Peace Redux

Back in April I wrote a post about Spanish DJ/production team Buffetlibre. They had just put together a musical project called Peace to support Amnesty International. The deal is simple. There are over 180 songs from some established stars and a bunch of up and comers. New songs and covers in all shapes and sizes. You pay a pittance and get to download the whole lot - 320 kpbs mp3s, credits and biographies and a chance to win tickets to the best music festivals in the world. All of the money raised will be used for Amnesty International’s investigation and action campaigns aimed at preventing cases of human rights abuses around the world. The clincher here is that the project is due to end on July 12th, after which the music will be taken down. Support a good cause and get some bitchin' tunes - easy!

Here is a fair sampling to whet your appetite - indie pop, dance beats, an electro cover of the Beatles and a bit of hip hop.

Mendetz - Freed From Desire
Sally Shapiro - Hello Goodbye
Chinese Christmas Cards - Dreams
The Hidden Cameras - The Mild Mannered Army
Air France feat. Jack Wilson - Collapsing At Your Doorstep (new version)

Full track list of songs HERE...

Go on. You know you want to...

Hot Promo Action/ Murder Mystery

Murder Mystery are an up and coming NYC indie pop/rock group. They sent me an e-promo and when I read lead singer and guitarist Jeremy Coleman's descriptions of the songs I knew I had to give them a listen...

I Am If You Are "sounds to me like an unlikely collaboration between Stereolab and Madonna, layering pulsing synths, shimmering guitars and dancey percussions on a foundation of pop songwriting to create what is scientifically referred to as a “Summer Jam.” It features his sister Laura on vocals - she's the drummer too - and it is a lovely slice of shimmery electro pop.

Change My Mind "combines the instantly accessible song craft of the Cure and Belle & Sebastian with the warm, bouncy synths of Aphex Twin’s Ambient Works." This tune ditches the electro beats for real drums, and is a nice summery indie pop track.

For more check out Murder Mystery and MySpace

Funky Friday

Ratatat - Mandy
Cee-Lo - I Like It
It's A Fine Line - Do The Hot Car
M.I.A. - XXXO w/ Jay Z (Ben Allen Mix)
Bibi Tanga and The Selenites - Be Africa
Foals - Spanish Sahara (BangaTang Remix)
Talk Talk - Life's What You Make It (SirBilly Space Dub Rework)
TC James & The Fist O'Funk - Get Up On Your Feet (Walter Gibbons Mix)

Cee-Lo Hits You With Stray Bullets

Cee-Lo has a new album coming out soon. This is not it. This is a "mixtape" that has surfaced on teh interwebs recently. It is fabulously good fun. Samples from Heart. Check! Samples of Nick Cave? Check! Guest appearances by The B-52s, Teddy Bears and Goodie Mob? Check! The music on this is seriously all over the place - funk, pop, rock and hip hop mash up against chanson and '60s cinema music. I love Cee - he has a great, soulful voice and a sense of humor too. This will help you get your weekend off to a great start!

Cee-Lo's Stray Bullets Mixtape
Tracklisting
01. Goldschläger (Produced by The Grey Area)
02. You Don’t Shock Me Anymore (Produced by The Grey Area)
03. Cho Cha the Cat (with the B-52’s) (Produced by The Teddy Bears)
04. I Like It (Produced by The Grey Area)
05. Little Black Book (Produced by The Grey Area)
06. Talking To Strangers (Produced by The Grey Area)
07. ChamPain (Produced by Doc & The Grey Area)
08. Night Train (with the Goodie Mob) (Produced by The Grey Area & Anthony Kronfle)
09. The Secret (Produced by The Grey Area)
10. Sophistic@ted B!$ch (Produced by The Grey Area)
11. I’ll Kill Her (feat. ME & LOnan the Destroyer) (Produced by ?????)
12. Is It _ (Produced by The Grey Area)
13. Super Woman Theme Song (Produced by The Grey Area)
14. Night Cap Outro (One Last Shot of Goldschläger) (Produced by The Grey Area)

MPLS/ Byzantine Beatbox

Byzantine Beatbox - River Crossing
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A lovely bit of instrumental goodness from Christian Erickson aka Byzantine Beatbox. Synths abound on this warm bit of downtempo - a kinder, gentler, less shoe-gazy Ulrich Schnauss if you will. Perfect warm, summertime evening-with-a-drink listening. Brought to you by the always excellent Minneapolis label Susstones.

Zol!

World Cup 2010 gets under way tomorrow. South Africa is the host this year, and the first African nation to host it. The largest sporting event in the world gets moderate buzz here in the US - futbol has never quite caught on in this country. I am excited to watch some of it - I will be watching Team USA take on England on Saturday afternoon. One of the side effects of the event is the barrage of football themed music. Countries have theme songs, often including players singing. This year's official theme song is Waving Flag by K'naan, and Shakira is scheduled to perform at the opening ceremonies. BLK JKS are South Africa's rising indie rock export and a SIART fave. They have new EP out this week called Zol!. The title track is (and this part is taken from the sticker on the front of the CD) "the grassroots street anthem to the World Cup, a township futbol chant set to a head-bobbing kwaito beat and bass line, as lyrical guitar work takes the party higher. With Zol! we find BLK JKS hosting a house party for the world." And it is fantastically groovy, transporting you right to the township from where it sprang. THIS should have been the official theme.
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BLK JKS - Zol! on Hypem

My '80s Remastered - Disintegration

Among the stack of new releases this week is the deluxe 3 disc edition of The Cure's Disintegration. Curated by Robert Smith, the original album has been remastered, and the result is impressive - the overall sound much punchier and cleaner. The second disc is of demos and previously unreleased tracks and the third disc is Entreat, a live concert performance of the album, expanded to include a few extra tracks and resequenced to mirror the original album's track list.

Originally released in 1989, Disintegration came hot on the heels of the band's most successful forays into the realm of pop, 1985's The Head On The Door and 1987's Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. Where they were eclectic and poptastic, Disintegration bent back inward, all gloomy introspection - Robert's attempt at creating something "autumnal". It was a personal reaction to success, and one that was aided by Robert's use of hallucinogens. I must admit that at the time it came out I was unimpressed by it. I considered it a step backwards - I loved it's two predecessors so much because they moved the band into a new direction, and here they were getting all gloomy again. I never bought it. I heard it a lot - friends played it and, despite it's dour moodiness, radio embraced it. The singles were huge - Lovesong, Fascination Street and Lullaby - and the record a major success, the band's biggest seller ever. This remaster has been a delightful rediscovery for me - in my old age I am much more impressed by it than I was at the time! This set is probably not for the casual fan - most of them won't want to hear the demo stuff - but those of you who are big fans will enjoy seeing the progression of these songs from demo to the stage.
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The Cure - Lovesong (Demo)
The Cure - Lovesong
The Cure - Lovesong (Live)
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