Italians Do It Better co-honcho Johnny Jewel hit a pop cultural sweet spot last year, making in-roads with the Gossling demo by landing one of his Chromatics tracks on the much-loved Drive OST. His stardusted and narcotic Italo production style seemed to influence a lot of that soundtrack; in fact, the lesser known and more recent Jewel vehicle, Desire, had a song on in it as well (“Under Your Spell”). Desire is Jewell with fellow Chromatic Nat Walker and vocalist Megan Louise, and here they are with the video for the glam electro-strut cut “Don’t Call.” It’s directed by Alberto Rossini, who recently helmed a clip for that other Jewell outlet, Glass Candy. All of which is to say, he stays busy. The song is old, but the video is new. The clip was filmed in Miami during a hurricane watch, if that affects your enjoyment any.

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Glass Candy’s hypnotic disco anthem “Warm In The Winter” gets a video, a cheerful tour doc awash in that Super 8 aesthetic. Alberto Rossini directs.

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Italians Do It in honor of John Carpenter. A message from Glass Candy:

Glass Candy’s sinister homage to the John Carpenter classic. A Candy coated gift for all the Ghouls & Goblins in Candyland. Trick Or Treat? Another teaser from ///BODY WORK///. Disorienting walls of synthesizers grasping for their last breath accompanied by Rossini’s most disturbing work to date. Unforgiving arpeggios slash at us like tiny knives in the darkest night, while Ida channels messages from a ouija board… “It’s Halloween For The Last Time”

You’ll recognize the eerie twinkle of Carpenter’s theme, and also Ida & Johnny going in on some chilly arpeggiated synth/coo styles. Add it to the Halloween Playlist, download here and watch its accompanying video below:

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Portland’s Glass Candy crafts warm, shimmering disco anthems and her latest EP, Warm In The Winter, showcases a pair of them with “Warm In The Winter” and “Beautiful Object.” There’s a lot to like here, but my favorite is definitely the spoken-word, cosmic/emotional breakdown mid-”Warm In The Winter.”

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In its sixth year, Fuck Yeah Fest had the explicit intention of benefitting California’s state parks, and implicit intention of scaring away media outlets afraid of things with “Fuck” in the title. (Well OK: this year did bring the family friendly name change to FYF Fest, which is pronounced Fuck Yeah Fest Fest I think.) For those who paid the $20 to Fuck it up at the LA State Historic Park on Saturday there was, fittingly, Fucked Up. There was also an eclectic lineup of hard-edged bands — everyone from Wavves to Black Lips, from Torche to Tim & Eric. (The Awesome Show Great Job dudes did a rare real music set with Tim on guitar/vocals and Eric on percussion/vocals. I wanna meet that, dad.) Angela Gail brings back some photos of the day, but if you weren’t there and want some pithy reviews, here’s the festival in haikus.

By Amrit Singh & Brandon Stosuy
The weather’s getting hotter by the day, but we refuse to cave: We arrived at the grounds when the sun was at its peak. Amrit’s given to wearing shorts at this point, but Brandon sticks by his Levi’s because pale white legs are no good in the Southern California desert, a land where men think nothing of attending festivals in speedos, you see more horrible back tattoos than anywhere else in the world, and dozens of ladies have clearly forgotten to wear pants. Yes, photos of these sorts of things to come. In the meantime, though, we saw more music. The bands always seem to wear more clothes than the crowds, especially in a year without Les Savy Fav.

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Microblogging service Twitter has signed up countless celebrities in recent months, and among them are some of our favorite musical artists: Trent Reznor! Colin Meloy! Ed Droste! Diddy! Stereogum Tweets too! But who can keep up with all that lunch eating? Most of us only have eight hours a day with which to procrastinate in the Twitterverse. That’s why every week Stereogum founder Scott Lapatine (@scottgum) will compile the best recent rock and pop star Tweets in this space. And by “best” we sometimes mean “worst.” And by “star” we rarely mean more than “professional musician” (or MC Hammer). In this inaugural column, covering the week of 3/16 more or less, a Fleet Fox quits smoking, Courtney Love goes off her meds, everyone and their mother goes to SXSW, and Ryan Adams hijacks his wife’s Twitter account. This will get #ugly.

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There’s lots of lakeside creepiness and quick cuts in the Johnny Jewel-directed video for Chromatics’ 2007 Night Drive instrumental, “Killing Spree.” YouTube — and our fine cinematic eyes — tell us the glossy footage was “shot on a Soviet Pentavax Cinemataire 12 mm camera” by the Glass Candy dude at an unknown location in summer ’07. Maybe it’s Portland? Italy? (That’s a joke.) Whatever the case, the ominous set-up stars Chromatics’ Ruth Radelet floating in a body of water — Spiderland-style — and one of those Husky dogs sniffing the water’s edge.

This is listed as the “censored version.” We see that dead hand at the end, but what happens in the uncensored take, Johnny?

In the past when we talk Italo-disco, we’re usually in the realm of Sally Shapiro … though she’s from Sweden. Ssion’s from Kansas City, and therefore not really any closer, but frontman Cody Critcheloe’s mustache looks pretty authentic. Plus, this remix Glass Candy do of Ssion’s “Clowns” has that icy hot dance feel we dig most about the After Dark realm (right, Italians Do It Better’s in Jersey City). You can hear the original “Clown” at Ssion’s MySpace, our preferred minimalist, moody spin right here.

Ssion – “Clowns (Glass Candy Remix)” (MP3)

I’m funny, too. Class Candy’s “Clown” re-icing will show up on a Sleazetone 12″ in February. As will the busier, bouncier Moves remix, which can be heard at MoveSpace (while you’re there, listen to the crazy “Real Talk” remix. Yo, R.).

Ssion’s Fool’s Gold is out 2/12 also on Sleazetone.

Glass Candy have recorded a rad cover of “Iko Iko.” Listen here. As of this post, it’s only been streamed 1,000 times so show GC some love. Any band that covers a tune from the Rain Man soundtrack is okay in my book. Er, blog.

Anyone who writes “I’m a good driver” in the comments gets banned! You can write about Wapner, though.