Beats As Big As The Empire State Building

Thought I'd just remind you folks of my presence. I've had a rather nasty habit of doing this and leaving it for a little while lately. I hope you all watched Extras last night, because it was fantastic. Cerebral Palsy, Nazi, and Catholic jokes galore all in one TV show! You can't ask for much more than that! I thought Curb Your Enthusiasm was markedly weaker than its newborn time-slot follower. I'm not sure what was off in the episode but it was just sorta boring instead of uncomfortably funny. Ah well. I still have to watch last nights Rome, I wasn't able to watch it. I must know what the next step in that bloody, sex obsessed rampage of a show is. So, yeah, I don't think I even touch TV the rest of the week (notable exceptions being Arrested Development and LOST) but Sunday is totally a destructive night of television.

Today is a music post, I don't have all that much to rant about as of right now. Things are pretty fantastic and right where I want them to be. But that's all personal stuff, and that's not really what I'm herre to talk about. What I am here to talk about is the album I'm dropping on you today. As of late we have see a rise and fall and rise and fall and sort of rise again of dance-punk or neo-new-wave or whatever you want it to be. Fact of the matter is, in so few word's, the indie-scene is attempting to find its groove, learning once again that those hips can indeed shake. You've got increase usage of dance beats, synths, and bands having their songs heavily remixed so as to make things club friendly. Has anyone been doing this before the 2000's? Fuck yeah they have and they were waaaay funkier when they were doin it with less technology. I first came across this band when I bought the second DFA compilation. The song that those guys remixed on there just had a totally different sound, compltely full of lightning speed xylophones, incdecipherable vocals, and a heavy beat. An unreleased Rapture track? No sir. Some new find by these oh-so-hipper-than-you New Yorkers? Nope. Liquid Liquid have been twistin' heads back in the 80's with a sound that's being aped like nuts today. Eighteen tracks total, this compilation of, from what I know, most of their recorded material just busts out of the gates with "Optimo". You want percussion? These guys have got it. Most of the instruments are percussion. Each track is basically some yelped vocals over a bassline and a fucking wall of percussive instruments. Hell, by track two, "Caverns," you'll be even able to have the joy of figuring out where the dark-funk of Grandmaster Flash's "White Lines" came from. Some of the album isn't stellar, but most of it is completely enjoyable. "Bellhead" is bizarre but wholly too short for its own good. (Luckily those DFA boys decided to extend it to a five and half minute long xylophone and cowbell opus on their comp that I mentioned before.) Roots for electronica, drum and bass, hip-hop, dance-punk, and most and avant-garde music you can dance to can all be found in these 18 tracks. So please please enjoy. You won't be able to keep still for the first two track, this I promise you. It's funky, weird, and compltely accessible, the way good music should be. So without further ado, download and be merry:

Liquid Liquid - Liquid Liquid | TWO

Love,
John

P.S. It may be a while until my next post, I'm hitting a period in my schooling with a bunch of work. So this album may be the last from me for a little bit. I'll try to pump another post out before the week is through though. This is my sort-of, not really at all a promise to you.