Funeral Party - The Golden Age of Knowhere / Live at the BBC (V0 / 320)

Every day is repost day.

So Funeral Party's debut album finally got a proper release, sometime earlier this year. Anyone with no life might remember it being posted here as a leaked album in September of last year. Apparently it wasn't even meant to be a self-titled! Go figure.

So now, in all of its dance-punk, raw and energetic glory is the official Funeral Party debut The Golden Age of Knowhere, complete with slightly less annoying album art.

For those of you who don't know, Funeral Party is an up & coming dance-punk band who basically kick all sorts of ass. Like I said about 4 sentences ago, it is raw and energetic dance-punk. Almost like catchy and somehow not cheesy post-hardcore, the vocals will make your neck hair stiff.

BUT WAIT!

THERE'S MORE!

I took the liberty of including their newest effort, a live EP entitled Live at the BBC. It's 6 songs long, with three live recordings and three remixes, done respectively by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio (and more recently Jane's Addiction), Kids of 88, and Mike Relm, the Youtube DJ sensation.

All of which are awesome.

Get it here, and finally do yourself a favor and buy this new and potential-laden band's album here.

Martin Solveig - C'est La Vie (V1)

Enjoy one of the best French house DJ out there, his goofiness will only make you like him more. Ladies and gentlemen, Martin Solveig.

C'est La Vie (That's Life)

(Whoo, whoo) C'est la vie! (Whoo, whoo)

You have to buy this, you will look so (Whoo)

You have to practice, never let yourself go.

What are you wearing? It's not a new (Whoo)

People are watching, what a shame if they knew!

I just wanna be free. C'est la vie!

Ah ah, ah ah, c'est la vie!

You have to break ice, buy me a drink (Whoo)

From there your seem eyes, I don't care what you think.

if you get something, don't let it show (Whoo)

People are watching, really they don't wanna know.

I just wanna be free. C'est la vie! Ah ah, ah ah.

I just wanna be free, whoo! Not so easy. C'est la vie! Whoo! Hey!

Be like this, don't do that! Don't go too far (Whoo)

Give me a big smile, if she drives a better car.

Don't give me distance, you talk too much (Whoo)

People are watching, what do they think about us?

I just wanna be free. C'est la vie! Ah ah, ah ah.

I just wanna be free, hey! C'est la vie! C'est la vie!

C'est la vie!

I just wanna be free. C'est la vie! (Oooh)

I just wanna be free. C'est la vie! (Hey)

I just wanna be free. C'est la vie! Ah ah, ah ah.

I just wanna be free, whoo! (Hey) C'est la vie!

Buy it here or download it here.

The Bug - London Zoo (V0)

Remember when dubstep had recognizable influences?

Download.

Daft Punk - Alive 2007 (FLAC)

By 2007, Daft Punk had already achieved legendary status in the dance music industry. It's no surprise that Alive, a soundboard recording from one of their late-career performances in Bercy, Paris, is one of their most stunning works to date. Remixing and rehashing their new and old material effortlessly and infectiously, constructing and deconstructing vocals and synthesizer loops with ease, Daft Punk prove that they deserve all of the applause that can be heard throughout this recording. The structure of each part and the flawless transitions between them leads one to wonder if Daft Punk really are human after all.

Download.

Funeral Party - Funeral Party (V0)

This year has been a fine year for music. Some of my favorite albums in my entire music collection are from this year, and surprisingly I can say that I actually am having to be selective in making my "best albums of 2010" list. Big Echo, Wild Nothing, Nolens Volens, Ruth, and even the new Have a Nice Life EP were all spectacular in my eyes, so there's no complaints on this end.

I wasn't sure if it was just a phase or an accidental obsession, but there has been one album so far this year that has gone from being unknown to me to being my new musical infatuation in less than 2 months. That would be Funeral Party's self-titled, a new dance-punk masterpiece that has carved the band their own niche in what is otherwise a still developing genre of music. While it lacks the primal rock-and-roll feel of Death From Above's music, it presents itself with a much more cutting edge and chilled out style that hooks you from the beginning. The opening track, NYC moves to the sound of LA, while somewhat different from the rest of the album, is undoubtedly the most fitting opening track, in that it captures the style and message of the band in the first thirty seconds.

The album gets better each time you listen to it, and over time you develop a very thorough knowledge of the songs due to the sonic richness and stunning clarity. This album is the dark chocolate of modern alternative rock. Carwars, Just Because and Youth in Poverty are a couple of the best songs of 2010.

If my description doesn't do it for you, at the very least have a listen to the album, which you can get here, and make sure to buy it from them when it's finally released sometime soon. You could even be like me and go to any of their shoes supporting Two Door Cinema Club at this time. They are cheap and will be nothing short of amazing.

Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (V0)

While the favorite Crystal Castles album of many is Crystal Castles (II), which was released this year, the experimental nature of Crystal Castles' eponymous debut has always managed to draw me inwards in a way that the sophomore never has. I know, and have been told by many a CC (II) enthusiast that Crystal Castles' first album was the one where they "tried to find their sound," and that it is messy and directionless, with too little structure and too much "filler."

I can understand how one could see the album as being disfigured and disheveled, but that is exactly what makes it so astounding. Crystal Castles, the album, never struggles to be something that it is not. It is perfect in its chaos and mighty in its power to produce strong, brash music that is also capable of being danced to. There are songs like Through The Hosiery and Xxzcuzx Me that seem to have been created to breed mosh pits, and other tracks like Untrust Us and Courtship Dating that were obviously made simply for the purpose of recreational dance.

With Ethan Kath delivering imaginative, abrasive yet catchy beats, and Alice Glass providing noise rock vocal styles that are almost impure and unclean in their rawness, this album is a brilliant mash up of dirty and clean. Even with the second Crystal Castles album being more accessible and party friendly, I still struggle to understand how it is at all better than its older brother.

Favorite songs: Untrust Us, Air War, Courtship Dating

My Rating: 9.0/10

Download.

Big Spider's Back - Turns (320)

Big Spider's Back released his third EP this year back in August, for free from his website. It features two completely new songs and three remixes of tracks off of his 2009 EP, Warped. The two tracks that are new are definitely more pop/dance than his previously releases, which were clearly more influenced by bands like Blind Man's Colour and Washed Out. His remixes, two of which are for Perfect Machine, skate around the old melodies and psychedelia of the original versions to create songs less about chilling out and more about getting on your feet and dancing a little.

Download.
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