It's a Beautiful life...

Few things to share on this (post-massive storm) Wednesday morning. The first is simply a single track..

Gui Boratto - Beautiful Life

A stunning track, perhaps even the highlight, from a stunning debut album from Brazillian producer Gui Boratto. Though he's been producing for over adecade or so he only dropped his first long player this year, a rather great mix of slightly minimal techno, with a warm brazilain edge to it and elements of house and electro thrown in for good measure. Beautiful life though, is a slice of pure blissed out indulgance. Imagine Nathan Fake coming up at sunrise on a quiet beach in Sao Paulo and you'ree somewhere close. I'd reccomend it over the new Justice and Simain Mobile releases to be honest, though you should look into those soon afterwardss! On that note, here's a touch of Mr. Fake for comparrison:

Nathan Fake - You Are Here


Secondly, i'd like to point out that everyone's favourtie potty-mouthed little French lady, Uffie, is piosed to drop her debut next month (if word on the 'net is to be believed). She also has a new single released, i believe, at the start of the week. Going by the name "First Love", it comes across as a slightly deeper, more emotive effort than her previous works and certaionly beats the hell out of her recent collaboration with Justice and her track for the Ed Rec 2 compilation which, frankly, just felt ruched. I'd say there definitely seems to be much more of a Mehdi influence in this new track as well. Anyway, it's definitely the best thing she's done since the Hot Chick/In Charge split and i'm rather fond of it.

Uffie - First love

The final thin to mention, bearing in mind this current trend for indie dnace movement, is Gomma Records from Germany. having more akin, i think, to Kitsune than Ed Banger, who concentrate on (somewhat accidentally it would seem) on their roster of electronic artisits who all happen to have an upbringing on instruments, lending a wonderful organic feel to their tracks. Seemingly, and criminally, ignored with the current popularity of the French seen you should go and see for yourselves that Germany is always prepared to step up and fight for it's reputation. A recent cut from artist Golden Bug:

Golden Bug - Barbies Back

Summer is here!

Or is it? I'm not sure to be honest... How many good days have we had since April? Not enough by my reckoning. Anyway, to those of you who have been dilligently (thank you) checking up here you, of course, have noticed that there has been little (read: nothing) happening. My apologies. I suppose i could say that i've been busy what with the whole graduation process etcetera, but in reality i've just been enjoying myself a little too much as well as my internet beeing down for a number of weeks now. Dave i can't speak for, i suspect he's just lazy (yeah, how'd you like them apples Dave!). So time for a round up of the exciting stuff we've been up to over the last month or so.

Firstly, there was last month's Dollop, a great round of to a year of great nights with Friendly Fires really outdoing themselves, getting half the crowd on stage and ending up playing "Your Love" twice for that very reason. I certainly wasn't complaining. Brilliant. Mr. Flash then proceeded to wow with his turntable skills for much of the rest of the night. (i have since been told this was acctually Vicarious Bliss, but as most of the Ed Rec crew have longish hair and are fairly beardy, i'm just not sure as to who it really was!). Either way it was fantastic fun and our (mystery) Ed Recker was on fine form, even rolling out Rage Against The machine's "Killing In The Name" which seems to, oddly, be becoming somewhat of a rave classic. Fun stuff indeed.

Friendly Fires - Your Love

Next up, two days later on Sunday 27th (May) was Nottingham's own Dot to Dot festival. In short, this was bascially owned by Late Of The Pier, who fucking killed their set. These guys are on fire at the moment and are easily worth all the attention they're getting. Also, they're nearly as nice as Bolt Action Five and you know how much we like them! Other highlights were Foals, Kate Nash (anyone who slates Caroline's a Victim should hear it live, fantastic!) and my second favourite moment of the day (after LOTP's "Bathroom Gurgle") Was Tapedecks' double set, sandwhiching Bonde Do Role, culminating in their remix of Atlatis to Interzone (tell me you know who it's by!). What a moment! Download it below from an old post. Another great day in Nottingham.

The next few weeks were more or less lost in a drunken haze with many a random house party and drinking through hangovers of various degrees of seriousness. Highlights, off the top of my head, would have been Justice and Busy P demolishing the MArcus Garvey ballroom at Firefly's seventh birthday. Big up those guys for putting on slamming techno nights for seven years now! Justice were great, as always i imagine. The nice surpirse was Busy P, who i thought was just there because of his position as Ed banger boss. Wrong. A talented DJ he was indeed, and worked the crowd well, who were all pumped for Justice when they appeared (after, it must be said, a somewhat unnecesaary set from local beatboxer, Petebox). Once again, props to the Ed Rec crew for being, well, amazing.

The only fault at this stage had been Fresh Out Of Death. Don't get me wrong, i had a great time and Punks Jump Up knocked out a killer set. I was, though, slightly dissappointed by DJ Mehdi. Having a few of his tunes/remixes on record (not to mention he's a big player for Ed Banger) i was really quite exctied, on arrival though he seemed far to intent on mixing too many tuines in too quickly, giving his set a fractured feel as it never allowed and flow or momewntum to build up. Shame. On that note we left, meaning that we missed exciting new prospect d.i.m. (recently signed to Turbo recordings, owned, i believe, by Tiga) who i'm sure was immense, but it was firefly the next day and we were tired and poor. Drat. Thus we ambled home feeling a little dissaponted. Still, kudos to the Fresh Out Of Death crew for the line up, it was a sick one.

Punks Jump Up - Dance To Our Disco (Baseball Furies mix)

d.i.m. - Airbus Baby

All that's left to report after that would be my Saturday in Hyde park over the weekend for the O2 Wireless festival with, excuse my language, motherfucking DAFT PUNK! A few days of crappy weather cleared up in the early afternoon meaning we got to enjoy the likes of Shy Child (better than OK, but nothing special), Datarock (hilarious fun, probably a highlight for sheer comedy value alone, but don't let that detract you from the music. They have an array of absolutely cracking tunes. Go see 'em, you won't regret it), Digitalism (amazing, of course, though the Daft Punkisms can not be denied. It's no bad thing though, look how good they are! I was paticularly glad to hear new single Pogo, probably the best inide track i've heard since Banquet, and written by an electro band. Doesn't say a lot for indie at the moment), New Young Pony Club (i have to say it, i'm really not that big a fan... but they were ok), CSS (well, the end of, wish i'd seen more as it was so much fun, Off the Hook and Music is My Hot Hot Sex in paticular were fantastic, but those drink queues are so long). After that we sat outside the XFM tent having a beer and listening to Simian Mobile Disco (as we'd seen them in the rescue rooms the week before). they sound imbecible and i couldn't refrain from dancing around like a twat on my own, nice. A little bit of LCD Soundsytem (good, i think i need to look into them more, but they didn't sound as good as i expected, in fact there was a distincly un-electronic sound about i was a little dissapointed by, but hey, everyone else seemed to be loving it so i'm probably wrong. Then again, didn't Bon Jovi release something titled something along the lines of, "Shit loads of people can't be wrong"? Well John, yes they can as you're music has always struck me as the aural equivilant of of a paticularly nasty session on the loo after a piss up and a curry. Go listen to Iron Maiden to see how it's supposed to be done, or even Van Halen). Anyway, i digress, Midday through we went to get more beer, abandoning our frined Ruth (who seemed to find the rest of her friends and have a good evening beyond that, so no worries) when i heard Klaxons playing Golden Skans coming from the XFM tent. being quite drunk at this point we, again, sat outside the tent with our beer and sang along loudly to every word of the rest of the set much to the enjoyment/ammusent/annoyance of those around us. I loved every second of it. Do not be put off by things lke their performance on the Jothnathon Ross show, in real gig situations they sound ace. Which leaves us with Daft Punk (myspace) themsleves. Having missed the start due to our antics outside the XFM tent we ended up pushing our way to the middle to the sounds of Robot Rock. Hell, it suited me fine. They spent most of the next hour and a half (or so) knocking out one of the best sets i've ever heard, possibly surpassed by Iron Maiden performing tracks only from their first four albums at Reading 2005 and Isis on the "Oceanic tour" in... 2003 i believe. I may well have fallen strongly in love with Bangalter and de Homen-Christo, but let's keep that hush-hush... So, returning for on encore, complete with lit up robot costumes (the final touch to the greatest light show i've ever borne witness to)i seem to remember hearing "Human After All" (again), "Prime Time of your Life," "da Funk," and possibly a bit more of One More Time... Either way, it's definitely in my top three shows of all time, maybe even top, only time will tell.


Datarock - Fa Fa Fa


Daft Punk - Da Funk

CSS - Music Is My Hot Hot Sex

CSS - Let's Make Love... (Simian Mobile Disco RMX)

And now, in the aftermath, i'm sitting at home missing all my friends deeply, looking forward to catching up with a few back in Nottingham in the last week and a half of June and as many of the rest of you over as many years as possible, with my newly required degree (which i'm not entirely sure i need, but is nice to have) wondering what the hell to do now, hence the rambling in this post, but if anyone reading this happens to run a record store in London and needs an employee it'd be good to hear from you (Ha, if only!).

There are, as always, some downloads for you pleasure. however, as always, we ask that you make some effort to go and see the bands and Djs that you love and make buy some of their merchandise, albums or singles on you favourite format so that they can carry on doing what they love and we can keep writing about them! Some bands i have purposefully not put up downlaods for as they already have some up here. Go search, you might find an interesting piece i wrote a few months back, though probabably not and thus just download the track... I forever live in hope though.

All my love,


Chuck.



P.S. Just bookended my year by finishing John Peel's Autobiography "Margrave of the Marshes" A Fantastic, very emotive read and, i feel, perhaps essential reading for any open minded music fan and i thoroughly recomend buying it, though if you know me, just ask to borrow mine.

P.P.S. One thing I forgot, my surprise find of the day at Dot to Dot, Dolby Anol. They were really quite good. I Believe we were treated to a rare live show, though it may have just been DJing with laptops, either way they are definitely ones to keep an eye on.

Dolby Anol - Vista-Countdown (Freelance Hellraiser Mix)

Crushingly delightful.

Having finished university, i figured i'd take the opportunity to go
home for the first time in five or so months and relax before the
delights of Dollop and
Dot to Dot
Festival next weekend. It's also a good time to save a bit of
much needed cash.



Anyway, after my taxi didn't turn up
and i missed my train i was a little irritated and had an hour and a
half to kill before the next train. So, of to Selectadisc i traveled thinking this time i'd
explore my roots a little rather than head straight in and picking up
the new Chromeo 12" and such like. Sticking to the downstairs area i figured i'd look for one of Nottingham's finest (sadly now defunct) bands, Iron Monkey. Around at the turn of the millenia Nottingham's Iron Monkey are one of, if not the, finest sludge metal act to have graced the planet and are frequently referred
to as possibly the heaviest band EVER. Put simply, they sound like Like
Black Sabbath if they'd been a lot angrier and had spent the last
thirty odd years stewing in tar rather than acting as drug dustbins
with Motley Crue . Sadly, after only two albums they split, and though
the members went on to form more bands, none have reached the same
levels of influence as Iron Monkey, though the likes of Dukes of
Nothing (also now defunct)and Capricorns
(still going and great) are still verydsserving of your ears. Singer
Johnny Morrow, who went on to become a founding member of Murder One
died unexpectedly after their first gig in 2002. R.I.P. Johnny. Anyway,
after searching, i finally found a special edition copy of their second
album, "Our Problem" which come as a double package with their classic
first LP "Iron Monkey" and guess what, it's one of the best metal
records i've heard for a while and it's a good 6years old. It's bands like this that make me not want to leave Nottingham.

As a smapler, my favourite track:

Iron Monkey - House Anxiety

Before i'd picked out

Before finding that however, i'd been eyeing up a copy of, Godflesh legend, Justin K. Broadrick's new opus with his current incarnation, the formidable Jesu. Infamous for his mastery of crushing industrial (no, not in the Nine Inch Nails sense, acctually good and as heavy as the sound of grinding machinery) he has sinced moved into slightly more paletteable territory with Jesu. this is not to say he's lost any of his heaviness, don't get me wrong, listning to Jesu is still frequnetly the aural equivilent to having an elephant sit on your chest, but with it has come a lighter touch as well. Beautiful melodies soar across and above the industrial grind, creating some of the most moving music i have heard in a long time, music with genuine feeling to it. The new record, Conqueror, has taken Broadrick even further along this path. Full of melancholic beauty it is, at times, like the soundtrack to witnessing an angel full of despair, weeping on the ground. Still there also is the crushing intensity that binds it alll together and helps gaige the snse of despair. Yet, somehow, through all this he somehow manages to instill an incredible, uplifting feeling into the music, testament surely to Broadrick's incredible talent.

One of the lighter moments from the album, a quite stunning track,

Jesu - Mother Earth

Jesu - Conqueror

Perhaps a slightly odd change in direction, but i think we've covered a lot of electrro since our inception in late March/early April and i though it was time i showed another side of my musical character.
The Iron Monkey track, i have to admit, will most likely not appeal to many, though any fans of Sabbath may do well to investigate as the influence is quite audible.

Jesu, however, i think might be deeply enjoyable to the discerning music fan among you. Anyone who counts themselves as a fan of the "post-", shoegaze, experimental etc gernres may be highly intrigued by them. Think of bands such as Godspeed, Pelican, Isis, Battles, Cave In and most bands encroaching upon the heavier end of post-rock and any industrial band since Godflesh were formed, as they will all have been influenced to some degree by Justin K. Broadrick.


Chuck.

Plastic Cowboys Mixtape No #1

Miss Odd Kidd - Weed, Wine and Wankers (SLUTTT Bust in Ur Face mix)
Simian Mobile Disco - Sleep Deprivation
Bolt Action Five - Tree Friend Tree Foe (Cleft Palettes rmx)
Riot in Belgium - La Musique
Suspersystem - Miracle
Le Rave Era - Flushing Meadow
Klaxons - Golden Skans (Switch Remix)
Bobmo - Home Alone
Guns n' Bombs - Crossover Appeal
Passions - Emergency


This, it would seem, is the first Mixtape (of sorts) by The Cowboys. Putting together a mix of tracks, artists and remixes we love at the moment or think deserve to be/will be huge. Mixing up a variety of artists from London, further afield in England, to Paris and more, I think everything here is on it's way up, outside of Klaxons obviously, though the Switch mix here is unreleased as for some reason no label seemed to want it and it almost became an utter myth before the kind people behind Electric Zoo (I think) picked it up and got it out.


Dropping a couple more links in order that every artist/remixer is covered here:

The Cleft Palettes

Switch

Bolt Action Five Blog

Sluttt


Enjoy,


Dav & Chuck

I love my bed

The weekend was pretty epic, ergo, i've been in bed a lot hyping, ergo, a couple of bits and pieces to share with you.
First up, just got the new mstrkrft remix off puttheneedleontherecord.com, this is so fresh it's got Pete Tong talking over it, still definately worth a listen though!

Justice - D.A.N.C.E (mstrkrft remix)

You can buy more Mstr Krft stuff here or here!

The video to the original is pretty cool as well and makes the blog look all nice and pretty.



(A robot friend of mine hyped me the leak of Justice's new album last night as well. I'm sure its pretty illegal, there will be some posting at some point, just when i'm sure we won't be sued)

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Keeping on the French theme (as usual) Teenage Bad Girl, who have been doing the blog rounds for quite a while, released their debut LP last month on Citizen Records and is definately worth checking out. They've got a really dark, dirty and typically French electro sound. A nasty piece of filth to get your rocks off to. Here's a couple of tidbits to get you hyped up.

Teenage Bad Girl - Tales From The Pigs

Teenage Bad Girl - Cocotte (Boyz Noise rework)

Buy Cocotte here!

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Another band that I (and everyone else it seems) am really excited about is NYC based Battles (not to be confused with shit brit-indie rock act Battle). Battles have a got a really unique sound that on paper really should work, but sooo does. Dirty drum beats, and weird squarky vocals, mixed in with what seems like about a million other instruments. Their debut LP was out on monday, so hype this shit up and get your own copy!

Battles - Atlas

Battles - Ddiamondd

Buy here, here or here.

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One last thing that it think deserves a mention is fellow blogspot, www.thehoodinternet.net. DJs ABX and DJ STV SLV have made a trade of mashing up some really unlikely tracks, namely electro/indie with gangster rap. You really wouldn't expect it to work, but more often than not it really does.

A couple of my favourites:

AESOP ROCK vs THE KNIFE

DJ STV SLV - We Share Our Mother's Jumper Cables

SNOOP DOGG vs ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI

ABX - That's That Whirlwind

Institubes, France and that.

It would seem that French label Intstitubes, otherwise known as the home of electro genuises Para One and Surkin, have come up trumps again with their new singning. Youngster, only 19, Bobmo has just had his first release put out by the label, and it's pretty special. While he may only be young, he's certainly going to be a big player within the next year it would seem. Just look at the rise of Kissy Sell Out and you'll see what i mean. I dont know what it is about France at the moment but it seems the country can do very little wrong in terms of creating and releasing absolutely cracking dance music. Anyway, a little taster of what's to come with this new wonderkid:

Bobmo - To The Bobmobile

He's also playing this Friday at the Modular party in London with Late of the Pier DJs, so if you're around you know where to go!

Another, obvious example of France's bang on the money output is, of course, the Ed Banger and in particular, Wunder-duo Justice. With D.A.N.C.E. out in the shops as of April 23rd (though i'm yet to see evidence of this, maybe i'm just too slow off the mark) and an album on the cards for the summer (June or July are therumors) along with fellow electro fiends Simian Mobile Disco, Digitalism and Uffie, they seem to able to do no wrong at the moment. Catch them in may at Fabric (check the listings) with The Chemical Brothers and on June 9th at Firefly with Speedy J (nasty techno, perhaps in the vein of Paco Osuna who played at the last event with Ivan Smagghe) and Busy P (you know him, right?). In celebration of me finally getting the chance to see Justice, this was linked to me by a friend, check it out. A new Justice track, supposedly off the album, though in is going to be changed for the album so think of it as a promo... Anyway, it features everyone's favourite little French temptress, Uffie and sounds like:

Justic - The Party (featuring Uffie)


Lastly, thanks to Hianta from the wonderful Fluo Kids The Tough Alliance have pretty much become my band of they year (or should that be last year as that's when the album was released...?), anyway, they're still an amazing pop band and by all rights deserve to be a lot better known. With seemingly very bizarre lyrical content (songs about having cola in your veins anyone?) my favourite track off the album seems to be about a hard life in kitchen... or something. Check it out anyway:

The Tough Alliance - In The Kitchen

See you around,

Chuck

Quick recap...

Right, aquired some tracks that have been mentioned, but unavailable. So, back to The Tough Alliance a track from their rather good New Waves ep:

The Tough Alliance - Silly Crimes

Then, a preview of Late of the Pier's amazing second single. Though this is only going to be here a short while (like i said, a preview) as i believe that it is being released fairly soon, so check it ut then see if you can be one of the lucky few who magage to get hold of copy. It's rare stuff, may be quite an item when they're MASSIVE!

Late of the Pier - Bathroom Gurgle

And finally, what i think might be my favourite Klaxons remix. prime example of the genius of London Duo, Tapedeck. They have a myspace HERE with some other wicked mixes, like the Kate nash - Caroline's a Victim which is just as ace. They also run a clubnight in London, Old Street called BOSH at the Old Blue Last. Ever around In London on a Friday go and check it out, it's about a fiver in and they always get great stuff there.

Klaxons - Atlantis to Interzone (Tapedeck Aiyia Napa To Interzone Mix)


Later.

Chuck


p.s. I have noticed that a lot of links seems to be coming up "not found" so next post is going to include a list of them that, hopefully, will. Out.