For the coming weeks we’ve extremely lowered the prices for the Kool Shop!
Check the prices out below.
If you’re from outside The Netherlands and you’d like to order something, please contact us at: contact@thekoolkids.com

Boys Noize Limited Editon: €12,- €10,-
Jan Driver Limited Edition: €15,- €12,-

Jan Driver: €15,- €12,-

Justice Limited Edition: €22,- €18,-

Justice Limited Edition: €12,- €10,-

Spank Rock: €15,- €12,-

ZZT: €15,- €12,-

And last but not least we’re selling our limited edition KOOL Shirts!
American Apparel, Unisex, comes in size S, M or L.

KOOL Shirt: €15,-

Justice are, after Daft Punk, one of the most influential acts in Electro. It all started in 2003, in Paris…

Justice first produced tracks together for Musclorvision’s “Hits Up To You,” a concept compilation where tracks were designed to sound like they were meant for the Eurovision song contest. The compilation included two of their songs, and a track by Gaspard Augé’s alter-ego Microloisir.

On April 4th 2011 Justice released “Civilization”, the first single off their upcoming album “Audio Video Disco”. The song has also been featured as the soundtrack to a new Adidas campaign spearheaded by French director Romain Gavras, with whom Justice has worked in the past. On October 24th 2011, the second album was released. They described their album like “a progressive rock record, played by guys that don’t know how to play”. For this album, the duo played every instrument on their own and no samples were made. On 6 September 2011, a music video for the single “Audio Video Disco” was released. The video features Xavier and Gaspard in a studio setting, and details the lengthy, rock n’ roll style recording process that was experienced in making the single, and album. Within the clip various instruments are seen: an electric guitar, a piano, and a drum kit, standing as the quite literal symbols for the Justice progression into a more rocky, less electronic sound. The second album is quite different from the first one, but very unique. The Parisian duo has adopted the brash sounds of late-1970s progressive rock, like bands such as Queen, Led Zeppelin and Yes.

The crusade continues

Now Justice is on their second Live World Tour. Will it be as intense as their first one? Will the band continue leading the top of Electro music, creating a perfect collision between rock and dance? Tomorrow the band will be playing at Paradiso, Amsterdam, as part of their World Tour. The crusade continues…

Order now on The Kool Kids:
Justice – Audio Video Disco (Limited 2LP + CD) for only €22,-
Justice – Audio Video Disco (Limited EP) for only €12,-

It’s accessible by clicking on “SHOP” at the top of the site.
The link is: http://thekoolkidsshop.com

Soon in the shop: The Kool Kids Shirts!

Products that are available:

Boys Noize – The Sessions, Pt. 1

Jan Driver – Amatilda (2LP & CD)

Justice – Audio, Video Disco (Limited version, 2LP + CD)

Justice – Audio, Video, Disco Limited EP + Download Card

Spank Rock – Everything Is Boring And Everyone Is A F_Cking Liar CD

ZZT – Partys Over Earth CD

It’s most likely known to you that Justice is releasing its second album tomorrow, October 24th. It features guest vocalists Ali Love, Diamond Nights’ singer Morgan Phalen and Vincenzi Vendetta, who is part of the Midnight Juggernauts. You can order the LP (including bonus CD) very soon at our store!
Now you can check out all the songs below! Tell us what you think about it at comments, as we’re eager to hear your opinion.

Also check out this short interview NME did with the lads (well, Xavier is the only one talking).

Check interview here.

Nu Rocker, one half of The Kool Kids, has released his latest mixtape containing “Strictly Electro & Techno”. It features some of the latest works of the top notch producers in the Electro and Techno scene, as well as some classics. Nuff said, have fun listening and downloading!

If you would like to contact Nu Rocker, you can do so at: thenurocker@gmail.com

Nu Rocker – Strictly Electro & Techno Mixtape by Nu Rocker

Tracklist:
1. Jan Driver – 2013
2. ZZT – Vulkan Alarm (Jan Driver Remix)
3. Audionite – Kling Klong
4. Gesaffelstein – Viol
5. Lutzenkirchen – Daily Disco (Boys Noize & DIM Remix)
6. Jan Driver – Raveyard
7. Bart B More & Harvard Bass – The Dark One
8. Baskerville – Leecher
9. Simian Mobile Disco – Audacity of Huge
10. Mord Fustang – Magic Trooper
11. Boys Noize – Kontact Me (Rhynecologist Remix)
12. Justice – Audio, Video, Disco (Para One Remix)
13. Kolt13 – Pussy Of Glass
14. MMM – Nous Sommes MMM
15. Green Velvet – Flash
16. Daft Punk – Drive (Unreleased 1994)
17. MMM – Donna
18. Zombie Nation – Tight
29. The Rapture – How Deep Is Your Love (A-Trak Remix)
20. Boys Noize – Adonis
21. DJ Mehdi – Signatune (Thomas Bangalter Edit)

New tracks of the new Justice album “Audio, Video, Disco” have been leaked! You can check them out below! Rock on guys ‘n gals!

Check out the tracks Helix, Newlands and Canon below:

Justice – Helix by Stop The Noise

Justice – Newlands by Stop The Noise

Justice – Canon by Stop The Noise

Ok, so the track “Audio, Video, Disco” from the same-titled album by Justice apparently has been leaked. The album will be out on October 25th. Our opinion is: We quite like the track. The vocals are quite catchy, not in a cheesy way, the piano synths and bass synths are quite nice, though the tracks isn’t really exciting in a way like the “Cross” album and we would have expect more from the drums. What is your opinion?

UPDATE:

Here’s the official video!

Justice – AUDIO, VIDEO, DISCO. door justice

Ed Banger Records has given us a peak of what they have in store for the fall. Mr. Oizo has a new album coming out. Of course you can also expect the new album from Justice coming out.

On the mix you will be able to hear a preview of Justice – Helix and a remix by Para One of Justice’s “Audio, Video, Disco”. According to the previews and the youtube links, both tracks sound promosing and we can’t wait until the album comes out. From Mr. Oizo’s upcoming album you can hear a preview of his track “Douche Beat”. The name actually says it all and it really entails that Oizo vibe which you can obviously hear in the track too. Last but not least Skrillex will make his first appearances on the Ed Banger label, as he’s done a remix of SebastiAn - Love in Motion. The track really stands out, not particularly in a good way, but most certainly because it’s very different compared to the other tracks. We’re curious what kind of vibe the actual release will give.

Check out the mix, done by Busy P, below.

Tracklist:
MICKEY MOONLIGHT “Welcome Aboard”
DSL “Supalove”
KRAZY BALDHEAD “Surabaya Girl”
SEBASTIAN feat Mayer Hawthorne “Love in Motion” Skrillex’s funkt-out mix
JUSTICE “Helix”
MICKEY MOONLIGHT “Close to Everything”
MICKEY MOONLIGHT “Close to Everything” The Martin Brothers remix
MR OIZO “Douche Beat”
JUSTICE “Audio, Video, Disco” Para One remix

Source: Pitchfork

Justice are back. After four years the band is finally releasing its second album called “Audio, Video, Disco”. And it appears to be that they’re more rock & roll than ever.

The ensuing album, 2007′s †, was equally huge, but it also brought up a conundrum: How do you follow up something so unabashedly big? Four years later, we finally found out with Audio, Video, Disco– due October 25 on Ed Banger/Because/Elektra– an album that filters 1970s arena rock and prog through Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay’s sledgehammering electro style. From “Parade”, which nicks Queen’s “We Will Rock You” hand-clap beat, to the Eagles-y loop and harmonies that run through “Ohio”, to the prog-like “Canon”, which recalls the swirling solos of Yes, the record plays like an animatronic amalgam of every band that caused people to raise their fists in the 70s. The album also features guest vocals from Diamond Nights’ Morgan Phalen, Vincenzi Vendetta of Midnight Juggernauts, and UK singer Ali Love on first single “Civilization”.

Last week, Pitchfork chatted with de Rosnay via instant messenger. He talked about Justice’s new sound, the album’s arduous construction, and why triple-necked guitars freak him out.

Pitchfork: Audio, Video, Disco is more a lot more rock-oriented than your debut, and some tracks sound like the work of a band. Are you guys putting a group of live players together for your tour?
Xavier de Rosnay: No. Although the record sounds a bit band-y, it’s mainly electronic– we wanna keep an electronic aesthetic because we like the way it sounds and it’s more practical for us. We are not good enough instrumentalists, and the fact that we don’t perform all of this live keeps it on the good side. We played everything on the album ourselves, but it took a long time to make it because we are not good players. And if it was played by real musicians, some of the songs would probably be a bit too “shred.”

We wrote all the songs in a really simple shape, with just piano and guitar for example, and then we would record it bit by bit. Some live drums were played just to find a good pattern, and then we’d decompose it. Then we would reprogram it. That’s why it took a lot of time; it was really an ant’s job. But live drums are too hard to record, so we chose the simple way.

“We played everything on the album ourselves, but it took a long time to make it because we are not good players.”

Pitchfork: That actually sounds harder than just recording live drums!
XR: Ha, yes! It took longer, but it was definitely easier ’cause it required no special ability, just patience. It was important to us that this record sounded laid-back and homemade, even moreso since we knew some bits would be shred-y.

Pitchfork: By the way, have you seen those “shred” videos on YouTube where they overdub really terrible guitar solos over a video of, like, Van Halen?
XR: Yes, they’re amazing. I recently saw one of Steve Vai playing on a three-neck guitar (below). That’s a really good example of something that freaks me out– a guy who knows how to play guitar so well that he needs three necks. Guitar players we like– Jack White, or the guitarists in Phoenix and the Strokes– don’t necessarily play like guitarists. None of them play a three-neck Ibanez and solos that go at 296 bpm.

Pitchfork: How long did it take you to make this album?
XR: It took us a year and a half. We spent the six first months just setting up the studio in a flat in north Paris. It was important to us because the way the studio looks and the type of equipment you use is a great parameter of psychological conditioning. Also, we don’t know much about studio gear, to be honest, and we are not good technicians, so it took us a lot of time to test things until we found something that would allow us to achieve what we had in mind for this record.

“It’s too hard to think about what is cool and uncool, and it can be alienating, so we don’t think about it too much.”

Pitchfork: Did you have any pictures hanging up in the studio?
XR: We had a painting of [King Tut] that we bought in a NYC antique shop. It was apparently showed in the MoMA in the 70s for one week and got taken out by public request ’cause it was too badly done.

Pitchfork: Do you feel an artistic kinship with that painting?
XR: Absolutely. We’re not always fond of well-painted paintings, and same goes with music. We make music without knowing much about the real process of writing or recording, and that makes us do things that are not logical or well-done in a strict technical way. That’s the beauty of making music in 2011.

Pitchfork: That’s funny because some of the album sounds like 70s arena rock, which is known for its technical proficiency.
XR: We do music in a really naive way. This album is like a prog record in acceptable proportions because everything ends up being more simple, partly due to our limitations as musicians; we like simple music that provides simple emotions. The problem with virtuosity and shredding is that it often goes against plain emotions. We never listen to music for the technical qualities of it.

Pitchfork: Is there a prog album that you feel is also strong emotionally?
XR: Everybody has a different definition of prog, but if we say prog according to the means and techniques a period provides, then Revolver by the Beatles is a great prog album.

“We would finish something and think it sounded very much like the Eagles. But you can’t really fight against your musical upbringing. It shouldn’t be kept in the closet.”

Pitchfork: What you guys do sometimes seems to be arch or sarcastic– were you poking fun at 70s arena rock and prog with this album at all?
XR: No, we do everything very honestly and naively. Sorry, did it sound sarcastic to you?

Pitchfork: Not necessarily, but that style is sort of out of fashion now.
XR: Is it? To be honest, we have no idea what is in fashion or not, and it’s not really a concern to us; it’s too hard to think about what is cool and uncool, and it can be alienating, so we don’t think about it too much. We have really simple tastes in music, so we reassure ourselves by thinking: “If we honestly like it, other people might like it.” That’s the problem with joke references, you end up not knowing if it was made for fun or because it’s actually good.

Pitchfork: Some of the new songs reminded me of the Eagles a bit, too.
XR: We are constantly influenced by millions of things, and it’s true that sometimes we would finish something and think it sounded very much like the Eagles. You can’t really fight against your musical upbringing. All those things end up coming out in bits of music or artwork or even the way you think about or listen to music. It shouldn’t be kept in the closet.

“We don’t try to be arty, just entertaining.”

Pitchfork: Did you have a eureka moment as far as creating this new sound?
XR: We made a track for a Dior show in 2008 that was called “Planisphere”. It was 18 minutes, and the first track we made since the first album. (Listen to “Planisphere” here.) We did it really freely in terms of structures and changes, and it was really pleasing, so we kept a bit of the same direction for the new album, but with shorter songs. This new album doesn’t use too many technical tricks, we found other ways of getting though a four-minute song and keeping it exciting to us– doing radical changes of tempo and keys from one part to another instead of filtering a section, for instance.

Pitchfork: Were you ever tempted to make this album more dance-y, like the first one?
XR: The first album wasn’t really meant to be dance-oriented; we were just trying to make some sort of pop music. I never heard any of the original tracks from the first album in a club. Also, we are not fond of live dance aesthetics like lasers and screens, so we use plainer visual tricks in our shows.

“We don’t want to give [the cross logo] up yet. It’d be like if we were the Police and Sting left and was replaced by some other bloke– it would be a shame.”

Pitchfork: Generally, do you consider Justice more of an art project or a pop thing that’s trying to reach as many people as possible?
XR: We don’t try to be arty, just entertaining. We always hope that music will reach a lot of people, but we don’t run after touching as many people as possible– just because we have no idea what to do to reach people. Things that are successful, especially now, are an absolute mystery to us.

Pitchfork: Are you still going with the cross imagery for this album or do you have a new logo?
XR: We still use the cross but in a different environment and a different way. We don’t want to give it up yet. It’d be like if we were the Police and Sting left and was replaced by some other bloke – it would be a shame.

The guys from Justice are back. And so far things sound as promising as the Cross album.
Here’s a 2 minutes radio rip from the Adidas commercial:

The single “Civilization” of the upcoming album will be released on April 4th and this is quite likely going to be a hit.