We're Not Floating - Free Music Blog

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

Labels: frank black solo first album beach boys pixies

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

Labels: calexico two silver trees carried to dust new album wilco lambchop mp3

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)

Labels: nick cave did lazarus lie down here and be my girl

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

Labels: dizzee rascal that's not my name ting tings cover remix calvin harris hip hop

Labels: simon baker minimal techno acid u 2020 infant records

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

Labels: telekinesis

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

Labels: Army Navy get right back cover pop maxine nightingale mp3

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

Labels: css cansei de ser sexy left behind pretend we're dead youtube hot sex guardian music podcast

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

Labels: fleetwod mac the chain rock pop something old

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

Labels: gotye the only way australia pop mp3 something new

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

Labels: Zofeat Phonte Carlitta Durand Take On Me cover Aha 80s

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

Labels: bb King chains things blues pete rock funk spectrum

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.

Labels: el p el-p fuck the law definitive jux cassettes won't listen flyentology mixtape remix burn in hell mp3

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)

Labels: the black ghosts some way through skream plastician dubstep rock remix

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

Labels: crapsonggoodremix coldplay viva vida clark mu natti hip hop remix jacques lu cont talk

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

Labels: future sound of london papua new guinea remix classic drum bass dnb nu tone

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.

Labels: ladyhawke back of the van

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.

Labels: Sister Nancy reggae Winston Riley Guerilla Black Bam Bam Compton Dubstep Peach Stealing Monkeys remix Pete Rock

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