LawnChair Generals Around the Block

House fans have likely already heard these tracks from the Seattle duo of Peter Christianson and Carlos Mendoza, who have been pumping out Chicago-esque sounds since 2001 from their self-made studio. This album–their first full-length, though they’ve released several EPs–collects their best work, including remixes of others, all of which has appeared elsewhere. Still, the music’s familiarity doesn’t detract from its appeal, and the men’s smooth mixing helps, too. Highlights include their warm remix of “Really Don’t Stop,” by Martin Venetjoki with Derek Conyer. Not a substitute for new work, but a reminder of the quality LCG have maintained for years (and hopefully a sign of more to come).

Podcast 24: 15 Years of Thrill Jockey

Chicago’s Thrill Jockey Records has long been a legend among indie labels, championing the musical careers of Adult., Mouse on Mars, Tortoise, Califone, and others, as well as embracing new acts, like David Brewis’ School of Language project. You’ve read about many of these artists in the pages of XLR8R, and now is your chance to hear them, with the latest installment of our exclusive DJ Mix Podcast. The nine tracks here, handpicked by Thrill Jockey and mixed by our in-house podcast guru Bryant, showcase many of the artists who will be playing the label’s 15-Year Anniversary Shows this weekend. For tickets to the show, to be held at Logan Square Auditorium in Chicago, click here.

Subscribe to this podcast: iTunes or mp3 format. For help, click here.

Tracklisting
1. The Fiery Furnaces “Ex-Guru”
2. The Zincs “Rice Scars”
3. School of Language “Rockist Part 1 (Instrumental Version)”
4. Tortoise “Tin Cans & Twine”
5. Trans Am “Runners Standing Still”
6. Arbouretum “Mohammed’s Hex and Bounty”
7. Pit Er Pat “Flew Out My Window (by The Lonesome Organist)”
8. Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake “For Brother Thompson”
9. Eleventh Dream Day “I Like the Name Alice (by Sue Garner)”

Photo of Eleventh Dream Day by Jim Newberry.

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Podcast_Mix_2007_12_11

The 12 Days of Christmas: Day 6

GRN Apple Tree Inverse Hoodie and Nixon Rotolog Watch

It’s an almost legendary story among XLR8R’s editorial and design staff, the time that I was soooo psyched about the new GRN Apple Tree hoodie that came into the office that I actually called designer David Clark at home one night to ask if I could wear it to a club before it was even photographed for the magazine. That’s how bad I wanted that thing. (Thanks David and Brianna!) So it’s no surprise that this year I also asked for the latest GRN Apple Tree Inverse zip-up ($90), a very fine, rigid-indigo-denim garment that’ll catch as many glances as it will gusts of rainy wind in the kinda-nasty San Francisco winter. I don’t know what it is about these GRN Apple Tree dudes–as half the streetwear brands out there just do nothing for me–but these guys always kill it: incredible designs and patterns, and they never chintz-out on the materials or craftsmanship.

Item two of this ultra-suave ensemble is the Nixon Rotolog watch ($220). I’ve been rocking a basic Nixon Leather Scout since I moved to S.F. four years ago, and she’s never done me wrong (except the leather band smells pretty funky now… I know–ew!), so I turned to them for the next step in my time-telling-style needs. My friend picked up this baby, the Rotolog, on his last visit to S.F., and despite dropping some coin on it, he sold me on it pretty quick. It’s water-resistant, sleek as fuck, and, depending on the colorway (they offer walnut, bamboo, and teak, plus other colored designs), super-diverse: weddings, clubs, meetings… this thing meshes. Another item for which I’m more than happy to embarrass myself to get my hands on.

More Days of Christmas
Day 1: Rhino Box Sets
Day 2: Death In June Brown Book
Day 3: Selk’Bag
Day 4: Hangar One Raspberry Vodka
Day 5: Mishka Keep Watch Eyeball Hat
Day 7: Canon HG10
Day 8: Gee Vaucher Artwork
Day 9: Kid Robot Smoker’s Delight Bundle
Day 10: Eco-Friendly Bags from Colette
Day 11: XLR8R Subscription
Day 12: Ableton Live

Secret Spaces: Silent Barn

In the first of a series on DIY music venues, XLR8R TV takes you on a tour of the Silent Barn in Ridgewood, Queens, NY. The artist living space/all-ages party spot has played a key role in fostering New York City’s local music scene, and has successfully created a vibrant community around itself by hosting parties both large (Deerhunter) and small (punk rock pillow fight!). Silent Barn resident John Chavez shows us around and lets us in on the pluses and minuses of life in a art-rock warehouse.

Coming Soon: XLR8R TV catches up with noise favorites Black Dice on their current tour.

Sole & The Skyrider Band Prep U.S Tour

After a hiatus that lasted more than two years, Tim Holland, a.k.a. Sole, returned to the public eye this past October with the anticon. release Sole and the Skyrider Band. And despite what Holland’s numerous solo endeavors (not to mention, his moniker) might lead you to believe, the Skyrider band actually exists. You can see this for yourself in early 2008, when the whole gang leaves its Flagstaff, AZ homebase to traverse the many cities of North America with its apocalyptic-flavored leftfield hip-hop.

In the meantime, Sole and company are releasing a video for the track “Stupid Things Implode on Themselves.” See America rendered to a state feudal dystopia at our videos section!

Tour Dates
01/16San Diego, CA: Casbah*
01/17Pomona, CA: Glasshouse*
01/18Los Angeles, CA: Knitting Factory*
01/21Tucson, AZ: Plush*
01/23Santa Fe, NM: High Mayhem*
01/24San Antonio, TX: The Roadhouse Saloon*
01/25 Austin, TX: Emo’s*
01/26 Houston, TX: Proletariat*
01/28 Baton Rouge, LA: Spanish Moon*
01/29 Pensacola, FL: Sluggos*
01/30 Miami, FL: PS-14*
02/01 Atlanta, GA: Lenny’s Bar*
02/02 Birmingham, AL: Bottletree*
02/05 Washington, DC: Black Cat*
02/06 Baltimore, MD: Talking Head*
02/07 Philadelphia, PA: Khyber Pass*
02/08 New York, NY: Knitting Factory*
02/09 Brooklyn, NY: Glasslands*
02/10 Buffalo, NY: Soundlab*
02/12 Purchase, NY: SUNY Purchase*#
02/14 Portland, MN: The Space*
02/15 Boston, MA: Harpers Ferry*#
02/16 Providence, RI: the Living Room*#
02/18 Rochester, NY: Bug Jar*
02/19 Pittsburgh, PA: Garfield Artworks*
02/20 Detroit, MI: Scrummage University*
02/21 Lansing, MI: Mac’s Bar*
02/22 Chicago, IL: Abbey Pub*#
02/23 Minneapolis, MN: The Uptown Club*
02/24 Iowa City, IA: The Picador*
02/26 Denver, CO: Hi-Dive*
02/27 Salt Lake City, UT: Urban Lounge*
02/28 Missoula, MT: Badlander*
02/29 Seattle, WA: Nectar Lounge*
03/01 Portland, OR: Rotture*
03/02 Eugene, OR: W.O.W. Hall*
03/06 San Francisco, CA: Bottom of The Hill*
03/07 Visalia, CA: Howie and Sons Pizza*

*with Telephone Jim Jesus
#with The Apes

Best Live Events of 2007

77 Boadrum, Brooklyn, NYC
Japan’s psych-noise vets, The Boredoms led a 77-drummer army in a Brooklyn park and performed one of the decade’s most mesmerizing and blissful concerts. A fine antidote for jaded times when music is viewed as a cheap entertainment option.
Cameron Macdonald, XLR8R writer

Missing the The Boredoms’ 77 drummers thang in NYC was my biggest musical regret of this year.
Cameron Bird, Architecture in Helsinki

Daft Punk Live
It’s hard to top the kings of 2007, even when they didn’t release any music.
Sam Valenti IV, Ghostly

Daft Punk live is like watching a Lite Brite mate with a Speak & Spell, with R2D2 calling all the shots. It was even better with the neon lights of Coney Island’s Astroland in the background.
Leslie Hermelin, Mute

An unproven internet rumor suggested that Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter didn’t even turn up to their own shows, that their infamous robot masks concealed friends they were sending along in their place (to press play on a CD) instead. Regardless, their 2007 live shows (seen by this writer at Harewood House, Leeds) were close to life-changing. Fantastic.
David Hemingway, XLR8R writer

Elevate Festival, Graz, Austria
This night is thrown in a four-level cave that goes deep into the pit of the earth via a glass elevator shaft. Each level had a couple different rooms with acts from Ed Banger to Ipecac. Number one crazy town!
Curses, Institubes

Paris Paris Club, Paris, France
The Boombox Kitsuné party at Paris Paris was the best because so many girls came to our table to give us bottles of champagne. I kissed maybe 15 girls, and when I left the club I saw Cory Kennedy so fucked up and Cobrasnake and Jeremy Scott were carrying her.
Bastien Lattanzio, photographer

Bar 25, Berlin, Germany
If you can imagine being in a carnival that’s snowing thousands of kilos of confetti while Marie Antoinette is twirling about to ketamine disco for three days, you’ll have a vague idea of how completely amazing their fourth birthday party in August was. Legendary.
Brian “C.L.A.W.S.” Hock, Tigerbeat6

More Best of 2007
Switch: Artist of the Year
Sage Francis’ Top Five Albums of 2007
Best Artists of 2007
Best of 2007 by Cameron Bird
Best Albums of 2007
Best Singles of 2007
Best of 2007 by Busy P
Best of 2007 by Dust La Rock
Best Visual Artists of 2007
Best of 2007 by Dirt Crew
Best Music Trends of 2007
Best Style of 2007
Best of 2007 by Mochipet
Best of 2007 by DJ Ulysses
Best Music Technology of 2007

Michal Ho Screw the Coffeemaker

After issuing two dozen 12s–many with the excellent Samim–that have been caned in Ibiza and by avant-techno don Ricardo Villalobos, Michal Ho finally delivers his debut full-length. Rare is the techno or house album that can be spun without the urge to fast-forward or skip tracks, but Ho has wrought an all-killer/no-filler disc that should deliver huge grins to risk-taking DJs and fearless dancers worldwide. Screw the Coffeemaker contains 11 tracks of outbound tech-house that are simultaneously warm and adventurous, sexy and cerebral. Much of the album bears a madcap tonal palette and relentless momentum that recalls Matthew Herbert’s finest work, but Ho’s more about the pleasure principle, forgoing the heavy-handed commentary on corporate and political corruption.

Worthy “Irst_te? (Claude VonStroke Remix)”

2007 saw DC-born, San Francisco-based DJ Worthy join the troupe of Bay Area house and techno dons, with releases on dirtybird, Leftroom Limited, and Katabatic Records, as well as performances with Jesse Rose, Lance Desardi, and Luke Solomon. And who better to give a remix treatment to his track “Irst_te?” than S.F.’s Claude VonStroke? Here, the dirtybird label boss turns up the bass and the bounce, making an infectiously danceable track. Read XLR8R‘s recent Claude VonStroke feature.

Worthy – Irst_te (Claude VonStroke Remix)

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