News From Röyksopp.

Norwegian duo and perennial Second Drawer Up favourites Röyksopp have, a few months after the stealthy release of their fourth studio album Senior, finally announced their dates for the United States and Canada on their 2011 tour. And here they are:

Friday 18th March : Toronto, The Guvernment

Saturday 19th March : Montréal, Club Soda

Monday 21st March : New York City, Webster Hall

Wednesday 23rd March : Washington, DC, 9:30 Club

Thursday 24th March : Atlanta, Masquerade

Friday 25th March : Miami, Ultra Music Festival

So there you have it! True, it doesn't seem to be much of a stay in North America (and they're not visiting San Francisco??? Crazy!), but you know how these things work -- at some point they'll add dates, and (almost) everybody will be happy. I recommend visiting their site often and checking out the news ... things do change. Before I sign off on this lovely Friday morning, I'd like to ask you guys: Have you heard Senior yet? I'm listening to it right now, and it's a lovely, lovely piece of electronic work. When Torbjörn Brundtland and Svein Berge announced the followup to 2009's exuberant Junior, they stated that whilst Junior had an "emphasis on vocals, accessible melodies, and harmonies," Senior, they promised, would be the "introverted, dwelling, and sometimes graceful counterpart." 

And how! Flowing nearly seamlessly over nine tracks and 48 minutes, this entirely instrumental work shines with a languid and chill-out beauty. Hypnotic, meandering, and in no hurry, Senior would make a fantastic soundtrack to an imaginary sci-fi spaghetti Western film with lots of dramatic silences and speculative ennui. Think of the best work of Angelo Badalamenti and Ennio Morricone (especially on the aptly titled "Forsaken Cowboy") run through a trance-y filter of smooth and haltingly gorgeous synths, and you might be close. This record is one for a nice night in -- light some candles, pour some champagne, snuggle up with that special someone on a sofa and gaze deep in their eyes ... yeah, you get the picture. I'd like to play for you now a special track off of Senior. Here is "The Drug."

röyksopp

"the drug"

senior

A 7 1/2 Hour Train Journey Through Norway, With DJs!

a tip of the hat to io9.com!

When it comes to traveling, there are fewer better options for us here at Second Drawer Up HQ than the train. Comfortable, hypnotic, great views, a decent bar car, and the soothing soundtrack of the rails trundling past, all whilst inclined in a nice seat, stockinged feet crossed in front of you, and iPod earbuds perched in your ears providing whatever soundtrack you desire. I've been in a lot of trains over the years, but have never been on the Bergen Line that traverses the Norwegian countryside. It sounds lovely, and now, thanks to the creators of a documentary called Bergensbanen, I can now experience it secondhand. Add to that the addition of 7 and a half hours of DJ music, invited by the filmmakers to provide the soundtrack to the entirety of the train's route, and you've got something very, very special indeed. Featured on Norway's NRK2 channel, it was watched by over one million people when it aired Friday, 27 November of last year. Needless to say, I thought I'd share all 13 parts of the video with you, my very, very special readers! Chill out, put these babies on full-screen, and crank the volume up as loud as you can. Sit back (or dance your ass off, or throw a party while you're at it), and check this shit out. It's fucking amazing.

Just Feel Like Some Kylie.

While I won't go so far as to call Kylie Minogue a guilty pleasure or anything that resembles in part a back-handed complement (really, what is a "guilty pleasure" anyway? If it makes you feel good, then just go out and fucking enjoy it without feeling guilty, already), I've got to admit that as far as music that's just flat-out fun goes, you really can't go wrong with Kylie. The pint-sized pop star is the perfect package for tunes that you really can't listen to without sporting a grin on your face. Her songs are catchy, perky, classy, cheerful, and are chockfull of an absolutely hummable energy -- it will get your ass out on the dance floor in a quick, and get you moving!


Last year, I had the opportunity to catch this glimmering princess on her first ever tour of the United States at the stately Fox Theatre in Oakland with my friends Lynn, Kimon, Andrei, and Summer. Imagine my surprise at the very beginning of the show when Kylie, descending on the stage perched on a gigantic mirrored skull, was accompanied by the ethereal countdown of my favourite Kylie track of all time, "Light Years" -- "Ten, nine, eight, seven ..." -- and the crowd went absolutely fucking apeshit. And for good reason. There's everything to love about this Australian chanteuse, and I will never forget the vibe in that theatre last year whilst Kylie and her dancers cavorted on stage in a flurry of fuzzy lasers, amazing technological effects, and a stage design that the handlers of wannabes such as Lady Gaga and Madonna can only dream of. And she's beautiful, on top of all that.


She's Kylie. And she's awesome.


Here she is in 2002 during her Fever2002 Tour in Melbourne, Australia. Nice splice of "Light Years" and "I Feel Love," that's for sure. Enjoy!

Gothic Masterpieces: Clan of Xymox.

Ah, Clan of Xymox. I've been listening to a lot of them today - it's rainier than fuck here in Melbourne at the moment, and damned if I'm going to head out into it ... unless I absolutely have to. Clan of Xymox's music is, for want of a better word, absolutely perfect for the occasional cold and rainy day - so this rainy-ass Derby Day seems to be a perfect opportunity to reflect on their 1985 self-titled debut Clan of Xymox!


Based out of Amsterdam and signed to the prestigious London label 4AD (home to such stalwarts as Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, and The Pixies), Clan of Xymox made an immediate impression on the electronic scene with their sweepingly hypnotic melodies that were firmly moored with a sophisticated sheen of guitars. What is it exactly that defines this record? Maybe it is the soaring je ne sais quoi of "No Words," with its delicate acoustic instrumentation hovering lovingly over Ronny Mooring's (who writes and records all of the songs himself) despondent lyrics: "No words to explain, no words in my mouth / No words in my mind / But the gesture said it all / And the words refined it all"? Perhaps it boils down to the grandiosity and pulsing power of the largely instrumental (and a guaranteed floor-filler at finer dance clubs) "Stranger"? Or is it the strange and glossy nonsense of the galloping bonus track "Muscovite Mosquito," overlaid with a distinctly brooding bass? Who knows? Hell, what is a Muscovite Mosquito, anyway? I don't know -- but it fucking rocks. Luckily, Clan of Xymox is still with us after all these years, and their new album Hidden Faces will be released on the 9th of November. Can't wait -- I'll be sure to review it and let you all know what I think!


But for now I think I'm going to continue to sit at my desk with my bottle of Cooper's Green and listen to some more COX. Let me let you in on what it is I'm listening to on this rainy, rainy day.

clan of xymox

"stranger"

clan of xymox

clan of xymox

"a day"

clan of xymox

clan of xymox

"muscovite mosquito"

clan of xymox

Wax Trax!: Ministry.

Somewhere between the hardcore and aggressive metal-infused industrial music Ministry became known for -- "N.W.O.," "Just One Fix," "Stigmata," and "Reload" are some of the tracks that come immediately to mind -- and the 1983 new wave oddity With Sympathy, which featured longtime provocateur and leader Al Jourgensen singing melodic pop songs with a feigned English accent (Ministry sprouted from Chicago, IL), they released a total of four 12" singles on the Wax Trax! label. Of these four, one of them spawned what would become, arguably, Ministry's most popular and well-known songs. I'm speaking, of course, of the single for "All Day" (WAX 007) -- the B-Side was "(Everyday) Is Halloween." I'm sure you've heard of it? Whilst Jourgensen despised With Sympathy (he famously referred to it as "an abortion of an album"), "All Day" was included in Ministry's 1986 followup, Twitch, which gave listeners a hint in what direction Jourgensen (along with new partner Paul Barker) would follow with 1988's The Land Of Rape And Honey.


But let's focus on "(Everyday Is) Halloween," shall we? Who can forget the intro and its steady drumbeat and drone-y synth, with those "bop ... bopbop's" in the background as Jourgensen (still in faux-English accent mode) sings, "Well I live with snakes and lizards and other things that go bump in the night"? I can't. It's admittedly a rather simple song -- existing in a realm between the banal and the extreme -- but you gotta admit, it's pretty fucking catchy. No Halloween celebration would be complete without this track being on the playlist; and we have Wax Trax! to thank for that. Happy Halloween from your friends at Second Drawer Up -- for those about to dress up, we salute you.

ministry

"(everyday is) halloween"

all day / (everyday is) halloween 12"

Electro Classic Jukebox: Skinny Puppy.

Well! I had so much fun revisiting the EBM stylings of Front Line Assembly, I felt I had to make a return trip for the sole purpose of bearing homage to fellow Vancouverites Skinny Puppy. Formed as an experimental side project by cEvin Key whilst he was in a new wave band called Images In Vogue in 1982, it became a full-time project when he became disillusioned with his band's music - and when Nivek Ogre came on board as vocalist. After the initial release of a cassette demo Back and Forth in 1984, they signed to Canadian label Nettwerk and put out (in the same year!) their debut EP Remission - which let the world know they were a force to be reckoned with. And *poof!* just like that, Skinny Puppy (widely is believed to) had given messy birth to a new genre - electronic industrialism. And bully for them - 26 years later Skinny Puppy is still churning on, delivering shockingly disturbing metal-based electronic horror that has the power after all these years to still blanche the spirit. I think one aspect of Mssrs. Key and Ogre's brainchild that gives it its oomph is that they have consistently wore their severed, blood-spattered hearts on their sleeves; they have a lot of energy and, if you've ever seen their videos or have gone to one of their shows, they proudly debase the whole meaning of where their vicious style of electro-industrial ends and where death metal begins to seep into the works like a dripping, infected wound. Blood spatters. Horrible images of death, decay, and torture are emblazoned on giant screens. Self-mutilation. Evil iconography. Lyrics about murder, animal experimentation, politics, genocide, mutants, and villainy. Aggressive music that flies in one's face, challenging. So I got to thinking: with Halloween a scant four days away, I'd share some of my favorite Skinny Puppy tracks with you today. Enjoy!

Here, from their 1984 debut Remissions, is "Smothered Hope." I think this was the first song of theirs I heard. I think Ogre's distorted vocals and the nearly poetic stream-of-consciousness lyrics sound fucking fantastic together.

skinny puppy

"smothered hope"

remissions ep

From 1986's Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse, here's "Dig It." When Ogre and friends chant "Dig it! Dig it! Execute economic slave!", I have to admit, I bang my head a little. Such anger in this track.

skinny puppy

"dig it"

mind: the perpetual intercourse

From Vivisect VI, released in 1988, here's an epically disturbing and horrific track about animal testing and torture called "Testure." WARNING: INCREDIBLY DISTURBING VIDEO. I've always been curious as to where the opening sample comes from: "I hope you make sure we're properly dead before you start, old rip beak!" Freaky shit.  UPDATE: Have located source of the above sample. It is taken from the 1982 animated film Plague Dogs, a super-depressing adaptation of Richard Adams' (Watership Down) novel of the same name. The entire quote, from dear, hyper-active Snitter - speaking to his fellow escapee Rowf: "Have you ever thought, Rowf ... that we won't need food when we're dead? Or names for that matter. I wonder who the buzzards will like best, you or me ... I hope you make sure we're properly dead before you start, old rip beak!" This film will make you weep.

skinny puppy

"testure"

vivisect vi

Last, but most certainly not least, from 1985's Bites, is what is probably Skinny Puppy's "danciest" single, "Assimilate." I certainly know it was very popular at The Church and other gothic clubs I frequented in the early '90s. As a treat, here it is being performed live! Check out the visuals that would accompany them on tour. Disturbing, but not as disturbing as "Testure," that's for damn sure.

skinny puppy

"assimilate"

bites

Wax Trax!: A Split - Second.

Wax Trax! Week (but is it really a week? Let's not cage it to a specific time period, shall we?) continues, and it's back to Belgium as we check in on A Split - Second, who recorded two albums with our favorite Chicago-based (and extinct) dance label: 1988's A Split - Second (WAX 50) and ... From The Inside (WAX 062), and 1989's The Colosseum Crash. 


Marc Ickx and Peter Bonne (who recorded under the nom de stage Chrismar Chayell) bring back some fond memories of clubland in the late 80's and early 90's with their aggressive yet still glossy form of electronic body music (which the Belgians are certainly quite good at - in fact, I think they invented that particular genre of music, truth be told). I remember way back in 1989, when I'd sneak out of my house (even under grounding!) and be picked up a block away by my friend and his old beat-up Volkswagen Bug to be taken to a roaming club known as Club X. Needless to say, a good sized chunk of the Wax Trax! collective were played on those freewheeling evenings (even having the occasional beer, feeling quite rebellious!), and A Split - Second was no exception.


Such precision with their heavy beats and practically pushy synths! Very polished, but still sporting an aggro attitude that got sweaty flesh out on that dirty wooden dancefloor and fucking moving. Hell, I feel like dancing right now! Anyway, here's a remix of "Flesh" that I found (from A Split - Second's 1991 Flesh Remixes EP) - the official video seems to have been cut quite short ... like, only two and a half minutes long!

a split - second

"flesh"

a split - second ep

 

And, I'd also like to play for you today their remix of "The Colosseum Crash," which was the last single released by them on the venerable Wax Trax! Label. In 1991, Peter Bonne began a side-project called Wasteland and, finding it to be more artistically pleasurable than A Split Second, called it quits on Mr Ickx - who now helms A Split - Second as a solo project. But for those halcyon days of 1988-1991, when A Split - Second was under the Wax Trax! banner; oh, how brightly they shone! Here's "The Colosseum Crash." Enjoy, my good friends, and keep dancing!

a split - second

"the colosseum crash"

the colosseum crash ep

Update: Ladytron.

photo: philebrity.com

If you're anything like us over here at Second Drawer Up HQ, you're probably wondering to yourself, Boy, Ladytron's been kind of quiet ever since their tour for Velocifero - I wonder what they're up to?

Well, don't wonder anymore. Happily, Ladytron has spent June of this year in the studio recording their new album, and they're currently in the studio mixing the final result. What's the album called? I have no idea at this time. When's it coming out? Nup, no idea. Is there going to be a first single? You're in luck, mate - I do have an answer for that particular query. The single is going to be entitled "Ace Of Hz," and it has a release date of 30 November, 2010. So that's certainly good news! Can't wait that long and have a passion for playing soccer on your favorite video game platform? Then you're especially in luck, for EA Sports' just-out FIFA '11 features the new single in its soundtrack!

I've been listening to "Ace Of Hz" for the last few hours, and it's really growing on me! I truly think it follows perfectly in the trajectory of sound that Ladytron have cultivated for the last decade. First, there was 2001's 604, which specialized in lo-fi chirpiness; a sense of brooding introspection over fairly light-hearted rhythms. Light & Magic from 2002 followed shortly afterward, and the songs, while more polished and epic in substance, added a bit more danceability to the recipe. In 2005, when they released The Witching Hour, Mira's and Helen's (le sigh) voices developed into an ethereal force to be reckoned with, whilst the music began to swing in a more organic, earthy direction. 2008's Velocifero, their most recent full-length, took the "organic" baton and ran with it, becoming a record that pretty much flat-out rocked.

So when I listen to "Ace Of Hz," I think I can say without fear of self-contradiction that the new album is going to be terrific. The synths sound beautiful - delicate yet forceful - and Helen's voice is as pining as ever, with Mira's voice floating like chanting storm clouds in the background. There's a brilliant beat to the whole proceeding, and I think it's going to be a highlight of their live shows. I think it's "Ace."

But don't take my word for it! Here it is for your own judgement.

ladytron

"ace of hz"

tba

UPDATE: Here's an update to the update! "Ace of Hz" will be released officially on the 30th of November. So now you know. And knowing's half the battle.

Wax Trax!: Front 242.

Taking their name from a United Nations resolution asking (not very successfully, I must say) Israel to withdraw from the Palestine territories, Aschott, Belgium-based industrial juggernaut Front 242 pushed the boundaries of the electronic scene of the early 80's with a phenomenal output of such luminous LPs such as Geography (1982), No Comment (1984), Official Version (1987), and what was to be their biggest seller of all, Front By Front (1988). They were also amongst the first bands to have been signed to Wax Trax! Records, an independent label based out of Chicago, IL. 

Wax Trax!, which began its life as a small record shop in Denver, Colorado before moving to its location at 2449 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614, began to make the transition from shop to label with the release of Ministry's Cold Play 12" (WAX 003) and the licensing of Front 242's Endless Riddance EP (WAX 004) - becoming, in short order, the United States' leading source of intriguing and innovative industrial and electronic music. Bands such as My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Revolting Cocks, 1000 Homo DJ's, PIG, KMFDM, Front Line Assembly, and Laibach joined the party, and a good time was had by all.

Sadly, Wax Trax! had to file for bankruptcy protection in 1992, and was subsequently purchased by New York-based label TVT Records. The two founders of Wax Trax!, Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, are both deceased now, as well - Nash from AIDS-related causes in 1995, and Flesher from pneumonia in January of this year, 2010.

So for the next few days, I will be devoting this blog to musicians, acts, singles, and concert performances from that venerable purveyor of delectable music, the one and only Wax Trax! Records! Enjoy.

I will begin with Front 242. I raise a glass of the finest Belgian beer in your general directions, Jean-Luc De Meyer, Daniel Bressanutti, Patrick Codenys, and Richard 23. Thank you for your contributions to the world of electronic music!

front 242

"masterhit parts 1 + 2"

official version

Look Around You!

Look around you. Look around you. Just look around you.

Have you worked out what it is you're looking for? Yes, that's correct. Because, if you're anything like me, you're at your wit's end trying to figure out exactly how the pop record charting system is compiled. It seems to be a quite complicated process; much too complicated for the likes of you and I, and our simple brains.

Luckily for us, the clever folks at Look Around You, quite possibly one of the most ingenious comedies on the telly today, were on the case - and have put out this Special Report that documents, in fastidious detail, the inner workings of the Royal Pop and Rock Association (or ROPRA) and how, after the Post Office Tower fiasco of last year, they've fixed the problem with the pneumatic tubes.

I'll let Sir Alan Rees do the talking here. Enjoy.

SHOES.

These shoes rule! These shoes suck! These shoes rule! These shoes suck!

Shoes. Shoes. Shoes.

My God, do I have to say anything else? Enjoy this video, "Shoes," from Liam Kyle Sullivan and think to yourself, Do these shoes rule? Or do these shoes suck? Like, OMG!

Video Premier: The Polyamorous Affair.

It is with great pleasure today that I announce the premier of the new video from The Polyamorous Affair's third, most excellent album Strange Bedfellows. Eddie and Sissy Chacon (how cute - I love duos with romantic leanings), originally hailing from sunny LA, California, are now residing in Berlin, Germany -- and this new video for the single "Softer And Softer" certainly brings to mind a certain European sensibility. Filmed in scrumptious black and white by director Nuka Wølk Mathiasson in (I'm totally guessing) Berlin itself, this bizarre and vaguely disturbing (but not enough so to warrant a feature on Video Disturbeo) "mini-movie" comes across as a creepy snuff film as poor Eddie is harassed, beaten, kidnapped, and brutally manhandled by the lovely Sissy, who's done up in Droog fashion and wielding a big stick. The song itself has a lovely, measured beat and lilting, delicate synths hovering gently over Sissy's whispered vocals about an "innocent baby wallaby." Enjoy the picture, and proceed to your favorite purveyor of music and get yourself some TPA stuff. All three albums - The Polyamorous Affair, Bolshevik Disco, and Strange Bedfellows - are fantastic.

Gig Review: Nitzer Ebb.

NITZER EBB

26 SEPTEMBER 2010

FOLSOM STREET FAIR

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

Do you pronounce it NIT-zer Ebb? Or NIGHT-zer Ebb? Doesn't matter, my good friends. Both are correct - just depends on the moment, really. The band says it both ways, and, by my reckoning, so should you.

On a spectacularly hot and (quite rare this year) sunny afternoon this last Sunday, Essex-based trio Nitzer Ebb was the headlining band for San Francisco's favourite BDSM festival, the one and only Folsom Street Fair. And what a day it was! A couple of friends of mine and I traversed Folsom from 12th Street to 8th, taking in the sights and sounds of a veritable shitload of gays, straights, lesbians, bears, leather daddies, tourists, locals, nudists, tops, bottoms, upsidedowns, slaves, owners, twinks, doms, trannies, transvestites, latex babes, and piercing affectionadoes (wow, could have sworn that was a word - but I like it, so I'm going to keep it) wandering around the streets and alleys of the SOMA district of downtown San Francisco ... and keeping it real, in a big fucking way.

And it was all good. We had a lovely time. Pretty much everybody under this great Sun of ours was represented, at least in some form or other. I quite like an atmosphere where everybody can be themselves, unmasked, around other like-minded folk, and in the process, everybody gets along. Isn't that the point of life? Getting along? That's what I think - but it's fucking appalling to me how many people out there just don't get it.

Where was I again? Oh yeah - Nitzer Ebb!

I'm not sure as to what exactly happened, but there seemed to have been some kind of a technical glitch that occured, so their set was delayed for 20 minutes. Which was a pretty hard-core fuckup on the part of the stage technicians, considering that all music had to cease and desist by 6 PM. This was especially bad in Nitzer Ebb's case, seeing as their set was supposed to begin at 5.05. Not good, not at all. Sure, we had San Francisco's own District 6 supervisor candidate Anna Conda (check out her site here) acting as a mildly amusing MC (think Guy Pierce in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - but not as cute), but I think the crowd was beginning to get a little restless. A hunched-over and naked old man to the right of us began to furtively masturbate, whilst a man wearing a goat mask backwards loomed nearby.

5.25 PM, and success! Nitzer Ebb - singer Douglas McCarthy and drummers Bon Harris and Jason Payne - took to the stage and wasted absolutely no time in breaking into their first number, "Getting Closer" from their 1990 album Showtime. Damn, their music packs such a punch! Think of a tractor-trailer painted the pitchest of black hurtling down an inclined interstate with absolutely no brakes, and you have there an idea of the beats being thrown out at the audience whilst McCarthy prowled the stage right to left and back again like a caged panther in militaristic garb, barking his lyrics as if they were orders to disgraceful subordinates. "I know what you buy / And it's wall to wall! / I know what you buy / I'm not gonna - TRY!"

Absolutely brilliant - the crowd (including our masturbating geriatric) was bouncing around like crazy, enthralled with the charisma flowing from the stage like magma. McCarthy, Harris, and Payne threw out as many songs as they could with their unfortunately truncated set; 1987's That Total Age, 1989's Belief, 1990's Showtime, and 1991's Ebbhead were represented in all their electro-industrial glory - as were a couple of songs from their first album in almost two decades, this year's Industrial Complex. "Down On Your Knees" was a glorious and ingeniously ferocious nod to their early pre-That Total Age days, and "Once You Say" (backing vocals on the album provided by Martin Gore of Depeche Mode!) fucking rocked, complete with hardcore thrashing guitars that brought to mind Motörhead.

But here's where I might get a little critical. Now, I don't mind backing tapes all that much. If you're specifically an electronic band in a particularly demanding setting, then backing tapes are probably a must. This was an outdoor festival under a non-elastic schedule, so I'm not griping about the fact that it was rather obvious that, for all the flailing of drumsticks that Harris and Payne did, not once did their beating sync with what we heard (but maybe the beating-off of our old buddy) - but it was very noticeable. I've seen Nitzer Ebb a couple of times before, and they do perform the percussion live under different circumstances - but, yeah, it was hard to ignore.

However, as my friend Michael so sagely put it later, McCarthy's charisma (and his reflective policeman shades) quite literally carried the show - or what was left of it after the 25-minute delay. Enough about that; I think there's something more important to say.

One of the major themes swimming about in Nitzer Ebb's songs has always been about empowerment. Back in the mid-to-late 80's, that empowerment was being preached to the young - "Forget all that you're told / You are young, they are old / Control is all they've got to give" from Showtime's "Fun To Be Had" (which probably was going to be on the set, but wasn't for obvious reasons) is a great example. But there, on the baking asphalt of downtown San Francisco that sunny Sunday afternoon, the lyrics took on a different power - especially with a group of people who had grown up (probably in high school, no less) with their music. No, this time I reckon the empowerment Nitzer Ebb's music conveyed had less to do with authority, per se, but with the fucking dimwitted bigots and haters who would love nothing more than to see beautiful street parties like this outlawed, once and for all.

And I think that's a message that carries on, and it's a fucking great thing indeed. Goddamn, I love music.

setlist

getting closer

down on your knees

shame

hearts & minds

once you say

lightning man

godhead

murderous

And now, for your amusement, here's McCarthy and friends with the rather dark and menacing track "Lightning Man" from Showtime. Enjoy!

Video Disturbeo: Simian Mobile Disco.

picture: routenote.com

Hailing from Londontown in Dear Old Blighty, Simian Mobile Disco are James Ford and Jas Shaw, two supremely talented and unpredictable DJs and producers who have worked with a great many awesome bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Peaches, Air, and Klaxons. Ford and Shaw, who previously were in a four-piece band called Simian, came to prominence as a trés popular DJ duo who eventually began to write, record, and perform their own compositions. In 2007, they released their debut album Attack Decay Sustain Release, and, in doing so, became a force to be reckoned with.

A potent mix of hardcore analog and seriously thumping beats that veer wildly back and forth from acid-house to progressive techno, tracks such as "Tits And Acid," "Hustler," and "Hotdog" are supremely blissful affairs that affably dovetail with a bristling undergrowth of subtle darkness, sustaining throughout a detectable aroma of danger.

For today's entry in the "Video Disturbeo" pantheon, I'd like to share with you the video for "Hustler." With deliciously saucy and defiant vocals by New York City singer Char Johnson, this track has it all: Witty lyrics, throbbing bass lines, fluctuating chirps bleeps bloops, and some seriously wicked beats. The video starts off rather scintillatingly, with supermodels striking poses on a revolving stage whilst lip-synching the words. And then we begin to see plates of food on a spinning dais, such as french fries, hotdogs, and donuts. And then the models begin to eat. It's a veritable orgy of suggestive eating (NSFW, in case you were wondering), and then things suddenly get ... ugly. Very ugly. Watch for yourself - this is a pretty fucking disturbing video.

Happy Hump Day!

picture: bonobos.com

Well hello there, people. It's Wednesday, which means that it's officially Hump Day. Yep, we're officially past the half-way mark to the next weekend - so bully for us! We here at the Second Drawer Up corral would like to take a moment to celebrate this ridiculously named moment in time and honor it the only way we really know how - with electronic music, of course! And look - we brought some sexy! Get it? Hump; sex? Haha, we're clever little bonobos, and on this day of the Norse god Odin (also known as Woden or Woten), we're going to share with you a couple of songs you may or may not be aware of that have to do with ... you guessed it, sex.

Roll that beautiful sex footage!

First up in our day's roster is an interesting little piece called "People Are Still Having Sex," by LaTour. Recorded in 1991 by William "Bud" LaTour, a successful voice-over actor, electronica artist and parody musician from Lowell, Massachusetts, this clever and rather catchy number was essentially a call for sanity during a period of time where AIDS was being used as a political tool by conservative fuckwits who wanted to press an agenda of abstinence (sound familiar?). The message then was the same as it is now: Abstinence education doesn't work, people. But the song? Pretty damn clever. Favorite spoken-word lyric: "When you see them holding hands, they're making future plans to engage in the activity - do you understand?" And here it is:

Second on our scintillating list is "Mystery Babylon" from My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult. Taken from the Chicago, Illinois industrial collective's 1991 album Sexplosion!, this is a sprawling and deviously subversive piece, with its lilting jazzy piano, horns, and a distinctive Zydeco-influenced vest frottoir running throughout whilst a singsong-y chorus with breathy female voices goes on about sexual providence and passion. The song is interwoven with a running spoken conversation between a horny john and a couple of hookers. Best exchange: "What goes for ten dollars?" "Well, whaddaya want for ten dollars?" "I want something different, I want something special." "Ah no, honey, not for ten bucks."

Last and thirdly on our triptych of hanky panky is a song that just about every human being on the planet has probably heard at least once - but man, what a great freaking song it is. I'm speaking, of course, of "Strangelove" by the one and only Depeche Mode. Martin Gore's synth anthem to BDSM after spending a huge amount of time in Berlin's leather clubs and bars is just as cheeky, playful, and brilliant now as it was back in 1987 when it was released as the first single of their monumental album Music For The Masses. Sadly, WMG are being fucking pricks and have disabled embedding on all their videos (the kick-ass Anton Corbijn version is what I would have liked to have shown you, but oh well), so here's Dave, Martin, Andrew, and Alan "performing" "Strangelove" on a German television show in 1987. Enjoy!

So there you have it, pleasant and loyal readers. Happy Hump Day - and may all your ups and downs take place in your bed of choice. Ciao!

Electro Classic Jukebox: Peter Schilling.

Hello, everybody. Happy Tuesday to you and yours! Today I thought I'd share with you all an absolutely fantastic gem from 1982 that's been popping up on my playlist lately - and it's a track that I just can't get enough of. I'm speaking, of course, of "Major Tom (Coming Home)" - or "Major Tom (Völlig Iosgelöst)", meaning "totally disconnected" in its native German - by the Stuttgart, Germany-based 80's synth-wizard Peter Schilling.

Taking David Bowie's 1969 masterpiece "Space Oddity" as its inspiration, "Major Tom (Coming Home)" takes a stab at describing the experiences of Major Tom as he launches into the great void above and loses contact with Ground Control. "Tell my wife I love her very much, she knows," Bowie crooned toward the end. What Schilling wanted to do with "Major Tom" was to tell the story from Major Tom's point of view - what was happening to him after his last transmission?

Far beneath the ship

The world is mourning

They don't realize he's alive

No one understands but Major Tom sees

"Now the light commands

This is my home,

I'm coming home,"

the lyrics go. It packs an emotional punch - there's a lovely melancholic sensibility going on here, and I find it absolutely irresistible. The song was originally sung in German (which is the version I'm currently listening to), but was rerecorded in English as the single, like Major Tom himself, launched into the stratosphere. It was also to be, alas, Herr Schilling's one and only hit.

But what a hit it was! Here's the English version:



... And here's the 12" version, with fantastic Japanese anime images put together by intoantics. It's pretty spectacular, so I recommend watching this one on a large screen.

Patience, My Lovelies. And IAMX.

Hello from your faithful friends at Second Drawer Up! Well, I really can't say "faithful" in the truest of senses - I've been a little bit slow on the draw as to putting new enticing entries, reviews, and general bric-a-brac up on this site. My apologies!

I've just been incredibly busy as of late. My London gal is moving back to her native Australia, and is coasting through the grand city of San Francisco (my environs) on her way there. And then, once she's back on her native shores, I (and this site) will be moving Down Under, towards the beginning of October. So that's exciting!

So, don't worry (if, indeed, you ever were worrying)! There will be more material coming up this very week. Expect an in-depth look back at a-ha's seminal album Hunting High And Low, a review of Stereo Total's September show at Slim's, a review of the new OMD album History Of Modern, and other mouth-watering morsels, including a new installment of Video Disturbeo.

Thanks again for your patience. Please come visit, and visit often (and tell all your friends!).

For now, here's a song from an act that's been playing on my stereo quite a bit over the last few days: Berlin's own IAMX, a long-running project from Chris Corner, formally from the band Sneaker Pimps. In my own reckoning, I like to think of him as the morbid offspring of Marc Almond, Frank Tovey (Fad Gadget), and Steve Strange of Visage. I will be writing more about him in the very near future - providing any of you are still reading this very lazy blog! Cheers, my friends - be well, and talk to you all soon!

From the 2004 album Kiss + Swallow, here is "Missile." Absolutely fantastic track.