Blog

Here we go again, another entry in the relaunch of the Friday Music series… hopefully at some point, I can clear enough late work off my desk to be able to add other content to this blog as well! :)

First up, as I’m sure a lot of you know, Robot-helmeted French electronic duo Daft Punk have a new album coming out soon, called Random Access Memories. The only thing they’ve released so far is a 4-minute Radio Edit of a 7-minute-plus album track featuring Pharell Williams and Chic frontman/bassist Nile Rodgers. They’ve moved away from the electronic synthscapes of their work on the Tron:Legacy soundtrack, and even away from the Vocoder-based disco sound of earlier releases (like “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”), into a smooth sound that sounds like a cut from a late-70s Michael Jackson album. Daft Punk – “Get Lucky (Radio Edit)”

Another sneak look at an upcoming release: Alt-RnB vocalist Kelis (she whose Milkshake Brings All The Boys To The Yard, and who Hates You So Much Right Now, ARRRGGHHH!) is about to release a new album called FOOD, and the advance single, a catchy electro-influenced track with some autobiographical lyrics, also features a gastronomically-influenced title. Kelis – “Jerk Ribs.”

Jumping back in time, we land in the 80s, thanks to Jesse Slicer, a friend of mine who mentioned this earlier today on Twitter, and set my mind on a loop. A lot of folks enjoy the cheesiness that is “The Warrior” (“Shooting at the walls of heartache, bang-bang.”), but I’ve always preferred this — I love the synth riff that runs through it, and the synth solo. I miss solos in general, actually. Scandal – “Goodbye To You.”

I’ve always had a soft spot for songs like that, with a synth through-line. This one, from a few years earlier (right around 79/80) from a UK-based Prog-rock group making its transformation into a pop act, used an arpeggiated synth line almost like a toccata, which I thought was really kind of cool at the time (and I guess I still do): The Alan Parsons Project – “Games People Play.”

The concert for Hurricane Sandy saw Paul McCartney team up with the surviving members of Nirvana, performing a new track which they devised while jamming in the studio. The studio version of the track is appearing on the soundtrack to Dave Grohl’s indie film Sound City, a history of the eponymous L.A. recording studio. Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear – “Cut Me Some Slack.”

This is a very Florence-and-the-Machine sounding track from the trio being touted as the Next Big Thing in the UK music blogs. The Guardian referred to them as “trip hop given a bit of 2013 spit-and-polish”, and that’s not a bad description. London Grammar – “Wasting My Young Years.”

We’ll close out with another 80s track, because I’m a nostalgic fortysomething. This is, hands down, my favorite track from New Order (and that’s saying something, because I love so much of what that group did). New Order – “Age of Consent.”

There ya go. Enjoy, and come back next week.

 
 

Hey there. Another Friday, another installment of your weekly internet mixtape. Got a bunch of good stuff this week, so let’s get right to it.

First off, we have a track that I discovered via EA Sports FIFA 13. The FIFA series always features great music, and as they go out of their way to pick tracks representative of the sport’s global appeal, I’m always guaranteed to be introduced to acts that I’ve never heard before. Such was the case with The Presets (pictured above), an Australian electronic music duo. This track immediately struck me in its tonal and format similarity to old English sea shanties, but filtered through a modern electronic lens. The Presets – “Ghosts.”

The soundtrack album to Baz Luhrmann’s 3D version of The Great Gatsby is getting some notice, as it features new music from Florence and the Machine, Jay-Z and other big acts. I stumbled across this track via a music blog, and fell in love instantly. It’s from Sia, a vocalist best known on these shores for singing on “Destiny”, the debut single of the electronic music act Zero 7 in the early 2000s. I’ve loved her voice ever since — and this track, which closes out the Gatsby soundtrack has got “give this woman a James Bond theme” written all over it. Sia – “Kill and Run.”

Willy Moon is a London-based New Zealand-born musician who does sample-based music but with a 50s rockabilly edge to the vocals. He was named as “One to Watch” by the Guardian, and has been profiled in GQ, Elle and Vogue. This track was released as a single on Jack White’s record label, Third Man Records: Willy Moon – “Railroad Track.”

Long-time readers will remember that I fell in love very quickly with Janelle Monae, with the release of her first single, Tightrope. Her full-length debut, a sci-fi concept album called The ArchAndroid continued the story begun in her initial EP release Metropolis Suite 1 (The Chase, telling through her mix of neo-soul, funk and art-electronica the tale of Cindi Mayweather, a messianic android sent back in time to free the citizens of Metropolis from The Great Divide, a secret society that uses time-travel to suppress freedom and love. Her second album, The Electric Lady is due soon, and the first single, a duet with neo-soul superstar Erikah Badu, has been released: Janelle Monae – “Q.U.E.E.N. (feat. Erikah Badu).”

A quick jaunt back to the 80s. I always loved Quarterflash — Rindy Ross was responsible for both of the things that stood out for me, providing both the vocals and the sax riffs. Rather than hit you with the usual tracks that nostalgia-radio focuses on (1981’s “Harden My Heart” and “Find Another Fool”), I figured I’d go instead with their last top-20 single, from their sophomore release in 1983. Quarterflash – “Take Me To Heart.”

I was introduced this week to this group from South Africa. SKIP&DIE started as a collaboration between the South African vocalist/visual artist Catarina Aimée Dahms (aka Cata.Pirata) and Dutch producer Jori Collignon (aka Crypto.Jori), collaborating with musicians from Soweto, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Guguletu. This stuff is phenomenal, mixing hip-hop, electronic, various traditional African forms, Indian and more, with vocals in English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu, Spanish and Portuguese, into a style which has been described as “Township Bass.” They’re so good, I’m giving you two examples:

The first, SKIP&DIE – “Jungle Riot.”, and another, SKIP&DIE – “Lihlwempu Lomlungu (with Driemanskap).”

Will close out with a bit of smooth. My favorite track from the solo years of Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry, from his 1985 album, Boys and Girls: Bryan Ferry – “Sensation.”

There ya go, kids. Enjoy, and see you back here with more next week.