Simian Mobile Disco//Hustler

Get happy, get local. It’s the weekend!
Tell me...what is this Local Music Fridays?

Third girl. Black dress, chunky pearls. That’s my (long lost) friend Erin.

So today’s L!M!F! might be a little bit of a stretch, much like this one, but I’m running with it anyway.

Let me tell you how I met Erin. I was visiting some friends (Annie, Ethan) in East Lansing for a weekend at the end of my freshman year of college. AND WHAT A WEEKEND IT WAS. For some reason, I had a razor scooter. I guess I must have asked my parents for this. My memories of how I came to own the razor scooter are hazy, ok? Anyway, I had a razor scooter. It was green and chrome. Erin, who was friends with my friends, got instantly OBSESSED with it and insisted on riding it pretty much everywhere we went that night. We went to a weird (queer-themed?) party and then we scootered around the MSU campus screaming Deceptacon at the top of our voices. Dorm residents DID NOT love us. After that, we went back to Erin’s room and drank. A lot. Actually, I can remember this clearly because I know this was the first time I ever vomited from drinking (MILESTONE!). We were so hung-over the next morning that Annie and I gleefully slurped down frozen coke slurpies from the across-the-street 7-11 hours before we made it to Denny's during one of Ethan's shifts.

Anyway, I've gone on a tangent. How Erin came to be featured in this video, I have no idea. Regardless, Simian Mobile Disco is a UK-based remix team. James Ford, a member of the group, has produced groups like Arctic Monkeys and (my least favorite, sorry guys) Peaches.



Hustler.mp3

Anyway, Erin is now a photographer and a damn good one. Check out her stuff here.


I'm a hustler, baby.
That's what daddy's made me.

Le Tigre//Deceptacon

There are a couple things I absolutely cannot do unless I’ve had a few two many beers. One is karaoke. Another is dancing at dance parties.

What makes this song so special is that no matter how much alcohol I’ve consumed, I can ALWAYS dance to it, and I seemingly never tire of it in the dj queue. My theory is that when Kathleen Hanna is at the helm of a danceable track, all bets are off.

Something else about this song is that it reminds me of freshman year. Kot used to set different songs as our alarm clock on her computer. Sometimes, it was really pleasant (waking up to “Havalina” by The Pixies is some kind of perfect). Other times, it was really jarring and horrifying (waking up to “Deceptacon” is jarring and horrifying, like waking up to a Post Wave Feminist Electro Punk Fire Drill).

Also, I should note that this song, like all of Le Tigre’s best songs, comes from the pre-JD era (no offense, JD, but you are no fucking Sadie Benning).



Deceptacon.mp3

Your lyrics are dumb like a linoleum floor.

Hot Hot Heat//Oh, Goddamnit

It’s Expletive Week, motherfuckers!!!
What does that mean? That means a week of totally offensive songs.

When I started working for The Michigan Daily, I was in a beautiful sea of incoming free review copies. Hot Hot Heat’s Make Up the Breakdown was one of the albums that found its way to my dorm room in a manila envelope that I actually loved (most things, I panned). Hot Hot Heat is hipstery (in a world where “hipster” was just starting to enter everyday lexicon) for sure, but for rocky, dancey fun, these guys deliver.

Oh, Goddamnit is all about that moment when you realize you fucked up. And that moment always warrents an expletive.



Oh, Goddamnit.mp3

Expletive "Fact": #3: “Goddamnit” gives you double curse word points, since not only are you calling for something to be damned, but additionally using the Lord’s name being in vain.


Oh, goddamnit. I think I lost it.

Seven Chakraz//Glitter Wars

[Local! Music! Friday!]
Tell me...what is this Local Music Fridays?

The 7Cs are close friends of close friends, and for this, I am glad—because I may have never heard them otherwise. Before I heard the music, I was definitely skeptical. What kind of a name is Seven Chakraz? Seriously.

MY BAD. The 7Cs are easily one of the most fun live acts I have seen. In addition to just being totally sweet people, all the Chakraz have mad SKILLZ—although I have an admitted bias toward Nikki P’s amazing voice, flow and presence. While this is a little evident in my track selection, it’s not meant to discount from the talent of the other members. They all have distinctive styles and strengths that balance well in recordings and on stage.

Whether you’re hanging out on the Nick and Kirsten’s porch drinking a forty or hanging out in the Blind Pig drinking an Old Style, 7Cs do not disappoint.



Glitter Wars.mp3

You can hear more tracks highlighting live performances and all the members here.

Raise a PBR to the weekend.

Jib Kidder//Window Dipper

[Local! Music! Friday!]
Tell me...what is this Local Music Fridays?

Sean SC, the awesome force behind the whirlwind of art and music that is Super Jib Kidder, once said his biggest fans were Sorority girls and homeless people.

Jib Kidder used to do these amazing, extremely colorful chalk drawings all around Ann Arbor (hence the fan base). One early morning, I got a call from him: “guess what I did all night?”
“What?” I asked.
“Chalk drawing under the arch! I’m going home to sleep now!”
He really made the walk through campus a lot more vibrant and engaging. And, because he made the genius decision to do all his public art in chalk, he could never be fined for graffiti or destruction of private property.

Luckily for us, the chalk drawings are just the tip of the now San Francisco-based Super Jib creative iceberg. Jib Kidder is also a prolific musician who’s recorded dozens of albums and for a short time ran an independent subscription based singles club.

Here’s a picture of one of Jib’s awesome chalk murals on the UofM campus and also one of my favorite Jib tracks, which is sure to charm hoards of office 9-to-5ers [insert Microsoft jokes here], as well as all the booty dancers in the crowd (now, I’m not saying there isn’t a possibility for overlap).



Window Dipper.mp3

Bonus: anyone who can name all the reasons this song title is funny wins my respect.
Actual Bonus: Jib Kidder’s got lots of tracks up for free here.

Crtl+Alt+Delete your week!

Metric//Combat Baby

Uh oh! It's tuesday and I'm running late because my alarm didn't go off!

In that spirit, this is a great "fuck it" song. It's a fabulous song to play at a dance party when everyone is drunk and ready to sing along to a fun chorus.

Also, this song reminds me of my friend Kot, who got unhealthily obsessed with it at some point.

Bonus: This band is Canadian.
Bonus Bonus: This band is called Metric, like the smarter, more intuitive system of measurement that we don't use.



Combat Baby.mp3

There's more at ILoveMetric. Metric plays Highline Ballroom August 8th.

Fight off the lethargy!