Be mine?

Greetings earthlings.  2012 kicked off with a whirlwind of events for me but I’ve finally come down from the clouds and back to reality.  For many, Valentine’s Day is the ultimate reality check.  It’s a date (or not) in which all people have to face their relationship status head on, whether they like it or not.  A day when guys either sack up and serenade, or tuck tail and run.  A time when girls eat an absurd amount of chocolate, either out of heart shaped boxes or cartons of ice cream.

On the single side of the fence?  Don’t despair.  We still have music.  And where there’s music, there’s dancing.  And where there’s dancing, there’s nothing but positive energy in the air.  Whether you’ve already found that special person to cuddle with, or if you’re just looking for some cuddy, having a little background music is never a bad thing.

So here are some of my all time favorite ballads.  I hope you enjoy.

Above & Beyond – Thing Called Love (Andrew Bayer Club Mix)
 
Kyau & Albert – I Love You (Cosmic Gate Remix)
 
Sharam – I Love The Way
 
Tiesto – Here On Earth feat. Cary Brothers
 
Daft Punk – Make Love

Beyond the rhythmic pulse that drives movement, music has the ability to evoke rich mental imagery. Exceptional music tends to possess both fields to one degree or another. If one imagines the melodic contour and primary rhythm of a piece as its surface texture, a complementary definition of depth can be formed. Often less tangible, harder to recreate in memory, it is largely this depth that lends great music its replayability.

Hearken back to 1977 – Lee Scratch Perry achieves this alchemical balance between surface and depth in a unique and unparalleled way. Perry’s production takes musical material and immerses it in lush sheets of tape delays and phasers. Much of his work sounds dense and evocative, as if nested in a primordial landscape and colored by timeless haze. It is a vision of purity, innocent and uncorrupted by the distortions of the encroaching modern world, and the clarity with which he reproduces this vision is the heart of his works’ sublimity. At the same time, the listener has the illusion of being in a hallographic chamber, with subtle glitches and cuts in the music rippling the surface of the arcadian projection. Perry takes the structure of a song and crafts it into a labyrinth of surreal corridors, hidden gems nested in each juncture, every chorus subtly changing like a hallucinatory mirage.

It’s 11/11/11. Make a wish, or don’t.

The weekend is upon us, and you know what that means, a fresh new batch of tunes to accompany you through late nights of shenanigans, booze, and nudity. (Well, that’s what our weekends are like…) This week’s zip is a nice mix of standout tracks with contributions from the likes of Cassius, Oliver, Basto! and more! This is the soundtrack to your weekend!
 
Cassius – The Sound Of Violence (Cassius Reggae Rock Dub)
Afrika Bambaata – Planet Rock
Monarchy – You Don’t Want To Dance With me
September – Party In My Head
Basto! – Live Tonight (Gregory’s Theme)
Example – Midnight Run (Wilkinson Remix)
Eight Bit Tiger – Numbers
Oliver – Memories Of The Future
Dirty South & Thomas Gold featuring Kate Elsworth – Alive (Tommy Trash Remix)
CJ Bolland – Camargue (Fred V and Grafix Remix)
Benny Benassi – Close To Me (Feat. Gary Go)
Cubic Zirconia – Take Me High (Bart B More)
Tiesto & Steve Aoki – Tornado (Original Mix)
Zedd – Shave It (501 Remix)
Document One – Ace In The Pack
Original Sin – Air Raid (Feat. MC Ellement

p.s. We’ll be covering Yelle in SF this Saturday at the Mezzanine taking photographs and speaking french. (Ok, probably just smoking cigarettes)

Here’s a fun little video about Stockholm’s currently tackled issue: promoting people’s taking the stairs!

<3 A

Since it’s Halloween weekend, I thought I’d share a devious treat I stumbled upon recently. Corpse Corp brings new meaning to the age old broism, “Shred til you’re dead!”
“Inspired by the gritty streets of NYC and the raw style borne from them, Corpse Corps Boards makes coffin-shaped skateboards fit for the cutthroat mentality of East Coast skating. Founders and lifelong skateboarders Drew McKenzie and Jordan Walczak understand the need to make a product strong enough to hold up to the daily abuse of skateboarding. From its humble beginnings as a DIY art project in McKenzie’s Manhattan apartment, Corpse Corps Boards has evolved into a full-fledged skateboard company now making two sizes of decks and a small run of high-quality softgoods.”

-Graham Hiemstra

Check out their website and keep on shreddin’, no hobby.