Niki N. Phaser » dance

The Prodigy Choose Video For “Run With The Wolves”

Niki N. Phaser — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:29:39 +0000

The Prodigy have decided on a winner for their Run With the Wolves video contest. It hasn’t been easy on the boys, since there were more than 300 videos submitted: “there is a lot of twisted minds out there… we ignored number of views, ratings and chose what we liked and have all agreed that the winner is Rob Wicksteed”. Our congratulations to Mr. Wicksteed (and Pew36) for his visually challenging video and the twist ending. After Warrior’s Dance this is the second animated video used by The Prodigy for Invaders Must Die promotion. They’ll be touring Australia starting February 27, till then:

RUN WITH THE WOLVES here

Gorillaz, The Return Of

Niki N. Phaser — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:05:48 +0000

Your favorite virtual, animated band of anti-heroes is making an official return. Gorillaz are to release their third album, Plastic Beach, this March. This will be the follow-up to the groudbreaking Demon Days, that had the world shakin’ it to the hit Feel Good, Inc. and pretty much everything else that was on that album. The new 16-tracker will feature an eclectic congregation of guest singers, like Mos Def, Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed, of course De La Soul and plenty of other guests (more than ever). Lead single, Stylo, will be available for download in a few days. It’s quite a retro-jem, filled with catchy rollerskate-disconess and a synth bassline which will have 80′s veteran breakdancers, “the Fred Astaires of the street”, dust their tank tops. Listen at Gorillaz’s:

OFFICIAL SITE

“I’m Obsessed With The Mess That’s America”

Niki N. Phaser — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:37:15 +0000

2010 comes with the promise of new talent, as all years, for that matter. One lady we should keep an eyelid on is Marina Diamandis aka Marina And The Diamonds, whose debut album, The Family Jewels will grace us on February 15. And if you’re wondering what’s with all the excitement, just listen to Hollywood, the single which gives us a taste of what’s to come. Despite Marina’s voice sounding more suitable for 90′s feminist grunge, Hollywood is the perfect upbeat new-wavey pop pill, with plenty of wink sarcasm (“Oh, my gawwwd, you look just like Shakira”) to differentiate it from the r’n'b pop we are used to. Another omen (or is it a clue?) is the fact that Hollywood‘s video is directed by Kinga Burza, who just so happens was the author of Katy Perry’s video for I Kissed a Girl. It’s also cool that Marina looks her Greek/Welsh origins, so maybe we’ll get our generation’s very own Irene Papas. It woun’t be long now till ‘we’re all obsessed with the (beautiful) mess that’s Marina’…

See What I’m Talking About

Various Artists – The Jackal

Niki N. Phaser — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:20:30 +0000

As the image indicates, this review is about the Music from and Inspired by The Jackal soundtrack of the 1997 action thriller, starring Bruce Willis and Richard Gere. This “discrimination” doesn’t mean that the other album, containing Carter Burwell’s score should be disregarded. In fact, some of the tracks from there would fit inconspicuously on this album, Burwell being one of the most versatile film composers of the last two decades. His slick combination of electronica and a traditional score creates the real sonic trademark of the movie. That and, of course, the opening track, Massive Attack’s Superpredators, which sets the tone for the violence that is to follow and creates a memorable title sequence in the process.

And speaking of violence, an action movie, back in the day, would usually have more of a rock collection type of soundtrack, that’s why The Jackal, musically, is quite the milestone. By 1997, electronica and dance music had evolved in a more aggressive ‘beast’, bravely competing with rock as a mean of venting N. energy. The cream of the crop of the artists who achieved this are featured on The Jackal. A lot of these bands actually toured together. There’s no point in denying that UK was the headquarters for this new face of dance music and this is also illustrated through the selection found on this OST.

We’ll start with the most obvious, so we can ‘get them out of the way’ — The Prodigy. They make their appearance on this album with the classic (even then) hit, Poison, but without the ”phone call” intro. They are also joined by their touring partner back in the Jilted day, Moby (with Shining), one of the few non-British names on the whole thing. The list continues with Apollo Four Forty and their blood pumping mover & shaker, Raw Power (such a good choice of title). Keeping it still in the big beat bands area, we have Agent Provocateur with Red Tape (another title destined for action flicks OST’s). The DJ’s aren’t missing either. Of course, you have Fatboy Slim ‘going out of his head’, as well d’n'b icon, Goldie, both with a track (Sunray 2) and a remix of Bush’s Swallowed. Lunatic Calm’s overused Leave You Far Behind also makes its first ever appearance on a soundtrack.

There is also a softer side to this album, it’s not big, but it’s there. You have Primal Scream’s ‘feel good Sunday morning’ Star, Ani DiFranco’s moody Joyful Girl, some chill d’n'b by LTJ Bukem and then, there is Shineaway. Fully aware of the consequences, I must say that this is the true treasure of the album. A collaboration between The Psychedelic Furs’ singer, Richard Butler, and virtuoso producer BT, Shineway is basically a ballad, but with enough cool sounds around the edges to be the ballad to the power songs listed above. If the other songs are the stuff that draws you to this album, Shineway is the thing that’ll keep you there. There are some other songs on it, but I have to leave at least a bit of mystery unrevealed. You check it out !

Madonna – Forbidden Love : Deep Dance

Niki N. Phaser — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:38:41 +0000

Confessions on a Dance Floor marks another stage and another successful comeback in Madonna’s career, bringing in record numbers all over the world and creating the inertia on which Hard Candy‘s triumph was originated. Lead single Hung Up also did its part of the job, as well as the other three that followed. If choosen as a single, Forbidden Love would have surely prooved to be a hit, but, truth be told, it’s not just pure dance energy like Hung Up, for example. This track holds the strange combination of being a very danceable serious song. It sounds as profound as some Gregorian piece and yet it’s filled with ethereal synths and powerful beats, which make the song seem like a really dirty ‘da-club’ remix, all courtesy of Stuart Price aka Thin White Duke. The somber electro moods do a great job in emphasizing the grandeur of the song’s theme. Love is regarded from a philosophical/existential point of view: “Are we supposed to be together, We seal the destiny forever”. It’s written so that it would fit any kind of ‘forbidden love’ and no matter how free-minded we think the world is there are still plenty of forbidden loves out there. Just think about it, there are plenty of loves you yourself would forbid… In live performances on her Confessions Tour, Madonna went for some religious meaning, brilliantly suggested through coregraphy as you can see in the following video:

LIVE PERFORMANCE OF Forbidden Love