Video: Larry Tee featuring Mel Merio "Hipster Girl"

Larry Tee is one of those people who you expect to disappear from the face of the Earth who somehow manages to find a way to survive. From producing Rupaul in the 90s to trademarking Electroclash at the turn of the century Tee is nothing less than a true dance music survivor who has done things his own way without ever really becoming an album artist. His latest offering pairs him with Mel Merio, probably best known for working with Christopher Just ("I'm A Disco Dancer") on a cover of PSB's "Domino Dancing". Missed that one? Me too. Regardless, Tee & Merio have stumbled into something interesting here creating a new wave tune that strums along nicely before an insane middle eight brings the Justice rumble bass elevating the song to another level. Did I mention it features the cowbell? Give it a listen:



: Both Mel Merio and Larry Tee have myspace pages featuring their varied musical projects.

Video: The Juan Maclean "One Day"

The Juan Maclean return next month with The Future Will Come. Last year John MacLean was deep into rave territory on the more than twelve minute "Happy House" making the modern day new wave of the album's proper pre-release single "One Day" an unexpected turn. This is perhaps the most pop record DFA has released yet with a proper string part and a distinct Human League vibe as John trades off vocal duties with LCD Soundsystem's Nancy Whang. Did I mention that Whang is singing rather than working out of her standard shouting modus operandi? Yes, this is a synthpop record:





: Good news, the song is this week's itunes free download in the US so you can download the track for free. The Future Will Come is due out on April 21st, aka synthpop release, so keep up to date with all the latest news at The Juan Maclean website.

Still Happy

Röyksopp celebrate the release of their much praised Junior this week with this lovely alternate take of "Happy Up Here":

Video: Client "Can You Feel?"

There is something very familiar about the first single from Client's new album Command. At first blush Sarah Blackwood and Kate Holmes appear to be in top form on the driving "Can You Feel?" flavoring the strong vocal with a crunchy disco beat and the always welcome Peter Hook-esque melodic bass but the arrangement is keeping me from loving the song. After a month of attempting to pinpoint the problem I suspect the deal breaker is the combination of the octave bass and piano both of which have been featured many times over in the Client discography. This has created The Erasure Effect for me where it becomes difficult to differentiate between the songs that are of simply decent quality but sound similar to past favorites you have loved from the truly great new songs. If a bit ambivalent about the song I can recommend the video as one of Client's strongest visual efforts:



: Client Online is the best place to find info on the band at the moment and this interview with Sarah digs into how the duo work even if it doesn't answer what I would ask (Why did the Dubstar reunion fall through? You really believe everything on wikipedia? Really? What's up with the rotating third member of the band that never appears to write or record with band?). Command is out now. I hope to fall in love with it.

Promotion

Signing to Astralwerks in the US was the clearly the right move as billboards are popping up all over the Bay Area with "Love Etc." printed in huge letters. Obviously it is a bit cryptic as they don't mention the Pet Shop Boys by name but in this age of viral ad campaigns I'm sure of the public will catch on.

You can hear Yes in it's entirety with the widget below. It's rather good.




(photo from piperaudrey's photostream)

Some Thoughts

The most consistently thoughtful music blog ever XO's Middle Eight is turning five years old this month. I don't know how he maintains such high a level of excellence while working a day job but the blog is always a pleasure to read.

Does it seem odd to anyone else that the two surviving synthpop powerhouses (apologies to Erasure) of the 80's, both newly signed to the same parent label, are releasing albums on April 21 in the US?

Pet Shop Boys are hitting the press in support of Yes. Chart Rigger has a great collection of links to interviews and I highly recommend The Guardian's podcast with the Boys where they discuss how they write songs. "Love Etc." is out digitally in the US next Tuesday with all the b-sides intact.

The Modern are making another attempt at getting an album out. Life In A Modern World should be released within the next month.

My favorite itunes user review of the new Prodigy album includes the following line: "Don't get me wrong, Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned was a great album." Sure it was...

Voltage tipped me off to Thru You which is an amazing visual example of creating cut-and-paste music. Well I actually read about on Moby's myspace blog first but it is still worth watching even if it's not usually your type of thing.

One More Reason To Love Chromeo

I just can't get over this recent appearance on Yo Gabba Gabba!:



: It really brings home that Chromeo are that rare band that are likable. Even on bizarre television shows targeted at preschoolers.

(via Disco Potential)

Video: Röyksopp "Happy Up Here"

"Happy Up Here", the first single from Junior, uses their early single "Eple" as a jumping off point for a subtle pop song that is surprisingly catchy. While I am a fan of the track it does seem a bit premature, given this is only their third album, for Röyksopp to be recycling past hits as the lead in to new material. I'm all for postmodern art but this seems a bit extreme. The video is a treat which realizes Space Invaders as it might play out in a higher resolution reality. The director Reuben Sutherland has previously created an ad for a modern alien invasion game so he has probably been mulling this over for a while now:



: The song has inspired me to revisit Röyksopp's first album Melody AM which sounds utterly brilliant. Hear some of Junior ahead of it's March 23 release at their myspace.

Video: West End Girls "A Little Black Dress"

The pinnacle of PSB fandom must be West End Girls, the Swedish duo who perform nothing but Pet Shop Boys songs. Neil and Chris, clearly flattered by the tribute, have allowed the Girls to record a version of "Little Black Dress" which is the new single from their forthcoming second album. Originally written for the Boys musical Closer To Heaven the song failed to make the final cut although I have heard the original version had a vibrant life on p2p programs at the turn of the century:



: If you would like to see an incomplete site that tells you nothing current about West End Girls then please stop by their official website.