This song seems prime for sampling/remix. I can just hear that raw beat at the beginning with huge bass and skittery snare. Any takers?
(via Grabb.it)
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
On To You by Constantines
#Shine-a-Light was the second Constantines record and it was a revelation. It was one of the next big things out of Toronto in the wake of the #Broken-Social-Scene explosion and it managed to combine BSS's fresh sound and experimental energy with a classic kind of rock expressiveness that was reminiscent of #Bruce-Springsteen (or #Jesus-Lizard, depending on your background). Though they have their own virtues, #The-National, and even the Constantines later albums, pale in comparison.
(via Grabb.it)
Phonder - Juliette
I've never heard of #Phonder before, but this track is totally awesome! Fun glitchy chiptune with lots of rhythmic playfulness. Uses the great #Aphex-Twin trick of letting every part of the beat go mad, dropping out, being super syncopated, etc., while always retaining the core bass-snare alternation so you have something to hold onto. I'm excited to hear more Phonder.
(via Grabb.it)
Saturday, April 26, 2008
She's the One (Hot Chip remix) by Caribou
This is the first #Hot-Chip remix I've come across where I can really hear his engagement with the musicality of the original song (rather than just the sounds it happens to be made of). Maybe it's because this is the song I've known best that he's taken on, but I can't help noticing all the ways he's engaged with the original arrangement, amplifying the differences between parts by breaking up the rhythm here, reinforcing it with additional bass drum and synth lines there. More than just remixing it, he's actually increased the emotional impact of this already great song.
(via Grabb.it)
Thursday, April 24, 2008
The World's Greatest by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Really like the way this setting transforms this #R-Kelly song into classic folk. When set against the finger-picked acoustic guitar, soft female backing vocals, and rich organ, even R. Kelly's bragadocious lyrics start to sound like Pete Seeger: all the "I am"s suddenly expressing a sense of oneness with the world rather than pride at its conquering. Thanks Andy for pointing this one out: http://newspeedwayboogie.tumblr.com/post/32722355
(via Grabb.it)
Movin' On Up/I Can't Turn You Loose (Reprise 3) by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band
It's great to hear live recordings of soul songs from this classic era. Without the incredible warmth of the period's sonic style this music seem more mortal (this sounds like it could have been recorded at a Portland house party this week). But the intimacy of this recording also highlights the insane level of performance going on, especially when they switch to I Can't Turn You Loose for the middle third of this track, starting with the shout of "people!" McCook's vocal acrobatics are filled with little percussive ticks and stabs that playfully dance between the rhythmic starts and stops of the band. You can start to imagine how electrifying this music must have been then and there. "Freedom! Boogaloo!"
Movin' On Up/I Can't Turn You Loose (Reprise 3) by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band
movin-on-up-i-can-t-turn-you-loose-reprise-3-by-charles-wright-the-watts-103rd-st-rhythm-band.mp3
movin-on-up-i-can-t-turn-you-loose-reprise-3-by-charles-wright-the-watts-103rd-st-rhythm-band.mp3
(via Grabb.it)
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
U2 - Vertigo 2
As long as we're cataloguing ridiculous count-offs, here's a good one: "Uno, duos, tres, catorze!", i.e. "One, two, three, fourteen!"
(via Grabb.it)
Pressure Drop (feat. Eric Clapton) by Toots & The Maytals
Best count-off ever: "One. Eh, Two. Eh, one, two, ten, twelve!"
Pressure Drop (feat. Eric Clapton) by Toots & The Maytals
pressure-drop-feat-eric-clapton-by-toots-amp-the-maytals.mp3
pressure-drop-feat-eric-clapton-by-toots-amp-the-maytals.mp3
(via Grabb.it)
Pressure Drop by The Clash
Somehow I had never heard this cover before. I love it when bands cover songs from artists and styles that were formative for them: you can really hear the unique spin they've put on those influences. Like here, in contrast to the #Toots version, the crunchy guitars and scratchy vocals emphasize the grit and 'grunge' #The-Clash brought to the relatively smooth style of the ska and reggae they clearly loved. The comparison also lays bare how much of The Clash's rhythmic style was based on the tension between rock's straightforward rhythms and the syncopated reggae beat. Compared to The Maytals' version, this is marching music, but compared to most regular rock it swings its ass off.
(via Grabb.it)
London Calling by The Clash
Oops. I shouldn't have listened to this today. I spent last night writing and recording a bassline...I was feeling good about it too. But hearing this is just depressing. How are we mere mortals supposed to keep our spirits up about the quality of our efforts on either a musical or sonic front when there are bass parts like this one out there in the world?
(via Grabb.it)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
In the City by Chromatics
The Chromatics ooze creepy glamour. Can't you just hear this song playing over the end of a classic Italian zombie movie?
(via Grabb.it)
Monday, April 21, 2008
Waiting Room by Fugazi
Man, I forgot how much classic era Fugazi kicks ass! The super-melodic funky bass! The precise heavy riffage! The random breaks! The anthemic cries: "I am a patient boy. I wait! I wait! I wait! I wait!" How can you not love it?
(via Grabb.it)
Break by Fugazi
This is one of the best album-openers of all time. It's great driving surf-music quality makes it really exciting and propulsive. And just when you've gotten into the groove, are following the lead guitar, and are sure it's not going to change -- whamo! -- you get the vocals: "Can't ask for more so I hope you're full..." which end with a clarion cry of "Break!" that sends you blasting off into the rest of the album. It's a gutsy start; most albums couldn't live up to an open this good. Thankfully #End-Hits is a classic and totally can.
(via Grabb.it)
Saturday, April 19, 2008
A Breaks B (feat. Dianogah) by Andrew Bird
When I saw that this was an Andrew Bird and #Dianogah collaboration, I was like: "what a random combination, I bet they're both from Chicago" and lo and behold it is so. And, having listened to this, I can kinda hear some of the mellow Chicago darkness of all of the #Tortoise inspired bands in that scene in Andrew Bird's sound. And, come to think of it, #Jim-O'Rourke is from there as well, so mabye Andrew Bird is just the missing link between him and Tortoise.
(via Grabb.it)
The Boys Are Back in Town by The Cardigans
Just for kicks here's another Boys are Back cover. The Cardigans are a deeply under-appreciated cover band: in the 90s their Black Sabbath covers were taken as gimmicks, cheap grasps at a follow-up to their smash hit #Lovefool. But I think the irony of doing these super-masculine songs in their carefree, near-affectless style is more than thin reversal, it has some of the disarming power of camp, i.e. it makes the original seem corny and out-of-it while still getting some aesthetic millage by reveling in the band's obviously love of the material. To put it more plainly: don't you wish The Cardigan's version of Iron Man had been the one used in this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhgzIM-9lfA
(via Grabb.it)
The Boys Are Back In Town by The Mountain Goats
Despite my foray into Mountain Goats-related satire http://largeheartedgoat.com I've never really gotten into them as a band. That said, I love this cover. I get a kick out of how it makes Thin Lizzy's "all-american" style seem spooky and dark and the lyrical content really creepy (especially the Dino's section: "the drink will flow and the blood will spill" and the little "the boys are back" backing whisper). Plus doing the bridge in high 'nerdy white-guy' rap style at the end is a great topper.
(via Grabb.it)
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Please Come Home by At Dusk
http://grabb.it/users/greg exclusive! Rough mix of an unreleased song here from a new Portland band, Doonavetter. Even though this is a rough mix, they've already got a rich late-60s-style sound which is a great fit for their song-writing; this song sounds like it could have been written by a never-was Doors/Byrds supergroup and the warm slide guitar tones and open cymbal-heavy drums are a perfect match for it.
(via Grabb.it)
Please Come Home by At Dusk
Saw Dirty Projectors last night at Backspace (a rad Portland CyberCafe/all-ages music venue) with White Rainbow and Steve Kato. They are just unstoppable live: the crazy rhythmic interplays which can get a little abstract on record are totally visceral and propulsive and the harmonies -- oh, gosh, the harmonies! The three of them are so tightly in tune they make Erykah Badu's band look like a high school choir. The girls especially sing these amazing melismatic close lines while playing crazy cross-rhythms on their instruments like it's the most normal thing in the world. Check out all their songs from this Daytrotter Session: http://grabb.it/albums/0ebeb38a46a6 and don't miss the encore, it's a little smaller and more intimate and really reveals the vocal fireworks: http://grabb.it/albums/0d1853c94f0b
(via Grabb.it)
Please Come Home by At Dusk
I'm excited about the new Joggers material that's starting to make it's way out (like on the upcoming http://pdxpopnow.com/cd for example, hint hint). Era Prison was the first song I heard from their last record and listening to it now very vividly brings back the thrill of hearing that one for the first time and the period when With a Cape and a Cane totally took over my listening.
Please Come Home by At Dusk
I'm excited about the new Joggers material that's starting to make it's way out (like on the upcoming http://pdxpopnow.com/cd for example, hint hint). Era Prison was the first song I heard from their last record and listening to it now very vividly brings back the thrill of hearing that one for the first time and the period when With a Cape and a Cane totally took over my listening.
Please Come Home by At Dusk
I'm excited about the new Joggers material that's starting to make it's way out (like on the upcoming http://pdxpopnow.com/cd for example, hint hint). Era Prison was the first song I heard from their last record and listening to it now very vividly brings back the thrill of hearing that one for the first time and the period when With a Cape and a Cane totally took over my listening.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
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