Anti Pleasure’s Favorite Music (or not so favorite)

1997… good year huh? Good enough for a band name? Possibly! I’ve just discovered this band called 1997 and they come from Chicago. I would say they are an indie pop group, more along the lines of an emo-ish band, with a great male and female vocalist.

(I dedicate this band to my amazing wifey and none other than miss Beaner!) <3

Many <3 <3 <3 emo hearts to you all… hahaha.

(Silly post don’t mind me!)

So one of my favorite shoegaze electronic type artists is M83. I LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM! They are named after the spiral galaxy, Messier 83. (Which I posted a picture above, it’s so beautiful!) Their music is so inspiring to me and it also really sedates me whenever I listen to them.

M83 is made up of Anthony Gonzalez and formally Ncolas Fromageau. They first founded the group in 2001, in France.

How can I describe M83… well they are very ethereal sounding, the synthesizers do the shoegaze kind of music justice. Don’t know what shoegaze is? Look it up folks, I’m not in the mood to talk about what the genre is like. Just think of… earthy and melodic voices that makes you think of… wind chimes, or something. (Man I don’t know if I describe things very well sometimes :P)

M83 focuses mainly on synthesizer based songs, but there is guitar thrown in there too. The tone of the singing voices are very whispery like. It’s great music to relax to, and the videos are thought provoking I would say.

Their latest album is “Saturdays = Youth” and my suggested tracks for them would definitely be “You Appearing”, “Kim and Jesse”, and “We Own the Sky.” The album has a very pop feel to it, but it is still typical M83.

So check ‘em out, I think I have a good ear for music. I think.

One of my favorite electro duos for over a year now is none other than CRYSTAL CASTLES! These two hail from Toronto, Canada, Ethan Kath who is a vocalist and plays several instruments (synths and whatever else he has created!) and also vocalist Alice Glass.

Their name comes from the cartoon She-Ra if you hadn’t notice. And if you also heard of these guys, a lot of their songs sound like synth pop type video games like the atari, there is also a game for the old atairi called Crystal Castles.

They released copious amounts of songs on their myspace page first starting out. Good ol’ myspace!

They released their first album with 16 tracks and it is self -titled. It was released in early 2008. During this time they played in the Nine Inch Nails “Lights in Sky Over” tour. They were also on tour with several music festivals like Leeds and Reading.

Crystal Castles are really intriguing to me because of the oringiality in the songs that sound like the old atari, new wave and electro. They are something different all right, with a punk edge thrown in there.

They have remixed some amazing songs, such as “Hunting for Witched” by Bloc Party, “Atlantis to Interzone” by Klaxons and of course the song that got me hooked “Leni” by the Goodbooks. My suggested tracks for these electro starlets are “Vanished”, “Knights”, and “Courtship Dating.” You will either want to dance or just be amused.

One deejay that is near and dear to my heart is Lucas Stobbs aka [sic]adelic who hails from New Brunswick, Canada. He joined the party scene around 2000 and transformed into a party promoter and DJ. He has had the chance to play with several great acts such as The Freestylers, Marty McFly and Phat Conductor.

He currently holds events at Nicky Z’s in Fredericton, NB under Damage Control entertainment. These events so far have been called “Electric Fever”. I haven’t had the chance to make it to one yet, but I can’t wait to go to one! You can also hear him play live every second Tuesday on NSBradio.co.uk from 7-9pm Atlantic time.

He plays a wide range of music, his biggest passion is breaks but lately he has been swinging towards some fidget house and electro house as well. Check him out! You can visit his myspace page to download his sets and read more about him and how to contact him. His best set to date (and this is my personal opinion) is ” Anaphylactic Audio” which you can download at his myspace, here:

http://myspace.com/sicadelic

I needed someone awesome to write about today.

So I get REALLY excited when I find an artist or producer that is good, and that’s 30hz. James Ginzburg was born in Washington, D.C. and has pretty much lived in Bristol, England producing music and remixing on Lot 49 records. You will notice on DJDownload.com or on any of the Lot 49 releases that he has made an impact with the whole “tech-funk” style coming about.

The best way for me to describe 30hz’s music… well, you got your fidgety type electro house, mixed with some breaks, house and dubstep all mixed into a blender, creating the most unique and dancey songs, EVA!

I’m not sure if it’s serious, but I’m guessing it is… on his myspace he talks about how he has been adopted and went through a tough time growing up. Everyone has a story huh? But you never know if people with the raver brains are being serious or effing about. :p

If anyone wants to listen, some of his best hits are on his myspace page here:

http://www.myspace.com/30hzverticalsound

My suggested and favorite tracks are, “Pounce”, “Crazy” and “With You”, which is a great number he collaborated with Meat Katie. So if you’re open to new types of music being squished together, I suggest you check out 30hz because he’s awesomesauce.

I love where electronic music is heading.

Okay so this is one of my new favorite labels, EVER! (Other than Kitsune records, but that is for another day…) It’s Lot 49, which was founded by Meat Katie in 2004. Lot49 was named after the “Crying of Lot 49″ which I haven’t read but apparently there’s some dry humor and ridiculous pop culture references through out the book.

So if you are into electro and breaks, mix them together and you got some AWESOME tracks! And this was the very beginning of “tech-funk” which was coined by Meat Katie and they are throwing that term around these days. Some tech-funk contributers I would suggest to check out are Dylan Rhymes, 30hz and of course Meat Katie.

Definition of tech-funk? Well, they don’t really like to call it a genre, more of a style, sound and attitude.  Meat Katie describe it with beats of breakbeats, house and electro. Great tracks for the crowd, I’m sure it gets them going.

http://www.djdownload.com/labels/Lot49/453 <– Here’s some examples of what I’m talking about, good stuff.

I love that in electronic music there is no limits, and the producers are always playing around with different genres. Music is always moving forward and backwards, creating a unique sound.  So bring it on, I’m all for new sounds!

You know what I found odd, I couldn’t find anything to write about today in this music blog. So I sauntered onto the NME website (UK), Exclaim! Magazine (Canada) and Mixmag magazine (UK) and all three of them have said that LCD Soundsystem WILL in fact be releasing a third album and not to worry, they’re not going anywhere any time soon!

Maybe it is just ironic to me that all three sites that I regularly visit, all said the same thing about the band, lol.

So, James Murphy of LCD has written eight songs for the third awaited album.  “I write all my music in my head, I never demo. I get to a point where there are too many songs and I have to get them recorded. I recently felt that. I’ve got eight in my head - that’s critical mass.”

James has taken some time off though in the mean time to do other things. And other band member Doyle, also plays in Hot Chip and he also stated, “LCD Soundsystem is James Murphy, and he’s allowed to take time off, do other things, and come back, or not come back. And he doesn’t have to tell you or anyone else about it. I didn’t know if anything was going on with LCD next year, which is the truth, and that’s all I should have said, but I gabbled on a bit because that’s the way I am and I didn’t imagine in million years that anyone would concoct a story out of it…”

I never heard any rumors, maybe because I am out of the loop for everything these days. So good to know, the band is sticking around and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next. 

If you haven’t heard LCD Soundsystem folks, I suggest you check ‘em out. :) 

I am not sure which is worse in life for me… Jared Leto’s annoying small roles in a lot films, or his band, 30 Seconds to Mars.

I first listened to his band when they released their album, self titled of course. I remember when they came out with the song “Capricorn” and remembering how bad it was. I think I was a fan of this band for maybe one day. Yes I thought I would give them a chance but the whole album is just a bunch of dullness to my ears. Then I read the lyrics, Jared Leto thinking he is sooo clever, singing about religion, space and the beginning or end of time! Subjects that are too beyond his aloof self if you ask me. :P 

Can we just talk about how bad he looks with make up? So original. So emo. And not to mention those crocs, so stylish!

I find it the most aggravating when movie stars try to be singers as well. “I’m famous so why not be in a rock band?” And of course he takes on the rock star persona by attacking the paparazzi, what a great guy huh?

I guess you would call 30 Second To Mars “alternative” and I am sure the emo kids just love him and his style. Bleughhh!

Do me a favor Leto and stop making this horrible music, wash your hair and just reminise about the days when you played Jordan Catalono on My So-Called Life. Your best role! But of course, you didn’t have too many lines, you were too busy running your fingers through your oh so SEXY hair. 

Ewww.

I’m sorry but I just had to bring up about Katy Perry because I cannot STAND her. Did anybody see the MTV Europe Music Awards? She was supposed to “host” it, well funny enough Jared Leto seemed to do more of the talking the whole night. Unless they had to edit bits of Katy Perry out because she didn’t know how to host. Mind you, neither did Jared Leto who I also cannot STANDDDD! It just so happens that two people I do not enjoy were hosting the awards. (Jared Leto, I’ll save you for another day.)

All of the artists who won on the awards, utter crap. I think most songs out now are ones that are not going to be remembered. Who is going to remember ten years from now what songs 50 cent or the hundred-ish other mainstream rappers out there? I know I won’t even remember what songs were “popular” in the 2000s. And I am not even dissing hip hop because I do like some of it believe it or not! Just not the ones where they rap about how much money they have, or about b*tches and hoes.

Now, back to my Katy Perry rant. I went off on a tangent there. The girl cannot sing, to me anyways. In “Hot n’ Cold” it just sounds like her talking voice. She seems like some aloof girl that said one day “I am going to be famous!” and low and behold she sure is famous now, infamous if you will because of “I Kissed a Girl.” The songs are catchy, but I sure as heck don’t like them.

I keep hearing how she has inspired so many gays to come out. WHY? Someone makes a song as a gimmick and now you are going to come out? Please. If you did not remember the lyrics, gee, let me remind you “I kissed a girl and I liked it, hope my boyfriend don’t mind it,” which is grammatically in correct, anyways… lol. Not to mention the song is just about a dream she had and she is straight anyways, according to the lyrics in this song. *rolls eyes* So you are going to come out because of a tramp? Well I think you would be coming out for the WRONG reasons.

Sorry folks, just don’t think she is a great role model. Who is these days? I’m not sure but Katy Perry sure isn’t. 

She’s hot though that’s about it, I will admit that. I pretty much turn the channel when she is on TV or the radio or just mute it. She is mute material, if you get my drift. If not just smile and nod!

Now…tomorrow… my loathe for Jared Leto because he thinks he is a rock star. And don’t worry, I’ll talk more about his oh so wonderful music.

Okay, so! I am going to give you an electro lesson because it seems like people get really confused when and where the genre started. I understand how people say they “love” electro when there is whiny diva voices with an annoying farty baseline. To me, that’s not electro, that would be considering electro club house to me. If you are a real fan of ELECTRO, like myself, you would know the differences between electro and electro house.

Electro first started in the early 1980s and influenced by funk music as well as a TR-808 (the famous rhythm composer! Basically a drum machine.)  When you think of early electro in the 1980s and 90s just think of robot machine sounds, a vocoder and definitely influenced by early hip hop artists back in the day. To differentiate from electro house, there usually isn’t that many vocals and if they are, they sound monotone and robotic. Famous for this is Kraftwerk, who introduced it long before the genre actually had a title. In the early 80s a lot of electro songs had rapping in them, but that deteriorated in the 90s.

The genre died out for quite a while to techno records being played. But then the genre resurfaced with artists like Miss Kittin, DMX Krew, Anthony Rother, I-F etc. These type of artists sound similar to the 80s sound, the monotone robotic type. A prime example of the song above, is Anthony Rother’s “Red Light District.”

Now in the 00s (haha, funny to call it that!) electro has been overused, so much by artists like Benny Benassi and Global Deejays (who killed the thought of electro, giving in such a “cliche” title.)  I have to say with all of the technology out today, you would think there would be better electro songs out! In my opinion, people are producing the most ridiculous tracks for CLUBS and remixed crappy pop artists or any song for that matter to make it sound “electro”. In fact people, it sounds like CLUB MUSIC to me. So there you have it, electro club house. Producers have really jumped on a bandwagon like they did with cheesy house tracks in the 1990s if you know what I mean.

Electro house pretty much started in the early 2000, not sure when exactly. Maybe around 2003/2004? It is a form of house music, so of course half it is so cheesy!

Electro has branched into several genres though, like indie dance, some techno and many others.

It’s rare to find a really good “electro house” track though, I think anyways. There’s my two cents about all of this.