Child Soldier, Boy Wonder

Paul Frick featuring Emika I Mean (Dollkraut's Band Reinterpretation)

Sangria Summer Surprise

I'm DJing tomorrow along with Disarray for an evening of sangria, summer vibes, early 90s pop rap vids and pool-party hits... Hosted by the impeccable and incomparable Thomas Kim & Stephanie Natividad. RSVP to the event here!

Quickfix UK Funky Mix

Uptown Tanking Mix by Jay Watts III

Nouveau Palais Promo Mix - Palatial Digs

Jay Watts III Palatial Mix

Promo mix for 03/31/2010 at Nouveau Palais with Kyle Calma

33:39| 77.6mb | 320kbps

1. Blackbird Blackbird Avalanche
2. Onra High Hopes ft. Reggie B
3. Saint Etienne Spring (Air France Remix)
4. The Avalanches Stay Another Season
5. The Go-Team Apollo Throwdown (Star Slinger Remix)
6. Millionyoung Local Joke
7. Elite Gymnastics Is This On Me?
8. TEETH See Spaces (Visions of Trees Remix)
9. Florrie Come Back To Mine
10. Velour Booty Slammer

Indie Rock Face Paint

I have nothing personal against Tuneyards, but I'm just wondering if there's a mission to antagonize me. First, with wacky intercaps, and now facepaint? The precious yogurt commercial music I can ignore, whatever: innocuous enough.

OBEDIENCE

Obedience Mix by Jay Watts III

1. Yellow Power Hai Samurai
2. Ichisan Space Patrol
3. Cantoma North Shore (Idjut Boys Remix)
4. Will Powers Adventures in Success
5. Pool Jamaica Running
6. Shriekback My Spine Is The Bassline

Dancehalt!

Dancehalt! Mix by Jay Watts III

1. Fleetwood Mac Never Forget (Cut Copy Lifelike Mix)

2. Aeroplane Without Lies (Black Van Remix)

3. The Human League Love Action (Young Edits 12" Edit)

4. Fever Ray The Sevens (The Twelves Remix)

5. Flight Facilities Crave You (Cassian Remix)

6. Andy Butler & Kim Ann Foxman Creature (Faze Action Remix)

7. Kartell Get Down (Mix Chopin Remix)

8. Junior Jack My Feeling

9. Elton John Are You Ready For Love (Ashley Beedle Edit)

10. New Order Dreams Never End

Jay Watts III "Mirror Presence" Mix

Mirror Presence Mix by Jay Watts III

All Tape, No Mix 2

DOWNLOAD mp3 320 kbps 62mb

1. Risque Starlight
2. Onra High Hopes (feat. Reggie B)
   
3. TLC Creep
   
4. Starslinger Gas
5. Eazy E Gimme That Nut
   
6. Positive K I Gotta Man
   
7. Mark Ronson Ooh Wee (Remix feat. Ghostface Killah)
   
8. Souls of Mischief 93 'Til Infinity

I don't even know why I'm posting this. Mixing without a Traktor box on a desktop computer means no cue-ing! DEAF MIX 2011.

All Tape, No Mix

DOWNLOAD mp3 320 kbps 136mb | http://www.mediafire.com/?tek6q54o6n92j61

1. Endgames Ecstasy (Jam City Refix)
2. Joy Orbison Hyph Mngo
3. Moullinex Love It Is, Then
4. Pompeya 90 (Acos CoolKAs version)
5. Duliatten Disco Dancer Surat Surfin
6. Canyons Fire Eyes (Jacques Renault's Living In The Jungle Mix)
7. SE62 Out There
8. Ali Love Moscow Girl (Jacques Renault Mix)
9. The Shoes Wastin' Time (Boom Bax Remix)
10. Durutti Column Home

Concrete Insertion In The Cosmos

Photograph by Hugues Erre

Chris Hodge We're On Our Way
Amboy Dukes Journey To the Center of Your Mind
Hawkwind Silver Machine

Signed by Apple Records on the basis of his Bolan-esque appeal, Ringo-approved psychonaut Chris Hodges released this 1972 single. Along with atypical Morricone-like flourishes and a propulsive rhythm lifted from the Amboy Dukes' Journey To the Center of Your Mind, it's embued with that spirit of intergalactic travel that informed Hawkwind's Silver Machine. Dig that sitar.

Stop Holding Back

in flagrante delicto photograph of your author (10 years ago?), by Tim Barber

Trujillo Baby You're Still the Same
(Social Disco Club feat. Lucy Walker Sexual Flashback Mix)
Matias Aguayo Walter Neff
Tornado Wallace Stop Holding Back

Spring Minimix from Foxnews

Spring Minimix by beloved mensch FoxNews

01. Terror Danjah - I'm Feelin U
02. Fantastic Mr Fox - Evelyn
03. The XX - Crystalised (Dark Sky Remix)
04. Jacques Greene - Tell Me (Kingdom Edit)
05. XXXY - Ordinary Things
06. Julio Bashmore - Battle For Middle You
07. MJ Cole & Wiley - From The Drop (L-Vis 1990 Remix)
08. Dubbel Dutch - Throwback
09. Rihanna - Whats My Name (Brenmar Club Mix)
10. Canblaster - Triple Ring
11. Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes - Look At Me Now
12. Fused Forces & DJ Cable - Flocka Riddim

I Saw The Light

Todd Rundgren I Saw The Light

"It caused me to crank out songs at an incredible pace. 'I Saw the Light' took me all of 20 minutes. You can see why, too, the rhymes are just moon/June/spoon kind of stuff."

- Todd Rundgren on Ritalin and song-writing,
The Independent, July 14, 2004

A little inspiration to all of my student friends currently suffering in mid-term hell, or just having escaped it.

Alan Arkin & Labour Standards

The Tarriers The Banana Boat Song

With two friends, he formed the folk music group The Tarriers, in which Arkin sang and played guitar. The band members co-composed the group's 1956 hit The Banana Boat Song, a reworking, with some new lyrics, of a traditional, same-name Jamaican calypso folk song combined with another titled Hill and Gully Rider.

Some Weird Sin

Iggy Pop Some Weird Sin

"Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall."
- William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure

No One Ever Tells You What It Costs

Melba Moore It's a Peach Melba (Promised Land re-edit)

Here's a couple-of-years-old classic re-edit of Melba Moore's 1977 song Promised Land, the second white label release from the mysterious Dutch label Moxie. The b-side on this is an equally stomping, mid-tempo edit of The Inner City Jam Band's What I Did For Love which I'll include on an upcoming mix. (The organ vamping throughout brings it to another level). Beg, borrow or steal - just acquire this somehow.

Optimum Configuration

Editude City Tell Me (...That You Loft Me Edit)

...And make it count.

Blood Orchids

Pional In Another Room (Pional's Reduxed Version)
Bot'ox Crashed Cadillacs

It could be the cold - the miserable, biting January wind and chill - but I'm really enjoying the Laurie Anderson by way of Angelo Badalamenti nature of this track. So, the soundtrack for the past couple of hours has been a lot of Pional (née Miguel Barros) on repeat, paired with the paranoid, claustrophobic atmospherics of Bot'ox.

Deep In The Dark

The Platters Twilight Time

LAZERTITS: JANUARY 27, 2011

A new monthly, starting at Blizzarts. Wilcox & Promise, FoxNews, & Jay Watts III. Hosted by Lucas Corkum and Joshua Hornstein. Jam Support provided by the cast and crew of 3772. Totally free. Totally bloggable.

Check out the Facebook page.

Elli et Jacno - 'Je t'aime tant' 1982

Sanctified Women

Marvin Gaye Symphony
Marvin Gaye Sanctified Lady
Quincy Jones Body Heat
Fonzi Thornton I Work For A Livin'

The posthumous album has one of hell of a bad name (colloquially known as "cash-grab") with just about everyone except record executives, the unscrupulous producers who remix them, and any label-associated young buck who got to spit some lyrics along with Notorious BIG or Tupac, without any of the self-doubt that would come with being matched up with such a towering figure. Guy can't call you out on your weak lines - he's dead!

So, naturally, you gotta be skeptic when you come across an album like Marvin Gaye's Dream of a Lifetime, released in 1985, a year after he passed on to the other side. Thankfully, this is no collection of half-realized songs stretched out, with talentless hacks contributing vocal overdubs and other stylistic . It's a little rough around the edges, yes, but kind of awesome, too. And it's alternately raunchy and tender, with songs like Savage in the Sack, Masochistic Beauty*, and Sanctified Lady (a gospel electro-funk workout initially titled Sanctified Pussy) matched up with a smooth, rolling song like Symphony. And at the helm, long-time Gaye collaborator, Gordon Banks.

Another Gaye collaborator, Leon Ware worked with Quincy Jones on his 1974 sexually charged album, Body Heat, co-writing the title track.

And... From the soundtrack to the (bizarrely titled) film Soup For One, comes a spectacular R&B jam courtesy of Fonzi Thornton, produced by Chic with that same great piano, bass and guitar interplay that's unsurpassed in the genre.

On a similar tip, check out Rilly Guilty and Fiend's R&B and funk mix, hosted by the fine folks at Lookout.

* Sample lyrics: "If you do it right, you get the pipe." "It's my duty, to spank your booty."

Pleasure Principle

Bagarre Dirty Love
Bagarre For Your Pleasure

House-Making Cinema

The Maisonettes Heartache Avenue

Films Radio Zone

Films T.V. Phone Age

One-hit wonders The Maisonettes' hit Heartache Avenue, all Motown bluster and swagger, was most recently sampled to good effect by UK garage-ists Roll Deep, for The Avenue. Films were a Japanese new-wave group. Their first and only album Misprint bears paying some attention to, combining Abba-esque harmonies, new-wave fuzz, bubbly energy, and saccharine synth lines. In the case of Radio Zone, there's also some very liberal borrowing from an 80's hit for the verse that I can't put my finger on. (Give me a weekend).

Darker Memories

Photograph by Alison Scarpulla

Strawberry Switchblade Since Yesterday

Malocchio

Photograph by Aneta Bartos
Luxuria Redneck
Colin Newman Better Late Than Never

Luxuria was Howard Devoto's post-Magazine project.
Colin Newman is the solo outing of the Wire frontman.

Didion's Interminable Documentary

Brahms Hungarian Dance no. 5

"To have that sense of one’s intrinsic worth which constitutes self-respect is potentially to have everything: the ability to discriminate, to love and to remain indifferent. To lack it is to be locked within oneself, paradoxically incapable of either love or indifference. If we do not respect ourselves, we are on the one hand forced to despise those who have so few resources as to consort with us, so little perception as to remain blind to our fatal weaknesses. On the other, we are peculiarly in thrall to everyone we see, curiously determined to live out – since our self-image is untenable – their false notion of us. We flatter ourselves by thinking this compulsion to please others an attractive trait: a gist for imaginative empathy, evidence of our willingness to give. Of course I will play Francesca to your Paolo, Helen Keller to anyone’s Annie Sullivan; no expectation is too misplaced, no role too ludicrous. At the mercy of those we cannot but hold in contempt, we play roles doomed to failure before they are begun, each defeat generating fresh despair at the urgency of divining and meeting the next demand made upon us.

It is the phenomenon sometimes called ‘alienation from self.’ In its advanced stages, we no longer answer the telephone, because someone might want something; that we could say no without drowning in self-reproach is an idea alien to this game. Every encounter demands too much, tears the nerves, drains the will, and the specter of something as small as an unanswered letter arouses such disproportionate guilt that answering it becomes out of the question. To assign unanswered letters their proper weight, to free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves – there lies the great, the singular power of self-respect. Without it, one eventually discovers the final turn of the screw: one runs away to find oneself, and finds no one at home."

- From On Self Respect, Joan Didion

The Impertinent Curiousity

Gina X Performance Nice Mover
Fad Gadget Ricky's Hand

YACHT ROCK: Mange ta Ville et LES SILLY KISSERS

You know, it's all great for Diamond Rings and all, but man, is that record boring. Put the Silly Kissers on the cover of Exclaim already, please.

Always

Elli et Jacno Je t'aime tant

666th Post - Grimes By Cotton Mouth

Grimes Devon (Cotton Mouth Remix)

"It's got samples from A Guy Called Gerald, Talking Heads, a miami bass group called Rican Crew, and most of the beat is from "Beat Bop" by Rammellzee and K.Rob, "produced" by Jean-Michel Basqiuat."
- Martin Horn, Cotton Mouth

Arbutus continues its long ascendancy to that great plane where crucial and relevant music is made with some more of their remixes. In this case, fellow Montreal-er and studio wizard (owner and producer at Digital Bird) Martin Horn, known to many as Cotton Mouth, takes a stab at Grimes' Devon and comes up with a beautiful Colin Newman-esque variation on an ethereal classic. 4AD or Mute should be on the phone in minutes.

Goldkicks Loves Arbutus Records

Silly Kissers You Could Even Like Me (Remix Pack)

I've never made a secret of my undying affection for the Silly Kissers (and the rest of the Arbutus Records stable!), and of course, it's an affection that's shared by others with more musical skill than I, which is why I'm really excited that this came to fruition. I'm super-pleased to present a special collaboration between Arbutus Records and three amazing artists, with minimal executive production assistance from myself. Jack Tennis, Sven Gully, and Martin Horn of Cotton Mouth contribute three different takes on You Could Even Like Me. Big-ups to Marilis Cardinal (super-PRista!) for making this all happen!

Manage Directionless

Linda Evangalista I Don't Get Out of Bed For Less Than $10,000 a Day
Nancy Nova No, No, No
Cristina You Rented A Space
Roberto Cacciapaglia My Time
Telex My Time

For more on early to mid-80's conceptual video-art and pop music, I refer you to a March post on Lynn Goldsmith's Will Powers project.

On October 2nd, I'll be moderating a discussion for the symposium portion of the Pop Montreal International Music Festival called From The Crate to the Dropbox. Panelists for the discussion include Jason Sigal, the Managing Director of the Free Music Archive; Yuani Fragata, Executive Producer of Radio-Canada's Bande à part program, Mike Silver (known to most as CFCF), and one more TBA. The event starts at 2pm, and takes place at the Agora Hydro-Quebec at 200 Sherbrooke Ouest.

Back To Reality

Soul II Soul Back To Life (12" Mix)

More of Having

George Michael Too Funky

L'Enfer

Flow Child Less Of It, More of Having

Visit Flow Child. From the Arbutus crew.

ConU

Linkwood Who La La?

I can't make the show tonight, but if you're in Montreal, do stop by Velvet tonight and check Linkwood out!

Business School Girls

Le Sport Business Girls

Hit

Eric B & Rakim Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em (Omega One Remix)

Don't You Want My Love?

Moodyman Don't You Want My Love?

The Caribou DJ night was great, thanks to everyone who came out, Dubinsky (natch) and Frontrunners. Lots more stuff coming up for the rest of the summer and into the fall.

Weekend Re-cap

Sade Paradise (Dreamtime Remix)

Nice to meet you.

Eli Escobar

LOVE THING E.P. by EliEscobar

Eli Escobar Love Thing Part 3 (Only You) featuring Amanda Blank
(download)

I'm far more partial to the classic house and disco vibes that are all over Love Thing Part 2, but that's not to say that this first legally-downloadable track (courtesy of RCRDLBL), featuring Amanda Blank, doesn't have some compelling moments to it, notably the sparse use of strings and the acid-tinged piano-roll elements towards the end. All the more reason to cop all of the single on Beatport (now) or iTunes (when it launches on July 13th).

Cherry Chapstick

Cherry Chapstick The Line
Cherry Chapstick Precious Necklace (Remix)

Cherry Chapstick are a Montreal-based trio who got in touch earlier today with a couple of recent tracks. Members Nigel Ward, Evan Mullen, and Julian Flavin operate in the preternaturally talented world of unabashed pop music that's been percolating in Montreal for the past couple of years, amongst groups like Blue Hawaii, Pop Winds, the Silly Kissers, with some stylistic nods to groups like Lo-Fi FNK and The Avalanches. Kind of makes sense that second track here is a remix of the Silly Kissers song from the recent Arbutus Records 10" of the same name.

Kazu

KazuKazuKazu

Bar-Kays You Made A Change in My Life

Woah, majorly fun weekend, starting with a Thursday evening meal with Richmond, Mike and Chris at Kazu. Hands-down the best Japanese food I've had in Montreal, which might seem like faint praise, but it was really astonishing. A lot of the items we wanted to try were sold out (like the Tuna Belly), but we still had some amazing pork back, the 48 hour pork dish, and a grilled fish head that at $10 was the total steal on the menu. Actually, the whole meal was incredibly cheap, including the Asahi beers that were essential to knock back in the hot & humid environment. The staff were personable, funny and energetic. There'll be people lined up outside for the rest of the summer, I bet. If you get a chance to eat there, sit at the bar. Mike liked it so much he went back for lunch a couple of days later.

Anyways, the rest of the weekend was great - amazing wedding, met some awesome people, danced a lot, hung out at the street sale, had some great salmon tartare and kirs at le Petit Italien on Bernard, got a purple Hugo Boss hooded sweatshirt, enjoyed the magic o' Montreal in the summer.

O hell! to choose love by another's eyes

Al Green Full of Fire
Marvin Gaye I Want You
David Ruffin I've Got A Need For You
David Ruffin Anything That You Ask For

I think that David Ruffin had one of the richest, deepest, most profound voices in soul music, with a tragic backstory to match. I love Marvin Gaye, but at times, the pleading in his voice can be too much. I read somewhere that he always had an uneasy time deciding between the Bible and the Bedroom, and perhaps this was what lead him to certain areas where the nervous tension was evident in his voice. Certainly on his divorce settlement album, 1978's Here, My Dear the self-pitying, hostility and sarcasm is so thick that could almost erase all of the good will the man built up for himself through all the other great music he gave us, where not human vulnerability such a crucial component to great soul music.

Ruffin's desperation was of a different sort all together, accompanied by the octave-jumping vocal acrobatics that has been so thoroughly perverted by contemporary soul and vocalists, with their overly trained voices and artificial throat bubbles. Anyways, these songs are best enjoyed without my off-base commentary, and I've got to run to prepare for a wedding tomorrow - one of those life and love affirming events that get me all sentimental and appreciative.

Calyspo Rum Hut

Lord Kitchener January Girls
Amral's Trinidad Cavaliers Steel Orchestra 90% Of Me Is You
Gwen McCrae 90% Of Me Is You (Original)
Karime Kendra 90% Of Me Is You
(Thanks, Matt Bain!)
Lord Kitchener Dr. Kitch
(Repost)
Mighty Sparrow Yvonne Sorry Now
(Repost)

It's much easier to have ideas than it is to follow through with them - to exist in the realm of the kinetic, the sphere of potential, the vortex of hope! Once you get past the inevitable disappointment of failing at a project, and come to terms with the fact that you're not going to get everything done, you're open to a world of satisfaction that you haven't experienced since your childhood. It's important you follow through with some things, but really, is anybody upset because da Vinci never got around to making that helicopter?

Such was it with my failed coming-of-age script about a Calypso singer prodigy at a beach resort in Trinidad in the early 1960's. (Okay, not anything like da Vinci's helicopter - only that it was unfinished.) It was to be the calypso world's The Harder They Come, but with a much younger kid, some shark-skin suits and an appearance by an actor playing Robert Mitchum. I did the research, hungered for bake and shark, listened to countless hours of calypso (and really got fixated on Lord Kitchener, specifically because of the lewdness and humour - qualities I wouldn't really appreciate in any other genre except maybe Bmore, and that didn't exist in the Muppets' Pig Calypso), but couldn't figure out anything to propel the plot along. Dead end.

So, in honour of another failure, here are some calypso songs, including a steelpan cover of the Gwen McCrae funk classic 90% Of Me Is You, and Lord Kitchener's thoughtful contribution to horoscopes, romance, and astrology. I can't say I agree entirely with His Highness, but nonetheless, the lyrics are excerpted below.

August September and October, it will be Virgo, Scorpio and Libra,
Well the girls that were born under these three signs,
They like they like the English weather fortune change their minds,
Especially those born under Scorpio,
They just tell you yes and then they change to no,
And that is why i would rather be,
In love with a girl born January.

Well November and December don't trust their sight,
They like angels in the day and devils at night,
And that is why I would rather be,
In love with a girl born January...

Lord Kitchener, January Girls

Unrelated, The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on the apparent trustworthiness of the bearded male. Word. Link courtesy of fellow barberousse Cameron Reed/Babe Rainbow.

Keepin' Love Fine

XYZ Dancin', Breakin', Tonight
Holy Ghost I Will Come Back

For the longest time I thought that trainspotting referred to spotting musical references and cues in songs. As the train came to be replaced by other, more dominant modes of transportation in the 20th century and the wireless radio (and the BBC?) became responsible for transmitting key cultural elements of the British identity, the same fervor and fanaticism that doddering old bachelors in Harris tweeds displayed for jotting down the numbers and schedules of trains as they passed by was extended to the world of music, and the word trainspotting was adapted to that. Trainspotting actually refers to a method of heroin injection.

I say this with all the love in my heart (because 1) I have nothing but admiration for Nick Hillhiser and Alex Frankel of Holy Ghost* and 2) I really think, as the Van Pelt said, there's no problem stealing from our favorite thieves, especially in music), but tell me there isn't a bit of a touch of Holy Ghost's I Will Come Back on XYZ' Dancin', Breakin', Tonight? Specifically the cadence and lyrical style at the opening verse. By the time the chorus pops up, however, XYZ has jumped off fully into the musical territory favored by the programmers of bumper music for early 90's sports shows.

This is the opening track from XYZ' Disco Charts Vol. 1 released in 1984, which has an absolutely , and was written by Denny Motion. Mr. Motion's previous musical credit was as the titular head of the Denny Motion Group, on a 1981 LP Small Talk. The liner notes implore you to "Let Denny Motion carry you off to his contemporary guitar land. Let him accompany you to happy, gay parties. Journey through lovely countrysides and join in with his romantic feelings, far away from dull every day life." Sure!

* The Trinity/Triune God: Father = LCD Soundsystem, Son = Juan McLean, Holy Ghost = Holy Ghost.

Perfect Love

Thanks for the photo, Chris!
Krisp Sunlight

Al Diamond Don't Steam Me Up

I saw Xavier Dolan's most recent film, Les amours imaginaires with Chris last night, and it was really good - about twice as much as I'd expected. I'll write more about it and the sound design of the film later, but until then, I'm on a combination new house and early 80's R&B/funk kick. From 1982, this is Krisp with Sunlight on Indigo Records, a one-off featuring members of Aurra, Civil Attack and Rajac.

And lest you think that all Nigeria had to commit to the world of funk was Afrobeat and the brood of Fela Kuti, the second track is the opening cut on the second side from Al Diamond's 1983 album Call Me Up. Don't Steam Me Up seems to be the counterpart to the titular track's demand, where Mr. Diamond regrets her answering that call.

Prends Ca Court: Outdoor Cinema in Montreal

Na Wewe

Next week, after the gigantic mess that is Grand Prix takes leave of our fair city, cooler and more civilized heads will prevail with an evening of award-winning short films at the Monument National Theatre. Five bones only, list below!

6pm Friday, June 18th at Monument National, 1182 Boulevard Saint-Laurent. $5.

• LES BARBARES de Jean-Gabriel Périot (France)
• SINNA MANN de Anita Killi (Norvège) - Prix du public et Meilleure animation, Clermont-Ferrand 2010
• MY INVISIBLE FRIEND de Pablo Larcuen (Espagne) - Sélection officielle, Sundance 2010
• TROLLS de Brianne Nord-Stewart (Canada) - Une des meilleures comédies de l'année!
• ¿DONDE ESTA KIM BASINGER? de Édouard Déluc (France) - Nomination César 2010, Prix du public, Festival de Bruxelles et Festival de Brest 2010, Bayard d'Or du meilleur film, Namur 2010, Grand Prix et Prix Canal +, Clermont-Ferrand 2010
• THE GROUND BENEATH de Rene Hernandez (Australie) - Nomination Oscar 2010, Best short, Aspen 2009
• A GENTLE CREATURE de Marc James Roels (Belgique) - Meilleur court belge, Festival Leuven ainsi que Festival film Ghent
• RAYMOND A PEUT-ÊTRE LA RAGE de Ramiro Bélanger (Québec) - Sélection COURTS DU QUÉBEC à Cannes 2010, Boston underground film festival 2010
• OLD FANGS de Adrien Merigeau (Irlande) - Sélection officielle, Sundance 2010
• NA WEWE de Ivan Goldschmidt (Belgique) - Prix du public, Festival du court métrage de Bruxelles 2010
• CHIENNE D’HISTOIRE de Serge Avédikian (France) - Palme d’or du court métrage, Cannes 2010
• LOVE PATATE de Gilles Cuvelier (France) - Semaine de la critique, Cannes 2010
• THE NEW TENANTS de Joachim Back (Danemark) - Oscar du meilleur court métrage 2010
• HORTUM de Ayse Altinok (Pays-Bas) - Sélection officielle, Cannes 2010
• GLEN OWEN DODDS de Frazer Bailey (Australie) - Prix Canal +, Clermont-Ferrand 2010. Une des meilleures comédies de l'année!
• LES SAUVAGES de Antoine Cuypers (Belgique) - Une des meilleures comédies de l'année!
• THE LOST THING de Andrew Ruhemann et Shaun Tan (Australie) - En première mondiale, cette semaine, Festival d'Annecy

Solvent Abuse

Pavement Gold Soundz
(ATTENTION LABEL TOOL, THERE IS NO MP3 ON THIS POST & HASN'T BEEN FOR QUITE SOME TIME)

I remember the depleting ozone layer being a gigantic concern when I was in elementary school, late 80's, early 90's... There was a big hole the size of some state that only gets mentioned in Jeopardy questions about constitutional amendments or as a size comparison. The area was semi-tropical and green grass grew year around, I guess. People were told to stop using hairspray, and a lot of people did, although that was mostly because it went out of style and maybe also because of Jennifer Anniston. You know, important stuff. Concerns. Worries.

I haven't heard many people talk about the depleting ozone layer recently. I'm no scientist, but I guess it's because it's gone. No more ozone layer. And I think the biggest culprit? Graffiti artists. If you spend enough time with , you begin to realize that they're operating on a slightly, uh, different level thanks to years of inhaling the fumes. So just take the cumulative effects of an entire decade and beyond of tagging, spraying, and community organizations sponsoring graffiti walls and shitty murals and apply it to the ozone layer and, well, it's obvious... Graffiti artists killed the ozone layer.

Anyways, long time coming, but this day is gonna suck. Last year at this time I was starting a new job, which was pretty great. This year, not so good. Good riddance, June 10th!

Australia: The Maligned Continent II

Tame Impala Lucidity
(HEY DMCA JACKASSES, THERE IS NO MP3 ON THIS POST ANYMORE!)

About a month ago, I was talking to my friend Adrian (who just returned from an extended visit a couple of months back) about Australia and the general consensus was... Maybe Australia isn't crappy. Beaches, nice weather, good fashion mags. Another feather in the cap of that great southern landmass is Tame Impala, who specialize in blissed out psych-rock. The above track is from their album Innerspeaker, which was recorded with production assistance from Kevin Holmes of Death in Vegas. Like other good things (Cut Copy!), they're on Modular Recordings.