The Tape

The Tape is undergoing a renovation at the moment, so if the site doesn’t look spic and spam don’t bitch and moan. It’ll be back and better than ever shortly, we apologize for the lack of recent posts.

Yes folks Kanye West’s Glow In The Dark Tour kicks off tonight in Seattle. I personally think it’s going to be the greatest tour of 2008 with N.E.R.D., Rihanna, and Lupe F-ing Fiasco… I can’t wait to go when they come to L.A. Anyways, what better way to get everyone excited for the tour than tons of mp3’s, videos, and pictures.

I am praying an extreme amount that the newly formed Child Rebel Soldier will encore with this song.

Child Rebel Soldier- Us Placers

Hopefully Kanye will bring Lupe out for “Touch The Sky.” This is one of my favorite Kanye songs, and the set is supposed to be insane looking during this song*.

Kanye West (Feat. Lupe Fiasco)- Touch The Sky

Next we have “Hey Mama” by Kanye West, but a studio version of the one he performed at the Grammy’s. This will probably be the low point of the show, not because it’s a bad song (in fact it’s fantastic), it will just be so sad.

Kanye West- Hey Mama (Grammy 2008 Studio Version)

In the spirit of A-Trak (for those inexperienced in the teachings of life, he is Kanye’s DJ) here is his remix of “Stronger.”

Kanye West- Stronger (A-Trak Remix)

Our last Kanye choice for tonight is his medley of “Stronger” and “Good Life” on SNL. I’ve seen a few videos of the live version of “Stronger”, and I have a feeling it’s going to be life changing.

Kanye West- Stronger & Good Life

Next is my hero, Lupe Fiasco.

My only choice is him rapping over an N.E.R.D. song. Since N.E.R.D. is playing as well, I found this song to be so appropriate.

Lupe Fiasco-And He Gets The Girl

And now for a video. I found this while scrolling through youtube, and found this to be hilarious.

Now I’m running out of steam so I’ll just post a Rihanna video, and then an N.E.R.D. video as well.

I really hope they make a single out of that… It’s fantastic.

That is by far my favorite N.E.R.D. song.

Get excited everyone, because the glow in the dark tour is here.

Here are a couple tracks that have had me crying or booty shaking recently, along with some music that will be played at Coachella, a mere 9 days away.

First we have a track that shows up in the middle part of a Venn diagram, as it has been having me shaking my booty and will be performed at Coachella. A really amazing song by Nick Diamonds and the boys, the track shows a noticeable Ennio Morricone flavor. A logical, larger, grander step in Islands history, it shows a progression that can only get even better.

Islands - The Arm

Next we have the lead track from Cut Copy’s new LP, In Ghost Colours. It’s amazing. nuff said. I feel a little Daft Punk.

Cut Copy - Feel The Love

Nearing the finish is a track by The Dodos. Their new album Visiter is one of the best albums I have ever heard in my life. “The Season” is a song most bands only hope they have the range and genius to record. It’s simply beautiful. The last two minutes of the song, which I imagine as a journey of some sort are so emotional and tangible. Look out for the line”I hope you’re well, as I am fine.” A more powerfully delivered lyric I would have trouble finding in my library. Sorry about mediafire, it’s more than worth your extra time.

(mediafire link) The Dodos - The Season

And finally, the new song by Wolf Parade. I feel that last time I exhausted myself, so for your sake and mine just read this, see this

and hear this.

Wolf Parade - Call It A Ritual

Huge Guilty Music Monday. Let’s get going.

First we have “Everyone Nose” by N.E.R.D. This whole song is absolutely ridiculous… I Love it.

N.E.R.D.- Everyone Nose

Next we have “The Boss” by Rick Ross and T-Pain. Many things make this song guilty two of them being, T-Pain and Rick Ross.

Rick Ross (Feat. T-Pain)- The Boss

Rihanna, “Shut Up And Drive”… Enough said.

Rihanna- Shut Up And Drive

Who’s House? Run’s House. That’s right Run-DMC!!! The theme song of his tv show is amazing. How could you not love this?

Run DMC- Run’s House

Here is a fantastically bad mash-up but at the same time amazing. Kanye vs. Beethoven vs. Walter Murphy. Is it fantastic or awful? No one knows.

A Plus D- Beethovens Fifth Gold Digger

Last we have “Creator” by Santogold. I used to love this song until it got used in a beer commercial. Sucks.

Santogold- Creator

B.R.A.M. is a very poppy rock band composed of six members (Barbara Gruska: Drums, Marcel Camargo: Guitar, John Kirby: Keys, Aaron Arntz: Keys, Gabe Noel: Bass, and Bram Inscore: vocals). Bram, Aaron, and john all met at USC, Gruska came from cal arts and Marcel completed the group. B.R.A.M. have been playing as a band for four years. Their is something that makes their catchy melodies, different and more interesting, then a lot of the pop music i have been hearing recently. I contacted them as soon as i stumbled across their myspace page. They told me they are working on finishing their first CD, which i am looking forward to reviewing promptly when its released. Be sure to check out their myspace.
You’re The Reason-B.R.A.M.
Messages-B.R.A.M.

Here is a new segment that both me and Tristan will be participating in. We are both making our own posts so you can get the most music and such. So let’s get started.

#5 Life The Great- Back 2 The Future Trilogy (Mediafire)
Life The Great takes us through a tour of the history of hip-hop, with narration and rapping. The beats are fantastic, and while the lyrics may be a little week the beats make up for it. Life The Great sounds like a very intelligent, well spoken man, but his lyrics tend to talk about the same stuff. A great song none the less.

ABX- Can Your Hear My Kids Now
A fantastic mashup by ABX over at the hood internet. This MGMT song is fantastic, but Lil Kim adds something special to it.

#3 Spank Rock (Feat. Santogold and Betty Black)- B-O-O-T-A-Y (Mediafire)
I got this song on vinyl yesterday, and it reminded me how fantastic Spank Rock is. Almost every song of his is about girls, but in no way is it repetitive. I’m so excited to see him at Lollapalooza.

#2 Saul Williams and Trent Reznor- Sunday Bloody Sunday (Mediafire)
A fantastic cover of the U2 song. This song is mostly Trent, but I still love it. I’m praying that Saul will make a guest appearance with NIN at Lollapalooza, just like he has done for most of their tour.

#1 Lupe Fiasco- Paris, Tokyo (Video)
Even if this video wasn’t good, it would still be my number one. But it is a great video. Especially the part with the camel. Yes, there is a camel in the video.

Life The Great dropped his new album yesterday titled, “The Ultrasound.” His strong points are his multi layered beats and samples. His retro beats give his songs a futuristic 80’s era feel, think 2001 space odyssey despite it not actually being from the eighties/back to the future/close encounters of a third kind. The CD over all has its highs and lows, but despite the inconsistency, it has a couple singles that are A+. The #1 song on the CD is hands down “Mega Man.” In which a sick hip hop drum beat accompanies the 8 bit Mega Man like theme song.

Life The greats Myspace
And you can download his new album “The Ultrasound” Here Thats right its FREE!!!

If Jens Lekman lent his instrumentation to a more conventional voice but didn’t let it get too far from Sweden you would come out with Parker Lewis. I got so excited when I first heard “Dirty Dancing” at the prospect of a new Swedish artist to love and I was not let down. Go grab the EP for free at http://www.madforit.se/ it’s beautiful and you won’t regret it.

That was probably the longest post title in The Tape history. But I am here today for a very special occasion. I finally got Asher’s picture of the Tokyo Police Club concert at the Troubador and decided it would be a good time to review the album as well. Let’s start with the concert - as Dave (bass/vocals), Graham (synths/backup vocals), Josh (guitar) and Greg (drums) all fucking killed it. They blasted through most of the Smith and A Lesson In Crime EPs, as well as playing many cuts of their forthcoming album, /em>Elephant Shell. We’ve briefly mentioned Elephant Shell before, when I put the album as the #1 thing I loved in March. So here are some pictures.

Graham busting a move on the “Don’t Mess With Texas” synth. It is actually an Alesis Micron.

Dave cringing. I think its a stylistic choice.

Graham in mad scientist mode.

Now for the album, which I bought a download of at the show. It starts with a bang. “Centenial” brings a similar sound to the single, “In A Cave” and its a somewhat new sound for the band. Less noisy, cleaner and more centered on Dave’s vocals. “In A Cave” is the next track, and I’m sure you’ve all heard it, and know how good it is. “Graves” and “Juno” continue the feel and trend of the album, both are very good, very solid tracks. The drum part on “Juno” appears to have been taken from the song “Untitled” on their iTunes Live At SoHo EP. The next song is “Tessellate”. It is one of the best on the album without a doubt, and it’ll be the next single. Check a few posts back for the video. Unfortunately, the next two songs, “Sixties Remake” and “The Harrowing Adventures Of” drop off considerably. It picks right back up though, with my second favorite “Nursery, Academy”. I love this song so much, and I think its a high point for the band. Dave’s vocals have a really good sound and the lyrics are great. “Your English Is Good” was originally a non-album single, but the response was so positive, it ended up on there anyway. Good choice. The next track is another really strong one, “Listen To The Math”. It is much slower than their previous tracks other than “A Lesson In Crime” but I like it a lot. It has a haunting yet somehow uplifting feel. The album ends with “The Baskervilles”, a track which I am indifferent to, but it ends the album nicely. Unfortunately, we have no mp3s off the album for you as we were asked to take them down when I posted “Tessellate”, but I do have an acoustic performance of the song via a YouTube video. Enjoy!

Andrew Maury is a 22 year old multi-versed musician and producer. He is a recent graduate of Syracuse University soon to reside in New York City and start his career in the music/media industry. He has 14 years experience as a guitarist in various bands, and has recently immersed himself in the convergence of indie rock and creative original-sample-based remixing.

I, Gzabriel, of The Tape sought out an interview with the man to ask him some questions about himself and his work and to hopefully give him “The Tape Boost” that many other artists have enjoyed or just to ask him questions. Questions in bold, answers in plain text. Bon Apetit.

What songs/bands/albums made you want to make music? Do you still listen to them and how did they influence you?

Since I was 8 years old, I’ve had a loyalty to music… and it keeps developing. I started playing guitar back in 3rd grade when Nirvana perked my ears; That was the band that sparked my musical interest. By middle school, I got involved playing in bands, covering general 90’s awesomeness. You know, Goo Goo Dolls, Collective Soul, Stroke 9, Bush. No regrets there. But high school took me into classic rock, Zeppelin, Floyd, Aerosmith, and U2. I continued to play in better bands, learned to play the drums, picked up the bass often, and learned about audio and musical gear. These days, I’m a college senior playing in an original band, studying recording, and listening to The Strokes, Radiohead, Interpol, VHS or Beta, Tokyo Police Club, Justice, Snowden, Death Cab, Incubus, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, etc. My college years and passion for these kinds of bands have really inspired me to become an active musician, and remixing is such a cool outlet for me. The work allows me to harness energy as both a musician and music fan.

You’ve picked some really difficult tracks in my opinion to remix as they seem so perfect already (Arcade Fires Black Mirror, Ra Ra Riots Ghost Under Rocks) what is your take on the remixes youre doing? are you simply doing your take on the songs or are there cases when you feel like you can make something better?

I think of a good remix as a musical caricature. It manages to highlight and expand-on its best features. A great remix also allows the artist’s taste, style, and creativity to influence a song in a new direction; Hopefully for the best. I often find that my best creative moments happen when I say to myself, “If I were in the band when they were writing this song, what would I have suggested in the process? What chord change could sound cooler here, or what structural change would drive the song more?” Its not to say that I have major problems with the songs I’m remixing, because I agree, these songs are GREAT in their original form. In fact, there are times when I wonder who I’m offending by twisting them up. There are some interesting trends happening in the music world right now. Sales are down, album significance seems to be dwindling, and Internet trends are rising. Our whole society is embracing the “remix,” whether its mashing up youtube videos or photoshopping movie posters together. While part of me worries that the remix culture is inducing some form of mass A.D.D., I think of an excellent remix can bring new significant light, and ultimately a form of support for the band.

What artist do you want to work with most right now?

I’ve been pretty happy, even flattered, with the work I’ve been doing recently, actually. Like I said before, some of my favorite bands of today are the bands I’ve been granted the opportunity to remix… like Tokyo Police Club, Ra Ra Riot, Snowden, and even Radiohead with their newest online mischief. (http://radioheadremix.com). However, If I could call up 5 bands and have them say “yes, you may remix us,” off the top of my head, it would probably be Ratatat, Kings of Leon, Broken Social Scene, Interpol, and, [haha] another Radiohead song.

How did it feel getting the invitation to join RAC and do you feel you have a lot in common with Andre?

Invitation to RAC = elation and utmost honor. I can safely say that one of the coolest people I know, I’ve never met. Andre and I are purebred, 21st century internet friends. We’ll spend hours bouncing files and projects that we’re working on back and forth, chatting about kick drum samples, sending ebay links for $450 tape delay units that we cant afford, and giving each other tips for new music to check out. I really think that RAC has a future, and I’m so proud to be a part of it in its early stages. Please visit the site, subscribe to the RSS blog, and stay tuned for news and new mixes! http://theremixcompany.co.uk

How long have you been making music and what was your first remix you were proud of?

I’ve been playing music almost all my life, but only writing and creating music seriously in the last 5 years. I’ve been playing lead guitar in a band called Magic Hour (http://myspace.com/magichourmusic) here at school, writing little electronica songs for fun, and remixing as of September 2007. My first remix was Ra Ra Riot’s “Ghost Under Rocks,” which I can safely say I was beyond proud of when I finished it. With only a groundwork of recording/mixing knowledge and experience writing sequenced drum/synth parts, I couldn’t believe how cool it sounded. And it all happened in a week. The feedback I got from friends and even blogs inspired me to get into remixing.

What are you listening to and liking right now?

The most recent incarnation of my musical taste involves:

Justice - ✝
Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell (I promise, I’m going to buy it)
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Jukebox The Ghost - Let Live And Let Ghosts
Coconut Records - Coconut Records
Radiohead - In Rainbows

What upcoming things are you doing?

1) A really cool remix of a song called “Juno” off of Tokyo Police Club’s new album that I co-produced with the guys and girls of Ra Ra Riot. It features some beautiful string parts, quirky bass, riffy guitar, a hodge-podge of percussion, and some incredible new melodies– sung and mostly performed by the band members of Ra Ra Riot. I’m really proud of the way this one came out, and it will be featured on a remix EP alongside Elephant Shell. (http://tokyopoliceclub.com)

2) A song called “Long Lean Queen” by Bear Hands, an up and coming, fantastic Brooklyn indie/garage band. (http://myspace.com/bearhandsband)

3) A brand new, unreleased Snowden song called “Red Handed” off their new album, which is still in production right now. I’m very excited for this one. (http://snowden.info)

4) And just today, I heard back from Tigercity. I hadn’t heard of them until a few nights ago when my band played a show in Rochester, NY, opening for them and VHS or Beta. They remind me a lot of Phoenix, fused with the sounds of Prince and Michael Jackson. Definitely check it out. (http://myspace.com/tigercity)

Anything you’d like to say as a non sequitur to end this interview fashionably?

I took a poll of my roommates for an answer. This was the winning non sequitur:
“Music is cool and all, but the best thing to remix is sexual positiions.” - Chris D’Errico

You owe it to yourself to check him out at his site: http://www.andrewmaury.net

and over at RAC’s site: http://theremixcompany.co.uk/

and listen to his remix of Nude by Radiohead.

http://radioheadremix.com/remix/?id=434

And so I’d like to conclude by saying Andrew Maury is one cool dude and we at The Tape hope to hear good things from him soon. And thanks to him so much for doing the interview!