mixtape maestro (2.0)

Seems a bit late for Julian to finally be getting around to releasing a video for “11th Dimension”, the new wave-y lead single to an album that feels like it was released eons ago (actually, it’s only been two months…but still).

Nevertheless, we’re thankful to be reminded of the track’s effervescent greatness again via the clip, which, like “Dimension”’s production, serves a hodgepodge of ’80’s film and music video influences (from it’s soft-focused haze to the Tron meets Jacksons’ “Can You Feel It” special effects), with a plotline as goofy and confusing as the song’s befuddling lyrics.

Catch the video below followed by a bonus offering of Julian’s dreamy demo version of The Strokes’ “You Only Live Once”.

Bonus DL: Julian Casablancas “I’ll Try Anything Once (Strokes’ ‘You Only Live Once’ Demo)” (alt)

Uncategorized 80's, julian casablancas, new wave, phrazes for the young

A couple months back, we introduced you all to Swedish band O’Spada and their bubbly ’80’s R&B/ new wave-inspired confection “Time”. That same post also mentioned a “Time” remixing contest, in which the winners would earn credit as a B-side contribution to the track’s official single release.

Well, the winning mixes were chosen (you can hear the top three here), but the band’s label (Despotz Records) has also granted us with the opportunity to share some of the runner-up compositions.

Out of the “close, but no cigar” bunch we offer our two favorites: the zippy, dance-tastic “L.A. Rush Mix” and the interestingly reggae/ jazz-tinged “35 Bag Mix”. (You can pick up the official winner, the “Suck Shaft Remix”, via Fader)

DL: “Time (L.A. Rush Mix)” (alt)

DL: “Time (35 Bag Mix)” (alt)

The original “Time” (iTunes) video:

Uncategorized 35 bag, 80's, dance remix, l.a. rush, new wave, o'spada, remix, sweden

First attracting our eardrums with his fetchingly overdramatic “Hurtful”, Swedish up-and-comer Erik Hassle continues to convince us that he’s one of this year’s best new pop catches with his new single “Don’t Bring Flowers”, a nicely blended mix of Maroon 5 and Killers influences that’s trendily built around vampiric-ish themes.

Here, backed by a snappy bassline jig, Hassle details the exasperation of being enamoured over a significant other whose hold over him is so strong it’s got him “diggin’ in the dirt/…So deep into this shit I can taste the earth” and dying “in a million ways” each day. Those lyrics not melodramatic enough for you? Then check for the hook and bridge, where Erik stretches the grave-digging metaphor to even more alarming heights, emo-snarling “Don’t bring flowers after I’m dead” and “Don’t stand there crying as you’re watching” as the arrangement detours into a synth-lined, new wave-y shimmer.

Catch the video below (the official single drops in the UK on August 23rd), then pick up the remix, where he teams up with fellow hot newbie MPHO (“Box N Locks”), afterward.

DL: “Don’t Bring Flowers (MPHO Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized duet, erik hassle, mpho, new wave, singer-songwriter, sweden

We have a confession to make.

For the past couple weeks-starting with our delayed appreciation for “Boom Boom Pow” and continuing with a fondness for the superb “two-for-one” deal that was “Imma Be”-we’ve slowly come to terms with the fact that we actuallly might kinda love the Black Eyed Peas. GASP! SHOCK! HORROR!

Now don’t worry, we’re not entirely insane (we totally despite their “Mazel Tov”-citing new single, “I Gotta Feeling” for being just a little too damn cheery), but we’ve got to admit that two other E.N.D. tracks that have boiled to the surface recently have got us completely enraptured by the foursome’s shameless, 80’s new wave-meets-hip-pop meshings.

On “Alive”, pinings after an old love might be delivered in the vein of a SNL teen-pop spoof (Notes Fergie: “You are my best friend and boyfriend/ Now it seems like you’re my worst friend/ I gotta do soul searching/ Without you I’m a whole different person…”), but it’s the suave dance sonics subtly bumping beneath the lyrics that ultimately win you over.

That same expert juggling of (guilty)pleasure and heartached Fergie showstealing-ness is captured on the even better “Meet Me Halfway”, an amped-up ballad which bites the soaring drive of The Killers’ “When You Were Young” in it’s epic “oh-oh-oh” melody while The Dutchess commits a solid vocal performance that hints of a newly reinvigorated interest in her old, childhood Cyndi Lauper/ Madonna records.

We’re sure that once we get a full listen to the rest of The E.N.D. and the many embarrassments it’ll no doubt provide, our current kooky infatuation with will, Ferg and the other (less important) two will subside a-plenty, but for the moment, we’re officially getting in line with the millions of other BEP fanatics around the world we used to so enjoy publicly mocking before.

The E.N.D. drops June 9th. As a bonus, peep this nice “(Not Just) Knee Deep”-sampling remix of the Peas’ ‘03 single “Shut Up” (found on The E.N.D. Deluxe Edition) below:

DL: “Shut The Phunk Up” (alt)

Uncategorized 80's, black eyed peas, dance pop, fergie, new wave, the e.n.d., will.i.am

“I’m Not Your Toy”, the latest leakage from the La Roux camp, continues their promise of a killer debut album as yet another hooky morsel of digi-new wave.

Supported by itchy drum patterns and a whimsical, steel drum-like synth sparkle on the hook, the carnival-esque “Toy” doesn’t take too long to get stuck in your brain, but there’s more to it than it’s sugary musical tricks. It’s sharp-fanged lyric centers on a boyfriend who’s cruelly playing with her heart (“It’s all false love and affection/ You don’t want me, you just want the attention”), and while the ever-blurried-sounding lead singer Elly Jackson can’t help but dream of there being something behind his mystifying touches that hints to some sort of romantic breakthrough, she just as well can’t deny the soul-crushing reality that this is a dead-end union she needs to escape from, noting wistfully: “I wish I could believe in you”.

We would note it as our favorite La Roux joint ever, but we get the feeling that their highly anticipated June-due self-titled LP (pre-order it here) will have a boatload of other 80’s-dipped favorites to share that honor with.

DL: “I’m Not Your Toy” (alt)

Uncategorized 80's, dance pop, electro-pop, la roux, new wave, uk pop

On “Too Fake”, a indie-dance rock tune supplied by Portland, Oregon buzz band Hockey, it’s not entirely clear whether front-man Benjamin Grubin is either stricken with ADHD or peaks of drunken confusion as he stumbles his way through several doses of contradictory dialogue (“Everybody’s watching oh but nobody cares/ Oh wait…Nobody’s watching but everybody cares/…Oh whatever, talk to you later”).

What is firmly established, though, is that his sexy Mick Jagger-meets-Prince persona and “too cool for the room” ‘tude nicely flatters the track’s verse foundation of electro burbles and throbbing basslines; not to mention the way a certain Rod Stewart-rasp in his voice is exposed once “Fake”’s thrilling new wave-built rush of a chorus arrives.

Grubin may not be able to figure out whether he’s “just too fake for this world” or just “got too much soul for this world” (or, somewhat confusingly, both), but with tracks like “Too Fake” and other MySpace-featured delights like “Song Away” and the slinky, disco-flirting romp “Work”, we get the sense that “this world” will definitely be better off as more and more people get in tune with what Hockey is cooking.

Look for their Mad Chaos LP to drop around May/ June.

Too Fake Music Video

DL: “Too Fake” (alt)

Uncategorized dance-rock, hockey, indie rock, new wave, oregon, portland

Demands for the returns of rifles; motorcycle jackets being slung out of windows; tossed-off disses and chorus pleas to “Stay away from me”. We don’t know what’s completely going on in the suspenseful scenario that “You Don’t Need No Doctor, Sugar” sketches, but one thing is made ultimately clear: we bow to it’s pop greatness.

The track comes from the upcoming self-titled EP by The Library, an up-and-coming dance-rock act out of Los Angeles, and it’s a definite treat for the ears. Polished with a neon-y synth gloss and featuring the soul-tinged vocal sweeps of frontman Court Alexander (requisite ridiculous critic hype-tag: “It’s like if Sam Sparro and Adam Levine morphed into one through some JJ Abrams-scripted sci-fi mishap and somehow became a new lead singer for The Killers!!”), this chugging, four-minute-plus number has the epic presence of something twice as long. But we’re not complaining, cause we can’t think of anything better than being wrapped in it’s disco-rock grandeur for extended lengths of time.

Peep a minute of The Library performing the song live, than snatch up the MP3 below (The Library EP is due March 10th via Feudal Records):

You Don’t Need No Doctor, Sugar

DL: “You Don’t Need No Doctor, Sugar” (alt)

Uncategorized dance-rock, disco, los angeles, new wave, the library

An exquisite beauty from last year’s mildly reviewed Sam’s Town, “Read My Mind” gave us The Killers that we knew and loved: the glitzy, eye-lined Las Vegas band who bowed down with ’80’s synthesizers, shiny hooks and crypto-lyrics. Yes the song subtly gives in to the album’s Boss adoration a bit, but unlike the epic Americana rock displayed on “When You Were Mine”, this falls more on the side of the band’s familiar new wave influence.

Icy keyboards intro the song beautifully, like clouds parting for a warm, sunny afternoon. Each element that appears next only adds to it’s sense of aural perfection: a chugging guitar/ drum track lain underneath, Brandon Flowers’ slightly rough delivery, shimmery synth arpeggios and a blown out rock chorus in which the Springsteen edge is really felt and enacted faultlessly.

The song corners the push-pull of a couple veering in different directions. She’s growing up and ready to take things to the next level and is bummed that he doesn’t seem to be on the same wavelength (“You say you wanna move on and/ You say I’m falling behind”). Hurt by this turn of events, he’s determined to prove otherwise, believing a life without her is no life at all. But at the same time he also understands her need for a change, internally hoping that though their union may be taking a detour, she’ll find her way back to him where he’ll always await. “I don’t shine if you don’t shine”, he confesses with a tinge of gospel evocation.

It all sums up as another killer Killers tune and proof that though the band’s various influences may sway them in new directions, it’ll always be their new wave home that will find them at their peak.

Uncategorized new wave, the killers