Oh wait, Oh Eight (Part iii)

So we come to the last segment of the best of 2007 music. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

5. Friendly Fires - On Board (Nic Nell NTronica Remix)

British trio Friendly Fires are probably more well known for their tune 'Paris', but I think 'On Board' takes the cake - a marvelous concoction of dance and post punk. Nic Nell adds just enough of the colder glitchy tech element to compliment it rather than overpower it, and Gee Wizz does it work, combining with the vocals and bass line to form some sort of controlled chaos.

4. Late of the Pier - Bathroom Gurgle

Part of the great Moshi Moshi singles club (along with Friendly Fires - Paris), Bathroom Gurgle (produced by Erol Alkan) is like a Jekyll and Hyde song, managing to mix 80s synth pop in the same vein as Human League with a grand Rocky Horror Show finale. How you could not lose your b-a-n-a-n-a-s to such a song is inconceivable. A great sound that is bang on the money whilst still being original.

3. Foals - Hummer

If you are a Forward Russia fan like I am, you will love Foals (for some reason Foals have their own section on a Forward Russia forum, they just go together like peas and carrots). The dance punk-band have now built up an awesome portfolio of tunes, and Hummer, probably the most dance friendly of the pack, makes everyone stand up and notice/dance.

2. Scenario Rock - Perfect Love Antidote
Scenario Rock - Perfect Love Antidote (Hey Champ Remix)

Remember that old classic Skitzo Dancer? Well this is another classic from French duo Scenario Rock (aka Mehdi Pinson and Ludovic Therrault). The Justice remix of Skitzo Dancer gained cult status here in Australia, and the favour was returned as Mehdi Pinson laid down the vocals for Justice's DVNO. The brand new Perfect Love Antidote is slightly off kilter to the whole electro banger thing they had going with Skitzo Dancer, but that is just the thing that makes it sooooo great. They tell a great story through their tracks and their humour and style can turn any frown upside down. And don't forget the Hey Champ Remix, which stays true to the track (crap effort Bobmo) whilst delivering a more club friendly sound. Simply awesome.

1. Crystal Castles vs The Little Ones - Lovers Who Uncover

How apt. This song was my ring tone until 11:50 pm on New Years Eve when I fucked my phone up carrying an esky from car to house. So this song sort of has to be number one for nostalgic purposes, regardless of quality. Though it wouldn't have been my ring tone if it were shit. Hrmmm.....

Who cares. It was totally the best song of the year.

Oh wait, Oh Eight (Part ii)

Yesterday I put up the first segment of my favourite songs from 2007, and funnily enough here is the next, songs 10 - 6.

10. Cazals - To Cut A Long Story Short (Vicarious Bliss Mellotron Mix)

UK mob Cazals have brought out To Cut A Long Story Short, a killer tune, on Kitsune. Vicarious Bliss, along with autoKratz and Streetlife dj's made remixes for the vinyl. This mix from Vicarious Bliss however, was not put on the record, which is odd because it is clearly the pick of the bunch, I could listen to it forever.

9. Matt and Kim - Yeah Yeah (Flosstradamus Remix)

This catchy little indie dance tune from Matt and Kim was spliced with the "Where's Your Head At" synthline and turned into every wigger and hipsters favourite club tune by Iheartcomix stablemate Flosstradamus.

8. Justice feat. Uffie - The Party (LA Riots Mix)

I tried my best to get through this list without a) putting in any tracks I've posted before, and b) without any Justice, but LA Riots made me succumb to both. The original track is OK but LA Riots have a knack for turning tunes from good to great. Probably my favourite remixers of 2007, with other solid re-jigs like DVNO (Justice again), Scanners - Lowlife, and Photek's Love and War. This is always first up in a Gee Wizz DJ set.

7. The Glamour - Respect The Party

The Glamour pretty much came out of nowhere with this track, and what a track it is. Respect The Party got alllll the cool kids off the bar and on the D-floor. Their follow ups, 'Bang My Head' and 'Kidz Night' were garbage, 'Fly By Night' was OK, and 'Feet 2 the Floor' was a little better, but they ain't got nothing on this one.

6. Adam Kesher - Modern Times

French band Adam Kesher is a Gee Wizz all time favourite (most likely a post on them coming soon), and Modern Times is quite simply a killer track, and the best remixed of the year. That's why I'm not posting the original, but three awesome remixes of it. Enjoy.

Adam Kesher - Modern Times (Pedro & Panama Remix)
Adam Kesher - Modern Times (Goon Koyote Remix)
Adam Kesher - Modern Times (908 Remix)


Hopefully tomorrow I'll have 5-1 up because I'm going away tomorrow. Au revoir.

Oh wait, Oh Eight

Another year has come and gone, another beginning to do just that. Whilst the slate is wiped clean, there are some remnants of the year that was that we grasp on to, for better or for worse, to take with us forever. I've managed to compile a list of my favourite songs of 2007, I tried to fit them into a Top 10 but I couldn't, so deal with a Top 15...

15. Sebastien Tellier, Mr Oizo & SebastiAn - Steakskate

The two Sebastian's teamed up with the evergreen Mr Oizo to produce the score for French film "Steak". I don't think anyone gives a shit about the film, but what a soundtrack! 'Steakskate' is such a fun track, it reminds me of the gameshow Jeopardy's 'thinking music' if it was cool and French. This song stuck in the head of anyone who heard it, and people didn't hate it after it.

14. Dragonette - I Get Around (Midnight Juggernauts Remix)

For some reason, this song just does it for me. Such a sexy song... though more kiss chasey and bugglegum than hardcore porn. Oh, and if it's good enough for Kitsune it's good enough for Gee Wizz.

13. Sexual Earthquake in Kobe - Dance Music (Toxic Avenger Remix)

Now if the title did not make it obvious for you, Sexual Earthquake in Kobe (best name in the business) are clearly enticing you to dance with this little number (clearly succeeding). The Toxic Avenger gives it banger status.

12. 80kidz - Disdrive20

You should totally get strobe lights out whilst listening to this effort from the Jap electro act 80kidz. Or break out a hovercar and fly forward in time to Japan in 2020 (or 1982) and climb a mountain whilst windmill kicking an inordinate amount of 'bad guys'. Their follow up effort ALT A is perhaps just as good, though with Disdrive released earlier it just gave me more aural pleasure throughout 2007. Along with Narctrax and Shinichi Osawa, my favourites from the Far East.

11. Health - Triceratops (CFCF Remix)

My goodness I have no idea how CFCF managed to transform Triceratops into an epic Nightrider-esque theme but thank whatever higher form you believe in that it happened. Health had an outstanding breakout year with Triceratops, Heaven, Perfect Skin and Glitter Pills getting remixed out of their skin, but this one is a metaphorical T-Rex above them all.


...5 down... 10 more to go... keep your ears close to the ground for 10 - 6 coming in the next few days fellow Pharmacists!

Dip low

A couple of months ago we posted up the Soulwax remix of the new Hot Chip song, Ready For The Floor, which will be on their new album.

Well here is our follow up to that song, remixed by Diplo, its called Shake a Fist.

Both of these remixes are available to buy on the new Hot Chip single which you can pre order from here.

And I'll throw this one in just for good measure...

Samim - Heater (Diplo Remix)

Hot Chip - Shake a Fist (Diplo Remix)

Check out Diplo's Myspace here.

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