couple of house tunes

I was gonna write about how I had to pass loads of annoying people wearing green today but then deleted what I wrote as I really don't wanna recall those unfortunate sights of sad white people acting like they're still in college.

Anyway here are some tunes I've been listening to, I know its been a long time since I posted anything. Enjoy.

burial + four tet + thom yorke

A triple collab on a two song 12 inch which is already sold out at Bleep.com. The tracks are up on youstube (see below) and I've only listened to each a couple of times so can't comment too forcefully. Overall nice and I'd be lying if I said I don't mind not nabbing that 12 inch. The Burial touch is clear in the beats and synth bass washes; Thom Yorke is easy enough to identify; and I think I hear Four Tet on the first track, "Ego", not sure where he comes in on the second, "Mirror", though. Not even sure how the tracks would be split between the two producers to be honest. Maybe they did one each? "Mirror" definitely has that melancholy Burial sound; "Ego" has a lot more going on, but retains that Burial space and mood between verses. I think I prefer soul-girl singing to Thom Yorke on dance tracks though.

"Ego"




"Mirror"

Fresh outta Platform, it's Jamie XX and Yasmin with a live cover of Rui Da Silva's 'Touch Me'. What's that sound you hear? Steel drums mate.

A boring post about other blogs (and an article about XL recordings)

Just wanted to highlight some decent blogs I've been looking at recently. First up is Class of 808, a superb throwback blog about the old sounds of Acid House and early Techno when it first took over the UK back in the late 80's. It's very frequently updated and posts up lots of great mixes -- I thought the sounds might seem cheesy 20-odd years on but they actually sound pretty great. It feels a bit sad to be nostalgic about music that's supposed to sound like the future but it happens to every scene eventually.

The other blog I've recently added to my "must check" list is Platform. Also out of the UK, the postings are Vice-style musings on various things but mostly music and pop culture related. I've not looked into the background of the site as I can't be arsed, but I've been getting a lot of links to new tracks and remixes through them (such as the Adele x Jamie XX one from not too long ago). Worth a look-in, I think.

Lastly, the Guardian had a good article recently about XL Recordings and how they're doing pretty well while the rest of the music industry is tanking. To me, XL is still rave music from the early 90's, but moved on pretty far from there. It's a good read, you can check it out here.

Adele x Jamie XX

Not sure about Jamie from the XX's Jamie XX moniker, I have to say. He's been remixing again; came across this at Platform last week. Wasn't too thrilled at first, but it grew on me after a couple of listens. I like the South American/Caribbean vibes and prefer it to his Gil Scot-Heron remix from last year. Haven't heard much Adele in my life, did look her up but wasn't too interested in what I found. This remix is good though:

Croonin'

Couple of artists I've wanted to cover for a bit and am finally getting round to here, plus one old tune that can be put under the crooner category (not really, but i'm gonna do it anyway). Ok, so, both James Blake and Jamie Woon have been getting tipped for big things in 2011. I've had them on my new-headphone enhanced mp3 player and do think their tunes are worth mentioning. Couldn't pick which version I liked so I'm going to put a selection up. First up is James Blake, who's getting the most buzz. This track is 'Limit to Your Love' and it's actually got a decent video. On initial listen I wasn't sure if he (skinny little white bloke) could be singing this song, but the vid seems to indicate that he is, which is pretty astonishing before you even get to the deep bass and use of space in the track. Check it (best heard with decent sound so you can actually hear the deep bass when things get shuddery -- it's there):



I'm going to put two version of a Jamie Woon track up. The track is recent single 'Night Air' and I'm putting up a live version and a remix. I think the live version is quite good as the song seems to hold up well in a basement club setting while actually sung live. The remix is by Deadboy; I like it on my headphones but it doesn't sound as good to me on the PC -- maybe you'll feel differently:





Last is an oldish Pulp track that popped up recently when I listening to something else by them. Had forgotten how well put together the track and lyrics are, and the high-production-value video seems a bit of a throwback when seen now -- can't imagine many bands having much of a budget for videos nowadays, and it's funny to think that Pulp were themselves big enough for a video like this. But this is post-'Different Class', when they were briefly massive and could probably do whatever they wanted -- including disintegrate:



BONUS:

Discodeine feat. Jarvis Cocker - Synchronize from Pschent on Vimeo.

two plus two

DP + TRON = 2 + 2



everyone said film is rubbish, but soundtrack is amazing. of course it is.