Howdy, kiddies. Yes, it’s another Bits ‘n Bobs post that I’ve grown oh-so-fond of lately.
• MO’P favorite Morgan Page offers up more of his remixing genius… all for FREE. Download Morgan’s remixes of Shine’s “Ashbury“ and “One Day“. Dang it, if I haven’t learned my lesson about waiting to post about something! Someone else always beats me to it!! This time it was those no good kids at Knobtweakers. Also, Morgan has re-released his fantastic CEAST AND DESIST remix compilation in “hi-res”. Previously it was only available as 128 kbps AAC files. The bigger, the better I always say! Grab that here and hear for yourself.
• Here’s an oldie but a goody. In preparation for the release Moloko’s “best of” compilation entitled CATALOGUE, those nice people at World’s Fair are offering up full FREE MP3 of “Sing It Back“ for you to reminisce this summer. Is it any wonder why Moloko made such a huge impression awhile back?
6.29.06 UPDATE:
“Sing It Back” is streaming slow for some reason; it almost sounds as if it’s at half speed. Maybe the source file is vbr? It sounds fine when opening the link in your browser though.
• If you haven’t read all the same blogs I have, then this will be new to you: Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim continues to surprise with yet another full EP offering for FREE. Take a dip in CHOCOLATE SWIM and bask in the nougat-y goodness of Mos Def, Lady Sovereign and others artists from the Chocolate Industries roster. Get more information about it here, including a commercial about its release.
Once again (I keep trying to find a better expression than that, but it’s eluding me…) Beatport has made 10 FREE tracks available via the following link. While I recognize a few of the names listed (Isolee, Satoshi Tomiie and Audion) nothing is really grabbing my attention upon first listen. If I revisit and find something to my liking, I’ll update this post.
Normally, I don’t make posts about bands without any free content but in I’m going to make an exception today.
Listen to “Frozen Feet” by Austin, Texas-based band Tacks, The Boy Disaster at their myspace page. This is, without a doubt, the newest, freshest sound I’ve heard in a long time. Beautiful guitar and piano work plus a really catchy melody. I hope you hear what I hear. I also hope to hear more from these talents very soon.
[found via The House of Leaf and Lime blog]
6.21.06 UPDATE:
Evan from Tacks, The Boy Disaster was kind enough to write me about my nice post. In return, he’s kindly offered the MP3 of “Frozen Feet” for yours truly to host and make available to all y’all. Listen below or download it here.
AlternaRockers BNL are offering separated-out pieces of their newest track “Easy” as a 4-track download from their myspace.com page (FREE) or as an 11-track download from their label’s site (for $2.49) to promote their new album “BARENAKED LADIES ARE ME” out in mid-September. Personally, I’ve never been a huge fan of BNL’s tongue-in-cheek pop ditties but I’d be interested to hear what “Easy” might turn into in the hands of a talented amateur (or pro) remixer.
Ok, this is soooo not the post I intended on making today, but you can’t beat the drawing power of Her Madgesty!
The Lady M. has an exclusive remix of her now-old song “Hung Up” by Archigram. Frankly, I thought this was the weakest single/song on the superb CONFESSIONS album but it’s a pretty good, different sounding take on the song, with a James Bond-ian heavy bassline (not that it sounds like the 007 theme or even remotely like “Die Another Day” in any way). I have to say it’s nice for an artist of her calibre to offer something for nothing. That’s so rare these days. It’s usually the smaller guys needing the exposure who go out on a limb and give stuff away. Hell, she can certainly afford it.
Make your way to Madonna.com, click the EXTRAS square at the top and then scroll down to just underneath “Madonna Timeline”. There you’ll find the link to the remix.
p.s. She kicked some serious ass in concert… for a 47 year old or even a 20 year old! Sounded better than I’ve ever heard her live before.
Downliners Sekt make their 9 track “STATEMENT OF PURPOSE” available for FREE download. I know practically nothing about them except for what little is mentioned on their website (mostly, where the songs were recorded). “Benz” is glitchy, dark and fast, “Disable” (listen below) and “Disable (Part 2)” are shorter more traditional techtronica numbers and “La Nueva Escuela” is probably the most accessible piece. “Weather Underground” is really a beautiful piece with fantastic vocals (sounding a bit a Morecheeba-esque) but the modulation shifts of the music make it more of an acquired taste. It took more than a few listens to hear it and recognize its beauty. I think it could be a stunner in the hands of the right remixer. [found via p3dro.co.uk]
Well, it’s taken me almost three months to connect with Takeshiro Kani, the talented artist who’s cut “Poetic Licence” came to my attention from Mercedes-Benz Mixed Tape 11, but we finally did. He’s graciously supplied me with three gorgeous tracks off his latest, “MINIMAL MEANINGFUL UNIT” to share with M’OPGTMFM readers.
The delicate “Functional Space”, “Left Prefrontals” and the smooth “Qatsi” are all available for download. When I listen to “Left Prefrontals,” I somehow get the vivid image of rain dropping on beats and “Functional Space” makes me think of crystals for some reason. (It’s strange what powerful music can associate with in your mind’s eye.) I think Kani confirms a theory of mine: That some of the best music is coming out of two places these days – Japan and Sweden. All three songs are available for streaming, one after another, in the media player below. As a bonus, the second media player is streaming “Poetic Licence” (featuring the haunting vocals of Fusako, aka Cokeshi, who sounds like eerily like Jem) to jog your memory as Mixed Tape 11 is no longer available for download.
Be sure to check out Kani’s site where you can stream tracks off all three of his albums. I wish him all the success in the world!
I’m reminded of the old School House Rock guy, Time for Timer, who reminded kids to “eat little bites of different things instead of lots of one.” Such is the case with my Bits ‘n Bobs posts.
• Fantastic and reliable remixer The Scumfrog offers up a FREE one-hour Summer Mix available for download from the front page of his site. It kicks into high gear around the 40 minute mark.
• Summer always seems the right time to dust off trance records and give ‘em a whirl. Here’s some new ones to add to your jukebox player: 4 very good trancey tracks by DJ Light available for FREE at Download.com Music. No one in particular stands out more so than the others. They’re all great for blasting from an iPod boombox while poolside.
• The Darla.com label posts FREE MP3s from each of their artists. Perennial MO’P favorite I Am Robot And Proud offers the title track of his latest “The Electricity In Your House Wants To Sing“. He consistently manages to craft superb instrumental electronica.
• Lots of media files (MP3s, video and audio streams) are available at prefixmag. I’ve done very little exploring here so if there’s something that you think might catch my ear, leave me a comment (I’ve finally gone through and approved the valid comments from the last four months or so).
• I don’t want to veer too far off my stated course, but since I featured music magazines, I figured I could reasonably post about this by another car manufacturer. BMW offers up 4 FREE MP3 audiobooks for download. Should be a nice diversion for when you’re not blasting trance and interested in stimulating other parts of your anatomy (your brain, silly). I haven’t had a chance to listen to them yet so let me know what you think.
Whilst wanderlinking (my new favorite term for the hours I spend looking for music), I managed to find the hard-to-navigate but feature-rich site of MUTEK which boasts a zipped-up 10 track compilation of electronica, all for FREE.
Mutek bills itself as “an organism dedicated to the showcasing and development of emerging forms of electronic music and sound creation in the era of digital technology and new media. Its mission is to familiarize the general public with this particular genre of music production while acting as a springboard for a new generation of the field’s most innovative and visionary artists from here and abroad.” So… is it a netlabel?? I have no idea.
My absolute favorite song of the ten is the decidedly un-P.C. titled “I Rike To” by Love_In_Tokyo. Take a listen for yourself down below in the new in-line media player. I’m at a loss how to describe it exactly, other than to say it’s not chill but it has a trance-inducing melodic vibe and, at one point, features the most subtle electronically altered dog barking in the most pleasing and unique way. I’ve been listening to it incessantly since downloading! Most of the other tracks in the compilation are glitchy/noisy abominations, but I did happen to like “Fluxathon” by Yara and “Just People” by Echo Model.
There’s other compilations and media files to be had here, although Virtual Compilation 01 was not self-contained but rather individual files. Go listen and explore!
The Songbird Media Player for OS X is almost here and I’m chirping with delight. For those not in the know, Songbird is/will be a FREE, open source competitor to Apple’s iTunes app in the same vein as Firefox (extensible, skinable, etc.). I, for one, can’t wait. Now, don’t get wrong idea… I think what Apple has done is incredible and it is my media player of choice currently, but I am always worried about monopolies and what the future holds. As I am in the process of importing my entire CD collection (3000+) in preparation for a massive eBay auction, I want to make sure that the music that I so diligently sought-out (and paid for) will not be held hostage to one proprietary format/player in ten, even twenty, years time. I hope Songbird will make a sizable dent in the iTunes/Windows Media Player+Urge battle that is heating up, just as Firefox took a bite out of the horrible Internet Explorer in the browser wars.
