There are some bands that have the ability to capture and demonstrate those secret feelings you struggle to record in your diary.  Reverse Dotty have figured out how to capture that dark Portland mood that only months of grey, rain, shitty jobs, the exclusive company of artists and intellectuals and frequent hangovers can concoct. It’s frustrated, cynical, clever, sexy, and dark music.  I love it. It is the sound and soul of the city I live in.

Reverse Dotty first formed in 2006.  The current line-up includes Buck Trussel, Felony Dot, Carls 10-4, and D. Train who are all talented multi-instrumentalists and frequently trade roles on stage and in the studio making for an interesting and fresh visual and creative dynamic. Their sound is self-described as “post-pop” and sound like the band that Sonic Youth, B-52s, and Devo would make if they got together in 1979 and made an album. Felony Dot even kinda looks and sounds like Cindy Wilson of the B-52s They have shared the bill with world famous bands such as Yelle, New Young Pony Club, The Kills, and The Gossip.     

Check out this awesome music vid they made! They can even ghost ride an ambulance!

Reverse Dotty- Egg Room

Reverse Dotty- Master Jr

Reverse Dotty- Amazonian Hostel

Reverse Dotty- Underwolf

There is so much talent in Portland right now! I have another PDX band to tell you about called Spesus Christ. Spesus Christ is the experimental electronic music of Cameron Spies, Matt Payne, and Lizzy Ellison. It’s hard to describe their sound. It’s emotional, anxious, frantic, dense, spirited, and unpredictable. Cameron’s voice and lyrics are unusual, but captivating and delivered with the sincerity of a confession.  Spesus Christ have some releases available on their muxtape and a new free EP of remixes of their songs called Respeezed.  

Spesus Christ- Truce

Spesus Christ- Truce (Ian Hicks Remicks)

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May Ling!
Ian Hixx Mixx
Introducing A. Zabriskie
Suzanne Kraft

Oh my!  It’s been too long since I’ve posted anything on Disco Workout! I’ve been busy, I promise!  While I was away, I got a chance to see a dozen of great Portland bands earlier this month including Glass Candy at a local all ages electronic mini fest called Super Fresh put on by the Supernature superstars.  It was an awesome 2 day event with 12 hours of awesome underground electronic entertainment.  I am so proud of my city for it’s talent and sense of community.  I want to write about all the bands I saw, but we’ll see if I find the time!

I do want to tell you about May Ling, who make romantic electronic pop that will fill you heart like a lovely flowering firecracker in the empty and silent sky.  I am especially moved by the Ceephax Acid Crew Remix of “Jamaican Panda” because singer Alberta Poon’s lovely wishing well voice stand out majestically from the delicate tonal backdrop Ceephax created.  May Ling have an album on the way and a ton of remixes available for free download at High Scores and Records. Go get em and check out the other releases on the label. Lots of good music there that you want to know about!  

May Ling- Jamaican Panda (Ceephax Acid Crew Remix)

For the first Workout of the new year, we decided to do something a little different. Its an 80s party. That’s what white people and gays like, right? I’ve done a quick 5 minute minimix to convey the whole this-is-what-we-normally-do-plus-we-are-doing-something-different attitude of the night. All the songs are jumbled, but here is the order that they appear.

Its SATURDAY, which is a day off, but its necessary. We have huge things planned for year two.

Come see the rise of San Jose.

Please add our facebook here.

Tracklist:

1. Major Laser - Pon De Floor (Cold Blank Remix)
2. Loose Shus - Taurus (Keenhouse Remix)
3. Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax (Acapella)
4. Prince - Erotic City
5. New Order - Blue Monday
6. Toecutter - Best Party Ever (Jordan Light Year and Jimmy2Sox Remix)
7. Duran Duran - Rio

Johnatron - The Workout Vs. The 80s Minimix

Growing = Minimal Ambient Tribal Vocoders From Brooklyn.

MP3: “Hormone” - Growing

Growing’s album Pumps will be out on Vice Records April 6, 2010.

xx,
Baron von Luxxury is My Fake Name
@luxxury

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Low Life Inc., a NYC based music agency sent us this video from Rhythm Monks, an electronic ritual performance band from Berlin. Combining contemporary electronic music and robotics technology, tribal drumming, choreographed dance, and glow-in-the-dark costumes and make-up their work cannot simply be heard, it must be experienced visually as well. Expect more videos and songs to come soon. Footage in this video was taken from the band’s first performance in Berlin on September 12th of this year at Berghain/Panorama Bar.

taken from the band’s website bio:

“The Rhythm is the heart of mystery. Rhythm is movement, current, change, renovation and repetition. Our experience of time bases itself on Rhythm. Nothing exists without oscillation, without movement. Everything vibrates, everything “speaks” a universe of Rhythms. The Rhythm Monks are Masters of Trance, searching to understand the fundamental essence of the Drum.

They are technicians of ecstacy. Modern Shamans. Mystics. The Drum serves them and their audience as a vehicle to another state of consciousness. This goal is to achieve an extended consciousness within themselves and their audience. At the same time, they are part of modern society and from Berlin’s art scene. Ball-shaped drums with electronic pads, a self-built robotic machine as well as unique projection techniques are part of the extraordinary show. The Rhythm Monks are not interested in complacent celebration of the ego or debilitating Pop-Star surliness. They wear masks and see themselves as a Unity.”

Hi! I’m in New York City and there’s lots of snow and its awesome.

We listened to and posted about a lot of great music this year. However we did not post every single song we loved. We are slightly random and ornery and we write about some things when we have time and some other things slip through our posting fingers and there is not necessarily any rhyme or reason to it.

But we did make it through the year successfully and listened to music the whole time. And while we are guilty of possessing, at times, a somewhat pretentious artsy-ness, as well as our having musical ids that cannot be contained, organized or even explained, what follows is forty seven minutes and thirty six seconds of music that is quintessentially DiscoWorkout.com and reflects, for us, the year that was 2009.

We hope you like it, listen to it constantly, and share it with your friends, enemies and frenemies during this holiday season, and that it makes them like you more.

xx,
Baron von Luxxury is My Fake Name
@luxxury

mp3: “Disco Workout Presents: “2009 Was an OK Year” Mix” - Baron von Luxxury

Disco Workout Presents: “2009 Was an OK Year” Mix.
By Baron von Luxxury

1. Geneva Jacuzzi - Debbie Get the Fuck Out of My House
2. Bogdan Irkuk a.k.a. Bulgari - Everything is Changing
3. Peter Sellers & Spike Milligan - She Loves You
4. Vitalic - Poison Lips
5. Royksopp - The Girl and the Robot
6. Datarock - The Pretender (Holy Ghost! remix)
7. Keenhouse - Ari-es
8. Yoko Ono - Walking on Thin Ice
9. Don Johnson - Heartbeat
10. The Who - Baba o’ Reilly (SebastiAn Remix)
11. Bag Raiders - Shooting Stars
12. Metric - Help I’m Alive (The Twelves Remix)
13. Burning Hotels - Stuck in the Middle (Baron von Luxxury Controls Everything Remix)
14. Vega - No Reasons
15. Chaz Jankel - Without You
16. Del Marquis - Runaround - (Baron von Luxxury Silver Lake of Disco Dreams Remix)
17. Neil Young - Sample and Hold
18. Venise - Playboy
19. Harold Faltermeyer - Leg Work
20. D/A/D - Miami Thunder
21. Washed out - Feel it All Around
22. Gary Low - I Want You
23. Pictureplane - Goth Star
24. ELO - Here is the News
25. Shakira - She Wolf (Calvin Harris Remix)
26. Fergie - Glamorous (Treasure Fingers Remix)
27. Sugar and Gold - Slice Me Nice
28. Falsetto - San Francisco Nights (Loose Shus Remix)
29. The Turtles - So Happy Together (Baron von Luxxury Loves You Remix)
30. Christov - HBO in Space

Don’t forget to subscribe to our free podcasts on iTunes and get mixes like this automagically delivered to your iPhonePodz in the future, forever!

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