Them Jeans (Remixes) - The xx and Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Turning some of my favorite indie music into danceable jams is mind-blowing enough to get me to do what I tend to hate doing most, which is, well, dance. Still buzzed from a year of fantastic electro-dream pop releases and still reeling from this week's Leonid Meteor Shower, I was reminded of Jason Stewart, better known as Them Jeans, who is a Los Angeles-based DJ/Producer with whom I'm pretty much obsessed. Last winter he did a 6-month DJ residency at L.A.'s Natural History Museum playing "First Fridays," an institution we also have at some of NYC's cooler museums, where the first Friday of every month they transform the space into all-out dance floors so that hot paleontologists can talk nerdy to their music-loving friends while getting their swerve on next to dinosaur fossils. I wish Them Jeans would bring his magic to the East Coast to resuscitate the now defunct Starry Nights Jazz and turn the AMNH into one uber-romantic, uber-stellar cosmic dance party kissed ever so gently by the shimmery intergalactic lighting from the planets in the Hayden Planetarium. Not only is his great taste in music varied, but he also manages to remix lots of indie songs in upbeat ways so you can actually not feel weird playing them during appetizers for non-indie music loving guests at your indie rock dream wedding or during your house party in hopes the music will create the type of ambiance that will get your guests groovin' and movin' about the place... except, in a chill, loungey, downtempo "let's make out in the dark corner against the wall" sort of way, and not a coked out, riotous, Girl Talk "let's do some blow in the bathroom" kind of way. Either way could be fine, but I guess it really just depends on the mood.

In his reportoire, he's reimagined songs for the likes of Beach House, Yeasayer, Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Ratatat, and even Snoop Dogg. But the following two remixes are absolutely stunning interpretations and, of course, totally danceable versions of songs I already love. These should help get your party started right... and quickly, at that.

The xx - "Shelter" (Them Jeans Drum Edit) - [original]

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Soft Shock" (Them Jeans Acoustic Remix) - [original, acoustic]

FNBP: Rogue Wave - Permalight (2010) & Trumer Pils

Permalight: easy to listen to; not “easy listening.” Smooth vocals, catchy instrumentation and a distinct style all add up to a new Rogue Wave album that will make the fans of Asleep at Heaven’s Gate quite content and should continue to generate a fan base far beyond the shores of the East and West Bay. Permalight is a pop album that dances around styles and pacing like an album that was marinated and tinkered with for three years, which it was. The upbeat “Solitary Gun” leads into the bouncy, danceable single "Good Morning (The Future)," but then the pace slows considerably with "Sleepwalker" only to be kicked back into gear by the very catchy "Stars and Stripes" and "Permalight" (be prepared to sing along). I think the album tapers off toward the end after having some really engaging, electro-pop tracks in the beginning. I like what Rogue Wave did with Permalight; however, I don't think many people will be blown outta the water by what is here.

In a similar light, Trumer Pils makes for easy drinking. And speaking of water, Trumer found its way from Salzburg to the East Bay because of  perfect beer brewing water (or so I've been told). Now whether or not this is entirely true, I have no idea; however, the result is a crisp, clean, refreshing award-winning pilsner that resembles champagne in texture. I am not always in the mood for a Pils, but this one is a great option when I am. Conveniently, San Francisco has been inundated with waves of bars serving the golden brew, including my afternoon walk home stop at Tony Nik's. "Refreshing" could be used to describe both Trumer and Rogue Wave, and the combination could make for the perfect sunny afternoon. Check out these two golden gems from the East Bay, and your won't be disappointing.

Beach House - "Silver Soul" Video

If you buy the physical copy of Teen Dream you'll get a DVD with a video for every song on the album. Which is cool I guess. I pre-ordered the album, but the videos weren't a selling point for me. Anyway here's the first video from the album I've seen. Apparently silver souls hula hoop. It seems obvious now.

Beach House "Silver Soul" from Sub Pop Records on Vimeo.

The xx - "Heart Skipped A Beat" (live)

I've been asking myself these past few months "Hmm, I wonder how The xx would be live?" and this video pretty much answers it for me: flawless. And now I'm giving myself the silent treatment because I'm angry for missing their NYC show last month due to an ill-timed outbreak of the flu. And the worst part of it all? They played at my favorite [and arguably the best] venue in the city to catch indie's latest and greatest (The Bowery Ballroom). Based on some amateur show footage I caught on YouTube, yeah, they're fantastic live and I'm feeling that drum machine. As expected, they use that dim lighting I love that gives the Bowery an even more intimate feel than it already has for a band whose super-sultry debut oozes with sonic sensuality. I'm pretty sure any dude who brought his girlfriend to this show woke up the next morning feeling lucky, extremely grateful and had some extra pep in his step from all the inevitable post-show "discussion" that went on well into the night. Smart move, gentlemen.

Below is a stellar example of their live capabilities for your listening pleasure. I really hope they come back to NYC again after their string of European dates because I'm so there... and, hopefully, with some very scruffy, bed-head faux-hawky, plaid shirt-wearing, Red Stripe-swigging company.

And for those who prefer in-studio performances, this one's pretty baller.

The xx - xx (2009)

Man, nothing is sexxier than a sexxy album that never exactly references sexx outright. It's all in the subtexxt and you'll find it even if you weren't looking for it. And it will leave you wanting more.

Finally a killer album to fill that dream pop void in my life, Britain's The xx crafted a stunning debut record that is both sexy and romantic, melodic, hard when it's soft, and soft when it's hard. It's mellow and lush, tender and pretty. I like the sparse guitar, the minimalistic tinges of electronica, accidentally jazzy harmonies, and the interplay of male/female switched-up vocals between singers Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim. She sings ever so gently, while his devil-may-care vocals echo of Jim Reid and assorted indie male vocalists of yesteryear, and together with the atmospheric music makes for songs that are dripping wet with heavy mood.

It's difficult to pinpoint album highlights as each great track seamlessly flows perfectly into the next, but I can say the "Intro" has all the electricity in the prelude to a life-altering kiss. The soft xylophone mingling with Croft's resonant vocals on "VCR" inspires chills, while "Islands" is full of jazzy percussive guitar that makes me want to dance and sway in the privacy of my bedroom at night. "Heart Skipped A Beat" is a song that actually sounds just like the title, while "Crystalised," with its staccato guitars could easily be the album's best duet. "Basic Space" boasts a lazy sensuality that is best exemplified in Croft and Sim's vocal mumblings to each other in what almost sounds like a private conversation of longing. The xx really knows how to add a highly seductive quality to brooding, particularly on a track like "Shelter" that plays like a melancholy PJ Harvey song on uppers and borrows heavily the sultry guitar licks from the likes of Cowboy Junkies' "Blue Moon Revisited."

This music is romantic, sexy, ominous, electric, mellow and bluesy all at once. Fans of Azure Ray, Cowboy Junkies, PJ Harvey, Bjork, Jesus and Mary Chain, Mazzy Star, Interpol and Fiona Apple will undoubtedly want to blast this record and make-out with each other while it plays on loop. Or, at the very least, get in a dizzied excitement from talking about this music.

Favorites: "Crystalised," "Islands," "Heart Skipped A Beat," "Infinity," "Night Time." Fuck it, let's just say the whole album.