Posts in Music

I was just digging in deeper into the Wierd Records[its not spelled Weird, I triple checked] catalog and this song by Frank grabbed me over and over, the guitar line reminds me of some huge 80s hit, is it Dire Straits? no, I don’t know what it is but its buggin’ me, either way its pretty poppy for a cold wave label and thats what makes me keep going back to them.

I wanted to include Alice Cohen in my playlist I did for Olde English Spelling Bee but somehow she slipped thru the cracks, what a great spacey track, the magic here is that she made it so short, it makes you want to play it over and over, smart and talented this Alice girl is.

I’m not going to pretend I know world music, its something I wanted to get into but its a slippery slope, I could end up listening to alot of stuff I don’t want to hear for hours and be disappointed and hate that I spent the time but this song by Diakari Dia Diakite dit Dia almost puts me in a daze. The rhythm keeps me wanting more while his intensity keeps me interested on what the song is about and i’m going to quote Anchorman to end this post: Ron Burgundy: “I’m sorry, I was trying to impress you. I don’t know what it means. I’ll be honest, I don’t think anyone knows what it means anymore. Scholars maintain that the translation was lost hundreds of years ago.”

So maybe some of you want to know what the label 4AD is up to, well the last mailer I got this song by Broken Records, i’m on the fence about it, is it too alternative radio rock for the label? part of it grabs me but a good portion of the song pushes me away and worries about 4AD’s future BUT I trust them so I keep checking back.

In 2005, I started putting together a compilation of my friends music, my roommate at the time was Danny [The Reflecting Skin aka PhilistineDSGN] who did the cover art and also did a song with me under the name The Hexx which is still to this day the only song i’ve ever put out officially. I met a few others via the internet like Mux Mool, Wisp, Dafluke, and Ghosthunt on myspace or WATMM (an Aphex Twin/BoC forum) and the rest are mostly guys from Ann Arbor, MI my hometown. The compilation came out for under $10 and had 20 songs on it and still to this day its that much, sometimes we drop it down to $5. I remember when it went up on digital retailers, since iTunes doesn’t tell you what will be featured its always a surprise on Tuesday mornings for record labels, its nice that you can’t buy your way into a banner on the iTunes page. When I saw it up it was back when iTunes had 3 big banners up horizontally at the top and The Rorschach Suite at the time was just all fresh faces 95% all new names and we were sitting inbetween Junior Boys and Imogean Heap, it felt like a David and Goliath story. I hope you enjoyed this preview I grabbed a few tracks of some fan favorites.

If you don’t want a song stuck in your head than don’t check out this song that J. Dilla produced for Steve Spacek, i’ve been humming it since the middle of last week everywhere I go, in alleys and by the river or in my bedroom, “let the dollar circulateeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I ran into one of the friendly guys from Small Black a few weeks ago in Greenpoint, he was walking home after just finishing recording their new album, I promise to have more up but here’s a taste with a remix by Star Slinger of their recent single.

Osborne gives Hot Chip a taste of Yacht Rock meets aaaaa….. refreshing slower dance medley? hmmm I can’ put my finger on it, whatever it is I love it and you will too if you have a beating heart.

I want more Sam Prekop, this is just not enough, what a great teaser, quick everyone into their bubble were gonna race to find a new color for the rainbow.

The art above was picked from Amobea84’s flickr

Minimal Wave has its own passionate community, one that has a forum with involved fans, pretty much the perfect label culture you’d like to see. I picked up this Das Ding vinyl over the weekend after passing by it too many times at the record stores. Its a great LP all the way thru with minimal synths with a hazy goth/punk attitude, makes me want to dive back into more of these records that I use to love so much.

One of the best minimal synths bands i’ve ever seen live was Xeno and Oaklander, a seriously cared for project put out by Wierd Records, what I love about them is that when you see them on stage you have a feeling that they live this music, its not an act, those two don’t step out of their dark mood much or I could be wrong but the dedication shows.

Automelodi is a bit more french dark pop compared to the last 2 songs in my opinion, almost touches on a 80’s hit, great youthful lead synth work.

Lets space it out with Klaus Schulze to add some diversity.

The other day I went to see Oneohtrix Point Never and Gatekeeper perform at Glasslands, it was some sort of label showcase i’m guessing. I picked up this Games 7 inch, super dreamy vox with chimes and flute under fatty compression, its like the background music for a daydream scene on Blossom.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow has done it, they nailed their sound but on a ethereal level, maximum lushness, the girls sound great plus the they make every second count, can’t for this EP.

Oh Mexican Summer, how great of a label you are. Seeing Weekend play last week and now having Tamaryn put me in an almost drugged up state, I want to thank you.

If you wanted Pogo to ever edit a Washed Out track it would probably sound something like this ETHEREA song, adoring this whole EP!

Both of these little worlds are part of the artwork created for the most recent Chillout Sessions: a compilation disc series put together by the Ministry of Sound Australia. The diorama-like concept was developed by Collider (design by Andrew van der Westhuyzen and cinematography by Brycen Horne). They decided to switch up the packaging after the first 10 discs:

The new Sessions concept involves miniature ‘worlds’ literally creating a package holiday that has both escapism and a sense of humour. [link]

I want to shrink down to size and move into one of these miniature worlds. As a concept I LOVE this. It was executed exceptionally well; from the world construction to the photography, this is a concept pulled off in every sense. Be sure to check out the video version of each: XII XI

Here it is for all you long time Kompakt fans, Total 11, I’ve been waiting for this for awhile now. It’s a solid listen, I grabbed 4 tracks that really stuck with me. First, The Field melts your mind with sugary psychedelic layered synth work thats mechanical and hypnotic while Justus Kohncke goes more with a disco meets Junior Boys approach. Michael Mayer goes abit downtempo with it, a little more safe and nothing like his old hit Speaker which some of you might remember. The real experimenter here is Mr. Voigt aka Gas, I imagine this flying as Stiff German Pop in 2065, he calls on the Matias Aguayo spirits to help with the vocals. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Oh Stones Throw, I love that you give me the option to have the instrumentals, nothing against Aloe Blacc’s voice at all, its great but I love a beat label that gives up the instrumental.

For those Com Truise fans out there, here’s one of his other alias under the name Airliner

I got to take my younger sister to see Mux Mool, Sepalcure and Daedelus the other night, she was geeked thru the whole show but wanted more Daedelus to take home and listen but looked around and couldn’t really find music that sounded like his live set, any suggestions?

The rare chance Flying Lotus remixes you is an honor these days for producers. Ninja Tunes’ Andreya Triana recently got the pleasure and the outcome was something that should of been on Los Angeles.

I love when a musician has the full spectrum covered when it comes to his or her vision on all fronts of their work, it shows confidence and that nothing is going to stop this artist from trying anything especially if its as tightly branded as The Soft Moon. I love the ethereal drive of Parallels and the video, so carefully cared for yet still has at rough touch to it all.

A future classic in my mind, this mix by Tensnake for Resident Advisor keeps a pace that feels right for any occasion. If you haven’t followed the highly informative and giving RA site then I suggest you should, decent reviewers but more importantly a great site for these mixes. That Floating Points track still gets me, damn, so good.

DOWNLOAD THIS MIX HERE

01 – Groove Armada – Dan-Solo (Album Edit)
02 – Lindstrom & Christabelle – Lovesick
03 – 6th Borough Project – McLovin
04 – Tiger & Woods – Gin Nation [Editainment – Tain 2]
05 – Kim – Give Me The Dance
06 – Floating Points – Vacuum Boogie
07 – Ike – Diskadenz
08 – Bass Hitt – The Beat That Makes You Move
09 – Blunted Dummies – House For All
10 – The Royal We – Party Guilt (Dinky’s Arp-A-Pella)
11 – Sound Stream – Soul Train
12 – Rockers Revenge – Dubbing On Sunshine
13 – Rick Wilhite – Drum Patterns & Memories (Rick’s Morning Service Mix)
14 – Liberty City – If You Really Love Someone + Andre Hayden Project – Tribal Life
15 – Tony Lionni – Found A Place
16 – Blake Baxter – Our Luv
17 – Raz – Amour Puerto Riqueno
18 – Tensnake – Coma Cat
19 – Tensnake – Somethin About You
20 – Sterling Void – It’s Alright
21 – (NYE noise)
22 – Saint Etienne – Only Love Can Break Your Heart