Posts Tagged ‘The Bloody Beetroots’

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Beetroots, Aoki, Oizo, and a Bunch of Other Textual Nonsense

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

You know what the best park about the music industry is? As counterintuitive as it may seem, the highlight of it all–the selling point that causes it to attract such wonderfully colorful people–is its failure to have become organized in any way at all. Make a comparison to the other (largely lamer) forms of media out there: You’ll notice that film, for example, looks like a prison compared to music, what with its organizations dedicated to delivering “official” ratings and awards and such. What gives a corporation the right to tell me how good my movie is on the one to ten scale. Hasn’t art always been subjective?

music

Now you’re likely itching to point out that I’ve failed to notice the giant corporations that surround the music industry as well, and you’re certainly not wrong in letting your mind wander so, however, you’re failing to factor in one important observation: the music industry is awful. Point and case: iTunes can give my favorite tracks whatever rating they want, and it’s not going to mean a thing to any of us. Danger’s 11h30, undoubtedly a stepping stone on the path to electro as we know it, was given 1.5 of 5 stars upon its iTunes release, and all this says is that Steve Jobs (and the loyal fan base of tone-deaf tools which he’s managed to create by means of the iPod) doesn’t care for electronic music, which (I can only assume) doesn’t play much of a role in choosing whether or not to buy a particular track. Naturally, this lack of agreed upon ratings keeps music, and the creation thereof a dynamic process: People (at least the ones who care enough to realize that songs that are played on the radio are not necessarily required listening) have never been restricted to the cut of tunes deemed “appropriate” by some hypothetical checklist. Needless to say, we’ve been quite lucky.

So He Just… Plays Records?

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you either are, have been interested in, or know someone that has decided to seek enlightenment through the art of dj’ing. That being the case, chance also says that at some point in recent history, one of your friends (likely one with less than half as many cool points as you) has made the foolish mistake of asking you the forbidden question: What exactly does a dj do, and why does he get so much credit for it?

Of course, the intolerant anger starts to well up in your stomach. How could someone even ask that question? Isn’t it obvious just how much of a phenomenon it is that a single man can capture the hearts and minds of musically ignorant crowds on a nightly basis, purely through his use of music? Does this ignorant inquisitor really think his record playe–ahem–iPod can give him that same experience that a DJ can? Unfortunately, the answers are no, and sadly, yes, respectively. And the worst part is, you’ve got nothing to say that’ll make him think any different; Or at least you didn’t, until now.

What does a dj do that makes him so special? How is spinning a record, (or to be more politically correct with these a-changing times, pressing play on a midi keyboard) such a respectable deed, and what exactly is is that keeps the creatures of the technicolored night so faithfully returning? It is the plain and simple fact that no matter how many DJ sets he’s studied, and no matter how many times he’s encountered success in the past, there simply is no correct and guaranteed-to-work method of DJing. In contrast with all other forms of media, a DJ cannot simply make a playlist out of fivestar-ed iTunes songs and rest assured knowing his audience will be satisfied. Rather, DJ’ing is the art of adapting to an audience, and convincing them that though their minds tell them that they aren’t particularly fond of a particular song, that their bodies perceive every minute of it as exactly what they want to hear.

The Bloody Beetroots & Steve Aoki

Steve and Beetroots

So how does all this relate to anything at all? It’s quite simple, really. See, in a scene where musical taste is so incredibly inconsistent, it becomes important to get a grasp on the general reception of each particular release, despite the enormous difficulty associated with doing so. For example, releases like the latest from Simian Mobile Disco are frequently propelled into a massive collection of opposing poles, comprised of those in love with, and those disgusted by the band’s new direction, which makes it difficult to assess a particular individual’s response. There are, however, exceptional cases, one of which happens to be the latest Dim Mak release entitled “Warp”. When a track has been featured in a mix tape by just about every major artist before its actual release, has been remixed by that same lot, as well as by quite a few lesser known producers, has seen the attention of more than one false music video, and (here’s the kicker) has an official music video that grants us the privilege of staring at Steve Aoki‘s screaming face for a solid 20 seconds, it becomes clear that there shall be no controversy over the response; A thousand sweating bodies is all the five star rating I need.

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The Bloody Beetroots – Warp (Feat. Steve Aoki)

I’m wondering just how many regulars I’ve lost due to the drastic increase in the text to music ratio on this site. Perhaps I should step it up in the way of audio contributions…

Oizo‘s Back

oizo

Although, whether he even left in the first place, I’m not quite sure. The guy’s approach on music is certainly a strange one. While most prominent artists (granted most fail to withstand the test of time) make a conscious attempt to produce music similar to that which has already found celebrity within the disco scene, Oizo has chosen to cling to the sound he pioneered nearly a decade ago, and to allow it to drip through its hypothetical IV so as to maintain a constant presence within the club scene.

Brilliance, consistency, and a wicked beard. What more can you ask for?

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Erreurjean feat. Error Smith (Original Mix)

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Mr. Oizo feat. Uffie – Steroids (Mr. Oizo Remix)

One last thing. I feel the need to give my greatest respects to those who have somehow managed to actually read this highly nonsensical post. Seeing as much of my writing makes so little sense upon looking back, having done so seems a most notable accomplishment.

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It Took a Month, But It Was Worth the Wait

Friday, January 30th, 2009

To be honest, I was a little disappointed with the way our generally insatiable electro community rang in the new year at the start of this month.  Seeing as a good chunk of the people that spend their daytime hours reading this blog are fanatically energetic partygoers who run around in colorful clothes screaming things like, “All I do is party, ha ha ha ha!” I expected that the opportunity to define the sound of 2009 would have had nearly every worthwhile producer scrambling to outcompete everyone else’s tracks, in what would–erm… should–have been a sonic battle of epic proportions.  Unfortunately, I was (for the most part) let down.

technique

That is until about two days ago, when, for some strange and completely unknown reason, the electronic anthems that should have been blasting at our new years parties started pouring into my inbox. I can only assume that the worlds most respected and admired producers were suffering from the effects of the same musical drought that I myself (and I would expect most of you would include yourselves as well) had been struggling through, and were therefor compelled to tap into their reserves and quench this unexpected and entirely unnecessary audio thirst, because after listening to a third consecutive sweaty, peak hour banger, I found myself struggling to convince myself that I was, indeed, at home at my computer, and not losing my mind on a hotly animated dance floor. (And no, Daft Punk was not playing at my house.)

Chewy Chocolate Cookies & JFK

jfk

Considering everything the guy touches turns to gold, I feel it’s quite unnecessary to have to comment on the quality and originality of JFK’s work, but may I say that when combined with the blurry confusion of Chewy Chocolate Cookies, it only gets crazier. In fact, placing this track first may have been a mistake, seeing as it’s a gamble as to whether you’ll be capable of reading any further once this smeared mess of sound has been rubbed all over your face.

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Alexander Technique – Nightlovers (JFK & Chewie Chocolate Cookies Remix)

SPA and Steve Aoki

steve aoki

Now is definitely an opportune time to make yourself aware of Dim Mak’s newly signed artist, SPA, seeing as your failure to acknowledge their increasingly loud presence in this tightly knit community could result in a flat out slap to the face; You’ll be owned harder than the meathead in DJ Mehdi’s Signatune video. If you ever cared to know what the soundtrack to Steve Aoki’s life sounds like, here’s your chance to find out.

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SPA – Pets Dance (Steve Aoki Remix)

The Bloody Beetroots

You heard Cornelius. You thought it was a sick track. But you had no idea there was a music video coming, and you were certainly not prepared. The fact that the whole thing was filmed using the generic handicam seems to suggest that The Bloody Beetroots have keenly embraced Justice’s now notorious cinematography, however, the style with which it was put together is able to truly capture the sense of complete chaoss and loss of control far more vividly than either A Cross the Universe or Soulwax’s Part of the Weekend Never Dies even came close to delivering, and it’s only three minutes long!

This needs no further explanation. Watch the video, and trust me when I say you won’t regret it.


CORNELIUS from borntofilm on Vimeo

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What’s With All These English Speakers?

Thursday, December 4th, 2008

There’s a certain aspect of the indie electronic scene that I’ve never been able to understand: Why is it that (in a large number of cases), the country that an artist comes from has almost nothing to do with the language in which they do their work? For a genre of music that holds some serious power in a huge number of countries around the world, it seems we’ve developed an overabundance of English speakers. I mean, obviously, there’s some sense in a British, Canadian, or American artist putting out an English record, but look at Daft Punk, Justice, Digitalism, and The Bloody Beetroots; All huge names from non-English speaking countries, and yet all of their albums, lyrics, websites, and promos are done in English.



In a certain respect, I suppose there is a bit of sense in the concept of “appealing to a larger audience”, but who’s to say that English speakers would not buy it if they couldn’t understand it? Justice doesn’t seem to have much trouble making their way throughout the rest of the European countries. And I realize that some of your minds are likely filling up with fury at the fact that I would think to complain about having so much music written for me to listen to, but personally, I feel that though it is indeed nice to hear and understand words in my native tongue, that I have lost a part of music that’s even more important to me.

Think about it this way. Musicians (and don’t hold me to this, because I’m sure there are several significant exceptions), do not become musicians because of their overflowing need to deliver their poetry; They would otherwise simply have become poets. Musicians become musicians because they want to create, feel, understand, and live for the music, and as such, I don’t believe lyrics need to be understood for the message in a song to be delivered. Sigur Ros, for example, chooses to make use of their native Icelandic, a language spoken by less than 300,000 people worldwide, for most of their music, and this has allowed us as listeners to devote attention to the emotion in their vocalist’s voice, without the worry of being distracted by his words. Needless to say, the success of the band has, in no way, been hindered by the choice.

I suppose my goal here was to address this matter, rather than to provide an explanation. Considering I don’t have any real evidence with which to draw conclusions, I’d be delighted to hear from anyone who’s got anything to say on the subject, however, before you go commenting, I should leave you with my latest discovery to ponder…

Familjen

I’m entirely thrilled that a simple stroke of luck put me in touch with Familjen, a curious producer and vocalist from Stockholm, Sweden. His work, though it makes use of the expected driving kick drum like so many these days have come to know, captures a style that I believe its fair to say has not been heard before. His tracks develop in a fashion that could be considered highly simplistic, and yet the huge amount of invisible detail in them gives them a bit of a spark that moves them into an unusually satisfying dimension. The best part about it, however: His vocals (and just about everything else for that matter) happen to be composed entirely in Swedish.

Quality beats, indeed.

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Familjen – Det Snurrar I Min Skalle

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Around the World A-round the Werrrlldd

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

We all know the internet has had quite a large effect on the music industry; Sometimes I doubt that there remains a single soul left in the world that hasn’t contributed a dollar to Apple’s iTunes at least once in their life, but looking at this massive change from a modern perspective, it’s all good, right? Digitalization has allowed artists like Radiohead (and several other open-minded trend setters) to release their work upon completion and without corporate delay. Further, I feel it’s safe to say that a fairly large chunk of those of you who are reading this would find yourselves shit out of luck when it comes to discovering new music without the abundance of audio blogs on the net. In fact, you might actually be forced to (gasp) scour a record store. And I mean, yes, there’s the whole issue of creative copyrights, but seeing as it’s been discussed just about everywhere else on the net, I’m sure we’re all quite aware that merchandise and performance make up most of a musicians income anyway, so really, the only ones getting hurt by free music downloads (in most cases!) are the massive (although it must be mentioned that they seem to be losing steam) record labels. Point being, to sit back and accept the digital takeover as a collective win for the music world is quickly becoming an effortless feat, and this makes it twice as hard for the hesitant few to point out the complications that most certainly do arise.

Sure, there are thousands of complications here and there that I could complain about, but what’s really getting to me as of late is the notion that the ease of the transfer of music across the globe may actually be having a negative affect on the concept of culture that separates one nation’s musical style from another’s. Thinking back a couple years, ever since French artists like Justice pioneered the nu-rave electro sound back in late 2005, we’ve been hearing nothing but knock offs of that particular sound, regardless of the country of origin, and it’s only when an artist emerges that truly has pioneered a unique and individual style that it becomes easy to see what we’re missing.

Balkan Beat Box

Hailing from all over Eastern Europe, the project known as Balkan Beat Box claim a “strong urge to create a new musical breed that surpasses the old reality borders,” and after having a listen to a couple of their works, you won’t doubt that they know what they’re doing, and exactly how they’re going to do it. Their music incorporates the talents of 10 unique instrumentalists to create an almost Klezmer-fused electro style distinctive of the Eastern parts of Europe, and though you might find yourself a bit overwhelmed and confused at first, approaching these tracks with an mind will truly open the floodgates of possibility and leave you begging for more. In fact, the Balkan sound has so quickly become irresistible that several other artists, including the Italian Crookers, who were previously completely unrelated to the sound have already made the effort to embrace it within their own work.

Here’s a funky saxophone heavy Balkan Beat Box track, as well as the aforementioned Crookers effort.

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Balkan Beat Box – Digital Monkey

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Crookers – Gipsy P

Rayflash

Hopping back in the plane, I must say it’s certainly about time we return to Japan to follow up on the early summer post on the Japanese crunch god, Rayflash. Though I can’t go so far as to say that his music has much of a Japanese influence, I can certainly endorse the fact that Ray has truly extended his reach into entirely untouched areas of electro. His mixes are notorious for their audible pool of influences, reaching just as much into the Daft Punk library as they do into the heavy electro of artists like Circuit Freak and The Bloody Beetroots, and his latest track is certainly no exception. His nearly eight minute long remix of Artego‘s “Girl” will take you on a pummeling electro journey through crunchy, hair-raising worlds, and I can guarantee that, assuming you make it out alive, the place you end up will not be the one you expected. All things considered, I would advise that you make use of your seatbelt.

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MP3: Artego – Girl (Rayflash Remix)
YSI: Artego – Girl (Rayflash Remix)
ZShare: Artego – Girl (Rayflash Remix)

And for those of you who simply can’t be satisfied by a paltry single track, I thought you might like to know that our good friend Ray has made a special effort to cater to your (and I do mean your; he loves us all) interests. He’s come up with a mixtape that will fill more than an hour of your life with the warped out glitches of his dj sets, and may I say that he’s done an unbelievable job. You may have noticed I’m not prone to posting mixes, but trust me, this one will take power over you. I simply couldn’t hold back.

YSI: Rayflash DJ Mix 2

ZShare: Rayflash DJ Mix 2

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Ratatat – What a Pleasant Surprise

Monday, July 21st, 2008

Despite the fact that the genre consisting of all the electronic and electro music has assembled much of it’s popularity due to the hype around “new and original sounds”, it would be foolish to deny the appearance of more than just a few styles that could easily be called generic. Artists like The Bloody Beetroots and Crookers have, since the time of their conception stood fast on top of the sounds and styles that they created for themselves, and though I cannot say that I do not enjoy those particular sounds, they certainly do become a bit tiresome after an extended run. Now, please don’t attack me with your feelings on how a group without a definite style is a is a forgettable one; I couldn’t agree more. But when it gets to the point where you almost don’t have to listen to a track before you know what it’s going to sound like, one cannot deny that it does become considerably less interesting.

Ratatat

It’s because of these “ruts”, into which so many artists have begun to fall, that I was, and still am, so thoroughly impressed by the latest album from the likes of Ratatat, entitled LP3: In all actuality, the odds were totally against them. Think about it. A year or two ago, they had a bit of a following, but we all know they didn’t truly emerge until about the time they made a world tour with Daft Punk. (Who would have thought?) In the months that followed, they gathered popularity exponentially, to the point where your red neck friend, who only bought an iPod just last year when he realized that he was among the 3% of people that still didn’t own one, actually came up to you and told you to listen to “Wildcat”, acting like you’d never heard it before. And a few months after that? “Ratatat? Yeah, whatever.” To make things worse, a few underwhelming tracks surfaced on the blogs not long after, which gave people the impression that Ratatat had nothing left to offer. Their path was that of a one hit wonder, and so many people have made premature assumptions, I guarantee that the world is not prepared for what’s about to gush from its noise-making machines:

Ratatat‘s LP3 is gorgeous, in the true sense of the word. Unlike the artists that follow the pattern in the aforementioned paragraph, Ratatat has managed to fulfill just about every request that one could ask for in a follow-up album. It has character, class, and depth, but most of all, they’ve evolved their style to the point that it’s completely fresh, while somehow managing to stay entirely the same. As a whole, the album is considerably lighter and more universally enjoyable, frequently substituting piano (and even an occasional clavichord) and strange and funky noises for some of the drums and extremely rich guitar sounds of their previous works. Nonetheless, you’ll never have to question who you’re listening to. It’s completely different, and it’s exactly the same. Commendable indeed.

Here’s a few tracks to tease, but I must inform you that the entire album is quite lovely. Do them kids a favor!

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MP3: Ratatat – Dura

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MP3: Ratatat – Mirando

LA Riots

And here’s a little toss in. For those of you who aren’t aware, a remix contest was staged a while back for “Lo Sforzo”, a querky electro track originally produced by IHEARTCOMIX‘s Ocelot (who has coined what’s probably close to my favorite phrase, ever: “All the fun of trance without all that trance”). While many of the resulting creations were quite entertaining, one of them, which happened to be produced by the now-well-known remix team LA Riots, proved itself to be a particularly floor shaking brick of synthesizer-goodness. Unfortunately, that track has all but disappeared from the internet, and for a while I worried that I’d be forever doomed to living without it. My luck did turn, however, and I figure I should repay the spirits of karma (and the delightful LA Riots) by posting it up here. Be careful… this one bites.

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MP3: Ocelot – Lo Sforzo (LA Riots remix)

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You can remix that!?

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

One of the greatest things that modern electro has done for the music world in the few short years that it’s been around is open one massive door to a whole new realm of remixing potential. I mean, yeah, there have always been remixes in the past, but what they usually boiled down to was just some new rapper covering some older guy’s track, and needless to say, we all got sick of that pretty fast. And then there were (God help my soul for bringing this up… what am I thinking?) those cult-status metal remixes of Britney Spears songs. I’m not even gonna go there. The point is, that up until recently, the entire concept of “the remix” has been largely limited. With this new remix culture, however, a great song is released, and then you get to hear it forty-three more times as every other producer in the world takes their shot at crafting it to their liking. Who could complain about that? The reason I’m getting all nostalgic on you is because remixes have been getting even crazier. People are starting to rip it up with tracks that have never before been considered; They’re pulling from nearly every genre, from hip-hop to pop to the truest So-Cal rock, and as such, they’re allowing Disco to consume everything in it’s path. Survival of the fittest I suppose. :P

Crookers

First things first: The Busy P remix I did a post on a week or two back has finally busted out of it’s cage, foaming rabies gums and everything. There isn’t much information on when, if ever, it is scheduled to be officially released, but until then, we’ve got the full length, 192 kbps leak at our disposal. Do with it what you will… just keep it clean ;) [As a side note, it's been confirmed a Crookers remix--it was not done by The Bloody Beetroots]

Busy P – To Protect and Entertain (Crookers Remix)

On top of that, there have been some rather impressive genre-bending releases from the likes of LA Riots, VNDLSM, LAZRtag, Man Eat DJ, and Jizm. Who’d have thought we’d hear Kelis remixed? I guess her Milkshake brings all the boys to the club, as well.

Weezer – Automatic (la Riots Remix)

Kelis – Milkshake (Man Eat Dj & Jizm Remix)

Rhianna – Umbrella (VNDLSM Remix)

Rhianna – Don\’t Stop the Music (LAZRtag club remix)

And finally, Oh SNAP! (the guys who brought us the infamous “Bill Cosby Sweater” track) did a little edit of MSTRKRFT’s “Bounce” for those turntable savvy kids out there. A few added vocals and some edited synths make it an absolute wonder to dj with, so if you’re planning on throwing down, make sure you pick this one up.

MSTRKRFT – Bounce (Oh Snap Bootleg Vocal Remix)

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