Not on the Guest List

Pure Happiness

(last time I used the chalk was for Klaxons photos)

Break out your passport and maracas, we're going on holiday. Destination: the white sand beaches of falling in love again... and again and again and again and again (much like what Charlotte Gainsbourg coos in the Metronomy remix of "5:55"). Actually falling in love again and again as many times as you can press repeat on this track. Just as "time stops still when you've lost love," time stops still when you've found it.

Metronomy brings this Goldfrapp track to life. Literally. Finding Allison and co.'s latest output a little too mellow and Coors-y? This re-imagining of "Happiness" is much more lively. I totally get Goldfrapp's desire to evolve and challenge themselves, but part of me wonders if they could've employed even a few of the same dynamics. Just because Goldfrapp have ditched their basslines doesn't mean the quirkiness has to go too and this remix proves it. I think this is going to make a lot of people happy...

Excuse me while I geek out, but this remix is just so cinematic.

It's a lively nostalgic rumination on love lost; this remix existing almost as an oxymoron with the music and lyrical subject matter nearly contradicting each other, but more complementary than anything else.

"Happiness" Metronomy remix of Goldfrapp featuring the Teenagers

I'll go as far as saying that maybe Metronomy's remix can't even be compared to the original because the songs are that completely different. Listen to Goldfrapp's original "Happiness" on the Hype Machine (you know when it's getting yanked off zshare that maybe direct linking isn't the best way to go)

The percussion of this track makes me want to dance around doing the mambo. The founder of the dance passed on today. Something else that occurred today? Another blog posted this track -- before me! Grr... Arghhh... This track has been racking its way up to the sixth most played track in my itunes since February!

Update: I was first to post this track as this and the one that appears on Austin Martin are different versions. Download both. The one here is the original mix. The one over there is shorter and doesn't finish with Alison's vocals.

Metronomy mastermind Joseph clued me into it as soon as he'd finished it via an unexpected myspace message in February. I replied that I thought it was going to be my new crack and lo and behold I've been addicted to it since it arrived in my inbox a day later.

Ever so modest, Joseph says 'he just did his thing' in relation to writing all new music and scrapping the idea of his own spoken word verses before calling in the "the spoken word specialists" in the form of Teenagers, but it's seriously new levels for Metronomy in many aspects. He's added his vocals before (see: Kate Nash remix and his remix of Roots Manuva "Awfully Deep") but to by bringing in a guest vocalist into a remix of his... that's new territory. While he did omit a verse from Kate Nash's "Foundations" in his remix, this time around he exorcises all the verses from Goldfrapp's original, retaining only enough of Alison's vocals to constitute a chorus. Michael of the Teenagers steps up to the pitch with two spoken word verses of his own in French.

The funny thing is, Michael hadn't even heard it yet; I was the one to send it to him. Pretty much the second his vocals kicked in I had to leave a comment on his facebook page about the awesomeness on first listen. I received a message back near instantly enthusiastically asking for it, so I quickly sent it his way. His thoughts upon hearing it? That he sounded "like a perv" and that is was better than the original. Michael didn't tell me what he was saying, but while playing it during SXSW, Chloe translated it and wouldn't you know - in English his lyrics still sound exactly like a Teenagers song: "We saw a movie. It sucked"... The jist is he asks a girl out, they go out, she says she'll keep in touch, she doesn't.

So yeah. I'm a little in love with this track. I played it ten million times during SXSW and every single time the person present had to stop and ask again "who is this?" in awe. Go down for a chat at Nemo Design about possible employment? Yeah, I guess I can say something about my photography, but let's actually talk about Metronomy's latest remix - I can go on and on. TRUE STORY hahahahahaha. I can't stop gushing to anyone and everyone.

So, it's more than a bummer I didn't break this as an exclusive. [Actually see update above. I was first for this mix] Joseph suggested I wait a bit before posting it, probably implying only a week or so, but if I'm going to wait, I'm going to wait with reason so I decided, "Hey, I'll post it in conjunction with his own single release on March 17th!" Only it then got rescheduled to the 31st. It was hard enough waiting the month until the 17th, but the 31st wasn't that much farther in the future so I held strong to my convictions...

Do we all know what we're doing on March 31st? Purchasing a vinyl 7 inch of Metronomy's "My Heart Rate Rapid," his first single from forth-coming LP Nights Out, which is being mastered this very moment.

And you know what? Getting first listen was beyond special enough... This track is up there with "Atlantis to Interzone" and "La Ritournelle" in terms of Metronomy's remixes. And those aren't just my fave Metronomy remixes, they're my favorite remixes period.

In January I made the presumption in a conversation that 2008's best song and/or remix would go to Metronomy. Who knows yet if this is the one, but it can only lend itself to that surmise...

"Love No" video Love Yes

I can't help myself. Must. Do. Yet. Another. Teenagers. Post. I held back the past couple days, but I couldn't let an email chat with Greg from Pandatoes slide into unblogged oblivion...

Greg: Do you like the new Teenagers video?

Me: Yes. I want to be Michael's ice cream cone. Quentin is entirely too creepy in it... as always

Greg: Quentin is my hero. If I were a girl, I'd have his babies. If I was gay, I'd have his STDs. But I'm neither, so I'll just write creepy, awkward sentences like the two that preceded this one.

Yes, yes and YES

So I watched this over the weekend care of GBH.tv and am totally into their assessment :D ... Still, I wasn't going to post it here because well, I can barely post a few times a week (read: month) yet somehow there's already been three other Teenagers posts this year on NotGL. And they're not even a favorite band. So I'm thinking this is going to be the last Teenagers post at least until they're back in the States come April. Will that hold up? Who am I kidding?

More thoughts from Greg in his "Love No" video post at Pandatoes

PLUS the Teenagers just posted a clip a couple hours ago on their youtube channel of them performing "Love No" live for the BBC. Something is wrong... There are no close-ups of Antonia...

For old times sake, Teenagers Blogspot (now semi-abandoned by the trio, but still a fun read)

And in the vein of Quentin, his best look eva over on Dorian's flickr

The Teenagers USA Tour Diary Video

(Me and Meg and the Teenagers during our Canadaland photoshoot)

So it looks as if Dorian of the Teenagers took my advice and made his cinematographer self's material available to the masses! As I previously noted, when I talked to him about it he wasn't so sure on the idea. Maybe hearing about his fellow Fall Out Boy-lover friend Dev's adventures in youtube persuaded him otherwise?

Well, here it is:

I make two appearances :) The top of my head in a shot of Quentin 15 seconds in ahahahahahaha and then the photo at the top of this post shortly after, taken by their tour manager Kristin Klein. Dorian really wanted her to take photos of us taking photos.

At 23 seconds, the beloved TonyX of 1/2ALIVE gets dialog!!!! We all get to swoon over Antonia and Michael (especially at 3:02)

And we also get a sneak peek at their rollerskating embracing new video towards the end. Dorian has a pic of it on his flickr, along with a photo of Metronomy followed by a question mark. Me and my fangirl self actually screamed when I saw the photo hahahaha. But a question mark? Nobody questions Joe Mount. It's like putting Baby in the corner!

Anyway, how much do I LOVE that they used their own song as soundtrack?!!? I see a trend sparking...

Teenage Hotelcoming

So before the Teenagers kicked off their North American tour with a live show at 1/2ALIVE in Vancouver B.C., they'd previously been chillaxing and getting acquainted with the time zone shift in good ol' Vancouver for a few days. Day of the gig, Meg and I descended upon their hotel room for an interview and photoshoot for the next issue of URB magazine coming out in March - the "Next 100" issue.
In the lobby, their tour manager greeted us and we shuffled upstairs via the elevator. Who's their tour manager? Why only Kristin - she of Deerhunter tour management fame! Seriously - I was like "OMG - yr the one [frontman] Bradford [Cox] is always writing about on Deerhunter's blog (where she blogs too), yr the "den mother," you take photos of them with sunsets in the background." Indeed she was. She's also tour managed fellow Atlanta band Black Lips. So how did she get the Teenagers gig? Cos "they were looking for someone cool" and she was in XL's (the Teenagers' label) speed-dial for the description.
Oh and she gets some photo love from No Age in a post on their blog.

Moving along - she noted that the girls of the band are a bit press shy, so it'd be only the boys keeping us company.

The interview was one of my best ever! And by best ever, I mean seemingly lost in translation. Not only due to language, but in personality differences too. Once the piece runs, the audio is going up here. Quentin (who's lived in England longer than the other two by nearly 3 years) didn't want to do the chat and instead played Zelda on his bed. There were two beds in the room, so a mellow Michael and Dorian plus me hunkered down on the other to talk some Soko, street life and screaming. Awkwardness was abound! Crickets could occasionally be heard. A bit of interestingness - what blogs do the French expats read? I found out. While Quentin lingers regularly on Flou Kids, Dorian prefers Big Stereo! I wasn't expecting an American blog to top his list. Awesome times!

After 20 minutes of conversation it was time for photos and boy can those boys turn it on! I have wanted to have a band pose with heart shaped twisted balloons 4eva - since hearing the song "Lust In The Movies" by The Long Blondes. The chorus refrain includes "I just want to be a sweetheart! I just want to be a sweetheart!" I visualize EVERYTHING and set about trying to figure out how I'd visualize that and those balloons that clowns twist into animals and swords was what I came up with. Many girls that I shoot don't want to appear too feminine, so using the balloons with the Teenagers seemed perfect, especially given their semi-heart throb status of late... kinda like in the Kinga Burza directed video for "Homecoming."

During the photos, we also shot them eating cupcakes as I'd had the idea for them to have a cupcake food-fight. That concept didn't quite materialize, but Quentin did get a brutal sugar rush.

Quentin:

What else came of our hour in the Teenagers' lair? The knowledge that Dorian films his life in great detail. Not only the still style which is showcased on his flickr, but video style ala Dev aka Lightspeed Champion. He was unaware of Dev's documentary dalliances, so I quickly informed him of them. Then we got to chatting about youtube comments and such and the fact that as of now, Dorian is unlikely to make his live-action reels available to the general public. I got some brief screen time hahahaha

Dorian:

We also talked about the fervent reaction that they sometimes is produce in their crowds unintentionally i.e. - when I saw them in London with No Age at Amersham Arms in December. It was semi-miserable because girls behind me were screaming at me, hitting me and pulling my hair because I was closer to the band then them in terms of rows inside the audience (I had to be close to the stage, I was taking pics... that I never posted). Both Dorian and Michael said they didn't notice that mania.

Michael:

Anyway, when we were packing up they asked to keep the heart balloons which was enjoyable :) What a task it was to track those down! Meg's mom saved the day after I was unsuccessful. Our scavenger hunt ended on Granville island at a gag store in a children's emporium that I'd last visited on an 8th grade border-crossing class field trip.

"Homecoming" The Teenagers MP3

I would hope this track is already in yr itunes. SO BRILLIANT! Am I going to admit something? Yes. I was so turned off by the first few lines the first time I listened to it in the beginning of 2007 that I didn't make it much further. So I didn't quite understand why girls were getting up on stage to sing at the concert  - I'd never made it far enough to know they trade vocals with a girl, a vocalist who I can absolutely not track down. Anyway - this song is a masterpiece. Later that night Meg and I are sitting there and I'm making comments such as "So deep, so smart, so true." It is. SO honest! Not just about boys vs. girls, but the witticisms including the "massive car"/"SUV." Cue my itunes up to repeat for this track and my day is made. Especially when I'm singing (or rather talking) along. I find a way to weave it into any conversation I have with people lately. Slices of pizza on Hawthorne? Let me bring my laptop and play it for you hahahaha. True story... that actually happened this Saturday hahahaha. I also sent it to someone on myspace last week. I think it scared them away, but when have I ever not in their case? hahaha

Teenagers Myspazz

Teenagers Touch Down at 1/2ALIVE

And here it was - my DJ debut (in the works for me for about a month) and also the very first North American tour date for the Teenagers in Vancouver B.C. Let's rewind to about last month when I asked my favorite Fedchuk if I could open for everyone's favorite lewd Frenchies seeing as 1/2ALIVE were putting it on. After a yes, I asked a handful of DJs for advice, from Portland's own DJ Joee Irwin who recommended a book and questioned whether I'd be setting speakers alight via Serrato or Traktor to Greg aka DJ Nerverforget of Finger on the Pulse who referred to me to Hoop Dreams and deterred me from traktor. A friend convinced me of Ableton for my audio attack, briefly showed me how to use the virtual decks and then instead of giving me the program as promised, sent word of Lily Allen's miscarriage - which I had already read about the day prior on Perez Hilton. So needless to say, Party All the Time - the DJ "super group" formed by me, Meg of Consumable Audio and Louis of Fake Shark Real Zombie were going to be going the way of itunes. Yes - I just wrote itunes. Hey - if Dev can rock itunes at Reading Festival, then so can we. Plus we were going on at doors, so it's not like that many people would be there to see us suck. That was until we were moved up to an 11pm slot. More on that later...

My!Gay!Husband! was oh so hot for Feist during his set (and on many a remix/blog) - both times - when he was on just after doors and then again after the Teenagers took their bow.

(taken before doors)

Jason also played a song by Vancouver band Fuck Me USA who are far too awesome. Think the Rapture, but a bit more snarly. The song was 4 years old which would make it a pioneer in the reemergence in disco-funk-punk, but it sounded so current that I almost shed a single tear when I found out they had long ago disbanded. now one of them helps run Pop Montreal - a music and arts festival in good old Montreal that didn't show my polaroids in the 2006 edition of the fest. Another single tear.

A Coconut Records track was the first to truly call me to the floor and remixes galore kept me on it throughout the night minus when Party All the Time took the stage and when the Teenagers appeased the screaming throngs first with opener "Starlett Johansson" and then with the rest of their eleven song set. But before we go there, we must first Party All the Time.

(the attendees during our set)

First off, we felt like make-a-wish kids - like all our dreams were coming true hahahahaha
Seriously! Can I be anymore indebted to the 1/2ALIVE crew? We ended up playing our set in Serrato instead of itunes. By "we," I mean Tyler and I and by "Tyler and I," I mean Tyler.

In front of a crowd of 500, we took to the stage while uber flamboyant MC Curtis Santiago sang the Eddie Murphy song we're named after to introduce us and our appearance onstage. There was disposable camera snapping, silly string spraying, knuckle writing and occasional button pushing. Everyone including the crowd and us were dancing and cheering. Whoo!

Party All the Time's 1/2ALIVE / Teenagers setlist:

"The Bears are Coming" Late of the Pier
"Sweaty" Muscles
"Get Naked" Britney Spears
"Can't Chose" Naive New Beaters
"Circle Square Triangle" Test Icicles

Download our set as a Podcast (MP3 format)

Dorian from the Teenagers watched a bit of our set as we'd told him in their hotel room prior we'd be playing some FOB (which we cut for Uffie which we then had to cut period)

Did anyone notice how much Teenagers' "Starlett Johansson" sounds like Tyler's old band Bulletsnake's "Oh Ya?" hahahaha Like it seriously does, but I didn't just think that off the top of my head. Right before Party All the Time went on, Tyler was finishing out his set which included some Wings goodness (plus a George Harrison remix) and I was like "I first heard this in a Smashed Robot! podcast! I first heard this in a Smashed Robot! podcast!" to myself. Then today, while trying to track down the original post I stumbled upon one about his old band... Go listen to the first few bars yrself.

So how were the Teenagers?

Why are we even talking about their set when we could be talking about their hot drummer?

Seriously - I have been OBSESSED with Antonia since I first spied her behind the drum-kit when I saw them in London a couple weeks ago. At first, I thought one of them must have a model girlfriend and that she just wanted to fool around with the drums before they took the stage. Then I realized she was the latest edition to the band. When chatting with Tyler last month - she was like the first thing I mentioned about seeing them live. 1/2ALIVE's TonyX mentioned in the facebook thread for the gig that I'd said they rock. I think their drummer rocks. By rocks, I mean: is a fox. Then upon finding out day of that Tyler had met up with them before the B.C. gig, the first thing I asked was "Did you see their drummer!!??!"

They've added yet another female to their lineup in the form of another guitarist. It noticeably expands their live sound. Backstage before the show, Quentin and the new guitarist were going over guitar parts and practicing. In their dressing room, he mimed a frown and tears while mentioning they were nervous. He mentioned it again from the stage, but not one of the Teenagers appeared to falter once during the set.

My personal highlight: Quentin invited a bevy of females onstage for "Homecoming." There was dancing and singing as some girls traded lines with him on the mic as one does on the MP3 and it was a great interactive addition. They're still a bit blase in terms of the live show in the way that if you took away the audio, how would you be able to tell it was the Teenagers on stage and not some other mid-tempo rock band? Other than Quentin's side-part and quirky eyebrows producing some charisma from his spot center stage, that moment truly ushered in a connection between the band and the audience so that the show wasn't one delivered by any band, but a show delivered by the Teenagers.

Some people were a bit disappointed, but how can anyone have expectations when it comes to bands primarily riding on blog hype? I say, just appreciate them for what they are instead of thinking about what they've been built up to be. Oh so many up front were oh so enthralled and I couldn't help but think what a perfect night for the Teenagers to began their inaugural tour with - a soldout 1/2ALIVE gig.

Teenagers set list Vancouver B.C.:
Starlett Johansson
Feeling Better
III
Make It Happen
Trouble
Sunset Beach
Love No
Fuck Nicole
Homecoming
Streets of Paris
End of the Road

"Fallen Snow" (The Teenagers Remix) Au Revoir Simone MP3

"1234" (My!Gay!Husband! Remix) Feist MP3

A few more photos:
It's Party All the Time, bitch:

(my glasses thanks to Kyle)

Tylernessssssssssss rocks some "Thun-der Hei-st":

The ever enjoyable TonyX:

Curtis with the mostest:

Louissssssssssss:


"Don't forget to send me a friend request":

Party All the Time Myspace

1/2ALIVE myspace

Curtis Santiago myspace

The Teenagers myspace

Not on the Guest List myspace

Fake Shark Real Zombie! myspace