Earth, Wind & Fire – September (Phats and Small Mutant Disco Mix)

Possibly the only thing that the world can agree on right now is that it is undeniably, irrefutably and ecstatically September. Thank you, oh unifying and peacemaking Gregorian calendar.

In celebration, check out the Phats and Small (who incidentally had a stroke of blistering genius in titling their debut album ‘Now Phats What I Small Music’) mix of EW&F’s tribute to the orangey ninth month of the year that reminds us all how all-pervasive chart-loving filter house was in the late 90s.

The clip below is also a clear contender for the title of Most Expensive Video Ever Made.

After pressing ‘play’ look out of the nearest window. Guarantee you it will be raining jellybeans.

Hanni El Khatib – ‘Dead Wrong’ & ‘You Rascal You’

Filipino/Palestinian San Franciscan (try saying that fast with a mouth full of dead leaves) who’s the creative director for HUF skateboards in his day job (already he’s just racking up those cool points) gets 50s throwback on a couple of tunes that sound like Jack White covering Mayer Hawthorne covering Sam Cooke after having just gargled an indecent amount of whiskey. And gravel. With Smokey Robinson. Maybe.

Hanni El Khatib – ‘Dead Wrong’

Hanni El Khatib – ‘You Rascal You’

Hopefully he’ll come out with some song titles soon that aren’t quite so libelous and accusatory.

Wavves, Best Coast, Teen Daze: Is this the Nonchalant Sound of Summer 2010?

Chillwave, lo-fi, no-fi, fuzzy, buzzy. These are all words of sorts.

They’re also all descriptive terms used to describe the sound of bands like Wavves, Best Coast, and Teen Daze who all make brilliantly beachy, nonchalant tunes that sound like they were all recorded with a two dollar plastic microphone filled with tiny broken shells and the contents of an old faded bottle of Coppertone that someone was audaciously trying to sell at a California yard sale.

The musical equivalent of blurry, overexposed polaroids of sunsets. And just as perfect.

Wavves – ‘Post Acid’

Best Coast – ‘Crazy For You’ (Live at SXSW 2010)

Teen Daze – ‘Shine On, You Crazy White Cap’

Two words: Bobcat Goldthwait.

Pharoah Sanders – ‘Greeting to Saud’

Cloudwalking desert jazz that sounds like someone tinkling on a piano half buried in a sand dune inside a lantern-filled Abu Dhabi souk. Love it.

Here’s an interview with the tenor sax-toting legend himself in all its grainy, VHS, Dutch-subtitled glory and a list of my subsequent thoughts:

1. Prior to watching this clip I did not know that ‘West Coast’ in Dutch is ‘Westkust’.

2. I need to get myself a pair of sunglasses like these and wear them all the time.

3. I’ve also decided to only dance like the Pharoah does at 2:42 from now on. Why get up when you can easily throw your hands in the air from the comfort of your own sofa?

Jon Hopkins – ‘Vessel’ (Four Tet Remix)

Bliss.

Perfect late night listening from Jon Hopkins, a UK electronica artist who’s no stranger to contributing his starry-skied digital magic to tracks by Coldplay, Imogen Heap, David Holmes, Tunng, Four Tet, and Brian Eno.

Jon Hopkins – ‘Vessel’

And then just when this glorious magnificence couldn’t possibly get any more gloriously magnificent, Kieran Hebden aka Four Tet sits down with ‘Vessel’ and reworks it into another one of his signature remixes laden with blips, clips, and clicks, all while retaining the silver-flecked, shimmering, levitating keys and hypnotic whirl of the original.

Jon Hopkins – ‘Vessel’ (Four Tet Remix)

As you close your eyes and let the music wash over you, ponder this ancient philosophical question:

Why the monkey with a soccer ball?