The Lost Post

For some unknown reason, the August 10th post intitled "Summer Ingredients" has disappeared from the blog. Is it a blogger issue? Did I delete it by accident? It's a mystery. Thankfully, the Google Cache has saved my bacon and I'm able to repost it below.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Summer Ingredients

We moved. Again. Same city, just down the road in fact, but it was still quite an undertaking. Not the least of which is all those little jobs a new house requires. Like mowing the lawn. I haven't had to mow a lawn since moving from Nova Scotia, and now I have to mow twice a week just to keep up with the growth brought on by all this rain. And I'm here to tell you, nothing makes you appreciate new music like mowing a lawn. Especially vocal tracks with a bit of hands-in-the-air whooshy-ness. Here are a few of my current favourites.


The Whitest Boy Alive - Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix) (Modular)
Buy it now here or here.
A gloriously sparkly remix by frenchman Fred Falke. I always kind of assumed that Alan Braxe was the real genius behind past Braxe & Falke remixes, but it's clear I was very much mistaken. Sorry about that Freddie; you certainly hold your own. Back to the track: I'm not sure if it's the pitch bent keys in the melody or the minor chords of the rhythm line, but FF's remix makes me want to tilt my smiling face into the sun. He takes what is otherwise po-faced guitar song about being trapped and turns it into a kind of bitter-sweat anthem to summer flings. You cannot lose with this one, sunrise, midday, or sunset.


The Presets - This Boy's In Love (Lifelike Remix) (Modular)
Buy it now here.
Another Modular record! I've been watching the Presets since their Blow Up EP five (5!) years ago and I have to say these guys are doing it right. The original track is genius all on its own. The tenor/bass verses and falsetto chorus make for the kind of ear-candy that has me singing along even when the song's not playing. Lifelike (another frenchman and Vulture Falke-alike) injects a bit of bounce to the somewhat dire original. The over-compressed chorus along with the wonderfully squelchy melody combine for maximum whoosh!


Kaskade & Deadmau5 - Move For Me (Deal)
Buy it now here or here.
Written by San Franciscan Kaskade and produced by Canada's own Deadmau5, it's hard for me to judge the separation of duties. It sounds more like a Deadmau5 track, except for the exceptional vocals (performed by one Haley Gibby). Regardless, the track feels more like a lament than the typical techo/trance stormer we've come to expect from both Kaskade & the 'mau5. I've been feeling a bit blah about Deadmau5's stuff lately; too much bombast and not enough soul. Not the case here. The lyrical couplets "Move for me/I'll move for you," and "Another night out/Another dance floor," sound like the groan of a DJ who's been on the road for too long or the cry of the rave casualty so jaded that they're begging the DJ to bring back the rush of the early days/years. That their weariness can be expressed so succinctly is what makes the track great. In fact, the raw emotions expressed elegantly is what makes each of these three records great and is, I think, what's been missing from the current trend towards the minimal. There's just too much tech out there, and not enough soul.