Posts published during November, 2009

11/20/2009

ok ikumi – shining path pt.2

ok ikumi

gonna keep this one short and sweet. check this one out. the artist is ok ikumi, which is actually karl jorgensen from salt lake city, ut. and the track is “shining path pt. 2″ but im not really sure if there is a part 1 and where it can be located, but i know that there is a part 3 on his myspace page. thats pretty much all i can find out about him. this track is a great example of the shiny and happy wing of the electronic music castle. it doesnt have to be all scary kick bass madness all the time (even though i happen to like that wing as well). this characterizes a lot of the music of ok ikumi, so if you like this one, definitely check out his other works. at times, im reminded of both apparat and milosh, and that is a good thing.

ok ikumi – shining path pt. 2

2 comments

11/19/2009

washed out – feel it all around

washed out

before we begin, lets talk about how excited i am to see phish at cobo arena tonight. they havent played in michigan since 1999 and havent played in detroit since 1992 or something crazy like that. the show would be much more enjoyable if i wasnt going to be eating the 4 extra tickets that i was unable to practically give away, much less get the money back that i paid for them. disasterous.

anyway, todays tune is by washed out is the relatively new musical project of ernest greene, who now resides in jawja. his digital EP “life of leisure” was released a few months back and hes been all the rage around the interwebs. and just like the name implies, a lot of the music sounds a bit washed out, but i think thats what gives it its ear catching sound. greene says that hes been making music for a while, but that he just kind of whipped up these songs and recorded them in a month or two after moving back in with his parentals. his music is much in the same vein of neon indian, part of what is being called “glo-fi” or “no-fi”, among many other things, but i like the retro sound of these artists. “feel it all around” just makes you want to sit back and chill the f out. it kind of reminds me of something that could be played in an 80s teen drama, big hair and all, during one of those montages where it just shows a bunch of people sitting by themselves thinking about things. i think you know what im talking about.

washed out – feel it all around

Washed Out - Life of Leisure - EP - Feel It All Around buy this track on itunes
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11/18/2009

the whitest boy alive – 1517

the whitest boy alive

i kinda really dig this track. its from the whitest boy alive, a side project of kings of convenience member erlend oye (along with sebastian maschat, marcin oz and daniel nentwig). according to wikipedia, the group started out in indonesia (which seems a little odd for a couple of scandinavians) as an electronic dance group. while they are no longer very electronic, theyve still got a nice beat going on a lot of the time (while still remaining totally chill). “1517″, todays track from the 2009 album “rules”, imparticular has a total disco-esque rhythm and a great funky synthesizer offbeat thing goin on. its kind of like the older brother of kings of convenience, the one that likes to party. but even the partying older brother is pretty tame, because they still come from a pretty tame family. but its still kind of fun.

the whitest boy alive – 1517

The Whitest Boy Alive - Rules - 1517 buy this track on itunes

12 comments

11/17/2009

deastro – light powered

deastro

there are so many great things centered around todays track by my native detroits very own deastro. besides being a great hometown act whos made it pretty big recently, hes also signed to the great ann arbor record label ghostly international. but whats EVEN cooler than that is where i discovered this track, thanks to gt (even though its been around for a lonnnng time). he recently sent me the ghostly swim compilation, which is a free compilation released by ghostly international and, you guessed it, adult swim, everyones favorite late night irreverent cartoon showcase. the compilation features tons of ghostly international artists as well as a handful of other artists that really bend the rules of music. you can stream or download the whole compilation for free from the adult swim website.

as for deastro (born randolph chabot), hes really been on a roll lately. he released “moondagger” this year which has been met with critical acclaim and has even released a few EPs since. can someone get this guy a wikipedia page already? the track “light powered” is everything i love about deastro. great beats and spaced out happy melodies. hes currently on tour and will be playing his hometown next weekend, so check him out if you can.

deastro – light powered

Deastro - Keepers - Light Powered buy this track on itunes
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2 comments

11/16/2009

faunts – feel.love.thinking.of.

faunts

so things have been a little hectic lately around here, and to that effect i havent been doing a great job finding new stuffs to post up here. that being said, ive been rockin out to some older tunes. but youll still hopefully like them and may not have known unless i told you anyway, so lets just pretend that last sentence didnt happen. todays is a song released earlier this year, which i guess isnt really that old. while faunts is yet another pretty neat canadian band, unlike most of the others, they are from edmonton, alberta. i feel like we havent really explored much from that region of canada.

the title track of faunts 2009 release “feel.love.thinking.of” is a great start to a great album. i could have picked any of a myriad of tracks for this album because they are all pretty happenin, especially when you listen to them in the context of the rest of the album. this song imparticular is a nice example of a song that can be electronic but still totally chill. as usual, i really enjoy the buildup throughout the song, most notably in the beginning before the lyrics even begin. pay attention to all of the little musical cues going on that work together to create the overall sound.

faunts – feel.love.thinking.of.

Faunts - Feel.Love.Thinking.Of. - Feel.Love.Thinking.Of. buy this track on itunes
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11/14/2009

saturday throwback. lauryn hill – ex-factor

lauryn hill

this weeks throwback isnt THAT much of a throwback when you first think about it, but lauryn hills “the miseducation of lauryn hill” was actually released 11 years ago. how crazy is that? the former fugee frontwoman has kind of disappeared from the spotlight after some controversy and was set to make some sort of a comeback this year with a mini-tour, but that was cancelled for unspecified health reasons. but at least we have this classic album to fall back on, because it is a good one. and one of my favorite tracks from the album was always “ex-factor”. it definitely was not as much of a huge hit or as radio ready as some of the other tracks, but i think it does a great job of showcasing hills one of a kind voice. its a pretty good breakup song too with its “no one loves you more than me and no one ever will”s and its “no ones hurt me more than you and no one ever will”s.

apparently this song samples wu-tangs “can it all be so simple”, which seems to make sense since the song starts out with “it could all be so simple”. its nice to take a song title with a question, sample it, and answer that question right away. very efficient. its kind of weird thinking back on it how the fugees became so huge and then sort of all just had solo projects that lasted a while and then all just disappeared. for some reason i have a weird memory of a school trip to europe back in ’98/’99 and hearing lauryn hills version of “too good to be true” at some random cafe in italy. sometimes i remember random insignificant things 10 years after the fact.

lauryn hill – ex-factor

Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Ex-Factor buy this track on itunes
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1 comments

11/13/2009

peter bjorn and john – it dont move me (miike snow remix)

peter bjorn and john

since i kicked it down a notch last friday, ill kick it up two notches this friday. today features one of my favorite tracks from the most recent peter bjorn and john album “living thing”, entitled “it dont move me”. i just never could get into “nothing to worry about” with all the kids screaming in the beginning, but this song does really hits the spot. and how do you take a great song and make it even better? mix in one of my favorite new acts of the year, miike snow, to remix the song. not only is their album “animal” one of my favorites of the year, but theyve also put out two of my favorite remixes of the year, the other of course being their incredible vampire weekend remix, which im going to post again below because i like it just that much.

the remix for “it dont move me”, which i think tkop first told me about a few months back, is very different than the vampire weekend mix. its signature miike snow moments are not always as obvious in this one, but when they hit, they hit hard. and once you get to the breakdown in the third minute of the song, fuggedabatit. this remix is very reminiscent of a live miike snow song. get through the song and just when youve got the crowd, break into a multi-minute electronic jam.

peter bjorn and john – it dont move me (miike snow remix)

and just for old times sake….

vampire weekend – the kids dont stand a chance (miike snow remix)

7 comments

11/12/2009

wild beasts – all the kings men

wild beasts

ive been hearing todays song quite a bit lately and while it didnt immediately strike me, i kind of love the weirdness of it all now. the band is wild beasts, a quartet from kendal, england. they released their second album earlier this year, “two dancers”, which has been met with pretty critical acclaim from all sorts of media outlets and bloggers. todays song is the albums third track, the appropriately titled “all the kings men”. there is so much to listen to and love about this track. it opens with a quick guitar riff thats built upon with the understated “ohh ohh ohh ohh”s that carry us through most of the song, before the lull is interrupted by the shrill falsetto of singer hayden thorpe. but in my minimal research, it appears that the majority of the rest of the song is actually by the other singer in the band, tom fleming. their voices work so well together though that its pretty impossible to even tell there are two singers in the song.

i guess the song doesnt really seem that weird until you read the lyrics in this one. its essentially a tale of all the women coming to bang the king to bear him an heir to the throne. but have no fear, the sound of this song makes this medieval theme seem way cooler than it sounds. i dont think the feminist contigent of the dailybeatz audience would be too happy with the lyrics of this song, but it was a simpler time back then. the band speaks of birthing machines and shrilly cry “hatch me! hatch me!” its kind of like an early example of groupies, as the song tells the whole story of the king choosing his baby momma and ending with his “broken body”, presumably from all the procreation hes been doing. great track.

wild beasts – all the kings men

Wild Beasts - Two Dancers - All the King's Men buy this track on itunes
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