Another month of music that I’m really excited about. Of course there are some old standbys (will Nancy Whang ever do something I don’t love? This chart includes her cover of Kiss’s “I Was Made for Loving You” and a song from the new Juan MacLean album In a Dream), but also some new faces. I’ll hesitantly apologize in advance for including Ariana Grande but I gotta admit: I really love her new album and I considered between three of her songs for this chart. Enjoy!
Artist
Song Name
Remixer
Ariana Grande
Be My Baby
Cashmere Cat edit
When I first heard the original version of this song I couldn’t stop listening. While I’ve moved on to a new favorite Ariana Grande song (“Love Me Harder”), this was the one that opened me up to her album. I mean, she worked with Cashmere Cat!! That’s super awesome. This edit makes the original Grande version a little weirder.
August is one of my least favorite months of the year (sorry — but fwiw it’s opposite my favorite month [February] so there’s maybe some sort of symmetry going on?). Anyway, in light of that fact I’m not terribly enthusiastic about this chart. Not that I dislike the songs or anything (actually, some of them are great — and overall this chart has some real excellent stuff), but I think due to this summer malaise I just can’t get as into it. Eight songs is pretty short, two of the songs featured are remakes of previous versions (“Afterlife” remixed by Flume and “Insecptor Norse” pumped up with Little Boots’ vocals). And to make matters worse, there were a few songs that weren’t on SoundCloud or YouTube so you can’t even check out everything in one place. Let’s aim for a better September…
Artist
Song Name
Remixer
Arcade Fire
Afterlife
Flume Remix
I love how weird Flume makes this song. When I first saw it posted I thought it was too good to be true.
Ercola
Follow Me (feat. Annie)
Oldie (~2008) but goodie with vocals by my fav Annie
Todd Terje
Inspector Norse
Little Bootleg
Little Boots turns what is already an incredible song even more incredible-er
The video is super inspirational and all that, but I gotta admit that when I first heard this song I thought it had to do with a broken heart and loved it much more…
Sometimes I worry that these charts become too predictable. The last few charts, this one included, have been full of familiar names. This month we have another Lana Del Rey song, another Munk remix, another Drop Out Orchestra remix, another Klaxons song, another Flume remix, another Le Youth remix, another Michael Mayer remix, another Yeasayer remix, another We Have Band song, another Kasper Bjørke song, and another Felix Cartal song (which pains me the most… I want to hate his generic “EDM”-ness but I can’t resist).
Bonus: For those of you who read this blog post, the image above is from a “fan video” I made for Lana Del Rey’s song “Summertime Sadness.” It was my friend time using Adobe Premier and I had quite a lot of fun doing it. Expect to see more of my own videos in the future… Check it out here:
And now on to the chart…
Artist
Song Name
Remixer
Lana Del Rey
West Coast
Munk Remix
Ramones
Blitzkrieg Bop
Drop Out Orchestra Rework
R.I.P. Tommy Ramone. I love their music and realize it’s sort of sacrilege to apply electronic music to their stripepd-down sound, but I think this Drop Out Orchestra remix is interesting.
Klaxons
Rhythm of Life
Really loving their new album!
Lorde
Tennis Court
Flume Remix
Deorro
Five Hours
Cheesy “EDM” track #1
Disclosure
Voices
Le Youth Remix
Ed Sheeran
Sing
I never expected to see him on one of my charts but I love the Justin Timberlake vibe of this song.
Sin Cos Tan
Sooner Than Now
Heard this on the show Halt and Catch Fire and loved the ’80s vibe it had.
Terranova
Painkiller
Michael Mayer mix
Charli XCX
SuperLove
Yeasayer remix
We Have Band
Modulate
Tim Goldsworthy extended mix
Tim Goldsworthy + James Murphy = DFA production team
Kasper Bjørke
Doesn’t Matter
Kasper Bjørke remix
Spaam
Pompom Gali
Mr Flash
Midnight Blue (feat. Surahn)
Felix Cartal
Ready for Love (feat. Chloe Angelides)
It pains me to include this dude… But I keep loving his songs! Cheesy “EDM” track #2
For years now, my Fourth of July (Independence Day) tradition has been to watch intellectual and political documentaries (none of that sappy human interest stuff for this occasion!). Films I’ve re-watched in past years include Fahrenheit 9/11, Outfoxed, Bill Maher’s Religulous, and others. I started more serious and then ventured into more bizarre…
This year I’m keeping some brief notes as I watch the documentaries. Here we go!
I feel a sort of knee-jerk love for The Times, but the discussion about how they botched the pre-Iraq War (under George W Bush) coverage was a disaster. I forgot about the whole Judith Miller mess…
David Carr worked in Minneapolis! (and hit rock bottom there..)
I love how much this documentary is making me think about media and journalism. I love Katrina vanden Heuvel (edior of The Nation, but I also love Gawker, which she hates. I can see both sides!
I love the dark humor and cynicism of journalists. some of my favorite parts of this documentary are the casual conversations happening in the news room.
the whole thing about Zell taking over the creating a frat culture within the leadership of the Tribune is very scary.
Overall I loved this documentary! Makes me nostalgic for when I worked on my college newspaper. And made me realize how my current job is less and less about journalism.
The Central Park Five
My coworker Emeri recommended this one to me! We have extremely similar tastes in documentaries
I think this is my first Ken Burns experience
The 80s version of New York introduced in the beginning of the film feels so different from the New York I’ve visited. It’s easy for me to forget it hasn’t always been this way.
Too many times do I see this story of police intimidating and interrogating people in order to put together the story they want.
I can’t help but wonder if the police are aware of these kids’ innocence… I’m pretty sure they are completely convinced they are guilty, which makes me even more depressed.
Grrrrr Donald Trump!! What an asshole!
Grrrrr Pat Buchanan!!
Whoo Al Sharpton!
The troubles the guys have after getting out of prison make me so frustrated. I can’t say I blame the guy who goes into the drug dealing business. it’s the only job that won’t discriminate against him.
I love the scathing reflection by the historian toward the end.
I’m going into this without any idea of what it is. I was thinking I wanted some sort of academic documentary so I just searched for Foucault on YouTube…
Btw: Although I’m pretty familiar with his philosophies, the only books I’ve read by Foucault are from the History of Sexuality series (The Will to Knowledge, The Use of Pleasure, The Care of the Self)
I would say that after Zizek, I consider Foucault to be the most influential philosopher on me.
Foucault’s fiend who wrote the short story “The Secrets of a Man” possibly about Foucault: Hervé Guibert
I’ve always loved the Ship of Fools imagery as well.
Hahahaha Camile Paglia is not a fan!!! I’m not sure what it says about me, but I love both her and Foucault and somehow see a way to synthesize their ideas
I’ve also heard theories/rumors that Foucault intentionally caught HIV/AIDS in order to experience/study what it was like to have it.
American Experience: Silicon Valley
Curious to watch something about the tech field…
It’s cool to think of business driving such innovation in science. It doesn’t feel that way as much now. More about profits…
Whoa I did not expect a connection to the space race. I love it!
Wow! Because women had better dexterity (they thought because of needlework), most of the chip-assemblers were women!
Ahhh I forgot how it started: the military market…
Really cool to see how the whole start-up culture was created. These early silicon valley companies really shaped the industry. They remind me of Microsoft today in many ways.
20 Years Of Kompakt – The Pop Documentary
I love the Kompakt record label (based in Cologne, Germany). I download pretty much every single the label releases.
Yes, this is basically a promo for the label!
I wish for the music video part they matched the video with the song rather than just showing the visuals
Happy 20th Birthday Kompakt!
My favorite Kompakt release is Total 6. I love the songs “The Difference it Makes” by The MFA, “Tell Me About It” by Superpitcher, and “Action” by The Field. My favorite Kompakt artist is The Field.
Project Nim
I always wish we could communicate with animals and have them tell us what they are thinking!!
“It was the seventies…” !! yes!
… wow. they are pretty weird…
Oh my this is less about a scientific experiement and more about human drama!
The chimp takes puffs off a joint?!
If Nim is as human as these scientists think, the poor guy must have major parental issues.
You probably shouldn’t watch this if seeing animals in pain disturbs you. I can barely make it…
Like for example, the chimps who knew how to sign… once they were locked in cages for medical experiments, they signed “out” 🙁
Very much reminds me of Black Fish — we drive these poor animals insane.
The theme of this month’s chart is déjà vu: many of the artists featured in this month’s chart were also featured in last month’s chart, Boys Noize remixed Depeche Mode again, Röyksopp & Robyn appear twice (oh, and they were in last month’s chart, too), and I let go of any standards and even included a song that was on a chart over 3 years ago (can ya guess which song?) because I love it so much. So yah, this chart might feel very familiar in some ways but still awesome all around.
Artist
Song Name
Remixer
YouTube
Blood Orange
The Complete Knock
Bottin mix
Handbraekes
Grind Go
JMRS
The Book
Nothing Else
Sunshine Boogie
Walkin
Munk Edit
Röyksopp & Robyn
Sayit
I’ll admit: This song didn’t really grab me until I saw the way they performed it live when I saw them in concert. The video/visuals they used for this song are amazing and really captured the mood/feeling of their collaborative energy.
Billie Ray Martin
Just Fascination
A Copycat remix
Depeche Mode
My Little Universe
Boys Noize Remix
Boys Noize + Depeche Mode = AWESOME! (see also: Personal Jesus, Wrong)
Naughty Boy
La La La (Feat. Sam Smith)
Currently my new favorite song. The video is very surreal.
For whatever reasons, it turns out that my May charts tend to be pretty awesome (I’d post links to previous ones, but the many of the SoundCloud files are gone so you can’t tell what the song was… just wait until I write my fancy database-driven charts feature — which I’m sure will happen someday?). Great way to kick off the summer, right? Bonus points for every one of these songs being available on SoundCloud and YouTube (though three are sort of pseudo-videos)!
Artist
Song Name
Remixer
YouTube
Blood Orange
Uncle ACE
Kindness remix feat. Robert Owens
Klaxons
There Is No Other Time
Canblaster remix
Looks like the next Klaxons record could be great… or am I falling for their tricks again
La Roux
Let Me Down Gently
Prins Thomas Diskomiks
Love the emotional depth of this song. Feels very powerful to me.
Lykke Li
No Rest For The Wicked
Joris Voorn Remix
Maximum Balloon
Tiger (Feat. Aku)
I love the new Kelis album which was produced by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio. This is from his solo record and it’s amazing
Röyksopp & Robyn
Do It Again
In Flagranti Remix
JMRS
Shatners Bassoon
Solange
Lovers in the Parking Lot
I’ve loved this song for a long time… but yah, I included it here because of Solange and Jay Z’s recent elevator situation.
Somehow I only ended up with 9 amazing tracks for April — but not to fear, I always focus on quality over quantity. If there is anything to be disappointed about in this chart it’s that there are so many familiar names — artists and remixers who frequently show up on my lists: Nancy Whang, Pharrell Williams, Kylie Minogue, Bloody Beetroots, Galantis, Copycat. But I can’t help it. Especially with Pharrell — I’m seriously considering upgrading “Marilyn Monroe” to a 5-star song! (PS: Sorry about the lack of redesign… still trying to figure out the best look and feel!)
Artist
Song Name
Remixer
YouTube
Nancy Whang & Audiojack
Like an Eagle
extended version
Nancy Whang has a new song? Of course you’ll find it here!
Bobmo
It Is Happening Again
Samples the Giant saying, “It is happening again” from Twin Peaks!
Of course just in time for me to fly to Minnesota to visit my family there is a winter storm. How about my March 2014 chart to get me through it? A lot of songs again and a couple of them are almost 5-star songs (Tensnake’s “Love Sublime” and Le Youth’s “Dance With Me”). Stay warm, stay snow-free, and enjoy! (Oh yeah, and this is the second month of me trying a new format… it’s still not final…)
Artist
Song Name
Remixer
YouTube
Holy Ghost!
Bridge & Tunnel
Prins Thomas Diskomiks
youngTEE
The Way You Kiss
MEN
Be Like This
They played this when Aurea, Troy, and I saw them at Chop Suey. It’s from their first album but somehow I missed it. High energy and really fun!
Tensnake
Love Sublime
Duke Dumont remix
Wow wow wow! This song blows me away — and especially this remix. I love the repetitive “are you drawn to me?” at the beginning. This song feels epic.
Booka Shade
Perfect Time
Pharrell Williams
Gust Of Wind
Daft Punk showed up on Pharrell’s solo album!
Chela
Zero
Nick Lynar Remix
Syn Cole
Miami 82 (Feat. Madame Buttons)
This is kinda cheesy and very c89.5, but it got stuck in my head so…
Franskild
Clockworks
Night Drive
Drones
Bit Funk remix
Copycat
Can You Feel It
Copycat is becoming one of those DJs who is starting to show up on nearly every chart…
DyE
She’s Bad
Joakim Refix
Escort
Cabaret
Little Boots remix
Le Youth
Dance With Me
extended mix
I’m so in love with this song. It samples TLC’s “No Scrubs.” Sort of reminds me of a more poppy Flume.
I’m (slowly) working on redesigning my blog so excuse the strange formatting for a bit. The image above was a “fake nebula” that I made as part of my playing around with Photoshop. (I’m trying to figure out what I want my main image to be, etc.). As for this month’s chart, there’s a lot of good stuff!! It was tough narrowing it down a bit, but here it is. Bonus: All of the songs are currently on SoundCloud, so be sure to check out the playlist. A good number also have videos on YouTube, too.
Artist
Song Name
Remixer
YouTube
Daniel Avery
Knowing We’ll Be Here
fell in love with this song when I heard Shit Robot play it during a DJ set
Phantogram
Fall In Love
Annie
Russian Kiss (feat. Bjarne Melgaard)
with so many remixes it was tough going with the original! Perhaps a remix will appear next month…
I get the impression that lots of people are excited for some big game today? My city, Seattle, seems especially crazy. So here’s my (only) contribution to the Super Bowl/Seahawks excitement: A new chart! (Though if I can offer another Super Bowl-related thing, I highly recommend the Frontline documentary League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis.) This chart is unique in that it features two songs by the same artist (a first) and marks the first time a song I remixed/edited is on the chart (my first time making a “megamix” by mixing various remixes of the same song). Enjoy! (And go Seahawks!!) Bonus: I’m also trying out a new format for this chart. Consider this a beta version. I’m working on automating the creation of these posts based on my iTunes playlists files. But first I want to get the right look for the chart… (and I know the current version needs work — it’s a rough draft!).
