PAST: The Exploding Hearts - Guitar Romantic [2003]

Ok so I don't know how people get off getting all up on tumblr and stating their vehement hate for this obviously brilliant band so fuck you if you don't know real punk even while it's repeatedly kicking you in the gonads. Their story is not important. If you can't find something in this to relate to you were never a teenager or at least never a very cool one.

PRESENT: JAP MUTATION BOOTYISM - Japanese Juke & Footworks Compilation

Much thanks to a friend at Mortigi Tempo for pointing this one out.

So within the past couple years juke and footwork blew up in Chicago and of course the internet is the great equalizer so now it seems that Japanese folks really like footwork and are really fucking good at making it. I guess I'm no footwork expert but I'd much rather listen to this compilation than say the Bangs and Works stuff with all due respect. Granted, this is a different scene, but the size of this compilation and the breadth of number of contributors and the quality of material indicates to me that the Japanese are really kicking this music into overdrive.

PAST: Saint Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart / Nothing Can Stop Us

Lest we forget that this little London band made this kind of glitz cool to begin with. Haven't listened to the new record. Apprehensive but willing.

PRESENT: Locked Groove - Different Paths EP [2012]

The internet fairy finally came but hopefully you already found the full stream of the new Locked Groove EP on XLR8R. The record drops on Turbo in five days, and on June 18th he'll release yet another EP on Hotflush. If you like the aggressive stuff Andy Stott has been doing lately or you dug the Ugandan Methods videos I posted a while back, you'll enjoy this.

PAST: Teebs & Jackhigh - The Tropics EP [2010]

Sorry for the lack of updates this past week. I have been in the process of moving, so no internet in the new apartment yet. Working on it.

When LA producer Teebs visited WRGW earlier this year before his show at DC9, I asked him about one of our personal favorites of his releases, the collaboration he did with Jackhigh (aka BNJMN) a couple years back on Svetlana. I was shocked to hear that the two collaborated completely over the internet, and to my knowledge the two have still never met.

Here is an amazing cut from that EP.

Also, a Teebs track featuring Gaby Hernandez...

And a Jackhigh track.

PRESENT: Laurel Halo – Quarantine (Album Stream) / Kuedo – Work, Live & Sleep In Collapsing Space (Laurel Halo Remix)

Here's the stream of Laurel Halo's new album Quarantine, via FACT Magazine. Her recent FACT interview can be found here, and her Kill Screen interview here. Also, you can stream a new Kuedo track remixed by Laurel Halo below.

PAST: Cat Power – Metal Heart (Live) [1998]

Consider this a sort of repost from CMG.

PRESENT: Supreme Cuts – Lessons of Darkness (Apology) [2012]

Chicago production duo Supreme Cuts are hard at work on their new album Whispers in the Dark which is due out on July 12th via Dovecote Records. They were recently featured on Resident Advisor.

PAST: Earwig – Under My Skin I Am Laughing [1992] / Insides – Euphoria [1993]

Some shoegaze heads might know of a little British duo called Insides that signed to 4AD in the early 90s and released a great little album named Euphoria. Well, before they were a duo they were a trio called Earwig, and a year prior released another great album called Under My Skin I Am Laughing. These are two of early British post rock's best kept secrets.

PRESENT: Oneohtrix Point Never – I Only Have Eyes for You

Daniel Lopatin has been making waves for several years in the American electronic scene as half of the electro pop duo Games (name changed recently to Ford & Lopatin) as well as releasing some downright breathtaking albums under the name Oneohtrix Point Never such as Returnal and Replica. Tomorrow he's playing along with Geologist, High Places, No Age and Nicolas Jaar at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC. I may end up attending this event and if I do you can be rest assured I'll give a full report. This track is a cover of the American pop standard composed by Harry Warren and Al Dublin in 1934, the focus of the Hirshhorn event. Lopatin's cover is oblique and fascinating to say the very least.

PAST: Cleaners from Venus – Midnight Cleaners [1982]

Cleaners from Venus were an English band led by Martin Newell. They have remained relatively unknown and under-appreciated due to the fact that most of their albums were only ever released on tapes, at least up until now. Thankfully, Captured Tracks were kind enough to reissue the band's first three albums on vinyl last month. MGMT fans might recognize this first song.

PRESENT: Legowelt – Deepspace Gazing [2012]

Danny Wolfers is back with more jacked retro synth futurism on the heels of his fantastic North Sea Spectrum EP and frankly I'm addicted. Download new track Deepspace Gazing over at the Legowelt website.

In the man's own words:

"uuuuWTF??? Its old school U.K rave proto breakbeat techno time including mandatory Star Trek TOS KIRK sample and special animated GIF mini videoclip Sounds courtesy of the commodore AMIGA, Roland R8 and MKS100 (and yes thats the same sound in Lake Distrax)"

PAST: Happy End – Kazemachi Roman [1971]

This awesome Japanese band came to my attention when I heard Kaze Wo Atsumete on the Lost in Translation soundtrack. Turns out they are one of the most important Japanese folk rock bands, and during their brief time as a band they made huge waves in the music scene of the rising sun. Kazemachi Roman is considered their crowning achievement. It is a really unassuming fun little folk album.

PRESENT: Keyboard Kid – The Transition EP [2012]

Mesmerizing new EP from the Seattle beatmaker and Lil B producer.

PAST: Charanjit Singh – Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat [1982]

Charanjit Singh is an Indian film composer who performed many classical scores and also noodled with electronics around the time that was coming into fashion, and with this album he may have predated the acid house explosion by nearly five years. A commercial flop upon release, the album was rediscovered decades later and finally reissued in 2010 by Dutch label Bombay Connection.

PRESENT: Dean Blunt & Inga Copeland – Black is Beautiful [2012]

New album from Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland, aka Hype Williams. This LP starts off crazy and continues providing subtly amazing moments throughout.

And here's an older track.

PAST: Various Artists – I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore: 1927-1948 [2007]

Compiled in 2007 by Mississippi Records, this is a collection of folk songs written and performed by American immigrants of various origins between 1927 and 1948. Here's one of those tunes

...And here's another.

Cruelly limited to 800 copies and unfairly out of print but definitely still find-able. A very moving compilation, the voices are powerful and at moments things get downright minimal and haunting. Not to be missed.

PRESENT: Four Tet – Jupiters (Single) [2012]

Brand new single from Four Tet, forthcoming on Hebden's Text label. A radio rip of the b-side, Ocoras, is floating around too. Get that below while it's hot.

PAST: My Bloody Valentine Remaster Series – Isn't Anything [1989] / Loveless [1991] / EPs 1988-1991 [2012]

Not much I can say about MBV that hasn't already been said. The story behind the Loveless masters is apparently a long one with lots of crazy lies, intrigue and industry bullshit. But here they are, finally, via Sony, somehow. The EP/single/rarities compilation remasters all of that material as well as three unreleased tracks.

Shields says the legendary shelved MBV album from the mid nineties is to be completed and issued by the end of the year, as well as the possibility of a reunion EP rush recorded and released as soon as possible. In other news, hell is about to freeze over, Cubs will win the world series, Ron Paul shall be elected president.

You can stream the two disks of the Loveless remaster over at the Guardian. Hear the volume pushed to zero. Notice the subtle nuances, or don't notice them like me but sort of trust they're there in a weird way.

PRESENT: Animal Collective – Honeycomb / Gotham 12" [2012]

Behold! A lovely 12" from the brand new band called the Animal Collectives! They do funny things, acid being one of them, things like this being another. Preorder the vinyl (and nab the digital files) at Domino's website or pick up the mp3s on iTunes.

PAST: The Toy Dolls – I've Got Asthma [1989]

Bonus track from the 1998 Toy Dolls album Ten Years of Toys. This was my anthem in high school.

PRESENT: Ugandan Methods – Sixth Method EP [2012]

Collaboration between Ugandan Speed Trials and Ancient Methods. Feckin devious. The Boomkat.

PAST: The Ecstasy of St. Theresa – Pigment EP [1991]

Amazing 1991 shoegaze EP on Czech label Ecstasy Release. If anyone knows where one could find this on vinyl for a fair price please let me know because I'm dying.

PRESENT: King Felix – Spring EP [2012]

Laurel Halo's King Felix project kicked off the label launch of Liberation Technologies, a division of mute. Nab the vinyl over at boomkat. Halo's new album Quarantine is coming at the end of the month.

PAST: William DeVaughn – Be Thankful For What You've Got [1969]

I heard this on Flying Lotus' second Lovers Melt mix and it sounded really familiar but I have no idea where I've heard it before. You can stream the whole Lovers Melt 2 mix here. It is mostly old jazzy, soulful, funky stuff from the 70s.

PRESENT: Actress – R.I.P. [2012]

Actress' new album R.I.P. is crazy and magnetic. Experimental club music.Hear for yourself.

"For me, it's the rhythm of life; your heartbeat is in 4/4. Techno and house, these are the things that keep me in equilibrium." -@ctress_a

Also, take a look at this clip. Actress interviewed on Pitchfork TV about his compositions for Yayoi Kusama's Infinite Room installation.

PAST: Alvin Lucier – I Am Sitting In A Room [1969]

I stumbled upon this avant garde album some years back. Alvin Lucier records his voice. Then he records the recording. Then he records that recording. So on and so forth. What happens is crazy. Enjoy.

PRESENT: Legowelt - North Sea Spectrum EP [2012]

Den Haag producer Danny Wolfers, aka Legowelt dropped this EP in February. He's been on the scene for over a decade but really caught my attention with his 2011 album The Teac Life. He makes retro house music that has some serious groove to it but also has shades of Detroit techno and Rephlex braindance. Listen to "Bergerac Professional" below and sample the whole EP if it strikes you.

PAST: Dream 2 Science - Dream 2 Science EP [1990]

We kick off with an old Brooklyn house gem reissued by Amsterdam label Rush Hour this year. This is the solo project of Cozmo D, member of electro band Newcleus. The single "My Love Turns to Liquid" is epic.