Archive for the ‘Qbot’ Category

X-Divide: Sometimes

Musician and synthpop/industrial promoter Jens Domgörgen and singer/songwriter Eric Schmaler have just released their first album as X-Divide, called X, on Infacted a few weeks ago. It’s not doing too bad for a debut album; their first single, “Forever”, just found its way into the German alternative top ten. I’m expecting to see them in an opening slot on a synthpop tour this summer–this could be a band worth getting to the show early for.

X on Amazon
official website

Lykke Li: Little Bit [CSS remix]

It’s 6am and the sun is coming up. Kamar just dropped me off and these potato things from Dunkin Donuts are soooo good, you have no idea…
Such a great evening at Panic! I got there way too late to hear Arturo, but caught a rare Britpop-ish set from Chicago-legend-via-Berlin Scary Lady Sarah, who had the place so packed with friends that my head was spinning even before the Maker’s Mark got to me. We moved on to Late Bar, Dave Roberts’ new place, with Peroxide and Stormy, and made some new friends there, too.

I should probably go to bed, but I can’t stop listening to this Lykke Li remix lately, which may have something to do with me starting off my set with it Thursday night.

Here’s to hoping your weekend is going as well as mine.

Youth Novels on Amazon
Official Website

Yello: Bostich

Last night started off really slow–after all, a good portion of our crowd was at The Queen Is Dead early in the night–but by the time Arturo went on and The Handsome Devilz arrived, it was a juggernaut. While Kamar was rallying the dancers over to Neo, I got to do a long early set. One of the things I love about doing early sets at Atomic is that I get to experiment a bit and gauge reactions before I play a song to a packed floor. Will they dance if I play this? Will the regulars run up to the booth screaming about how they love it or how they’ll strangle me if I ever play it again? Sometimes, I realize that I should’ve been playing it at 1am all along.

Such is the case with the Yello classic “Bostitch”. It blows my mind that this single was released in 1979. Typical of Yello’s style, it’s sophisticated, dark, and avant-garde. It’s very new wave, it’s really tech-house, it’s vaguely industrial…and no, that is not Douglas McCarthy from Nitzer Ebb singing. Actually it’s Dieter Meier [himself a very interesting person], the conceptualist half of Yello, whose ideas are executed by self-claimed perfectionist Boris Blank, who reportedly has a library of over 100,000 samples he made from scratch.

Now in their 60s, Meier and Blank are still making music as Yello, and it’s still just as good. Most of their current work is in soundtracks these days. Recently, they’ve worked with Audi and been the subject of a documentary. I hope I’m half as cool as they are when I’m their age.

“Bostich” is on their debut album Solid Pleasure.

Solid Pleasure on Amazon
Yello Official Website

Placebo: Bigmouth Strikes Again

Somewhere back in the ’90s, I drug a handful of friends to a Placebo show in St. Louis. Having only ever heard their solitary US hit “Pure Morning”, they were skeptical, and I can hardly blame them. I don’t much care for that song; to me it is to Placebo what “Vaseline” is to Flaming Lips fans: an annoyance that requires so many “no but really, their other stuff is so much more than that” explanations.

I’m proud to say that my friends left the show that night as Placebo fans, and henceforth trusted my judgement about these sorts of things.

Despite the little airplay they get here in the States, thankfully they’ve attracted enough of a cult following to tour here every few years. I always go see them, and -I can’t say this about too many bands- they’ve always gotten better. One of the things one comes to expect from their encores is a cover of someone who has influenced them; I’m quite fond of what they’ve done to The Pixies and Kate Bush. But since this week we are providing the afterparty for The Queen Is Dead (details to your right), it seemed more fitting to post their rocked-out version of The Smiths’ classic “Bigmouth Strikes Again” from their collection of covers Sleeping With Ghosts. Though not necessarily as good or true to the original, their take on it is worth noting.

Placebo on Amazon
Official Website

Old School Freight Train: Heart of Glass

A surprisingly un-ironic bluegrass take on “Heart of Glass”, Old School Freight Train’s rework is not only beautiful, but a testament to the integrity of the original version by Blondie.

Available from Amazon on their album Six Years.
official site

Colder: To The Music

I’ll complete our series of New Order tribute posts this week with a look towards the future and an artist I have been dying to write about since we started this blog. The work of Parisian graphic designer Marc Nguyen Tan, Colder bears some resemblance to the fashion industry he works in by day; dark minimalism comes across as stylish and sexy despite it’s mechanical synthesized structure and disassociated vocals. Is this meant to be heard on a dance floor, or alone at home with the lights out?

“To The Music” is a particular favorite of mine, an anthem to the solitary dancer, lost in the music and oblivious to the gaze of bystanders. I can think of few songs more appropriate for Neo, where it seems all eyes are on the floor. It’s taken from Heat, but if I were to recommend only one Colder album, I’d first choose 2003’s solid Again. Though the influence of Joy Division couldn’t be more obvious, it’s an equally fine example of modern French new wave.

Without an official website (or even so much as a MySpace page) and a now-defunct label, it’s difficult to know if/when there will be another Colder album out. In this rare interview in 2005, he seems to indicate that making music is not a high priority, so we may be waiting a while. He also hints at a collaboration with Chris & Cosey. Yes, that Chris & Cosey.

Finally, no post on Colder would be complete without including Nguyen Tan’s unbelievably good remix of Depeche Mode’s “Clean”. I feel like Depeche Mode doesn’t get enough credit for how spot-on they are with choosing the most perfect and current producers to remix their stuff, and they really nailed it with this one. Do I dare say it? I like it better than the original.

Colder on Amazon

Coincidentally, Marc Nguyen Tan released a new album just last week; it’s a collaboration with his long time friend Guillaume Ollendorff, under the name Scratoa!. Called Live en San Antón, it was recorded in the barrio of the same name in Alicante, Spain two years ago. It’s improvised noisy experimental sound is quite a departure from Colder, and will more likely appeal to Nurse With Wound fans. Scratoa! on Amazon

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