The Knife – Christmas Reindeer

Sufjan Stevens – That Was The Worst Christmas Ever!

Of Montreal – Christmas Isn’t Safe For Animals

El Perro Del Mar – Oh What A Christmas

Erland Oye – Last Christmas JOHNNIE’S FAVOURITE

The Kinks – Father Christmas

Polyphonic Spree - Carol of the Bells

Low – Just Like Christmas

via Viewzi’s Visual Search: I’ll Know It When I See It | Web2.0h…Really?.

www.viewzi.com

It’s 2008, this man, this man here, direct blood of John Coltrane (that’s newsworthy but not a reason buy the record) has produced a series of records for Warp (great label shite website) that are quite frankly fucking brilliant. The production skills of this boy are ridic. When Gilles Peterson talks about artists joining the dots – it’s this man he’s talking about.  Hip-hop beats and jazz tempos are in his blood – yet it’s his love of electronica and dubstep that augment his super silky production skills that really excite me – it’s that lo-fi heavy beat, highly atmospheric 30’s gramophone crackle and super slick ode to dub that pricks my ear.

This man is a pure talent. Previous a PLUG RESEARCH artist this boy has done his time – and it’s time for a new heavyweight to take his natural place as top of the cherry tree. Yes Flying Lotus - time to kick 20pence and his loonytunetribe aside and eat cherrypie. Buy his records here and i recommend Flylo for listening during times of afternoon sexual intercourse.

MP3: Roberta Flack (with Dolly)
MP3: Kanye West – Love Lockdown(Flying Lotus Remix)

Johnnie’s Note: This remix of Kanye West’s song “Love Lockdown” is a fantastic dub remix, bringing in a production value very similar to Burial! Post Rave Bliss…

Came across this today. I’ve fallen in love with the videoclip – Johnnie

Also find the song here

MP3: La Roux – Quicksand (Chateau Marmont Remix) (ALT)

It is safe to say that Aeroplane are the big remixing surprise of 2008, the blogs’ fondness initiated near the beginning of the year & slowly turned into an obsession as the months progressed, guaranteeing the duo a spot on the Hypem popular list for every remix dropped into the blog ring.

Turning electro & indie tunes to lux cloudy disco anthems is their signature sound & what were rejected remixes of Cut Copy/Grace Jones eventually demanded for a commercial release after the masses repeated the question “What the hell is wrong with the label?”; The magic peaked in my vision when they bravely erased out the original Friendly Fires vocals & replaced them with the healing glycerin like vocals of NYC chanteuses Au Revoir Simone that not only renewed my love for the track but made it a necessity for the original album version to be re-released with the new vocals as a stand alone production… unfortunately that doesn’t happen often in this copyright & cash driven life.

This remix puts the original to shame.

MP3: Friendly Fires – Paris (ft. Au Revoir Simone) (Aeroplane Remix)

Röyksopp are officially back!

♫ Röyksopp – Happy Birthday 320kbps

This feature may be called the “Top 50 Albums of 2008”, but the title alone does not give me enough justice to dismiss arguably the finest EP of the year in Air France’s No Way Down. Throughout the six tracks and 23 minutes that make up this fine EP, the Swedish duo crafts an audible world that is both magical and enlightening, with the effective atmospheric capabilities displayed being reminiscent of the Avalanches’ classicSince I Left You in its ambitious sample-led scope and sheer melodic aptitude. With twittering brass, sweeping strings, radiant synthesizers, and a variety of samples that are often comprised of pleasant sounds like the chirping of birds or the sounds of a seashore, No Way Down takes the listener to a world where relaxation and lighthearted innocence are at the forefront. A track like “No Excuses”, with its reflective keys and heavy chorus, sounds like it would be perfectly associated with the joyful state of a party-filled tropical island, while “Collapsing at Your Doorstep” invokes a similar fantasy world-setting that proves to be more emotionally resounding with a vocal sample and accompanying strings that are gradually accompanied by an evolving use of percussion, bass, and guitar. The prominent samples throughout “Collapsing at Your Doorstep” (taken from the ’80s TV series “Beauty and the Beast”) all feature the voices of children, a remarkably effective technique that perfectly initiates the feelings of that certain period in childhood when innocence allowed even the most trivial thing in life to utterly amaze you. The brilliant “June Evenings” sees the group increase their focus on pop music while still maintaining their atmospheric ingenuity. The instrumentation is more vigorous, but certain effects like the melodic whistling during the chorus, the subtly enriching bass line, and the calming female vocals that consume the verses make “June Evenings” one of the best tracks of the year. Forget the fact that No Way Down is too short to be a full-length; it is truly one of the most innovative releases of the year, EP or not.

Air France – June Evenings

Air France – Collapsing at Your Doorstep

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