UME
EP local release show tonight @ Mohawk 1/24/09



The first time I saw Ume play was at the Whisky Bar, back in 2006 or 2007 when they were the showcased band at a Learning Secrets night. They blew me out of the water, and they continue to do so with each time I see them live. Its rare that a band is able to juggle aggresion and angst with, and I'm going to be extremely frank here, total sex appeal. Its also rare that a three piece rock band is able to sound so huge live, Jawbreaker did it well, and at the end of the day, after all the tired comparisons about Ume's sound are made, the one that I think warrants any merit is the comparison to Jawbreaker. However, there is more to Ume, and their sound, than what lies on the surface.

We're super stoked to be working with Ume on their new EP Sunshower, the local release show of which is tonight at Mohawk. The EP is full of some the strongest songs we've heard in a while, and again to be totally honest, its one of a handful of records as of late that is re-sparking my faith in guitar driven bands again ( A quick digression : I hate saying "rock," or "indie rock," because 1) lets be honest, when you hear a band being described as a "rock" band its kind of a turn off a wee bit, and 2) what the hell is an "indie rock" band anymore anyways? Vampire Weekend? or is it your little brothers band practicing in your mom and dads garage?).

I'll quit the rambling, and you get your posse together to come down to the Mohawk a little later tonight. We'll see each other, share a beer, and then allow ourselves to be totally floored by the talent that is Ume.

Click to listen, Download to enjoy, & as always, supprt the artist by actually buying their record.
<>UME - Sunshower
<>UME - The Conductor

I MET HER ON A THURSDAY AND MY HEART STOOD STILL
a do juan juan juan - a do juan juan




Way back in September we brought in Juan Maclean to play live at the Mohawk. It was an intimate monday evening, and those that were there caught a glimpse of something truly special.
Tonight, Juan's back for a third time (round one was with Tim Sweeney back in 2007 @ Whisky Bar) and this time he's bringing friends. Liv, 1/2 of the spaced out Still Going, also on DFA ,will be sharing the decks with Juan and myself tonight.
This one is sure to sell out, so i would advise RSVPING, though I'm not sure if RSVPING secures you a spot. Regardless, come jack with us.


Click to listen, Download to enjoi! Support this artist by actually buying the release!
<>Juan Maclean - The Simple Life

ANNIVERSARYS, HOUSE MUSIC, AND GREEK GODS

i gotta tell you, we never close.

Lets get one thing clear right now, Saturday January 31st is going to be the best night you've had so far this year. I think that if you've had your ears cleaned out lately, or been to some totally bitching house parties,where Young Austin kids are picking fights with Old Austin kids ( I'm looking at you New Years Eve ) over the cranks on their super masculine fixies ( last years new low rider bike ), then I'm sure you've heard about our 5 Year Anniversary Party. Wait, I'm sorry, I mean, our MASSIVE 5 Year Anniversary Party!

In the event that you havent heard, or dont care to listen to gossip, then here is a quick bullet point of what I am talking about.

• Saturday January 31st @ Beauty Bar
• Learning Secrets 5 yr anniversary
• Super Special Guest DJ SETS by Andy Butler from Hercules & Love Affair and Pat Mahoney from LCD Soundsystem / Special Disco Version
• YEAH BRO ITS FREE!!!!!! Cause we love you so much, and as a way to say thanks for your support over the last 5 years!!!
• TO GET IN FREE YOU NEED TO RSVP HERE: When? Right Damn Now Fool.
• If you dont rsvp you'll be dropping a measly $3 at the door. ( $3 for this line up... INSANITY )
• Prototype Vintage, our favorite store in Austin, will be decking out the Beauty Bar for the night
• Annie Ray will taking you photo
• We're thinking of having a costume contest...come dressed up as your favorite Greek God and get a free Beer, I'll let you know about that one.
• WE WANT TO SEND A HUGE HUGE THANK YOU TO ELI AND THE WHOLE ANTICS AND TOYOTA CREW FOR MAKING THIS NIGHT POSSIBLE!!! They'll be on hand with a T-shirt screen printing booth, a Toyota Matrix loaded up with Rockband, and lord knows what other stuff to keep you busy when you're not Jacking and Vogueing on the floor.

That's all for now...more to come, stay tuned, though I'll be posting a DJ mix by Mr. Butler sometime later next week.

NOW GO RSVP FOOL!.

PRACTICE MAKES POIFUNKT
undersexed discoteque



I do not want to hear it. I know, we're absolutely god awful at keeping this blog up to date. However, like I've said before, its all about making sure our updates and posts are choice. I mean, would you rather have something bland and average every other day, or something totally mind blowing two to three times a month? Seriously, if it's everyday you want, let us know and we'll bore the crap out of you, that wont be hard for us. If, on the other hand you're content with letting us bust our asses to bring you posts that are new and different, then we'll just keep on keeping on.


That air being cleared, lets move forward with the issue at hand. We have here a hot off the presses new mix I've made. I know I know, two in one year, it's amazing. But, did you guys know that if you actually practice at stuff, you can actually get good at said stuff that you're practicing? Its fucking unbelievable, and fun.


So, here is something I've thrown together to give ya'll a taste of non disco stuff that is making me wet at the moment. Yeah, imagine that, its not disco, well, there is one track on there towards the end, but for the most part the tracks are done either by germans, english lads, or some swedish dudes. We start out sweet, then slowly dirty ourselves up a bit while still keeping the poppy undertones, around the halfway mark we get a little minimal, dark, and drugged out, which leads us to a brief period of blissed out emptiness around the 30 minute mark, but we come smashing back with an old dark jacking house favorite of mine, then comes that disco track i was talking about, as we begin to slow things back down, and, inevitably end up with a nice edit from an 80's icon.

TRACK LIST:

minotaur shock - this plane is going to fall
paul kalkbrenner - square 1
lulu rouge - bless you ( pilooski remix)
jackpot - move in the light
tough alliance - a new chance ( mongolian jet set remix)
sideshow - if alone ( chateau flight dub )
photonz - trembler (discodeine mix)
DAF - oversexed discotheque
loud e - robolove
grace jones - williams blood ( aeroplane remix)
phil colins - i'm not moving ( vitesse nayward re-edit)

Jeramy and I have had such an amazing year, we're super excited to start working with our two new clients; UME and Vega. I'll be making a post about them soon. And of course, we're busy getting things ready for our 5 YR Anniversary Party....Saturday, January 31st, with two special DJ Sets by HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR and LCD Soundsystems PAT MAHONEY. Its gonna FREE to get in so make sure to rsvp HERE.

Here's the mix, click to listen, download to enjoy.

>LEARNING SECRETS: TURDING FREQUENCE MIX

METRONOMY

best bests of 200Great

2009 is galloping towards us like that scene that's towards the end of The Two Towers where Gandolf and all the riders of Rohan are spilling over the crest of the mountain and slamming into the Orc army. Its a pretty amazing scene if you like dorky stuff like Trolls, Magicians, and fully loaded horse warriors wielding insane battle axes and blazing swords, and thats what 2009 is coming at us like, which is pretty radical. 

That being said, if you're a music dork, or music snob, or totally bored, this is about the time that you start thinking about your besties list of albums and singles that made getting ready for the drab dankness of downtown a tad more enjoyable. At the Learning Secrets offices Jeramy and I are throwing together our lists, and a special podcast as well, but first I just want to give you guys a little taste. Here, above, I post the totally fantastic video for Metronomy's " A Thing For Me," one of my favorite songs from an album that made me totally wet most of the year. 

 

.enjoy

OUR 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY NEWS

a quick note

GRUPO FANTASMA

el grammy fantastica!

I think that we're all in agreement when I say, that though life can at times be a motherfuck of a titty-twister, when it (meaning life) is shiny and golden, it truly can make you feel like a golden god. 

Yesterday was a day like that for Jeramy and I. Not only have we now registered Learning Secrets as a legit company, something which has been a year in the making, we also got word that one of our most beloved clients...the unstoppable Grupo Fantasma, has been nominated for a Grammy for Best Latin Rock / Latin Alternative album for Sonidos Gold!!!!! 

We are, needless to say, overly stoked for them. They've had quite a year, from playing with Prince at Coachella, to hitting the Festival circuit hard this summer, to ripping up Fun Fun Fun Fest this year, to their massive New Years Eve party they're throwing at the Parish. We feel totally humbled to have been there along the way, and Jeramy worked his little apple bottom off, so i'm equally as proud of him too. 

Here's one of my favorite tracks from Sonidos Gold. Its a total stomper feat. the one and only Maceo Parker. Hovering somewhere between War's "Low Rider" and an early Santana slow burner, but with the class, taste, and creative spins that Grupo does so well. From their use of reverb on the snare during the drum solo, to the way the horns were recorded, to the vocal chant, to the hand claps, to of course Parker's solo, this track is the perfect example of how Grupo takes the traditional elements of Latin music and transforms them to a sound that travels through genres , picking up a fan base that includes moms & pops, deep soul music fanatics, Latin music pure-ists, and those of us who wear our jeans a bit snug around the old chestnuts. 

If you've missed them, now is the time to check 'em.

Click listen, Download to enjoy, and as always support the artist by buying their music.

>Grupo Fantasma - Gimme Some ( Feat. Mace Parker) 

PODCAST #5
adventure into the wilds of disorganization

Would you guys agree that living by that old adage "quality over quantity" is a rather fit way to live? So would we, and that's how we approach all things Learning Secrets. Why inundate you with boring meaningless posts everyday which are littered with stale music, or uninspired quips? Which is the reason why today is a big day. Not only are we actually updating our blog, but we're also putting out the 5th podcast today! YAY!

We missed the last two months, but thats due mostly to that fact that we've been on a spirit quest, and our spirit animal was a tortoise and he moved super super super super slow. We were also super busy working with Fun Fun Fun Fest, but more on that in another post. 

As always, this month's podcast displays what's been bumping on our speakers as we work our little fingers to the bone, and its stuff that we've been really excited about the past two months.

Some of the tracks are things that we've been playing out, some are songs we play air guitar to.

So, if you're at work at the lab, stocking the back room at American Apparel, planning your 'Givens day road trip music, playing bones in your back yard with your "posse," or you just bought one of those cool shower adapters for your ipod, put us on, share us with your friends, 

and we'll see you soon.

click to listen, download to enjoy.

>LEARNING SECRETS RADIO : EPISODE 5

 

PRINCE KLASSEN

cloudplums of marshed mellowness

One of my best buddies in the whole world, and one of the most inspirational dudes I know, is my main man, Prince Klassen. When he's behind the decks I just stand there in awe. The dude's DJ style is like watching butter melt in a heated skillet. Actually, homeboy's entire style is like butter, sweet sweet melting butter. 

He's been djing forever, we all know that, but he's had an amazing year this past year, and the rest of the country is starting to see just how crispy fresh big PK is, and I cant wait to see where he ends up. 

Yesterday he sent me a link to his new mix, and it's a beautiful compilation of tracks that make him feel all fall-like deep inside his plaid button down. He made the mix for a new blog that he is a contributor to called cloudplum which is becoming a new favorite blog of mine. 

Curated by Elaine Lee, cloudplum focuses heavily on design with little hints of music, and food wafting in and out.  Lee just made the move up to NYC, so if you live up there, keep your eye out for her. 

Peep the mix, its a great listen while you work sort of thing.

Click to listen, Download to enjoy!

Prince Klassen - Fall Mix

TRACKLIST

Shuta Hasunuma - Return of the Bamboo
Harmonia - Ahoi!
Chessie - Take The Lark
Koushik - Welcome
Mos Def - May-December
Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf - Apple Juice Break
Stereolab - Self Portrait with Electric Brain
Neu! - Isi
Yo La Tengo - Our Way to Fall
Beach House - Gila
Hauschka - Kotoba Naku
Feist - The Water
Arthur Russell - Losing my Taste for the Night Life

A NEW DAWN?
the only thing you need to do today...

Please choose wisely. 

BROWNOUT

turning blue and red states brown

So, raise your hand if you're nervous as hell about tomorrow. Its a big one, (duh!) so you need to seriously go VOTE if you haven't yet. Wait, I mean, you have to go vote for Obama tomorrow seriously. 

But enough of that, right now we need to discuss tonight's amazing party at La Zona Rosa, and it'll give me a few seconds to gush about one of the bands that we love and are proud to say we work with. 

First, the party...

The Travis County Democratic Party has put together an outstanding line up tonight. Brownout, James McMurtry, and Sharon Jones and Dap Kings!

They just moved the party to La Zona Rosa, which should be good.

Doors at 7, if you're VIP come at 5:30.

Second, Brownout...

There are very few things that are actually cool. Not like trendy dance music cool, not like the newest limited Vans New Era cool, not like 7th and Red River cool, not like being 17 and getting into the Beauty Bar cool, and not fixed gear cool. I'm talking about Miles Davis cool, Jean-Paul Belmondo in Breathless cool, double necked electric guitar cool, Cliff Burton cool. 

Brownout is straight up on that tip, actually, anything Adrian Quesada (check his other projects Grupo Fantasma & Ocote Soul Sounds) touches is on that tip. 

They put out their latest full length, Homenaje, earlier this year, and it is outstanding. Front to back face melting latin funk. Heavy horns, deep grooves, crunchy Rhodes.  Definitely on the Top 10 of 2008. 

Here's one of my favorite tracks from the album, Laredo 77, god that horn line...

Click to download, Listen to enjoy, and as always Support the artists and go buy the record! It's on vinyl ya'll...

>BROWNOUT - Laredo 77

LEARNING SECRETS PARTY RETURNS

Skulls and Roses and Dead things oh my

Right, i understand its been a little over week since the last time we posted anything, and I am truly honestly sorry about that. However, we've been busy, and to ya'lls benefit, but more on that in a few weeks time.

The current issue at hand is this Saturday's LS party.

Tonight may be the devil's birthday, as well as my father's birthday (no correlation there i promise), and it's also the 13th anniversary of me losing my virginity, no joke...but the real party starts tomorrow when we celebrate the day of the dead!

We're coming back to the Beauty Bar after having spent much of September and October away. We're super super excited about this party's line up so we hope you can all make it out.

Many Birthdays and Grassfight ( Denton ) open things up (i've posted a track from each below)
Ramesh from Voxtrot will be joining me on the ones and twos, and most importantly....
COME IN SKULL FACE MAKE UP OR DRESSED AS A SKELETON AND GET IN FOR A $1!!!!

Open your mind and your feet will follow people
REAL.DANCE.MUSIC.

Here are some tracks from Many Birthdays and Grassfight, as well as a few things i've been feeling lately and will probably play out. 

Click to listen, Download to enjoy, and Support these artists buy actually buying their music. 

>MANY BIRTHDAYS - Black Crow ( Remix)

>GRASSFIGHT - When Everythings Alright

And I expect to see ya'll going nuts to these...

Moments I love of this first track which, is the Mungolian Jet Set remix of " A New Chance " off of the samely named Tough Alliance full length out on Modular, are minute marks 2:30 to 3:40, then when the vocals kick in around 4:11. Pure Butters Yo! 

>TOUGH ALLIANCE - A New Chance ( Mongolian Jet Set Remix)

It's no secret that i'm a huge huge huge fan of bands like Tough Alliance, there's something about the air in Sweden that just makes their pop music so perfect. If you're a fan of Tough Alliance then you should check out bands like Embassy , Air France, Radio Dept., and The Legends. 

I mean seriously, peep this video for the track, it's just two super hot Swedish dudes ( Tough Alliance I believe) sharing a scooter ride around Sweden...makes you kind of hungry don't it?

Next up we have a massive Euro-Disco floor stomper!! I played this at Studio B this past weekend at it is insane when played loud, i cant wait to play it for ya'll on Saturday.

Its by 202 Machine, it is called "Rock Your Body," it came out on the Fire Sign LTD Label back in 1980, and it bangs!

>202 MACHINE - Rock Your Body

And away we go...

FIXED 

4 Years and Glowing

This Saturday night I'll be opening up for my buddies JDH and Dave P's party here in NYC called Fixed. It's their 4 year anniversary, and I can honestly say that its truly one of my favorite parties in NYC. I am sure I may be going out on a limb here, but it feels right to say, so i'm gonna say it. I think Fixed might be the closest thing to an OPTIMO in the states at the moment, just as far as their music policy goes. Of course I'm being absurd because there are parties like Dave P's Making Time in Philly, Eamon Harkin's Fun in NYC,  The new DFA night at Santos Party House, and um, this party in Austin called Learning Secrets, and a slew of others I'm not mentioning, but every time I've been to Fixed I leave with the same feeling I get when I leave OPTIMO. 

Regardless, Saturday is going to be totally bonkers insane. Who Made Who is playing live! I honestly thought I was never going to get to see them, they're one of my favorites and were an LS stable back during the Whisky Bar days.Tiga is DJing for something like 3 hours...and the dance floor stays open till 5 a.m.

So, if you're in NYC I hope you can make it out.

Here's one of my favorite tracks off of Who Made Who's amazing self titled debut album off the Gomma label, which came out in 2005. Their follow up called The Plot is coming out in February.

Please support them, if you like the track, hunt down the full length and buy it! 

Click to listen, download to enjoy, and buy the album if you find it!

Who Made Who - Out The Door

BROWNOUT

Journey to center of the Latin Funk

Once I get back from this NYC trip I'm going to be doing a big post on three of our power house bands, Brownout, Grupo Fantasma, and Ocote Soul Sounds, however, since I dont have the tracks I need on this computer thats gonna have to wait a few more days...

What I can tell you about, and recommend you do with part of your Friday night is get your white ass over to Lambert's to catch Brownout rip it up on the best sound system and the smallest stage in Austin. 

Eleven dudes, one tiny stage, a lot of sweating and dancing, and the finest Latin Funk.

For fans of Budos Bands, Mulatu Astatque, deep grooves, and thick bass.

Shriekback

My spine is the bass line indeed

This little 12" here has been one of my favorites to sneak into sets since Learning Secrets first started. The massive A side, "My Spine is the Bass Line" is a tasty slab of funked up post punk, and thats all well and good, but its the track on the flip side that makes me freak out. 

From the first second I heard "Accretions" I felt at home. Its has the huge driving, thumping bass that I love, a drum line that seems to shuffle and stutter simultaneously, and dont even get me started on the creepy vocals. God, its like butter.  Seeing somebody on the floor, that knows this song, dance to it is one of the best feelings ever. It's one of those tracks that you just have to trust your body to.

But lets take a step back here for a second.

Who the hell is Shriekback, you may be asking me right now.

Well buddies, you take Dave Allen ( the bass player from Gang Of Four), Barry Andrews ( of XTC and League of Gentlemen) and Carl Marsh ( from the little known Out On Blue Six), stir it in a pot with the A Certain Ratio, New Order, and Depeche Mode, and essentially make yourself a tiny super group circa 1982 / 83, though they're still kicking it live and well.

 

So, now that you know, lets go crazy!

click to listen, download to enjoy, and please buy the 12" if you see it. 

Shriekback -- Accretions

THE ANTLERS

Sonic Road Warriors Blissing Out The Nation!

We're super super excited to be able to work with The Antlers. They've got some really amazingly huge things out there on the horizon, and for the past few weeks they've been ripping up parts of the midwest, south, and east coast on their current tour which has them road testing songs off their recently finished epic new album Hospice. Seriously ya'll, it's epic, we can't stop listening to it! 

There's sadly no release date, but the band is in label talks at the moment.

We do however have an mp3 of "Two" off the new album for you, after their tour dates below.

Fans of Shearwater, Slowdive, Cocteau Twins, and the like should take note!

Perfect fall / winter music. 

 Their tour is wrapping up in the next few days, 

Tonight sees them in Harrisonburg,VA playing at Clementine w/ Pattern Is the Movement

10/16 @ The Fire - Philly, PA

10/18 @ Slainte - Portland, ME

10/21 @ Cakeshop - NYC ( CMJ Day show )

The Antlers - Two

Well, we fell off the boat and landed on the bandwagon. 

And now, 4 years and 10 months into Learning Secrets 

we finally decided to start a blog. 

Now it's mostly due to the fact that our website is still under

construction, and man is it looking sweet, a big thanks

to Sarah Hood for helping with that. 

Jeramy and I also felt that having a blog would allow us 

to keep ya'll up to date on LS news about our parties,

our artists, and our dj gigs outside of Austin.

We'll also be posting mixes, podcasts, flyers and

just general tom foolery that is getting our rocks off at the moment.

That being said...

I'll be heading up to NYC on the 21st of this month for CMJ. JDH and Dave P

invited me to come open the 4 year anniversary of their amazing and legendary

FIXED party on October 25th, which has still left me totally speechless. 

Its gonna be an insane night for sure. 

First off, its FIXED so you know it's going to be 100% fun,

Second off, Who Made Who is playing live...Who Made Who!!! 

Third off, um...Tiga is headlining. 

wait wait...TIGA IS HEADLINING!!!!! 

After that, on November 1st, Learning Secrets will be making its return

to Beauty Bar after having taken most of October off to focus on 

company stuff...

We're super excited about this month's party!

Ramesh from Voxtrot will be joining me on the decks,

and Many Birthdays and Denton's Grassfight will be starting 

off the night.

On top of that there'll be a TV crew there from ABC filming the party for

a story they're doing about Learning Secrets for ABC on Campus.

Last but not least...and perhaps the biggest news of all.

I finally made a new mix.

However, this is a bit different in that its not a mix of disco oddities, 

or club bangers. Here we have the first in a series of chilled out, slow-mo,

lying in bed staring out the window jams.

Ladys and Gentlemen...

The Keep It In The Sheets Mix. 

click to listen, download to enjoy.