For those of you not familiar with the species, let me introduce you to the MOST AWESOME CREATURE IN THE WORLD: the Komodo Dragon! These beasts are strong, fierce, and courageous. I read in the very cool "Book of Animals" that komodos are the largest living lizard and are the top predators on their Indonesian island homelands.
Komodo dragons enjoy communal killings and young dragons are forced to spend the earlier times of their lives hidden in the treetops. The most fascinating fact concerning these lizards are their survival tactics. They are an extinct species and it has been recently observed in 2006 that female dragons were able to conceive without any contact with a male. These virgin births resulted in faces, like below, being hatched as the new 'Komodo Jesus' youngsters:
This one was birthed by parthenogenesis in a London zoo. The beasts are also well known for their fatal saliva which contains 15 virulent strains of harmful bacteria. They eat once a month and swallow the body of their prey whole, which is ofter regurgitated later. Mating rituals between komodo dragons is described as 'violent' and the males have two penises. ***All Hail the Komodos!!!!!!!!!!
Kollektiv Turmstrasse is a project by Christian Hilscher and Nico Plagemann from Lübeck/Hamburg. It all started as a typical apartment-sharing community in 1999. Both had been infected early by electronic music. Chris through his passion for collecting records and Nico through the early Tracker- and Demo scene. They are also coming to Brussels for
Zukunft invites KOLLEKTIV TURMSTRASSE Live [Ostwind - Connaisseur]12.02.10 http://www.facebook.com/#/event.php?eid=265524510994&index
That last post reminds me of one of my favorite vids everrrrr. It features a not too distant relative of jaguars- THE LEOPARD. An adorable baby monkey also stars in the vid. It is the PERFECT combo of minimal and nature. It's the absoulte best mix and it really speaks about the style and direction of our blog. So grab your caapi root juice and maybe some greenery and enjoy the following clip from Minilogue remixed by Extrawelt. IT'S NATURE AT ITS MOST MAJESTIC! Extrawelt is another German wonder, the Hamburg duo are with our fav- ** Cocoon Recordings **. Their album Schöne Neue Extrawelt from 2008 is fantastic! More about Minilogue to come (they deserve their own post cause they are just TOO awesome)
The Jaguar is usually known as one of the biggest of the feline world, yet very few know about it's party reputation. The jaguar enjoys the plant pictured above, the caapi plant when it wants to 'unwind'. Jaguars gnaw on the roots of the caapi plant until they begin to hallucinate. The plant can be found in the jungles of South America. Caapi root contains a variety of powerful MAOIs (chemicals like you find in antidepressants), which heightens the animal's senses as well as causing them to trip balls.
It is also believed that humans learned about the plant's magical powers by observing the tripping jaguars. Ayahuasca is a brew that consists of the caapi vines. The brew is used by some religious groups in South America and ayahuasca tourism is now offered for people interested in exploring another realm of counciousness, gaining a sense of peace. The activivity is most popular in Peru and partipants are guided by an experienced 'shaman'. One of our favorite DJs, Luciano, experiments in the brew in his latest documentary "La Ruta Del Sol Lucianos Diary"! Jaguars are pretty clever animals....
Yuksek is the electronic wizard hailing from France. He debut album, "Away from the Sea" came out in February 2009. The biggest hit from the album is "Tonight"- take my hand, play my game- tonight tonight tonight! It's the uppity song that stands out most from the album. Amanda Blank lends her voice on the track "Extraball" which is also perfect for partying. "Take A Ride" has a perfectly executed, electronic beat. When seeing him perform live, watch out for "Break Ya"! The crowd really livens up with this nummber comes on! The album is a little goofy with songs like "Eat My Bear" and "I Like to Play". These peppy songs add humor to the sound, yet Yuksek's genuine talent always remains apparent. I especially like the song "I Like to Play" because it repeats the awesome word 'kip'-which is Dutch for 'chicken' and also the name of my favorite dog. We saw Yuksek perform in Eindhoven and he was incredible! Very talented- the complete one man show :D
Boemklatsch teamed up with Faberyayo (from "De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig") for the track Spikkeltje. It's all in Dutch but the beat is awesome and they sing about different colors of sprinkles :) Saw this one live performed by the AMAZING Dr. Lektroluv at the Fabulous Festival in Eindhoven (Nov 2009) and it was intnese. In addition to the awesome music, the Doctor had fire flames bursting off the edges of the stage and hot, dolled-up Geishas dancing on the stage and twirling umbrellas. This song is funnnnnnnnnn!
So it's not really anyone's birthday but the title of Modeselektor's 2007 album. The duo from Berlin are signed with the awesome Ellen Allien's BPitch Control label. The guys describe their sound as "happy metal, hard rap, country-ambient, Russian crunk." And that it is :)
One of the most catchy songs is the French inspired (ft. TTC) "20000007" and trust me, you will be bopping to this tune alllll day. For high energy explosions check out the track "Sucker Pin"- it will make you want to 'fist pump' Jersey style! The track "The Wedding Toccata Theme" has a nice, slow, robotic sound. If you are down for a little raggae feel, check out "Let Your Love Grow" ft. Paul St. Hillaire. It's an awesomely whimsical track that can really make you space out...in a good way.
To save the best for last- peep "Happy Birthday!". This track seems to have inspired the album as it has a slow minimal feel, yet it's completely upbeat and has instant dance appeal. I LOVE IT!
**For those of you who enjoyed Modeselektor, you MUST check out their side project "Moderat". Modeselektor collaborates with Sascha Ring, better known as Apparat, to perform live shows and recently came out with the 2009 album, "Moderat". Check out this album and its tracks: "A New Error", "Slow Match", and "Seamonkey". Listen to Apparat! With his refreshing Berlin style, he cannot be missed! Check out his album Duplex (2003) and the track "Steinholz" !!
