First Fuck Yeah then Heaven now Moving Forward when will Designer Drugs do something shitty? Yeah well we all know that’s not gonna happen, so in the meantime enjoy yet another rippin track that was featured on an IHEARTCOMIX sampler. Homeboys have been marching around the US of A these days but i think it’s only a matter of time till we see them euroside.

Fast-paced but not a mindless banger, this track makes one want to follow the mantra dictated by its title. Welcome to exhilaration school.

Protokoll - Moving Forward (Designer Drugs Remix) [zshare] // Protokoll - Moving Forward (Designer Drugs Remix) [yousendit]

The Cyanide Valentine hail from the US, city of Boston. They create a blend of very strange acoustic sounds and experimental electro. The beauty and the beast, ha! The vocals are like from Radiohead or Spiritualized and the guy+girl together reminds me of Arcade Fire. They even go as far as Sufjan Stevens-like folkish stuff.

Their second record is downloadable from their site for free which is really nice: http://cyanidevalentine.com/ I chose two songs from the album, they are my favourites. The first one has an amazing title: Kate I’m Only Freaking/Amphetamina, the second catches them at their naively melancholic folk-pop side. But the whole album creates a very strong and uniquely dark atmosphere.

Btw these guys have a great taste - their favourites of 2007 include The National, Of Montreal, etc - which should be appriciated.

The Cyanide Valentine - Kate I’m Only Freaking/Amphetamina (y. s. i.)

The Cyanide Valentine - The Sweetest Season (y. s. i.)

So I don’t think our love, or most others’ love for le Castles de Crystal need to be expressed to any greater extent… that is until Lazrtag’s re-work of Crimewave hit bloggaland. Lazrtag hail from Hollywood and their taste for remixes originals shows it: Britney Spears and Rihanna among others have been given brushwork by the lads’ laptops. The Crimewave edit is tops — gives it just the punch it needs for another ciruit on the dancefloors — or you can be sure on our dancefloors at least.

The CC album as a whole is on sale at your favorite local record store and even more conveniently on itunes, so hit them up and give support. My favorite of the lot that hasn’t been given so much attention is Reckless. Worth a listen, and more.

Crystal Castles vs. Health - Crimewave (Lazrtag Remix) [zshare] // Crystal Castles vs. Health - Crimewave (Lazrtag Remix) [yousendit]

Crystal Castles - Reckless [zshare] // Crystal Castles - Reckless [yousendit]

We’ve already written about the LP of Sebastien Tellier which is an ode to the bodily form of eternal love. One of the songs representing this eternal aspect on the album is Divine which is a funnily strange mixture of a stupid pop song, Pink Floyd and a rock opera. There’s a blogging buzz about a remix now made by Midnight Juggernauts from Australia. It completely restructures the original and blasts the whole song off to space. Soundtrack for the green, big-headed aliens lovemaking activities? Soundtrack to let God know how it feels to have passionate affections? Soundtrack for the International Space Station to grow a heart, eyes and shed some tears of loneliness? Another evidence of France and Australia having an affair? That’s for you to decide.

Sebastien Tellier - Divine (Midnight Juggernauts remix) (zshare)

Sebastien Tellier - Divine (Midnight Juggernauts remix) (y. s. i.)

Cigi, merci bien on the guitar sounds. You are totally right in that we need more of that going on. Which makes me apologize even harder for going back to synth. And French synth! But alas, mon dieu — I’m seeing your guitar and raising you one with the next post, promise.

But back to the French synth, this time with The Outrunners. These dudes are a part of the Valerie crew that we can’t get enough of these days. The “don’t accuse me of not accurately describing the feeling I want to get across with my title” title, Blazing Speed and Neon Lights with You, is an older track and indeed most accurately sets you off on that jetpack to Jupiter ride that you so longed for as a 10-year-old.

They have a new remix coming out of Alternative Reality, Get Away, which captures the feeling even more superbly — you can preview it on their myspace and when it comes out, um, don’t let it… get away! Ha.

The Outrunners - Blazing Speed and Neon Lights with You [yousendit]

The Pigeon Detectives are gonna deliver a second album on the 26th of May. They are an indie band from Leeds, UK. They have guitars and they probably don’t use laptops. Yeah, in spite of Ed Banger, these kinda things still exist. Hard to believe, huh? The Pigeon Detectives are a totally MTV2 compatible English band with nice post-Libertines songs. They are a perfect uk-indie act. In addition they are awesome live. Their new single This Is An Emergency is preceeding the LP Emergency on Dance to the Radio label (Label founded by guitarist of Forward, Russia and releasing stuff from iLiKETRAiNS, Sky Larkin, etc.) on the 12th May.

The Pigeon Detectives - This Is An Emergency (zshare)

The Pigeon Detectives - This Is An Emergency (y. s. i.)

That soft summertime pulse. Sandy blonde hair, slightly feathered, slightly… just messy. Lost in a mishmash of 8-lane highways. Having a vague plan to go “somewhere near Santa Monica.” Anoraak taps into that seemingly inbred French ability to consume, digest, reformulate, and spit back out sonically brilliant amalgamations of Southern California life in the early 1980s. Seriously, I’ve given up trying to understand how they do it. I guess Baywatch was good for something right?

You’ve probably already picked up this track floating around somewhere. It’s the harbinger of what I can only surmise will be a smooth-as-silk EP or album in the coming months. A tinge of the Knife at the front end, and a tinge of bang at the back, this track should satisfy the spectrum of your synth dance impulses.

Anoraak is hitting some various Western European parties in the coming months, so go check him out… if you’re in the neighborhood.

Anoraak - Nightdrive with You [yousendit]

The Presets‘ album Apocalypso is out really soon now, exactly on the 12th of April. (How awesome is this cover below?) Greatly anticipated follow-up. Remixes are already floating around. Lifelike, D.I.M., Juri Hulkkonen are working on their songs. They had a remix album out in 2006 featuring Digitalism, The Juan Maclean, Simian Mobile Disco, etc. I’m gonna post my favourite of the songs I heard so far. Might not be the most user-friendly one (that’s probably Talk Like That) but who cares

The Presets - Kicking and Screaming (zshare)

The Presets - Kicking and Screaming (y. s. i.)

Apocalypse as a theme seems to work well with the band. The expression of ‘haunting vocals’ is like instantly appliable for Julian Hamilton’s voice. They had this ‘dark side of the 80s’ image from the start and they are great adding disco sounds to this concept. Extravagance & decadence.

Of course, you’re surely aware that they are from Sydney. The French scene seems to have their eye on the aussies cause Lifelike (from Paris) grabbed This Boy’s In Love and added some nice dream new-wave base to it. Feels like CFCF. Alan Braxe picked up one of their tracks (Discopolis with Kris Menace) and he’s gonna release it with remixes, etc. In the meantime they did stuff for Cazals and Chromeo so they are pretty cool.

The Presets - This Boy’s In Love (Lifelike remix) (zshare)

The Presets - This Boy’s In Love (Lifelike remix) (y. s. i.)

Equal parts off-the-wall and adorable, casio-loop lovin’ Hedluv is irresistible. A super lo-fi and much wittier version of the Streets. Though this seems to be basically a side project, they’ve got some gigs lined up and who knows — casios are totally 2009 right? Make sure also not to miss their so bad it’s good website here, complete with video for H30 LUV. Another superb find by Headphone Sex.

Hedluv - Intro [yousendit]

Hedluv - H30 LUV [yousendit]

We don’t really know too many bands from Switzerland. Now, with the awesome name of Love Motel, something caught our attention. They received quite nice remix treatment from the likes of Grum, Cryptonites, Baxter Bees and so on. Their name is not just for fun. They actually evoke a conceit with the dirty implications set in the 80s. They had their debut albums in 2005, now for their second they returned entitling it ‘Mind the Void.’ (Was out last year.) Check their remix myspace. In case you wanna download my two favourites, it’s below.

Love Motel - Mind the Void (Baxter Bees edit)
(y. s. i.)

Love Motel - Je Pleure (Cryptonites remix)
(y. s. i.)