This week’s Tunesday comes courtesy of Melbourne nightclub superstar Hugh Waters aka Streetparty. Hugh has been at the heart of Melbourne’s indie scene for years now, and is the man behind famed nights Shake Some Action, Pogo, Click Click, Wow and many more.
The impact Hugh has had on the Melbourne night scene can not be overstated, he has given and continues to give many of those who would otherwise not go out someone to go, encouraging people from all walks of life to come together under the banner of good music and cheap drinks – and is more proactive in sorting out amazing established and up-and-coming acts for his nights than anyone else in Melbourne. In the past few months alone, Wow has welcomed The Twelves (for the best live set I’ve ever seen), Van She Tech, Acid Jacks, Le Castle Vania, Villains, Knightlife, Designer Drugs and many, many more.
In celebration of this week’s Click Click reunion (for details/tickets click here) Hugh has picked out his Top 5 music videos for us, so sit back, hit play, and enjoy.
This weeks Tunesday is brought to you by the heir apparent to the Ajax throne, One Love Sydney backroom-er, U-Go-B.
I saw H-U-Go play at Unlucky for the first time a few months back and despite my complete lack of interest in being awake/out on that particular night, his set floored me. He was able to keep the dancefloor fired up far longer/later than I have seen of anyone else at the club, his selection a fantastic blend of old and new, popular and slightly more obscure. It was a great set.
U-Go-B was signed to Modular not so recently, and the world really does appear to be his oyster. Aside from Ajax, if you’re looking for a reference point – he is the self-described ‘Sydney Tyson (Generik)’. He is also good friends with the ever-fantastic Jimmy2Sox.
This is a post I’ve been meaning to do for a while, but for whatever reason didn’t get around to.
Today, I introduce (to those of you unforunate enough to not already be aware of him) – Gregg Sandwich. Gregg, a recent resident of Melbourne since moving from NSW, is one of the One Love backroom/Unlucky Upstairs new favourite sons. Crafting his mixes with an aesthetic more Australian than Vegemite itself, Gregg gives the Australian dance scene something that it didn’t even know it needed – someone to wave the flag, to approach the dancefloor with the pop-culture references and humour that we have grown up with.
Aside from the funky-australian angle, the other thing that sets Gregg apart from the rest of the scene is his humour. His full length ‘Baguette Fest’ mix provided more laughs than any other piece of media I have consumed this year – the intro and close both drove me and several friends to the point of tears from laughter.
When explaining Gregg to the uninitiated, I have described him as ‘Generik x Rodney Rude x Crocodile Dundee’.
He has graciously provided us with ALL of his songs in 320kbps, and of course, his Baguette Fest mix. I’ve picked my top 5 rather than post them all for the sake of convenience. Before downloading and listening, I do suggest you first check out his Myspace page and it’s photo albums – they provide hillarious context and prove an insight into the character that is Gregg Sandwich.
Gregg is also a proud father to his son, Nutella Sandwich -
Cheers to Tyson (aka Generik), as I stole this off of his post over at Baby Got Backroom.
This, the new Jamie Doom/Gus Da Hoodrat mixtape – is so full of win I don’t even know where to begin. As regular readers are probably aware, I’m pretty sick of the over-the-top electro sound that has proliferated in the wake of Justice’ debut album/world domination. I think I made this point especially clear in my post on the Bloody Beetroots yesterday.
This mix, entitled ‘One Million Volts of Tech(No)’, doesn’t shy away from loud/abrasive sound – but it does it well. It’s expertly mixed, and puts a new spin on several favourites – it’s the kind of polish you’d expect from a Bang Gang release.
The new One Love release – ‘Smash Your Stereo’ is pretty good for what it is.
The first disc, mixed by flavour of the month/wunderkid (depending on who you ask) Andy Murphy is really quite perfect. It’s exactly what it needs to be as the first disc as part of a One Love compilation – it strikes an enjoyable balance between commercial/indie that all but the most pretentious of dance music fans can enjoy. In fact, some of the highlights for me were not the obvious (Shoes, Heavy Cross, The Reeling), but rather the unexpected – in particular Tommy Trash’s new single ‘Need Me To Stay’, which is a wonderfully uplifting summer club anthem that is likely to be the soundtrack to the warmer months for many later this year.
The inclusion of Wolfgang Gartner’s Push & Rise was another fantastic inclusion – I’ve yet to hear a Wolfgang Gartner song/remix that I didn’t like, hopefully this exposure will lead to him appearing over here again sometime soon.
Consider me the newest member of the Andy Murphy fan club.
The second disc is, as has come to be expected with a One Love release, serviceable but completely forgettable.
The third disc, mixed by the Bloody Beetroots (pictured, above) is the selling point for many of the people who will purchase (or download) the compilation. While I’m sure those people be satisfied with it, it is fucking terrible. Since their recent Australian tour, The Bloody Beetroots have become the buzz band about town, much like Daft Punk or Fake Blood in lieu of their respective appearances in Melbourne. The difference being that Daft Punk and Fake Blood are both quality outfits well deserving of all hype/praise.
The Bloody Beetroots One Love disc is painful to listen to – it is noise. It is not the good kind of noise, expertly crafted to terrorize dancefloors that we see out of the likes of Mr. Oizo, Justice or even NT89, but actual noise. If I were to listen to the disc the whole way through at the same volume I listened to the first two discs at, I think I might contract actual damage to my hearing. Everything about the Bloody Beetroots screams ‘try hard’ – the lame Daft Punk wannabe masks, and the over-the-top music which presents as a thinly-veiled attempt at recreating the loud electro theme present in the French scene over the last couple of years (Ed Banger). Dim Mak are clearly banking on them being their Justice, and thankfully for them it appears there are enough people out there who don’t get what makes Justice so uniquely fantastic that The Bloody Beetroots can be exactly that.
To quote Australia’s Number 1 dance legend, Ajax – ‘They are the Ed Hardy of the dance world’.
Crookers One Love disc last year was a scene-defining release. I hope to god that The Bloody Beetroots one doesn’t create an influx of young fidget/noise DJ’s with ill-fated plans of world domination. Lord knows there are enough of those about.
Oh and One Love, before you get any grand ideas about next years release – Major Lazer also suck.
It’s no secret that I’m the biggest, most unashamed Soccer Mums fan in Melbourne – they were my first pick when it came to the In It For The Money launch party lineup.
I think they totally ‘get’ what the most important part about being a DJ is, free of the usual pretentious inspection of changeovers and whatnot, their sets are just alot of fun, and everyone has a good time when they play.
Tunesday is clearly a feature made for the likes of the Soccer Mums, and today we have 5 videos picked by their unofficial leader/spokeswoman/most likely to be a mother – Blair.
EDIT : Apparently I was wrong, and fellow Soccer Mum Sarah also contributed to the selection of these videos. Sorry Sarah !
2009’s best band at their gorgeous best. They explain themselves best in the interviews accompanying the videos on the Interface website – ‘You feel there is something physically happening… You feel there is something electric coming through you, you feel like all the planets are in line or something – it’s something physical. It’s hard to explain… it’s really nice’.
An aural delight, this year Phoenix have embodied their title, and in these videos – they soar.
MSTRKRFT’s new single, their best track yet – Heartbreaker ft. John Legend has just been released across the globe and it’s the sort of Hip-Hop/Soul-Electro crossover that hipster dreams are made of. A stunning vocal provided from a modern day maestro John Legend coupled with MSTRKRFT’s party-electro sensibilities leads to an irresistable combination that after repeated listening shows no sign of growing old.
For the first time since Death From Above 1979’s breakup do I feel that MSTRKRFT was worth losing them for, and I’m now even MORE excited for Parklife with my sudden enthusiasm for MSTRKRFT. It should be said that I’ve always been a fan, several MSTRKRFT remixes litter my most played lists, and Bounce is one of my favourite songs of the year – but this song takes it to another level, and finally justifies MSTRKRFT’s place among the best of the best in dance in my mind, even if I am a bit late to the party.
This weeks Tunesday is courtesy of, well – myself. The Soccer Mum’s Blair was supposed to do it but she’s gone awol since her birthday a couple of days ago so we should have one from her/them next week. In the meantime here is my selection.
I’ve got a bit less quirky/pop videos from the 80s/90s than those before me, and instead chosen 4 videos that I think are truly amazing, and one that is just fucking weird. That kid is going to be scarred for life, lord knows how many takes it took them to get 6 minutes of the poor kid getting scared and then crying, stumbling around lost and confused.
This is probably not your regular music blog fare, but I couldn’t go by without posting what is one of the best musical videos I have ever seen. The video was directed by Pete Candeland, of Gorillaz fame, and is the opening cinematic to the upcoming Beatles Rock Band video game. The game will have gameplay similar to other titles such as Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 1 & 2, with plastic guitars/drums to be crafted replicas of the bands own. Do yourself a favour and watch the video in HD for full effect.
