Non-Hostile Environment

I've heard this Janet Kay reggae track at various times over the last few weeks.  It's popped up on mixes, on radio shows.  When I heard it, I assumed it was some obscure dusty thing that's been rediscovered somehow. I mean, it does sound a bit off, and Tom Ravenscroft is playing it on 6 Music.  Then I looked it up and it turns out it was #2 in the UK in 1979!  #2!!  A hit, in other words, and Janet Kay, the singer, was on Top of the Pops. 

This wouldn't be a very big deal, but given everything that's in the news these days, the hostility and anger, and how important identity, race, background, has seemingly become (at least online), it's kind of cool to go back to 1979 and a time when things were probably pretty bad, race-wise, and yet this slightly strange track made it all the way to #2 in the UK (it was apparently a hit around Europe too).  What does it mean?  I don't know to be honest... maybe that it doesn't have to be this way, that there are better parts of our nature we should be tapping into?  Or maybe it just means that a good pop song can transcend boundaries -- or at least it used to be able to.  Is pop culture the answer to our troubles?  It's possible (as an aside, when I looked up #TopBoy on Twitter, I came across quite a few users with England flag emojis in their name who'd enjoyed the show...). 

It also reminds me of just how important Black music is to pop music in general.  Especially in the US and UK, one could argue that without Black music there'd be no pop music, no rock music, no dance music, nothing; we'd be listening to skiffle boards, country (maybe?), folk, and who knows what else.  It'd be pretty shit.  So check out this video -- I hope it makes you smile. 



Also, on Tom Ravenscroft, I heard Metronomy do a live track and I have to say it sounded like... something from Flight of the Conchords.  And I like Metronomy.  I wonder if it's meant to be funny?  The official version actually sounds pretty good:

Is it over?

Over the last day or two I've been thinking about the process of making music, especially dance music, genres, and what it all means now.

When I first heard dance music in the early 90's (or was it the late 80's?) it did feel like "the future", and later on I bought into the idea that it was future music.  It kept evolving too, it didn't stay still, and I got into the mutations that came through, like jungle, garage, and then dubstep.  But I'm trying and I really can't think of a new genre or mutation that really got anyone's attention after dubstep?  I know there are always new micro-genres and distinctions, and there's EDM, which is basically an idiotic label for nothing, it's not new.  But there's nothing I hear now that seems really new or ground-breaking, and definitely nothing is having a massive impact like the genres mentioned above.

So is dance-music actually like rock music now?  Where people are just making their own take on what's gone before?  I feel like that's what's happening and that electronic dance music isn't really the music of the future anymore, and I don't think anything's replaced it.  That makes me a bit sad, especially as I've taken up producing my own dance music as a hobby.  Via that I realised that there haven't really been that many innovations in the sound or the equipment since the 90's, other than most of the process going "in the box" (ie being done solely on computers).  The people I come across online seem to mostly festishize old sounds and equipment too, new takes on old drum machines.

All this doesn't mean that good music won't be made, and isn't being made.  But I just think that thrilling edge has been lost, where I felt like what was being made and heard had never been done before.  I mean, imagine the feeling of hearing the first house record, or the first jungle record?  That's not happening any more; hopefully it will happen again, but there are no guarantees.

For me this means I need to get back to viewing my own producing as a hobby to be enjoyed -- no need to overthink it, just have fun.

Switching it up, after a long time, here's a commute tune from this morning's BBC 6 music with Tom Ravenscroft.  Bloody good it is too.  I think at this time anything I blog will be slightly biased by the fact that I'm looking forward to putting together a massive tAO playlist soon!

November commute tunes #3: Small lizard chronicles

Aah, lovely lovely songs.  And I think they're all linked??  Most of them anyway, by Little Dragon.  I first heard of them when they featured on a Gorillaz record.  They already seemed like a band I felt I should have heard of back then.  I can't say I've paid them loads of attention since, but they'll pop up on singles I like here and there. 

First up, here they are with BadBadNotGood.  Another band who have tracks I like, but I'm not necessarily a fan.  They're also an example of a band who I didn't like as much live -- I prefer them on record, their live show was pretty unenjoyable.  Anyway, I love this track, very atmospheric:



Now, here they are with SBTRKT; I heard this next one again today:



Now here's one by just them!  It's from their latest EP, which is meant to be a dancey and positive record.  This track definitely fulfills that mandate:



Ok, last track now, and it's destroying my Little Dragon link cos I don't think this person has any link to them (I could definitely be wrong).  This is by Jon Hopkins and it's pretty great.  I saw him live once, supporting the XX.  Can't really remember much about the show, but I think he'd be good on stage. 

Twenty Eighteen

Well, the festive season is over, but it was a good one, for me anyway.  Some nice time to chill and do nothing of consequence, and I had the added benefit of the family leaving town, which meant I was actually on a proper vacation!  I used my time well, I must say -- did some record shopping and listened to some albums that I hadn't got round to, for one.  Christmas and New Year's is also full of great radio programming on 6 music, as well as the best of lists and articles all over the place.  To be honest, so far nothing's really stood out to me on the end of year lists, but I do need to check out some end of year podcasts as those discussions are usually pretty interesting.  And I'll have to try and at least listen to Thundercat's album, Drunk, as 6 music picked it as their album of the year.  If  you're looking for something to check out I recommend the end of year stuff by Jarvis and Gilles Peterson, as well as Tom Robinson's last show of the year, which is where I heard the next track. 

I've not listened to any Can really, but will try to now.  I really like this track, Vitamin C, and was surprised it was by Can -- it seems pretty contemporary, and it doesn't have the sound that I associate with krautrock -- probably cos that term is meaningless, and probably cos all pop music has already been made, or something.  It's from 1972!  That's when Bowie was Ziggy Stardust, and it's not long after the Beatles fell apart.  But it sounds so clean and fresh!  Impressive.



I've recently been opening up to new forms of listening to, experiencing, and enjoying music.  There's lots of ways to do it out there now; I still like my CD's, vinyl, and tapes, but streaming is alright too, and it's easy -- much better than owning or getting MP3's, etc.  So nowadays I might buy something on Bandcamp but then just stream it instead of actually downloading it.  Or I'll do online radio, youtube, see what's streaming at NPR, amazon, itunes.  And now I have yet another option, through my local library -- a service by the name of Hoopla, which is what I've been using to finally listen to Drake's mixtape, More Life.  I don't know what it is about Drake... I don't really care that much for his harder-sounding rap stuff, which mostly leaves me a bit bored. But I really like his more clubby music, and he seems to be really good at a certain romantic nostalgic sound -- the softer pop side in other words.  I like that he's into that, and that he's into different sounds from different places -- so he'll have references to Toronto's Caribbean community on his album, as well as English rappers like Giggs and Skepta.  And he'll give them credit too -- I really like this story about how being sampled for the track One Dance made a huge impact on Kyla.  So here's a few Drake tracks that give me the feels, as well as an amusing cover version (I couldn't find a way put up Get it Together, but check it out -- features an 18 year old singer from the Midlands, Jorja Smith, and housey production from South Africa):

Summertime '83

I do feel like most things in pop have already been done.  Not exactly a profound thought, I know.  I heard this Style Council song for the first time today (go ahead, judge me) and I found it to be so 2010's -- more so after watching the quite astonishing video.  Very sexual?  Check.  Wonky R&B played by white people?  Check.  Drake-style dad dancing?  Check.  Retro (!) electronics?  Check.  It's got it all!



A couple of months ago I finished my second Mark Radcliffe book.  I quite like the bloke as a DJ but his writing is... surprising.  Actually what's surprising is that he's had so many books published.  Anyway, the one I read recounts tales from his life in music, and includes an account of his first interview with David Bowie.  At the time Bowie said that his favourite albums of his own were 'Diamond Dogs'and 'Lodger' so of course I checked those out from the library and yeah, not bad.  'Diamond Dogs' has that 70's sound that I'm not really into right now, the glam thing, but 'Lodger' was better than expected.  I was afraid of something sludgy but it's quite bright, which I suppose makes sense since it came out on the cusp of the 80's.



Incidentally, the cover to 'Lodger' wouldn't look out of place today -- it looks like a (good) fashion ad.



The artist formerly known as Throwing Shade is now trading under her own name of Nabihah Iqbal and is about to release a new album on Ninja Tune.  I heard the first single off of it online yesterday and on the radio today, and it's quite nice -- has a very 80's sound to it, and I can relate to it's lyrics about ennui upon waking up in the morning very well!  It's extra interesting to me because, having seen a video of her process, I feel like I can almost hear how the track was made.  That's not to belittle her achievement, or say it was easy -- there's still musical talent involved (and after all, she's studied ethnomusicology at SOAS!).  But check out her FACT video and maybe you'll be able to hear the components of the new single too.

Complete Control

I was reflecting on my habits as a music fan during my morning commute today (50 minutes, mostly in traffic, ugh).  I was considering the fact that I've never been a completist; I've moved from favourite band to favourite band but never gone and got, or even listened to, any artist's entire back catalogue, no matter how taken up by them I was at the time.  When I was into U2 I stuck with just "Achtung Baby" and "Zooropa"; when it was Black Grape I only got the first album; even with the Clash I only went a few albums beyond "London Calling".  I suppose for me it's never been about buying into anyone's entire career or oeuvre; it's more about the individual work that I may intensely like, while being able to keep things in perspective and realise that not everything by any given artist is going to be good.  Plus I think I lack the attention, especially these days, to really focus on any one thing for too long.

This was all prompted by hearing "Sing" by Blur on 6 Music today.  It got me thinking about Blur and their sound and trajectory.  "Sing" is off their first album, "Leisure", which I don't think I've heard fully, so what I'm about to say may sound like complete balls to anyone who's a real Blur fan.  My Blur fan-hood is kind of like my fan-hood for every other band -- there are a few albums I've listened to a lot, and that's it.  So I'm hardly the person to really know enough about Blur to say what I'm about to say, but I'll say it anyway.

When I heard "Sing" this morning I was struck by the thought that it sums Blur up in a way.  The song itself is pretty non-traditional for a pop song; it's experimental, with no easily decipherable verses to sing along or relate to, and it barely has a chorus.  It's a great song, but very far removed from those which made Blur famous -- songs like "Girls & Boys", or "Country House", or "Song 2".  Even if I consider Blur as an indie act instead of a pop one, "Sing" is a lot more ambitious than anything else I've heard from that period -- and they produced it themselves. "Sing" sums Blur up as a band who are actually very experimental and who've had many different sounds and phases in their 28 years.  And when I hear "Sing" and consider some of Blur's other music it seems not at all surprising that the band eventually fell apart; because it would be hard for any band with so many different ideas and sounds to capture it all in one outfit.  It makes sense that Damon Albarn ended up starting and being part of many other acts, and worked solo, as did Graham Coxon.  Blur was never going to be enough to encapsulate all the ideas those two, and particularly Albarn, had.

This is probably not news at all, or fresh original thinking.  Really this is me trying to figure out who Blur are to me.  I'm re-examining them and re-thinking who they are as a band.  Britpop Blur wasn't really the Blur I loved; the Blur I loved was the Blur of Think Tank and what I realised today is that Blur were always the band that would make Think Tank; that album isn't an anomaly, it's actually who Blur are.  And "Sing" is what proves that to me.

Row your boat

The new David Bowie release got me thinking about streaming this past week.  I was discussing the album, and how certain reviewers make me feel  like just going out and buying albums before I've even heard a single track.  The same thing was happening with the Bowie album:  All the chatter about it, and the positive press, got me considering just going and getting it and listening to it afterwards.  Something good may have come of that decision as I may have given it more attention if I'd went through with a proper purchase -- I was looking forward to going to the record shop, picking it up, listening in the car, and so on.  But instead I decided to listen to whatever tracks were up on youtube and ended up finding the whole album there.  So then I just streamed it, and it was OK, but, for now at least, I lost the urge to buy it.  I think that streaming cheapens music too much in that regard -- with streaming I literally invest nothing in the music, so I can just take it or leave it, not really pay it a whole lot of attention.  I think some very good work probably gets short-changed that way.

As for the Bowie, Petridis says it's proper jazz, not just a band with some horns.  He also thinks the music is quite avante garde.  This is another possible problem with reviews, they can really send your expectations in a certain direction.  Thankfully, in this case I think Petridis overstates the case a bit -- to me this sounds exactly like a good but normal band trying a little too hard to be "different" -- or maybe the spectrum of pop music is so wide now that something like this album ends up sounding quite normal, in a good way.


I may have issues with streaming, but I'd say modern changes to the way I consume music have overall made things better.  I heard this BC Camplight track on 6 music via my phone, and then found it on Soundcloud  for this blog.  Because of that I heard the rather nice track by Amason, who I'd never heard of otherwise.



Speaking of 6 music, the Chemical Brothers were on that over Christmas for a three hour show.  It was good, just a nice show with chatting and music and mixes.  The Chemical Brothers came across as very current, which is kind of remarkable for a 20 year old dance music act.  But even though they talked about things from the past, to me they didn't seem like one of those  nostalgia acts that are around.  They seemed like a relevant act who happen to have been around for a long time.  It was good, made me happy for them.  The show's worth checking out for some of the mixes and remixes, especially the Tom Rowlands remix of Doves' Kingdom of Rust.  Six years in the making apparently!   That mix is the last half hour of the show, or you can hear it by itself here.   The old tracks have held up very well -- I'd love to see these guys live again.  Fun fact: I ended up buying Q tip's solo album after listening to the show; you'll have to listen to the show to find out why though.



Lastly, earlier today my wife and I were discussing the lack of diversity amongst Islamic scholars, the best known of whom are basically all men.  We agreed that there must be well qualified women out there who just aren't being given the opportunities that men are, which is very problematic, for multiple reasons.  I think when someone like my wife identities a problem like this, they have to act.  Which, of course, brings to mind the Streets:

Back II Life

Yes!  Finally blogging again!  It's been a long time.  As you may know, I've had a big move recently, and it's taken me some time to arrange my life in a way that allows me to get some good radio time in.  I was in the UK recently and have been feeling reinvigorated since then.  I also got a good glimpse of how some people over there get in their radio time -- while getting ready, or doing chores, for instance.  I don't use an actual radio like they do, but I find an ipad does the job, and even has the same tinny sound quality as a cheap radio!  The wonders of wi-fi mean I can carry it around with me, even to the bog, so I've basically recreated the radio experience very well.  I'm also mixing it up (slightly) now -- I've expanded from Radio 6 to Radio 1 and 1Xtra too, mainly cos 6 lacks the urban and dancey stuff.

So I've heard lots of things over the last week or two, all of which I'll stick down below.  No need to feel overwhelmed. just view this as me sharing things with you that you may not have come across.  Stick it on while you're doing something else, no need to over think it.

I've put a Soak track up before.  I find her pronunciation a bit annoying, but the track is still nice.


Roots Manuva's been around a long time now.  I never got properly into him, but there's always a single now and then that will stick out.  Now, post-Ghostpoet, his output suddenly seems worth exploring further, especially after hearing this new track.  I don't mean I'm going to go through is entire back catalogue, but definitely interested in hearing his latest work.


A change of pace now: time of jangly indie-pop by Martha:


Something charmingly shambolic and very American sounding from this Canadian dude Destroyer.  I'm not one for lyrics so I'm wondering what specifically he's saying about Times Square here, that very unromantic tourist trap of a place.


Maribou State now.  I've written about them before too.  I like their low key dancey sound, though it's easy to imagine it being used as background music in some wanky bar.  Mmm, piano.


I'll leave you with something overblown and very sincere from the 80's.  Very easy to jump around to -- thanks Pete Wylie!

Oh FFS!

I heard this track on this radio a few days ago and I wasn't sure if I'd like it on a second or third listen, but I do!  In fact it's grown on me every time I've heard it again.  At first I thought FFS were just some new band, but now I know that FFS is a collaboration between Franz Ferdinand and Sparks (you can read more about that here).  So, below is the new single Johnny Delusional, as well as some Franz Ferdinand tracks because, well, why not?

Truffle, but her? (Sorry)

Heard a few good things on the radio recently so it's time to share.  I feel like Hot Chip just had an album out, but they're back with a new track again already.  Again, they're a band I've kind of avoided -- always heard that they're good, liked a few things that I've heard, but I've made a semi-conscious decision not to get into them.  I may revise that soon though.  Really like the off-kilter keyboard line in this track, it's nice when things are a bit weird.


Unknown Mortal Orchestra are coming to U Street Music Hall soon I gave them a listen, especially  after Ghostpoet tweeted about them.  Not really the kind of thing I want to check out live, but I do like this track:

I thought it was new but it's from 2013!

I was listening to the actual radio the other day and heard a Nicki Minaj song.  The beat really stood out to me, but it had the feel of something I may have heard before -- turns out it's a slowed down beat from a Maya Jane Coles track!  They didn't really change it much either.


Finally, I don't have a whole lot to say about this Richard Hawley track I heard a couple of weeks ago except that I like it -- it's very evocative.

Classixx

Not the previously blogged about musical outfit, but some old but great songs with small blurbs.  OK.

My appreciation of the band Squeeze increases every time I hear a track by them.  I really like the story-telling aspect of this song, and the shambolic quality of it all.  Dance to this with a mug of tea in your hand, that's what I did yesterday, and I felt pretty cool.  Bonus!  Spot young Jools Holland in the video!  He looks great.


Of course I heard this next track on 6 music, source of at least 90% of what I hear now.  It's Lulu and it was apparently produced by Bowie himself.  Love the production on this, especially the sax.
 

There's something about off-kilter pop music that I love.  I heard this next one again recently in a coffee-shop.  Weird contrast between the lyrics and the sound of the song itself.

Triple Threat

Just heard all three of these tracks yesterday.

I posted about Woods a while back and this first track is by the Babies, a band featuring a former Woods member by the name of Kevin Morby.  There's a nice bit of trivia for you there, as well as a link to the past of this here blog.  

Next, Maribou State.  What do I know about them?  I know they're coming to U Street Music Hall in April, that's what.  I'm digging their laid-back sounds so may have to check the show out.

Here are another act that I've featured before, Welsh housesters Bodhi with a decent remix of George the Poet.

Lastly, this gorgeously moody track by the Unthanks -- I really like the organ here.

Friday night lights (off)

One of my current favourite electronic musicians, Dauwd, has a new remix out that I've been grooving to here in the office.  It's out on Ghostly records.

He's also got track on this free Ghostly compilation.

I'll post some more dancey stuff while I'm at it.  Floating Points is an artist I've heard of but only recently heard.  His most recent release is Nuits Sonores, and it's a pretty epic 12 minutes, featuring some nice acid squelches:


Going back a few weeks now to New Year's eve.  I was at home with my three year old, who had no idea that it was NYE, or even what that means, so there was no need for her to stay up til midnight.  That didn't stop us tuning into some UK radio though, and hearing their new year hit five hours before ours did!  There were a couple of great tracks leading up to the big moment, which I'll post for you below.  They're relatively route one, but still good.


 

More Bangerz

Mostly from Jarvis Cocker's recently revived show this time (though I think it was a one-off).

First up, Dean Blunt, who seems like a bit of a mysterious chap.  Can't find a dedicated website, facebook, or anything for him, just artist pages at various music sites.  So a bit of a mystery for now, but I like this track and hope there's more goodness to discover by him.


Next, this bit of funky awesomeness by David Axelrod.  Jarv had this nicely mixed with a Kate Bush track, but it stands up just fine by itself too.


This I've been hearing all over Radio 6.  It's another Kate Tempest track, this time a collab.  I went a bit off her after I last posted about her, but then I read a bit more about her and learned she'd won a poetry prize, so she started to seem a bit more real to me.

The bloke she's collab'ed with, Loyle Carner, is pretty good on his own too -- very good actually:


OK, last up a new Oddisee track that he tweeted about.  It's quality, check it out.

Bangerz

The Christmas period is usually a good one on BBC radio, and this year is no exception.  There are great specials and wrap-up shows to be heard.  I haven't really been tuning in enough but when I have I've heard some great tunes.  I was discussing the amazingness of the BBC yesterday with one of my patients at work -- it's a bunch of non-commercial stations that don't really do government propaganda and we found ourselves asking... Why does it exist?  What do they get out of it?  They don't make any money, or profit I should say, so I suppose it's there just as a cultural good for the country (and for the world).  It's such a strange concept when viewed from America, where everything is basically profit-driven.  It's hard to imagine or remember that there's another way of doing things...

So, first up a couple of tracks I just heard on Gideon Coe's dance-themed show tonight.  Just nice songs really, nothing much to add, just listen and you'll get it.  Though I will say that I'm quite impressed by the number of great tracks I've heard that Malcolm McLaren's been involved with.




This next track I heard on Mark Riley's show tonight.  He's not one of my favourite 6 music DJ's, as he usually plays things on the weirder end of the spectrum and I'm not sure how my patients feel about some of his choices.  This track is dangerously twee but the jangly guitars save it for me.  Makes me think of summer, and sunshine, and grassy fields.


There's more to come, don't worry.  I'll leave you with some links to other media I consumed today -- I read this article about the current dance music scene in the UK, and I checked out this video about Jackmaster -- both good, and I'll be putting up more inspired by those two links later on.  

Fer du dancing

Two completely unrelated tracks today -- one is one of my all time favourite dance tunes, another a new track by SBTRKT featuring Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend.

First up, Dirty Cash by The Adventures of Stevie V -- straight outta 1990.  A class, class tune that randomly comes back into my  head every now and then.  This time I decided to blog it, as I've a feeling it's a bit of a forgotten gem, and since TAOSV were British, perhaps it never really got that big here in the USA.


SBTRKT is one of those dance artists whose name I'm always seeing around but I never really checked him out until I heard this on the radio recently.  It's quite a funky track, and if you go to SBTRKT's soundcloud page you can hear a lot more of his new stuff -- sadly the other tracks didn't appeal to me as much as this one does.  Great artwork too.

Pardon the interruption

Many things, minimal info (sorry), but all just tunes I've heard and liked.

Caribou will be back soon, and has put a new track up as a taster.  I'm liking it, and I'm looking forward to probably live shows.

I just checked the website and Caribou will play the Black Cat on my birthday!  Hurrah!

Here's a track by Sohn.  Liked something else by him recently, one to watch.


A rapping British farm-girl.  You don't see that everyday!  Kate Tempest:

It's funny how so many British rappers rap in the same accent.

Finally, something with some German in it: Sabina.  Not Sabrina, Sabina:


Actually one more thing.  Stromae is coming to DC in September.  It was announced yesterday and it's already sold out!  Who knew Belgian pop music was so popular in la DC?  I bet it's all European World Bankers and what not.

Dagnabbit!

So, Cate Le Bon was in town this week, playing at DC9 for a mere $10.  I thought, "yes, I'll check that out, I like the tunes of hers I've heard".  Apparently, though,  I wasn't the only one, as when I got there with another tAO contributor (hint: it was a male, with his wife) the show was sold out!  Sold out!  The lessons here are a) never underestimate the popularity of Welsh singer-songwriters and b) go ahead and spend the extra dollars on buying a concert ticket over the web, cos you just never know.  And if it's not a ticketmaster show then the fees won't be much more than a return Metro ride anyway -- probably less in fact!  Sigh.  Some examples of Le Bon's craft follow (quite literally in the case of the first video).  Followed by another Wave Pictures song which I just heard and liked.





I was over missing that show but that live video has bummed me out again.  Le sigh.

Tickled

Time for a long overdue post.  Sorry about the lack of words, but I've been hearing things here and there that I've enjoyed in one way or another and I thought the least I can do is compile them all on our dear old blog.  So that's what I'll do!

On Radio 6 this morning I heard this and found it rather pleasant:

I wasn't a Pavement fan when they were around but I was lucky enough to see them for free at the Virgin Freefest a couple of years go and liked them.  I like this too, it's got a nice warm indie sound to it.  And so does the video, particularly the end of it.

I also heard this on the radio today and it seemed very familiar, particularly the instrumental breakdown.  Not sure where I've heard it before, I feel like it's been sampled.  And if you're sick of Christmas music, my apologies, but this isn't really what you'll hear playing at the mall now is it?

Sorry about the video but, you know, just don't watch it -- most of the time music is better without visuals anyway.

And now, aah yes, Arctic Monkeys, I'm into them right now.  I just saw them play three songs on Jools Holland and they were all good!  Plus the band have a good vibe about them, particularly Alex Turner, the man has some snake hips nowadays.  They're full of confidence, which makes for good performances.  I'd like to see them live but for some reason they're skipping DC and playing Richmond, VA only -- my guess is cos they must have hit this place up when they toured with the Black Keys.  Turn this up (no really, the sound isn't very good in this video) and do watch the video:


Burial's got a new EP coming out, you can hear it all online:
http://www.avclub.com/article/burials-new-rival-dealer-ep-is-already-streaming-o-106418
I'll have to give the tracks a few more listens but... I don't know if they're for me.  I remember when I first heard of Burial in 2007 (that was thanks to the Boston Phoenix, where I also heard of Ellen Allien and Dixon, thanks to their CD reviews; Dixon's Body Language mix is well worth a listen, and I went on to see Ellen Allien in NYC).  At that time it was still really hard to look up and hear his music -- I think it was months before his first CD showed up for sale online at a reasonable price.  Now his new EP is news for basically every music site and blog on the web, including the AV Club!  Bit of a change.  It's nice that good music is easily accessible and artists like Burial are getting more attention but at the same time there was definitely a certain pleasure that came from feeling "in the know", when there was still a music underground.

You  may recall that I saw Four Tet live a little while back and thought he was brilliant.  Well, he's put a live set up on soundcloud now so you can decide for yourself.  Check it!


I'll end with this.  I actually came across it thanks to comments on the Burial tracks left at Fact.  There's nothing I can say about it.  Just watch it:

the Power

I still get amazed sometimes when I hear something cool that I've not heard before and it's all thanks to the whims of a radio DJ.  I don't know if online streaming services can be as eclectic as an actual DJ can be, since they supposedly cater to what they know of your tastes.  Hard to say really, but I came across some music on Radio 6 the other day that I'm pretty sure I'd never have heard otherwise.  It's a collaboration from 2003, so not even new, I just never knew about it.  The collaboration is between Terry Hall & Mustaq.  You may be thinking "who?".  Well, Terry Hall is a founder member of the Specials, a classic UK ska act.  I've liked Hall for a long time and I'm not sure if it started with the Specials cassette I bought or when I heard a song of his as a solo singer.  Mushtaq I'd never heard of but it turns out he's a member of Fun-Da-Mental.  Now, I could probably write a whole other post on Fun-Da-Mental, but I won't, I'll just keep it short, but looking into them for this post again also displays the power of radio to remind us of things we'd forgotten, and how it exposes us to massive amounts of random music.  Fun-Da-Mental are a multi-ethnic UK group who are anti-racist and quite pro-Islam.  They were using and singing about these topics back in the 90's, way before 9-11, when wearing  your Muslimness on your sleeve wasn't even a thing!  They basically started with a combination of Asian sounds and hip-hop, and their Asian/Muslim identity was pretty mind-blowing to me when I first came across them as a teenager in Wales (though not mind-blowing enough to get me to hear anything else by them for nearly twenty years).  Very interesting group, definitely worth a further read upon.  Anyway, back to the main topic; Terry Hall & Mushtaq put together an album called 'The Hour of Two Lights' which is a great blend of Hall's singing with Arabic instrumentation -- you can hear it all here.  It reminds me of a bit of some Gorillaz stuff, and it turns out that Damon Albarn had some involvement and put it out on his Honest Jon's label -- hmm.  The song I heard, and that  piqued by interest, is below: