Party Ben’s Top 10 Stuff ‘n’ Things: 3/16/07

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Everybody loves top ten lists, right? No? Well, I do, and I figure what better place than the Riff for a weekly Top 10 list of stuff I like, which will probably be mostly music, but might also include TV shows, or books, or even snacks. Let’s get stupid, I mean outrageous:

10. Javiera Mena – “Al Siguiente Nivel” (mp3 link)
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Via my escaped-to-Buenos Aires compadre Disco Shawn, it’s a 23-year-old Chilean singer/songwriter who’s just made the jump to electropop. The chorus on this is what makes it, a breathtaking swirl of keyboards and harmonies that I feel compelled to sing along to despite having no idea what the heck she’s saying.

9. Audion
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This Michigan-based techno producer, otherwise known as Matthew Dear, accesses peak-time party insanity through the seeming mathematical purity of his tracks, which take a simple equation and then let it play out to a logical but brain-melting conclusion. He’s on tour, at Mezzanine in SF on 3/17, Vancouver on 3/31.

8. Saul of the Mole Men (Sunday nights @ midnight, Adult Swim)
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Anyone whose young mind was blown by Sid & Marty Krofft’s psychedelic kids’ shows like “Land of the Lost” or “Lidsville” will recognize the surreal, lo-fi ridiculousness of this grodier, sillier takeoff.

7. Human Beatboxen! (via BoingBoing.net)
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First there’s this one, from Frenchican Idol or something; then there’s this one, which is also in France, on the Metro even, and there’s so much more, and it’s all great.

6. Various ArtistsStones Throw: 10 Years
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This 25-track comp is the biggest value on iTunes right now: only $7.99 for some of the finest underground hip-hop of the last decade from the likes of Peanut Butter Wolf, Madlib, and J Dilla.

5. Peter Bjorn & John – “Let’s Call It Off” (from Writer’s Block on Wichita)
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Handclap mania! Proving the anti-PB&J blogs are at least somewhat overenthusiastic, this album track sounds like drunk Swedes trying to remember the 80s. Oh, wait.

4. Elastica vs. The Gossip – “Standing in the Way of Connection” (A+D mashup) (mp3 link)
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Full disclosure: Adrian & Mysterious D are my buddies and DJ co-conspirators, but they sure put together great tracks, and this one will make your indie haircut friends have seizures.

3. The Shins – “Sea Legs” (from Wincing the Night Away on Sub Pop)
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Coming on like Air or Zero 7, the Shins let the hypnotic bassline take center stage on this groovy album track. There’s funky ’70s-style synth solos! And lead singer James Mercer kind of sounds like Morrissey sometimes!

2. Uffie “Hot Chick” (12″ on Ed Banger, France)
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This blast of electro would be great even without the R-rated rap from this up-and-coming French gal. As it is, it recalls both classic Miami freestyle and new female rappers like M.I.A or Spank Rock’s Amanda Blank.

1. Arcade Fire – “Oceans of Noise” (from Neon Bible on Merge)
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Somehow connecting Springsteen, “The Man Who Sold the World,” and Chris Isaak, this track is a highlight from the Canadian band’s new album. See if you can get through the quasi-Norteño horns at the end without getting a lump in your throat.

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