Do You Like, Do You Like Bass

Classixx - I'll Get You (featuring Jeppe)


This has been growing on me like an undiagnosed tumor. It's a few months old, but the ecstatic beat makes it tough to get out of your head. It also helped that I saw the unofficial accompanying video by Cobrasnake (below), that seemed to capture the essence of the song's carefree euphoria. It's Thanksgiving and all I've got on my mind is dance music.

Actress Class

Class Actress - All The Saints

Here's another Brooklyn band that is "defining the sound of right now" according to New York Magazine. I would be too lazy to make a list of exactly 40, but I would say that it's pretty accurate--indie pop (or pop that isn't Lady Gaga)--is really just electro-synth beats buried under pop hooks. It's fun, careless and doesn't require analysis.

The Weekend Remixes

It's weekend remix time! Here are the best of the past week (or so), all rolled up into one fat mixtape. Click to listen, or follow the jump for the tracklisting but don't jump while playing, that will kill you.

Weekend Mixtape - "I was a terror since the public school era"

Cosmic Love

Although the Brazilian Girls aren't putting anything new out, Sabina Sciubba and Didi Gutman (drummer) have teamed up with Sengalese singer Baaba Maal for his latest release Television. The first single flows at the same moving-picture speed of the best Brazilian Girls songs, while not forgetting Sciubba's soft, breathy French.

Baaba Maal featuring Sabina Sciubba - Television (Amazon)

Been listening through more Florence + The Machine lately, and even though I know they've been hype-ing for a bit now, they're catching on. The harps and dynamic flourishes dramatize Florence's powerful voice. Earlier, I posted the very popular XX remix of "You Got The Love." The two groups' styles complement each other well, but taken in her own context Florence can be pretty exciting. Just try not to hear how big this sound is.

Florence + The Machine - Cosmic Love (Myspace)(Amazon)

Phantogram EP

"Mouthful of Diamonds"


A couple of weeks ago I saw Phantogram open for The xx and The School of Seven Bells (here). They are a duo from Saratoga Springs that self-identify as "street beat/psyche pop" according to KEXP Seattle. Texturally, I hear them as Dummy-Portishead and not Third-Portishead, yet danceable. Obviously the feeling is completely different though since Phantogram is relatively happy and sung slightly shoegaze; if Portishead sounds like acid, Phantogram sounds like E (or so I hear). They also remind me of Chairlift, another group that features a girl/boy duet format and heavy use of synthesizers.

After seeing them live I worried that the main component of their appeal was the sheer volume and depth of the bass. Now that I've spun their EP more than a few times I'm convinced that while some of their songs just sound good live, others are excellent through dime-sized headphones (as long as they are not made by Apple).

Songs of the Decade Part 2: Top 25

#50-25 are here.

25. The Handshake - MGMT
24. I Feel It All - Feist
23. Rally - Phoenix
22. And I Was A Boy From School - Hot Chip
21. The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out To Get Us! - Sufjan Stevens
20. Heartbeats - The Knife
19. Dressed in Dresden - The Hundred in the Hands
18. Jesus Walks - Kanye West
17. Evil - Interpol
16. All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem
15. B.O.B. - Outkast
14. Nude - Radiohead
13. Y Control - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
12. Electric Feel - MGMT
11. The Woman with the Tattooed Hands - Atmosphere

Songs of the Decade Part 1: 50-25

It's difficult to be honest with yourself about your tastes, since they can be straight shameful. Notes: For variety's sake, no artist appears more than three times on the top 50 songs list.

The 50 songs of the decade, part 1: