endless summer january.

for when summer seems like a million miles away,
here's that long awaited knightlife edit of cut copy's
so haunted. maybe we should also be asking: what
is it that makes us still come back to this track after
almost a year (an eternity in blog time)? and yeah,
it's almost been a year. before there was in ghost
colours, there was the so cosmic mixtape, cut copy's
preview of what was to be their annus mirabilis.
haunted with machines of the past and sounds of
the future, the so cosmic mixtape inhabits the
kind of space in time where trends are irrelevant,
music is about feeling rather than following and
1969 is just as relevant as 2020. somewhere in the
lovely looped piano riff of aphex twin's 'on' giving way
to the swirling sunburst dance rock of 'so haunted'
that started it all off, the ice melted and prismatic
reality set in in 256-bit colour. the rock kids were on
the dancefloor, the mode was maxi, and new order
was transcendental. it was great.

and so with the knightlife end edit on so cosmic,
heartbeast/wolfgang came into existence to chase
endless summers of blue-sky gazing. this is the hand
we hold, kids. so here you go: back to the beginning
as a way of looking forward to another endless
summer. it may be 5 months away, but this might
help it get here a bit quicker.

cut copy - so haunted (knightlife's sun-soaked reprise)

all these crazy crazy ideas.

gotta keep on moving, gotta keep on going! it's almost
this month, day 10, and two-thousand-and-fine waits
for no one. everyone gets a new year, so what are you
gonna do with yours?

heartbeast/wolfgang starts the year by announcing
two upcoming mixes from owen meyers, 4am and 5am,
the fitting companions to even later nights that start at
3am. these ones point you straight to the dance floor,
you better get your move on. all that and more, coming
real soon. but first: here's a sweet taste, get dancing!

css - move (cut copy remix)

and so, it begins, all over again.

happy birthday!

image: wordle

wolfgang:
tell me what you hoped to say on your birthday.

heartbeast:
the secrets that we held that day will be kept
straight. everyone will be dismayed if you run
away.

wolfgang:
if you will stay with me we'll face the hardest
part. now, let's go out and have some fun.

c.y.o.a.
happy birthday! from modeselektor

kidz at the disco: modular.

modular is now 10 years old. really? really. one of the
record labels at the forefront of music right now, you'd
never guess it's been around since 1998. started in
sydney, australia by music promoter steve pavlovic,
the label made its name in 2001 by releasing the
staggeringly brilliant since i left you by the avalanches.
wolfmother, remember them? well people actually
bought their album, and it came out on modular. fast
forward to 2004, Year Zero for modern electro and the
first cut copy album, bright like neon love. in case you
didn't quite believe that cut copy would go on to rule the
world then, we're sure in ghost colours was quick to
change your mind. the rest of modular's current artist
roster reads like the dream festival bill: van she, the
presets, bang gang djs, ladyhawke, KIM (from the
presets/acidgirls), bumblebeez, ghostwood, softlightes
...and those are just the australians, before we even get
to the international signings and distribution list: the
tough alliance, new young pony club, chromeo, yeah
yeah yeahs, soulwax, klaxons, the whitest boy alive,
and MSTRKRFT. what, no mgmt?

the label has made heavy investments in talent for 2008,
so the recent financial losses come as less of a surprise in
that context, appearing as more of an ebb than a gloomy
end point. critics have pointed out part of the problem is
that its high-profile artists take too long to make albums,
citing the recent pushbacks to 2008 from cut copy, van
she, the presets and the avalanches, but maybe it's all a
clever strategy on the part of the label in an attempt to
cultivate a loyal and long-standing fanbase for its artists
in a notoriously fickle blogosphere. you can't buy the
priceless blog love that anticipation leads too. whatever
it is, it appears to be paying off - cut copy's in ghost
colours and the presets' apocalypso have already gone
to #1 on the ARIA charts - and will continue to do so with
the buzz about the recently released full-length from van
she, V.

the sun-kissed disco pop of modular is matched in equal
parts with graphics that convey a retro-futurist visual
language: technicolour shades with a whimsical sense of
humour, and madcap fonts. welcome to your childhood,
kids of the 80s, you'll love it here. popularized already by
so-me for ed banger and those four capital letters written
in gold, it's a sense of nostalgia without being old, and that
would explain how it's been so quickly assimilated as the
frontier aesthetic for dance music's blog culture.

it's not really a surprise to learn that most of modular's
branding and artwork is done by alter, the design studio
that includes dan whitford from cut copy. we shift into
music + graphics mode for week 2 of our design focus by
presenting you with a taste of alter's work for modular:
a balance of music and design, en vogue yet timeless.
stay with us, this week the dance party goes visual and
you're all invited.

modular people

far away: the modular magazine.

image by modular people - it's the harbor bridge between city and north sydney.

in a distant arm of the design galaxy of modular but no less
awesome sits the magazine. if you've ever wondered what
exactly the presets eat while on tour, what on earth would
make the klaxons and label boss steve pavlovic travel to a
dalmatian island and about masturbation in music through
the generations, this magazine is for you. featuring beautiful
art direction from jonathan zawada from alter, it's a feast for
the eyes and even more proof of the diverse visual language
of modular. we couldn't have predicted the waves of envy
that descended on us upon discovering this and the inevitable
comparisons to the great escape issue that followed. we'll get
there, eventually, though. thanks for the push, modular, see
you on the other side.

modular magazine 01 (download)

time stands still: alter + modular.

modular presents leave them all behind (album cover)

if you had a band, you'd do it too. it's not a surprise that
modular and alter have linked arms, since dan whitford
from cut copy is a member of the studio. the graphics of
cut copy evoke a distinctly 80s flavour with kaleidoscope
hues and playful stenciling that lends a dimension to the
band that is inseparable from their music. it's fair to say
that the cut copy covers are heavily influenced by the
style of international realism, arguably the most perfect
style for a band like cut copy that mixes emotion and
technology together into one synthful whole. here we
go, alter for cut copy:


cut copy - bright like neon love (album cover)


cut copy - future (single cover)


cut copy - saturdays (single cover)

cut copy - in ghost colours (album cover)

modular posters:

nobody lost, nobody found.

photos: sandra croft

burning in the face of love, staring at a silver sun.
i can see you almost in my town. nothing but a sea
of blue separates the seasons, and i think of you.
black out, keep your colours dim so nobody can see
you. leave me heading to the ground, always from
the same height, always falling down.

we own the sky.

"no one understood how we possibly could circle round the
world, averting catastrophe, averting the sunrise..." can you
believe, we just caught the breeze? it's the dreamiest synth
line you could ever think up, light like a feather and deep like
an ocean. floating overseas through the seasons of change,
things will never be this good again...

midnight juggernauts - dystopia (cut copy remix)