The Weekend Energy Preview arrives in a strange new environment, not unlike Valentine Michael Smith... The Front Blog being Mars, of course. Let's talk about this over a glass of water.
Highlights
Yelle - Comme un Enfant (Cut Slack Remix) - Yelle is lovely French absurdity. Her music is obnoxious yet endearing, like a birthday party at a carnival. Nevertheless, she's blown up my track lists since her debut album in 2007, with classics like Ce Jeu, A Cause Des Garcons, and Je Veux Te Voir. Her new album Safari Disco Club featured my favorite of her songs, Que Veux Tu, but another great track: Comme un Enfant. Apparently she had a remix contest for this song, and Cut Slack's version is quite good. The original track sounds much like everything else she's done, but his version gives it an indie/80s wash just lifts up the sheets and let's the fresh air breeze through. You need to see the (very very pink) original video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c-GeBqUgAA
High Contrast - The Agony & Ecstasy feat. Selah Corbin - When I began doing the show, drum and bass was really unfamiliar turf. I was sort of familiar with some industrial music and the work of Squarepusher, Ed Rush, Chase & Status, Pendulum... but I didn't really love any of it. Until Hospital Mix 6 Digital Selection came out with the song Metamorphosis by High Contrast. The new release by High Contrast in the mix tonight will make the hair on your neck stand straight. The Agony & Ecstasy is an absolutely masterful mix of swift drum loops, ambient synths, and gorgeous vocals by Selah Corbin. I've long held the argument that lyrics and music are inconsequential. That most music is sound that's either catchy or not and really nothing more. This song really really challenges my theory. This is something truly special. If the music isn't enough to convince, watch the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E2K3EJ5RTY
The Bloody Beetroots - Church of Noise feat. Dennis Lxyzen (Original Mix) - My impression of The Bloody Beetroots is that they are akin to Dafft Punk in that they can do no wrong. I've been following their music for a while, and have played a few tracks off Romborama, okay Warp 1.9 and Stomp Yo Shoes are deccent electro bangers, but they just sound unrefined and unsophisticated amidst great artists springing out of obscurity each week. Case in point, new music by Schoolboy starts the mix tonight, huge electro sounds, much more complex. So I've got The Bloody Beetroot's new single in the mix tonight because sometimes it's good to let loose and throwdown, which is exactly what Church of Noise sounds like, complete with antiquated scream-rock, which, for some reason brings me back to the good ol' days. Attend a massive mass in the official video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3QwEVi1IqU&ob=av2n
DAT Politics - Bad Dream Machine - I'm not really sure what this group has been up to lately. Oh, according to Facebook they're touring a bit. They really don't need to do anything new, though, because their 2008 album Mad Kit is about as good as it gets. This is indie dance chip tune at its best. Freak Me Out is nuts, Own Thing rocks, and Bad Dream Machine is the radio-friendly masterwork. The rest of the album is sort of a combination of those first songs. Bad Dream Machine closes out the mix tonight, as it's done before and will do again. DAT Politics is pure delight.
Almost Made It
Downlink
Dubstep, DnB artist Downlink has a string of new releases out on Rottun Recordings.One of them is called Triphekta and it almost made the mix this week, but I went with some music by Figure and Knife Party instead. Downlink keeps thing simple and dissonant but hardly clean. Triphekta elegantly combines dubstep, drumstep and drum'n'bass into a song both subtle and rip-roaring at the same time. Check out his other new-ish songs Party Alarm and Pistons with Calvertron.
Second Hour Rewind
The second hour rewind is the previous week’s first hour. Hear music by Basement Freaks, Make The Girl Dance, Monarchy, Datsik, Digikid84, Polarsets, Bad Politics, Above & Beyond, and more! Last week, one of my co-workers from the news room brought up Above & Beyond by the coffee maker (aka, my second office). He said he enjoys working out to Anjunabeats, which is a compilation series produced by Above & Beyond. He has excellent taste. I'm not a huge fan of trance, but without fail, I find great music on Anjunabeats and Armin Van Buuren's A State of Trance. Secret source revealed. The Seven Lions remix of Above & Beyond's You Got To Go is in the mix this week and it's a very satisfying combination of Trance and Dubstep... two very difficult genres to find good music from and yet it lives harmoniously in the form of this song. The original video for this song is quite good, too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfdXbJptvos
"Crank up your stereo, bust out the strobe light and kick up the bass.”
Weekend Energy has been blowing out car stereo systems, upsetting the neighbors and enhancing the night life of western Kentucky every weekend since July 2007 on WKMS. Host Matt “McG” Markgraf pours through hundreds of songs each week to create “the loudest show on public radio” featuring the best techno, dance and electronica from around the world. Weekend Energy airs Saturdays on 91.3 WKMS from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Stream it live on wkms.org Saturday nights.
