happy bastille day, putains!

happy bastille day! did you catch that i called you guys 'putains' in the title? i am wearing a beret and a fake mustache and one of those red and white striped shirts. and a little red scarf tied around my neck. and i'm eating so many baguettes and so much cheese. and drinking so much wine. and smoking so many cigarettes. because that is what all french people do. and in honour of the french, today we will feature an all french playlist and/or several videos of or pertaining to france. all of which i have blogged about before but i don't really care. (ps, that's me being stereotypically french, too! apathy rulez!)

first of course is the bande a part dance scene for obvious reasons...



next up are cinq songs in french...

le marchand de temps-antoine
notre prof d'anglais-chantal kelly
7 heures du matin-jacqueline taieb
tu m'as trop menti-chantal goya
je veux te voir-yelle

CAPUCINE!



and this one which i've blogged about multiple times but i can't not...their dance moves are hypnotic.



so way to go france. i don't actually know what bastille day is all about, but i just want to give a high five to marie antoinette. slash mostly kirsten dunst as marie antoinette. and i've said it before so i'll say it again, all i want in life is to be able to do the versailles glide. is that so much to ask for? that and a bouffant.

beatz and bleepz: the fuck you netherlands edition and also happy bday claudia kishi

ohhh world cup 2010. you've left me bruised and battered and emotionally unstable. my initial joy and excitement have been replaced with a lingering depression and a serious hatred for (most) european nations. even spain. i feel not unlike a displaced soccer fan taking refuge by riding (reluctantly, mind you...) spain's stupid coattails. but i guess i do appreciate españa for making germany feel the sting of loss (although, i'm pretty sure they feel that on a daily basis...it's germany for eff's sake. nobody's winning with guttural language and a steady diet of sauerbraten and spatzle. sorry, still bitter.) ps, maureen has informed me that yet another miracle psychic animal exists...this time not paul the octopus*, but some sort of soccer prodigy parrot. whatever it is, it allegedly favors the netherlands and therefore i hate it. ps where do i channel my overflowing emotions once the world cup is over? this is soon to be of concern. anyways, here are your beatz and bleepz for the weekend. and don't forget to save a dance for claudia kishi, babysitter extraordinaire. she'll be sharing her bday with the world cup final.

dust-chemical
future-beatbot
horus-ishivu
love hits the fan-phonat
rising drunk stars-f.o.o.l
eruption-valerna
astronaut candy-muffin
love-visitor

world cup 2010 final bonus:
vuvuzela beat-ghostdad

*UPDATE! paul the octopus has chosen spain for the world cup win! if he's right, i will follow in the footsteps of jose andres and take pulpo off my dietary menu for the rest of my life. not that that's difficult...i rarely eat it anyway.

gaga vs. marina

so i generally don't like to post things that perez hilton tweets about because by that point we can all assume it will become irrelevant in a matter of hours. i'm actually not sure if he blogged about this song because i became disillusioned and stopped reading perezhilton.com sometime in the spring...if he did blog about it, then consider me behind the times. but i'm making an exception to post this because it's just that good. or, i think so anyway. so here is the mashup of 'alejandro' (gaga, obvi) and 'i am not a robot' (marina & the diamonds, slightly less obvi) that will (possibly) blow your mind:

anthem du jour

today i went on an improvised adventure (whatever that means, i thought it sounded good) on route 1, aka the bit of highway that god forgot about circa 1977? it's totally shit which is exactly why i liked adventuring there...i think it's safe to say i'm enticed by mediocrity. i got an ice cream cone (the swirly kind, naturally) and then proceeded to purchase some lp's which i expect will be terrible in the best way possible. one was edith piaf, so that's solid, but the other two included 'polish dance hits' and 'music for dining'. because i would like to know how polish people dance and also what the ideal music to listen to whilst dining entails. does the dining music make you want to eat more? eat less? talk more? talk less? we shall see.

fast-forward to my return journey in which i stopped at a harris teeter to pick up groceries for maureen. the good news is that i got the proper materials to make myself some prosciutto and melon for dinner, because it is roughly 274 degrees farenheit outside and i can't imagine eating anything else. the bad news is slightly longer. first of all, harris teeter is mad expensive and it's not even that good. i blame the free cookies they provide upon entrance...that was a stupid idea, harris teetards...people eat the cookies, and then subsequently are less hungry. as a result, they purchase less food. as a result, you lose money. and you also had to spend money to make those cookies, even if they are of poor quality. ALSO, you are simultaneously contributing to the financial strain on americans AND the obesity problem. because let's face it, if fat people have the option of going to a store that provides free cookies as opposed to one that doesn't, they will pick the cookies every time guaranteed. so thanks for ruining america you assholes. i bet you're funding terrorists, too. oh AND you employ creepy cashiers and your checkout lines make no sense. i made a point to avoid the cashier i got today, but to no avail. so if you insist on being expensive, at least hire normal people who aren't terrifying. THE END.

oh, right, the song. well, all day i mostly just listened to blackbird blackbird. because when it's so hot out that you start feeling like YOU are a mirage, dreamy soundtracks help. so here's his song called 'summer heart'. and what the hell, for talking so much (assuming you read all of the above...it's okay if you didn't so long as you don't work for harris teeter in which case i hope you took notes...) i'll throw in his cover of 'float on'.

beatz and bleepz: the fuck you germany edition

oh my god, can you believe it?! i'm actually posting a beatz and bleepz in a somewhat timely fashion! slash at all! for those of you who are wondering why i've declared this the 'fuck you germany' edition, it's because they play argentina tomorrow for the world cup. not only will i be watching intently at 10am sharp, but i will be prepared to start soccer riots if argentina loses. you know, after i finish crying or whatever. if you are rooting for germany you are dumb, and in an attempt at a low blow to you and your nation of choice, i say unto you "germany will never be a normal country" (oh snap! political science insults!) here are some jamz to get you pumped for this weekend in which we celebrate our forefathers' successful commandeering of america. finders keepers, right? ps if you want some real bass bangers, pay special attention to last four in the list:

fucked from above in 1985-the bloody beetroots
babe we're gonna love tonight-senor stereo
revolver (david guetta rmx)-madonna
stand back (skeet skeet big room rmx)-sky ferreira
go back (le castle vania rmx)-grum
the a-team (face mix)-mstrkrft
seek and destroy (bassnectar rmx)-metallica
born free (12th planet rmx)-mia
streets of rage (flux pavillion rmx)-picto
gold dust (flux pavillion rmx)-dj fresh

and for when you want two more low key but no less excellent tracks:
cosmic love (short club rmx)-florence and the machine
wide eyes (teen daze rmx)-local natives

*ps, just to clarify, i don't really have anything against germany or its citizens. except for tomorrow. and 364 days of generally positive feelings out of 365 isn't half bad, in my opinion.

so much to say!

well, not really to say...my life has been pretty engulfed by the world cup and not much else. watching the games has become my pseudo job to feel better about my lack of employment at the moment. but i've found time to download lots of new music, so buckle your seatbelts and get ready for a barrage of youtube videos:

i suppose we can work our way into this by kicking things off with some minimalist electro...'stick to my side' by pantha du prince has been looping in my brain for a few days now. i'm pretty bummed that i missed his performance @ u street music hall this week, but i have minimal friends who enjoy minimal music i guess.



continuing along the same track, i've recently discovered the amazing jon hopkins. he worked with imogen heap back in 2004 and he helped to produce coldplay's record viva la vida. so basically it's all the good stuff about that album and imogen heap's records, minus the bad stuff (aka the vocals!). i would recommend any/all of his albums for download (you can find them online hint hint) but here's one song i particularly like called 'circle' off contact note:



and still continuing along with this instrumental electro trend, i'd like to move on to some slightly faster paced music. a good transition would be 'the ballad of gloria featherbottom' off mux mool's new record skulltaste, which is chock full of good tunes. this one's been on repeat for me this week, though:



okay and before we leave this no-words electronica in the dust for a bit, i'd like to give you one last song off ratatat's LP4 titled 'grape juice city'. hadn't heard it until it appeared on shuffle while i was driving around dc the other day and i really liked it. geez i haven't really listened to ratatat since...well, whenever my last computer died. so over a year!



moving right along here, i downloaded uffie's record sex dreams and denim jeans at the beginning of the week. i could take some songs and leave some songs, but i will always have a soft spot in my heart for uffie. here are two that i'm OBSESSED with, the first being 'hong kong garden' and the second 'difficult':





and last but CERTAINLY not least, i am COMPLETELY COMPLETELY in love with the new crystal castles record. it's hard to pick which song(s) to post since they're pretty much all amazing...they'll be in dc in august and it should be super interesting to see how the live dynamic changes (if at all). i say that because i've seen them three times now, and every time has involved sweaty, frantic mosh pit scenarios. this album is much more chilled out and less mosh-able, so i just wonder if the kids will calm down? doubtful but we'll see. okay so i'm going to have to go with 'celestica' 'baptism' and 'vietnam', although i love all the others (especially the bass in 'violent dreams')...basically just download the album, it's too good not to.







and there you have it...that's not an exhaustive list of what i've been listening to recently, but i am exhausted so i'm signing off for now. until then, do what i tell you and grab those albums!

the soundtrack to melting

we've been pretty lucky up here in ohio for the last few days...the weather has been kind of cold, temps ranging from fifty to seventy-five degrees. that's exactly the kind of weather i thrive in. but i know the heat wave can only be avoided a little longer, especially since i'm returning to the humidity of dc in a week. so, in preparation for summer, i've decided to construct a little playlist that i like to call "the soundtrack to melting". because that's exactly what these songs sound like, and that's exactly what i'll be doing for the next few months. unless of course by some miracle i return to buenos aires sometime soon...yeah right...anyway, here's my musical interpretation of melting:

feel it all around-washed out
beach comber-real estate
to the lighthouse-memoryhouse
asleep at the trigger-autolux
kenya dig it?-the ruby suns
i keep waiting-hacienda
terminally chill-neon indian
blessa-toro y moi
dream shake-cool world
sunshine lover-small
coastal brake-tycho

ps you can (i think) download the whole playlist here: the soundtrack to melting

otra cosa mariposa

happy cinco de mayo betches...in accordance with my usual procrastination routine, i've decided to construct a little playlist for you to disfrutar (that means 'enjoy' in spanish). ps, i realize that not all of these trax are technically from mexico, but they will still add a little latin flare to your day. averaveraver:

eres para mi (sonidero nacional cumbow rmx)-julieta venegas
en la cumbia (dj stuart mashup)-dante vs calle 13
kibose-maria y jose
la burrita-los macuanos
muchachita de chiclayo-hijosnietos
fiesta permanente-pau y amigos
bienvenidos-systema solar
por medio de la lectura-los amparito

and also, here is the opening to my very favourite mexican telenovela. or, it was my favourite until i found out that they stole it from argentina, whose original version is wayyyyy mejor. fun fact: i used to fake sick to get out of high school early so i could watch this show at 3 every day. ahhh the benefits of mononucleosis. and yes, i can still sing all the lyrics to this song. why was this show so great? it's basically a fantastic mashup of degrassi and high school musical. so good. you should try watching it if you speak spanish. or even if you don't, the popular characters frequently bust out english to prove that they are better than everyone else. a+++++.



and finally, i would like to give a shout out to chepe, the best remis driver in all of buenos aires, wherever he is. did he make several passes at me during the span of the drive from EZE to bsas? yes. was the conversation mostly inappropriate? also yes. was my mom in the back of the car with my sister the entire time, thinking that i was great at spanish and that he was the nicest old man ever but still wary that he was going to sell us into white slavery? also yes. but i chalk all of this up to him being a lonely mexican in a world filled with argentines. argentines who he judged the shit out of. would i ever agree to call him to get coffee like he requested? no, not even in the loneliest of times. but i liked his mustache, and i liked his style. i salute you sir.

spanish pop

i've been obsessed with spanish indie pop recently, in case you couldn't tell by the foreshadowing in the jovenes y sexys post. so here's a little latin flare (minus the flare? or at least minus the reggaeton...) to add to your playlist:

depredadores-domingo en llamas

hoy me has dicho hola por la primera vez-la casa azul

hoy no quiero verte nunca mas-franny glass

un rayo de sol-le mans

amor platonico-jovenes y sexys

burbuja-cyan

diamante-nuuro

la chica vampira-papa topo

anju kitahara-emilio jos

shugo tokumaru

shugo's a new favorite of mine. definitely check him out here for an amazing japantastic indie folktronica experience. his musical habilidades have reinforced my love for all things japanese. i'm pretty depressed i missed his 2008 north american tour, but even if i'd known about him then, i'd have been in south america. so i guess it was a lost cause from the start. shugo, should i just come to you? okay cool. see you in tokyo. here are some trax:

alaska

parachute

green rain

rum hee

clocca

future umbrella

beatz and bleepz

so this week's edition of beatz and bleepz is entirely inspired mostly by drum & bass/dubstep, because that's just what i've been feeling recently. so, here goes:

smile (d&b rmx)-lily allen

paciific steppaz (ethix takes you back to '95 rmx)-paciific steppaz

raindrops (doorly's dubstep rmx)-basement jaxx

acoustic jam-utah jazz

tear you down-brookes brothers

bonkers (doorly rmx)-dizzee rascal & armand van helden

paris is burning (alex metric rmx)-ladyhawke

pjanoo (high contrast rmx)-eric prydz

hold your colour-pendulum

propane nightmares-pendulum

semi-serious stoned part of the night song?

choices-nero

*ps, if you're looking for serious d&b hit up itunes radio 'bass drive'

sunday unfunday

so today was gloomtastic, full of hangovers and grey skies and a general overall feeling of disgust. so naturally my playlist was a little mellower than usual. here we go:

south 2nd-cocorosie
fourth time around-yo la tengo
now that i know-devendra banhart
black tables-other lives
master of none-beach house
tingaling-tangles
please, please, please let me get what i want-she & him
it's a wonderful life-sparklehorse

and a slightly more uplifting track:
get going-headlights

beatz and bleepz

are you ready for the weekend? mine's already begun, hence my early jump on this post. hitting the bowling alley this evening for a weird time. toothless townies, bowling balls, pitchers...sounds like the beginning of a great thursday night trend. want to come? okay cool, see you in ohio in two hours. here are some jamz para vos:

hollywood sound-lexicondon

father-anthony rother

take me to the hospital (rusko rmx)-the prodigy

time warp-the kids are RADIOACTIVE

earthquake (yes giantess rmx)-little boots

still wild-gooseflesh

up all night (john bourke rmx)-french horn rebellion

would've been the one (edwin van cleef rmx)-solange

thriller (louis la roche rmx)-michael jackson

1901 (fredrick carlsson rmx)-phoenix

and a super serious synth song for that inevitably awkward part of the night...

heavy cross (fred falke rmx)-the gossip

AND if you're still mad @ kanye, check out this little jam:

kanye's a jerk-team taylor

yippee, yppah.

yppah is this guy named joe corrales. his music is awesome rocktronica shoegaze that you should definitely give a listen (especially gumball machine weekend...):

gumball machine weekend
shutter speed
son saves the rest

and this little remix of lady sovereign...
love me or hate me

Navajo Bixby

likelikelike. let's listen to navajo bixby and have mad fun times, okay? okay. it's like the soundtrack to my life if i lived on a secret island that no one knew about. here are some trax para vos:

many ways
moonlighting

beatz and bleepz and beatz

they're baaaaaaack...i continue my endless search for beatz and bleepz to bring to your eardrums. plz enjoy. it's been a while...you might want to do some general earobics before you begin. i don't know what that would entail, but you know you better than i do.

bang (stanton warriors rmx)-rye rye feat. m.i.a

fake (a1 bassline rmx)-alex roots
gax-boys noize
phantom part 2 (freemasons rmx)-justice

right here right now (trumpdisco rmx)-fatboy slim

tetris (scott harris' kool kids rmx)-electrixx

seven (css rmx)-fever ray

warm heart of africa (alan wilkis rmx)-the very best

yoa (the twelves rmx)-theatre of disco

i'm not your toy (data rmx)-la roux

she's electric (house of nada mix)-nightwaves

*i have no idea who this freak in the chanel hat is, but i bet he would enjoy all of these songz...

i'm alive i swear

i realize i haven't posted anything in a ridiculously long time, but i'm HOPING to be more consistent in the near future. this byt thing is quickly becoming my life! want to see what i've been up to? go to the website and check out some of my interviews and concert reviews. so far i've been to see jenny lewis/deer tick, and then i saw peaches on wednesday. amazing show. and then saturdays i spend @ the capitol skyline pool for our summer camp pool partiez. you should check them out if you haven't already. $10 for a day at the pool (a very nice pool at that). plus there's always day drinking if you're into that (everything's $5 and under, i highly recommend the sangria). and you can hang out with ME! anyways, in the spirit of my absence i'll leave you with a few jamz:
hot (treasure fingers rmx)-big gipp
triangle walks (allez allez rmx)-fever ray
gifted (treasure fingers rmx)-n.a.s.a
audacity of huge (naum gabo rmx)-simian mobile disco

semi-obsessed

i've had this song on repeat...i don't even know how to describe it. maybe a little kate havnevik-esque? a little bjork? perhaps you'd like a listen to figure it out (or not) for yourself:

cosmic love-florence and the machine

kidnap baby goats

so this band kidnap kids doesn't even need an introduction from me. here is their 'about us (slash me? i forget what they call it on myspace these days)' section:
Kidnap Kids is alie and celina! those two are basically just a coupla wise guys from the bronx. street smart and tough, they know their way around a guitar and xylophone, respectively. their lifelong dream is to play music to a crowd of people who are all ferociously making out. They also think it's cool to be smart.
the secret thing about kidnap kids is that they keep changing their name, but it's only because they have a secret crush on you. They have referred to themselves as the following: bears and chairs, beggars and chairs, de-luxembourg, mrs. vampire weekend, ratboy, and probably more. Do alie and celina like making up names as much as they like making up songs? is that boy in the corner wearing mascara or was he born with really long eyelashes? i can't remember if elephants have knees or not, do you remember? what do you want to be when you grow up?
all of these are viable questions, and i think you know what the answer is.
yes. yes i do know what the answer is to all of these questions. and the answer to any 'what should i listen to now' questions you may be struggling with currently is simple. kidnapkids! (and i don't mean that in like, the you-should-go-kidnap-some-children way. if that even occurred to you, you're probs a big weirdo and i think i don't want you reading my blog anymore. just kidding you can still read it.) okay and the cover of crank that (soulja boy DUH) is a.maz.ing, so listen to that shiz.

crank that
ghost
stories
lolita

blair waldorf no way!

umm...i had no idea leighton meester could sing songz, did you?? i thought the only thing she excelled in was playing a super bitch who loves headbands, but i stand corrected. allegedly she's releasing some sort of electropop album in the fall. i don't really know what that means. regardless, here are some trax. i actually kind of like the bette davis eyes cover...does that make me a bad person? this actually started out as a post about the bette davis eyes remix by mylo, but i happened upon that little gem and figured i'd share it with anyone else who has apparently been living under a rock like i have. back the mylo remix...heard it last night @ the sweetgreen block party last nite and was a fan. thoughts? ps, i feel like death warmed up today if that gives you any indication of my weekend.

bette davis eyes-leighton meester
in my arms (bette davis eyes rmx)-mylo