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Hey Champ x 80Kidz

Tokyo’s own 80Kidz work their remix magic touch on the already pop perfect track, Cold Dust Girl by Hey Champ. 80Kidz turns the track into a Todd Edwards-esque track including cut up vocals and a smooth synth line that compliments the hook so well.
[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/Nov%202008/Cold_Dust_80Kidz_Remix.mp3]
Hey Champ – Cold Dust Girl (80Kidz Remix)

Bonus Track:
[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/Nov%202008/12%20Poor%20Innocent%20Boys%20(80kidz%20Remix).mp3]
Cazals – Poor Innocent Boys (80Kidz Remix)

Hey Champ DJs – Jet Set Mix

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Cazals in NYC

Photo by Faith Ann Young

Cazals made their 2nd US appearance this past Thursday 11.6.08 in NYC at Hiro Ballroom with their label mates Fires of Rome. The:Hours Showcase was fantastic. Fires of Rome opened up the night and had the crowd going. Cazals came on and were super tight and left quite an impression on the crowd even though they were missing their keyboardist, once again. I was most impressed with how bombastically badass Warren the drummer is in keeping the band together. The entire rhythm section was super tight and are able to stop on a dime. Highlights of the set were “Both Sides” and “New Boy In Town”.

I hung out with boys after the show and headed to the Beatrice Inn where Luca spun a fantastic Italo Disco set. He dropped tracks like Azoto’s “San Salvador”, New Order’s “Blue Monday”, Chic’s “I Want Your Love” and of course Rick James’ “Super Freak” along with other amazing tracks from circa ’77 to ’81.
[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/Nov%202008/06%20San%20Salvador%20%20(12_%20Version).mp3]
Azoto – San Salvador

Friday night Luca spun a heavy techno/fidget house set at The Annex where he apparently killed it.

Saturday night I met up with the guys and took Daniel and Luca around downtown NYC. I then met up with the rest of the guys at Le Poisson Rouge where Luca spun a great set including Federico Franchi’s “Cream” and SebastiAn’s “Motor”. We all then headed over to The Annex where Luca stepped up to the decks once again to close out the night with some electro bangers. He opened with Soulwax’s remix of Phantom Pt II which got the crowds attention. He dropped tracks like Boys Noize remix of Cuy Copy, Tiga’s remix of The Human League, Lifelike’s remix of “Somebody, Somewhere” and once again the amazing “Super Freak” by Rick James.

All the guys in Cazals and The:Hours, along with all their friends are super down to earth, chill people who all genuinely love music. They are all musical encyclopedias. Thanks to everyone at The:Hours, The Annex and the gentlemen in Cazals for showing me an awesome time. Expect a lot of great stuff from The:Hours and Cazals in the near future. Cheers 🙂


Nicky Digital x Cazals

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The:Hours Showcase – 11.6.2008

The:Hours
The:Hours Showcase – Facebook Invite

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The:Hours Present Cazals & Fires Of Rome Live in NYC – 11.6.2008

Different and interesting remix by M83, very minimalist and of course very 80s. Checkout other remixes of Fires of Rome by Don Rimini, Dada Life & others on their myspace.
[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/Oct%202008/Fires%20Of%20Rome%20-%20Set%20In%20Stone%20(M83%20Remix).mp3]
Fires Of Rome – Set in Stone (M83 Remix)

www.myspace.com/firesofrome
The:Hours – Music Is Luxury

Cazals make their return to America to take part of the The:Hours showcase at Hiro Ballroom. I shall be there cheering on my British mates 🙂

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Music Video: Cazals – Time of Our Lives



Aw. What a sentimental/epic video. Good guys, good band.

Check out other Asian Dan x Cazals related posts.

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Asian Dan Interview: Who is Dubka?

I was speaking to Daniel and Luca C. from Cazals and told them that Asian Dan might as well become the official Cazals fan page. They are a fantastic band and released a fantastic album this year, one of my favourite. Anyways here is the next installment in the Cazals band profiles, introducing Martin the bassist and producer of Cazals who also goes under his electronic moniker, Dubka.Here are 2 great Dubka remixes, very pop and 80s. He did a great job nailing those classic 80s drum and synth samples. Catchy stuff
[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/Sept%202008/Late%20of%20the%20Pier%20-%20Space%20&%20The%20Woods%20(Dubka%20Remix).mp3]
Late of the Pier – Space & Woods (Dubka Remix)
[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/Sept%202008/Pin%20Me%20Down%20-%20Cryptic%20(Dubka%20remix).mp3]
Pin Me Down – Cryptic (Dubka Remix)

www.myspace.com/dubkaisdead

Asian Dan Interviews: Dubka
1. Who is Dubka? What is your first musical memory?

I’m Dubka, I’m a musician and producer. My first musical memory is lying on the floor in front of my dads hi-fi speakers, listening to “The Longest Time” by Billy Joel. I remember the feeling of the bass in my chest and all the amazing contrapuntal vocals.

2. What are your biggest influences, musical or otherwise?

I’ve always loved Francis Bacon’s painting and just the way he saw the world and thought about art. Mark Rothko is another influence, which leads me to Morton Feldman and John Cage. I find some of the things these people wrote just as inspirational as their art. Sometimes more so. Musically, I love Stravinsky, Yellow Magic Orchestra, The Strokes, Bartok, Ligeti, Penderecki, Talking Heads, Daft Punk, Laura Branigan, Prince, John Carpenter, Devo, Ariel Pink, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Eurythmics, Stan Bush, Tel Jeroen… I could go on all day.

3. Who are your favorite Producers/DJs?

I think Daft Punk are so far ahead of everyone in so many ways, it’s impossible not to admire them. And I kind of see Oizo as the ring leader of all the new French guys. Nile Rodgers is great, the Persian guy who did the best Chaka Khan stuff, Brian Eno especially with Talking Heads, Phillipe Zdar, Prince, the guy who did MGMT sounds great. I’m sure there’s more but I can’t think right now. I’m more into music than production.

4. What are your top 5 tracks you put on to dance?

Well, like most people, it changes all the time but right now I would say:
Once In a Lifetime – Talking Heads
Lucky Star – Madonna
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper
Savin’ The Day – Alessi Brothers
Dare – Stan Bush
[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/Sept%202008/04%20-%20Stan%20Bush%20-%20Dare.mp3]

5. What to you is a perfectly produced track? Any examples?

That’s a tough one. I don’t think there’s any such thing as perfection. Production is almost like dressing someone. When you see them naked, you might instantly think of something that would accentuate how that person looks, highlight their qualities and hide their flaws. Maybe they look amazing naked. Some people could make a bin bag look good and it doesn’t really matter what you do with them, if anything. So, if you follow my analogy, I think it’s all very subjective and at the end of the day you just end up with one vision, not perfection.

6. What are some difference between producing tracks as Dubka vs. producing Cazals?

I don’t think there are any similarities! The first is me pacing up and down, lying on the floor, not speaking and looking for exactly what it is I want to do and how I see the track. The latter is a compromise of everyone’s artistic vision, technical ability, ego and all the rest of it. If I want to try something, I have to convince the others of my intentions. And then working with Cazals differs from working with another band because I’m much closer to the whole thing. Luckily they’re usually quite tolerant when I tell them I’m right and they’re wrong. Haha!

7. Does your bass playing influence your Dubka production style? I have been playing bass for 10 years and feel that the bassline is the crucial link between the drums and melodies especially in dance/electronic music.

I’m sure it does. Bass was my first instrument so I guess I must relate most things musical to that in some way. I find the interaction between bass and drums and drums and melody really important. They’re like the book-ends of the track that hold everything else in place. Also, playing drums, keyboards and guitar gives me a better understanding of how they interact and how to arrange them and that in turn helps explaining ideas and communicating with other musicians.

8. How do you feel about DJs and electronic producers stepping behind the mixing board like Erol Alkan producing the Mystery Jets and Late of the Pier?

I was skeptical at first but when you think about it, it’s all just a matter of good taste and how you motivate people. Erol is a cool guy and I think he’s done a really great job with the bands I’ve heard him work with. As far as I know, he mixed those records as well, which is very impressive. SebastiAn said he’s working with Peaches and Uffie too but I guess that isn’t such a huge departure, apart from the communication and the compromise.

9. Dubka’s future plans? Cazals future plans?

I’m not sure what’s happening with Cazals. There are a few more gigs to honour this year, then who know’s? As for myself, I’ve just finished a remix for Hearts Revolution which I wish I could show you but it should be released soon. Oh, and I’m just starting one for Sebastien Tellier. I’ve been talking about revisiting an old project of mine with some friends called The Plastic Society (www.myspace.com/wearetheplasticsociety). I always have problems with my own music because I find showing it to others can somehow affect how I view it and that makes it difficult for me to judge exactly what it is I want to do, which I find very important. There’s music in my computer that nobody has heard and maybe never will but I’m talking about it more these days so I’m working on what’s going to become of it. Maybe you’ll see a Dubka album, who know’s?

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Eine Kleine Nacht Musik

Rondo Veneziano’s “La Serenissima” has made quite an impression on the electronic music community within the past year. Justice dropped this track in their famous Xmas Mix, Daft Punk featured this track as one of their favorite dance tracks, Cazals used this track as their entrance music during their Daft Punk Japan tour and The Bloody Beetroots tapped into their Italian roots with their own cover, “We Are from Venice”. Now Eine Kleine Nacht Musik aka Riton has tapped into this amazing track with his own rendition, adding a few Kraut elements to it. I definitely feel this version more than the Bloody Beetroots one (Sorry Bob!). But of course nothing beats the original 🙂 Checkout his myspace for more Krautrocked-out tunes.

Eine Kleine Nacht Musik – La Serenissima
Eine Kleine Nacht Musik Myspace

Download an Eine Kleine Nacht Musik Mixtape here:
einekleinenachtmusik.tv

God, I love this video so much 🙂

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Cazals x Daft Punk

Daniel from Cazals sent me this cover of Digital Love that they played live on Radio 1 for the BBC a few years ago. Daniel feels it is a weak cover but I think that it is a great “rock” cover of this tune. They even nail the raging guitar solo at the end. Goes to show you how well Daft Punk’s songwriting is and that their music translates well into any genre. God bless Daft Punk.

[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/July%202008/Cazals%20-%20Digital%20Love%20(Daft%20Punk%20Cover%20-%20Live%20on%20Radio%201).mp3]
Cazals – Digital Love (Live on Radio 1)

Cazals are making their live US debut tonight in NYC. Unfortunately I will not be there 🙁 But stay tuned for some Asian Dan Coverage of the show 🙂

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Cazals – Success

ALP x Luca C. of Cazals

Fantastic b-side from the Somebody, Somewhere single. Such a catchy pop tune. It will definitely put you in a good mood. They are definitely my fav band of 2008.

Cheers to Hyberbole for this find.

[audio:http://diestruktur.com/asianmandan/music/July%202008/Cazals%20-%20Success.mp3]
Cazals – Success

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The Virgins – Murder


The Virgins just released their self-titled album at the beginning of the month and it is totally different than their ’07 EP. This is a polished pop album that Hall & Oates would be proud of. The album reminds me of a sunnier and poppier version of Cazals with lyrics about rich upper east side girls. They reworked and tweaked all the songs from their EP that appear on the LP, like “Rich Girls” which sounds so polished and pop and “Love is Colder Than Death” has completely new instrumentation with saxophone taking the main role. Rock and roll is on its way back.
The Virgins Myspace

“Murder” is a funky 80s tune with vocals that sound so much like Elvis Costello especially during the hooky chorus. I love the wah-wah guitar. Everything is so perfect and pop!! I love it!

The Virgins – Murder (yousendit)
The Virgins – Murder (zshare)

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