The 10 Best Things I Heard This Year

#10 The 2 Bears - Bear Hug



#9 Fuck Buttons during the opening ceremony; a genuinely gob-smacking moment.

#8 Night Works - I Tried So Hard



#7 Kiki Gyan - Disco Train



Can someone explain to me how this wasn't a massive hit way back when?

#6 Romy - Home [mp3]



#5 Slow Club - Two Cousins



#4 Julio Bashmore - Au Seve



#3 Todd Terje - Inspector Norse



#2 Breakbot - By Your Side Pt1 + 2



Well worth knocking iTunes off shuffle and letting them flow together.

#1 James Pants Boiler Room Mix



I may have heard this first at the arse end of 2011, but I can only really remember it from this autumn and it has been on heavy rotation at work ever since. Bonkers and brilliant.

Related Shiznit: The 10 Best Things I Heard This Year (2011), Top 10 Tracks Of 2010, The 10 Best Things I Heard This Year (2009) 

Slugabed Didn't Ruin It

I talked in a previous post about how a few tracks fell by the wayside when putting together Xmas Mix 2012, but one track that was a very late addition was Slugabed's deconstruction of Wham's Last Christmas. And I don't think I'll regret it when I incessantly post about it in roughly 11 months time (though I already wish I extended the Busta Rhymes sample).

I picked up on the Wham remix after FACT ambiguously posted about it yet a quick watch of this sweet video shows he's worth investigating further.



P.S. That "Swag" sample is from this Dr Buckles' favourite, no?

Getting Pumped On Boxing Day

Basically, Chilly Gonzales strips back Daft Punk's Rollin' & Scratchin', covers it in some of his twinkly piano magic and plops a Rocky sample on top of it (the big speech to the son from the last movie).

I think we know by now that I would post things based solely on a pun... it's Boxing Day FFS... but I'm also posting this because I'll be using it tomorrow; yeah I still use music to get pumped up before 5-a-side and I'll need it even more tomorrow as it's an 11-a-side game. I may die.


[Right-click and "Download Document" for an mp3 of Chilly Gonzales's Piano Rework of Daft Punk's Rollin' & Scratchin']

Twin Peaks @ Christmas

I don't know what Christmas traditions you have but Plus One Loo has Christmas Eve presents and my family do tree presents (titchy tat that is put on the tree and is to be opened around dinner time).

I got Loo a LMFAO tote bag (she is literally shuffling everyday) for the tree but for Christmas Eve it was the soundtrack of David Lynch's epic TV murder mystery, Twin Peaks.


If you haven't seen it then I recommend you fire up Netflix, because I can't do it justice in a mere paragraph or two. For those who are already fans here's an mp3 of the full Twin Peaks theme music. That's right, I've already nabbed and ripped it. What a great boyfriend, huh?


[Right-click and "Download Document" for an mp3 of Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks Theme]

Oh and as a little Twin Peaks Christmas bonus...

Xmas Mix 2012: The Offcuts

Despite the appearance of it being randomly thrown together and seeing what sticks, I went through a lot of tracks for my Xmas Mix 2012. They were all pretty good (naturally) but just didn't seem to fit in with the hip-hop/weird shit flow, but I feel that I should post some of them anyway... though I'll be holding a few back for next year's mix.

In my first rough mix, these two were wedged in early but Plus One Loo rightly said they didn't sit right. With a long spoken word intro and being slightly less than bangin' when it kicks in, The Walkmen's Christmas Party is still a great track and worthy of a quick listen...



The other track to fall at the last hurdle was The Sonics' Don't Believe In Christmas. This is nothing to do with the track itself; it would've slotted nicely alongside Julian Casablancas' I Wish It Was Christmas Today, but the mp3 I had of it was too quiet and despite playing around with compression and whatnot, I couldn't get it to sound right. Next year then, maybe.



Haim's The Chanukah Song was nowhere near being in the mix, as it's, well, not really about Christmas but it is seasonal I suppose.



Unlike Gucci Mane's North Pole but that almost made it in... maybe I'm secretly anti-Semitic?



Nah, I love the Jews. And on that note, Merry Christmas everybody and if you haven't heard it already, please give my Christmas mix a spin; if anyone wants the mp3 of it, gimme a shout in the comments.

Related Shiznit: Xmas Mix 2012, Xmas Mix 2011, Xmas 2010

Xmas Mix 2012

Same idea as last year and the year before that...

Xmas Mix 2012 by Sammyfax on Mixcloud

Tracklist:

1. Crass - Merry Crassmas (Excerpt)
2. Esquivel - Jingle Bells
3. Wham! - Last Christmas (Slugabed Ruined It )
4. Julian Casablancas - I Wish It Was Christmas Today
5. Snoop Doggy Dogg (Ft. Daz Dillinger, Nate Dogg, Tray Deee, Bad Azz) - Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto
6. Brother Nature - Merry Little Christmas
7. T.Rex - Super Funk Christmas
8. Run DMC - Christmas Is
9. Ludacris - Ludachristmas
10. Dirty Boyz - All I Want For Christmas Is To Get It Crunk
11. Crass - Merry Crassmas (Excerpt)

Related Shiznit: Xmas Mix 2011, Xmas Mix 2010

Bit.Trip Beats

I got Bit.Trip Complete in the post yesterday and actually gasped when a free soundtrack CD fell out of it. Music plays an important part in the six-game Bit.Trip series and it goes hand-in-hand with the graphics and gameplay; Arcade, 8-bit and day-glo. Its retro-futurism is done with heart, class and style.

I've played demos of Bit.Trip Fate and Bit.Trip Beat (the most musically integrated title) but I'm currently hammering Bit.Trip Void:



Triumph comes from the infuriating Bit.Trip Runner but I think it's worth a listen even if you have no experience of the game.



[Right-click and "Download Document" for mp3 of Triumph from Bit.Trip Runner]

It may have started with the Zeldastep but this is definitely a crossing the Rubicon moment for me when it comes to video game soundtracks as legitimate sources of bangers (ten years late, right?)

I've also learned that you can swear on the free Amazon gift notes, good to know...

Rustie's Essential Mix

Gorilla Vs Bear recently posted its mixes of 2012 and what with me being famous for living on the very cutting-edge of the electrosphere, I hadn't heard any of them.

At number #4 in their list is this stunning mix by Rustie. Pitchfork can tell you why it's good or you could just use your ears...


Tracklist:

The Friends of Distinction - Impressions (Dialogue)
Rustie - Gilded Jewel Case
Dreams - Bloodsport
The Blessings - Whoopi
Hudson Mohawke - Gooo
Rick Ross - MMG The World is Ours
Rustie - All Nite (Demo Version)
Clams Casino - Im God
Juicy J - Geeked Up Off Them Bars
Obey City - Work Move
Love Shy - That First Kiss
Xcuse - All Right (Shiftee Remix)
Asap Twelvy - Our World
Rustie - Eyezz
S-Type - Billboard
Surkin - Gold Island - (Bok Bok & L-vis 1990 Remix)
Kavsrave - No More (Slow Jams)
Lunice - Cant Wait To
Nightwave - Night Bird
Rustie - City Star (vip)
Baauer - Harlam Shake
Hudson Mohawke - Push
My Dry Wet Mess - When We Were Wrong
Skeletone 3
Rustie - Reflector
Lone - Dream Ache
Rustie - Love Frequency
Surkin - White Knight (Jackson & His Computer Band Remix)
Fox Gut Daata - Throb Black Map
Rustie - Crakk Squirrel
Rustie - Prizm
Cashmere Cat - Mirror Maru
Destinys Child - Get on the Bus
Rustie - Shifft
Lucky Beard - Shake Your Nipples
Krystal Klear - Pistol Chauffeur
Obey City - Fallin
Cid Rim - JazzJazzJazz (Dorian Concept Remix)
Big Sean - Marvin & Chardonay
Manix! - Feel Reel Good
Heezy Baby - Logobi Heezy International
Cassie - King of Hearts (Kanye West Remix)
Rustie - Hover Traps
Wiz Khalifa - Guilty Conscience
Rustie - Mint Lotus
Rustie - Gold Likk
Danny Brown - Witit
Rustie - Frazzle
Rustie - Ooompa
Rustie - Cat Nip
Rustie - Sawdust
Drake - Lord Knows
Tnght - R U Ready
Baauer - Dumdum
Nicki Minaj - I Am Your Leader
Eprom - Regis Chillbin (Machinedrum Remix)
Dorian Concept - Toothbrush
Rustie - Teen Souls Burning
Rustie - 444Sure
The Friends of Distinction - Impressions (Dialogue)

Christmas Crunk

Smashed my first mince pie yesterday and Plus One Loo is watching Miracle On 34th Street. It's Christmas motherhugger and so the hunt starts for tracks for this year's Xmas Mix...



This is so on it. "Dashin' through the snow in a stolen Chevrolet..."

Related Shiznit: Xmas Mix 2011 + Xmas Mix 2010

FlyLo Meets Frodo

Elijah Wood gets an arm in an Akira-style fashion over a typically fantastic track by Flying Lotus.

Little Dragon + Shlohmo

This sounds exactly how you think it will...

James Pants' Boiler Room Mix

Unfortunately someone in work has found some speakers and insists on using them; is there anything worse than other people's terrible taste in music?

I've had to retire to bad headphones and old Boiler Room mixes; it's all I got in the office. I'm not allowed to stream anything so I loaded up a pen drive a while back. Still, this situation has meant that I didn't totally miss this bat shit mix from James Pants.
Direct hot link to it on iTunes (I think)

Hot Chip Football

Did Anders Lindegaard watch this before his blogpost?


Pretty sure I've decked The Hyper Uppercuts in kits just like this...

Bok Bok + Girl Unit Live

((Bok Bok + Girl Unit) x (MPC + TR-909 + Sequential Circuits Drumtraks + Juno 106 + Polysix + FX)) ÷ One-off live performance = Oof!

Some Mixes

Anyway, I haven't really been downloading stuff recently, mainly listening to mixes and whatever Buzz send my way (Breakbot's and Kiki Gyan's new albums are very good).

Bish!


Bash!


Bosh!

Deadboy - Crackcast 29

Err... boop?

FACT mix 355 - Nathan Fake (Nov '12)

R. Kelly Is Trapped In The Closet Again

And it only takes 32 seconds for the Beretta to make an appearance.

SFV Acid's Fader Mix

Tidy little mix (apart from the bit where it cuts out mid-track) of squelchy electronic music.

Tracklist:
1. SFV Acid – The_NET
2. Northridge Mindset – Opening
3. LA HARDCREW – Alway
4. Roh Sham Boh – Now I Know
5. Roh Sham Boh – Pasadena
6. SFV Acid – Do It
7. SFV Acid – Ooh Yeah (80)
8. LA HARDCREW – Rez Black
9. SFV Acid – Ashland Slumber

Flying Lotus Stream

Some people says it sounds too much like Cosmogramma, other that it's too jazzy, but I've been hammering the arse out of it this week.

New Crystal Castles

I think it sounds like a Christmas song...

Gold Panda Wichita Giveaway

In today's Wichita Recordings mailout there's a Gold Panda competition. The prize is a big ol' bundle including a T-shirt, a poster, a limited edition postcard set and CD copies of Lucky Shiner and Unreleased Medical Journal.

To win, email competition@wichita-recordings.com with your address, T-shirt size and the answer to the question "What is the title of the single Gold Panda released in June of this year?"

*cough*

Show Me Your Robocop

Loo took the plunge and got Netflix. She's been hitting Twin Peaks hard but of all the films and TV on offer, I decided to watch RoboCop first.



Best. Film. Ever. Anyway here's the music used briefly in the club scene - Show Me Your Spine by Ministry spin-off PTP.



Don't believe me?

Zeldastep

We got an N64 a couple of months back. I of course insisted on Goldeneye and Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey. Loo, being a girl, went for Pokémon Stadium and The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time.

I'd never played a Zelda game, thinking it was just too nerdy. But after a year where I got into manga and anime, I was no longer in a position to call anything nerdy. My word what a game. It's so good, I had to stop playing it, it was becoming all-consuming.

It's now been a month and I'm itching to play again, but do I start over or try and pick it up from where I left off? This has been the soundtrack to my deliberations...



It's not really dubstep though is it?

Dr Buckles Does It Again

Green Man kicked off on Thursday with A Best Of BUG show from Adam Buxton and amongst the guffaws and bad frizzles were some stunning videos and some bangers, the best of which was this stop-animation video for Delta Heavy's Get By.

Swag.

Hidden Pink

So Four Tet released an album yesterday? And where was my Amazon recommends thingy? Pah!

Romney Up The Wrong Way

I like Devo... and dogs.

Mansfield Mann's Earth Band

Somehow it's the start of the football season this weekend, which means it's time to come up with a name for my Fantasy Football team.

Appallingly they only allow you twenty characters, which means that my team cannot labour to mid-table mediocrity under the moniker of Mansfield Mann's Earth Band.


Ray Parlour-vous Anglais? was also denied.

[Right-click and "Download Document" for an mp3 of Blinded By The Light by Manfred Mann's Earth Band]

I settled with The Prodigy inspired Chamakh My Pitch Up. For shame Sam, for shame.

Nothing New

Earlier today, on the train back from Falmouth to Cardiff and as I struggled with comme il faut (8) and fiddle-faddle (8) on The Guardian quick crossword, I listened to a track by New Order that I had not heard before. Turns out it was a new song by Wild Nothing.


P.S. Correctly and nonsense.

Yesterday's Supernatural

I heard this weeks ago but turned it off.

It took a spitting DAB, an interesting interview and the space of a Sunday morning to change my mind.



Still think the album artwork is shit, mind.

VEL - OOO - DRRROME

Missing it yet?



P.S. Does anyone know if there's a handball club in Cardiff?

Shlohmo's Benji B Mix

Apt name.


Still not bored of this syrupy bass sound. Another bangin' mix from Benji B's Radio 1 show, pretty much the only decent thing left on the station.

MP3: Shlohmo - Benji B Mix [via GvB]

Tracklist =

01.) Just Friends - Avalanche (Shlohmo Remix) [Clown & Sunset]
02.) LOL Boys - Changes (Shlohmo Remix) [Friends Of Friends]
03.) Ryan Hemsworth - Colour And Movement (Shlohmo Remix) [Wedidit]
04.) Drake - Crew Love feat The Weeknd (Shlohmo Remix) [Free Download]
05.) Shlohmo - Out Of Hand [Unreleased]
06.) Carly Rae Jepsen Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe (Screwed) [Unreleased]
07.) Shlohmo - Couch (Soosh Remix) [Error Broadcast]
08.) Shlohmo - It Rained The Whole Time (Nicolas Jaar Remix) [Friends Of Friends]

Liquourice

No reason.

Well OK there's many reasons.

One being - as has been pointed out elsewhere, well by Jonny anyway - is that it sounds a bit like Aphex Twin's Pulsewidth.

Another is that it's a fucking tune.

4AD Widget

You know the score. Supply an email address and get six MP3s, including a fantastic David Byrne and St. Vincent collaboration, Ariel Pink sounding a bit like The Byrds and the ubiquitous Genesis by Grimes.

Paprikyeah

Remember when I posted MP3s? Anyway I watched Paprika recently and while it was visually stunning, Susumu Hirasawa's soundtrack should not go without mention, especially the parade music.


That doesn't really do it justice, here's a snippet in context

Just A Little Agein'

It was my birthday this week and I regressed. Dug out a couple of old MUZIK mixes, DFA's Disco Punk and Erol Alkan's One Louder, both from 2003. 2003! I was horrified but then I danced and didn't care.

Another thing from 2003 popped into my head as I was going to bed, out of nowhere came Ifrane's Just A Little Lovin', a Sarah Vaughan sampling broken beat belter that Gilles Peterson used to hammer on his midweek Radio 1 show.

I'm getting old but I don't care.

More Bashmore

Julio Bashmore takes on Bobby Womack and smashes it... again. 

Inspector Norse

Think Breaking Bad set in rural Norway with Jesse wearing an amazing (and I mean amazing) jumper and you get the gist of Todd Terje's new video for his funky spacey house bumper Inspector Norse...

Miranda Chugger-Hayes

Ifan Dafydd's Miranda was my soundtrack for the chugger run through The Hayes this evening. One of the cheeky mares even did a earphones out motion, not on your nelly, have you heard this tune? It's so good you can easily forget it's an Usher track underneath all the post-dubstep bump'n'flex...

MP3: Ifan Dafydd - Miranda [via XLR8R]

P.S That's Cathays Cemetery right?

Romylush

Good track from land devoid of culture shocker!

Melbourne-based producer Romy has bashed out a glorious slice of 90s-influenced summery pop house. It might sound a bit Galaxy 101 (RIP) but stick with it till 1:49 and you'll know why I've posted it.

MP3: Romy - Home [via Waves At Night] 

3am Eternal Innit

Edited an article last week that was written about being up at 3am. Well there was only one thing I could listen to while doing so.

Football? Soccer!

In the years I've done this blog, I've always tried to post great music. This however is shit...


... glorious shit. Loo says it sounds like another Adam & Joe footie song. This is for all the old Pro Evo heads (from PES 2008) and anyone enjoying Euro 2012 - I sure am, kommer på Danmark!

Whitney Ghoulston

Not sure if Faws made this before or after Whitney Houston went to the great crack pipe in the sky in February, but there's definitely something spooky and haunted in the way it screws It's Not Right But It's OK into a murky, liquid sounding ambient garage thing.

Download the mp3 of Whitney by Faws here [Via XLR8R]

Bela Legosi's Dead Innit

Yesterday I edited a review of the performance of Philip Glass' Dracula: The Film & Music at the Wales Millennium Centre.

There was only one thing I could listen to while doing so.

Hot Summer Hot Hot Summer

Word is that today the rain returns to Cardiff, this week-or-so of blistering sun and skin is over.

Don't cry too hard, surely it will return?


[Right-click and "Download Document" for mp3 of Metronomy's remix of Young Knives' Weekends And Bleak Days]

Night Works

Ex-Metronomy man Gabriel Stebbings, under his Night Works alias, pulls a James Blake/Woon on I Tried So Hard and it works.



There's a Gold Panda remix floating around too.

Death Disco

It's been a bad week for disco.



[Right-click and "Download Document" for mp3 of Public Image Ltd's Death Disco]

Every Night & Day

The video for Hot Chip's new track Night & Day (Directed By Peter Serafinowicz) was officially uploaded today.

BBC 6Music have been hammering this tune and I can't blame them; even the old punk in work is starting to dig a bit of Hot Chip.

Two Inch Punch

1. What a logo
2. Surprised I haven't seen someone do this before
3. Tune

Hey Boy, Hey Girl

Now we know where the Chemical Brothers got that sample from...

New Julio Bashmore...

Same as the old Julio Bashmore, which is pretty fucking good. House music for people who don't admit to liking house music. Au Seve is the first release from his new Boardwalk Records label.

Georgy Porgy Humble Pie

I reviewed Tom Findlay's Music For Pleasure mix this week for Buzz, fully expecting to hate it.



I mean it's one of the blokes from Groove Armada, mixing a load of yacht rock for the new Late Night Tales strand.

Except I didn't, I bloody loved it and I should have known, I already had a couple of tracks on my hard drive...



[Right-click and select "Download Document" for an mp3 of Toto's Georgy Porgy (Special 12" Disco Mix)]

Good Friends Not Bad Friends

Quiz Quest returned on Monday in Gwdihŵ with the theme of TV comedies (we won a Euro 2012 Panini sticker book for coming 3rd - I haven't opened it yet for fear of no shinys).

One of the rounds was guess the next line in Friends, which we sucked at. But my word we sucked nowhere near as hard as that show. I haven't watched it in about 10 years, what was I thinking?

Coincidentally search-engine-bothering-Sound-Of-2012-listed-Brooklyn-hipsters Friends released the video for their new single Mind Control, which looks like it's trying a bit to hard, especially when there's no need to with a song this good. Think Gang Gang Dance, think Tom Tom Club, think ESG and you're getting there.

Seams Like Spring

As that weird blast of proto-summer has long since disappeared, we're knee-deep in proper spring. And Seams has made a track that sounds just like it.

That means birdsong and chiming, glitchy acoustic sounds in a Susumu Yokota/Four Tet vein. A beautifully ambient 294 seconds.

Thursday = Clock Opera

Clock Opera are playing 10 Feet Tall on Thursday (19th April 2012). They didn't exactly get a raving preview in The Guardian's Guide this weekend but anyone who doesn't butcher Metronomy when remixing them are OK in my book, especially when they charge £6.50 entry (there's a couple of tickets left on WeGotTickets when I typed this).


[Right-click and "Download Document" to get an mp3 of Clock Opera's remix of The Bay by Metronomy]

Blitz

Time to get tenuous. Spent the week in Falmouth. After a disappointing DVD hunt in Trago Mills, it fell to Sounds OK. I didn't even bother flicking through the walls of CDs - £5.99 now feels a lot, how times have changed (the ridiculousness of an mp3 blog noting the depreciation in the value of music is not lost).

In the promo bin I found a film called Blitz, a 3-star thriller that was surprising only for the way Jason Statham kept his shirt on. Blitz was also the name of a post-punk night in the dearly departed Shades (which is soon reopening as Mama Africa - no news on the carpet) that me and three other people used to attend on Tuesdays. Shades was just around the corner from Sounds OK. Told you it was tenuous.

Anyway I used to request this track most nights. Quite frankly I'm baffled I haven't posted it before.


[Right-click and "Download Document" for an mp3 of Delta 5's Mind Your Own Business]

Release The Secret Beast

Do you ever feel like everybody knows something you don't? I felt it this week when Andrew Collins played this on 6Music...

We need a new word because Daft Punk did more than sample this for Robot Rock.

The Joy Of 12"

I've just caught up on BBC4's The Joy Of Disco as I was in Manchester over the weekend (yes, I had a lovely time, thanks for asking).

I love BBC4's music documentaries on a Friday, especially their Britannia strand, and The Joy Of Disco fits in perfectly with previous programmes.

Naturally one of the greatest records of all time gets some attention, with Giorgio Moroder proudly explaining the influence and technique behind Donna Summer's I Feel Love. But what's better than 4 minutes of electronic disco heaven? How about 16 minutes of electronic disco heaven...

[Right-click and "Download Document" to get an mp3 of Patrick Cowley's remix of Donna Summer's I Feel Love]

Counter Gristle

Counter Culture 2011, Rough Trade's annual compilation of good shit, was released yesterday and while I wait for Amazon to deliver it, I've had a quick look back through some of their older compilations.

These were a Godsend during my student radio days, especially 2004's and this track in particular got hammered a lot...

[Right-click and "Download Document" for mp3 of Two Lone Swordsmen's Vocal Remix of Throbbing Gristle's United]

Jungle Lion

I started watching Fire In Babylon on the iPlayer this morning while doing my step aerobics (the manliest of all exercises) and not only has it got me nicely warmed up for the start of Glamorgan's season but it's soundtrack features a track I used to hammer on my old radio show down in Falmouth...

[Right-click and "Download Document" for mp3 of Lee "Scratch" Perry & The Upsetters' Jungle Lion]

GWTF:10 Hodgy Beats

I like to think I'm a responsible blogger, carefully picking tunes after many listens.

I've just finished listening to Hodgy Beats' Untitled EP for the first time and here it is. It's everything that is right with hip-hop at the moment.

When will the Odd Future backlash begin? Has it already started? Stuff this good will soon draw heat...

Submerse

I was going to type that this was the final time I'd mention Hyper Japan but then I remembered the whole Tron debacle.

I was reading The Guardian's Film & Music G2 section (prefer the old format... and price) in the queue for said exhibition and their new band of the week (the print version of new band of the day) was someone mashing two-step garage with J-pop.

Submerse has a few things up for streaming on his SoundCloud page, the pick of which is the mix below which has a nice early hours feel as it merges Squarepusher's Lost In Translation contribution, Burial and some of his own productions.

Though the widget says the download limit has been hit you can get it here.

McTronomy

Talking of Hyper Japan, while we were killing time before the bus back, we went for a McDonald's in Victoria Station... classy.

Their latest brand revamp is commendable, certainly regards the approach to their restaurants' servicescape; greens and browns, deep seats and flowers on tables.

Aside from the visuals, music can play a vital part in the servicescape. I won't bang on too much about this as it was the subject of my dissertation but I was surprised to hear bands like Yeasayer and Metronomy in McDonald's. Maybe I shouldn't have been, seeing that their latest adverts are pushing coffee - that malleable brown liquid that can mean coolness, sophistication and romance, depending on the adverts you've seen growing up.

Anyway this is a convoluted way of me linking to a review of the NME Awards Tour 2012 I did for theSprout, which features Metronomy, Azealia Banks, Two Door Cinema Club and Tribes. If you can't be bothered reading it then: Great, Great, OK, Shit.

Hyper Fan @ Hyper Japan

I went to Hyper Japan yesterday and had a great time - even the Megabus was OK.

It would have been worth it just for the tasters at the Sushi Awards 2012, and while the cooking demonstrations, the cosplay casualties and my first proper taste of manga (I'm reading Death Note) all added to the enjoyment of the day, the highlight was Natsuko Aso.

Well Natsuko Aso's super fan. He knew all the moves, he had the official towel, he had a different coloured glowstick for each song and he didn't give two hoots what anyone thought. I wish I loved something as much as this guy.

I can now see why some people totally bum J-pop, the sugar-rush, the sexless sugar-rush of it all but I wouldn't pay the £25 one stall holder was charging for an album... if only he had the official towels for sale.

Wordaholics Rappinghood

Time to flex my middle class muscle... I listen to a lot of BBC Radio 4 comedy and while I'm not ashamed of this, I haven't had much reason to mention it here.

That is until this week when a new panel show popped up on the iPlayer called Wordaholics. I find it hard to believe that host Gyles Brandreth picked it but the theme tune is the seminal new wave classic Wordy Rappinghood by Tom Tom Club. Weird.

[Right-click and "Download Document" for mp3 of Tom Tom Club's Wordy Rappinghood]

***UPDATE***

Upon listening to the second episode I realised it's the Chicks On Speed version, but c'mon you can't beat the original.

Aztec Winter In Roath

Snow eh? Bonkers!

I know I used this on my Christmas Mix but it's apt for a walk around a frozen Roath Park Lake.

[Right-click and "Download Document" for mp3 of Aztec Camera's Walk Out To Winter]

Clwb 2 Bears

Loo's got me the big bear bundle from The 2 Bears for Valentines Day. It's gonna be hard to not rip open the ping pong set and ruin the day with some red hot table tennis action.

Anyway as part of the bundle you get an instant download of Be Strong and on first listen it's pretty darn good, though I'm a little disappointed that there doesn't seem to be anything too similar to their acid-y Aphex-y Tourettes Hero.

Basingstoke or wankers? Choose!

Anyway on a 2 Bears tip, Raf Rundell is playing Clwb Ifor Bach on Thursday 16th February 2012 and it's free entry if you bring some broken electronic items or something? Should be a good 'un!

Just A-Punk Dance

You may have noticed a lack of Fat Hipster Running updates since err #2.

Well I've been ill, it's been too bloody cold and we've got Just Dance 2 for the Wii. Trust me it makes you sweat, especially the bonkers but brilliant Boney M's Rasputin.

But the dance that I most enjoy is Vampire Weekend's A-Punk...

Just gonna point out this isn't me playing as I'm totes better than this video, yeah?

Anyway, I was never a massive fan of Vampire Weekend but I did use to hammer this bootleg a couple of years ago on my radio show down in Falmouth. Lighters in the air!

[Right-click and "Download Document" for mp3 of ABX's Punk Your Mind (Vampire Weekend vs Styles P]

Didgeridon't

Went to Bath on Friday. Lovely place yadda yadda but there were a few too many of those shops that are crammed full of dreamcatchers, bongos and people who don't view ponchos as fancy dress.

Outside one of them was a drone of didgeridoos (I'm assuming that's the collective noun for didgeridoos) and for the rest of the lovely stroll amongst the Georgian architecture I had this in my head...

[Right-click and "download document" for mp3 of Aphex Twin's Digeridoo]

Fat Hipster Running #2: Mission Of Burma

Track = Sinewy post-punk from Mission Of Burma.

T-Shirt = Sky blue shipping forecast print from the National Maritime Museum.

Hipster Rating: **

[Right-click and "Download Document" for mp3 of Mission Of Burma's Fight Academy Song]

FHR #1: Siouxsie + The Banshees

GWTF:9.0 Roxy Music & Todd Terje

Just like Tron, here's another thing that last popped up a year ago that is making a return on Ceefax Of Life - Go With The Flow (GWTF). 2012 is the new 2011.

Todd Terje extends Love Is The Drug a bit here, adds some reverb there and cuts most of Bryan Ferry's vocals before slathering some extra percussion all over it i.e. he's done a disco dub and has no bones calling it such.

Does Love Is The Drug need a disco dub? Well I'm biased as it's my signature karaoke tune so my answer is not really, but that doesn't mean it isn't a funky seven-or-so minutes...

Definitely The Final Tron Post

Around this time last year I posted The Final Tron Post. Well this is Definitely The Final Tron Post. I promise.*

*Not really

Fat Hipster Running #1: Siouxsie + The Banshees

A power cut this morning meant that I couldn't do step-aerobics while watching The Wire for the fifth time (I know, I know). So I went for a run to get rid of some flab.

I took the Blackberry, fired up some tunes and a new strand for Ceefax Of Life was born: Fat Hipster Running. When I've been for a run I'm going to post one of the tracks I listened to while looking like a knob around Roath Rec. I'm in no way saying that this is great running music, just what popped up.

So for FHR #1...

Track = Gothy post-punk from Siouxsie & The Banshees.

T-Shirt = Black skull one from Primark.

Hipster Rating: ***

[Right-click and "download document" for mp3 of Siouxsie & The Banshees' Mirage]

Woozy Loops

I picked up the first issue of Loops the other day in the HMV in Truro for £2.

I was flicking through it on the train down to Portsmouth when I became engrossed in James Yorkston's damn funny travelogue of an Irish tour. Now I'm not really down with most of Yorkston's oeuvre, being all folky and shit, but I am down with his writing style.

A good example of this is on his collaboration with Reporter, which I found on an old Rob Da Bank compilation. It's a lovely bitter-sweet story over some burbling electronics and sounds just right in January.

[Right-click and "download document" for mp3 of James Yorkston and Reporters' Woozy With Cider]

Metronomy + Justin Timberlake = :)

First day back in work today + 45 minute walk in the wind and rain + menthol filters = :(

But I danced up the stairs to the office with a smile on my face. How? This...

Metronomy - The Bay (Trousersnake Mashup) by astroSNOOZE