Now you may all know that we are solid Miami Horror fan here on Unkitsch, we had already posted about them several times in the past (here, here, and here). Well the long anticipated album is finally out titled : Illumination, is nothing short on expectation. If you like some catchy tunes, miami horror style be sure to check it out!
P.S Be sure to get the 2 CD special.
Downloads:
1. Miami Horror — Summer Sun
3. Miami Horror — Grand Illusion
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I’m in the process of moving/downsizing my colossal iTunes library so that it’ll all fit on my mac. No more plugging in the external. Alfred pointed out that running that beast all day was probably a bad idea considering that I’m technically supposed to use it as a backup and not my regular harddrive. So, for safety’s sake I’m doing the transfer. Point of all this is that I have been forced to go through all this shit sitting on the harddrive.
I think in this day and age we all collect a tremendous amount of “e-waste” (And no, I don’t mean old cellphones and the like– but we probably collect all this shit anyways). I wonder if its really a burden? Or just part of our society nowadays. Something that happens and no one really thinks about it. iPods get bigger every year right? I’m not a pack-rat, I mean its all organized after all. But does that make it any better? Not sure. Its still just a collection of stuff that I rarely look at. Its fun to go through from time to time and I suppose that in reality its not going to take up more space in the study if I add more or less to the harddrive right?
“Your mouth should be working for me, for free.” — The Maid Needs a Maid by Emily Haines
Art by: Guerra de la Paz
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Don’t Turn The Lights On from Chromeo1 on Vimeo.
The wonderful Jewish / Arab duo Chromeo from Montreal is just plain awesome. If you add some Belgium love to the duo, than you got something that is indestructible, adding a new dimension to the rare Jewish / Arab alliance.
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1. Chromeo — Don’t Turn The Lights On (Aeroplane Remix)
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BACK. So… Nick has been intensely holding down the fort at UNKITSCH and the summer has been kinda slow for the rest of us but I assure you that it has not gone by as one unproductive blur of beer infused with sunshine..(maybe a little). Nay, I’ve been opening my eyes to the wonders of Europe and meeting fantastic people all along the way. A colourful experience whether I was roaming through volcanic Iceland or stumbling down La Ramblas in Barcelona during the wee hours of the morning.
While it is a shocker to go from 100km/h traveling and then suddenly find yourself back at home, I’m taking it in stride. I have a plan to continue some of the best things I learned while backpacking, like meeting new people. The world is filled with people you just haven’t spoken to yet. So my advice today is to look at that person sitting beside you on the subway.. what are they doing? reading a paper? skip.. staring into the abyss? gogogo smile and give them your best line. Is there a pickup guide for friends? Because “Baby are you an angel, I think I just died and went to heaven”– doesn’t really work in normal situations ; )
In other news… I’m now living in Hong Kong full time. I’ll be switching my music coverage up… probably be a bit more cantopop thrown in there haha
Photos by Neil Krug
“You can’t always get what you want
And if you try sometime you find
You get what you need”
LVOEOLVOEVLOVE
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Pure tunes this time. Pure eargasms. Been awhile since I had a chance to surf the blogs and make some downloads, but damn, am I glad that I decided to today! Found some really solid songs.
The first are a series by The Knocks, a Manhatten-based duo who have made their fame from remixing various artists. They’ve been dropping solid tune after solid tune– a few of which that I’ve uploaded. A must download: their new single ‘Make It Better,’ it’s a really nice summery kind of tune, your feet will start moving to all the whistling and the catchy vocal melody, I guarantee. Also uploaded some of their other originals, aswell as some of the remixes that they’re famous.
This morning I discovered this tune called “Arnold Mastered’ by Luke Million (famous for working with The Swiss on their biggest hits). It was featured on the Flight Facilities mix that Alfie uploaded not too long ago, but I didn’t realize that it was a tune on its own. It’s sooo smooth, and hilarious. I’ve had it on repeat all day.
The only thing that made me stop playing that Arnold tune was this song titled ‘We’ll Be Fine’ by Subskrpt. This is my absolute favourite find today, you’ve got to listen to it. It has a fat beat underneath some chopped up vocals, a smooth synth-like sound, harmonies, and muchos more. “We’ll be fine, we’ll be fine, we’ll be fine, we’ll be fine, we’ll be fine,” Ah! I love it!
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A few days ago we had a guest speaker at my school, an account planner named Simon Law, a man responsible for work such as Hewlett Packard’s “The Computer Is Personal Again” campaign. He was a great guy and preached about ‘good’ advertising versus ‘great’ advertising, the idea was that it was a tale where ‘good’ is the bad guy. Really inspiring stuff.
He showed us a variety of advertisements that exemplified ‘great,’ but one that I really enjoyed was a Nike SkateBoarding ad. I found it online and decided to post it here. I find this ad simply amazing, it embodies everything that a skater would cherish living the lifestyle– in short, they hit the mark with this advertisement. Also great about it? The track they used, titled ‘It Was a Good Day’ by Ice Cube (who also makes a cameo in the commercial with a variety of other celebrities). Such a smooth, chilled, rap song. It’s a must download, so I’ve uploaded it as well as the instrumental version (which is fantastic). Watch that vid and download the tune, why deny yourself a little taste of ‘greatness?’
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I had this idea to do posts once in awhile featuring artists that we here at Unkitsch are big fans of, the idea is to take a trip down memory lane. So, without further adieu, I present the first ‘Unkitsch Uncovered,’ this weeks artists? None other than the Parisian duo: Justice.
Justice is composed of two French guys, Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé. I believe they started out as Graphic Designers, then went the musical route after the success they received from their first single. They took the electronic scene by storm with their remix of Simian Mobile Disco’s “Never Be Alone.” After acclaimed success and many awards, they released their first studio album in 2007, entitled “†” or better known as “Cross.” They are signed to my one of my favourite labels, Ed Banger Records (also famous for Busy P, Uffie, Breakbot, and more). After more awards they released a live album to coincide with their documentary, both titled “A Cross The Universe.” I saw them touring to promote this record and they were badass. Since then they’ve released various quality remixes, their own line of clothing, won even more awards, and much more. I attribute Justice to bringing electronic music to a new level, introducing the sound to a whole new generation of listeners. Like other French electronic musicians (coughDaftPunkcough), Justice made “electronic concerts” cool and hip– don’t believe me? Look at the Coachella line up a few years ago and then look at the lineup that was featured this year… Lots of DJs playing now, eh? In my opinion, you can thank Justice for that. They brought such a cool style and an ‘edge’ to electronic music and I’ll always be grateful for that. Here’s to hoping for some new material from them soon, I can only replay these old songs so many times, ya know?
Now lets get to the good stuff: Justice’s sound. I think they’re the ‘Heavy Metal’ of electronica, their sound is like a muscle car being ground up in a high-powered blender. At sometimes it almost hurts your ears, but it’s a good pain. I uploaded my favourite mix of theirs, Justice at Einslive Clubbing. This mix got me into mixes, listening to it gets me all nostalgic. Next up is my favourite track off of “Cross,” “Phantom Pt. II”- this song is the Justice sound. I’ve also uploaded some remixes, the first being Justice’s remix of MGMT’s “Electric Feel.” They did a better job with this song than MGMT did, it’s a must have in your library. Also is a remix of Death From Above 1979’s “Blood On Our Hands,” this is such a cool song, its got so many levels of electronicy bliss to it. Last, but certainly not least, is a MSTRKRFT remix of perhaps the most popular Justice song, “D.A.N.C.E.” If the buildup in this song doesn’t pump you up then I think you might be deaf…
Also thought I’d post some videos of Justice. They make great tunes but thanks to Ed Banger they also put out amazing music videos. The first is for their critically acclaimed “D.A.N.C.E” and I think it might be one of my all time favourite videos. So many cool designs in this one, if you love graphic design this is a must watch. The same goes for DVNO, which I’ve also posted, so many cool designs to make a badass music video (must watch for those who are interested in Type). The last video is the trailer for their documentary “A Cross The Universe.” I’ve watched this movie so many times, it’s packed full of entertainment and debauchery. Ah, good times… Goooood tiiiiimes. Enjoy!
justice — dance from EL NINO on Vimeo.
Justice — DVNO from Freedom Record on Vimeo.
Justice A Cross The Universe Trailer from the bus stop on Vimeo.
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Homeworkhomeworkhomework. I’ve got lots of it but for the past few hours ended up dicking around downloading patterns, brushes, and gradients for Photoshop… Although, I don’t feel like it has been a complete waste of time, considering some of these will help me do some future homeworks. In the end, I suppose it has been procrastination… Oh well, time to get to work now I suppose.
I’ve been working on a Typography assignment. My inspiration? Non-Format. Never heard of these guys? Well, two words: 1)BAD 2)ASS. They do the coolest work. Well, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself here. For those of you who have had your head in the sand: Non-Format is a company run by two dudes, Kjell Ekhorn (Norwegian) and Jon Forss (British), who have worked together since the year 2000. They have done a range of projects ranging from art direction all the way down to fashion and yes, even typography. You’ve probably seen their work in The Wire, that music magazine, as they have art directed it in the day. They are basically just really, really, really good graphic designers, in my opinion. Don’t take my word though, see for yourself and check out their site that I linked above.
So, I’ve had the visual inspiration for this assignment, and you can bet your asses that I’ve also had the musical inspiration. What have I been listening to inorder to design some kickass posters? None other than Mr. Etienne de Crécy. I’ve taken the liberty of uploading my favourite tune of his (that has been getting replayed over and over while I’ve been working on these posters), ‘Fast Track,’ aswell as a live version he did where he mashes that tune up with Camille’s ‘Someone Like You’ and Simian Mobile Disco’s ‘Never Be Alone.’ Amazing stuff. Also check out the video that I put up, which features ‘Fast Track’ and the amazing live set de Crécy toured around with (props to Alfie for originally showing me this, this set would make Daft Punk proud). SO COOL!
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So, my education over here started last Monday. One week has flown by and I’ve already learnt more than I expected to. On Friday I had a Typography class. When I first glanced over my schedule I was surprised to see a whole class devoted to Typography… I thought to myself, “how can we spend hours talking about fonts?” I’ve seen some pretty stellar Typographic work in my day, but didn’t know very much about the craft itself. Well, let me tell you, Typography is a fuckin’ science. And a complicated one at that! Contrast, Space, Harmony, Typeface, Typefamilies, Ligatures, Dichotics, OSFs, Leading, Kerning, PICA, 12x14.4/28, an em, and so on and so forth. No idea what I’m talking about? Neither do I (I’m working on it, okay!). I’m sure if there are any Typographers reading this they are probably laughing their asses off. Shit’s whack I tell you, hah. Don’t get me wrong though, Typography is interesting as hell and I encourage anyone intrigued with the ‘science’ to look into it.
As an introduction to Typography we watched a documentary called “Helvetica,” which dealt with the world-renown typefamily: Helvetica. It has always been my favourite font, there’s something so ‘perfect’ about it. It’s sexy, modern, and clean. I love it. The film interviews many who hold the same opinion and some who don’t. But it also explores Typography, as an art, a profession, and much more. It was a fantastic watch, I recommend it to anyone, whether you’re interested in design, typography, or are just looking for a great movie to watch. Viva la Helvetica!
Helvetica 預告片（紐約篇）: 一部關於 Helvetica 字體的記錄片 from D.NEWS on Vimeo.
All these classes has meant lots of homework, which subsequently means lots listening to music while I work! So, have I ever got a sick bunch of tunes for you all this time around. Slower songs first: I came across this tune “Beaman Park” by Collarbones. Haven’t heard of the artist before, but it reminds me of Toro Y Moi or Washed Out, has ‘glo-fi’ written all over it. Also uploaded that remix by Jens Lekman of Au Revoir Simone’s “Shadows.” Amazing song, download it.
Now onto the more ‘dancier’ beats here: “Oh No!” remixed by Grum. Awesome, it’s like some sort of 80’s dance tune featuring that great voice of Marina and the Diamonds. Oh no? Oh Yeah! I’ve uploaded a remix of Housse De Racket’s “Oh Yeah!” I love this song and the french lyrics that seem to drive it, Housse De Racket are a solid act. New Soulwax!!! Well, at least a remix… Not the greatest but I was honestly relieved to hear that signature ‘Soulwax sound’ once again. One of my favourite uploads this time is a Two Door Cinema Club remix of “What You Know” by Cassian. Two awesome acts collide to create a badass little tune, you must check it out. I also uploaded another remix of the same song, by LightsoverLA. I kind of prefer this remix more, they left that awesome guitar track as the main focus and it really does it for me. Have a listen for yourself and decide which you prefer on your own. New Shinichi Osawa album dropped at the end of June, titled SO2. Here’s my favourite from it (so far). True Shinichi fashion, if you’re a fan you’ll love this. Another favourite of mine lately is called “Bliss” by a new guy on the scene, Mix Chopin. Apparently he’s from Toronto, so nothing but love for this guy, he’s already making a fellow Torontonian proud (plus he’s using the name of my favourite classical artist– man after my own heart). “Bliss” has a fat bass line going ontop of a really funky beat driven song, it’s a must download, it has received many a-repeats. Last, but certaintly not least, is a remix of the Foals’ song “Miami” by Tim Fuchs featuring Flight Facilities. Flight Facilities have been superb lately, and this song is no different. When it gets to the half way point the song goes all piano driven (Flight Facilities influence, no doubt), certainly eargasmic material. But enough of my rambling– download the tunes and listen to them yourself.. Enjoy!
Downloads:
Yep, the title doesn’t lie. Here it is, the summer mix that’ll make your hot days muchos better: Jens Lekman’s “Summer in 3/4 Time Mix.” I just got ahold of this thing and it’s making me cream my pants, it’s a really nice mix, Jens didn’t let down. It opens with his awesome remix of Au Revoir Simone’s “Shadows” and really goes places after that. I got shivers when it kicked into the Morning Benders. I’m sure you’re intrigued now. Please, download!
Here’s what Jens had to say in regards to his mix:
“I got the opportunity to remix my favourite song from Au Revoir Simone’s beautiful album ‘Still Night, Still Light’ . While listening to the song I realised how nice it’d be to transform their straight 4/4 time synthpop into a whirlwind waltz or maybe a barcarole if you will. It took a long time to chop up all the syllables and the tiny tiny samples, but I think the result got the song into a whole swirling new direction. While making the remix, my mind started working in 3/4 and 6/8 time. I started looking around for tracks in that time signature to make a mix, I wasn’t intending to but I couldn’t help it. It was all a big swirl. After a while I heard it everywhere. In soul ballads, in polyrhythmical african pop, in old movies. In the ocean waves tumbling in against the shore, in the beat of a lovers heart. One two three, one two three…”
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