WE LOVE ALI LOVE
February 25, 2010
Posted by RAW
Ali Love, who sang on the Chemical Brothers' hit Do It Again has had a couple singles floating around the Interwebs for a few months. Now, his full length album is due to drop on March 8th. RAW is excited! We still can't get enough of Diminishing Returns and Love Harder. Both tracks are throbbing, italo-influenced, dance floor fillers. Check out his videos, as well as a few of our favorite remixes. And don't forget to buy the full-length when it hits. Show Ali Love some LOVE
.Diminishing Returns (Azari & III Remix)
Love Harder (Tronik Youth Got The Love Mix)
Love Harder (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)
Keep reading for more Ali Love...
YOUNG, LOUD, AND SNOTTY
February 23, 2010
Posted by Bil
I remember the first time I heard the Dead Boys, sitting on the bedroom floor at my best friend's house in the 7th grade, reading Maximum Rock-n-Roll and affixing pyramid studs to a black hoodie already covered in patches, buttons, and safety pins. Formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975 they were initially known as Frankenstein and had evolved out of the band Rocket From The Tomb. After Joey Ramone persuaded them to move to New York City in 1976, they changed their name from Frankenstein to the now infamous Dead Boys. Power chord-driven songs, incoherent and slurred vocals, and outrageous live performances helped cement their place in the early punk rock movement in America. They are also known as writing one of the greatest punk anthems of our time, Sonic Reducer. Their fuck-off attitude, love of the crass, and dismay for settling into a complacent life resonated in songs like Dead and Alive, I Need Lunch, All This and More, and Caught With The Meat In Your Mouth.
Lead singer Stiv Bators was known for lewd and inappropriate stage antics, including self mutilation, simulated homosexual acts, and incessant profanity and lewd behavior. The vulgar and nihilistic lead singer was also notorious for exposing himself during photo-shoots, even going as far as hanging himself during a live show (with his post Dead Boys band, The Lords of The New Church), a stunt that went awry and led to him being pronounced legally dead for several minutes. The Dead Boys eventually broke up in 1979, just two albums into their career, as a result of heavy pressure from their record label, Sire Records, to write more pop-oriented, radio-friendly material. Bators later went on to star in John Waters film, Polyester, and eventually moved to Paris where he died in his sleep (summer of 1990) after crossing a street drunk and being struck by a taxi. In the director's commentary of the film "Polyester," John Waters, in relating Bators' death, stated that Bators' girlfriend had snorted his ashes, although there is also a rumor that they were spread across the grave of Jim Morrison, per Bators' request. Fans of the Dead Boys included John Belushi, Lou Reed, Divine, and G.G. Allen, among many others. You can buy their SHIT at Amazon or MusicStack, and I encourage you to hunt for vinyl copies as well.
Dead Boys - Sonic Reducer
Dead Boys - Dead and Alive
Keep reading for more Dead Boys tracks, video, and downloads...
SOMEONE...PLEASE REWORK CLASSIC BABY FORD
February 22, 2010
Posted by Shea
I still have a thing for Baby Ford (real name: Peter Ford). In 1988, he was pioneering acid house and released the stellar 2x12" EP Ford Trax. Four sides of of acidy amazingness. Eight tracks: I Love It, Oochy Koochy, Crashing/New York, Fordtrax, My Innersence, Chikki Chikki Ahh Ahh, Flowers, and Reprise. I loved every song. I couldn't play it enough. Why did I sell that record? Oh yeah, rent money. Well thank god for a few MP3s that are floating around. When I listen to it today, I still enjoy the minimal, hypnotic, bass-heavy sounds. Maybe it's just nostalgia, but I think these songs are pretty kick ass. Someone needs to rework these songs. I'm talking to you Andy Butler. Or James Murphy. Or the In Flagranti guys.
RAW has a copy of his first single (Oochy Koochy) plus a couple others for you. Listen to the rest on YouTube. My favorites are still Reprise, I Love It, and My Innersence.
Oochy Koochy (1988)
Children of the Revolution (1989)
Beach Bump (1990)
Keep reading for more Baby Ford...
REMEMBERING WAX TRAX!
February 19, 2010
Posted by RAW
Some of our all-time favorite electronic bands had their first release in the states on a single, influential record label—Wax Trax! We're talking about artists like Front 242, Ministry, The Revolting Cocks, Meat Beat Manifesto, Front Line Assembly, My Life With the Thrill Kill Cult...the list goes on and on.
Wax Trax! got its start in the mid-1970s when partners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher (cute couple pictured above) opened a record store called Wax Trax! in Denver. In 1978, they sold that store (which is still open by the way) and moved to Chicago. They opened a new Wax Trax! shop, which become the center of the new wave, punk rock, and industrial music scene in Chicago. It also led to some of the most important music of that decade (at least in our opinion).
Nash and Flesher officially launched the Wax Trax! record label in 1981, with the release Strike Under's 12-inch EP Immediate Action. This was followed with the 1982 release of Divine's 7-inch Born To Be Cheap. You know RAW loves Divine! It was their third release though, a re-issue of Ministry's Cold Life EP (which they had previously put out in limited edition), that set the stage for the label's eventual status as THE record label in the states for electro-industrial music.
There were so many hot artists with Wax Trax! releases. Bands like KMFDM, PIG, Fini Tribe, Clock DVA, Chris & Cosey, Underworld, Young Gods, Sister Machine Gun, Coil, A Certain Ratio, and Laibach. The label also spawned so many side projects by Al Jourgensen and Paul Barker of Ministry it was hard to keep up. Groups like The Revolting Cocks (with Richard 23 of Front 242 and Luc van Acker), Acid Horse (with Cabaret Voltaire), Pailhead (with Ian Mackaye of Fugazi), Lead Into Gold (a solo vehicle for Barker), and 1000 Homo DJs.
It's too bad the story doesn't end on a happier note. Things got rough in the early 1990s when a lot of their artists moved on to major labels. In 1993, TVT Records bought the label and gave Nash & Flescher creative control. Despite their involvement, the label never reclaimed its glory. Then Nash died in 1995, and Flesher (his life partner) retired from the music business. TVT continued to use the imprint for many of their electronic releases.
In 2000, a former Wax Trax! employee started a new label called WTII Records (short for Wax Trax II) in an effort to rekindle the spirit of classic electro-industrial sound that Wax Trax! was known for. Sadly, last month, surviving founding member Flesher also passed away. The music and creative spirit they pioneered lives on. Check out this amazing inventory of Wax Trax! releases and listen to some of RAW's favorites.
Ministry - All Day
Revolting Cocks - No Devotion
Front 242 - Quite Unusual
Keep reading for more Wax Trax! info, videos, and downloads...
DISCO FROM DOWN UNDER
February 18, 2010
Posted by Bil
First things first: it's freezing here in DC. Snow is still about two feet high, there are killer icicles hanging from every corner and my bf and I have resorted to stuffing kitchen towels and washcloths around the front door to try to preserve some heat. But you know what helps warm our chilly bones? Canyons. Hailing from the land down under, Canyons are two producers/DJs who are into all sorts of stuff. They combine live instruments and vocals with drum machines, samples, and analogue effects. Their 4-track EP is available digitally through the usual outlets, as is the 12" (which we recommend scooping up). They were recently featured on the I’m a Cliché compilation (the label founded by Cosmo Vitelli, another artist we go coo-coo for). This two-part, double CD set offers scrumptious doses of everything brilliant and beautiful in music today. On the CD, Canyons deliver the killer Blue Snake, a trippy, dance-floor ready, 7-minute song that has hints of tropicalia, jazz, balearic, classic disco, and house influence. It's a must-have for any DJ, and certainly a song that RAW is more than happy to deliver to its gyrating crowd of sweaty, dirty boys. Melt the snow with these amazing sounds from the nether regions of the world.
Canyons - Blue Snakes
Canyons - Dancing On Silk
LEARN LOVE ROBOTIQUE
February 17, 2010
Robotique was founded in the fall of '07 by Billy Werner and Mike Trombley (Paradise at Key West, Macho City). Their intent was honest and close-at-heart: help to remove the stigma attached to the word 'disco' and subsequently open Philly's mind, ears, and heart to timeless music that transcends genre boundaries and unites people from all walks of life. Fast forward a year later and co-founder Mike was planning a return to Detroit, which left Billy figuring out what to do with the party. It was at this point that Ryan M. Todd jumped on board, while also settling Robotique into a great new spot called Kunk Fu Necktie (KFN) in North Philly. They've been going strong every Friday for over a year now!
Residents Billy W. and Ryan T. have also been happy to host guest DJs Dâm-Funk, Ron Trent, Trus'me, Runaway, Mike Simonetti, Sharegroove, Benguin Manzone, the list goes on. They're especially stoked when their DC friends come up to jam! Local dudes like Chris Burns, Protect-U, Beautiful Swimmers, and the whole Future Times Crew.
The future of Robotique is to KEEP ON...Sky's the limit! Keep bringing in guests who inspire them, keep digging deep for killer tunes, keep spreading the word as hard as they can, keep bringing a combination of history and the future to the dance floor, and keep people smiling, hugging and kissing! RAW loves their intent, their hustle, and their drive to keep the party going and the good vibes flowing. Get 2 Philly a.s.a.p. and check these cats out!
The Fantastic Aleems - Get Down Friday Night
Sailor - Down By the Docks