Russ Chimes had decided to outdo himself of late and accompany his upcoming Midnight Club EP with a video trilogy for the ages. It is the Godfather I, II, and III of our times (or, the Naked Gun series, take your pick). However we fully and thankfully expect that Sophia Coppola will not be acting Part III, thus ensuring vimeo immortality for this fantastically-produced set.

Parts I and II (which was just released yesterday) follow the tribulations of a pair of young lovers who like to party at da club, and who unfortunately also become entangled in a jealousy-fueled kidnap adventure. The whole bittersweet tale is told using a staccato timeline — interweaving past, present, and future, into one synth-dicso and crotch rocket-fueled tapestry. Think Memento-era Christoper Nolan, with better music. Speaking of: the tracks themselves, Never Look Back, and Tertre Rouge, couldn’t possibly be better suited to the imagery.

Clues to how this story ends are slipped in left and right, however only in Part III will it all conclude. Like a fabled Russ Chimes build up, we will have to wait with bated breath for the drop to finally reveal all.

Part II

Part I

Trailer

Finally, keeping in mind that we are a music blog, we including a snazzy, glitchy edit by Cryptex (a young bro in LA) of the track included in the trailer, Following Your Every Move.

Russ Chimes/Cass Lowe – Following Your Every Move (Cryptex Remix)

It’s not often you hear some ‘killer harpsichord’ to lead off a cosmic-electro tune, but there’s a first time for everything. Danger’s remix of the Acid Washed self-titled track is a low-key but intense space faring journey to galaxies both near and far, and we love it. The track keeps all systems on ‘dreamlike’ until about 2.50 when a lil’ bass is brought in to kick things into overdrive.

This ‘France on France’ collab will be released as part of a 12″ later this month with remixes also by The Hacker, Mickey Moonlight, Daniel Haaksman, Digikid84, Lazy Flow, Jungle Fiction and Stuff. Have a listen and show the Acid Washed boys some FB love.

Previous posts on Acid Washed, here.

Acid Washed – Acid Washed (Danger Remix)

LA-based Human Life has recently set loose the intriguingly-titled Italo Crimewave, which sounds to me like short documentary following the Crystal Castles duo as they dress up in mafia gear and do dj sets at Sicilian house parties featuring dubious Eddy Huntington tracks. But I digress.

In reality the track doesn’t venture far from the aesthetic of its title, and we’re fine with that. It’s a slow unfolding lightly-synthed breath of fresh air, hearkening back to some Moroder-esque soundscape — packed together with some Italian whispers for suspense.

Human Life also happens to be makers of the original behind one of my favorite remixes of the past months, Grum’s edit of Wherever We Are.  Sharing that one below, too.

Human Life – Italo Crimewave

Human Life – Wherever We Are (Grum Remix)

Blissful meets sublime in Anoraak’s peaceful edit of Psychic Chasms by Alan Palomo and friends. The intro is like a light rainfall composed of fragile crystals… and things don’t degrade at all the rest of the track through. I think this track manages to find the sweet spot on the intersection of chill, Balearic, and synth — the sound is similar to all in some way, yet completely original on its own — which is a good thing.

It’s part of a remix pack just uploaded today to Anoraak’s soundcloud, and will also be included on a re-issue of the Psychic Chasms album by Neon Indian.

Purchase on iTunes, here.

Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms (Anoraak Remix)

Our love for Discotexas and its artists is undeniable. First we listened to Moullinex then Xinobi and later Rockets (post). Now, Fred Oliveira of Rockets has a new project called Lazydisco. As Discotexas described it, it’s slightly different dance music with sparkles. We agree. First track “More Tigers” has an uplifting sunny afternoon-esque vibe driven by awesome synths. Gotta love this late summer jam. The hype starts now, get on the bandwagon. We can expect a remix for our previous and beloved guest, Xinobi. That’s gonna be huge.

Lazydisco – More Tigers

There was only one bigger problem with The xx‘s debut album last year, namely that there were no danceable songs. I mean of course, their concept is far from dance music but the huge hype and success make fans crave for club stuff, I guess. Kinda proves my point that there are many remixes floating out there, so producers also feel the need to tackle The xx’s anti-club atmosphere. Delorean, Andy Murphy, Matthew Dear and Death to the Throne all worked on giving The xx some beat-treatment. The last comptetitors to enter the race is LAZRtag, duo from LA. We’ve been following the guys, although lately we haven’t posted anything by them. They reworked Scanners, Passion Pit, etc, with their signature heavy electro, so they are pretty much on the cutting edge. Their remix of xx’s “Stars” is tastefully done, it’s laid-back and relaxing but also has a dark disco feel. They totally get the spirit of the original with the haunting female-male vocal-dialogue and the loneliness of unique guitars sounds and keys. LAZRtag’s own contribution is great, the subte rises in synth and the drops back to vocals and drums make even the 7 mins exciting.

The xx – Stars (LAZRtag remix)

I was really really hoping that Portland’s The Thermals return with an awesome album because the previous album, Now We Can See was kinda a disappointment. In September, 2010, they are gonna release Personal Life, their fifth LP. I can’t totally communicate how happy I am that this record turned out to be awesome. The official press release says that, as the title suggests, this album goes to conquer territories that were uncharted by The Thermals: relationships and love. Of course, they had love songs previously, but now, the whole album is about love. It’s a love concept album or something. Well, maybe. I’m just glad that they returned from a bad attempt at punk(pop) that didn’t suit them. What actually suits them is either agressive bursts of energy or dry indie rock-grunge-punk. Their “joyous sillyness” as a Pitchfork review put it can’t really manifest straightforwardly. They are better than that. And Personal Life delivers it. Can’t describe it better but awesome songs, awesome guitars and rythms – and the talent of Hutch Harris shines through: maybe it’s commonplace to say but he can manage to write lyrics and songs that are simple, dry and sound easy but just one glance and listen reveals a great depth. This time it’s about the lovely routine of relationships: the story of slow torture, white lies turning black, silent hopes and silences when you’re staring at the wall, the jealousy that uncovers the greatest loneliness… Stuff like this in 10 songs. The album moves from “I’m gonna change your life” to “You changed my life”. It’s the story of how you and your pride turn into dust in the end and you are left there with nothing to hold on but the other. Fucking worth the listen. The Thermals are one of the few really great bands out there.

The Thermals – Never Listen to Me

I know, everyone had enough of Ellie Goulding remixes and some probably of Ellie herself. Although she kinda disappeared from the radar lately, hasn’t she? Well, nevermind. Thing is that I would probably not post any more Ellie remixes, unless it’s something really cool. This time, it’s Alex Metric. You probably know how much Kunk loves to drop those grenades that come out from the studio of Mr. Drury, either his Bloc Party remix or “Sabotage” rework, we love it. For God’s sake, he can even make a shitty song like “Stylo” into an awesome and uplifting anthem. It’s not much of a surprise then, that the “Salt Skin” rework is banging and marching through huge drops into an euphoric beat and synth combo that can, I believe, ignite any dancefloor. We’ll put it to the test next time. Thanks for the track to Gotta Dance Dirty!

Ellie Goulding – Salt Skin (Alex Metric remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

There has been  a ‘snippet’ version of  Azari & III’s Reckless With Your Love remix by Tensnake floating around for quite some time — however recently a full-length version of the stellar edit has reached zee soundcloudz. Kunk’s love for the 80s is rivaled quite closely with our love for the 90s, which is quite useful in this instance as Tensnake rolls out samples from both Massive Attack and C+C Music Factory in this blissful creation. I’m half surprised he didn’t enlist the bro from PM Dawn to throw down some additional backing tracks to maximize the effect.

At any rate, the result is a superb summer dance chill vibe that will have you humming Set Adrift on Memory Bliss to yourself even though you can’t quite place the reason why.

Azari & III – Reckless With Your Love (Tensnake Remix)

Friend of Kunk, Clancy, has just finished an edit of Minitel Rose’s Wild Birds, together with Build. A frequent spinner at UK festivals and raves, Clancy has taken to the ‘sound of synth’ these days: kunkers first got listen to his spring mixtape some months ago and have been on board ever since.

Build on the other hand jumped into our radar after his mellow-ish but favorite of all the mass of previous Teenagers mixes out there, for Feeling Better. Of late, the two have been teaming up for some efforts and we have a good feeling about this collaboration going forward. In addition to this track, they already have a Yeasayer edit under their belt — remixes of LexiconDon, Annie, and Fear of Tigers, are also all in the works.

Have a listen and show some love!

Minitel Rose – Wild Birds (Clancy & Build Remix)