0 comments Monday, December 8, 2008

A slightly more polished and bleeped up remix by CSS. Featured recently, in the UK, on some advert for shoes recently - the brand I can't recall.

There are obvious visual similarities in the styles of these bands despite existing 20 years apart and both have that vibe of fun summer music - I guess a vibe that will be eternal.

Enjoy

B-52s - Funplex (CSS Remix)

0 comments Tuesday, October 21, 2008

I first heard John Matthias on Coldcut’s ‘Man in a Garage’, the standout single from the 2005’s fairly dull Sound Mirrors.

Evermore comes off his debut album ‘Stories from the Watercooler’, released on Ninjatune.

It’s a smouldering, lushly produced growling folksy tune that breaks beautifully into an uplifting falsetto chorus, something John proves adept at throughout the album. The somewhat sparse production deserves a big stereo/good earphones to appreciate the layers of echoing guitar and various electronic elements.

While the whole album can get a little rich and his attempt at what occasionally sounds like glam rock is a little abrasive – there are some brilliant moments alongside Evermore that make this a worthy purchase.

Mp3 John Matthias - Evermore

2 comments Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Brightblack Morning Light's new album Motion to Rejoin was released 23rd September on Matador and I'm very happy to make this my return to music blogging.

It's a difficult to define sound. Similar to Morphine in it's lack of extroverted instrumentation but dense and sweet at the same time. Some describe it as psychedelic folk, a description I like the sound of.

Brightblack Morning Light MP3 - Opressions Each
Available free via Matador.

BBML Interview in Rolling Stone

0 comments Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Something classic I may have recently heard on a Friends episode. Most of the Friends soundtrack was pretty crass, featuring the horrendous Hootie & The Blowfish and Barenaked Ladies. Even the great Grant Lee Buffalo contributed lame version of The Beach Boys - In My Room.


The Pretenders – Angel Of The Morning mp3

0 comments Monday, August 11, 2008

Emiliana Torrini hails from Reykjavik, Iceland. She's half Italian and now lives in England.


Me & Armini is the first release and title track to her new album, due for release in September. I've been listening to this for a month or so and the album appears to have been released digitally already.


Emiliana has been releasing music since 1994 in Iceland. She wrote Kylie Minogue's hit song 'Slow' in 2003.

Her music is quite different to Kylie's. Me & Armini is a sultry and intimate pop song. Her voice works beautifully with the lazy ska style guitar.





0 comments Sunday, August 10, 2008

Released in 2007 on their 7th album Moonshout album this tune brilliantly combines dancehall ragga and d&b styles with lushly produced backing vocals and guitars. The production seems to distinguish it from the more stripped back dub sound usually associated with dancehall. It would also fit just as well into a d&b with the song's high paced percussion. The rest of the album is less dancefloor oriented with an emphasis on the using combining many global styles of music.

Transglobal Underground are based in London and formed in 1991. They won best Club Global in the BBC's World Music Awards 2008.

Transglobal Underground - Dancehall Operator


Myspace

2 comments Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Fanboy/Fangirl - Scion Money

I’m not a US college, spring breaking, Miami Winter Music Conference attending hipster but I can appreciate this funny little namedropping song. There’s nothing musically exceptional about this but occasionally the lyrics of a song can be the sole hook.
The song covers a, presumably college, student’s spring break trip to the Miami Winter Music Conference. It’s a straight forward narrative of his trips to various parties and encounters with scene electronica DJs.

The funniest bits are the spoken verse descriptions of people like Tommy Sunshine that make them sound like mythical figures.
“The sun shone through his hair and he looked like Jeeesus”. Produced with an echo for added surreal effect.

Scion is a music label launched by Toyota, after the car of the same name. The Scion story is an interesting one, Toyota appear to be trying to break into the music industry by signing underground bands and creating a community around the concept. Supposedly it’s an altruistic project focussed on raising their stakes in the “pimp my ride” market for everyday passenger cars.


Reminds me a bit of King Missle...

0 comments Monday, August 4, 2008

This is amusing and bound to cause offence to nearly anyone who thinks they have a decent taste in music. The 10 Most overated albums of all time

0 comments Sunday, August 3, 2008

A collection of songs that I like to think have an audibly summery feel.

KC & the Sunshine Band - Get Down Tonight (A Tom Moulton mix). I was always a bit 'so what it's nice' about the original version of this tune. This Tom Moulton mix takes the original and spaces it out to 9 minutes. Thankfully it's also a rearrangement which minimizes the camp disco and make it sound almost like modern day DFA type recordings.

Sly & the Family Stone - Hot Fun in the Summertime. Another classic, this time in it's original form. I love how loose and unreaheased a lot of Sly's music sounds and this is a perfect example.

Cocteau Twins - Summerhead. From their 'Four Calendar Cafe' album. This is about as obviously cheerful as the Cocteau Twins ever sounded. This always reminds me of Christmas, the height of summer in New Zealand, because I heard it on the radio one Christmas morning.

Mystery Jets - Two Doors Down. This song is often scorned as part of neo-80's movement but it's just a cheerful, unpretentious pop song about a girl.

Pete Rock & CL Smooth - They Reminisce Over You. The generation defining hip hop classic from 92. Still sounds timeless and fresh.

5 Songs for Summer


0 comments Wednesday, July 30, 2008

The Pixies front man released his first solo album 'Frank Black' in 1993 after the Pixies disbanded, changed his name from Black Francis to Frank Black, put on loads of weight and become a UFO enthusiast. The sound was much cleaner than early Pixies albums and was often critically acclaimed but never much of a commercial success despite the more mainstream sound of solo work compared to the Pixies.
‘Hang on to Your Ego’ is a cover of The Beach Boys and shows Frank’s musical style diversifying from the rock band ethos of guitar/drums. The incorporation of synthesisers and ska style music came to characterise his early solo work.


I Heard Ramona Sing
Hang On To Your Ego
Ten Percenter

0 comments Monday, July 28, 2008

Calexico are one of my favourite bands. Formed in 1996, Arizona, they have been consistantly excellent at producing textured "alt-country" along the lines of Wilco & Lambchop. What makes Calexico stand out is their incorporation of different musical elements such as Spanish guitar and horn sections.

Two Silver Trees comes from their new album coming in September, titled Carried To Dust. The song features a beautifully intergrated plucked harp melody that gives it a classic oriental feel.

Calexico - Two Silver Trees

Calexico Website

0 comments Friday, July 25, 2008

From the new album Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!.
Been listening to this tune regularly for a couple of months now and still loving it.
For a band that's been making music for over 20 years this sounds so lively and spontaneous - like a band that sounds like they love just jamming together.
I might go out on a limb and say it's my favorite Nick Cave song.

Nick Cave - Lie Down Here (and be my girl)

1 comments Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Another cover I'm loving lately...

A playful gender/ethnicity bending cover of The Ting Tings by Mr Rascal and Calvin Harris.

The Ting Tings seem like a total manufactured CSS clone audibly and visually but their songs are catchy.

There's one lyric I can't figure out that sounds like "don't call me my ute"? Anyone?

Dizzee Rascal - That's Not My Name

0 comments Monday, July 21, 2008

A storming piece of acid minimal techno (yea I mash up genre labels sometimes) from Leeds' Simon Baker. Very reminiscent of Plastikman and Hardfloor but a little more lushly produced. Interesting enough to be enjoyable on the headphones in unmixed form but certainly tailored for the dancefloor as well.

Simon Baker - U

Check out Simon at his Myspace
Music is available at Infant Records and 2020 Recordings.

0 comments Sunday, July 20, 2008

Another one from the Seattle scene. Telekinesis is Michael Benjamin Lerner when at home and a 3 piece when live. That's about all the info I can dredge out the Myspace site. Death Cab for Cutie recommend them. Unfortunately when you google a term like telekinesis, you don't get much relating to music. KEXP has featured him and a my google search found this site - The Sixty One, a music recommendation site which looks interesting.

Telekinesis - Coast of Carolina

0 comments Friday, July 18, 2008

For anyone who remembers the original or in my case the 1989 cover by Sinitta, this will give put a silly little grin of nostalgia on your face.
I think my favourite part is the little drum breakdown at about 2:15 but the whole song is lushly produced guitar pop.
The song is in 320 kbps too which always helps.

I guess if I heard this song without knowing Army Navy, I would guess they we're just another pop band jumping on the covers wagon but Army Navy produce decent original songs when not covering camp disco classics.

Army Navy Myspace

Recent news

Army Navy - Get Right Back mp3

0 comments Wednesday, July 16, 2008

CSS are back with their third album due for release in July. You really can't get a much bigger pop band that don't feature on the mainstream radio radar (perhaps due to the frankly sexual references in their songs). Does that still make them pop?

They apparently have the most video views on Youtube with a homemade video for Music is My Hot Hot Sex. This is rumored to be a glitch in the view counter because if you search by highest views it doesn't show up. Anyway, at least CSS may have some clever hacker friends on their side.

See their official website to buy the new album - Left Behind

CSS - Left Behind

CSS's cover of L7's - Pretend we're Dead

Heard this on the ever entertaining Guardian Music podcast

Cansei De Ser Sexy

0 comments Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Definitely in my top 5 schizophrenic 'change to something completely different halfway through' songs. Released on the legendary Rumors album in 1977. I recently heard the Vitamin String Quartet tribute to Rumors and The Chain is a stand out on the album.

Fleetwood Mac - The Chain

Rumours

0 comments Monday, July 14, 2008

I was getting worried finding something new to write about. Did I want something just new by someone like Beck or something by a new artist (to me at least) or an artist, old or new, that had a new kind of sound...
So anyway I settled on Gotye. He's from Australia and isn't exactly brand spanking new as this song was released in 06. Just love the little accordion stabs and the sparseness of the production which leaves the chirpy bassline as the centrepiece to the song.

Gotye - The Only Way

Buy Gotye's music from his website

0 comments Saturday, July 12, 2008


Released last year and coming out on Zo! & Tigallo's 'I love the 80s' cover album. The album is limited to 2500 copies with no digital release planned. If this song is anything to go by it'll be brilliant and very tough to find. I know this came out last year but rumours are still around about the actual release date. Their Myspace site hints at early July. Here you can also listen to Human League's - I'm Only Human and Toto's - Africa
Phonte & Carlitta Durand - Take On Me

0 comments

I don't have a cold hearted woman or a slave driving boss but I can dig what BB is saying.
He's talking about girls, right?

BB King - Chains & Things

Discovered this gem on a Pete Rock compilation, Funk Spectrum 3

0 comments Thursday, July 10, 2008

The man has got to me and I can no longer offer hotlinked files although I'm looking into an alternative. Any suggestions? But thank you Fileden for the service anyway. I just got a 'account suspended' message with no explanation.

I first discovered El-P with his remix of Dizzee Rascal – Where Da G’s At. A chunky remix full of misplaced beats that seemed to work just right.

Style: Hip Hop

From: Brooklyn

Record Label: Definitive Jux

Sounds like: Plastic Little, Cassettes Won’t Listen, Girl Talk

My own subjective genre label: Orchestral Electro Hip Hop

The link above will take you to his free remix album the ‘We are all going to burn in hell mixtape’ which is free to download.


El-P: Fuck the law

From the free mixtape


El-P: Flyentology(Cassettes Won’t Listen remix)

Brilliant remix from CWL


Pela: Lonesome Hearts(Cassettes Won’t Listen remix)

Just a random CWL remix.

0 comments Wednesday, July 9, 2008

I wasn't quite sure what to make of this remix for a start but give it a listen or two and I’m sure you’ll love it. The Black Ghosts are being relentlessly remixed and quite often to fairly dull effect. This dubstep remix comes via Plastician (good name) & Skream, dubsteppers from the UK. It builds nicely into the vocal verses and drops a hypnotically heavy bassline. The vocals don’t overpower the instruments and it seems like the kind of track that could be just as welcome in a rock club as a drum & bass club.

Black Ghosts – Some Way Through (Skream & Plastician Remix)

0 comments Monday, July 7, 2008

The new Coldplay album is out and wow! I still despise them as much as ever.
This a themed post called 'crap song good remix' where I search for a good remix of a bad song. Ok so it's hard with Coldplay because their songs are more often turned into cheesy big room singalong house anthems but at least these 2 tear up the roots of what Coldplay plant so un-needingly upon our ears.

Natti - Ruled The World
So this is essentially just hip hop i.e. stealing a sample and laying some rhymes over it.

Chark Mu - Viva La Vida (electro remake)
A cute instrumental version of the song that sounds a bit like the moog cookbook style of remake.

And finally an older remix by the great Jacques Lu Cont (or perhaps his moniker Thin White Duke). Talk by Coldplay takes it's melody directly from Kraftwerk's 'Computer Love' and is beautifully remixed for the d-floor here. Hell, Jacques could remix Gordon Brown discussing the credit crunch and it'd sound good.

Coldplay - Talk remixed by Jacques Lu Cont

1 comments Sunday, July 6, 2008

Another Sunday at Wimbledon. The final is still going. I don't usually watch tennis but this unmissable..

So here's a atmospheric piece of drum n bass remixness of the track that just won't die, not that I wish it to.
Papua New Guinea remixed by Nu: Tone

I found this at the lovely Fried My Little Brain blog.

Papua New Guinea








FSOL













Nu:Tone

1 comments

I love it when you discover a song and it's just a great song with no other connections to your being. Then later on you discover that it has some deeper meaning. Maybe something like how I loved Modest Mouse's last album and finding out that the bassist from The Smiths had joined the band just prior to the album. Or why I always liked that All Saints song Pure Shores but nothing else and later finding out it was produced/written by William Orbit.


Anyway Ladyhawke has been on my ipod for months and I just find out she's from New Zealand. She's been touring Europe with Peaches and the legendary Soulwax crew and getting rave reviews all round.


Ladyhawke has a sweet website with free downloads available. The new Paris is Burning single has just been released with a very decent Alex Gopher, he just gets better and better, remix.






Raul Julia - Is just cool apart from Streetfighter, that was rubbish.


0 comments Friday, July 4, 2008



Sister Nancy’s track Bam Bam was released in 1982 on Techniques Records. Much like the Amen break or just about any James Brown track, it was been sampled by many artists over the years. Bam Bam’s instrumental was also borrowed from Winston Riley’s 1973 track Stalag Riddim. It’s a beautiful reggae classic in it’s own right and also lends itself superbly to the variations listed below.

The original Stalag Riddim is an instrumental. Winston Riley produced Bam Bam with Sister Nancy, also released on Techniques.

Sister Nancy – Bam Bam
Bam Bam [12" VINYL]

My favourite incarnation of the track is Guerilla Black’s 2004 single titled Compton feat Beenie Man. Sounds very Biggie like in the best way and looks very similar.

Guerilla Black feat Beenie Man – Compton
Compton/Trixx [VINYL]

Sister Nancy – Bam Bam (Peach Stealing Monkeys Remix)
I just found this via Hype Machine on the Peach Stealing Monkeys website.
It’s a refreshing pop take on Bam Bam compared to most hip hop oriented reworks.
Pete Rock – The Basement
Sampled by the hip hop master Pete Rock.

The Big Beat RemixUnknown artist.

The unknown dubstep remix
From 2007. The new genre craze of the underground dance scene has a go at Bam Bam and works in a thicker then quicksand bassline to satisfy the bass heads.
The Rcola remixQuality d&b remix released in 2007. Nice and dubbed out.


0 comments Tuesday, July 1, 2008


I dicovered this via a Fabric Podcast by Craig Richards. They're very good podcasts that cover the influences of their resident DJs instead of just their club sets.

Johnny Guitar Watson b 1935 d 1996. Produced music from the conception of rock n roll in 1955 until the 1980s. This tune came toward the end of his career, released in 1980. It seems to have a unique funked up blues style.
He once recorded with Frank Zappa and wrote the hit Gangster of Love, later covered by The Steve Millar Band.



Johnny Guitar Watson - Lover Jones

0 comments Sunday, June 29, 2008

It's Sunday - Wimbledon is going just a few minutes down the road. Going out is terrible because the pavements are crammed with people, although the free Evian water every morning is a bonus.
I've thought of a short story, maybe I'll start writing today.
I put my itunes on random and came up with a small playlist although I handpicked some tunes.

You can't fool me - A Sunday playlist.

Liz Phair - Shane

I could write forever about Liz. I picked this one from Whip Smart because I love the way she trails off with "you got to have fear in your heart". Also Liz has just released a 15th year anniversary edition of Exile in Guyville.
If you're a fan then you have to check out Camden Joy - The Last Rock Star (or Liz Phair: A Rant)
Not a particularly flattering portrait but a great read none the less. It was written in the time when she was transforming from indie queen to corporate pop whore. Still, her 90s music is supreme.

Tom Waits - Shore Leave

The Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil (Full Phatt Remix)

Usually rock remixes bug me but I kinda like this one.

Fila Brazilia - Bumblebaum
Really need to devote a whole page to these guys one day.

The Spinners - It's a Shame
It's a classic





0 comments Saturday, June 28, 2008

Another artist from the bubbling Seattle hip hop scene. This is the highlight of the Black Patch War ep for me. Soulful and with tight rhymes. Similar in sound and content to Brother Ali and fellow Seatowners Blue Scholars.

This comes via the lovely people at KEXP, a community radio station in Washington, USA. They have a great song of the day podcast available through iTunes.


Common Market - Black Patch War Mp3



0 comments Tuesday, June 24, 2008

I often refer to Cat Power as 'she' with reference to indie uber-babe Chan Marshall but they are actually a whole living band.
I first heard Cat Power in 1998 on the legendary Matador sampler What's Up Matador and have followed religiously since. In 2006 she released The Greatest, which has proven been her greatest commercial success to date and imo her best album to date.

Jukebox is her second covers album after The Covers Record in 2000.

Cat Power - Metal Heart

If you want a real treat buy the vinyl versions of Jukebox or the more excellent predecessor The Greatest.



The Greatest [VINYL]

0 comments

I heard this on a Family Guy episode recently and thought what a great song it is. I think he jumped the shark for me around the Crocodile Rock era and got gradually more sappy as the eighties went on.

This is from the 1983 album - Too Low for Zero.

Elton John - I guess that's why they call it the blues.

0 comments Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Torche! Feel like they need an exclamation mark. One of nu-wave of old metal bands. Similar to The Sword, whom they are touring with at the moment. See the video for the live version of Healer, obviously from the tour with afformentioned band.



Where The Sword seem like more of a parody, in the best way, of hobbit obsessed hard rock/metal of yesteryear, Torche sound more like the desert metal of Kyuss and their many related offshoots.



Their album is a refreshing blast from start till finish. Mosts songs are fairly short which is another welcome feature of their music.



Torche -Across the Sheilds



0 comments Monday, June 16, 2008

Not sure who created the video but it's well worth a watch and listen.

MP3 available here

The book is good too ya know.



And if you want to go further down the rabbit hole... The legendary philosopher Bertrand Russel discusses the book. Link

0 comments Sunday, June 15, 2008

Blue Scholars hail from Seattle and release their music on the Rawkus label.
I especially like their Inkwell single - sampling the great Modest Mouse.

Check out Blink from their first album







Back Home Video

0 comments Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Released in 2006.
Discovered it via the lovely 3Hive

Available from Dischord label home of the legendary Fugazi. This is quite different to Fugazi but in a sweet rolling pop kinda way.

Traffic Patterns by Soccer Team

0 comments Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Where would we be without the Pixies? Maybe The Orb would've taken over all music, sending rocknroll into the very depths of the musical ocean.
The Pixies - Gouge Away
I Love Pixies website

Buy

0 comments Sunday, June 1, 2008

Been really enjoying these guys for a while.
Fun electro pop that doesn't ooze in irony or over the top campiness.
Hailing from Italy although sounding very French.
www.myspace.com/theoutrunners
Last.FM page

Here's a remix of their's of Alternative Reality
Get Away - Outrunners Remix

Enjoy

0 comments Tuesday, May 27, 2008

I've heard they (him?) have a new album.
In any case Spiritulized have a unique sound. Often it was lumped into the rave chillout genre, which wasn't a bad thing in the 90s because many well respected artists were featured in this genre.
J Spaceman headed the group Spaceman 3 in the 80's and formed Spiritualized in 1991.
Spiritualized's music could range from abstract to pop/rock gems.

The Twelve Steps captures the beauty and chaos of their sound.
This comes from the album Let It Come Down from the website.




0 comments Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Really can't stop listening to these guys at the moment. Their sound is very fresh without delving into the electro influence of many modern pop bands. Very much remind me of the Shins with a slightly more ramshackle approach and less likely to cause a sweet overdose after 4 songs.

They have a groovy website & Myspace page.

Songs are available to buy from their website.


Listen to Port O'Brien
Close the Lid

My eyes won't shut

Five and Dime

0 comments Sunday, May 18, 2008

The New Nine Inch Nails album is available free for download at The Slip Website.

Haven't had a great listen to the album yet. If their previous albums are anything to go by then I'll love a couple of tracks and be fairly indifferent to rest.
I do love this track - Discipline
Nine Inch Nails Website