Weekly Roundup, July 13 – July 19
System fucking overload! I’m on vacation right now, back at home… I hate doing things in a different setup, and I don’t even have my usual clickwheel, awesome mouse. In fact, I don’t even have a mouse. I don’t have a desk. I’m in bed with my notebook on my lap and it’s giving me a bad back and worse eyesight.
But, I will not let you down, my dear friends. I will keep it short though, also be prepared not to hear anything from me next week, I’ll be in Amsterdam burning my lungs away…
Shakira, torturing everybody
Florence and the Machine – Howl “Drag my teeth across your chest to taste your beating heart”. This. This line. Awesomeness.
Gym Class Heroes – Peace Sign – Index Down ft. Busta Rhymes Uhm, this was on one of their EPs from years ago, and then it was on their album from last year (was it last year, I’m not even sure), and then I finally got arond listening to some of their stuff, and whatcanyasay, it’s nice. It’s poppish rap, but it’s nice.
Michael Jackson – Dirty Diana My mother loves that song. She has been playing it all the time and now I can’t get it out of my head. So much for not going into the MJ obsession that is going on these days. Damn.
Shakira – She Wolf Don’t blame me. With exception of the auto-tune exaggeration as always, this is perfectly annoying and hooking pop music. Also, I have the hotties for Shakira.
Simian Mobile Disco – Audacity of Huge Not a huge fan of SMD, and I’m sure there’s an even cooler remix flying around the interwebs, but it does exceed my personal expectations so far.
Dorrough – Ice Cream Paint Job (Remix) If you don’t like ridiculously silly gangster Hip Hop, don’t even bother listening to this. I really fail at good taste right now.
Okay, this is it. Told you I would keep it short. Nothing spectacular. Move on.
Weekly Roundup, July 05 – July 12
I promised there would be a weekly roundup of new songs, and yep, there will be one. Except this is one day late already, I’m sorry much. Blame work and laziness. Let’s go.
Tegan & Sara, but who is who?
Tegan & Sara – Call It Off This one’s a couple of years old but I hadn’t heard it until a few days back. That’s cause I never bother to listen to albums completely. I like tracks to stand alone, not to be framed by the following or preceding songs. Anyway, when I first heard the title track of their then released album, The Con, I liked it, but not enough to get their album. And so, two years later, there’s another track to hype on. At least for me. Buy The Con on Amazon.
Atmosphere – The Ropes Oh, where to start with Atmosphere! Most of their songs score an average on my sheet. In fact, there are only a handful of songs I dig. But these I will listen to for ever and ever (namely “Trying to find a Balance” and “God Loves Ugly”). This one lines up right behind. Nice beat and decent rap. I think Atmosphere are the last rappers who don’t pretend to be all ghetto. Fuck Asher Roth, this is the real shit. Download their give-away EP “Leak At Will” at Fifth Element
Belle & Sebastian – Funny Little Frog I’m in a good mood. And when I’m in a good mood, I tend to listen to yuppie music with a pinch of extra-cuteness. Funny Little Frog might sound like any other song Belle and Sebastian have ever recorded, but you know what, I love musicians who stay consistent in their field. Buy The Life Pursuit on Amazon.
Four Tet – Iron Man (Black Sabbath Cover) What is this? Heaven? Double-chocolate muffin? It could be sex with Johnny Depp for all I know. This guy just knows how to push the right buttons to make a girl want to dream more than she already does (still does not catch up with Burial, but ever since they teamed on an EP a couple of months ago I don’t even care about competition anymore).
Yes Giantess – Tuff & Stuff Backstreet Boys meets Passion Pit. You’ve got yourself a winner for this week. I like it, it’s annoying but edgy and electronic and damn fucking hipster. Where’s the glitter girls at?
Kate Simko – Margie’s Groove Some minimal stuff for a change. I tend to ignore anything minimal on my playlist unless I’m in a club full of likeminded ravers on Berlins eastside. Every now and then an interesting groove, such as Margie’s, haha, will sneak back into it and make me lose myself while preparing the dish of the day. Can’t help the nodding though. Buy Gamelan/Margie’s Groove EP on Amazon.
Mr. Hudson – Everything Is Broken ft. Kid Cudi Long live auto-tune! Long live the Hipster Hop! Blame me as much as you want, Kid Cudi is awesome in my book, no matter who he teams with. Song gets boring after a while, though.
M.I.A. for AWESOME
NUMP – Legalize My Medicine ft. M.I.A. In my last post I asked why M.I.A. couldn’t release tracks on a daily basis. Well, she still doesn’t, but if weekly is the alternative, I’m happy anyway. This one’s not as awesome as her feature with Blaqstarr, but come on, how much less than awesome can M.I.A. ever be? Damn right and there she goes again.
Sian Alice Group – Close To The Ground Fuck yeah, rock music with a creepy touch to it. Don’t know who these guys are and will probably never find out (it’s not that good yet), but I will surely follow up to their next songs. Very promising so far.
The Twelves – When You Talk Love the Twelves! Wish I could see them live, but I’m too old to rave to such monuments of electronic music. Nowadays, whenever you visit an event that is supposedly “underground”, a gazillion of hipster-kids will simply knock you out. Someone’s always higher, fitter and drunker than you, my friend. Applies to me anyway, and thus I’ll just observe from my comfortable bedroom and sway in wouldacouldashouldas.
That’s it for today children. I’ll see you next week or somewhere inbetween, depending on how much time I have (my mom’s coming up to visit and I’ll be back home from Saturday on, so let’s see how that works out). Cheerio and goodbye!
Cover Mania
Everyone knows I’m a fan of unknown music; well, at least not mainstream music. That’s not because I don’t like mainstream music. In fact, I love pop and I love Britney and I love the jink that’s going down on the radio. What I hate is the ever so obsessive rotation of popular songs. It does ruin the mood if you’re hearing the same track gazillion times in a row.
So that is why I like discovering new stuff, preferably by artists who’re never going to make it to the surface, no matter how good their music is. I like to call them “my precious”, and I hate sharing (unless I get to take the credit for my great discovery, which never happens, so I quit that too). I will share with you though.
Today’s theme is: famous songs covered by unknown artists OR known artists who’ve made absolutely awesome acoustic covers. I’ve already picked some in my last posts, but I’m sharing them again for the sake of it. Have fun! (Links are all Mediafire).
I Call Shotgun – Ride With Me (Nelly Cover)
Yeah, I found this one by accident and guess what, it’s awesome. I still remember when I first heard the Nelly track on MTV. It’s one of the rare hip hop/pop songs that still makes me smile (probably also induced by the use in one of my favorite TV shows, Scrubs, in a really light-hearted scene). The singer messes things up by the end, he starts doing the chorus to “Cupids Chokehold” by Gym Class Heroes. I do like that song, too.
Bat For Lashes - totally missed her concert last month
Bat For Lashes – Use Somebody (Kings of Leon Cover)
I will make an individual entry for both Bat For Lashes and Kings Of Leon soon, but for now enjoy this glorious combination of awesome singer and awesome lyrics. Use Somebody is probably going to hit the Top 10 of the most inspiring songs of my twenties (mind you, I’m not even 21), and this cover does it. Still not hitting the original mark, but good enough.
Lykke Li – Hustlin’ (Rick Ross Cover)
The transition of rap song to a hyped indie track seems to be very popular these days. This one’s especially charming because I’ve seen the video to it (which I’m too lazy to look up right now, google it), and I love how Lykke Li starts posing like a bonafide rapstar.
Goldfrapp – It’s Not Over Yet (Klaxons Cover)
Awwww. This is a cute one because I don’t like the original song that much (correct me if I’m wrong, but I think even that one is actually a cover of another song), but Alison Goldfrapp does some magic with her voice and voilá… although, I suppose the reduction of those scary keyboard sounds that Klaxons have overused on their album(s) might also be a reason.
The Gossip – Are You That Somebody (Aaliyah Cover)
A tribute post-mortem is not always the best option to go, especially when you’re a lesbian indie-rock band attempting to cover one of the greatest R’n'B songs created to this day. But what can I say? It’s a good cover, it’s not too much, not too strong, goes with the flow and gives it a different, yet subtle new touch. I approve.
Cat Power – Wonderwall (Oasis Cover)
I won’t dare comparing anyone to the genius of Oasis (well- Oasis from “back then”, anyway). This song is untouchable. I’m a huge skeptic when it comes to Cat Power, which adds to my opinion about this cover. Yet I wouldn’t mention it if it wasn’t something great, good enough at least. Cat Powers songs might sound almost the same, but sometimes I find a pick like this and remember why everybody loves her so much. She makes me want to die inside, a little bit.
Klaxons – No Diggity (Blackstreet Cover)
What is it with the hip hop covers, again? Now that Klaxons have been done, they’re probably taking on that cover-level, too. I don’t know how old this cover is, but it’s a good change to the even older (but still good!) and classic Blackstreet track (I’m ashamed to say it’s also the only one I know or remember). They really hit it on the second verse!
Katy Perry – Electric Feel (MGMT Cover)
There she is again, our beloved Katy Perry. Seriously, I love her. She rocks at covering music, I’ve mentioned that in my post from a week back- “Hooked on Katy Perry“. She kind of jumped on the acoustic-cover-of-hyped-bands bandwagon, but I don’t mind as long as she stays fresh.
The Kooks – Crazy (Gnarks Barkley Cover)
Oh damn, that one’s seriously old. I know I heard it first before I heard the actual Gnarls Barkley, which then became crazy famous. I still prefer this cover over the pop-track with the terrible video. It’s also pretty much the only song by the Kooks that I like (except for Naive, also one of the greatest tracks I’ve ever heard).
Hot Chip – Wearing My Rolex (Wiley Cover)
Not an acoustic cover, I know, I cheated. But I suppose it’s unplugged so that makes it fair again. Also, I can’t think of another theme that I would put this one in, I saw this fit. There you go.
Radiohead - Greatest Band Alive
Milow – Ayo Technology (50 Cent & Justin Timberlake Cover)
This one’s relatively new and going through German radio station’s like swine flu through Mexico. This one, you don’t listen to the lyrics very much, because if you would, it wouldn’t sound so grown up anymore. I have never heard a mommy-track like that. It’s for grandmothers, seriously! … I dig it.
Katy Perry – Black & Gold (Sam Sparro Cover)
… and there she is again! Black & Gold, a very intruiging (what the fuck I won’t even try to spell that) song, can’t be beat in it’s original version, but give this one a shot for more KP love.
John Mayer – Kid A (Radiohead Cover)
Alright, so this one’s a no brainer. Again, I have no clue how long it’s been cruising the interwebs, but I’ve had it in my music library for a really, really long time already. I’m a day one Radiohead fan. I even bought their give-away album, that’s how much I love them. On the other hand, I hate John Mayer. Come on- Your Body Is A Wonderland? I’m this close to calling Nickelback better than that! … though, on another thought, forget that. Anyway. Kid A. Great song. Guess what? It’s even better now.
A honorable mention is reserved for Jay Brannan, who covered “Straight Outta Compton” from NWA. What a daredevil! I couldn’t find the mp3 to it, so here’s the video. Be cautious though, he didn’t censor the swearing.
If you have any more good covers to suggest, don’t hesitate dropping a line!
Welcome to Heartbreak
This one is quick add to the Kanye West Collabo Collection from a couple of days ago; I found this gold piece from upcoming artist Marv Milly, apparently promoted by Kanye West much like Kid Cudi. He took that monotone and pretty boring song, Welcome To Heartbreak, and made something actually interesting of it.
Here’s the deal (from Mediafire):
Kanye West – Welcome to Heartbreak (ft. Kid Cudi & Marv Milly)
Kanye West Collabo Collection
There’s this thing about Kanye West. I love and hate him at the same time, which is probably a phenomena many people have experienced. Is it his arrogance? Hardly. He’s a jackass, sure, but he’s entitled to this kind of attitude because he compensates with his musical abilities- at least that’s what I thought. Frankly, it really isn’t. He’s not the best rapper in the world, his flow is not the greatest, his lyrics aren’t the most innovative and creative I’ve ever heard and please let’s not discuss the beats- they’re decent, but I’ve heard better.
Kanye West
When it comes to my personal preference, I don’t like his albums as much as I like the collaborations he does with other various artists. It’s weird, really; I feel like Kanye has worked with everyone who’s being hyped on the internet. I’m still waiting for the Kanye West/MGMT feature. He’s had them all: Lykke Li, Kid Sister, Kid Cudi, Talib Kweli, Clipse, even a Thom Yorke sample among all the good stuff he produced.
In any case, I’ve picked out some of the greatest features in my eyes (and ears). You can download them from my dropbox, and here are the tracks:
Kanye West – Diamonds Are Forever ft. Jay Z
Yes, I admit, this one’s really, really old. But it still makes me goosebumpy.
NERD – Everyone Nose ft. Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Pusha T
I hated the original version of the track, this one’s rap deluxe.
Kanye West, Kid Cudi & Common – Poke Her Face (Pokerface Remix)
Yeah, this one had to be made. Now the Lady Gaga track “Pokerface” comes to it’s real meaning.
Kid Sister – Pro Nails ft. Kanye West
I don’t like Kid Sister all that much, but West made this track become one of my favourite’s of the last year (rap-wise).
Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Pharrel – Us Placers
Awesome sample of Thom Yorkes “Eraser”. I love it for it’s simplicity and the insightful subject of rapidly vanishing fame.
African Smashers
There are two music artists that I would like to present to you today. Both I’ve stumbled upon by accident, and both have convinced me that African style music is currently making a move. We know already that hyped rock and indie bands (to mention Vampire Weekend) are borrowing Afrobeats to freshen up their riffs, but what about African artists?
My first pick is, and I believe some of you have already heard this name, Afrikan Boy. He had a feature on M.I.A.’s album Kala (by the way, one of the most amazing albums I’ve ever heard). The song “Hussel” struck me as one of the best songs exactly because of his input to it. But I admit, he isn’t exactly doing what you would consider “African influenced music”, except if you consider his blunt accent- a very nice trait in my opinion. Afrikan Boy does the British Grime Music thing, what with the beats and the raps. And yet, he is different, he is louder, he is good, and he makes you shake the booty.
What really nudged me though? I heard his most recent song, “Lidl”, on the radio. For those who don’t know: Lidl is a German discount supermarket. I was very amused by the fact that there are Lidls in the UK, let alone the fact that someone would rap about it. Even more suspicous- such a song isn’t usually played on the radio. I mean, come on. Germans like cheezy pop music. What’s high quality like that doing on the air? Anyway. I was positively surprised, and even more so, fell in love with Mr. Boy and his music. I don’t know if there’s been an album, I couldn’t find any info on that, but you can tune in with those tracks to get the idea (and by the way, if you don’t own Kala yet, it’s sure time):
M.I.A. – Hussel (ft. Afrikan Boy)
Afrikan Boy – Lidl
Both tracks are on savefile and only available for the next ten days.
My second pick for today is Somalian rapper K’naan, who’s already been on the surface of the rap underground for a while. Of course, I’m the last one to find this piece of greatness, so here’s my two cents on it. I read about him in one of my brother’s magazine, and see, I don’t usually remember names to check them out later. But “K’naan” (or something along the line of that spelling) is my mother’s maiden name… so I don’t know, it stuck with me, and I did check it out, and boy do I not regret it. K’naan is a rapper. I don’t think anyone deserves that title anymore- except for Lil Wayne, maybe. Today’s kids would probably not even recognize the man as a rapper… for he doesn’t sport rims and gangster uniforms, doesn’t belong in any bad ass crew and does not brag about ho’s and bitches all the way. What he does is good- along the lines of Dead Prez (with whom I think he even had a feature), about the hard way of life in a seriously dangerous town. In that interview I read, he claimed that he and his friends in his home town would make fun of the rappers and gangsters they saw on MTV- said this was a joke in comparison to life in his country, where you actually have to duck and run from bombs falling down on you.
Anyway. K’naan has a new album up and coming, Troubadour. I’ve heard one of the singles, “ABCs”, and to say the least: I’m impressed. Muchos impressed. Also, the song makes me want to dance, which is kind of in controversy to the lyrics– err. Well, buy the album as soon as it’s released, as I will- for now have a peak into that great song:
K’naan – ABC’s (ft. Chubb Rock)
Good God, where’s my pizza?!
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