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Thursday, June 12, 2008 

adventures in fake dj'ing: LAZR BASS edition...



This mix kinda came outta nowhere...

This morning I upgraded my fake DJ software and then started playing with a bunch of random mp3s randomly left on my desktop. I wasn't really going for anything in particular, nor did I have plans of publishing this mix, but I like the way it turned out... it's a nice collection of electro de jour type tunes complete with lots of heavy distorted synthy-bass (aka LAZR BASS!!1).

Most of the bands in the mix are everywhere these days (and sorta done to death?). The set feels kinda disposable, but that's what makes it work... it's a nice, brainless, pick-me-up. It's the sorta mix that should be played on a Friday night at some point between when you leave work and when you (finally) go to bed.

The set list (total time = 40 minutes):
MGMT - Electric Feel (Nate Wize RMX)
A-Trak - Knucklehead
We Are Scientists - Chick Lit (Danger TV Remix Edit)
Blackstreet - No Diggity (Skeet Skeet Remix)
Digitalism - Idealistic (A-Trak Remix)
Justice - DVNO
Anoraak - Nightdrive With You (GRUM's New Wave Remix)
Martina Topley Bird - Poison (Van She Mix)
Revolte - Guess What
Klaxons - As Above, So Below (Justice Remix)

*Download the mp3 here* [54MB, right click & save-as]

Or better yet, subscribe to the fake dj set podcast here. (full details can be found here).

PS: If I ever put another Justice or A-Trak track/remix into one of my sets, you are welcome to stab me with a plastic fork.

elsewhere

most bafflingly awful song of the year

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[ perma-link ]

Monday, April 7, 2008 

april mixtape = actually ready on time (sorta)...



Note to self: stop compiling these tapes on a 4 year old laptop with a +90% full hard drive, you're missing out on a lot of sleep by working on a slow, clunky POS.

Here's this month's tape... starts out heavy with the guitars, then briefly veers off into sublime electro territory, finally ending with some more acoustic stuff. Well rounded and good to go. Sidebar: I'm really enjoying that new Black Keys album.

elsewhere

pitchfork.tv is up and running

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Monday, March 3, 2008 

adventures in fake dj'ing: vacation mode edition...



I shall type quick... I'm a few minutes away from heading to the airport and taking a week or so off real life. I'm beyond pumped to be trading in snowpants for board shorts.

Based on this, I've created a DJ set for going braindead to while on a beach. The obvious choice for a mix like this would be some sort of downtempo-ish set of music, but I tend to like other kinds of stuff when I'm working on my tan. The intent isn't to fall asleep but rather keep a good time feeling going. Anyhoo, this is the track list:
Mylo - Zenophile
Robyn - Crash and Burn Girl (Jesper Dahlback Remix)
Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes
Uffie - First Love (Flufftronix Upbeat Mix)
Cut Copy - Lights & Music (Moulinex Remix)
Cadence Weapon - In Search of the Youth Crew
Daft Punk - Technologic (Balboa Remix)
Mylo - Musclecar (Reform Reprise)
Justice - D.A.N.C.E. (Stuart Price Remix)
Daft Punk - Voyager
Armand Van Helden - Flowerz
T-Wrecks - Way I Are (T-Wrecks Remix)
Chromeo - Tenderoni (MSTRKRFT RMX)
Sebastien Tellier - Sexual Sportswear


*Download the mp3 here* [65MB, right click & save-as]

Or better yet, subscribe to the fake dj set podcast here. (full details can be found here).

And on that note, I'm outta here.

elsewhere

vancouver tourism: shit on car

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Wednesday, February 6, 2008 

february mixtape is good to go...



Yes, it's a couple of days late, but these kind of things are worth the wait... right? right.

You could almost split this month's mix right down the middle into two halves... or, in this case, sides of a tape. The first side is driven by guitar and melody, the second by samples and drum machines. I didn't really plan that, it just turned out that way... with sexy results. Hopefully.

As always, this is a limited time offer. Get on it.

elsewhere

canaddiction | auto-tune abuse in pop music

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Thursday, January 24, 2008 

We Will Bend, We Will Break, etc...



JOY! Jason Anderson is offering his new album, On The Street, for free download (hat tip to the sufjan beat). You can download the thing here.

Some of you may recall Jason's track July 4, 2004 ended up on the vanmega best of 2007 almanac. A rework of that track is featured on the freebie disk. While the original version was long and drawn out, this new version is tight and succinct. The same can be said of the rest of the album, it still feels fun and jangly, but it's grounded by focus. I love how this is a studio album but there's a live feel to it. Lots of bands talk about recording like this, most never pull it off.

A sampling for those who can't commit to zip files:


elsewhere

i bet the Oscar people are really kicking themselves....

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Monday, January 14, 2008 

overheard last weekend...



Me and Tk and Nick met up for drinks a couple of Friday nights ago. We did an impromptu micro pub crawl. I'm not sure there were any actual DJ's playing at any of the locals on 4th, but there was one place which had a pretty solid playlist going. If I recall correctly it was a bunch of newish stuff with occasional old school throwback, you know, waaaay back to 2005 - 2006. This was one of the throwbacks played:

This song has haunted me since hearing it. I can't get it out of my head, and I don't want to. Despite being firmly rooted in an electric world, this track manages to sneak in harmonies, key changes, and bittersweet word play... yet, the entire time the thing sounds optimistic and uplifting. It's like an anti-banger... if there is such a thing.

---



Hey, guess what... I don't like Bob Dylan. Or rather, I've never gotten into his stuff. Sorry. I've tried. It's just never clicked. With that said, I've got a copy of I'm Not There which I will watch. I have dug into the soundtrack though... not surprizingly, I'm not entirely feeling it. The exception however, is this:

It's hard to believe this is the same guy who put out Sky Blue Sky. Tweedy kills it, adding a more stated melody to the Dylan cover. The delivery feels more refined than the original, ultimately making it far more heart wrenching than the original. Perfect for lazy Saturdays or miserable messes. Or miserable messes having lazy Saturdays, I would guess.

elsewhere

mix: wake up, stay in bed

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Sunday, January 6, 2008 

january mixtape: pilfer away..



Welcome to 2008, blog-based pals.

We might as well get the year started off with new music and a new mix. Actually, since nothing new comes out in later half of December, and since there was no actual December mixtape, a lot of the content on this tape reaches back and features stuff I never got a chance to blog-gush about. It's a solid little mix though; it starts strong with the guitar focused stuff and then slips into some sublime synthesized electro stuff. Magically delicious.

As always, this is a limited time thing. Get it while you can.

elsewhere

sometimes i tape stuff

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Friday, December 21, 2007 

adventures in fake dj'ing: all purpose party edition...



I'm about 15 hours away from hopping on a plane and heading home for the holidays. I'm so ready to go. The most best thing about going home is (1) seeing everyone I haven't seen in forever, (2) partying with them. Can't wait.

The music is always tricky at these random holiday reunion parties... you're hanging with all types of folks who like all types of music. So, I've put together a mix that pastes together all kinds of music. There's something for everyone: fluffy pop to old nostalgic stuff to hip hop to indie electro to rock n roll to stuff featured in iPod commercials. The result is about 30 songs beatmixed together in 40 minutes. My favorite part is when Sir Mixalot lyrics get paired with a Strokes riff and a Peter Bjorn & John beat.

Ferreals, if nothing on this mix appeals to you, then you're dead inside and ain't got no dream. Or something.

This is the set list:
Spank Rock - Touch Me
Stars - Elevator Love Letter
P.M. Dawn - Set Adrift On Memory Bliss
Cansei De Ser Sexy - Music Is My Hot Hot Sex
Shabba Ranks - Mr. Loverman
Kris Kross - Jump
The Blow - Hey Boy
The Bird and the Bee - Fucking Boyfriend
Le Tigre - Deceptacon (DFA remix)
M.I.A. - Jimmy
The Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)
Will.i.am - I Got It From My Mama (Break)
20 Fingers - Short Dick Man
Weezer - Island In The Sun
Fergie - Fergalicious
Blur - Boys and Girls
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction
Basement Jaxx - Do Your Thing
Daft Punk - Harder Better Faster Stronger (Baltimore Club Remix)
Justice vs. Simian - We Are Your Friends (Lower East Side Remix)
Feist - 1234 (Van She Remix)
Tegan & Sara - Back in Your Head
Peter Bjorn And John - Young Folks
Sir Mixx-a-lot - Baby Got Back
The Strokes - Take It Or Leave It
Crystal Waters - La Da Dee (Baltimore Club Remix)
New Young Pony Club - Ice Cream (Van She Tech Remix)
Luscious Jackson - Naked Eye


*Download the mp3 here* [53MB, right click & save-as]

Or better yet, subscribe to the fake dj set podcast here. (full details can be found here).

elsewhere

cookies with bacon

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Sunday, December 16, 2007 

metababble '07...



I've been busy this week compiling and creating the 2007 almanacs. I'm real happy with how it's all coming together. This year's playlist is a bit less eclectic than previous years, a bit more guitar driven. But that's not a bad thing.

Here are two tracks that I think are splendid (yeah, splendid), but didn't end up on the almanac as they didn't fit the flow of playlist:


The Axwell track sounds like parts of every electronic song ever released between 1987 - 1997 (but melted together and released in 2007) . The Pharoahe Monk track is sharp and a contemporary hyper-political take on the original Public Enemy track (he even updates the opening MLK sample!)

---

Favorite gig in 2007: Hands down, Daft Punk in Seattle. But 6 billion other people might have already told you that. The New Porno's show with Dan and Niko performing as a full team was gorgeous (in some sort of sweaty, loud, beer soaked sort of way). St Vincent was my favorite "discovery".

The most painful crowd I dealt with this year was at the LCD Soundsystem show at the Commodore. Just because the floor naturally bounces it doesn't mean you're entitled to be a pushy/punchy douche bag... does it?

---

Favorite album in 2007: The Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder.

New Magnetic Wonder is the perfect pop album. The normally obvious 60's influences found on Apples In Stereo tracks are dialed way down and the fuzz is turned up. Everything sounds optimistic, tight, and punchy. Oh and for me, the instances of vocoder, Mellotron, and Hilarie Sidney randomly on lead vocals are just extra gravy.

elsewhere

this is just offensive to lobsters and to rolls

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Thursday, December 6, 2007 

promise: this will be the last talk of robot rock this year...



Have you got yourself a copy of Alive 2007 yet? No, not that torrent of the Japanese release that popped up weeks ago... but an actual physical copy of the real thing? It's a book! A wonderful picture book, that just happens to come with 2 CDs worth of wonderful music.

Maybe it's because I've already heard the disk, maybe it's because I was fortunate enough to see Alive 2007 performed live, but I just can't get over the 50+ photos bundled with the disk. I look at them with the same kind of glee a mother would at their child's baby photos... except, of course, I had nothing to do with creating the band, the show, or the projection screens. But I'm certain that this summer I witnessed something fantastic and this package is a pretty compelling souvenir.

The best part is that while the photos/video clip included with Alive 2007 are great, they really don't capture the energy of the show. Recently, there was a web chat with Daft Punk and someone asked why they didn't release a full video of the show. Their response compared the idea to putting an IMAX film on a postage stamp. I couldn't agree more. And that might be why this disk/book rules so much... it tells the story, but those of us who saw the real thing are in on so much more.

This is the part of the post where I stop gushing and provide an mpthreve sample:

I realize that posting the encore is kinda like showing someone The Usual Suspects right from the part where Verbal leaves the station... but I can't resist, the track is flawless.

elsewhere

Freeload: Shala Esquire's Immortal Movement Radio Mix

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Tuesday, November 6, 2007 

november mixtape: come get it...



Well internet pals, here's the final mixtape of 2007.

As always, December's tape will be replaced with the annual vanmega audio almanac christmas gift mail out spectacular, which features a (gasp!) real CD. I'm certain you're counting down the seconds.


As always mixes are posted for a limited time. Go get it.

elsewhere

the making of "the choice is yours"

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Monday, November 5, 2007 

you're kinda ruining piracy for the rest of us...



A quick FYI for those of you jumping at the soon to be released live Daft Punk album Alive 2007: all those torrents popping up claiming to be advanced copies of the disk aren't advanced copies, rather mislabeled/repackaged copies of the infamous Coachella 2006 bootleg.

The thing I don't understand is why the number of seeders on these torrents seems to shoot up by the hour. Downloading for the sake of hoarding doesn't make sense to me.

The ironic dumb thing about all this is that I haven't - and - have no intention of getting my hands on an advance copy of this album. I'm waiting until the actual release day, going to the nearest record store, buying a copy of the CD (!) and giving the subs in my car workout. Why? This is the first time in forever (since Neon Bible?) that I'm genuinely overjoyed about a release. Childlike wonder, here we come. Hell, when I listen to those hit and miss bootlegs from this year's tour I still get goosebumps. This is a good thing.

Related: Because I'm not the completest I used to be, I didn't realize that the basis for the Alive 2007 tour encore was a ultra-sublime Thomas Bangalter side-project track:

I always though this was a custom made loop for the show... you gotta admit it nicely ties up the whole Robot vs Human theme used through out the set. With that said, the bass line on this track is beyond blissful. Someone really should play with it a bit... hmmmmm, this could be a fake DJ project.

elsewhere

how to tell if a web page sucks | so very

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Friday, September 28, 2007 

it's my party, i can sing if I want to...



How come at no point in the past 11 months no one told me about happybirthdaydenison.com?!

Apparently, Denison Witmer posted 33 (!) mp3s of him performing solo and acoustic in the studio. The songs, which are a blend of his own work and covers (Nick Drake, Jackson Browne, etc), were performed in only one or two takes and feel all loose and intimate... which, really, is how songs like this should be heard.

The point of posting these tracks isn't marketing, but rather charity. The mp3's are all free of charge. Denison hopes you donate to his favorite charities in exchange. Cool.

This is my favorite track of the bunch:

It's a gold mine of, uhhh, mellow gold. Not exactly stuff to get you fired up for a Friday night... but could be perfect for Saturday morning.

elsewhere

it's my site and i'll go absolutely lefsetz batshit crazy if i want to

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Thursday, September 27, 2007 

advanced apologies in advance...



Hey! Did you ever wonder what the vocals from Public Enemy's Bring The Noise would sound like when mashed up with the beat from that new Will.I.Am song? What's that? No?! You haven't ever wondered what it would be like?

Oh, well I put the two tracks together, mash-up style. Download:

I should (?) point out a few things:

(1) It's my understanding that the actual Will.I.Am (who punctuates their name that way, really?!) lyrics and, in turn, song border on possibly being teh worst in the galaxy

(2) I've never heard the actual song in it's entirety... so what do I know... other than that I'm a sucker for that Mardi Gras bell sample... and you're all suckers for big compressed synth blasts (thanks, Justice)

(3) This track was meant to be savored ironically... like a green Killers t-shirt in Comic Sans MS font.

So, uh, enjoy!

elsewhere

freakonomics: what's the future of the music industry?

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Wednesday, September 19, 2007 

reviewed: raising sand...



I'm well aware that you're not supposed to judge books by their covers... but when I came across that soon to be released Alison Krauss & Robert Plant album, Raising Sand, I was ready to pass. Never mind the actual album cover, the combination of the two performers seemed like a mess. Conceptually, mixing together Plant's weathered bravado with Krauss' angelic voice reminded me of last year's Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan collaboration... which was, for lack of better description, teh worst.

Turns out... I was completely off the mark. The Krauss & Plant collaboration is phenomenal... and may be one the best albums I've heard this year. Both artists hold hands and wade deep into the folk meets blues meets roots meets bluegrass ether. The collection of cover songs which make up Raising Sand are subtle and eloquent, whatever they might lack in volume they make up with gentle timeless grace.

The biggest treat on this album is Robert Plant's voice... you wouldn't even know the guy was once going balls-out, fronting Zeppelin. His delivery is muted, mature and graceful. It feels like he's purposefully stepping his game up to meet and compliment the alto space in which Alison Krauss thrives. It's refreshing and kinda wonderful.

Here's the obligatory mpthreve:

  • Alison Krauss & Robert Plant - Killing The Blues [mp3]

Highly recomended for those who like albums like Heartbreaker, etc.

elsewhere

14 american apparel models freed in daring midnight raid

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Wednesday, September 12, 2007 

september mixtape = finally ready...



Yikes! (Yes, yikes). This month's mixtape is out late. I'd like to give you some big story as to why this is the case, but in reality real life just got in the way of internet life. Tricky... but let's not dwell and focus on teh musics, okay?

This month's tape randomly turned out to be a bit of a slow burner save for a few amped up tracks in the middle. I assure you this has nothing to do with fall peaking its head around the corner. Either way, it's a gooder:


As always, this is a limited time offer.

Also, I'm thrilled that Rouge Wave is back.

elsewhere

the return of the most relevant shit in your iPod

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Wednesday, September 5, 2007 

adventures in fake dj'ing: me + myself + i edition...



Before headding out for that brain-melting long weekend party in the middle of nowhere last weekend, I relized that I'd be spending 6 hours alone in my car commuting to the event. 6 hours each way.

Barf.

I put together a mix to keep myself awake behind the wheel entertained while driving. Since the audience for the set was just myself, I really catered to songs I wanted to hear. Doesn't matter if the tracks are actually good or bad or generally played to death, they're songs that would hold my attention.

The result: a set of 18 surprizingly cohesive tracks over 50 minutes. This thing starts slow at around 90BPM and by the end hums along at 130 BMP+ with ease. The tracks are all over the map, some old forgotten stuff, some uber-tacky stuff (does Ralph Tresvant still get work?), and of course some early 90's obscure Canadian hip hop (yay!). Either way... all this stuff kept me going on the road. Hooray for everything... here's the track listing:
Audio Two - Top Billin (Curtis Vodka Remix)
Def Squad - Say Word
Naughty By Nature - Feel Me Flow
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Here We Go Again
Ralph Tresvant - Sensitivity
Color Me Badd - I Wanna Sex You Up
Divine Styler - Ain't Sayin Nothin'
House Of Pain - Jump Around (Pete Rock Remix)
The Pharcyde - Soul Flower (Remix)
De La Soul - "A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturdays"
Dream Warriors - Face In The Basin
Groove Armada - Easy
M.I.A. - Bamboo Banger
Modjo - Lady (Hear Me Tonight)
Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock - It Takes Two
Daft Punk - Digital Love
Kanye West - Stronger (A-Trak Remix)
Mylo - Drop the Pressure

*Download the mp3 here* [69MB, right click & save-as]

Or better yet, subscribe to the fake dj set podcast here. (full details can be found here).

elsewhere

discodust | kill them now

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Monday, August 20, 2007 

adventures in fake dj'ing: hot! local! favourites! edition...



As promised, I've assembled an hour long mix highlighting the bands featured in Quinn's 2007 hottest/best in Vancouver poll. This set isn't the normal beatmixed fake dj stuff I normally do, but rather more of a cross faded radio-show style mix... with no painful radio show banter, of course.

The track list:

The Clips - Kassle
The Doers - Art For $
Tranzmitors - Dancin' in the Front Row
You Say Party! We Say Die! - The Gap
White Lung - Back House
The Choir Practice - Failsafe
Organ Trail - Moonshine
They Shoot Horses, Don't They - A Place Called LA
Twin Crystals - First Girl
Fake Shark Real Zombie! - Wolf Is The New
Frog Eyes - Bushels
Immaculate Machine - Dear Confessor
Japandroids - Coma Complacency
Pink Mountaintops - New Drug Queens
Ladyhawk - The Dugout
Secret Mommy - Grand About The Mouth
Mutators - What Cuts Want
Bison - Dark Skys Above

*Download the mp3 here* [83MB, right click & save-as]

Or better yet, subscribe to the fake dj set podcast here.

Note: the cover art for this set is an obvious rip-off of this gig poster. We hope the artist doesn't totally freak out about this.

elsewhere

man, 10th grade was rough | murray and mel

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Saturday, August 18, 2007 

kitsilano hippie daze = bargin basement breaks?



Turns out it was Hippie Days on 4th street today. Yep, the one day of the year where Kits residents disregard neighborhood gentrification and let their freak flag fly by... uhhh... having sidewalk sales, painting faces, and playing Rolling Stones songs over the store's PA systems. Or something.

Yeah, yeah, I'm being needlessly harsh.

Anyways, I ended up running some errands on 4th and hopped into Zulu Records. In the spirit of the event they were liquidating heaps of their used stuff for cheap. A lot of people were, naturally, digging through crates of vinyl... I lucked out and found a small mountain of late 90's CD singles. About 3/4 of the box was crap (e.g. Eurohouse remixes of U2 tunes, Shaggy, etc)... but the remaining stack was this cornucopia of late 90's beat-beat meets French house meets the kinda stuff that Mixmag and the like were insisting that OMGZ you must go listen to on a beach in Ibiza immediately. For less than 5 bucks I got a bunch of out of print stuff, that I haven't heard in years. Of the haul, here's my favorite track:
For those of you who used to actually get my real cassette-based, authentically dj mixed mixtapes in the latter half of university, you might remember I played the hell out of this version of this track. I thought it was lost forever, apparently not.

Well played, hippies, well played.

elsewhere

stg. hotdog

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Tuesday, August 7, 2007 

more downloads: girl talk bandwidthexplosion!



Remember, a while back how I was looking for live bootlegs of Girl Talk shows? vanmega reader, Alex, put me up on a bunch of shows. Alex is hereby awarded 587 vanmega-points (redeemable at 7-11's everywhere). Because downloading these shows can be an uber-pain at times (dealing with yousendit, slow torrents, or even wrestling with flac files) I'm hosting my favorite of the shows I've heard:
This show took place about a week after the Vancouver show at Richard's... so there are lots of similarities... which is a good thing, if you were there and want to relive the sweaty insanity

Elsewhere, iamserio.us tapped and hosts two Seattle shows: the one in January and the one from a couple of weeks back. Both are different/awesome. Also, he points to a random sendspace mp3 link for the GT show at Langerado.

Also... SPOILER ALERT (?): some advice... if you've never seen the GT freakshow live, and you're going to any of the upcoming Girl Talk shows, such as the one at UBC in September or the one in Calgary in October DON'T download these sets. Keep it completely fresh and new. You have no idea what you're in for.

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Tuesday, July 31, 2007 

this is not a fansite, really...



Not to beat a dead horse into the ground, but I spent the better half of today day waiting for a torrent of Daft Punk's live performance in Paris in June of this year. Hey, I'm still coming down from Sunday's Seattle show... I needed a fix and shakey youtube vids can only get you so far. Anyways, because no one should have to wait half a day for music, I'm sharing the bootleg and offering direct http download:

A few things:

  • the best part of the bootleg is listening to the crowd go nuts. night after night, these shows are one big joyfest.
  • the set is, obviously, very similar to the Seattle set. there are differences though, for example, if you listen to the encores they play out quicker.
  • the last 5 minutes of the set is cut off from the recording, I have no idea why.
  • this will be a very limited time download offer... the file is huge, and between this and the fake dj sets, and other random concerts and media I've got up on the site, the servers will be getting a work out. Hey, I even delayed posting the August mixtape... and it's really good this month!

Rest assured, this will be the last I talk about Daft Punk for a while... unless I see you in person, and them I'm gonna tell you about the awesomeness until I'm blue in the face.

elsewhere

jason lee's coasting point looks like this

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Saturday, July 28, 2007 

adventures in fake dj'ing: robot rock edition...



In case the 374 previous posts on the subject didn't tip you off... Guess what?! We're off to Seattle to see Daft Punk perform.

I'm a relatively jaded calm guy... but I gotta tell ya, I'm pumped (yes, italics) for this show. Like, little kid full of chocolate on Christmas day pumped. The funny thing is everyone else I've talked to about the show fees the same way.

Because I'm a huge fan of overkill, I put together a mix consisting entirely of Daft Punk tracks. I attempted to evenly sample from everything they've done over the past 15 years. The result: 26 fantastic robo-tracks in 38 minutes. Actually, I really had fun putting this mix together... I had forgotten how insane some of their Homework-era stuff really was. Anyways, the track listing:
Robot Rock
One More Time
Oh Yeah
Revolution 909
Face to Face
Voyager
Music Sounds Better With You (Stardust)
Work Is Never Over (Diplo/Kanye Redo)
Phoenix
High Life
Technologic
Crescendolls
Indo Silver Club
High Fidelity
Around The World
Da Funk (Armand Van Helden Remix)
Harder Better Faster Stronger
Aerodynamic (Daft Punk Remix)
Rollin' & Scratchin'
Digital Love (Red Foxx's Bmore Suprise Mix)
Human After All
Superheroes
Burnin'
Too Long (Acid Girls Edit)
Teachers (Soulwax Cover Version)
On Off

*Download the mp3 here* [44MB, right click & save-as]

Or better yet, subscribe to the fake dj set podcast here. (full details can be found here).

elsewhere

kitsilano's richest person? | today's music depresses me

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Friday, July 13, 2007 

song of the moment...



I don't know about the rest of y'all(s) but this Vancouver heat is insane. My only escape is going to the future shop and standing in front of their massive display of fans and air conditioners... which, as far as a summertime activity goes, is hellish at best.

Anyhoo... the heat & the unenergetic attitude it brings needs a soundtrack. This is it:

The jazz chordy, timeless feel of this song is MAGICALLY DELICIOUS. Or something to that effect.

Obligatory six degrees of Kevin Bacon: St Vincent has recorded and toured with the Polyphonic Spree. The Polyphonic Spree is playing the Commodore tonight. Anyone going?

elsewhere

FSJ: the record industry is dying

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Wednesday, July 4, 2007 

july mixtape = ready to go...



I'm typing quickly because I'm about to jump on a plane... as promised the july mix is now online and it's magically delicious. This month's tape is a tight and mighty set... perfect for pints and patios or whatever it is you do to pass the time (sit in rush hour traffic?). Anyways:

As always this is a limited time offer, get while you can.

elsewhere


debaser

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Tuesday, July 3, 2007 

weekend recap: cabin fever...





















Be it resolved: I'm moving to Kelowna forever... I'm giving up the big city life and all that stuff. I'm buying a boat and living on a strict diet of red wine and chicken nuggets.

Things to do in order to realize this: win the lottery.

Hmmm.

Also, why didn't anyone previously tell me that this song existed?:

For those who follow the vanmega travel adventures I'll post more weekebd pics on flickr, for the other 87% of those who read this blog for the music related content I'll have the july mixtape up in the next day or so. Then I'm off to Calgary... this summer is outta control already. Bestness.

elsewhere

oh canada mixtape | somebody please kill this guy

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[ perma-link ]

Thursday, June 28, 2007 

licence & registration... [UPDATED]



My long weekend starts in about 4 seconds.

We're about to hop in the car for about 5 hours, and so to keep us awake and/or entertained while hauling down the highway I made a DJ set... it's kinda goofy/jokey/not 100% serious, but I figured I'd post it 'cause hey... content is content... and the fake dj sets are pretty popular these days.

Since this isn't an official podcast, I'm not gonna post the track list... there's bands like the Beastie Boys, Marky Mark, Feist, Justice, Jay-Z, Amanda Blank/XXXchange, Fergie, Britney, Broken Social Scene, K-Os, R. Kelly. This goes on for about 40 minutes. Stop laughing and start downloading:

**July Long Weekend Road Trip Mix** [mp3, right click save as]
UPDATE July 20: This mix seems to be pretty popular... 700 downloads and counting. I've updated & added the file to the podcast feed. So if you haven't grabed this mix yet, you might as well get with the winning team. Also, before republishing I went back and tweaked some of the blends between songs because I'm OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE TO THE MAX. Or whatever.

I get in my car now.

elsewhere

so long richards on richards [via]

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Monday, June 18, 2007 

Work Is Never Over...



First look at Daft Punk's Alive 2007 tour... and it looks (uhhh... sounds?) fantastic.

I was tempted to do a round up of all the video footage that's beginning to float around teh internets, but I just (like, 5 seconds ago, really) decided that I'm gonna try to keep away from that stuff so there'll be surprizes galore for me at next month's Seattle show.

With that said, I'm pumped that they're bringing "Music Sounds Better With You" - which is essentially 1/3 a Daft Punk track anyhoo - into the set. Besteverness?! Yup.

Related: I've still got that "Daft Punk - Live At Coachella" set available for download here. Highly recommended, if you like awesome things.

elsewhere

ny times interviews ryan adams

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Wednesday, June 13, 2007 

in blogs we trust...



You know... I've come to terms with a lot of dumb things on the internet.

I'm cool with cheap tricks in the name of viral promotion. I'm cool with useless crap like twitter. I'm cool with presidnetial candidates having myspace profiles. I'm cool with laggards freaking out about wikipedia. I'm cool with people posting home made videos of themselves on youtube lip syncing to fall out boy tracks or dancing the chicken noodle soup... but I cannot tollerate this whole Perez Hilton is teh most powerful music blogger in the whole universe story which seems to keep bubbling up. To me, this is like getting real estate investment advice from Ryan Secret.

Normally I tend to ignore the gossip bloggery, but I nearly had to punch my monitor when I read Hilton's review/gushery about Vancouver's own Mother Mother. And I quote:

"They sorta remind us a bit of the B 52's, with multiple female lead singers and a real quirky sensibility"

Yay... ignorance! Just becuase there are (gasp!) 2 females on vocal duties doesn't mean they're they're picking up where "Love Shack" left off. Case in point:

  • Mother Mother - Polynesia [mp3]

Based on the logic above Tegan & Sara also sound like the B 52's. And Bloc Party are just like quirky modern day Lenny Kravitz, 'cause, well... you know.

Dude makes Fluxblog look like the holy bible.

elsewhere

how to make a CSS video

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Friday, June 8, 2007 

adventures in fake dj'ing: weekend warm up edition...



Got a Friday night? Then this mix is for you.

I've got a big weekend coming up and thought I should build a set to it kick off. Something new-ish, something that doesn't take itself too seriously, something quick but potent.

This mix isn't just for me... it can work for anyone. This is the kinda mix designed to be heard in the early evening (somewhere between 6 - 9pm?) while you sit on a patio with your goodtime buddies or while you're getting ready to go out (hopefully, not with your goodtime buddies) or even while en route to a pub/whatever. Play it while the sun is still up and anticipation for your nightly plans is still high... after that go seek the sounds of a legitimate DJ.

This is the 30 minute set list:

Kanye West - Stronger
Public Enemy - Party for Your Right to Fight
Feist - Sealion Woman (Chromeo Remix)
Feist - My Man My Moon (Damage On The Backseat Remix)
Apples In Stereo - Joanie Don't You Worry
Green Velvet - Shake and Pop
The Rolling Stones - Shattered
Architecture In Helsinki - Heart it Races (Trizzy's Rusty Tin Can Mix)
Klever vs R. Kelly - I'm a Flirt
The Field - Silent

*Download the mp3 here* [38MB, right click & save-as]

Or better yet, subscribe to the fake dj set podcast here.

As always, vanmega podcasts feature zero talk or banter. We're all about the music. Previous podcasts and details can be found here.

elsewhere

LOL80's | way to tit it up, tittymachines

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Wednesday, June 6, 2007 

the june mixtape is ready to go...



I'm gonna keep it short... 'cause it's late.

14 tracks of current awesomeness. 2 things stand out on this tape: (1) this tape seems to be full of known/established bands... but I don't think this is a bad thing, rather just a symptom of all the good new stuff coming out right nowish, (2) this tape was built to be listened to with headphones.

Oh, and (3) how great is that new Spoon disk?

Now go fourth and pilfer:
As always... it's a limited time deal... bla, bla, and whatnot.

elsewhere

music waste guide (via quinn)

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Wednesday, May 30, 2007 

download: the arcade fire at deer lake park



As promised:

The Arcade Fire - May 24, 2007
Deer Lake Park - Burnaby, BC

01.) Black Mirror
02.) Keep The Car Running
03.) No Cars Go
04.) Haiti
05.) Neighbourhood #2 (Laika)
06.) Black Wave / Bad Vibrations
07.) In The Backseat
08.) Intervention
09.) (Antichrist Television Blues)
10.) Ocean Of Noise
11.) Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)
12.) The Well And The Lighthouse
13.) Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)
14.) Rebellion (Lies)
15.) My Body Is A Cage
16.) Wake Up

*download the zip file here* [109MB, right click & save-as]

Credit where credit is due: the show is in zipped in mp3 format, encoded from this taper's source. The cover is based on this picture from this photographer. We really hope they're ok with that.

elsewhere

lolthenews | 9 reasons to step away from your computer this summer

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Monday, May 28, 2007 

a review of a review of a thing which I previously reviewed...







Turns out I'm on the cover of the new Wil CD... sorta.

A pull quote from one of my posts is on the cover of every copy of Wil's By December CD at the HMV on Robson Street (anyone seen it elsewhere?).

I've been quoted in band promo materials before, but usually for my work with Cord Mag... and usually it's done on the web or in press kits, not right on the actual product. Either way, quite the surprize. Thanks to Pinder for the heads up.

As far as the full disk goes, I had my first listen of it a few days ago. I'm really liking what I hear (and no, I'm not just saying that because of the pull quote). Wil's first disk had a very polished FM radio single feel to it... this one feels rich with character, lots of dense layers of instruments and colour... it comes across as a collaborative whole, with the sum being greater than the parts. Very recommended for those who are fans of alt-country/Americana (Canadiana?) types of music.

The whole album can be streamed here. For those who want something more permanent, here are the mpthreves I posted earlier:


In addition to this Wil disk new releases from Tegan & Sara, Spoon, Art Brut, and QOTSA are right around the corner. 2007 just got really good for music.

elsewhere

the good ole days | on a sunday afternoon

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Friday, May 25, 2007 

reviewed: the arcade fire at deer lake park [updated x2]



I should have brought my camera to Deer Lake Park last night because it was, perhaps, one of the more perfect outdoor concert environments I've ever been to... even making the Gorge and the Shoreline Amphitheatre look silly. The sun was out, it was 20+ degrees, the crowd was quasi-sane, and the beer garden was a logistical wonder. Oh, and from my 3rd row perch, the Arcade Fire were fucking phenomenal.

It's been 2 and a half years since I saw a quasi-undiscovered Arcade Fire perform at the Commodore, a lot of things have changed since then: a second album, a world tour or 6, critical praise in the press, radio play, videos on much music, bigger venues, even crusty old rock stars trying to stay relevant have performed with them. All things considered, it's a recipe for band to lose their edge.

The Arcade Fire have not lost their edge. In fact, they've sharpened it. Their live show is louder and more inspired than ever. Yes, there are theatrics.. but they draw you in. You can't help scream along with the band... it's an incredible compelling, joyous thing. In the set Neon Bible tracks fit seamlessly along side the Funeral era stuff. It's hard for me to even pin point specific highlight as the whole thing was exciting and wonderful. Every word from every mouth and every note from every instrument was important and exciting.

The Arcade Fire are the most important band I've experienced in a decade. If you're groaning while reading that last sentence, you're either too jaded for your own good... or you haven't seen them live.

Hands down, this was the best show I've seen this year in the last couple of years. I wonder who can/will top it?

---

UPDATE: thanks to a nameless commenter, we've discovered that if you click this hyperlink you can view the setlist and download the show via bit torrent. Well played, Internet.

UPDATE 2: Apparently, not everyone's into the bit torrent/FLAC thing... and just want their mtv mp3. Here's a sample of the recorded show at Deer Lake:
If there's interest, I'll host the entire show for mp3 download.

Also, there's some good photos of the show here.

elsewhere

boxers, not briefs | shake your remix

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