Post #100 !

Not gonna end this blog on 99 posts. That was just not gonna happen.

 So woo! 100 posts! I made it! I can end this happily and with peace of mind.

Also relevant, here's where you can find my ramblings and stuff on the interweb these days:

Tumblr: http://mexicangolf.tumblr.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ironyandwhine
Big Oil: http://www.bigoilrec.com/
Big Oil Twitter: https://twitter.com/BigOilEmpire

And that's all folks!

I Got 99 Posts, But... Uhm... This Is The End

Here it is; the final post, and it's already way overdue. With more than six months since the last update it's time to kill the blog. It's been fun and a great outlet, but with work and my own record label, The Big Oil Recording Company, I've found that there is very little time left for me to write long-form blog posts. Not really sad, just inevitable.

All that said, the blog will stay forever as part of the interwebz and a fun reminder of what I liked in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Y'know, because that sort of stuff stays eternally important and relevant.

... right.

Anywho, I leave you with the most recent video from Ocean View, whose record, No End, I just put out on Big Oil. Fittingly, it's probably my favorite song of the year. Tah!

Ocean View - Great No Grace



... okay, 99 posts... I need to do one more post then.

Best Songs of 2011

Again... better late than never. I've been busy tumblr'iing at mexicangolf.tumblr.com. Hit me up there for more frequent updates!

Anywho, as for the list; The rules are simple, in order to qualify a song/album has to have been released in the current calendar year, it cannot be a re- release, and it cannot be a Crunchy or Big Oil release (for the obvious reasons).

1. Shabazz Palaces - Are You... Can You... Were You (Felt)

Simply put, "Are You... Can You... Were You (Felt)" was the song I listened to the most last year and for good reasons too. There is just something about the mantra- like repetition of "It's a feeling", which strikes a chord with me every time. Happy or sad, it is always a feeling and, somehow, something so simple can feel so meaningful. Outside the lyrics, the beat is a thing of beauty. Over deep heartbeat-like thumps and crisp snares the woozy synth- strings floats in and out to gorgeous effect. Then half way through the song, the beat opens up and transforms itself into the musical equivalent of a warm and soulful hug. In a sentence, "Are You... Can You... Were You (Felt)" is a song that goes straight to the gut every time.

2. Purity Ring - Lofticries
'


3. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise If You Can See 

4. St. Vincent - Year Of The Tiger


5. The Horrors - Still Life

6. True Widow - Skull Eyes
7. Wild Beasts - End Come Too Soon
8. Drake - Headlines
9. Hooray For Earth - True Loves
10. Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers
11. Veronica Falls - Bad Feeling
12. A$AP Rocky - Peso
13. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
14. James Blake - Lindisfarne I + II
15. Dum Dum Girls - Coming Down
16. Real Estate - It's Real
17. The Dodos - When Will You Go
18. Future Islands - Balance 
19. Moonface - Fast Peter
20. Wise Blood - Loud Mouths
21. Widowspeak - Harsh Realm 
22. Cities Aviv - Coastin'
23. Metronomy - The Look
24. Action Bronson - Barry Horowitz
25. SBTRKT - Wild Fire

26. Lana Del Rey - Video Games

27. Jay-Z & Kanye West - Gotta Have It

28. The Men - Night Landing

29. Big K.R.I.T. - The Vent

30. Thee Oh Sees - The Dream

Best Albums of 2011

Better late than never, right?

1. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise If You Can See
2. Austra - Feel It Break
3. Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
4. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
5. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
6. Wild Beasts - Smother
7. Danny Brown - XXX
8. Veronica Falls - Veronica Falls
9. Youth Lagoon - The Year Of Hibernation
10. Widowspeak - Widowspeak
11. The Horrors - Skying
12. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Lenses Alien
13. SBTRKT - SBTRKT
14. James Blake - James Blake
15. The Dodos - No Color
16. Yuck - Yuck
17. Action Bronson - Dr. Lecter
18. Dum Dum Girls - Only In Dreams
19. Real Estate - Days
20. Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
21. tUnE- yArDs - W H O K I L L
22. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
23. A$AP Rocky - Live, Love, A$AP
24. True Widow - As High As the Highest Heavens and from the Center to the Circumference of the Earth
25. Kendrick Lamarr - Section.80

Waiting for a letter I know will never get here

Falling in love is a difficult thing. Take Roxanne from Veronica Falls, she fell in love with a ghost on Found Love in a Graveyard. That can't be easy surely. And then there's me... I'm smitten with Roxanne, but she lives in London and... you know... doesn't know me and all (details details). But still, sheesh, how cool are you allowed to be?

Oh yeah, the music... The music's all kinds of great too with really strong tunes and that faded, ramshackle C86 feel that I'm so fond of (think Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, etc.). It's twee, but without being overly saccharine. So far Bad Feeling is my immediate favourite with the way-too-catchy chorus, the surf-y guitar and the fey almost apathetic delivery of the lines; "I've got a bad feeling and it's not going away". What's not to love?

Veronica Falls - Bad Feeling


... call me...

Let Me Tell You About This Country Shit

The remix of Big K.R.I.T.'s Country Shit has somehow managed to be better than the original. A song that to start with was pretty great. There's a lot more bass in the remix, which makes it a lot bouncier and adds that extra bit of grit.

I'm also loving this couplet from Ludacris: "No insurance on these whips, tags all outdated/ I might not be shit to you, but my mamma thinks I made it"

Gucci Gucci Louis Louis Fendi Fendi Prada

G-funk synths over crunked out snare hits this is a summer jam. Kreayshawn is bound to blow up soon and we’re all better for it.



Swag.

[I've started blogging at Sans Moustache, so this is a double post]

Me And Your Friends We Run This Town

WU LYF (short for World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation) do tribal power pop and they sure do it well. Noisy and ugly yet somehow beautiful, this is what I imagine it would sound like if Yeasayer and SALEM got together and had a musical love (hate?) child.

"World Unite - Love You Forever"

WU LYF - DIRT

WU LYF - DIRT from LUCIFER YOUTH FOUNDATION on Vimeo.

Crunchy Frog Podcast #3

The third installment of the Crunchy Frog Podcast hosted by yours truly. BAM!

From the Crunchy B-log

"It's podcasting time!, as we're back with our third episode. This time around it's an Icelandic special in the honour of our new signing: Apparat Organ Quartet. Crunchy Frog's resident Icelander, Thor, joins in and waxes poetic about some of Iceland's finest, while Johann Johannson from Apparat Organ Quartet also comes in for a chat about the group and their forthcoming album, Polýfónía.

Njótid Vel!

Intro: The Tremolo Beer Gut - Tahonga Lounge Baby (Most Groovy)
FM Belfast - Underwear
Sigur Rós - Flugufrelsarinn
S.H. Draumur - Öxnadalsheiði
Mugison - Murr Murr
Johann Johannson - The Cause of Labour is the Hope of the World
Apparat Organ Quartet - Romantika
Apparat Organ Quartet - Konami (Radio Edit)
Björk - Unravel
Outro: The Tremolo Beer Gut - Tahonga Lounge Baby (Most Groovy)

Don't Wanna Lose You

Austra's album, Feel It Break, is synth pop at it's best. Full of the high drama that makes Zola Jesus interesting, but in a Knife-y setting. A setting that with its icy stabs of synth and rumbling bass perfectly matches Katie Stelmanis' incredible voice. The album is one great song after another, but the two singles, Lose It and The Beat and the Pulse, are along with opener Darken Her Horse definite high points, and in themselves more than reason enough for you to go out and buy the album. Great stuff.

Austra - The Beat and the Pulse

Austra The Beat & The Pulse

Austra - Lose It


Sidebar: Best looking band right now? I say yes.

I Don't Want To Lose Track

Hawaii is the standout track on No Joy's album, Ghost Blonde, and sounds like a great mix of JAMC noise pop and Sonic Youth punk-ish indie rock. There's also something about the mix that really appeals to me. It's muddy in all the right ways with the drums all groovy and up in your face to begin with, but then almost completely drowned out once the fuzz and noise of the guitar kicks in. I love it.

No Joy - Hawaii

No Joy - Hawaii

Under a World of Sound, Hold Her and Hold Her

I've been off my blogging game of late due to thesis, work and Big Oil, but I'll try to get back to my old blogging ways soon again. In the meantime, here are the best songs of the moment.

Hooray for Earth - True Loves

Hooray For Earth - True Loves from Dovecote Records on Vimeo.


Wild Beasts - End Come Too Soon


I cannot recommend the Wild Beasts' album enough by the way. It is without a doubt my favourite of the year so far and simply bursting with beauty. A fantastic album.

Olie Pop #2

A more natural progression to the mix this time around, but with a similar sound and feel to Olie Pop #1. The songs all share a haunting yet beautiful sound, which I find compliments each other really well.

Olie Pop #2 by Oil Gang

Track-by-Track
Autechre - Altibzz
Grouper - Little Boat Bone Dance Audrey
Laura Drescher - MIDNIGHTDANCER
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie XX - Home
Radiohead - The Butcher
Cat's Eyes - The Best Person I Know

Choice Quote: Thom Yorke going "He's a warrior, a warrior/ He's a little bitch coming out of here" on The Butcher. Passive aggression really suits him.

Crunchy Frog Podcast #2

Music of the crunchiest calibre and banter galore - The Frog is podcasting again! On our sophomore podcast yours truly talks pre-SXSW so you can hear it post- SXSW. There's also talks with none other than Mr. Ritchie Attack (of Thee Attacks of course) and the return of Yebo.

From the Crunchy B-log

"We're back! This podcast was actually recorded prior to teh SXSW festival in early march, but is just now available for your listenning pleasure!

This month Andreas welcomes Ritchie Attack and Yebo for discussions about SXSW - and as usual he plays a lot of sweet sweet music. Listen up!

The Tremolo Beer Gut - Tahonga Lounge Baby (Most Groovy) [Intro edit]
Lars and the Hands of Light - Hey My Love, Hey Love
Thee Attacks - Love in the City
Smith Westerns - Weekend
Twin Shadow - Slow
The Vaccines - Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)
The Flaming Lips - Race for the Prize
Junior Senior - Take My Time
The Tremolo Beer Gut - Tahonga Lounge Baby (Most Groovy) [Outro edit]"

Olie Pop #1

 Trying my hand at mixing again. It's been a while so not perfectly mixed, but it will improve (promise). In short, taste over technique.


  Olie Pop #1 by oilgang

Track-by-Track
Washed Out - Track 07
Matthewdavid - Group Tea (feat. Flying Lotus)
John Maus - Do Your Best
[Snippet] Sleep ∞ Over - Casual Diamond (Laurel Halo Remix)
Flag White - Your Heart Beats Mine, My Heartbeat's Yours
Breton - Counter Balance
Radiohead - Lotus Flower
Britney Spears - How I Roll
Hodgy Beats - Mystery

Someone Is Always Late

Dear Strokes,
Call Me Back is one of the most interesting and beautiful songs you have written in years. More of this please. Thanks.

The Strokes - Call Me Back

Sometimes Time's So Slow

Just got back from SxSW and it was awesome. I mean, what is not to love about 32 degrees celsius, $2 margaritas and great music all over and all the time? Come to think about it, I don't know why I left.

Kinda sad I missed this though...

Twin Shadow - Slow


Then again, impossible to catch everything and I did get to see Wanda Jackson and she is awesome. 72 years old and still rocking it.

Wanda Jackson - Hard Headed Woman

Baloji Est Ton Nom

Gritty and awesome. Funky and undeniably African. Great hiphop.

Baloji feat Konono n 1 - Karibu ya bintou


And what a video. Damn!

Jeg Har Det For Vildt

"Narkoman Jeg stjæler dit lort
Stikker mig i halsen
Nu jeg herre syg
Jeg har det for sygt"

'nuff said.

ThunderChrist - Jeg Har Det For Vildt

The Crunchy Frog Podcast

My podcasting debut has finally arrived! As part of my (awesome) day job at Crunchy Frog and Crunchy Tunes I have become host of their new monthly podcast. It was a blast making it, so hopefully that comes across.



Via the Crunchy Blog

"Yes sheople, the rumours are true! We are branching out in our quest for total airwave domination and now have a monthly podcast via the kind people at Euradio Nantes. Informative yet entertaining, the Crunchy Frog Podcast will bring you the finest in musical recordings and on- air banter.

The first episode can be streamed or downloaded below and is hosted by Andreas (the regular host and male prostitute) and guested by Yebo (the boss). So go ahead and listen to us wax poetic about the music we love, interview Powersolo at their release party and play some tracks we recorded at said release party. Satisfaction guaranteed. 


Tracklist:
Intro: Tremolo Beer Gut - Tahonga Lounge Baby (Most Groovy)
Powersolo - Teach You Fun
The Fresh and Onlys - Waterfall
The Dirtbombs - Underdog
Earl Sweatshirt - EARL
The Malpractice - Boss Stallion
Lars and the Hands of Light - Me Me Me (Laidback Remix)
The Pixies - Bone Machine
Thee Attacks - Are You?
Powersolo - The Rither (Live at Bakken)
Powersolo - Hear My Plea (Live at Bakken)
Powersolo - I Love You But I Hate You (Live at Bakken)
Outro: Tremolo Beer Gut - Tahonga Lounge Baby (Most Groovy)"