A Synthesized Saturday: The Twelves

Edward — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 19:04:14 +0000

Synthesize me, captain!

By now, you should know that nothing gets me dancing as hard as some blaring synthesizers. And, if you know me personally, you know that my vocabulary for describing synths basically encompasses the word “chunky.” Synthesized music I like is “chunky;” bad synth stuff is “nowhere near chunky enough.” “American Boy” — chunky to the max. “Lights & Music” — double chunk. “Sleepyhead” — chunkytown. And if there’s one band that knows how to chunk up the volume, it’s the Twelves.

Loyal Animal Showsters will remember when, back in 2 BHM (before Hype Machine), I posted a delectable Twelves remix of one of my all-time favorite songs, “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You.” Well, kids, the goodies don’t stop there. We’ve got a bonanza of bangers for you to kickstart your party, and get everybody on the same chunky page as you. Be forewarned: these remixes will all make you think the original songs suck in comparison. And, if you’re Drew, you’ll say, “they totally made that Fleet Foxes song listenable!” Drew’s a moron. That song was brilliant before this. And now it’s different and brilliant. Hell, these are all brilliant:

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Take On Me (The Twelves remix) – A-Ha (megaupload)

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Hurricane Jane (The Twelves Remix) – Black Kids (megaupload)

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The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (The Twelves Jam/Remix) – The Flaming Lips (megaupload)

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White Winter Hymnal (The Twelves Remix) – Fleet Foxes (megaupload)

Buy some Twelves music. You know you want to.

Paper Covers Rock, Folds Covers Lips

Edward — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:18:03 +0000

Man, the nineties were totally awesome.

It used to be that every now and then, I would get crazy-into a band, and scramble to find every song they had ever performed or written. It happened with the Beatles (and, believe me, it was impossible. And not really worth it.), and with Steely Dan, and then, somewhere around age 13, I came out of the shadow of classic rock and got totally “indie” with Ben Folds Five. Back when I “brought” Chuck Taylors “back” to the upper-middle-class kids of doctors at my school, I rocked out hardcore to the nerd-pop of Mr. Folds, a resident Nashvillian. With a copy of Whatever and Ever Amen spinning oh-so-techonologically in my lime-green Walkman, I was the coolest kid in school. But even cooler, when I went home, I’d spend hours scouring Kazaa or Limewire or whatever for 96kpbs mp3s of transferred demo tapes, b-sides, and live rarities. I finally found every song I had ever gotten a hint of anywhere on the internet, at the price of countless hours watching the download bars crawl through my dial-up-speed internet connection.

Needless to say, I was pissed off when the re-release of WEAE came out, featuring 7 of my holy grails of rarity. But, live and let release, that’s what I always say. (Please note: the band chose to release this on my birthday, for no reason other than to add insult to injury. Write them mean letters or something.)

Featured on that re-release was my favorite of the Kazaa finds — a jazzy jem of a cover of the Flaming Lip’s bizarre “She Don’t Use Jelly.” Originally released on a completely forgettable compilation called “Lounge-a-palooza,” this cover is the best of Ben Folds Five’s 5 top covers (which I plan to post about later, don’t worry). Plus, it’ll get you curious about what Vaseline tastes like on toast, and if that isn’t what music is supposed to do, I probably shouldn’t be blogging.

The Animal Show » The Flaming Lips

A Synthesized Saturday: The Twelves

Paper Covers Rock, Folds Covers Lips