JUNE ’12 MIX.
It’s the June mixtape. Below are the tracks that have got me through the past month. It even features a small bit of a double feature working ‘Wimbledon 1980’ by Indian Wells and the Jon Hopkins piano version of ‘Modern Driveway’ originally by Luke Abbott.
This was easily the most fun mix to make, especially working with the opening rework. Once again, it features some absolutely killer tracks, from the amazing indie goodness of I, A Man, the almost tribal epicness of Jonathan Boulet to the straight out techno fantasticness of the latest track from The Presets.
MAAMF JUNE ’12 MIXTAPE (Right click/save as to download)
TRACKLISTING
Indian Wells vs. Luke Abbott/Jon Hopkins – Modern Driving to Wimbledon 1980
I, A Man – The Scenic Route (Right click/save as to download)
Bobby Womack – Stupid Interlude (Ft. Gil Scott-Heron)
Bobby Womack – Stupid
Grey and Patrice – So Beautiful (Right click/save as to download)
Collarbones – Missing
The Presets – Youth In Trouble
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – American Dream, Pt II
Snakadaktal – Dance Bear
Van She – Jamaica
Junior Boys – Every Little Step (Flume Remix)
Jonathan Boulet – Dread Is This Place
Jeremy Neale – Darlin’ (Right click/save as to download)
Saskwatch – Your Love
Palms – Love
Cat Power – Ruin (Right click/save as to download)
The Temper Trap – Trembling Hands (Chet Faker Remix)
Love Migrate – Plagued Are All My Thoughts
…
Miks
THE TEMPER TRAP REMIXES.
Ok, so I actually really loved the first Temper Trap album, although quite a few out there had different ideas. Sure they were once a Melbourne local indie band that had a killer live reputation and a few tracks out there on the blogs. And now they’re perhaps one of the biggest Australian exports this country has seen. But meh, it all be Tall Poppy Syndrome to me. Some people gonna hate.
All that said however, I’m not that fussed on their new album. Granted, I’ve only heard a handful of tracks off it, but yeah, overall it doesn’t do it for me. Latest single ‘Trembling Hands’ is a pretty decent track though.
There’s a few remixes popping up of the track too which is good to see given that the track is in 6/8 which suggests it may be harder to make a four to the floor banger. But, Strange Talk have done that.
The Strange Talk remix keeps the dark quite sad feel of the original and puts this slow groove underneath. I almost think it could be slowed down even more, but it still kills.
Another remix getting a fair bit of attention is from Chet Faker. I loved this when I first heard it…then I went off it a bit. Now, it’s slowly starting to grow on me again. It keeps that 6/8 groove but lowers it all, giving Dougie’s voice this eery slightly robotic sound. The big psych out thing going on at the end takes the track somewhere else. Works a heap.
…
Miks
MAY ’12 MIX
Man, two mixes in as many days. This here be the MAY mixtape, full of the tracks that have helped me survive what has been a really full on month.
In true maamf form, it’s a whole heap of genres in there from the killer techno of Sydney gents CSMNT61 to the Australiana sing-a-long feel of The Starry Field. These mixes are actually a heap of fun to make – might see if I can up the amount.
TRACKLISTING:
Allday X C1 – Run A Mile
Goldroom – Fifteen (ft Chela)
Andras Fox – Touchy (instrumental)
Catcall – Shoulda Beeen
The Temper Trap – Need Your Love (RAC Mix)
DiIV – Doused
Joe McKee – A Double Life
Giraffage – Holy Mountain
CSMNT61 – Keep Holding On
Catcall – The World Is Ours (Lancelot Remix)
Passion Pit – Take A Walk (Peking Duk Remix)
The Trouble With Templeton – Someday Soon
Bored Nothing – Only Old
The Starry Field – If All Your Troubles Were A Sea
…
Miks
The 10 Best Tracks of 2009
I’m beginning to sound like a broken record I know, but this list was probably the most difficult thing I’ve had to compile, even outside of the blog.
I think the main contributing factor behind this is that the blog isn’t specialised, there’s just too much good stuff out there to choose from. We don’t just post some electro/dance kinda stuff. We don’t just put a focus on indie rock. We post both of those…and about 50 other styles too (50 might be a slight tiny exageration…). As our About page says, “we’ll like just about anything”…and whilst this may seem to be a bit of a hinderence when it comes to compiling best of lists, I think it’s what makes maamf just that little bit different…different to the 50 gazillion other music blogs out there.
Anyway, enough of blowing the maamf trumpet and onto the 10 best tracks of 2009.
There’s a good mix here. Some electro, some indie pop, some singer songwriter stuff, hell…even some hip hop. I’ve even numbered them too…big call and was difficult…so please don’t take too much notice of the order the tracks are in!!
10. Goodnight Owl – Maps & Compasses
09. Van She – (Don’t Fear) The Reaper
07. The Golden Filter – Solid Gold
06. Hermitude – Your Call (feat. Urthboy & Elana Stone)
Comment away people! Be interested to know what you think of my list, and what made yours!!
The 10 Best Remixes of 2009
ok. So I know I said that these things are hard (For those new readers, I wrote last week that compiling my albums list was pretty freakin difficult), but man. I never thought that there would be so many remixes to dwindle down. It’s been a bloody good year for remixes I reckon. Hype bands like Phoenix, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Miike Snow have had the shit remixed out of them (I counted 34 remixes in my iTunes for Phoenix alone and I’m sure that’s only about half of them available out there). There has also been a few new dudes/dudettes to come on the scene who have produced some great remixes (Alan Wilkis is an awesome example of this).
Anyway, here it is though. (No order…too hard to do that too!)
The MAAMF Top 10 Remixes of 2009
Miike Snow – Animal (Mark Ronson Remix)
The Scare – Could Be Bad (G.L.O.V.E.S. 12″ Megamix)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (Passion Pit Remix)
Phoenix – Lisztomania (Yuksek Remix)
Little Boots – New In Town (Fred Falke Remix)
Ladyhawke – Paris is Burning (Alex Metric Remix)
Miami Horror – Sometimes (G.L.O.V.E.S. Remix)
The Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition (Alan Wilkis Remix)
Lost Valentinos – Thief (Shinichi Osawa Remix)
Van She – Talkin’ (Van She Tech Remix)
What do you think? Good list? I think it covers a bit. I originally had close to 40 remixes that were all in serious contention…so I’m sure I’ve left something out etc. A few standouts for me were the Alan Wilkis remix of TTT. Changed the song completely, and it worked bloody well. He had a few remixes in contention actually – check his remixes out on Hype Machine. Another standout of the year would definitely be G.L.O.V.E.S. He’s put forward some awesome remixes this year – so good, I had to include 2 in my list! There were other obvious inlusions like Fred Falke (it wouldn’t be a MAAMF best of list without some of the Falkemeister) and his French pal Yuksek. All of them were standouts though…you know…that’s what a best of list is kinda all about and shit.
Anyway, comment away.
The 10 Best Albums of 2009
I had a hell of a lot of trouble getting this list together. Relistening to albums, figuring out which ones to cull from my list. I rediscovered some great great discs though. And my top 10 will be just below…for you!
But first off, I feel as though there are a few albums I should give a small shout out to. Although these discs didn’t make my top 10 list, they did make my shortlist (a list that ended up being not very short at all)…and man it was difficult trying to cull that down.
So, in no particular order, the honourable mentions list is:
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
Passion Pit – Manners
Bertie Blackman – Secrets and Lies
The Little Stevies – Love Your Band
Bluejuice – Head of The Hawk
Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
Tiga – Ciao
Without further ado though, here it is. The MAAMF Top 10 Albums of 2009:
10. Lisa Mitchell – Wonder
I think people in general were a little skeptical about Lisa. Her first two EP’s were nice and soft and had that folkpop kinda sound, but people were a little “well there’s a lot of folk-pop singers out there…and this one came from Australian Idol, so I think we’ll say no”. I think Lisa proved them wrong when she released Wonder. It’s a great collection of songs. You can check out a full review of the album here as well as one of the standout’s from the album, So Jealous, just below.
9. Jet – Shaka Rock
I think a few were pleasantly surprised when they heard this, the third record from Melbourne rockers Jet. I read somewhere that whilst it’s not an amazing album, it is still a great solid rock ‘n’ roll album. Call it a come back record or whatever you like. It’s still good. And so is the second official single from the album Hearts On Fire.
8. Yves Klein Blue – Ragged & Ecstatic
These boys, in my opinion, put forward a great album that seemed to go largely unnoticed, especially in terms of reviews and hype etc. They’ve put together a great album, with nice piano lines and a really good mix of styles. You can tell there’s a whole heap of influences in their music and their sound isn’t strictly dictated by current radio, or even current western music. The track Polka is an obvious example of this for sure. Check out the full review here as well as the first single from the album, Getting Wise.
Yves Klein Blue – Getting Wise
7. Miike Snow – Miike Snow
I’ve just done a search for them on the blog to see what i’ve written previously…and turns out they haven’t been mentioned. At all. Easily one of the most hyped albums of the year (and thankfully one that lives up to the hype), it is such a great collection of well crafted and well written pop songs. It would seem the Sweedes have this in the bag! Check out one of my faves from the album, Cult Logic, just below.
6. The Bloody Beetroots – Romborama
I remember speaking to a friend and we had our usual conversation about what we’re listening to. I raved on and on about these dudes. This album hits hard. And kinda doesn’t give up. Same thing with Miike Snow though, I haven’t mentioned the guys before on the blog. Am a little perplexed by that because this kicks and pushes and all that. I think the reason I like it so much is that you can tell the guys are from Italy. There’s something about the instrumentation, the melodies, the chords, the playfullness that reminds me of Italian lessons in Primary School. Fave off the album would have to be the lesser known Warp 7.7 (Warp 1.0 got played a hell of a lot as it was one of the singles taken from the album.
The Bloody Beetroots – Warp 7.7
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!
When I first heard Zero, the lead single from It’s Blitz, I loved it. However, as I wrote for my first ever album review for this blog way back in April, “I’d grown accustomed to Zero…it’s thumping sound and Karen O’s distinct vocals made it a really cool, catchy song. But after being played all over the shop…it was starting to sound a little less amazing. However, after hearing it in the context of the full album, it makes sense to me again. That seems to be one of the great things about this album. It flows really well and has enough of a mixture of sounds to not make it sound repetitive or boring.” And i’d have to agree. I now love Zero. Great song. And it’s a great album too.
4. Jack Penate – Everything Is New
I don’t know how many people would put this in their top 10. I get the impression young Jack flew under the radar for a few this year, which is a pity, because Everything Is New, is just that. It’s all a bit new. His first Album, Matinee was firmly rooted in the Britpop genre. This album sounded completely different. The man reinvented himself almost…and a bloody good job of it he did! Although it comes in at just over 30 mins, it’s the move to a more soulful sound that gets me. One of the best off the album would have to be So Near…and you can check that out just below.
3. Jonathan Boulet – Jonathan Boulet
I only bought this a few weeks ago and only reviewed it just over a week ago…but man. When an album leaves you a little taken aback you know it’s a good one. Mr Boulet does this. And pretty fucking well too! The dude possesses some great song writing skills. I don’t really know what he reminds me of. It’s a little all over the place, but I think that’s what’s good about the album. There are obvious standouts like A Community Service Announcement and 321 Ready or Not. But then there’s also every single other track. They all have this great ease about them all. There’s just something about an artist that seems to not really care about what people will think of his music. Or at least gives that impression. And for that fact, this album easily gets my number 3 spot.
Jonathan Boulet – 321 Ready Or Not
2. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Well…I actually thought this would get to number one. It almost goes interchangeable with the first but number one just tips it at the post (I bet you’ve scrolled down already to check it out. Cheeky bugger!). I remember writing that as soon as I heard this album, I knew it would be a contender for album of the year. I was right about that! It may be just a tiny bit too short (it clocks in at a little over 36mins), but I think the fact that every song on this album is such a great pop track makes the length seem irrelevant. It was definitely a hype album. Just looking on The Hype Machine now and Phoenix are the second most blogged artists. I don’t know when the hype will end! Totally deserved though…and totally deserving of the number 2 spot.
1. The Temper Trap – Conditions
wow. This is it. TTT provide my best album of 2009. It’s such an impressive debut. I remember writing back in July when I reviewed the album that it reminded me of Motorace. They sound absolutely nothing like Motorace I know, but I think it’s just their ability to fill out songs. And it’s probably also that Motorace produced a bit of an Australian classic album in Five Star Laundry, and I think The Temper Trap have done that too. It’s extremely difficult to fault in my opinion. All the tracks are great. They all provide something different. And to all those haters out there (trust me, every review I read, someone has posted about how they suck and are corporate produced shit or something like that), cool. We’re all entitled to our own taste. I don’t know what the guys ever did to you but you don’t hear me whining about how I don’t like some stuff! Anyway, this is meant to be an album poll. I’m pumped to be seeing these boys at The Forum down here in Melbourne in a month or so. Should be amazing. Solid awesome great Australian record…and Me, And All My Friend’s top album of the year.
The Temper Trap – Science Of Fear
Yeeeeessssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
remix that #6
It’s been a while since i’ve posted some decent remixes. it’s also been a while since i’ve even done a post at all! the last week has been a bit of crazyness with an essay. basically i didn’t realise how time consuming it would be and yeah, it took me forever to finish. it’s done now though!!
Anyway, onto the remix’s. They’ve all been floating around for a while.
First up is BURNS. I’ve posted about this dude a few times now. The song is great. The remix kills it!
BURNS – In My Eyes (His Majesty Andre Remix)
(Beatport, Burns MySpace, His Majesty Andre MySpace)
Next up is a remix of Sweet Disposition…a track that many many many people love. I was hesitant at first, but this one is a grower. Different to the original!
The Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition (Alan Wilkis Remix)
(The Temper Trap MySpace, Alan Wilkis MySpace)
Next up is a great track…and an even better remix of it. Local dude Beni has been doing his thing for a while. His solo stuff is sounding pretty fine! Props to some of the Bang Gang fellas for getting their grubby hands on this one.
Beni – Maximus (Andee & Ooh Ee’s Blue Version)
(Beatport, Beni MySpace, Bang Gang MySpace)
Finally, it’s Like Woah! from Sydney. Don’t really know much about these guys other than they’re featured on the new Bang Gang 12″ comp. More local fellas Ted & Francis (same guys/different name) take on remix duties on this one. Check it!
Like Woah! – I’m Looking At You (Ted and Francis Remix)
(Beatport, Like Woah! MySpace, Ted and Francis MySpace)
K. That’ll do the ramble for now.
The Temper Trap – Conditions
wow. What an impressive debut. The Temper Trap have been around for a little while with very early stuff surfacing on the net in late 2006. But it took them just over two years to put out their first full length. I’m glad they waited that long. Seems to be the right length of time.
I don’t think I can fault this album. There’s parts of it, for some reason, that remind me of Motorace’s debut, Five Star Laundry. I think it might be the fact that they just seem to jam over certain riffs towards the end of songs, one of the things i LOVE about what Motorace did. I love the flow of the songs. It takes you on a journey and all that wanky bullshit. Haha…that’s a good thing though.
In terms of faves, I’m going to have to say that the quality of the tracks are so good that I don’t think there’s any amazing standout tracks. They’re all amazing dammit! Hehe…but seriously, a few that do standout for me are the opener Love Lost, the amazing building Down River, the low key but moody Soldier On, the possibe next single Fader, and the current single Science of Fear. That is half of the album I know, but seriously, that is how much i love this album. For people who have already heard the album or at least heard Science of Fear being played on radio (for people in Melbourne, that link also contains a comp to go see them at Summersonic festival in Japan!), you would have heard the use of the alarm clock! What an addition to a track. If you haven’t heard it, listen out for it.
Ok, to leave you with, one of my faves. Here’s Down River, just for you. If you like, you really should, as Molly would say, do yourself a favour and go buy this album (iTunes, JB HiFi)
The Temper Trap – Down River
K. That’ll do the ramble for now.
MAAMF: an australian music blog 