The Tape

Words and pictures by Tristan and Willie.

Yesterday we headed down to the middle of nowhere to catch Rock The Bells in Los Angeles. We would first like to say that it was a monumental day for The Tape, as it was the first time we had enough press credentials to receive press passes. We would also like to take a moment to thank LeToya Jackson and TC for being awesome. Huge post with pictures and videos after the jump.

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We’ve reviewed a TPC show before. But this one was different. Oh so different. It was actually my fourth time seeing them, and this was clearly their best show. Musically, the guys were on top of it. The barreled through almost all their tracks. The only song they didn’t play off the top of my head was “Nursery, Academy.” That disappointed me slightly, as its one of my favorite tracks of Elephant Shell. But that didn’t matter in the slightest. Because unlike any show of theirs I’ve seen, this one was a dance party. The crowd got mad crazy. At one point Dave Monks (bass/vocals) honestly asked the crowd to “uhh… can you guys crowd surf a little less? thanks.” The crowd surfing didn’t stop. It looked like the guys were even a bit surprised at the crowd’s involvement. By the time they came out for an encore of “Cheer It On,” the place was an absolute madhouse. We actually had a chance to sit down with the guys before the show and get an interview, which Gabo will be posting soon. Enjoy that when it comes your way. Here are some photos of the crazy night.

Opening band Afternoons. Their song “Say Yes” had the audience dancing.

Dave looking into the crowd.

Josh Hook (guitar) wandering over to the synths. We can’t help but notice that Graham Wright (keyboards) took the “Don’t Mess With Texas” sticker off his Alesis Micron. See the sticker in action here.

So if you’ve been keeping hip to the HypeMachine lately, you’ve probably noticed that HypeMachine users go batshit over MGMT and Justice. Well lucky for them, a remix has been produced that’ll be sure to break the Hype charts. The remix itself is pretty much what you’d expect from Justice - driving bass synth, filtered vocals. Its nice though, a fresh take on the MGMT track. Andrew Vandouchegarden would be proud. (Note: No serious offense intended to Mr. VanWyngarden)

MGMT - Electric Feel (Justice Remix)

So Me is hardly a household name. The artists he works with, however, are some of the most blogged about and talked about in the world. His aesthetic is undeniable, his work more than identifiable. Large, cartoony letters with just enough bounce to keep things fun. He is probably best known for his work with Ed Banger records. He’s pretty much the main reason for Justice’s commercial success, too, as he directed the D.A.N.C.E. video. Let’s take a look at some of his work.

This is a promo CD released by Ed Rec he did the cover work on. Beautiful stuff.

This is the latest accompaniment to the Ed Rec Vol III release. The “Protect and Entertain” badge and shirt design are his also.

Those are the front and back of the Ed Banger North American Tour shirts he did. I’m unfortunate enough as not to own a print, the tour never did come to LA, but its some pretty incredible art.

Now we move on to the videos. Of course everybody knows him for his work with Justice - the DVNO and D.A.N.C.E. videos being huge respective successes. Now, he did also direct a video for Kanye West. Like, when Kanye realized he was actually French and really into electronica. Here is the “Good Life” video directed by So Me…

Kanye West - Good Life (the embedding is disabled, so just click the link)

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=18605916

I was looking at Diplo’s MySpace page when I came across this in his top friends. His bike is black, sometimes has a lock and is dashingly handsome.

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!

its been stuck in my head all day, i’m terribly sorry.

We here at The Tape have begun thinking. We keep hearing songs we think we would prefer more if they were performed by other artists. This idea began being kicked about around the release of Hot Chip’s third effort, Made In The Dark.

The first track we’d like to hear covered is Wrestlers by Hot Chip. This was a pretty unanimous decision. We all though that this song would fit a top 40 pop singer better than Alexis Taylor. And what better top 40 pop singer with indie cred than Rihanna, everyone’s favorite good girl gone bad. If you listen to the song, and don’t think Rihanna should cover it, you’re absolutely nuts.

Hot Chip - Wrestlers

But this Hot Chip/Rihanna love goes both ways. I think it’d also be really nice to hear Hot Chip’s take on the ubiquitous “Umbrella.”

Another cover we’ve been thinking of is synth-pop lord Calvin Harris covering internet meme Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Rickrolling is one of our favorite activities (you can even find a hidden rickroll somewhere on the site) and we figured Calvin Harris has the sense of humor and downright style to pull it off.

Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up

Okay folks, Willie and I are making up for the huge lack of posting here over our spring break by tossing up two huge megaposts of things we’ve liked in the past month. Here goes.

12. A-Trak’s RCRD LBL Blog

11. The MANtage
Even though this is a music blog, things that make us laugh are always welcome.

10. Spring Training
It’s every baseball fan’s 2nd favorite time of the year. Los Doyers open up the season tomorrow at home against the Giants. If Juan Pierre is in the starting lineup, Joe Torre deserves to be fired. No joke.

9. Neon Coyote
If you felt off topic, you felt correctly. Back to the music, this DJ brings a fresh take on popular and electronic music. Check him out on MySpace.

8. Muxtape.com
This sight is the definition of legit. Not only because it has some really sick logos of cassettes (we here appreciate that), but also because it is like a personalized hype machine. Upload tracks for anyone to stream online. Very cool stuff.

7. Cut Copy
I first saw Cut Copy as a curious little 7th grader going to see Franz Ferdinand. The eager little kid I was, I wanted to get there extra early. I was a genius, without even knowing it. The first opening act were Aussies Cut Copy. Later that year I picked up their debut LP, Bright Like Neon Love and it had a huge impact on me. They were the band that got me into electronica/dance music. We are now sitting on the edges of our seats anticipating their 2nd LP, In Ghost Colours, which is already out in Australia.

Cut Copy - Saturdays
(off Bright Like Neon Love)

6. Touching From A Distance
I just started (and am now halfway through) Deborah Curtis’ Touching From A Distance. The book chronicles the life of Ian Curtis. His story is absolutely incredible, a depressing vision into a rocker who had dreams of fame and no intention of living into his thirties. The book is a quick read and I highly recommend it.

Joy Divison - She’s Lost Control (Live at the Factory in Manchester)

5. The Pitchfork Review of Rick Ross’ Trilla
“I wish we could all just be droll about Rick Ross’ need for a bra, his insistence on rhyming the same word with the same word multiple times a verse, and his little waddle in the opening 45 seconds of the “Speedin’” video.”

4. Shaggy
I constantly reminisce about the 90s. Jeremy Katzenstein constantly is the 90s. Shaggy was the early 2000s, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be great. Everybody’s favorite inaudible Jamaican(?) is making a comeback. Or at least we hope so. Check out the video for “Wasn’t Me” and you’ll agree wholeheartedly.

3. Hot Chip’s Cover of Snoop’s “Sensual Seduction”
This is absolutely amazing, I can’t even describe it.

Hot Chip - Sensual Seduction (Snoop Dogg Cover)

3 and a half. The Hot Chip Facebook App

2. Girl Talk and Grizzly Bear Performing “Knife”

1. Tokyo Police Club’s full length debut, Elephant Shell and the Troubador Show

Asher and I consider ourselves blessed to see these Canadians at the Troubador Thursday. They put on an amazing show, and declared the audience one of their best. After a stunning rendition of “Nature of the Experiment,” bassist/singer Dave Monks gladly declared, “YOU WIN!” At the very same concert I was able to buy an mp3 download prerelease of Elephant Shell, the group’s highly anticipated full length debut. The album is less than double the length of the already short EP, weighing in at 28 minutes. Despite its length, the album delivers what the band does best - fun, exciting, great, melodic and thoroughly fantastic music.

Okay. Here goes a new segment. I’m gonna take a shot at predicting future top 40 hits. For this week, my prediction is…

Lil Mama ft Chris Brown and T-Pain - Shawty Get Loose

Chris Brown and T-Pain seem to be instant hitmakers right now. Anything by or featuring these guys makes it into the top ten. Lil Mama should parlay the success of “Lip Gloss” into this single. I’ve also heard this song on recent adverts for the Dancing With the Stars premiere.

% Chance of Top 40 Hit: 99.9% - this is as close as you can get to a guaranteed hit.