Work it Out

Getting so excited for RJD2 tonight at the Paradise. Been listening to Deadringer and Instruments all day, and just watched the video for Work It Out - the crutch dancing in this is so visually entertaining. Check out the video - its putting me over the edge!

Turntable Lab

I've just finished perhaps the greatest online shopping experience of my life. I bought a new laptop (means more frequent blogging, and more up to date music info for y'all!) and was in search for a hip laptop bag so I went to Turntable Lab. I shop there for T-shirts and noticed they have awesome bags too. So i searched for bags, and ended up looking at Apple accessories for my iPod, then clicked on their MP3s and samples some nice Ghostly International compilations, and then decided I wanted a hoodie. Nice. My new favorite online shopping destination - turntablelab.com

Air is for the Ears

I was watching Air's "surfing on a rocket" music video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siJlPtWkmzw&feature=dir) enjoying the simple, smooth melodies and decided to see what Air is up to. I pleasantly saw this news:

MOON SAFARI - 10th anniversary reissue TO BE RELEASED April 15, 2008

To celebrate the band’s illustrious first 10 years, in which they have enjoyed many career-defining moments and countless critical accolades, Astralwerks is proud to present this expanded, deluxe version of “Moon Safari”, a beautiful artifact which no true AIR fan will want to miss out on.
This strictly limited edition release is a 3-disc package wrapped up in a collector case bound book (DVD-size)

(info pulled from AstralWerks web site - label that produces/distributes AIR)

Fat Jon the Ample Soul Physician

Cool to meet some young trip-hop and downtempo fans at a PR/marketing career fair this weekend. I'm representing my company and two girls I had met in passing moons ago approached to learn more. We started talking PR and somehow changed to music - Sigur Ros, Thievery Corporation, Massive Attack. So good to talk music in a completely random situation.

I referred one to Fat Jon the Ample Soul Physician for some smooth trip-hop. Fat Jon has created beats around the world, becoming known in Cincinnati underground early in the 90's, working in experimental hip-hop and eventually moving to Berlin. In Europe he met many collaborators, flowing over his and others' beats, reminiscent of his Cincinnati and Five Deez roots (his first collaborative group), but with an even more progressive sound. His mixology evokes early Roots with a trip-hop flavor and his rhymes, when he feels compelled, is reminiscent of Mos Def.

Click the heading to visit www.amplesoul.com and listen to some tracks.

Jose Gonzalez

We all have a favorite club or concert hall or dive bar where you can see fantastic music every night of the week. In Boston, its Paradise Rock Club - the name is deceiving because I've seen amazing crooners, DJs, hippie jam sessions, you name it - all on the same stage.

Last Thursday I saw Jose Gonzalez there. As an acoustic soloist, he makes a song reverberate in your skull, his voice has an ethereal warmth that can shift from melancholy to gospel with the slightest change in pitch or tone. These two women who had never seen Jose before asked me what his sound is like - I described his musical style as a South American spin on the collaboration between Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, with the vocal qualities of Chris Martin from Coldplay, but even softer - and I think stronger, considering that he commands this comparison BY HIMSELF, with little or no backing vocals or instruments. BTW, Jose is Swedish, but his father is from Argentina.

Most people first heard of Jose when his single Heartbeats made it huge in Europe. I also heard of him at this time, and I cursed myself when I missed his free show last summer in Boston. His first album, Veneer, includes "Heartbeats," "Love Stain," "All You Deliver," "Crosses," and more - these four songs are my favorite. On his newest album, In Our Nature, he follows up the success of Heartbeats with folksy, yet driving, acoustic tracks such as "Killing for Love" and an amazing cover of Massive Attack's "Teardrop." Both albums are so versatile - his range blows right up when you hear a few tracks in succession. Listen to this at a cocktail party or on a picnic in the park, or during a run outside. Whatever it is, Jose will get you.

click the link above to go to his site, his tracks should start playing when you get there - so good

Torpedo Boyz - Cum on Feel the Boyz

(This is my latest review, as written for http://www.properlychilled.com/)

Torpedo Boyz launch into their second album, "Cum on Feel the Boyz," guilt-free and laughing, saying please enjoy, but don't take us too seriously. A funk, groove-hop sound at its core, Torpedo Boyz squeeze square-peg break beats into Japanese import pop. After a full listen, the tracks fall into two camps: freaky fun dance-worthy, or studio punk-funk that falls short on the Boyz' sophomore effort.

The Torpedo Boyz – Kentastic and Rollin Hand – produce energetic, free-wheel funk that sits low on its haunches, beats you over and over with tight snares and bass lines that kick from terse riffs to electro-pop punk jams.

The Boyz are at their finest when sticking to their guns – producing great funk rock songs that can shimmy in the lounge or jam in the club. "The Disco Song" says it all with melodic strings delivering the highs while quick snares and a funky bass line create a foundation for Daft Punk style samples. Another track, "The Next Station Is: Shibuya," further showcases Torpedo Boyz style. The tune builds on a resonating electric keyboard, layered over funky wah'ed out guitar.

Though I can't understand a word of "Curry Rice," it's another tune that hones in on Torpedo Boyz roots. The song fuses funk with kinetic pop and Japanese lyrics that could be the soundtrack to "Ocean's 11" if it were an Asian Cult Film.

These tracks deliver, but others scream "where'd the creativity go!?" "Around Da Corner" begins the puzzle, starting simply enough with a basic bass and top-hat drum combo. And here starts the trend – lyrics enter and immediately are the centerpiece of the song. Except they lack originality or wit. Suddenly the base of the song is the vocal delivery and the un-interesting story. The track underneath is mixed well, using a sitar and horns to add substance, but the lyrics are too distracting.

This continues on "Where is Tony Masao?" and "I Can't Make It On Time." The tracks distance themselves from Torpedo Boyz funk and introduce a completely different pop-punk sound that features, again, lyrics that just aren't interesting. In "Tony Masao" a redundant punk guitar frames a gangster wannabe who goes missing, and we're glad he stays lost. "I Can't Make It On Time" again holds the lyrics as the centerpiece of the song. Studio pop creeps in both the lyrics and generic punk guitar – and we wonder if this is an ill-conceived effort to appeal to mainstream tweens.

Torpedo Boyz excel when they are perfecting their style – funk and eclectic sounds that resonate in dancehalls across the land. "Cum on Feel the Boyz" has its good tracks, but gets muddled in pop-punk experiments. ~ Erik Dawson

ESL Web Site Redesign

So Thievery Corporation and ESL Music don't need any help with attention. But I just checked out their redesigned web site and love it. It really puts the ESL artists front and center, highlighting new releases and tour dates. Gotta help us see the artists we love.

In other news, posts have been slow b/c work has been extremely busy. Oh and my laptop blew up - literally. I'm sitting on my couch watching TV, writing some emails - and the computer goes ZZZZT! Geek Squad informs me an electrical malfuntion fried my processor and motherboard. Thank goodness my hard drive is okay, but like a schmuck, i didnt' back it up. So I'm not downloading any music until I get my new laptop -- Its painful.

Mika

Went to see Mika tonight at the Orpheum in Boston. Mika is a performance artist. He's a singer-song writer from Europe, very disco-pop and funk infused sound. very fun, very emotional. NOT CHILL. but inspires the same kind of feeling you might get from Sounds from the Ground or Thievery Corporation. Its organic in the sense that its such a natural feeling, and Mika's songs - about lovin' "big girls" and livin' life and not worryin about the love you long for, are so real and yet not tacky - fun songs that make sense, love songs that arent' so damn sappy.