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Archive for April 2007
I try to go thru my emails with a fine-toothed comb when time permits, and Saturday is frequently my best opportunity. How pleased I was to receive an email from Brazilian artist Chico Correa which contained a link to his self-titled album, released by Japanese net label Bump Foot. I will confess: when I read his name, my mind went where yours just did — boy, that name…it seems so…familiar! The sound, however, was anything but familiar to me.
What I got to hear was a mixture of very stripped down ambient electronic music a la Air supported by scorching female vocals mixed with distinctly Brazilian-influenced rhythms a la Flora Purim or Aierto Moirera. This fine combination resonates throughout all the tracks I heard, taking cues from all of these sources while never imitating to the point of confusion. Maybe I’m just a sucker for the language of Brazil: there is something smolderingly sexual to me about the sound of Portugese, particularly when blended with thundering percussion, horns, and driving bass lines. This collection’s jazzist leanings are actually rounded out through the introduction of sparse electronic meanderings — echoes, various piano structures, and the like — to create a fluid and memorable ambience.
I’m confident that this represents an awakening to some kind of music that people have been listening to for some period of time. If it doesn’t and I’m hearing something wholly unique, color me pleased and surprised. I think you, too, will find it worth listening to. Here are two of my favorites from the album, “Lele” and “Eu Pisei Na Pedra”.
Chico Correa & Electronic Band - Lele
Chico Correa & Electronic Band - Eu Pisei Na Pedra
You can download all the tracks on Chico Correa & Electronic Band from Bump Foot by clicking here to be taken to the Bump Foot website. You can visit Chico’s blog by clicking here.
One of the big highlights of CMJ last fall was Vice Late Nights @ Cakeshop. Somehow, 250 people managed to fit into a room that comfortably holds 60 maximum for a series of knock-down drag-out sessions that smacked up every fool that set foot into the place. Calling the experience “amazing” or “breathtaking” or “dope”, that’s just not enough. Anyways, the point is that one particular night stands out among the rest — Flosstradamus, Kid Sister, Chromeo and A-Trak blew the fucking house apart.
Tonight, A-Trak (known to much of the world as “the only DJ with mad skills enough to cut for Kanye West”)will be appearing at Jillian’s Billiards in Memphis, TN. Performing to an invite-only crowd, along with New York club DJ extraordinaire Stretch Armstrong, A-Trak will be mashing and serving in what should prove to be one of the illest adventures those turntables have ever seen. His newest (?) joint, Dirty South Dance is another piece of ingenuity that can’t be touched: A-Trak takes the dirrrty dirrrrty thug jams that we all love ’round Memphis and mashes them out into a completely *other* universe. Witness the glory of Clipse featuring Slim Thug’s “Wamp Wamp” reworked into a total and complete ass-shaker. This show is not to be missed, and neither is this CD.
Meanwhile, A-Trak’s big brother Dave 1, along with his ‘podna Pee Thugg (known to the world as Chromeo) have a new record about to drop on Vice that people around Loudersoftville can’t stop fucking dancing to. Fancy Footwork is steeped in sweat-drippin, ass-wigglin’ sunglasses-is-a-must-at-the-club ’80s funktastacles. Chromey takes that Yarborough & Peeples/Zapp/Cameo/Skyy thing to a level that has been missing for far too long. Peep out “Tenderoni” and get’cha groove on, baby!
A-Trak - “Wampercycle”
Chromeo - “Tenderoni”
A-Trak will appear in Memphis tonight at Atlas @ Jillian’s. You can purchase Dirty South Dance from Turntablelab when it comes back in stock. Visit him on MySpace by clicking here.
Chromeo’s new album Fancy Footwork will be out from Vice Recordings shortly. You can purchase some Chromeo from iTunes 
by clicking here. Visit them on MySpace by clicking here.
I know what you’re looking for. Your best bet is to click here and buy it from iTunes for $0.99 USD.
THE CONTEST:
The Republic of Iceland has birthed international successes in the musical realm with such acts as Sigur Rós, Múm, Björk, Amiina; and most importantly BANG GANG. It is time to brush up on your Icelandic for, “Where is the bathroom?” or “Please fluff my pillow” because you can enter to win a TRIP FOR TWO TO ICELAND COURTESY OF ICELANDAIR, BANG GANG & FROM NOWHERE RECORDS.
BANG GANG is looking for the best fan remix of “It’s Alright” from the new BANG GANG album Something Wrong. To create your remix and enter the contest, visit the links below to hear the original song and download isolated multi-tracks of “It’s Alright”. Then use them and whatever else you have up your sleeve (just no illegal samples), to create a kick-ass remix! The entries will be judged by Bardi Johannsson of Bang Gang himself!
LINKS: “IT’S ALRIGHT” ORIGINAL ALBUM TRACK | “IT’S ALRIGHT” REMIX TOOLS
As an example (and for fun), check out the SHOUT OUT OUT OUT OUT REMIX of BANG GANG’s “Find What You Get” HERE.
THE PRIZE:
WIN! - Two plane tickets from one of Iceland Air’s US gateways (NYC, Boston, Orlando and Baltimore)
WIN! - Two nights in a Reykjavik hotel
WIN! - Transportation to Keflavik airport to the hotel and back
WIN! – A Bunch of Exposure
THE RULES:
Contestants must submit an MP3 OF YOUR REMIX, YOUR FULL NAME, AND E-MAIL ADDRESS to banggang@fanaticpromotion.com by Friday, May 18. Make sure that you mention Loudersoft.Com in your entry.
Anyone can participate, and contestants can submit as many remixes as they wish.
The winner will be notified on Monday, May 21.
THE FINE PRINT:
- Contest winner is responsible for their own transportation to and from one of Iceland Air’s US gateways (NYC, Boston, Orlando and Baltimore).
- The prize can be used within one year of the issue date, except June, July, August and Christmas holiday period.
- By submitting your e-mail, you agree to receive information on low fares to Europe from IcelandAir.
- All contest entrants understand and agree that under no situation will Fanatic Promotion, Inc. be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, incidental, special or exemplary damages resulting from your participation in this offer.
- By sending your mp3, you confirm that: All rights in and to the recordings remixed versions of the recordings are owned by FROM NOWHERE RECORDS and to the extent necessary you assign all rights in the remixed recordings to FROM NOWHERE RECORDS.
Anyone who has been following this blog or who followed me over from Scenstars knows that I’ma big proponent of the band Polyrock. Consistently hailing them as one of the great lost bands of the post-punk/new wave era, this writer has always felt very strongly that their two albums produced by, and featuring, Philip Glass and Kurt Munkacsi provided a clear foundation and paved the way for a number of name artists today. They were dangerous, seductively fascinating, and completely inventive in their ways. The big crime that was committed with Polyrock was in how their records never made it into the CD era. The CD era, in fact, completely passed them by without ever seeing issuance of either of their excellent RCA releases.
Some 25 years after disbanding, thanks to Wounded Bird Records, both of the Polyrock original albums have been made available on CD, meaning these two benchmarks have finally seen the light of day. As I expected, the digital age did wonders for their sound; there is a fresh sense of immediacy to the recordings which only came through digital mastering. The new mastering donates a charitable sharpness and clarity to the original recordings revealing a warmth and depth previously missing in vinyl pressings. Normally, I’m a huge fan of vinyl and I will pick it over CD’s nine times out of ten. This is clearly a case where the new mastering brushed away cobwebs, uncovering the promise of their studio experimentation. It is truly like hearing these records for the first time.
Here’s a couple of examples from each of the Polyrock records that I think speak for themselves. Check out these songs, then go grab the CD’s.
from Polyrock - Polyrock (1980)
Polyrock -Go West
Polyrock - Romantic Me
from Polyrock - Changing Hearts (1981)
Polyrock - Like Papers On A Rack
Polyrock - The New U.S.
You can order Polyrock’s self-titled album from CD Universe by clicking here.
You can order Changing Hearts from CD Universe by clicking here.
Just got this note from David Condos with a new video enclosed!
We are pleased to unveil this new short video that gives you a behind-the-scenes look into the recording of the David Condos song “When The Land Becomes The Sea.” It includes never-before-seen footage from the Bridgeway Studio sessions that produced the debut album, “Smoking City,” and more.
This just came in from White Stripes HQ. Yep, tonight’s the night.
The White Stripes’ first single, ‘Icky Thump’, available Thursday, April 26th
Hello Children
The White Stripes’ first single, ‘Icky Thump’, will be available exclusively online through the iTunes music stores (US and Canada only) starting at 12:01 am this Thursday, April 26th.
Third Man Records/XL Recordings will also be releasing CD and vinyl versions of the ‘Icky Thump’ single on June 11th in the UK. The formats and track listings are as follows:
White vinyl 7″ (companion to the NME distributed record that will be given away with copies of the magazine on stands June 6th)
A. Icky Thump
B. Etching (no audio)Standard 7″
A. Icky Thump
B. Baby BrotherCD single
1. Icky Thump
2. Catch Hell Blues
UPDATE: The single is now available for purchase from iTunes by clicking the iTunes link below!
UPDATE: Thanks to Idolator for hooking us up with a preview of what’s worth buying at midnight tonight. YES.
Editor’s Note: the playback button sounds funky, just click the link and download it rather than playing it. You’ll be much happier.
What the hell was I supposed to do? Representing from all corners of the internet, I came across a grip of scrum-dilly tracks the last few days while I was out on patrol. I can’t sit on this stuff, they are just too tasty to hang on to and not hip you to them.
First off, let’s talk about Cansei de Ser Sexy aka CSS. Over at Pound for Pound, they hit me up with *three* different remixes of “Let’s Make Love and Listen To Death From Above” from Spank Rock, Simian Mobile Disco, and this bumping-assed version touched like a convertible Burt by mixmaster Diplo.
After juking out to this joint, I ran smack dab into Spank Rock impresario The Pase Rock’s track “Sexy MF feat. Amanda Blank” remixed by DJ Eli at Palms Out Sounds.
I touched a bit of work myself when A-Trak (who will be in Memphis on Friday night at Jillian’s) hit me up with this booty-bangin’ remix of Kid Sister’s red-eye special “Damn Girl (DJ Gant Man juke remix)”.
If my legs hadn’t wobbled enough after that jam, I got everything smoothed out with this reworked spectacle-shifting editorial from Missing Toof of Three 6 Mafia’s “Stay Fly (Cutso Special Blend)”. Check out more of the “Special Blend Series” from Cutso by clicking here and checking out his MySpace page.
My old ass is about worn out, why don’t you cue these up and try bustin’ a few moves of your own while I take me an Aleve and chill? Aiight.
CSS - Let’s Make Love and Listen To Death From Above (Diplo Remix)
The Pase Rock - Sexy MF feat. Amanda Blank (DJ Eli Remix)