Track of the Week
Decided to go for another not-so-new track this week…
Nostalgia 77 - Seven Nation Army feat. Alice Russell
>> download <<
This download is a sample of the music only and must be deleted from your computer within 24 hours of downloading. This download link will expire on 2nd June.
I've heard a few different covers of Seven Nation Army, but when I first heard this version (on a mix-tape) my jaw nearly hit the floor. I instantly knew it was Alice Russell on the vocals, then later discovered the track was by Nostalgia 77. You really need to crank this one up nice and loud to fully appreciate it!.
The track is taken from Nostalgia 77's album The Garden. Nostalgia 77 is Ben Lamdin, a funky, jazzy, down-tempo kind of artist signed to the Tru Thoughts record label. His sound is very much like a crazy mix of Cinematic Orchestra, RJD2, and John Coltrane. If you like your jazz funky, then definitely check this guy out. As for Alice Russell, well, her talent really does speak for itself. I wont even bother to list comparisons - if you like her take on Seven Nation Army, you'll love her other work - check out her albums Under The Munka Moon and My Favourite Letters. Alice Russell is also signed to Tru Thoughts records - hence the co-lab, no doubt.
Anyway, let me know what you think. Always good to hear feedback from people, animals, and machines, alike.
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Filed under Track of the Week | Comments (8)The Wizard of Oz
A wizard with a sampler and Oz as in Australia. I am talking about someone that a lot of Australia seems to be talking about, but I hate to see the rest of the world miss out. I'm talking bout Gotye, apparently pronounced Go-tee-yeah. Gotye is 25-year-old Wally De Backer from Melbourne, Australia. He plays a multitude of instruments, can sing, and also produces all of his music from the the very house he lives in. On his MySpace page he lists his genres as alternative/electronica/indie, but also cheekily claims to be an alt-pop meister. Gotye is another of the new breed of artists that combine creativity with pop music (hard to believe, I know). His sound is extremely diverse and touches on many genres and influences.
As like many newly discovered artists, Gotye is much of an enigma, although his latest album Like Drawing Blood is the current featured album of the week on Triple J - this is in-fact where I first heard of him. Gotye's following seems to be increasing all the time, but I just wonder how far away from the shores of Australia his sound will hit. History tells us that only the lucky, and usually rocky, artists do well abroad from Australia - although I wont be too quick to dismiss the pop careers of the Minogues, Natalie Imbruglia or any other ex-soap stars I cant remember the names of.
Unfortunately I am yet to hear the full album, but have heard the tracks off of his MySpace page, two tracks are available for you to 'sample' at the following link…
Gotye - A Distinctive Sound / Gotye - Thanks For Your Time
>> download <<
This download is a sample of the music only and must be deleted from your computer within 24 hours of downloading. This download link will expire on 1st June.
It's difficult to describe his sound - some tracks remind me of Jamie Lidell, while others perhaps of DJ Shadow or Kid Koala. But, you should definitely listen to his tracks all the way through, really give them a good go before judging. More tracks are available on his website and MySpace page.
I'd be really interested to know what people think, and also if anyone not living in Australia has already heard of Gotye. One thing's for sure, he'll definitely be popular in Australia, well, he pretty much already is!
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Filed under New Discovery | Comments (9)The Herbaliser
So, this blog is already one week old! Thanks to everyone that has read the entries, and even greater thanks to those people that have left me comments, you guys really are fuelling this thing.
Today I decided I'd feature the group that have remained at the top of my last.fm charts for a long time now; The Herbaliser. Since 8th February 2005 I've, apparently, listened to The Herbaliser 654 times - so they must be pretty good, right? Right!
Ollie Teeba and Jake Wherry formed The Herbaliser back in the early '90s in good old London town. They are one of Ninja Tune's more famous/popular artists and to date they have released five full albums;
- Remedies (1995)
- Blow Your Headphones (1997)
- Very Mercenary (1999)
- Something Wicked this Way Comes (2002)
- Take London (2005)
Essentially The Herbaliser are a jazz/hip-hop group. Their earlier releases were more of a beat driven hip-hop experience, but over time their sound has matured, the jazz element began to take more of a shape and then in the later years they experimented using an actual jazz band to play instruments on their tracks. Another, more constant, feature in their music has always been the appearance of guest emcees. Many have returned to work with them time and again, whilst others were one off, such guest appearances have been from; Jean Grae (credited in earlier work under the name What What), Roots Manuva, Raaka Iriescience (from Dilated Peoples), Blade, Phi Life Cypher, and MF DOOM.
But… so as to not make this entry read like a page from an encyclopedia, let's get down and dirty and delve into the wonders that are… my opinions!
The first record I actually heard from The Herbaliser was Something Wicked this Way Comes, when it was released in 2002. I didn't really know much about them, but my cousin assured me it was a good UK hip-hop record, so… I bought it. The album took some getting used to (I was young and uncultured!), but the title track instantly grabbed me - the eerie samples and hypnotic beats putting me in some sort of trance, but a good trance. If you haven't heard that track, then give it a 'sample' here…
The Herbaliser - Something Wicked (feat. Seeming To)
>> download <<
This download is a sample of the music only and must be deleted from your computer within 24 hours of downloading. This download link will expire on 31st May.
After that I pretty much made it my mission to check out all of their stuff. Each album has it's own charm, plus what I love about these guys is that they manage to keep the crux of their music whilst nothing sounds repetitive. You know what I mean, some artists (although great) manage to release 5 albums that sound pretty much exactly the same - not The Herbaliser. I really love particular tracks off each album, few to pick would be; Wrong Place, Ginger Jumps The Fence, Mission Improbable, Let It Go, Something Wicked, and Lord Lord.
The Herbaliser have also been successful with mix-tapes, releasing Solid Steel Presents Herbal Blend (2003) for Ninja tune, and also Fabric Live 26 (2006) for the continuing Fabric Live series.
To compare The Herbaliser to other similar acts, I guess names like these would perhaps come to mind; Nightmares On Wax, Coldcut, DJ Vadim, DJ Krush, Bonobo. Basically if you are into your jazzy hip-hop and you haven't heard anything by The Herbaliser, then get some quick before the music police bust yo' ass! Feel free to comment on The Herbaliser or detail your favourite tracks in this post.
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Filed under Classic, Info | Comments (6)The Great Anticipation of 2006
I am of course referring to albums due out sometime within the rest of this year. I'll list the ones I am looking forward to, as this is in-fact my blog. So there! However, feel free to leave me comments with any albums that you are looking forward to, I'm a pretty open minded kinda guy, so chances are if you are looking forward to it, then I might just appreciate it too.
DJ Shadow - Well, I could write a whole essay purely based on Josh… but I wont, I'll only get angry. Firstly, many were expecting a new Shadow album last year, evidently we didn't get one. Secondly, is it gonna be shit? Serious, first we had that Keane remix and then 3 Freaks, it doesn't bode well. I have it on good authority that despite these 'blips', the new Shadow album is still meant to be very good - one person even suggested to me that 3 Freaks might not be on the album… here's hoping! Anyway, check out this link, it basically says that the new album is complete, it has a very diverse sound, and will be called The Outsider. No word on a release date though.
Jurassic 5 - Another overdue album. I wasn't too impressed with the last effort, although some have said it is a grower (so I will listen again soon), but this new album Feedback is due out on 25th July. If you check out the track posted on their MySpace page Work It Out (feat. Dave Matthews Band), maybe you will cry a bit… I did. This particular track reeks of being commercial radio friendly, surely this is intentional? The groups motivation? The fuck should I know?! Either way, I'll be checking this new one out to give it a good going over, myself.
Cut Chemist - J5's very own ex-producer has his album The Audience's Listening due out 13th June (although some sources suggest 11th July). I've always greatly enjoyed the Chemist's work, whether it be with J5, Shadow, or on his own, and I have high expectations for this upcoming release. I sincerely hope I'm not setting myself up for a fall, but there is only one way to find out. Secretly (he says, on an public site!), I reckon it will be excellent - otherwise… I'll cry some more - what an emotional blog entry!
Bonobo - Sorry folks, I literally have nothing to tell you, other than it is due out this year (hopefully!) and should be pretty cool. You can read a small diary entry from the man himself (posted end of March) here. Still, it's not all bad, that Live Sessions album of his never gets boring, that'll tie us over!
Lily Allen - Well, scroll down near to the bottom of this page and you'll see I posted bout Lily last week. As we already know her ska/pop debut album is due out on Regal records on 17th July.
Radiohead - I think Radiohead are great (shock horror!), but I haven't been following that closely how the new album is going - but a friend told me today that the new album due out in October has now been pushed back to 2007. But… Thom Yorke has an album out on July 11th called The Eraser.
Boards Of Canada - The new EP is called Trans Canada Highway, it is coming out on 29th May. Watch a weird (I guess promo) video here, on Warp's site. I must stress that this is an EP and not an album - only 5 new tracks will be on this release.
Venetian Snares - This guy's music has the ability to scare me and excite me. Anyway, enough of my personal life. The new album is beautifully named Cavalcade of Glee and Dadaist Happy Hardcore Pom Poms and is due out sometime in June. Hopefully it will be in a similar vein to the last album, that was a whole lot more listenable than his older work. Although, this is just my opinion, I know some people like that stuff.
Amon Tobin - I don't actually know the name of his new album, either I've missed that detail or nobody knows yet (feel free to educate me). Some details from an early May blog entry can be found here. Sounds like he's just been doing a load of field recordings and stuff, says he is bout half way through it all now. Hopefully we'll see this before the year is out.
I'm sure there are plenty of other hotly anticipated albums due out this year, so feel free to tell me bout them. Also if I am missing any info in the above brief reports (or something is wrong, heaven forbid!), then tell me too.
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Filed under Info, New Release | Comments (10)Hip-Hop/Hip-Pop
I think the title of this entry pretty much suggests what I'm gonna rant about, but… first off, I just want to say that from a commercial stand-point, I realise that there is a place for hip-pop and that plenty of people seem to really enjoy it. I don't want for there to be any presumption that I'm going to just rip some music to shreds and praise some other (I make no promises, what can I say? I'm passionate!) - I'll attempt to show a bit more depth into the discussion and raise some valid points. So, let's get to it…
In-case some readers aren't quite aware of what my crass label hip-pop means, I will explain; hip-pop is the casual term given to mass produced commercial hip-hop that is released solely for quick sale chart consumption. Bear in mind that this is only an opinion (although plenty share it) and not everybody will agree with my assessment. Many feel that these hip-pop artists are just selling out; using the hip-hop genre to make artistically-limited music that is marketed towards kids, purely in an attempt to make as much money as quickly as possible, without much thought to the actual music itself. I'm sure these artists would (publicly) disagree, but public perception rules all and on this occasion I don't believe that our eyes deceive.
To give you an idea, I'll list a few names that could be considered as hip-pop artists; 50 Cent, basically all of G-Unit, modern day Jay-Z, Ja Rule, modern day Black Eyed Peas, P Diddy, Ludacris, Lil Jon, Nelly, Obie Trice, Akon, Bubba Sparxxx, modern day Busta Rhymes, the list really does go on, but I think you get the idea. It is difficult to know what these artists are thinking, whether they actually care about the music, or do they just want loads of money - to be honest, we'll probably never know, and that is where our perception comes into play. Personally I can only conclude that the aforementioned artists are essentially pop artists after lots of cash, using a watered down version of hip-hop.
Some of these hip-pop artists were once highly respected hip-hop acts, like Jay-Z, Black Eyed Peas, and Busta Rhymes, for example. Maybe they just lost their desire for the music, maybe they just want to drive nicer cars, who knows? All I do know is that I'm sick of hearing this watered down hip-hop. I don't really listen to commercial radio anymore or watch much TV, so I don't get exposed to this music very often, but what hurts me most is how much people sing the praises of this music. There's no soul to this music - it's just a catchy jingle over a heavy beat and some guy rapping bout shooting someone in the face and f*cking some hoe. I remember a friend of mine saying they don't like hip-hop music cos they don't like the way the songs are all about violence, money, and hoes - I was ready to list of a hundred hip-hop artists that never mention that crap, but this persons mind was already made up. I've even tried to counter suggest artists to people that have been consumed by the devil (listeners of hip-pop), if someone tells me they like 50 Cent, I suggest they try listening to Nas, MF DOOM, or Ghostface, for example. But the devil has them so tightly that they feel if it isn't being rammed down their throats via tv and the radio, then it isn't cool to listen to it.
Regardless, the underground hip-hop scene is still strong. I mean, there are tonnes of fantastic acts still struggling to get record deals, but it is encouraging to see people still putting the effort in to make decent art. I just find it incredibly sad that people rely on the mainstream media to such an extent. Either they cant see that it is ruling their lives, or they just don't care. If these people could just take the time out to discover new things for themselves, with an open mind, maybe they would take their musical enjoyment to the next level.
All said and done, this is a rant coming from someone that does appreciate real hip-hop and does despise hip-pop - I know many will agree with my sentiment, but there are tonnes of fans of hip-pop music and they don't really care what I think, but perhaps this is just the state of things in this day and age. I also realise I have only briefly touched on what is actually quite a heavy debate, but I figured that it wouldn't be wise to send you to sleep with a massive rant, so it's just some food for thought. What would be cool is if anyone reading this would take 30 seconds out to leave a comment that includes the name of a real hip-hop artist, just some recognition and appreciation for the guys striving to keep the scene alive.
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Filed under Rant | Comments (28)
