Those that have followed BlackPlastic long enough may remember our affection for 'New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down' and those that were paying close attention may recall a certain anonymous commentor's assertion that the opening verse sounds like Kermit the Frog.
Well the Guardian's Music Blog have posted a video in which Kermit performs said song, on location in New York. This is, frankly, genius - stay tuned for the bridge at 3:20 and even better, the twist at the end.
Every now and again you meet someone new and, at some point, the
conversation somewhat inevitably comes to the topic of Soulwax and,
somehow, you realise you have met an individual who hasn't the faintest
idea who this group is. Such an event is rare but disapponting
nonetheless as it is truly difficult to understand how we find ourselves
in the current musical climate without our friends from Ghent.
And so BlackPlastic is going to say little but:
if you haven't seen the
Soulwax documentary Part of the Weekend Never Dies yet then go and
watch it because it just might be this decade's most important music
documentary.
It perfectly encapsulates just why Soulwax are important:
1. They (along with a few others) helped to invent what we now know as modern dance music (call it nu-rave if you like).
2. They redefine the tired notion of band / remix artists / DJs.
3. They have lots of fans. Some are even famous.
4. They are still very, very fucking loud.
Some interesting facts you will learn:
1. Which recently huge dance crossover artists used multiple Soulwax samples on their debut album.
2. Which nu-rave band would never have got into dance music without Soulwax / 2 Many DJs.
3. Why BlackPlastic's favourite Soulwax track, 'NY Excuse', gets even more punk when you learn its origins.
The DVD also comes with a live performance on DVD and CD. Value, hey?
This guy clobbered together a load of old scanners, hard drives and a ZX spectrum to create this slightly spooky rendition of Nude. Sadly he missed the closing date for the recent competition to do just that but his results are pretty interesting... Read the original post by creator James Housten for a bit more info
BlackPlastic has been digging Fujiya & Miyagi for getting on for a year now after picking up their Transparent Things LP in a record shop based purely on the artwork and the sticker on the cover. The sticker had quotes from Tiga and Andrew Weatherall - with Weatherall's quote being particularly spectacular, something something along the lines of (BlackPlastic is paraphrasing as the sticker isn't to hand) "surpasses anything that can be condensed into a quote and stuck on an album cover". Now if that's not cool BlackPlastic doesn't know what is.
Anyway, Fujiya & Miyagi seem to be getting a fair amount of attention following their recent Jaguar ad - Gorgeous is just the beginning, with high positions in the iTunes chart and now a hit video on YouTube. The video is consists solely of six sided dice and is very reminiscent of what is quite possibly BlackPlastic's favourite music video of all time, The White Stripes 'Fell In Love With A Girl' (as directed by Michel Gondry), beautiful due to its simplicity. BlackPlastic has no idea if this was created without the aid of computers but either way it's pretty cool.
Sit back and enjoy. The Transparent Things album is definitely worth checking if you enjoy this and 'Collarbone' (the track from the Jag ad).