Vote for Baron von Luxxury in the URB Magazine Next 1000 !
Blake Robin’s great grandfather was the music director of the Russian army.
Now, using the fake name Baron von Luxxury, he continues the family tradition
in a slightly less violent fashion: sending disco troops to battle on the dancefloor.
Baron von Luxxury wears many hats. Like fellow multiplatform multitaskers James Murphy (DFA/LCD Soundsystem) and, hell, Timbaland, he’s a songwriter, performer, and
producer, not to mention a DJ and label owner. As singer/producer/songwriter
for San Francisco’s electropop/indie darlings Luxxury, he concocts shiny, sexy
sonic cocktails combining the modern electro sounds of MSTRKRFT and Daft
Punk with the classic pop/rock sounds of New Order, ELO and Devo.
Luxxury's debut album "Rock and Roll is Evil" employs 1980's influenced dance
beats, synths, heroic guitars and sardonic lyrics to chronicle the rise and fall of
legendary 70's Sunset Strip groupie Sable Starr. The album, recorded and mixed
in Berlin, Los Angeles, Brooklyn and San Francisco, features an original cover by
internationally renowned artist Jeremy Blake (Beck's "Sea Change"). Released in
late 2006 on von Luxxury’s own Nolita label, it was quickly hailed as a futureretro
classic:
"Lethally addictive. Throbbing, yet controlled euphoria." - URB
"Dance-rock-disco-electro goodness. Luxxury is a gem." - Big Stereo
"Unbelievably addictive. Disco fury. Dazzling!" - Subba Cultcha
"Sexxed up shiny new wave electro goodness you can go absolutely crazy to!" - Graffe Giraph
"Four and 1/2 stars. One of the finds of the year."- Synthpop.net
An album of remixes, “Sweet and Vicious†was released in Summer 2007
featuring re-imagined versions of Luxxury’s songs by an international roster of
up and coming producers from London to Toulouse, and from Brooklyn to
Hollywood. It quickly became a massive blog favorite with songs featured on
Big Stereo, PalmsOut, MissingToof, HateSomethingBeautiful, GraphGiraffe, La
New Shit and dozens more.
Luxxury has also been a favorite on radio, and TV. The song “Drunk†was
recently licensed for a national Pontiac commercial, while "Sweet and Vicious",
"Drunk", and "Sable Starr" have been heard on Live 105, XFM, Virgin Radio
London and KROQ.
As a producer, BvL’s remixes have included:
* Sunny Day Sets Fire: "Brainless (Baron von Luxxury's Disco-by-the-Sea Remix)†(February 2008, Iamsound)
* Robots in Disguise: "We’re In the Music Business (Baron von Luxxury Remix)†(February 2008, President Records)
* Robots in Disguise: "The Sex Has Made Me Stupid (Baron von Luxxury Remix)†(TBA, President Records)
* Glass Candy: "I Always Say Yes" (Baron von Luxxury's Space Invaders Remix)†(January 2008, RCRDLBL.com)
* CSS: "A la la (Baron von Luxxury's Lovefoxx + BVL = BFF Remix)†(October 2007, unofficial)
* Scissors for Lefty: "Ghetto Ways (Baron von Luxxury's Super Thanks for Asking Remix)†(August 2007, Eenie Meanie US, Rough Trade UK)
* Hilary Duff: "Stranger (Baron von Luxxury's Eyes of Laura Mars Remix)" (July 2007, almost accepted but ultimately rejected by Hollywood Records)
* Dirty Sanchez: "Really Rich Italian Satanists (Baron von Luxxury Remix)†(TBA)
* Luxxury: "Drunk (Lovesick Vocoders at Night Version)†(Nolita Records, May 2007)
* Luxxury: "Sweet and Vicious (Exxpensive Re-edit)†(RCRDLBL.com, November 2007)
You can download BvL's Hilary Duff remix at Big Stereo or Palmsout among others, check Baron von Luxxury's Myspace profile to hear and download all of the remixes.
"Anyone who could make Hillary Duff's puffy pop songs sound like edgy, lusty, club music must know how to mix a track. Von Luxxury creates lethally addictive electro-rock songs…and manages to splash a dance party into every note drawing inspiration from glam rock, disco, and pop. Luxxury's mash-ups of Scissors for Lefty and Dirty Sanchez's tracks show notable creativity and showcase his unique ability to find the gritty core of a song and shock it into throbbing, yet controlled euphoria." – URB
Like Justice, Simian Mobile Disco and Jamie Lidell, von Luxxury’s solo live performances blur the line between performance, live remixing and Djing. Playing solo with a stripped down setup of synths, laptop and vocoder, he performs Luxxury’s live songs and remixes as well as his remixes for other bands. Luxxury has also toured the US and UK as a 3 and 4 piece group, playing with bands such as Scissors for Lefty, Scanners and 80's legends ABC. In his DJ guise, BvL has DJ’d at some of the finest indie electro venues from SF to NYC, and is a member of The Workout, a DJ/production team that runs a daily updated MP3 blog at www.discoworkout.com .
What’s next for Baron von Luxxury? Having just signed a publishing deal with Razor and Tie, he is currently writing songs for some major international artists, all the while continuing to work on remixes, Djing, signing new artists to his label, and working on his debut solo album (tentatively titled “Baron von Luxxury is My Fake Name.â€) He has also just been signed to Downtown Records’ new imprint RCRD LBL, for whom he will be releasing an EP of material in 2008.
Nobody ever said being a Russian disco hustler was easy.
*****************The infamous, kitten-laden "Sweet and Vicious" video:Directed by Roderick Fenske. Shot on 16mm film in London September 2006.
PONTIAC AD FEATURING LUXXURY'S SONG "DRUNK"...AND MEGAN FOX:
NOW AVAILABLE: LUXXURY'S "SWEET AND VICIOUS: THE REMIXES"!
"A whole lotta dance-rock-disco-electro goodness...Luxxury is a gem!"
- Big Stereo
"Sexxed up shiny new wave electro goodness you can go absolutely crazy to!"
- Graffe Giraph
Learn more about the remixers and hear some of the songs at www.myspace.com/luxxuryremixes !
NOW AVAILABLE: LUXXURY'S FULL LENGTH DEBUT "ROCK AND ROLL (IS EVIL)"
"Unbelievably addictive...14 stunning electronica anthems of pure balls out disco fury...Studio 54 never had music this good...a dazzling album!"
- Subba Cultcha, London"Irresistible pop music on crack, an insistent beat that simply screams "dance, motherfucker!", like plush velvet on a comfy chaise lounge. This is filthy music, and it revels in depravity. Throb baby, throb!"
-Aiding and Abetting"Four and 1/2 stars. One of the finds of the year."
- Synthpop.net
*****
Vote for Baron von Luxxury in the URB Magazine Next 1000 !
