Physical Therapy X Pictureplane: Advanced Rave

Ok. Just need to get this out to y'all.  Pictureplane is releasing a free remix album of Thee Physical (which I kinda slept on but am really enjoying now), entitled Dimensional Rip 7: Thee Physical Remixes. Remixers on board include Grimes, Teams, Ghosts on Tape and ADVANCED ultra-favorite Physical Therapy. Check out the original which plays like a geniune pop song but with fuzzed-out catchy keyboards...kinda like M83 if M83 was less about drama and more about being fun. 

Pictureplane - Post-Physical mp3

Now listen to Physical Therapy throw everything into a tribal bongo drum and shake it around. Dude kills every remix he does. How do you take the music of artists like Miguel, Balam Acab, David Banner, Alicia Keys, Holy Other, and make remixes that match or top the original work?! Consistently?! If Physical Therapy ever dropped an album of remixes it would be HUGE.

Pictureplane - Post-Physical (Physical Therapy's premix)mp3

Also, watch the video he put together for the remix, which is so good and makes me want to take a time machine back to early rave:

Rimar: Advanced Romanticism

Rimar has been busy. Since the last time I posted on his superb Higher Ground (get the whole awesome thing here for free) he's put together a rad (and very sexy) website, started playing live, put out a new single, RU Happy?, has been filming a video for "Higher Ground" (we will keep you posted) and now has released a killer set of beats World Drop (Demo). All of which makes ADVANCED very happy indeed. Rimar's brand of laid-back, swooning, romantic beat-driven R&B is a pure joy. Heavily influenced by the late, legendary producer J-Dilla (which is SUCH a good thing) Rimar takes the current trend of R&B vocal-sampling electronic music out into the sunshine. Spend a little time with any of his stuff and I guarantee you will be in a better mood. Listen to the whole album below and kick him a dollar to download any of the amazing music he is making here. I recommend starting with the sublime "Love Coming" and "God In You."

Elite Gymnastics X How to Dress Well: Dream Team

I feel really blessed. Pretty much my two favorite artists right now are How to Dress Well (as anyone who reads ADVANCED knows already) and newcomers Elite Gymnastics (kinda obvious...three posts in a row). Both of these artists are not only consistently releasing new material and creative, interesting mixtapes, but they are actually interacting with each other! Two posts back I wrote about HTDW's soul-baring cover of Elite Gymnastics' "Here in Heaven" which. Well just last night Elite Gymnastics returned the favor and remixed How to Dress Well "Suicide Dream 2" from his Just Once EP. Holy Other turned this track inward to a more lonely place but the Elite Gz wrap Tom Krell's emotive vocals in crunchy, light jungle beats and rave keyboard stabs to take this song to new heights of transcendance. Get ready to put your hands in the air.

Suicide Dream 2 (elite gymnastics baptism) by yourstrulysf

Elite Gymnastics: Advanced Tumbl(r)ing

ADVANCED has been gone for a little and we are sorry about that. But we are back with the music that has been dominating my speakers for the past month: Elite Gymnastics. I just touched on their sound with my last post. They reference so many styles. They recall the proto-shoegaze of Spacemen 3 but with the dance beats of early rave and jungle. They remix Waka Flocka Flame or Lady Gaga. They make mixes of Korean pop and Whitehouse. They sample Ghost in the Shell's theme song to amazing effect. They just released a double album Ruin 1&2 on Acephale and I really can't recommend it highly enough. Just get it. They have been posting a TON of free material on their Tumblr (which you should go to immediately and download everything you can from) and we should reward them for being so generous by actually buying what is one of the best records of the year by far. I'm just going to give a sampling of the stuff of theirs that has really spoken to me, starting with a couple of tracks from Ruin. 

Elite Gymnastics - So Close to Paradise mp3

Elite Gymnastics - Onamori mp3

The first thing I heard of theirs was from their excellent Real Friends EP. Here's my favorite song from it which uses a snippet of the sparkling, over-produced strings from the theme song to one of the Final Fantasy games (Maybe FF XXVI? There are a lot of those games) and is totally gorgeous. 

Elite Gymnastics - Is This On Me? mp3

Next, my friend's Nick, Raven and I became kinda OBSESSED with the Ghost in the Shell sampling "Slime Crown." They take the high drama of traditional Japanese instruments and burrow underneath it with mumbled confessional singing. When the sampled voices come in, high and wailing, it is spine-tingling. This song is incredible.

Elite Gymnastics -Slime Crown mp3

Next up is an insanely fun remix of  Waka Flocka Flame. Out go the Lex Luger beats and in comes an almost C&C Music Factory-style dance beat that plays up how hilarious and fun Waka is to begin with. My favorite part is when Pastor Troy shouts "PT Cruiser! Waka Flock!". Get ready to dance.

Elite Gymnastics - WAKA mp3

Finally, for the past few days I have been unable to listen to pretty much anything other than this remix they made of a Florrie song. I have been so addicted to this remix that I am only now taking time to listen to the original. It bears little resemblance to the Elite Gymnastics version, which is a shame. They isolate a few tiny parts of her singing and loop them to delirious effect over a tight, bouncy, melodious dance track. 

Florrie - Come Back to Mine (Elite Gymnastics Remix) mp3

Also: here's a gorgeous piece of computer animation of an origami crane that was included in their mix for DIS Magazine which is good, but pretty out there. I personally have returned to the animation more times. 

Crane Animation (Final) from DIS Magazine on Vimeo.