This Week on Strictly Global! (4/22/11) 04/21/2011
Host Dawn Reed
(by Dawn Reed) Did anyone else catch the amazing Beastie Boys short film "Fight For Your Right Revisited" with the insane dance-off between young Beasties (Seth Rogen, Elijah Wood and Danny McBride) and future Beasties (Will Ferrell, Jack Black, and John C. Reily)?! It's pretty much the only thing I can think of at moment, aside from the ridiculously superb line-up of videos we got coming at you this Friday, including Kiwi gangsta rap from New Zealand, Dominican Republican electro-pop, and more, plus our interview with the Australian geniuses of dance music- Cut Copy!
Beady Eye
We'll check out the latest video from Manchester's Liam Gallagher with his rock spawn Beady Eye, who's debut album Different Gear, Still Speeding has already gone Gold in the UK, and they were nominated by the NME Awards as Best New Band in 2011. Featuring other ex-Oasis members (Gem Archer, Andy Bell, and Chris Sharrock), they recently released a Beatles cover "Across the Universe" available via download in which all proceeds will go to the British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal. It's absolutely incredible how much bands from around the world are joining in this recovery, very inspiring.
Simon Says No!
We''ll also check out an insanely cool video from the Norwegian shoegaze/indie/hardcore band Simon Say's No!, who recently had some gigs at SxSW, and have just announced an upcoming appearance at one of the hugest festivals in all of the Nordic countries, the Norwegian Festival of Literature. Their s/t debut, released late last year, is full of beautiful walls of dreamy shoegaze sound, and incredible hardcore guitar riffs that inspired some bloggers to classify them as "foo-gaze" as they sound like Foo Fighters meets My Bloody Valentine. I'd love to catch them live someday!
Mogwai
Speaking of live, Scotland's current front-runners in the race of world's loudest rock band, Mogwai, had to cut their US tour short due to a delay in their visa processing- something that unfortunately happens often to many international bands attempting to come here. But they will be returning in October, stoked!, so in the meantime, check out their 7th studio album Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, tune in Friday for a video off said album, and if you need a lil more Mogwai love, rent Gremlins, because Gizmo is freakin' adorable.
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This Week on Strictly Global! (4/1/11) 03/31/2011
SG Hosts Danni Rosner & Dawn Reed
(by Dawn Reed) In case you haven't been following us on twitter, let me bring you up to speed on the insanity of what me and Danni would describe as "cramming the dance in." Since Danni announced that she would be leaving the east coast soon for big dreams to accomplish in L.A., we've been hitting up all the DC clubs and have scored a plethora of upcoming interviews with dance punk/electro-pop/horror pop bands from Norway to Australia and in between. So meanwhile, this Friday is her last show, and we will feature plenty of indie acts from her future home of L.A. as well as our usual trek to other countries such as the UK, Canada, and this month's Nextwave band, the Pocket Rockets!
Cut Copy
One of the amazing acts we had a chance to sit down with is Australia's dance punk troupe Cut Copy- where I asked them about the incredible coincidence of releasing their 3rd album Zonoscope around the time of Mubarak's overthrow in Egypt. (Most of the titles reference Egypt and revolutions!) We'll keep you posted on when the full interview airs. Meanwhile, we've got an amazing video from them that you absolutely do not want to miss. They are currently touring throughout the states then off to Europe, back home, and then summer festivals worldwide galore. I highly recommend checking them out live. Smiley.
And we'll also check out a literally "glorious" answer to the question: What happens when a choir boy is highly influenced by 80's synth pop? From L.A., that would be the solo project of Pat Grossi, aka Active Child. One could call his unique genre, hymntronic, and once you hear it, you'd agree. Layers of synths paired with his falsetto create truly ethereal sounds that easily put you into a daydream trance. Daydreaming is rad.
This Week on Strictly Global! (2/11/11) 02/09/2011
Host Dawn Reed
(by Dawn Reed) Great, grand, wonderful week for music- just a couple hours ago my fav band of all time, the Strokes, stream released their new single "Undercover of Darkness", revisiting their classic 2001 sound with a new pumped up perspective- beyond radical! And did you catch the new release from Aussie electronica Cut Copy? Zonoscope, which has been in the works for months now, has track titles that, dare I say, totally coincide with the current news in Egypt. They totally pulled a Nostradamus ya'll! More on that later... for now let me just say we've got another awesome line-up of videos on Strictly Global this week as we bring you the latest from Argentina, France, Mexico, and more!
Prince Rama
We'll check out a trippy video from the Brooklyn based psychedelic rock group Prince Rama, comprised of sisters Taraka and Nimai, and their friend Michael, all of which were raised on a Hare Krishna commune in Florida. Their recent release (4th) Shadow Temple, was put out on Animal Collective's label Paw Tracks, and they'll be performing at this year's All Tomorrow's Parties Festival in the UK, in May, olè!
Broken Records
And we'll check out the latest from Scotland's indie-folk band Broken Records who are usually compared to Arcade Fire, the Verve, and the Levellers. They'll be touring the US pretty soon, kicking it off in DC on Feb. 20. Let's show them that an American audience can dance ceilidh style at their shows too!
Alright, now back to the whole Cut Copy vs. Egypt thing... Check out these song titles: "Sun God"- Ra. "Pharoahs & Pyramids"- Totally Egypt. "Need You Now"- A change in their government. "Take Me Over"- What protestors don't want. "Where I'm Going"- Protestors pushing for an outcome. "Blink and You'll Miss a Revolution"- history is being made over there dudes. "Strange Nostalgia for the Future"- when future tourists visit the Egyptian Museum and see headless mummies, they'll remember that the heads were taken during this time in history. "This Is All We've Got"... ok maybe I'm reading to much into it. Or am I???
Dawn's Diabolical Decade Diatribe.. 12/17/2009
It's not just the end of another year, it's the end of a decade, and the lists have gone nuts all over the media with year/decade-end best/worst/whatever lists. And I'm joining in, cause guess what? I friggin' love lists. They make you dig back in your brain and rediscover things you may have completely forgotten about. Sure, everyone is doing it- but how many of those lists are globally focused, hmm? Here's my take on the decade, all youtubed out for your viewing pleasure. (You can also listen to everything on this list and more on our Blip.fm channel now!)
HIM
2000: Oh gees, that was so long ago, and honestly, in those days if it wasn't old school punk, oi!, or hardcore, I wasn't interested. Had I not been stuck in my ways, I would have sooner discovered musical gems from that year including Canada's Peaches "F*%& the Pain Away", the French group Air with "Playground Love", or the Finnish vampy rockers HIM and their album Razorblade Romance. But to sum up that year, I have to give it to an early-runner who produced this track towards the tail-end of '99: and that would be NYC's Le Tigre with "Deceptacon." What's so global about it? The song was later used in the Norwegian film Reprise.
The Strokes & Me. omg
2001: This was the year that one band changed my whole perspective on life. I'm super super serial. This was the year that I lived, ate, drank, and breathed nothing but the Strokes. They remain my favorite band to this day, Is This It the greatest album of all time, and "Hard To Explain" the greatest song that has ever existed, ever. Infinity. What makes this NYC band so global? They were definitely huger over in the UK/Euro before they were here. Other mentionables of this year: France's Daft Punk with "Digital Love" and "One More Time", as well as NYC's Fischerspooner with "Emerge." But I was too busy listening to this track over and over...
The Hives
2002: More awesome music started piling in, as my several copies of Is This It became too worn and skippy in the stereo. Such as the Swedish garage-punk rock band the Hives, who'd been around since the early 90's, and finally got some stateside attention after releasing a greatest hits album, Your New Favourite Band. They are so rad live. More props for that year: Minnesota's hip-hop group Atmosphere with "Modern Man's Hustle", and the UK electronica group Ladytron with "Seventeen." That song was featured in the insanely awesome soundtrack to the insanely awesome movie Party Monster. Ok, so standout artist of this year, again goes to another NYC based band- Interpol! What makes 'em global? The album Turn on the Bright Lights reached #10 on NME's list of top albums in 2002. And this song is off it:
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Fever To Tell
2003: I could probably make double-sided mixtapes with all the awesome music that came out this year. But if I had to narrow it down to just 3 albums, I'd go with the Canadian rockers Broken Social Scene's You Forget It In People, French electronic shoegazers M83 with Dead Cities, Red Seas, & Lost Ghosts, and best album of the year to, surprise surprise: another NYC band, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Fever to Tell. Even NME rated it #5 Best Album of the Decade. Aces. One of the best songs that year though, that you probably couldn't get out of your head thanks to all those iPod commercials, has to go to Swedish garage rockers- the Caesars' with "Jerk It Out." Remember the commercials? Well here it is again...
Dykehouse's Midrange
2004: A friggin' huge year for music around the world, from Austrailia (Cut Copy and Wolfmother) to the UK (Futureheads, Franz Ferdinand, and the Prodigy), totally. Ugh, so hard to boil it down to a select few... The definite standouts from NYC that year were self-titled debut albums from Asobi Seksu (Japan represent!), and Scissor Sisters (who were huger over in the UK before they were here.) The best song of the year, I'd have to give to the Walkmen with "The Rat." Word up. Best album is too tough, so it's a tie between the rad American shoegazer Dykehouse with Midrange, and Canada's now defunct duo rockers Death From Above 1979 with You're a Woman, I'm a Machine. I'll keep dreaming for a reunion. Here's a video from that album...
Bloc Party's Silent Alarm
2005: More worldwide awesomeness came this year from Norway (Annie) to Jamaica (Damian Marley) and in between. Billy Corgan went solo from the Smashing Pumpkins and did a heartbreaking cover of the BeeGee's "To Love Somebody" alongside the Cure's frontman Robert Smith. But it was the UK that shone the brightest that year with new music from Hard-Fi, the Editors, Gorillaz, the Doves, and the Go! Team. Hands down, best album of the year that lead the way to indie rock being remixed for dancefloors: Bloc Party with Silent Alarm. But in a very close race, was Sri Lanka native M.I.A with her debut Arular, and a much deserved song of the year "Bucky Done Gun." Holler!
J Dilla
2006: Awww, this was a tragic year for the record industry as we lost my fave chain; Tower Records. :( Even more so, was the loss of one of the greatest hip-hop artists who made the sickest beats ever, J Dilla. But it was also a breakout year for Brazil's CSS with their debut album Cansei de Ser Sexy, and from the wintry wonderland Denmark was Mew with impressive singles like "Special" and "Apocalypso." American goodies included the Gossip's "Standing in the Way of Control", and also the only indie-folk band I can get down with, Band of Horses. Best album of the year? I'd have to give it to Sweden's Peter Bjorn & John's Writer's Block. I couldn't get their single "Young Folks" out of my head for days. And that was a good thing. For the best song of the year, I'd have to give it Muse's (UK) "Knights of Cydonia" 'cause the video rules all, and that breakdown towards the end... stellar.
M.I.A.'s Kala
2007: This is the longest blog ever... On that note, this year can be summed up with simply three tops. First, the most impressive debut was the mashing of metal and rave in the creation of the French group known as Justice. They are apparently working on a new album for 2010! Giddy giddy giddy right here. Best album of the year goes to M.I.A. of course!!! Kala is right up there with Is This It in my book. Mmm-hmm. But the song of the year, straight up belongs to German electronic masters Digitalism with "Pogo." I still toss this on every mix CD I make for my buds. And it was even remixed by other sweet bands like CSS and the Horrors. Check out the video...
Rock-afire Explosion with MGMT
2008: This was a fun year in music. Girl Talk played in larger venues so that hoardes of sweaty people could get down to 20 second sample mash-ups of everything from Big Country to Three 6 Mafia. Tennessee and Connecticut came together in a group known as MGMT (who are wicked huge in Australia too) and created the awesome video "Electric Feel" which featured my favorite childhood band from Showbiz Pizza. ;) As far as best album of the year... it's a 3 way tie, cause it's too hard to choose. That would be Crystal Castles S/T (Canada), Ladyhawke S/T (New Zealand), and Friendly Fires S/T (UK.) All three albums are still in repetition in my car stereo, for seriously. Best song of the year, is gonna have to be a remix that Crystal Castles did for the UK band White Lies song "Death." Inspiring enough to go skydiving, I swears.
Bat For Lashes 'Daniel'
2009: Friggin' finally right? This year saw a rise in the Scotland music scene with a spunky gem "Quiet Little Voices" from We Were Promised Jetpacks. Punk rave legends the Prodigy (UK) returned to their roots and delivered an album, Invaders Must Die, that could transport you back to the early 90's. And overall it was a tug'o'war battle between the UK and US with shining examples from my idol Julian Casablancas' solo project Phrazes for the Young, and don't forget the breathy and haunting voice of Bat For Lashes in "Daniel." The battle continued between the coasts for best album of the year. Surf goth on one side, math noise on the other. It was a tough fight between UK's the Horrors Primary Colors and the US's HEALTH Get Color, but overall The Horrors severly shined on their second studio release. Hooray.
All the songs on this list and more are now streaming for free on our blip.fm channel, so check that out, and let us know your decade faves!!!
