Oscillations - Is Our Children Dancing?

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.

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.

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 Klaxons, 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

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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

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.

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

‘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)

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!

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!

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

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!

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.

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 !!!

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.

nice look on yr face, dudes.

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.