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)

Those residing at the address of ‘Under a Rock’ are likely the only ones not to have taken fond notice of two stellar vids dropping into the interwebsphere of late. The first was for Grum‘s new single, Through the Night. It’s an 80s-styled buddy cop bromance-a-thon. Cars are washed, asses are patted, hugs are had. And in the end, fittingly, pecs are flexed. We’re currently oiling ourselves as we watch.

The second hit the light just this week and is a trailer advancing Russ Chimes‘ forthcoming Midnight Club EP. Fast cars, clubs, lights, dance, conflict, kidnap, mayhem, blood, and, of course, build-up to one helluva trademark drop are all tantalizingly hinted at during the 1.10 minute teaser extraordinaire. Our balls are colored an intense shade blue for the full release.

We’re accompanying both of the above with a pair of tracks the two recently released into the soundclouds. Soooo… Give both the vids and tracks some massive views and love — as if you needed any encouragement.

Kunkers are mad happy for the boys as they continue in their quests for synth/orgasmia-fueled world domination. Pics of Kunk party with Grum as guest here. Kunk parties with Russ Chimes guest djing, here, and here.

You can preview the below Grum track by clicking the link through to the soundcloud page.

Human Life – Wherever We Are (Grum Remix) PREVIEW by GRUM

Mark Ronson – Bang Bang Bang (Russ Chimes Remix) by Russ Chimes

Another Russ Chimes edit is floating its way across the internets, this time done of Hold On by upstarts, The Vanish. This time around, Chimes keeps it pretty smooth-edged from start to finish, and refrains from unleashing the megadrop which signatures/headlines many of his edits, including the recent Elle Goulding mix. Which, however, is all the finer, cos if you release the beast every single time, does it continue being a beast? Probably not. Or at least, so says wisdom of Kunk. Nevertheless, the result is choppy, groovy, and eminently danceable, as you would expect.

The Vanish are a pair of Aussie dudes who now reside in the US making some nu-wave and electro flavored tracks, and are releasing Hold On as a debut single. It’s already gotten picked up by XFM and Radio1, so i’d call it an auspicious kick-off.

You can pick the track up on iTunes, Beatport, and Juno.

The Vanish – Hold On (Russ Chimes Remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

We are pretty sure that regular bloginess will happen in due time. But, life is life. We’re slow and stuff. Paleolithic, one might argue. But don’t let our sedimentary nature fool you into thinking we aren’t all up in the grill of synth-flavored disco. Na-ah. Twitter to the hand, girl, please.

Below are three tracks we’re sure you all have seen on your various favorite internet destinations. They also happen to be faves of ours. Two of the three remixers (Anoraak, Russ Chimes) were here together last november for a night of insanity (pics or it didn’t happen, i know, i know)… and the third, Justin Faust, will grace the shores of Kunk next February 27. How’s that for rawk?!

All three mixes are wicked in their own way, and per usual have been getting megalove across bloggaland. Btw, don’t forget to give some love to the italians, since they do it better and everything, makers of the original track which Faust mixed: Fare Soldi!

Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed (Russ Chimes Remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

Fare Soldi – Tutto Tutti Sempre Subito (Justin Faust Remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

Mika – Blame It On the Girls (Anoraak Remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

Previous Kunk-guests of the marvellous Valerie crew, Anoraak from France and Russ Chimes from London, return together to Budapest, after their huge tours in the USA and Australia. Bring your dance and bring your romance to Mappa Club this Saturday night because we present the magic and dreams of the pseudo-80s nu-disco synth-revolution. Lovers and misanthropes will both be blown away. RSVP on Facebook!

DETAILS
What: Kunk presents Anoraak + Russ Chimes (Valerie, FR/UK)
When: Saturday, November 21, 2009; 10pm – 4am
Where: Mappa Club (former Trafo Bar Tango), Lilliom u. 41, IX Budapest
DJs: Anoraak, Russ Chimes, Kunk
Entry: 1200 HUF
Special: Girls free before 11pm!

Anoraak – Nightdrive With You (Grum New Wave remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

Anoraak – Nightdrive With You (Fear of Tigers remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

Russ Chimes – Afterburner [mediafire] // [ysi]

Steed Lord – Remember Me (Russ Chimes remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

Hi. Kunk is very busy preparing some stuff, so blogging, unfortunately, again had to wait. This is not a super unique post either and I’m usually not doing it like this but now I’m just gonna share some remixes I really liked in the past couple weeks. Kinda trying to set stuff to the winter-mood we have here. You know, fog and rain and colder than fall should be. I’m in between dancefloor-exploding hotness that melts the coming snow and the ice-queen coolness and beauty that has its home in the clouds around the mountaintops. So my choices are: Yeah Yeah Yeahs remixed by A-Trak. This one is huge, I know, I’m surprised I like it because I never liked A-Trak but this mix kills it. Another one is by Treasure Fingers who entered the remix contest for Little Boots‘ Earthquake. Epicwave remix indeed. Talking about dancefloor-killers, the brilliant Russ Chimes did it again with Marina and the Diamonds. Closer to the coldness, Siriusmo‘s laid-back mix of Chromeo‘s new single is an awesome ‘summer is dead’ tune. The XX would be definetely cool background music for a winter video, probably fashion-y kids holding hands and trying to make things work in a ski camp or something. Rory Phillips‘ mix stays on the XX mood and makes it an abstract dance track. Au Revoir Simone and Neon Indian is a great pair, the latter’s remix of Another Likely Story bears a beautiful dream-like quality. Thanks for the tracks to various blogs around.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (A-Track remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

Little Boots – Earthquake (Treasure Fingers’ Epicwave mix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

Marina and the Diamonds – Mowgli’s Road (Russ Chimes remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

Chromeo – Night by Night (Siriusmo remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

The XX – Crystalised (Rory Phillips remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

Au Revoir Simone – Another Likely Story (Neon Indian remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

So yeah we’re super late with these but i’m in a not-so-caring mood so let’s get em out there anyhow. Mr. Frank is no stranger to having his material chopped and edited but there are two of late that stand out to me. The first should be of no surprise to anyone — Russ Chimes‘ threw a bulls-eye with Confusion Girl and it already has graced the top of the Hypem charts.

Another recent edit was sent our way by Milan-based Monsieur Adi. He mentioned that he draws inspiration from those such as Daft Punk, Justice, Mirwais, and Bjork and you’ll undoubtedly feel some of that come through in this particular work. I particularly enjoy the fade out, oddly enough.

Adi’s version was a contest winner and ended up on the single. Strangely enough, Russ’ wasn’t picked up for that, however it definitely wasn’t due to the opinion of the artist, who gave it a full-throated (ahem) endorsement! Labels, shmabels. Oh, and btw, local Budapesters my finally get a chance to catch Frankmusik live before long… (And Russ too for that matter, details tba)

Order Frankmusik’s Complete Me album here.

Frankmusik – Confusion Girl (Russ Chimes Remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

Frankmusik – 3 Little Words (Monsieur Adi Remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

What a long, not-so-strange trip it’s been for the Valerie clan, once a small group of like-minded friends on France’s West Coast — a few short months later to a wider international family with several mini-tours under their belts and a collective release on Rough Trade later this month. Marking this occasion will be a pretty awesome party on May 30 in Paris, with live sets by Russ Chimes and Anoraak, and DJ sets by College, Jupiter, and Bottin.

Since regretfully i won’t be in Paris for this show, I’ll mark the occasion by sharing some recent gems related to the crew, including my fave mix of College (by 1928), a recent edit done by Anoraak, and the peanut butter, meet chocolate, pairing of Germany’s Justin Faust, and Russ Chimes.

Pre-order on Rough Trade, here!

FACT – Reborn (Anoraak Remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

College – Can You Kiss Me First (1928 Remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

Justin Faust – Revenge (Russ Chimes Remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

Flashmen is a new project headed up by Bradley D of New York’s Famous Friends party (among others), which is right up our alley in terms of sound and vision. Their spring romance mix is chock full of artists we adore (including a couple former Kunk guests, Anoraak and Russ Chimes)… so i think this will serve as our official ‘mix of the season’ as we only post a few every year. Can’t wait for our next trip NYC-side as the last one was stellar, complete with sweet loft party with aforementioned Bradley on decks and other Kunk faves Kap10kurt doing it live. The rediscovering of tomorrow’s romance lives on!

To the tracklist:

1) Alternative Reality – Get Away (The Outrunners Remix)
2) The Energies – Born Again Runner (Lifelike Remix)
3) Amari – Survivor (Keenhouse Remix)
4) Cindy Seui – Breakin Into Bits (Justin Faust Remix)
5) Xinboi – Day Off  (Anoraak Remix)
6) Maroon 5 – This Love (Cut Copy Remix)
7) Vampire Weekend – The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance (Chromeo Remix)
8) Anoraak – Nightdrive With You (Fear of Tigers Remix)
9) Neon Neon – I Told Her on Alderaan (Richard X Andress Remix)
10) Maethelvin – Dragster
11) Grum – Runaway
12) The Millioners – Body Into Use (Russ Chimes Remix)
13) The Virgins – Rich Girls (Le Castle Vania Remix)
14) The Young Punx – Dance With Someone Else
15) Flashmen – Flashmen Theme (Savile’s Disco Dub) *UNRELEASED*
16) Phoenix – 1901 (Fabian Remix)

Flashmen – Spring Romance Mix [direct download]

London’s Russ Chimes and France’s Anoraak are both huge names for anyone with smooth love for 80s disco revival and chilhood nostalgia. Both being Kunk’s previous dj guests, I was super-excited to see that they together made an effort to transform Circlesquare‘s Dancers. Not new news but still, feeling compelled to write about it. We haven’t written anything about Circlesquare yet, time to make up for the mistake. Circlesquare is a guy, Jeremy Shaw, who moved from Vancouver to Berlin lately. He made a lot of stuff I’m not familiar with but his album this year, Songs About Dancing and Drugs, is highly anticipated by some. His music is dark, melancholic, sexy and minimal. Not like proper “minimal” but feels like dry, simple and tense. Imagine shoegaze mixed with post-punk in an electronic package. So when you mix it with Valerie’s naive-aesthetics, you get a really interesting result. Thanks for the track goes to BigStereo.

Circlesquare – Dancers (Anoraak vs Russ Chimes remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]