Little Boots Live at Studio B

Photo by nickgraywfu.

After watching last night's Little Boots performance at Studio B in Brooklyn, it's pretty clear that Victoria Hesketh has no qualms about being a dance pop superstar.

At her first "real" NYC performance (I believe she played a CMJ showcase last year), she and her tight band were upbeat, cute and delivered one punchy dance track after another.

My interest in Little Boots comes entirely off the basis of two tracks: "Stuck On Repeat" and "Meddle." I don't even think I had heard the original version of "Meddle" until last night -- the remix by Designer Drugs is my signature version.

A lot of people compare Victoria to Kylie Minogue. Last night, she wore a black dress with a draping hood, much like Kylie's white dress in the "Can't Get You Out of My Head" video (without the plunging body line).

Little Boots doesn't have an album's work of tracks yet, so the set was short (about 6 or 7 songs, each around 3 minutes). I loved "Mathematics," which you can hear on her MySpace page.

She was very chatty with the audience, talking about her hometown Blackpool, describing one song as "an R&B ballad .. like Beyonce .. like 'Irreplaceable'" which sounded nothing like either, and getting the early morning crowd to move their feet.

Even though her set list was short, it was incredibly satisfying, which makes waiting for a full album release much easier. Take your time, girl.

Little Boots is doing everything right for fans: she regularlly updates her blog, adds impromptu video performances on YouTube, creates interesting mixtapes and sends newsletters from her mailing list that aren't annoying pieces of spam.

I'm very much looking forward to a full album's worth of Little Boots tracks.

My Favorite Albums of 2008

Cut Copy
In Ghost Colours
I had been listening to tracks of this album since mid-2007, but boy was the album worth the wait. Glistening, shimmery keys and great pop hooks, In Ghost Colours channeled 80's synthpop in all the right ways. If you were lucky enough to catch them live, you could tell the band were humbled by their own success.




Hercules & Love Affair
Self-Titled
It took me a few listens to warm up to this album, but it paid off. Yes, it does sort of trail off in the middle, but there is something heartfelt, unique and complicated about each track that commands repeat listens. "Blind" and "You Belong" are being anointed as dance classics and it's amazing how Antony doesn't always steal the show from the brilliant cast of characters.



Vampire Weekend
Self-Titled
I started listening to Graceland a few weeks ago, and didn't give a flying fuck about its influence on Vampire Weekend's debut. People said the same thing about first Strokes album and Television, but I didn't hear it. All I know is this album has the jangly college pop I yearn for. So fresh, clean and approachable that even my Dad was curious about it on our drive from Lafayette to San Francisco.


Kanye West
808s & Heartbreak
Yes, it's been out for less than a month, but it has also revived my interest in the "album" more so than any other recent release. The excessive auto-tune and lo-fi production does little to hide the aching in Kanye's songs. More importantly, you don't need to be on a downer to listen or appreciate this album's great music and Kanye's creative merits.


Santogold
Self-Titled
"Shove It" was pretty much my theme song this year, as was "L.E.S. Artistes." Moving from San Francisco to New York, "I can say I hope it will be worth what I give up" was pretty much the story of my life. The rest of the album has some hot tracks on it, but I prefer the mash-ups of "Anne" and "Lights Out" found on Top Ranking.


A few more albums I liked:
Hot Chip, Made In The Dark ("Ready For The Floor," "Hold On")
Britney Spears, Circus ("Circus," "Mannequin", "Unusual You")
Kylie Minogue, X ("In My Arms," "Like A Drug," "Heart Beat Rock")

My list feels pretty mainstream, but what can I say, Most of the "new" albums I bought this year were archives (i.e., I fell in love with Numero Group's Eccentric Soul series, old italo disco and newish italo disco from Italians Do It Better). But more importantly, I really liked the albums I listed above.

I spent most of my this year listening to remixes and singles from artists that could bring me up up up: Designer Drugs, Little Boots, Kid Sister, Treasure Fingers, Danity Kane, Cyndi Lauper, Kleerup, Miami Horror and more. Who said the single was dead?

The biggest disappointment was the new Beyonce album. Out of the sixteen songs on my deluxe version, I would master the tracks in this order:

1. Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
2. Sweet Dreams
3. Halo
4. Ave Maria
5. Diva
6. Video Phone
7. Radio
8. Smash Into You
9. If I Were A Boy

Done!

Get Away From The Bar

I'm totally into the old school vibe and upbeat sound of Dizzee Rascal's "Dance Wiv Me." The video is really fun, and kid with the stache behind the bar (looking like he's up way too late past curfew!), is Calvin Harris, the producer of the track.

I was not familiar with Calvin before seeing the video, but I found out that he's only 24 and responsible for two of my favorite tracks on Kylie Minogue's X album ("In My Arms," "Heart Beat Rock"). Incredible!

It's nice to see Dizzee having a good time with this track. I saw him during his Showtime tour and was charmed by his live presence. Plus, he makes really good albums, although Maths + English didn't really do anything for me.

I'm hoping Dizzee's upcoming album will have the dance theme he's been flirting with for some time (Basement Jaxx's "Lucky Star," for instance). Snoop Dogg makes a good predecessor.

He's also featured on "Toe Jam" by Brighton Port Authority (Fatboy Slim/Norman Cook), which also features David Byrne (!). The video is pretty ridiculous. It's almost like a promo for CBS's new Swingtown.

Misc. March Albums

I've been listening to a mish mash of things these past few weeks. Nothing I'm terribly excited about, but some good tracks.

1. Gotta love Kid Creole and The Coconuts. Both Doppleganger and Wise Guy for only $1.99 at Amoeba Records. Total score. New romantic mutant disco that's all smiles. My favorite track has to be "I'm Corrupt" from Side A of Wise Guy.

2. Beck's deluxe reissue of Odelay was kind of an impulse buy. Unfortunately, it hasn't aged very well. There's at least two awesome bonus tracks on here: the ghetto glam throwback "Gold Chains," and "Burro," a mariachi interpretation of "Jack-Ass." Unlike most people who've lost interest in the post-Sea Change Beck, I really enjoyed The Information and am excited about his upcoming album.

3. Polysics' Polysics or Die!!! Vista was a gift from my brother. Fast-paced Japanese electro nerd punk. Great driving music for about a week, but then I got tired of it.

4. Hot Chip's Ready For The Floor has some of my favorite tracks this year, but the album as a whole is sort of a letdown. Things slow down so much in the second half, you forget you're listening to the same album. Their R. Kelly-meets-Jermaine Dupri production on "Wrestlers" is fun at first, but gets kind of annoying. I love "Shake A Fist," "Ready For The Floor" and "Don't Dance."

5. Kylie Minogue's Ultimate Kylie was a bit of an impulse buy as well. I started with disc 2, since it had the tracks I was most familiar with from the last decade. I was living in England when "Spinning Round" and "Kids" came out. Overall, this disc should have been Fever and "I Believe In You." I've been skipping everything else. Loved the fun synth pop from disc 1, songs I was mostly unfamiliar with.

6. Chromatics Night Drive is super awesome horror soundtrack italo disco. I think Johnny Jewel is one of the most creative, minimal electro disco producers today. Amazing that this stuff is coming from Portland/Seattle.

7. What can I say about Vampire Weekend's debut album that hasn't been said? I liked it instantly, but it hasn't been getting played very much after the initial saturation in my CD/iPod player. For a real treat, read this post from Momus, one of my favorite people in the world.