And on the 2nd floor the Richard Serra skatepark

Vampy Weekend - Giving Up The Gun (LOL Boys Bootleg)

Honing in on sounds that combine 'club sensibility', 'pop indulgence' and 'oh shit, we just tore the roof off the club, sorry!' LOL Boys have been bringing the heat in every genre. After tearing down pop walls with their Christina Milian bootleg, breaking my heart by apparently not releasing their absolutely huge track "Tourism" (if you guys aren't going to release it, I would be happy to put my name on it and do so), and tackling a stabby B-More escapade for Nightshifters, LOL Boys bring us an instrumental rework of Ezra & the gang, right around the same time that you can stream the entire vampire weekend album before it drops Jan. 12th. As they put it, "it's a little tropical getaway for every one thats experiencing this cold ass winter." Well said, dudes, and a track that I'm bumping on repeat as I'm falling over myself trying to hop snowbanks on the way to work.

listomania

part/parcel's top tracks of 2009.

1. Bottin- No Static
This was an easy choice, though to be fair the track could have been easily interchanged with any on Bottin's excellent Horror Disco album. Truly the sound that got me going this year and which triggered me exploring the alarming/disarming world of Italo disco. Amazing to get the chance to bring Will to **Guelph ** and have the night go off like it did. Possibly my fondest memory, definitely the funnest night of 2009.

2. Knightlife- Crusader
The return of Knightlife in 2009 was SUCH a treat. This track was the stand out on his "II" ep, though I definitely played this shit out of it and have to listen to other Knightlife (still awesome) as a proxy. Another bonus, this release made me remember this dancefloor bumper: Alex Gopher- Aurora (Knightlife and Riot in Belgium remix)

3. CFCF- You Hear Colors
Not sold on the rest of the album, or the Montreal producer's DJ skills, but this is beaaautiful.

4. Polly Scattergood- Please Don't Touch (The Golden Filter Pop Remix)
The Golden Filter was one of my fave breakout artists of 2009. This remix is a stellar example of their dreamy, yet haunted sound taken to a new level of fantasy with the child-like vocals of London chantreuse Polly Scattergood.

5. Canyons- Fire Eyes
I'll be keeping an eye out in the new year for these talented Aussies as well as Cosmo Vitelli's I'm a Cliche. The France based label had some super interesting artists packaged tightly within the compilation which was released this year. Plus that slo-mo Bot'ox vid was pretty great.

6. Siriusmo- Gummiband
Finally in 2009 people start realizing Siriusmo is absolutely amazing. Big year for the German producer, with a huge EP dropping and remixes for pretty much everybody. An incredibly consistent "go-to" artist for me.

7. Dvas- Inner Sanctum
Another piece of solid gold, the opening track for the Valerie Collective compilation- for me a definite highlight of the year. Dreamwave/pseudo 80s melodrama continued to be a strong sound in 2009.

8. Azari & III- Reckless with Your Love
These Toronto up and comers were a later find for me personally, but are definitely at home in my year's top 10. Admittedly, it took a few listens for me to become enamoured of this song, but now I'm hooked. The detroit house throwbacks, the amazing vocals/lyrical hooks... Can't wait for them to play Guelph at the end of the month.

9. Lyposuct (Original)- D.I.M & TAI
2009, the year people claim to be officially "over" bangers. For the most part, I agree, but this track is undeniable. Perfectly constructed for maximum destruction, even if the breakdown sounds "like someone farting" (according to Young Bran).

10. Telonius- Like What (The Glimmers remix)
A fantastic release from the fine folks at the German-label Gomma. The Glimmers take this already excellent track to a new level of analog-synth-induced euphoria.

ALSO_________
11. Chewy Chocolate Cookies- It Was Only A Kiss
12. Junior Boys- Hazel
13. LCD Soundsystem- 45:33 (Theo Parrish's Space Cadet Remix)
14. Duck Sauce- aNYway
15. Vitalic- See the Sea (Red)
16. Cecile & Venice- White Holes
17. Fan Death- Reunited
18. Moulinex, Press Release- 1stracklove
19. Nite Jewel- Weak for Me
20. Woolfy- The Warehouse

Edited: Downsized the downloadable tracks to deal with the DRM piggies. Support artists! Down with DRM!

Joy Orbison - Hyph Mngo (Angreas Saag House Perspective)

Whether you agree with the Grindin Collective's top 20 choons of 2009 or not, you can't deny that a certain dyslexic genuis named Joy Orbison had a big, big hit with a little song called "Hyph Mngo", which a lot of people felt made dubstep somewhat more human, emotional, layered, intricate and excellent. Personally, I thought it was decent but never really freaked out about it, something repetitive never really clicked with me. But then again, I have been known to be called a 'flaming hypocrite' and a 'dumbass dickwidget' from time to time, so maybe my opinion of the original ain't the end of the world.

Then, enter a young produced named Andreas Saag, who goes by Swell Session. He makes a housed up version of it that adds some claps, extra layers, and makes it feel like much more of a warm, comfortable ass backyard BBQ kind of jam, even though it's the middle of winter. I can see this one going over quite well in some upcoming dance parties, hop on it, tastemakers-to-be!

Edu K - Jumpin & Pumpin' (Dubbel Dutch Remix) (ALT)

WOW, I can't believe that the absolutely stellar Scatterblog label Scattermusic is offering all of their releases in full quality for free. If you're not aware, their latest release is one that's generated buttloads of blog buzz over the past few months, with "Ja, Mann!" showing up in charts and mixes of my favourite blogs & professional disc jockeys. Now the 2-track EP is released for FREE in 320 by the label themselves, in an act of extraordinary properness. Not only that, but the Dubbel Dutch remix slays so much that someone should hire it to go from town to town killing dragons (mwah mwah). Compressed, hurried horns, bleep bloop breakdowns and that signature Dubbel Dutch Texas grown sound. If you're interested, the Mom & Dad remix of "Ja, Mann!" was also #1 on Brodinski's December 2009 dance charts.

If you feel like giving them some well deserved monetary support, you can grab this release from almost all major online mp3 stores, including iTunes (only $6.99 USD), Juno Download and Turntable Lab.

homeworks

Douster - King of Africa (Homework Edit) (ALT)

Excellent bootleg of Douster's house-shaking jam from Netherland based (possibly Dutch) duo Homework. Really enjoy that they didn't try and rebuild it from the ground up, but instead added some great subtleties. If you seek it out, Homework also has some great other redeuxs, and some solo material in 2010 that I'll be keeping my eyes on. This track has gone from "oh my god, is he playing a sample from the Lion King?" eye roller to the 'everybody act like a complete fool in the club' status.

Bran's best of 2009 (pt. 1)

Image courtesy of Aids-3D collective

Hi internet. Time for an unorganized list of the best things 2009 had to offer. Thanks for reading Gosh Damn in 20-09, please let us know your thoughts as we enter the decade that will surely contain some sort of apocalyptic reckoning.

Thoughts on music in 2009:
It felt way more "fun" than in 2008, I feel like I told myself things like 'if you want to listen to Ace of Base, that's okay, it doesn't make you a bad person' and resultingly enjoyed the things I listened to and played much more than the year before. House music came back big, and the Nightslugs carved themselves a pretty unique niche in gutter-bass-dance music. I was pretty happy.

Best dancehall riddim of 2009:
Miss Independent Riddim, hands motherfuckin' down.
Also, I guess it was pretty prominent in 08. But who cares.

Most unconvincing lyric of 2009:
"I, I hate it when a motherfucking DJ play a three, four minute version of a song. You, you can't even get into you, you can't even get into your THANG from a four minute version!"
-Diddy, talking out his ass, from DJ Hell's "The DJ"

Confusing rap lyric of 09:
"These hoes is God's gift, like Christmas"
-Lil Wayne ft. Young Money

Best music videos of 2009:
James Connolly, aka L-Vis 1990's self-made videos for Sissy Nobby's "Lay Me Down", his Gucci Vump VIP remix, Riton & Primary 1's "Who's There?" and both cuts off his awesome Mad Decent debut are an excellent return to form for music videos. Most enjoyable watches of the year (sober, or not so much).

Great things I have done in my sleep this year:
Kicked over my nighstand
Elbowed my partner in the face (accidentally!)
Dreamed about infidelity and then woken up all freaked out about it.
Smashed somebody's lamp by proxy

Top 3 Renaissance Man bootcuts:
1) DJ Hell - My Definition of House Music (Renaissance Man Bootcut)
2) Tony Santos Vs. Ms Thing - Lazer (Renaissance Man Bootcut)
3) Nicone and Sascha Braemer - Nur Mal Kurz (Philip Bader Remix) Renaissance Man International Bootcut

Feelings about the new Clipse album:
Really want to like it, but...... MEEEHHHHHH

Songs that I like so much that I have ripped from mixes in poor quality before they've been released so I can put them on friends' mixtapes or yes, even play them out in low quality (there goes any shred of credibility I had):

Nat Self - War (from his Diesel: U radio show)
Kingdom - Wine & Stomp (opening track from his Discobelle mix)
The Proxy - Indian Film
Bag Raiders - Shooting Stars (Siriusmo Remix)
Mylo - Macrobiotic(?) (from an Aeroplane mix)
Major Lazer- Hold The Line ft. Andy Milonakis (Hawaii Five-O version)
Supra 1 - I Still Believe (Forthcoming Trouble and Bass, from their discobelle mix)
Some unknown track from a Nacho Lovers promo mix. Help?

(these are all rips, low quality and no substitute for the real tracks... if they ever surface. If you are the artist and would like me to take them down, that's cool. If you want to give me the actual track, that's even cooler)

Big things comin' producers who I have a semi-internet relationship with:
LOL Boys
Dre Skull & Mixpak Records

Unpleasant surprises of 2009:
- Little Boots doesn't sell that many albums
- Guy who invites us to DJ with him gets arrested for an outstanding pedophile charge in Winnipeg that we had no idea about. Ouch.
- Favourite Pho place in Parkdale one day condemned for sub-par health standards. :(
- Apartment infested with mice (till I had to 'man up' and kill some of them)

"Damn, I remember that from previous years!" song of the year:
M.I.A - Hombre
This track takes me back to late 2004, reading Pitchfork call M.I.A the "female Dizzee Rascal", and being introduced to funk carioca, Cassette Playa clothes and Sri Lankan feminist firepower. I played this at a basement party a few weeks ago and was astounded at all the memories it brought back. Try it out.

Three music related Barack Obama puns:
Baracka Som Sistema
White House Banton
Head of States and Heartbreak

Four slightly varying haircuts I gave myself for four seasons:
Fiscal conservative (winter 09)
Hack job (spring 09)
Hat (summer 09)
Toque/Pomp? (fall/early winter 09)

Names for DJ nights that seemed like a good idea initially, but lost their lustre eventually:
Sex Weed Disco
Everyone gets lightsabers
What is this I don't even...
Return of the foam party
So I had sex with a pinata
Alf!
Elephants never forget/forgive
Who is fucking Scarlett Johansen?
We are experiencing technical difficulties
Blood of Christ
We survived the Bush administration
Anybody can be cool (awesome takes practice)
I just wish I could stop shitting blood
Cash rules everything around me
White people on drugs

Label of the year: Maybe this will sound biased, but I'd say it's a dead tie between Sound Pellegrino and Mixpak Records. Feel like every SP release got an avalanche of press from the blog world (myself included, but also feel like the Mixpak releases had tons of 'sleeper' power. Bok Bok + L-Vis 1990 + Renaissance Man + Sissy Nobby + Natalie Storm + Dexplicit + Sizzla & Mr. Kartel + AC Slater made some of the most diverse, moving music that not only expanded 'dance music' past the rut it was stuck in, but also made music that made me dance, feel things, and want to live life as a better person.

Performer of the Year:
Watch this and try to tell me it's not Beyonce.

Authors of 2009:
Kristina Born
Tao Lin

Best subgenres of 2009:
Crunkcore
Sesame Street Soca
Crunkczar
Dubblestep

Worrisome development in rap #16:
Rappers referring to 'raping the game'
See: Weezy F, Baby: 'Why you drive so fast because I'm chasing the dream and when I catch that motherfucker imma rape it and leave'
Kanye: 'Raped the game young, you could call it statutory'
(dudes you suck that is not funny)

Artists keeping Toronto relevant:
Nacho Lovers
Azari & III
Diamond Rings

Clothes I wish I could buy all the time:
Hood By Air
Complex Geometries

Pants that fit my ass really well:
Discarded jeans from my friend Joey Blake.
Cheap Mondays
Value Village cutoffs

Best Birthday Gift:
Pug Shark card by Amanda

Most played according to iTunes:
*count might be a bit low compared to yours because most of my listening is done on ipod*

Vybz Kartel - Yuh Love - 122
Tom Waits- Downtown Train - 111
Beyonce- I care not to include either the titles or number of listens...
Erykah Badu - The Healer - 103
Juan Maclean - One Day - 91
Gucci Vump - Sha! Shtil! - 83
Discovery - Orange Shirt - 76
Style of Eye - Grounded (Horns Mix) 59
The Sound of Arrows- M.A.G.I.C - 58
Zombie Disco Squad - Straight Boy - 54
Round Table Knights - Belly Dance 45
Classixx - I'll Get You (ft. Jeppe) - 42
Essie Jain - Indefinable - 41

Webcomics of the year:
Hark! A Vagrant
Cat and Girl
Penny Arcade

Iphone app of the year:
"We gotta get right Kevin, we gotta get right"

Best food in Guelph post-DJ gig:
Pierre's Poutine. Classic Quebec P9outine, veggie gravy, heaps of cheese curds, actually surpasses half the poutine I've had in Montreal.

Cryptic Tweeter of the Year:
@Diplo - i.don't.get.it.

Bad looks for 2009:
This

Biggest "I didn't foresee that working nearly as well as it did" track:
Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers- Islands in the Stream (Gosh Damn! edit)

Worst attempt at editing a track:
The famous "Riverside, Muthafucka!" line on Sidney Sampson's floor stomper first had "muthafucka" edited, then changed to "Lil Sucka" (someone told me this, but I can't actually verify it), finally butchered to "Riverside... let's go!" Yikes.

Most inappropriate (or maybe extremely appropriate?) music to come on my partner's iTunes on shuffle whilst 'doin stuff':
That Andrew WK song that repeats 'party'. Now that I write it it doesn't seem funny at all, but it was so annoying that one of us had to get up and turn it off.

Worst thing I have said to a co-DJ:
"I don't want you to think that I have a filthy asshole"
"I think I just made that girl who's tripping on E start to cry"

Best weepy folk album to listen to when your friends are over at 5am drinking tea & arguing:
Bon Iver- Blood Bank EP

Best love song of 2009:
Vybz Kartel - Yuh Love

Best music video with clearly photoshopped sports car in the background:
Vybz Kartel - Yuh Love

Things I have found myself inadvertantly thinking as I enter 2010:
- Will I look back on 'wonky house music' with the same semi-self loathing disdain that I approach the Ed Banger catalogue with today?

Best T-Pain reference on NBC:
Comes courtesy of Tom Haverford/Aziz Ansari on Parks & Recreation
Sorry, can't find the clip, so settle for the above instead:

Please release more music as soon as possible:
Proxy
Kingdom
Joy Orby
Round Table Knights

Mixtape that I have repeatedly come back to - when working, biking around town, showering, cooking, partying, doing anything and everything:
The Heatwave- Early Warming Mixtape. It's summer perfection summed up into 43 minutes of absolutely mindblowing dancehall. I also have come to associate it with my partner in jeans splattered with a combination of light green paint and fiberglass, my final days at the University of Guelph, and the emergence of spring and summer, hanging out at an abandoned squat in the woods, thrift store basement afterparties, and poutine. Sigh.

Shitty things about 2009:
- All this Gully/Gaza bullshit.
- How my apartment doesn't really have cold water, even in December. You would think this isn't a problem, but trying to freshen up in the morning with lukewarm water? Gross. I would rather stick my head in a snowbank.
- All things considered, not too much bad stuff.

Questions that will be in 2099 sociology textbooks re: 2009:
- What was in Lil' Wayne's styrofoam cup?

Things I wish I could be in 2010:
On Grindin.

nearby

In Flagranti - Brash & Vulgar (Disco 3000 Edit)

Merry Christmas courtesy of Erol Alkan!
(and also all us hurr at Gosh Damn)

RENAISSANCE MAN INTERVIEW

Hay internet, I did an interview with my favorite group of 2009, Renaissance Man! Long cafe chat on AIM with both Downtown and Jaxxon within which we discussed playing out the sound of car alarms in da club, and why you probably shouldn't watch the Brown Bunny on a public train. Mixpak has the new Renaissance Man remix of Sissy Nobby, I highly, highly recommend.

Lay me down

The wait is finally over! Today, Mixpak Records drops the remix EP of New Orleans Sissy Bounce rapper Sissy Nobby's upcoming single, "Lay Me Down", with six diverse, mindblowing takes on the track.

Renaissance Man give us a remix that sounds like someone shooting fireworks into the sky from a volcano... in other words, big enough to engulf your entire city in hot lava. I can only speak for myself here, but I think it's their best release since their "Spraycan" Dubsided debut EP.

Bitch Ass Darius gives us a futuristic ghettotech which leaves the vocals intact, and WOW. If you think you've heard explicitly sexual rap, Sissy Nobby takes it to a completely new level on this one, and we're hoping that the chorus "Lay me down on the bed and fuck the piss out of me" gets some serious radio play. That's not being unrealistic, is it?

A1 Bassline and Kanji Kanetic also turn on their A-game and bring some hard, crunchy, four letter word B-A-S-S. But in my opinion, the one absolute universe destroying monster track L-Vis 1990 gives you a 'druggy as fuck' eight minute slow burning bass behemoth that is sure to unite dancefloors all over the world in a fevered frenzy of screams and cheers.

Embedded above is a video that L-Vis made just for our release, and it's kind of freaking me out in the best way possible.

Don't sleep on this release, purchase the whole Sissy Nobby "Lay Me Down" release now on iTunes

Nicki Minaj ft. Lil Wayne - Go Hard (ALT)

Nicki Minaj becoming popular at the same time as Jersey Shore is either a ridiculous coincidence, or really excellent marketing. Not that she's not talented, but there's something about her voice that reminds me of a combination of Snooki & Lil Wayne when he's high on cough syrup.

Also, I was pretty sure that when she's doing her verse on the Young Money "Bedrock" video (nominee for stupidest/greatest rap song of the year) that she yells out "I'm on my low STARCH" (referring to a low starch diet), but people have since told me that this is not true.