Toe Taps and Spastic Claps

The God Warrior(s) for the week of May 18th are Tiny Masters Of Today.

Oh, to be a child star. There are loads of perks, like getting to go to the Nickelodeon Awards, but sometimes your peers just don’t get you. Hopefully Tiny Masters Of Today haven’t encountered that harsh reality just yet. With pals like Karen O, Nick Zinner, and Angus Andrew, these little kids have been doin’ it big lately, remixing everyone from Liars to CSS. I mean, no big, deal, they’re both under the age of 13. When I first heard about this Brooklyn brother-sister duo, naturally I was freaked out. The thought of two children making such sassy music was beyond me. However, I’ve given it some time and will be ready to see them at Lollapalooza in August.

Tiny Masters Of Today - Hey Mr. DJ (CSS Remix) [MP3] [Insound]

Alison and I have been living it up since our last final, and we apologize for our lack of posts. IT’S SUMMER for crying out loud!

BUT

We are sad to inform you guys that we won’t be staying in St. Louis for the summer, but we’ll still try to keep it real. We will keep blogging from our respective towns from Chicago to Cleveland. Toe Taps and Spastic Claps will be reunited at some summer festivals and other places that you can keep tabs on from our myspace. Just to tell you guys that our summer format might be a little different, but it will still be what you know and love. Thanks and let’s rid the world of demons this summer! PEW PEW PEW!

Toe Taps was recently linked from MTV’s “Buzzworthy” blog of sorts, probably an outlet for all of the “tastemakers” lurking around their offices. Anywho, the link was to our Ting Ting’s post about their recent iPod commercial. We didn’t really even think our blog was easy to find.

To check out the weirdness, click here, and then click on the “iPods” link…..right, weeeeeird.

And to make this post a little bit relevant, listen to this Ghostface Killah song. I feel like it perfectly sums up our newfound fame.

We immensely enjoy songs that features spastic clapping, hence half of our blog’s namesake. So here is a wondrous playlist of songs you can clap to!

Au - RR vs. D [MP3] [Insound]

Flying - Minors [MP3] [Insound]

Maps and Atlases - Every Place Is A House [MP3] [Insound]

Tokyo Police Club - Be Good (RAC remix) [MP3] [Insound]

So Many Dynamos - Heat/ Humidity  [Insound]

Born Ruffians - This Sentence Will Ruin/ Save Your Life [MP3] [Insound]

I was introduced to Bipolar Bear when I picked up Love and Circuits: Cardboard Records Compilation. I was highly intrigued upon hearing the song “Gaza Striptease.” The band has a very interesting sound, incorporating fast, punk guitar riffs and Rage Against the Machine-like vocals. This LA based group are not your typical garage rock band or even LA noise rock band either. I wouldn’t say that they are innovators, but they are probably doing what makes the most sense to them.

Moutain Dewd is the title of their first release off of Yosada records and although a great representation of the band, the music gets very predictable by the end of the record. I’m going to guess that they were highly influenced by all the bands featured in the book, Our Band Could Be Your Life. All the songs are very fast and punk yet remain a little bit reminiscent of that LA noise. My favorite song is “Eastsa Pizza Teepee” because it has that strange London hardcore ring to it and is quite pleasing to the ears. Bipolar Bear is good because they aren’t exactly punk. They sound like a more generic and random Maps & Atlases. I’ll class them as good ole noisy indie punk. So if you always wanted to delve into old school punk but are too afraid of what you might get into, then check out Bipolar Bear because they will ease you into the scene quite nicely.

Bipolar Bear - Gaza Striptease [MP3] [Insound] [Official]

The God Warrior of The Week for May 10th is

Angus Andrew of Liars

Lead vocalist and guitarist of Liars, Australian-born Angus Andrew is exactly what the world needs. Although suffering from a back injury earlier this year, he still is trucking on their tour with Radiohead. The band began as a post punk revival, but somehow always reinvents themselves. Every album is always a new journey and never fails to stimulate their listeners’ ears. The Liars always will survive the test of time with their music. Angus makes sure to create experimental music at its finest. This is why we applaud Sir Andrew and his God Warriorness.

Also, it should be noted that he dated Karen O back in the day. Anyone who can put up with that kind of cray-cray is to be respected.

Angus and his fellow Liars will be opening for Radiohead, this Thursday May 14th at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater.

Liars - It Fit When I Was A Kid (Crystal Castles Remix) [MP3]

I am little bit addicted to music videos! Here’s a bunch of new ones that I thoroughly enjoy.

Born Ruffians - I Need A Life

Parts & Labor - The Gold We’re Digging

The Death Set - Negative Thinking

Everybody loves the Apple iPod commercials. Spastic silhouettes freaking out, neon-style? Check. Angular, post-punk guitarz reminiscent of Franz Ferdinand (remember them?) and Chic’s ’70’s hit, “Good Times”? (which that song, by the way, is getting me through this week). Check. The newest of these epic commercials features “Shut Up And Let Me Go” by The Ting Tings, and this band is getting hella press because of it. Additionally, their song “Great DJ” was an iTunes “Single Of The Week”. If you like bands such as New Young Pony Club, Yelle, and Does It Offend You, Yeah?, you’ll probably like the Ting Tings just fine.

The Ting Tings are riding the electro-dance wave and there is no sign of stopping, that is, until another trend emerges. Check out the UK duo’s MySpace for more information, feast yo’ eyes on the iPod commercial below, and then discuss. My favorite part is when the guy falls at the end. Or is it a girl?

Regardless if you are a hipster or natural hipster, you have some embarrassing tracks on your ipod.

I will be the first to admit to listening to embarrassing songs, but sometimes I do cross the line. I get a little bit obsessed and then it is noted in my last fm. So this is for all you hip kids with last fms that disable scrobbling just so you can listen to that one song, 50 times. You won’t have to live in fear of someone may be seeing “your recently played tracks!” Listed below are a tips to keep your hip indie cred!

1. Create a muxtape of all your guilty pleasures. (A pretty sweet one I “found”)

2. Listen to the song on youtube, sometimes they even come with lyrics!

3. Download the song on Karabit put it on your ipod and listen to it on the go.

4. The obvious. Listen to it on myspace

5. Or you could always just disable your scrobbling like you have been doing.

Disclaimer: Your hypemachine can scrobble the songs that you listen so be careful!

I hope this was helpful. YAY!

It is high time to call attention to all of the emerging British female singer-songwriters with a penchant for bee-hives and way too much liquid eyeliner. I have to admit, when Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse hit it big in the media (mostly tabloids) I didn’t really pay too much attention, but it is now being forced down America’s throats. Granted, It was mostly fun to giggle about how cracked out Amy Winehouse was willing to get, and how everyone gave such a shit that Lily Allen used to be secretly overweight. No emphasis on their (underwhelming) records, everyone was mostly concerned with who had bigger hair/the most track marks. In fact, I am sitting in a coffee-shop right now while Kate Nash is playing overhead. It is inescapable.

Adele

I understand buzz and hype just as much as the next, but England just needs to stop. Do music producers and executives think they can trick us into thinking each of these girls are relevant and bring something new to the table? Last week, VH1 told me Adele, a “soul singer” from South London, is hot shit because she covered The Strokes. A few weeks before that, it was Duffy, (left) some chick from Whales Wales who somehow tricked people into letting her play Lollapalooza this year. And who can neglect Kate Nash, the other girl from London with the really awkward accent/voice who sings about drinking tea with boyz? I mean, c’mon, people. I’m not so easily fooled. Is there some warehouse in London that teaches girls how to tease their hair and sing like Aretha Franklin? I mean, these girls are just about as prevalent as ironic mustaches at Pitchfork.

Well, at least Lady Sovereign has left us alone for the time being. Yes, I’m sippin’ on that Haterade, but maybe all of these girls can form a super-group and cover The Supremes? Until then, I don’t think I can take any of it seriously.