Click on link to download.

Lady GaGa “Bad Romance” Hercules & Love Affair Remix
Anya Marina “Whatever You Like” T.I. Cover

Pitchfork has recently taken on the dubious task of listing the top 500 tracks of the 2000s, something definitely easier said than done. Their list starts off with N.E.R.D’s “Run To The Sun” and works up to Kid Cudi vs Crookers “Day N Nite”, which honestly I thought might’ve ranked higher, but this remix was just a huge personal favorite of mine.

Their top 20 looks like this:

1. Outkast “B.O.B”
2. LCD Soundsystem “All My Friends”
3. M.I.A. [ft. Bun B and Rich Boy] “Paper Planes (Diplo Remix)”
4. Beyoncé [ft. Jay-Z] “Crazy in Love”
5. Daft Punk “One More Time”
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Maps”
7. Missy Elliott “Get Ur Freak On”
8. Radiohead “Idioteque”
9. Animal Collective “My Girls”
10. Arcade Fire”Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”
11. Gnarls Barkley “Crazy”
12. OutKast “Hey Ya!”
13. LCD Soundsystem “Losing My Edge”
14. Jay-Z “99 Problems”
15. The Knife “Heartbeats”
16. The Rapture “House of Jealous Lovers”
17. Annie “Heartbeat”
18. Hercules and Love Affair “Blind”
19. R. Kelly “Ignition (Remix)”
20. The Walkmen “The Rat”

The top 20 I gotta say is pretty dope with the exception of a few tracks, such as R. Kelly’s “Ignition”, that was some hometown love right there no doubt. But Outkast “B.O.B”, I couldn’t agree more. Think of a track that hits you harder and leaves more of resonating feeling…can’t can ya, cus you’re thinking about how dope this track really is and you’re probably looking it right now…here lemme help you.

Back in April I was sent a preview copy of The Juan MacLean’s latest offering called, The Future Will Come. The album, I’ll be honest, blew me the fuck away. I had gone in with zero listening expectations and came out a huge fan, even going out and picking up his first effort Less Than Human.

For those following The Juan MacLean, you know that for this second album The Juan MacLean has undergone some changes in the band and the over all sound. John MacLean enlisted friend and LCD Sound System band member, Nancy Whang to join The Juan MacLean full-time. She agreed and the rest they say is history. By now you’ve probably read or heard about John MacLean’s past drug use, his former dance-punk band Six Finger Satellite, but what you may not have heard about is the process and makings of this latest album, the current tour, inspirations and who he would “marry, fuck or kill”.

KB:…So let’s talk about how this tour is going so far, You guys started in late March early April.

JM: Ya, we went over to Europe and the UK for a little more than 3 weeks in the end of March to early April. We came home for about 5 days and then left for this tour with The Field. It’s been really good, it’s a good combination, cus those guys are much more ambient. It just makes for a really interesting night where things get, start off sorta slower in rep, but as the night goes on it gets really good.

KB: Have you found that there’s been a difference between the European and North American audience in terms of reception of your songs?

JM: I think in Europe and in the UK they much more respond to the electronic elements of everything and they seem to understand, especially from their radio standpoint, they see what we’re doing as a reference to very poppy kinda synth pop music and they can place the references very easily. Whereas in the United States I think it’s a little…they don’t get it as quickly in that way or if so it’s not perceived as much a mainstream thing which it is over there surprisingly.

KB: Hmm…that’s actually kinda interesting but like you said not too surprising.

KB: Your last album, Less Than Human, came out in 2005, when did you start coming up with ideas for The Future Will Come? Was it at all during Less Than Human or was there a break?

JM: No, the big thing was that after Less Than Human came out I started playing with a live band and when I made that album no idea that I would ever have a live band. It was only after I had made the album that I started thinking I would do it going forward. So it was kinda done retroactively, figuring out a way a live band could play those songs and then we went on tour for like a year and half. Then I immediately got back into DJing again and so I was just gone for like 3 years and was not in the mindset of making music at all.

Eventually it just occurred to me that I had better start thinking about making another album or else it would have been a really long time before a new one came out. So it was a pretty deliberate process, probably a year a half ago I just said alright I’m gonna start writing a new album and just did it.

KB: …not to mention you had done a shit load of remixes as well.

JM: Ya, remixing as well. That was all I was doing, DJing and when I was home I’d be doing remixes and it just soaked up so much of my time that it got my head out of the game of like playing live or making music again.

KB: This latest album definitely has a different feel than the previous album in that it has a lot more vocals and is a bit more pop. Was that something that you had intentionally conceptualized before going in?

JM: Yeah for sure. The biggest difference between the two is there’s so much more live playing on this album and the vocals as well. Both of those things came from my experiences of going on tour with a live band and a singer. Realizing that when you’re playing a live show how important vocals were in the presentation and just wanting to go in that direction much more.

In terms of making the album, it’s just much more interesting to have vocal oriented things as oppose to just instrumentals which can get boring over the course of an entire album, so before I made any of the music I knew two things 1. I would use my live band to record the album, which is why it sounded so much more live and 2. It would be very vocal oriented and that’s when I approached Nancy (Whang) and said “look instead of being a guest vocalist on this why don’t you just be a full-time member and then we just kinda went from there.

KB: So was she (Nancy) someone that you always had in mind?

JM: Yeah. It would always be her. I never considered anyone else.

KB: What about her voice made you realize that she definitely is the one?

JM: Well it’s kinda funny, she started singing with me and LCD Sound System, it wasn’t like she was a singer that had done anything before or like an accomplished singer, it wasn’t her career path or something. She was just a friend of ours and James Murphy and I were like yeah do you just want to sing on this track, my second 12-inch. She came down to the studio and did it and it just worked out really well and from that point in time I just thought she had this really quality. First of all not being a diva-style singer, which there is always (that) dominant female vocals in that genre. Also she just had this real knack for sounding both happy and sad, at the same time like being able to ride that emotional line, which is really a difficult thing to do and she just has this really endearing quality in her voice.

KB: You talked a bit about recording with a live band, what was that whole process like for this album?

JM: Well, generally I had written the songs at my home studio and came up with rough outlines for songs and loops. Then took the band to this pretty remote studio in Woodstock, New York out in the woods. Basically it’s a house with a studio built into it. So we all went out for a couple weeks and then it was basically a process of taking the songs I had written and then playing them live and recording it live in that studio. Then I took all that stuff home to my home studio and edited it all back down, sorta like making your own samples basically, and shaped it back into song formats again. Nancy and I went back to that same studio for a week just she and I recorded vocals. The final stage, I always mix at our DFA studios in New York with James Murphy.

KB: So how was that writing process because the songs do have that call-and-response vibe? Did you write together?

JM: Yeah we would actually make it a point to do this. We would be sitting on the couch next to each other with a notebook and pass it back and forth and write lines back and forth with each other. Even for songs where there was only one of us that sang we would help each other out as well with pieces. We intentionally went away to the studio alone, I actually engineered the session, which is quite difficult to do when you’re recording your own vocals, but yeah it was all done intentionally to set this mood of writing back and forth.

KB: With the success of Less Than Human, did you ever feel that pressure while creating this album?

JM: I think the sophomore album is always the litmus test. It’s where so many people fail, especially being on a label like DFA where there’s a lot of critical attention paid to it, it (DFA) gets written about a lot and there’s a pretty high standard, so there’s a little terrifying to start making a new record. That was part of getting out of the city and going to Woodstock, let’s just go where you don’t have to think about of this stuff and get away to do what we do.

KB: Changing topics, recently heard you guys teamed up with Nooka Watches and you guys created a mascot?

[laughter]

JM: Yeah I actually have one of their watches on right now. With our friend Mike, the graphic designer for all our DFA stuff and Pat Mahoney from LCD Sound System, whom is an old friend of mine going back, but he’s actually a toy designer and so they built this little robot out from scratch. It’s actually really cool.

KB: Does the robot represent anything to the band or is it purely for entertainment?

JM: Not really, it’s just something cool. Visually it makes sense, when you see it you would be like “oh yeah that would be a Juan MacLean type thing” and I really am into the watches.

KB: Yeah it does seem like quite a unique partnership.

JM: Yeah definitely. A lot of us at DFA have this kind of thing with like clothing designers or graphic artists or visual artists. We have a lot of friends in all those different worlds so we’re always looking to do different things.

KB: Will the robot have a role in the live aspect of the show?

JM: None more than sitting out in club. It sits there and lights up and everything.

KB: Talk about the live show aspect, what fans can expect to hear or see when they come to The Juan MacLean show?

JM: It’s pretty live for one thing. It’s definitely a reaction to see electronic shows where it’s just someone on a laptop or a few devices. DFA has a pretty high standard of live acts, like with Hercules and Love Affair, Hot Chip, LCD Sound System. I feel like we’re the most dance of all those things, so it’s attempt to play live dance music basically. The only thing that’s sequenced is the baseline and we all play around that.

KB: In making this album, what were the influences? Everyone knows that there’s the connection with Human League, but for example the first track “The Simple Life” sounds like Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love”.

JM: Yeah that’s actually what it was. It’s kind of funny, whenever I first write up a song I usually give it the name that I was ripping off and that was originally called “I Feel Love”, Georgio Moroder was on the production for that song so he’s a big influence. Others include New Order, Grace Jones, Kraftwerk as they usually are. I had also just gotten back into listening to ‘90s piano house; there are a lot of house elements as well.

KB: What kind of experience or emotions do you want fans to take away from listening the album from start to finish?

JM: Well, we tried to make it so there was a narrative arch to it, on loosely this relationship between the two people and I still sequence albums in terms of vinyl. So we made it so that the other side of side 1 kinda ends on a positive uplifting note with the song “Tonight” and the other side of side 2 ends on a positive note with “Happy House”. Each side is meant to tell a story of a relationship between two people which more often than not is going wrong on this record.

[laughter]

But we definitely wanted to have more transcendent moments especially with those two songs.

KB: Was that intentional? Making things go wrong as you said.

JM: Well what was intentional was that Nancy and I decided that we were going to write very honestly and sincerely about our personal lives basically. Doing duets, it naturally became this thing that we went to instantly which was like this back and forth telling the two sides of relationships gone wrong. I think a lot of it came out of how our lives had been for the past 5 – 6 years and us playing in live bands and touring. That lifestyle doesn’t lend itself to relationships really. It felt like a document of the past 5 years for the both of us.

KB: Okay so one last thing before we end this interview. Not sure if you’ve ever played this game or heard of it. It’s called “Marry, Fuck, Kill”

[laughter]

Basically I’m going to show you three pictures and you have to pick whether you marry, fuck or kill that person. To make things interesting, because this is the first stop in Canada, we’re playing an all Canadian edition.

[laughter]

JM: Jesus I love her (pointing to picture of Elisha Cuthbert), she’s on 24. I’m not sure who she is (pointing to Emmanuelle Chriqui).

KB:…yeah and the final girl is Scarlett Johansson.

JM: JESUS, what is that picture.

[laughter]

JM: Wait do I have to assign one tag to each girl? Oh man.

KB: Base it purely on looks.

JM: hmm…Marry Scarlett Johansson, Fuck Elisha Cuthbert and Kill Emmanuelle Chriqui….but this Scarlett Johansson picture, where is this from do you know?

KB: I actually have no clue. I just downloaded off of the internet before I came here, but you are welcome to keep that picture if you want.

[laughter]

JM: Thanks!

The Juan MacLean “One Day”

DJ Pump – Fly By Night Mix (One Day Later #55)

Download Here.

Tracks:

Jaymz Bedford – Just Keep My Boogie
Henderson & Whitfield – Dancin To The Beat
Maxine Singleton – Don’t You Love It
Lotti G – What’s It Worth (Dub)
David Bendeth – Feel The Real (DJ Pump Edit)
Slang – Knock You Out
Mobley Gang – Groove For You
Cash – Hot Thang
Tom Browne – Thighs High
La Toya Jackson – Bet’cha Gonna Need My Lovin’
Serious – Serious Intention
Hercules & Love Affair – You Belong
Jazzanova – I Can See feat. Ben Westbeach (Holy Ghost Remix)
33HZ – Sentinel of Love (Eli Escobar Remix)
Love & Electrik – Never Wanna Get Over You
Ciara & Justin – Love, Sex and Magic (M-Rock’s Detroit Tabla Mix)
Metro Area – Wafer (DJ Pump Space Boogie Re-Edit)
Wham – Enjoy What you Do (B.Cause Rapp-Less Re-Vamp)
AJK – Tangent
The Alan Parsons Project – Be Like You (The Twelves Re-Edit)
The Paradise – In Love With You
Electric Light Orchestra – Evil Woman
Daft Punk – Face to Face
Treasure Fingers – Come True Tonight (Dub Mix)
Pineapples – Come On Closer (Dub)
Lykke Li – Dance Dance Dance (Grandtheft Remix)
Cut Copy – Far Away (Hercules & Love Affair Remix)
Bumblebeez – Rio (Jimmy2sox & U-GO-B Remix)
Britney Spears!!! – If U Seek Amy (U-Tern Remix – Instrumental)
Ahzz – New York’s Movin
The Firebolts – Party Hearty Get Down
The Real Thing – Love’s Such a Wonderful Thing

Oh man, just received this from my homegirl Emily. It’s the official line-up for this years Coachella and man is it looking spectacular. The three day music festival takes place April 17th to April 19th out in Indio, California, near Palm Springs. I, myself, am definitely looking to try and hit this event this year as last years attempt failed. Below are some quick highlights on who’s performing and when.

Friday, April 17th

Crystal Castles
Franz Ferdinand
Girl Talk
Leonard Cohen
N.A.S.A.
Paul McCartney
The Crystal Method
The Presets
The Ting Tings

Saturday, April 18th

Amy Winehouse
Fleet Foxes
Hercules and Love Affair
MSTRKRFT
The Killers
Thievery Corporation
TRAV$DJ-AM
TV On The Radio

Sunday, April 19th

Antony and the Johnsons
Friendly Fires
Lupe Fiasco
Lykke Li
Sebastien Tellier
The Cure

For those following the Cutters single releases, the latest is “Far Away” and in true electro fashion has been taken and remixed and I have to say I love these fuckin’ remixes. Initially I was trying to choose one that I liked best, but honestly they’re all dope for their own reasons. The remixes are done by Damn Arms, Hundreds and Thousands and Hercules and Love Affair. All three remixes sound great.

Cut Copy “Far Away” Damn Arms remix

Cut Copy “Far Away” Hundreds and Thousands remix

Cut Copy “Far Away” Hercules and Love Affair remix

Image: Rcrdlbl

For this week’s Mixtape Monday, I found the above gem from Paul Tao’s site, Hate Something Beautiful.  The Devil Made Me Do It is a duo from United Kingdom that classify their work as “melodramatic pop music”.  The tracklist features fan favorites such as reworks of M.I.A., Madonna , Lykke Li and of course Hercules and Love Affair.  But what really caught my ears is Q Lazzarus’s hit, Goodbye Horses.  Some may instantly recall the song from The Silence of the Lambs.  Although I’m sure no one wants to recall the imagery when this track played in the movie Aside from that, the only other time I’ve heard Ms. Lazzarus’s track was from Mishka x Math Head’s “I Like Your Poetry, But I Hate Your Poems Volume 1.”

Listen to the stream above, be sold by the intro and download the mix here.

Image Source: Hate Something Beautiful

1)Lykke Li- Dance Dance Dance
2)Annie- Me Plus One (Rory Phillips)
3)Kraftwerk- Home Computer
4)Joanna Newsom- The Book Of Right-On (Pocketknife)
5)Hercules And love Afair- Blind (Devil Mix)
6)Alan Braxe- Palladium
7)Old Skool Junk-Flamed Up
8)Stevie V- Money Talks
9)Talking Heads- Pyscho Killer
10)Marco Dos- Not On The Guest List
11)Lykke Li- Breaking Up (Familjen Mix)
12)Madonna- Like A Prayer (Devil Mix)
13)M.I.A- Buckley Done (Edit)
14)Dev 79- That Philly Raw
15)Grovesnor- Drive My Car (Hot Chip Dub)
16)Wire- Three Girl Rhumba (Mock N Toof Mix)
17)Dizzie Rascal- Fix Up Look Sharp (Edit)
18)Mehdi- Charlie Brown
19)Simian Mobile Disco- Its The Beat (Shit Robot Mix)
20)Q Lazzarus And Garvey- Goodbye Horses
21)Uffie- Hot Chick (Acapella)
22)The Black Ghosts- AnyWay You Choose To Give It (Playgroup)
23)The Glimmers- Lets Get physical
24)Free Blood- Never Hear Surf Music Again (Barfly)
25)The Rolling Stones- Play With Fire
26)Mujava- Township Funk
27)The Outfield- Your Love (Edit)
28)Whitney Houston- I Wanna Dance With Somebody (OCD Automatic)
29)Kavinsky Interlude
30)30)The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s- Maps (Live)
31)The Who- Baba Oh Riley(Sebastian/Original)

Robot Rock always shows us a good time, and this Friday, June 27 should be no exception.  Come early and bag a couch for you and your peoples before the place pops off.  And get amped for the new drop coming July 7.

Take the A B C D E F V to W. 4th or the 1 to Houston.

I’ve mentioned about Hercules and Love Affair on a few occassions.  These guys make infections music and music videos.  Above is their latest single, You Belong, which along with the debut album comes out on July 7th.

When I saw this mix on Kidz By Colette, it was a no brainer dl. Kitsune Maison, Ed Banger and DFA and mixed by both Digitalism and Cajuan? The Hercules and Love Affair track also helped seal the deal. Listen to the mix below and dl it here. Also, a track listing is on the back side. Off topic, I’m curious as to why hasn’t SebastiAn given a name to his new track yet.

Via Kidz By Colette

Digitalism and Cajuan Guest Mix Tracklist :
1. Sebastian – Untitled – Ed Banger
2. Yuksek – Contact – UWE France
3. Digitalism – Jupiter Room (Planetary Lobby Version) – Kitsune
4. Bag Raiders – Nil by Mouth (reprise) – Bang Gang
5. Eclier – DISCO
6. Symbolone – Love Juice
7. Digitalism – Pogo (Digitalism Robotic Mix) – Kitsune
8. Decalicious – La Faviere 76 (Larz Chaptier Mix) – Kiso
9. Cut Copy – Lights and Music (Boys Noize Mix) – Modular
10. Digitalism – The Pulse (ISI Mix) – Kitsune
11. Jence – Rollin
12. The Whip – Trash (Crookers Mix) – Southern Fried
13. Hot Chip – Ready For The Floor (Jesse Rose Mix) – DFA
14. Alex Gopher – Aurora (Cajuan Mix) – Go 4 Music
15. Late Of The Pier – The Bears Are Coming (Metronomy Mix) – Moshi Moshi
16. Hercules and Love Affair – Blind (Hercules Club Remix) – DFA
17. Cazals – Life Is Boring (Ali Love Mix) – Kitsune