The Revival of Disco

After the disco backlash of 1979, many people believed that disco as a genre had died. However, Politician Rock put it perfectly, "When disco seemingly died in the 80's, it actually just split itself into two factions; house and hip-hop." Over time, house and hip-hop branched out into rap and pop. Electronica was even born from disco, when in the mid-90's, artists like Moby, Daft Punk, and The Chemical Brothers emerged onto the scene before the term "electronica" even came into use. Slowly but steadily, the pulsing beats, the fuzzy bass, the arena style synthesizers have morphed back into what they once were - disco. As of the moment, bands like Hot Chip, Of Montreal, and Hercules And Love Affair, are freely proclaiming their band's genre as disco, and are not unlike the beats that used to pulse through the night clubs of the mid seventies.

Hot Chip is a british, electropop band formed in 2000. They've made three studio albums so far, their latest being Made In The Dark, and their most popular songs being Ready For The Floor, and the single One Pure Thought. With Alexas Taylor's catchy falsetto and Al Doyle as the guitarist from another electronica band LCD Soundsystem, they can pump out some amazing disco beats. 

Of Montreal is an indie/electronica band based in Athens, Georgia. They emerged onto the electronica scene in the late nineties, and have since been making fresh tunes and great music. Between Kevin Barnes's crazy vocals, and the overall arrangement of their music, they can definitely be considered among today's great, modern disco bands. Their latest album, Skeletal Lamping, has received critical praise as their ninth studio album, and has even been compared to the works of Prince.

Hercules And Love Affair is a New York based musical project started by DJ Andy Butler. Their self-entitled debut album was released in March of this year, and was also critically well-received. They've come out with three singles so far, the most popular one being Blind. Hercules And Love Affair are the only band that I've listed so far to freely proclaim themselves as a disco band. They consider themselves to be a "disco revolution", and certainly are one. With Andy Butler's melodious vocals and the danceable tunes, they definitely have a future in reviving disco.

Of course, the revival of disco will never becoming so great as Saturday Night Fever, but it is certainly occurring, and probably will continue to as long as these bands are around.

Top image of Of Montreal.

New Collective Cover Art

If you haven't noticed by now that the image above almost makes you feel dizzy, take another look. This is the cover for Animal Collective's upcoming album, Merriweather Post Pavilion. Of course, knowing Animal Collective, an illusion on the cover of their eighth studio album isn't much of a shocker. 

Artist of the Week: Blu

In the world of street art, one of the most unknown and yet most talented graffiti artist must be Blu. Based in Bologna, Italy, Blu takes graffiti to a whole new level on the massive scale. His artwork is reminiscent of cartoon doodles, except extremely detailed and usually depicting scenes of barbarity, or characters from Greek mythology. When he first has an idea for a painting, he'll often draw it in his sketch book, but when it comes time to create the actual mural, he'll often improvise something totally new. Most of the time his drawings are so big, that they make it seem as though building he's painted on aren't big enough. Here are some examples of his artwork I found on Blu's blog.

Even though the artwork above is fantastic, I think the best way to show Blu's potential is by showing the amazing animation video he is most renown for - Muto.

This isn't the only video he's made, check out some of Blu's other stuff here.

Music Video Update: Daylight

Matt and Kim are the happy, go-lucky, smiley couple that live together and play music together, and just want you to smile too. This music video basically tells what they're all about, with the smiling, and the music playing, and the living together. I found it to be a pretty much adorable film. Not too sugary, not too sweet, but cute and creative. Plus, there's a high budget flying scene at the end. 

Matt and Kim - Daylight

You can also download the song on the Green Label Sound site.

Banksy at Glastonbury

I found some cool Banksy art at the Glastonbury Music Festival. Every year, people from around the world gather to see great bands ranging from Interpol, to Amy Winehouse. I hope to go there someday, but apparently Banksy already has. The picture below is of a Banksy "sculpture" made of graffitied portable toilets arranged in a circle not unlike that of Stonehenge.

You can check out some more of Banksy at Glastonbury here. 

Kudos to Doublehawk for the tip!

Banjo Or Freakout Covers... Radiohead?

Once again, Banjo or Freakout covers a popular band, and this time it's Radiohead. In my last post on Banjo or Freakout, Alessio made an eerie cover of Kape Cod Kwassa Kwassa. Now, he's covered Radiohead's All I Need. As with most of Banjo or Freakout covers, the song is the same as the original only in lyrics. Otherwise, it's is filled with constant echoes and repeating drum beats, almost hanging on the edge of a different dimension. I'm going to be keeping an eye on Banjo or Freakout from now on. Until the next cover - or possible album - you can download Banjo or Freakout's All I Need cover here.

"P.S. Radiohead fans - don't hate me!" 

 - Alessio

Music Video Update: I'd Engager

Off of the latest Of Montreal album Skeletal Lamping, I'd Engager is a bizarre and diverse song shown perfectly with a bizarre and diverse video, showing some insane cartoon creations coming to life on a drafting table. This vid's not unlike Blu's Muto video, which you can watch here.

Of Montreal - I'd Engager

Marc Ecko Advertising

Marc Ecko is the man behind the Marc Ecko enterprise, Eckō untitled clothing line, Zoo York and more. Although he is most well known for his clothing line, he is also what one could consider an artist. Most just consider him another clothing line not unlike Abercormbie & Fitch. However, a good example of his artistic side is the creative Eckō clothing advertisement shown below. It's purpose is to "promote his roots and love for graffiti". The advertisement is meant to allow people to access the ad via bluetooth, with their cell phones and spray their own digital graffiti with the cursor of their phone. Click on the image below for more detail.

Of Montreal Live at Roseland

Of Montreal did a show on the 10th at Roseland Ballroom, NYC that looks like (through the pictures) either a "wild night out" or a really bad trip. Nonetheless, it's been much appraised and noted mainly, for Kevin Barnes performance has he sang St. Exquisite's Confessions while sitting atop a white horse. After bringing a live animal on stage, everyone lost it, and it was like that for the rest of the show. It wasn't just a concert, but almost a play. Sketches accompanied different songs by skillful actors performing on the side, and in one song, Barnes hung from a noose as he sang. Between costume changes, live animals, nonstop music, and basically complete chaos, the show was possibly the craziest thing since maybe, Woodstock?

The shows finale was of course, unpredictable, just as was the show itself. It included Kevin Barnes being wheeled on stage inside a huge coffin, only to emerge covered in shaving cream. After the song, he said "I want to give you a hug!" and ran offstage to hug the first row. Afterwards, they performed a cover of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, second only to the original.

To watch Of Montreal's cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit, click here.

DJ Shadow Remixes the Gloaming

DJ Shadow did a remix of the fantastic Radiohead song, The Gloaming. However, this isn't like the past remixes I've been posting recently by Radiohead fans. Oh no, this one starts out with George W Bush going into a "holy nuclear wars" tirade. This is something you don't want to miss. Click here to download.

Pic of Thom Yorke riding bike - kudos to Speed of Dark.