Oscillations - Is Our Children Dancing?

LOW-NRG

2009-09-07T21:30:00.007+02:00

And check out the music this guy makes. Makes me miss summer, already.

SHE CRIES ON EVERY TUNE

2009-09-01T11:41:00.004+02:00

It's been done tons of times before, not always with great results, sometimes utterly genius. This versions seems to be spreading very quickly all over the interweb nowadays. Welcome The XX! Stone cold guitar playing & smooth r&b synths, what else you'ld want?

The XX - Teardrops (Womack&Womack cover)

And here's a special treat for Wim/Willem/Miw, Justus Köhncke's amazing take on the Neil Young Classic Old man. Teardrops, innit?

Justus Köhncke - Old man (Neil Young cover)

I HAVE A FRIEND I'VE NEVER SEEN

2009-08-30T19:35:00.000+02:00

DISCO DISCUSSION

2009-08-26T15:42:00.003+02:00

Very interesting piece of video where Paul Morley discusses the roots and continuing influence of disco with Vince Aletti, the very first writer to cover New York's emerging disco scene in the 70's, DJ and author Bill Brewster, and Luke Howard, DJ at London's Horse Meat Disco.

There's three parts and you should just follow these links to get to see them. Total boogie time: a bit over half an hour... Enjoy!
Part one
Part two
Part three

Source: Guardian

THE DRUMS

2009-06-15T16:49:00.005+02:00

not talking about the Boredoms drum circle, Emiliana Torrini's Jungle Drums, that "cool chick" from the Ting Tings chanting, not even talking about The Drums from San Francisco.

i'm talking about Jonathan Pierce and Jacob Graham who played their very first show, with Connor Hanwick and Adam Kessler helping them out live, only about a month ago at the Cake Shop in New York City. just two days before i deejayed at the very same venue at the To Bad Catholics, Katie Eastburn, Nick Krgovich and Skeletons gigs. i can not fucking believe i missed that show!

in any case, they reside in Brooklyn by way of Florida which makes total sense if you listen to their music. now just imagine a Manchester childhood along with it and you could get to the whole bastard child of post-punk and new wave with a slight surf-induced vibe they got going on. very psyched about this stuff! i predict a signing to Domino for Europe by the fall, w00p w00p.

STREET EDITORIAL MIXTAPE

2009-05-25T18:52:00.006+02:00

A while ago I was asked to furnish a fashion show with a soundtrack. The mixtape I made is mainly midtempo, which turned out to be perfect for the models to their stuff to. I added some extra faster tracks for the Oscillations blog, giving the mix a total length of 74 minutes. You can find the download link below. If listening online is your cuppa tea, click here.

Sixsixsixties Street Editorial
Dollskabeat - Zodiac Rising
Eurythmics - Paint A Rumour
White Light Circus - Rocket Ride
Simian Mobile Disco - I Believe (Prins Thomas rmx)
Harmonic 313 - Flaash
Boards Of Canada - Nlogax
Indeep - The Record Keeps Playing
Imagination - Just An Illusion (Terje edit)
Alan Parson's Project - I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You
6th Borough Project - Just A Memory
South City Allstars vs Joe Quartermain
Fan Death - Veronica's Veil
Willesden Dodgers - 112 BPM
Baby Oliver - Shot Caller
Morten Sorensen - Start Something (40 Thieves rmx)
Hypnosis - Bormaz
Fatima Yamaha - What's A Girl To Do
Jade - I'm Gonna Get Your Love
Ivan - Fotonovella (Pete Herbert rmx)
Lifelike - Sequencer
Faze Action - Stratus Energy
Dance Reaction - Disco Train
NOIA - Stranger In A Strange Land
Blaze - Lovelee Dae (Isolee rmx)
The Allessi Brothers - Seabird

Don't forget that we're playing De Markten in Brussels on friday. Starting at 23h is Captain Starlight with The Michael and me taking over around 00h30. It's free of charge and always loads of fun, so why not stop by?
Oh and did I tell you about our new facebook home?

MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN

2009-05-13T12:01:00.001+02:00

Jermaine Jackson & Devo

COMEBACK

2009-05-06T21:00:00.006+02:00

A very big up to all the people who came out to dance and who made the Hug Me Heimlich party in Cologne and the latest party at De Markten such a blast. Oscillations salutes you!

It's been way too long since there was some music on here, let stand alone good music. Let's make up for that...

First up is a tune that got passed on to us by Jan L. from Cologne. It's an extremely funky piece of synth music from 1982, by the bass player of Prince's Revolution. It's quite obvious where he got the inspiration, but don't let that hold you back from freaking out to it!

Andre Cymone - Kelly's eyes

Don't remember in which part of the ever fantastic interweb I found this little gem, but this is first class robot music. The track comes off a 1985 LP by a certain Jeff Phelps, who - sadly - never got around making more than this one album. The silly female vocals are provided by Antoinette Marie Pugh.

Jeff Phelps - Don't fall apart on me

Last up (but certainly not least) is former Oscillations- and Vicuna-guest Matt Waites aka Nightmoves. Under the alias of G&S he's produced a very glitch new beat stomper together with the ever pretty Nadia Ksaiba for the excellent Dissident label. They're riding a swell wave there, with excellent releases by Den Haan, Brassica and The Off-Key Hat in the last few months. Long may it continue!

G&S - Show me the good times

On another note: our facebook was taken down recently by the f*scists working in the FB-offices, so we lost all of our contacts & correspondencies. Thank you! We'll be back shortly with a fan page, just so you know where to find information on future Oscillations events. Expect some in the near future!

WANG OUT!

2009-04-16T17:40:00.012+02:00

Those who came down to Ric's Art Boat on Saturday night witnessed a brilliant set by our honorable guest for the night, the MIGHTY Daniel Wang. Playing for nearly 5(!) hours, the man switched from a treasure of disco gems to some early house records, threw a bunch of Stock, Aitken & Waterman productions on top and added some extra flavour with a late comedy routine.

Closing my eyes I was drifting away to Mancuso's Loft, Levan's Paradise Garage and 1990's Ibiza. Yes folks, it was THAT good! One of many highlights was Danny playing this balearic classic, just moments before sunrise...

Launching the love boat was our man Dirk Eskimo, who not only brought the new Lindstrom & Prins Thomas monster "Tirsdagsjam" but also some unreleased track by a new Italian (?) act on Eskimo that we desperately NEED! Needless to say, Dirk tore the roof down!

For more Oscillations bada bing over the next couple of weeks, we direct you to these fine parties. Come and say hi!

24-4 Hug Me Heimlich, Cologne
25-4 T*E*A*S*E*R at La Campine, Antwerp (Sixsixsixties)
30-5 Noord at Bab Mansour, Antwerp (The Michael)
01-5 Another Late Night at De Markten, BXL

BODY TO BODY

2009-04-04T19:40:00.002+02:00

Just seven more days before the disco madness comes our way... I hope you're as psyched as we are!

MEET YOUR NEW GOD

2009-03-24T02:29:00.001+01:00

everyone should play keyboards or synths like this.

VIOLENCE IS BAD, M'KAY?

2009-03-13T05:12:00.002+01:00

having to fight for your right to party in the weekend wars sucks. it always baffles me why someone wants go out and have or give a bad time. have they not heard of Chic?! in light of recent events involving gunpoint drama, a mass beatdown, hassling and verbal threats (but at least we've got some taste and a much, much, much smarter mouth), here are some conflict related tunes. recent and older. guitars and synths.

The Bitters - Warrior

Beanie Sigel & Jay Z - Glock Nines (Ratatat Remix)

and here's a little sumpin' sumpin' for the eyes.

i figured out what their problem is in the mean time.

CORNY LOVE STORY

2009-02-26T22:19:00.004+01:00

a silly, little while ago i made up (yes, "made up") a silly, little love story about a sex addict trying true love and leaving his sexadelic past behind using the names of the artists and or the names of the songs. long walks by the balearic beach and cosmic candles crawling out of your ass and all that funky fresh stuff. here goes!

I wanna be your lover and now love has come around! I'll take you on my aeroplane to Paris (I promise!), but oh no, you might find out I'm a R'n'B drunkie and although I try to shed my Balearic incarnation it's like a dream I can't stop dreaming (with my wang) and it's still going and going... Oh, what a situation! Always trying to get fresh at the weekend, showing out my wang when it's on the rise. Dreadful moodiness, I just need some emotional rescue! Oh why, cruel fate?! Why testeth thou me so... uhm -eth? I can't kill the lady (in my heart, duh). No, it's too late... Here my love is! MORE, MORE, MORE!

lol.
sad.
but sadly cool, right? right.

NEVERENDING LOVE

2009-02-24T17:38:00.004+01:00

Over a week ago, Zeigeist announced their split via their myspace page. We had the honnor to welcome the swedish band as our guests for our bash at Antwerp's Kavka, back in december. The buzzing and theatrical performance they put on that night turned out to be one of their last. Marie, Per and Mattias called it quits on personal grounds but I'm sure we'll be seeing them in other incarnations sooner or later.
Here's a video to Zeigeist's "Humanitariansm" that I made with my man Joris to commemorate the band's passage at Oscillations. I guess now is the time to post it here. Oscillations salutes Zeigeist!

HURRAY FOR MARGINALSSSSS!

2009-02-19T21:07:00.005+01:00

hey there, hi there

i read another article about how brilliant Romain Gavras' video for Justice's STRESS is. this annoys me because it is... well, it is simply... not. shock! gasp! seriously, its faux shock tactics don't contribute to anything. aesthetically it's nothing that hasn't been done before (even by himself!) or it does not aid in the least in delivering a platform for discussion. it just sells and they knew. Justice are really good salesmen. when something is done for the sake of salesmanship, i still consider it a form of art, but not the kind of art which i find interesting. however, dissing people or creations for the sake of it doesn't interest me either so i'd like to write about two other of mister Gavras' video clips. i will leave out the one he made for The Last Shadow Puppets, although i'm pretty sure it's quite impressive from a producer's point of view, it just ain't mah thang, G.

Romain Gavras seems to be quite fond of people living in the margins of society. and why not? they're excellent material for comic relief! hurray for margies making us laugh! which is certainly the case in his video for Dj Mehdi's Signatune (the wonderful Thomas Bangalter edit). when the protagonist pulls his head away from his caring and carressing mother... lol. classic stuff.

less hilarious, but still funny is the totally unsexy environment of an anonymous and what i believe to be a Eastern European village on the countryside for the sexy song I Believe by Simian Mobile Disco. the setting reminds me of Jonathan Safran Foer's excellent debut novel Everything Is Illuminated.

mmmmmmmm marginal folks.

MORE ON HEIGHTS

2009-02-02T19:15:00.006+01:00

i bought Curtis Mayfield's Curtis LP the other day and i thought i'd expand on Starlight's theme a bit with a classic tune from the Prince of Suave himself.

brilliant album cover but anyways: Move On Up!

and if you're planning on climbing a mountain, why not make it Mount Eerie? wooooooooooop woop woop-woop! Phil Elvrum (= Mount Eerie) played at our very first evening, which seems like a pretty long time ago already, but even longer ago he played under another moniker and my favourite song from Phil is back when he was The Microphones. it's from the The Glow, Pt. 2 album and bears the same name. the song reminds me of early to mid Modest Mouse, which i like mucho mucho, but in its own right the album is a wonderful trip that really sucks you in if you let it. Phil basically creates a universe for you to explore, lyrically it's a really metaphysical and existential record.

The Microphones - The Glow, Part 2

if you're not one for upward movement, you can still bomb the motherfucker (yay!) and build a tunnel, chip chip churrah! Here We Go Magic's been blogged about quite a bit early in january, but i thought it was a pity there wasn't much mention of Luke Temple. that would be the head honcho of Here We Go Magic who made (and makes) music under his own name before Here We Go Magic's inception, which was last year.

Here We Go Magic - Tunnelvision

and i'll add the video for Luke Temple's More Than Muscle, simply because it is one of the better songs of 2008. when he delivers the chorus... there lies so much power in his restraint. i'm not convinced by the video yet, i'm just not quite sure whether it's really dull or just silly and funny. the music is powerful stuff though.

LIFT ME HIGHER

2009-01-27T15:30:00.006+01:00

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) .

It's a lie
It's the same
It's a sigh
It's a game
It's the why
It's the where and the when
We're United
United

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.

VICUNA

2009-01-18T20:39:00.005+01:00

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!

80 MINUTES OF 08

2009-01-12T21:12:00.007+01:00

"Beta Stac" by Dane Lovett

Happy 09 from me! Here's a little mix I made in the final hours of 2008 in between wrapping lousy presents and the last apero. I think the concept pretty much speaks for itself. It's like a little time capsule to send into space or shove up some other dark area, whatever pleases you! You can find a listing of my fav songs of the year in the comments to this post as it is quite extensive.

Sixsixsixties - 80 Minutes Of 08

David Byrne & Brian Eno - Stange Overtones / Cobra Dukes - Airtight (Airoplane rmx) / M83 - Kim & Jessie / Gang Gang Dance - House Jam / Woolfy vs Projections - This Space / Dolle Jolle - Balearic Incarnation (Todd Terje rmx) / 40 Thieves - Don't Turn It Off / Tensnake - Congolal / Lykke Li - Little Bit (Loving Hand rmx) / Plastique De Reve - Lost In The City / Morgan Geist - Detroit (C2 rmx) / Yacht - Summer Song / Ladyhawke - Paris Is Burning / Cut Copy - Hearts On Fire / Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal / Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - La Serenissima / In Flagranti - Business Acumen / Metronomy - Heartbreaker (Discodeine rmx) / Hercules & Love Affair - You Belong (Riton rmx) / Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream / MGMT - Kids (Soulwax rmx) / Santogold - Shove It / Vampire Weekend - I Stand Corrected

NO FUN

2009-01-06T16:35:00.005+01:00

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

YOU'RE MY ONLY FRIEND...

2009-01-04T21:11:00.003+01:00

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? GIRLS!

2009-01-03T19:53:00.003+01:00

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!

ANOTHER LATE NIGHT

2009-01-02T02:53:00.002+01:00

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.

SAME OLD, SAME OLD

2009-01-01T17:26:00.003+01:00

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.

VIDDY THIS, DEAR DROOGS

2008-12-31T18:04:00.007+01:00

ahoy hoy
Starlight and i are waiting for Six' end of year lists (hurry, ya lazy bastard) to pour it all into one megapost of megabliss.

for the time being i will start with my first installment of favourite video clips of 2008.

GNARLS BARKLEY - WHO'S GONNA SAVE MY SOUL

i decided not to rank the videos, but if i would have this just might've been the one shining at the top of the list. it's a good idea brilliantly executed. observations are made to which everyone can (or will be able to if you're a youngun) relate, displayed with sardonic humor which really is the best kind of humor. it looks good to my layman eyes, the special effects are not over the top but effective, the storyline is coherent yet somewhat surprising at the end, it's well-acted... it's just very, very good.

M83 - GRAVEYARD GIRL

i have a soft spot for the Dompe sisters. although she's not credited anywhere (i can find, anyway), i feel Lola Dompe did an ace job on this one. just as her slightly older sister Diva did in slightly older M83 video Don't Save Us From The Flames. actually Anthony Gonzalez has his director repeat most of the core elements of Don't Save Us From The Flames. the obvious John Hughes (and to a lesser extent Sophia Coppola's Virgin Suicides, i think) influence and the corny storyline (outcast girl craves popular boy and all ends well), but it's good so we can tolerate it, can't we? it's his choice of style and i can totally dig it. i just hope that next time some tricks won't be used in the exact same manner, but Lola may be cast again, pretty please. Lola Dompe if you happen to ego-google (which is fine!) i <3 u! marry me when i'm 35 and you're 30 or whatever and if we're both single so we can have cute venetian blonde-dyed hair babies! but seriously, you're an awesome drummer and i can't wait to get Blackblack to europe some day.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND

i love the sequence with the fishies and the ferocity with which Rostam and Chris pound the drums. it's a fun shoot and it's infectious both visually and musically. they're funny and smart in how they represent themselves and in person (at the first Oscillations party) they were pretty awesome, too. nothing but love for this band and its endeavours.

WEEZER - PORK & BEANS

if you're just a tiny bit of a geek you've seen a lot of the characters portrayed here already, nonetheless it's an amusing collection of internet memes and i'm just glad one of my favourite bands as a teenager (<3 the Blue album! <3 Pinkerton! h8 everything else!) made a song that is more than digestable, it's that good old Rivers Cuomo catchiness.

CHAD VANGAALEN - MOLTEN LIGHT

Wixel pointed this one out when i made a post about videos a couple of months ago. Chad Vangaalen crafts not only songs, he draws cartoons. insanely awesome cartoons to accompany the wonderful stories he sings to us.

alrighty, you all have a good time tonight and make sure to return home drunk but safe.

THAT.THIS.IS.LOVE

2008-12-14T18:51:00.006+01:00

Cheers to all the boys and girls that came out to Kavka last weekend for another night of Oscillations spazz! We heard an excellent set by local maestro Tomtomtom, saw a blistering show by swedish superstars Zeigeist and danced our asses off during a monstrous 4 hour set by our new BFF Nightmoves. Dancing on a table at 6:30 am to John Paul Young's "Love Is The Air," it doesn't get any better than this in our books...

Here's some physical proof from last week's happenings in case your memories have become a bit shady due to a total love overdose. Thanks to Joshua and Laurentiu for the live images! For more check our little Myspace or Facebook pages, whatever floats your boat.

WHY?

2008-12-05T05:15:00.011+01:00

i've been obsessing over Carly Simon's "Why?" for long enough now for it to reach MUST!SHARE! status in my book. miss Simon - yeap, she's single again mmm yummie nice GILF - has written a fair amount of great songs, everybody knows the absolutely brilliant hit "You're So Vain", but "Why?" is actually written by my (and probably your) favourite songwriting team: Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. they began as The Boys which quickly changed its name to The Big Apple Band in the early 70's. which has nothing to do with Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band, by the way. it was an unhappy coincidence and Walter Murphy, the poor schmuck, didn't even want the addition of a band's name to his, the record company merely reasoned his "A Fifth of Beethoven" would sell better that way. they found out about Nile and Bernard's The Big Apple Band two days after the release and since then dropped the name, settling for just Walter Murphy. i'm gonna drift off just a liiiiittle bit more and mention how Walter Murphy was a proto-Pilooski or Jacques Renault, along with other disco greats, naturally. because "A Fifth of Beethoven" is in fact an edit of uhm... Beethoven's Fifth. yeah, just playing Captain Obvious here. funny thing is, Soulwax made an edit of his edit. now we're talking meta-edits... mmm, love that shit. not the Soulwax meta-edit of "A Fifth of Beethoven" though, it feels sterile to me. the whole Soulwax-Ed Banger IN YOUR FUCKING FACE (for the producers amongst you aka Compression = Life or maybe Compression Macht Frei!) sound has repeated itself for too long now. Boys Noize is a fairly notable exception (that Sebastien Tellier remix was awesome) and i must admit Ed Banger did something completely unexpected with the release of Mickey Moonlight's wonderful interpretation of Sun Ra's "Interplanetary Music". oh, and of course Robin Dick "created" a version of "A Fifth of Beethoven" and raked in the cash. urgh, totally hate pop stars cashing in on earlier creativity and effectively raping and then murdering the song in the process.

but uhm YEAH! back to Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. after they didn't really go places with The Big Apple Band they eventually formed Chic with drummer Tony Thompson and singer Norma Jean Wright. Chic needs no introduction and deserves more than just a mention in a blogpost, so i'll get back to them some other time. after a couple of years of Chic, Rodgers and Edwards began taking up production work for other artists. you better drop your jaws already. they worked with - or made the careers of - Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, Debbie Harry, David Bowie, Madonna, INXS, Duran Duran, Grace Jones and yes: Carly Simon. i think they only provided her with "Why?" which she wanted because she was going through a rough time personally and musically and sought refuge in the changing popular sound (crafted by Rodgers and Edwards, amongst others). it was written for the soundtrack of Soup for One, a 1982 film which i had never heard of until i looked up the origins of "Why?". the film fluked, so the song went down it. however, it resurfaced years later at the end of the 90's in UK charts due to its popularity in the Hacienda and ibiza and doing so, luckily never disappeared into merciless Time. you can most definitely expect it in my playlist saturday. oh yes, saturday mmm 's gonna be so yummie.

notice the difference in budget for video clips in the early 80's and now. no elaborate story, no special effects, nothing at all. only the music and some random silliness. gotta love that shit:

i sincerely recommend you listen to the mp3 or vinyl on a proper sound system or headphones so Rodgers and Edwards' production comes into its own.

INTRODUCING: NIGHTMOVES

2008-11-30T23:50:00.007+01:00

I guess most of you already figured out what Zeigeist is all about? Best Swedish export since The Knife, and since that’s not so long ago, second best since Abba. But hey, Who’s that Nightmoves fella I hear you say?

There's little to nothing to be found on the e-net about Matt Waites, who's producing remixes under the alias of Nightmoves, so here’s a little introduction for y’all. Matt’s star raised quite fast in 2006 when he did the first remix of “Atlantis to Interzone” for his friends the Klaxon s, who happened to be regulars at the Liars Clubnight in Nottingham. All doors got wide open & mr Waites got to make some remixes for Kitsune (Klaxons, Punks Jump Up). Subsequently, he did remixes for the likes of Shitdisco, Alphabeat, Robbie Williams (yeah motherfuckers), Free Form Five, Infadels and – hell! – recently he even did a superb remix for the goddess that is Roisin Murphy. But apart from having amazing remix-skills (I mean, no offence, we do not like every single song and band he remixed), he’s an amazing deejay who manages to blend the latest electro floor fillers into an exciting mix with obscure disco gems and mad wedding songs. Underneath this little humble blog post, you can find the aural proof in the form of the mix he made for Tim Sweeney’s legendary Beats In Space show. One look at the tracklist should suffice to get you all excited. Featuring disco-punkers Tussle ànd the almighty Fleetwood Mac ànd Norvegian disco-god Lindstrom ànd cowboy Johnny Wakelin ànd mr. Wang ànd Dinosaur (including the mighty Arthur Russell ànd David Byrne) ànd NY based Lee Douglas ànd then finishing with one of my fave tunes from last year? To quote the coolest nigger on earth: sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit!

Download the mix

Tracklist:
1.) Tussle - Comma - Troubleman
2.) Fleetwood Mac - Tusk - WEA
3.) Tullio De Piscopo - Stop Bajon - ZYX
4.) Lindstrom & Solale - Mystery Track - CDR
5.) Rodion - Fisico - Gomma
6.) Johnny Wakelin - In Zaire - Pye
7.) Methusalem - Zombie - Supersound
8.) Bjohn Torske - God Kveld - Smalltown Supersound
9.) Daniel Wang - Echo By Midnight - Basenotic
10.) Antena - On The Boat (Disco Devils Rubber Room Mix) - Permanent Vacation
11.) Force Of Nature - Unstoppable (Broken Rule Remix) - Headinghome
12.) Faze Action - Stratus Energy (Special Disco Mix)
13.) Dinosaur - Kiss Me Again (Serge Sangtiago Re-Edit) - CDR
14.) Shocking Pinks - Smokescreen (Glimmers Edit) - DFA
15.) The Chap - Baby I'm Hurt'n' - Lo Recordings
16.) Lopazz - Gimme Gimme - Get Physical
17.) Argy - Love Dose (Luciano Remix) (Prins Thomas Re-Edit) - CDR
18.) Lee Douglas - Our Song - Rong
19.) Hatchback - White diamond (Prins Thomas Remix) - Thisisnotanexit

AND... THE FUTURE?

2008-11-30T14:36:00.003+01:00

if you ask me about the future of music, i can only hope it's this:

in the early naughties i dreamt of a subgenre called screamdance. a couple of years later things like DFA1979 made their way onto the scene and they were pretty good, actually. but of course, Broken Cyde tops it all.

<3 <3 <3 u so much, Broken Cyde!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

seriously y'all, Zeigeist, Nightmoves and tomtomtom are closing in on us. whoop-de-doo! and before you come to Oscillations on saturday, you might wanna drop in at the Vaartkapoen for The Dodos on wednesday.

DEPARTMENT OF EAGLES LANDING

2008-11-27T04:10:00.004+01:00

said eagles have chosen l'Archiduc as their landing spot second to come friday. which is the fifth of the twelfth. yeah, MMVIII. most of you know l'Archiduc (from stumbling inside at dawn probably, ya drunkards!), but for the people who haven't had the honour yet, it's on the dansaert street. number six, that number again is six. six is the number, brussels is the city and speed is key! for behold:

"Tickets by guest/invitation only. A limited number of tickets will be available as a give-away; send an email ticket request (with subject: Department of Eagles) to: steven@toutpartout.be." - departmentofeagles.com

but who are these birds not birds?

half of them is a quarter of the amazing Grizzly Bear whose new record in spring 2009 will dazzle us all, i'm sure. the other half is Daniel Rossen's former NYU roommate Fred Nicolaus. together they have an excellent record out called In Ear Park which features eleven pop songs full of acoustic guitars, reverb, a melancholic but rarely depressing or pathetic feel throughout, smooth mid-tempo drums and marvellous production by Chris Taylor (also of Grizzly Bear) which should be properly listened to on a good sound system or headphones.

my impression is that they chose the modus operandi of whomever writes the song has to sing it. in that respect i'd like to present you my favourite by each.

daniel: No One Does It Like You
fred: Teenagers

to be honest and not stick too many feathers up their already falconiformic ass, halfway through the record there's a slight downfall into the depths of slight ennui. hence the "rarely" mentioned earlier, but it's still goddamn grand and deserves your attention.

furthermore they have a website with very well-recorded live video material and a section they call "Squaresville". it's kids drawing to their music and it's fun, YEAH! the same thing goes for the party at De Markten we deejayed at last saturday. i think they're going to make it a steady, recurring thing. which is awesome. mmmmmmmmmmmm boner.

BXL DANCIN'

2008-11-22T14:15:00.002+01:00

there's a totally rad party in brussels tonight! ourselves, our good german friend malo and host vj will carefully select tunes for your feet. it'll be fun, free and in the center. come on down and say hi! or yo, if that's your thing.

De Markten
Oude Graanmarkt 5
1000 Brussel

right off the Dansaert street and next to place St Catherine, it's not even a 5 minute walk from the Beurs/Bourse.

here are some snapshots of the previous (and first) party at De Markten, when brussels had its Nuit Blanche.

classic.

PUT YOUR LOVE IN ME

2008-11-17T13:39:00.010+01:00

Hey folks,
it's been some time - once again - but we'll soon be back with more, more, more music, rubbish & lovely get-togethers.
Talking about get-togethers: this saturday we're invited over at the lovely bar called De Markten, in the heart of our beloved Brussels.

It's nothing big, it's free & it's all about fun and good times! Tell me now, who's your daddy?

MORE ALBUM OF THE YEAR BANTER

2008-10-28T03:21:00.003+01:00

sure, Woolfy's good. but i want to focus my shout out on Deerhunter's Microcastle (and the Weird Era Cont. bonus disc that absolutely stands on its own). i am one of those assholes who downloaded the album a gazillion blog years ago (which in real life is like six months). however, i only did so after seeing them live. they were kinda horrible compared to the first time, but in their defense i must mention that the leading man, bradford cox, was very ill that night. anyways, i didn't want the element of surprise to be ruined, see? afterwards i proceeded to downloading and wore it out, but now, several months later we musn't forget that the record has an actual release date. which is... TODAY! yeah! awesome!

they call it ghost rock and why the hell not? this may not be mistaken for scary, it's rather haunting than frightening. have a listen to one of my favourite tracks on the album:

Deerhunter - Never Stops

Twilight at Carbon Lake, as featured on the second Oscillations mixdisc, is another favourite. you know, you can look at it as being ridiculous or superawesome that a song from an album yet-to-be released at that point, is already on a compilation altogether. i, for one, would like to welcome people to the digital age with a superawesome attitude because i sincerely believe in the networking possibilities of the internet. if it's good, (written) word will spread and your market expands vastly. maybe the percentage of people buying it will decrease, but there will be a mighty surge in the sheer number of listeners, which ofcourse never hurts for the touring aspect either. it's all good.

CONTENDER FOR ALBUM OF THE YEAR

2008-10-26T19:13:00.009+01:00

I think I just got my favourite album of 2008 delivered this week. It's called The Astral Projections Of Starlight and it's made by Simon James and Dan Hastie, under the name of Woolfy vs Projections. The two teamed up around the changing of the millenium and they've already made a few records together. I got introduced to the first one through Sixsixsixties. Try to look up the A-side, Oh missy is amazing poppy house (I couldn't find any better, but the description covers it quite well, when I come to think of it), made to please everybody. The second one was a teaser for the magnificent album, with The Return Of Starlight on the A-side, and this gem on the flip:

Simon James is originally hailing from London, but the boy moves to sunny LA in the early nineties & gets dragged into the club scene through nights as Flammable Liquid and Harvey's Sessions. A few years later he meets DJ Spun of Rong Music fame & subsequently makes an amazing 12" for them. In 2007 he signs for the 10th edition of Mindless Boogie, the ghent-based label, with an amazing edit of Wings' Band On The Run. Check their myspace, it's there.

Little over one year ago, he signs on the Munich-based Permanent Vacation label and makes the aforementioned album teaser & the recent long player. On the full-length album, mr. James and the Projections make you surf through spaced out disco, psychedelic soul and tropical beard rock. If you're up for it, you can still buy the album and the Mindless Boogie here if you're living in Belgium. It's cheap & very reliable!

As a lil' teaser, here's a pain killer for all your hangovers.

THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH

2008-10-23T01:34:00.003+02:00

music, but it's just good for a quick laugh. i found this at lolporn. lol indeed!

she should've been listening to starlight's psych-pop mix. my personal fave is wimple winch's lollipop minds. so lovely insane.

COMPILLATIONS #1

2008-10-21T13:54:00.006+02:00

While waiting for the next Oscillations party, here's something for your ear-ly pleasure.

For the first edition of Compillations I've made a small selection of blistering psyche-pop, mainly from the late sixties & early seventies, with a couple of contemporary tunes (that sound quite old anyways). No disco, no rave, no party, just ordinary & simple music for homelistening purposes on sunday afternoons.
Enjoy!

Tracklist:

Intro: Jersey boyz
Hippie shake
My house
A spaced odyssey
Suck it
Le temps est un bateau, la terre est un gateau
Christian gospel
Won't you shine?
Federal d*ck
Twice as nice
Fuzzy Mary
Moaning & groaning
Witchcraft
Out & over
Clap your hands, stamp your feet
O, muse
The great emptyness...

Download it here.

Size: 149mb
total time: 65 min.
compiled & unexpertedly mixed by cpt. starlight

xo

THAT'S THAT AND THEN THERE'S THIS

2008-10-18T17:20:00.006+02:00

hi!
stupid rain couldn't mess with us, baby, nuh-uh. we enjoyed Borat and JD's sets so so so so so much and apparently we weren't the only ones. i think this picture represents the vibe quite accurately:

i bet we'll see those cats again in the future. speaking of which, are you psyched for Zeigeist's live show or what?!

Nightmoves (of Kitsuné and general remixing fame) is our main guest disc jockey and we've taken the liberty to invite TomTomTom from the Los Ninos and Dolly parties, yezzur!

COLOR VERSUS PLAIN

2008-09-27T19:32:00.006+02:00

by now it's been all over the blogosphere (via grizzly bear's blog), but hey, maybe you're not an avid blogreader and just a friend of ours, so let me hook you up with the colorful bliss of flying lotus' parisian goldfish. i find it very arousing, mmm, fo sheezy.

and then just recently i watched another superduper music video which forms in many ways a nice contrast and i felt like sharing it. the muslims with their great track extinction. i can't believe this stuff is already almost a year old.

what's yr favourite music video of 2008 so far? is it that weird ass technologically groundbreaking radiohead clip? i think i expected too much from it because i wasn't overwhelmed although the novelty's pretty cool, but novelty always wears off, right? or maybe m83's typical dramatic teen spirit and slightly nostalgic kim and jessie? i love the beat it reference. (also see don't save us from the flames starring the ravishing dompe sisters (daughters of bauhaus drummer kevin haskins who've frequented the realm of my cravings more often than not)). or maybe the faux mystique of hercules & love affair's you belong? i was so disappointed in MIA's paper planes i'm not even gonna link it. seems more like a contractual obligation she had to fulfill than anything remotely inspiring, alas. anyways, i'm not counting on tons of response, obviously, but sure... why not throw in a comment with a recommendation or two? u has the powerz!

xo

WE'RE ON P4K

2008-09-26T15:54:00.002+02:00

check out this little thing over at pitchfork. it's still one of the most read music websites and it was just funny to see our name pop up in the optimo tidbit, which is about their new mix. check it.

MORE TWITCH

2008-09-25T11:47:00.003+02:00

For all you nerds: a guide through Twitch' awesome record collection

OPTIMO LOVES YOUR EARS

2008-09-25T02:17:00.007+02:00

‘Who that JD Twitch dude may be?’, I hear all you nitwits think. ‘What’s Optimo?’. ‘And isn’t Glasgow some kind of equivalent of a dull industrial belgian city?’ Yeah, maybe you’re right about the dull city, although I highly doubt it, since there’s very much going on, especially on the musical level (the city even won the most ridiculous competition, ever!):

Glasgow, the city that brought us Franz Ferdinand, Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai, Primal Scream, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Shitdisco, David Byrne, Wet Wet Wet, Aztec Camera, Teenage Fanclub, Arab Strap, Biffy Clyro, Glasvegas, El Presidente, Paulo Nutini, Stapleton, The Fratellis, Texas, Eddi Reader, Simple Minds, Hue & Cry, The Retrosexuals, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Del Amitri, Snow Patrol, Jimmy Somerville, The Supernaturals, The Trash Can Sinatras, Lloyd Cole, Amy MacDonald, Travis, Midge Ure, Darius Danesh, Gun, Uncle John & Whitelock, David Sneddon, The Twilight Sad, Strawberry Switchblade, Uresei Yatsura, The 1990s, Orange Juice, Lulu, AC Acoustics and many others, has been named the world centre of music by UN cultural organisation, Unesco.

Research carried out by the organisation has discovered that an average of 127 musical events take place in the city each week. The city's music industry employs 2,922 people and is worth £74.6 million. It also has a venue called King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, which is most likely what swung it.

Rad! Nonetheless, that’s something that can’t be said from Charleroi, or any other Belgian city (although some Gantois like to think so). Anyways.

What’s Optimo (Espacio)?

In november 1997, a certain JG Wilkes and a certain JD Twitch start a clubnight in Glasgow, and they name it after one of the most amazing dance tracks in musical history (the ‘Espacio’ part in the name apparently comes from a sketch in The Fast Show). The club got founded as a reaction to the belly button orientated techno scene that reigned the town at the time (hey brussels!), and went by the principle of a very diverse, open minded, musical policy, as long as things stay adventurous and interesting. After some initial struggling, the club suddenly started to BOOM big time at the end of the nineties, and the Optimo star hasn’t stopped rising ever since. Livebands, vinyl, samplers, laptops, everything (“from moldy old funk tracks to modern indie to hardcore acid to ragga dancehall”, thank you Pitchfork) gets thrown in the mix for a better outcome. You should make sure to check out optimodotcodotuk, as it has tons of interesting things for your reading & listening pleasure (after all, Optimo loves your ears!).

Twitch & Wilkes’ discography starts to look quite impressive, with excellent mix-cd’s on Tigersushi (including a blistering second disc), Eskimo (the excellent Psyche Out mix that alternates between acid house, sleazy funk & psychedelic rock... Oh hey, check the third song, it’s awesome!) and Endless Flight (the very experimental Walkabout mix).

Who’s JD Twitch?

JD Twitch (also known as Keith McIvor) is one half of the Optimo deejays, as you should’ve read by now. Back in thee days, Twitch started out as a house and techno deejay, but quite fast he figured out that he wanted to do more, musically, than what was going on everywhere else. That’s when he founded Optimo, asking Wilkes to join him for the ride. After some years, our dearest JD started using a sampler called Roland. Later on he changed Roland for a laptop. Lots of people do think this is cheating, and against the essence of deejaying, but hey: when sir Bawb Dylan started playing the electric guitar, people also called him a cheater. It’s not that I want to compare our guest with Bob, but using laptops is more than okay as long as the outcome is superior to what’s considered normal mixing. And after all: he’s doing everything live, it’s not about pressing the play button with ready-to-use edits. Besides his more than full-time Optimo job, Twitch also made numerous (fantastic) remixes and produces under the name of Betty Botox. We’ve asked Twitch to come over to Brussels, because we cannot recall all the good times we’ve had while dancing, because of him. Every single time, we had an amazing time. You can cheer, you can sweat, you can dance, you can singalong, anything. I guarantee you’ll lose your head, and party without dignity & inhibition!

Especially for you, here’s the Optimo Essential mix from a while back, because it represents quite well the kind of deejay-set you can expect for next friday (allthough this mix is a wee bit easier than an Optimo deejay set). Enjoy!

Tracklist:

Jesse Jackson: "Intro"
The Jellies: "Jive Baby on a Saturday Night" (Marathon)
Prinzhorn Dance School: "You Are the Space Invader" (DFA)
The Bar Kays: "Holy Ghost" (Stax)
The Staple Singers: "Slippery People" (Epic)
Chic: "Good Times" (Atlantic Records)
Troublefunk: "Drop the Bomb" (Sugarhill Records)
Prince: "Sign 'O' the Times" (WEA/Paisley Park)
LCD Soundsytem: "45.33 part 1" (DFA)
Altz: "Max Motion" (Zi-Koo)
UnknownmiX: "The Siren (Lo Soul's Hot Edit)" (Playhouse)
Dondolo: "Dragon (Shit Robot Firebreathing Remix)" (Tiny Sticks Records)
The Gossip: "Standing In The Way of Control (Playgroup Dub)" (Back Yard)
Depeche Mode: "The Sinner in Me (Ricardo Villalobos Conclace Remix)" (Mute)
Ricardo Villalobos: "Fizheuer Zieheuer" (Playhouse)
Hansepferd: "BismarkE" (Nobistor)
Saint Ibot: "White Night" (Tendenzen Freier Entfaltung)
Marc Houle: "Bay of Figs" (M-nus)
Paul Johnson: "Rubber Band" (Dust Traxx)
Sparks: "Beat the Clock" (12 Inch Stars)
Kenlou: "Sensational Beats" (MAW)
Bumblebee Unlimited: "Lady Bug" (Red Greg/Unidisc)
Lindstrom: "The Contemporary Fix" (Feedelity)
Hot Chip: "No Fit State" (DFA/EMI)
The Rapture: "Get Myself Into It" (Vertigo)
X Vectors: "Your Love"
Love Is All: "Busy Doing Nothing (An Optimo (Espacio) Remix)" (Parlophone)
Divine: "Shake It Up" (Break Records)
Bobby O: "She Has a Way (Glimmers Edit)" (O Records)
Yello: "Bostich (Reese Uptempo Mix)" (Mercury)
Mala: "Left Leg Out" (DMZ)
Neu!: "Hallogallo (Mary Hill Rework)" (Brain)
Grauzone: "Eisbar" (Welt-Rekord)
Crass: "Bloody Revolutions" (Crass Records)
The Celestial Choir: "Stand on the Word" (Larry)

NEW ITALIANS DO IT BETTER?

2008-09-23T01:43:00.006+02:00

enough reverb, some nostalgia, mid-tempo, a bit ethereal and semi-detached. check out nite jewel. halfway ariel pink and the italians do it better aesthetic. i think i read somewhere she's gonna release something on IDIB and sixsixsixties also mentioned this, but i haven't seen an official confirmation yet. she's been playing live loads with those cats though. when i first heard her on gvsb, it didn't really sink in, but after giving it a closer listen this woman's creations totally charmed and convinced me. especially What Did He Say and Weak 4 Me are absolutely addictive and earned On Repeat status.

fan death (the band, not the urban legend), i'm not so fond of. six and starlight are really into it, but i find them too kitschy (those violins!). when i listen to it i can just hear them thinking "whoa what we're doing is like so IT right now! this is so cool!". why do people sometimes forget it just needs to be good also? anyway, with an erol remix flexing their promotional muscle and the IDIB sound they got going on, they're bound to get bigger and i wish them all the best of luck. for seriously! they're not my thing, but i felt like mentioning them because my brothers are totally falling for that shit.

kitsuné recently planned a single for we have band. their name is so lolcats. it is my very esteemed opinion they made a horrific choice. why, in sweet buttfucking jesus' name, would you release the splattered poo when you could've gone for the good, solid shit? they chose the utterly trivial and blogpolluting Hear It In The Cans over the splendid and menacing We Came Out? what's wrong with gildas and or masaya? anyway, not trying to talk shit here (boosh!), because kitsuné did some great stuff in the past, but recent choices have seemed kind of off to me. oh well, ups and downs i guess, ups and downs.

don't forget jd twitch and borat in like ten days, w00t w00t!

FUCKING FINALLY: ANOTHER PARTY

2008-09-03T14:37:00.006+02:00

hey people of brussels and beyond!

no band tonight, but they are a-comin' in the next few editions. we did want to throw a little get-together though. just a little w00t w00t. and a little whamp whamp, maybe. a sort of "back to school" for some, a sort of "i'm not in school anymore, but who cares i just wanna party YAAAAARRRRRRR!!" for others. it's all good, it's all good. you are all very welcome at ric's art boat on friday the 3rd of october for good times. ric's art boat is conveniently located at the canal, a maximum 5 minute walk from the BXL North train station. the entrance fee is a very acceptable 6 euro and the liquor will be extremely affordable. unlike most, we are not sharks... we are DEVO! uh, right, whatever and anyway, who are your servants of ceremony this time around, you ask? read on, reader... read on! w00t w00t!

our main guest is our scottish homeboy jd twitch (optimo espacio). if you know the man, i need not convince you. you will be there. for those of you who have never heard of jd twitch (or optimo with his partner jg wilkes for that matter), he is quite frankly the best dj of our continent. not best known, just the best. okay, that's obligatory promo talk, but in all sincerity, he is responsible for some of the best party and dancing times we've personally experienced. he has tons of his own edits (LOVE the stranglers' golden brown one!) he uses live thanks to his trusted laptop resting between the turntables. other than the edits (LOOOOVE ben e king's stand by me one!!) he will spin records you might've heard at some point and records you've never heard and will never hear again, but either way... you will be dancing. that's a promise.

our second guest behind the decks be reprazentin' da homeland, give it up for our main man borat (eskimo), y'all! a walking music encyclopedia (years of music mania service, thanks very much) and vinyl junkie he will take us from soulful house over the balearic region and into the cosmos.

working around the guests, your soon-to-be favourite resident disc jockeys sixsixsixties & the michael (oscillations) of your sooner-to-be favourite soirée. the former smooth, the latter spazz. in other words you will be smoothly spazzing out and that's about the best thing you can do on a friday night. whamp whamp!

KEEP ON KEEPING ON

2008-08-10T18:38:00.009+02:00

hello one-dimensionals!

we have a band for both november and december, but locations have yet to be confirmed. until then we'd like to keep it to ourselves, if that's okay with you. pulling something off around the end of september or early october is, alas, proving to be a more difficult task. but hey, as soon as we know you'll know.

for the time being i'm going to leave you with some recommendations i find worth mentioning.

primo, i got earnestly carried away with the two latest grizzly bear songs. 'while you wait for the others' and 'two weeks'.

two weeks:

looking forward to their sophomore album. it seems to turn out a bit poppier than 2006's 'yellow house' and that's fine. i don't necessarily agree with the beach boys influence, i think we could rather speak of a slight motown injection. doesn't matter, i'm sure it'll be grand.

at the electronic and trashy level i'm still enjoying pictureplane a whole lot. and i can't understand a sunny day in glasgow isn't more popular. it's like a modern shoegaze version of new order. and in the same vein, fight bite is certainly worth lending your ears. 'swissex lover' is my current fave. never mind they sound very similar to beach house and that the drumcomputer's pattern comes right out of yo la tengo's saturday, they should've just dropped it. it's sort of obsolete anyway. it reminds me, i recently saw twin peaks again and i could not contain my watery eyes.

isn't this heartcrushing?

the stale machinery grants it a human quality that resonates deep within my being and brings me to tears. if you've never heard of or seen twin peaks, it's one of the best series of the 90's and by extension of all time. written and directed by david lynch, this is some of his most accessible work, but of no lesser value because of it. the second season is maybe not as brilliant as the first, but still and unlike the -by the producing organ's request- clarifying movie 'fire walk with me' certainly of a remarkable quality.

i'm drifting off here. returning to brooklyn, western culture's mecca, and remaining in the ethereal, i'd like to present chairlift to you. formerly just an okay band, 'evident utensil' is good, but not that good, their latest unleashing is from a whole other league.

a G-rated version of caligula, hah:

the singer, caroline polacheck, apparently directed. well, kudos to you, ma'am.

i'll finish with two bands whose names are just sooooooooo tomorrow.

titus andronicus is besides a wonderful and early shakespeare play (a brilliant adaptation into film was made in 1999 with anthony hopkins as titus, portraying him as a perfectly lovable lunatic) the name of a band whom loathe to be compared to bright eyes. but how can we not?! it factually bears a resemblance. i like them better than bright eyes, though.

and the pains of being pure at heart. who are very -watch out, comparison coming!- ride. and lots of other british shoegaze pop from the late 80's or early 90's. anyway, don't you just love that name? it's so twee.

luv luv
xo xo

post scriptum: too bad starlight doesn't like esau mwamwaya!

THERE ARE NO PHOTOGRAPHS

2008-06-01T21:16:00.004+02:00

because everyone was too busy having fun.

the good thing is that we're not even joking or not trying to be pretentious. we sincerely love the fact that people wanted to listen and dance rather than strike a pose aka taking pictures for myspace or facebook purposes. we're planning the next couple of oscillations, fueled on sheer enthusiasm, as i write this little blawg, dawg.

in that respect, i will not rest before we get travis to play oscillations at one of the next editions. flashion and slang war are my current favourites, and brand new track trance doll will have joined them by tomorrow, i'm sure. do yourself a favour and check him out.

anyway, mount eerie was great (albeit a bit too much of talking going on during the latter half of his set, naughty party people). no kids were great. rory was great. you were great. what else needs to be said? see you at the next one. xo

BXL vs LDN

2008-05-14T01:02:00.004+02:00

Did I tell you how chuffed we are to have Rory Phillips gracing the decks for Oscillations #1? Over the years we've spent ridiculous amounts worth of Eurostar tickets to witness the hipfest that was T.R.A.S.H. Last year, the monday evening London clubnight came to an end and head honcho Erol Alkan left for a neverending tour of glitsy kiddy dancefloors (and then some). Out of the (tr)ashes came DURRR: same night, same location, slightly more electronic. Rightfully so, Phillips took the forefront and allong with a vast variety of live bands (Late Of The Pier! These New Puritans! Free Blood! Dan Deacon! Aaaaargh!!) helped to establish DURRR as the best ticket in town. Rory's dj sets are still all over the place and the example (from a while ago, sowwy!) you'll find below will prove my point. Oscillations is happy to welcome the Don Corleone of London nightlife this saturday at Recyclart!

Rory Phillips Live at Durrr 03.12.07

Hot Chip - Shake A Fist’
Dead Soul Brothers - Come On Now
Holy Fuck - Royal Gregory
YACHT - Summer Song’
The Teenagers - Starlett Johannson (Rory Phillips Dub)
LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous’ (Soulwax Nite Version)
Diplo - Work Is Never Over
Princess Superstar - Licky (Herve Goes Low Mix)
CSS - Let’s Make Love and Listen To Death From Above
Late Of The Pier - Bathroom Gurgle (Tronik Youth Mix)
MIA - World Town
Liars - Clear Island
Bikini Kill - Rebel Girl

Meanwhile, there's a new Phil Elvrum interview posted over at Pitchfork. It is absolutely massive so you'd better start reading it now so you're finished by the time Phil kicks off the celebrations in his new Mt. Eerie coat on Saturday!

IF I WERE A MILLIONAIRE FOR ONE DAY...

2008-05-12T22:23:00.021+02:00

First thing I’d do in the morning: getting a haircut by Fred (I mean: what's the use of being a millionaire if you look shit?), the best you can get in Brussels. His "salon" – the word saloon makes me think about cowboys a little too much – Cut Me is located in Rue des Riches Claires (but the man is moving to Rue Léon Lepage at the end of this month ladies & gentlemen!). You won’t find much mirrors in his interior – just one, and you only get to see yourself in it when the job’s done – and there isn’t too much fancy, colourful furniture. Instead you get to watch a couple of old televisions or you can play Pong on a prehistorical console while sitting in a very comfortable but old black and white hairdressers’ chair. Very often, the place turns into a small gallery, exposing drawings or paintings by people Fred likes, and occasionally he organises a small-scale party in his salon. The soundtrack to your haircut timemachines you (yeah, that’s a verb!) straight into New York anno 1981 since Fred’s quite possibly the biggest ESG-lover I know. If you ask very gently, he might sing along! Contact: 02/5035951

Just across the street you’ll find Foxhole Two, the second vintage shop by Fab & Fab (yeah, brothers in arms). They’re selling second hand clothes, shoes and accessories (sunglasses! Bags! Scarfs! Etcetera!) from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, but they also have old dead stocks, as new as they were back in the days. You’re looking for those perfect boots? That leather jacket that should make you look like Michael Jackson when Thriller hit MTV? Old Sneakers (the real deal, not some overdone expensive reissue)? They’ve got everything and they’ve got it cheap (8 euro for a blouse is hardly expensive, is it? And 40 euro for a brand new pair of vintage Italian shoes isn’t expensive neither…), so get your asses over there boys’n’girls! Foxhole One is located in Rue Renard, next to Vossenplein /Place du Jeu de Balle, so it’s a perfect combo for your free mornings/weekends!
Foxhole One: Vossenstraat 6, Rue Renard
Foxhole Two: Rijke Klarenstraat 4, Rue des Riches Claires

All that walking makes you want to relax in your sofa while sipping a beer, reading an interesting book & listening to some very fine music? Then you should drop by Le Bonheur first. You won’t find any beer here, but you will find awesome books and tons of great cd’s and vinyl. Thierry, the owner of the shop, is a man on a mission (wiping out all that’s dull and commercial (mind the “and” before you start whining about how great Kylie is, will you?)), and he will gently guide you through the maze of obscure pop music, Belgian undercurrent music and blistering noise, whilst pointing you the most beautiful photo and art books you might find in this small country. There’s also a small amount of amazing t-shirts & DIY-dolls. Whenever you can, you should try to make it to an exposition or one of the In-Store concerts.
Le Bonheur, Epicerie Audiovisuelle: Rue Antoine Dansaert 196

Sitting in the sofa while reading books is nice, but hey, when the night time (the right time !) comes around, you might want to dance to pounding electronic music or to some dancey warehousehouse (yeah, that’s a new genre that’ll be around here in no time!) If there’s no good party in town – Oscillations isn’t organised frequently enough yet, we know – you should go and get your own discs at Doctor Vinyl. The shop is located on Place St. Gery and they’ve got a wide assortment of the best dance stuff around, from cosmic disco over pounding acid to übersexy house. Don’t hesitate to share your preferences with the keepers, because they’ll stun you with some awesome recommendations! And yes, it’s vinyl only, but hey, I’ve read in the newspaper that those things are getting back in vogue!
Doctor Vinyl: Place St-Gery

Sure thing is: next morning you’re waking up next to your girlfriend, who’s very frustrated she didn’t get the attention she’d wanted due to abundance of alcoholic liquids on that marvellous soirée you went to. Fortunately, there’s that one address you can go to if you want to make her melt again (and we wouldn’t be men, if there wasn’t a good outcome for us too): Underwear. You’ll find it in the very centre of downtown Brussels, halfway Rue Antoine Dansaert, and once you drop by, you won’t be able to stop doing so. You’ll notice la patronne is leading her skilled and competent team through the wild woods of sophisticated and aesthetic quality underwear, with an overwhelming atmosphere of pure sexiness all over the place. Petticoats, amazing swimwear, bras (you should try a Fifi Chachnil) and the most turn-on panties ever, you’ll find something that suits you just fine (oh yeah, there’s stuff for Men too!). And, dear friends, you should also be aware of the fact that every single piece of underwear in the shop’s been made in fair-trade circumstances!
Underwear: Rue Antoine Dansaert 47

This is a shortlist of the shops that support us, and you should do the same with them 'cause they rock.

OSCILLATIONS <3 TOMLAB

2008-05-02T21:03:00.015+02:00

1997 will always be the year Biggie Smalls (talking about contradictions #1) pulled a Tupac Shakur. It was also the year Elton John granted us with thé musical highlight of the 20th century during some funeral. What fewer people on our beloved continent know, is that at the end of the year, one Tom Steinle – yes sir, German! – founded a small label called Tomlab, based in Cologne, with bands that compromise rather underground electronic music with the finest pop (yeah, EVEN with R’n’B kiddo!).

The first group releasing an album (a tribute to Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock), was Tom Steinle’s very own band Visor, generating a small worldwide (talking about contradictions #2) buzz. Of course, planet world wasn’t (& still isn’t) ready for massive success, but Tomlab got out of the darkest streamlets of the undercurrent with awesome releases by bands such as Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, Xiu Xiu, Patrick Wolf & The Books, who manage to combine conversation samples with classical music & Americana.

Les Georges Leningrad - Soopa doopa

For a long time, the label focuses merely on albums, but 2004 sees the kick-off of one of the coolest initiatives in musical history (closely following the already legendary Oscillations parties), the Tomlab Alphabet series: a series of 7” that follows the alphabet, by artists like Islands, Deerhoof, Les Georges Leningrad and P:ano (our very own guests on the 17th of may as No Kids). Without any doubt, one of the best releases in the series was the J-disc by Hank, featuring a very slick lo-fi cover of Womack & Womack’s Teardrops, one of our fave tracks of all time… Some of the bands featured in the series went down on Tom Steinle (either this or they’re very talented) and got to release a full-album, bestowing the world with some very fine albums such as Young Adults Against Suicide by crazy white-ass niggas (talking about contradiction #3) Ninja High School or Paper Television by The Blow (their Parentheses has been remixed by our man Rory Phillips, so yes, it is indeed a very small world, little boys and girls).

Hank - Teardrops

No Kids 2008 “Come into my house” and Thee Oh Sees’ album are the most recent highlights for the Germans until now, but the future looks very very bright with signings of Simon Bookish (he also did an Alphabet 7” and Portland based band Parenthetical Girls. All you dedicated followers of Music should try to get a hold of Puppy Love, a compilation that came out on Tomlab for the label’s tenth birthday as it’s a very nice synopses of a decade of magical music madness !!!

WE'RE GONNA DO IT TONIGHT, BABE

2008-04-19T17:45:00.013+02:00

you're gonna lose your virginity at some point anyway, youngster, so why not the night of oscillations #1?

for which you and all other organisms on our planet (fuck aliens) are cordially invited to the recyclart on saturday the 17th of may in brussels for guaranteed good times, yay! you're welcome from 22h on and the first performance starts at 23h sharp. which demigods will grace us with their presence, you ask?

well, for starters we've got Mt Eerie (k records, US) who made the album of the year (The Glow Pt 2 as The Microphones) in 2001 according to Pitchfork, literally disappeared into the (norwegian) woods after that and came back as Mt Eerie. now at Oscillations for your listening pleasure. his masterpiece of which we spoke has just been reissued, actually. and rightfully so.

Mount Eerie as The Microphones - The Glow Pt. 2

after the eerie man, No Kids (tomlab, CAN) will give us a taste of their smooth indie r&b. justin timberlake for real people and with better songwriting! mmm, that's nice.

No Kids - Bluster In The Air

from soulful hip-shaking we'll get to some hardcore body movement with mister Rory Phillips (durrr - trash club rip - our disco, UK). i'd like to call him the indie kid (spins Liars and Les Georges Leningrad in his sets and makes it work) amongst the hipster deejays such as the ed banger crew, kitsuné cool cats, 2ManyDJs, Trevor Jackson and his mate Erol Alkan with whom he redefined the london nightlife in the now defunct Trash club and currently in the headline slot of its successful successor Durrr. has been deejaying all over the world (and playing live with Whitey) and remixing for The Gossip, Robyn, The Teenagers, Franz Ferdinand, The Blow, Chromeo and many more. you can check some of those remixes and two of his dj sets out at his myspace.

Sixsixsixties and myself will spin some tunes after Rory for the drunkies and druggies. which is awesome.

the drawing for the flyer comes from the talented hands of the lovely miss astrid yskout, whose unique style is just begging to be destined for the ages.

BLACK LIPS

2008-04-16T03:17:00.003+02:00

nice look on yr face, dudes.

DAVID BYRNE APPROVES

2008-04-10T03:24:00.011+02:00

he does! check it.

i was, and still am, a fan of their previous and critically acclaimed band P:ano. which hasn't been officially disbanded, but with the departure of co-founding member larissa loyva and the new moniker, it's quite clear. although their spielerei as No Kids isn't vastly different from their former doings, and even if you're familiar with P:ano's endless eclecticism and abundant theatrics, there might be some jaw-dropping and mind-blowing things going on when you give the trio's debut Come Into My House (via Tomlab february 2008) a first listen. it sounds like JT's shy nephew has finally stepped up to the plate and tries to give his cousin a run for his money.

opening piece Great Escape could be a P:ano song (it would certainly find a spot in the 24 song extravaganza and widely overlooked 2005 album Brigadoon) as well as a few other songs on the album, but there's a certain sense of smoothness present throughout the record that wasn't there before. in particular The Beaches All Closed and Bluster In The Air are suspiciously smooth, but nick told me he was on a steady diet of Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson when writing this album so it's not all that surprising after all. unlike its instigators, this indie variety of r&b comes not only with form or style, but also content. the structure of the songs rivals with the ingenuity of the Stax or Motown pop gems and as such we are honoured to have them as our guests. it's their first and only belgian date. you're gonna regret it if you weren't there. this is Last Supper level of iwasthereness, people!

for lovers of lykke li and justin timberlake.

VIDEO TEST

2008-04-07T23:45:00.002+02:00

PAST GUESTS

2008-04-01T18:00:00.015+02:00

NIGHTMOVES
ZEIGEIST
JD TWITCHBORATRORY PHILLIPSNO KIDSMOUNT EERIE

Inaugural speech:

so you wanna dance? you wanna have a good time? you're trying to remember to always have a good time, huh, little panda bear? we feel you.

hi!

we put together little get togethers for our friends and future friends. this includes you. we hope you love music as much as we do, and accept our invitation to come and wallow in our graceful taste which we will display in our lovely hometown of brussels, henceforth known as the capital of taste. it's alright, ma (we're only kidding).

we have a healthy diy spirit floating around and we will try to reflect that attitude throughout our happenings. this means we're trying to keep it cheap (barely breakin' even was a name we seriously considered for our soirées) and will rarely or never work with big EVOL corporations (the likes of livenation and such), but ofcourse nothing in life is for free. location, decoration. audio system, artist. they all require dinero. you know this, we know this. whatever. entrance fees will probably range from 5 to 12 euro, depending on the respective popularity of the bands and disc jockeys. the kind of bands playing will differ completely although a returning factor will be their origin, the undercurrent of the cultural ocean.

we're full of high hopes and perfect plans. we have no idea how often shit's going down, bro, but it's our time and it's up to all of us to make something of it.

we'll see what happens.