DON’T MISS THIS SHIT!!!!  OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW!!!! 2009 IS HERE AND WE’RE READY TO MAKE THIS THE BEST ONE YET!

DON’T MISS OUT.  DOORS AT 9PM $5 BEFORE 11pm.

Remixes ruled the blog world this year. It’s really not all that surprising. Blogs have become one of the biggest ways for artists to promote their music in 2008. Seems pretty self-explanatory. After all, we wouldn’t have become such big fans of the various artists across the globe had this phenomenon not occurred. Whether it was The Twelves from Brazil, Crookers from Italy, A-trak from Montreal, or TMDP and Barletta from Toronto, all nominees listed below deserve their own share of spotlight for a great 2008 of remix production.

Most of these tracks were regular spins in R$S DJ sets for ‘08, so no explanation need, just click and listen as you ring in the New Year!

10) Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream (Van She Remix)

9) TMDP - Running (Barletta’s Glitch Fix)

8 )The Virgins - Rich Girls (The Twelves Remix)

7) Hot Chip - Touch Too Much (Fake Blood Remix)

6) Annie - I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me (Get Shakes Remix)

5) Boys Noize - Oh! (A-Trak Remix)

4) MGMT - Kids (Soulwax Remix)

3) Ladyhawke - Back Of The Van (Van She Tech Remix)

2) Vitaminsforyou - B4U (TMDP Remix)

1) Busy P - To Protect and Entertain (Crookers Remix)

In the Year where the remix and not the album reigned supreme, there were still many notable full-lengths that are worth mentioning in this list.

5) Lykke Li - Youth Novels

Perhaps the most honest album of the year, Sweden’s Lykke Li reminded us how to open our hearts, fall in love and dance again. This is definitely one of the most rhythmically creative albums of 2008. Everything about this Scandanavian Princess is utterly charming Although it’s been remixed by several heavy hitting producers, the original somehow stands atop the mountain in triumph. I dare you not to fall in love with Lykke Li…

Lykkie Li - Dance, Dance, Dance

4) Girl Talk - Feed The Animals

Maybe you can’t technically consider this an album, but Pittsburgh’s Girl Talk managed to come up with yet another mash-up masterpiece with Feed The Animals. Topping his previous effort, Feed The Animals boasts over fifty samples in each mash-up to cover any and every pop song from the last thirty years you could possibly think of in an entire album (Exaggeration? Not really…) Never have I had so much fun listening to a mix CD. We’d better hope he’s got a great lawyer.

Girl Talk - Play Your Part Pt.

3) Hot Chip - Made In The Dark

It makes sense that one of the best shows of 2008 would come from a band that released one of the best albums. Expectations were riding high for Hot Chip’s third release after the outstanding sophomore LP that was ‘The Warning’. Thankfully, Hot Chip neither strayed too far away from what they do best, nor repeated themselves in any capacity with ‘Made In The Dark’. The British quintet can still write songs that are as equally tear-jerking as they are playful and catchy. This just goes to show you that nerds know how to have fun too.

Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor

2) The Black Keys - Attack and Release

Although they’ve been around for a while, The Black Keys were new to me this year. Sure, a two-piece band can seem a little gimicky after we’ve seen so many other duo’s rise to stardom over the last decade. But something about this two-piece from Akron, Ohio seems so much more sincere than others past. Attack and Release is one of those start to finish albums that is worth taking the time to listen all the way through. With the right mix of roadhouse rock, and blues ballads, The Black Keys have done an outstanding job creating an entire album. Oh yeah, and did we mention that Danger Mouse produced this album? It’s got gold written all over it!

The Black Keys - Strange Times

1) Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

2008 was the year of Cut Copy. Not only did they tour the world nearly three times over, but they released their best material to date. This retrospective three piece from Melbourne Australia really know how to grasp the finer points of 80’s pop music and turn it into something entirely their own. Great lyrics, great grooves, and an over all accomplished and complete album for Cut Copy. Not to mention that they put on one of the best shows I’ve seen this year. The Cutters take the cake!

Cut Copy - Lights and Music

Just checked my mail to a pleasant little stocking stuffer from I’m So Look You in Nagoya, Japan.  There’s nothing like a good old Wham! cover.  Hope you’re all drunk and jolly!

Wham! - Last Christmas (I’m So Look You Remix)

Brian got us started off with a great year end list so it’s about time I chime in as well. Here we go:

Top 5 Albums

1. M83 - Saturdays = Youth

Mirroring the minds tendency to only remember the good, Anthony Gonzalez revisits his formative years to make an album that is able to capture everything great about the 80s and touch up everything that wasn’t. One of a select few artists that are able to create full albums that are enjoyable from beginning to end, this french producer made an album from the past that sounds completely new.

2. The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale

In a year that has seen rap hit new lows (a circus freak named T-Pain and the abuse of the auto-tune), The Cool Kids single-handedly brought cool back to a genre in desperate need. This album can appeal to such a wide variety of people, it’s no wonder it’s such a success. Whether you’re a music freak who obsesses over the sparsely perfect production, a fan of the flow that revels in the ease that Antoine “Mikey Rocks” Reed and Evan “Chuck Inglish” Ingersoll communicate, a lyrics man who laughs along with the tongue and cheek rhymes, or just a fashion fiend who appreciates the forward thinking threads that The Cool Kids have adopted as their signature style. Let’s hope that in 2009 rappers stop trying to be Cher and bring the same originality that The Cool Kids brought us in ‘08.

3. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

Recording the basic tracks of the album in his father’s hunting lodge deep in the woods of Wisconsin, Justin Vernon creates an almost heartbreaking recreation of the sparse and harsh beauty of winter.

4. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles

I got into this CD late because of listening to a bunch of Crystal Castles in ‘07 but the album is surprisingly good. Anyone who reads this blog knows my love for 8-bit sounds and Crystal Castles do it in the best way possible. ‘Nuff said.

5. Girl Talk - Feed The Animals

I honestly didn’t understand why people liked Girl Talk after his first album. It was way too hectic and A.D.D. for me. He wasn’t able to allow any of the songs to breathe and it all kind of sounded like a jumbled mess. With ‘Feed the Animals’ Girl Talk has honed his skills and compiled a mish mash of classic songs that creates a straight up feel good, sing-a-long, party album. Nicely done.

Top 5 Shows

(I shouldn’t really get to participate in this because I only saw 3 shows but they were all pretty rad shows so I will comment on them anyway.)

1. Justice - Montreal

I was lucky enough to attend this show (almost) completely sober and experience all the raw energy of Justice and the crowd (if you’ve seen the DVD ‘A Cross The Universe’, the scene where the shirtless guy is making a blood curdling scream towards the sky at what I can only imagine are the Electro Rock Gods was the Montreal concert). After being completely satisfied by a nice re-working of ‘Cross’ I was awarded with a Justice remix of Metallica. As a giant fan of both Metallica and Justice it immediately became one of my favorite concert moments of all time.

2. Radiohead - Glasgow, Scotland

I truly felt like I was watching rock royalty during this show. They worked the crowd just as you would imagine them, playing hit after hit (with such a large and illustrious catalogue it makes it easy for them). There are so many memories from this show that it’s hard to pick just one but I will go with singing Fake Plastic Trees with thousands of drunk Scottish people as the rain began to pummel us from above. That’s Scotland for ya.

3. Yelle - Toronto

This was a solid concert that had a very carefree and playful attitude to it. I had a damn hard time singing along to words I didn’t know and songs I didn’t understand, but Yelle made it clear that it didn’t matter that a lot of the crowd wasn’t familiar with any songs besides “A Cause de Garcons”, she was here to have a good time. Having TEPR and Grand Marnier backing her up was a great treat as well.

Top 5 Remixes

1. Vitaminsforyou - B4U (TMDP Remix)

A journey of a song that has sounds you’ve never heard before. When the laser synth starts hitting later in the song I have to close my eyes to avoid sensory overload.

1. Kanye West - Love Lockdown (1994 PILOTPRIEST Remix)

I have to tie this with TMDP’s remix because I really can’t pick a favorite between the two. I have 3 songs by this relatively unknown artist (outside of Toronto that is), and they always make it into my setlists. Someone please give this guy a ton of money so we can hear what he can do with a whole album.

3. Robbie Robb - In Time (Futurecop! Remix)

A perfect pairing. I feel like Futurecop! started making music just so they could eventually remix this song.

4. Van She - Changes (G.L.O.V.E.S. Remix)

This song is always appropriate to play. I guarentee you’ll be singing “Orange juice won’t stain” for hours after you hear this song. I can’t wait to hear what G.L.O.V.E.S. does in ‘08.

5. Kid Cudi - Day ‘N’ Night (Crookers Remix)

Dagada Dagada Dagada Dagada BAOOOM BAOOM BAOOM! Dagada Dagada Dagada Dagada BAOOOMBAOOMBAOOMBAOOM! If it wasn’t so good I would wish that didn’t get stuck in my head every time I hear it. Undeniably catchy.

It’s Christmas Eve here in North America, and maybe it’s the whiskey, but I gotta say, I feel great! As I look outside my window here in Northern Ontario, I stare at 3 1/2 feet of accumulated snow fall sip on my first drink of the evening (it’s 9pm somewhere in the world, right???). I’m not one to get sentimental and nostalgic, but this is a time for me to reflect on the year past, and enjoy the picture perfect scenery I have in front of me.

Being that time of year, what better way to usher in our biggest holiday season than with one of my favourite bands, and the best holiday cover band ever, The Flaming Lips. Whether it’s ‘Halloween on the Barbary Coast’, or ‘Christmas at the Zoo’, Wayne Coyne and company have simply the nicest touch when it comes to recreating the Christmas spirit. They even released the long awaited ‘Christmas On Mars’ last month just in time for the Holiday Season.

So whether you’re sipping on egg nog and rum, shoveling snow, or simply hanging out with your friends and family, we here at Rollin’ and Scratchin’ would like to wish you ALL, a Happy Holiday’s!

The Flaming Lips - A Change At Christmas

The Flaming Lips - White Christmas

The Flaming Lips - Christmas At The Zoo

Well hot-steppers, it’s time to roll back the last 12 months and look at some of the best the year 2008 has brought us. Each of us here at R $ S will compile a list of favourites (shows, albums, remixes, etc) but i think I will start us off.

2008 was a great year for the blogs (p.s. i hate that word). After watching a band like Cut Copy blow up, there is no denying the power of bloggers and their posts. Music trends can now live and die by the blog as more listeners tune-in to be spoon fed remixes and advanced album releases. It’s hard to say where this will lead us, but it’s a safe bet that blogs are going to play an even larger role in 2009 as labels begin to accept them as a legit media outlet.

Some notable trends in 2008?

1) DISCO!

Well it finally happened. James Murphy and Morgan Geist can take a big bunch of the credit for resurrecting a much-maligned genre while newer artists put their mark on it. 

2) 80s/90s Pop Sounds

Chunky synths, swirling vocals, and more than a few nods to the Italo house days caused a stir on the dancefloors.

3) BANGERS!*?>

Seems like everyone was taking a track and making a club banger out of it. Problem is, peeps are now craving the above-mentioned pop structures. Sorry dudes, time to put the power tools away.

4) These effing glasses?!?!!?

Seriously?

5) FLANNEL

Every party i went to looked like it was crashed by a bunch of drunk lumberjacks. Did the beaver-pelt season up at Hudson’s Bay end early this year? Cripes.

6) “Ugly” Sweaters

What can i say. Value Village is making a killing off this scene right now.

Alright, time to get on to the stuff you may/or may not care about.

Brian’s Top 5 Shows

1. Radiohead - August 2008

Best. Live. Show. Ever. 

Oh, and they way they made that rainbow appear before the show? It’s official. They’re Gods.

2. Cut Copy - May 2008

First trip to Toronto after the release of their new album, this show rocked and proved that 2008 would be the year for Cut Copy to break out and tour the world….again…..and again.

3. TV on the Radio - July 2008

I think this show snuck up on people. Too bad. Cuz it was incredible.

4. Hot Chip - April 2008

You know when you hear an album and it’s good. Then you see it live and it blows your mind? Yeah.

5. Jamie Lidell - June 2008

Funk soul brother. Amazingly infectious and energetic show.

Brian’s Top 5 Albums

1. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colors

No denying it. Catchiest album of the year.

Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire (Knightlife Remix)

2. Hercules and Love Affair - S/T

Disco glory. Straight up.

3. TMDP - S/T

Haven’t stopped listening to it. After February 2009, you won’t either.

4. TV on the Radio - Dear Science

I don’t think these guys have it in them to make a bad album. 

5. Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life

Good ole’ fashioned punk rock. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Fucked Up - Magic Word

Well, that’s it for me. Stay tuned for 2008 wrap-ups from Craig and Christian.

I’m sure they will be much more fulfilling and less cynical than mine.

Peace, and Happy 2009!

The year’s almost come to an end, but the tracks keep on coming. This one will be a late entry into our end of ‘08 list for best remix of the year. The Hours are newbies to us here at R$S, but something tells me we’ll be hearing plenty from them in ‘09.Check out this little diddy as remixed by Mr. Disco himself, Calvin Harris. We present to you, ‘See The Light’.

The Hours - See The Light (Calvin Harris Vocal Remix)

Well it get’s my vote. Maybe it’s the cool California air after being in Arizona for so long, but this song has blown me away. If you don’t know PILOTPRIEST you better get learning fast. Joining TMDP, Barletta, and Gingy; PILOTPRIEST is putting Toronto on the map for electronic music. He’s shown what he can do before with remixes for M.I.A. and Run DMC, and he does it again for Kanye West this time.

He takes takes Kanye’s brutal ‘Love Lockdown’ and turns it into a good old fashioned electro banger. As the name of the remix suggests, there are some spot on 90s synths going on in this but don’t be fooled, this is not your older brothers dance music. If anything this is could be a glimpse into the future.

Are bangers coming back in ‘09? They are if PILOTPRIEST has anything to say about it.

Kanye West - Love Lockdown (1994 PILOTPRIEST Remix)

Oh yea, and I call this song for the upcoming Rollin’ & Scratchin’ event (details coming soon).

Aeroplane aren’t spanking new. The Belgian duo have dropped a bunch of remixes of artists such as Grace Jones (!),  and, of course, Cut Copy. On top of this though are a few singles that have been re-worked by the likes of Hercules and Love Affair.

Through it all, their smooth, cosmic sound shines through with a hint of psychedelia. Very relevant for those looking to escape from distortion.

Especially worthwhile is a remix of current flavor-of-the-month band Friendly Fires (feat. Au Revoir Simone). 

It’s simple, but doesn’t get boring. Enjoy.

 Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire (Aeroplane Remix)

Aeroplane - Caramellas

Friendly Fires - Paris (Aeroplane Remix)

Sidenote: ‘Au Revoir Simone’ are named after a line from the movie Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. Sick.