Good Weather For Airstrikes

Indie! Folk! Electro-pop! Winter! M3 Volume 17! I’m finishing up my final assignment of the semester so I’m a bit pressed for time, but I want to get this up real quick before I head to the airport with the Fav and fly out to LA for the weekend.

Quick run through: You’ve got some of the best songs of the past few years (”All My Friends”, “Heart’s A Mess”, “Ritournelle” and “Roscoe”) alongside some more obscure pleasures (The Dodos, frYars and Daniel Rossen’s exquisite Jojo cover), with a solid grip of Scandinavian gems rounding out the mix courtesy of The Dø, Lykke Li and Studio’s Shout Out Louds remix. So yeah, it’s a nice mix of tracks and there’s some impressive international diversity here, and it generally serves as a good soundtrack for trekking through the city while you freeze your balls off this winter. Obviously this is ideal for colder climates, but this’ll get you in a seriously winter mood regardless.

Oh and the artwork is probably the only good thing I’ve done since, like, high school. Enjoy.

High Resolution Artwork: [Front Cover] [Back Cover]

Download: M3 Volume 17 [follow link]

M3 Volume 17:
01. “All My Friends” - LCD Soundsystem [Alternate Link]
02. “The Ides” - frYars [Alternate Link]
03. “Playground Hustle” - The Dø [Alternate Link]
04. “Impossible” (Possible Remake by Studio) - Shout Out Louds [Alternate Link]
05. “Little Bit” - Lykke Li [Alternate Link]
06. “Sea Legs” - The Shins [Alternate Link]
07. “Heart’s A Mess” - Gotye [link removed]
08. “La Ritournelle” (Mr. Dan’s Mix) - Sebastien Tellier [link removed]
09. “Fools” - The Dodos [Alternate Link]
10. “Flakes” - Mystery Jets [Alternate Link]
11. “Too Little Too Late” - Daniel Rossen [Alternate Link]
12. “Roscoe” - Midlake [Alternate Link]
13. “HappY” - frYars [Alternate Link]
14. “Bluebells” - Patrick Wolf [Alternate Link]
15. “Merry Happy” - Kate Nash [Alternate Link]

UPDATE: I’ve uploaded the mix to SendSpace for those of you who are experiencing difficulty with Megaupload and the individual downloads; link is available below.

[artwork adapted from the photography/scrapbooking of Devonte Hynes]

Those of you who have been reading with even the slightest modicum of consistency have likely picked up on the increased focus on singer-songwriters and folk acts. This is a considerable departure from the typically Britpop and electro-heavy leanings of this site, and to tell you the truth, I’m a bit surprised to. Heading into my summer abroad, I’d largely written off singer-songwriter folk types altogether, only to return to the states with a healthy obsession with the genre. I mean, I was asked to scout Noah and the Whale for my boss back in May and immediately wrote them off as a second-rate Neutral Milk Hotel ripoff with barely a second thought. Now it’s six months later and I’d consider them one of the best bands to come out of the UK all year.

This newfound interest in folk now comes to a head in M3 Volume 15. Spotlighting nearly all of the essential players in London’s new folk renaissance (may I call it that?), the mix is a crash course in British folk music in 2007. All of the acts featured here possess a connection to the scene, though some are more tenuous than others. Jaymay, for example, is an American (the only non-Brit on the mix), but the majority of her success - and her major label deal with Heavenly - is rooted in the UK. There’s a pretty substantial arc of time here too, with some acts preceding the folk explosion by a bit (Jeremy Warmsley and, to a lesser extent, Emmy The Great) and others still yet to secure a deal or put out a release of any sort to this point (Thom Stone, Florence and the Machine, Tom Williams).

Perhaps the best thing about the London folk scene is its incestuous nature. Emmy The Great is on everyone’s tracks (Jeremy Warmsley, Lightspeed Champion, Noah and the Whale, et. al) and Florence has collaborated extensively with Lightspeed and Kid Harpoon (and LC’s Dev Hynes is now apparently the “Machine” in Florence and the Machine). Adele is best mates with Jack Penate and Jamie T, Noah and the Whale’s Charlie is dating Laura Marling (he also produced her My Manic & I EP) and Kid Harpoon and Kate Nash were also rumored to be romantically linked for a while. The result is a flourishing artist community of talented musicians producing some of the best music in the world right now.

Everyone will have different favorites here, but “Jocasta” is probably my favorite thing on this and exclusives from newcomers Thom Stone and Tom Williams (who drops an excellent cover of Regina Spektor’s “Hotel Song” here) are not to be slept on either. Adele and Florence are easily the most gifted vocal talents here, Jeremy Warmsley and Laura Marling are likely the best pure songwriters and Noah and the Whale could well be the most promising act of them all. So yeah, join me in revelry of London’s next great contribution to the international music community and check out the mix below.

High Resolution Artwork: [Front Cover] [Back Cover]

Download: M3 Volume 15 [follow link] [Alternate Link]

M3 Volume 15:
01. “Hometown Glory” - Adele
02. “Riverside” - Kid Harpoon
03. “Myrtle Parade” - Eugene McGuinness
04. “5 Acts” - Jeremy Warmsley
05. “Waiting Game” - Lightspeed Champion
06. “Jocasta” - Noah & The Whale
07. “Canopies and Grapes” (Demo) - Emmy The Great
08. “Gray or Blue” - Jaymay
09. “Five Years Time” - Noah & The Whale
10. “She Knows” (Demo) - Thom Stone [EXCLUSIVE]
11. “Sea Green, See Blue” - Jaymay
12. “New Romantic” - Laura Marling
13. “Girl With One Eye” (Demo) - Florence and the Machine
14. “Hotel Song” - Tom Williams [EXCLUSIVE]
15. “Nicest Thing” - Kate Nash

So there you have it. Anyone you think I missed? Got any other artists who you think might fit in with this lot? I’m well aware of others like Nic Dawson Kelly, Alan Pownall and Jay Jay Pistolet making the rounds in venues throughout London and they just didn’t make the cut this time, but I’m definitely open to whatever recommendations you may have for me. Hit the comments, y’all.

In other news that mildly pertains to this mix, check out Kate Nash. Bitch covered Black Kids! And now it’s official: the Black Kids hype machine is completely out of control.

MP3: “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You” - Kate Nash

Thanks to Panda Toes for the track; those kids are killing it on the regular these days. Alright, I’m out.

Obviously it would have been nice if I could have put this out at some point during the summer, back when fun was still allowed and dance parties were an everyday occurrence. But as some of you may remember, this shit wasn’t exactly operational during the summer months. It’s especially frustrating since I’ve had the bulk of this mix done since, like, March, so it’s a bit outdated, but I hope you can deal. Basically the goal here was to make the essential party mix for summer 2007 and I don’t think I was too far off the mark, but I’ll let you be the judge.

That’s it though; no more words. Just dancing.

High Resolution Artwork: [Front Cover] [Back Cover]

Download: M3 Volume 14 [follow link]

M3 Volume 14:
01. “The Bomb” - New Young Pony Club
02. “Chick Fit” (Kissy Sell Out’s Excellent Adventure) - All Saints
03. “D.A.N.C.E.” (MSTRKRFT Remix) - Justice
04. “Night Is On Fire” (Demo) - The Moths! [EXCLUSIVE]
05. “Anyway You Choose To Give It” - The Black Ghosts
06. “Brain Leech” - Alex Gopher
07. “Muzzle No. 1″ (Black Ghosts Rmx) - The Whip
08. “Drop The Pressure” (Radio Mix) - Mylo
09. “We Are Your Friends” - Justice vs. Simian
10. “It’s The Beat” (Radio Edit) - Simian Mobile Disco
11. “Tell Me” (Phones Remix) - P. Diddy
12. “British Mode” - Goose
13. “Standing In The Way Of Control” (Soulwax Edit) - The Gossip
14. “Love Is A Number” - White Rose Movement
15. “Evil Has Never” (Single Edit) - Union of Knives

At some point I’m going to do my best to get all the previous M3 installments re-uploaded and whatnot, but it’s going to be quite an undertaking so I’m not sure when I’ll get around to it. Rest assured though, it’s on my to do list.

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

[front cover art adapted from the work of Jasper Goodall]

Here it is, the second installment of M3 Volume 12. Yes, it’s a day or two late, but it’s Christmas; I got shit to do. It’s not like anyone else is blogging anyway. On that note, I hope that everyone had a lovely Christmas and got what they wanted - I personally scored pretty big with a bundle of gift vouchers to Rough Trade (schwing!) - and that you all were able to enjoy your break as much as possible.

So yes, consider this a belated Christmas gift and the perfect mix to keep your feet moving well into the new year. Whereas disc one was all about dark, brooding guitar-pop tracks, this mix has a similar vibe but opts for electronic hotness over that of the organic variety. It’s got a definite party vibe though, in fact it’s probably the closest thing to a party mix I’ve posted here since the M3 Dance Dance Edition days. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I’m busy planning the most ridiculous New Year’s party the modern world has ever seen, or maybe it’s just because the ridiculous amount of partying I’ve been doing since coming home for winter break is beginning to manifest itself in my music choices. Who knows. Anyway, it’s shit-hot and you’re going to need this if you’re trying to do it up right this New Year’s Eve.

Onto the tracklist then, where Mancunian electro-duo the Whip get this shit off to an absolutely bangin’ start with their incredible debut single, “Trash”, followed closely by what is possibly the illest track of the year, Epic Man’s “More Is Enough”, which features Plan B spitting his verses over Paul Epworth’s clinically-insane beat. Next up is Ed Banger superstar SebastiAn with his greatest track to date, the completely out of control “Ross Ross Ross”, which flies along at a frantic pace, chopping and screwing frenzied samples along the way and proving itself to be one of the greatest electronic singles of 2006. Newcomers Does It Offend You, Yeah? keep things going with their hit-in-the-making, “We Are Rockstars”, featuring that fantastic vocoded chorus and an assload of other synthetic hotness, followed by motherfucking Daft Punk’s “Crescendolls” because let’s be honest, no party mix is complete without a little Punk of the Daft variety. Continuing the French electro-hotness is 25 Hours A Day’s awesome remix of Phoenix’s “Long Distance Call”, one of the year’s stellar remixes that smacks of a distinct Discovery-era Daft Punk influence and actually manages to upgrade Phoenix’s excellent original mix. Vocalist Simon Lord (formerly of Simian fame) makes his first of two appearances on the mix up next on “Face”, the debut single for his new band, The Black Ghosts, which is followed by Klaxons’ incredible upcoming single “Golden Skans”, which is sure to make a dent in the UK charts when it sees it’s proper release next month.

The ooh-ooh-oohs of “Golden Skans” give way to Metronomy’s INCREDIBLE remix of Dead Disco’s “The Treatment”, which is one of two of his remixes vying for my Remix of the Year award along with his incredible revamping of Klaxons’ “Atlantis To Interzone”, the same track that ultimately brings a close to this 15-track slab of hot fire. The Knife drop by to say hi with “We Share Our Mother’s Health”, the ultimate accomplishment of their career so far and one of the elite electronic singles of ‘06 (*cough* top 25 tracks of 2006 *cough*), and Australia’s Midnight Juggernauts keep the international flavor alive, following that Knife ish with some vocoded electro-hotness of their own in “Tombstone” and giving a nod to Daft Punk’s “Technologic” along the way. Next is up is a couplet of electronic tracks showing off a pop sensibility not found on the rest of the mix, Patrick Wolf’s brilliant new single “Accident & Emergency” and Christian Falk’s incredible “Dream On”, which features Robyn stealing the show on vocals. Simon Lord makes his second appearance on the mix, reuniting with fellow ex-Simian-ers (hyphenfest!) Jas Shaw and James Ford on SMD’s most accessible track to date, “I Believe”, before James Mount (aka Metronomy aka the greatest remix artist in the world) rounds things off in flawless fashion with what is possibly the highlight of his entire career (remixing and otherwise), his reinvention of Klaxons’ “Atlantis To Interzone”.

Merry Christmas and shit.

High Resolution Artwork: [Front Cover] [Back Cover]

DOWNLOAD: M3 Volume 12 (Disc Two) [follow link]

M3 Volume 12 [Disc Two]:
1. “Trash” - The Whip
2. “More Is Enough” (ft. Plan B) - Epic Man
3. “Ross Ross Ross” - SebastiAn
4. “We Are Rockstars” - Does It Offend You, Yeah?
5. “Crescendolls” - Daft Punk
6. “Long Distance Call” (25 Hours A Day Mix) - Phoenix
7. “Face” - The Black Ghosts
8. “Golden Skans” - Klaxons
9. “The Treatment” (Metronomy Remix) - Dead Disco
10. “We Share Our Mother’s Health” (Radio Edit) - The Knife
11. “Tombstone” - Midnight Juggernauts
12. “Accident & Emergency” - Patrick Wolf
13. “Dream On” (ft. Robyn & Ola Salo) - Christian Falk
14. “I Believe” - Simian Mobile Disco
15. “Atlantis To Interzone” (Metronomy Remix) - Klaxons

Oh and hey, MERRY FUCKING CHRISTMAS: THERE’S A NEW ARCADE FIRE SONG. And it’s not “Intervention”. Check it: “Intervention” is supposed to be released as a charity single tomorrow on iTunes, with all proceeds going to the extremely worthy Partners In Health organization. However, someone at Merge fucked up big and not only posted it two days early, but they posted the wrong song. But if it’s not the most epic, beautiful-sounding mistake I’ve ever heard then I don’t know what is. “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations”, as it’s called, is an absolute epoch of darkness and emotional intensity. The band said the new album sounded like “standing by an ocean at night”, but in this case they’re screaming at the ocean at night and the lyrics and feeling of the song get at a hopeless futility as pointless as the act itself. Shane over at The Torture Garden nailed his description in one sentence, furthering the ocean motif saying, “the first half is a lighthouse, the second half is all panic”. Regine opens the song with a beautiful verse over swirling strings and a driving percussion section, but it’s Win’s verse in the second half that serves as a resounding reminder that Arcade Fire are still the greatest band in the entire world. The final refrain is unbelievable; possibly my favorite lyrics of the year: “Stop now before it’s too late/we’re eating in the ghetto on a hundred dollar plate/Nothing lasts forever that’s the way it’s gotta be/there’s a big black wave in the middle of the sea”. AMAZING. Anyway, I’m not going to post it (but trust me, I’m dying too) because it’s for charity and I don’t know, that doesn’t really feel right. BUT, you can still go to iTunes and get it (it’s labeled “Intervention” though, and the album is listed as Intervention - Single), which you should do like NOW before it’s blocked. The song link below will take you directly to the iTunes page where you can download it. And be sure to check back there tomorrow when “Intervention” is officially released and we finally get to her the proper, non-radio rip recording.

iTunes: “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations” - Arcade Fire [follow link]

And the image below is taken from the CD-single artwork for “Intervention”. Beautiful. I’ve cropped it down to a smaller size and cropped off the top and bottom, but you can see an organ looms ominously in the background just as large as it is in the song. The radio rip of “Intervention” is available below as well.

MP3: “Intervention” (BBC Radio Rip) - Arcade Fire ((highly recommended))

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

UPDATE: The mp3 links are now working, so you can now download the songs individually. Please “right click > save target as” to directly download the files rather than streaming, as I’ve got a new host and now have to monitor my bandwith. Thanks for your cooperation and for bearing with us during our brief period of downtime last week. Regular updating will resume today with a complete day-by-day review of CMJ.

Good news, denizens of Good Weather For Airstrikes; my hard drive has been salvaged! My laptop itself is in shambles, but from its icy clutches I was able to pry M3 Volume 11 (hooray) and the rest of my schoolwork and mp3s, so feel free to commence rejoicing in the streets if you’re so inclined. And on that note, onto the big show:

[cover art adapted from photograph by Darien Lives]

Our hosting is almost all sorted out - I’ve uploaded M3 Volume 11 to my server using my FTP client but now I have the small issue of figuring out where those files are actually located (what the direct download links for the files are). However, rather than leaving you hanging yet another day, I’ve uploaded the entire thing to MediaFire so you can download it as a .zip file there while you wait for the individual song links to get posted. I’m working on the individual links now and they should be up by tomorrow at the latest, contact me on AIM (screen name = DerekDavies) if you’re experienced in the realm of FTP and think you might be able to help me out.

The prominent attributes of the songs on M3 V11 are their penchant for piano rock, the anthemic, and, um, Britishness. The first half of the mix is heavily piano-centric, with an anthemic streak characterizing tracks 2, 3 and 4, with 10 of the 14 artists on the mix calling the United Kingdom home. Spoon, Ben Folds and Jon Brion hold it down for the U, S and A, and the Stills represent for our Canadian neighbors to the North, but all three are the vast geographic minority on this one.

I generally write a sentence or two about each song on the mix, but I’ve found that those generally turn out just to be a bit of a redundancy-fest with me recycling the words “catchy”, “awesome”, “ethereal”, and “excellent” in equal parts. Thus, I’m just going to summarize the mix in general, pointing out a few of the highlights along the way. You’ve got your fair share of indie classics here, with Ben Folds and Spoon leading the way with “Army” and “The Way We Get By”, respectively. “The Day We Caught The Train” continues the anthemic streak with that “oh-whoa-la-dee-da” refrain and is actually my favorite song to come out of the entire mid-90’s Britpop explosion, though it didn’t see the same success in the US that Ocean Colour Scene contemporaries Blur and Oasis did. Seriously though, that refrain alone is enough to make Francis Scott Key jealous, and “Caught The Train” just might be the best song here. Elsewhere, Snowfight In The City Centre and Air Traffic hold it down just like you knew they would, and Jeremy Warmsley’s “Dirty Blue Jeans” is one of the absolute best tracks of the year. You should know that if you asked me in 2004 what the best song of that year was, I probably would have said Razorlight’s “Golden Touch” deserved the honor, and while my opinion’s not quite the same today, it’s still a phenomenal track and fits into the mix perfectly. Finally, you’ve got your obligatory Bloc Party appearance with “This Modern Love” and fellow VICErs the Stills close things out in flawless fashion with “Yesterday Never Tomorrows”.

This might be my favorite M3 yet, so get on it and download this hotness like your life depended on it. Or something.

NOTE: We’ve added some minor upgrades to the M3 system with M3 Volume 11. First of all, the album artwork is now 600 x 600 dpi and is available for download immediately below. Secondly, whereas all songs on the M3s were previously 160 kbps-quality, they’re now all at least 192 kbps or above, enhancing the listening experience for those of you audiophiles out there.

High Resolution Artwork: [Front Cover] [Back Cover]

Download: M3 Volume 11 [follow link]

M3 Volume 11:
01. “Just Abuse Me” - Air Traffic
02. “What We Did Wrong” - Duels
03. “The Day We Caught The Train” - Ocean Colour Scene
04. “The Way We Get By” - Spoon
05. “Never Even Told Me Her Name” - Air Traffic
06. “Army” - Ben Folds Five
07. “I Believe She’s Lying” - Jon Brion
08. “Dirty Blue Jeans” - Jeremy Warmsley
09. “Naive” - The Kooks
10. “Golden Touch” - Razorlight
11. “No Light Left” - Snowfight In The City Centre
12. “Chocolate” - Snow Patrol
13. “This Modern Love” - Bloc Party
14. “You Could Have Both” - The Long Blondes
15. “Yesterday Never Tomorrows” - The Stills

After over a year and a half of M3 mixes (which is the concept that started everything), we’ve reached a big milestone, the tenth installment in the series. Rather than getting all crazy and drunk with success (success? ha) and expanding the mix to twenty songs or doing some best-of retrospective, I decided to challenge myself with a concrete theme for M3 Volume 10, and after much deliberation I settled on it: female vocals. Too often I’ve heard people say “I don’t like bands with girl singers” or something foolish along those lines, so here’s a mix to rectify ignorant notions like that. I did my best to shy away from the easy big names like Jenny Lewis and Feist and company, though Regina Spektor and Amy Milan did make the cut, but for the most part these are lesser known women or bands with female vocalists (The Revelations? Havana Guns? Delays? Who?). Let it be known that M3 Volume 10 is not completely bereft of male vocals, as the guys chip in with back-up vox from time to time, but there’s no doubt it’s the women who own the spotlight here. Truth be told, Torquil Campbell does sneak a verse in during “One More Night” at the very end of the mix, but its one of my favorite verses of all time so I let it slide. A special thanks is owed to James from Green Pea-ness, without whom three of the critical tracks (“Fulwood Babylon”, “You’re The Loser” and “The Get Go”) would not be here, as it was he who turned me onto them in the first place. Now then, with that out of the way, let’s move on to the track summary.

Oddly enough, this all-female M3 begins with Harvey Keitel’s voice presiding over the intro to the first track, Johnny Boy’s self-titled theme, on which the eerie intro (which is sampled from Mean Streets) soon gives way to a barrage of percussion and the mix is officially off and running. Next up is The Long Blondes’ Erol Alkan-produced b-side, “Fulwood Babylon”, one of the elite songs of the year, which gives way to Havana Guns’ shockingly-unheard “She Always Goes Down”, which I nicked off of Bliss Pop’s hit parade back before the Guns tragically disbanded. Next up are two 50’s girl-pop revivalist groups, The Revelations with “You’re The Loser” and The Pipettes and those heavenly “whoa-oh-oh” backing vocals on my favorite track from their 2006 self-titled debut, “Sex”. Those signature “Be My Baby” drums continue, almost identically, on Johnny Boy’s amazing and incredibly-titled debut single from way back in 2003, “You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve”. Rounding off side one (let’s pretend we’re classy vinyl listeners) is Delays “Nearer Than Heaven”, which somehow manages to soar just as high as “Generation” and is a fitting end to the mixes first half.

Recent blogger favorite Headlights kick off the second segment of the mix with “Put Us Back Together Right”, and continuing the surgical theme, Charlotte Gainsbourg literally attempts take her lover apart and (presumably) put them back together right on “The Operation” off of her stellar debut album, 5:55. The driving basslines only continue from “Operation” to New Young Pony Club’s discreetly-danceable “The Get Go”, which has snuck it’s way into heavy rotation on my iPod despite my initial neutrality towards it. The Shortwave Set follow with their excellent new single, “Is It Any Wonder”, starting a catchy-piano-riff trend that will continue over the next three tracks on Imogen Heap’s excellent b-side “Speeding Cars”, Gainsbourg’s “Everything I Cannot See” and Regina Spektor’s “Better”, the latter of which features The Strokes’ Nick Valensi making a guest appearance on electric guitar. Closing things out is one of my favorite tracks of last year and one of the best break up songs of all time, Stars’ “One More Night”, which Stars announced at ACL to be about “trying to fuck someone in order to kill them”. And on that pleasant note, a milestone is born. Downloads below.

UPDATE: Wow, I really fucked this up. Turns out the lead singer of Delays is a dude, which is pretty much ridiculous. I had a sneaking suspicion this might be true, but a quick poll of my friends yielded the consensus, “There’s no way in hell that’s a guy”, so I left the mix be. Oh well, it’s too late to change it now, we’ll all just have to do our best to perservere. Here’s to irresponsible fact-checking!

Download: M3 Volume 10 [follow link]

M3 Volume 10:
01. “Johnny Boy Theme” - Johnny Boy
02. “Fulwood Babylon” - The Long Blondes
03. “She Always Goes Down” - Havana Guns
04. “You’re The Loser” - The Revelations
05. “Sex” - The Pipettes
06. “You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes…” - Johnny Boy
07. “Nearer Than Heaven” - Delays
08. “Put Us Back Together Right” - Headlights
09. “The Operation” - Charlotte Gainsbourg
10. “The Get Go” - New Young Pony Club
11. “Is It Any Wonder” - The Shortwave Set
12. “Speeding Cars” - Imogen Heap
13. “Everything I Cannot See” - Charlotte Gainsbourg
14. “Better” - Regina Spektor
15. “One More Night” - Stars

[front and back cover art adapted from JP33.com]