HRH The Duchess D'Bextorvilles has been updating her site full of tour "pics" and other Fantastic goodies. It's well worth a gander, and frankly we just really needed to post something out her.
The Sugababes are one of our favorite girl groups of all time. They had/have it all: dancey pop tunes, multi-ethnicity, ever-changing line-up... basically heaven for any self-respecting Pop Fan. Recently two former members of the group have released solo albums, and unlike so many "Melanie Cs" and other "GeriHalliwells", they're both interesting records, in both Fantastic and Amazing proportions.
We at DNHQ feel that this veritable UPHEAVAL in the very fabric of pop music must be documented properly, and what says "we wanted to blog about these twopopstars separately but can't be bothered" more than a VIRTUAL CAGE FIGHT TO THE DEATH?
IN THE RED...
Wearing... not much... we have Mutya Buena. Statistics please...
Real name: Rosa Isabel Mutya Buena Age: 22 Best Song™: Not technically hers, but Groove Armada's "Out of Control (Song 4 Mutya)" might just dethrone "D.A.N.C.E." as the Best Song™ of 2007--but more on that later. Red Hair?: No Baby?: Yes
For what it's worth, Mutya was always everyone's favorite Sugababe, if only because she looked fucking awesome, always. We must admit, we were kind of underwhelemed by her solo effort (perhaps because we had such high expectations), but her saving grace came in two forms:
1. She collaborated with The House of Wine on "B Boy Baby" which samples/is a cover of sorts of the Ronettes' "Be My Baby". Far from being a total bandwagon jump on Amy's '60s instrumentation and vocal sylings (well, ok, total bandwagon jump but whatevs) "B Boy Baby" wuold fit graciously on a mixtape between Aretha Franklin and Rihanna. I.e. awesome. Anyway download it.
2. The aforementioned "Out of Control (Song For Mutya)" which words cannot describe. Basically it's like your ears swallowed a candy cumshot of melted gummibears cured in vodka. There's no official video yet, but here's Mutya and Groove Armada performing the song live at some show somewhere.
Yes, it is about Mutya rolling up to a stoplight and seeing her ex with a new girl in the car next to her. THE WHOLE SONG IS ABOUT THAT.
IN THE BLUE...
Wearing a lot of hairspray... and a bra... it's Siobhán Donaghy!
Real name: Siobhán Donaghy Age: 23 Best Song™: "Sometimes" Red Hair?: Yes Baby?: Not that we know of
Siobhán peaced from the group right after the finished promoting the first Sugababes album, and frankly we have forgotten all about her until her new album, Ghosts was released on Parlophone and shit got real. Sounding like a mix of Kate Bush and Roisin Murphy, the song "Sometimes" might distinguish her as the better Sugababe in the competition (that no one is paying any attention whatsoever to).
THE perfect laid-back summertime jam. So approuved.
Oh, and look, the fantastic video for "Don't Give It Up":
So... who will it be? This was kind of a crap battle, but we think it's a tie. Now all we need is a REUNION TOUR. If the Spice Girls can patch it up, surely these girls can rake in some extra cash with a stadium date. Paging Simon Fuller...
More proof that "Umbrella" is the new "Hey Ya"/"Crazy In Love"/"My Love" etc etc
This is a man named Scott Simons.
He is one of many people to have recently covered this year's R&B/Hip Hop Crossover Hit "Umbrella" by Rihanna*. While being quite "easy on the eyes", Scott is not an Amazing Pop Artist, therefore his version of "Umbrella", while having good intentions at heart, is approximately 34 times inferior to the original. We suppose it's cool to give it a listen for curiosity's sake.
Kind of creepy right? We were kind of expecting unabridled dance pit orgies, and instead got slapped with kind of sad poor people. WELL PLAYED, SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO. WELL PLAYED.
Anyway, the above video is for "I Believe", the newest single off of SMD's fucking stellar debut album Attack Decay Sustain Release. They're playing FIXED! July 7th, so come on out and have some fun. We say them DJ there a few months ago and it was KIND OF AMAZING.
PS: Speaking of DJing, don't forget to come to Savalas tonight to see CEC DJ. We posted the flyer a few days ago. Scroll down a bit, you lazy asshole.
*We don't know if these people are Eastern European, we just took a wild guess, which we suppose makes us horrible people. OH WELL.
Albeit not as urgently back! Back!! BACK!!! as some artists recently, but back nonetheless. They have a new single, "The Heinrich Maneuver" (ah, Interpol), which sounds like every other song they've ever written--i.e. BRILLIANT. Click on the link below to cold check a stream [WARNING: DO NOT CLICK IF YOU LIKE ANTELOPES]:
We will be sober and not at all playing anything that has to do with Sophie Ellis-Bextor
LIES!
CEC is DJing at hipster hideout Savalas at the legendary Shack Up! night, with DJ Paulie. If you live in the Greater Williamsburg Area or even Lower Manhattan and beyond, come and soak up some great tunes with us. Info below, bring a friend, drink some vodka and celebrate the 90 degree weather.
Surprisingly, Amy Winehouse still enthralls 99% of Earth's population
Disconap is proud to be the last blog to post the new Amy Winehouse video.
David LaChappelle directed it and it's amazing (we mean, it's not like Massive Attack made this exact same video like 15 years ago. Or anything.). Nice to see that for once, someone, somewhere, decided to release THEIR BEST SONG EVER as a single. It only took like the entire history of the world.
Confusingly, The Wombats are not from Australia, nor New Zealand, they're from Liverpool, England (We know, next we're gonna be all like: "I'm From Barcelona are Swedish?" etc etc) and they write cool little guitar pop songs... kind of like everybody from Liverpool. And nobody from Australia. And everyone has heard them, which would make this post almost as redundant as that one with Robyn dressed as a bee... if they weren't TOURING THE USA IN AUGUST! HUZZAH.
Why not cold check it:
August 6: Los Angeles, CA at the Roxy August 7: Los Angeles, CA at Cinespace August 8: Los Angeles, CA at Spaceland August 9: San Francisco, CA at Popscene August 11: Toronto, ON at Mod Club August 13: Boston, MA at Great Scott August 15 - New York, NY at Annex [Oh, can't wait for that one--Sarcasm Ed.]
To tide you little punters over, here's our favorite Wombats video, for "It Backfired At The Disco":
Is that a sweatband in your spandex or are you just happy to see us?
It's kind of a slow news day so here is James Hadouken! eating a copy of his new single
"Liquid Lives" is out today in the UK and never in America. It's fucking brilliant, we posted the video a few weeks ago. Apparently MTV has edited the word "fuck" out of it, which appears quite a lot in the song.
So that's fun.
Here's what we did this weekend:
1. We can't remember what we did on Saturday... if anyone knows, email us. 2. We saw Superchunk at McCarren Pool on Sunday, which was amazing, and made us remember THE NINETIES, and how easy everything was before we half-heartedly became "young adults". 3. We also saw Yo Majesty and Kudu on some random rooftop in Bushwick, and at one point Jewel B. from Yo Majesty took her top off and started going crazy. It was pretty deep. 4. Um... that's it really.
What do you need this summer? You need a little poppy twee says we! New Zealand's The Brunettes are gearing up for the release of their album, Structures & Cosmetics ('Lil Chief Records) coming to you stateside later this summer. Their 2004 release, Mars loves Venus featured an array of awesome sweet pop (think along the lines of Tilly and the Wall, The Concretes) with titles such as, "Loopy Loopy Love," "Polyester meets Acetate," and "Best friend Envy." The song titles alone will make you heart them, don't they? Yes, I said heart. They're not trying to change the world or anything with their music, but it's good twee and we say we want some more please!
Check out their latest single, "Her Hairagami Set" via stream on their myspace page.
... it's for "Shut Up and Drive", it looks exactly like an episode of Pimp My Ride sans Xzibit, and here it is.
We could go on and on about it being good but not as good as "Umbrella", but anyone with half a brain would know that without even hearing the damn thing, so we'll "refrain". One thing though:
1. We seem to remember a Deftones song called "Shut Up and Drive" as well.
Mark Ronson and Lily Allen get animated on our asses
We're really into Mark Ronson's cover album Version right now, roughly 78 years after the rest of the world but hey, we work at our own pace. The cover of the Jam's "Pretty Green" featuring Santo Green is quite remarkable, but the record label has decided to go with "Oh My God" as the new single so that'll just have to wait.
The video is a "nod" to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a film that parents thought was funny but literally scared the shit out of every child on Earth when it was released in the late '80s. If we close our eyes we can still hear that crazy dude going "He sounded just... LIKE... THIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSS!!!" and dropping that poor cartoon shoe in the Dip--why did our mothers let us watch that shit? We think you can actually see Mark nod in the video, which we find funny.
We Interviewed the Black Ghosts And It Made Our Lives Better
We recently interviewed The Black Ghosts for 'Sup Magazine, and a little pee came out. Click here to cold check that scene. We're kind of in love with them, moustache or no moustache. Actually, moustache.
And no, we're not exaggerating about "The Repetition Kills You". It's on some "Umbrella" shit.
Fuck, it's summer and I only want to listen to depressing music, good music - but totally downer music. I probably have these sentiments because I'm extremely tired and exuding alcohol from every pore on my body. Yes world, another day sitting at my desk when I'm completely hung over.
Broken Social Scene's 2002 release, You Forgot it in People is to this day one of my favorite albums. There is a track on there for everyone to enjoy. It's heartfelt, bittersweet with a pinch of melancholy. So good...
This Is One Of Those Videos We Searched For On The Internet Every Day For A Month
...and then forgot to, and then it was released, and now it's old.
Anyway it's the new video by the utterly delightful and criminally underrated Tracey Thorn and it's called "Raise The Roof" (perhaps a "shout out" to her vast African-American audience).
Tracey Thorn has payed her dues in the music industry 500 times over and deserves your respect and worship. Her new album is extremely amazing. It's well worth $12.99 so go buy it.
Expect a post of this nature when we forget to keep looking for that fucking Dykeenies MP3.
If you're in New York City on the 4th of JULY and you need something to go to. Well the DN's aka CEC and KKH will be djing at the 4th of July Day Extravaganza installment of W.A.Y.F. Yeaahhh, bitches!
...kind of makes you wonder what you're doing with your life, right?
Operator Please's members' ages range from 15 to 18, making Arctic Monkeys seem like grandads and the Disconappers basically cavemen. That was the video for "Just A Song About Ping Pong" and it's amazing. That singer is kind of like Beth Ditto, but too young and fresh-faced to find annoying yet.
THERE IS A VIDEO FOR THE LIL' MAMA REMIX OF "GIRLFRIEND" BY AVRIL LAVIGNE.
THERE IS A VIDEO FOR THE LIL' MAMA REMIX OF "GIRLFRIEND" BY AVRIL LAVIGNE.
One more time.
THERE IS A VIDEO FOR THE LIL' MAMA REMIX OF "GIRLFRIEND" BY AVRIL LAVIGNE.
Oh Have You Seen This? just IM'd us this and... OMG. It's like a Barbie commerical from the early '90s come to life, which we guess kind of sucks but frankly our minds are too blown to form any sort of actual opinion. Is that a pink Mailbu? Unfortunately Lil' Mama doesn't rap about the Magic Schoolbus like in her remix of "Umbrella" but hey, you can't win them all. Lil' Mama is amazing. She should get deep and remix some Interpol or something. Or do somethig with Hadouken! The possibilities are, indeed, endless.
Loney, Dear propells our brains into cute overload
"Cute" has never beena word we've associated with Swedish video maervick Andreas Nilson: mostly his work, for fellow Swedes such as The Knife, José González and Love Is All, is kind of eerie and not at all warm 'n' cuddly. THAT'S WHY HE ADDED SOME DOGS.
That was Loney, Dear's video for "Saturday Waits", it kind of makes our insides melt. Enjoy, it's Monday.
The lineup at last year’s Siren Music Festival (The Village Voice) was pretty sweet.We were rocking out in the photo pit listening to the likes of Art Brut, The Cribs, Serena Maneesh, Scissor Sisters amongst other bands.We’re hoping to get drunk under the sweltering heat under the sun at Coney Island and rock out on the boardwalk once again.
We’re not going to lie, we were a little skeptical about this year’s lineup when it was initially released but with news that M.I.A, Cursive and White Rabbits being added to the bill – we have a newfound anticipation.Plus, we just heard that the last act confirmed is VOXTROT via Brooklyn Vegan.
Join: NEW YORK DOLLS WE ARE SCIENTISTS MATT AND KIM THE BLACK LIPS DR. DOG NOISETTES LAVENDER DIAMOND THE DETROIT COBRAS ELVIS PERKINS THE TWILIGHT SAD
...for the song we raved about yesterday, "Clean Up Your Eyes".
At first we thought it was a homage to Fight Club, in which case it would have been a bit like that one Taking Back Sunday video, but turns out it's not. It is, however, awesome.
This Is That Amazing Calvin Harris Promo We Were Talking About
This is the promo.
OMG! The fly-eye glasses are "perforated", so they look silver when inner sleeve is inserted.
Amazing.
These are our thoughts on I Created Disco, the Calvin Harris record. 1. It is unlikely Calvin Harris created disco. 2. "The Industry" sounds like Kraftwerk, we believe on purpose. 3. "Vegas" sounds like LCD Soundsystem, we believe not on purpose. 4. There is one of those annoying Basement Jaxx-style "interludes". 5. We're tempted to say that "Acceptable in the '80s" and "Girls" are the best consecutive dance singles by one artist since like, "One More Time" and "Aerodynamique" or something, though we'd probably be wrong, and anyway all that would change once the Simian Mobile Disco and Justice records come out. 6. It's very good.
We're not quite sure how we feel about the new MIA single "Boyz", it starts off with an AMAZING horn sample, but unlike "Bucky Done Gun", it kind of veers off into incomprehensible shouting towards the middle, but the sample comes back at the end. I think we need to sit down with the entire album before forming an official opinion.
ANYWAY.
A quick look at MIA's myspace page reveals that she is playing the (last?) SIREN MUSIC FESTIVAL on July 21st, possibly the only reason to trek down to the vomit-covered beaches of Coney Island to bake in the sun and listen to some bands--that, and Lavender Diamond. But we digress.
MIA has also relaunched MIAUK.com to look like something Paper Rad slapped together during their lunch break, but we're sure she's going for some sort of Third World technology aesthetic. We know you've probably already cold checked the video on every blog known to man, but here it is for the six millionth time.
The wonderful electrolads over at Headphone Sex posted this 30-minute Black Ghosts mp3 mix earlier this week, and boy, is it fucking ace. Not only that, but it ends with the BG remix of "New Ideas" the current smashng single from previously creamed-upon DN faves The Dykeenies.
Let's take a look at the tracklisting, shall we?
Harco Pront "Night" Emperor Machine "Rimramramrim" Clinic "The Second Line" Soul Savers "Rumble Fish" (Simian Mix) Supercollider "Darn Cold Way Of Loving" Electrelane "The Valleys" The Jonzun Crew" "Space Is The Place" Good Books "Leni (Crystal Castles Mix) Heaven And Earth "Feel The Spirit" The Firebirds "Soul Sonata" Blowfly "Sesame Street" Silver Apples "Lovefingers" Gianfranco Reverberi "Nel Cimitero Di Tucson" Metronomy "Trick Or Treatz" Milton Hamilton "My Love Supreme" 101 Strings "Karma Sitar" Can "Vitamin C" (Ghost 1 And Ghost 4 Edit)" Zongamin "Spiral" Brian Eno "Sky Saw" Frankie Valli "Beggin" (Pilooski Edit) The Whip "Muzzle #1" (The Black Ghosts Mix) Beck "Sexx Laws" (The Wiseguys Mix) The Black Ghosts "Amyway You Choose To Give It" (Fake Blood Mix) The Dykeenies "New Ideas" (The Black Ghosts Mix)
PS: Gotta love, once again, the animated "gifs". PPS: We also finally got an AMAZINGLY PACKAGED promo copy of the Calvin Harris record, but we'll talk about that LATER.
The Black Ghosts Continue Their Reign On Our Hearts
Oh my. After seizing and conquering our helpless ears with their indie-disco pulp and Best Song Of The Summer™ "The Repetition Kills You", The Black Ghosts have now taken to remixing so-so Gossip single "Listen Up!" and making it AMAZING. That's right, AMAZING. Take a moment out of your Monday and cold check it:
It is BRILLIANT for various reasons, including: 1. It bears something of a passing resemblance to Spike Jones' video for "Da Funk" by Daft Punk, although if Roisin had been wearing a prosthetic dog head in this video things would have gotten a little too "Goldfrapp" for our liking. 2. She brushes her teeth on the toilet.
There are literally millions of other reasons to watch this video but we had to start somewhere. Overpowered is out July 2nd in the UK, so hopefully someone will release it America, not like that whole Ruby Blue fiasco from a few years back.
Is 2007 going to be year that everyone and their moms finally realize how awesome the dance rock-electronic music coming out of Europe is going to take over their lives?
Digitalism's "Pogo" has been in our heads for a couple of months now, I dare say that the DN's might have another summer fave to add to our shortlist (Justice's "D.A.N.C.E" and NYPC's "Hiding on the Staircase" are already at the top). Digitalism's debut album, Idealism (Kitsune/Virgin) will be released next week.
Between plays of California Roisin and NYPC, we've been watching the new video for "Alcohol" by CSS--we could throw in a joke about tired-of-being-sexy bunnies, but really, why bother.
Hot. If rumors are true and Lovefoxxx is indeed pregnant with Simon Klaxons' baby, shit could get wild. Seriously, it would be like a new rave Rosemary's Baby. Think about it for a while.
Slight variation on the Blogger Make Out theme today, with a Fansite Make Out feature on This Green and Pleasant Land, an extensive Web site dedicated to Leeds gloom-rock outfit iLiKETRAiNS. It's always heart-warming to see someone totally devoted to a little-known band, obsessively commenting on everything they do with almost childlike glee. It reminds us of our Morrissey days... sigh.
Anyway, if you've been checking out the DN Shortlist you'll have already noticed we FUCKING LOVE iLiKETRAiNS, a band who sonically drift somewhere between the musical incarnation of an Arthur Conan Doyle novel and Ian Curtis on codeine. Seriously, these dudes are taking mope to a whole new level. Their song "Stainless Steel" features the lyrics "Please don't go into the kitchen/Because that's where the knives are". Their material is inspired by 19th CENTURY BRITISH OBITUARIES. Not joking. They wear black on the outisde, because black is what they feel on the inside.
iLiKETRAiNS' mini-album Progress Reform has been on very heavy rotation for weeks on end at DNHQ, and is available from amazon... for $20 :( x 100000. Nevertheless, we can't wait for them to get their asses Stateside to play some shows to a bunch of suicidal Smiths fans. CAN'T. WAIT.
It's Monday and we're having a hard time focusing at work already and then we come across Bat for Lashes' new video for the single, "What's a Girl to do?" BREAK TIME!
OOOOOKKKKKKKKK. First we were obsessed, then we got over it, then we kind of didn't like it as much as we thought we did, and now, the official verdict has been cast: NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB = OMG AMAZING. We mean, just look at them:
Don't they just look like they're about to make you dance until your feet fall off? So, so good. "Hiding in the Staircase" is our default summer dancey good vibes jam, and for a year that has already given us "D.A.N.C.E.", 2007 is shaping up to be Very Good Indeed.
To celebrate the awesomeness that is NYPC, here is a song from Fantastic Playroom, "Fan".
Anticipation for Fantastic Playroom has reached CRITICAL.
FUN FACT!
We set up the photoshoot for the above picture with Abbey Punk Photo at our friend Andrew's house, who lives in the apartment complex where the White Room (a highly, HIGHLY illegal Williamsburg nightclub) used to be. It was awesome.
We've been ginormous fans of Roisin Murphy and her now-defunct band Moloko for some time now, and not just because her name is one letter short of being Raisin (LOL!). It's not secret that DN is all about powerful pop ladies and the songs they sing, and Roisin is no exception from our regular Ellis-Bextors, Stevens', Goldfrapps and other Dragonettes. Her new single (entitled, brilliantly, "Overpowered") has been making "waves" around the greater Internet area for the last couple of months, and we must say, it is quite an infectious slice of laid-back femme-pop. It's interesting to see Roisin move away from the more pure disco vibe of Moloko on her solo efforts and embrace a more complex sound--blah blah whatever, it's fantastic and deserves your utter attention. It's streaming right now on her MySpace profile--apparently some site where you can listen to an artist's songs and look at some pictures of them. Ah technology, etc.
We've been ginormous fans of Roisin Murphy and her now-defunct band Moloko for some time now, and not just because her name is one letter short of being Raisin (LOL!). It's not secret that DN is all about powerful pop ladies and the songs they sing, and Roisin is no exception from our regular Ellis-Bextors, Stevens', Goldfrapps and other Dragonettes. Her new single (entitled, brilliantly, "Overpowered") has been making "waves" around the greater Internet area for the last couple of months, and we must say, it is quite an infectious slice of laid-back femme-pop. It's interesting to see Roisin move away from the more pure disco vibe of Moloko on her solo efforts and embrace a more complex sound--blah blah whatever, it's fantastic and deserves your utter attention. It's streaming right now on her MySpace profile--apparently some site where you can listen to an artist's songs and look at some pictures of them. Ah technology, etc.