Beirut Live!

Beirut is back with a new live album filmed in Brooklyn. I downloaded the audio "Beirut : live a Music Hall of Williamsburg" off of but you can also get a dvd version here. I started snooping around www.baeblemusic.com and they have a crap load of good live footage and bands.

Fans of Beirut are really going to like the new album. It starts off with a brand new single "East Harlem". Well it's new to us but Zack explains that he wrote the song when he was seventeen. The rest of the set drifts from "March of the Zapotec/Holland" to classics from the "Gulag Orchestra" and "The Flying Club Cup." It is amazing that such a relatively new artist makes me Nostolgic when I listen to his music. The best is saved for last, when Beirut comes out of no where to play the classic "Brazil". It short and sweet. The set list is lively. What a great find.

Bodycode and a world of new minimal

My initial thought as listened to this release was that it's definitely minimal house but I was amazed by its complexity. Sitting in the dark, with the faint glow of our laptop illuminating the night, I got lost in the beats of BodyCode. The almost Tribal beats pinged from side to side as haunting vocals laid on top of layers of synthetic goodness. I found myself trying to follow the standard bump, bump, bump that is so cliche in house music but Bodycode seemed to squeeze double and triple bass hits where non should possibly fit.

The sound of Alan Abrams's newest release is literally a journey of his life. It is an intriguing blend of minimal glitch house of Berlin that merges with the passion of Portugal and deep rooted rhythms of South Africa. Alan grew up in South Africa in the years after the Apartheid. He later moved to Portugal where he was first introduced to house music in the Libson clubs scene. He currently resides in Berlin where he just released "Immune" . This is only his second release under the alias Bodycode and I am already looking forward to his third. I just wonder what new journey will we hear next?

Deastro's Back

For those people who subscribe to emusic.com, we have been exposed to Randolph Chabot's musical project Deastro. Last year he released his first group of songs on an emusic only album, "Keepers". Last July I wrote about his genius and questioned why no record label has found this kid. Thankfully, Matthew Dear's Ghostly international signed Deastro.

Now the whole music community can experience Deastro's "Space Symphony." I read this description on the Ghostly International bio on Deastro. It a perfect way to sum up Deastro's first official album "Moondagger."

I love the synthesized back bone of this album. For one man, one creative influence, Chabot packs layers upon layers of synths in a symphony of electronic genius. It is difficult to describe the sound of 4, 5, 6 keyboards harmonizing in unison other than Space Symphony.

Not only is Randolph a master on the keyboard but is an amazing drummer. The beat is what distinguishes Deastro from the rest of the pack doing synth-pop these days. Each song is energized with rock beats that permiate through the layers/synthetic textures and ghostly/reverbed vocals to create a unique sound that is "Deastro".

Hot Chip - A Tale of Two CDs

First of all, let me make this clear. Hot Chip kills it in their new double disk album, "Another Bugged out Mix." The boys mixed two cds for the mix series and it was just released last month.

The two cds are night and day in style and content. The first album starts off literally running as it jumps straight into a fast John Tejada Track. The first disk is tightly mixed house/techno the rolls from track to track. Every few songs is complimented with a rare Hot Chip House remix. The tracks and the Hot Chip tracks are perfectly picked out. Each selection seems like it belongs. By far, one of the best mixed cds I have heard in a while.

Now the second CD sounds like the after party after the first disk club mix. It is almost as if each member stumbled over to the decks to put their favorite songs on after coming back from the club. This disk is ALL over the place. From 70's R&B to 90's Hip Hop, you name it. The mixing is loose and they take a bunch of liberties. As my friend and I were talking about it, this disk would be perfect for the 4am after party. At that point no one cares about the mixing or song order, just play some good shit dj.

Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do.

For over a month now I have been hearing the hype about Major Lazer's new Album "Guns don't kill people... Lazers Do. " Major Lazer did not disappoint with their debut album. From the moment the album starts with "Hold the Line feat. Mr. Lexx and SantiGold" you get the feeling that you are going to be in for a hell of a ride. With so many great tracks, I am sure will be hearing these these Reggae inspired tracks across the country.



Major Lazer, if you don't know, is a collaboration work between Diplo and Switch. With this project both Switch and Diplo channeled their inner Rastafarian. They both move 180 degree from their electronic backgrounds to create a diverse Reggae-centered album. In Fact they created the perfect soundtrack for the first Jamaican Superhero, Major Lazer. If you like Dance hall, Reggae, Electro, and incredibly bass heavy electronic music; Major Lazer is here to save you.