i recently reviewed the new cassius single for the 405. it included a bit of background about how and when i fell in love with daft punk. i thought i’d share the reasoning with you here. if you want to read the actual review of the single, you can do by clicking here. it includes some of the below.

i have a lot to thank cassius for. back in 1999 they released ‘cassius 1999′, a track that i fell in love with. i remember waiting for my weekly fix of the video on itv’s the chart show. who were this french band? all i knew of european dance music was whigfield and the macarena. i couldn’t imagine anybody having a ready made dance to this exciting sound that was coming from my television. i had to investigate. this investigation has become one of the most important times of my musical upbringing. i discovered french house music. and with it daft punk.

the timing was perfect. it meant i went back and checked out the magnificence of homework before discovery took them stratospheric. their second album is still the weakest for me, and i don’t know if the band would have had the same effect on me had i heard it been the first time i’d noticed them. as it was, i was already addicted to ‘da funk’, ‘oh yeah’ and ‘around the world’. i’d already witnessed a dog walking around new york city, skeletons dancing and how to make the perfect pasta sauce. perhaps that is why i’ve always been disappointed with discovery. i was still getting thrilled by homework.

this wasn’t really meant to be a daft punk post, so i’ll stop there. i’ve spoken about daft punk enough times in the past i’m sure. i just got reminiscing when writing the review. cassius, i thank you.

cassius 1999 (youtube)

you may have noticed the new look. it may be temporary, it may be long-term. whatever i decide though, if you know the artist of the picture in the header, please let me know. i fell across it and as far as i can tell it is free to use. if not, please let me know.

update: daft punk have denied that they have anything to do with the third twin. bugger.

madrid, january 10, 2011.–the third twin is a french electronic music duo which is getting very popular around the business in the recent months. the reason is simple: they are directly related to the famous daft punk. they are in the second edition of the festival which takes place from august 4-7 at the playa el arenal from burriana, castellón, spain. the show up of this mysterious group opens the arenal sound line up 2011.

the stage name of the third twin emerged supposedly with the aim of publishing the issues proposed by daft punk to disney´s movie “tron”: legacy. the company initially considered the material too oriented to electronic sounds because of that they refused it. the company ordered a new batch of compositions more orchestral and traditional which finally took part of the soundtrack of the film which was recently released with great success.

daft punk could not sign with their original name, music themes nor use any clear reference to the film for legal reasons. that is the reason why the well-known french electronic tandem had to use allegedly that pseudonym.

the result was the third twin or ttt, a music project which contain the songs published that is part of that band sound rejected. it was compiled together in an album entitled “homemade” where you can find those tracks such as “evil minds” “technolers” or “the time is over”. the third twin has their own profile on myspace where they have an extensive music material and songs that made “homemade” and reached a great amount of visits on youtube.

arenal sound becomes one of the many international festivals on this category to bring significant dj’s highly praised at the time, the third twin. just wait and see their performance at the festival to discover if the mystery is revealed.

the organization also confirms in the coming days the start of the selling of tickets for the arenal sound 2011 with a limited quantity of tickets from 25 euros.

tl;dr

daft punk are appearing at a spanish festival that sounds a little bit too much like a football team i hate under the name the third twin. they won’t be playing any of the tron soundtrack, and possibly not even any of their old stuff. this doesn’t really matter though because it is daft fucking punk and will therefore be amazing

not for their tron cameo which consisted of a quick nod to some bloke pretending to be david bowie, but for their score. it was, as i hoped, stunning when paired with the movie itself. it has brought on a whole new feel for me. i already loved pretending i was on a light cycle while walking down fleet street and then taking corners very sharply whilst listening to it. well, today i was coming up the escalators at kings cross and ‘end of line’ came on. fuck me. i felt like i was entering the grid itself, when in fact i was just heading for the hammersmith & city line. i really enjoyed the film itself as well, despite some poor reviews. maybe it didn’t have a lot of what makes a truly good film, but it was great to watch and i’m delighted with it being my first imax experience (hello 1999).

i’m off to wales & back today, but should be getting a review of the fantastic slow club at union chapel last night up tomorrow. maybe later today if you’re very lucky.

coming up over the christmas period i’m with the family and all that jazz for most of the time so posts might be a little irregular. i’ll be trying to do a couple of features though and a few spotify playlists. first off, this one. i’ve chosen my favourite track from each of the 2010 albums of the year i picked, other than those that aren’t on spotify. as an extra bonus i’ve put in my choices from my favourite three eps from 2010 as well. what’s more, my two favourite singles that aren’t on any of those records (still with me?) are here too… that’s ‘the sea is a good place to think of the future’ and spanish sahara’ by the way.

sockformation’s top ten albums of 2010 and then some other tracks as well (spotify)

the above is a picture of how i prepared myself to decide on my favourite ten albums of the year. i’ve sort of been thinking about it for a while and in the end sat down, made a list off the top of my head and by checking itunes and my last.fm from the past twelve months. that sort of thing. a few i’d forgotten about came back into the running and i got down to a short list of 30something. i succeeded in getting it down to ten. sort of. i have given an honourable mention to one outside the top ten as well because it just wouldn’t have been right not to. you’ll probably understand why when you see what it is. rather than a chart, this is a collection of the top ten in no order (actually, fuck that – i’ll post them alphabetically) other than number one. there always has to be a winner. one other thing to note is that this is just albums. three of my favourite records of the year are eps but i decided to exclude them. i expect i’ll make a post about some of my favourite things of the year in general over the next fortnight and summer camp, spectrals and girls will all feature heavily in this.

with apologies to those that just missed out, including but not restricted to mount kimbie, los campesinos!, kele, yeasayer, abe vigoda, blood red shoes, sleigh bells, girl talk, janelle monae and (the last album to be dropped) foals, here is the albums that are between my second and ninth favourite of 2010.

arcade fire. the suburbs. august.

brilliant story telling album, that just reaffirmed arcade fire as one of the most reliable bands for delivering quality with every record. buy here.

bombay bicycle club. flaws. july.

i cannot tell you just how many time i have stuck this on during my journey to work on a miserable morning and it has cheered me right up. buy here.

the black keys. brothers. may.

one of my gigs of the year and, to me, their most accesible album is also their best. buy here.

crystal castles. crystal castles (ii). april.

another band that excelled live. maybe not quite as good as the debut, but ‘celestia’ is one of the most beautiful yet thrilling things i have ever heard. buy here.

flying lotus. cosmogramma. may.

he’s in even more experimental mood than usual and when flying lotus experiments, the results are always both interesting and superb. buy here.

gayngs. relayted. may.

there is no way this album should work. ever. it does though. now you get twenty odd mates together and write an album inspired by one track from 35 years ago and see what you come up with. buy here.

mystery jets. serotonin. july.

the eel pie island boys have now made the perfect indie pop album. this is. fuck knows how they’re going to improve on this, but i can’t wait to hear them giving it a go. buy here.

no age. everything is borrowed. september.

a cleaner offering than nouns hasn’t meant that no age have lost any of their edge. this may be clean, but is also wonderfully dirty. buy here.

wavves. king of the beach. august.

the best of the lo-fi chill wave type albums that all but took over the world this summer. josh’s favourite album by the way, since you ask. buy here.

let’s have a bit of a drum roll then. the best album of the year isn’t even an album in the regular sense. it is a combination of previous eps and releases from a teenager with a talent for making the unlistenable listenable. when you can’t really make out the guitar, it doesn’t matter because you’re enjoying his voice. when the lack of production and lo-fi sound cracks through the speakers it doesn’t matter because that tune is perfect. i have listened to so little else over the last few weeks that even now as i write i can hear ‘water turns back’ in my head so perfectly that it is as if i have the album playing now.

cloud nothings. turning on. november (i think?)

if you don’t already own this, you need it now. let’s see if first album proper, due next year, will hold the same position this time next year. buy here.

and finally the special mention. i couldn’t leave this out, despite it not quite reaching the heights i hoped it would. i’m seeing the film on tuesday, and i’ll let you know if this goes from an 8/10 album to 10/10 like i hope it will. i love you thomas bangalter and guy-manuel de homem-christo.

daft punk. tron:legacy soundtrack. december. (buy here)

what have i missed? what shouldn’t be there? let me know in the comments. by the way. i am fully aware that the ’0′ at the end of the ‘top10′ text on the cover art graphics is slightly cut off. i noticed after i’d done the last one and couldn’t be fucked to fix it, so live with it.

album review: daft punk. tron: legacy (soundtrack). 7 december 2010. walt disney records

since tuesday i’ve been wrestling with myself as to whether to download the leak of daft punk‘s tron legacy soundtrack. on the one hand this is my most anticipated record of the year. on the other hand i really wanted to hear it in its perfect, untainted glory. i had to relent and do it though. the waiting was killing me. i’ve still got the limited edition version on pre-order, so i am fine with myself about this. what this means as well, is that i get to do an early review of it. excellent.

first off, some background about me and daft punk. i didn’t come to the party early. i didn’t come late. the early single releases may have passed me by, but i was introduced to ‘homework‘ by a university housemate in 1997 and fell in love. i’d have the album on repeat constantly, and ‘da funk’ remains one of my favourite tracks of all time. the release of ‘discovery‘ was a disappointment as i didn’t take to the party feel of the album at first. this album has since grown on me, but for me it remains their weakest. ‘human after all‘ may have been criticised on release, but not by me. hitting the spot straight from the off, the album has since been proven as a masterpiece thanks to providing some of the standouts on ‘alive 2007‘.

so onto today and tron legacy. if you’re expecting a follow on to the three previous studio albums you’ll be disappointed. this is not a standard daft punk album, and as such shouldn’t be judged as one. soundtracks, or rather scores, are very different issues. it is more atmospheric than anything they’ve done before and i can’t wait to hear it alongside the film. there is a period in the middle of the playlist, including the trailer track ‘derezzed’, that touches on classic daft punk. other than that i’m tempted to use words like epic and grand to describe the listening experience.

daft punk excel on a live stage. will this translate? i think it will. it won’t have the crowd going wild like ‘robot rock’ does, but it will send shivers down spines and who doesn’t want that?

8

buy it here

christmas is coming. we know this because there are lights on oxford street and m&s is every other advert on tv at the moment, rather than every fourth advert like the rest of the year. i know what you’re thinking though. i wish sockformation would do some sort of christmas music buying guide because with the closure of woolworths we can no longer rely on their ‘cd of the week’ recommendations. you’re in luck. i have some ideas for everybody important in your life.

mums are always tricky to buy for and i suppose it depends somewhat on what type of mum you have. if your one is anything like mine she is trying to relive her youth and likes some real shit, but at the same time will listen to some pretty decent bands if i don’t give her a choice in the matter. ‘brothers‘ from the black keys is going to be perfect for my mum. she’ll love that, and i’m sure your mum will as well. failing that go for the tron legacy soundtrack.

buying for your dad can be a minefield of tedium (is that a word?). thankfully, there is the perfect antidote this year. all dads like david bowie, right? in fact, all people like david bowie, right? a tribute album, ‘we were so turned on‘ came out in september. it may not be perfect, but some great contributions via artists like warpaint, vivian girls and even a pretty decent bash at ‘life on mars?’ from keren ann make it well worthwhile. alternatively, how about the new tron legacy soundtrack?

i haven’t got a teenage sister, but if i did i know exactly what i’d buy her. first off, i’m assuming she likes all that current poppy rnb and hip hop that the youth of today listen to. trick her into listening to clapton, the ramones and pet shop boys, by getting her girl talk’s new one, ‘all day‘. it is business as he mixes in some classic examples of good music with stuff from ludacris, rhianna et al. she’ll love it. probably. if you don’t agree, get her the tron legacy soundtrack instead.

Your best mate is going to want something seriously good. not just that but something you can chat about and get excited about. another september release for them then. ‘everything in between‘ ticks all of those boxes and you know you are supplying your friend with quality. if they already have that i’d suggest going for the tron legacy soundtrack.

what to get your girlfriend? are you mental? don’t get her a cd. she can get all she wants off your itunes anyway, and she knows this. she’ll kill you if all you get her is a cd. be more imaginative. i’m not helping you with this one. unless you want to get her the tron legacy soundtrack. that’s a decent shout.

i don’t have a boyfriend, but i am one myself. what does every boyfriend want? the tron legacy soundtrack obviously. not me though. i have the limited edition version on pre-order, so it’d just be a waste.

luckily i speak very good gibberish. basically what it’s saying is that i was a day late with when i suggested you mark 23rd november in your diary. the soundtrack is out on 22nd november.

probably the most exciting news ever.

137 days and counting…