It´s the time that everyone lists their favorite singles and albums of the year. MGMT and Santogold are high on the lists and I agree, L.E.S. Artistes is probably the best song of 2008 and Time To Pretend also reflects the year very well. But the list that I noticed the most is Slant Magazine´s best singles of the year. Slant puts two of my favorite artists, M.I.A. and Madonna, on top.
1. M.I.A. - Paper Planes A song about immigration whose sound draws a provocative link between violence and capitalism, “Paper Planes” was the bomb way before that conundrum known as M.I.A. licensed it to Sony and Fox and Billboard and Grammy dutifully responded. This ubiquitous anthem is the singer’s least murky provocation to date, an ironic address of terrorism as a matter of moral and political judgment, but feel no guilt for stomping along to its driving beats. That’s just M.I.A.’s way of pulling up the people to her cause. Also, you know Noam Chomsky’s got it on his iPod. (Slant / Ed Gonzalez)
2. Madonna - Beat Goes On No amount of fake scandal and misbehavior (A-Rod! McCain=Hitler!) can make up for the fact that Madonna’s bid for hip-hop relevance flopped. So it’s fitting that Hard Candy’s best song, “Beat Goes On” (a Pharrell-derived, note-perfect hybrid of “Ring My Bell” disco and darkwave tech-hop that also features Kanye West’s best rap of the year), hasn’t even been officially released as a single yet despite garnering substantial airplay on the nation’s biggest dance station. Three cheers for the counterintuitive! ( Slant / Dave Hughes) Beat Goes On is so uplifting, it´s one of those songs that makes you believe everything is possible. Listen to Madonna - Beat Goes On below:
What an amazing synth pop remix of MGMT´s Kids by the Pet Shop Boys. Listen to it by going to the Pet Shop Boys site www.petshopboys.co.uk and click on Navigation, then Product, after that Exclusive tracks and then remember to click on the little purple icon next to Kids (PSB Synthpop mix).
RCRD LBL offers a pretty good free download: MGMT - Of Moons, Birds & Monsters (Holy Ghost! Remix), download it here.
RCRD LBL: DFA’s Holy Ghost! has tackled “Of Birds, Moons, and Monsters”, adding the requisite one-two disco pulse, some warm piano chords and emerged with an unearthed disco b-side from Queen’s Sheer Heart Attack album. Though previously unreleased, this track will be getting a proper twelve-inch release very soon through Lost In Records, so keep an eye out.
Just can´t help loving everything the MGMT guys do. Now it´s the new MGMT video The Youth, directed by Eric Wareheim. The song is brilliant and the video to The Youth carries the consistent psychedelic electro/indie MGMT style, this time with breakdancing disco kids.
Kanye West posted this mashup on his blog yesterday. The track mashes up Touch The Sky vocals with Justice and MGMT´s Electric Feel (and Lupe Fiasco raps something I guess).
Listen to Electric Touchhere.
And download it here.
The Brooklyn duo MGMT´s Kids is a brilliant song and the Soulwax Remix gives it a new clubby feel. The remix has been around for sometime, but now Pete Tong picked it up and Kids (Soulwax Remix) is his last weeks essential new tune.
Just saw MGMT play live yesterday. Liked them, they´re very young and fresh and have a lot to look for. They ended the gig with Kids, great and solid song that combines electro and psychedelic rock. I also love their lyrics, Electric Feel is a love song according to MGMT. Here´s Justice remix of Electric Feel and this time the French have replaced romance with metal.
Electric Feel by MGMT is just amazingly good song. There has been at least two videos for Electric Feel before, but I guess this is the official. Looks like the production cost is higher than in the previous two.
OK, the video is not available anymore, but go to http://www.myspace.com/mgmt and see it there by downloading a high quality version of the video.
