Category: Music

This week:

First, one of my “get in the mood to work” songs — because writing always goes much better when you’re primed and ready: Erik B. and Rakim – “Don’t Sweat The Technique.”

An odd track from Robbie Williams’ 2006 album, Rudebox, where he teams with an 80s icon to sing about another 80s icon. Strange, but then again, that’s Williams all over, innit? Robbie Williams (feat. Pet Shop Boys) – “She’s Madonna.”

The first single from M.I.A.’s forthcoming album, Kala has been officially announced and released. Good stuff, but so far I think that I like the earlier stuff better. I’ll reserve judgement until I hear more: M.I.A. – “Boyz.”

Here’s a fun track from a Brazilian trio, who mix rock guitar riffs with funk carioca (Brazilian funk). I’m loving this. Bonde Do Rolê – “James Bonde.”

Summat for tha Goffiks: My favorite track from Rasputina’s debut album, 1996′ s Thanks for the Ether, featuring their signature three-cello sound. Rasputina – “Transylvanian Concubine.”

The Rosebuds are a new indie group who do some interesting stuff. One one track, they might sound like a late 60s garage band and on another, a mid-70s dance group. No matter the historical genre, though, they’ve got the sound down. Here’s one of my favorites: The Rosebuds – “Get Up, Get Out.”

Lastly, another track by South African pop group Johnny Clegg and Savuka. This one was their best known song, (well, best known everywhere but the US), which was a pretty interesting feat at the time this song was released (1987), due to the cultural embargo placed on SA at the time. Johnny Clegg and Savuka – “Scatterlings of Africa.”

Enjoy.

This week’s installment:

The lead single from The White Stripes’ new album is getting airplay, although since I don’t listen to the radio that much, I didn’t hear it until we were coming back from the airport on Wednesday. I LOVE THIS. It sounds a bit like Jack White actually amped a hurdy-gurdy, which wouldn’t surprise me a bit. This is the radio edit — apparently the album version will be longer. This song contains one of the best lyrics I’ve ever heard: “Well Americans, What — Nothing better to do? Why dont’cha kick yourself out, you’re an immigrant, too. Who’s using who – what shall we do? You can’t be a Pimp and a Prostitute, too.” Wow. The White Stripes – “Icky Thump (edit).”

Ever since posting M.I.A.’s “Hit That.” a few weeks back, I’ve been digging into her past catalog. I’m a big fan of this particular track — which, depressingly enough, MTV refused to play in America, because it contains the lyric “like PLO I don’t surrender.” Bling and Bitches, of course, still get MTV’s approval. M.I.A. – “Sunshowers.”

Prince is releasing his new single exclusively via Verizon Wireless. Yes, it’s only available on cellphones. He’s hoping to use the gimmick to build awareness of the track — which is from an album that is currently lacking a label or a release date. Naturally, the track has found its way online: Prince – “Guitar.”

More “baroque pop” from Patrick Wolf. The more I hear, the more I like. Patrick Wolf – “Paris.”

Some TV-theme nostalgia for the children of the 70s — not only the theme to one of the better detective shows of the period, but a smoking-hot bit of funk from an unexpected source: Sammy Davis, Jr. – “Baretta’s Theme (Eye on The Sparrow)”

Sol Seppy is a new singer-songwriter based in NYC (born and raised in the UK), who does a combination of pop, folk and electronic music. This particular track sends chills up my spine. Sol Seppy – “Move.”

Enjoy.

Here we go, kiddies — grab ’em, burn ’em to a CD, and play them at your Memorial Day cook-out this weekend.

First — I am big fan of Jay Chou’s “Huo Yuanjia” (the theme to Jet Li’s Fearless), which I first posted here last year, and more recently in one of my FAR WEST RPG design journal entries earlier this week. Thanks to , I’ve now heard another of his singles, which is also excellent. It’s about traditional Chinese medicine, and is titled after Li Shizhen‘s 1596 book, the Compedium of Materia Medica. So yeah, hip-hop-infused Chinese pop about Ming Dynasty pharmacology. What’s not to love? Jay Chou – “Ben Cao Gang Mu.”

also took the time to introduce me to some other tracks, one of which I’ll share here (the others are currently posted on his Livejournal, go check them out — they’re great). F.I.R. is a Taiwanese rock band, and I really love this track: F.I.R. – “Revolution.” Good stuff.

Moving along — Velvet Revolver’s second album, Libertad is coming out on July 3rd, and the first single was just released. Velvet Revolver – “She Builds Quick Machines.” In other news, Axl Rose still hasn’t released Chinese Democracy.

This is an amazing track– an acapella mix of bluegrass, hip-hop, gospel, blues, rock….hard to define, but equally hard to get out of your head. A Night In The Box – “The Hustle.”

I’ve been playing a lot of FIFA Footbal 2004 on the XBox recently — love that game. It’s got a great soundtrack, too — including this track by Tribalistas, a one-off collaboration of several Brazilian musicians. Tribalistas – “Je Sei Namorar.”

Strange Days is a fun little cyberpunk movie set in the OMGFUTURE!!11 of New Years Eve at the turn of the 21st Century. (Aw, bless.) Still, pretty nifty — Angela Bassett and Ralph Feinnes are cool, and the soundtrack was nifty as well. Here’s one of my favorite tracks — a nice little nugget of anger: Skunk Anansie – “Selling Jesus.”

Some ice-cold acid jazz — a collaboration between DJ Krush and trumpeter Toshinori Kondo. Not really a beginning-of-summer kinda track, but well worth the listening. Toshinori Kondo and DJ Krush – “Bu-Seki.”

Lastly, a track from a new group — Hadouken! are a UK grime/electro/dance/whatever group, named after the special maneuver in the Street Fighter game. They’ve recently gotten a record deal, purely by relying on MySpace and YouTube to push their music into the hands of club DJs all over the world. I’m impressed by that — the labels themselves are becoming more and more irrelevant. Hadouken! – “Tuning In (H! re-rub)”

There you go. Enjoy.