Oscillations - Is Our Children Dancing?

I've been floating in higher atmospheres for the last weeks. It's incredible what getting up early does with a human corpus, innit? Therefore: a little dedication to the mountains of our world.



First in row is a song by The Alps off their album "IIII", a record I impudently overlooked in 2008 that, since I discovered it, didn't leave me ipod on my countless trips with the metro to work and backwards. It works as good at 7am as it works at 22pm...

A piano, some bass, killer drum breaks, fuzzy guitars and lots of Californian sun make this blistering piece of psychedelic music sound like you're in the middle of some western-gone-wrong-on-mezcal.

The Alps - Trem Fanstasma


It ain't a long way to get from The Alps to Sic Alps, when you're not talking music-wise at least. Sic Alps sound like they recorded their music in your basement on this truly excellent cover, also from 2008, of the Throbbing Gristle anthem (yeah, right) .


Ain't that genius?

From psychedelica over lo-fi goodness to something a little more headbanging? Aye sure, no problem, meet Black Mountain. Great riffs, a whooshing hammond, as if stonerrock wasn't invented yet...



And - although it has nothing to do with mountains - a little mix from our beloved friend Malo in Germany, aptly titled "International stocktaking of long forgotten dance moves". You can download it here, and make sure to check out the artwork for the mix that's included in the file,it's awesome. No tracklisting, just namedropping: Enzo Ponzio, Weird Tapes, Todd Terje, BB & Q Band, Faux Pas, Peter Sarstedt, Tensnake, Glossy, etc.

We're working with Wilfried on a collaboration between Los Ninos, Fingerspitzengefühl and our own Oscillations, called Vicuna (official caption: "A rare party breed at extraordinary venues"). This time around, on the 14th of february, all things will take place in the Metro-station of Anneessens, in the very heart of Brussels, in an exposition space that hasn't been open to public since the seventies (except for the recent Brussels Biennale). Rest assured, it's a magnificent venue...



For the lovers, the evening takes off slowly with an accoustic concert of Pete Randy, at 21.30, in the small movie theater. Hurry up, there's a very limited capacity of 40 places & these tickets are only available in presale. For the others, the evening starts with a dj-set of Aguila (have a look at his site, there're some real pretty mixes). Next up and straight from Glasgow, UK, are new Hi NRG demigods Den Haan. The group consists of 2 friends, one of them may be not-so-unknown to some of you.



Next in line isn't a stranger neither, and we're very glad to welcome back mr. Nightmoves. Those of you who were in Antwerp for our last party will most definitely remember him for his monstrous 4 hour set. After Nightmoves, Jean Baptiste Biche (the guy who made the awesome Fingerspitzengefühl-logo) will take over control and our very own The Michael will finish off the night, in his well known style.

Surf over the waves of the intraweb to www.vicuna.be for music & mixes, or to get your tickets. Presale tickets are 10 euro, except the ones for the concert of Pete Randy that are just a tad more expensive (12 euro), and you get a drink for free before midnight. The venue has a limited capacity, so make sure you order your ticket soon enough!

Rest in peace Ron Asheton.
And rest in peace, beloved Stooges, there's no sense in going on anymore.

After touring with Blood Brothers & TV On The Radio and playing almost every single major venue in Europe, this Antwerp-based quartet is performing in Brussels. Get your silly ass to Beurskafee this saturday, because they're playing a free (GRATIS! GRATUIT! KOSTENLOS!) concert. You won't regret attending, sure thing.

Posting the above video, I also feel obliged to tell you the song they're playing is a cover from an Australian band modestly called GOD. Here it is, take care not to fall off your chair...

women are nice, women are fine, women are good... but you gotsta get some'o'that young meat! girls just wanna have fun and all that.

Women made a pretty good self-titled album in the year past and secured themselves a spot in plenty of year end lists. contrary to biological patterns, however, next year will evolve into a Girls year! i must admit i threw them away at first (not talking about my personal life here, still the band) in the spring of 2008, but that was on the account of hearing Molten Light which kind of made me vomit as to how badly and directly and without any shame it was stolen and copied from Sonic Youth's Mote. i turned it off after a minute and skipped them ever since. yesterday brought about a change when i read Chris from Gorilla Vs Bear's post about 2009 and how he was looking forward to the, apparently self-titled, Girls debut album. well, after another inspection i am converted! I AM SAVED! PRAISE JESUS-AH! i especially like how they use synths, it sounds very Vangelis to me and that's intended as a huge compliment. it could remind you of Elvis Costello in the way the vocals are delivered, hints of Ariel Pink and the softer (acoustic) guitar-oriented songs on Oracular Spectacular without the compression to make another 2008-2009 cross-reference, but i seriously doubt they'll reach the same popularity peaks as MGMT. actually they just won't, but which is fine with me because i'd rather have they didn't anyhow so i can see them at Oscillations or the Rotonde of the Botanique or Scheld'Apen. check out their stuff and keep your eyes and ears open for that debut on True Panther Sounds (of Lemonade fame).

i'm not particularly a fan of the videos they've made so far, but this one for older (my guess) track God Damned is really enjoyable. it sounds more Ariel Pink'ish than their other songs. the video:



some other girls i got into in 2008 were Vivian, Parenthetical and US.

i missed Parenthetical Girls with Deerhoof in antwerp and then again in gent by themselves, but incorporating them into my favourite music videos list of 2008 should count for something. Parenthetical Girls reside on the roster of german imprint Tomlab which in itself is a sort of quality branding for indie and electropop.

Vivian Girls i saw in may in NYC at the Silent Barn, they played right after Abe Vigoda who i liked better, speaking in terms of live performance at least. Vivian Girls is for people who like their 60's girl groups mixed with a smidge of 80's no wave. it's all pop music to me, but anyway, they will be touring europe soon and pass through Trix in antwerp on the 9th of february.

US Girls i haven't seen yet, but will most certainly do so on the 30th of january when they (she?) will be performing at Scheld'apen in antwerp. think noise, think reverb, but the woman can actually sing really well as opposed to other bands that seek refuge in aforementioned treats to hide possible flaws. some weight to this claim can most easily be found in Don't Understand That Man. for diggers of Wavves, this more extreme version of Nite Jewel.

go check out those girls!

once again i hope to see many of them in the coming year, the Late Nights at De Markten not being the least ones of'm! the Late Nights started after their (special mention and thanks to Vijay) invitation to go and dj at De Markten on the Nuit Blanche. it was so much fun (and not bad for their business either, hah) they decided to turn it into a monthly shindig. since then we had two more in november and december. these Late Nights take place in the heart of Brussels, in between the Dansaert street and St Catherine's and not a 5 minute walk from De Beurs/La Bourse on the Anspachlaan. the booze is reasonable, it's free entry and the music is - if you don't mind my saying so - rather excellent. awesome, even. the people present are a nice mixture of various nationalities and languages whose common purpose is having a good time. you should come and join in the fun.



i don't know when the next one is, but i'll be sure to let you know.

red tops, blue tops, yellow tops... they're all tops, right? another year, same wonderful crap. personally, i just want you all to always have a good time and not fuck someone else over.

alrighty!
second and somewhat booty oriented part of the ohmygoshthosevideoswereawesome!!!-series.


THE BPA (FT. DAVID BYRNE & DIZZEE RASCAL) - TOE JAM



creative with nude! it looks classy which is a rarity these days. that's not nostalgia, just an observation. my favourite scenes are the Pong and duel one.


SPANK ROCK - LOOSE


hilarious rhyming, y'all! oh man, the part where naeem says DEEZ NUTS is classic stuff. it's a sleazy track with a sleazy video. which is nice.


THUNDERHEIST - JERK IT



i had never heard of thunderheist and don't feel the immediate need to find out more about her/them/him, but in the same vain as Spank Rock's Loose this is just nice'n'sleazy. love the bling, love the pants.


FLYING LOTUS - PARISIAN GOLDFISH


and more with the sleaze. this video is simply goddamn horny. even though the actress (and actor) would normally be filed under DO NOT TOUCH WITH A STICK in my personal notebook, i find their interaction stimulating to say the least. it makes me think "where's me wench?!". it deserves applauding that the video dares defying standards, even for lesser known or underground artists. nice colors bonanza, too.


PARENTHETICAL GIRLS - A SONG FOR ELLIE GREENWICH



aaaaaand cue anticlimax! pasty, white kids looking as sterile as caucasianly possible. yet it's somehow compelling. with a total lack of any means or action they succeed in making a compelling video. i'd suspect i'm lured by the sense of clarity, but then again maybe the song's just really good.