The Boy With The Thorn In His Side

The good news: Orbital aka Phil & Paul Hsrtnoll are back, stronger than ever and entering the live arena once again. The bad news? They’re not coming anywhere New York. The brothers will be playing Coachella and the Ultra Music Festival this year. This means that if you know what’s good for you, you will make a note to see them during this jaunt.

Though I wasn’t too crazy about the last Prodigy record, it’s good to see legends of techno coming back into the public consciousness. A little rave and a headache the morning after is never a bad thing in my book. Hopefully Orbital do make it a point to hit up the Northeast and keep the party going for a little while longer so those of us who’ve never actually seen them live before (like me!) may do so.

If nothing else, I will be forced to harass their management and booking agency until we get something done.

Here are their dates:

27 March – Ultra Music Festival – Miami FL
16 April – Warfield Theatre – San Francisco CA
18 April – Coachella Festival – Indio CA

“Style” by Orbital, taken from the FFRR release, “The Midlle Of Nowhere”

“I got that crank trippin’ baby shoe
I got that grape kool-aid filled swimming pool
I got those Roomba robots that clean the floor
I got that mother of pearl oyster fork for sure
I got that Tammy Faye milk money butterscotch
I got that Mama Cass you know I got that Peter Tosh”

It wasn’t that long ago when I first discussed our dance heroes, Simian Mobile Disco, when news first broke out of their long awaited return to the fold after a stunning debut record. Well, the time has come and the official first single has arrived and it couldn’t disappoint even if it tried. Presenting Audacity Of Huge taken from the duo’s second record entitled Temporary Pleasure due out Stateside on the 17th of August via Interscope.

Audacity features vocals by Chris Keating of Yeasayer and lyrically is a mish-mosh of pop culture references to sing along to. That said, leet’s be honest, Keating could be singing about contracting swine flu and it wouldn’t matter because the bounciness of the song itself is enough to ensure its repeat value ranging between “often” and “constant”.  I don’t think it’s enough to simply say that I love this band and I love this track. I must also say that it’s a testament to Messers Shaw and Ford that they’ve been able to what only the best of the best techno bands have been able to do:  ensuring pop sensibilty rests on an even plane with the danceability. From groups like Underworld,  the Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers, it’s safe to say that SMD is about to enter that pantheon and dance music is all the better for it.

“Audacity Of Huge”, taken from the forthcoming Interscope release, “Temporary Pleasure”

Remember when the Chemical Brothers were neck and neck with Underworld as both bands vied for the title of best techno band on the planet? Sorry, the Prodigy were always also-rans. Now that both bands have become mortal, there’s been a gaping void left since without nary a worthy outfit to ascend to the throne. That changed in 2007 with the release of Attack Decay Sustain Release, the debut record from Simian Mobile Disco. The album that redefined dance music and made the hipsters look passable on the dance floor. Ok, the last part is stretching it a little bit but you know what I mean.

Enter 2009 and now SMD featuring super-producer James Ford and Jas Shaw are back with a new single called Synthesize. Yup, this one’s a winner. Lay this track down on the mix and there will be bottoms shaking and hands in the air. Needless to say, expectations are high that the band that brought us Hustler, I Believe, & It’s The Beat will bring the force yet again. 

Oh, and look! They’re going on tour! Take it from me. Catch these guys if they’re in your town!

Simian Mobile Disco – 2009 Tour Dates
Mar 12 -Commodore Ballroom Vancouver
Mar 13 – SEATTLE, WA Neumo’s live YOUNG AMERICA, Washington
Mar 14 – MEXICO CITY, MX MX Beat Festival live Mexico City
Mar 15 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA Mezzanine live San Francisco, California
Mar 16 – The Music Box at The Fonda, Hollywood Hollywood, California
Mar 17 – SAN DIEGO, CA Casbah live San Diego, California
Mar 27 – MIAMI, FL Ultra Festival live Miami, Florida
Mar 28 – Ultra Music Miami Miami, Florida
Apr 3 – Marmande, France, Garorock Festival DJ Set
Apr 4 – Platinum Club, Lille DJ Set Lille
Apr 9 – London AITBF @ Fabric DJ Set London
Apr 10 – London Mixmag @ Matter DJ Set London
Apr 11 – Spain Barcelona Nitsa DJ Set Barcelona
Apr 12 – Manchester, Warehouse Project, DJ Set Manchester, Northwest
Apr 13 – Deep Fried Funk DJ Set Derry
Apr 17 – CHICAGO, IL Metro live chicago, Illinois
Apr 17 – CHICAGO, IL Smart Bar dj chicago, Illinois
Apr 18 – TORONTO, ON Guvernment live toronto, Ontario
Apr 19 – MONTREAL, QC Club Soda live montreal
Apr 22 – BOSTON, MA Paradise live boston, Massachusetts
Apr 23 – NY Highline live – (Late Show: 10pm – 4am) new york
Apr 24 – PHILADELPHIA, PA Transit live philadelphia
Apr 25 – BALTIMORE, MD Sonar live baltimore
May 7 – Wonka @ Amnesia DJ Set Milan
Jun 5 – Wax:On @ Digital, Dj Set Newcastle
Jun 5 – Wax:On @ Stylus Leeds

Tour dates courtesy of the one and only Brooklyn Vegan. So say thank you to the Vegan, kids!

It’s been a while since The Fat Of The Land, hasn’t it. Almost twelve years in fact. The Prodigy are back and would like you to know they’re still alive and kicking with their block rockin’ beats…or something like that. After 1997’s takeover of all things techno along with their Chemical brethren and the daft punks, something weird happened. They disappeared with nary a trace. They lost a member that is in the event you’d call an “interpretive” dancer a member. They released a one-off that sang the virtues of rohypnol in Baby’s Got A Temper which was followed by the substandard long awaited followup to TFOTL in Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned. The latter, along with the rather steep decline of Alanis Morrissette (much to my eternal happiness) arguably led to the end of Maverick Records.

So here they are with a new record Invaders Must Die featuring the first single which was the title track. Upon first listen it’s fair to say Liam Howlett and co. did a fair bit of listening around for some inspiration and stumbled upon something that goes a little bit like this here below…

I dunno. It’s fair to say I’m not a big fan of Does It Offend You, Yeah? If this song is any indication of what the record sounds like then it’s also fair to say that it’s back to the drawing board for the Prodigy.

Firestarter is still and always will be a massive track!