Download this!

Let's end the week with a good one...



New Sector Movements is a project from producer I.G. Culture, a close comrade of the mighty Bugz In The Attic crew, so you know what to expect... broken beat goodness! And since I'm having another one of those days when I seem to be short of pithy comments, I'll just tell you to heed the album title and Download This right now! (See what I did there? Huh? Huh? I know, you'd punch me right in the face now me if you could)...

New Sector Movements - Never Been Closer

And with that, have an awesome weekend!

The other half speaks

So, just a little while ago, I posted on Phil Hartnoll of Orbital's Long Range project and promised a follow up on brother Paul's new release... Voila!



Actually, this one came out first... who knew? Okay, lots of people did, just not me. But anyway, here we go. If you ever saw Orbital live, you know that Paul Hartnoll was stationed in the back, seemingly doing the heavy lifting as Phil ponced about up front. And listening to their respective solo albums, Paul's is definitely more deep and cinematic than Long Range, which I noted got close to being a bit too poppy at times. As a matter of fact, The Ideal Condition has a whole lot of orchestra and live instruments going on... so naturally I picked the one album on the track that has none...

Paul Hartnoll - Patchwork Guilt

Yep, here too, you can tell that this is an Orbital by-product. Which is a very good thing. I find it quite interesting how now, after hearing each of the brothers' solo work, you can really tell what parts of Orbital songs may have been contributed by whom. Or maybe I'm just full of shit. Either way, both Hartnoll brothers have put out solid releases and I'll definitely recommend them both... but still hope deep inside that they get back together (at least for a bit) in the future...

Two great tastes that go "huh?" together

So, for some reason, this morning as I went about getting ready for my day, I decided that these two songs would go together. Why? Beats the hell outta me...



I don't post a lot of Rock around here, but I've got plenty of it in my collection, because I'm all well rounded and shit. I've always thought black dudes who rock are a bit extra-cool, and D.C. punk legends Bad Brains sure know how to rock out... for a bunch of Rastas, that is. Smokin' all that ganja usually makes folks kinda mellow and Dorito-fiendy, but not these dudes! I think I've always particularly loved this song for the cool a capella intro, but it's pretty damn kick-ass all the way through...

Bad Brains - Soul Craft

Yup, sometimes you just gotta throw on the ol' combat boots and hop in the pit. I used to do that, but because I weigh a buck-40 soaking wet, it didn't work out too well for me sometimes. Dudes would literally pick me up and throw me around like a football. No bueno!

But how about some music you would expect from Rastas... only from a Canadian ex-pat living in the Netherlands...



I'm talking about the heavy heavy dub, and ya can't get much heavier than this record by Twilight Circus Dub Soundsystem. I remember picking up a promo CD of this at a dollar sale that had crayon drawing on it with gold and silver stars stuck all over. Weird. But in it's own way, just as intense as the Bad Brains...

Twilight Circus Dub Soundsystem - The Ride

Talk about a track living up to it's title, eh? So, to recap... um, err... who knows? It's a random kind of week, folks...

Is paraffin a good smell or bad? Discuss.

How about some slightly obscure Trip-Hop today?



Although I do hate the term... not sure why, because I was very into the sound... and heck, I still am. Hate me if you must. And while this record is kinda obscure, it's very, very good. Ruby was singer Leslie Rankine and knob-twiddler Mark Walk (who rolls with Skinny Puppy these days), and Salt Peter was their debut, in which they out-Garbaged Garbage, if you know what I mean. But alas, they didn't stick around nearly as long as Shirley Manson and the boys, but then again they veered more into darkness and industrial...ness where Garbage went all rock guitar Top 40 yer ass. (Industrialness... hmmm, is that a word? Well screw it, it is now!) Anyhoo, here's a song... you'll see what I mean...

Ruby - Paraffin

I think I saw these guys live at some point but I'm not really sure. Which is my mid-to-late '90s in a nutshell. Yep.

Overzealous rhyme zealots!

Seems like it's been a while since I posted some hip-hop...



So, I first heard this jam by Bay Area Hip-Hop heavyweights Blackalicious one night at a Jazzanova DJ gig (of all places) and became instantly obsessed with finding this song. Took me a while, too. But eventually I did find it and, um... well that's the end of that story... kinda anti-climactic, huh? But anyhoo, this track goes down for me as one of the most amazing rhymes ever put down on wax, and if you disagree with that, I will fight you...

Blackalicious - Alphabet Aerobics

Yep, The Gift of Gab is easily one of the best MCs in Hip-Hop... I'd love to see that marble-mouthed bitch 50 Cent even attempt that song. It would be comical, it would!

And if you didn't quite catch every word, here's a little homemade YouTubes video I found that'll help ya out...



Nice work, unknown internet dude... Nice work, indeed.

Because White Science Orchestra sounds totally racist...

Reaching back to '96 for another Deep House classic...



... and I know I throw the word "classic" around quite a bit here, but I only gives ya da good stuff folks. You want mediocre music, go to some Indie Rock blog and catch the latest Deerhoof Collective Fire EP or some shit.

Like the Street Corner Symphony record featured here a couple months ago, Black Science Orchestra's first longplayer is one of the most sought-after yet impossible to find records in the annals of House music. The project was headed up by Mr. Ashley Beedle, who's had more than his share of success since, despite having a very silly name. This one's always been my fave-o track from the record. You gots yer killer bassline, yer filtered vocal, yer groovy synthwork, and even a little saxamaphone solo... what's not to love?

Black Science Orchestra - Save Us (The Jam)

The only question I have is about the title. Is it supposed to be like "Save Us", subtitled "The Jam", because this song is the jam... or is it "Save us the jam because we'd like to put some on our english muffins later"? These are the thoughts that cross my mind sometimes...

And hey, there's even a used copy available on Amazon right now for a paltry $60! Told you it would cost ya...

Have a great weekend, folks!

A case of mistaken identity!

Ever get a record to find out that this band's name is named like the other band's name? I'll explain...



So, I picked up this album by Leeds, UK band Stateless, thinking it was a new record by Swedish Electronica/Nu-jazz artist Stateless, whose first one I liked quite a bit. But it wasn't! D'oh! (Actually I didn't even realize they were different until I did some reading, because I rarely check the liner notes, because I know it all, don't I?) Lucky for me, however, the British dudes are pretty good, too. They have a vox/bass/drums/dj/keyboards line-up, and if forced to make lame comparisions, I'd say they sound sorta like Coldplay meets DJ Shadow, which I know sounds a bit scary, but don't be afraid! Check it out for yourself...

Stateless - Prism #1

I'd say they're just good enough to not catch on in the States, because most people in the States prefer shit music. That's a compliment to the band, btw... :P

An underrated electronica legend

One of my all-time favorite artists today...



If you ask me, Meat Beat Manifesto, a.k.a. Mr. Jack Dangers and his collaborators du jour, is one of the most criminally underappreciated acts in all of electronica, at least by the mainstream. Dude's been at it for like 20 years, from his early industrial dance phase all the way up to his most recent experiments with dub, live musicians... hell, you name it. And no one ever has been a more amazing sampler. But do you ever hear him mentioned by, like, anybody? Except for the headz, hardly ever. So give my boy some love and check this track from his 2-disc masterpiece Subliminal Sandwich...

Meat Beat Manifesto - Future Worlds

And that shit is over a decade old. Dude has been ahead of time for long time, still is today. And since you haven't had much YouTubes lovin' lately, here's a vid from their most recent tour, which got into some serious video mixing along with the tunes... like, videos of every sample source mixed live with the music serious...



Bloody impressive, that!

It's nosis that's hip, see?

A track from an out-o-print jazz record I picked up over at the amazing blog Orgy In Rhythm (named after an Art Blakey album, so don't get yer hopes up, pervos :P ), and just had to share this track with you...



In my Jazz education, I haven't heard a whole lot about sax man Jackie McLean but I did read that he was hooked on the smack at one time, so of course he's got some game! This track here rides on a mesmerizing, subtly funk piano line and is just 11 minutes of sheer greatness... it really lives up to it's title...

Jackie McLean - Hipnosis

How has music like this been allowed to fall out of print when I can still readily purchase a Nickelback album just about anywhere? Because God is dead, that's why.

(Just kidding to make a point there, God! Don't smite me, please!)

Kickin' it really, really old school

Classic as all get-out...



If you believe people like Eric Clapton (and yeah, I know that's a stretch, the dodgy cunt), then Robert Johnson is one of the most influential figures in the history of American music, laying the basis for what would become Rock 'n' Roll in some of the best blues songs ever. Well, I don't know about that, but I do know that according to legend he may or may not have sold his soul to the devil, and you can't get much more RAWK than that!

Robert Johnson - Kindhearted Woman Blues

So women drive you to drink Robert? No kiddin'! :P

It's all about me!!!

It's ma birfday!!!

The Sugarcubes - Birthday

Gimme some love, dammit!!!

:P

Short and strangely terse...

Hey, here's a good one!



dZihan & Kamien are from Austria. And they're fucking awesome at music. So just listen to it already!

dZihan & Kamien - Sliding

Back to being a real blogger next week. Promise!

Have a fantastic weekend :)

The Madness and Me

So, does one half of Orbital sound half as good as Orbital?



Longrange is the much-awaited, by me anyways, new project by Phil Hartnoll of Orbital and, um... some other guy. Now, Oribital is maybe my favorite electronic act ever, so the big question is... how does it stack up? The answer... decently. There is certainly a whole lot of the Orbital lushness in there, which is good... but it's kinda lacking an edge, which for me is not as good. A lot of the songs with vocals are getting a little close to pop, but since Phil was always the mincy one, I suppose that was to be expected. This one is my fave so far... kind of the "Belfast" of this album, if you will...

Longrange - Lie Down

So yeah, that's not too bad at all... waiting for Paul's project to drop now... whose will be better? Stay tuned!

The Man-Machines

Hey folks...

Finally done with the hell job... and I promised something good... now I deliver...

Kraftwerk - Live at Coachella 2004

Amazing show, fantastic sound quality for a bootleg... I was there... they played right after Radiohead... oh fuck yeah!

Enjoy!

A short hiatus...

Hi all,

Due to the supremely fucked work schedule I'm on this week, I won't be blogging again until next Monday. But rest assured... lots of good stuff is coming your way next week.

Peace,

The Management

Laboring on Labor Day

Happy Labor Day (to those here in the U.S.). Ironically, I am working today. So sucks to be me.



Since it's sorta unofficially the last day of summer, here's a song that couldn't be more appropos... Puracane is one of those groups that fit the classic Trip-Hop template, i.e. cute girl in front singing, pasty dude in the back twiddlin' the knobs. They've only released one album thus far that I know of, but it's a really good one, right up there with the best work of Morcheeba and all that lot. How a group like that decided to cover Jane's Addiction I can't figure out, but damn if it doesn't work splendidly...

Puracane - Summertime Rolls

So, on this here job today, I just got to meet famed conservative blowhard Tucker Carlson, and although I certainly don't agree with the dude's politics, I must say, he's a terribly nice fellow. I'm sure he eats babies and stuff when he's not being all professional, though... positive of it. Remember when he got pwned!!1!! by Jon Stewart on live TV?



I guess if he keeps being nice to me, I won't have to bust out this clip on him... but he better watch out, 'cuz I'm ready to throw down!