Breaking news: Germany? Huge techno scene. Seriously massive. I mean, telling people you’re into German techno is like saying you really love paintings, especially the kind that use paint. It’s part of the definition, guys: a rose is a rose is a rose. Techno is Germany is techno.

Because for whatever reason (up to and including my hunch that Ableton Live comes free with every flat), Deutschland does it better. BPitch does it better. Ellen Allien, Paul Kalkbrenner, Thomas Fehlmann, Apparat and AGF/Delay and Pascal Vert—they all do it better. So certainly it’s redundant to base an entire month’s track-hoarding on German releases. A waste. A goes-without-saying. Right?

Well, yeah. Probably. But I’m doing it anyway.

(Except for that Indian re-release post-jump. Variety. Spice of life. Etc.)

Ellen Allien – BPitch Control Artist Video

Producer, BPitch creator and all-around rad babe Ellen Allien is unarguably the modern queen of Berlin techno and minimal, so it’s super-interesting to hear her talk about the what, how and why of the scene she’s helped foster. And I swear I’m not obsessed with her at all. Not even remotely. Look at me: aloof!

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Goldfish + Der Dulz – Plants [Haseland Magnetschallplatten]

Vaguely wacky minimal that skates just left of center. Is it quirky? Aggressive? A little tongue-in-cheek? I can’t quite get my head around  Bremen veterans Goldfish + Der Dulz—but I can’t stop listening to them either.

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Ellen Allien - Feel Like [BPitch Control]

The flip-side to the equally amazing single Pump, ostensibly from her forthcoming full-length. Classic Ellen: both minimal and maximal, hypnotic and glitched-out and absolutely on the brink of exploding before it recedes into the best sort of tease. Not that, like, I think it’s so great or anything. Aloof, remember? Look how aloof!

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2010′s Winter Music Conference in full effect, Karmaloop TV who sent a crew over there this year to cover the dance conference of all dance conferences! Their cameras caught up with two of electronic music’s most prolific ambassadors of Bass… our dear friends and Mopsters, 12th Planet and Drop the Lime. Luca talks about who he’s excited to see at this year’s WMC and ditchin’ the wobble!

12th Planet, who most recently rocked our Los Angeles store opening party takes a couple of minute to give some background on Dubstep. Smog and the LA scene an some of his upcoming releases.

Hopefully some of our fam attending this year’s WMC come back with some photos, but no promises!!!

Blood Orange is the latest project from Devonté Hynes who some of you may know better as Lightspeed Champion and/or former member of now defunct UK Dance Punk darlings, Test Icicles. The music Dev is putting out under the Blood Orange moniker is at it’s core just some good ole fashioned Soul music that while sounding contemporary, clearly has its roots planted firmly in the sounds of the late 70′s MoTown. The deep infectious bass lines and repetitious drum loops draw you in and set the foundation for Dev’s vocals and guitar work which keep you there.

There are no official releases out just yet from Blood Orange, but there is a nice handful of tracks floating around the web. The song in the video above is my personal favoritse and I love that clips from “Paris Is Burning” were used to back this Brooklyn transplants grooves, all too fitting.

Dev appeared on It’s On With Alexa Chung in December of ’09 and preformed as Blood Orange, rocking some crazy Santa wizard costume. To date Dev has only played a couple of shows as Blood Orange and I would personally would love to see this turned into a full-time band.

According to Dev’s blog there is a Blood Orange full length in the works and I for one am anxiously awaiting this and have no doubt it will be on my constant rotation.

You may remember my post about Namba from a few weeks ago. Since then his album, “The World Is Yours” has dropped, our Japan flagship store opened, and we collaborated with him on this new graphic t-shirt!

It goes on sale today and is ONLY available at our Tokyo store! Available in Black & White. 5985円 Illustration by Dennis Chow of Glamnation.

Hustler and artist extraordinaire Dust La Rock swung by 350 Broadway recently to get his hands on some of the Spring collection and to check out the Ov Curse CDs and T-shirts he worked on. But of course, no photo-op would be complete without a cameo by own very own Shark, who never shies away from a flick.

We were thrilled that Dust had some time in his schedule of his usual globetrotting and being co-owner and art director for Fool’s Gold Records to get down on this mix. The Ov Curse t-shirts are now available at 350 Broadway along with the free Ov Curse mix encased with Dust’s sick artwork.

If you’re unable to make your way down to Brooklyn but  you still want to rock out to Dust’s and Stareyes newest slab of danceable darkness, fear not! We got you with an online download of it.

Star Eyes & Dust La Rock – Ov Curse Mix (click here to download)

Мишка
350 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY
718-388-1725

J/M/Z to Marcy Ave.
G to Broadway
L to Lorimer

Mux Mool – Skulltaste (2010) [Ghostly International] // Grade: A

Like so many others in my demographic, I grew up on a healthy diet of suburban boredom, way too many hours of Nintendo and only the best in television and cinema. (I think we now refer to these as “80s classics”). Listening to Mux Mool (Brian Lindgren)’s full-length debut on Ghostly International, Skulltaste, feels like hanging out with a kindred spirit. Through mix smooth blends, Skulltaste marries sounds from electro, to chiptune to hip-hop for an eclectic montage of beats that would be the perfect soundtrack for a Rad Racer re-release.

Skulltaste requires embracing impatience, best listened to while letting your mind wander across the choppy samples and neon blasts of creativity that comprise the album’s 80 minutes. Skulltaste shifts from the dancefloor “Enceladus” to filtered funk “False Worship” to symphonic hip-hop “Wolf Tone Symphony”. There’s even a track titled “SFW Porn”. Anything but boring, Skulltaste brings to mind many favorite Stones Throw beat experimenters (Oh No, Madlib, Koushik), but ultimately sits happily in that re-interpreted IDM territory that’s become synonymous with Ghostly International.

Mux Mool heightens the face of bedroom production with Skulltaste, an album whose strongest suit is its lack of focus. If one of the 20 tracks isn’t your taste, no worries, the following is guaranteed to sound 100% different.

King Dude – Black Triangle

Project:KOMAKINO – Nebula

Yeasayer – O.N.E.

Psyche – Eternal

My Gold Mask – Violet Eyes

Spring 10 Delivery 2 is now available at all Мишка and has gone live on the webstore, so now that you can purchase these gems for yourself I’ am back to point out what I think are the seasons stand out pieces. As the weather just gets better and better these essential pieces will help you stay nice and cool while looking your best.

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• Keep Watch Pullover Hoodie (Black)

Sometimes it’s the the most simple of pieces that make the biggest impact. The Keep Watch Hoodie is the perfect example of just that. Comfortable and perfect to throw on over a tee or button up when the sun starts to set and the heat dies down a bit. This hoodie is without a doubt an eye catcher no pun intended.

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• Simon Crest Fleece Cardigan (Black)

Cardigans are an essential piece to anyone’s wardrobe, and I think cardigans are consistently some of the best pieces Мишка makes. For Spring 10 we have the Simon Crest cardigan made of fleece which you can dress up with a crisp button up or wear over a tee for a more laid back and casual look. A classic piece that has withstood the test of time with just a touch of that Мишка attitude we have all come to know and love.

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• Scout Work Shorts (Khaki)

After a long and frigid winter here in NYC its time to start breaking out those shorts once again. The Scout shorts, like their name implies are the cropped brethren of the Scout Work Pants. These shorts  like their long legged brothers are durable and made using the finest quality poly-twill around. Their appropriate for a casual family event or day skating around the neighborhood.

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• The Swarm Windbreaker (Black)

The next piece comes out of our D.A.R.T. collection and it’s the return of an old favorite, The Swarm Windbreaker. Back in Spring of 2008 Мишка developed this windbreaker to mostly lackluster interest from shops. But once it’s minuscule production run got into the hands of some avid bike riders, that was all she wrote. Emails would come in every month asking if these were still available and if Мишка was ever planning on remaking the style. This is the perfect utilitarian jacket made to withstand the elements while riding and keep you looking fresh through out Spring. Constructed of a rip-stop microfiber, the Swarm is ridiculously light weight yet surprising warm and water resistant.

The back detailing of the jacket features the Мишка Cyrillic logo done in 3M reflective ink which is is also on all of  the zipper pulls to the jackets many, many stash pockets. So even if your all in black we wanted to ensure that motorists see you when riding around on those cool spring nights. The Swarm 2.0 also has a drop tail specifically for cycling.

That’s it for now but be on the look out for Pt.3 because there is still a few more pieces to be profiled!

Tired of those boring old Chat Roulette bingo .jpgs and sites? Introducing ChatRouletteBingo.net.

I’ve been working on this with the turbo-nerds at my agency for a few weeks now. We designed it to give young men an alternative to showing their penises to each other on Chat Roulette. While we were beat to the punch by Holy Taco and some l4mers in Omaha, we’ve clearly got the superior product – you can play with up to 500 of your friends and Justin Bieber is a square. Enjoy, and try not to touch your pud.

Love Is All – Two Thousand and Ten Injuries (2010) [Polyvinyl] // Grade: B+

Two Thousand And Ten Injuries isn’t music to talk about. This is fuck-around music, summer music, music blaring from beat-up convertibles piled high with pals. Rooftop parties and singalongs in traffic jams. In other words, music that could soundtrack a super-fun memory or two, if you’re prone to recalling those sorts of details.

But it’s just not to be dissected, at least not completely—the Swedish garage/punk/jangle pop five-piece have never lent themselves to all that. The important thing to know about Two Thousand—the immediate thing, the thing that gets you in the door—is that it’s among the most fun albums you’ve heard in ages, even if it’s ultimately more concise than anything Love Is All have done before. No one could call it totally groundbreaking (the chords are familiar, the woah-oh/ba-ba backing vocals either beachy, folky or comfortingly Stereolabby) but it is smart, especially with the little things: a reversed track behind the vocals on “Less Than Thrilled”, that jolt of saxophone squawking on “Kungen” and soothing (can you believe it?) on the uncharacteristically reflective “A Side In Bed”. And call me a sucker for accented English, but is there anything more charming than Josephine’s Olausson’s whisper-sweet, spoken howl? It’s like Cocorosie without the burden of, you know, Cocorosie.

So maybe the fun is a little tempered. Fine. Maybe this version of Love Is All is super pared down,  a far cry from the raw riots of A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night or Nine Times That Same Song. But listen to me: it’s even better. Two Thousand is everything at once: the sugar, the shimmer, the innocent twee and then, suddenly, a blow-the-doors-off explosion. It’s visceral. Joyous. A real get-stoked moment that’s substantially more difficult to achieve musically—or achieve well—than an overwhelming sob story. Plus, sob stories don’t typically go so well with convertibles and/or rooftop parties. I mean, they do (and for me, weirdly, they have), but let’s just assume this’ll be a happier memory in the end.