Nineteen Ninety Never

Phase02 is one of those blogs that is the perfect mixture of design and music - you can tell that they’ve put some serious thought into the way they want the blog to look and how it fits with the sound they’re sharing.

They recently posted this track by RSD and I knew I just had to listen to it. I mean, the title of the track is “Naked Mario Kart.”

I love Mario Kart. I’m pretty sure that the original Mario Kart is one of the most perfect video games ever. Like chess, it is easy to learn the rules but you can spend a lifetime mastering it. When I lived in Japan, my roommate Ian and I would spend hours playing Kart. We’d enter a kind of zen-like trance, and stay up all night dodging red shells and sniping green shells.

That’s why I was slightly disappointed that the track “Naked Mario Kart’ wasn’t really about Mario Kart. I mean, one of the sounds might be sampled from it but that’s it. The good news is that it’s really got that etheral, spacey feel that I’ve been digging lately.

Someone also dropped me this Peo De Pitte rework of Telepopmusik’s Breathe, and its also worth a listen. Let them be the soundtrack to your Sunday evening.

RSD  - Naked Mario Kart (Graphics Remix)

Telepopmusik - Breathe (Peo de Pitte Remix)

Between this post and the earlier one with the Starfox image you’re probably thinking I’m getting nostalgic for the SNES days of yore (the Starfox battle mode being great, but nowhere near as good as classic Kart).

You’re right, but its not a new thing. I’m sure one small part of my mind is always thinking about Super Mario Kart.

For more video game themed tracks, check out this post with a Metal Gear Solid rap and this one with some more MGS and a track from the Ocarina of Rhyme album.

Satellite image via here

One of the reasons I like writing Nineteen Ninety Never is because I get a ton of wicked music emailed to me everyday. I wish I had time to do a write up on all of it, but I’m just too busy.

Here are some good ones that I’ve received recently:

Le Le - Disco Monster

Le Le - Disco Monster (Seymor Bits Remix)

(I’ve been a big fan of Le Le ever since their video for the track Breakfast).

LMFAO - LA LA LA (Hyper Crush Remix)

I know Halloween was a few weeks ago, but c’mon! Nothing says “Disco Monster” like Vampirella.

Anyways…thanks for reading 199X! If you’ve got any music for me, send the mp3 to [email protected]!

Anna Karina was Jean-Luc Godard’s muse, his starlett and his wife. She was the main actress in most of the films he directed and this includes a couple of my favorites: Pierrot Le Fou and Alphaville.

I always thought she was hot, but I also always thought that it must have been weird for Godard to watch Jean-Paul Belmondo (possibly the coolest guy in the world) always play the romantic lead across from her.

Anyways, here are some tracks for the francophile in you:

Deejay Raph - Fuck Me I’m French (Pance Party Remix)

Les Petite Pilous - Dodo Electro

M.I.T.C.H ft Feadz & Uffie - Fais Rentres Les Euros (Larytta Remix)

And courtesy of my new favorite blog, fellow Torontonians Salacious Sound:

Friendly Fires - Paris (Computer Club’s Aeroplane vs. Au Revoir Simone Edit)

I saw Moon the other day. From the near-silent shots of the big-wheeled rovers rolling across desolate plains to the austere, functional interior of the base the entire thing is a beautiful love song dedicated to classic sci-fi. Without trying to give too much away, it felt like the film was channeling the spirit of every movie from 2001: A Space Odyssey to Bladerunner. There where wisps of Event Horizon, Solaris and even Aliens throughout. Director Duncan Jones knows his stuff, and Sam Rockwell played the lead role perectly.

Moon Safari is probably one of my favorite albums of all time, and I fell in love with it the first time I heard it. In fact, it could have probably been the soundtrack to Moon. It almost feels like Sam Rockwell’s costumes were even inspired by Air’s clothes from the cover of their Moon Safari album.

Air - Remember

Air on Myspace (ha! I love that their MySpace ID is “intairnet”) or buy their album Moon Safair on iTunes.

And as a bonus, this Au Revoir Simone remix by The Discopushers:

Au Revoir Simone - Stars (Disco Pusher Remix)

And don’t forget to check out this other post about the message Nixon would have had to read if the men on the moon had been unable to return.

I just watched Pierrot Le Fou again, and I’m pretty sure that at his peak, Jean-Paul Belmondo was the coolest guy in the world.

The opening scene of him reading French art theory in the bathtub of while smoking a cigarette makes me want to do all three. The fact that he follows this up by going to a party, leaving his wife there and coming home to go on a surreal, violent trip with the babysitter whom he mysteriously knows from a previous life only makes him that much cooler.

Alex Gopher is also French, and is probably paying homage to his countryman by making a track with the same name.

Alex Gopher - Belmondo

And Thievery Corporation? They’ve got that French-cool going for them as well - I’m sure it is the kind of thing that a Belmondo character could have listened to while reading about art theory in the bathtub or gun running in Algeria.

Thievery Corporation - Le Monde

Longtime readers of this blog know that I think Pharrell is pretty awesome, and that I also like French hip-hop.

That’s why I was so stoked to see this video by Disiz - he reminds me a bit of Pharrell and raps en Francais.

The only downside of it is that sometimes he seems a little too pleased with himself.

DJ Vincz lee feat Disiz - Danse

The music on Disiz’s MySpace page is a little  more hardcore, but still worth a listen.

I don’t really know if Mirror’s Edge is actually a French game, but since it is based on that parkour stuff it has a certain “je ne sais quois” of coolness about it. More props to it for rocking a cyberpunk storyline.

Pop The Glock is the first Uffie song that I ever heard, and the video below from Mirror’s Edge reminded of it.

Uffie - Pop The Glock

(Merci a Play Five pour le vid!)

I hadn’t heard from the Persian Prince in a while, but then I found the picture (from Mardi Noir) above in the latest issue of AIR WAR MAGAZINE. If you know the Prince as well as I do, you’ll check out the mag and see why it reminds me of him.

The same day, I got a message from him on Facebook telling me to check out The Hood Internet:

“The most recent playlist is pretty good set up of mashups….they have all the songs individually available for download if you only like some of them….but i really like the the first R Kelly one…”

R. Kelly feat. Huey vs. Rogue Wave - Hook it Up (via The Hood Internet)

As a follow up to our earlier post about Pharrell, check out the video he made to promote the line of opulent jewelery he made with Louis Vuitton under the name Blason:

We Heart Stuff calls the line of bling “over-the-top” and “distasteful.” That’s kinda makes me want it more.

Also check out the Coco Rosie/Prada video that we covered earlier.

Frankly, I’d like to see Kelly play Michelle in a game of ping pong.

Daisy Daisy - Michelle Plays Ping Pong (Vicarious Bliss Remix)

AIR - Kelly Watch The Stars (MOOG Cookbook Remix)

(via Butter Team, who has a hilarious video for this song)

Official AIR site here and some cool shit by the guys that that did the Michelle video can be found here.