Category: Music

Earlier than usual today (I’m up on campus, instead of at home — no sleeping in!)…. here we go:

First off — an absolutely BRILLIANT track which introduced me to this week. The oddly-named UK hiphop duo Dan le Sac vs Scroobious Pip (DLS is the DJ, Scroobious Pip is the rapper) have released their debut single, featuring an electro-tinged backing track and some wicked lyrics. Dan Le Sac vs Scroobious Pip – “Thou Shalt Always Kill.” Grab the mp3, listen and enjoy. If there’s any justice, this will be a HUGE hit this summer. If you’ve got the time, check out the video on Youtube, which is also great.

The Puppini Sisters are a UK-based trio who do swing-era close harmonies. Their debut album, Betcha Bottom Dollar is filled with the expected tracks like “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”, “Java Jive”, “Bei Mir Bist Du Shoen”, etc. …but also some amazing Andrews-Sisters-esque covers of modern tracks as well. I’ve picked two to share with you. Here they are doing Blondie: The Puppini Sisters – “Heart of Glass” and then The Smiths: The Puppini Sisters – “Panic.” Other covers on the album include “I Will Survive” and “Wuthering Heights.” Visit their website.

Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam is the London-born daughter of a Sri Lankan Tamil activist-turned-militant. She records under the name M.I.A., producing a mix of electro, grime (UK garage-based hip-hop) and world music. Her forthcoming single has leaked to the internet (via her producer’s myspace site), and its been moving my ass. M.I.A. – “Hit That.” There’s a great interview and overview of her music over on Youtube.

A lot of people balked when they heard that Duran Duran was going to cover Grandmaster Flash, myself included (and hell, I *love* Duran Duran). Turns out, though, that the result was pretty damned good — and one of the only really good songs on the otherwise awful covers album Thank You. One of the better songs I’ve seen them do live, in fact — they obviously love doing it. Duran Duran – “White Lines.”

In honor of tomorrow’s observation of Cinqo De Mayo (a fabricated American holiday where we eat Mexican food and drink Margueritas), here is a track from Robert Rodriguez’ band: Chingon – “Fideo Del Oeste.”

And, lastly, an instrumental score which is sorta-kinda related to my latest RPG design project. Let the speculations commence! Ennio Morricone – “The Man With The Harmonica.”

There you go, cats & kittens. Enjoy.

Here we go again:

and I have been watching HBO’s The Wire on DVD, and have been very impressed. A complex and compelling crime drama set in Baltimore — the main theme is a Tom Waits gospel-infused blues song. Each season, it is performed by a different artist (apparently Season Two features Waits’ original version). The first season, which we just got finished watching, uses this version: Blind Boys of Alabama – “Way Down In The Hole.”

Speaking of great music on HBO series, a couple of weeks ago, The Sopranos closed with this number, which really grabbed my attention and led me on a quest to track it down. Turns out that it’s a UK punk-scene track from 1980: John Cooper Clarke – “Evidently Chickentown.”

Tori Amos has a brand new album coming out, American Doll Posse. The first single has hit the net, and I like it. It’s moved away from the god-awful “adult easy listening” sound of her recent work, and back to the more Kate-Bush-esque sound that I’ve always liked from her: Tori Amos – “Bouncing Off Clouds.”

Here’s a track that I was introduced to by earlier this week. I like it quite a bit. It’s a new UK group (named after a political science book from the 1930s), and this is their debut single: The Strange Death of Liberal England – “A Day Another Day.”

Another UK group, albeit one that I just discovered. I’ll fully admit to being lured into listening to this track on the basis of its title alone: The Clientele – “Bookshop Casanova.”

The Irish community in NY is very political, especially with regards to Irish Republicanism. It’s not unusual to see “26+6=1” bumper stickers, or hear “A Nation Once Again” being sung in the crowd during the Saint Patrick’s Day parade (a song which I remember my grandmother singing on more than one occasion). NYC is also the home of hip-hop. “Fenian” is a slur for an Irish republican, somewhere near to the “N-word” in power. Which brings us to this track, a rebellious reclamation of the word, performed by the side-project of one of the members of NYC-area band Black 47. Seanchai & the Unity Squad – “Fenians.”

Lastly, a wonderfully geeky mash-up of the Chemical Brothers “Galvanize” and John Williams’ “Imperial March” — PartyBen – “Galvanize The Empire.”

There ya go.

Here we go again:

First off, Rufus Wainwright has a new album coming out next month. This is the first single from it, and it’s a pretty direct indictment of everything that’s wrong with the country right now: Rufus Wainwright – “Going To A Town.”

Another track from Grindhouse: This time the theme to Quentin Tarantino’s “Death Proof” –which originally was the theme to Village of the Giants, one of the best B-Movies of all time. Jack Nitzsche – “The Last Race.”

A new single from UK based “baroque pop” artist Patrick Wolf, which I first heard this week, and really dug. Patrick Wolf – “Overture.”

There’s apparently an active subculture of musicians doing modern re-interpretation of traditional Balkan sounds. This group is from Brooklyn and mixes hip-hop influences with the traditional vocal sounds and instruments: BalkanBeatBox – “Adir Adrimi”

Courtesy of a recent entry by , some rare Bowie, where he sings a composition by Kurt Weill: David Bowie – “Baal’s Hymn.”

Been watching the final episodes of The Sopranos, which has got me thinking about the great music they’ve used throughout the series. Here’s a track they used in the second (or was it third? I can’t recall) season, from the same group who provided the series’ famous theme song: A3 – “Sad-Eyed Lady Of The Lowlife.”

Some nifty international-intrigue chillout music, from the soundtrack to an imaginary movie, The Mirror Conspiracy: Thievery Corporation – “The Hong Kong Triad.”

Here’s the first single from the new album from Maximo Park, “Our Earthly Pleasures” — if the rest of the album sounds like this, I’m getting it. Maximo Park – “Our Velocity.”

…and lastly, here’s the 12-inch extended mix of one of my favorite songs of the 80s, which I’ll always associate with my initial introduction to Wicca, as it was receiving heavy airplay at the time I started reading everything I could get my hands on: Kate Bush – “Running Up That Hill (12″ mix)”

Hope you like this week’s selections.