We were the first blog to find Barretso a few months ago, and since then the Russ Chimes-y prodigy has been showing up all over the place. A dizzying array of originals and remixes have flooded the blogosphere, creating a nice little wave of hype for this Chilean. Naturally, we've been keeping a close ear on the guy, as his productions are that kind of heavy synth dance tunes that only a few on the planet seem to be making. (I'm talking breakneck, fast paced, big lead solo, 4tothefloor, bloghouse style stuff).
Anyway, of everything that he's pushed out in the last couple months, the Redial remix of We Wont Stop is my favorite. It stays true to Barretso's overall sound, but really amps the song up a lot from the original. Redial really takes this one and launches it into the heavens. Unlike some heavy songs that make me want to do some drugs and go nuts, this song just makes me feel like I'm on a mission to save the world... or maybe just a pretty girl (is there a difference?)
Like a flashing glimpse of something so beautiful you can hardly handle it, this song builds up just as your heart starts to beat faster and faster. By the bass drop, you're ready to drop everything and go on a mission. This is my FAVORITE kind of heavy song, the kind that gives me the same kind of emotions that slow, melodic music will. This song is heavy, but DAMN if it isn't EMOTIONAL. Thats a premise that a lot of the Binary Family has been built on. Sometimes you're out, and a touch or a glance can send you into the kind of frenzy that this song just sounds like. Sometimes the smallest things become the biggest things in life. I love that.
"We Wont Stop Toniiiiiiiggght"
A quick note: Barretso has GREAT vocals. This sets him apart from everyone else making music like this. I'm very curious to see if he can pull off a great album. His closest counterpart in this sense is perhaps DATA.
The rising buildup is the signature moment of the track. Its like the moment when you finally get the nerve, doing something you don't think you can do... But before you know it, you're there, looking at them right in the eyes. Adrenaline just coursing through your veins. The kind of adrenaline rush that keeps you up all night. The buildup is great because you just don't really know whats about to come.
And, as you'd expect of Redial, the payoff is just that, a great payoff. Great song, even better remix.
Today we've got a couple tracks from a pair of Melbourne bros by the name of Cadillac. The guys were nice enough to send us some tracks to put up here on the Binary blog, so I'll start with my favorite of the three, a track called "Give It Up".
Last week, for whatever reason, I noticed a bunch of things that made me realize, man, I bet being in Australia right now is awesome! You've definitely read our coverage on some other great Aussie artists here that we all know, be it Cut Copy or Empire of the Sun,Bag Raiders or Miami Horror, DCUP or Shazam, Van She or Gloves, or a number of others. All have contributed big things to the music we love. We always knew there was a great music scene in Melbourne, but it seems to me like the rest of the nation down under is catching up and in a big way. And not only that there are scenes growing in these other cities, but it seems like dreamwave is getting big there in a big way. And what better place for it to happen then Australia (besides LA, of course).
I'm pretty sure I've liked every Australian I've ever met. They seem like good people who know how to party and have fun and it seems like they have strong bonds of friendship. Hearing this Cadillac track makes me think how while we're all here struggling through a rough and snowy winter (well, not ALL of us), it's summertime in Australia, and every night, the kids are stepping off of the beaches and walking under the palm trees to the closest bar or club and getting down to some bright and sunny music with their bros and the girls, drinking more beer than us and dancing the night away. I'm thinking Australia should capitalize on what they've got going and rename the country Dreamwavia. Yeah, I'd go there.
Cadillac is a pretty new band, though I'm not sure they've been out DJ'ing around Melbourne, but at least in terms of their productions they've got a small catalog going at this point. The guys mentioned how they would be elaborating on some of the tracks and I'm sure hoping they're making more, because this is a great feel good track with some real clean and funky production. My favorite part is the little accent riff that goes "doo doo, doo doo, doo, doo...doo...doo", which you can first hear at the :04 second mark. Whether that makes any sense is beyond me, but for some reason I feel like that adds some real Australian flavor to the track. This track really sounds like the end of a long sunny day in the sand, getting ready for a big night out.
Here's another track called "Manhattan". Josh noticed that it's a sweet little sample that also got used in Biggie's 'I Love The Dough', which is definitely a positive for this song. It is a really solid beat, and hats off to the Cadillac boys for seeing that in the song. Isn't it crazy how music goes through its evolutions? So many of the tracks from old gangsta rap songs out here on the west coast, and though probably to a smaller degree, east coast/NYC hip-hop beats, are so applicable to modern dance music. Change the tempo a bit, and you've got a really great groove ready to go for any DJ set. It really makes me appreciate great moments of musical brilliance, because that beats lifespan outlives its intended market. There is just something so human about that. So cheers to the original producers, and cheers to the never-dying human creative spirit that never stops seeing value in the world around us.
And finally here's another great track from Cadillac. I think it's another summertime/nighttime jam, meant to bring people together around ten o'clock to get the party started. This track has a pretty sweet solo in it. The guys from Cadillac tell me that they're loving it in Melbourne right now, and that summertime is in full swing. I'm hoping I can make it over there sometime this year.
Be sure to check out Cadillac's myspace page and send them some love. If you've got any insight on the Australian scene(s), feel free to comment on this post and let us know what's really going on over there. And if any of you have the chance to make it over there anytime soon, my gut is telling me that you probably should. I'll be expecting my check from the Australian Board of Tourism anyday now...
Fabian's Heatwave was the jam that took us from the fall through the winter. As it rained over the past month here in LA, it was Heatwave that kept us all warm. Fabian was the Binary artist that delivered us the song that we hear being played out more than anything else. I've heard it compared to Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack outtakes, to epic house tracks, and even to a chillwave summertime layback track. In the end its a timeless snapshot of LA in the summertime. It'll give you a jump in your step and a bead of sweat on your brow.
Today we've got a fantastic treat for you. LA based TNUC has decided to lend his hand to creating a video for Heatwave. As he explained it when he delivered it to us.
"If fast cars, fast women, leisure suits, cocaine, shade-tipping meatheads, disco, hardbodies, epic sunsets and Patrick Swayze are some of the things you hold dear to your heart, then book your first class ticket to Bogota to enter a pelvic-thrusting HEATWAVE."
Sounds about right!
Does the video live up to the TNUC hype? Be the judge for yourself.
The Golden Filter are just a couple of years old, crafting dark, airy synth laden lullabies over punchy programmed drums. When Kyle and I first heard 'Solid Gold', back in '08, we loved it so much we put it on our first dreamwave mixtape, NightWaves' Presents The Dreamwave Hour. That song represented everything we love about this kind of music. It had great production, it hit you in the chest, and on top of all of that, there was a great song with singable melodies to match. Since Solid Gold, at least in my opinion, their other output has been pretty weak. Great production still, but the songwriting left something serious to be desired.
Well, here is the triumphant return to the great potential we heard when we first listened to Solid Gold. Hide Me delivers in every way you could hope. Its emotional, dark, mysterious, dreamy. Listening to this through headphones almost puts me in a trance. Enjoy.
I think I dig this song so much because the voyeuristic nature of the song translates well with the sonic nature of the track. Its a bit dark, very mysterious, and pretty sexy. Breathy vocals are always a killer, and the idea of being watched is always a little creepy, and a little exciting as well.
Maybe you're being watched, or doing the watching online? Maybe you're just doing it from across the street. We're all voyeurs in one way or another. From facebook albums to peering into the car next to you at a stoplight. Its the excitement that goes along with NOT knowing what to expect from what you're looking at.
That feeling works both ways too. Who is reading this? Who's looking at me in my car, or on facebook? Its creepy, and a bit exciting too.
This song captures just that feeling. It'll make your skin crawl and it'll make your heart beat a bit faster too.
A nice little post for you here today. We recently got these tracks from Deadbots, a two-person group from Dublin and Vancouver, in support of their EP titled "Much Better" which will be coming out later this month or early March. Here's the original from Deadbots for you to enjoy...
As I'm sure you know we talk about nostalgia a lot here on the blog. This song definitely takes me back, but only to about three years ago. I don't mean that in a bad way at all, and I really like the song, it's just kind of funny and nice. Funny timing I guess...I could use hearing some music like this right about now. We've got Coachella coming up here in Southern California and this song is getting me really excited for it. I'm just thinking about the drive out through the desert and then arriving in Palm Springs and getting ready for a weekend of making some bad decisions.
Maybe it's the Justice-y pads that chime throughout this track, or the crisp MSTRKRFT drums, but this song is taking me back to a couple years ago when Justice played Coachella along with a ton of other great acts at the time. It was the height of the blog house era. A time when I was a bit younger and a bit dumber and a bit more ready to party, and this song makes me want to party. In the sun. By a swimming pool. I want to be in a place that parties all day in a desert oasis, and I want to have to face the decision of what will help my hangover more: jumping in the pool or this breakfast burrito and a mimosa. I want to be cool with the thought of shotgunning a beer and having it pour all over me before I jump in that pool. Ah, the perils of the good life.
I love the opening bass tone of this song, and the arpeggio is really stellar. The vocals are great. I think that's what is bringing me back and making me want to party. She's delivering the vocals like she's already down to party, and it makes me want to join. That's probably part of the recipe for a good track. Here is a remix that accompanies the track from Symbol One.
This is a nice compliment to the original. I think Josh and I might debate a bit on which track we like better. I think I like the conciseness of the original better, but this remix does add some of that French dreamwave flavor to it with some more standard dance music drums. This track could get a dancefloor going late in the night. Good stuff.
Be sure to check out Deadbots' myspace page since they've got a lot of other tracks and remixes up there. I like a lot of the ideas they have so I'm looking forward to checking out this EP when it graces us with its presence. Maybe it'll be perfect for Coachella this year as I lay on a raft floating in the pool in that place where time never moves.
We were quite pleased to find out that BigStereo would be launching their own record label. A project in the works for quite some time, it has finally come to fruition with their first release, a single from the Portland synthpop group Baby Monster.
Expectations should be high for a release like this. When someone like Travis decides to throw his whole weight behind something, it usually sticks. And, much like you'd expect, this song delivers. In fact, in a big way, it represents everything that's great about Big Stereo as a blog. It continually straddles the line between traditional 'indie rock' and 'dance music'. It seems as if their only prerogative is posting good music. What I do consistently find though, is that their posts generally are of bands, or producers, that will appeal to both sides of that spectrum. This release mirrors that philosophy perfectly. Combining half programmed/half live drums, singable melodies, and delicious synth work, this band has serious crossover potential.
As I've played the song, sometimes over and over, during the course of the last week, I'm most struck by the overall vibe of the song. I'm left feeling feeling alternately depressed and hopeful. It feels like a love song written by someone that's scared to write a love song. There's a level of loneliness that comes across that's undeniable. Well... at least until the chorus.
The hook is what really makes this song. Right after you've been transported into a world of longing and endless nights, the chorus hits like a ray of light. I suppose finding the right person is a lot like that. You find your ray of light, and all of a sudden you can hear hope and love in all of the sad songs you used to wallow in.
"You and I only go where we want to go/Through the magical tunnels and rabbit holes"
I can't help but think that this song is about exactly that. Being brought out of a dark time by someone special... someone unexpected. It is, after all, moments like this that make life best. Its also the kind of subject matter that make for the best art.
I think what I like most about the song is its distinctly NON-Brooklyn-y sound. The pretentiousness that has invaded New York music has a palpable stench. There's so little genuineness that despite a seemingly bottomless talent pool, I fear that the entire city has just overdosed on their own hype. In any case, Baby Monster is sincere, and their message is genuine. Even the song feels like it takes place in some rural farmhouse.
"Walk around with nothing on/she comes alive"
Its like those times, when you just disappear from the world. All that's left is the one you love. Your life, your friends, your family... Don't matter. Slipping into those paradises usually happen out of nowhere, like a gift from the ether. This song captures both the longing for that moment, and the moment itself.
"Aw, shes climbin up the stairs now/floating in the air now"
Now, I'm probably wrong about the subject nature of the song. In all likelihood, its about something completely inanimate. But shit, isn't this what art is all about? I ALWAYS make emotional, romantic connections with songs, art, and written prose when there is none to be found. That's what I love most about music. Our ability to draw our own conclusions. When I hear this song, it makes me remember the blooming of a new love. Great stuff.
A big congratulations to BigStereo on the release. If you aren't familiar with the blog, you should be, go head over. They've found a gem in Baby Monster. Can't wait to hear more from them! You can find details on purchasing the limited edition single over there at BigStereo as well. Cheers.
It keeps us up at night. Keeps us searching for something more everyday. Keeps us closing our eyes and dreaming. THIS MUSIC is what brings us together!
We've been on DCUP for what feels like years. The demos that turned into his debut EP were some of the first non-Binary songs that we ever blogged. Style, in fact, was one of those songs.
DCUP has a new EP coming out, full of great remixes, including this sun-filled danceathon by Rainbows of Death. Its making me yearn for summer, so yeah... lets go.
One of my favorite parts of running a blog and a label is the entire process of looking for new music and artists. Even though myspace is taking in it's last dying breath I still enjoy signing on and checking out the artists that have friend requested us, checking out their music, scoping out their friends, trying to understand their "scene". It's amazing what a small world we live in and that's particularly true when it comes to this music scene. So it was about a few months ago that some crazy coincidences occurred that really let me appreciate one of our favorite artists and friend even more for his foresight and for a refreshing reminder that life really does go full circle.
It was some day after mid-September of 2009 when Stephen Falken's EP "Visions" was released on Flexx Records. I had been hearing about it from our friend TNUC for a couple days and was listening to the record when I thought, "I KNOW this song from somewhere...", but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. The song is called "Shadow Of The Wind" and it's a great dreamwave track in the most traditional of meanings. This song makes me think of walking down a gray beach on a hazy and overcast day.
There is a light drizzle of rain misting on you as you walk barefoot through the sand, and the waves slowly lap up onto the shore. It's a thoughtful piece.
I had known about Stephen Falken for quite awhile, both from the always quality advice of TNUC and from our friendship here at Binary with our Valerie brothers in France. Falken is half of the Valerie group The Outrunners, an early favorite of ours from the French collective. It was years ago that I remember first coming across Valerie on myspace while sifting through the top friends of San Francisco-based retro dreamwaver Loose Shus. How I first found Loose Shus, I have no idea. But without it, things definitely would not be the same today, and you wouldn't be reading this blog, at least not in its current form. I remember the day I came across Valerie and how I spent hours sifting through all their music and their artists and figuring out what they're all about. I remember finding Anoraak and falling in love with "Nightdrive With You"...a song that is still to this day at the peak of Mt. Dreamwave. Unmatched and unaffected by the passing of time, some seeds were planted the day I heard that song, and things have never been quite the same.
Thinking back to that time, it made me realize..."I know where I've heard that Stephen Falken song...it was on Anoraak's mixtape!" At some point after Josh and I were listening to Anoraak and as much dreamwave as we could get our hands on, Brooklyn's No Love Lost Records continued their mixtape series with a mix by Anoraak. From what I can tell it was released in May of 2008. "The Anoraak mixtape", as it's come to be known around here, was really the soundtrack of a summer and beyond. I think that is what fully immersed us in dreamwave. It immersed Josh and I, it immersed everyone around us and all our friends.
It was the soundtrack to beer pong tournaments on hot summer days, and the soundtrack to drives out to the beach on cool summer nights.
It basically never ended. I think I have probably at least four copies of the mix burned onto CD's. I don't think I've heard a better executed mixtape than this one, and I don't know if I ever will. Check out the mix on No Love Lost Records' myspace page.. the download link should still work.
So it was nice getting a blast from the past hearing that Stephen Falken track. It was later that same day that I was sifting through some promo emails that always pile up for the blog, and I came across one from the trusted source that brought us The Diogenes Club. The band was another UK band by the name of Relation. There were a couple tracks highlighted by the band for us to check out, one of which was a cover of the classic Pixies track called "Here Comes Your Man".
I like these guys. They definitely sound UK to me, and they have a pretty vintage feel to them. I feel like they have a blue collar sound to them...like I picture them in Manchester or some industrial city in England feeling glum and dancing around for a sense of community in the worker's overalls, much like the Dexy's Midnight Runners video for "Come On Eileen".
Weird thought? Yes...but I mean it as a compliment. The rest of the record has a similar sound and you should definitely pick it up off of Urban Torque Records. The other track that was highlighted in this promo email also definitely caught my attention.
Who doesn't love Lifelike?? The dude is a master. I remember finding him very early down the road as well, primarily because I think he was already a legend to a lot of the artists we were looking at and therefore and influence of theirs. I remember Coachella a couple years ago listening to the Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Epic Last Song (Lifelike Remix) at a sweet party condo in Palm Springs, drying off my boardshorts in the hot desert sun while once again playing beer pong. So when I listened to this Lifelike remix of Relation I was pretty taken aback when I realized, "holy shit, this is the second track I've heard today that has JUST been released, that is ALSO on Anoraak's mixtape!" Like, they're just pushing these songs out now, but Anoraak had them on his mixtape over a year and a half ago. That's badass.
So I was meaning to write a blog post about that but it just never happened. But it wasn't the last of the fateful coincidences. A couple months went by, the holidays came and gone and we found ourselves in 2010. At some point in January the whole Binary crew was out at the Dragonfly in Hollywood as we often are on Monday nights and I started talking to our friend Michael from Vancouver. We were talking about the scene up in Vancouver, and how he gets back there a couple times a month and how we should go up and it would be a lot of fun and all this. I'm down, seems like a way chill place. As Michael and I were talking he was telling me about this band from Toronto that we would probably be into that plays in Vancouver a lot. They're called Parallels, he said, as I nodded and told him I think I have a CD of theirs, only to realize that the CD I have by a band named Parallels is definitely not what he's talking about. But it sounds cool, so I planned on checking it out the next day. Before I could get around to it, I shit you not, I woke up to a promo email in anticipation of the release of Parallels debut album. Pretty amazing timing if you ask me. But even more amazing was this track that came with the email from the band.
I couldn't believe it when I heard it, because this song is ALSO in Anoraak's mixtape. This is Parallels' debut record, yet somehow Anoraak had this track almost two years before it was out. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure that the version of this song in the mixtape has vocoder vocals in it, so it was probably an early demo of the song that found its way into his mix. I really like this track in its current form with its very rhythmic synths, its dark undertones, and the italo bassline that drives the whole song. But what I love most about the song is that it takes me back to all the times I spent listening to Anoraak's mixtape. Isn't that the beautiful part about music? A song can serve as a time capsule to our thoughts and our emotions, and to the experiences we attach to them. And in its essence, that's what we've always said dreamwave is all about, probably more so than other styles of music. Listening to the songs is like looking at an old scrapbook or photo album of your life. It takes you back to the oldest and sweetest of memories and all the people you spent them with. The power of song is really an incredible thing.
I still get a smile on my face when I think about this crazy small world we live in and how all the coincidences surrounding Anoraak's NLLR mixtape reminded me of this. Instead of the six degrees of Kevin Bacon, it's the six degrees of Anoraak. We're all part of the same community...Anoraak, the other artists, the labels, the blogs like us, the listeners like you and I. I still have an email that I sent to Anoraak as a nobody...just a passionate fan in LA saying "wow, that would be really cool if you came out to LA, and I'd love to help get you out here to play, even though I really have nothing to offer at this point". Little did I know that months later Binary would exist and Josh and I would be grabbing dinner with Anoraak and College as we threw their first concert ever in Los Angeles and we would realize that we're all brothers from the other side of the globe, fighting the same fight for dreamwave. So I'm thankful for these artists, and for Anoraak, and his mixtape, and every other artist we've talked about here on this blog, for being the soundtrack of my life, and shaping my memories with the sound of beautiful music so that I'll never have to forget where I've been and who I've been there with.
As an added bonus, here is a new remix from Anoraak for Shy Child's song "Disconnected".
I put a lot of music in this post and I'm hoping that you guys can take the time to check out these releases and buy some albums if you like them to help support the artists. Check the artists out on myspace, do some digging, explore the depths of this musical world, and start to make some new memories with the soundtrack of the rest of our lives.
French upstart label On The Fruit Records is a group of artists that we've kept close ear on for some time now. Staying true to 80's influences and dreamwave sounds, their releases have steadily improved as they've acquired new artists. Their next release is from Midnight Club, and we've got a very nice remix from Worship to share today. This is the standout track that I've heard, and its a really nice little taste of nostalgic, dancey, synth music.
It's been a while since I've posted a 'chase song' as I sometimes like to call them. Here's a song, full of tension, thats the kind of song I love to listen to in the car, late into a night. Just the 3am southern California fog hanging in the streets, the stoplights seemingly changing to green for me just as I reach them. Songs like this make me want to be driving around contemplating the deepest questions of life.
When the guitars rush in at 1:56 the song goes to a whole new level. Its like everything built up inside of you is begging to get out, and the guitars are just willing it out. It makes me push just a bit harder on the gas, blasting westward towards the ocean.
Dicey drives down Sunset at 3am. That's what this music is made for.
Yuna Ito (born September 20, 1983) is an American pop singer-songwriter and actress who is active in Japan. She was born in Los Angeles and was raised in Hawaii. Ito made her musical debut with the single, "Endless Story", which was used as one of the theme songs for the 2005 film Nana; she also starred in the film, portraying Reira Serizawa. In 2006, Ito reprised her role as Reira for the sequel of the film singing the theme song, "Truth". In 2007, Ito released her debut album, Heart, which debuted atop the Oricon.
LBCK, two youngins from Long Beach, are part of a burgeoning scene of young kids from SoCal that are diving head first into classic French filterhouse sounds. Suffice it to say... this is a GREAT development. Between these guys, LA Zebra, and a couple others, the scene looks to have a potentially bright future, IF these guys continue to grow and get better. Basically, take this piece of advice. Don't get sucked into 'the life'. Keep holing up in your bedroom getting better at making these songs. They're very good, but they're not GREAT yet.
Their song 'Start' is our favorite off of their myspace. Its a party starter worthy of the name Start, and includes one of the coolest buildup/drop tricks I've heard in a while. When everyone is doing the same tricks, these guys bust out a slowing down record into silence. Pretty ingenious. Enjoy it.
Try and imagine these two kids, 4am, stuck in a dark basement (in LONG BEACH!), making this song. Smoky air, bass pumping through the room. Its a great site to think of some kids from our home of CA busting out sounds as classic as this.
The track makes me want to get up and dance. Its not the greatest filterhouse track ever, but there's a youthful exuberance that makes it undeniable. I can't wait for the chance to check LBCK out and see what one of their DJ sets sounds like.
Is there a scene of music like this thats actually happening down in LB? Fill me in please.
Like a flashing glimpse of something so beautiful you can hardly handle it, this song builds up just as your heart starts to beat faster and faster. By the bass drop, you're ready to drop everything and go on a mission. This is my FAVORITE kind of heavy song, the kind that gives me the same kind of emotions that slow, melodic music will. This song is heavy, but DAMN if it isn't EMOTIONAL. Thats a premise that a lot of the Binary Family has been built on. Sometimes you're out, and a touch or a glance can send you into the kind of frenzy that this song just sounds like. Sometimes the smallest things become the biggest things in life. I love that.
"We Wont Stop Toniiiiiiiggght"
The rising buildup is the signature moment of the track. Its like the moment when you finally get the nerve, doing something you don't think you can do... But before you know it, you're there, looking at them right in the eyes. Adrenaline just coursing through your veins. The kind of adrenaline rush that keeps you up all night. The buildup is great because you just don't really know whats about to come. 
And, as you'd expect of Redial, the payoff is just that, a great payoff. Great song, even better remix.
