Fuzzy Scuzzy Synthy Goodness

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Well first up for my last show was the highlights of the last instalment of GWFAS Hotly Tipped. I played The Whip - Trash, an artists both Harry and I were fighting over, and also an artist from the Manchester based High Voltage label run by Rich Cheetham who came in onto the show last week. If you like what you hear then you can see them live, along with The KBC, !!!, and The Longcut at the High Voltage 4th Birthday Night on the 20th March at the Ritz.

Next up from Derek Davies' top list I chose Pull Tiger Tail and their track Animator, a band from London, who have been embracing the file sharing love by offering up singles for free download. However, much to our disappointment they had removed the tracks because of more than 5000 people downloading it - probably a consequence of NME's recent hype rather than my brief mention and subsequent play.

Finally, I played Cut Off Your Hands - You and I, the best slice of punk to come out of New Zealand since Zane Lowe. Instantly likeable, these boys have joined Snow Fight In The City Centre and their Lisa Brown debacle in deciding their first EP name was in fact a better title for their band rather than a subtitle of what it has to offer. If that didn't make any sense then read Derek's post.

After an instalment of Harry [the last full 3 track instalment of Harry on Anablogue this broadcast :-( ], I dived straight into some electronica by playing you the Miami Horror Remix of Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You, only a slight modification of the original it throws in a bit of cowbell at the start and then dives into a dark dirty rumble of a bass line that for some reason made me want to do the dance from Michael Jackson's Thriller. This track is currently all over the place. I found it at Chazology, but its a part of the recent selection of remixes on Palms Out Sounds.

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Keeping in line with the squeaks and bleeps, a quick trip to Headphone Sex turned up trumps with The Black Ghosts - Any Way Your Choose To Give It (Boy 8-bit Remix). An awesome dose of fuzzy bass which had me reaching for my NES controller if only to listen to the Super Mario Bros 3 soundtrack.

To round up this selection before Harry and I went back to back for the last twenty minutes I found MSTRKRFT - She's Good For Business at Different Kitchen. MSTRKRFT are the remix and electronica remnants of Death From Above 1979 [check out the Phones Lovers Remix of Romantic Rights]. The 1979, an addition of course to differentiate them from DFA Records and the James Murphy collective. Talking of which James Murphy [also of LCD Sound System] has a blog over at that Manchester based daily broadsheet, The Guardian.

Going back to back with Harry led me first to Simian Mobile Disco - Tits and Acid which was unfortunately cut short. Nevertheless it was available from the SXSW website where you can download and stream a number of tracks from artists playing this year. Check out Another Record for their prime cuts of the electronica this year.

Finally my last track was another High Voltage classic: Dead Disco - The Treatment (Metronomy Remix). Its not exactly new, and has been available at many good blogs [including GWFAS no less] but this time I found it at Missing Toof [only on the third listening of the show did I get that play on words] who described the bands work as "hip and fun and always danceable". Too right kido.

And that's that from me. Thanks so much to all those that have listened and given comments on the show. So big-ups to Jam Bamkin, Fiona Young, Dave Biggin, Adam Lynch, Aarron Bradshaw, Andy Tuffin, Cat Howe, and Katie Bilboa [amongst many more - see Harry's roll call]. If you have any comments or find some excellent tunes/blogs in the future then do not be afraid to comment, we'd love to hear from you.

Cheers

Andy

You! Me! Dance?

pic: http://www.dirtydirtydancing.com

Unfortunately that time has come upon us: the end of the broadcast. Which is why Harry and I are going to go out with the best show to date! Expect a heavy dose of GWFAS propoganda, and my danciest show to date [but good dance, not crap dance].

Harry and I have already been fighting over which songs to play, but you can definitely expect music from The Whip, Cut Off Your Hands, Pull Tiger Tail, Stardust, The Black Ghosts, MSTRKRFT, Simian Mobile Disco and much more [well, no, thats a lie, Harry has to play his songs too].

Tune in 103.5 FM [Manchester] or online at www.fusefm.co.uk

Andy

Quick Fire...Week Three

Evenin' All,

Bit of a different format this week, with Rich from High Voltage in the studio presenting an informed view on this whole blogging thing. I was initially scared he was going to march in and shut us down for bankrupting his record label...lucky for us he was a thoroughly sound guy who had loads of interesting points to raise. So to Harry's week three...

First I tried to win approval with the appallingly-named We Smoke Fags with Eastenders found at www.headphonesex.co.uk; if it sounded any more like Terror by The Rakes it would actually have been Terror by The Rakes. On first listen I thought this track was great...on second listen, not so good. You win some, you lose some...I then tried with Somersault by Sky Larkin which was more successful (I could tell by Rich's head-nodding) but I think I was still the biggest fan of that particular track in the studio: find it at http://nothingbutgreenlights.net. They're supporting Los Campesinos on Sunday (04/03/07) in the Late Rooms so check them out on The Hype Machine...I would recommend the track One of Two next.

My last song with Rich still around was the new single by The Rakes - We Danced Together - remixed by SebAstian (from http://callmemickey.blogspot.com). As soon as the track started Rich let us know his dislike for all things Rakes so it was onto a loser from the start. No way near as good as the Klaxons Remix we aired in Week One but I think it's a great way of increasing the longevity of a great comeback single.

On entering the final part of the show I threw the proverbial kitchen sink at the mixing desk to win Andy's (and hopefully your) approval. The genius mash-up that was Crazy, As She Goes by The Raconteurs vs Gnarls Barkley (with a smattering of the Grandmaster Flash) got my final section off to a blinder. So many great covers and mash-ups of that track already but this is one of the best in my oh-so-humble opinion. Get it at http://myoldkyhome.blogspot.com.

I finished off with a live XFM session track, Dans Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - The Beat That My Heart Skipped, from http://thedailygrowl.blogspot.com, which was for anyone who loved Thou Shalt Not Kill from Week One. Not quite as immediate as that perhaps but give it a few spins and see if you don't love it.

Exit music this week was supplied by Los Campesinos for the second week running, with their ace track Sweet Dreams Sweet Cheeks, another fantastic offering for the Cardiff band who can do no wrong.

See you on Sunday at the Late Rooms...and for the final Anablogue Radio Show. At least 15% better than every other radio show you'd care to mention.

Harry x

High Voltage

The legendary Richard Cheetham, of High Voltage fame will be joining us on the show tomorrow!

Virtue of the Remix

First up I featured The Hype Machine - the website that first introduced me to the audio blogging world. Their top artists which is updated for every 3 day period was as of Sunday:

1. Arcade Fire
2. Modest Mouse
3. Feist
4. Of Montreal
5. The Police

I played Arcade Fire - No Cars Go live from Judson Memorial Church in NYC on 16th February from http://hearsay.alphaquam.com. Arcade Fire seem to have a weird thing going on with churches at the moment. Check out their video on their website for Neon Bible which is of them doing a rendition of Guns of Brixton by The Clash in St. John's Church, Westminster, London.

I moved swiftly on to Good Weather For Air Strike's Hotly Tipped For 2007 (part 1 and part 2). The vast majority of artists featured are Brit-acts but I picked out a band from Long Beach, California, Cold War Kids and played their song We Used To Vacation. In anticipation of Rich Cheetham's appearance on next week's show I then played another of Derek's hotly tipped bands Dead Disco and their single Automatic, who are on the High Voltage record label.

In my second bout behind the mixing desk I blew things out of the indie water by playing Phantom by Justice, an artist I featured heavily on last week's show as apart of the fast becoming dominant French electronica scene, and a track which is on Justice's new LP D.A.N.C.E. . I found it on Skull Juice a pair of bloggers who are affiliated with Casper C of Fluokids and the chap from Headphone Sex. The former of which is about to embark on a UK, France and Sweden tour with the rest of the fluo kids collective.

In response to Aaron Bradshaw's email from last week I followed up his recommendation of Palms Out Sounds which have Sample Wednesdays and Remix Sundays as a regular blog feature. From Remix Sunday: 48 I played Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (Patrick Alavi Rerox) which we think probably is French. From Sample Wednesday 27: Daft Punk Harry and I discussed the virtue's of the remix and the sampling artist and highlighted electronica scepticism by playing Breakwater - Release The Beast which has been sampled heavily in Daft Punk's Robot Rock.

Finally, the product of a search for a great remix not done by a French man. Some 'throaty guitar goodness' from the man that successfully revitalised Daft Punk's Around The World. New Young Pony Club - Icecream (Van She Tech Remix) I found at Chazology: queue it up and hit repeat.

Until next week.

Andy

Harry's Week Two

For everyone wondering where to get hold of the tracks chosen by me on Week Two of Anablogue....here we are for your listening pleasure. Links galore so go have a gander.

First off I played TV On The Radio - I Was A Lover, which you can find on http://iguessimfloating.blogspot.com. TV On The Radio came top of many, many bloggers Top 50s of the year, and their first album 'Desperate Youths and Bloodthirsty Babes' won the American version of the Mercury Music Prize just to give an idea of how many people are going mad about them. 'Dirty Whirl' and 'Staring At The Sun' are two others by the band that are worth checking out. That's a homework assignment.

Next up was Grizzly Bear - Easier, the opening track from the album 'Yellow House' which was high up in the same poll on http://iguessimfloating.blogspot.com . It's a beautiful song from a parallel universe where Disney is in charge. As the text on the show said, the words 'grizzly bear' do roll off the tongue - as if you needed another reason to listen to this song.

The debate over albums leaking onto the net long before release dates was illustrated by new Modest Mouse track Dashboard (ironic, no?) which is from the forthcoming album 'We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank' which is the best album title I've heard since 'What's The Time Mr Wolf?' by The Noisettes. This song is everything thats great about American guitar music turned to eleven, with more strings, more sunshine and more bounce. Find it at the fantastically named http://blogsarefordogs.com . Highly Recommended.

When it got to discussing Remixes (Re-mixes? Remixs? Re-mixs?) I played the Filthy Dukes Society Remix of The Maccabees - X-Ray which is a sterling example of a great remix and not a lazy one. The Maccabees are going places fast and this is a great alternative version of one of their earlier singles. It's at www.goodweatherforairstrikes.com of course.

Next up I stumbled upon http://gorillavsbear.net where I came across the short but very sweet Booji Boy High - Twist Myself Again, an Hot Chip side project also on DFA Records. It's essentially Hot Chip with added griminess which is no bad thing.

Finally I played Union of Knives - Evil Has Never, which is a sort of White Rose Movement-Electro/Indie-type thing. I like. You should too. They're playing this Friday (23/02/07) in Manchester Roadhouse if you have discovered your cup of tea.

Me and Andy also tag-teamed on the final track, the stupidly fantastic You! Me! Dancing! by Los Campesinos who are (obviously) from Cardiff, Wales as you can tell by the name. www.goodweatherforairstrikes.com say "you want to hold their hand while they cross the street, buy them ice cream when they've been good, I'll even carry them inside when they fall asleep, even if I know they're just pretending for the free ride. And I don't put up with that from just any band". Wise words indeed. Catch them at The Late Rooms for those in Manchester on Sunday March 4th...Andy and I will both be there so you can play student radio Where's Wally.

So there we have it...consider yourselves set free into the wild to pursue your own lives again. Go!

Harry x

Scouring the Blogosphere for YOU

The second show is almost upon us. A few less squeaks and bleeps from my department for those of you taken a back by the ferocity of the Ed Banger collective. Saying that I'll still be playing Justice.

I will be looking at The Hype Machine - the website that can make your blog searching as easy as google; and showcasing the most popular artists from the Hype Machine from the past three days.

After listner Aaron's email last week I followed up his suggestion of the Palms Out Sounds blog and will be giving a brief sample of their Sample Wednesday and Remix Sunday tradition - sort of the internet's version of sports on Wednesday afternoon and a Sunday roast. On which note I will challenge Harry to a 'muso' discussion on the virtue of the remix.

Tune in. 103.5 FM [Manchester] or online at www.fusefm.co.uk