Ever wonder what the young tykes from future Daft Punk watched on Saturday mornings? Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo was born in 1974 and Thomas Bangalter a year later, so lil' homeys were posted up front and center on the shag carpet when Leiji Matsumoto, world famous space opera mangaka (Japanese cartoon artist) released Space Pirate Captain Harlock, also known as Albator in France around 1980. It scrambled their young, impressionable wigs forever; they in turn scrambled ours.
Years later when the boyz met at secondary school in Paris, they formed a guitar-based group called Darlin' named after a Beach Boys song. Bangalter and de Homem-Christo played bass and guitar, respectively, but the group disbanded only months later after a local paper called their sound "a bunch of daft punk." Something was missing; the electro heat was not yet being brought.
After building up a worldwide house following with 1997 debut Homework, the duo reconnected with a playful, open-minded attitude associated with the discovery phase of childhood.
Then they brought things full circle under the supervision of Leiji Matsumoto with Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem...the definitive animated space house musical of our time. The rest is history bitches.
I'll never forget first seeing the video for Digital Love on a hostel cafeteria TV in Paris, and my face melted off. I didn't know if it was a new worldwide sensation or just standard French programming, turns out it was both.
Did you ever wonder what life would have been like without Daft Punk? (see below) What famous cartoons would you like to reanimate? Should The Go! Team score the 2K9 G.I. Joe movie? Have you uncovered the top secret Count Duckula/Danger Mouse conspiracy?
De NPR cette semaine - semble beaucoup de musique complétant les diagrammes français est de nos jours en anglais, quelque chose qui était précédemment un jolis grands aucun-aucun. Et quand Sebastian Tellier "Divine" a été annoncé comme entrée de la France dans le concours de cette année d'Eurovision le gouvernement français obtenu ont pissé et l'aspect de Tellier d'appel "inconstitutionnel." Que aimez-vous mieux ? en français:
(From NPR this week - seems a lot of music topping the French charts these days is in English, something that was previously a pretty big no-no. And when Sebastian Tellier's "Divine" was announced as France's entry in this year's Eurovision contest the French government got pissed and call Tellier's appearance "unconstitutional." What do you like better?)
A jumbo arigato to our fans across the globe for the Pacific Rim Emmy nomination/Best Baltimore-Based Blog, but we need to talk. It's wack you guys get special "Japanese Edition Bonus Tracks" where artists cough up b-sides and other studio scraps for your ears only. We're OK with the extra Smashing Pumpkins detritus and other stuff no one cares about, but don't hold back Daft Punk.
Award for best Japanese b-side title goes to Beck for "Crap Hands" - basically the equivalent of Muscles releasing bonus tracks for Guns Babes Remonade.
Last month Justice also told a Norwegian newspaper that their proposed Fabriclive mix had been rejected by the Fabric team...adding "We didn't want to do just another boring mix, so we put together a selection of tunes we absolutely love, mainly weird disco tracks and French novelty acts. But Fabric turned it down. They weren't ready for something like this. Maybe we'll put the mix out ourselves. People should really hear it, they'd be surprised."
You can hear the mix for yourself here courtesy of Gorilla vs. Bear.
Tracklist: 01 Sparks: "Tryouts for the Human Race" 02 Rondo Veneziano: "La Serenissima" 03 Goblin: "Tenebrae" 04 Daft Punk: "Ouverture" 05 Surkin: "Next of Kin" 06 Symbolone: "Love Juice" 07 Korgis: "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes" 08 Midnight Juggernauts: "Ending of an Era" 09 The Paradise: "In Love With You [ft. Romauld]" 10 Justice: "TTHHEE PPAARRTTYY (Acapella)" 11 Chic: "Everybody Dance" 12 Frankie Valli: "Who Loves You" 13 Das Pop: "Underground" 14 Julien Clerc: "Quand Je Joue" 15 Daniel Balavoine: "Vivre Ou Survivre" 16 Richard Sanderson: "Reality" 17 Zoot Woman: "Grey Day" 18 Fucking Champs: "Thor Is Like Immortal" 19 The Rave: "Mother" 20 Fancy: "You Never Know" 21 Frank Stallone: "Far From Over" 22 Sheila: "Misery" 23 Todd Rundgren: "International Feel"
Seems like more of a lazy faves tape than anything you'd hear from the top-gear Fabric series - most of it's just unmixed obscure radio rock, hipster nods and weak tot action. What do you think?
Don't forget the Cut Copy and Spank Rock FabricLive mixes - easily two of the best recent DJ sets around (and you can sample every song before buying). We also had a chance to hear two recent additions to the series, Fabric 38: M.A.N.D.Y. and FabricLive 38: Craze which should both be released in the states around Feb/March (thanks James). From smart, understated Berlin house to shark-your-Mom club bangers there's something for everyone on this pair.
Back to DJ Mehdi, Romain Gavras' video for Signatune is a muscle car decibel battle classic.
Here's a quick rundown of quality BT content you may have missed since April:
Baltimore Beats Our Buttermore Mixtapes Volume One and Two are a good sample of local flave with mp3s from 24 artists. We also covered the big Whartscape throwdown in July along with smaller gigs like Bob's House Show.
Tough Investigatory Journalism We probably enjoyed doing these interviews more than you'll enjoy reading/watching them, but see the list on the right for our favorites, including a phone interview with Of Montreal, pregame couch time with Bonde Do Role and Spank Rock, or waxing The Office with Tokyo Police Club.
General Beats First and foremost an mp3 blog, BT takes pride in providing fresh bangers you can't easily find elsewhere on the interweb. Enjoy our quasi-regular Weekend Beats or The More You Know series, or check the labels on the left for exclusives from Cut Copy, Daft Punk, etc. or lesser-known heat from artists like Ben and Bruno.
We've also pulled together a ton of downloadable live performances from artists including Arcade Fire, Beirut, Ratatat, The National, Belle and Sebastian, The Hold Steady, Simian Mobile Disco and others courtesy of NPR, KEXP, and of course the Baltimore Taper.
Of all the reviewers discussing the new Daft Punk samples collection (not released by DP), Pitchfork was the kindest. "If Discovered: A Collection of Daft Funk Samples proves anything, it isn't that Daft Punk are surreptitious thieves - it's that they're transformative reinterpreters, and in more than a few cases, flat-out miracle workers."
Agreed. But one of our least favorite tracks (Robot Rock) pales in comparison to Breakwater's Release the Beast (below) in terms of general party starting merit. Enjoy the original, a special Flight of the Conchords treatment, and a nasty Face to Face chop up from Belfort, France last year.
Was going to put some motivational stuff up here about how it's the weekend, get ready with these beats, etc. but then sweet beard of Zeus I found the best video ever on YouTube ever (said ever twice on purpose). Yelle - ACDG
We like the guy on the left that just kind of stands there looking cool next to the E. Must post another one, but this time with more neon lollipops.
Woke up sweating in the American Garden Building on West 81st, peeled back cranberry sheets and an herbal mint facial mask under the horrifying realization that it's the haties and no one has yet caught M.I.A.'s devastating danga dengue fever. For twenty years, no one will feel Junior Senior's sweaty hand claps brush against their cheek(s), master blast OCDJ's frenetic 16-bit Bmore beats down St. Paul, or dance the footloose in a moonlit robot factory with Midnight Juggernauts.
Thankfully it was only a dream within a dream, because Good God man, if even one percent of our loyal Butter Team guests has not yet felt all of these things then we don't deserve sleep. Tomorrow (today), we've baked these beats together to offer a funky pollo, tomate y greens-filled calzone, so with your feet in the air and your head on the ground, try this chicken spinach. Yeah.
FOC is first and foremost a band (think Tenacious D style with the HBO deal) so listen and download some of their comedic beats at What the Folk. Watch Flight of the Conchords. Join the Society of Robots and meet ladies/impress your friends by making your own robot. Watch the Electroma trailer again.
Please excuse me but I got to ask, are you f-ing kidding? Kids, no beats are sacred from the diabolical digis of Lupe Fiasco and his crescenfresh crew. Spine Magazine posted the track below with Lupe, Kanye and Pharrell flowing steadily over the previously soothing piano drone of Yorke's "The Eraser." Now look, you've upset Thom.
Evidently the magical hip hop sample well's run dry as a bone, as Kanye is voraciously copping indie rock staples for his upcoming album Graduation and a new mixtape. But nothing boosts bootleg sales n' street cred like the cheery Swedish whistlings of Peter Bjorn & John; Vegas had better odds on this ending up in a Tampax commercial.
The Butter Team crew also takes slight offense at the Daft Punk sample, as it's überweak. Hopefully they kick his ass in the video (just a news link).
Props to our DC counterparts All Things Go for the samples. The good news from all this is that according to Kanye's Mom, "Graduation is his best album ever - musically as well as lyrically," so. We see why.
