Daft Punk - "No End" to the rumours... (Edit)

(Edit:
After posting this blog last week I had a little exchange of tweets with the maker of HarderBloggerFaster who informed me that these rumours started circulating after Lady Gaga's photographer said he had been booked to take pictures of Daft Punk's tour next year...! Now now, then! This makes it all the more interesting and it also makes Even seem like a rash and ill-informed blogger who does poor research. However, it was never my intention to completely rule out any possibility of an upcoming return of Daft Punk. I only meant to be skeptical about these supposed 'leaks'. 

Nevertheless, the supposed album cover has yet again been appeared on twitter, this time by a French singer called Yelle. HBFblog speculates on an early 2013 album release and a subsequent tour. I'm starting to be convinced that something is stirring in Daft Punk-land, but choose to maintain my skepticism until other more convincing news appear on the surface. Either way, I can't tell you how excited I am!)

So recently a headline on the internet ripped the eyeballs out of my head and roundhouse kicked them back into place while my heart jumped out of its allocated place in my thorax and decided to throw a two second rave and all my other organs were invited. Then they all fell quietly and disappointed back into place.

The headline read "Daft Punk album cover leaked. Possible 2013 tour?"

Oh lawdy, have mercy! Like so many other converts to electro and house, my house-revelation came in the divine form of Daft Punk. I heard the light! And the smallest little whisper of a rumour that anything new might be granted unto mankind by the French holinesses of house REALLY gets my house juices pumping!

Now a little lecture on how to get views on your little interwebs site: Create an insane but plausible rumour about something insanely popular. Say, for example, Daft Punk. The mysterious robot recluses, who give no hint whatsoever about anything happening, ever. You know they won't confirm it, but neither will they deny it, they will just be Daft Punk: Quiet. So it's a win-win for the website. The internet rumour mill is already glowing red hot and the music press is running out of internet ink.

So what caused this rumour in the first place? Well, this is the alleged 'leaked' album cover, which critics (and photoshop-adept internet peeps) quickly realised was simply the cover of Daft Punk's first album 'Homework' with inverted colours... *slow sarcastic clap* You need a better trick than that up your sleeves to trick an army of cybergeeks.

Alas! This rumour is fake. Fakedy-fake-fake. Like unicorns, horoscopes, and democracy... (*Bam bam BAAAH* Dramatic music! Relax, this is not a place for political views. I don't have any. And obviously no good jokes either...)

But the internet rumour mill didn't stop there! Even an alleged ' new album' (yes, the entire album!) appeared on youtube! If the leaked album cover didn't fool anyone, how could the maker(s) of this tripe even begin to imagine that the soldiers of cyberspace would believe this to be a genuine Daft Punk album? They probably didn't... Again, it's just about getting hits and views on your site/video, fueled by desperate fans wanting to see/hear for themselves. You be the judge:

No, no, no. When the time comes for the deities of house, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, to release new material, it will far surpass some cheap, unimaginative, and derivative attempt at Justice. The world will know when Daft Punk is ready, the pillars of the earth will tremble from the bass not yet heard within the four dimensions of reality, and the Tricolore will radiate in neon colours. It will be glorious and riots and civil wars will probably break out over concert tickets.

To conclude: We know nothing certain about Daft Punk's future material. The supposed 'leaked material' is 99.9999999...(continue till the 9-key wears out)...% fake. The only thing we do know, the only little teaser that has been revealed so far is that the legendary producers Nile Rodgers and also Giorgio Moroder have collaborated with Daft Punk on some material. They reveal very little, except for praising the musical genius of the two French house-gods. Take a look and feel excited!

Electric Copenhagen, featuring Henrik Schwarz and a fanboy

This week Copenhagen turned electric, music-wise, thanks to the electronic music festival Strøm festival.

I know what you must be thinking: 'Some blog this is, telling me about a electronic music festival AFTER it has taken place?' Well, to be honest I barely just found out about it myself. And in the nick of time, because as fate would have it one of my favourite electronic artists, the deep house connoisseur,  Henrik Schwarz, was playing!

So on the Friday I made my way down to Enghaveparken in Copenhagen where they had put up a mini festival with two stages. The entrance fee? 20kr! Let me say that again, more emphatically: 20 KRONER! How's that for an awesome festival?? That is a ridiculously low price considering the artists they had on: Ritchie Hawtin, Octave One, and of course my favourite Henrik Schwarz.

I only went for a couple of hours, on my own... But Oh Lawdy was it worth it. And look who I ran into while waiting for the gig to start! The man himself, Henrik Schwarz! (You'll have to apologise for the poor picture quality but I had to get a snappy picture using the front cam on my phone)

What a gentleman and what an awesome gig it was. One hour of staggeringly beautiful, pumping, neuron firing, first class mixing of deep house. You could give this man a sound sample of an acid jazz sax solo, Tibetan throat singing, Irish folk songs, a four year old banging on a toy xylophone, anything, and Mr. Schwarz would still be able to make an awesome electronic mix out of it! He is one of the most wanted names on the (deep) house scene at the moment because of his musical flair and ability to push and cross boundaries between musical genres.

 If you haven't heard any of his stuff yet I wholeheartedly recommend you do! (Alternative music source)

(And join me in Copenhagen next summer for the next Strøm festival, if they haven't raised the cover charge to 25kr... Which would create an uproar...)

Is this what you want?

There's no denying it. Electronic music is hotter than ever before. It's trendy, it's right, it fills the dance floors and the wallets of club owners and record executives. It's also quick and relatively easy to make. Proof of this is ample, just look at the insane quantities of r'n'b/hip hop/house singles that are being churned out everyday, available for download on iTunes.

Thankfully, there are a few artists out there who still take their electronic music seriously.
Quality over quantity.
Integrity over money.
Individuality over hive mind.

Maybe I'm being fussy? In fact I know I am, but I know what I like. In my (humble?) opinion the really good electronic/house tracks are few and far between.

But the German producer and electronic artist Alex Rihda, better known as Boys Noize gives me new hope. He recently premiered his first track 'What You Want' via Rolling Stone music (click the loudspeaker symbol just under the picture, you luddite), the first teaser from his upcoming album 'Out Of The Black' and I think it sounds dirty and awesome.

HarderBloggerFaster (an excellent music blog you should follow if you like electronic music) described the track as "German Daft Punk on acid". I couldn't have said it better myself. (Like, really.. I couldn't.. That's why I quoted them...) Alex Rihda says the track combines a lot of his favourite elements of electronic music, and I couldn't agree more. There's a bit of Beastie Boys' 'Intergalactic' in there, as well as Daft Punk's distinctive robot voice sound from the 'Human After All' album. Mix it together on top of a fat beat and you've got some pure house goodness.

In my mind, the lines in the track "This is what you want, This is what you get" is Boys Noize reminding us of what proper hard-hitting, well produced house music should sound like. THIS is what you want, not fucking David Guetta... (He also rocks a mean monobrow which at least is 'individual', to put it diplomatically...)


(For a readily accessible teaser you can click the soundcloud link below. To listen to the full track, click the rolling stone music link in the article)

Die Antwoord strikes again

There's something ridiculously enticing about these people, Die Antwoord. It's comedy, it's absurdity, a parody of something that still very real and dark, but at the same time innocent. Haha, seems obvious that they evoke a lot of different feelings in me. Then again, you could just watch their brilliant new video, "Baby's On Fire", and laugh!

Visuals, you say? It's all about the music.

They say you process music better with your eyes closed. It's all about the audio, man, it's all about the music, it's all about the muuuuuh...

Heeeeeello!

Randomness and Star Wars hip-hop robes

So it turns out that British comedian Peter Serafinowicz is proving a rather creative and adept music video director...! The man has directed the music video for Hot Chip's new track "Night & Day", starring both musician/comedian Reggie Watts and supermodel Lara Stone as spaceship flying aliens and actor Terence Stamp as a sort of headmaster/group leader of a band of bouncing dancers dressed in some sort of hip-hop onesie/hoodie-robes inspired by the robes worn by the Jawas in Star Wars... Did somebody say "What"?

Mix in a giant egg-princess on a pedestal and some buff-looking male models and it all makes perfectly no sense at all. By all means, feel free to look for any kind of symbolism (making you either a genius or off your face on drugs) or just enjoy the track...!

(PS! Some words from the director himself: "Many animals were harmed during the making of this video. Regrettably, none of them them made the final edit." P. Serafinowicz)

Rest In Peace Adam Yauch

I just learned that Adam Yauch, or MCA, out of Beastie Boys has passed away at 47. He suffered from cancer and has undergone treatment since 2009. He was the co-founder of Beastie Boys all the way back in 1979...!

I can't exactly call myself an original fan of Beastie Boys, but definitely a fan no less. Nevertheless it's always sad when great musicians die before their time.

I want to share a couple of my Beastie Boys favourites in memory of the great MCA.

"Alive" which was a new track for their 1999 compilation album Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds Of Science.

"Intergalactic", one of their most iconic songs (the one that everyone sings along to but no one's sure of the unintelligible lyrics...)

"Body Movin'" which gained massive popularity when remixed by FatBoy Slim 

And of course "Sabotage". No words can do this track AND video justice. 

Icelandic house and World of Warcraft...?

Stumbled across this little piece of deep house from an Icelandic electro group called GusGus. Exotic!

I often find that music videos for electronic music can be very creative, funny, and aesthetically pleasing. However, in some cases it all gets a bit... pretentious... I really like this track, and I guess it sort of induces a feel of drama, graveness, and 'serious faces', haha. But come on, one of the youtube comments even thinks the costumes look like World of Warcraft gear...!

I'm all for a bit of theatre, but it should compliment the music, not make you wonder what this has to do with a group of grown up people running around showing off in an Icelandic landscape, which by the way is undeniably scenic.

The track is good, though!

I also recommend you check out this live performance of theirs if you enjoyed the above track...

Right Here, Right Now (Why do I care so much?)

Tonight is the night. As a matter of fact it's just minutes away. I just have to get this, get something off my chest.

It's times like these when I envy my friends who don't care about football. Tonight "my" team, Manchester City meets their archrivals Manchester United in a game that could turn out to be decisive for who wins the league.

This track by FatBoy Slim is usually played at City's home games at the Etihad Stadium. It captures that suspence, the tension, the atmosphere, the impact of big football games. So here's to a City victory. This is where it counts. Right here, Right now.

We are but human

I think we all go through periods where we sometimes feel a bit sad and blue. Be it due to lack of motivation, inspiration, love, money, success, whatever. The sources can be many and often overlapping.

I'll be honest and admit that I'm currently in a state where things aren't exactly "cool"... But then I stop and think about how trivial my problems really are "in the big scheme of things". I'm really ridiculously lucky to live such a good life.

But sometimes that might be hard to appreciate because there is a discrepancy between my reason (which keeps reminding me how lucky I am) and my emotions (which remind me I'm unhappy). Trivial issues (or nuisances) are termed first world problems by some, which might be quite fitting in many cases...

It's alright to feel sad, it's only human, but remember that you are lucky.

I always watch this video (accompanied by a brilliant track) by the Danish band WhoMadeWho when I need a reality-check...

And now I feel like this

Woke up today and felt kind of moody and melancholic.
Got a shift a this café where I've applied for work, which really is good news because that means I have a better chance at getting the job, but my gloomy brain didn't even feel happy about that. Just kind of indifferent.
Went to do the shift.
Now I'm exhausted but I feel like I could be the guy in this video, fucking chipper...! Weird what a bit of "purpose" in your daily life can do, isn't it?

Risqué Love in Motion

So the video for SebastiAn's track "Love In Motion" was recently released. And almost before anyone got to see it the video was taken off Youtube. Why? Well, it seems the sight of the French child actress Lente Tresor dancing along to the track proved too risqué for some viewers.

Subsequently, someone else has uploaded the video and it has been "allowed" to stay up. YES, I can recognise the insinuation of a dance that can be interpreted as sexy and suggestive, but it is also fully possible to just appreciate it as being a feisty and energetic dance full of attitude and I-wanna-be-a-dancer-ambition. Of course I'm sure the video is meant to provoke, but there's no need to get all hysterical and pietistic about it. I think one should just enjoy the video for what it is.

But hey, that's just my opinion. Have a gander and make up your own minds as you are all individual and free-thinking human beings. And it IS a fucking awesome track.

Messing up my blog and exploring CPH

You'll have to forgive me if my blog is looking slightly schizophrenic nowadays, constantly and erratically changing appearance. I'm just playing around with some ideas for designs, but as I'm sure you can appreciate, I lack the web design/photoshop skills to get anywhere near a good design. It's actually making me laugh when I'm sat trying to edit and mix these photos into something that is supposed to be a blog design. I'm like a dog in front of a computer: enthusiastic, but NO idea what I'm doing (so by all means, feel free to drop me some hints and tips if you feel like). Ah well, all I can do is soldier on and keep on trying. Rome wasn't built in a day and all that... (Nor did Roman builders throw down their tools in frustration, going "Oh fuck this! I've no clue what I'm doing")

Aaanywho. SO! I've moved to Copenhagen, ja? It is "meget sjovt". This city is fucking awesome, no doubt about it. I'm currently just exploring and getting to know the city, living lazy and unemployed days. So what could be more fitting than to share with you some Danish house music? If you haven't heard about Trentemøller, well... Then you're out of touch, granddad! But seriously, though, you should check him out... I'll give you a couple of examples of his electronic artistry.

This track, "Moan" is off his first album "The Last Resort". This video, man... Manly tears.

Trentemøller is also a wizard when it comes to remixes. This is one I stumbled across on the Hype Machine and I instantly loved it. Check it out for yourselves.

Fuck you I won't do what you tell me (Epson)!

I'm currently locked in a fight with my Epson printer which claims that two of my BRAND NEW ink cartridges are empty... It won't even let me print documents in *black and white* without buying new *colour* cartridges. WTF?! In the words of Rage Against The Machine: "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me!". Printers are the lowest of the low when it comes to capitalism gone bonkers (see below).

I'm fighting my own little fight vs. this capitalistic corporation and I shan't surrender! To help me vent my anger I'm blasting this hard-hitting (albeit slightly weird) remix of "Killing In The Name Of" by SebastiAn (featuring Stephen Hawking it would seem...? *ba dum tsss*).

Also, I thoroughly recommend you have a look at this documentary on this exact kind of issue where corporations deliberately manufacture products to last shorter than they normally would. It's fucked up I tells ya!

Here's to love

Today I woke up to the best news possible. My sister Sara and her boyfriend Jacob got engaged on Valentine's Day in New York. I could not be happier! They truly are an amazing couple and I am so happy to have Jacob in our family. I send them all my love and best wishes for a long and happy future!

In celebration of their engagement I share with you Martin Solveig's "Boys and Girls" (feat. Dragonette) to represent the pursuit of love and the fruition thereof. (And who knows, the video might be a realistic representation of how the proposal happened...!)

Get Freeky

This is a new video from the ingenious Die Antwoord. I remember all the fuss when these guys first came on the scene. It seemed everybody was more interested in figuring out whether they were "real" (in which case most people probably thought they should have been locked up in an asylum) or some sort of art-performance-stunt-phenomenon... (in which case they were still fucked up and people generally thought they should be institutionalised).

I didn't pay much attention to them to be honest. But then a mate played me some of their videos, mainly because he thought they were hilarious (and they are! Check out their other videos) but he also admitted that he thought the music was genuinely good, if you actually gave it a listen...! And the more I listened, the more I liked it. And I bought the hole package. I think they're hilarious, funny, scary, insane, creative, and downright sexy in some weird way... Especially the girl, Yo-Landi Vi$$er. I can honestly say I "finks she's freeky and I like her a lot".

So whether they make you laugh, cry, cringe, frown, dance, or be sick: please, just enjoy this brilliantly insane video by Die Antwoord.

The world needs more dancing people

Have a look at this video. If it doesn't bring a smile to your face then your cyborg-metal-brain-and-heart can probably not compute and you should do an Arnold-in-Terminator 2-exit right now.

I personally plan to pull off a dance stunt like in the video on my last day of my job here in Norway. Then I'll be heading down to Copenhagen where you'll find me on the dance floors working these moves...

The unpredictable predictability of the hivemind

Thanks to the internetz it's so much easier getting attention nowadays, especially (and specifically) for independent artists, smaller companies, and your average Joe who happens to have a video camera (or just mobile phone) and an average knowledge of how to work a computer, all you need to put that stuff on youtube! Is it a good thing, though? Are we sacrificing quality for quantity? I don't think so. I say keep it coming, people will select what they like, despite the powerful influence of the allmighty hivemind. People have been given user-friendly tools which allows everyone a shot at getting their 15 minutes of fame. Question is, will you impress the x factor panel consisting of THE FUCKING WORLD?

Guess I'm just thinking out loud about the "virality" of internet phenomena. To prove my point I want to share a video with you, Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To know" which I think most of you must have seen by now because it has blown up on youtube getting (as I write this) over 45 millions views. When I first saw it, it had under a million views. I remember thinking "Wow, this is a fucking good song, more people should hear this". By the time I started sharing it with friends it had gotten over 2 million views and from then on it just sky rocketed. This little indie artist from Australia who had been diligently working on music for years was embraced by the internet and awarded with internet superstardom. (He definitely deserves it, fucking awesome music) 

And here's another thing (rather wordy blog post this time, shouldn't be blogging in night time), with this being a blog about house music I'm posting a rather good remix of the song that I found. It's a predictable thing in this time of electronic music that every big hit song seems to be remixed to death. When I started digging house music I thought I was tapping into some underground music scene, that I would have to attend gigs in dingy, sweaty close down factories and warehouses to "get my dose of the good stuff". But instead house music exploded all over the scene and became mainstream! Here I was thinking I was being alternative and then I'm just like any other little hipster kid, loving what is trendy. Was this just a coincidence or was my mind subconsciously following the unspoken commands of the hivemind? I wouldn't like to think so but I'm just not sure damnit! 

But what I can say is this: It doesn't matter. I like house music because I like house music. I like what I like because I like it (that makes sense, doesn't it? Again it's the middle of the night). And I know I like this (predicted) remix of Gotye's brilliant song. Hope you do too.

The day I lost a friend... acquaintance... person.

While looking at my facebook wall on the morning of my birthday, yesterday, I incidentally noticed that I've got 270 facebook friends. Now, I guess I speak for everyone when I say that most people wouldn't be able to name all of their facebook friends. A lot of them are simply acquaintances. But what I thought was really funny was that during the day my number of friends had decreased from 270 to 269. Of course I have no idea who. My "birthday" probably popped up on someone's news feed and they thought "Even.. who's Even? Oh that guy? And I'm still friends with him? Nah...". So whoever you are, distant facebook acquaintance, this track is for you.