Mr. Vega

Jesus H. Crhist Mr. Vega has remixed the tits off the electro slut. Hes been a permanent fixture on the hypem since..... Anyway I just had a rather satisfying gchat quickie with the NYC remixing robot and it went like this.

Me: ready....
Mr. Vega: Yea man I'm down. Ask..
Me: What is your favorite fast food joint
Mr. Vega: Popeyes lol love the biscuits
Me: what color was the last wristband you wore
Mr. Vega: Whatever color the wrist bands are at six flags
Me: when was the last time you forgot to close out a tab at a bar
Mr. Vega: hmmm probably the last time I was drunk...
Me: LOtR or Star Wars
Mr. Vega: Lotr...smeagleeee! Frodo is the man
Me: Perfect!

The Ropes - Water and Headphones (Mr. Vega Remix)

Valerie @ Webster Hall

While I've heard tracks and mixes from Russ Chimes, Anoraak, and College, I'm afraid I've been blogging about completely unaware of the Valerie Collective Blog/Crew/Steez. Well I did a bit of research prior the the NYC show (which was their US debut) and I was able to rediscover a lot of what I had missed or forgotten about. Anyway here is a set-by-set recap of how the night went off.

Unfortunately I arrived at Webster Hall at around 1:30 and missed Lovelock I think. I read somewhere that Lovelock was doing a DJ set but when I had arrived at Webster Hall it was to the droning sounds of bassy repetitive synthesizers. Friends I had meet up with who had arrived earlier said to me that the same synth loop had been going on for over 20 minutes, I call shenanigans but we are dealing with the French here. But I can imagine it was an alright opener / warm up.
Lovelock - Love Reaction

Now College was a serious tour de force. He was doing some kind of "live" set with his PC. Thats right. PC!!! I can't recall any other laptop DJ I've seen who doesn't use a Macbook. Either way I was VERY impressed with College. The 80's synth pop comic book sound really does it for me. I somehow knew that College was going to be seriously awesome because hes bald and white. For some reason in my head bald white guy with specs = dope nasty DJ. After College's two hour epic set I stepped out for a smoke and thought to myself... that was the most well-crafted and flawlessly executed DJ set I've seen since... Danger. Bravo!
College - I Think About It (Keenhouse Remix)

Anoraak's live set, which I was super excited to see, kind of sucked balls. He seemed like a little boy who wanted tag along and play with a MIDI controller too. I really do feel badly that I can't give Anoraak a favorable review, I really was excited to see him. Perhaps if all the other acts that weren't so amazing. In all fairness to Anoraak the last song/intro for Russ Chimes he played was pretty dope....
Anoraak - Night Drive With You (GRUM's New Wave Remix)


We all know that Russ Chimes is the cats pajamas. His sets are just the side of godlike. Highlights for me were A-Trak's Say Whoa and Cosmos - Take Me With You (Aston Shuffle Bootleg). Now that I think about it,
Russ Chimes' set was very similar (at least in track selection) to the esper? mix I have here. Very predictable but in the best possible way. The tracklist is in the lyrics section of the ID3 tags.
Russ Chimes - Esper Mix (zsh)

How Deep

An old CouchFire favorite. the original is at 320kbps djs! For the slow dances.

The Bird and the Bee - How Deep Is Your Love (Bee Gees Cover)

Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love

Hustlin

Lykke Li @ NTBR Part 4 - "Hustlin'" from Drew Innis on Vimeo

Not my first choice either, but we still love Swede-Pop.

Lykke Li - Little Bit (Punks Jump Up Remix)

B is back

As a result of my recent infatuation with Megyn Kelly, I've been watching loads of Fox News lately. I've learned to deflect the actual news items and drool over anchorwomen in power suits instead. But despite my (apathy) shield, some of less newsworthy stories manage pique my interest.

Megyn Kelly reported that Britney Spears is looking a web savvy Harvard grad to manage/update her social networking sites. Since I'm so easily bemused, I started following Brit's every move on Twitter. This has turned out to be a very informative move as Britney's crack team have been really keeping us up to date on what kind of Pinkberry Sundae Brit Brit enjoys most. Imagine my reaction when Twitter updated me on the status of Brit's Vajayjay.

Since this is my music blog and all... Britney's newest single, Circus, kind of blows. But luckily we know why mediocre pop music exists. So Diplo doesn't get too bored... I cant tell if Diplo is serious or if hes being ironic (taking the piss, for you UKers) with these pop remixes. Its a good thing I eat all this pop shit up and really don't care either way...

Britney Spears - Circus (Diplo Remix)
Britney Spears - Circus (Diplo Alt Clown Remix)

Roll over to MuuMuse for the rest of the remix package.

Head over to Brits website and scope out shots of the The Circus Starring Britney Spears world tour. Brit is def looking fab again. Am I the only one who wants tickets.

Diablo Mashups

We just received some for serious inbox love from CouchFire fave Don Diablo. These two fully-play-out-able mashups are super! They will not see an official release but I'm told that they are a preview of forthcoming original productions. Que fantastico!

Don Diablo vs MGMT vs Maya - The Best Ghetto Kids Are Yet To Come

Don Diablo vs The Ting Tings - That's Not My Rave

One Hundred!

This is my 100th blog post, that is if you discount all those posts deleted by blogger for my "copyright infringement" blah blah blah... I hoped to have finished my cosmic disco podcast for all of you by now, but I suck at life so instead I have the next best thing.

If you don't know all about Soulwax by now you must be living on an atoll. If this is the case, leave the atoll and get to the internet as soon as possible. Anyway, I came across this live set (not a DJ set) from their recent Soulwaxmas show in Hasselt. It will rock your socks off...

Soulwax Live @ Soulwaxmas, Hasselt

01. Intro (Part Of The Weekend Never Dies)
02. Soulwax - E-Talking (Nite Version)
03. LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous
04. Robbie Williams - Lovelight (Soulwax Ravelight Dub)
05. Klaxons - Gravity's Rainbow (Soulwax Remix)
06. Soulwax - Miserable Girl (Nite Version)
07. Soulwax - Another Excuse
08. Soulwax - Accidents And Compliments (Nite Version)
09. Daft Punk - Robot Rock (Soulwax Remix)
10. Justice - Phantom II (Soulwax Remix)
11. Samantha Fu - Discotheque/Human Resource Vs 808 State (Soulwax Edit)/Altern8 - Frequency/T99 - Anastashia
12. Alex Gopher - Aurora (Mixing into NY Excuse)
13. Soulwax - NY Excuse

and one for the road...
Robbie Williams - Lovelight (Soulwax Ravelight Dub)

Disco Dog

Rex The Dog does it again. I swear hes on autopilot at this point...



Rex The Dog - Bubblicious

Space Woman

I'm not usually so long winded on this blog thing, but today's post requires a bit of background...

Last week I posted the PUZIQUe remix of I-Robots - Spacer Frau. Wikipedia tells me that "Spacer Frau" is a German language cover of the song "Spacer Woman" by the iconic Italo-Disco group Charlie. I didn't previously realize this correlation, though I should have, since I have been a huge fan of both songs for quite a long time.
Infact, I've been obsessed with all things Italo Disco since I first discovered Spacer Woman back in '83. But only recently has my Space Disco Obsession (SDO) become so super-serious that I set my RSS feed to show me everything that happens on the internets involving "space disco", "cosmic disco", "space woman" and "cosmic disco space woman." My SDO condition even compelled me to re-name the canary my neighbor asked me to pet-sit, Disco Charlie. To be fair, I'm not sure what his real name is... so I suppose there is a slight chance that I'm actually calling him by his real name... Anyway, as a result of all this SDO-RSSing, as well as that car commercial with Cat Power, I came across Emilie Simon.

Emilie Simon is a prominent French songstress whose cover of a David Bowie's classic gave me some SERIOUS goose-bumps. I spent the better part of an hour listening to her myspace music player and I can confidently say that she has some blinding original material to boot. Her Bowie cover is obviously the stand-out but when covering a work of such staggering genius it is difficult not only to pull it off convincingly, but to do it so that your other work wont suffer in comparison. Coincidentally, I also discovered this today, and it turns out Emilie Simon is perfect candidate.

Emilie Simon - Space Oddity (David Bowie Cover)

ps. I just found out from my neighbor that Charlie is a marvelous songbird who will sing along to classical music. I will upload a video of Charlie performing Bach tomorrow.

pps. I've also discovered how to podcast recently. Be on the look out for a CouchFire Space Disco podcast soonish. ;)

Zorch!

This is a fantastic remix of AutoKratz by Alex Gopher. I'm feeling lazy so....

autoKratz - Stay The Same (Alex Gopher Dub)

It also one the first tracks in my Scarlett Jo Sextape... Its a fun one to mix....

Sgt. Streetlab

I just got some serious inbox love from highly underrated producers Streetlab in the form of a fantastic remix of a Beatles classic. This booty is just a taste of a forthcoming Streetlab compilation. Streetlab Presents: Bootlegs & B-sides project is set to drop sometime in March. Be on the look out for more Streetlab news, and scope out their live show on February 13th at the Apple Store's Soho Theater.

The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (Streetlab Remix) (zsh)

Promo Sampler

I received a very exciting promo from a (kinda) major label last week. I want to share it all with you but I promised them I wouldn't... I know other blogs have this too and have been posting some of it.... naughty naughty

So instead join the CouchFire Facebook Group and post a silly (yet somehow relevant) picture in the fan photos area. Within the next couple of days you will get a link to a mystery gift... wink wink...

Roy Davis Jr feat. Erin Martin - I Have A Vision (Fred Falke Remix)

Many thanks to the rockn folks at Scion A/V for providing quality tunes...

Disco Dancin'

Ladies and gentlemen.... The Holy Grail of Disco Dancing!!!



I'm going to get more tunes by Hexstatic for you to disco.

Disco 3000

We all know Erol Alkan is basically a god at this point. Electronica nerds place him on a ludicrously high pedestal, like Aphex Twin high.... Every now and then I'll go over to his website to scope out his (sometimes) monthly DJ charts, to hopefully steal some tracks. But its always a huge tease. Erol always plays the most hard to find / not yet released tracks that are only available if your a superstar DJ. This mix, which I've been meaning to post for ages, is no exception. Disco 3000 is an homage to the days when synths and congas ruled and a DJ could keep the same groove going for more than 3 minutes because the baseline is just that good. Enjoy

Erol Alkan Presents Disco 3000

0:00 Members Only - Check Out Cha Mind
2:30 Sound Stream - Freakin'
4:20 ???
5:55 Kat Mandu - The Break (Erol Alkan Edit)
10:15 Azoto - San Salvador (Special Acid Edit)
15:40 Karen Young - Hot Shot (Erol Alkan Edit)
19:10 Incogdo - Ventage (Institutional Mix)
19:30 Ripple - The beat goes on and on
24:20 Gary's Gang - Keep on Dancin'
26:10 The Popular People's Front - Speak Swahili
30:50 Slick - Space Bass (Erol Alkan Edit)
34:20 ???
37:50 Disco Devil - Devil Love (or Amplified Orchestra-Satellites are spinning / L.E.B Harmony - Feeling Love)
43:25 The Revolving Eyes - Space Models
47:40 Marcus Mixx - Shake That Thing (Marcus Passarani Remix)
51:45 B Beat Girls - For the Same Man vs. Klein & MBOs - Dirty Talk
59:00 Morgan Geist - 24k
64:30 Rubies - I Feel Electric (ft. Feist) (Tiedye Remix)
72:40 Marta Acuna - Dance Dance Dance

I'd like to thank the community over at the Erol Forum for doing a superb job with the track-list. All except that lethal disco monster at 4:20.

Dim Noise

There I was, minding my own business, rockin-out to my iPod on shuffle, when this came on! PUZIQUe is a side project consisting of Boys Noize and D.I.M. If this sounds like the best shit ever... its because it is... I wonder if we will ever get to see PUZIQUe do a live performance. Wouldn't that be something.

Boys Noize feat. I-Robots - Frau (PUZIQUe Remix) (zsh)

P.L.U.R.

Bushwick Blogger and personal NYC fave AC Slater has up and decided to launch his own label. Knowing how much AC Slater loves the bass Party Like Us Records promises to hit all the right (brown) notes.

AC Slater - Party Like Us

AC Slater - Vertigo (Nick Supply's Horizontago Remix)

Sebastien Telliers All

Here is a fantastic interview with Sebastien Tellier posted by the good people over at XLR8R. God I love that French man..

2008 CouchChart!

In less than 1 week I will turn 23. Its 2009 and I'm almost a god-damn fossil! As an aging artifact, I've (mostly) out grown the whole maximalist electro-monster-sound. I've begun to dislike (most) Ed Banger-wannbe producers that cram every distorted synth sound available into a 4 minute blog house mess. Furthermore I've started to intensely dislike DJs who fill their sets with said cookie-cutter tracks. Thats right Le Castle Vania, I'm through with you!

Now don't get me wrong... I still love the tits off Phantom pt.II and Oi Oi Oi and the like... but I really need more subtlety and tension built in to my DJ sets. Maybe a shiny little synth blip here and there, a couple funny sounds that make you listen again, a pleasant piano lick, and some sparkly vocals from a lady with pretty hair. THEN I'll be ready for you to drop some Proxy! Electro can be that much harder with just a bit of disco/techno thrown around. See Boys Noize, Erol Alkan, Richie Hawtin, and Brodinski if you want to hear how real DJs craft epic sets. But we're still not getting behind trance ok...?

So.... the following CouchChart isn't comprised of biggest blog-house tracks of 2008. This a list of DJ weapons that fit around (and amplify) those infamous blog-bangers we've grown to love and then hate.

10) Alter Ego - Jolly Joker (DJ Koze's Nuttich Styler Remix)

9) Paris feat. Au Revoir Simmone - Friendly Fires (Aeroplane Remix)

8) Fan Death - Veronicas Veil (Erol Alkan Re-Work)

7) Ajello - Moody Bang (Dicky Trisco Re-Edit)

6) Golden Bug - LookLookLook (In Flagranti Remix)

5) Hercules & Love Affair - Blind (Hotline Remix)

4) Moby - Disco Lies (Dusty Kid's Fears Remix)

3) Sebastien Leger - Venon

2) Audion - Billy Says Go

1) Michael Jackson - Get On The Floor (Holy Ghost! Edit)

Jessica Alba Sextape

Enjoy a new celebrity sextape by yours truly...

CouchFire - Jessica Alba Sextape

CouchFire! - Dinning Out At The Y Intro
t99 - Anasthasia (Mellow's Sledgehammer Remix)
Jan Driver - Rat Alert
Late Of The Pier - Bathroom Gurgle (Tomski & Fredboy Remix)
Tiga - Mind Dimension 1
Zombie Nation - Forza (Housemeister Remix)
Mixhell - Highly Explicit (Brodinski Bamboo Rave Remix)
Alter Ego - Jolly Joker - (DJ Koze's Nuttich Styler Remix)
Project Bassline - Drop The Pressure (Jack Beats Remix)
Trevor Loveys & Sinden - Organ Grinder
Duke Dumont - Hoy (CouchFire! Re-Edit)
Jokers Of The Scene - Acidrod (Original Mix)
Reset! - Gasa (Dub Version)
Bart Bmore - Bingo Players Get Up (Diplo Remix)
ZZT - The Worm (Erol Alkan's Extended Remix)
Dave P & Adam Sparkles - Sunday Night In Glasgow
The Chemical Brothers - EBW9 (Segue Remix)
Fukkk Offf - Emotions (Original Mix)
Chase & Status - Eastern Jam (Indian Dub)

Cut Disco

I somehow neglected the Dan Arms remix when I first listened to the Cut Copy Far Away Remix package. Its since become my new favorite. Enjoy.

Cut Copy - Far Away (Damn Arms Remix) (zsh)

Zorch

I picked this up over at Ohh Crapp! and decided to pull the old one-two since its such an amazing tune. That and I'm not at my laptop right now and want to download this later... Zorch

Hexstatic - Bass Invader (Kris Menace Remix) (zsh)

E.R.O.L.

Erol Alkan, who was recently named the UK's most popular DJ, has been turning on the hot-hot fire for a long time and shows no signs of slowing down. He's been producing for the Mystery Jets, remixng and re-working like he's Oakenfold or something, and producing under the side projects Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve and Mustapha 3000.

Anyway... Erol recently signed Dutch pop act Dance Area to his Phantasy Records label. The debut single AA/247 is an infections pop hit with vocals from Austen Boston who works as a bathroom attendant at The End night club in the UK. Look out for the Diplo remix (which is supposed to be nasty good) to drop later this month.


Here is a nice BTWS remix of Franz Ferdinand's Ulysses. I don't plan on listening to the original... on purpose
Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses (Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Remix) (zsh)

Happy 2009 everybody! I plan a wrapping up 2008 sometime soon with a chart.