Come On, Lets Get High

Sometimes stuff slips through the cracks. Really good stuff. Stuff thats around you, that people listen to, people love yet kinda stays at the back of your mind. Much is made of the so called blog consensus. That hive mentality that picks out its big albums for the year and so you know whats coming in that top 5 on Pitchfork/GorillavsBear/Stereogum/Pazz and Jop months before theyre published. Last year Merriweather Post Pavillion and Veckitemist dominated so much though other albums quality albums get left in their wake (and that's no shots at those albums, I love them both). At the same time everyones trying to push their own pet projects, making sure the really obscure stuff isn't left to float on by unnoticed, and good on them. That's how we do pick up on whats new fresh and keep music moving forward, by exposing them to new ideas.

Yet in all that sometimes stuff gets ignored, overlooked and cast away to the bottom rungs on the end of year lists, if remembered at all.

I am of course talking about Franz Ferdinand's blistering third album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand.

I can see why it happened. Released in January in the shadow of Animal Collective. The Yeah Yeah Yeah's came through with their excellent It's Blitz and its two huge singles, driving them to dance rock domination. And as a result of the declining sway of Brit-Rock and dance-punk and the rise of lo-fi/glo-fi and a Britain under the spell of the XX (another sweet band), Franz Ferdinand got lost in the shuffle.

And what a shame it is. This album was one that was constantly on blast throughout the year. I used to work at a bottle shop back home where the staff had near total control of the stereo (No Wu-tang was one of the few rules, its not store appropriate apparently). As a result of a busy work schedule, it became the best place that once you got a new album, you could put it on and let it play through, no temptation to start skipping tracks and as such you could really appreciate an album as a whole, from start to finish.

And "Tonight" is one of those albums. It plays (i think i remember reading somewhere that it was intentional) like a night out. Starts slow, seedy, sticky, chasing girls, to the massive climax of the new version of Lucid Dreams, the center piece of the album with its meeaaaaaan electronic section before the final come down of Dream again and the drunken, softly spoken memories of the night before in the reprise closer of Katherine Kiss Me.

And what a journey it is. There is simply not a bad song on this album. Beyond the massive singles like Ulysses and No You Girl's, each track is memorable and catchy in its own way. Each one presented with that white boy dandy swagger and class, with the filthy dubbed out bass and seedy lyrics.

So if anyone is reading this, I emplore you to go back to this album. Seriously, this is still played every time before I go out to party. Its something that should not have been overlooked but this can always be rectified. Do your self a favor and cop it now.

Welcoming Rant/The Swiss

So I don't exactly anyone at all to start reading this travesty of a blog for some time. That being said who knows, maybe it will take off.

Anyways, firstly, gotta say. I'm a bit disappointed at the moment. Dance musics got a bit uninspired recently. Well, let me be a bit more specific. Despite first getting into this stuff at the tender age of 12 with my purchase of Discovery by Daft Punk (shit yeah thats some cred right there), i really got involved when this whole blog house thing was taking off. Even since my formative years listening to Daft Punk and Fatboy Slim, I'd dreamed of one day djing and playing the music i loved to huge crowds of people.

Yet with the advent of this whole electro movement ting, and i finally had some money in my pocket, it seemed like an achievable thing. Piles and piles of free, quality music rushing around the internet to be played to friends and danced around to like a complete tosser. Those were the days when the MSTRKRFT remix of Monster Hospital was the coolest thing around and every banger, classic, mashup, rap break down and choon seemed ultra fresh and the best thing ever. and hell alot still holds up today.

It's not like that anymore. Everything got too distorted. It wasn't fun anymore. Quality control was raped and left on the side of the road by a marauding HYPEM. Hearing rap with electro wasn't mind blowing. The new generation of producers who emerged in the gap after everyones first album really didnt know how to make songs. Like nothing against their production abilities, but there werent SONGS. The new heroes (Fake Blood, MSTRKRFT, Crookers, Digitalism) while celebrated by everyone (shit id still go seem dj/play live) really wernt making the classics that we wanted them to. The scene ran out of steam and everyone (most very slowly) started going their separate ways.

We now kinda exist in a place where the fucking buff dudes with no shirt on play 2 year old electro to the girls who have bleached their hair so much it looks like its going to fall out. People have run to the hills embracing tech-house (boring), dubstep (exciting but very very hit and miss) and disco (love it but dont always get it myself). As such a guy like myself is left in a place where he needs something to get him excited about dance music that he like and can still get a crowd moving.

So while this seems like a depressing place to be (it is sometimes:( ) all hope is not lost. This is blog thats designed to showcase the stuff that still gets me going, stuff thats exciting, quality and generally awesome. Stuff like Australian electro, disco, hip hop, UK funky, some dubstep and maybe some psychadelic indie shit. Oh and dont forget some shameless self promotion.

Anyways assuming anyone read that elitist rant, i figure they should be rewarded with at least some music. so here it is.

Moonlight Hours (The Swiss Remix)
This is Moonlight Hours by The Holidays, remixed by the Swiss in 320 goodness.
This is prolly the best thing ive heard dance music wise for a minute and best yet they're from Australia. This is what I'm talking about when i mean Australian electro, that 80's trashy but insanely smooth and funky vibe to it, that combination of cheeky synths but a driving bassline. Splits the difference for disco and electro heads and is still a good SONG. remember those things SONGS, not pieces of shit? yeah thought so.
anyways check out more here, buy the E.P ect ect.

anyways thanks for reading.
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