Sunday Sunday here again
It seems the boys in The Rakes have called it a day. Some might say it’s 2 albums too late, of course. It’s entirely possible I might be one of those people. Oh sure, Ten More Messages had some nifty singles on it – ‘We Danced Together’, ‘The World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect’ – but it lacked the kinetic umph of its predecessor. It sort of felt like they’d switched from uppers to downers. Still, sorry to hear it as they were due to head out on a North American tour, not to mention finally releasing their 3rd LP, Klang, in the US. I hope they’ll all continue on in music in some form or another, because that first record really was great.
The Rakes – Work Work Work (Pub Club Sleep)
This isn’t really music related other than it involves Moby being a nice guy. Seems Schwarzenegger cut funding to domestic violence shelters in California due to the current financial crisis (California was down to writing IOUs for electricity and tax refunds). This is clearly not such a good thing, as several shelters were forced to shut down, and thus there were fewer places for women in abusive situations to go for help.
Moby decided that the best way to help was to donate the proceeds from his 3 California shows in San Diego, LA and San Francisco to victims of domestic violence. He also partnered with CPEDV (California Partnership to End Domestic Violence) and Senator Leland Yee to help bring attention to the problem. Apparently it worked, because The Governator signed an emergency funding bill restoring some $16 million to the program. Though I have no idea where he found the money, maybe in his backyard. At any rate, this will keep things going for another year, though a permanent funding source will need to be found.
For more info, check this link here.
Fever Ray keeps on releasing creepy, nightmare videos to go along with her creepy, nightmare tunes. This time it’s for her Nick Cave cover, ‘Stranger Than Kindness’. It’s unsettling stuff, full of lasers and eyeballs shining in the dark. Probably not my favorite song she’s ever done, but hypnotically fascinating all the same.
The gents from The Slips have been busy busy busy in 2009, and have added to their steady output with this nifty mixtape – free and available to all at their website. It includes their recent remix of blog favorites The XX, and it’s really quite good. I think these guys put a lot of care into their remixes. It likely doesn’t hurt that they were producers and musicians before getting into the remix game, as I think it gave them a better appreciation for what works and what doesn’t. Nothing they put out just sounds like they simply thought ‘Let’s stick a 4/4 underneath it! Yeah!’. Take a listen and see what you think.
MIXTAPE
1. The Slips – TV Alone
2. Black Noise – Jackin My Fresh Feat. Lex One (Original Mix)
3. MSTRKRFT vs Futurecop! – Bounce vs NASA (3 Fingers Bootleg)
4. Dominique Young Unique – Hot Girl (The Slips RMX)
5. Blende – Northern School (V1 Mix)
6. Crystal Fighters – I Love LDN (The Slips Extended RMX)
7. The XX – Basic Space (The Slips Rework RMXX)
8. Sebastien Tellier – L’amour Et La Violence (Boys Noize Euro Mix)
