Simian Mobile Disco - Attack Decay Sustain Release

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It does not really feel like an album but instead like a collection of singles. I still like it anyway except for "love". I really do like Simian Mobile Disco, all of their remixes turn out amazing. Thoughts?

― somuchsomuch24, Friday, 4 May 2007 18:47 (eighteen years ago)

Love it. Love them too. It's all good.

― everything, Friday, 4 May 2007 19:11 (eighteen years ago)

Love them, but haven't heard it yet. "Hustler" is obviously one of the best tracks of last year. "It's the Beat" is great (in not quite at the level of "Hustler").

― Spencer Chow, Friday, 4 May 2007 19:21 (eighteen years ago)

"Wooden" came out really great. I think that is my favorite out of the new ones. Also the music for "Hot Dog is amazing I just really don't care for that kiddy rhyme.

― somuchsomuch24, Friday, 4 May 2007 19:43 (eighteen years ago)

I'm suprised this isn't getting more love here. Far, far better than I expected given their background. A brilliant chocolate box of styles. The album it reminded me of most was Blurs 'Parklife' but like that it's not just a hollow exercise in genre hopping but a really enervating, engaging piece of work.

― Billy Dods, Thursday, 10 May 2007 13:31 (eighteen years ago)

ok i like this but if it turns into the second token crossover dance album of 07 along with the field i will be fucking annoyed

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 13:33 (eighteen years ago)

sorta liked "sleep deprivation" until i realized it was a thinner version of the mandy remix of royksopp's "sparks"

― jermainetwo, Thursday, 10 May 2007 13:34 (eighteen years ago)

ok i like this but if it turns into the second token crossover dance album of 07 along with the field i will be fucking annoyed

obviously it will

― blueski, Thursday, 10 May 2007 13:42 (eighteen years ago)

why are people so lame

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 13:44 (eighteen years ago)

album of the year so far. just fantastic. i'd never have expected it of them 2 years ago when they apperead to be just-another-bunch-of-djs and such.

their website is saying they deliberately whittled the original 12 inch 'wig out' versions of the songs like HUSTLER and IT'S THE BEAT (as released in the last 12 months) down to very much shorter songs to make the album 'taut'. a fantastic idea! how many other dance bands are doing that?

the whole thing is less than 40 minutes top to tail and it sounds just like they've chukced away abolutely everything apart from the exciting bits. an album made up almost entirely of highlights.

IT'S THE *BEAT*!

― pisces, Thursday, 10 May 2007 13:44 (eighteen years ago)

longer version of 'hustler' is better. no version of 'it's the beat' is particularly good except maybe the dub version

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 13:50 (eighteen years ago)

approx 58430224 better dance albums have been and will be released this year.

i am souring on this already

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 13:50 (eighteen years ago)

haven't heard this but the 'suck my deck' mix has been on rotation all week round 'ere.

― haitch, Thursday, 10 May 2007 13:54 (eighteen years ago)

approx 58430224 better dance albums have been and will be released this year

Please list some of them Lex, as apart from Apparat I haven't heard much better than SMD.

― Billy Dods, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:07 (eighteen years ago)

lol @ concept of the field being the first big 'token dance crossover' for the year, too. some of you do not live in the real world, serious.

― haitch, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:09 (eighteen years ago)

it's all about "i got this down"

― cutty, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:10 (eighteen years ago)

blog house jog with me now

― cutty, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:10 (eighteen years ago)

thomas fehlmann - honigpumpe
mia - bittersuss
popnoname - white album
lindstrom & prins thomas - reinterpretations
gui boratto - chromophobia
stephan bodzin - liebe ist
gabriel ananda - bambusbeats

just off the top of my head!

i really want to hear the apparat, actually.

xps

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:10 (eighteen years ago)

haitch by crossover he means 'will get on P&J/JP EOY list'

― blueski, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:11 (eighteen years ago)

thomas fehlmann - honigpumpe
mia - bittersuss
popnoname - white album
lindstrom & prins thomas - reinterpretations
gui boratto - chromophobia
stephan bodzin - liebe ist
gabriel ananda - bambusbeats

are any of these proper bangin'? i need good basslines

― blueski, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:12 (eighteen years ago)

haven't heard this but the 'suck my deck' mix has been on rotation all week round 'ere.

I like that Bugged Out mix as well, an excellent selection.

― Neil S, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:21 (eighteen years ago)

you'll love the popnoname, steve

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:27 (eighteen years ago)

Lex all those are A TOTALLY DIFFERENT GENRE.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:34 (eighteen years ago)

This will probably be this year's Mylo (ie outsell The Field by about 500:1) and Simian Mobile Disco can't produce a record to save their life but I can't deny they've got a way with a hook.

I like it. It's chunky and colourful but I'm listening to it as a pop record and not a house record at all.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:36 (eighteen years ago)

ISimian Mobile Disco can't produce a record to save their life

Not sure I agree with this, although I haven't heard the SMD album.

― braveclub, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:38 (eighteen years ago)

Seriously, the production is terrible, too many sharp edges and squealy treble and not sharp edges and squealy treble of the good variety either. It sounds a bit like they just hammered away and didn't bother to mix it.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:40 (eighteen years ago)

so why on earth do you like it?!

i don't think it's quite as bad as you say - maybe having to endure the klaxons, justice and digitalism albums prior to it was a help here - but if it was i can't imagine being able to listen to it even as a mere "pop" record

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:41 (eighteen years ago)

The ideas and hooks outweigh the production. I don't think they were remotely interested in making this a masterpiece of sound construction.

I mean, it's still better than being, say Stefan Bodzin* and having beautiful sound engineering technique and zero ideas, hence endless reiterations of The Sky Was Pink for the last year or so.

*Disclaimer, not heard the album.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:43 (eighteen years ago)

bodzin doesn't make anything remotely like 'the sky was pink'!

i don't think there are many ideas on the SMD album either. hooks yes though it's hardly weighed down with them

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:45 (eighteen years ago)

bodzin doesn't make anything remotely like 'the sky was pink'!

!!!!!

He basically ripped off that sound for the whole of 2006.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:47 (eighteen years ago)

(I'm perfectly willing to give the album the benefit of the doubt though)

― Matt DC, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:47 (eighteen years ago)

i don't think i heard any of his 2006 singles!

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:48 (eighteen years ago)

I like it. It's chunky and colourful but I'm listening to it as a pop record and not a house record at all.

Absolutely, if this were a collection of 12's it would probably be just ok, but as a bunch of 7's it works beautifully.

― Billy Dods, Thursday, 10 May 2007 14:57 (eighteen years ago)

"too many sharp edges and squealy treble"

I don't have a problem with this and I think it's deliberate. That's what it's supposed to sound like. Just about everything else out there is lush, deep and lenghty. Bring on the changes, I say.

― everything, Thursday, 10 May 2007 16:37 (eighteen years ago)

sounds like they need more bass. at least a lot of early 00s breaks stuff has good bass.

― blueski, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:00 (eighteen years ago)

Maybe "good bass" = old fart music? Perhaps it's a deliberate attempt to distance themselves from Bassment Jaxx etc. I gather that in the UK this is a very young scene.

― everything, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:13 (eighteen years ago)

i'd guess they are almost as old as jaxx they've been around as SIMIAN for almost as long.

― pisces, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:16 (eighteen years ago)

Nah. The Jaxx first records came out in 95. Chemistry is What We Are is from 2001.

― everything, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:18 (eighteen years ago)

haven't heard it but if it's anything like "it's the beat" it's fucking awful

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:19 (eighteen years ago)

See, I don't get that. To me "It's The Beat" is great. What's so awful about it?

― everything, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:20 (eighteen years ago)

Maybe "good bass" = old fart music?

lol, please to stfu.

― jim, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:20 (eighteen years ago)

if I wanted to hear trebly quirky shit I'd make it rock music so I could get paid for it

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:26 (eighteen years ago)

'Tits And Acid' is the one i rly like but it could be better.

― blueski, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:32 (eighteen years ago)

It's Attention Defecit Disco.

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:34 (eighteen years ago)

do you think the lack of bass that everyone complains about in blog house could have something to do with modern music programs? i read similar complaints about the field album lacking in bass and sounding "too ableton"

― creme1, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:35 (eighteen years ago)

compression is one of the big factors. everything is dulled. but the trend has been to move away from heavy or dominant basslines in other genres too (everything rap orientated inc. US hip-pop and grime derived stuff in the UK).

― blueski, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:37 (eighteen years ago)

It's the fact that it's designed to be listened to on laptop speakers rather than in clubs / on decent hi-fis. This is the tipping point when all the shit I've been wailing on about for the last 18 months that you lot have been ignoring starts to effect you in negative ways and you all realise I was right. We will hoist Dangermouse on the gallows before the month is out.

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:38 (eighteen years ago)

but i'd say the centre of much of this music is those huge distorted bass guitar lines

xp

― creme1, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:38 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, but depending what you play those huge distorted bass guitar lines on, they don't actually exist.

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:39 (eighteen years ago)

This is the tipping point when all the shit I've been wailing on about for the last 18 months that you lot have been ignoring starts to effect you in negative ways and you all realise I was right.

Oh yeah? Well I'm still gonna watch movies on my laptop gramps

― blueski, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:48 (eighteen years ago)

"Complaining" about the lack of bass in modern music such as The Field or SMD is like "complaining" about 303s being too bleepy. It's the nature of the medium and people are exploring it to find what can be done with it. At the very least, it gives the music a distinctive sound that is very "now". Looking back on the history of popular music, that's generally a good thing.

― everything, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:52 (eighteen years ago)

The Field doesn't have bass because it's a home listening type thing. The tracks he actually plays out, e.g. Over the Ice have bass. Presumably because he's not enough of a douchecanoe to inflict bassless dance music on people.

― jim, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:56 (eighteen years ago)

oh god, the field, we saw him live last week and everyone fucking stood round the dj booth in a semicircle motionless like they were at some sort of laptop indie gig. dreadful.

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:17 (eighteen years ago)

What exactly does he do though? Play records?

― everything, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:18 (eighteen years ago)

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:31 (eighteen years ago)

the field and simian mobile disco are a medium now? or even any way similar to each other?

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:32 (eighteen years ago)

CUT THE MIDRANGE
CUT THE BASS

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:33 (eighteen years ago)

i think "tinny, overcompressed 'dance music' that sounds best on low-res mp3s" is almost certainly a genre at this point

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:34 (eighteen years ago)

neither the field nor SMD sound remotely "now". if we're comparing bassless music then cassie's 'me & u' beats both of them hands fucking down.

What exactly does he do though? Play records?

well, yes, but when dance artists play dance records people are generally meant to dance.

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:34 (eighteen years ago)

jess that sounds like you're describing MIA

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:35 (eighteen years ago)

wait, which MIA?

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:35 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.americasveterans.org/gif/pow-tall.gif

― jim, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:36 (eighteen years ago)

anyway beyond the facile bass/no bass red herring, the reason this sucks is that it sounds like the bad bits of electroclash, which first emerged about 5 years ago.

it's electrohouse minus the dance music, braxe minus the disco, just a big messy load of crap for the "omg electro rock! i am a cool indie now!" audience.

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:38 (eighteen years ago)

bird flu MIA

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:41 (eighteen years ago)

i would lump her in there too, yes!

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:45 (eighteen years ago)

I gotta say I like the fact that it's somewhat sloppy/messy. There's tons of micro-managed ultra-sleek music around, expecially dance music, so why not make room for some of this?

As for the indie fan thing, I don't know or care about that.

― everything, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:47 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, there's too much of that "music that doesn't sound like shit" going about. It's a real bummer.

― jim, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:48 (eighteen years ago)

x-post nobody's stopping them from making it, people can like what they want.

dance acts like this make albums when they've stopped being interesting and have to milk their sound to ads and people who want to like "all types of music". in SMD's case I never found them interesting anyway.

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:51 (eighteen years ago)

"so much good music around! why not make room for some crap?"

xp!

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:51 (eighteen years ago)

fwiw i think a big reason this shit gets hype and other better dance music doesn't is because they have really good PRs

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:52 (eighteen years ago)

That's a good one!

― everything, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:54 (eighteen years ago)

God Ronan, you're such a snob, hating on this supposed audience. I don't care about who their audience is. I'm unlikely to ever see them in a live setting anyway. I've only ever listened to this on laptop speakers myself and it sounds just fine.

― everything, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:58 (eighteen years ago)

The Southall baiting continues unabated!

― jim, Thursday, 10 May 2007 19:00 (eighteen years ago)

shut your blab and dance, you faggots

― elmo argonaut, Thursday, 10 May 2007 19:03 (eighteen years ago)

qed

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 May 2007 22:37 (eighteen years ago)

you guys just don't like them cause theyre white!

― somuchsomuch24, Thursday, 10 May 2007 22:44 (eighteen years ago)

Oh boy.

― jim, Thursday, 10 May 2007 22:45 (eighteen years ago)

It's not a house record, or even really a dance record. I mean, this stuff is explicitly designed for people who like the idea of dance music (cool bleepy noises, beats, erm that's it) without the reality (ie repetition, long build-ups, no song stuctures, tracks that last more than five minutes).

Taking it as a dance record is missing the point, this stuff has virtually no function outside being 'cool noise', which is all well and good as long as you think the noise in question is cool. I think I do, for now.

It's The Beat is rubbish though, worst thing on the album.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 10 May 2007 22:47 (eighteen years ago)

i think the bad rap that "people who like everything" get is totally unfair.

― aaron d.g., Thursday, 10 May 2007 22:50 (eighteen years ago)

I mean, this stuff is explicitly designed for people who like the idea of dance music (cool bleepy noises, beats, erm that's it) without the reality (ie repetition, long build-ups, no song stuctures, tracks that last more than five minutes)

these people are fucking lame then!

i think the bad rap that "people who like everything" get is totally unfair.

i like everything, i mean i probably have the most varied taste of anyone on this thread, i just like everything to be what it is rather then a horrid indecisive messy hodgepodge.

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 22:55 (eighteen years ago)

i probably have the most varied taste of anyone on this thread

Lex, meet 'self-awareness'.

Also, this ISN'T an indecisive hodgepodge. It knows EXACTLY what it wants to be. Just like electroclash did five years ago! And the people who are comparing it unfavourably to 2002-electro would have done exactly that if they'd been a) older and b) listening to dance music for years, in 2002.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 10 May 2007 22:58 (eighteen years ago)

matt who else do you know who follows house/techno, r&b and teenpop as much as i try to??? and i pretty much like most other genres except the tiny irrelevant one of indie rock.

it's a mess, is what it is, and it sounds shit. shit music for shit people.

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:00 (eighteen years ago)

Argh, that's terribly phrased. What I'm saying is that everyone I knew who was into house music from 1998-2001 absolutely slated electroclash and even early electrohouse for exactly the same reason this album is being slated.

Which is fine if you think it's shit, but comparing SMD unfavourably to electroclash is a bit silly.

(Alex there are more than four genres in the world)

― Matt DC, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:04 (eighteen years ago)

yes i know. i don't have time to actually pay attention to the others but i am open to every one of them. except ONE.

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:04 (eighteen years ago)

Country?

― Matt DC, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:05 (eighteen years ago)

Folk?

― Matt DC, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:05 (eighteen years ago)

You're into metal, Lex?

― jim, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:05 (eighteen years ago)

lol, xposts.

― jim, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:05 (eighteen years ago)

Thrash metal?

― Matt DC, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:05 (eighteen years ago)

i like some folk!

metal = boys with guitars

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:06 (eighteen years ago)

What jazz albums have you enjoyed this year Lex?

― everything, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:06 (eighteen years ago)

What's your favourite Beethoven string quartet?

― jim, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:07 (eighteen years ago)

i said i don't have time to follow every genre. i don't know much about jazz but i like the little i do know.

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:07 (eighteen years ago)

can you all fuck off, actually?

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:07 (eighteen years ago)

I should probably go to bed anyway. Goodnight, cowboy.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:11 (eighteen years ago)

you are so fucking delusional lex

― cutty, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:14 (eighteen years ago)

well, you're a dumb cunt

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:14 (eighteen years ago)

I don't quite get why "Hustler" isn't considered proper dance music with perhaps some rough edges - but not really that rough. Would it sound so out of place mixed into your average house track???

― Spencer Chow, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:15 (eighteen years ago)

depends on your definition...

I'd be ambivalent about this stuff if I didn't live in a world where it is inescapable.

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:23 (eighteen years ago)

though I'd still think it was crappy. I preferred when Kitsuné made stuff that sounded like Braxe/Falke.

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:23 (eighteen years ago)

The thing is, that kind of stuff *is* still being made too (by the hipster house contingent), it's hardly either/or.

― Spencer Chow, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:27 (eighteen years ago)

Lex you're banned from my Wendy House. for three months.

Matt you knew me in 2001 (just about) and i liked house AND electroclash just fine. although you may not have realised because we were probably dancing to 'Stock Car Racing Is Magic' with you at the time.

it's far too much effort for me to actively dislike SMD (Justice too) but i'll still lament the judgement on distinctive bass as non vogue across the board (i moaned about this on the Rufige Kru/Goldie essential mix thread too). i'm sure SMD still sounds good on a big club system, probably more than The Field. it's still got punch. i do like how pronounced the 'BEAT' is in 'it's the beat' even if it's such played out 'ohhh weren't Technotronic fab' tomfoolery. it's poppy but maybe just too knowing/self-aware.

― blueski, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:32 (eighteen years ago)

x-post I dunno, I really dislike "D.A.N.C.E." too, if that's what you mean? It is just so eager to please and has the much discussed "let's all jump up and down" feeling!

Mostly when I hear this stuff I get a gut reaction to turn off the stereo, the same way I would if Maximo Park or something comes on, just, the noise and structure of it.

There's no depth to it, and I don't mean that minimal house is the only music that gives this either. I am not in a very good place for happy music these days unfortunately.

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:33 (eighteen years ago)

xpost to my "people who like everything get an unfair bad rap" post (yeah that was a long time ago, I got interrupted by dinner)

I'm referring more to people who don't necessarily "know" a lot about the music they listen to; the type of person who doesn't really read music criticism and such, but loves a relatively wide range of music. There's a view that's prevalent in music communities such as this that people should know all about the genres they listen to in order to properly love the music, which suggests that only a small portion of the population really loves music, and that's ridiculous to me. (Of course, for the people who are interested in the details and background of what they're listening to, that can certainly be a part of their enjoyment!)

― aaron d.g., Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:37 (eighteen years ago)

also Matt's post above isn't quite fully accurate, a lot of the people in and around the electroclash scene in 2001 were techno or house producers.

x-post I'm sure they love music, I just think the dance albums that are marketed to this audience are often crap.

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:38 (eighteen years ago)

I'd be ambivalent about this stuff if I didn't live in a world where it is inescapable.

is it so hard to escape? i manage to never, ever hear any of this stuff.

― stirmonster, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:38 (eighteen years ago)

I'm just being defensive 'cause I'm a total dilettante. :P

― aaron d.g., Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:40 (eighteen years ago)

what about their remix of peaches "downtown"??

that one sounds a lot like a braxe/falke track.

― moonship journey to baja, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:41 (eighteen years ago)

Might be an age group thing, I know lot's of folk my age (early 20s) who are into this indie-dance thing and so it does make it quite inescapable for me. Not that I'm calling you a dinosaur!

xposts.

― jim, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:42 (eighteen years ago)

xpost to Ronan: good points but "It is just so eager to please and has the much discussed "let's all jump up and down" feeling!" sounds like a good time, no?

xxpost to Steve: ideally this stuff gets mixed in with other styles that do have heavy and distinctive bass.

― Spencer Chow, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:42 (eighteen years ago)

Something like "Hustler" is much more of a proper dance record than something like LCD Soundsystem, where I think much of this criticism is valid.

― Spencer Chow, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:44 (eighteen years ago)

i am a dinosaur but i spend a high % of my life i discos frequented by people in their early 20s, and younger.

x post

― stirmonster, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:44 (eighteen years ago)

is it so hard to escape? i manage to never, ever hear any of this stuff.

well, I avoid hearing it as much as possible but it's discussed practically daily on our club messageboard.

"It is just so eager to please and has the much discussed "let's all jump up and down" feeling!" sounds like a good time, no?

yeah but what's the fucking point!

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:45 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, I never hear it in the dancing. Just in other social situations it's thrust upon me.
xpost.

― jim, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:46 (eighteen years ago)

ideally this stuff gets mixed in with other styles that do have heavy and distinctive bass.

let me know about some that stuff dude, sounds good. :)

i love 'D.A.N.C.E.' - more than anything else they've done maybe. i just hear it/see the vid and think 'this is cool fun electro-influenced pop music', different enough from . it needn't get more complicated than that...but sound wise the guitar lick reminds me of DP, the string stabs are neat, the vocals cute/annoying/cute. good if you liked Jackson in theory but wanted something more accessible. i'll probably not get to dance to it out somewhere even if i did want to tho.

― blueski, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:49 (eighteen years ago)

ok. i tend to avoid social situations :-)

i think this music gets played in clubs lots (though not the ones i seem to frequent) partly because a lot of djs assume this is what everyone under 25 wants to hear when that is patently not the case.

― stirmonster, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:50 (eighteen years ago)

"It is just so eager to please and has the much discussed "let's all jump up and down" feeling!" sounds like a good time, no?

yeah but what's the fucking point!

man you would've hated Happy Hardcore

― blueski, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:51 (eighteen years ago)

is it not the case?

when people ask me to play css/hot chip/justice/simian/boys noize, a small part of me dies inside.

there isn't much left by now!

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:52 (eighteen years ago)

x-post to stir

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:52 (eighteen years ago)

i've never been asked to play css/justice/simian/boys noize ever. i do like and play the odd hot chip song though. if i'm asked for something i don't like i just pretend i've never heard of it which seems to confuse people enough to make them go away.

― stirmonster, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:56 (eighteen years ago)

I like Hot Chip well enough, I just don't really play any of their stuff. People seem to absolutely LOVE them.

Normally I just say "I don't have it" if someone asks for something like that.

― Ronan, Friday, 11 May 2007 00:00 (eighteen years ago)

i like everything, i mean i probably have the most varied taste of anyone on this thread

Lex this really is the most ludicrous statement you've ever come out with.

― braveclub, Friday, 11 May 2007 00:13 (eighteen years ago)

Also to dismiss producers for making music to make people want to dance to... that really is the worst. Also:

"It is just so eager to please and has the much discussed "let's all jump up and down" feeling!" sounds like a good time, no?

yeah but what's the fucking point!

I know I've rubbed you up the wrong way enough today, Ronan, but really - what's the point in making people dance? Is that what you're saying?

― braveclub, Friday, 11 May 2007 00:15 (eighteen years ago)

UH that was badly edited hence the repetition

― braveclub, Friday, 11 May 2007 00:16 (eighteen years ago)

It was more the "sounds like a good time" as a defence I was questioning.

You can make people dance even if music isn't happy or goofy.

And sure, there's nothing definitively wrong with music for music's sake, but I don't see that SMD are the chief exponents of this, nor the best, I mean why not just listen to actual pop music?

― Ronan, Friday, 11 May 2007 00:23 (eighteen years ago)

Sure. But I see SMD more as pop than dance music. Also Justice. As dance acts these are shitty, but I think they make good pop msuic.

― braveclub, Friday, 11 May 2007 00:26 (eighteen years ago)

what pop music sounds like SMD, Justice etc. - apart from them?

― blueski, Friday, 11 May 2007 00:27 (eighteen years ago)

Daft Punk maybe?

― braveclub, Friday, 11 May 2007 00:27 (eighteen years ago)

not pop

― moonship journey to baja, Friday, 11 May 2007 00:52 (eighteen years ago)

ok explain why daft punk aren't pop then

― braveclub, Friday, 11 May 2007 00:53 (eighteen years ago)

I put these acts squarely into "DANCE music" and not just because you can dance to them, but because the structure and function is obviously house.

― Spencer Chow, Friday, 11 May 2007 00:53 (eighteen years ago)

spencer nails it on the head.

― moonship journey to baja, Friday, 11 May 2007 00:55 (eighteen years ago)

pop is not just some catchall where we throw everything with lyrics, choruses and headbands

― moonship journey to baja, Friday, 11 May 2007 00:55 (eighteen years ago)

i mean sweatbands

― moonship journey to baja, Friday, 11 May 2007 00:56 (eighteen years ago)

the structure is that of a classic pop song though! i fail to see one reason why daft punk is not pop music. also pop IS a catchall, it is not a genre

― braveclub, Friday, 11 May 2007 00:58 (eighteen years ago)

are we talking about the same daft punk?

probably not.

― moonship journey to baja, Friday, 11 May 2007 01:01 (eighteen years ago)

I think some Daft Punk tracks are more pop and some are more dance.

― Spencer Chow, Friday, 11 May 2007 01:35 (eighteen years ago)

daft punk is to blame for blog house

― cutty, Friday, 11 May 2007 01:36 (eighteen years ago)

and jogging

― haitch, Friday, 11 May 2007 01:49 (eighteen years ago)

It should be noted that "jumping up and down" is not the same as dancing! The marginilisation of bass, where it occurs (it's being overstated in this thread), is intimately connected to the fact that at the club nights that play this music very few people are doing anything with their hips!

This does have its roots in electroclash except that almost all the best electroclash anthems actually did have great basslines e.g. the sampling of Bobby O in "Silver Screen Shower Scene".

For me the key tune to explain the distinction is "Rocker", where the "verses" (the squiggly noise beats) are actually quite erm funky, while the "choruses" (the faux guitar anthemics bit) is like straight rock almost. I always liked the verses more, but the converted-rock-kids crowd that was just emerging within electro-house in late-2004 always seemed to respond massively to the choruses instead.

― Tim F, Friday, 11 May 2007 03:41 (eighteen years ago)

if i saw someone in 2007 dancing with their hips i would probably laugh them out of the club. rocker is definitely the touchstone though, and it is funny that people who were once celebrating the fact that alter ego were making synths sound like guitars are now bemoaning it

― creme1, Friday, 11 May 2007 03:54 (eighteen years ago)

Tune in next week for an enthralling new episode of "Why do people get tired of overused ideas in dance music?"

― Tim F, Friday, 11 May 2007 04:00 (eighteen years ago)

also, the guy who tried to explain to me how geht noch is basically a punk song to thread

― creme1, Friday, 11 May 2007 04:04 (eighteen years ago)

i don't know anything about simian mobile disco, but recently i had to review their remix of muse's 'knights of cydonia' and it was an absolute crock of willies. the beat remained, static and tuneless, for five minutes, neither building nor diminishing, and bearing no discernible resemblance to the original, although occasionally interspersed with entire, untreated vocal samples from the song (these occurred when no other music was playing), as if to remind the listener beyond any doubt whom they were remixing. i've never heard such a shoddy effort before in my life. ugh.

― Just got offed, Friday, 11 May 2007 04:12 (eighteen years ago)

RECENTLY I HEARD THEIR SONG WE R YOUR FREINDS VS JUSTICE IT WAS REALLY GOOD

― cutty, Friday, 11 May 2007 04:19 (eighteen years ago)

but because the structure and function is obviously house.

no more than techno or electro half the time, esp. in Justice's case. i think people stick the house tag on to make it seem more 'friendly'/accessible - seems to work.

all the best electroclash anthems actually did have great basslines e.g. the sampling of Bobby O in "Silver Screen Shower Scene"

indeed. i don't hear that so much now but would like to. it's gotta rumble and throb, even on earphones.

― blueski, Friday, 11 May 2007 10:44 (eighteen years ago)

if i saw someone in 2007 dancing with their hips i would probably laugh them out of the club.

friendly

― braveclub, Friday, 11 May 2007 10:47 (eighteen years ago)

if i saw some cute girls dancing with their hips i would throw my drink over them in disgust

― blueski, Friday, 11 May 2007 10:51 (eighteen years ago)

from a non specialist's view it does look like some fault line is opening up here.

― Alan, Friday, 11 May 2007 11:18 (eighteen years ago)

"It's the beat" is rubbish. "Tits 'n' acid" is great though, and well produced, and if it doesn't have a big bassline as such, it still sounds deep.

I have difficulty guaging how well known or popular this stuff is. I keep ending up in bars where there are people laptop djing this sort of stuff to completely indifferent audiences or indeed empty rooms. But there clearly is a well defined crowd, just perhaps a small one.

Also, it seems that it IS dance music, in terms of structure and so on, so a few comments upthread are off the mark. It's just adding a certain kind of rock sound or rock dynamics to the mix. This isn't that different from the edits people, turning soft rock or krautrock or whatever into dance music, or big beat turning hip hop into dance music, (or indeed jungle also turning hip hop into dance music).

VICARIOUS BLISS "LIMOUSINE" off the ed banger comp is ace, by the way. Lex would HATE it.

― Jamie T Smith, Friday, 11 May 2007 11:35 (eighteen years ago)

fault line=gates of hell

― Ronan, Friday, 11 May 2007 11:39 (eighteen years ago)

The problem with Tits and Acid is that the beat is too stuttery which makes it difficult to actually dance to.

I was being a bit OTT upthread about it being not really dance music, it's not functional dance music is what I meant, I can't see much of it working in a club context.

The first couple of tracks are the most successful I feel, the most content to settle into a groove and not pile on too many noises or annoying vocals. I Got This Down is my favourite, something about it reminds me of early Get Physical although I can't see it ever coming out on that label.

― Matt DC, Friday, 11 May 2007 11:51 (eighteen years ago)

i think simian mobile disco have had their successes - two, to be exact: i actually like "it's the beat" (as tim f pointed out somewhere, it's basically a homage to "pump up the jam", plus it's got a sparkly breakdown), and their remix of "downtown" is anchored around big sticky stompy synth hook, with nice acid-y splashes - gets squealy and bludgeoning by the end, but it's rather good for a while.

as an aesthetic though, the concerted abstinence of deepness of almost any sort gets, yeah, tiresome. sebastian, in particular, seems to represent the real dead-end of the muddy, monochrome stutter aesthetic, and his upcoming remix of rage against the machine might just be the final point where this stuff migrates from dancefloor to moshbit.

― jermainetwo, Friday, 11 May 2007 13:23 (eighteen years ago)

and if it doesn't have a big bassline as such, it still sounds deep.

or at least dense. packed full of five different kinds of nut.

― blueski, Friday, 11 May 2007 13:25 (eighteen years ago)

moshbit was a typo but i actually quite like it.

― jermainetwo, Friday, 11 May 2007 13:28 (eighteen years ago)

oh wait, i like "i believe" too! which is quite obviously more pop than dance. even so, i prefer the prins thomas remix.

― jermainetwo, Friday, 11 May 2007 13:30 (eighteen years ago)

I actually think I mean Animal House, anyway. But yes. I should actually listen to this record before commenting.

― Jamie T Smith, Friday, 11 May 2007 13:30 (eighteen years ago)

btw, ronan, you might like maurice fulton's remix of "over and over" if you're ever looking for a crossover record.

― jermainetwo, Friday, 11 May 2007 13:33 (eighteen years ago)

xpost about "people making synths sound like guitars": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOtrPlIXRYE

― Drew Daniel, Friday, 11 May 2007 17:33 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah "I Believe" is good.

― Tim F, Friday, 11 May 2007 22:23 (eighteen years ago)

one month passes...

Strangely contrasting reviews from me and Jess today.

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:22 (eighteen years ago)

the feud continues!!!!

― later arpeggiator, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:24 (eighteen years ago)

what is it with mid-8.s and functional 2007 pop-dance records?

― Just got offed, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:26 (eighteen years ago)

there were so many, terrible, terrible statements on this thread.

"pop is not just some catchall where we throw everything with lyrics, choruses and headbands"

erm, yes, yes it is. pop = everything catchy

― later arpeggiator, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:28 (eighteen years ago)

I didn't think there was a feud; I thought we were vaguelly in agreement.

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:30 (eighteen years ago)

i think we have hardly whit in common aesthetically nick, so i dunno why it would be so strange

xpost!

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:30 (eighteen years ago)

also i'm almost completely burned out on/lacking the attention span or energy for on any dance music that's NOT 3:30 BLAM-BLAM-BLAM chuck-all-the-hooks in shit, so grain of salt.

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:32 (eighteen years ago)

Haha; I agree on that totally, I just thought, on this thread, that there was vague consensus! By the time I wrote about it, another m onth on from this, I'd probably notched up the negativism a touch, but I'm surprised you came out so in favour.

xpost - Whereas I'm the other way around, and anything that's hyperactive and short screams at me "I'M EVIL".

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:33 (eighteen years ago)

Have you heard the second of this year's Two Lone Swordsmen albums?

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:35 (eighteen years ago)

i have not

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:36 (eighteen years ago)

You should. Have you heard the first?

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:38 (eighteen years ago)

The only SMD I've heard was a quite abominable remix of Muse's Knights Of Cydonia. I know you'd probably all blame this on the source material, but actually it sounded NOTHING LIKE the original, occasionally reminding us what it was meant to be remixing by stopping entirely and then playing wholesale a complete sample from the Muse version (whinnying horses, voices in harmony chanting "No-one's gonna take me away" etc). The rest of the time we had this boring, tuneless, sonically bereft pulse, which didn't even see fit to change its modulation/volume/pitch/anything which is generally the preserve of good dance music. The result, and I repeat, my sole experience of SMD, was truly some of the most wretched 5 minutes of music I've ever heard.

Oh wait a mo, I've already posted this exact same spiel about a month ago. To hell with it. It bears repeating.

― Just got offed, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:40 (eighteen years ago)

There's nothing wrong with remixing something and making it sound nothing like the source material, dude. In fact, if it sounds too much like the source I tedn to feel short-changed.

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:40 (eighteen years ago)

I know there's nothing wrong with a remix being entirely different (in fact, I generally prefer remixes to bear a hefty original stamp), but I was emphasising how this car-wreck wasn't Muse's fault.

Good dance music being that which not only MAKES you want to dance, but that also provides a pleasurable experience, a musical journey through the evening's carousel.

― Just got offed, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:42 (eighteen years ago)

"Knights of Cydonia" is about the worst-produced song ever. Bar the last track on the Bloc Party record.

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:43 (eighteen years ago)

^^^ ban these two

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:53 (eighteen years ago)

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 20:54 (eighteen years ago)

Knights of Cydonia was Zane Lowe's single of the year, 2006.

― Dom Passantino, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:00 (eighteen years ago)

I never liked KOC much anyway. It was an ill-advised choice.

― Just got offed, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:01 (eighteen years ago)

You ever considered applying for Pitchfork, Louis?

― Dom Passantino, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:10 (eighteen years ago)

i think ol' lou's more a stylus kinda guy

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:12 (eighteen years ago)

he still thinks online music reviews have the power to change the world

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:12 (eighteen years ago)

Nah, he's pretty much what Amy Phillips is screaming out for in her calls for the new journalism.

― Dom Passantino, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:14 (eighteen years ago)

So do I! Hmmm.

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:14 (eighteen years ago)

i too hold a torch for the early days of music crit but it's more from the "dead by your early 30s from alcohol consumption" angle

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:18 (eighteen years ago)

lol at the idea that music journalists earn enough money to buy a fatal amount of alcohol

― Dom Passantino, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:18 (eighteen years ago)

This is why I treat it strictly as a hobby.

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:19 (eighteen years ago)

christ how much does cheap booze cost in that socialist nightmare you call a country?

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:19 (eighteen years ago)

Arranging hi-fis on trolleys and managing circulation systems and creatig content for library plasma screens is buying me a house. Writing about music bought me some headphones.

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:20 (eighteen years ago)

damn u people i wanted to snigger at LJ's post re 'not liking KOC'

― blueski, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:20 (eighteen years ago)

re fatal booze, bottle of Windowlene is only about £1.89

― blueski, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:21 (eighteen years ago)

i never pegged dom for a booze snob

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:22 (eighteen years ago)

Wow. Non snobbier.

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:23 (eighteen years ago)

i'm surprised you got the whole KOC thing, stevem. it's mentioned once as an in-joke on a facebook group description, truly this is ~~stalking~~ internet knowledge retention at its most acute.

online music writing DOES occasionally change something, viz. NS' 65DOS revelation. plus, i wouldn't have half the music i do if it weren't for reviews!

― Just got offed, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:24 (eighteen years ago)

he still thinks online music reviews have the power to change the world

-- strongohulkington, Friday, June 22, 2007 3:12 AM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

online music writing DOES occasionally change something, viz. NS' 65DOS revelation. plus, i wouldn't have half the music i do if it weren't for reviews!

-- Just got offed, Friday, June 22, 2007 3:24 AM (50 seconds ago) Bookmark Link

awesome

― That one guy that quit, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:27 (eighteen years ago)

Hahahaha

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:28 (eighteen years ago)

i never pegged dom for a booze snob

-- strongohulkington, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:22 (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Wow. Non snobbier.

-- Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:23 (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Nicholas knows what's up. You can't go around wearing a scarf and then drink any old shit, kills the image.

― Dom Passantino, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:29 (eighteen years ago)

Tomorrow night I'll have a ten-year-old rioja.

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:31 (eighteen years ago)

I'm gonna go to that poncey as shit cocktail bar on Kings Road where they serve "ethically sourced" spirits next week.

― Dom Passantino, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:33 (eighteen years ago)

It's Mayweek and I can't drink booze because I'm on penicillin for severe tonsilitis, now how crap is that?

I'm calling Dom as a cognac drinker. It's good stuff.

― Just got offed, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:33 (eighteen years ago)

you are funny little men, you lot

― lex pretend, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:36 (eighteen years ago)

we learned it by watching you, dad

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:38 (eighteen years ago)

OK that last little exchange is all kinds of weird.

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:39 (eighteen years ago)

nick srsly stop with this bourgeois "ten year-old rioja/hand-sewn headphones" bullshit, bro.

― That one guy that quit, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:47 (eighteen years ago)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Photo562.jpg

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:50 (eighteen years ago)

Admittedly that's a cheap bottle and my less-expensive headphones...

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:51 (eighteen years ago)

haha. excellent work w. the orbital poster.

― That one guy that quit, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:51 (eighteen years ago)

i have sony phones, sipping on lean.

― That one guy that quit, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:52 (eighteen years ago)

I bet Nick secretly fills his wine glass up to the top. And pours as soon as he's opened the bottle.

― Dom Passantino, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:56 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/biografias/images/asprilla2.jpg

― Just got offed, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:57 (eighteen years ago)

Hahahahaha; my girlfriend hates how little I pour into a glass at a time.

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 21 June 2007 21:58 (eighteen years ago)

this thread is more ILE than ILM

― moonship journey to baja, Thursday, 21 June 2007 22:10 (eighteen years ago)

i.e. it's vaguely disturbing and fully incomprehensible?

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 21 June 2007 22:12 (eighteen years ago)

surely we're splitting hairs about the boards at this point in that case

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 21 June 2007 22:13 (eighteen years ago)

too chummy. come on, this is supposed to mean something, you're fighting for your generation's soul here.

― moonship journey to baja, Thursday, 21 June 2007 22:19 (eighteen years ago)

baja thinks that online music forums have the power to change the world

― Dom Passantino, Thursday, 21 June 2007 22:41 (eighteen years ago)

he is the small cat

― blueski, Thursday, 21 June 2007 22:58 (eighteen years ago)

umm.
no talk of the extra disc that comes with the initial release of this album. the cover gives no tracklisting of the remixes.
are they crap, or should i be getting the limited version for more goodness ?

― mark e, Friday, 22 June 2007 09:32 (eighteen years ago)

i bought the album because of this thread.

it's OK. it's not given me the immediate OMGZ steamrollering that i got from 'cross', but a good few tracks i can see becoming favourites.

― Alan, Friday, 22 June 2007 09:49 (eighteen years ago)

wow, that stylus review is on some next level of idiocy. NS be kicking against the Machine, maaan. i mean, i'm certain (i'd like to see some hard proof already, fuck this kaffeklatsch shit) more people listen (and dance) to SMD/Justice/... than minimal or whatever irrelevant coccoon-like form dance gatekeepers like to retreat to.

― John Splith, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:22 (eighteen years ago)

also, fuck an audiophile. nick, are you absolutely sure you don't hear any depth or detail or whatever compared to other dance stuff? or are you just hallucinating due to some OMG THEY CAME UP IN INDIE POO POO UNWASHED UNDISCERNING MASSES HACK HACK kneejerk reaction? plz let me know.

― John Splith, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:25 (eighteen years ago)

see ILM passim

― Alan, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:27 (eighteen years ago)

that's what i'm seeing. its like groundhog day. and anyway, sorry about these outbursts. i just thought nick was a bright lad and was above this kind of lame strawman-burning. my world is falling down here.

― John Splith, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:33 (eighteen years ago)

seeing=saying

― John Splith, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:34 (eighteen years ago)

i can sympathise with Nick's review quite a bit myself, even tho I like the odd SMD thing (but prefer Justice)

― blueski, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:35 (eighteen years ago)

omg wait i just saw this:

It didn’t just get me into music outside of guitars and gripes; it completely changed my worldview. The saving grace of a seventeen-year-old shithead.

indie guilt-tripping much? 17 is laaate teens, btw.

― John Splith, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:39 (eighteen years ago)

i mean, i'm certain (i'd like to see some hard proof already, fuck this kaffeklatsch shit) more people listen (and dance) to SMD/Justice/... than minimal or whatever irrelevant coccoon-like form dance gatekeepers like to retreat to.

Maybe where you live.

― jim, Friday, 22 June 2007 14:14 (eighteen years ago)

well i dunno jim, where do you live?

― John Splith, Friday, 22 June 2007 15:01 (eighteen years ago)

i can see how you might think no one cared about minimal if you only went to indie nights in crappy dives or some shit

― lex pretend, Friday, 22 June 2007 15:08 (eighteen years ago)

Well minimal isn't hugely popular where I live but even so the biggest minimal night is still far bigger than the biggest indie-dance night (Villalobos plays bigger venues than Ed Banger).

― jim, Friday, 22 June 2007 15:09 (eighteen years ago)

But you know, some things are more popular in some places than they are in others and you'd have to be a fool to state "no-one dances to this shit anyway" about any kind of music without some in-depth knowledge of global nightlife.

― jim, Friday, 22 June 2007 15:10 (eighteen years ago)

i know right? even in london, which is where smd and a lot of people in this scene are based...they play fabric and so on occasionally, but villalobos, allien, ananda, mayer et al are the bigger nights. and a sjim says, this isn't even taking into account global minimal popularity!

― lex pretend, Friday, 22 June 2007 15:13 (eighteen years ago)

don't see the connection...

― Ronan, Friday, 22 June 2007 15:20 (eighteen years ago)

tsk, i thought we'd established that measuring a scene's popularity by club attendance/queue length was as silly as measuring it by record sales.

― blueski, Friday, 22 June 2007 15:30 (eighteen years ago)

I hoped we'd established that a scene's popularity is moot in discussing the merits of said scene but maybe I'm too much of an optimist.

― jim, Friday, 22 June 2007 15:32 (eighteen years ago)

i wuz gonna say, like

― Alan, Friday, 22 June 2007 15:33 (eighteen years ago)

bonus disc tracklisting:

1. I Got This Down (Instrumental Version) 4:10
2. It's The Beat (Dub for Annie Mac) 6:36
3. Hustler (Club Version) 6:36
4. I Believe (SMD Space Dub) 6:10
5. Hot Dub 6:46
6. Wooden (Uncut)

i've not heard it. i've not heard the album, either, though due to this thread i'm considering it.

― Gukbe, Friday, 22 June 2007 16:21 (eighteen years ago)

three weeks pass...

finally listened: this is really rather good, esp. 'Scott' which is what Orbital should've sounded more like on their last album or even better what a British MC should be burbling over on their own album.

― blueski, Monday, 16 July 2007 19:50 (eighteen years ago)

and it really didn't sound particularly over-compressed ~~on my earphones~~ - no more than, say, 'Machine Says Yes' which it reminds me of a fair bit.

― blueski, Monday, 16 July 2007 19:51 (eighteen years ago)

whoa 'i believe' is a great song

― deej, Wednesday, 25 July 2007 07:45 (eighteen years ago)

"it's the beat" on through "hotdog" is especially murderous.

― Jordan Sargent, Wednesday, 25 July 2007 07:51 (eighteen years ago)

no fucking mercury nomination who the fuck's responsible?

― pisces, Wednesday, 25 July 2007 09:37 (eighteen years ago)

all the evidence points to this being a must-buy DESPITE my knights of cydonia-inspired reservations so graphically delineated above.

― Just got offed, Wednesday, 25 July 2007 16:37 (eighteen years ago)

you can listen to extracts on bleep.com

― blueski, Wednesday, 25 July 2007 16:45 (eighteen years ago)

louis maybe you could tell us again about your reaction to the knights of cydonia remix

― max, Wednesday, 25 July 2007 16:46 (eighteen years ago)

"what a British MC should be burbling over on their own album."

not the sound of their blood running from their freshly guillotined head?

― Ronan, Wednesday, 25 July 2007 16:47 (eighteen years ago)

one month passes...

r.i.p. lex.

― Jordan Sargent, Sunday, 23 September 2007 06:26 (seventeen years ago)

its funny how snobbery transcends all genres

― bnw, Sunday, 23 September 2007 06:53 (seventeen years ago)

i like this record but people dance really aggro to this shit in the club and i stopped going to hardcore shows when i graduated high school

― max, Sunday, 23 September 2007 08:19 (seventeen years ago)

Hardcore is the new indie-dance. I played Sonz of a Loop da Loop Era - "Far Out" and the kids went NUTS.

― Spencer Chow, Sunday, 23 September 2007 12:14 (seventeen years ago)

This is a good thing.

― Spencer Chow, Sunday, 23 September 2007 12:14 (seventeen years ago)

the very harsh Stylus review really brings this album's score right down on Metacritic

― blueski, Sunday, 23 September 2007 12:56 (seventeen years ago)

I love how disingenuously wrong the Lex is up there, considering when we went to see Mayer and Ananda at Fabric we walked straight in, whereas Friday nights playing this sort of stuff have them queuing round the block.

(And to be honest what other way is there of judging the popularity of a scene other than gig/club attendance? I thought that was what a scene WAS.)

― Matt DC, Sunday, 23 September 2007 13:03 (seventeen years ago)

'Wooden' sounds like a condensed version of something Mayer or Ananda would play - y/n?

― blueski, Sunday, 23 September 2007 13:16 (seventeen years ago)

that's one of the tracks that most needs to be double the length really

― blueski, Sunday, 23 September 2007 13:17 (seventeen years ago)

Not really, no. It borrows some of the same melodic flourishes but sonically - texturally and dynamically - it's totally different. I mean, it IS totally compressed in a way that doesn't really appreciate the sense of space you get on a big soundsystem.

― Matt DC, Sunday, 23 September 2007 13:27 (seventeen years ago)

It's sort of the sonic equivalent of brightly-coloured cheap bits of plastic - and I'm not necessarily meaning that as a criticism because I'm pretty sure that was the effect they were going for. Cheap bits of plastic can be fun too and they're rarely intimidating.

― Matt DC, Sunday, 23 September 2007 13:32 (seventeen years ago)

I dunno if I just have poor attention span but I liked all the first half of this album and none of the 2nd half!

― Colonel Poo, Sunday, 23 September 2007 13:35 (seventeen years ago)

i agree in that 'Wooden' probably sounds worst in terms of compression and the intentional noise/hiss is a bit puzzling because it would sound a lot better if everything was a bit cleaner and purer. but it sounds to me a bit busier or i guess maximal than what i've heard of Ananda, not just because of it's shortness. i have the 'uncut' version on the bonus disc of remixes that came with the album at least.

― blueski, Sunday, 23 September 2007 14:00 (seventeen years ago)

spencer did you go see them @ the echo last night? i was there and a fight broke out next to me and there was no room to like dance and i had to spend the whole time basically throwing elbows to prevent dudes from crushing my 5'4" friend. i actually thought their set was terrific--better than the record--but the vibe totally threw me off. maybe i just wasnt in the mood for insane aggressive dancing tho.

― max, Sunday, 23 September 2007 16:16 (seventeen years ago)

"far out" is all kinds of classic tho, its hard NOT to go crazy when that gets thrown on

― max, Sunday, 23 September 2007 16:17 (seventeen years ago)

probably the bad vibe is partly my fault, i should have stayed to the back where there was room to do dances that werent just jumping up and down rather than getting up to the front with the really drunk violent types

the light show was great too

― max, Sunday, 23 September 2007 16:18 (seventeen years ago)

eight months pass...

and your selectors for fabriclive 41 are...

01 Tomita - The Firebird – Infernal Dance Of King Kastechi [Clean Version] – SonyBMG
02 Sisters Of Transistors – The Don – This Is Music
03 Simian Mobile Disco – Simple - Wichita
04 Hercules And Love Affair – Blind [Serge Santiago Version] – EMI
05 Smith N Hack – Space Warrior – Errorsmith and Soundhack
06 Discodeine – Joystick – Dirty
07 Shit Robot – Chasm – DFA
08 Perc & Fractal – Up Tool – Kompakt
09 Metro Area – Miura – Environ
10 Worthy – Crack EI – Leftroom
11 Moon Dog – Suite Equestria – Roof
12 Fine Cut Bodies – Huncut Hacuka – Chi Recordings
13 Bentobox vs Chordian – Aemono - Imprimé
14 Jelo & DeadMau5 – The Reward Is Cheese – Rising Trax
15 Simian Mobile Disco - Sleep Deprivation [Simon Baker Remix] – Wichita
16 Popof – The Chomper [LSD Version]– Turbo Recordings
17 Raymond Scott – Cindy Electronium – Basta
18 Paul Woolford Presents Bobby Peru – Erotic Discourse – 2020 Vision
19 Moebius Plank Neumeier – Pitch Control – Sky Records
20 Plastikman – Spastik – Mute
21 Green Velvet – Flash – Relief Records
22 The Walker Brothers – Nite Flights [Album Version] – SonyBMG

― haitch, Thursday, 12 June 2008 09:11 (seventeen years ago)

they played spastik and flash in their set at primavera which i thought was gonna be all live but was 70% DJing bah

― blueski, Thursday, 12 June 2008 10:49 (seventeen years ago)

yup. dull as can be. i drifted over to Surkin which was sooooo much better but with a fraction of the crowd.

― Upt0eleven, Thursday, 12 June 2008 10:54 (seventeen years ago)

does surkin even have an album out? i mean its not like he wont get the same full court press-press when he does, b/w when i saw kevin saunderson he dropped 'white knights two'

anyway this SMD album is so great

― deej, Thursday, 12 June 2008 11:17 (seventeen years ago)

Max is OTM about them being so much better live than on record.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 12 June 2008 11:28 (seventeen years ago)

smd still sucks, but there's great remixes of their tracks up on the shit robot and invisible conga people myspaces.

― etc, Friday, 13 June 2008 03:10 (seventeen years ago)

four months pass...

I like that 'System' track from the 'Live In Japan' release. is the Clock EP any good?

― Cittaslow Mazza (blueski), Monday, 27 October 2008 14:22 (sixteen years ago)

ADSR is alright, but the Sample And Hold ADSR remix album is better. The Joakim remix of Hustler and the Chrome Hoof remix of Clock are the best things they've released.

― Sbarrohawk (Mackro Mackro), Monday, 27 October 2008 15:56 (sixteen years ago)

I was a bit surprised by just how hostile the Pitchfork review of S&H was... judged as a compilation album entirely on its own merits, it's not great, but it's hardly terrible, and well above the standards of most of these remix comps. And the Chrome Hoof mix really is great.

― Telephone thing, Monday, 27 October 2008 16:42 (sixteen years ago)

hangover/apology for the good review they gave the album?

― skygreenleopard, Tuesday, 28 October 2008 06:28 (sixteen years ago)

eight months pass...

SMD - The Audacity of Huge...

Audaciously godawful.

― N1ck (Upt0eleven), Thursday, 23 July 2009 13:29 (sixteen years ago)

Yes. There's one or two alright ones on the new album (track 5 I think?), but overall very disappointing.

― plazzTT, Thursday, 23 July 2009 13:32 (sixteen years ago)

am expecting album to suck even tho i really liked the first one

― Aqua Teen Cunga Force (blueski), Thursday, 23 July 2009 13:43 (sixteen years ago)

The live show last night surprised me by actually being, like, completely awesome. Either they are just a million times better live than on record (admittedly a very strong possibility) or the album will actually be really good. Single still weak though.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 30 July 2009 08:40 (sixteen years ago)

2nd track they did was new and seemed like the best thing they've ever done

― unban dictionary (blueski), Thursday, 30 July 2009 09:29 (sixteen years ago)

Glad they've stepped up the live show. I think the first time I saw them was either their first or second time playing live and it lacked... pretty much everything. Seemed like they were very much still trying to figure out how to translate the record to a performable version. Hence why I didn't go last night.

― N1ck (Upt0eleven), Thursday, 30 July 2009 09:41 (sixteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

not sure if a new thread for Temporary Pleasure is really worthwhile because it's a bit of a let down (or, if you hated the first LP, more of the same but a bit worse)

i don't know if it's just that there seem to be fewer hooks or neat ideas (despite there being more songs and guest vocals on this one - the Beth Ditto one is OK but no stretch for her), or the drums are just so compressed that it doesn't sound v good unless really really loud...probably both. 'Synthesize' blew me away in the live show but that power doesn't come thru on the record quite as much (well not on standard headphones via spotify at least). i still like their 'celestial organ' type sounds but they haven't really varied or broadened the palette for this so ehh...

― unban dictionary (blueski), Wednesday, 19 August 2009 11:59 (sixteen years ago)

one year passes...

SMD have got an album of acid bangers (mixed into a short DJ set, style mix) coming out called Delicacies and it is fucking awesome.

Loads of tweaking acid, trance and techno done on all their vintage equipment.

You can keep lame hook ups with Kele Bloc Party and all that shit (although Hustler will always have place in my heart). This is what they're ace at.

― Duran (Doran), Thursday, 21 October 2010 17:26 (fourteen years ago)

one year passes...

no thread about the new stuff? hm seems not.

here's the new album stream on The Graun. check Your Love Aint Fair and Seraphim if you like techno-pop stuff.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2012/may/04/simian-mobile-disco-unpatterns-stream

― piscesx, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 15:10 (thirteen years ago)

"Hustler" still kicks ass - pleasant surprise whenever it comes up on shuffle.

― skip, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 15:56 (thirteen years ago)

yah i feel like ADSR got retroactively disowned or something. it's got a handful of great songs.

― caulk the wagon and float it, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 17:13 (thirteen years ago)

"cruel intentions" off their 2nd album is prob a top-10 song of the last 5 yrs for me

― johnny crunch, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 17:17 (thirteen years ago)

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