BIPPP

French electronic music has been at the forefront of the blogosphere for some time now (Ed Banger, Kitsune, Institubes...), and a lot of it is influenced by the French synth vanguard of the early 80s. The recently emerged Parisian indie label Born Bad Records released 'BIPPP - French Synth Wave 1979-1985' a 13 song collection of obscure French Synth wave tracks that outlines the scene in all its minimalistic machine-droned glory. "Covering the Parisian take on the post rock'n'roll resurgence as it became eclipsed by the more marketable New Wave sound, the compilation features songs that range from bordering on ambient soundscapes that echo futuristic symmetry to slightly erratic pop songs that tick in an eerie, repetitious tone."

"BIPPP recalls the glory of a selected few. The cream of the crop of the shooting stars and cult bands". If you're on your game you might be able to recognise a couple of samples used by the new brigade (cough - Rainbow Man). This compilation is great, and shows just how far ahead of their time these groups were, foreseeing much of today's lo-fi synth driven music (think lo-fi-fnk, Crystal Castles, etc) . The Mary Moor, Comix and Ruth tracks are especially fetching.

Ruth - Polaroid Roman Photo
Comix - Touche Pas Mon Sexe
Mary Moor - Pretty Day
Les Visiteurs Du Soir - Je T'Écris D'Un Pays
A Trois Dans Les WC - Contagion
Deux - Game and Performance
Vitor Hublot - Aller Simple
Casino Music - Viol Af 015

Buy BIPPP

Here is a clip of Deux - Felicita, which is not on the compilation, but still chillingly cool as fuck.

The Narc

If you haven't heard of Narctrax you probably shouldn't be reading this blog because you obviously aren't cool enough for it. Going at it with Shinichi Osawa and 80kidz for best Japanese sounds at the moment (in my opinion anyway), they have a certain epic-sega megadrive-disco thing going on that gets me wanting to play Streets of Rage 2 but with a keytar as my weapon. Yeah, it's that good.

Narctrax - Journey
Narctrax - Knights of Faust
Narctrax - Knights of Faust (A Taut Line Remix)
Health - Heaven (Narctrax Remix)
The Teenagers - Starlett Johansson (Narctrax Remix)

Larger Than Life

I first came across Lifelike a few months ago when they released their single So Electric, which i loved as it was a refreshing change from the stuff i was listening to at the time,
and now they have done it again, this time they are remixing Chromeo's Needy Girl and this shit is epic yo...

Chromeo - Needy Girl (Lifelike remix)

Lifelike - So electric

check out their myspace here

Darlin'

So Friday night the Gee Wizz clan plus a few groupies saw Daft Punk play in Melbourne, and it was pretty damn good, considering none of us are really "festival" people.

i must admit it did drag on a bit towards the end for me, but that was probably due to the 3 ravers next to me who kept kicking dirt into my shoe and my mouth and my eyes and anywhere else dirt can get.

But apart from that i think the rest of the night was great.

So here are a few songs from people who played on Friday...

The Presets - My People (D.I.M Remix)

Daft Punk - Robot Rock

Muscles - Chocolate, Raspberry, Lemon & Lime

This is only a circle, not a revolution

I have been meaning to post about Hearts Revolution for quite some time, though the reason I haven't is because I misplaced my favourite song of theirs ('Prism Effect')! The NY duo who travel around in an ice cream truck made a splash with 'Choose Your Own Adventure', and now have some new ish up on their myspace, including the awesome track 'Switchblade' and a snippet of 'Prism Effect'. To learn more about them check out the cute Choose Your Own Adventure flipbook they made. Or buy their music (including a glow in the dark record split with Crystal Castles) or tees at their webstore. Or download a couple of sweet tracks below. Or check out the C.Y.O.A video below! Or all of the above! Gee Wizz predict huuuuuuuuuge things from these guys!

Hearts Revolution - Switchblade
Hearts Revolution - Prism Effect (Demo)

Hearts Revolution - Choose Your Own Adventure:

In The End...

Since last posting, life-changing events have happened to people around me. What do you do when you lose a part of yourself? When life is taken away when it had seemingly only begun? When words cannot rationalize, when effort cannot fix, when clutching for hope still leaves you empty handed? Time, seemingly the only slapdash repairer of such wounds, is dragged out torturingly. You wonder whether you will ever gain the capacity to feel again – if you could ever be whole again. You sleep with their photograph. You smell their shampoo. You see their single sock in the washing basket, their ragged shoes outside the back door. You never ever forget, and you feel guilty as the minutes grow longer between your thoughts of them. You take comfort in the fact that you were lucky to have shared such a bond, and that they lived life as if they somehow knew their time was limited. Soon, the tears of reliving the memories are replaced with smiles. You realise the truth in McCartney’s words, that in the end the love you take, really is equal to the love you make. Rest peacefully, knowing that you are taking so much love with you.

This one is for Anna...
Joseph Arthur - In The Sun

And this one is for George...

Garage Daysss

Ok Ok, I know these last couple of posts have been on some of the more "popular" garage bands, but i thought i would get them out of the way before i delve into he world of one hit wonders that were oh-so popular in the 60's.

Alright so this week we have The Sonics, which formed in 1964 and first recorded The Witch, which went on to be a hit of sorts, especially in Washington where the band lived.

After that the guys thought it was time to cut a whole album, so the band went into Keaney's Studios to record the classic LP "Here Come The Sonics."
The album was recored on a two-track tape recorder with only one microphone to back up the whole drum kit.

Then they went on to record a second album in 1965 titled "Boom" and a year later were openig for such bands as The Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, Jay & The Americans, Ray Stevens, Herman's Hermits, The Righteous Brothers, The Kinks, Lovin' Spoonful, Liverpool 5, Shangri-Las, Mamas & The Papas and The Byrds.

Funnily enough the band faded away in 68-69 after trying to copy Love by adding horns and bells to their new tracks, which didn't go down well with the fans who new them too well as the pioneers of fuzz guitar.

The Sonics - Strychnine

The Sonics - The Witch

The Sonics - Psycho

At the next intersection, turn left

So mike and flash are the dancing queens when it comes to music.. we all know that.. even prolific dj 'tranterco' steals music off mike through this very blog... hence I'm not going to compete with them directly and given our recent holiday period and road trips to Phillip Island thought I'd drop some driving music.

Now this is an important note.. I'm quite a reasonably paced driver.. as in not fast.. so this isn't 'music to do speedway chases and get on some shit cops rip off with a ex blue healers cast member doing the narrative' this is a 'driving down to the fish and chip shop when the suns blearing with all the windows down' kinda music.

Oh no! oh my! - The Party Punch
Kings of Leon - Rememo
Ryan Adams - Damn Sam
Paul John George and Ringo - Rocky Racoon
The Unicorns - Thunder and Lightning

Now listen to this last mystery track and try and tell me you can't imagine yourself cruisin to the beach with this shit cranked! As a test to see if anyone actually reads this shit if you can tell me where this awesome song comes from, I'll buy you a drink (from the GWAP piggy bank)

MYSTERY TRACK

My Island Home

Soooooo like ummmm we've been down in Phillip Island the last few days playing frisbee on le beach, filling watermelons with too much vodka, drinking coconut water and getting uncomfortably drunk with middle school teachers. The weather forecast predicted an unusually warm patch of days, thus the pharmacists and I decided to jump in the trusty Prelude wind the windows alllll the way down and let our hair flow in a similar direction... and as a result of such an occasion here is the official Gee Wizz Pre-Summer Playlist (Part 1)!

Justice - The Party (LA Riots Remix)
Falco - Rock Me Amadeus
Soft Tigers - Mr Ice Cream (Miami Horror Remix)
Screamclub vs Ben Adorable feat. Peaches - Fine As Fuck
A-ha - Take On Me
Late of the Pier - Bathroom Gurgle
Grafton Primary - I Can Cook (Miami Horror Remix)
Anavan - Mingle
Klaxons - As Above, So Below (French Version)
The Teenagers - Sunset Beach

Easter comes early

If you haven't noticed the epidemic of late, music is turning into potatoes... That's right ladies and gentlemen, POTATOES! Luckily there are a few chef's around to make good of the influx of potatoes and turn them into culinary delights by way of mashing them. But enough of my hilarity and onto the point of the post, and that is Hipster Hop. Come on, who doesn't want to hear Bell Biv Devoe chopped over Sebastian? Exactly.

Following in the footsteps of Girl Talk, 'Easter Egg' also creates, with laptop in toe, an eclectic musical smörgåsbord. Easter Egg's brand of hip hop spliced over electro/pop/rock, under the cutely dubbed genre of Hipster Hop, comes Gee Wizz endorsed. His mixed 'Wiggers and Hipsters' is just fun, and the only time you stop dancing is to try and figure out the simultaneous songs with your other drunk friends and Oprah hugging every time you get it right.

Here are a few tracks off Wiggers and Hipsters. It is all mixed and all good so I just picked the tracks that were playing at the time I posted this.

Easter Egg - King of the Trill
Easter Egg - Straight to the Bar
Easter Egg - Rhino Legs

Jump over to his myspace for heaps more.
www.myspace.com/eastereggmusic

IM DIGGIN AT THE MO'

I'm diggin':

Some shoes-

Reebok Omni lite Easter editions probably the tightest shoes

around at the moment i can't find anywhere that sells

them except ebay so the hunt's on

also equally as kool and not with the price tag

Reebok reverse jams sold out of my size ate karmaloop.com

+

Some Music:

Herve - Counterfeet EP Teaser

M.I.T.C.H. - Fais Rentrer Les Euros (feat. Uffie and Feadz) (Feadz's Vocal Remix)

Dance Dance Dance

Ive been meaning to post this track for a couple of weeks now but have been far too lazy with all this hot weather.

Its a new track from Hot Chip that hasn’t been released yet, which has been remixed by Soulwax.

The track is on the new Soulwax remix album, I have not heard it all yet but what I have heard has been great, some of the stuff is old and some is new.

Because they were only allowed to include the dub of this track on the album you don’t get to hear the chorus, but it will still get you dancing all the same.

Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor (Soulwax Dub)

check out their myspace - here

Cowbell Hero

What's the time, Mr Wolf?

Last night my friend Cheddar and I wandered down to the Corner Hotel in Richmond for the much anticipated Patrick Wolf.

For those unfamiliar, Mr Wolf is an English singer/songwriter/musician whose music melds folk-esque ukuleles and violins with electronic bleeps and sounds. He released his first album 'Lycanthropy' at 18, then came 'Wind in the Wires', and now at 24, he has released his third album, "The Magic Position", which came out earlier this year. He plays 21 instruments, dresses in a similar vein to Ziggy Stardust, and has been compared to Bowie and Bjork.

The crowd was an eclectic group of annoying people, varying from fat, hairy sweaty men who danced like fruits and blocked the view, to apathetic disaffected dykes, to people who felt compelled to record the whole thing on their mobile phone or camera. Patrick however, was incredible. Despite walking off in the middle of one of my favourite songs 'Tristan', exclaiming "I'm fucking Tristan and I am fucking sick of this shit" and knocking down miscellaneous instruments and not returning for about 15 minutes, everyone there was encapsulated by his voice and the great accompanying band, and he got Melbournians moving as much as Melbournians are ever going to move.

Flamboyant, androgynous, and rather overgrown nymph like, he exposes various facets of himself with his dyed red hair, prancing, vulnerability, brashness and ferocity. Here are a few favourites from the show...

Patrick Wolf - Tristan
Patrick Wolf - The Libertine
Patrick Wolf - The Stars


Go to patrickwolf.com
Buy The Magic Position

GEE WIZZ @ Fashion Keyboard

Hello ladies and germs,
business has been a bit slow around here due to the university exam schedule, but all will be back to normal after Friday afternoon! To celebrate we are DJing are cute little heiny's off at Fashion Keyboard yeehaa so we expect everyone to be there to get loose to the tracks we post on here plus more! We even take requests if you post them here or on the myspace before Friday.......... $2 pots and $5 jagerbombs as well, GEE WIZZ!

Garage Daysss

OK so ive been meaning to start this for a while now, the plan is once a week or maybe once a fortnight i will post up my favourite garage / psychedelic / pre punk / freakbeat / mod bands from the 60's.

The first band i have chosen is Love, who burst onto the Sunset strip in 1965 when they were signed to Electra Records and released their debut self titled album.

The follow up, 1967s "Da Capo" was similarly successful and saw them break into the top 40 with the single "7 And 7 Is." (The very song that inspired Jimi Hendrix to go for that "fuzzy" guitar noise)

This is the same year Love helped The Doors get Signed to Electra, But they never reached the same fame as their label mates, it wasnt because they were not as talented, it was because the band never toured outside of L.A.

Which was good in the short term, while bands like The Byrds and The Doors were busy jetsetting all over the world, Love became the hippest band in L.A, but it also cost them a career.

After the release of their second album the band pretty much disintegrated, with months between gigs and no new material being produced.

But Arthur Lee decided they should have one more crack at it, the plan was that he and Neil Young, (who was in Buffalo Springfeild at the time) would produce one last album with the band, but it would go in a totally new direction, this album was Forever Changes.

Instead of furious pace and fuzz guitar, Forever Changes was totally stripped back with mainly acoustic guitars, a choir and an orchestra, there are a couple of exeptions on the album of course.

Love werent expecting much from this album, but the final product has been claimed as one of the best albums to come out of L.A in the 60s.

The songs below are probably not the most popular from the album but they are my favourites...

Love - Your Mind And We Belong Together

Love - A House Is Not A Motel

Love - Bummer In The Summer

Cry Me A River

Here in Melbourne the quality of many of our street magazines is questionable to say the least, though whilst cleaning out my shit today I found one I fell in love with precisely 4 years ago. It was a nifty little mag called Lucky, but the reason I loved it so much was for the last page column called EGO TRIPPER written by a fellow named Cry Bloxsome. His particular brand of nonchalant existentialist ramblings appealed both to my douchebag teenage side who thought he was cooler than everyone else, and also my douchebag mature (debatable) side that thought he was smarter than everyone else. That is because Cry Bloxsome is a cool cat. He is insightful and humorous and thinks on equally magnetic levels with both his brain and his dick. The particular issue I perused that dimly lit Melbourne morning contained the column entitled ‘Fake it for the City' which you can read below. To read more of his Ego Tripper columns and other material head to Cry Bloxsome, and check out where to buy his first novel 'Living Between Fucks' for something that is questionable in every other facet bar quality.

My eyelids gained weight and my full lips slackened. My clothes looked messier too, which could be explained by my body beginning to slump. I picked up a glass, drank from it, and put it right back down in the watermark. Like nothing ever happened. Except the glass got emptier and my blood got more alcoholic.
I leaned on the door handle on the way out and gave the outdoor stars the finger sign for Fuck You!
Then smiled.
The body is fun to poison when you expect nothing from humanity. Four thousand years now we’ve been recording history and the only obvious achievements have been to increase the population to breaking point, while wildly producing weapons of mass-destruction that look like dicks.
You’d be a fool to get upset by your own irrelevance after the year two thousand.
So, what now?
Irvine Welsh (Author of Trainspotting) asks:
“What can I do, really do for the emancipation of working people in this country”.
His answer is:
“A resounding fuck all.”
You see, I used to think I could be young fast and poor in a high-art way. Then it occurred to me that I’d never really been fast or high-art. That left me with young and poor.
The closest I got to high-art this last year was with a woman. Her name’s a secret but she eats toast better than anyone. When she puts on trucker hats she looks like the flag girl at the Grand Prix. Her fringe goes across her forehead in black strokes. And when she walks down the road towards the sea she calls back ‘Do that’.
“I’ll call you,” I yell.
“Do that!” she answers.
I’ve been ditched before, but getting ditched by her was downright film-able. She waited in the rain wearing pajamas and a jacket, then stepped out of the headlights and into the passengers seat. The car was borrowed. The city was looming up, lit up, and unholy in front of us. I was going to suffocate with the rain on the windows, so I got out and she hugged me at the start of the path. With an even face she says “Bye” and we turn away, and we walk away.
Where do you go. You might fit your life in two bags and leave, but for where. Where is happiness.
I saw two dudes sitting on the ground along Brunswick Street, one was on the heroin nod so his mate tried to wake up by holding a lighter flame to his face. He saw I was looking at him so he took his finger off the button and smiled. I’ve seen it written that the difference between childhood and adulthood is the ability to accept disappointment.
The flight from Perth to Melbourne took three hours. Three hours might be all it takes to fuck a life.
Or start one.

CRY BLOXSOME

Okie Dokie Artichokie

Left: An artists impression of what John Howard might look like on 24th of November





So, ARE YOU READY FOR THIS!.... It's my birthday on election day, how not cool (uncle John just wanted to rep the country on my b'day,), and so i have conjured up a birthday slash Christmas wish list, i thought i might let it out of the can just in case any one wanted to help it along, goes as follows in not order of preference:

1. A make over to look like tom from guess who (hot) hAHa

2. an Alife t-shirt cause they're like ohhhhhh boy

3. guess who and operation the board game (the new one)

4. pair of DC's the colab ones with lemar and dauley

5. pegleg nyc hoodie, also they just released there new fall/winter line on the net so hit that up its dope shit used to be free postage but i think they changed it cause of me...i got free postage (when i bought my T couple of weeks ago) and turns out the postage cost as much as my t-shirt lollercoasterz they paid for it YEAHA BOY

6. and... surprise me ;)


on another note, GEE WIZZ totz making waves in the Melbourne's independent music community get on them before WE BLOW UP

People in glass houses...

Fuck them! Let's talk about people in Crystal Castles... they are visiting Gee Wizz here in Melbourne town! All of us in Gee Wizz love these guys and their innovative icy cold 8-bit synth sound, and all of us have different favourite songs... pretty much because they are all that and a bag of potato chips - both their productions and their remixes. Crystal Castles will only be playing at Gee Wizz endorsed Streetparty events whilst in Melbourne (besides the Meredith festival), exclusively at Pogo at Geddes Lane on the 20th of December, then on the 22nd at Click Click... you can buy tickets from us, so let us know and book it in children!

Here are our favourites:
Nic - Crystal Castles - Loving & Caring (7inch) (zshare)
Jesse - Goodbooks - Leni (Crystal Castles Rmx)
Mike - Crystal Castles vs Health - Crime Wave
Liz Satincrack Sweetcheeks Houston Shoegazer - Crystal Castles - Alice Practice (Futurecop Rmx)

Your name's not Dan! You're not coming in!

soooooo klaxons were in town on satdy finally after waiting for the dooshes leg to get all better (needless to say there were no stage dives from any of the fellas!) we got to see them, hannah and the annas, and a complete coverup of some kind of terrorist attack all on one night.

Opening with the bouncer.. a track definitely made for a show opener and a bass line Robbie could probably even manage I came to the conclusion this was probably one of my favourite bands for the last year and they didn't let me down. But they didn't really blow me or the other boys away either.. we saw them at the modular xmas party last year and we all agreed they were way better... but that could be due to the Espy being a much more intimate venue..

Everyone still had a good time and the crowd eventually got into it especially for Gravity's Rainbow and Atlantis to Interzone. My favourite was Not Over Yet. I think all three of those songs would have been far better encore songs rather than Four Horsemen of 2012 but what can you do!

Now almost as exciting.. not really but alll night after there were cops flyin with there lights on everywhere, even an Australian Federal Police car but I haven't seen or heard anything on the radio so I'm guessing a cover up.. I'm not going to elaborate too much.. Ive said too much already!

if this blog gets mysteriously shut down soon you'll know why!

Special mention to the 23 people who asked us on 23 separate occasions where 2 Floors Up is, how fucking hard is that place to find??? and why the fuck would they think we know??

Klaxons - Not Over Yet (zSHARE)
Klaxons - Not Over Yet Gentlemen Drivers Remix (Flash requested this remix)