Classic(s) Remixes

Wow, that last Radiohead post is still warm and now I see that Ratatat is also releasing a free hip hop EP. However, the details are a little different. Instead of a hip hop producer remixing the rock band, it is the rock band performing the remixes of hip hop classics.

They DJ'ed my friends party at the Darkroom in NY a couple of years ago and pretty much played hip hop the entire night (you could divide the hipsters into two groups, either they were breaking it down on the floor or taking their vodka cranberries and going outside for a smoke) . Anyways, after these remix volumes I guess you can say the guys like their hip hop. Glad to see their set list has increased since I saw them DJ. They were playing some extremely played out (by Miami standards?) cuts like It Takes Two and I swear I heard Ice Ice Baby.

Here are some of the artists these guys tackle on this volume :

14 new remixes featuring: Bun B, Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z, Slim Thug, Devin the Dude, Young Jeezy, T.I., Beanie Sigel, Pimp C, Ludacris, Young Buck, Saigon, Juvenile, Z-ro, Memphis Bleek, Kanye West +exclusive tracks from Despot and Beans...

-- via Ratatat's site

Get the entire EP here! Warning (for Ray.. hahaha) it's hip hop. It's not an rock song with some verses on top of it.

ZIP: Ratatat Classics Volume 2

And a few samply samples:

MP3: Jay-Z and Biggie Smalls - Allure (Ratatat Remix) (YSI)
MP3: Z-Ro, Devin The Dude & Juvenile - The Mule (YSI)

Hot Chip Teaser Track and Contest

From Hot Chip:

As a little teaser for you all, we’re giving you the chance to get the title track from Hot Chip’s forthcoming album. Just fill in your details below!

You’ll also be entered into a competition to win all formats of the album and the new single “Ready For The Floor” (released January 28th).
Read the Terms and Conditions.

"Details below" are found right here. (Oh and the teaser track and title of the album is Made In The Dark).

Look at the nice (clickable) banner Hot Chip made for us bloggers. At least some bands are noticing the impact blogs are making.

Exclusive Free EP from DFA Records

For all of you DFA Fans out there. Just made available to download is an Exclusive Free EP from DFA Records! The release includes a video of LCD Soundsystem playing "Us Vs Them" live in Manchester, alongside radio session tracks from Prinzhorn Dance School and Shocking Pinks.

The free download is available from now only until 30 November 2007 and all tracks are only obtainable in this release so click here to download it now!

The Shocking Pinks album is mighty fine. And if you had gone to Apt 407 last night you would have heard Prinzhorn Dance School. Woulda, shoulda, coulda. See what you miss? Come next week!

Full tracklisting:
1. LCD Soundsystem - "Us Vs Them" (Live In Manchester)
2. Prinzhorn Dance School - "Live Horn" (radio session)
3. Shocking Pinks - "Emily" (Live On RDU Radio New Zealand)

It's up to you! Your choice...

That's right... How do you feel about 5 free songs from iTunes? Maybe you want to get some more music that we featured here in the past...

Or some new music we haven't even talked about yet?!?! (Check out MGMT, highly recommended....)

Well, today is your lucky day! It seems Ticketmaster Live, Facebook and iTunes have created a promotion offering you 5 free iTunes tracks! Just follow the really easy instructions (you'll obviously need a Facebook account).

This just worked for me on the U.S. Facebook site with the U.S. iTunes store.

Here’s how to get five free iTunes downloads costing between $0.99 and $1.29:

• Login to Facebook (create an account if you don't have one already)
• Go to the group Ticketmaster Live by clicking here or searching in Facebook for “Ticketmaster Live.”
• Join the group.
• When you join , you will receive the code to redeem at the iTunes Store. It will be right on the screen after joining the group. (The code will likely look something like this: TMX6WMNWL7H3Q).
• Go to the iTunes Store within iTunes and click on “Redeem” in the top of the right-hand column. Make sure you are on the Home Page of the iTunes store.
  
• Enter the code when prompted. You will receive credit for five downloads costing between $0.99 and $1.29 and the expiration date of the credit.
  
• Enjoy!

There Is The Theory Of The Mobius...

UPDATE: Just got another email from the band and it seems they will be coming down in November. We'll keep you posted.
...

There is the theory of the mobius... A twist in the fabric of space where time becomes a loop... (Orbital)

I have been a longtime fan of Mobius Band so I was very excited to get this email from them this morning!! (They were the band that opened for The Editors that everyone was asking their name after they performed.) Anyways, they are Ghostly (you can basically trust anything that comes out of there) but now Misra Records based out of San Francisco.

The new single sees the trio try a few new things (with strings, guitars) while maturing their familiar electronic flourishes.


And now a word from the band:

So we can tell you a bit more about our second LP, Heaven.
It will be out on October 2nd on Misra/Ghostly.
That's right, now we have two labels instead of one.
Our new partner Misra is based in San Francisco and run by the same team as Absolutely Kosher Records.

Heaven is 10 songs long, and looks like this:

01 Hallie
02 Secret Language
03 A Hint of Blood
04 Leave the Keys in the Door
05 Friends Like These
06 Control
07 Tie a Tie
08 Under Sand
09 Black Spot
10 I Am Always Waiting

NEW SONG.

The more interesting news is that you can hear the first song on the album, "Hallie," at our myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/mobiusband

Or here:
http://www.mobiusband.com/music/mp3/heaven/01Hallie.mp3

MP3: Hallie

Check out a track from their previous album (there is a great Juniors Boys remix of this on the 2nd Ghostly compilation):

MP3: The Loving Sounds of Static

Gotta Love Bedroom Eyes

Bedroom Eyes is a one-man band from Östersund, Sweden striving to make pop music that is sweet, simple, and short. He is one man in the studio but seven when on stage.

His latest release Valentine Vacancy EP (Jjune 2007) is available for free, including artwork, on the Bedroom Eyes website. You will also find his debut EP from 2006 there, also free.

Here is a sampling:

MP3: (Here's One For You) Underdog
MP3: Norwegian Pop

Let The Beats Rollllll.........

If you like your beats big then look no further than Skint Records the home of Fatboy Slim and The Lo Fidelity Allstars. They are release a few EP called Let the Beats Roll. It has some remixes of old hits, rare classes and new tracks all wrapped up into one neat zip file. It is definitely a party album. Not exactly the type of stuff you go to sleep to.

Get the EP here. (Note you will have to sign up for the Skint Newsletter, but you can always unsubscribe after.)

Tracklist
01 Kool Roc Bass - Lo Fidelity Allstars
02 Give It - X-Press 2
03 Right Here Right Now (Redanka Mix) - Fatboy Slim
04 We Have Control - Alloy Mental
05 Everybody - Goose
06 Rocker (Stanton Warriors Remix) - Alter Ego
07 What was her Name? - Dave Clarke
08 Let the Beats Roll (Section 23 Mix) - Tim Deluxe
09 Feel too Good (Midfield General Remix) - Kidda
10 March of the Pams - Ralfe Band

Preview of Toronto: The Cansecos

So in preparation of my trip to Toronto coming up, I decided to post some music from a band I just discovered from there. Honestly, I just really like the song and it has nothing to do with my trip. But maybe I can see one of their shows if our schedules align.

Anyways, The Cansecos, they are difficult to describe. They are dance friendly (despite the image to the right-I think that was the baseball game in the 80's where they burned disco records a huge mob rushed the field but that's for another post...). The Cansecos do a good job of pushing pop music further than it has gone before (I would say similar to Hot Chip).

They release their self title debut album in 2003. And they are set to release its follow up this year entitled Juices!. It was self-produced and recorded by Adam Nunn (Radiohead, Air) at Abbey Road Studios. You can get a taste of it via their just released remix project called Juiced! You have to check it out. Within the first few minutes of Side A, you hear the familiar (hopefully) baseline of Supernature by Cerrone but with their vocals on it. They do the track justice. The rest of it is just fun.

Scoop it up. And let it ride.

MP3: Juiced! Side A (web release)
MP3: Juiced! Side B (web release)

From their self title debut:

MP3: Faster Than You Go

Set Adrift...

Balancing acoustic and electronic sounds can be a daunting challenge. There is a fine line between adding the occasional out of place blip or tweet and smothering a perfectly placed guitar with a beefed up drum loop.

Christopher Willits (Ghostly) manages to blur the distinction between the various music styles. You are not listening to electronic music or acoustic music rather his own creation where he uses his prowess on the 6-string along with a custom-made signal processing system to perform a unique real-time mixture of melody and rhythm.

Sounds tasty! He just released an addendum to his 2006 release Surf Boundaries called Surf Boundaries Addendum that is available as a free download courtesty of (one of my favorite labels) Ghostly International.

MP3: Yellow Spring
ZIP: Surf Boundaries Addendum

Music from The Eames Era

Not exactly music from the mid-century modern furniture period (even though I have thought about digging into music that was played during that time of Verner Panton living environments and Palm Springs getaways).

An indie pop band from Louisiana called The Eames Era. I have been sitting on their music for a couple of months. Sometimes it takes a while to warm up to a band. Well in this case, I did not even realize that I had it in my library. Short sweet pop songs, with plenty of females vocals, jumpy drums, and la-la-la's (I think I even heard a hand clap in there). Their music has been featured on a few TV shows (tell me a successful indie band that has not these days...).

This is from their current self released album, Heroes and Sheroes.

Music courtesy of The Eames Era website. Like what we have here? Go to the site to get a few more tracks!

MP3: Last to Know
MP3: When You Were a Millionaire

Record Label Spotlight: Labrador Records

Hailing from Sweden, Labrador Records has been putting out infectious pop bliss for the past 10 years. With acts like Peter, Bjorn and John getting massive airplay (I cringed when I heard the PB&J/Kanye mash up in a club in Vegas), it seems the music scene in Sweden can do no wrong these days and Labrador is one of the labels bringing it to the masses. You have heard artists from this label without realizing it (The Radio Dept., Tribeca).

The musical style might be a little narrow. No heavy crunch or get down boogie but that's okay, we did not buy the record for that.

Acid House Kings - Sunday Morning
Club 8 - Everlasting Love
Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - Loop Duplicate My Heart
The Radio Dept. - The Worst Taste In Music (new album later this year)

There are way too many MP3's available from the Labrador site to list here, so just go straight over and grab some.

Labrador Records - Sounds

I am Packing My Suitcase

I am moving to Sweden. Not only can I get all of the Swedish meatballs I would ever want but the Swedes put out some sweet music. Mr. Suitcase is Billy Rimgard from Stockholm and just released his LP Guidelines For An Emerging Century on Kitty Litter Records.

He put out the first single (and a couple of remixes) out as a free download. The Kopia remix is perfect for a summer afternoon while the Magsch version is dance floor ready.

If you go to his MySpace profile, you can score a few more singles and EP from his blog.

MP3: You Don't Smile Anymore
MP3: You Don't Smile Anymore (Kopia Remix)
MP3: You Don't Smile Anymore (Magsh Remix)

Indie Cross Breeding...

The Microphones begat Khaela Maricich who hooked up with Jona Bechtolt (YACHT) to form The Blow.

So we got The Microphones, Get the Hell Out of the Way of the Volcano (Maricich), YACHT and The Blow. That would make for a pretty good 6 Degrees of Indie seperation game.

They also make some pretty good music. The music involved from a lo-fi indie sound, slowly adding electronic elements and sometimes just going for straight dance music.

YACHT recently opened for LCD Soundsystem in NYC and from the reviews it seems he killed it and did not disappoint. He is actually making a name for himself because of his life performances. He also remixed a couple of tracks for Architecture in Helsinki. He keeps a pretty detail blog called Team YACHT. (HINT: If you dig around there enough, you might find some freebies!).

MP3: The Microphones - Don't Smoke
MP3: The Blow - Pile of Gold
MP3: YACHT - I Believe In You

Guilt Free Downloading Ahead...

I just stumbled upon this. They have a ton of free MP3's to download. Including DNTEL, Bright Eyes, Air, Elliot Smith, Apples in Stereo... the list keeps on going for a bit. Most of tracks are fairly recent releases.

Go pick up a few and get the beach play list ready for the holiday weekend.

The Space Lab

A few to get you started:

MP3: Apples in Stereo - Energy
MP3: The Blow - Hock It (YACHT Remix)

(There is a longer post on The Blow/YACHT coming up, hopefully today. So check back,ya here?)

I Got That... Feeling All Over...

Adult Swim released a new (and free!) compilation entitled Warm And Scratchy with tracks by The Rapture, Les Savy Fav, 120 Days, Broken Social Scene, and a whole bunch of other indie artists.

What? Free? That is what I first thought. And this is not your run of the mill, O.C., Laguna Beach, indie for a second compilation either. The Raveonettes!!

Go run and get yourself a copy. They even include artwork for your iPod (or whatever other MP3 player you nonconformists have).

MP3s: Adult Swim - Warm and Fuzzy

Sample: The Raveonettes - Dead Sound