Click on link to download.

Dragonette “Pick Up The Phone” Richard x Richard Remix
Thunderheist “LBG (Little Booty Girl)” Alias Remix
Pretty Lights “City of One”
Bebel Gilberto “The Real Thing” (Produced by Mark Ronson)

Photo: Nathan Seabrook

Fourth video / single, “Little Booty Girl” off of the self-titled album by Thunderheist. The previous videos were “Jerk It”, “Bounce” and “Nothing 2 Step 2″. If you haven’t yet caught these two live, you’re missing out, Isis’s stage energy is INSANE, pretty much impossible not to get into their live show. The latest single sounds a bit like Dead Prez, but there is a connection, as Isis previously worked with M-1 of Dead Prez. Anyways check the latest vid that was directed by George Vale.

Click on link to download.

Metric “Collect Call” Tom Wrecks Remix | Read Our Interview with Emily Haines Here.
Thunderheist “Nothing 2 Step 2″ Futurecop! Remix

If you haven’t caught on to Canada’s own Thunderheist, then you need to seriously step your music game up. This hip-hop / electro duo recently released their self-title debut, Thunderheist, just wrapped up their Canadian tour and are currently touring through Europe before coming back to North America and hitting the United States. Grahmzilla was kind enough to take a moment out of his time to this Q&A.

KB: So tell us how Thunderheist came together and what the name Thunderheist means and where it came from?

Grahmzilla: The name was my idea. I originally planned to only have another producer involved and we would just do remixes. The guy in question used to tell me I stole his thunder all the time. Given that every common word has been used for band names, I knew I had to come up with either an imaginary word, or combine multiple words together. Checked Google, saw 0 hits and knew it was a winner.

Thunderheist formed by accident when I sent Isis some of these Thunderheist songs while collaborating with her on her solo stuff and she really liked it and wanted to experiment with this other sound I was developing.

KB: I’ve seen you guys live a few times and the live show is BANANAS. Do you guys bring that kind energy to every show?

G: We try, but when the crowd is super receptive, like they were that night, it definitely makes it easier for us.

KB: How difficult was it to bring that stage show energy into the recording process for your self-title debut album, Thunderheist?

G: The songs were written before they were performed. of course, a bunch were later re-recorded for the album and so Isis’s delivery was definitely more comfortable having performed them so many times already. I also re-visited alot of songs after playing them out and seeing what worked/didn’t.

KB: How would you guys describe Thunderheists sound for someone that hasn’t heard it yet?

G: I wouldn’t. I’d probably just hand them some headphones and an iPod.

KB: If a two musicians got together and made a baby and that baby was Thunderheist, who would be the parents – slash – influence on the group?

G: (Giorgio) Moroder and (Miriam) Makeba

KB: Your video for the song “Jerk It” made it to Pitchforks’ top 40 of the year. How did that concept come about?

G: That Go basically ran with that idea without any sort of contribution from the band. it was a contest, we were not supposed to get involved.

KB: Is there another video in the works currently?

G: There is one being made for “Nothing 2 Step 2″, it will be entirely different from the “Jerk It” video. However, its being directed by George Vale, who made Fesits’ “1-2-3-4″ video, so that should tell you something.

KB: Your song “Jerk It” was in The Wrestler. How did that opportunity come about?

G: That was handled by our publisher, namely Julie Blake who sends out our catalog to music directors in TV and movies for licensing. I guess they liked what they heard!

KB: In the song “LBC (Little Booty Girl)”, you can definitely hear a bit of Dead Prez on there. Was that a bit of a tribute to Isis’s past working relationship with M-1?

G: To be honest, when I first wrote the beat to that, I did not have that Dead Prez song in mind in the slightest. when I realized what I had done, I wanted to switch up the chord progression, Isis wouldn’t let me change it up and so we just went with it and she even included a line referencing their song, I guess in some sort of tribute.

KB: So what lies ahead for Thunderheist? Is there any other collaborations or projects that you guys are working on that can be shared with readers?

G: Lots of traveling. Lots of partying. Expect an all singing EP from us and some collabos with some pretty awesome peoples.

KB: Thanks again guys for taking the time to show us some love. Any closing words of wisdom for the readers out there?

G: Stay in school, drink milk and eat your greens.

Myspace: www.myspace.com/thunderheist

Thunderheist “Jerk It”

Thunderheist “Nothing 2 Step 2″

When it comes to instrumentals only or vocals, I love music with the best of both worlds.  Jakae of the Jacuzzi Killer made this mixtape in support of TheHype.FM’s relaunch.  And he’s definitely kept those that love vocals in mind.  Hence, why you see tracks blessed by Isis, Lovefoxxx, Peaches and Uffie to name a few names.  The rest of the mix spans from harder dance floor fillers to classics.  By classics, I wonder if he meant Para One’s track?  On a side note, I can’t help but think how perfect of an intro La Roux’s ‘In for the Kill’ is.

Listen to the stream and download the mix here.
TRACKLIST:
1. La Roux – In For The Kill (Skream Remix)
2. Bingo Players – Get Up (Diplo Remix)
3. Peaches – Talk To Me (Produced By Soulwax)
4. VV Brown – Leave (Feat. Little Boots)
5. CSS – Left Behind (Midnight Juggernauts Remix)
6. Royksopp – The Girl And The Robot
7. Mr. Oizo – Steroids (Feat. Uffie) (Mr. Oizo Remix)
8. Charlie ASH – O’Baby (Jakae Remix)
9. The Fire And Reason – Preste Atencao (Killer On The Dancefloor Remix)
10. Thunderheist – Sweet 16 (Mansion Remix)
11. Math Head – Get Hype
12. Trash Yourself – Touch (AC Slater Remix)
13. Avian X – My Life (Mr. Vega Remix)
14. The Temper Trap – The Science Of Fear (Herve Dub Mix)
15. Danger – 88h88 (Stage 3 – The Club Remix)
16. Sidechains – Dance While You Can (Jakae Remix)
17. Van She – So High (Keylow Remix)
18. Lily Allen – The Fear (Duke Dumont Remix)
19. Para One – Dundun
20. Fischerspooner – Danse En France (D.I.M. Remix)

Second official single (I think) and video from Thunderheist off of their upcoming self-titled album. The first being “Jerk It”, which was also in the film The Wrestler. The video, “Nothing 2 Step 2″, continues the string of odd videos in Thunderheists’ library, see “Jerk It”. “Nothing 2 Step 2″ has both Isis and Grahmzilla on the ground performing as dancers are in and out of the scene and is quite beautifully shot. The album “Thunderheist” officially drops next Tuesday (the 31st) and I have to say this is a must buy. The advanced copy they sent us is pretty fantastic. Jump on the pre-order over at Amazon.

On a side note, I’m really really digging Isis’s new hair style.

Okay for those who missed it last night, here’s MSTRKRFT with Isis from Thunderheist and Nore performing the song “Bounce”. Watch halfway through as Nore seems to mumble some shit and what the hell was up with the constant checking of the phone? He really didn’t seem like his mind space was there. On the opposoite end, Isis looks FAN-FUCKIN-TASTIC, I’m feelin’ the new hair change up and as usual she comes live. On that note, we have an upcoming interview with Thunderheist’s Grahmzilla, Isis’s partner in crime, so be on the look out for that, ya smell me.

An official video for MSTRKRFT’s single “Bounce” has finally dropped. For those of you scratching your heads thinking this song is mad old, the answer is yes, its been out for a minute now, but there was never a video in support of it. Also with the upcoming release of MSTRKRFTs sophomore album pressumably about to drop, this would be the reason why we’re seeing the video now. Second thing you may have noticed, I listed Isis (from Thunderheist) in the feature, she isn’t officially listed, but c’mon now people. You know its her voice, I KNOW its her voice, lets give the girl some credit.

The hard vicious beat is supported with Isis on the chorus along with Nore, one half of hip hop duo Capone-n-Noreaga, before he officially changed his moniker to Nore. There’s no denying that this track is a banger. The video is directed by Guy Loga and the second album from MSTRKRFT, Fist Of God, should be released sometime soon. We’ll hit y’all with more info when we get it.

Video: Pitchfork TV

In search of music for Mixtape Mondays, I wanted to experience something within the likes of Valerie Cherie.  I came across this mix by Celery Moon from the NYC. Not much is known about him other than his blog which features youtube clips and monthly mixes like the one below. Seeing College of the Valerie Cherie collective was a good enough reason to grab this mix. Then I noticed track number 12 was Bob Sinclar’s Champ Elysses Theme. The nostalgic value of tracks featured in the Ministry of Sound compilations instantly had me sold!  Back in 2000, Moni and I sought after anything by Bob Sinclar and Martin Solveig whether it was cd single, compilation or even Napster. Anyway, listen to this week’s Mixtape Mondays and Happy MLK Day!

Download Celery Moon – Good Morning Stardust IX

Celery Moon Good Morning Stardust IX

01 Digitalism – Echoes (Siriusmo Remix)
02 Futurecop – Nasa
03 The Latenight Society – Times Have Changed
04 Bjork – There’s More To Life Than This
05 Oliver Koletzki – Requiem fur die Vernunft (Luetzenkirchen Dub)
06 Renet Gaston – Valle Del Armes (Laidback Luke Remix)
07 Etienne De Crecy – Prix Choc
08 Booka Shade – Sweet Lies (Jamie Stevens Remix)
09 Paul Kalkbrenner – Gebrunn Gebrunn
10 Tripple A – Freaky Disco
11 Rex The Dog – Bubblicious (Jesper Dalback Remix)
12 Bob Sinclar – Champs Elysses Theme
13 I:Cube – Disco Cubizm (Daft Punk Remix)
14 Lykke Li – Breaking It Up (Pocketknife Extended Mix)
15 Shhh Browne – DMD (Anoraak Sunset Mix)
16 L Boogie – Disco Jackin
17 Trankilou – Atom Funk
18 Crazy Penis – Love On The Line (Art Of Tone’s Photon Dub)
19 Digitalism – Taken Away (Lalory Remix)
20 Jonny White – Dominatrix (DJ Sneak Edit)
21 Le Grand Popo Football Club – My Territory (Italo Mix)
22 College – When You Smile
23 You Love Her Coz She’s Dead – Wizards
24 In Flagranti – Brush My Beat
25 Will Young – Grace (Tom Neville Instrumental)
26 Thunderheist – Whateveruneed
27 Hijack – Sketch Out
28 Ted & Francis – Erlend (Remix)
29 Space Drums – Tribal Con Passion
30 Telefon Tel Aviv – The Birds
31 Qoso – Smiley Soup

New Yorkers, this show is a must catch today at Santos House Party. Thunderheist is not to be taken lightly, as this duo kills it every time and expel so much energy that you’ll be yelling for another Red Bull to keep you going. Don’t believe me? Well then read my concert review on Thunderheist here and see what you could be possibly missing. Oh and their track “Jerk It” (video below) was in the film The Wrestler starring Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei, so congrats on them for getting that.

Doors open at 7pm, tickets are $10 advanced and $12 at the door.

Photo by David Thai

Earlier this summer I had an opportunity to catch Thunderheist at the Virgin Music Festival out in Toronto, except for one thing, I was busy reviewing and taking photos of another act, a small group by the name of MGMT. So suffice to say I was a bit bummed, but then was totally stoked again when I ran into Thunderheist in the backstage tent area, where the good peoples of Bacardi were serving us lots of free booze. I immediately jumped at the chance for an introduction. During this meeting of the minds, Isis performed a freestyle with my online magazine name, Killahbeez, that went on for a good minute at least and drawing a crowd. Then we were on stage dancing during MSTRKRFTs set. Definitely one of the dopest highlights of that weekend. So when I heard they were finally hitting the West Coast I was giddy like a 12-year-old schoolgirl.

The evening started off with the ½ Alive DJ crew which consists of: Tyler Fedchuk, My! Gay! Husband! and Tony X. These guys held it down and warmed the crowd up nicely as everyone was shaking it to their sets. They dropped some old school and I mean like Planet Rock type old school, hip-hop, New Order, MGMT and Breakbot’s remix of Pnau to name a few tracks.

Just shortly after 12:30, Isis made her way to the stage first and shortly after Grahm aka Grahmzilla joined her. Immediately the crowd was wildin’ pretty hard, those at the front, this includes yours truly, were getting squished against the stage. It was all worth it once the first track, “Bubblegum”, dropped. The energy that Isis had was pretty incredible and throughout the night she would maintain this frenetic pace. Showing some love to the crowd she at one point pulled a girl up on stage to dance with her, this said girl from the audience went buckwild and as she left the stage basically tripped over a chord and almost did a face plant onto the floor, luckily she was caught by a whole lot of people. Throughout the night both Grahm and Isis dove into the crowd to do a little surfing, very cool that they were keeping it mad real like that with the fans in the house.

Photo by David Thai

Also in the house for the night was director That Go and model Ana B, whom were both involved in the video / visual delight for the song “Jerk It”. During the song “Jerk It”, which was the last jam of the evening, Isis pulled Ana up on stage and the crowd went wild, then home girl basically threw Ana to the wolves for some crowd surfing, all of it was pretty hilarious to watch.

Thunderheist went on to perform jams that any fan would recognize, hitting “Horny”, “Little Booty Girl”, “Peer Pressure” and “Sueos Dulces”. At one point during the evening Grahm threw on MSTRKRFT’s song “Bounce” and asked if everyone recognized the voice. Of course! It was Isis. She went on to let everyone know that they had her do the track and never gave her any credit or form of payment, pretty wack considering both crews are from Toronto and that song blew up.

The performance was high energy and had yours truly and everyone else from the looks of it, sweating like a mofo. Grahm providing the ill beats while Isis slayed the mic all night long and provided some comedic relief, commenting on how unsexy she felt with the amount of sweat coming off of her and randomly making comments like “OBAMA BITCH!”. The show was great and the audience was dope as you could tell everyone was there to shake their asses to some good music, I would definitely have to recommend that all music heads experience a Thunderheist show as they bring the muthafuckin’ heat. How much heat you ask? I woke up with broken glass in my hair, bruised knee caps and sore calf muscles, wtf??? Much love to Tyler Fedchuk and the ½ Alive crew for hooking Killahbeez up with some tickets for a wicked show. Check out their website for upcoming shows and info: www.halfalive.ca. Stay tuned to the first quarter of the new year, as Thunderheist will have some goodies dropping.

If you like this review vote for me here.

For pictures of the event hit up my flickr page here.

One.

DT

So it’s been just over a week since the Toronto Virgin Music Festival occurred and I’ve had a bit of time to digest the whole festival. Overall the I have to say the experience was pretty f**kin’ unbelievable, Virgin treated us folks in the media pretty great by giving us access to certain areas that the general public couldn’t enter. My favorite and where we spent the most time was the Bacardi B-Live Tent, as there was a special VIP / Media tent that served…well, what else, Bacardi drinks. I’m not sure I’ve had that many mojitos ever in a span of a weekend. Oh and I tried my first Maple mojito, quite sweet and interesting, not sure if I’d ever have another though.

Highlights:

• Sitting beside The Kooks for the longest time and not realizing and then Melissa stalking them for a picture.
• Meeting with Thunderheist and having Isis incorporate “Killahbeez” and such into her freestyle, which drew some attention.
• Dancing on stage with Thunderheist while MSTRKRFT was djing.
• Seeing Richard Branson backstage at the Bacardi B-Live Tent.
• Sitting across from Moby and not really realizing who he was until I actually looked, yeah that was embarrassing.
• Autographed CDs from MGMT, HELL YEAH!

And much more off course, but if I list anymore it could classify as bragging and that ain’t my steez.

So in case you’re wondering how I made my way there or why I was at the Toronto Virgin Music Festival, here’s the back-story. One day I was sitting around bored and came across a link where Virgin Music wanted writers to submit reviews that they’ve done in the past, so after some debate on which review I was going to send, I decided to submit my Stevie Wonder review that I wrote for Killahbeez. Then came the waiting game, but I hadn’t heard anything for months and to be quite honest totally slipped my mind and I forgot about it. A day after my birthday in the morning I get an email and phone call telling me I won this contest, I was still sleeping and thought I was a) dreaming or b) a friend was playing a joke on me, but then I remembered I never told anyone about entering this contest. After a few exchanges on email, I decided to take a chance on believing this was legit and dove head first in making arrangements.

The prize was 2 VIP / Media pass to the Toronto Virgin Music Festival and an opportunity to write on http://music.virgin.com, where after an allotted time fans/readers would vote for their favorite article / writers. This lucky winner would then win a Global VPass, where you would essentially travel from festival to festival. Currently that’s where I am in the process, writing on Virgin Music’s website and hoping to get enough votes, so hit up http://music.virgin.com/author/David%20Thai/ and vote for my articles if you feel that they’re worthy of your votes as that would be hella appreciated.

I definitely have to thank Virgin Music for selecting me as it’s definitely an honor.

To view all of our pictures from the V-Fest, check out our Killahbeez Flickr page.