new jj jams

sincerely yours was kind enough to offer two fresh new gems from the increasingly prolific (and no less amazing for it) jj, at least one of which, the haunting "let go," will be featured on the forthcoming follow-up to my fifth favorite album of 2009, jj n° 2. the logically titled jj n° 3 will be out march 9 on yours and secretly canadian.



from yours:

"OK, jj went to malaga to have some fun, get some sun and 2 albums done. it was back in the fall of 2008 when they had both lost their virginity to insanity and were looking for moments of clarity. a plane to spain felt like a reasonable opportunity.
so with money in the bank, nobody to thank, it started with a drank.
and a couple of hours later the on the 29th of september they had felt the first breeze coming in from africa, sweet winds of melodies pure and true."

what they said. get the tracks here.

also here's the artwork for n° 3. i kind of miss the blood-splattered pot leaf already.



jj are also making their US live debut soon, with appearances at sxsw and a tour with the xx. sweetness.

nitetime rainbows

a sunny day in glasgow are still riding pretty on the wave of their beautiful 2009 release ashes grammar, which remains one of my favorite records in recent months.

the next single from the album will be "nitetime rainbows." i personally would have gone for "passionate introverts" but i like the former's blissful ambience just fine.



the EP will be out on march 2 via mis ojos discos and feature three new songs left off of grammar, as well as remixes from various label mates. should be fun.

another thing to note is that the band is really good live. for proof, catch them at one of the tour dates listed on their myspace, where you can also preview "rainbows" for yourself.

theres space for ol dat i see

the paper planes have ascended to the cosmos from the looks of things.

courtesy of ms. arulpragasam's twitter.

UPDATE: turns out my description wasn't so far off. the new track is called "space odyssey" and will be included on M.I.A.'s new album later this year. it's supposedly a protest song meant to serve as a continuation of her big "fuck you" to the new york times. awes.

pop that y-rocks 1.12.2010

though my blogging may have grown sporadic, one thing that has remained constant has been my weekly radio show, the circuit, on y-rock on xpn. after spending the final weeks of 2009 recapping the best of the decade in alternative and electronica, i'm back in full swing with new music from the knife, memory tapes, tanlines, surfer blood and much, much more!

read on for this week's playlist can tune-in online tonight from ten to midnight, or saturday from nine to eleven pm for the replay.



the very best - julia (joe goddard of hot chip remix)
active child - voice of an old friend (summer camp bedford falls remix)
washed out - belong
small black - despicable dogs (washed out remix)
cut copy - nobody lost, nobody found
memoryhouse - to the lighthouse
toro y moi - blessa
lindstrøm and christabelle - lovesick
the silent league - yours truly, 2095 (memory tapes version)
solid gold - matter of time (tanlines remix)
le tigre - deceptacon (dfa remix)
nite jewel - want you back
four tet - love cry (joy orbison remix)
animal collective - summertime clothes (dam-funk remix)
the avalanches - live at dominoes
miracles club - a new love
desire - dans mes reves
nosaj thing - light#2
OoOOo - nosummr4u
surfer blood - swim (alpaca remix by allen blickle of baroness)
white hinterland - icarus
the knife - colouring of pigeons
bullion - say goodbye to what
vampire weekend - diplomat's son

and because last week's playlist came out pretty awesome, here's that too:

lindstrøm and christabelle - looking for what (sally shapiro remix)
memory tapes - bicycle (what kind of breeze do you blow? e-mix)
la roux - fascination
monarchy - the phoenix alive
joanna newsom - bridges & balloons (pocket mix)
the longcut - repeated (toro y moi remix)
fleet foxes - white winter hymnal (the twelves remix)
jessica 6 - fun girl
hot chip - one life stand
the golden filter - the hardest button to button
lemonade - big weekend (delorean remix)
the xx - space bass (jamie xx's remix of the xx)
avner - bed for mig (kjj edit)
charlotte gainsbourg - heaven can wait (nosaj thing remix)
neon indian - mind, drips (mirror image remix)
bear in heaven - lovesick teenager
pixies - where is my mind? (bassnectar remix)
these new puritans - we want war (ghost hunter remix)
cfcf - half-dreaming
desire - if i can't hold you
kate bush - running up that hill (datassette remix)
joy orbison - hyph mngo

welcome back stylus! sort of...

throughout college, one of, if not my absolute, favorite online music sites was the late, great stylus magazine. i didn't always agree with their reviews or music tastes, but i did always respect and appreciate them for their variety and honesty. i discovered many of my current favorite albums and artists through them. their genuine wealth of journalistic craft and integrity made it all the the sadder when they shuttered at the end of 2007, coming off of what was arguably the best year for music of the last ten.


as i started reading and weighing the various best-of-the-decade lists back in the summer when they were cropping up, i often thought to myself how much i missed stylus and how awesome their list would be had they made one. wouldn't you know? several contributors to that site felt the same way, and decided to do something about it.

again, i don't necessarily agree with all of the decisions made here, but of all of the major lists i've read, this one is pretty damn good, and probably my favorite of the bunch. as always, their inclusions are varied and true to the spirit of stylus, including not only many of my own top 25, but also several albums that just missed it, namely peak efforts by cut copy, sleater-kinney and missy elliott off the top of my head.

head on over to the stylus decade (certainly a better, more appropriate name for the last ten years than the 'oughties) to check out the full lists of top songs and albums of the decade, each 100 long, as well as several very well-written retrospective essays on various issues of relevance.

for a brief, shining moment, my favorite website lives again.

no escape from memory tapes

you know dayve, if you spent less time remixing other people's stuff and more time prepping your live performances, you wouldn't have to cancel dates like your one at the barbary this past sunday that didn't happen. not that i'm bitter...



that said, your remixes remain undeniably slick and awesome, with this most recent redo of the silent league's "your's truly, 2095" cover being no exception, arguably trumping the league's last chillwave makeover by neon indian over the summer.

grab it over at p4k and get a jig going, then grab another new memory tapes remix (this one of gucci mane) over at his blog, along with every other remix he's done. just don't count on tour dates yet.

UPDATE: new memory tapes dates have been announced in the states, with a new stop in philly taking place on feb. 19. venue TBD.