— Danno Spartacus

Ten Deckest tracks of Twenty eleven (my JJJ hottest 100 picks) – No. 3 + 2

By: danno
20-01-2012
For I am Spartacus, Music, My Top Ten lists

We’re already rolling into the end of January and Australia Day (the day that triple J announces their top 100) is just a week away. That means I had better catch up and roll out No 3 and No 2 right now.

No 3

There are 3 things that I love about music.

1. An infectious beat intwined with a groovy bass line

2. Songs with electronic effects/synths

3. A good hook – either a lyric or melody

I reckon this next song has all these 3 elements which I would consider making a song great. A big plus point too is that I will be catching this dude at Laneway in Singapore this coming February! Chazwick Bundick (better known by his stage name Toro Y Moi) and his hipster glasses sort of created this genre called chillwave which hipsters and alternatives have come and love over the past two years. Coming from his sophomore album ‘Underneath the Pine’ this next song perfectly describes the year for me. Chilled, Happy and Warm with a quiet decked out party vibe.

TORO Y MOI – STILL SOUND

No 2

Growing up as a kid in Australia it’s an understatement to say that I am influenced by all things Australian. I love their sport, their coffee, their culture and I reckon their taste in music is probably one of the best there is out there as well.

Gotye is probably one of Aussie’s biggest home grown artist out there right now. Wikipedia lists his music as indie rock but I hate the term Indie. It is probably more of experimental pop than anything else and I love all things experimental pop.

GOTYE – SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW

This track has one of the best video clips out there and they were actually painting Gotye and Kimbra and it wasn’t some kind of special effects shit. Musically, Gotye carefully uses bass and does not overdo it like how dubstep producers seem to do these days. Gotye has this really cool laidback voice even when he goes emotional when he sings. It’s like yea I’m indifferent but my indifference has feelings (if that makes sense)

But what makes this song such a hit is that everybody has somebody that they used to know :). Everyone can relate to it and I guess that’s why this is such a good song.

 

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Ten Deckest tracks of Twenty eleven (my JJJ hottest 100 picks) – No. 5 + 4

By: danno
05-01-2012
Featured, For I am Spartacus, Music, My Top Ten lists

A Happy New Year to everyone! All other top 10 lists finish before the New Year but I’m alternative. Mine stretches on till the new year.

So here we go No.5 and No.4 are below

No 5.

Now this was a tough tough one. The track below came off my most favourite album of the year and I wanted my top 10 list to include as many genres as possible and I only wanted an artist to only have one song only in my top 10.

It could probably be because this was one of the tracks released earlier in the year or the fact that I really really love the next 4 songs, but here is No5.

SBTRKT – Wildfire

To be honest, I initially wanted Pharaohs to be on the list and I was battling whether to have that track instead of this one and the track Hold On with Sampha was almost pushing in too. But in the end I chose Wildfire. It is probably more overplayed  than all the other tracks but I really love how SBTRKT used the bass on this one. With brostep (the over blasted version of dubstep with too much oscilators) over done and over played, SBTRKT keeps his bass really simple yet making it a game changer.

No 4. 

Neon Indian are synth Gods. The things they can do with synths is just SO amazing. Their latest album Era Extraña was recently released in September 2011 and it has been on repeat on my ipod ever since.

Chillwave Synth Pop, you had me at Hello.

NEON INDIAN – Polish Girl

That crazy synth hook which starts at the beginning and repeats itself all through out the song (sans the chorus bit) sounds like a bunch of flowers in summer. It makes me want to run to Poland in the summer and roll down some green hill.

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Ten Deckest tracks of Twenty eleven (my JJJ hottest 100 picks) – No. 7 + 6

By: danno
30-12-2011
For I am Spartacus, Music, My Top Ten lists

No 7

“‘Cause you read it in a big book

And now you’re giving me the look look

But just remember how we shook shook

And all the things we took took”

METRAMONY – The Look

I’ll be honest, I only got into the track and the album a couple of months back (it was released in April) but this song is just so chilled out. I love the piano bit in it and the whole acoustic feel to it.

No 6

Friendly Fires’ Pala was one of my most anticipated albums of 2011 for me. Once again, it’s another very electronic rock influenced album and I reckon that the indie-electronic-rock whatever will be the continuing trend going into 2012.

FRIENDLY FIRES – Hurting

 

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Ten Deckest tracks of Twenty eleven (my JJJ hottest 100 picks) – No. 9 + 8

By: danno
28-12-2011
For I am Spartacus, Music, My Top Ten lists

No 9

I’ve always considered myself to be a student of music who embraces all kinds of genres from classical music to jazz, to old school 80s 90s rap to metal and to basically everything underneath the sun. The different new kinds of music and sounds intrigue my ears and this following duo never fails to tickle my hearing into eargasms.

MAJOR LAZER

I love it how two white dudes are showing the world their take on Jamaican Dancehall Reggae infused with Electro House Rap and smashing the whole world with their insane music. Lots of musicians take themselves too seriously and get fussed up about all kinds of things. Diplo and Switch on the other hand make music that makes you want to sniff cocaine of a big ass titty girl while banging her from behind.

MAJOR LAZER – Original Don Ft. The Partysquad

Just wait for the bass-kick and you’ll get what I mean.

No 8

Not much to say about this next track except that I love rockish electronica infused tracks.

DIGITALISM – 2 Hearts

2 Hearts is something that I try to achieve (sometimes miserably) with the stuff I do with Pink Crack. With a really catchy pop tune, this is my “love song” of 2011.

RECAP

No. Guilty Pleasure: Skrillex – Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites

No.10: Mutemath – Blood Pressure

No.9: Major Lazer – Original Don

No.8: Digitalism – 2 Hearts

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Ten Deckest tracks of Twenty eleven (my JJJ hottest 100 picks) – No. Guilty Pleasure + 10

By: danno
23-12-2011
For I am Spartacus, Music, My Top Ten lists

Ah! It’s that time of the year again where we all do the necessary. The spring cleaning of the family residence, the obligatory dinners you force yourself through for work and family alike and most probably the most important of them all, the beginning of obsessive drinking that will continue probably to the end of Chinese new year. What would next come in line for the most important thing to do would be making my top 10 songs list of the year.

SO here you go. Starting from Guilty pleasure all the way to number one…

No. GUILTY PLEASURE

It took me awhile getting this down right. I have probably played my role of being too much of a dickhead hipster and stayed cleared from all things commercial to have a real guilty pleasure. But with all the talk about the dubstep argument going-on, on what’s real and not real and the difference of brostep versus dub versus dubstep versus Obama versus Anwar this is going to be my guilty pleasure for the year….

SKRILLEX – Scary Monsters & Sprites

Funny thing is, it was released last year (if I’m not mistaken) but I only heard it in the earlier part of the year so this will be my guilty pleasure of 2011 for me.

I’m not gonna say much about it but it’s just such a fun song and he pays homage to that youtube stacker asian girl. And for him support my own people….I have got to show some respect  I gotta give the man some lurvve….

No. 10

Picking the last track to include in your top ten has got to be the probably the hardest decision to do after selecting your top track. Overall, I wanted my top 10 list to be as diverse as possible having tracks from different genres. Knowing that I would include lots of tracks from the “indie” (I have a big problem with the term indie used as a genre but that’s another gripe for another day) genre I tried my very best to squeeze in Kanye West’s and Jay-Z’s ‘Nigga in Paris’ just to get in some Rap/Hip Hop into the list.

And I failed to do so.

Obviously, my thing for hip hop has been dwindling ever since Hip Hop Artists started singing about fast cars, booty, guns and dollar bills. (Even though I really really dig that Jay Z Kanye track. Almost became my guilty pleasure just so that I could put it up.) My favourite two old school rappers, Rakim and Eric B probably won’t be topped by any Rappers in the near future

So I ended up with the following at Numero 10….

MUTEMATH – Blood Pressure

If you had a time machine and you went back in time, found the 18 year old me, dragged me in the time machine and we jump 8 years into the future to 2011, I would probably select this track as the track of the year.

It starts of with this with this crazy guitar lick followed by a drum roll into a pounding, driving bass line supported by a basic drum beat with a really really resounding snare. The whole intro/verse has this real decked out bluesy vibe that makes you want to drive a convertible down the highway wearing a leather jacket. It slowly builds up to the chorus with some harmony of vocals before guitar riff madness kicks in… BLOOD PRESSURE….

Man, I don’t even know if I want to chill to this song or whether to dance to it or whether to headbang… probably all of the three at once. While making out with the girl at the same time…

Bluesy, White-Stripish, Post-rockish-bass-line-drum-beat.

My number 10 for 2011.

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ZAP x PIK NIK video shoot

By: danno
10-12-2011
Artsy fartsy, Events, For I am Spartacus, Happenings, Music

Gonna be spinning for ZAP x PIKNIK next week on Friday…

James from J2 productions will be going around shooting some videos for both ZAP and PIK NIK..

So freakin stoked for December. This is just the start of it. More ZAPs coming in December…

Yours truly did the flyer btw. Pretty proud of it :)

Call me self absorbed…

ZAP x PIKNIK

http://www.facebook.com/events/287315041312450/

 

 

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Last Night’s Party Photogs

By: danno
27-11-2011
Events, For I am Spartacus, Happenings, Music

 

 

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Colour me the colour of chaos

By: danno
26-11-2011
For I am Spartacus

You come to a point of your life when you begin to form your own dreams, build your own expectations and strive for things that matter to only you.

I was one of those who lacked a sense of direction when I was much younger. During my rebellious teenage years, I never gave much thought about  where I wanted to be or what I would want to get involved with in the future. There are so many things that I would have done differently if I could turn back time. If only….

Growing up in Penang, you tend to get stuck in a small town mentality and it is only when you leave the island, do you realise that Penang is a really small place. Things that you once thought had major significance during your high school college life actually has no importance or impact in other places. Matters and opinions that you once made such a fuss about are just trivial matters in other places.

Although looking back I’m thankful that this has been a revelation to me over the years, there has always been a tinge of regret in my heart that I didn’t go all out in the things I had passion for due to the fear of being uncool. Being 16, cool was the only thing I had and what was most important to me. You had to be cool without being cool. It is what hipsters call deck.

Living in the ‘If Onlys’ are a sure way to lead one to the wrong end of the road. We should live life with no regrets and learn from the mistakes or missed opportunities from the past.

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WHATS GOING DOWN THIS WEEKEND

By: danno
28-10-2011
Artsy fartsy, Events, For I am Spartacus

 

 

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Milk at MOONTREE 47

By: Danno - Indiegoat
27-10-2011
Events, Featured, Music

What started of as a damp Saturday evening slowly brightened up with the melodic sounds of vocal harmonies and the knick-knack strumming from the ukulele. Milk consists of both Josh and Anna who both equally played and sung interchangeably throughout their set. They were joined together with their friend Lou who was started playing on their home-made tom-tom and sporadically switched instruments with the two throughout the night.

Not only did the trio do a full set with their own original tunes, the talented trio wowed the crowd with their spontaneity and creativity when they interacted with the crowd to blurt out random words and they created a tune right there on the spot. Songs about Sex-Craved- Bugs Bunny-in-skinny jeans and Sarong-wearing-transvestite-pizza-server were very Flight-of-the-Conchords-esque and was supremely deck.

For more info you can check them out below:-

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Love-Ukulele-Penang/117853398318703

Josh currently is offering ukulele classes as well as selling his own made designed ukuleles as well.

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