Good Weather For Airstrikes

It’s hard to write objectively about music your friends make - which is why you’ve not seen any mention of Santa here before - but I’ve been spinning their new EP a lot recently and think it’s time to spread the word to the masses. The five-piece have amassed a significant following in their home state with extensive gigging around the Champain area, and now they’re ready to take things to the next level with the release of their sophomore EP, My Bones.

Led by the two-headed cousinly attack of guitarists Stanton and Mack McConnell, the EP is a lovely little affair full of laid-back summer jams that evoke reminiscences of late afternoons on the beach and the long light of summertime. “Hashish” is all breezy keyboard tones and stories of young love lost but not forgotten, while songs like “Over” and the EP’s lead-off track “The Crumble” showcase the exceptional songwriting ability of the former McConnell (that would be Stan, for those of you keeping score at home). The recordings are tight and polished thanks to fine production from Brian Zieske, and the whole thing is a decidedly professional outing for a band decidedly still a bit wet behind the ears. Here’s “Hashish”, the would-be single off My Bones, in all its summerloving glory. Feedback welcome, y’all, don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments.

MP3: “Hashish” - Santa

Speaking of Brian Zieske, dude’s calling card in the immediate future will most likely become the production work he’s done with Sars Flannery on his forthcoming debut LP, Sale of the Century. There’s been a bit of buzz swirling around the up and coming Chicago singer-songwriter for a minute now (including a rumored offer on the table from Top 40 kingmakers Fueled By Ramen), and while most of his oeuvre isn’t really my cup of tea, “Empty Gun” sounds like a surefire American radio hit to me, even if it’s slightly reminiscent of the kind of thing that could have enjoyed much more success had it come around in the late 90’s. Major label A&R folks take note, this shit is tailor made for the US charts.

MP3: “Empty Gun” - Sars Flannery

Those of you in the Chicago area would do well to hit up the Abbey Pub this Sunday for Santa’s Chicago debut, where they’ll be taking the stage and pushing their wares alongside a bunch of other Chi-Town bands they’re probably significantly better than. I mean, it’s a Sunday night and - let’s be real - you really don’t have anything better to do.

Gotye (that’s “Gore-ti-yeah” to you, bro) is no secret in his adopted home of Australia, having risen to surprising fame over the last two years on the strength of his album Like Drawing Blood, racking up countless awards (including the Australian equivalents of the Mercury Music Prize and the Brit Award or Grammy for Best Male Artist) and rampant critical adoration along the way. Remarkably, he’s done this all without any formal record label involvement, shocking the entire Australian music industry and establishing himself as a completely self-made indie hero in a day and age where such a feat seems nigh-on impossible. Now, a worldwide deal with Lucky Number is bringing his brilliant tunes to the international masses beyond Australian borders, and with the breathtaking grace of debut UK single “Hearts A Mess” leading the way, it seems there may be no stopping Gotye in 2008.

“Hearts A Mess” is a pastiche of borrowed sounds and samples culled from record store bargain bins and passed-down vinyl heirlooms, yet the result is a remarkably unified sonic vision: swirling strings, atmospheric percussion and a heartwrenching chorus for the ages all converging to result in the most majestic single you’ll hear all year. A cinematic pop masterpiece just begging to be plugged into any number of primetime network dramas (you feeling me, Alexandra Patsavas?), the track soars and swells into an orchestral gem the likes of which haven’t been heard in pop music since Sebastien Tellier made eyes water across Europe with the stirring beauty of “La Ritournelle”. Similarly, “Hearts A Mess” sounds like nothing else out there right now, a timeless pop classic unrestrained by genre or critical expectations, and it’s the kind of special, once-in-a-lifetime single that rarely comes along in this increasingly homogenized indie scene.

As if the track itself weren’t enough to send you scrambling down to the record shops, the single comes backed with some top-notch remixes as well. Lull continues to establish himself as one of the most underrated talents in the remix game here, adding some glitch, crackle and ice-cool pop to the original and placing it in an even more otherworldly sonic context than before. A pulsing, throbbing bassline gives the song a solid backbone, but it’s the impeccable synth line that squiggles back and forth across the mix starting at the 1:31 mark that really takes the track to a whole new level of ethereal beauty and emotion. Melodramatic sonic textures and feelings not so much your thing? Then try the Ocelot remix of the track on for size. It’s the kind of thing that comes on as your leaving the club at dawn and forces you to race back inside and rage for three more hours, and the half-Texan/half-British duo drop the beat so hard this might not be legal in some midwestern states. Seriously.

Alright, that’s enough hyperbole for one afternoon. At the end of the day, this was my #3 favorite track of last year (my unpublished year-end list would testify to that, but… yeah), and I’m just thrilled its finally seeing a proper single release and getting the chance to touch lives outside of Australia. It’s time for the rest of the world to catch onto what Australians already know: Gotye is a special, genre-defying talent (”the Australian Beck”, if the UK press is to be believed), the likes of which are rarely seen in this modern age of bandwagon-hopping indie bands, overly-pandering to the flavor-of-the-week tastes of the NME, and if that’s not something to be thankful for, then I don’t know what is.

MP3: “Hearts A Mess” - Gotye
MP3: “Hearts A Mess” (Lull’s Radio Edit) - Gotye [exclusive]
MP3: “Hearts A Mess” (Ocelot Remix) - Gotye

Beyond the music, don’t make the mistake of overlooking the music video, which shines as the best animated video I’ve ever seen, and I say that without even the slightest hint of doubt. Brendan Cook does a masterful job here, and the video has since become a prominent component of Gotye personal brand and style. Literally, the perfect cinematic accompaniment to the track, it’s the reason I first stumbled across Gotye in the first place and is almost certainly my most-viewed music video over the past two years.

Video: “Heart’s A Mess” - Gotye
Director: Brendan Cook (interview with SRO regarding the video here)
Watch: [Daily Motion]
Download: [Quicktime]

In the interest of full disclosure for those of you who might not have been reading all that closely over the past few months, yes, I am employed by Lucky Number. However, the biggest reason I wanted to work here was the opportunity to work with Gotye, so yeah, don’t you dare think the above perfect score is the product of any professional bias. Furthermore, those still in doubt can refer to this, my original post on Wally from nearly a year and a half ago. One nice thing about my position is it gives me insight into the behind the scenes shit that goes on, and a recent issue unfortunately gaining even more blog attention so far than the original track is the Supermayer remix, which we were sadly unable to release. There’s been much shit-talked about how we were fools for not putting it out, but as our artists have complete creative control over their songs (we’re not major label douchebags, remember), Gotye himself had the final word and preferred not to release it in its current form, as he felt it didn’t add enough to the original. And though we dropped some dollars commissioning Supermayer for the mix and may have slightly soured the relationship with Kompakt in terms of future collaborations, thats just the way it goes sometimes. Regardless, we feel we’ve got a superior remix in a very similar style in Lull’s extended mix. Personally, I think both mixes are excellent, though I give a definite edge to Lull’s version. We’ll leave you to be the judge though, and you can hear Supermayer’s take on the track for yourself below.

MP3: “Hearts A Mess” (Supermayer’s Supermess Remix) - Gotye

What we were hoping for was something more along the lines of the German duo’s mind-blowing interpretation of Rufus Wainwright’s “Tiergarten”. “Supermayer Lost In Tiergarten” is perhaps the most technically impressive remix I’ve ever heard, and is in itself a brilliant platform on which to make a case for the remix as a legitimate artform, so obviously we weren’t expecting their work on “Hearts” to eclipse it, we were just hoping for something similarly bold and experimental. The final product, however, plays it a bit too close to the cuff, a good, but perhaps overly safe and faithful interpretation of the original, keeping the same principle beat (albeit a bit more dubby) and just upping the atmospherics a bit. Impressive if you hadn’t heard the original Gotye version but when you have, well… it loses some of its luster. For comparison’s sake, here’s their awe-inspiring take on “Tiergarten”. Through all this, I mean no disrespect to Supermayer (or Kompakt, for that matter) as I still hold them in the absolute highest regard as some of the most talented artists in the electronic music medium, and “Supermayer Lost In Tiergarten” is a pretty obvious reason why.

MP3: “Supermayer Lost In Tiergarten” - Rufus Wainwright

After months of keeping us waiting not-so-patiently, Wale’s finally dropped the proper edit of his Justice bootleg on us and while the go-go drums in the song’s final third are sorely missed, it’s nice to finally have a cleaned polish version to rock on the headphones. That said, this just gives amateur DJs everywhere (who, me?) another excuse to beat “D.A.N.C.E.” even further into the ground in indie discos around the world, but y’know what, I’m okay with that.

MP3: “W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.” - Wale

In other genre-mashing hip-hop news, I’ve finally tracked down this awesome bootleg of Royksopp’s “Remind Me”, courtesy of shit-hot Brooklyn MC Mickey Factz. I first heard this like a year ago at Major in DC and all the brothers working the counter were all “Who dropped this beat?”, and I was all “Royksopp, mannnn”, and for a fleeting moment felt accepted by the DC hip-hop heads who populate Major. Now, thanks to a mention in the most recent issue of SPIN, I’ve finally copped this shit and it’s most excellent. I’m loving this new direction hip hop’s going in more and more everyday.

MP3: “You Remind Me” (ft. Jesse Boykins III) - Mickey Factz

After an improbable rise to superstardom in his adopted home of Australia over the past few years, Gotye finally made his UK debut last week in London. Monday things went down at the Metro, but as I was still dealing with the maelstrom of shit that was finals week, I had to postpone my gratification until his Hoxton Bar & Grill show Wednesday. Absolutely worth it though, as his Hoxton show was by all accounts the better gig, with a sold out crowd and amazing support in the form of the lovely Marina & The Diamonds and the afrocentric fingerpicking of Nick Mulvey. There were also some extremely hot jams dropped by Fresh Prints in between sets and after the show. I read somewhere they’re gonna be the next Justice or something.

Marina was up first for a brief, but brilliant twenty-minute set. She’s got one of the best and most unique voices I’ve heard in ages, and her powerful vocals easily won over those lucky enough to be there earlier enough for her set, tracks like “We’ve Got Obsessions” and “Simplify” standing out as some of her more awe-inspiring highlights.

MP3: “We’ve Got Obsessions” (Demo) – Marina & The Diamonds
MP3: “Simplify” – Marina & The Diamonds

Next came criminally unknown up-and-comer Nick Mulvey, who’s one of the more special talents I’ve had the pleasure of seeing live this semester. I first caught him at Cross Kings pub (the closest you can get to Brooklyn in North London) in February, but this was the first full-length set I’d heard him play. Given the nigh-on unfathomable hype surrounding Vampire Weekend and the current music climate, you could be forgiven for passing off any indie act rocking an afrobeat influence as mere bandwagon jumpers, but tagging Nick Mulvey as such would be doing the young London troubadour a significant injustice. For starters, he just finished a degree in ethnomusicology focusing on African music and has been making a name for himself as a percussionist in award-winning modern jazz four-piece Portico Quartet for a few years now. Then there’s the small fact that he’s fluent in Congolese… yeah. He’s also one of the more gifted guitarists I’ve ever seen in a live setting, so yeah, it’s safe to say Mulvey’s one to keep an eye on. All of Mulvey’s talents are on display on “I Didn’t Have Time”, which bounces along on sunny guitar melodies and his unique bilingual charm, and it was easily the highlight of his thirty-minute set last Wednesday.

MP3: “I Didn’t Have Time” – Nick Mulvey

Finally, it was time for Gotye to take the stage and fuck if he didn’t put on one of the more amazing shows I’ve taken in during my time here. Easily the most impressive one-man show I’ve ever seen, Gotye bounced back and forth between keys, a sampler and his drum kit, with captivating visuals (like this and this) projected behind him all the while. The drums were and always will be his first love, a point made obvious during his hour-plus performance, in which he frequently returned to the kit to pound out drum solo after awe-inspiring drum solo to take his songs to a whole new level of brilliant intensity. Singles “Heart’s A Mess” and “The Only Thing I Know” were incredible early highlights, but it was underrated album track “Thanks For Your Time”, which stole the show during the main portion of his set with its streaking strings samples and Wally’s piercing “Oh, oh!” backing vocals.

MP3: “Thanks For Your Time” – Gotye
MP3: “Hearts A Mess” – Gotye

For the encore, Nick Mulvey returned to join Wally on the stage for a collaboration the duo had spent the entire day working on in the garden behind the office. A Mulvey-enhanced acoustic version of “Puzzle With A Piece Missing” was a change of pace from the rest of the set and lacked the energy that made his main set so stimulating, but it was more than made up for by his collaboration with Mulvey on a brilliant cover of Paul Simon’s “Gumboots”, which also featured the talents of Gideon Brazil on saxophone. Rounding out the night, Mulvey left the stage as Gotye and Brazil launched into a truly awe-inspiring rendition of future summer smash “Learnalilgivinanlovin”, on which Wally just destroys the drums and unleashes his most impressive vocal performance to date, and it provided the perfect end to one of the best nights of music one could as for.

MP3: “Gumboots” – Nick Mulvey

Dude is a special talent, folks - remember the correct spelling because the rest of 2008 belongs to one man, and his name is Gotye.

All Tomorrow’s Parties is exactly that: a fucking party. It feels unlike any festival I’d ever been to - everyone seems to know each other, and it’s one of the few large-scale music events I’ve ever attended where it seems as if the majority of punters are with the band, both of which add up to create an atmosphere of familiarity and makes for one hell of a three-day bender. The venue is ridiculous - there’s really no American equivalent to Pontin Sands Holiday Centre, the best I can do is to describe the rundown middle-class family resort as a supersized Chuck E. Cheese. There are mascots painted all over the walls, a shitty arcade, go karts (sadly not in service during the festival) and lots of cheesy restaurants and too much wordplay. Suffice it to say, taking in some of the world’s most rocking bands in this environment is considerably strange. Regardless, we had an awesome time.

We’d been planning on skipping Friday, as Les Savy Fav were set to play a warm-up gig in Oxford that night and we were just going to hitch a ride down to Camber Sands with them, but at the last minute everything fell through, as their booking agency somehow forgot to submit their working papers. I’m still not sure how they sorted it so that they could still do ATP, but we met Syd and company at Camber Sands Saturday, the only band of significance missed during the opening day of the festival being Vampire Weekend, and considering I’ve seen them nearly 20 times now, it wasn’t that big a deal. Saturday totally ruled, but as all the bands I saw I’ve already reviewed in these pages for (or you’ve surely read countless reviews of elsewhere), I’m gonna be sparse with the details (do you really need me to go on about how good Les Savy Fav are live again?). Yeasayer was an unexpected highlight, with “2080″ going down as the best song of the festival and one of the best songs you will ever hear in a live setting. That chorus, those shouts, that energy… shit was unreal. The only letdown of their set was the absence of the visuals that have been taking their live show to new heights over the past few months. The man responsible for said visuals - which are unbelievable, by the way - is my main man and good friend Sam Muglia, so to say we were bummed when the extension cord came up like two feet short is an understatement. Still a great set and one of the highlights of the festival though.

MP3: “2080″ - Yeasayer

Beyond that, the festival was everything you’d expect. Hot Chip ruled, Of Montreal ruled, Les Savy Fav REALLY ruled, the Hold Steady ruled and Black Mountain were decent but threw a damn fine party at their chalet Saturday night. Aside from the highlights, I wasn’t really feeling the Black Lips, whose antics were decidedly tame considering the legendary stories of golden showers and broken equipment I’ve always heard surrounding their live reputation. Also, we overslept because we’re fuck-ups and missed Bon Iver on Saturday (and then Jens Lekman on Sunday), and we tragically had to leave before Caribou’s festival-closing set Sunday night, as my roommate (who moonlights as the better half of Fresh Prints) and I both had finals the next day and needed to catch the last train home. Thus, there’s no real reason for me to post this, but I’ve been listening to it too much recently not to give it some love.

MP3: “Melody Day” (Four Tet Remix) - Caribou

All in all, it was easily the best weekend I’ve had yet in England. The beach (the “sands” in Camber Sands) ten minutes from the holiday centre was unreal, the largest stretch of sand in all of England, and the weather was the best I’ve ever experienced in Britain. 80 degrees and sunny, and people are swimming in mid-May. In England. Crazy. Granted, I’ve never seen more frighteningly pale bodies in my life, but it was nice just to take in some cosmic rays and get away from the city for a little while. More live reviews from the past wee (including Gotye’s debut UK gigs and the Great Escape) to come as I recover from finals and get back on track.

THINGS TO MAKE THIS POST SUCK LESS
I’m really not a fan of my live reviews, so here are some bonus jams to keep you coming back for more. Kicking shit off, here’s a collaboration that remarkably few blogs have picked up on, given the immensity of the names involved. Fresh off last summer’s chart-topping megahit, “With Every Heartbeat”, Kleerup’s back again, swapping Robyn for her shit-hot understudy Lykke Li on “Until We Bleed”. It doesn’t immediately stop you in your tracks like “Heartbeat” did, but it’s refreshing to her Lykke’s vocals in a new sonic context and “Bleed” is a damn fine single in its own right.

MP3: “Until We Bleed” (ft. Lykke Li) - Kleerup

I’ve been searching for some Fyfe Dangerfield solo material for as long as I remember, and now James has done us all a SOLID solid and brought this into the collective consciousness of this here blogworld. While not an original composition per se, this here cover is a fucking gem. I’ve never been much of a Larrikin lover, and was significantly less sad than many of my contemporaries when they broke up last year, but the original version of “Well, Love Does Furnish A Life”, featuring Mechanical Bride on backing vox, was the closest thing I had to a favorite track on their first and final record, The Freedom Spark. Fyfe’s interpretation treats it with a gentle introspection that seems more fitting of the lyrics, and it stacks up quite nicely with any of the more sentimental moments on Red.

MP3: “Well, Love Does Furnish A Life” - Fyfe Dangerfield

At the polar opposite end of the sonic spectrum, here’s the bangin’-est remix I’ve heard in a minute. I’m not exactly trailblazing here, as this has been making the rounds for a good bit now, but if there’s one track that’s absolutely destroyed dancefloors during our sets, it’s when we mix from the Robyn remix of “Sexual Eruption” into this bad boy and lay waste to anyone in a 40-foot radius of the DJ booth.

MP3: “Lights & Music” (Moulinex Remix) - Cut Copy

You have been appeased. I’m out.

Post War Years live in an abandoned hairdresser/Russian social club (obviously the two go hand in hand) in Leamington Spa, England, a place I’ve never heard of that probably isn’t quite as relaxing as it sounds. Having cruised into the new year on a wave of significant buzz, they’re debut single sees release today on shit-hot London imprint Chess Club, fresh off the release of last months’ mega-hyped White Lies single. “The Black Morning”, as it’s called, bounces along on a repetitious piano riff that borders on experimental ambiance, but quickly establishes itself as decidedly livelier fare on the strength of an animated drumbeat and a chorus of cascading synths and handclaps that goes down as one of the best in recent memory. Produced by fellow Leamington Spa up-and-comers Mysterons, the whole affair is highly reminiscent of Tom Vek’s eclectic sonic tapestries, but B-side “You And Me Both” could straight-up be a lost cut off Vek’s We Have Sound and those eagerly awaiting news of the reclusive multi-instrumentalist’s still-unannounced sophomore album would do well to get all up into this Post War Years’ single in the meantime.

MP3: “The Black Morning” - Post War Years
MP3: “You And Me Both” - Post War Years

In other news, Lykke Li’s debut UK single “I’m Good I’m Gone” hit the DJ circuit this past week with the circulation of the remix EP that will be supporting the single when its out via 679 June 2nd. Highlights include a remarkably decent Black Kids remix, but anyone throwing that up on the blogs is likely just trying to melt the hype machine with a track uniting the two biggest blog superstars of the new year, since it’s Fred Falke’s epic rework that completely steals the show here. Wait for the 4:20 mark when the lows drop out and Falke gets all atmospheric on your ass, before bringing the beat back harder then ever 40 seconds later. This is gold, folks.

MP3: “I’m Good I’m Gone” (Fred Falke Remix) - Lykke Li [link removed]
Finally, here’s another Good Weather exclusive courtesy of the I Was A Cub Scout bros and our friends over at Abeano Music. “Close To Me” is an undoubtedly unfuckwithable classic, but the Cub Scout guys do a pretty great job on this just-finished cover, the result of some found studio time and creative restlessness as they bask in the critical acclaim for their debut album, I Want You To Know That There Is Always Hope. They stay pretty faithful to the original, but that’s hardly a bad thing, and this is a great track to rock in this remarkably glorious springtime whether we’ve been enjoying for the past few weeks.

MP3: “Close To Me” - I Was A Cub Scout [exclusive]

ATP ruled harder than you can even imagine. Full report in the coming days, assuming I can find some time between finals tomorrow and heading down to Brighton for the Great Escape on Thursday.

There was no shortage of great shows in London last Monday, but without a doubt the hottest ticket in town belonged to Sebastien Tellier’s sold-out performance at the Scala, featuring support from none other than shit-hot industry darling Lykke Li. Having already seen Lykke kill it in intimate venues around London on multiple occasions and with the news that Tellier had added a live drummer to his already solid synth-and-guitars live set up, I went in with high-ass expectations, only to be treated to one of the best shows of the year.

First and foremost, Lykke Li is a fucking superstar. Every time I’ve seen her seems to be better than the last, but she set the bar ridiculously high this time out, winning over an audience at a show that sold out before her name was even added to the bill. Every single song owned its studio-recorded counterpart, and while “Little Bit” and set-closer “I’m Good I’m Gone” went off every bit as brilliantly as expected and more, it was future single “Breakin’ It Up” that stole the show. Curiously left off the set list at previous shows I’d seen her play, it stole the whole damn show on Sunday night, and sounded like a whole new song when compared to the version found on record. Tweaked and reproduced a bit, this could be a huge single after Atlantic inevitably ride “I’m Good I’m Gone” and “Little Bit” into the ground in a few months’ time.

MP3: “Breaking It Up” - Lykke Li

Aforementioned closer “I’m Good I’m Gone” was, as expected, brilliant as well. The song’s “I know your hands will clap” lyric seems tailor-made for audience participation, but I guess I was the only one lame enough to throw up the handclaps she was fishing for. Lykke pointed to me with her drumstick and we had some serious eye contact for a solid 7/10ths of a second or so and I kind of felt like a 12 year old girl at a Justin Timberlake concert. For serious.

MP3: “I’m Good I’m Gone” (Sumo Edit) - Lykke Li

Then it was time for Tellier to get his sexy on, and he took the stage a short time later and launched into “Kilometer”, which sounds like it was nicked straight from Justin Timberlake’s songbook (or rather, Justin Timberlake’s songwriters’ songbook), and provided the perfect lead-in to what would prove to be a phenomenal set. Sexuality’s a great album in its own right, but I really can’t stress how much better every song sounds live when those massive and unrelenting synths are just washing over you, in that deep kind of visceral way. “Divine” followed shortly thereafter and totally slayed, with Sebastien rolling around the stage and giving a little preview of the antics to follow. Things got filthier and filthier as the set went on, as we were treated to the sight of Seb spanking the piano, fellating the microphone and, uh, stimulating the mic stand. There were also sex noises. Lots of sex noises.

MP3: “Divine” - Sebastien Tellier

He closed with an empire-toppling medley of “La Ritournelle”, which saw him solo on the piano for the song’s first half before bringing in a barrage of drums and synths after his first vocal refrain, which slowly decrescendoed into the opening notes of Sexuality-closer “L’Amour et La Violence”. Then it was off the stage and outside for a cigarette (I’m making a pretty safe assumption here) before he returned for a rousing performance of “Sexual Sportswear”. Words cannot do justice how amazing this track sounds with live drums, and as there’s not much for Seb to do on this one given its lack of vocals, he threw in some sex noises for good measure. Naturally.

MP3: “Sexual Sportswear” - Sebastien Tellier

Back to the grind then for a few more exams and then driving down to All Tomorrow’s Parties with the Les Savy Fav bros next weekend. Pumped.

Upon the original release of “Space and the Woods” as Late of the Pier’s debut single in early 2007, I passed it off as nothing more than a directionless mess from a band making a last-ditch effort to throw their hat into the ring of the rapidly-fading “new rave” craze. It was too schizophrenic, too derivative – Klaxons already did the whole science-fiction thing and I’m pretty sure Gary Numan’s got a copyright on those synths – and too cloying, that glorious 80’s synth riff the only thing worth even considering writing home about. But here we are one year on, with new rave six feet under and Late of the Pier’s Erol Alkan-produced debut album the subject of white-hot anticipation around town. On the strength of subsequent singles “Bathroom Gurgle” and “Bears Are Coming” and an epic performance opening for Justice last Valentine’s Day, it seems Late of the Pier have actually made a believer in me. Their schizophrenic song structures have actually become one of their major selling points, setting them apart from their by-the-book contemporaries, and between his work with Late of the Pier and his LA Priest side project, frontman Sam Prest is slowly establishing himself as one of brightest talents in all of England.

Now here we are revisiting “Space and the Woods”, which will see a re-release as a double A-side with a shiny new production job from Mr. Alkan, along with long-time live favorite “Focker” in mid-May. And GOD DAMN if this isn’t the biggest record of the year, if not longer than that. Erol’s gone and made this shit huge, that synth line standing out as one of the hottest moments in music this year and Prest actually sounding confident enough to sell lines like, “I’m shit-hot, so say what you think about me”. In fact, shit-hot would be a damn fine way to describe this song, which just might be the best dance-rock single this side of 2005.

Not content just to polish up a previously released track, the single comes with a second A-side in the form of “Focker”, the band’s most electro offering yet and fully worthy of a full-fledged single release in its own right. Erol works his magic again here, but they hold out until the song’s epic final moments to really lower the boom, getting all LA Priest on your ass and obliterating everything in sight with an all-out electro freak-out of epic proportions. Literally, this shit is incredible and might be one of the few singles I’ve ever heard where I can actually enjoy the instrumental every bit as much as the original (seriously, try it for yourself below). A double A-side automatically implies you’ll be getting more than your fair share of hotness on both sides of the record, but this is just absurd. Top marks, Late of the Pier, you’ve proven me wrong in so many ways.

MP3: “Space and the Woods” (Radio Edit) - Late of the Pier
MP3: “Focker” (Instrumental) - Late of the Pier

FIXED: Updates to resume when university stops shitting on me.

My first-ever Camden Crawl experience totally ruled. Here’s why:

SAM SPARRO (Electric Ballroom, 6 PM)

We kicked things off at one of two 6 PM offerings, hitting the legendary Electric Ballroom to see Sam Sparro’s first-ever London show. His debut single “Black & Gold” went supernova seemingly out nowhere and currently sits at #3 on the charts so this was an understably hot ticket, the packed house a resounding testament to this fact. While I’ll admit the single is catchy as fuck, I’m definitely not his biggest fan, but my friends we’re jonesing for their Sparro fix so I went along with it hoping for the best. Turns out dude puts on a damn good live show. The flamboyant Aussie took the stage looking like a party pix all-star in sparkling gold tights and an oversized tribal-print top, before cruising through a set of future chart hits and keeping the crowd bouncing throughout. Don’t get me wrong, shit was like, super gay, but Sparro’s a top notch performer and the crowd loved every minute of it. Those of you who’ve been waiting for the next Jamiroquai listen up, Sam Sparro’s your man.

MP3: “Black & Gold” (Phones’ As Hard As Diamonds Edit) - Sam Sparro

DOES IT OFFEND YOU, YEAH? (Koko, 7:20 PM)

From the Electric Ballroom we made our way down the high street towards Mornington Crescent, where Does It Offend You, Yeah? were set to take the NME-sponsored stage at Koko at 7:20. I’d not yet seen them do their thing in a live setting, and to say I was pumped would be an understatement. Fortunately they didn’t disappoint, rocking the perfect medium of punk and electro and putting on the first epic show of the weekend. There was dancing, there was moshing, and there was definitely no shortage of drinks flying through the air. My 6′3″ stature makes me a kind of lightning rod for that shit and I left the venue sufficiently drenched in beer, sweat and assorted other bodily fluids, but it was all good - Does It Offend You, Yeah? fucking slayed.

MP3: “Doomed Now” - Does It Offend You, Yeah?

FLORENCE & THE MACHINE (The Crescent, 8 PM)

Leaving the ridiculousness of Koko behind us, we crossed the street to the Crescent to see the inimitable Florence and her machine. I’d been awed by her uncanny vocals and stage presence on a few occasions last summer back when it was still just Flo and her guitarist, but now the line-up had expanded to include a drummer as well. The added intensity of live percussion really took her show to a new level, and it was easily the best performance I’d seen her put on to date. We missed the amazing “Girl With One Eye” and her cover of Beirut’s “Elephant Gun” waiting in the interminable line outside the packed pub-turned-venue, but her set was amazing regardless, the rollicking “Kiss With A Fist” rounding out her set in triumphant fashion and more than making up for the tracks we missed. That track, her upcoming debut single, will at long last see a release on Moshi Moshi June 9th (backed with a brilliant cover of “Hospital Beds”, no less), and from there it’s only a matter of time before she’s taken over this entire London folk scene.

MP3: “Girl With One Eye” - Florence & The Machine
MP3: “Going Down” - Florence & Kid Harpoon

LYKKE LI (Black Cap, 9:15 PM)

One of the more hyped shows of the weekend was Lykke Li’s 9:15 slot at the Black Cap just a few blocks up from The Crescent, and the place was absolutely packed. Florence and her crew were there, along with a few hundred other eager onlookers, and finding standing room was no easy feat to say the least. We’d seen her before at February’s Chocolate Rain night at Cafe Mahiki and thus were totally ready for her adorable stage presence and fly-ass moves, but this was far better than her previous showing. The sound was an issue at Mahiki, but everything was perfect for Lykke’s Black Cap gig. She played all the hits - “Little Bit”, “Let It Fall”, “I’m Good I’m Gone”, et. al - and proved why every single person in this fucking industry is absolutely shitting themselves over her. I said it back in November and I’ll say it again, this girl will be huge.

MP3: “I’m Good. I’m Gone.” - Lykke Li

SOKO (The Crescent, 10:30 PM)

The only letdown of the day may have been Soko’s performance at the Crescent rounding out our European female singer-songwriter trilogy. It’s not that she was bad, far from it in fact, it’s just that it’s still quite early in her career and her live show doesn’t seem to be quite there yet. Furthermore, her charm lies in the quirkiness of her endearing vocals and lyrics, and the less-than-ideal sound and buzzing crowd made it difficult to here in the packed Crescent. Thus, we rolled out after three or four songs, figuring we might as well try to see Robyn across the street despite the slim chances of gaining admittance into Koko for one of the most popular shows of the entire festival.

MP3: “I’ll Kill Her” - Soko

ROBYN (Koko, 12:30 AM)

Surprisingly, we made it into Robyn with remarkable ease, and after a brief wait in line we found ourselves at the front of the venue ready for the sugary girl-pop experience of a lifetime. Now, I’ll be real with you: I was way drunk at this point, which is the kind of thing that happens when you’ve been drinking for six-and-a-half hours on a half-full stomach, and my memory of her show isn’t exactly crystalline. What I do know, however, is that she totally dropped “Sexual Eruption”, which pretty much made my life. I also remember realizing just how many chart-toppers this girl’s put together on one album of new material and being a little bit awestruck, but I guess that wasn’t exactly a secret or anything. Either way, I’m pretty sure I had the time of my life and it was a perfect ending to what was probably my best day in London so far.

MP3: “Sexual Eruption” (Fyre Department Remix ft. Robyn) - Snoop Dogg
MP3: “Who’s That Girl” (Styrofoamkid Remix) - Robyn

So there you have it, unbelievably good times. I wasn’t able to go Saturday, as my bank account is in the red (please donate drug money at the PayPal link above kthx) and the only band I was really dying to see was White Lies, and that can wait until the Great Escape for now.

OH and how ’bout those Caps? Four straight goals last night (including two from Alex Wale Ovechkin) at Philadelphia to tie up the series at 3-3 and bring game seven back to the Chocolate City? Fuck yeah.

Despite my lukewarm feelings towards his debut LP, The Last Resort, I regard Trentemoller as one of the most gifted talents in electronic music. As demonstrated by his impeccable remix work and the finer cuts off Resort (especially “Take Me Into Your Skin”, perhaps the most technically impressive song I’ve ever heard), what he does with sonic textures puts him in a league of his own as far as I’m concerned. Sure, he’s not quite there yet, but I feel that he could unleash one of the better electronic albums of all time further down the road in his career, and if his takeover of the Kentish Town Forum last Monday was any indicator, he’s well on his way.

It’s hard to find an entry point for discussion of such a performance, as it really doesn’t compare to anything I’ve ever seen. This certainly wasn’t a DJ set and it was way more than a mere live performance, shit was an experience. The night got off to an ominous start with an opening DJ whose set was just abysmal – aside from looking like a total douche, dude couldn’t mix for shit and his song selection was all over the place to say the least. But none of that mattered as soon as Trentemoller took the stage and brought the audience into a whole new world of sensory overload. Performing in the company of live guitars and percussion, Trentemoller stood before a monolith of synths and keyboards in front of a backdrop of some of the best visuals this side of The Knife’s much-hyped live show. Haunting monochromatic images created the perfect atmosphere within which to process the Danish maestros mind-altering soundscapes, taking already mindblowing tracks like “Take Me Into Your Skin” and “Moan” to new levels of otherworldliness.

His set was comprised predominantly of tracks off The Last Resort and a few excerpts from his remix work (a thirty-second teaser of his masterful “What Else Is There?” remix threw the crowd into a frenzy, but he quickly moved on before allowing the vocals to drop), and there wasn’t a weak moment to speak of. To me, Trentemoller’s the most technically impressive artist in the game right now, and this was very much on display as he strung together climax after climax for nearly 90 minutes, keeping the crowd in a constant state of nigh-on pandemonium. I’m not exaggerating when I say it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen: Monday night was more than just a concert, this shit was an all-out rave.

Closing with “Moan” and “Always Something Better”, I reckoned he didn’t have much more in his repertoire for an encore. How wrong I was. Returning to the stage minutes later, he took shit to a whole new level when he launched into an absolutely earth-shattering remix of “Seven Nation Army”, in which he repeatedly dropped the pressure like Zeus himself, raining down blows on the unsuspecting masses below. I’d heard he’s got all kinds of amazing bootlegs laying around his studio (including a rumored edit of “Toxic”), but I never expected anything of this magnitude. If this shit ever escapes the studio look out, I promise: You Are Not Ready.

Trentemoller appears to be operating on a whole new level right now, what he’s doing with electronic music is miles away from everyone else as far as I’m concerned. After Monday night he’s joined an elite pantheon of artists I’d travel to the ends of the earth to see, and if you’ve got any sense in you you’ll make an important point not to miss him if he rolls through your town on this tour. Trust me, it has to be seen to be believed.

MP3: “Take Me Into Your Skin” – Trentemoller
MP3: “What Else Is There?” (Trentemoller Remix) – Royksopp

In my efforts to unearth some of these alleged bootlegs Trentemoller seems to be so fond of making, I came across this jam. We’ve been dying to find a droppable remix of “Tainted Love” for ages and even recently started working on our own, but Trentemoller’s gone ahead and rendered our efforts wholly unnecessary. I don’t know what that “Co-pen-hay-gen” sample is from, but I do know this shit is GOLD.

MP3: “Tainted Copenhagen” – Trentemoller

You’ll hear that track and more if you come down to PUSH tonight, where Fresh Prints will once again be taking the decks, this time closing out the night upstairs after the likes of Noah & The Whale, Bombay Bicycle Club and White Lies spin on the 1’s and 2’s and Innerpartysystem does their thing on the main stage. This will be our last gig in London for a long-ass time, so if you want to see us stumble through an hour of shoddy mixing and drunken button-pushing, get your ass to Astoria 2 between 1:30 and 2:30 AM Saturday. See you there?

Also, there’s no better time than now to mention the blog superstars over at Transparent Magazine, as they’re the ones kind enough to be putting us on tonight. They’re running what’s easily the UK’s finest blog and also put on some brilliant shows around London, and their absence from our blogroll to this point is pretty much unforgivable. Show them some love.