul. He started drumming at 8.
Bjorn and I aren’t real musicians. Or we were just hobbyists. We were both big fans of the edge. He saw u2 in 1992 in Malmo and I saw them in 1992 in Denver.
4. While you were in Germany DJing you confused clubbers by mixing into some hip hop and rap into the mix. Can you describe their reactions?
But back then. In 2003…. They hated it. I was working in a hip hop club in nyc as a bus boy. I would take a plane on the weekends sometime to Berlin and play the same songs. This was 2003 before everything was up on the web. So a song would come out in the states and not get released in Europe until six months later. It was like having secret weapons. But a lot of people hated hip hop and r and b. They are so serious. Hmmm. I remember somebody in Berlin getting really angry. Grabbing me by the head and telling me not to play Nigger Music. Fuck. I used to say we were trying to wipe out fascism by playing all those snooop songs.
5. When you were recording the album in Berlin, London, New York City and Stockholm was it all together as a group or did you record parts and send them to each other via e-mail?
It was mostly as a group. I had very little to do with Desire and Miss You actually. I wrote the singing parts after the backing tracks were done.
6. Do you remember the moment that you as a group decided that you could make music that was better than the stuff you heard in nightclubs night after night?
Hmmm. Well that must have been my first month in Berlin. I saw some really silly guy get up with a cd for a backing track. People loved it. I hated it cos it was so tongue and cheek. I was listening to Blonde Redhead a lot. And I think I had this idea for a kind of slightly galmerous but tragic disco band. THat would be us. Hopefully we will morph into the bee gees and make some momey soon.
7. Your songs are so minimalist yet so funky, one of the best examples is the infectious jam “Miss You” that’s one part 80’s rap and one part new wave, how do you make songs so danceable with so few parts?
We work on an Akai MPC. Which has limits. Which is good. It’s like Dre’s “STILL DRE”. It’s pretty minimal. Or xxplosiv. I think these are good examples of how to compose.
8. I love the spoken word on “Program of the Second Part”, it’s like reading poetry to the Blade Runner soundtrack. Where did the idea of spoken word in this interlude come from?
We had the instrumental first. And I think I was too proud, somehow. I wanted lyrics for everything, so I wrote a poem for it. I always want our lyrics to be printed. Lyrics are important. Language is important. Poetry is important. That song is maybe about watching time fade away.
9. The Video for “Program of the first Part” works so well with the footage from the Tron movie, did you guys write the song with that in mind, or did it all just fall in place?
Hmmm. It was probably in the back our heads when we made the tune. So, a gift from God maybe.
10. What’s in store for Thieves Like Us in 2009?
We are making a second record, which we want to have out before the end of the year. And hopefully we will tour a lot. If we can get some extra finances, I’d like to see us pimp out our stage show with some lights and special effects.
January 3, 2009
Exclusive! 10 Questions with Jeff Bujak!
10 Questions with Jeff Bujak
By: Aaron Z. Lee
I recently had the opportunity to correspond with Jeff Bujak, a composer and instrumentalist who specializes in progressive electronica who is originally from Syracuse, but now resides in Northampton, Massachusetts.
1. You started playing the piano when you were 7, what drew you in about the piano then?
When I was seven, I was such a spaz that I’m not sure anyone took me seriously and especially when I said that I wanted to play piano and that I promised to practice everyday. But, with the great support of my family, I kept my promise. I’m not really sure why I chose piano or why I wanted to play it. The cliché would say “it chose me,” but music runs through my whole family’s blood, so it was inevitable that I would love music. I just wanted to make my own.
2. You taught yourself to play the guitar, how did that come about?
Every boy at 13 wants to play guitar. One was always available to me, so curiosity led me to transposing some of my pieces to guitar. I formed, joined and accidentally fell into many bands as guitarist, but I quickly learned that nothing is better than having all 88 notes laid out for you. I felt a little trapped playing guitar. But I also could see how it can be addicting. Strumming strings that echo in a wooden chamber against your chest can be a good experience. I just prefer using more strings and a bigger wooden chamber.
3. You’ve played in a lot of different bands and genres, was this for the love of playing music or were you looking for your niche in the world of music? Or both?
I like to test music and dissect it. And what better way to test and dissect than to actually create it yourself and then tear it apart.
4. You play a one man show, how do you arrange your music? What parts do you usually play live, or do you switch which parts you want to play?
All songs start in the studio for me. I program all my own beats and create them to accompany piano pieces that I write. I form a whole song and record it. I then just take the beats and break them up into small samples. I rearrange these samples, add new parts, flow in and out of other beat samples from other songs and play live music to them. My left hand always covers the bass lines and my laptop only runs the beats, rhythms and audio samples. My right hand takes care of all soloing, melodies, effect modulation and the layering of different sounds. My feet control the light rig I use, the volume pedals, the sustain pedals and trigger controllers. I have complete freedom to play anything I want to these beat samples without any communication or consultation with others. It’s quite a fun process.
5. Out of all the genres that you’ve worked with in the past you choose to write in a progressive electronic style, why is this?
I love progressive music for its excuse to ask “why not” instead of “why” when it comes to writing the music. Nobody judges progressive music for being too different. I love electronic music for its infinite possibilities. You can currently create almost any tone digitally and technology is getting even better everyday. Put the two together and it’s creates a style that creates more questions than answers, and I seem to like that.
6. Is there a genre that you’ve worked with in the past that you’d like to revisit that’s not progressive electronica?
I still play occasionally in a couple of bands that are very far from my current endevour’s style and it’s a nice break to connect on that side once and a while. But overall, I feel that I still have much more to learn about my own music so it keeps me intrigued. Expect much more prog electronica out of me before you see me try a prog metal project, but it will happen eventually.
7. In the list of equipment you use in your live show you don’t use an apple lap top like so many other live electronica acts. Why is this?
I started building PCs in early 2000 and I’ve learned to build a great machine. I’m just a Windows XP kind of guy. I never made the transition to Mac because I never felt that I needed to. I understand and am comfortable with PC language and how/why things work. Most of all, I’ve never felt that I was limited with my PC. I always find a way to do what I want.
8. Out of all your instruments, equipment and gadgets that you use in your music, which one is your favorite to use?
My 1974 Fender Rhodes Stage 73 electric piano is my favorite to use for reasons beyond words.
9. You use samples in your music, to you what makes a good sample and how do you get permission to use them in your music?
I never use audio samples on my studio albums; I only use them live where covers, sampling and audio replication is covered by rights organizations like ASCAP and BMI. For the legality of it, search “sampling (music)” on Wikipedia. It’s very fascinating (to me). I’ve read it back and forth to make sure I don’t do anything illegal, even though music sampling industry lawsuits sometimes spawn great exposure. Most of the time, when I use samples of other people’s music, I use it as an accent to my music and not as a basis to the song. Sometimes when I write a new beat progression, it reminds me of another song from my history. If I feel that it would fit, I like to add the sample to somewhat pay homage to my influences and what songs paved my history. One time, I created a bassline that was very similar to the famous Thriller bassline. So, I decided to go with it and use the Thriller sample to the beat that I wrote for this bassline that I created. In fact, I list every sample that I use live on my compositions page of my website. “There are no new ideas, there are only new ways of making them felt.” (- Audre Lorde) As far as finding a good sample, I feel that when done appropriately, any sample can be manipulated enough to be cool.
10. Drawing from all the projects that you’ve done, and your first solo album, where do you see your music going? Particularly on your upcoming album?
I don’t know where it may go, but I know that I will stay true to what I believe about music and I will always look to other musicians to provide solid music for me to learn from. At least for now, I can see more keyboards being used live, more computers running loopers and beats, more lights and much more of what I haven’t done in the past. I live for the excitement in music. As long as there is more to learn about music, I will be playing it. The new album will be my first venture into “over-production.” I’m not concerned about live performance on this recording. My past 2 discs have been centered on “if I can’t play it live, I won’t record it.” All of the songs on this new album are actually songs that I’ve written and have been playing live for the last year, but done studio style. Check out a full new track at www.jeffbujak.com/spine. Bam! I just had to spam the interview. Thank you for the intriguing questions, Aaron. But, I’m sure I just added more questions than I did answers. I have a tendency to do that.
December 25, 2008
It’s a Vocoder Christmas!I’m So Look You Covers Wham!
The Japanese unit named I’m So Look You has released for the holidays a throbbing electro version of Wham!’s “Last Christmas”. Best version of the song ever? There’s a very good possibility…!
