M3 Volume 12: Disc One
You. Are. Not. Ready. Out of nowhere, M3 Volume 12 comin’ at you in not one, but TWO 15-track parts. Awh yeah.
[front cover art adapted from the work of Jasper Goodall]
You may have gathered by now that I take my end-of-the-year lists very seriously, and thus spend a lot of time on them. And while I’d like to think the final products are well worth it, it does mean that our typically daily posts turn into more weekly or bi-weekly affairs. I’m sure some of you guys are bummed by this development, but fear not! Salvation has arrived in the form of two (count them, two) 15-track installments of M3 Volume 12. I’ve had the first disc of M3 Volume 12 done for a while now, and just finished the second disc yesterday, so I figure rather than make you all wait until the New Year to enjoy this hot fire, why not thrust it upon you now. Y’know, in the the spirit of Christmas and whatnot. On a related note, this means that there will unfortunately not be a Christmas M3 mix this year, but yeah - you’ll just have to deal with that. Sorry.
But onto the mix itself. Below you’ll find the first disc of the two-disc set, with disc two following by week’s end. This whole two-disc idea came about as a result of the fact that I actually had over thirty song candidates for this mix and after whittling it down to 15 I still had enough great tracks to make an entire extra CD. Thus, M3 Volume 12 comes to you in a two-CD set, with the first disc revolving more around dark guitar rock tracks and the second disc focusing more intently on dark pop songs and electronica tracks.
Bloc Party sets the mood for the mix (which they appear on twice) from the very first track with “Like Eating Glass”, the best track off Silent Alarm never to see release as a single, which is followed by Editors’ “Munich”, a perfect transition considering (let’s be honest) Editors are basically just the vocals of Interpol with the instrumentation and energy of Bloc Party. The Stills are up next with “Still In Love Song”, the perfect dark pop song for the waning light of autumn and winter, and Director follow with a song that matches The Stills’ track in sentiment, pace, mood and well, everything, making for another smooth transition. Somehow I’ve gone this long without posting any of the new Erol Alkan-produced Long Blondes b-sides that appeared on the recent “Once & Never Again” CD and 7″-singles, but that’s finally been rectified with the synthtacular “Five Ways To End It” rounding out the mix’s first third. Next up are the KBC, one of the UK’s most hotly-tipped acts for ‘07, with a dark, brooding, reverb-drenched track about books and packets of herbal tea (or something), followed by one of the mix’s elite tracks at number seven. “On Fire”, by the Neon Plastix, is one of the more obscure tracks here, but it’s also one of the absolute best, as it’s an action -packed sprint of pure danceability from start to finish. Seriously, there’s like 16 different choruses in this song, and they all keep bombarding you one after another. And don’t even get me started on that danceable, piano-backed bridge section towards the song’s end; Jesus…
The second half of the mix gets started with Tokyo Police Club’s “Nature of the Experiment”, a track that’s been generating a lot of hype around the blogs and for damn good reason. Much lesser-known Bloc Party copyists (too harsh?) Battle represent next with their addictively-catchy “Demons”, and Fury of the Headteachers follow in grand form with their 1000% bad-ass single, “Farewell Comrade”. For those of you who missed it when I posted it as an exclusive during our one-year anniversary celebration, the other individual highlight of the mix has to be the Paul Epworth-produced version of Bloc Party’s “The Marshals Are Dead”. Curiously cut from Silent Alarm (though a far inferior un-Epworth’d version can be found on the band’s eponymous debut EP), the track is one of Bloc Party’s absolute best, with Epworth’s magic touch breathing new life into Matt’s militaristic drumming and Russell’s fractured, disjointed guitar solos. A hard act to follow, yes, but Thunderbirds Are Now! do a damn fine job with “To: Skulls”, the best track off of their acclaimed debut LP (Justamustache) of three years ago. Next up of Britain’s finest recent exports in the dance-rock market, with the girl-pop guitar-rock of Dead Disco’s “Automatic” giving way to the over-the-top nu-rave excess of Klaxons most recent single, “Magick”. And rounding things off is one of the year’s most mind-numbingly awesome tracks, “Waters of Nazareth”, on which Justice threaten to smother the listener in glitched-out synth lines and absolutely massive bass portions. Make it through alive and you’ll just want to do it over and over again, kind of like skydiving or copulating with Zack Friendly (errrrrr), and at the least you’ll have worked up a good thirst for the second installment (coming tomorrow or the next day).
Long story short: it’s great; get on it.
High Resolution Artwork: [Front Cover] [Back Cover]
Download: M3 Volume 12 (Disc One) [follow link]
M3 Volume 12 (Disc One):
1. “Like Eating Glass” - Bloc Party
2. “Munich” - Editors
3. “Still In Love Song” - The Stills
4. “Reconnect” - Director
5. “Five Ways To End It” - The Long Blondes
6. “Poisonous Emblem” - The KBC
7. “On Fire” - Neon Plastix
8. “Nature of the Experiment” - Tokyo Police Club
9. “Demons” - Battle
10. “Farewell Comrade” - Fury of the Headteachers
11. “The Marshals Are Dead” (Paul Epworth LP Version) - Bloc Party
12. “Automatic” - Dead Disco
13. “To: Skulls” - Thunderbirds Are Now!
14. “Magick” - Klaxons
15. “Waters of Nazareth” - Justice
And speaking of Justice, a new song has recently surfaced on the Institubes/Ed Banger-commissioned Alors Les Filles, On Fete Noel? compilation, and it’s got me practically foaming at the mouth in anticipation of the duo’s 2007 debut LP. The album, which remains untitled at this point, is slated for a Spring ‘07 (April-ish) release on Ed Banger in France and VICE Recs in the US, and it’s all but guaranteed to be the most bangarang thing you’ve ever heard. Taste it below.
MP3: “Phantom” - Justice