The Cold Cut

Ashwin here.

So guys, this week I've been making a mixtape for a friend, and I figured a good way to introduce myself would be by posting it on here for you lovely people.

But first, let me extol the virtues of the cassette mixtape over a CD. I'm sure plenty of people think cassettes are obsolete these days, but in my opinion they serve a vital role.

Practically, in some ways they're more useful. You can only store 80 minutes of music on an audio CD, but 90 on a cassette. They're also more durable, it's hard to snap a tape in half by accident. Tapes are prettier too. Case in point: the first google image result for cassette, vs the first google image result for CD...





which would you rather stick in your stereo?

The most important thing though, and I cannot stress this enough, is this:

sequential access

i.e. to listen to a track you have to have listened to (or fast forwarded past) all of the tracks before it. This is the real magic of a mixtape. With a mixtape, you can tell a story, build up to crescendos, and make the listener expect and receive whatever you want. When you can instantly skip to any track you want, this power is lost. You've gone from a musical novel to simply a group of tracks. You've lost your power over the listener forever without sequential access.

Nevertheless, here is my mixtape in all of its digital, skippable glory. Hope you like electro.

Will here, and as promised, a new face. Be warned- with a musical knowledge that spans across galaxies, Ashwin is here, and he takes no prisoners. Enjoy.

Hey guys, I'm the new guy here at The Cold Cut, I'm Ashwin and it's a pleasure to meet you, but I'm no fan of small talk when there's music to be argued over.

So while Bloc Party seem to be moving away from the guitars and onto the synths with their latest surprise release, Justice seem to be doing the opposite.

Their new release was commissioned by Dior Homme for their new fashion show. It shies away from the more lightweight, simple, glitchy hooks of their album, and takes a more Waters of Nazareth approach to things. The tracks are intense, exciting, even involving a massive guitar solo in the final act. A guitar solo, in electro!

You all know why the dance world fell in love with Justice in the first place, that gritty, messy, just downright thrilling grungy sound, and the rock flavour accentuates that no end. It sounds more like Justice than ever, unapologetic electro in the high polished world of fashion. Enter Planisphère.

Now comparisons will always be drawn with Daft Punk when it comes to Justice, and DP themselves did a killer track for Louis Vuitton. This is more some kind of hectic electro opera though, with it's overarching melodies and hooks. Think Intersterlla 5555 kind of thing. I can see Justice doing a feature film if they keep stuff like this up. Man, that has to happen.
Anyway, enjoy the tracks.

Justice - Planisphère, Part 1 [Link 2]

p.s. Will pronounces Justice differently to me. I say Justice, he says Justeece. I think I'm right though, since in the introductions to Ed Bangers compilations, they say Justice. Opinions? [Will: I'm just trying to sound French!]

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