RAWK!

Here is a nifty 10 track mix of new rock stuff...

Foreign Islands - Ghost Story
Restart Now!
New wave-y punk rawk.

Field Music - She Can Do What She Wants
Tones Of Town
Geek rawk, British style.

Kaiser Chiefs - Heat Dies Down
Yours Truly, Angry Mob
Madness + XTC = rawkin' Kaisers.

Robbers On High Street - The Fatalist
The Fatalist And Friends EP
Spoon-like rawk.

Kings Of Leon - Charmer
Because Of The Times
Southern fried punk rawk.

Grinderman - Depth Charge Ethel
Grinderman
Scary Nick Cave rawk.

The Bees - End Of The Street
Octopus
'60s psych pop rawk.

Sister Vanilla - Down
Little Pop Rock
Jesus And Mary Chain + their sister Linda = RAWK!

Maxïmo Park - Girls Who Play Guitars
Our Earthly Pleasures
Song about girls who play guitars which really rawks.

Charlotte Hatherley - Behave
The Deep Blue
Girls who play guitars rawk.

Funky Friday Four Pack

Tracey Thorn - Get Around To It
Out Of The Woods
The voice of EBTG is back. I've given the record a couple of spins and I like the uptempo stuff a lot, the slow stuff not so much. This is a cover of an Arthur Russell song (from his Calling Out Of Context album) and is really quite good.

RJD2 - Just When
The Third Hand
Wherein RJD2 continues his shift from underground hip hopper to plaintive pop singer. Reviews are mixed, with die hard old school fans hating his vocals and songs. Personally, I like the move. Sure, it's not as banging as the older stuff, but it's sweet and melancholy. This tune is quite funky - love the almost "Thriller" beat.

!!! - Heart Of Hearts (The Brothers Mix)
Myth Takes - Bonus Disc
Fabulous disco workout from the bonus disc. Funky riffs, tight beats and killer percussion plus some wailing guitars add up to much grooviness.

Hangar 18 - Think Big
Definitive Swim
An almost punk funk take on hip hop from this NYC trio - great sax skronk. Grab this free compilation of DefJux tracks while you can...
Download the whole compilation here...

New Music Tuesday - Candylion

Gruff Rhys - Candylion
Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru
Skylon!
Super Furry Animals front man Gruff Rhys has his second solo LP on shelves in the US today. It is a fantastic album - I've been listening to it for a couple of months now. I am consistently amazed at Gruff's musical talents. Here he sings in English, Welsh and Spanish. The music is as experimental and quirky as ever, yet it manages to be pop-tastic at the same time. There are boatloads of memorable melodies, and lots of nice production touches. The two songs on offer today really show Gruff's oddball sense at work. Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru is simple repetition of the title (the word for drive in Welsh) over a divine, acoustically strummed bit of grooviness. Skylon! is a nearly 15 minute narrative epic. Our hero is a professional bomb disposal expert. He tells the story of how an actress whose work he hates steals his window seat on a plane flight. This sets in motion a plot that includes terrorism, multi-media satire and cheesy Hollywood romance - see the "happy ending". It's insane, yet captivating. Fabulous.

Funky Friday - Winter Storm Advisory

The view from the front
Winter has hit with a vengeance. After a bitterly cold February we've gone from 12 inches of snow over the last 4 months to nearly 30 inches of snow just this week. It actually all fell over three days. Those snow banks you see are waist high in some places. I can't remember the last time I had so much snow piled up in my yard. I feel like I have been shoveling for an eternity. Sure, it looks pretty, but damn I'm over winter now. My kids love it tho'...

The view out back
And now for the funky 4 + 2 to keep me (and hopefully you - if you need it) warm...

Wagon Christ - Throbbing Pouch
Throbbing Pouch
Splendidly monikered space funk from Luke Vibert circa 1995. And it still sounds as good as ever.

Foreign Islands - We Know You Know It (Filthy Dukes Society Remix)
Restart Now!
NYC dance-punks given the machine funk once over by the Filthy Dukes. Hard as hell with a lovely blippy breakdown at the end.

Up Bustle & Out - Dance Your Troubles Away (Trumpet Mix)
City Breakers - 18 Frames Per Second
I just scored a copy of the latest album by the one time Ninja Tune combo, and it is fantastic. Dub, dancehall, hip hop, a bit of house and Latin flavors combine for a serious soundclash. I was a big fan of these guys for a few years, but felt like they got stuck in a sonic rut. This has renewed my faith and interest.

Peter Björn And John - Young Folks (Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Reanimation)
Writer's Block
I avoided all of the hype for a few months, but now I've succumbed. This album really is as good as everybody says. This remix takes the catchy hit single and gives it a shimmery, go-go beat makeover. Lovely and danceable.

DJ Vadim - Got To Rock (Feat. Zion)
DJ Vadim - Milwaukee
The Sound Catcher
From the forthcoming (April) album by another former Ninja Tune artist. I have had a copy of this for three or four days and can't stop playing it. Largely devoid of the scratchy, left field experimentalism of his early years, it sees Vadim covering a broad sonic palette. He incorporates mainstream and underground hip hop, reggae, disco, r'n'b and downtempo into his heady brew. Two thirds of the tracks feature vocals, both raps and singing. I am really feeling these two tracks; the first is a party anthem, the second is mooody abstract downtempo. I love it.

Cellphone's Dead

Another new release this week is the deluxe edition of Beck's 2006 LP The Information. I really dug the album, and so I plunked down the $$$ for the expanded version. Here is what you get - all the songs from the The Information, including the 3 songs that were only available on overseas versions, an EP of 6 remixes, a combination graph paper/lyric book to decorate, all of the studio videos plus 2 bonus studio videos and the Nausea and Cellphone's Dead videos, and all 4 sticker sheets. Sweet. Here are a couple of the remixes of Cellphone's Dead, both very different takes - Ellen brings the uptempo electro flavor and Jamie brings the downtempo, squelchy funk.
Cellphone's Dead (Ellen Allien Remix)
Cellphone's Dead (Jamie Lidell Limited Minutes Mix)

Silk Degrees

Hitting stores today is the expanded remaster of the Boz Scaggs classic Silk Degrees. Originally released in 1976, it is slick, mainstream American rock with a touch of blue eyed soul, definitely of it's era. It is also disco kissed - the beats, string arrangements and backing vocals are all influenced by the then thriving disco era. The backing band is notable, featuring Steely Dan session players David Paich on keys and Jeff Porcaro on drums, as well as David Hungate on bass. It was during these recording sessions that these 3 cooked up their future band, Toto. Little Feat's Fred Tackett plays guitar. The end result is a collection of Texas blues pop songs given the LA session treatment. When I was a kid I was enamored of the big hits from this album, although I never bought it at the time. Today is the time. I now own a copy, and so without further ado enjoy the classic disco vibe of Lowdown and the rocking, horn filled boogie of Lido Shuffle - killer synth solo alert!

My New Favorite Band (This Week)

The Young Knives' debut album Voices Of Animals And Men got released here in the US last week. Produced by Andy Gill (Gang Of Four), it is a great album of quirky post punk riffage featuring dual vocalists. It is distinctly British, right down to the tweeds the lads wear on the sleeve. You will be humming along in no time. I love it. Ryko put out a great 2 disc version, the second disc being a DVD with videos, live footage and slide shows. The second disc is a hoot because these guys make some seriously entertaining music videos. A great record.
The Decision
Weekends & Bleak Days (Hot Summer)________________________

Find more of The Young Knives on The Hype Machine

Funky Friday Four Pack

The Rakes - 22 Grand Job (Filthy Dukes Society Remix)From a great little 5 track EP on Dim Mak called Remixes, this one sees one of the great tunes from the lads' debut given a fab squelchy disco makeover. Full of lovely squiggles, and that accent gets me every time. New album forthcoming this Spring.

Goldfrapp - Ride A White Horse (Ewan Pearson Disco Odyssey Parts 1&2)Ewan's mix takes you on a 15 minute trip of blissed out electro-disco, complete with killer breakdown around the 7 minute mark.

Go Home Productions - Notorious Trick - (Duran Duran vs. Kelis)Duran Duran's Notorious, which was produced by Nile Rodgers, versus Kelis' Trick Me, which was produced by Dallas Austin, who went on to produce part of Duran's comeback album a couple of years ago. These two work very well together, no?

Go Home Productions - Absolutely Love You (Scritti Politti vs. Justin Timberlake)A few weeks ago on some mash up post Ion commented about this Scritti vs. Justin mashup. Now, thanks to Ion we can all enjoy this bootie that pits the classic white funk groove of Scritti's Absolute with Justin's Like I Love You. The bit where the rap is mashed up over the chime-y break is brilliant.

The Moonstation House Band

One of the record store clerks where I shop recommended the debut album from David Vandervelde. Called The Moonstation House Band, it is an eclectic set of music that has obvious influences - folk and glam rock of the '60s and '70s, especially Marc Bolan's T.Rex and the art rock of Bowie and Roxy. Despite those influences the Chicago native has crafted a memorable set of tunes that transcend the source. It's impressive to note that the guy plays almost everything on the record. He gets a bit of assistance from Wilco's Jay Bennett, who provides the studio (and bass on two songs). The music ranges from the full on assault of album opener Nothin' No (Hello T.Rex!) to the lushly orchestrated Moonlight Instrumental, reminiscent of Air. String arrangements are courtesy of Beck's dad David Campbell, who handled the same duties on recent faves by Charlotte Gainsbourg and Air. All in all a nice little record that leaves me waiting to see what David will come up with next.

Money For All

Over the few years that I have been doing this blog I have made my love for David Sylvian and his former band Japan well known. The last couple of years have seen him involved in Nine Horses, a collaboration with his brother (and former Japan drummer) Steve Jansen and Burnt Friedman. They released an LP in 2005 called Snow Borne Sorrow, which featured some of the most conventional music Sylvian had done in years. I loved it's slight return to something resembling pop songs. Now comes this EP. It features a few remixes of tracks from that album, plus three new songs and their companion remixes. Money For All kicks off the EP, and finds Sylvian launching into a political rant about the US and it's current foreign policies - "wipe your nation's shame from you, it's not where you're born, it's the things that you do". The music is a swampy, folktronica groove with double bass, funky thumb piano, gospel-ly backing vocals and nice guitar. Wonderful World (Burnt Friedman Remix) is a track from the debut which features the lovely vocals of Stina Nordenstam. The treatment here is all about the double bass, and spaced out effects. It really reminds me of Sylvian's solo debut Brilliant Trees. Very nice.

L.O.V.E. Love

Thud! Back to earth where it's 2˚F today. The wife and I are home after a great little vacation, where it was in the 80˚s every day. All we did was drink, eat, drink some more, lie in the sun, drink, eat, and oh, did I mention that we drank? No dishes, no cleaning, no kids, which was bittersweet because of course we missed 'em a little bit. It was fun (and therapeutic) being an adult without child for a few days.

It's Valentines Day, and the concept is simple; open iTunes, search for "love", pick a few personal favorites, et voila! A fun little Valentines playlist...

Linus Loves - Love
Human League - Love Action
Evelyn "Champagne" King - I'm In Love
10cc - I'm Not In Love
Justin Timberlake - My Love (DFA Remix)
CSS - Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above
Revolved - Rush Of Love (Beatles Vs. Coldplay)

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Find more L.O.V.E. Love on the Hype Machine

Funky Friday On Vacation...

This is the view from my balcony - not too shabby, eh? The weather has been so-so, raining a bit in the AM but clearing up by the afternoon. It's been in the '80s which is freaking fantastic after last week's sub zero freeze back home. The place is huge, and we are doing the all inclusive thing - all you can eat and drink all day - so it's been a steady stream of margos and cervezas! ¡Muy bueno!

Here I am on the beach, contemplating today's post - hmmm, that Yoko remix would be nice...

Yoko Ono - Kiss Kiss Kiss (Peaches Remix)Yoko picked a bunch of her favorite artists to rework some of her songs for a new album, Yes I'm A Witch. Included are The Flaming Lips, Le Tigre, Porcupine Tree, Hank Shocklee and Cat Power. It is very appropriate that raunchy Canadian Peaches handles the remix of Kiss Kiss Kiss, a song where Yoko simulates orgasm. A nice and bumping electro update.

Now I'm off to the pool for a swim and a mojito!