Crash Course in Science was a Philly band formed in 1979 by art school classmates Dale Feliciello, Mallory Yago and Michael Zodorozny. After releasing a few experimental electronic 7″s through Rough Trade in the UK, the band shifted into full-on synth-pop mode in 1981 with the release of Signals From Pier Thirteen, which has been regarded as “influential to the techno industrial genres and an early inception of what is now known as the ‘electro’ sound. This record is still highly sought after by collectors and fans today.”

“Flying Turns”, which you can stream below, was recently included on the Minimal Wave Tapes Vol. 1 compilation.

Crash Course in Science – “Flying Turns” (1981)

Also, check out this video they made in 1981 for the single “Cardboard Lamb”, which features the band hanging around Philly doing New Wave-y, artsy stuff:

“Fold Up Like A Piece of Paper” from unsigned Brooklyn band ArpLine is a noise-pop anthem hopped-up on cocaine and channels the less goofy elements of ’80s bands like Wall of Voodoo and Split Enz with a dose of Industrial. Works for me.

“The best stuff is usually an unexpected twist” says José González in the trailer for his equally unexpected biopic The Extraordinary Ordinary Life of José González.

As stated on the film’s website, “The film revolves around the life and mind of musician José González. Using congenial methods; video diary, surveillance camera, concert footage, tour documentation and animation, directors Mikel Cee Karlsson and Fredrik Egerstrand give form to something as elusive as the creative process of one of Sweden’s finest – and most secretive – musicians.”

The film is currently touring the festival circuit and cities in Scandinavian. See the full list here. No word on international release dates yet.

Personally, I’m a big fan of his work, so consider I am intrigued to gain more insights into his process. Does it pique your interest? If you are unfmailiar with his music, visit his MySpace page for sound clips or follow the links after the jump…

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I am a little late on this rad Cee-Lo (one half of Gnarls Barkley) video featuring beautifully animated type and tons of the F-bomb, but damn it is too good not to post! No wonder it got 1.5 million views in 4 days!

The new album The Ladykiller is out Oct. 4th.

it’s been a while since we last heard or seen any major output from either Appaloosa or Glass Candy, but now the paris/London duo and the Portland duo, respectively, have come together for an stellar remix collaboration, which sounds as electro-disco-tastic as the image above looks.

{MP3} Appaloosa – “Intimate” (Glass Candy Remix)

The remix will appear on the forthcoming, highly anticipated Italians Do It Better AFTER DARK 2 compilation, but you can get the limited edition 12″ on opaque ivory vinyl now on the Italians Do It Better mail order page.

Here is a sickly sweet tune from new band Raindeer that mixes Elephant 6 and Flaming Lips whimsy with production quality so shiny, you can see yourself in it…smiling.

{MP3} Raindeer – “Juanita”

Check out these awesome animated visuals for a recent Bat For Lashes live performance. They are part of a 20 minute video collaboration for TreatStudios, directed by Robin Bushell and Julia Pott. There needs to be more of this kind of stuff at live shows.

(via Kitsune Noir)

Simple. Slow down “U Smile” by 800%. Ah, much better.

J. BIEBZ – U SMILE 800% SLOWER by Shamantis

Jason Pierce eat your heart out.

(via Gawker)

Congrats to Jon and Patrick of Sun Airway for landing a deal with the awesome label Dead Oceans (Bishop Allen, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band)! Their debut album, Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier, is a must-hear mix of ambient electronics and spacey psychedelia. Get a copy on 10/26 in the US and 1/11 in the UK.

Get a taste of the album with “Oh, Naoko” {MP3} and grab their recent remix of Here We Go Magic’s “Casual” {MP3} via PFork.

A quirky favorite of Animal Collective’s Avey Tare, this one is a spacey, analogue pop gem written by Italian electronic composer Roberto Cacciapaglia and sung by Ann Steel.

{MP3} Ann Steel – “My Time”

Read Avey Tare’s full post about the tune on Altered Zones.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Krautrock legends, NEU! was formed by Drummer Klaus Dinger and Guitarist Michael Rother in 1971, after they left an early, traditional instrument-based incarnation of Kraftwerk. Their spacey guitars and driving, machine-like rhythm, dubbed “the Motorik beat”, served as a blue-print for future generations of punks, space-rockers and electronic music producers.

Last Sunday, I headed to the Ibrahim Theater in West Philly for a rare night of live NEU! music presented by Hallogallo 2010 (surviving member Michael Rother on guitar and effects, Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth on drums and Aaron Mullan of Tall Firs on bass), in anticipation of hearing that now-classic “Motorik” beat live. The set was a mesmerizing and thunderous blast of refreshed ’70s NEU! material and tributes to Krautrock legends of yore, some of which could have served as soundtracks to Olympic footage or Sci-fi Thriller films. Brilliant, as expected.

Set list:

Hallogallo 2010
Neutronics 98 (A Tribute to Conny Plank)
Aroma Club B3
Deluxe
Veteranissimo
Dino

You can see photos from the Philly gig here and listen to a stream from their recent NYC show below:

(via WNYC)

The NEU! Vinyl Box Set is available now on Gronland Records.

Seattle psych rock band The Night Beats will be making their Philly debut tonight inside the Sailor Jerry Store. Think ’60s psych a la 13th Floors Elevators with Link Wray sitting in on guitar. Here are the deets:

Night Beats @ Sailor Jerry
116-118 S. 13th Street
8pm
FREE
21+ over

For more info, visit the Sailor Jerry blog.