Currently residing in Los Angeles, CA with his lovely wife, Melissa, Pablo Murcia was born in Northern Virginia on the 15th day of March in 1980. Raised on a steady diet of "modern rock" (The Smiths, REM, Rush) blasting from the bedrooms of his brothers, he is now obessed with music to a disturbing degree. His hope with this blog is to have a place to channel his unhealthy obsession in what is arguably a productive manner. He hopes you enjoy his ramblings... he's sure you'll enjoy the music.
Dan Whitford clues you in to exactly what's going to happen with the title of this preview track off of Cut Copy's upcoming album. Prepare to be taken somewhere new, because where Whitford and company are going isn't exactly familiar territory for avid listeners of the Melbourne-based electro-pop group.
Not to say the track is a complete 180ยบ for the band. The influences are pretty clear (psych-folkers like neighbors Tame Impala and, of course, Animal Collective and Ariel Pink come to mind) and the sound seems a logical next step for the boys ("So Haunted", from 2008's In Ghost Colours hinted at their psychedelic aspirations).
That said, "Where I'm Going" is a delightful pop tune perfect for summertime lounging. Positive vibes abound and a pulsing beat propels the energy forward into a trippy breakdown for an altogether joyful ride. Download here.
1.Yamaha by The-Dream
2.Shine Blockas by Big Boi ft. Gucci Mane
3.Right On by The Roots ft. Joanna Newsom & STS
4.It Was A Good Day by Ice Cube
5.Come With Me by ceo
6.♥ by Baths
7.Slow Motion by Panda Bear
8.Where I'm Going by Cut Copy
9.Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind by Tame Impala
10.BaBopByeYa by Janelle Monae
Hey music lovers - here's a playlist to jam to while celebrating Independence Day! Have a fun and safe holiday!
1. A Peace of Light by the Roots feat. Amber Coffman, Angel Deradoorian & Haley Dekle
2. Kids by Sleigh Bells
3. White Magic by ceo
4. Angel Echoes (Caribou Remix)by Four Tet
5. Silvia by Miike Snow
6. Aftermath by Nightmares on Wax
7. Silversand by Mesak
8. Jeremy's Storm by Tame Impala
9. Beautiful Mother by Dirty Projectors + Bjork
10.Round and Round by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
Hello, internet. Here are some more tracks for you to consume. I've extended the list to 10 tracks and made it much easier to import the tracks into your iTunes library in the correct order. I begrudgingly hope you appreciate the extra effort.
Enjoy. :)
1. 1977 by Anita Tijoux
2. Dance or Die by Janelle Monae ft. Saul Williams
3. Lookin' For Ya by Big Boi ft. Andre 3000 & Sleepy Brown
4. Power by Kanye West
5. Just Begun by Reflection Eternal ft. Jay Electronica, J Cole & Mos Def
6. Swimming by Killer Mike (prod. by Flying Lotus)
7. CMYK by James Blake
8. Suffocation by Crystal Castles
9. You and I by Washed Out ft. Caroline Polachek
10. Average Fruit by Quadron
Here's my latest offering, this time with a soulful bent:
1. Tightrope by Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi
2. Missyou by Musiq Soulchild (Rolling Stones Cover)
3. Water and a Flame by Daniel Merriweather feat. Adele
4. For All We Know by Donny Hathaway
5. Heaven is 10 Zillion Light Years Away by Stevie Wonder
6. Gone Baby, Don't Be Long by Erykah Badu
7. Another Again by John Legend
8. Playing Possum by Maxwell
1. Do The Astral Plane by Flying Lotus
2. Celestica by Crystal Castles
3. Baiafro by The Gaslamp Killer
4. Chilly Will by Spank Rock
5. Purify by Untold
6. Bowls by Caribou
7. Tell 'Em by Sleigh Bells
8. One Touch by LCD Soundsystem
Hey guys, here are some songs I've been into recently. Enjoy!
1. Icarus by White Hinterland
2. Stay Close by Delorean
3. Time Will by Hercules & Love Affair
4. Odessa by Caribou
5. Drugs by Ratatat
6. Humble Mumble feat. Erykah Badu by Outkast
7. Exhibit C by Jay Electronica
8. None of Dem feat. Royksopp by Robyn
From time to time, I will now post a playlist of some of my current favorite tracks sequenced in an enjoyable manner for your listening pleasure.
Read the list, then download all of the tracks, conveniently zipped up for you, below.
1. "These Words" by Martyn feat. dBridge
2. "Questions" by Strong Arm Steady feat. Planet Asia and Fashawn
3. "Stylo" by Gorillaz feat. Mos Def and Bobby Womack
4. "One Life Stand" by Hot Chip
5. "Stick To My Side" by Pantha Du Prince feat. Panda Bear (Four Tet Version)
6. "Natty" by DVA
7. "Sing" by Four Tet
8. "Window Seat" by Erykah Badu
Last night at Roseland Ballroom, Dr. Yorke debuted a new song, presumably titled "Chris Hodge" or "Let Me Take Control" for the crowd as the start of his solo encore. Curious where these songs will end up...perhaps next Radiohead LP? Enjoy...
Strangely enough, I was listening to LCD's unbelievable 2007 album,Sound of Silver, when I discovered this - the band debuting a reworking of two 1979 experimental pieces by Peter Gordon, "Beginning of the Heartbreak" and "Don't Don't", at an Yves Saint Laurent fashion show in Paris on March 8th. Enjoy!
Being a child of the '80s, I was quite pumped to hear about this film. Then I hear some genius got Daft Punk to score the film and now, well, let's just say I need to change my panties. Here's the trailer with a preview of said score:
Bat For Lashes had one of my favorite albums last year with Two Suns, a haunting and gorgeous collection of baroque-pop genius. Below, find Natasha Khan performing a track off my favorite album of the decade, In Rainbows - "All I Need". Brilliant!
22-year-old Trixie Whitley, daughter of late blues singer-songwriter/guitarist legend Chris Whitley, has burst onto the scene with the help of dad's close friend, Daniel Lanois. She has joined the legendary producer's band, Black Dub, alongside extraordinary jazz drummer Brian Blade. Here are Trixie and Brian performing the intoxicating "I'd Rather Go Blind" under the baton of Lanois:
Emerging UK electropop artist Little Boots is poised for international superstardom. In this 2008 video, you see just how she has risen to prominence through YouTube and MySpace with impressive, stripped-down performances that showcase her keen musicality:
From radiohead.com:
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sticky Tar Chart rant
so yes rumour has it that the canadians came to the copenhagen summit demanding to increase their co2 emmissions.
principally cuz of the tar sands and how much money the faceless motherfuckers in the oil industry stand to make out of it.. who are obviously bankrolling the government there.
i find it hard to correlate this all with the canadians i know who are very forward thinking..
the frightening thing about it is that just such a project could send the climate over the tipping point.
here's a link.. but just google if you wanna know more
....i try to imagine what it must be like to work in the political lobby office of BP or whatever (ok not often).. must be nice to not give a shit... i've met some people involved in the oil industry they seem nice enough... u know..
but hey, they might cry, were all answerable to the shareholders..
err hang on isnt that most of us? pension funds etc? tricky. but then again not really. what use is a fuckin pension when there aint nowhere to live?
an yway
this is an office chart for all u shareholders out there>>>>
Intro: Live At Skateland (1986) Cutty Ranks
Brothers Gonna Work It Out Public Enemy Fear of a Black Planet
Cyclic Bit Raymond Scott
Audience No. 2 Autolux
New York Is Killing Me (Original Clapping Version) Gil Scott-Heron
Natty DVA
Sing Four Tet
Ambre Nils Frahm
Take Me Back Aloe Blacc
Thom
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Download Office Chart here (Thanks to inez from w.a.s.t.e. central)
Wow. Just discovered this internet phenom, Die Antwoord, a trio out of South Africa bringing forth a new style of hip-hop called "Zef", apparently inspired by lots of drugs...
Besides "Taking Over The Interweb", these guys are set to release an album, "$O$", which you can stream on Die Antwoord's website.
The gentlemen of Hot Chip tend to wear their influences on their sleeves, and their latest offering,One Life Stand, is no exception. Hot Chip's music is at once thrillingly forward-thinking and nostalgic - Frontman Alexis Taylor has stated in interviews that his heroes are late-'90s/early '00s R&B and Hip-Hop artists, primarily the mighty tri-force that was Aaliyah, Timbaland, and Missy Elliott:
On first listen, One Life Stand might not strike you as a product of this era, but consider that Timbaland's signature was(and is) creating layers, making peculiar choices with a variety of percussive elements. Listen to the hand drum in "Get Ur Freak On" or the snarling synth underneath the verse on "Try Again". His deft understanding of melody and hooks grab you at first, but with each subsequent listen, you are rewarded with little sonic easter eggs...well, Hot Chip's fourth studio album is full of those, too.
"Thieves in the Night" is a playful jam, with a melody like a vocalise, gliding up and down the scale, and a nice, slow build. The synth intro leads into a beat, which leads to the vocal, which leads into more keyboard twitches and percussion, till the whole thing goes full tilt - a gorgeous '80s synth-pop tune. "Hand Me Down Your Love" gets started with a Motown beat, adds piano and strings and a lovely lead vocal from Alexis Taylor, and walks away with your heart. "I Feel Better" puts you in an early '90s London club, awash with synths and a minimal beat - awesome. The title track has so many elements - easter eggs, surprises, misdirections - I can't even list them all here. Just listen to the track - loud, with headphones on - and try to distinguish all the things that Taylor and co. have going on. The boys slow things down with the tender tribute to male bonding, "Brothers", and the less successful "Slush" and "Alley Cats", before jumping back into the rave with "We Have Love". The heart keeps pumping into "Keep Quiet", which harnesses all that energy into a kind of suspenseful chill, a perfect segue into "Take It In", with which the album goes out on a high note: sick keyboard riffs, excellent vocal harmonies, positive vibes...Sigh...I love Hot Chip!
As a tribute to the two artists I was not able to go check out this weekend in LA, here are some videos I found of Four Tet and Memory Tapes performing live!
*It should be noted that this is Memory Tapes' second live gig EVER, so considering, Davye Hawk does a pretty awesome job...
FOUR TET, "LOVE CRY", LIVE AT THE EMPTY BOTTLE, CHICAGO, IL 2/19/10
MEMORY TAPES, "PLAIN MATERIAL", LIVE AT THE BELL HOUSE, BROOKLYN, NY, 2/3/10
*Update 2/27/10 Added vids for "Airbag" and "True Love Waits"!
Thom debuted three new songs last night at a Green Party benefit show in Cambridge. Watch them below, plus three bonus vids of other songs Master Yorke unleashed for the crowd. I will continue to update this blog post as more vids become available. Enjoy...
My introduction to London's Four Tet (Kieran Hebden) came in 2004, in the form of Radiohead's Com Lag EP. His remix of Hail To The Thief's "Scatterbrain" on said EP happened to have a glitch on most of the first edition of discs released by Capitol Records. Being a rabid Radiohead fan, I had pre-ordered the EP on Amazon and received one such disc. The glitch caused the track, at numerous points throughout the song, to screech out bloodcurdling feedback that ripped through my eardrums.
Needless to say, I haven't listened to that one much.
It wasn't until three years later, when Four Tet offered a lovely remix of The Eraser stand-out "Atoms for Peace" for Thom Yorke that I was able to really give this guy a fair chance. He managed to find the core of that song and expound upon it rhythmically, giving the tune something of an Afro-pop feel, without taking away from the atmosphere of the original.
My curiosity piqued, I got a copy of 2006's Rounds and checked out his original music. It didn't grab me - a little cold and mechanical for me at the time. His collab with Burial, "Moth", however, was a stand-out track last year and cemented him as someone to keep my eye on...
Recently, Four Tet offered a copy of his DJ mix at London venue Plastic People (download here) from a night in December last year. I gobbled it up a few weeks ago and since then, it's been in constant rotation on my iPod. To my delight, I found out that two of my favorite tracks from that mix were from an upcoming full-length - There is Love in You.
The album, released this past Tuesday, does not disappoint. Every track brings the warmth and focus I saw in his "Atoms for Peace" remix, with more emotion and sensitivity than in any of his previous original work. The entire album has a uniquely fuzzy glow.
"Angel Echoes" gets the four-to-the-floor party started right off the bat, using samples from what sounds like a '70s soul jam. "Love Cry" transports you completely to the center of the hottest club with the hottest sound system you've ever heard, in Ibiza - a near-perfect track. "Circling" scales it back a bit, sounding a little more contemplative than the two openers, giving the listener a chance to meditate in space. "Sing", which along with "Love Cry", was a highlight of the Plastic People mix, brings the party back with a playful Nintendo riff throughout coupled with a hot Latin beat. As with all the tracks here, layer upon rich layer is skillfully added to glorious effect - "Sing" is a triumph. Another shining example of the layering technique is the playfully titled "This Unfolds". The track hooks you with its Simple Things-era Zero 7 groove, before slowly morphing into a club-thumper, all the while retaining a gorgeous pop haze. "Reversing", thrusts you into space to once again to reflect on all the awesomeness you've just heard, then back to the club with "Plastic People", a dark and sexy dance-fest. To close, Kieran Hebden chooses the romantic and wistful "She Just Likes to Fight". The song feels like a resolution - a statement of peace, harmony, and love for artist and listener. It's a fitting ending to an emotionally varied journey through this stunning album.
