Winter Music Conference
So as Jason mentioned, I'm back in the saddle after 5 days in Florida. No offense to any Floridians out there, but I think I can tolerate about 80 hours of your state before it gets to me - and that's with all the sun and an insane amount of baseball filling the days. (Though I'm admittedly envious of your copious Chick-Fil-A's and the staggeringly fresh sushi.) I'll spare you from the geeky baseball details and just say this - watching a spring training game if you're a big fan is a bit like seeing a show in Maxwell's when you're used to MSG. My first trip down there was like watching from the bar, my second visit had me in the middle of the floor, and this time I was front and center.
S/FJ was in Florida last week too, but down in Miami for Winter Music Conference - check out his great list of highlights. WMC is the spring training equivalent for electronic music nuts, and I really need to make it down there one year. All-star line-ups are the norm, with the Revolver party being an insane example - 2manyDJ's, James Murphy, Twitch (of Optimo), Ellen Allien, Tiefschwarz, Headman, Tim Sweeney, Mylo, DJ Hell, Tiga, and more. Outrageous! Tricia Romano had a blast at that party, especially when Felix Da Housecat and P.Diddy made an appearance. Puffy sang his new one "Jack U" as Felix spun the instrumental. That single is getting talked up a lot - I need to seek it out, perhaps via the new Mixmag. (The latest issue includes a new Felix mix CD filled with big tunes, starting with "Jack U.")
BTW, the Shins added a third show at Webster Hall. It's on April 25 and tickets are going on sale at noon (i.e. in 20 minutes) at Ticketweb. Tickets for the first two lasted about 10 minutes, so act fast if you're interested.
Winter Music Conference
Bjork Prepares Her Armies of Me
As you may recall from a few months ago, Bjork, spurred into action by the tsunami disaster in Southeastern Asia, put out a call for people to send her reinterpretations of her song "Army of Me", which she would collect and release on an charity album.
After receiving and sifting through over 600 submissions, Bjork and 808 State's Graham Massey have chosen the 20 versions which will appear on the album. The selected artists range from Canada's Interzone to London's Patrick Wolf. A full track and artist list, including bios, can be found here.
The album will be available for pre-order on April 2. A release date has not be set as of this posting.
Here is the artist and nationality listing:
01. Interzone - Canada
02. Grisbi - French
03. 50hertz feat. häxor och porr, slagsmålsklubben - Sweden
04. The Messengers Of God - English / American
05. Dr Syntax'n'CB Turbo v Rivethead - British
06. Dr. Gunni - Icelandic
07. Martin White Accordion Mix - British
08. Hemp - French
09. Lunamoth - British / Irish / German
10. Beats Beyond - German
11. Peter Baker - English
12. Random - English
13. Atoi coverversion - Danish
14. R.Luvbeats - New York City
15. Alfredo Lietor - Spanish
16. Patrick Wolf - British
17. Neeto - French
18. Liliom - French
19. Mikhail Karikis - Greek
20. Tor Bruce - Sweden