Getty Funk

I heard a song today that caught my attention.  It's by the Belgian band Balthazar, who I don't know a whole lot about except that they're not particularly new, just new to me.  I like the laid-back but funky sound on the two tracks I'm posting.  I thought I was on to a good thing, but not all their stuff is as great.
New:

Old:


I also like the new Ghostpoet single, which showcases his "rock" sound a bit more.  I'm not really qualified to judge musicianship, but his band sound just OK to me;  I wonder what he'd sound like if backed up by a really great band, like Radiohead say.  They could really up the sonic experimentation behind his lyrics and increase the weirdness level.  As it is this song sounds good but the backing doesn't provide any surprises.


Have to keep it brief now, as I've go to go pick my kid up from daycare.  I came across this via Vice and then heard it on the radio on the same day.  William Onyeabor is a Nigerian musician from the 70's who I must hear more of!


A Dauwd mix at XLR8R led me to this remix of his, which is, as usual, great, though quite subtle (so's the mix by the way.  Great I mine, not necessarily subtle... I can't remember if it's subtle or not, but it is great.  Probably.  I heard it a few weeks ago!):


And finally, thanks to the wonders of Soundcloud's algorithm, that Dauwd track led me to this John Talabot one; I remember checking Talabot's album out a couple of years ago, cos it was topping some end-of-year lists, but I wasn't that into it.  I like this though:


Phew!  Hope that's enough funkiness for ya!

Nu Free Sounds

In my last post (see below, probably) I wrote about Ghostly putting a free new compilation with a Dauwd track on it.  Initially the Dauwd track (which is, as always, amazing) was my only point of interest, but I've listened to the whole compilation a few times now and I highly recommend you check it out -- it's full of great, quality stuff and it's FREE.  You have nothing to lose!  You don't even have to download it cos you can stream it at the site -- so go ahead!  I'm quite happy that something that's being given away is still so good.

I also posted not too long about Caribou (Dan Snaith) posting a massive playlist of his favourite tracks on Youstube.  It's full of gems, and as I come across especially good ones I may post them, which I'm about to do.  What I really like about this tune is it's sheer weirdness, makes a nice change.


Lastly, a track I've had on my mp3 player for months now cos I enjoy it every time it pops up.  Originally recommended by Alexis Petridis, I can't say I love the whole album it comes off of, but this track is quite stirring.  Part of me wants to resist, cos the track obviously wants to take the listener to a certain place; but it's so well done that the time has come to share it with you.   Check out 'Says' by Nils Frahm, preferably on good speakers or headphones and at a good volume:

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.


 

Look what I found!

That's right, some Dauwd for your listening pleasure.  I'm sure I wrote about him before, but I couldn't find anything when I searched.  Oh well, came across this today a bit randomly and it is excellent!  I love the main  keyboard line.  Dauwd's definitely grown as an artist in the year or so since I first heard his music -- this track just sounds more mature, more put together, than his earlier material.  I'm glad  he's still around and doing well, and I'd love to hear an album if this is any indication of where it could go.  Dauwd was born in the US, grew up in Wales, and his real name is Dauwd al-Hilali.  Oh, and he's put out at least one EP on Michigan dance label, Ghostly.  Peak your interest?



Also, here's a video on a pretty obscure UK dance scene.  It's short but  interesting.  When  I say obscure,  I mean to most of our readership -- UK Garage reached the heights of the top 40, and inspired the Streets!  That's when I heard about it, but it had a much longer history before that.  UKG followed what is basically the rise-and-fall template of just about every dance music type, from early acid to dubstep, so watch the video to get an idea of how a scene comes to be, peaks, and  then fades away (before the inevitable nostalgia).  There'll be a larger TV series starting next month in the UK -- it's already on my to-download list.