All Napster

Luciano - Africa Sweat (ft. Ali Boulo Santo)

2009-11-08T14:45:00.002-05:00

While there will inevitably be a backlash against the current strain of tribal-tinged deep house that is so prevalent currently, Luciano's Africa Sweat will most definitely not be the target. With a guitar sample far more complex than most would dare to sample, bongos that have a rough, live feel and precise hand claps, the track works at home or on the dance floor. Unusually, the kick is barely there but the production is rich it does not need to hide behind it. Luciano layers in some great vocal samples and backing percussion to create the right balance between rhythm and melody. Few do it better.

Simian Mobile Disco - Sleep Deprivation

2009-11-06T17:56:00.002-05:00

Off to the Simian Mobile Disco show in a few hours! Sleep Deprivation is from their awesome debut album. While their latest offering is a bit of a mixed bag, Attack Delay Sustain Release was a great mix of dance and rock. The opening track, Sleep Deprivation is a pounding dance-floor anthem. It's one of those tracks that sounds utterly familiar the first time you hear it. Huge synths, a deep kick, some shuffled hi-hats, great melodies. Their productions are also suprisingly adept for ex-rockers. Hopefully they play some bangers tonight.

Mark Ronson - Just

2009-11-05T17:25:00.000-05:00

Radiohead's Just re-imagined as a funky soul track by a house producer. And I'm totally serious. Mark Ronson did an incredible job with his album Version, but it is his cover of the epic track from Radiohead's sophomore record that stands above the rest. With some help from Phantom Planet on vocals (who does a better-than-expected approximation of Yorke), Ronson provides tight percussion that sounds live, a hopping bass line, funked out guitars and, best of all, a huge horn section, which takes the lead on the once-heavy guitar solo. This is for everyone who thought you could never dance to Radiohead.

Bonus: Check out his cover of Britney's Toxic. Wait for it. Is it? Yes, it is ODB.

Weezer - Falling For You

2009-11-04T22:22:00.001-05:00

Weezer just released their latest album, Ratitude. This song is not on it. The new album is what you would expect from the Rivers at this point, and it's not bad considering. But it did get me listening to their mid-90s output, specifically Pinkerton. Their follow-up to the hugely popular Blue Album, it was stunning and criminally over-looked. Falling For You brings a wall of distorted guitars, pounding drums and pop-perfect melodies. The lyrics are far more personal than anything Rivers has dared to release recently, which is a shame. Good thing we always have Pinkerton.

The Art of Music Distribution

2009-11-04T19:53:00.000-05:00

I recently signed up for a Napster account and was introduced to a completely new form of music distribution. I'm enthralled. It's a concept that has been on my mind for years. What model would emerge out of the wreckage of piracy? Not to say that piracy is a complete disaster; I have endulged my fair share. There is some genuine merit to the argument that music should be freely distributed and readily available. Not necessarily from a moral perspective, but as a business model.

Free. Probably the most abused word to grace the millions of webpages viewed daily. It's true, though, that nothing is. The true crime behind piracy does not lie in your bank balance, but that artists do not have control over the presentation. I have no problem making the argument that artists should be touring constantly. Most of the population makes their living trudging restlessly to the office each and every day. It would be impossible to count the number of acts I have paid to see because their mp3s were readily available. Not to mention the posters that line my walls from their shows. Brand Recognition. Loss leader. Whatever your term of choice, providing a service gratis to lead to a sale is legitimate. And it works. While not written in stone, it seems obvious at the present that many acts will attempt this route.

What concerns me, though, is how this model affects our understanding of the music. Purchasing CDs was a great pastime of my youth. Anticipation was part of the fun. Perhaps allowance was saved, perhaps a birthday gift used. There was inevitably a wait. Sometimes the music was disappointing, sometimes it was better because of the wait. The artwork provided context to the album, a context chosen by the artist. It's akin to a movie or play – you only see what the artist wants you to see. It's an important argument – made all too often, I know – but you also hear the full story when listening to a CD. Context. It's everything.

Well, that's not true. But I like to think so. Sometimes I have the habit of idealizing situations. So while context counts for a lot, so does enjoyment. There are times I don't want to listen to ten minute muses, I want to hear that catchy melody that was stumbled on for the next song. Sometimes I just want your mp3. This should be perfectly acceptable, as long as the artists gets to present that mp3 in context. You should have to see their tour dates, that new t-shirt and their blog – they should provide you with that song. Singles don't have to be relegated to a land lacking any context though. And that's where the missing piece lies.

Mixes. I love mixes. Any type of mix. Techno mixes are my favorite, their flow is mesmerizing. I love hip hop mixes because it's rediculously hard to do well. There's even art to the itunes mix – you don't have to be a DJ. Through the arangements, the left turns, the shift in tones, the layers, mixes allow you a new perspective on a song and they can remove the mundane aspects of listening to one artist for an hour. Mixes allow a view of another's frame of reference, they provide immediacy, accessibility, enjoyment and context. Instant access to singles will inevitably remain the main form of consumption, but allowing the artist to present them to you and allowing others to place them in the context of a mix can still provide necessities once relegated to physical media.

Ricardo Villalobos - The Contempt

2009-11-03T18:29:00.000-05:00

As with all great minimal tracks, Ricardo gives us a slowly building groove, layering hovering percussion over a flick of deep bass. He never gives you too much, but never leaves you out of the loop. Increasingly layered guitar riffs provide the semblance of a house groove and a simply looped vocal sample adds some rhythm. And then he lets go. Snare rolls, off key and sudden piano stabs, a break from the kick just long enough to build the tension. Villalobos is so consistent it would be hard to ever doubt there will be something waiting for you in exchange for your patience.

Bonus: Check out the recent feature on Ricardo Villalobos over at Resident Advisor.

Modest Mouse - Satellite Skin

2009-11-03T17:53:00.000-05:00

If it wasn't for the title you might never know this is a Modest Mouse song. It sounds so much like a chilled out 70's rock radio song that the only hint (albeit a large one) is Isaac Brock's distinctive voice. The opening song from the recently released 8-song EP, No One's First, and You're Next, glides along with muted guitar lead and the most basic of backing beats but its simplicity is its most endearing quality. With no discernable chorus, just an expertly sung melody, it's the most straight up rock and roll that Modest Mouse would ever dare try, and they pull it off perfectly. It does make you excited to hear some more standard Brock compositions on the rest of the EP though.

Jay-Z - D'evils

2009-10-31T18:16:00.000-04:00

Two great shows in two nights! In honour of finally getting to see Jay-Z -- a long awaited concert -- I'm posting the song that got me in to him. D'evils is from Jay's amazing first album, Reasonable Doubt. Right from the "Golden Age" of mid-nineties East Coast hip-hop, the song lays a great piano loop over some tight percussion and a Snoop Dogg sample. Jay destroys the beat with stunning flow. Definitely check it out.

Radio Slave - Next Stop Chicago

2009-10-30T20:12:00.001-04:00

I'm heading off to see Radio Slave tonight and so definitely had to post one of his tracks. Next Stop Chicago sounds nothing like his other tracks yet is so definitively Radio Slave. Matt Edwards starts it off with a short off-beat blues guitar sample, adds the right amount of vocal samples and some chocked percussion that fits the mood perfectly. It's more melody than he typically brings but he creates the same groove I've come to expect from his Radio Slave monikor. More a house track than almost anything else he is done, Next Stop Chicago will definitely have everyone moving tonight.

Bonus: RJ. Simple, refined percussion. Deep resonation bass. Super repetitive techno. Pure Radio Slave.

Jay-Z - Thank You

2009-10-28T21:24:00.000-04:00

Jay-Z can rarely go wrong with a Kanye West beat -- his flow cutting over the horns and deep reverb on the snare. With the now-classic shifted vocals as part of the rhythm, West delivers the one track that could have actually been found on the original Blueprint. While almost the entire Blueprint 3 is attempt to fit in to the latest pop landscape (Jay does a pretty good job), Thank You is clearly a nod to his classic sound. Jay-Z brings plenty of boasts with the old-man talk he has been spitting lately, but he has easily earned it. Nobody wants to hear him pretend anyways.

Raekwon - House of Flying Daggers (f. Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, Method Man)

2009-10-28T21:19:00.001-04:00

Kung Fu. Crunched blaring pads. Strings. Loosely detailed percussion. Sounds straight from the 36 Chambers. The Inspectah Deck produced opening track from Raekwon's much anticipated Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 picks up where most worried it couldn't. Not only does Raekwon show up, but Ghostface kills it and Meth's flow is reminiscent of the classics. You'd swear RZA made the beat. Don't miss the rest of the album either.