anything but boring

i'd like to refer you to this post. in it i said that the dead weather were boring me. my friend emma kindly offered me a spare ticket to see them at brixton last week and as i'm in love with alison mosshart i snapped it up. my opinion has changed 100%. they were amazing. in fact, they were so good live that i tried to see them again on saturday at a free gig in shoreditch. i left it far too late though and didn't even get close to getting in. fail. anyway, go and see them live. as soon as possible. brilliant. thanks emma.

emma is in love with jack white by the way, so if the dead weather's management are reading this and would like to set up some sort of double date... drop me an email.

shameless plug

this time last year i joined in with movember. it is a chance to raise some money for prostate cancer, and have all the fun of growing a moustache. those of you that know me will know that i am not the most motivated shaver at the best of times, so maybe you're thinking it isn't a great deal for me to grow a tache. well i've got over this little problem. i am going to shave the rest of my face EVERYDAY*. usually when i shave i look about twelve years old, but i'll be keeping the moustache so i'm hoping to pull off the dignified gentleman look. those of you that don't personally know me are probably thinking how you can benefit from sponsoring as you won't get to laugh at my rubbish upper lip. i shall reward you. oh yes. i don't know how yet, but for every £10 i pass in my quest i'll do something on here. any ideas are welcome because i have no idea. maybe the chance to win some tickets or cds or photos of me (i imagine the take up on this will set new records).

*more likely it will be every other day because i'm quite lazy.

anyway, please sponsor me as it all goes to a good cause.

sponsor me here!

nirvana / mr moustache
[youtube]

i know something you don't know

back when i started this little thing called sockformation i wrote about a young dj called mr gaspar more than once. don't believe me? well, see for yourself here. i actually arranged an email interview with him at one point, but his answers came when i was on my long term sabatical back however long ago. when i came back i found his answers, but it was sold old by then that he asked me not to post the interview. that means that none of you will get to know his thoughts to the eternal question "porcupine or pineapple?" or how he would describe his music in six words and two punctuation marks. unlucky.

anyway, old mr gaspar is now manager of burn the fire records, which is part of cold blank. i'm afraid i don't know the exact management structure but i know there is some sort of cross over. i'd love to supply you with a tree diagram of the organisation, but you'll have to settle for this rather splendid remix instead.

major lazer / pon de floor (cold blank remix)
[mediafire] [ysi mirror]

for one week only

hi. how is everybody? it has been a few weeks. i've moved to the big smoke and after a failed mobile broadband attempt i am now awaiting the arrival of basil from virgin before i'll be back to blogging full time. i am back at the inheritance this weekend with all the joys that includes such as warm rooms, free food and of course broadband.

so what's been happening while i've been gone? lewis has joined the ranks here and hopefully we'll be hearing a lot more from him soon. women are taking over the world with sockformation favourites marina & the diamonds and ellie goulding set to go intergalactic. i've seen the maccabees perform better than i have ever seen them before. their gig at brixton academy was sensational. i've also finally seen lissy trullie and she too was pretty fucking amazing. i had the chance to see natalie portman's shaved head and it is with great regret i have to admit i didn't see them. why? i don't know. i have a feeling it'll haunt me for some time. coming up next year... air. i'm not going to mention it again because everytime i do the little person inside me does a little happy dance and i don't want to wear my happy person out. or something. i'm sure that made sense in my head. i've also gone back to 2007 and the first time los campesions! took over my life. their new stuff is outstanding and it has also made me revisit their past. if i had an internet connection at home i can assure you that they would be even higher than fourth on my most listened to bands on last.fm.

anyway, i just wanted to pop in and say hi. i'll be back soon. you never know, i may even do something tomorrow if i come across a gem tonight. in the meantime i'm going to leave you with the video uffie has finally made for 'pop the glock' despite releasing the song three years ago and a remix of daft punk which couldn't be more now if it was the talking clock.

uffie / pop the glock
[youtube]

daft punk / one more time (george lenton remix)
[mediafire might be added later, but is currently being a cock] [ysi mirror]

fuck it. i've decided to leave you with some nice remix work from banana dynamite too

mstrkrft / bounce (banana dynamite remix)
[mediafire] [ysi mirror]

Jump For Joy

hello... lewis again. first of all i apologise for the cheesiest title ever but fans of the joy formidable are in for a serious treat. if you were lucky enough to catch them at the relentless garage on the 30th september then this is definitely for you.

having met the band a few times i emailed them asking if it would be possible to get a quick interview with them for sockformation after their show and they were happy to do so. the interview itself is too long to post on this blog so i shall quickly paste one question as a teaser and then if you follow the link at the bottom it will take you to the full interview on www.scribd.com

bare in mind the interview was conducted after a shit load of tequila and alcohol and at 4am... i hope you guys enjoy and hopefully i should have a few more interviews in the near future.

I’ve been to a few of your shows where you’ve asked for no talking, to quote ‘It fucks you off’. Is this because you think it’s just rude or is it because you take a lot of pride in your work?

Rhydian: ah, that’s a good question
Ritzy: I’m not being stroppy when I mention it, I’m thinking of the entire audience; if you talk over the quiet bits you’re not getting the full effect of what we’re playing. I remember seeing Micah P Hinson in Manchester last year, and people were chatting over these beautiful, heartfelt quiet moments, it was a shame how it spoilt it...

the answer continues at
http://www.scribd.com/doc/20566291/The-Joy-Formidable
along with seven more questions...

information about free downloads is at the end of the interview

hands up for Iceland

hello, introductions are in order. my name is lewis and tim has very nicely asked if i'd like to contribute every now and again to sockformation. now that my blogging virginity is lost, i shall crack on.

i was sent a very interesting album to listen to and give some thoughts about and to be honest i listened to the album before i did any kind of research into the group . the album is 'faking dreams' by a group called blindfold. listening to the album all i could think about was its similarity to sigur ros, a band i absolutely love. then, following a little research, i found out that blindfold are also an icelandic group, which would explain the similarities, possibly through influence. . blindfold themselves, however, have an inspiringly melancholic sound that is intriguing and great to relax to. i found that they seem to be less joyous and light and frothy as sigur ros are (hoppipolla for example), but have a darker edge to their music. the album ends with a ten minute instrumental that is quite ominous but still mesmerising. and as a plus, the vocals are predominantly english so the lyrics are understandable.

blindfold are definitely worth a listen if you liked takk... or ( ) by sigur ros

blindfold/sad face

trip off

distressing news reached me today. tinchy stryder has sampled one of my favourite 90's tracks for his latest 'hit'. you're not alone by olive is a classic. maybe just in my head, but i don't care. it's seminal. i've never really known what seminal means, but this track is exactly that. i'm sure of it. there has been some good news come out of this though. it looks like olive might be recording a third album. this is the best news i have heard since... since... sliced bread. yes, the best news since sliced bread.

olive / you're not alone
[mediafire] [ysi mirror]

i'm not even going to link to the tinchy stryder video. i refuse to.

can anybody lend me a van?

i'm moving next week. i therefore have little time to think about much else as i'm having to complete references, buy cheese graters and wonder how i'm going to get my chest of drawers up the spiral staircase. this means that i am a bit behind on here. i've decided i've got time to quickly post up a couple of anto remixes though. i wrote (in the loosest sense of the word) about him a while ago. go back and read that and then listen to the remix work he's done. thanks.

digitalism / taken away (anto remix)
[mediafire] [ysi mirror]

amanda blank / might like you better (anto remix)
[mediafire] [ysi mirror]

in my head

walking around reading last week there were more t-shirts emblazoned with dubstep than anything else. in the pub the other day somebody started talking about their first experience of going to a dubstep night. last night the topic of various dubstep artists came up. this weekend i have been listening to dubstep more than anything else. dubstep is taking over my life. it's time i posted about it. i've previously mentioned flying lotus in passing and i'm sure i raved about burial a while back, but it's still not a genre i'm that up on. that'll change though, and let's start the change now. dark and difficult to listen to, dubstep is well worth the effort.

skream & benga / trapped in a dark bubble
[mediafire] [ysi mirror]

santigold & benga / unstoppable night (dub)
[mediafire] [ysi mirror]

kode 9 / black sun
[mediafire] [ysi mirror]

sienna miller has stolen my phone

she hasn't. i got drunk and left it on the train last night. still, an excellent excuse to post some songs with a very loose link to phones, and losing thereof.

the count & sinden / beeper ft. kid sister (fake blood remix)
[mediafire] [ysi mirror]

bloc party / banquet (phones disco edit)
[mediafire] [ysi mirror]

stricken city / lost art
[mediafire] [ysi mirror]