rubies + sorcerer.

bay area duo rubies are releasing yet another single from their very well received debut album 'explode from the center', this time 'diamonds on fire'. the single is out via tellé from norway, well-known through their releases with kings of convenience and röyksopp. the single features a previously unreleased song named 'dreamhunt', a remake of 'signs of love' by mocky and a wonderful summertime flavoured remix by balearic disco producer sorcerer who is also one half of windsurf and who played additional guitar on the rubies album.

rubies - diamonds on fire (pyramid dub version by sorcerer)

so after the tiedye remix of 'i feel electric' by rubies which got a release on our friends' label italians do it better, this should further manifest the girls' supreme status in the land of eternal balearic sundowns. if you like what you hear, pick up the complete release on itunes. read more!

magic wands.

i am not exactly sure how long 'black magic' by boy & girl duo (and lovers!) magic wands, currently residing in los angeles, has been on the blogs and how often it has been posted and released and re-released and remixed and what not, i just know that since like half a year i keep coming across it again and again and whenever that happens, i have it playing on repeat for hours and hours. i read their sound is described as 'cosmic pop' or 'bedroom pop' but to me this track is the fucking essence of rock'n'roll.

'black magic' is fueled by the most addictive overdriven guitar-riff ever and then puts a spell on you with truly captivating lyrics that leave me wondering whether the chorus or the verses are the more catchy element. all this wizardry is accompanied by heavily stumbling drums, stuffed with shouts and layered with tons of reverb and distant conjuring chants that will literally want to make you go 'hell yeah'.

this is what i was always hoping for when i've encountered people raving about yeah yeah yeahs, the white stripes or the kills but it was magic wands who finally delivered.

magic wands - black magic

as i have mentioned remixes before, here is one that i've got in the mail today but for me it does not even come close to the original.

magic wands - black magic (l'amour la morgue edition)

get yourself the 'magic, love & dreams' ep from bright antenna or young and lost club. read more!

marina and the diamonds remixed.

originally i decided to try and avoid posting a lot of tunes that have been on the blogs in the last couple of weeks while i was idle but well, i just can't let this slip by. the wonderful marina and the diamonds (previously featured here) is back with a new ep named 'the crown jewels', out on neon gold.

the opening track 'i am not a robot' got the remix treatment by starsmith (you know him from our post on ellie goulding, he is her producer) as well as the aspirins for my children and while i definitely like both a lot, i have to say i am totally hooked on the aspirins now, probably because i have a severe weakness for late nineties trance chord stabs. and pizzicato strings. and robot voices. and dramatic strings. and marina. and lovely music!

marina and the diamonds - i am not a robot (the aspirins remix)
marina and the diamonds - i am not a robot (starsmith's 24 carat remix)

and it wouldn't be fair to let you go without any original marina and the diamonds material, so here is the amazing 'seventeen' from 'the crown jewels'. and once again, this is the kind of songwriting that makes everyone else look like amateurs.

marina and the diamonds - seventeen

you can buy 'the crown jewels' by marina and the diamonds from pure groove or directly from neon gold. read more!

memory tapes.

memory cassette plus weird tapes equals memory tapes. easy as that. a debut album is in the works, dropping in september on one of our favorite labels around, acephale and the first single 'bicycle' is fucking insane, featuring everything we love, from hang drums to cowbells, deep synth basslines to bass guitars, haunting chants to desperate screams, piano chords to guitar riffs. what a catch! definitely one of my favorite tracks so far this year!

memory tapes - bicycle

and if you feel like further expanding your trip and are up for some stoned hippie kids meeting caribbean islanders with a rockstar degree in both wavves surfing and sound production utilizing antiquated instruments, don't miss out on friend's version of 'last one awake' by memory cassette. (this masterpiece made the rounds on the blogs while i was hiding away from the cold world of anonymous muppets.)

memory cassette - last one awake (friend version)

save some of your money in order to make acephale rich by the time the memory tapes album drops! read more!

fake blood + miike snow.

short internal notice: i just haven't been too motivated to get some blogging done in the last weeks (or to quote the upcoming song 'there was a time when my world was filled with darkness') but i promise i'll try hard and not leave you alone for that long again. hopefully you missed us!

in order to get us back on track, we start off with a fresh remix by discodust favorite fake blood who got busy on 'animal' by miike snow (pictured above), a band consisting of the production duo bloodshy & avant (responsible for britney's 'toxic') and singer andrew wyatt. fake blood once more applies his dancefloor-proven formula while maintaining the original's fun factor. enjoy another high-quality first on discodust, 320 kbps!

miike snow - animal (fake blood remix)

have a listen to the miike snow full-length if you haven't heard it yet and watch out for new material from fake blood as well! more new music coming later tonight! read more!