M3 Volume 13… Finally
I know I promised full coverage of Nastyfest last week, but as you probably noticed it, uh, didn’t happen. Thursday was my last day in London and I spent most of yesterday in (severely-delayed) transit, so it was a ridiculously busy week for me as I tried to squeeze in a few more days of work, tie up any loose ends I had in London and see White Rabbits and the Young Republic (more on them later) as many times as physically possible in the space of five days. But as I write this I’m driving to the greener pastures of Martha’s Vineyard, where things are a bit more laid back and there are like way less nail bombs to worry about, which means I should be able to get back into a more regular posting pattern now. Keep an eye out for my coverage of Nastyfest (seriously, it’s almost done) and a full wrap-up of my time in London in the coming week, but for now here’s the longggg-overdue next installment in the M3 series. Enjoy.
I’ll be real with you: I’ve been slacking in a BIG way on the whole M3 front. Like, M3 Volume 12 came out at the end of fucking December. That was six months ago. My bad. The worst part is, this mix has been done for over two months now, I just kind of… didn’t get around to posting it. Fortunately, I’m doing my best to rectify the situation and have M3 Volume 13 ready to go and should have a few more mixes coming down the pipeline in the coming weeks/months. Thus, I present to you M3 Volume 13, the most rockin’ mix I’ve ever dropped on this site and the best recipe you’ll find for getting fucking pumped this side of PCP.
We start off with what just might be the best track here, Les Savy Fav’s amazing “The Sweat Descends”. I know my step-bro’s in the band and everything, but I promise you there’s no familial obligation involved when I declare the track one of the best straight-up ROCK songs of the past ten years. Next up is Cazals “Poor Innocent Boys”, a track that owned me for months after I first heard it on the second Kitsune Maison compilation last summer. The artists formerly known as Shaky Hands keep things moving with their blistering hit single, “You and I”, before DC legends (and hometown heroes) Q And Not U fill the dancefloor with the most accessible track of their three-album career, “Wonderful People”, an instant-classic off their 2005 swan-song LP, Power. Then it’s back to the up-and-comers with a trio of bright young things from England keeping it shit-hot with debut Foals single “Hummer”, the diamond-cutting riffs of Fury of the Headteachers’ “Fables” and the Killers-sized synths of the Moths’ “Games”.
The Noisettes carry us over the halfway mark with their hard-rocking motivational speech of a single, “Scratch Your Name”, the standout single on the best record Motown’s released in, say, the last 20 years. Interpol keep things current with their yet-to-be-officially-released new single, “The Heinrich Maneuver”, the lead track off their hotly anticipated third album and Bloc Party’s “Skeleton” follows and is the brightest of a few under-appreciated gems on the mix, as it’s one of the best tracks the band’s ever released despite not making it onto either of the bands’ albums. Tragic. Moving on we’ve got another sleeper hit in Foreign Islands’ “We Know You Know It”, a track that succeeds on a winning combination of addictive “hoo-hoos”, remarkably polished production and some bomb-ass synthy bits in the chorus. Next up it’s a couplet of chart-toppers courtesy of Arctic Monkeys and Klaxons because regardless of how well-known they are, they’re bangin’ tracks that work perfectly in the context of this mix. Then Le Castle Vania breaks you off with a little piece of the reeemix in the form of his incredible update to Snowden’s “Black Eyes”, a track that was 1000% mediocre until Le Castle Vania got his hands on it. Props, kind sir. Rounding things out is White Rose Movement with their synth-heavy burner, “Alsatian”, which stands out as one of Mr. Paul Epworth’s finer production accomplishments and provides a fitting conclusion to this most rocking addition to the M3 series.
High Resolution Artwork: [Front Cover] [Back Cover]
Download: M3 Volume 13 [follow link]
M3 Volume 13:
01. “The Sweat Descends” - Les Savy Fav
02. “Poor Innocent Boys” - Cazals
03. “You and I” - Cut Off Your Hands!
04. “Wonderful People” - Q And Not U
05. “Hummer” - Foals
06. “Fables” - Fury of the Headteachers
07. “Games” - The Moths
08. “Scratch Your Name” - The Noisettes
09. “The Heinrich Maneuver” - Interpol
10. “Skeleton” - Bloc Party
11. “We Know You Know It” - Foreign Islands
12. “Brianstorm” - Arctic Monkeys
13. “Gravity’s Rainbow” - Klaxons
14. “Black Eyes” (Le Castle Vania Remix) - Snowden
15. “Alsatian” - White Rose Movement