THE REMIXES – PART 6 - THE SHOES

So busy are this French double act that we weren’t sure if it was actually possible to complete a comprehensive catalogue of their remixes! There’s millions out there! OK, so perhaps not quite that many, but this is the biggest Remix Special that we’ve ever done, following our previous editions covering The Golden Filter, The Twelves, Bloc Party, DiscoTech and Soulwax.

We think The Shoes are head and shoulders above most when it comes to blending up other people’s tunes. They add a distinctive, but always brilliant, pounding four beat. The kind of beat that dance music was born for. The kind of beat that moves your legs for you. They add their perfect pace, together with a few chopped up synths, but like all the best remixers they respectfully maintain a lot of the orignal track and vocals.

JUST A BAND – WE ARE (THE SHOES REMIX) ysi
MARINA & THE DIAMONDS – I AM NOT A ROBOT (THE SHOES REMIX) ysi
ESSER – WORK IT OUT (THE SHOES REMIX) ysi
33Hz – I FEEL ALIVE (THE SHOES REMIX) ysi
THE GOLDEN SILVERS – ARROWS OF EROS (THE SHOES REMIX) ysi
TELEPATHE – CHROMES ON IT (THE SHOES REMIX) ysi
PRIMARY 1 – HOLD ME DOWN (THE SHOES REMIX) ysi
CANDY CLASH – JUST HER KISS (THE SHOES REMIX) ysi
THE VIRGINS – TEEN LOVERS (THE SHOES REMIX) ysi
THE CHEEK – SLOW KIDS (THE SHOES REMIX) ysi
LATE OF THE PIER – FOCKER (THE SHOES REMIX) ysi
LADYHAWKE – DUSK TILL DAWN (THE SHOES REMIX) ysi
MYSTERY JETS – YOUNG LOVE (THE SHOES REMIX) ysi
GET CAPE WEAR CAPE FLY – WAITING FOR THE MONSTER TO DROWN (THE SHOES REMIX) ysi

OK, as always please dutifully comment about those remixes we missed. We know there’s a couple of remixes floating out there they’ve done for Wiley, Hadouken and something they did with Those Kids, but we have to sleep sometimes.
(MB)

Great opening band for the Datarock show! If you like your rock with electronic touches and plenty of danceability, UK style, then Esser is your band. I know that description can mean horrible music, but these guys are definitely worth checking out. I’d really like to see these guys do a headlining set, and from what I saw the other night I’m guessing they will be on their way to bigger things in the US. Here’s an older story with some background info.

Esser
w/Datarock

2009_09_28
Phoenix, AZ
The Rhythm Room

ST-11 > CA-9100 > R09 (24-bit/48kHz)
R09 > MacPro > Wave Editor Pro 1.3 (fades, split tracks)> WAV > FLAC 24-bit/48kHz or mp3

01 001
02 I Love You
03 Leaving Town
04 Greyface
05 Rewind
06 Long Arms
07 Satisfied
08 Headlock.

Notes:
Bad cable caused some distortion

—-Download—-

sample mp3 (1MB): Leaving Town sample mp3

mp3 (49MB): Esser_20090928.zip

FLAC (304MB): Esser_20090928-FLAC.zip

follow the links below to get to this months bumper launch edition of pretty pretty (or alternately, just scroll down to find the articles).

preface

feature
[tbc]

interview
[tbc]

reviews

[bloc party - intimacy]
[kings of leon - only by the night]
[ben folds - way to normal]

in hindsight…

[tbc]

live reports
[festivals 2008 round up]

[emmy the great @ reading festival 2008]
[esser @ reading festival 2008]
[yeasayer @ reading festival 2008]

[die die die @ offset festival 2008]
[young knives @ offset festival 2008]
[blood red shoes @ offset festival 2008]

[dananananaykroyd in leicester]
[johnny foreigner in leicester]
[cocknbullkid in sheffield]
[midnight juggernauts in sheffield]

comment

- – - – - -

next month
issue-2 out 3rd november featuring live reports of kaiser cheifs, late of the pier and does it offend you, yeah?, plus much much more

I just moved to a new town and I’m ready to go! I am sooo happy in my new pad. Its quiet and there is enough space to dance. My studio is all hooked up and I finally prepared The best of August 2009 iMix. There are a lot of newcomers, and some ole timers, but I think you’ll really enjoy this imix. My skills are approving, as is expected, as well. Spread the love!

Click the pic for download

TRACKLISTING

Hang The Mall - Tapes N Tapes
Work It Out (Sinden Remix) - Esser
I Know I’ll See You (The Clapp Remix) - A Place To Bury Strangers
The Same - Glass Ghost
Rock waves creation myth – Alexis Gideon
Bitchin - JimiJames ft. Kariem Riggins
Oh! - Micky Green
House Of Cards (feat. Muhsinah) - The Foreign Exchange
Trap Door – kniife prrty
Windpower - Thomas Dolby
Gee Up - The Kindness
Bedtime – Greenskeepers
Orange Swimmer - Deastro
Mickey Mouse - Wavves
OnUp! - Vowels
Auntie - Onipanua
Somebody Gonna Get Pregnant - Ninjasonik
Help Me Somebody - Brian Eno & David Byrne
Rain Dance (Featuring M.I.A.) - The Very Best
PlanX (iBeat Remix) - Rainer Von Vielen

#1

Esser ist zu empfehlen.

#2

Oh ja, Abbey Road ist gut.

Esser at Highline Ballroom, 9.17.09

We were lucky enough to see Esser’s US debut performance in June at the now defunct New York club Le Royale.  Last week he came back around playing Highline Ballroom for a proper US tour with Datarock, but first we met up before the show for a quick interview (check back soon.) My animated caricature-like perception based on his stage persona was quickly humbled by the soft-spoken, sweatpants and sneakers-wearing Ben Esser.

Karin Park kicked off the night (we unfortunately missed her set but heard it was GREAT) before Esser took the stage at about 10PM.

Highline Ballroom is obviously a much bigger venue than Le Royale but Esser rocked the 30 minute set and worked the somewhat unfamiliar crowd.

This time around it was obvious that Ben was under at lot less pressure, dressing down onstage and having more fun doing so. At one point during the show he joined the crowd with a Heineken (seemingly his drink of choice) in hand and watched his band jam out. Although short and sweet Esser delivered another great set. Hopefully time will give us a much longer set next time.

MP3: Esser – Headlock (The Big Pink Remix) or zShare
MP3: Thecocknbullkid – Kiss Kiss Kill (Esser Remix) or zShare

PhotoEspaña ce sont des expositions officielles et un programme Off très relevé, à tel point que le Off et l’officiel ne sont pas réellement discernables. De nombreuses galeries participent à l’événement, que ce soit pour des expositions individuelles ou collectives.

Dans ce billet, on évoquera des expositions collectives qui se déroulaient dans trois galeries et que j’ai vues, comme certaines individuelles (billet ici), dès le premier jour à Madrid, le 21 juillet.

Marta Cervera (Plaza de las salesas, 2) avait retenu sept artistes utilisant la photographie pour un programme très contemporain. Greta Alfaro présente certainement le programme le plus facilement interprétable. Le dispositif comprend une vidéo et plusieurs photographies de divers formats. Le film retrace le saccage d’une table bourgeoisement dressée en pleine nature par des vautours. Les photos témoignent de l’événement. Pour ma part, cela m’a fait penser à la crise financière, d’autres pourront y voir d’autres choses. Les autres auteurs m’ont moins convaincu, à commencer par deux artistes également représentés par la galerie, Adam Fuss montre un rond dans l’eau et Jay Heikes expose trois photos d’épouvantails dans l’obscurité à tête hideuse, presque des monochromes. Leurs travaux sont visibles sur le site de la galerie.

Les quatre autres artistes sont seulement « en collaboration » avec la galerie, et du coup, le site web de la galerie ne montre pas leurs travaux. Il y a parmi eux des « pointures ». Jenny Holzer (son site ici) montre en format géant un paysage urbain de nuit orné d’une « pensée » écrite en grand dessus comme «i feel you ». Pour mémoire, il obtenu le Lion d’or à Venise en 1990 ce qui n’est pas rien. Miranda Lichtenstein (son site ici) montre une danseuse en négatif noir et blanc. Meredyth Sparks montre un travail sur un poster de Bowie (elle est visible à la galerie Franck Elbaz depuis le 12 septembre 2009). Anthony Pearson montrait un diptyque symétrique quasi monochrome évoquant une éclipse.

Rafael Perez Hernando Arte (Orellana, 18) exposait sur le thème « entropies ». Le titre est un peu fumeux mais le programme est plus accessible, plus photographique que arty, que celui de sa consœur ci-dessus et plus concentré ce qui permet de mieux appréhender le travail de chacun. Les illustrations sur le site web de la galerie sont également de grande qualité (illustrations ci-dessous, par contre il ne marche pas avec Firefox).

Linarejos Moreno montre de grands formats couleur avec des surimpressions fantomatiques dans un lieu où sont stockés des moules industriels étiquetés de jaune. Il y a aussi un amphithéâtre de fac où les sièges sont devenus des tableaux noirs couverts d’équations.

Jose Ronco présente de petits formats noir et blanc de lieux divers vides ou abandonnés, d’un grand classicisme.  Alexandro Garmendia expose des photographies géantes d’architecture avec un léger flou et du grain, un travail étonnant de texture. Xabier Idoate pratique l’impression numérique sur papier à dessin et ses créations sont à la marge de la photographie, tout près de celui d’un graphiste. Ses architectures urbaines repensées et multicolores vont du petit format à la fresque murale.

Fúcares (Conde de Xiquena, 12) montrait une exposition titrée Fotos que ver en Madrid cuando aun no estas muerto… (de calor) (des photos à voir à Madrid tant que tu n’es pas encore mort … (de chaleur). Beaucoup trop de photographes (une douzaine, pas moins) se pressent sur les murs exigus de la galerie et c’est dommage.

Vous pourrez ainsi voir les paysages désertiques d’Elger Esser et Howard Ursuliak. Vincenzo Castella montre des Polaroid et de grands déserts. En contrepoint, vous verrez Javier Ayarza et ses paysages verts voire bucoliques mais le texte en marge indique quels drames s’y sont déroulés et les coordonnées GPS du lieu: ça a quelque chose d’effrayant.

Bleda et Rosa montre un très grand tirage couleur d’un vestige romain et indiquent dessous la définition de chaque élément d’architecture montré. Il y a aussi deux Candida Hofer, dont un petit format (j’ignorais qu’elle avait produit de petites pièces). Roberto Infantes montre une photo ornée de géométrie peintes à l’acrylique et cela produit son effet. Maggie Cardelus a aussi un usage très spécial de la photographie puisque son œuvre consiste en une superposition de photos finement découpées en arabesques: son site, original, montre ses travaux.

Je finis rapidement avec plusieurs auteurs inconnus ne bénéficiant de plus d’aucun accompagnement “pédagogique”: Angel de la Rubia (un LCD et deux photos), Rita Magalhaes (ici), Jaime de la Jara (deux grands formats couleur presque identiques d’un couloir enneigé et Stefan Thiel (un sous-bois enneigé et un château de sable).

Profile of wannabe popstar Ben Esser. Decent bloke, crazy hair.

I caught the video for “Satisfied” by Esser on cable access recently, and consequently can’t get the  tango-inflected song out of my head.  British artist Esser is a young chap with a notable ear and notable hair.  The level of camp in this clip is high.  Sort of makes me crave some Kid Creole & the Coconuts (above).  Thoughts?

Notably, the video seems to take some inspiration from a 1903 film called “Le Mélomane”.

Dan Holloway reports from Y Not the UK’s Indie-est festival

I am not a fan of Noah and The Whale. I just want to make that clear. They’re not all that bad live, but neither are they good enough to convert me. Or induce me to make bad puns about their fate in 5 years’ time. And the fact they were headlining certainly wasn’t the reason my wife and I ended up in a mud-drenched field in the Derbyshire hills for the UK’s Indie-est festival, Y Not.

The main thing we knew about Y Not as we pitched up in the mist and mud was that it had been nominated for best toilets on last year’s festival circuit. There are worse reasons for picking a micro-festival (4,000 capacity) to attend. Especially when you want some reassurance that the inch-thick brown swill on the plastic floor really is mud.

It was mud that dominated this year’s festival. London synth-pop performer Esser summed up the feel of the day. After observing “there’s a guy covered in mud trying to hump an inflatable whale” (I knew Noah were there for a reason), he dedicated his appropriately-monikered track “long arms” to “a mud-covered guy wrestling a sailor”. And by his last song he was no longer bothering with lyrics, but had given in and was coaxing more sailors to tackle the troupe of 200+pound mud-men wearing the remnants of tutus.

Fortunately there was music to go with the mud. Spread across two venues, a “main stage”, and the Quarry Tent (which gets its name from the fact the first festival was held in a local quarry when someone’s parents cancelled their holiday and a last minute venue had to be found for a covert house party). The two were rather slickly scheduled so that there would always be music on one whilst the other was changing round. Unfortunately the mud put paid to that piece of planning when several of the acts’ tour buses failed to negotiate narrow lanes strewn with cars abandoned by their frustrated owners.

Some of the music in the smaller venue (which the rain ensured packed as much of a crowd as the main stage – to the dismay of a stallholder selling rather delicate jewellery, alongside what I could swear was a pot of Chuppa Chups) was really rather good. Rugosa Nevada, for example, maintained a distinctive melodic yet grungy sound across a really wide repertoire for such a new band, and Cara Roxanne delivered a delightful (and endearingly nervous) folk rock set.

And on the main stage things were particularly bright. With Jonah and co headlining, and the festival’s home-made approach I’d braced myself for several variations on a folksy theme (and I wasn’t heartened by the Lancashire Hotpots, with their risqué versions of campfire classics), so I was so ecstatic when local band Max Raptor took the stage and hammered out their set, sounding for all the world like the Buzzcocks at their angriest best.

Hammersmith combo Tellison, a slightly lighter shade of guitar band, left us in no doubt who they were (“we’re Tellison” they interjected after every song, clearly as chuffed as a festival-goer getting back to their tent to discover a pack of fresh boxers to be there, going on to remind us several times that they were “touring with Johnny Foreigner in the autumn”). Fortunately their enthusiasm was matched by talent. They need to work on widening their repertoire a little, and sculpting a set, but that will come, and they’ll be a cracking support for Johnny Foreigner.

Before he embarked upon his alternative career as a mud-wrestling MC, Esser showed he actually has quite a flair for music as well. Once you get over the fact he looks like a member of Curiosity Killed the Cat, his music is actually just what you need to brighten a dull afternoon (his appearance even coincide with that of the sun). It’s the kind of breezy, poppy London sound you’d imagine Lily Allen might make if she had a bit more talent, only the layered synth in the background gives it a satisfyingly present but not too intrusive edge.

Bombay Bicycle Club are probably already too big to properly be called Indie. They seem to have been everywhere this year, but it was still a treat to see this London combo in the flesh. Their energy was just what we needed to keep us going as we fidgeted around waiting for the reason we came, The Boxer Rebellion. I won’t repeat what I said about this amazing band last time. They’re the best band in the UK. Full stop.

So what does the UK’s most Indie festival have to offer? Well, it has dancing bananas and inflatable whales (though the latter are probably in shorter supply when there’s a different line-up). It has a fancy dress day, which this year was nautically-themed, and an Indie spirit that meant despite the rain a good quarter of the people we saw had dressed for the occasion (from the far-sighted types who adapted umbrellas to make jellyfish costumes) to the more sunshine-dependent whose cardboard destroyers were, er, destroyed. And I haven’t seen that many mud-wrestling sailors outside of the burlesques of Amsterdam.

It did also, it has to be said, have very nice toilets.

ok. So something dropped in the inbox this morning. It was a new mix of a track called Fortune by two dudes from the UK called NAPT. Oh, and it’s a bit of breaks. I used to love breaks. Being an ‘ex-drummer’, I use to think breaks and drum’n'bass were the two coolest genres within electronic music. Anyway, this new mix was produced exclusively for Fabric London in light of NAPT’s pretty massive gig their on this Friday night. Wish I could go…but you know, with being on the other side of the world, that kinda stuff is difficult.

ok. here it is.

NAPT – Fortune (12Inch Dub Mix)

(MySpace, Facebook, iTunes)

This wouldn’t be a remix that post without a few other tracks that have been a little non stop on ze ipod. Next up is a track by some dude called Esser. Being in Australia, I never really heard much about this guy, but I think in the UK you either really like him, or you really don’t like him. Anyway, a remix dropped in the inbox a few days ago by Treasure Fingers. Is good. Has been in my head since. Thanks toRCRD LBL for this one.

Esser – Headlock (Treasure Fingers’ Vocoder Workout)

(iTunes)

Final on the list of tricks is those dudes the Lost Valentinos. They’ve got a track called Thief which is pretty darn sweet. There is a remix by a dude called Shinichi Osawa. This is a pretty incredible remix in my books. It goes freaking hard. Thumps all the way home. Like, you’ve heard good amazing electro. But then there’s Shinichi Osawa’s remix of it. haha…a little obsessed. You can thanks the Radio Funktrust boys for getting me onto this.

Thief – Lost Valentinos (Shinichi Osawa Remix)

(Check the boys out on Beatport, iTunes)

That’s it for this one. They’re all stella stella tracks. Definitely worth the check.

K. That’ll do the ramble for now.

Went to a Lykke Li concert yesterday to celebrate my friend Karina’s birthday. The birthday-girl forgot her I.D but luckily her firearm license got her in, funny.  Esser and Mikke Snow opened the show, and seriously I enjoyed the whole thing from start to finish. I had one beer and before I knew it, the show was over. Lykke Li is freaking amazing on stage, extremely creative with sound and used beats from Lil Wayne’s- A Milli.  So fun.

Wow….wow…wow! Esser will be at Cinespace next week August 11, 2009. For those of you who don’t know who he is, well here is a little lesson…so listen up! b!tches! Groomed and raised in Essex, he has become an accomplished singer, songwriter, producer by the ripe ol’ age of 23. He cites his influences to be hip-hop, UK garage, reggae and other mash ups of pop goodies.

You can check out his album out in the UK now, by the name of, Braveface. You can also sign up on his Myspace for other goods such as his own remixes and mixtapes. Tap into the mind of Esser and take a journey through his synth driven, hook heavy album.

Ben Esser, de 23 años y nacido en Essex (Reino Unido), era conocido por su anterior proyecto LadyFuzz, y ahora sorprende a propios y extraños con su álbum de debut Braveface, grabado en su propia casa y editado por el sello Transgressive Records, en el que ha contado con la colaboración de Foals, Graham Coxon y Mystery Jets entre otros.

Pop pegadizo con mucho sintetizador y unas letras muy trabajadas. Dadle una oportunidad, que seguro que os gustará.

Myspace

Bonjour Dour. We hebben het slechts enkele keren gehoord, ook al was het een inkopper. Intussen was de kleur van het gras al behoorlijk verbleekt en begonnen de koppen en de rest van de ledematen behoorlijk zwaar te wegen. Het was aan de talloze bands om de vermoeidheid te verjagen.

(meer pics)

Om wakker te worden moest je niet echt bij Malibu Stacy (Last Arena) zijn. Razend populair over de taalgrens en ook best wat leuke popsongs. Maar het was allemaal een beetje te braaf en dus al gauw vervelend. Al kan dat uiteraard ook aan ons liggen.

(meer pics)

In La Petite Maison dans la Prairie werd de slaap dan weer wel uit onze ogen geblazen. Met songs die op het kruispunt lagen van de wegen die door folkies en psychedelici bewandeld werden, wist Arbouretum een pakkende set neer te planten. De teksten zijn verhalend en niet meteen optimistisch. De muziek is lang uitgesponnen, omvat dubbele gitaarsolo’s over een diep grommende ritmesectie. Soms werden de nummers minutenlang gerekt om de spanning te laten doordringen. Dit was een intens hoogtepunt van een groep die – en misschien maar goed ook – waarschijnlijk nooit de commerciële doorbraak zal kunnen forceren. Maar zo lang ze op dit niveau blijven musiceren, kan ons dat geen barst schelen.

(meer pics)

Smetteloos wit was de outfit waarmee Stijn de Dance Hall wist te verblinden. Opnieuw bewees hij een rasentertainer te zijn die de zaal met ogenschijnlijk sprekend gemak uit zijn gouden handen deed eten. De muziek kwam grotendeels uit de stapel doosjes die hij bij zich had, maar daar stoorde enkel een kniesoor zich aan. Met een uiterst funky festivalset met ook een nieuw nummer tussen de hits was dit een genoegen om naar te kijken.
Dansjes over het hele podium, het publiek Lang Zal Ze Leven laten zingen voor een jarige, niets was hem te veel. Uiteindelijk moest zelfs zijn designerhemd eraan geloven. Deze hooggehakte jongen pakte de tent professioneel in en leverde die weer af inclusief rood strikje.

(meer pics)

Erg veel verschil met het optreden in de Botanique eerder dit jaar was er niet, maar desondanks bleef het een genoegen om The Gaslight Anthem aan het werk te zien. Op ‘The ’59 Sound’ staan dan ook zo goed als geen missers en heel wat kijkers brulden de teksten van begin tot einde mee.
De combinatie van potige rocksongs met de voeten stevig in de punk verankerd en de aan Springsteen referende teksten werkte dan ook perfect. Bovendien hadden de heren op gewiekste wijze stukjes It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World, Stand By Me en Purple Rain in hun set gesmokkeld.
Ook nu leek de set soms een beetje in te zakken, maar dat werd dan achteraf (prachtige versie van The Backseat als afsluiter) weer ruimschoots goedgemaakt. Hoe dan ook blijven wij verknocht aan The Gaslight Anthem.

(meer pics)

Aanvankelijk leek het niets te worden met het optreden van Esser. Jawel, branie genoeg en de looks ontbraken al evenmin. Maar de songs leken niet uit de verf te komen. Geleidelijk aan kroop de eigenzinnige mix van pop, soul en dansmuziek toch onder je huid zodat dit optreden alsnog geslaagd kon worden genoemd. Aan lef ontbrak het deze snaak duidelijk niet. Ben Esser eigende zich het podium toe als was het zijn natuurlijke biotoop. De ene rocksong volgende de volgende popsong op. Afsluiten met single Headlock en de klus was geklaard. Jeugdige klasse.

(meer pics)

Het voelde een beetje vreemd aan. De eerste keer dat Gong (Magic Tent) optrad in België was in 1969. Drie vierden (en dat is nog een erg voorzichtige schatting) van de aanwezigen op dit festival was toen nog niet eens geboren. Maar blijkbaar hebben de geestesverruimende middelen Daevid Allen enkel wat gekker gemaakt, want fysiek kon hij nog prima mee met de jeugd. Tegen een achtergrond van wacky tekenfilmpjes en projecties speelden vier generaties muzikanten een volledig geschifte set. Van aan vroege Pink Floyd refererende rocksongs werd overgeschakeld op gedichten (voorgedragen door een al even bejaarde Gilly Smyth) waarna dan weer een dwarsfluitsolo werd ingezet. Om maar te zeggen dat deze show meedingt naar de originaliteitsprijs van deze editie. En dan hebben we het nog niet eens over de kostuums gehad. Alleen was het bij momenten moeilijk om je aandacht er voortdurend bij te houden. Het publiek was er in elk geval wild van.

Levende legendes krijg je nu eenmaal niet elke dag te zien. Het was dan ook logisch dat wij voor de Red Frequency Stage stonden toen Sly & Robbie samen met Bitty McLean daar hun opwachting maakten. Dit olijke ritmeduo heeft een kamer vol riddims bij elkaar gespeeld en zijn verantwoordelijk voor het geluid van meerdere, legendarische reggae-albums. Bitty McLeans zuikerzoete stem zorgde voor de lovesongs, daarbij occasioneel bijgestaan door Robbie Shakespeare. Het plein voor het podium veranderde dan ook in een gigantische dansruimte. En uiteraard mochten Sly & Robbie hun respectievelijke kunsten tentoonspreiden.

Dat Pet Shop Boys (Last Arena) iets specials voor ogen hadden, was al duidelijk aan de vierkante blokken die de hele dag aan de zijkant van het podium hadden staan blinken. Toen het eindelijk zover was, bleek de show niet meer dan een mooi georkestreerde (dat wel) aaneenrijging van videoclips. De vierkante blokken fungeerden als videoscherm en als leuke gadgets tijdens een greatesthitsshow. Maar daarvoor waren wij nu eenmaal niet naar Dour gekomen. Een knusse huiskamer met een behoorlijke televisie leek ons daarvoor meer geschikt zodat wij algauw het hoofdpodium achter ons lieten om betere oorden op te zoeken.

Waar het spektakel op het hoofdpodium eerder digitaal aandeed, was wat er zich afspeelde in La Petite Maison dans la Prairie veel meer organisch. Emmanuel Lundgren en zijn I’m From Barcelona zetten daar een heerlijk feestje op touw. Het is op zich al indrukwekkend om veertien  (!!) mensen een podium te zien bevolken: blazers, gitaren, bas, drums, toetsen en uiteraard het koor. Hoewel de klankbalans niet echt helemaal goed zat, wist dit combo wel van meet af aan de sfeer erin te brengen. Daarvoor waren de tientallen reuzeballonnen niet eens nodig geweest, al was het wel een aardig toemaatje. Lundgren nam zijn band op sleeptouw doorheen hun (nog vrij beperkte) oeuvre en de hele tent ging maar wat graag mee. Het feelgoodgehalte van dit optreden lag erg hoog en het was dan ook met een bijzonder goed gevoel dat wij de derde dag afsloten.

Ook de derde dag was erg geslaagd te noemen. De katers werden vakkundig weggewerkt door een aantal prima optredens. Nu enkel nog dag vier overleven.

Copyright : daMusic

Pompadour’d British pop sensation, Esser, has mysteriously managed to become famous…despite his extreme lack of comfort with singing in general. Maybe some of you chaps across the pond will know who/what I’m talking about.

Watch his single “Headlock” and you’ll know what I mean. And if you don’t, take the plunge into my absolute and very scientific breakdown: Esser Is One Of The Most Awkward Performers Ever (peer-reviewed by JStor. Well, not yet. But soon.)

Groovy, right? It’s so hip it looks like it was made 20 years ago. Up until :34, you think, “Hey, this is pretty well directed! Look how nonchalant he’s being!”

Then :44 rolls around, and you start wondering, “Esser…is everything okay at home?”

At :49, the pathetic swaying of the hips (or “dancing”, as the English call it) just got me worried. There’s a fine line between fascinating disinterest and a lead-singer with mild autism, my friends.

As I watched this on TV, I kept waiting for some stills from “This is England” to start popping up. How disappointed I was!!

The video continues, with the stereotypical school children dancing and an awkward incorporation of Esser with choreography.

It’s one thing to do awkward things and not give a fuck, it’s quite another to let your embarrassment be syndicated on a global scale:

Wow. Just…wow.

His next video, “I Love You”, is equally hard to watch. You just feel so bad for him…and not because he’s getting food thrown at his face. Lord knows Matt and Kim didn’t mind (nor did DikDik or JUSTICEvsSIMIAN’s trashed “friends“, or even their “Hustler” for that matter. )

Observe the progression of awkwardness:

Oh my god. How weird! Just WEIRD! TAKE IT LIKE A MAN, ESSER!

His video for Work it Out isn’t much better, either.More glitz and budget, yet it runs rife with dorky aliens and a cumbersome space suit.

Take a page of Lily Allen’s book on how to rock space suits, people.

I feel so uncomfortable from these videos that I’m not quite sure what to say… except: Michael Cera, where were you on the whole good-awkward/bad-awkward lesson plan? Esser could use a few pointers.

Instead, Esser, watch Blur: Best Of, take a shower, then get back to me. Don’t forget to study Damon Albarn’s performances, and be prepared for a Quiz on How to Make Eye Contact With The Camera.

Man, some kids these days just don’t understand.

Begynner å bli en skremmende vane denne uken. Forsove seg 30 min til jobb, heldigvis er det ingen krise, det er jo nesten ingen andre på kontoret. Så gå innom butikken, spise litt, sove et par timer fordi man sovner så sent, lage middag, se en film, så finne litt mer musikk og skriv en blogg. Som det anti rutine dyret jeg er må det bli slutt på dette.

Planen for i morgen. Stå opp tidlig nok *kremt* vi får se på det punktet. Høre på flott musikk hele dagen, og kanskje få skrevet ned bookingplanen for 2010. Gå innom en sportsbutikk kjøp en BMX sykkel. Jepp, det stemmer jeg skal prøve meg på litt BMX sykling. Deretter sykle til polet kjøp noe vin. Dra på middag til en god vennine, deretter bærer det ut på byen. Blå er stedet, og LOS-kollektivet er konseptet. Eventet finner du her. Det lukter som det blir en kongekveld nede ved elven. Det høres ut som en mye bedre plan, enn de tidligere dagene denne uken!

Men jeg sa jo at jeg hadde funnet noen nye sanger i dag;
Esser – Braveface Ok, jeg innrømmer det. Jeg var litt dårlig på å sjekke ut Hove artistene som kom i år. Ene gruppen jeg som jeg burde ha sett, men ikke hadde fått med meg, var Esser. I mars om første albumet ut Braveface. Et album jeg fikk kjøpt meg i stad, rett på ipoden, og gå en tur i parken. Dødsbra album! Anbefaler alle å få kjøpt seg albumet på itunes f.eks. Spotify har ikke så mange av låtene til Esser enda, så her må du kanskje invistere noen kroner.

Låt nr. 2 er fra et band jeg har lagt ut en link til tidligere nemlig Tigercity, men selvfølgelig en annen låt her er Powerstripe, nok en låt med den gode vibben Tigercity har.

Og siden helgen nærmer seg med storm skritt er det viktig å begynne å legge ut litt låter til kanon vorset du skal ha for alle vennene dine! Da kan du briefe litt med at du har noe av den beste musikken, og sjansen for at de har de låtene her er veldig veldig liten. HEr er hvertfall en veldig dansbar låt fra Frankmusik – Confusion Girl (Russ Chimes Instrumental Remix) I morgen skal jeg begynne med å lage en hel spotifyliste til vorset ditt! Og ja du må invitere alle vennene dine, som alle andre fester jo flere, jo bedre!

Som dere sikkert skjønner skal jeg prøve å få bloget litt igjen på dagtid i morgen, for sjansen for at jeg orker det etter å ha vært ute er ikke så stor! Så stay tuned, more good music is coming your way!

LÉ B.

My final foray into the world of the iTunes festival was to see Graham Coxon. I was massively excited after seeing Blur to hear some of his solo tracks, especially as the new solo album is pretty good from what I’ve heard.

Support came in the form of Esser, apparently a new up-and-coming British artist. I didn’t like him at all. The songs weren’t terrible, but the band had no personality. They didn’t really engage with the crowd, I wasn’t a huge fan of the beats either and the lyrics were not good. I think the Roundhouse has occasional issues with sound too as it was quite muggy and difficult to hear at times.

This problem was carried over into Graham Coxon’s set. The acoustic tracks didn’t translate too well because of this; standing at the back of the venue, it was almost impossible to hear his playing. This was in part due to the fact that everybody was talking, usually shouting out requests for Blur songs. From what I could hear, his playing was really good. A lot of the set was played with him sitting down, but when he brought out the electric guitar he really did rock out. I found it hard to really appreciate the gig with the sound issues and people talking so much, which is a shame as I was looking forward to it a lot. I think the new album needs to be played in a smaller venue, with dedicated Coxon fans who won’t shout for Blur songs.

He closed the set with this Davey Graham track.

Babe, It Ain’t No Lie (Live) – Graham Coxon