DAER EVARONNE

I know I've been a little off my game lately; among other things, I blame starting a new job which sucked so bad I had to quit within a week. However, that ends right now, as I am bringing thirteen megabytes of hot fire to yr ears today.

Royksopp, "What Else Is There?" (Trentemoller remix) - I've done ketamine exactly once in my life, and I feel pretty comfortable in saying that it'll stay that way for the duration, but good god damn, if this is what ketamine house sounds like then FIRE IN THE K-HOLE. Those of you who call yourself fans of epic breakdowns may be well aware of this track already, since lord knows the breakdown's the bit that flipped me from "I guess this is pretty good for one of those disposable electroclash tracks" to, well, here; it's long as all hell and hits home with a swirling overdriven fury worthy of Jacques Lu Cont or Rex The Dog. Those names, I hasten to add, aren't ones I choose as comparisons lightly, and in this instance I'm not just comparing their sounds; Trentemøller seems to be following the same star of ascendency (one epic, unmissable remix leads people towards an incredibly solid back catalogue of remixes and original productions) that led Mr. Price and Mr., er, Dog to lord over everyone else in the field. I have to say that I find it incredibly comforting to find a particular brand of music that makes stars so reliably; even more than indie-rock finding a new rock collective in the early fall, electro-house is always good for a god once the leaves turn brown. And given that I'm already having a hard time thinking about the genre without including Trentemøller, or at the VERY least this remix, I think it's safe to say we've found this year's model. (The Trentemøller remix is currently unreleased, but in the meantime you can buy Royksopp's The Understanding from Amazon)

The Harlem Shakes, "A Night" - God, I'm going to be kicking myself for the rest of my life over stupidly passing up a chance a few weeks back to see NOT JUST Colored Shadows (who I guess I'll be seeing on Halloween now) but somehow the Harlem Shakes as well, and for free nonetheless. Obviously these guys are about to go supernova; it's pretty hard to listen to "A Night" and hear anything other than "A Hit" (*rimshot*), since it's one of the rare songs that keeps building and building and building but doesn't seem to have anything to deter Ordinary Folx from losing interest. I've seen them being tipped as Amur'ca's best counteroffensive to the impending whirlwind of Arctic Monkeys-ness, which I guess makes sense if you consider both bands as being heirs apparent to their respective modern indie lineage; you can trace the Shakes' sound down from the Strokes to Clap Your Hands as easily as you can get from the Libertines to the Kaiser Chiefs to the Monkeys, which unfortunately isn't something I can make sound like a non-backhanded compliment, and I mean zero disrespect to a band this fun. (The Harlem Shakes EP isn't currently available for sale anywhere that I can find, but click here to visit the Harlem Shakes' homepage for upcoming concert information)