Rebootsy: a barrage of reviews to make up for my intense laziness

It's been awhile since I've updated this thing so I'm just gonna do a quick run down on some groovy releases I've dug since February:

Austra - Feel It Break


Much home town love for this nu-wave goth group. Feel It Break is dance floor worthy while being a beautiful release in its own right. Some hooks on here are some of the most hypnotic you'll ever have the pleasure of listening to.
Austra - Hate Crime by slowtumb
Rating: Disco Queen

The Avalanches - Since I Left YouI finally gave into the hype and picked up this record and boy was I ever thankful that I did. The music is emotive yet lucid, this enables the listener to create a unique narrative that they can apply to the overall album. While the music itself isn't necessarily sad, in fact most of it is upbeat and will make you shake your tail feather, for me the record took on a sad and regretful tone. This is mostly due to my head space while listening but there's something nostalgic to Since I Left You, as if hidden in the background of every track lay fractured memories of childhood and adolescence you almost forgot existed.
The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist by Dokme
Rating: Disco Queen
Bag Raiders (self-titled)

Before McDonalds got their greasy hands on it, Shooting Stars was for my money one of the best dance tracks I had ever laid my ears on. I was curious as to what these Australian DJ's could come up with on a full release. While not a complete dud, the album features many great little dance compositions but nothing feels too fresh or original. A fun release but lacking substance.
Bag Raiders "Shooting Stars" by moderntonic.com
Rating: Pump Action

Britney Spears - Femme Fatale
Who the fuck knew that Britney was gonna release the best god damn dance record of the last few years? Huh? This album blows my mind, honestly, it's a dance party waiting to be unleashed on your body. You can say you're better than this album and try to walk by it but guess what? You're not better than Femme Fatale. Femme Fatale IS BETTER THAN YOU. You'll be out one night dancing, sweating it out to some amazing jam, and then you'll decide to ask the dj who the artist is after you've unsuccessfully tried that shazzaam app on your Iphone. Yeah, that app still doesn't work even though you downloaded it years ago but you hope one day it may work and so you foolishly keep it. When the Dj tells you it was Britney, you will turn pale, I will laugh, and then you will know... FEMME FATALE IS BETTER THAN YOU.
Britney Spears - Trouble For Me by William Alberto Aguirre
Rating: Roman God
Cut Copy - Zonoscope

The big question was if these Australian nu-wavers could release an album as good as their previous effort: In Ghost Colours. The short answer is yes. Although it is debatable between fans if Zonoscope reaches the peaks that In Ghost Colours conquered, I have to say that I think Zonoscope surpasses In Ghost Colours in many ways. Their sound is maturing and Zonoscope is a perfect snapshot of a group finding their proper footing. While I still think Cut Copy have a forthcoming masterpiece they'll release on the world one day, this is damn fine music for the wait.
Cut Copy - Blink And You'll Miss A Revolution by modularpeople
Rating: Disco Queen

Diamond Rings - Special Affections

More hometown love. Special Affections is one of those albums that are instant classics. There isn't one bad song on Special Affections, you'll know the words for every song by the third time you give this baby a listen through. Unfortunately since it is so easily accessible the album loses its flavour over time. Still, if you have yet to listen to Special Affections, rectify this immediately.
Diamond Rings "You & Me" by GrillMarketing
Rating: Disco Queen

Digitalism - I Love You, Dude

I was really rooting for Digitalism. I loved the hell out of their 2007 release Idealism, but that was in 2007. Since it took so long for them to release I Love You, Dude, which is their second studio album, I hoped that these German boys grew up with me somewhat and released something fresh and proved they weren't one trick ponies. Unfortunately, this album feels like it should have been released in 2008. It's a generic affair in electro without anything too fresh or exciting to it. Not to say that every cut off this record is completely trite, here and there are the sounds of a better record... the one this could have been.
Miami Showdown by digitalism_official
Rating: Two Star Two Tone

SBTRKT (self-titled)

Killer record from this UK post-dubstep DJ. Shit, we're already in the post-dubstep days? Many choice cuts here and not just in the dance floor way, overall this is a really well composed album. Definitely a record that holds major mass appeal.
SBTRKT - Wildfire by keithkelly
Rating: Disco Queen

SebastiAn - Total

Back in 2007 I went to the Woodstock of my generation, that was Daft Punk's 2007 Alive tour. It was a life altering experience. DJing in between acts at that show was the cream dream team up of Kavinsky and SebastiAn. Two french dj cats who specialize in creating the most bad ass dance music possible. I had to wait nearly five years but finally SebastiAn has released his first studio album... and holy shit, it was worth the wait. SebastiAn's a rare artist in electronic music nowadays; a unique one. His music is wholly his own. It can't be duplicated or even imitated. Total is a sweaty sexy mess that won't hold everyone's attention but that's how I like it. A unique dance record that makes you feel amazing. It's aural Prozac... and by Prozac I don't mean Prozzäk.
Prime - SebastiAn by underama
Rating - Roman God

Starfucker - Reptillians

Oh yes, what a pretty ditty of an album. Reptillians is an indie-electronic album with many existential undertones. The lyrics to most of the songs have to deal with life, death, and the difficulty of comprehending either concept. Through and through a terrific a record, it gets you toe tapping as you ponder the infinite black void of death... and who doesn't wanna face that inevitability dancing?
Hungry Ghost by Polyvinyl Records
Rating: Disco Queen

Various Artists - Drive Original Soundtrack

The best soundtrack of 2011 belongs to the best film of 2011. Nicolas Winding Refn created an 80's inspired electro backdrop for his amazing film Drive. The soundtrack's highlight is the opening tittle sequence music composed by Kavinsky entitled Nightcall. A dark and broody track that perfectly sets up the mood and tone of the film. Most of the soundtrack is comprised of instrumentals by Cliff Martinez that, which is the case for most film soundtracks, are more enjoyable after seeing the film. Still, a damn solid soundtrack.
Kavinsky - Nightcall by Kavinsky
Rating: Roman God
The Weeknd - House of Balloons

Enough with the home town love already! I really really love this record from Toronto's own The Weeknd. This is what all R & B albums should sound like; good tracks with honest lyrics. None of this singing love songs with an unbottened shirt on some white sand dunes. Instead the lyrics on this album deal with substance abuse, relationship issues, and sex sex sex. It's a fantastic bonus that the music accompanying the lyrics feels fresh and is very dark. Let your ears get fucked good by this record. You won't regret it.
The Weeknd -- Wicked Games by dwitcoff
Rating: Roman God

Twin Shadow - Forget (2010)

I first caught wind of Twin Shadow after his album Forget dropped in October of 2010, the album was getting some great reviews and with the promise of hearing some good neo-wave tunes i decided to check it out.

Forget is not only one beautiful album it's on my shortlist of the best of last year, easily. The music of Twin Shadow is nostalgic, (i couldn't get the image of an 80's high school prom out of mind the first listen through) not only in the musical arrangement but the lyrical work is mostly based on memories and the "what could have beens".

The mix of the grooving 80's toe tapping beats and the nostaligic lyricism makes Forget the perfect winter album. With lyrics like "... I cannot wait for summer, I cannot wait for June" and "...when winter sets in it has a way of crystallizing the bad times, the fevers, the heartaches" this baby you can put on with hot cocoa and lose yourself in while the blizzards rage on outside.

As for dancability, well the record doesn't have an incredible amount of legs on the floor. Half of the songs are slower while the other half are upbeat and could easily be played at a party, just don't expect people to tear the roof off.
Twin Shadow makes dance music for the lonely, nostalgic, cold dancers.
So put on your dance shoes by the fire and tear up that bear skin rug, this one's a beaut.

Twin Shadow plays The Horseshoe Tavern on Jan. 12 (tomorrow!) and i'll be there with bells on. Keep watch for a review of that show sometime coming up in the next week or so.


Rating: Disco Queen

The Bloody Beetroots: Romborama (2009)

Just like one of their best jams reprises "I love The Bloody Beetroots". I've been listening to this Italian house/noise/electro duo for some time. Their music is aggressive and loud, yet it never lets go of melody. Every Beetroots track follows melody that seems simple but is stretched to its most extreme point.
There's nothing quite like dancing to a great Beetroots track, it's music that forces you to let go of all inhibitions and get sweaty. Due to the obvious amount of speed and aggression to their music it lends itself well to moshing which can get annoying when you want to let loose at a live show.
In fact, their music is so raw that the last time I saw them live they were playing as a rock band rather than DJs.


Romborama is their first album, having released a few EPs and many remixes prior, they were already a big name on the dance scene. While a few tracks will be familiar to fans much of the album is new material. It opens with the title track "Romborama" which acts as an intro to the album instead of a full on dance number. Pianos, screaming vocals, excessive distortion, menacing synths is what greets the listener. It's a threatening hello but sets the tone of what the Beetroots are all about. As "Romborama" settles its waving noise to silence the second track "Have Mercy On Us" enters with Mozartian gusto. Bob Rifo, one of the masked DJ's and the primary writer of The Bloody Beetroots material, was classically trained in music and he lets it show in his dance music quite often. On this particular number he lets go and creates a swooning epic that's cool as hell while being a beautiful composition. Think Mozart pissed off on speed.

Romborama features many guest vocalists to help give the album some weight, such as: The Cool Kids, Beta Bow, Steve Aoki, and Vicarious Bliss plus others.
Many of these songs lend themselves well to vocal treatment yet some miss their mark. The most exciting collaboration with The Cool Kids on "Awesome" falls short of expectations, and is too short overall. Maybe The Beetroots were aware of this because the record ends with the same beat but instead with vocals by Italian rapper Marracash which turns out to be the much superior version.
The best moments come when The Bloody Beetroots bring the noise; songs such as Cornelius, Talkin' In My Sleep, Warp 1.9, Fucked From Above 1985, Yeyo, House No. 84, I Love The Bloody Beetroots, are strong aggressive dance numbers that will make you move no matter where you are when you hear them.

Their slower songs are still quite good; one odd one is "Little Stars" featuring Vicarious Bliss which consists of a slow beat that sounds sort of Christmasy. The vocals seem to be two characters, one a French child and the other a bum, talking to one another. It's a weird little track but helps break up all the noise.
The biggest surprise on the album is "Second Streets Have No Names" with vocals by Beta Bow. It's an emotional pop outting that works really well as a whole and likely holds the most mass appeal out of the whole album.

Overall Romborama was definitely worth the wait fans had to endure for The Bloody Beetroots to release an official album. With 21 tracks the whole run time rides close to an hour and a half which some will find exhausting but if you're a fan then you'll eat it all up. Not completely a five star outting due to some tracks missing their marks but it's all extremely well crafted music and if you can withstand the noise, you should give it a listen.
I can't help but think that if Mozart or Beethoven were alive today, that they would be making music quite similar to what The Bloody Beetroots offer.




Rating: Roman God