Distortion Disco

Roskilde Review

2008-07-09T09:23:00.010+02:00

So another festival under the belt. I'm still hungover and enjoying civilization, I'm not really a camper type. Good news was of course the total lack of rain except during the final concert which you sort of have to accept for good measure.

First order of Roskilde this year was soul diva Duffy. Placed on the rather large Arena stage she struggled despite a wonderful singing voice. She was a bit out of her league, but on the other hand I did enjoy her flirtatious attempts. Soul-hype was switched with rock-hybrid-hype in the form of MGMT. They're not bad, but their lo-fi version of the Killers isn't really my cup of tea, at least live. After feroucious drinking in our camp it was of to cut yourself in the wrist kings Radiohead. Seriously great sound, lots of grade A material, but so lacking in variation and tempo. I took a quick peek at Lady Saw, which was hailed as some sort of sex goddess, but in fact it was pretty standard quality jamaican dance hall. My thursday ended in a small storm of red wine and the best company in the world.

Friday started of with indie-darlings Band of Horses which was insanely boring, thank God they played 'There is a Ghost' first. After that I went to the Orange stage for Gnarls Barkley which was OK I guess.
After that of to one the best concerts i.e. Santogold. An ultra short banging set, all singles all bass - the way every festival gig should be. I liked it despite a lot of complaints of a club type set. After that following a quick rush, I got to see some of Scotlands finest in the form of Mogwai.

Grinderman on Orange was effing great. Nick is a God in man form. As a friend noted he has a presence like Jim Morrison and might I add a voice a zillions more evil. It was great, and great respect must go to Warren Ellis the closest you'll get to an insane mass murdere playing Roskilde.A quick run back to Arena gave me a peek at Goldfrapp which were sadly focussing on their new laid back hippie type album. After sleepy electro it was highlight of Roskilde concert time: "We did this last time Roskilde, we'll do it again. Go low!" - fucking great seeing 70.000 sitting down at the same time, just to explode in to dance. Skinner was the delivery boy, everything was on time and near perfect. Thank God skinner keeps on doing his thing.The Ting Tings were pretty nice. Killer singles and 50% killer looks. Didn't do much during the day, but come early evening I went to the Judas Priest show... Holford moved like a 60 year old man, not that good, but effective. After what could be a show in Las Vegas of to what definetly was a show from Las Vegas, Mr. Solomon Burke. If you walk into a concert and the first thing you hears is You'll never walk alone, then you know you're in the right place.

Night fell on Roskilde after that and thus it was time for Distortion Disco hall of fame captain Neil Young. He was basically the reason I learned guitar a zillion years ago. Young was on fire! Best concert. The day ended with pop heroes Alphabeat on the Odeon scene. A nice party of the people - Fascination rocked. Oh and I dropped by Magnetic Man. Biggest. Bass. Ever.

Sunday was a lazy day for me, so a quick glimpse of At The Gates, party time with Hot Chip and the mighty Jayhova to close it of. Jay-Z received a lot of criticism, but to be fair it was actually 1½ hour of pure fun.

The overall verdict? I'll give it 4 out 5. All concerts were basically good, but the program lacked anything new, but the weather, people, food and everything else was nice.

Neil Young - Like a Hurricane
Grinderman - No Pussy Blues
The Streets - Let's Push Things Forward
MGMT - Time to Pretend

Check this page for some really nice pictures

Roskilde Preview 7

2008-06-23T16:48:00.005+02:00

From our guy (Sorry girls, The dudmeister is not single) on the ground we have received these first exclusive pictures of Roskilde before the actual festival:

The Arena stage getting it's supporting beams erected

Arena achieving erection

The migthy canopy of Orange stage

Roskilde Preview 6

2008-06-20T08:15:00.004+02:00

This time coming straight of Sarcelle, Paris - when something happens in Sarcelle, nothing happens, it just another beat dropped dead... Straight out of Sarcelle crazy band of brothers called DSL...... ..... ok the NWA joke taken a bit too far. DSL are as you've guessed another French bomb hitting Roskilde. DSL - David, Stephane, Lionel - are brothers, rapping doing the whole Ed Banger thing - and if you still find that just remotely interesting, which I do, then you should definetly check them out at Roskilde - expect a short banging show.

DSL - Invaders
DSL - Invaders (Busy P Remix)
Get single here

Roskilde Preview 5

2008-06-14T21:30:00.005+02:00

One the few good rap names at Roskilde this year is Canadian Cadence Weapon - A typical blog phenomenon: One song on one blog and whammo signed to a label. Don't say blogs don't do anything good then.

Cadence Weapon's lyrics are tongue in cheek, with great humor and great social insight. Check out great fun number Tattoos and what they really feel like - a song based on the social implications of a tattoo, metatalking in and out of characters piece of hip-hop. This years album, Afterparty Babies is filled with the stuff, and guess what, it's pretty great. Thus for all you skinny jeans blog babies out there - Go get yo' hype on

Cadence Weapon - Tattoos and what they really feel like
Cadence Weapon - House Music
Get album here

Roskilde Festival Preview 4

2008-06-10T17:51:00.004+02:00

Musically nothing divides Denmark like Alphabeat. The true pop affectionados love them for their impecable take on pop in the late 00's and the rockists hate them for their unpretentious take on a highschool band. I like them so I guess that makes me fit into the first group somewhere.

They are a definete must see at this years Roskilde. I highly encourage you to lay down your rockist arms and enjoy the nice side of life. This is in pop terms as good as it gets (Sorry, You'll always be number one Kylie, but these guys (and girl) are really good).

Alphabeat - Boyfriend (UK/International version)
Alphabeat - Touching me touching you

I cannot recommend their album enough and there's even a bonus disc these days - get it here

The great buffet of life

2008-06-09T17:08:00.003+02:00

Buffet Libre have sent this nice set. Enjoy the summer and enjoy the 'libre!

Buffet Libre - Verbena no.4

TRACKLIST BUFFETLIBRE DJ'S 'VERBENA NO.4':

1. Sidechains - Buffetlibre's Theme
2. Frankmusik - In Step
3. The Shoes - Knock Out!
4. D*L*I*D - Discovision
4. Grum - Love Disco
6. The Touch - Le Night Dominator
7. Das Pop - Fool For Love (Super7 remix)
8. Jupiter One - Countdown (Designer Drugs extended remix)
9. Moulinex - Lover In Me
10. Boys Noize - Oh! (A-Trak remix)
11. Crytptonites - Can't Give You Up
12. Primary 1 . Hold Me Down (The Shoes remix)
13. Hearts Revolution - CYOA (LSMR remix)
14. Top Billin - My Girl Wants To
15. Culture Prophet - Death Of The Party
16. Headman - Catch Me If You Can (Bag Raiders remix)
17. Juiceboxxx And Dre Skull - Center Stage (Curses! remix)
18. A-Ha - Hunting High And Low (Louis La Roché remix)
19. The Millioners - Body Into Use
20. Sam Sparro - Black And Gold (Russ Chimes remix)
21. Familjen - Huvudet I Sanden
22. Heartache - Don't Stop (Lifelike remix)
23. Bonde Do Role - Solta O Frango (Busy To Disco remix)
24. New Europeans - Dr. Rhythm (Facteur remix)
25. Vitaminsforyou - B4U

Roskilde Festival Preview 3

2008-06-08T10:36:00.004+02:00

I'm not sure anyone who reads my blog on just a semi regular basis has doubts about my great Hot Chip affection. I find them brilliant and by far one of the most relavant acts of the last 10 years. Playful and creative are the first words in my mind, but in there should also be fantastic live. A group of nerds banging away at keyboards, guitars and what not is an amazing concept. Had the pleasure of seeing them some 3 years ago in Berlin and I am really looking forward to reliving that experience. (Actually I saw Justus Köncke at that concert as well, which was a big deal I guess, but still).

Funky (in a good way), nodding their heads to prince, these are some of their less played songs:

Hot Chip - Sexual Healing
Hot Chip - Wrestlers

Seriously, the gloves are of now! I could go over and over like a monkey with a minature cymbal about these guys. This is an absolut must at Roskilde - Go, or Hot Chip will break your legs, they will put you down.

Problemés d'amour

2008-06-07T11:57:00.004+02:00

Oh, totally forgot to mention one hell of a performance by the almighty Alexander Robotnick at an outdoor festival the other day here in Copenhagen. One of the best nights ever!

I want him to sing at my wedding, it was that good! Until then this song pretty much sums up the summer for me:

Alexander Robotnick - Problemés d'amour (US Instrumental)
Alexander Robotnick - Problemés d'amour (Demo)

Here is a video taken by my lovely friend Iben demonstrating weeding singer extraordinare Alexander singing the above!

Roskilde Festival Preview 2

2008-06-07T01:25:00.004+02:00

Finally, Internetz I haz it! Whoopee, seriously! Anygays I'll jump right into the Roskilde preview post. I'm really looking forward to Santogold, though I see I didn't mention that in my last post. Go figure...

Santi White has delivered one of the best albums of the year. It's a ska / reggae / new wave thing which is hard to put into one box. At certain points it sounds like Blondie, at other times it's M.I.A. The album (including its B-sides and remixes) features appearances or production work from Chuck Treece, Cliffored "Moonie" Pusey of Steel Pulse, Diplo, Freq Nasty, M.I.A, Naeem Juwan of Spank Rock, Radioclit, Sinden, Switch, Trouble Andrew, and XXXchange. That basically translates into one hell of a patch work.

It's hard for me to point out a single favorite track, but 'Shove it' is head-bouncing-tastic and 'Lights out' which sounds like it's lifted from an obscure 80's album by some one-hit-wonder who did a hit single for some film about teenage drama is killer.

Santogold - Shove it
Santogold - Lights out

She is on friday at the festival - get her excellent album here

Roskilde Festival Preview 1

2008-05-25T14:11:00.004+02:00

It's that time of year. It's close to Roskilde Festival time, which means it's time for a preview post! Yeah - big whoop! After last years sad exhibition of rain and mud, I'm hoping we can get some decent weather above all. The program this year isn't overwhelming, but it's ok. Check it out here. A quick run through of my highlights:

Alphabeat
Battles
Solomon Burke
Cadence Weapon
DSL
Duffy
Efterklang
Goldfrapp
Gossip
Grinderman
Hot Chip (My pick for best concert along with Jay-Z)
Jay-Z
Lykke-Li
Magnetic Man feat. Skream & Benga
M.I.A.
Radiohead
The Raveonettes
Shackleton
The Streets
Neil Young

So basically we're looking at a rather re-used done before program, but it's ok. I get to see Nick Cave, Young and the big J in one week, so I'm not really complaining. A few techno artists would have been nice though - not one German techno guy is a mistake. As Mads noted: "Seriously, they would play for a pair of Levis and the ticket!". It gets even worse if you look at the rather amazing Distortion program.

Expect a some music preview soon!

And the points from the Norwegian jury?

2008-05-10T12:07:00.006+02:00

I wanna go to Norway and see if I can find the cave of pop. It should be up there somewhere, in there I'll find the small glowy pop mist from which Annie was born! A new album called Don't Stop is in the making, there's going to be Girls Aloud in there and Alex Kapranos also plays along. Pop-bonanza coming up!

Annie - I know your girlfriend hates me (Get Shakes Remix)

I don't know why I like this video, it's pretty horrible, but still I'm a bit entranced.

One of the plagues

2008-04-28T14:59:00.006+02:00

I still F'-ing love the Gomma label - truly Germanys finest (Sorry Kompakt - you will always be in my heart). Even more so when they are releasing Antoine Harispuru aka Golden Bug, king of dark synth lines, pounding drums and cut up aesthetics. Golden Bug did a good release back in the fall last year, and it's about time that something new was to surface. The brilliant single I Can't Stop is tse shops Jetzt as they say in Germany.

Here are two select cuts, both intensely enjoyable in their dark and brooding form:

Golden Bug - I Can't Stop
Golden Bug - Rocket City
Get single here

I've been listening a lot to this next remix - I really enjoyed the first Wombats single - Let's dance to joy division, but didn't really get further than that. Here a remix I really like though:

Wombats - Backfire at the Disco (South Central Remix)

A slice of heaven - Cousin Cole on fire

2008-04-17T14:38:00.005+02:00

Today is a single tune post, it's the Cousin Cole edit of Bruce Springsteens I'm on Fire. Not sure how to write about this actually. Bruce is of course the future of rock and judging on Cousin Coles edit, he is the future of remix.
This edit is the most delicate and wonderful thing I've heard in ages, and not just because it's Bruce. The song isn't hammered with Bmore drums and breaks, no rather it is delicatly woven into a space disco classic. This hyper delicate song which is perfect as a gem has become blessed with mirrorball late night heaven. I wan't this to be played when I'm carried to the grave. I could seriously go on for ages about the quality of this edit, but I should Springsteen & Cole do it their way:

Bruce Springsteen - I'm on Fire (Cousin Cole Bad Desire Mix)

*NEW LINK* Cousin Cole has sent out the real deal. God bless him!

PS The super-limited (200 hand-screened copies) unmixed CDs for Tambourine Dream (with a bonus track from Pocketknife) will be in stores in a week or so.

Cover are my fascination

2008-04-12T19:49:00.005+02:00

The hype mill called the blogosphere is going cover bonanza these days. The cover as a genre is at best a tricky mistress, best left to Copy, Right - an old blog by any standard specialising in nothing but covers, covers, covers, well worth a visit. I usually refrain from posting covers, as they always seem a bit forced, but today is as you've already guessed an exception.

You should know Grovesnor by now, he did the excellent opener Nite Moves on Hot Chip's DJ-Kicks album. A song so stellar that the rest just seemed bland. The 'snor has done a nice understated cover of Robyn's With Every Heartbeat, which you all know by heart:

Grovesnor - With Every Heartbeat

Danish high school pop sensation Alphabeat aren't going to let Grovesnor get the better of them, so they've done a cover of Daft Punk's classic Digital Love. They've secured the help of Frankmusic and Leon Jean Marie. It's fan-cover-fucking-tastic - Oh, and to the Alphabeat haters out there, please stop deluding yourself.

Alphabeat - Digital love

Welcome to jungle baby

2008-04-07T14:28:00.005+02:00

A bunch of nice things have crawled their way into my mailbox these last few days. Here is the cream of the crop:

Headman is releasing a new single on the ever cool Gomma label, they should do a subscription service - We're talking nothing but quality, quality and even more quality. The by now vintage sounding drum sound of Headman tickles my personal snare drum in a highly - Here in a highly enjoyable Bag Raiders remix. There is a new album available soon by the way. Stay tuned for more info!

Headman - Catch me if you can (Bag Raiders Remix)

Secondly there is a nice euro bass sounding remix of mother in law favorite Dizzee Rascal's Sirens. It's a bass drum underneath the original, but effective as hell.

Dizzee Rascal - Sirens (Black Lights Remix)

Hercules: Still banging on the side

2008-03-29T15:44:00.003+01:00

I've been enjoying the Hercules & Love Affair album lately. Quality NY post punky disco. It sounds like a sweaty mirrorballed dream of the perfect night out. It's got amazing melancholy especially the number 'You Belong' - It's almost horrifying to hear Antony repeat "You belong with him tonight" over and over. Guess what, it's gonna get a single release, and Ryan Maher has set me up with a quality Riton remix of this number:

Hercules & Love Affair - You Belong (Riton Remix)
Single out on DFA May 19th

Easter Chicken Special

2008-03-22T11:35:00.010+01:00

Ghostface Killah has undergone the blogosphere heroes remix treatment. He's brought in just about anybody who's anybody to remix single 'Charlie Brown'. Normally, you'd be forgiven for being a bit sceptic about a venture like this, but bare in mind this is Ghostface! It's not like he is trying to reach out to the new kids - It's them begging a king, and a king who nods and says: "Yes, you-whom-i'm-not familiar-with, you may remix my single - Now go before I change my mind!"

It's a pretty nice lineup of remixers: DJ Mehdi, Yuksek, Orgasmic and Guns'n'Bombs. Not bad, but seriously the king isn't really taking any big chances either. The track for you to preview, is the bit generic, but hyper effective Guns mix. It's what you'd expect in a good way. I bet first time you hear this in a club, you'll be going: "OMG WUT!" - in other words, highly recommendable.

Ghostface Killah - Charlie Brown (Guns'n'Bombs Remix)
get his album here

This last year has been a Hot Chip year for this blog. It's not that I'm stuck in the same groove, but seriously, just when you think it's going to be quit on the 'Chip front there's a new remix. This time by other blog favorites Supermayer.... What's a boy to do.

Enjoy this quality remix which for some reason reminds me of the classic Erol Alkan remix of Boy from School. This mix is what would epitomise that feeling of "We should be going home now - right after this tracks is done"-feeling. It's infused with just a dab of techno, I can't ask for more. Enjoy:

Hot Chip - One Pure Thought (Supermayer Remix)
Get more thoughts here

A reoccuring theme on this blog is getting disapointed with the line up at Roskilde Festival. I'm not sure whats going on in the bookers' minds - It's gotta be something along the lines of: "Ok, they've proven themselves in the 90's or been playing live for the last 5 years on various festivals - Now we can book them". It's not impressive what they've got on the poster by now. The Chemical Brothers are as relevant as me at a car show. Or so I thought, lo and behold, I actually like their latest collaboration with Spank Rock. It's back into familiar drone techno territory, chunky beats and the Spank riding them like surfers on the perfect wave:

Chemical Brothers feat. Spank Rock - Keep My Composure
Get it here

Finally there's a couple of really good Todd Terje mixes floating round the good ol' interweb these days. Firstly there's a really good remix of Chaz Jankel part of post punk kings the Blockheads. It's from a career retrospective worth checking out! The piano loop in the second part of the song is stellar:

Chaz Jankel - Glad to Know You (Todd Terje Remix)
get it here

Second track is from Jose Gonzales and is just a perfect example of scandinavian branded space disco. It sounds like a Studio release, long echo effects, roomy and with just a bit of ice crystals:

Jose Gonzales - Killing for Love (Todd Terje Remix)
Kill for love here

Neon Clash Extravanza

2008-03-16T18:53:00.005+01:00

Just a little diddly today. It's a Van She Tech remix of Ladyhawke's Back of the Van. I admit that the whole clash thing is sounding pretty dated already, BUT seriously, when you have the feeling of audial rape, then you have to give it a few minutes, right? oh, and casting yourself in a lolcat picture is a fine selling point to!

Ladyhawke - Back of the Van (Van She Tech Turbo Fire Engine Remix)

It's another sorry post

2008-03-13T19:17:00.004+01:00

It's time for yet another post saying I'm sorry, I don't do enough posts. Same excusses as always, I work too much, hope you'll bare with me. I still love my blog and I still love blogging. Keep staying tuned to this bat channel.

The new The Kills album is great! I quit enjoyed their earlier outings, but new album Midnight Boom is just great. The tracks are even more brooding and dark than you would expect and they just cry out for remixes. Heres a couple of those, expect a hell of a lot more:

the Kills - Cheap and Cheerful (Nite Cells Bored Robot Remix)
the Kills - U.R.A. Fever (IMA Fever Nite Cells Remix)
Get album here

There is a new Juan Maclean in the pipes by the way, it's called Happy House and it has this great old skool house sound - piano loop and all. For some reason they ended up being the forgotten band on DFA, which was a total shame. It's clearly the sound of the label that rings the least dated. It's quite enjoyable that the old house sounds keeps showing it's ugly head, it makes you feel safe and secure.

Muscles - Sweaty (The Juan Maclean Remix)
The Juan Maclean - Happy House (From some unidentified mix)
Get Happy here

Das ist Musik!

2008-03-02T09:59:00.003+01:00

I went to se Justus Köhncke at Culture Box the other night. I've always been a great a fan of his, but I must admit the set was pretty boring. 'Timecode' kicks ass, but how selfreferential can you get? The trick with Justus, and what actually makes him funny, is his two folded approach to techno - on one side it's just killer tunes Justus - on the other side is Eurovision Song Contest future winner / schlager techno king Justus.
Therefore, I was rather sad to learn that it was only the killer tunes (That sounds completely wrong, I know) Justus on his new album 'Safe & Sound', but guess what? He has a second identity - doing pastiche covers! Yes, that's right. Kinky Justice is the name, covers the game. Let's all basque in glorious 80's sounding covers:

Kinky Justice - Nightclubbing
Kinky Justice - Candy Says
Kinky Justice - New Day
Kinky Justice - A Dream Goes on Forever
Get EP here

Electro Pig Bringing The Pain!

2008-02-29T20:59:00.004+01:00

Looking through some of my old records the other day, I stumbled upon a really classic Danish electro tune. It's Bjørn Svin who has been a mainstay on the Danish music since the early 90's. You might be able to find some of his older tunes on the alias Cygnet Committee, but mainly I think he works Bjørn Svin (real name is Bjørn Christiansen) or under the name Prinz Ezo.

The tune of the day Mer Strøm #2 is classic as hell without sounding dated. It's what Grand Master Flash would have rapped over if he'd had his breakthrough as an old man. It grinds like a chainsaw and bangs like (Insert random sexual joke here). The words being yelled in danish "Den skal have mere strøm" means "It needs more power/electricity!"

Bjørn Svin - Mer Strøm #2
Get the really great album here

Oh the horror - the eyes

2008-02-26T12:32:00.005+01:00

A couple of semi new remixes by Miami Horror, who did one of my favorite remixes of Music Sounds Better With You. They were big last years, and nothing really suggests thats is gonna change this year. I still love their big sound which sounds like a next years version of The Thin White Duke.

Faker - This Heart Attack (Miami Horror Remix)
Grafton Primary - I Can Cook (Miami Horror Remix)

They're releasing a remix for an upcomming re release of good old Fafafa by Datarock, should be worth checking out.

Everybody still love the Headman

2008-02-18T20:19:00.004+01:00

Yeppie, there is a new Headman single - and there's even an album in the works called 'Catch Me'. Running into time as the new single is caused is classic Headman. A nice fusion of punk, rock and electro, in other words it's what you would expect from Gomma.

There's even a remix by Kitsune new comers Autokratz and also! Don't hesitate, get it from Gomma now!

Headman - Running into time
Headman - Running into time (Autokratz remix)

Get single here

Mental Note: Grow Mustache

2008-02-04T20:44:00.001+01:00

Every person needs a hero, you have yours, I have mine. Currently it's mass murdering and entertaining Dexter who's doing victory laps. Some heroes have been with you a long time, some you've lost, and some have forsaken you. One guy never fails to deliver though (Quit a few never fail, but this one in particular):

Oh my freakin' god I need a mustache! The man has temples from here to eternity, but still looks cool as fuck. Actually, he looks more and more like the guy who sells used cars to the devil, at knock of prices of course: "This one is a bargain..."

Busy bee-life missing stuff

2008-02-03T19:00:00.000+01:00

Sorry for the lack of posts during the last week, but I'm starting at a new job, and starting my own company as well - It's incredibly hectic, so all I get up to is sleeping and listening to tunes to and from work. Here's what is playing on my Ipod right now:

Snoop Dogg feat. Robyn - Sensual Seduction Remix

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (DJ Sega Remix)

Fred Falke - Love Theme

Alan Braxe & Kid Menace - Lumberjack