LISTEN: Simian Mobile Disco,
SMD Mix 02 (mp3, via
supmag)
So we've been checking up on these
Simian Mobile Disco dudes, who are
coming to town tomorrow on the hush-hush. Let's see, they're a Euro rock band turned remix/DJ team . . . so if you're already smelling
Soulwax's sloppy seconds, you're not entirely barking up the wrong soundsystem. SMD's
downloadable hour-long mixtape might be a little
2ManyDJs, but like imagine a 2ManyDJs that's not trying to brain you with the LOOK AT THIS FUCKED-UP ELECTROTRASH MASHUP WE JUST MADE shtick every 15 seconds. And sure, Simian ease their way under your skin with old-school nostalgia, but they're going for the older and rappier stuff we actually grew up on instead of the new-wavy pop shizz that made better reruns. Eventually, natch, they work their way up through all the MIA/LCD/SOV hits of today (um, "Ch-Ching," though? Haven't we all graduated to "Random" or at least "Sad Ass Stripper" or something?), while filtering everything through razorblade-synth blazzow and custom-built zappy grinding stuff that we can't place because we hate "electronic" music. Also, unlike Soulwax, Simian have heard of dancehall and they're not mad at it. We realized even whilst listening to the Simian mixtape that it wouldn't translate on paper -- the ADD/DJ stuff never does -- but, all yammering aside, it's quite heated. Like, if you ever wondered whether the Sonics' "Have Love Will Travel" was club-droppable, well, now you've got your fucking answer. (As a bridge between
French retard-disco and
No Wave New York no less?!) Not only that, but the way they isolate that one corrugated-tin guitar riff and foreshadow the drop for five minutes is, like, nuts. UGLY, as in eating-weapons-of-mass-destruction-for-breakfast
foogly-ugly. We couldn't love this routine more.
How are they in the studio? Who cares? OTD has really limited tolerance for bleepy shit, so we're not the best people to ask, but we haven't heard anything by these dudes that isn't bearable, and their Air remix was pretty sturdy, and since we're pretty much fags for anyone who does songs about vampires, we're giving their club banger
"The Count" a thumbs up, mostly on the basis of the cover (See above: MAX SCHRECK STAND UP). Think the
Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction" in robot form.
In case you declined to click on this link five seconds ago,
more details on Simian Mobile Disco show available courtesy of secret-show support DJ David Day.