ineedsugar;

He said / she said / they said; Item 7

Lee — 2010-02-13 21:02:00.0

"Twenty may not be the start of maturity but, in all conscience, it's the end of youth."

HaiHaiTO benefit for Haiti, live set from 2010.02.11

Lee — 2010-02-12 14:54:00.0

The HaiHaiTO benefit was Feb 11, 2010 at the Courthouse in Toronto. The evening contributed to over $22,000 being raised in support of ongoing Haiti relief and rebuilding. I played for an hour, including some Haitian music and hip hop. Here's the entirety of the more uptempo vibes from yesterday's live recording.

Download HaiHaiTO Miniset by Nathan Lee

Track list:
U2 - Magnificent (Fred Falke Full Edit Remix) 2009
Pnau - With You Forever 2007
La Roux - In For The Kill (Lifelike Remix) 2009
The Knife - You Take My Breath Away featuring Jenny Wilson (Manhattan Clique Remix) 2005
Kl�der & Vapen - What Have I Done featuring Anna Ternheim (Extended Mix) 2009
The Black Ghosts - Any Way You Choose To Give It (Extended Version) 2007
The Sounds - Tony The Beat 2006

Top 50 Tracks of the Naughties, 26 through 30

Lee — 2010-02-10 22:55:00.0

Continuing the decade review, tracks 26 through 30.

Naughties.30 Interpol - Obstacle 1 Just two years after the Strokes, along came Interpol, a little more polished, a little more tension. Good times.

Naughties.29 Revl9n - Someone Like You Dirty sexy Swedish dance rock. A 2001/2002 song that didn't see wide release until 2006 and has been in heavy sugar rotation since.

Naughties.28 Radiohead - There There (The Boney King of Nowhere) Radiohead returned to their rock roots for the majority of Hail to the Thief, with perhaps more sonic depth than previous rock pursuits.

Naughties.27 Fever Ray - When I Grow Up (D Lissvik Remix) This D Lissvik remix of When I Grow Up adds layers of joy to the original. A great vibe from '09.

Naughties.26 Memory Tapes - Bicycle A great story of adolescent dreams. Vivid lyrics. Beautiful melody. It really does get better with every listen.

Top 50 Tracks of the Naughties, 31 through 35

Lee — 2010-02-06 01:08:00.0

Continuing the decade review, tracks 31 through 35.

Naughties.35 Santogold - Shove It This is one of those tracks that so completely transcends mainstream Hip Hop I just don't get how anybody can enjoy that overproduced pap.

Naughties.34 The Strokes - Last Night Oh 2000, we remember you for your garage rock revival, all that talk about yellow, and that pre-9/11 bubble.

Naughties.33 Golden Boy with Miss Kittin - 1234 The best pop song from a top album of the decade. Maybe you can convince me Rippin Kittin is better, but this is a lot more fun. From 2002.

Naughties.32 The Streets - Weak Become Heroes (R�yksopp's Memory Lane Mix) While the original has a decent UK garage vibe, R�yksopp's remix is a perfect early 2000's summer fresh progressive vibe. "All of life's problems, I just shake off." From 2002.

Naughties.31 CSS - Fuck Off Is Not The Only Thing You Have To Show Cansei De Ser Sexy's debut was a revelation. And Fuck Off Is Not The Only Thing You Have To Show epitomizes their dance rock team dream. From 2005.

He said / she said / they said; Item 6

Lee — 2010-02-05 22:19:00.0

"I was really sincerely keeping lust out of my mind by main force and gritting of my teeth. And the best way was to keep my eyes closed."

Dance Baby Dance, a new People Downtown podcast.

Lee — 2010-02-01 22:31:00.0

Dance Baby Dance recorded Feb 1, 2010. Booty shaking good vibes.

Download: Dance Baby Dance by Nathan Lee

Tracklist:
01 Abonn� - Voodoo Child (Art Bleeks Sunny Redub) 2008
02 Sade - By Your Side (Ben Watt Lazy Dog Remix) 2001
03 Manuel De La Mare - Born Slippy (MDLM Mix) 2008
04 Deep Dish - Dreams featuring Stevie Nicks (Extended Club Mix) 2006
05 Oxia - Whole Life (Part 1) 2009
06 Kaiserdisco - Chordalia 2010
07 Oxia - Whole Life (Part 2) 2009
08 Jay Bliss - Diffuse 2009
09 Ray Okpara - Brainows featuring Nikki 2010
10 Trentem�ller - Charge 2005
11 Kasper Bj�rke - Alcatraz (Kenton Slash Demon Remix) 2010
12 The Clover - Love In Da Wood 2009
13 And.Id - First Talk 2009
14 Hatiras - Your Love 2009
15 Massimo Di Lena - Delirious 2009
16 Rusty James - Stop Lying 2010
17 David West & Inkfish - Ghetto Feel 2010
18 Rondenion - Sun Glare 2009

Top 50 Tracks of the Naughties, 36 through 40

Lee — 2010-01-29 22:07:00.0

Continuing the decade review, tracks 36 through 40.

Naughties.40 The Postal Service - Such Great Heights (John Tejada Remix) John Tejada was prolific throughout the decade, but nothing compares to his remix of Such Great Heights. So subtle, it draws you right in. The original sounds like happy hardcore after hearing this version. From 2003.

Naughties.39 The Kooks - Sofa Song The punchiest, danciest, singalongiest acoustic song of the decade. Just plain fun. From 2005.

Naughties.38 Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye (Curtis Vodka Edit) Curtis Vodka tossed out a whole whack of bootleg mixes on his MySpace page back in the day, this was the best of the lot. The added kick and percussion ups the intensity of the original and makes for great dance floor fodder. From 2007.

Naughties.37 Deep Dish - Dreams featuring Stevie Nicks Kindly reviving one of the great tracks of the 70's and having Stevie Nicks sing on it, no less. (There's a great story behind that, too.) This song was great even before 2006's Montreal club excursion, but hearing this on a big room system at 4:00a. Epic!

Naughties.36 Underworld - Dinosaur Adventure 3D (Funk D'Void Vocal Remix) Funk D'Void's remix warms up Underworld's banging techno track, opting to focus on synths over the heavy bass line of the original. A top progressive vibe. From 2002.

Top 50 Tracks of the Naughties, 41 through 45

Lee — 2010-01-28 00:27:00.0

Continuing the decade review, tracks 41 through 45.

Naughties.45 Pearl Jam - Sad Every once in a while Pearl Jam remember what it is to rock with conviction. From 2000, their best song about lost love since Black.

Naughties.44 Miike Snow - Animal Can't say enough about Miike Snow's Animal. Rhythm, melody and melancholy. Simple but precious pop song. From 2009.

Naughties.43 Bent - Waiting For You featuring Simon Lord (Danny Howells Remix) Simon Lord followed 2006's massive Simian success by collaborating with Groove Armada and Bent in '07. Danny Howell's epic remix of Bent's Waiting for You was a nice precursor to the Black Ghosts and, along with Groove Armada's The Things That We Could Share, really cemented Simon Lord as the king of earnest dance rock vocals.

Naughties.42 Ida Maria - Going to Hell Singing along to damnation never felt so right. Inexplicably not included on her album release, Ida Maria's chant friendly Going to Hell. From 2007.

Naughties.41 Babak Shayan - Flowers Warm and soulful with a light vocal mid-track pause. Good late night vibe and great loud. Deep house at it's finest. From 2004.

Top 50 Tracks of the Naughties, 46 through 50.

Lee — 2010-01-27 10:41:00.0

The first decade of the new millennium was a great decade for music, as noted in this article on my personal blog which was inspired by Street Boner's 90s lament." So, what better way to celebrate this much improved decade than by counting down I Need Sugar's best.

Starting with number 50 and working our way up. Here we go!

50. Underworld - Trim "Sugar. Sugar. Clear your mind. Leave it all behind." Nice vocal synth pop off Underworld's underrated 2002 release.

49. Ada - Maps (Michael Mayer & Tobias Thomas Mix) Before my '06/07 infatuation with Yeah Yeah Yeahs there was Michael Myer's remix of Ada's Maps cover. Glorious DJ track from 2005.

48. Cut Copy - Future Marks the early 2000's punchy crossover tracks and a sign of things to come from Australia. Sounds even better sped up. From 2004.

47. The Organ - I Am Not Surprised The Organ's stoic live shows came to an end following their Drake underground European sendoff. They'll be missed.

46. Kings of Convenience - Scars on Land Decade long folk kings, KoC channeled the best of Simon and Garfunkel but were always at their best when they played to their own rhythm.

Painting to modeling, nightlife to lightlife.

Lee — 2010-01-20 14:00:00.0

Born in Helsinki, Reka Nyari has had a circuitous journey through the northern hemisphere. Originally landing in NYC to dedicate herself to painting at the School of Visual Arts, she increasingly found herself drawn to photography throughout her post-graduate time modeling throughout Europe and Asia before heading back to NYC. Beginning with post night life point and shoot self portraits, you can see her growth as a photographer browsing through her flickr stream. And it's these original self portraits that prompted this article.

The Artists Wanted Power of Self image competition concludes this week. A panel of judges including Steve Buscemi, Chris Weitz, Guggenheim curator Helen Hsu and Flavorpill founder Sascha Lewis will award one artist six months of free living at The Edge in New York City, while the top public vote getter will be awarded $1000. Reka's Self Image series consists of these original black and white night life photos. Have a look at Reka's great photography here, then browse to her Artists Wanted page to vote for her.

Reka's Artists Wanted page.

Reka's flickr.

Reka's website.