Oh what, a new post?

Basically when the season ends i'm gonna have nothing to do so there'll be a round up of beats found, mountains skied and limbs lost, but for now try to sate your thirst for knowledge with this new mix from the CCCs themselves, Chewy Chocolate Cookies. It promises to be a banger.

CCC's Oven Fresh Mixtape

CCC Sweet Intro
CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES Time
CAZALS Life is boring CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES Rmx
JUSTICE Genesis CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES Rmx
CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES Kisses in the night
THE WHIP Trash CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES Rmx
LOTO Back to disco CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES Rmx
BOYS NOIZE Shine Shine CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES Rmx
ROCHELLE Fer de lance CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES Burning Rmx
PLASTIC OPERATOR Home 0207 CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES Rmx
CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES Profondo Rosso
CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES Cheeseburgers
DANGER 11H30 CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES Rmx (Old Version)
TCB Salmon dance CROOKERS Rmx
CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES BatmanReEdit
CCC Sweet Outro

My listening tastes have changed recently, and after hammering Knightlife, The Knife, and Led Zep all through last summer i've been discovering The Who, Jimi Hendrix, and above all Liquid Swords by the GZA. Changing beds while listening to Unexplained and Shadowboxin' has become a weekly pleasure. Oh mad one!

I'm in Serre Chevalier, France until near the end of April and it just dumped a foot of frsh pow so the skiing is ridiculous. As is my goggle tan so it happens. Tomorrow i'm off on a mission the find the most 80s combinaison (one-piece) possible. There's a local shop where you can pick them up for 1euro!

Right now i'm in the pub waiting for this weeks guests to arrive. They're supposed to get here at 8pm but delays at Lyon means 2.30am and they all want feeding! Purely radge.

Will post up pics and beats soon enough, i've basically not looked at any other blogs since december so can't wait for finding some sick new tunes. If anyone has a recommendation let me know cos right now i'm completely in the dark.

A bientot mofos.

Swittishness and good tunes...

A lack of posts recently is down to the fact that i'm seasonnairing in Switzerland for the winter so there aint gonna be much new music. I'll probably post pictures up when i can and recommend some beats for pure mountain enjoyment, but check out all the links on the right for up to date tunage.

Pure Groove records just sent me this crimbo mixtape so get the fire going and blast it out instead of the usual Cliff Richard and Fairytale Of New York malarkey.

Pure Groove Christmas Mixtape Side A

Pure Groove Christmas Mixtape Side B

There's tracks on there from Noah and the Whale, Eugene McGuinness, Lightspeed Champion, Jay Jay Pistolet, Beans on Toast and Chris T. Worth cocking a snook at I reckon.

Merry christmas y'all and a happy new year from the land of Clocks and Chocolate and snow and bell ringing.

Queue and Eh? - Little Joy Box...

I was introduced to Little Joy Box by Huw Stephens and his new music unsigned show on Radio1 a few weeks back. The track that hooked me in was Son of Dog, and after hearing the rest of their tunes on Myspace I had to contact LJB's creative voice, Sara, for more info.

Vital statistics (name, age, location etc)
A lady should never be asked to reveal her age, but I can tell you that i am, by birth and technicality an essex girl, though London is but a stones throw away!

How long have you been actively making music?
Little Joy Box was born about a year ago but before that I was playing bass, gigging and co-writing in The Itchy Tits (an all girl punk/rock band of friends I met at uni) for nearly 5 years which was great fun!

When did you realise that music was what you wanted to do?
My Mamma is a singer and had a contract with EMI when I was in the womb, in fact she was still gigging a week before i popped out so it's likely that I decided to do music about then!!

How did the name come about?
"Joy" in my opinion, is the ultimate word to describe happiness and I defo wanted that in the project. Put "Joy" with "Box" and (if you have a dirty mind) it can sound a bit rude, lol, but add "Little" to the front and it distracts from this and makes the name sound cutesy!

Does your location inform the music?
Hmm.. does Essex inform the music? Not intentionally, but i guess it must have an impact somewhere; circumstance, social, emotional situations are likely to impress my brain to paper.

What inspires you?
Gosh, if I analyse (haha i just noticed that anal makes up part of the word analyse!) my songs are about annoyances, animals, my Jesus complex, lost and future loves and sexuality, but i'm actually quite a nice simple girl in reality, these songs must just be a kind of cathartism!

What do you imagine people are doing when they listen to your music?
When people listen to my music they are either; loving it loathing it; busy being indifferent; eating, sleeping, going to the toilet, making babies, skipping and jumping all at once or not at all!

Favourite gig moment so far?
A lovely girl who randomly came to one of my gigs and is now a good friend told me that she liked my voice as it reminded her of chocolate, i liked that compliment!

Is there a particular song you like playing live?
When I play with my band, I like singing 'Hodgeheg' best as it's all jazzed up and about a hedgehog whose husband is cruel to her, so she decides that she "just can't deal with man's extra leg" and would "rather bat for the other side instead"

Have you a favourite moment from your career so far?
My most memorble JOY gig so far has to be my debut, when my loveable keyboardist didn't make it to the venue until the end of my 2nd song and then jumped on stage set up and played flawlessly through to the end of the set. It was kinda a Crystal Maze moment!

If my music was a fighting style it would be...
...akin to Buffy slayering demons whilst being witty in a US sitcom kind of way but being oh so girly at the same time. (or Mr Miagi; wax on, wax off!-who knows why?)

If I could be in any other band it would be...
...Queens of the Stone Age on their Songs for the Deaf tour and I'd be Dave Grohl pounding the drums!!

Are you signed to a label?
LJB is in discussion with labels but as of yet no pen has been put to paper.

Is your music available to buy?
There is a short run of JoY demo E.P'S which are to hand at gigs or on request via email.

Plans for the future?
Plans for the future all entail making JOY an epidemic!!!!

Thanks to Sara for taking the time to answer my reasonably cliched interview questions. Check out Son of Dog below, and when it's all over the blog-o-world in '08 don't cry when I said I told you so. Also, just put up on the Myspace is their cover of Pop-Hop track Hey Ya by the usually dependable Outkast. It's rather good I tell thee.

Little Joy Box - Son of Dog (YSI)

Little Joy Box - Hey Ya (Outkast) (YSI)

Little Joyspace

Squajillion Dollar DJs...

Bah, humbug the lot of ya. Billion Dollar DJs were good enough to send me their new mix, one created entirely from bleeps and bloops available on myspizzace, and by the time i get round to posting it it's already been downloaded 30,000 times and featured on kazillions of blogs.

Well done anyway boys, clearly big tings a gwarn for the future. If you're digging on this make sure to check out their Halloween mix posted in... October.

The MySpace Mix Compiled and Mixed by

Billion Dollar Djs

Click here to download

Frikstailers - Foonkie Boogie
Blackpool - Two Kids
Niyi - 808 Clapa
MK303 - Floos (Remix B)
Blamma! Blamma! - Carry Me Home
Catherine Ferroyer-Blanchard - Tu Fais Le Malina
The Faint - iDisappear
Matthew Savant Mix)
Arrow!!! - D.O.E.S (Demo)
Pimp The System - PTS Anthem
Lismore - All That You Are
Snowden - Black Eyes
Le Castle Vania Remix)
The Twelves - I Feel Fine
Trippple Nippples - RIP Meat
Bitchee Bitchee Ya Ya Ya - Fuck Friend
Flamingo Crash - Yes? Yes? Yes?
Shoot Charlie - Boaster
The Genevan Heathen - Swagger (feat Omnikrom)
You Say Party! We Say Die! - The Gap (Between The Rich And The Poor)
SIBOT - 12345
Glass Candy - Digital Versicolor

Karoshi Brothers could take Mario and Luigi down...

Recently i've been seeking out songs that soundtrack my life, were i a pro snowboarder. All songs like this fresh(ish) Karoshi Brothers track sound infinitely better when you can see Gigi Ruf dropping hammers on back-country kickers or Nicolas Muller popping off a cliff band on his way down a steep ass hill in your mind's eye.

I'm sure the press release for the song involved a combination of the phrases "anime-pop", "manga-disco", "Pokemon" and "Industrial-strength acid", because pretty much every review contains those words. And I thought journalists were hard-working types, not lazy hacks! (Note to self: get hold of industrial-strength acid)

Karoshi Bros - Love Da World
Karoshi Bros - Love Da World (Flash Atkins remix)

The Flash Atkins remix is great for when you want to escape those "cheeky" (another press cull) vocals and bliss out with the rolling bassline.

Bonus Turbo Points: Their label is based in Manchester. Big up the north.



Karoshispace

The Monday Chiller #26 - The Cinematic Orchestra...

Some of the more eagle-eyed among you will have noticed a dearth of posts on the Eclectic Hermit in the past few weeks. I wish I could say that my recent hiatus has been down to my constant pursuit of musical perfection and that i'm now able to present to you the most aurally pleasing sounds of the year. However, all i've been doing is working, drinking, planning for trips and most recently, getting into Jazz. More on the Jazz front later.

On the 14th of December i'm off to Switzerland to work as a ski guide for the winter. It's going to be great for me but not so much for the blog, which may well grind to a standstill while i'm away. Before I go i'll try to do as many posts as possible, which are set to include a couple of Q&As with bands that should be on your radar, and some electronica related goodness. Mashed potato anyone?

So for one of the last Monday Chillers here is some Cinematic Orchestra, a group specially bred for the purpose of appearing on this blog and giving the listener nigh-on 7 minutes of uninterrupted meditation. Sit back, turn up the volume, and enjoy a sample of our show.

The Cinematic Orchestra - Wheel Within A Wheel

The track comes from Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Exclusives CD, released in 2004. It's kind of taken me three years to get round to listening to it properly, but now that I have it'll go straight on the stereo when I need something to chill me to the core.

Buy some Cinematic Orchestra
Buy Worldwide Exclusives

Orchestraspace

Pyrelli freestyle...

My boy at Certified Banger posted a nice review of Pyrelli's debut album here a couple of weeks ago, and I just came across this little nugget on youtube of Sincere and Pyrelli freestyling on Tim Westwood's 1xtra show. Companion piece, or blatant idea biting? Answers on a postcard.



Buy Pyrelli's Vitamin A - A Twist Of Fate

I said fuck dancing all night but then that's just what we did...

This is the offical video for Jape's song Floating. It was directed by M&E and D.A.D.D.Y. Floating is taken from the EP "Jape is Grape" which is due for release on the 19th of November 2007 (yesterday) on V2 records.

Any video that involves slow-motion and exploding fruit is good in my book.




If you like that then be sure to cop a feel of the EP, and in the meantime check out the killer remix of Floating from Tronik Youth.

Jape - Floating (Tronik Youth Mix) (YSI)

www.myspace.com/richiejape
www.myspace.com/matthewandemelie
www.myspace.com/teamdaddy

The Monday Chiller #25 - Burial...

I can't say much about Burial without descending into hyperbole, but couldn't possibly not post a track from his new album Untrue.

As much as the Detroit Escalator Co's Black Buildings evokes images of the city, it's living and breathing core exposed through samples and caring construction, Untrue does the same for urban Britain. Black Buildings wasn't short of dreams, but where it sometimes lacked in substance, Untrue comes through with a plethora of new ideas and creates soundscapes to scenes you can hardly imagine. Listening to it brought up so many memories of travel, images of darkened streets and midnight driving, that i've been walking around in a daze since hearing it.

Burial's second LP is definitely one of the top 5 albums released this year. And yes, I have thought about what other records have been released so no, this is not a kneejerk reaction. Untrue really is that good.

To get a good idea of the themes and ideas behind Burial and the album (as much as is possible for an artist shrouded in mystery), check this Guardian article.

Burial - Untrue (YSI)

Buy Untrue
Burialspace

Hadouken Mini Mix on Radio1...

Radio 1 have finally decided to enable you to download the weekly Mini Mix as easy as right-clicking and saving as...

For the inaugural mix, grimey limeys Hadouken! are at the helm and provide a solid 5 minutes of hands-in-the-air mash-up goodness.

Get your listen on...

Hadouken! - Mini Mix on Annie Mac's Mashup (Save target as)

Go to the BBC website to subscribe to the podcast.

Popes on Dope remix Thieves Like us...

Before the slew of other remixes hit Hype Machine, check this one that Popes on Dope (aka me and Aidan of Certified Banger) have produced.

Thieves Like Us - Drugs In My Body (Popes on Dope Crack Team remix) (YSI)
Thieves Like Us - Drugs In My Body (Popes on Dope Crack Team remix) (ZP3)

Some would describe it as an ambient electro banger with a hint of gothic house, others would simply say it's a damn fine tune.

Let us know what you think and if you like it, pester Kitsune to let us win!

Feel free to share amongst your friends.

New Chewy Chocolate Cookies yeah?...

Chewy Chocolate Cookies (CCC to their friends) are responsible for the some of the (oven) freshest beats around at the moment, and they just made their new remix of The Toxic Avenger available for free on the myspace.

The list of upcoming projects sounds delicious, including a remix of Danger's 11h30 (Z-share link), a track that has been burning my stereo down for the past month or so.

The DJ Mehdi remix in particular is baked to perfection.

The Toxic Avenger - Superheroes (CCC rmx) (ZP3)

Chromeo - Bonified Lovin' (CCC rmx) (ZP3)

DJ Mehdi - Saharian Break (CCC rmx) (ZP3)

Remixes of Justice and SMD are also up for download on the Myspace.

Cookiespace
Official Site

Left of the centre...

Three things you should know about Middleman. They're from Leeds, they're on the Bad Sneakers record label, and their new single Good To Be Back is ahwicked, what?

The track is released on 7", CD, and digital download on November 26th and there just so happens to be a launch party happening down at the Faversham, Leeds at 7.30pm on November 28th.

Middleman - Good To Be Back (YSI)

Everything Could Be Light Green did a wee expose on Bad Sneakers last month, check it here.

Good To Be Back is just the sort of thing i've been looking for in the indie world, and will brighten up your day with its sentiments and singalongability.

Middlespace
Bad Sneakers

If you go down to the woods today...

I caught the end of this track on the radio the other day and thought 'Hmm, did Paul Weller invent trip-hop?'. Sadly, the answer was no. It turned out to be a little known remix of Wild Wood by lazy gobshite (in the nicest possible way) Geoff Barrow aka Portishead.

It took me an age to track down via the old interblag but get it i did and here it is. Two great artists combining to make sweet, sweet music.

Paul Weller - Wild Wood (Portishead remix)

The Deluxe Edition of Wild Wood has recently been released. Weller doesn't need any more money or recognition but if you have a few pennies to spare in the run up to christmas you might like to buy it and sit contented around an open fire, scoffing mince pies and soaking up the sounds of a man who is slowly ruining his good reputation with each successive release. Bah, humbug the lot of ya.

Wild Wood at Amazon

N.B. I considered 'Weller, Weller, Weller huh?' as an alternative title but the Grease nod was just too much.

Vice Unitaur @ The Faversham, Leeds - 31/10/07

Vice magazine are cooler than you. And me. In fact, reading the latest issue today i became quite disheartened at my lack of pop culture knowledge. It aint just Vice though, seems like every album/gig/whatever review i read these days has to contain at least two references to obscure artists that i've never heard of. Or maybe i just don't pay attention.

Having said that, the Vice boys and girls can put on a damn good show. The venue was the Faversham, bang in the middle of student-town, Leeds. Having never been before, i was wondering whether to expect a dirty underground club or something pretentiously shiny. Thankfully the Fav is neither of these and works nicely, with a bar on one side, sofas on the other and a stage in the middle, which is really all you need.

First on were The Teenagers, who did their best despite a pretty lacklustre reception from the crowd. I enjoyed the tunes but toward the end of the set it all seemed to melt into one. The lead singer had fun doing a good impression of Mr Flowers from The Killers and the rest of the band were looking suitably cool/geeky, whichever way you see it.

I hadn't heard anything by These New Puritans before, and on the strength of their set i'll try to avoid hearing anything by them again. With lyrics that really probed deep into the nature of our reality including 'What's your favourite number? What does it mean?', they might go far in the art scene but i couldn't be arsed with it. Good beats though.

After These New Puritans there was a fair break in which time: my sister left the gig to go sleep in the car, there was a ruckus in front of the stage between some lairy dudes who were alternating between all-smiles and whatchoo-lookin-at?, and the DJs proceeded to spin some of the best tunes i've ever heard played in a club.

The main event. Crystal Castles. Their Myspace page describes the music as thrash/thrash/thrash, but a lot of their work including Trash Hologram and Untrust Us is nothing of the sort, more chilled out beats than jump-around anger. Well from the moment the group took to the tiny stage it absolutely went off. The lights went out, the beer was discarded and the beats began. I was pretty much dancing/jumping for the entire set, although it was pretty hard to dance while being battered from all sides by manic drunkards. That's what the live experience is all about though, and Crystal Castles deliver the raw energy they are famous for in spades. Alice is a pretty scary looking lass when in full on performance mode and her strobe-light just hyped the audience up even more. The gentlest beats on the records became the biggest, pulsatingest, hardcorest bangers in the live arena and i loved every minute of it.

I left the gig exhilarated and already looking forward to the next time i might be able to see them live. All in all, one of the sweatiest bands i've seen but also one of the best.

Cheeeeeers, Vice.

Tom Vek! Where aaaarrrre yyyoooouuu?...

Seriously Tom, it's time to bring out some new material. The Blue Nile took 17 years between albums but that doesn't mean you have to try and match their record. I'm sure the new stuff will be good, and if it's not, then you can do a Prodigy and come back in 7 years with a half-arsed sophomore attempt.

Don't know Tom Vek? The guy invented New Rave! Not really, but he was blurring the lines between dance and and indie way before the current sweep of Dindie/Indiance artists.

MP3: Tom Vek - Things Are Here To Stay

To be fair, during his hiatus Tom has managed to appear on The O.C.

The Monday Chiller #24 - Johnny Flynn...

Johnny Flynn is one of those annoyingly multi-talented people who seem to be good at everything, especially when it comes to making music. Along with his band The Sussex Wit he creates good old-fashioned folk/pop music with no hint of pretension that serves as a complete antithesis to the current trend in certain scenes (i'm looking at you, Hoxton).

New single 'The Box' is getting a good push on 6music at the moment, get on down to Flynnspace to hear it in all its 96kb/s Myspace glory.

MP3: Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit - Oh, To Eat An Apple (Thanks to The Daily Growl)

And in case you missed it first time around, Brown Trout Blues is one of my favourite songs of the year and is well worthy of a re-posting.

MP3: Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit - Brown Trout Blues

'I could be somewhere else,

I should be someone else but,

I guess i'm happy as I am.
Sometimes I find it hard to be a man,
and it's easier just to play the same old game,
of trying to forget my bloody name.'

With lyrics like that at age 24, you know the guy has a future in music.

Flynnspace
The Box is out 12th November on Vertigo

Super Turbo bonus material:

The Black Cab Sessions Chapter 1: Johnny Flynn

The Black Cab Sessions, Chapter 12: Langhorne Slim and Johnny Flynn

I'm afraid that you've caught me by surprise...

Crystal Castles are playing as part of the Vice Unitaur over the next couple of weeks with French noise-makers The Teenagers and These New Puritans who I haven't actually listened to yet.

Get yourself over to this link to sign up for free tickets and get ya groove on, although if it's wall-to-wall with hipsters that could be harder than first imagined.

MP3: Crystal Castles - Trash Hologram

See you at The Faversham suckas.

The Monday Chiller #23 - Radiohead...

Surely everyone who wanted the album has got it by now, and even those who weren't sure couldn't cock a snook at a new record that was, for all intents and porpoises, free.

MP3: Radiohead - All I Need

All I Need is my favourite track from In Rainbows because it manages to sound unlike Radiohead, but then at the same time it sounds entirely like Radiohead. Purpose-built for a spot on The Monday Chiller.

The sounds of Claire Sweeney
Dead Air Space

Trick or Beats...

Shittybeatz aka Ric and Dan were kind enough to send me their new mix under the revised moniker Billion Dollar DJs. Here's what they have to say about it:

"Its a horror themed mix using loads of spooky electro/new-wave tracks, mostly from the 80's. Its got a kinda kitch b-movie feel to it and varys from fun Halloween dance tracks to dark horror stuff."

Bang it out loud while you're on a trick or treating mission or if you just want to annoy the neighbours.

Billion Dollar DJs - Nite of the Disco Dead mix (Z-share)

Tracklisting:

Chuckii Booker feat John 'Crypt Keeper' Kassir - The Crypt Jam
Goblin - Tenebre (Main Title)
John Carpenter - The End (Disco Version)
Ministry - Everyday Is Halloween
SSQ - Tonight (We'll Make Love Until We Die)
The Bollock Brothers - Horror Movies
Arch Oboler - Drop Dead Interlude
Mark Ayres - Nightmare On Elm Street Theme
Rockwell - Somebody's Watching
Marketts - Out Of Limits
Hashim - Al Naafyish (The Soul)
Pulsailama - Devil Lives In My Husbands Body
Honeymoon Killers - Wait And See
Flirts - Teenage Werewolf
Metronomy - Trick Or Treats
The Immortals - Ultimate Warlord (Remix)
The J Geils Band - Fright Night
Bush Tetras - Too Many Creeps
Severed Heads - Dead Eyes Opened
France Gall - Frankenstein

It's been a while since there were any electro beats on here, feels good to have them back. Mr Oizo did a mini-mix on Radio1 tonight so if I can track that down it will be up quicker than you can say 'My cats breath smells like cat food'. Blip.

Billion Dollarspace