Everyone should go check out Physical Challenge tonight at the Canopy Club. My good friend DJ Famicom is playing 10-12pm. He is sure to blow everyone away. DJ Belly has a set after. Great music, good drink prices and another excuse to dance..Go to Canopy club tonight!!

Gated synths galore in ‘Synthesise’, the new track by Simian Mobile Disco. The video was a live performance directed by Kate Moross & Alex Sushon. The song is a more early-90’s take on Simian’s sound and I am digging it. You still get a taste of the dirty feel Simian is known for, but it is more subtle. Instead, the group has opted for more disco, more house, and less distortion - a trend that is not growing quick enough.

I’ve always been a small fan of Handsome furs. I’m probably a bigger fan of Dan Boeckner’s involvement in Wolf Parade, but this recent release Face Control by the Furs has me torn. Handsome Furs is a side project Boeckner started in 2006 with his wife Alexei Perry. Plague Park, the couple’s debut album, is a testament to the Ruttopuisto park in Helsinki that sits atop a mass grave of victims from the plague of 1710. Mourning aside, the album oddly always brought me that old nostalgic feeling, and most importantly the track “Dead+Rural” which is brilliant. It was one of those albums that I only got one song out of, although I want to go back and give it another shot. Please, if you have not heard “Dead+Rual”, listen to it.

Face Control is the next release by the Furs, now scheduled to drop in March due to complications with their cover of New Order’s “All We Want, Baby, is Everything” - which, by the way, is great. The album is now out circulating the blogs, check it out, then buy yourself a copy in March. The duo will be performing the 15 of March at the Empty Bottle in Chicago.

If you can listen to one thing today, listen to Fear of Tigers. What is it about all this new music lately that’s got me all fuggin’ inspired? Everyone should jump on this new-wave revival bandwagon but only if done as well as this. Two of his original productions, “The Rich Cry Too” and “The Adventures of Pippi Longstrump” are two of the most beautiful, electronic dream-filled songs I’ve listened to this year. With a steady base line, soft synths, and up-lifting vocals you, my friend, can never go wrong. Yeah, I guess you can like 97% of the time, but Fear of Tigers gets it right continually.

The dude loves guinea pigs, traveling, and a strong snare. He is my kind of guy. Although I’ve never owned a guinea pig, I guess I can see now how inspirational one could be. All this rambling aside, click on the songs below like your life depends on it.

“The Rich Cry Too”
“The Adventures of Pippi Longstrump”
Official MYSPACE

It was a great night in Stockholm on Jan 30. The Sound of Arrows filled the hall and crowd at Debaser with a heavy handful of youth, joy, balloons, and synths bursting with bright colors. The usual, you know? It ruled. It was such a great ending to a day in Stockholm. The Sound of Arrows produce some of the most hopeful music I’ve heard. Even when trying to warn you that “the world is a dangerous place but you won’t admit it”, it sounds awe-inspiring. What filled the hall at Debaser brought that awesome satisfaction over everyone. The one when you know you are in the right place on the right night, surrounded with friends, and blinded by lights as music blasts your way.

Stefan Storm and Oskar Gullstrand played keyboards and sang behind a wall of brilliant visuals with cool blues and purples. The night was one full of bright synth-strings topped with eerily cool vocals. The group debuted their new single “M.A.G.I.C.” Friday night to much applause. Unfortunately, The Sound of Arrows debut album has been postponed until September, but it will be here sooner than you think.

Watch the mini-video for ‘M.A.G.I.C.’
The Sound of Arrows MYSPACE
Official Site
See: Best of ‘08 List