Another 2 flawless albums
2010-02-14 / 22:27 / dave
- Bob Marley, Exodus
- Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Lie Down In The Light
Archive for the 'Music' Category
2010-02-14 / 22:27 / dave
2009-11-18 / 22:10 / dave
…remixes and covers are pretty good too.
Carl Bradney – Slipping into Darkness (buy)
Nicolas Jaar – Billy Jean (Nico’s Rework)
Shinehead – Billy Jean (buy)
Snares – Electric Funeral (buy)
2009-11-18 / 07:45 / dave
Edits, unlike remixes, reveal the underlying majesty of the original work. They make it alright to indulge in guilty pleasures.
Fleetwood Mac – Dreams (Soul Clap Edit) (buy on mp3 or vinyl; and I recommend you do because the edit of “Wicked Game” is similarly amazing)
The Bee Gees – Love You Inside Out (Cole Medina’s Col Loves Your Insides Out Edit) (buy; and yes, the edit of Olivia Newton-John’s “Magic” is also really really good)
2009-11-13 / 15:25 / dave
The last time SALEM graced these pages it was for a mix of several styles, many of them not hip-hop. But the south is powerful within them and it leaks out as heavy sludge:
Gucci Mane – Round One (SALEM Remix)
SALEM – Trapdoor
Meanwhile Busdriver has been here for years.
Busdriver – Least Favorite Rapper (Anti-Pop Consortium Remix)
2009-11-08 / 15:59 / dave
Last year for his birthday my dad asked everyone for mixtapes. I tried putting one together in Audacity. It was a lesson in software crashes, followed by a lesson in awkward pauses during track changes.
Fed up I sent it off then didn’t listen to it until two weeks ago while driving 1200 miles over 5 days. Despite the flaws, it’s a decent driving mix. It’s also a nice picture of what I was listening to a year ago; plus I managed to sneak a Megaman sound effect in there somewhere. Happy hunting!
I had originally planned to go more funk/dance hall, here’s the tracklist from the outtakes CD (listed alphabetically):
2009-10-09 / 12:10 / dave
In the run-up to the G-20 I was surprised at how many people I knew expressed completely leotarded opinions. They drastically over-simplified the issues: “Capitalism is poison!”, “Protesters should be shot!”, “Cops evil!”. At the time I felt like should write a blog post and set the record straight. It was going to both point out that global capitalism helped drag the world from the stagnation of feudalism as well as question the assumption that wealth disparity is always a problem. It was to remind people that constitutional rights are meant to protect unpopular opinions and that these rights are eroded quietly, relying on the complicity of a quiet populace. It was to reinforce that we are all flawed people with flawed opinions and that the principle of charity also applies IRL.
Instead I did nothing.
So now I present my views in three words:
Shit is complicated
That’s actually the edited version. The director’s cut is twice as long.
Shit is complicated.
And you’re dumb.
The G-20 itself is nicely summarized in this image (a Failblog’ed version of ccbarr’s photo)

If you actually want to learn more, you can check out some actual reporting:
I was reminded of the G-20 when I saw Mother Courage at Duquesne. Not bad, though in the age of movies I question a three hour play. It did make me run home and listen to one of my favorite “found in a used bin for $6″ CD’s: Let No One Deceive You: The Songs of Bertolt Brecht
Frankie Armstrong – Lullabies I, II, III-To My Countrymen-Lullaby IV
Dave Van Ronk – The Legend of the Dead Soldier
The arrangements are sparse, relying on the voices & Brecht’s lyrics.
Then I listened to all the Crass albums.
Crass – Yes Sir, I Will Track 7 (buy)
Crass – Shaved Women (buy)
The Yes Sir, I Will track is 20 minutes of abstract ranting, I think the entire B-side of the original record. Yes Sir is my favorite Crass album because of it’s insanity.
Shaved Women isn’t about war, but it is amazing: Eve Libertine’s wailing, the train samples, the “screaming babies” chant, the sparse main guitar… It’s hard to imagine that people’s heads didn’t explode in 1979, especially when you consider that Reality Asylum [Youtube] was the A-side.
And if you’re looking for something to read, I recommend Joe Sacco’s Palestine. The first 8/9th’s are amazing. The last chapter probably is too, I just haven’t read it yet.
2009-10-03 / 20:05 / dave
I listened to the new Kid Cudi album and thought of a term I’d heard describing Heartless [Youtube]: Emo Rap.
Kid Cudi – Soundtrack 2 My Life (buy)
That reminded me of the white emo rap from my formative hip-hop years, namely Anticon. I haven’t listened to anything on the label since The Makeshift Patriot EP in 2003, but Music for the Advancement of Hip-Hop was pretty bananas 10 years ago.
Slug – Nothing But Sunshine (buy on Anticon comp or on the Lucy Ford EPs)
Sole – Suicide Song (buy)
As a special bonus here’s non-emo Slug wrecking things:
PS: if you’re fast you can still make it to see WHY? at the William Pitt Union.
2009-09-18 / 17:52 / dave
Johanna Billig – This Is How We Walk On The Moon (buy)
And a special bonus:
Arthur Russell – Shes The Star (Pocketknifes Continual Cornfield Remix) (buy)
2009-09-09 / 22:17 / dave
Everything’s wrong and it keeps gettin’ worse. You said it’s just a product of aging but that’s not true, it’s really all gettin’ worse.
Malcolm Middleton
Malcom Middleton – Carry Me (buy)
Belle & Sebastian – Lazy Line Painter Jane (buy)
2009-08-16 / 02:18 / dave
Gianni Rossi – Gutterballs (buy the MP3 or the movie)
GraveDiggaz – Diary of a Madman (buy)
Talking Heads – Gotta Tape I Wanna Play (Greg Wilson Edit) (buy)
2009-08-09 / 01:53 / dave
Syl Johnson – Is It Because I’m Black (buy)
James Brown – Say It Loud I’m Black And I’m Proud (Parts 1 & 2) (buy)
2009-07-21 / 10:48 / dave
Sendin’ big shouts to John. Maximum respect for having us inside the place. This is DJ Cameo right now I’m representing 1Xtra on the big Radio 1. And we’re going to be stepping inside the mix with the DJ Eastwood, DJ Krafty–representing Black Magick records–and also the lyrical talents from the MC’s Purple, G Double E, I.E. and I.Q. And trust me this is going to be absolutely big. Big sound for 2004 from the UK, London. It’s all about the Urban Vibe.
Take it away.
DJ Cameo
(via Mad Decent)
2009-06-13 / 20:24 / dave
I was helping someone look through records today and was reminded of something I told my sister: I like music that makes me feel a little crazy. Thus, via 20JFG, a Salem mix:
Salem – XXJFG Mix (mixtape) (or buy their s/t EP)
It’s a little juke, a little chopped and screwed and a little–as Mary Mack once commented about Ceephax Acid Crew–”tweaker music”. Mmm.
Trax:
2009-06-03 / 09:33 / dave
Halifax future rap circa 2000. As it says on the Old German bottle: “The world knows no finer.”
2009-06-01 / 13:20 / dave
Bonnie Tyler – Holding Out For A Hero (buy)
vs.
Tina Turner – We Don’t Need Another Hero (Extended Mix) (buy)

2009-05-30 / 10:45 / dave
Thanks to Casey from Spokepunchers for this link to an awesome disco funk song about Pittsburgh. Unfortunately it was strangely named and without any ID3 tags so I might have the name completely wrong. Let me know if you’ve got any information. It’s also encoded at about 16 Kbps, so the audio quality is a little rough.
2009-04-26 / 05:39 / dave
Jared Wilson – Drug Related Stories (buy used)
Jody ‘Fingers’ Finch – Jack Your Big Booty (buy)
Jesse Saunders – On And On (buy used)
Abe Duque – What Happened (buy)
2009-04-16 / 20:15 / dave
It’s official: (Balearic) disco is dead. 20JFG says so , and posts a new Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas track to prove it. For your benefit (and for the sake of their bandwidth), here it is:
Lindstrom & Prins Thomas – Tirsdagsjam (Lang Versjon) (buy)
Let’s relive a few of (almost) Balearic’s greatest hits:
Lindstrom – I Feel Space (buy)
I Feel Space sounds like what it is: Balearic disco made some place where it’s cold and dark. Like the moon. Or maybe Norway.
Grace Jones – Williams Blood (Aeroplane Remix) (buy used)
Aeroplane knows Balearic and I hear that Grace Jones has some disco experience. Combine them and you get… uh… a disco start with a synth freak-out finish. And Grace’s autobiographical lyrics. Total awesome.
…tell the Wu-Tang clan I said hi.
2009-04-08 / 06:04 / dave
Mein Gott! Check out both volumes of Jamaica Airline’s Motown / Reggae mashup series. I like volume 1 better, but volume 2 does have that sweet Funk Brothers mashup.
The Marvelettes & The Steadies – Please Mr. Postman (buy)
Funk Brothers & Henry Tipper – What’s Going On (buy)
If you prefer Detroit to Jamaica via Washington DC, try track 4.