Mi Ami Watersports

A Rorschach drawing of D.C. noise-punks Black Eyes’ musical oeuvre would surely prompt a slew of one-word responses—from standards (“fiendish,” “misanthropic”) to the made-up (“bloodfugue,” “seminalstained”). One that few would offer is “focused,” and that is why San Francisco noise-groove trio Mi Ami, which includes two ex-Eyes, is such a revelation. On Watersports, squeal-screamed vocals and melodic randomness remain from the Black Eyes aesthetic, but here we find an aggressively consistent rhythm—a dubby drum-and-bass tandem that harkens more to Fela main-man Tony Allen than the Reverb Motherfuckers. Single “Echononecho” sets course along this road, with the rhythms aided by guitars that recall pedal-laden likembe (á la Konono N°1), occasionally veering towards noisy rock outbursts. Watersports is a concise start to an already unconventional career.

Artist to Watch: Delorean

In the congested field of danceable rock music, Spanish quartet Delorean thankfully stands out. Armed with post-punk basslines, an affinity for tinkling piano melodies, and a sunny pop sensibility, the band is putting the finishing touches on a new EP for Fluokids offshoot Foolhouse. They’ve also flexed their production muscle recently on remixes of The Teenagers, The Mystery Jets, and Lemonade, which probably get plenty of spins at Desparrame, the band’s club night has hosted acts like Radioclit and Top Billin.

Listen: The Big Pink – “Too Young to Love (Delorean Remix)”

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bigpink

Glitterbug Supershelter

On his long-awaited debut album, Cologne, Germany-based DJ Glitterbug (a.k.a. Till Rohmann) passes through dark and light moods, gritty rhythmic accents, and unexpected, sheer orchestral moments influenced by friend and fellow German, Barbara Morgenstern. “Reference System” sounds like Booka Shade going head to head with a vacuum cleaner, combining warm synth tones with cool industrial buzzes, clicks, ratchets, and scratches. Atop a sustained synth, “Brontohouse” grounds itself in a rolling, hypnotic washing-machine rhythm offset by mechanized snare, Parisian accordion, and chimes that grow increasingly playful. Through pretty micro-oscillations and looped symphonic accents, “The Things I Long to Do” exposes Glitterbug’s trip through the acid-drenched ’80s party scene and ’90s techno en route to his current sound.

Podcast 74: XLR8R Presents Shadow Dancer

The last time XLR8R ran a podcast with this many tracks, we had to present the thing in two installments for the sake of not killing our readers’ computers with Titanic-size files. Not so here. Mancunian duo Shadow Dancer has managed to squeeze 42 tracks into 50 minutes, which means the entire mix is ready for download here and also well-tailored for music heads that have short attention spans.

Music-wise, Paul and Al Farrier stayed close—though not glued—to 4/4 territory, whether in the form of Chicago house stalwart Joe Smooth’s “Promised Land” or the disco-drenched remix of Chromeo’s 2004 hit “Needy Girl.” There isn’t a whole lot of time to catch your breath while listening, but maybe the Farriers needed to expend some nervous energy they’re probably feeling in anticipation of next week, which will see their debut album, Golden Traxe, hit the shelves via Boys Noize Records.

In the meantime, have your fill of disco, techno, house, and Prince.

Shadow Dancer
01 The Parallax Corporation – “Whore of the Floor”
02 Franz Ferdinand – “Ulysses (Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve Remix)”
03 Grace Jones – “Williams’ Blood (Aeroplane Remix)”
04 John Carpenter – “The End (Part 1: Disco Version)”
05 LFO – “You Have to Understand”
06 Joe Smooth – “Promised Land”
07 Prince – “Controversy”
08 Elecktroids – “Future Tone”
09 Rainer Werner Bassfinder – “Minimal Scarf Fuckers Drown!”
10 Zapp – “More Bounce to the Ounce”
11 Telex – “Moskow Diskow”
12 Nightmares on Wax – “Sal Batardes”
13 Pet Shop Boys – “Being Boring (Extended Mix)”
14 The Paradise – “I’m in Love with You”
15 The Cars – “Candy-O”
16 Herbie Hancock – “Rockit”
17 Luke Vibert – “Propertronics”
18 Shadow Dancer – “Together”
19 Fantom – “Faithfull”
20 The Bucketheads – “Whew!”
21 Zoot Woman – “Living in a Magazine (Paper Faces Remix)”
22 Octave One – “Black Water”
23 Friendly Fires – “On Board”
24 Jedi Knights – “Public Funk”
25 Hashim – “Al-Naafyish”
26 Chromeo – “Needy Girl (Shadow Dancer Remix)”
27 Alan Braxe & Fred Falke – “Intro”
28 Infiniti – “Game One”
29 The Plan – “Escapism”
30 Clark – “New Year Storm”
31 Carl Craig – “A Wonderful Life”
32 Giorgio Moroder – “From Here to Eternity”
33 New Order – “Perfect Kiss”
34 Mr. De’ – “Superugly”
35 Silicone Soul – “Right on 4 Tha Darkness”
36 Ric Ocasek – “Jimmy Jimmy”
37 Superdiscount – “Fast Track”
38 Bandulu – “Weak Heart”
39 Clor – “Good Stuff”
40 Underworld – “Born Slippy”
40 Visage – “Frequency 7”
42 Daft Punk – “Superheroes”

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Get Grimy with Zoo York

With skateboarding comes injury, and that’s just an inevitable fact, but Zoo York has at least attempted to make blood and black eyes a little more entertaining by launching its Grimy Photo Contest.

The streetwear company requests that fans send “the most grimy photos [they ‘ve] ever taken,” and while “grime” is loosely defined here, that photo on the Zoo York blog of what appears to be chunks of detached flesh should indicate just what the company is looking for.

Submit photos to [email protected] by March 16. A grand-prize winner will receive a complete set of six Zoo York Grimy Series decks, while four runner-ups will get one Grimy Series deck. Winning photos will be posted on the Zoo York blog.

N.A.S.A. The Spirit of Apollo

While the producers behind The Spirit of Apollo—Spike Jonze’s little bro Sam Spiegel and Brazil’s DJ Zegon—are certainly competent beatsmiths with an impressive rolodex, their debut album is a bloated, unfocused collection of bland hip-hop and WTF? moments that only occasionally reflects the boys’ shared love of vintage Brazilian funk and soul. Even with help from a-list rappers (Kanye West, Method Man, E-40), hipster darlings (M.I.A., Karen O, Lykke Li), music legends that should know better (David Byrne, Tom Waits), and countless other guest stars, The Spirit of Apollo is a lackluster effort destined to soundtrack the trendy commercials of today and overpopulate the used bins of tomorrow.

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