Free DangerDoom EP
You can download the new DangerDoom EP Occult Hymn for free from the Adult Swim website. By the sounds of things it wont be available for long, so best be quick. It features seven tracks (two of which are skits), one of which is Korn Dogz, a track that was made available to download via MySpace a couple of weeks back.
I haven't listened to it yet*, but I did listen to Korn Dogz a couple of weeks back and it's a pretty cool track. If you aren't in-the-know DangerDoom is emcee MF DOOM and producer Danger Mouse - they originally teamed up last year to release the album The Mouse & The Mask. I'm not sure of the full story, but I presume these 'new' tracks are left overs from last years' project.
As far as newer work goes from these two, well, Danger Mouse is one half of Gnarls Barkley (along with Cee-Lo) and MF DOOM has recently worked on a yet-to-be-released album with Ghostface (of Wu-Tang fame). Anyway, drop me some comments bout anything DOOM or Mouse related, particularly bout this EP.
*EDIT:
I've now listened to the EP (aka: found a short gap in my ever-so-busy schedule!). The first skit is like an intro track really, then track two, El Chupa Nibre Remix, is a real laid back and funky remix of the track originally featured on last years' album called El Chupa Libre. Perfect Hair II is the third track on the EP - it's a more retro-funky follow up to Perfect Hair from the album. Then track four presents us with Korn Dogz, the definite stand out track on the EP - not essentially mind-blowing, but definitely catchy and funky. As a side note, the pedant in me is really hating the inconsistency with the track name Korn Dogs, or is it Korn Dogz?! I need to know which it is! Argh! Anyway, track five; Skit 2, not too much to be said, I mean it's a skit, just some talking over a beat - a nice beat though. Only thing is, it's a bloody long skit! Perhaps more just a chance to showcase some Danger Mouse beats. Track six is a remix of Sofa King, one of my fav tracks from the album. This remix is cool - very laid back and funky, just the way I like it. The last track (seven) is a Madlib remix of Space Ho's, a typically psychedelic Madlib effort.
Basically, this is free, so if you remotely like MF DOOM or Danger Mouse, then download it! If you're thinking of getting this on vinyl, do so if are rich or if you really liked last years' album - it's like the bonus disc that never was. The leftovers. But very enjoyable either way, and when it's totally free, you just cant argue!
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Filed under Info, Links, New Release, Review | Comments (8)Some Bits & Pieces
In an attempt to not bore the pants off you, today I have some snippets of news and thoughts…
Gnarls Barkley have deleted Crazy as a single. So, you can no longer buy the track Crazy on it's own. They claim that fans could get tired of the track (shock horror!) and that could in turn mean people don't go to their shows. [INITIATE CYNIC MODE...] I think it is just a way to make sure that anybody that has yet to purchase Crazy (all 4 of them) go purchase the full album. Pretty clever thinking, I guess. As a side note; I didn't think too much of St. Elsewhere, a few cool tracks, but pretty average and very short.
Previous MySpace feature on this blog; Grudle Bay Riots, have put up a new track on their MySpace page. It's called Mr Master and is definitely a cracker. Nice acoustic samples alongside a solid beat and some sweet strumming. Good instrumental piece by those boys - check it out.
"To all those bastards who don't like my music - you're all adults, you can switch your radio off." Those were the words of the mighty James Blunt after receiving a truck load of ornaments awards. So, some of those bastards are starting to. Essex FM in England will no longer be playing You're Beautiful and Goodbye My Lover. This was actually in response to research that suggested James Blunt was becoming tiresome. Tiresome? Yeah, just a little bit.
'Rapper' Fabolous was apparently a little upset that by the time he arrived on the MySpace scene there were already 19 pages claiming to be him. So he had the admin shut them all down. Not one to dwell on an annoyance(!), the gold mouthed fella even posted up a track to diss these so called "MySpace thugs" - classic lyrics include; "You shooting e-mails, you a Internet thug/ You a MySpace addict, caught on Internet drugs" and he added "I guess they were doing it for the chicks or whatever you can get out of it. They was probably getting all types of free shit. But I had to shut that shit down. You never know what niggas is doing with your name." Wow, real profound.
If you have any spare time left after reading the masses of text found on this blog, please take a look at my pal Linda's music blog; Eardrums Shall Fail. It's a top read.
That's about it really for today's bits & pieces, but if you have interesting nuggets of info to add, please feel free to leave a comment. The funnier the better, could do with a laugh!
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Filed under Info, Links | Comments (12)Return to Oz
Last week I told you of a new discovery here in Australia; Gotye. You can find that entry here. Anyway, with the extreme power of the internet I managed to speak to Wally a few days ago, he very kindly gave me a copy of his latest album, so I figured it only fair to share my thoughts on the entire record.
If you cast your mind back to last week you'll remember there was a mention of exactly where in the mine-field of genres Gotye lies. I suggested it was pop, but basically only on the level that it was pretty much easy listening and covered a multitude of genres. Other sources had claimed comparisons to the likes of Phil Collins - turns out that's pretty accurate thinking. Wally told me that although he appreciates that artists like; DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, The Avalanches, Portishead, and Massive Attack are a big influence on his sound, he would rather actually listen to some classic '80s pop. He told me that Kate Bush, The Police, The Beatles, Roxette, Pet Shop Boys, Phil Collins, and Icehouse, are what generally gets the heavy rotation on his turntables.
So, onto the album, Like Drawing Blood. Eleven tracks and just under 50 minutes of music, that's more like it - suck on that, double albums! Album starts with a short intro track, few quiet clangings of percussion, then straight in to track two The Only Way, a funky guitar based ditty with smooth melodic vocals. The track breaks down early in to a calmer verse, then *bam* straight back in to the eastern sounding ditty. Pretty catchy track, really feeling the vocals, very reminiscent of a slightly more poppy sounding Nitin Sawhney track. Things are nicely broken up with some Shadowesque drum breaks, before once again returning to the main riff.
Third track is an absolute diamond; Hearts A Mess. Starts in a very calm manner, still maintaining a bit of the eastern promise as heard in the second track. In the early build up we are clearly teased with cinematic strings, but another verse of calm vocals keeps any dawning climax at bay. In come those strings again, the beat continues, even the sound of pipes adds to the inevitable, now the strings take over. Then… the Phil Collins sound miraculously appears, wow, those vocals. Another very tidy job on the arrangement and particularly the drum patterns.
Coming Back is the fourth track on the album - a funky track with a sort of tango/cha-cha feel to it - very ballroom show-down! Once more it is Wally's vocals that really steal the show, although nothing should be taken away from the music, that is yet again very well structured and has great depth.
On to track number five; Thanks For Your Time. This track should get your head nodding - it seems to match funky beats with catchy pop melodies. Listen to the vocals and you'll hear that it seems Wally is frustrated with telephone queuing systems! Regardless of the tracks meanings, nothing can dispute the catchiness of this one, though. "Did you request Melbourne Zoo? Please hold and an operator will complete your request." Nice harmonies in this one too, it certainly gets a lot play time on my PC.
Just past the half way point of the album and track number six presents itself in the form of Learnalilgivinanlovin, a real Jamie Lidell style soul track. Simply put, if you like some of the catchier 60s soul, then you'll love this. This track really shows the diversity that is on exhibition with this album. Although one constant is still present; catchy tunes.
Track seven is Puzzle With A Piece Missing, another one of my favourites. A more down-tempo effort, concentrating on an almost ragga sounding build up. The trumpets and drums that come in really add to the down-tempo carnival feel. Imagine the Notting Hill Carnival at two in the morning when everyone has totally chilled down, I mean really chilled. Wally's chilling, yet smooth, vocals are the final piece to this puzzle.
A Distinctive Sound, one of the more played tracks on the radio here so far, is track number eight. It really is fantastic, a collage of Shadow, Cut Chemist, that very special secret Gotye ingredient. Real funky build up, guitar samples, Xylophone, and drums of plenty. In typical Wally sound, the track is in no hurry to present the breakdown, so I wait patiently… a few vocal and piano samples later and *BOOM* what I can only describe as sound like something from the Prodigy's Fat of The Land comes in. The drum samples in this track are right up my street, really enjoying the Gotye style. He's certainly a maestro with the samples, that's for sure.
Seven Hours With A Backseat Driver is the rather chilled ninth track. Sounds like it could be an accordion sample playing through the main part of the build up. Cool use of percussion in this laid back track, borrows sounds from many parts of the world, all fused tightly in to one funky song. Nicely positioned towards the end of the album, good wind down track.
Track number ten is Night Drive, another laid back track, but altogether a bit more poppy sounding. Like a ballad with an eastern flavour. Calm melodies and yet more smooth vocals, just another good wind down track. There's an inspirational feel to this more vocal driven track, it's a good wholesome song.
The final track, track twelve, is Worn Out Blues, literally a semi hidden outro track. Hidden as such that there is a big gap between this track and the last - outro as in it is just 38 seconds long. Powerful strings accompanied by a short vocal verse.
All said and done, the one thing I really like about Gotye is the originality. You can compare Wally's sound to other artists and genres until the cows come home, but essentially whatever you think it sounds like, it has a distinctive sound, an original sound. I don't mean to suggest that he is the first person to ever create these sounds, but I think Wally has a distinctive style in which he has created these arrangements - very thoughtful and considered creations. Everyone should give this album a proper thorough listening to. You might not instantly love every single track, but I can bet that at least a couple will quickly grab you. This music is definitely there to be appreciated - I just wonder if on an album level that the average pop fan will truly appreciate it, maybe they will. All I can honestly say is that I thoroughly enjoyed it myself and will be playing Like Drawing Blood for a long time yet.
The album is out now and available to buy at the Gotye website, plus you can also purchase the download of Like Drawing Blood at Martian Music.
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Filed under New Release, Review | Comments (7)Unearthing MySpace Gems
Another five MySpace Music pages to share with you today. Just like last time, all of the artists and groups I feature have one thing (at least) in common; all have had less than 10,000 page-views. If you know of any artists on MySpace, with less than 10,000 page-views, that you think I should feature, please let me know. Aside from the page-views, the other things I look for are at least a bit of a bio (so I can give some detail in my write up) and generally that I like the music - would be weird for me to recommend music that I didn't like!
Luke Sabbadini - http://www.myspace.com/lukesabbadini
Luke Sabbadini is a singer/song writer from Melbourne, Australia. He lists his genres as acoustic/pop/rock and his influences include; John Lennon, Neil Young and Thom Yorke. Luke has four tracks on his MySpace page, but he has also created a second page to hold another four tracks, this can be found here. Luke has a fantastic voice and all of his tracks should be checked out, but the real stand out track for me was Kings and Queens. His talent is immediately evident and I'd personally like to think that an artist like this would surely find himself signed to a label at some point in the not-so-distant future.
Grandpa Mojo - http://www.myspace.com/grandpamojo
Chris Hansen is Grandpa Mojo, a trip-hop/down-tempo/nu-jazz artist from Colorado, USA. Grandpa Mojo has a fantastic sound, an infusion of the aforementioned genres, as he put's it so aptly on his MySpace page; "it's live trip-hop, kiddies!". There are three tracks for you to enjoy on his page, all about as funky as something very funky, and then some. The jazz element is clear to see, but the inclusion of solid beats and samples is like the icing on this funky cake. I particularly enjoyed the track Mixed Beans - very blacksploitation!
Tomfoolio - http://www.myspace.com/tomfoolio
Craig Stern created Tomfoolio back in 2003 after graduating from the school of DJ Shadow. I made that last bit up, but it sounds cool - anyway, basically, and as his MySpace page explains, Craig realised after listening to Shadow that he could make cinematic music which other people could relate to. If you'll take the time to check out the Tomfoolio tracks you will see that Craig must have graduated with flying colours! Craig is based in Chicago, USA, where he plays at local open mic nights. His track Nocturne is immense - cinematic indeed - I can tell plenty of thought and effort must have gone in to making something like that. Hearing is believing, folks, get it done!
The Sages - http://www.myspace.com/thesages
The Sages are a collective of hip-hop/jazz artists based around the Coachella Valley in the U.S.of.A. They must have a pretty good sense of humour as the only review they've listed on their MySpace page reads; "it sucked so I put on Common." Truth be told, their music far from sucks. The Sages' music is tight as could be and I'm really feeling the emceeing, even if it is perhaps different from your average style - I like that, adds to the appeal. How You Doin Maing was a track that particularly caught my ear, smooth laid back beats and flowing lyrics. They have a real essence of People Under The Stairs, Quasimoto and Cunninlynguists about their music.
Toby Benson - http://www.myspace.com/tobybenson
Originally from the same mother-land as myself (UK represent!), Toby Benson is now a resident of the USA. Down-tempo/electronica/trip-hop are his listed genres on his MySpace page. Toby claims that the Prodigy's Wind It Up was the major influence on him with regards to electronic music, I also still hold The Experience album close to my heart! Make sure you listen to all of Toby's tracks on his page, each offers something quite unique and equally enjoyable. There's an evident Four Tet style to some of his tracks, although comparisons could also be drawn to the likes of Cinematic Orchestra, Jazzanova and Lemon Jelly. Still, like I said before, there is something unique about Toby's music and you really need to hear it for yourself, I doubt you'll regret it. All the tracks are great, but the stand out one for me was Returned to Sender.
So there we have it, another five great pages for you to check out. Please take the time to explore each page and leave them some feedback - don't forget to let me know what you think, too!
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Filed under MySpace, New Discovery | Comments (4)Double albums/Double trouble?
Much has been said over the years with regards to artists releasing double albums, but the recent release of Red Hot Chili Peppers' double album Stadium Arcadium got me wondering bout this subject once more. Double albums; double the value or double the trouble?
Firstly let me clarify what a double albums is; a record released on two discs as the content will not fit on to one disc. Historically vinyl LPs were often released as double albums as vinyl discs could not hold as much music as modern CDs. Most vinyl LPs were between 30 and 45 minutes long, where as CDs can generally hold up to 80 minutes of music. So, it could be viewed that in this day and age (the compact disc era) that there really shouldn't be much need for a double album. And yet, some are still released.
Aside from greatest hits albums and the more instrumental non-mainstream artists like; Aphex Twin, The Future Sound of London, The Orb and BT, and perhaps even releases of live performances, why would an artist release a double album? An obvious answer would be because they've recorded so much great material and they want to repay the fans kindness, god that sounded cynical! Some people would say that an established (already popular) group or artist may self-indulgently believe that releasing a double album will be a sure way to strike gold once more. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that there have been some great double albums, in-fact it would be great if you would reply to this post detailing any double albums that you have particularly enjoyed - but I'm gonna talk about a few that have left a slightly tainted view for myself…
Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations
I'm a big fan of Eels (the band, not the animal), so naturally I was looking forward to this. Then I discover it is a double album, although I didn't really have an opinion on that at the time. The albums is two discs; first disc contains 17 tracks and the second disc contains 16 - total content length; 93m28s. You'd be forgiven for thinking that on paper it sounds like a good return for your dollars. The trouble I had with this album, and have with most double albums, is that I was so flooded with material it was difficult to really gauge one track from the next and form a balanced opinion on the listening experience. Off the top of my head I cant name one track from the album, let alone tell you which ones I liked best. I've listened a few times too, it just doesn't get any better. Which is not to say there aren't any good tracks on the album, just too many tracks.
Foo Fighters - In Your Honor
Never been a massive follower of Foo Fighters, although on occasion I think they are pretty good. I liked the sound of the tracks I had heard on the radio, so bought this double album. So, two discs; first disc has eleven tracks and the second has ten - total content length; 83m17s. Once again it was a hazy listening experience, although not quite as punishing as Eels' 33 track marathon. One redeeming quality was the fact that the first disc was more lively and the second more mellow, that was a nice touch - plus I could spot the tracks I liked, such as; Best Of You, The Last Song and Cold Day In The Sun. But, still, felt like I was being swamped with too much material.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
And so on to the latest (and 9th) Chili Peppers album. I only really got in to these guys when Californication came out, and I really like that album and also By The Way. I'm not a big rock fan at the best of times, so although tracks like Under The Bridge I find good, their earlier work really doesn't do much for me. But, here we are at present day with a new double album. Two discs; first disc offers 14 tracks and the second offers 14 also - total content length; 122m41s. A monstrous amount of music, anyone would agree. Firstly I just want to say that there are some great tracks on this album, my favs include; Dani California, Charlie, Wet Sand, and Animal Bar. Yet, once more there was just too much on offer to really gain a proper judgement overall as an album.
As I'm sure you can tell, the common theme amongst those three is the apparent volume of content (hence the need for a double album in the first place!). To rationalise, take your average normal size album of good quality - on occassion there will be an album released that has eleven absolutely amazing tracks, but generally (and more realistically) speaking, even a good album has perhaps just four or five amazing tracks, a few good tracks, and then a couple of take-it-or-leave-it type tracks. In my opinion, when you increase the volume of tracks on an album, you are more than likely increasing the amount of average tracks on offer - hence devaluing the whole listening experience. I would rather listen to just eight good tracks than listen to ten good tracks but then 16 pretty average ones.
Artists; save these double albums for your greatest hits release or live anthology - releasing such a quantity of material in one hit just weakens your stock. It's quality not quantity! Least that's what I keep telling myself! Once more I realise I'm just scraping the tip of the iceberg on this discussion, but maybe that's just cos I'm cleverly enticing you (the valued reader) in to voicing your thoughts via the comments feature?! Go on, let yourself go, leave me a comment bout double albums!
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Filed under Rant | Comments (12)
