hola, holla, holler?!

so taken a while to recover from sonar festival. the soooper cutting edge music & arts fest hit barcelona on the 19th, 20th and 21st of june. the day time events were held in their awesomely stunning museum of modern art - trust me, never get tired of seeing folks like Yo Majesty slapping bass and ripping it up to hundreds of sweaty gurners in the middle of a contemporary arts museum - and the night time events are held out of town in a HUGE airplane hanger-type complex. it’s pretty epic stuff. unforts beer, cigarettes and sun meant i kinda forgot about actual sonar pics BUT this year we held our first off-sonar party and art exhibition and it was bananas.

my co. affiliates-studios and my London party thugs & hugs got together with dazed & confused as well as the barcelona sweat shop that is the plat du jour party. bassbins were broken. we had Glasgow’s finest purveyors of twisted electronic, glitchy crunk LuckyMe as guests. That’s ya boys Rustie, Hudson Mohawke (both of which have just signed to Warp Records!), FineArt and Dom Sum (who hosted the show). Ya into Flying Lotus, Samiam, etc? well these boys are the crew - so much so that they all got a late call to close Sonar by Night’s outdoor stage after Theo Parrish and play back to back with Flying Lotus.. whilst the sun rose over the crowds at 5 in the morning.. it’s a beautiful thing. innit.

anyways back to our party and we also had Jackmaster from Bmore bang-a-langs Dress Sweat recs as well as Trash fave Drums of Death (think electro-soul-grime-vaudeville-villain, the new signing to Hot Chip’s Greco-Roman imprint) and Thugs residents Patchwork Pirates (my DJ crew) and Plat residents Slutty Oysters. Oh wait, then we had some secret guests fly in from Florida… YO MAJESTY WERE IN THE HOUSE! and blazed through their upcoming album (peep production by Basement Jaxx) and then dubstep and fabric BOY OF THE MOMENT Rusko. Yo, even Yo Majesty were so blown away by Rusko’s ridiculous basslines that they jumped back up after their set and started freestyling over Rusko. Now that’s BLOG HEAT. Certified.

So music-wise - if ya new to any of these peeps - think serious science meets retarded electronics, doused with 4 Euro bottles of vodka, straight from the bottle. Hip hop, glitch, dancehall, rave, dubstep, bassline house, Bmore, Miami Bass… damn, it’s straight up the best party you’ve ever been to.

Pics by erkan said

Gatekeeper remembers the time when horror films had brilliant scores that were just as crucial to the film as cinematography or costume design. An era where John Carpenter was creating some amazing films and amazing music to accompany them. Where Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells“ could conjure nightmares or Fred Myrow & Malcolm Seagrave’s “Phantasm II- End Theme“ would set off an anxiety attack.

Gatekeeper is a Chicago based duo that obviously borrow elements of that era and expands on it. While of course elements of horror music have been already been used in songs like “Phantom” by Justice and record label “Italians do it better“. Gatekeeper also mix in bits of early industrial and hints of house and techno. And by referencing the past they have created some amazing and fresh music. Then the music is backed by an actual live performance, with lights and synthesizers, not a dj set like many production duos are choosing. The live performances create quite a bit of energy and buzz with audience, making them move and dance from first note to last. With every show getting more and more packed all through word of mouth and strength of the Gatekeeper live performance.

The boys were also kind enough to send some tracks our way and told us that new music is on the way and a ton of live shows to follow. Keep your eyes and ears peeled!

Gatekeeper - Wave Design

Gatekeeper - Mirrors

September 1st marks the release date for the self-titled debut album from the St Albans, U.K. trio Friendly Fires. “This 37 minutes of music is the end product of two years’ inspiration, frustration, toil and passion,” say the band. “We set out to merge heartfelt, romantic songwriting with our love of the dancefloor and blissful shoegaze guitars.”

The debut album, via XL Recordings, consisting of 10-tracks, will include the single ‘Jump In The Pool’ produced by Paul Epworth, which is the only track that the band did not produce and artwork by John Beasley. We can’t wait for it!!!!! Relive the addictive ‘Paris’ directed by Price James, below!

Have you ever been to PNAU’s site? I got stuck over there the other day shooting all the colored balls trying to save the strawberry. If you’re in the mood for some fun and amateur video game playing, then head to PNAU’s site. After saving the strawberry and having a flashback to 2007 listening to their mega hit “Baby“, you’ll remember one of the reasons why you came to love PNAU. Then you’ll end up wanting to hear the superb disco feel remix that Breakbot gave to “Baby”.

Since 1999, PNAU have been making music that over the years, has brought them high praise in the dance music world and created many a loyal fan. Currently living in London, the Sydney-based duo consisting of Nick Littlemore (Sam Littlemore’s, aka Sam La More, younger sibling) and Peter Mayes, are gearing up to push their third single “Embrace“, featuring the lovely Ladyhawke. With the release (drops 16th August 2008) comes a glorious remix by two of our faves, Melbourne’s Miami Horror and the brilliant Fred Falke!! This one is MEGA!!!!!!!

PNAU feat Ladyhawke - Embrace (Miami Horror & Fred Falke Remix)

PNAU - Baby (Breakbot vs PNAU)

And some more PNAU… Love this video!!

Three days of neo-rave armageddon and they weren’t joking either.

The London-based party outfit Bangface have been running their outstandingly cool club night for the past five years in the inner armpit of London, a vision they describe as a “neo-rave explosion of acid, jungle, rave hardcore, drum n bass, breakcore, techno and electronica”. No, seriously.

After successfully running a dance tent at electronic music Glade Festival, they decided to organise their own festival.

The three-day (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) festival was hosted at Camber Sands Butlins, which is a 3,000 person capacity 1960s family holiday camp. Apartment-style “chalets” provided basic accommodation and on site there was a pub, a shop (which sold inflatable rafts and booze), a swimming pool, an amusement arcade a kids play area. It was kitsch supreme.

I nearly died when I saw the lineup. Fuck me, I’m there.

BANG ROOM: Dave Skywalker, Knifehandchop, Bogdan Raczyniski, Krome and Time, Ceephax Acid Crew, Ragga Twins and Vibert, Aaron Spectre, Venetian Snares, Scotch Egg, X&Trick, DMX Crew, The Flashbulb, Kid606, Remarc, Phil Hartnoll (Orbital), Altern-8, The Panacea, Bong-Ra, Shitmat, Saint Acid.

FACE ROOM: Steve Strawberry, Global Goon, DJ Rephelex Records, Model 500, DJ Stingray, Modeselektor, Richard Devine, Radioactiveman, Si Begg, Aba Shanti-I Soundsystem, Kelpe, Dopplereffekt, Mat Carter, Mala (Digitial Mystikz) Kode 9, Plaid, M-ziq, Mike Dred, The Doubteful Guest, The DJ Producer.

QUEEN VIC: Warp DJs, Kelpe, Mat Carters, Cylob, Nexus 21, Edmx, Kosmik Kommando, M2, Wrong Chill, Spin Laden , Electro Elvis, Warp DJs, Ceephax, Keith Tenniswood, Wrong Disco, Steve Strawberry, Derailleur, Shinra, Firstcask Djs, Weme DJs, Aula, DJ Rephelex Reocrds, Vexkiddy, Casette Boy.

BANG FACE ROOM: Luke Vibert, Long Range, Jackson & His Computer Band, Chas & Dave, Beardyman, Squarepusher.

Diaper man! Photo taken by Simon Clement-Hawes for www.virtualfestivals.com

Costumes are the way forwards. Photo from the bangface website.

Friday night, pulling up to Butlins and seeing large posses of neon rainbow ravers reminded me of some prepubescent wet dream from the late 80s. People were super friendly, though, and everyone was stocking up on booze in the shop.

The party was GO! I lost my brain pretty early in the evening, but I distinctly remember the space-age, Commodore looking Detroit legends Model 500 - like they invented techno? That’s amazing. Their music drilled tiny holes in my retina.

And everyone around me had amazing outfits. People really went to town. The vibe could have easily been skeezy and slightly sinister in the hands of another organiser, but it was clear everyone felt safe to have fun and go for it. Lots of guys chatted with me with no horrible ego or strange misconceptions. How refreshing!

Party a go-go. Photo taken by Andrew Crowe.

Glowstick jiggling. Photo taken by Andrew Crowe.

Early Saturday morning I woke, to the sound of vodka, sun, and special dreamy slowness spent on the grassy artists’ residence courtyard. Whereas normal campers where still pumping gabba out of their windows at 8am, we had Kraftwerk. Nice.

At noon, Kat & I headed over to the rave pool party (pictures below). The DJ, who wore a wetsuit, played drum n bass and jungle. There were a hundred water fights and underwater feats performed. SPLASH!

The ultimate rave pool party to end all pool parties. Photo from the bangface website.

Pool rules. Photo from the bangface website.

Wet wet wet. Photo from the bangface website.

During the day, I met up with some friends in the Queen Vic pub and danced to Ceephax’s wonky, wrong tunes and quirky jokes.

My friend Good Ben apparently kept harassing Normski on the 24-hour BANGFACE TV, which every room got on their chalet tv. Ben asked the annoying Normski how old old he was, just to wind him up - which didn’t go down too well. After an apology, Ben made a shout out for his ipod and phone, both which got stolen. “Thud face firm crew al-dente to the core” was his final message. The Norm, we discovered, was 41.

The night was mainly drifting between the rooms, which all seemed to be drum n bass, some darker shades than others. Fucks knows who we saw? It was just about having fun and trying to find friends you’d lost and bumping into other friends. We ate fried chicken and danced and then early in the morning, headed to the beach.

Pete on Camber beach. Photo taken by Andrew Crowe.

On Sunday, it was like one long slightly sober dream come true: Luke Vibert, Long Range, Jackson & His Computer Band, Chas & Dave, Beardyman, Squarepusher.

I got my horn taken off me by security, who rushed into our chalet - whatever. I got another one!

Then at about midnight, we got invited to a gabba party in one of the chalets and amongst trees full of glowsticks and funny kids and people leaping into the air, Bong-ra showed up to the party. Tres cool.

Unfortunately, I started seeing black flurries of bunny rabbits behind the chalets and went to sleep listening to the kilk-klik of the police tape flapping in the wind outside the living room in Good Ben’s chalet. Scary stuff!

Squarepusher, the legend, on bass, live. Photo from the bangface website.

Chas and Dave perform to unbelieving fans. Photo taken by Simon Clement-Hawes for www.virtualfestivals.com

Monday was full of fear and loathing, but we managed to stop in Hastings for some fish n chips at a seaside pub and toured the Old Town, combing through bric-a-brac to regain our sanity.

It took me well over a week to recover. Can’t wait til next year!

If you fancy a taste of the madness, BANGFACE 56 is on Friday 11th July 2008. Their lineup features N-JOI • LUKE VIBERT • ED RUSH, RAIDEN • MILANESE feat. BEN SHARPA, MARK N • SIMON UNDERGROUND • CHEVRON, YOUTH TV + ST. ACID & BANG FACE HARD CREW. The party takes place at ELECTROWERKZ, 7 TORRENS ST, LONDON EC1, from 9pm-6am. £9 TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW: TICKETWEB.CO.UK

IN RECORD SHOPS: SISTERRAY • PHONICA • KNOWHOW. This month’s theme, in case you like dressing up, is Freedom.

Or catch them at Glade. We heard that they weren’t doing a tent there this year, but it’s all LIES!!!!!!!!

Gosh has it really been since September 07 that we last spoke of the doe eyed Heidi Cannon and John Bourke of Trash Yourself?! They were picking up momentum for some time, their MySpace comments were plastered just about everywhere and then they kinda left us for a few months. Seems they’ve been busy working on the goods!

They’re back and bringing the jackin guitar fueled noise with their latest track “Fuck The Police” which really blows our minds!! This one is full of chaos with sirens going off in the background, giving you the sense of being on a high speed chase! Who doesn’t love a tune that you can scream along and pump your fists to?! Hear “Fuck The Police” on the latest Buffet Libre mix as well.

Trash Yourself have also teamed up with Brooklyn’s hit man, AC Slater for a remix of “Touch” (here the original on our previous post of them). Catch AC 1 August as he heads to Chicago to party with the Trash Menagerie crew at their 2nd Taxidermy bang-off at Debonair!!!! Trash Yourself are in the studio working on their debut album, so expect some more tunes to hit the airwaves in the coming months! And get to know a bit about these Oklahomans in an amusing interview from this past WMC, Miami, where they say they’re “making people dance by saving the world.” Nice one kids.

Trash Yourself - Fuck The Police

Trash Yourself - Touch (AC Slater Remix)

Many people have been endlessly asking me, “What about the Portishead remix album? What about the Portishead remix album? When is it going to be done?” Well it is finally done and ready for consumption. For those who dont know, The Noise/Floor Crew, started by Lady Foursquare, Angel Alanis (my partner in War Games) and myself, has been in the process of remixing the entirety of Portishead’s “Third” since about a month before it came out.

It began as one critically acclaimed remix of “Machine Gun” that was begging for more drums and snowballed into an all out reinterpretation of Portishead’s minimal masterpiece. Most are by NFC but we enlisted a couple of other producers, namely Flufftronix, 12th Planet, ASiH and A. Black, to round out the album. A few tracks were left in a somewhat recognizable state but most were torn to shreds and reassembled into an almost unrecognizable form. The individual tracks cover a broad range of styles from house to electro to minimal to maximal that all came together to make one hell of an album.

Is it better than the original? Am I allowed to ask that given my involvement? I guess it depends what you’re into, but our take certainly brings it out of the lofty art-rock realm and without dumbing it down. Anyways, I’ll quit talking it up and let you be the judge. As this is not a sanctioned remix album, I’m curious to see what Portishead will say about this since, in the past, they’ve been so staunchly against remixes of their own music. Below is a link to the entire album in a tidy .zip along with a lengthy (tl;dr) description of who Noise/Floor Crew really is. I thought I’d also give it to you track by track as well but I’d recommend listening to it as a whole album. And be sure to go to somewhere besides itunes (damn the man) and buy Portishead’s album as well.

Third Floor - Portishead’s “Third” Reimagined by The Noise/Floor Crew (ALBUM ZIP)

1. Portishead - We Carry On (Noise/Floor Crew Rmx)

2. Portishead - Nylon Smile (War Games Rmx)

3. Portishead - Magic Doors (Noise/Floor Crew Rmx)

4. Portishead - Threads (Guest Mix By Flufftronix)

5. Portishead - Machine Gun (Noise/Floor Crew Rmx)

6. Portishead - Plastic (Noise/Floor Crew Rmx)

7. Portishead - Silence (Noise/Floor Crew Rmx)

8. Portishead - Small (Guest Mix By ASiH + A. Black)

9. Portishead - Hunter (12th Planet of N.F.C. Remix)

10. Portishead - The Rip (Noise/Floor Crew Rmx)

11. Portishead - Deep Water (Noise/Floor Crew Rmx)

You say you’re searching for that perfect summer tune?? Well here is a lush edition to your pool of summer favorites. “Walking On A Dream“, by Empire of the Sun, remixed by Aussie producer/Dj extraordinaire, Sam La More has pure golden summer splashed all over it.

With this tune comes a long history with remixer Sam La More (Sam Littlemore), a man who has had his hand in countless productions over the years beginning with his 2003 club hit “Takin’ Hold” on Underworld Records, which brought the label much attention earning them “Label of The Year 2003″ by DJ Magazine. 2006 took shape for his project Tonite Only with partner Groove Terminator (Simon Lewicki) and two notable remixes “All This Love” for The Similou and “Pictures” for Sneaky Sound System landed them on everyone’s playlist.

Sam has produced and remixed music for a whole gang of artists that include P. Diddy ft. Kelis, Gwen Stefani, Nelly Furtado, The Similou, Robbie Williams, Princess Superstar, Potbelleez, Sneaky Soundsystem, Ladytron, Darren Emerson (Underworld), GusGus, Black Eyed Peas and many more. He is highly recognized for his production along with Nelle Hooper on Gwen Stefani’s 2004 single “What You Waiting For”.

Currently living in Sydney working on solo projects, as well as writing, producing and performing for younger brother Nick Littlemore’s (who is also part of Teenager with Pip Brown) fantastic Australian electronic act PNAU. Love that bouncy sun icon on their profile page and the rest of the happy characters! Sam just played a gig for the lovely folks at DURRR and will be supporting PNAU along with Operator Please this August on The Embrace Tour in Melbourne! He has also remixed this years Ministry of Sound’s The Clubbers Guide to 2008.

There is little info on Empire of the Sun, aside from the fact that the group is comprised of Nick Littlemore (PNAU) and Luke Steel (Sleepy Jackson). Sam has remixed the first single off their LP which is due out September. Other mixes are expected from Vanshe Tech and Hong Kong Blondes as well!! For now, let the proggy “Walking On A Dream” take you into the heat of the summer!!

Empire of the Sun - Walking On A Dream (Sam La More Remix)