I hope you enjoyed the mammoth christmas posting as much I enjoyed compiling it. The footnote is this collecion of new year music which, mercifully, is much smaller:
Over the last couple of weeks I been compiling the ultimate Christmas album, and now I am going to share the first two parts with you. Now there's going to be a lot of music here, in fact there's far too much. But that's the idea, you can go through and cherry pick out the ones you don't like. Look forward to such delights as Arcade Fire not being very good for once, Fats Domino sounding uncannily like Wesley Willis, the connection between Belle & Sebastian, Snoop Dogg and James Brown, some dubious cover versions, and some even more dubious Christmas themed song title puns. And some actually quite good music. Feliz natal!
In my final lesson before my Portuguese tests, my teacher decided to offer us an unusual form of revision. Instead of going over those conjugations one more time, she decided to show us how to dance to forró. This is one of the many types of traditional Brazilian popular music that exist independently from the pop mainstream, but manage to maintain equal levels of popularity. Personally, all the forró I have heard up to now has been just as mediocre as the stuff in the pop charts. Apart from this one:
Forró In The Dark feat. David Byrne - Asa Branca (download from here) See the hat in action:
Forró In The Dark are based in New York, and have decided to take classic forró tunes and update them, with mixed results from what I have heard. The track with Bebel Gilberto is as dull as you would expect from a track with Bebel Gilberto. But the above track with David Byrne is, unsurprisingly, ace (read about it on his fantastic blog). This track with Miho Hatori (once of Cibo Matto) is also pretty cool:
At the moment I am finding that the music I most enjoy is the simplest. Crunk, baile funk, reggaeton, rap, straightforward indie rock and old favourites are doing it for me right now. Generally, these all tend to create two reactions: the desire to dance or to sing along, the two primary jobs of pop music. I'm just not in the mood for the more challenging end of my taste spectrum. The noisy, the experimental, the avant-garde, the post-rocking, the miserable, the droning, the jazzy, I'm just not going there. I think this is because I am learning Portuguese, and trying to get my head around the language (especially the blinking verbs) is tiring and is making my brain work harder than it has since, errr, ever. I am using music as my comfort blanket, giving my brain a breather after a busy lesson of conjugating. And if that's not the best reason ever for listening to these songs, than I don't know what is:
LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great (removed - see comments for the full story)
The new album is out March 20th and if it sounds this good, then we are fortunate people indeed. Lots have other blogs have posted tracks, and then had to remove them. I managed to grab this one before DFA's swat team of lawyers swept down on them. Let's see how good they are, because if they find my blog here in the deepest darkest recesses of the internet, then they are very impressive indeed (clue: they are impressive).
In 1997, the Flaming Lips released the album Zaireeka. Released on four cd's, the concept of the album was that you played all four cds simultaneously on different cd players. Apart from the count in, which enables you to line them up, you were free to play them however you wanted, in four different rooms, in four cars, whatever. The one thing they didn't want was for people to turn them into one track, they had to be played seperately. Well, sorry chaps, but I have done just that. It's a lovely theory, and while I don't want to mess with your artistic vision, I do want to experience it, something that is currently impossible to arrange without combining the tracks.
Zaireekais the album that they released before the breakthrough Soft Bulletin, and while it retains some of the acid-fried nature of their previous albums, you can hear the beginnngs of a move towards the pop direction that would enable them to hit the big time. It reminds me of In The Morning Of The Magicians fromYoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, that kind of sound.
Six months ago when I left the UK to come and live here, I was given two of the finest gifts I have ever received. The first was an ipod nano, a device I now cannot live without. The second was the Talking Heads Brick, containing every album as a CD and DVD, with unreleased tracks and videos. So by way of thanks, albeit somewhat belated, to you (as there is a high probability that if you are reading this you contributed to one of those gifts) I will post all of the bonus tracks from the Brick here over the next couple of months. Starting today with 77:
Since coming to Brazil, I have become addicted to podcasts. For the unitiated, they are (almost always) free radio programs that you can download through Itunes, and listen to at your leisure. There are thousands available on every subject, but predictably my favourites are all music ones. Although actually it started with a news podcast, the Guardians excellent daily summary program, which I started to listening just to keep in touch with UK news, although it is a very international program. But you don't need that, you can just pop to the newsagents. From there I started on grabbing whatever music pocasts I could get my hands on. The only problem is keeping up with them, what with all the million albums I also have to listen to.
I have mentioned Diplo's (best DJ in the world) maddecent podcast and Mr Phipsonhere, but let me recommend them again. Extremely hard to find global beats, with an accent on baile funk and reggaeton.
Beats In Space is a New York radio show hosted weekly by Tim Sweeney, one half of DFA. It's extremely eclectic, you can hear anything from post-punk to baeleric beats, techno to 60's psych pop. It's a bit like listening to a radio show themed around the artists listed in Losing My Edge. Previous guests have included Erol Alkan, Headman, Hot Chip, and James Murphy, of course.
Talking of Erol Alkan, the worlds finest DJ part 2, has a load of his mixes available here. Because there are mixes going back years, you can hear how he has developed into such a fine DJ.
I love the National Geographics afropop worldwide podcast. It defines afropop as music of African origin, so that includes South America and the Carribean. It looks at the music in a political and historical context, but doesn't get too heavy. Previous programs have been about Zambia, Angola, and new Brazilian tropicalia.
More Brazilian stuff. Go here to get a video podcast about tropicalia geniuses Os Mutantes 2006 reunion tour, and see footage of them performing their mental 60's pop masterpieces.
Ghostlycast is from record label Ghostly International, the home of Christopher Willits, Daniel Wang, Matthew Dear/Audion, and other high quality techno musics. Sometimes they through in a hip hop mix, seemingly just for the fun of it. Otherwise its quality techno all the way.
WFMU is one of the finest radio stations in the world, or at least that what I read, a lot. Coming from New Jersey, they seem to be a very eclectic bunch (check out their excellent blog), similar to London's Resonance FM. They do a host of podcasts, and I have just started listening to Raw Sewage, a mixture of weird music and, errr, strange music.
Okay, the last recommendation is about the about the finest album of all time, the Beach Boys Pet Sounds (predictable but true). To celebrate the 40th anniversary, Capitol have created a short audio documentary for each track. Hear Brian Wilson explain how he created it, and hear Mike Love try to take credit for it. He's such a swine.
These are my current favourites, hope you enjoy exploring them. If anybody has any other recommendations, then I'd love to know. Leave them in the comments below.
I've got the lurgey, so what better thing to do you do when you feel rubbish then watch obscure KLF videos on youtube? The KLF were one of the greatest bands of all time, making ridiculously unashamed pop music that managed to combine hype, spectacle, art and some pretty damn fine songs. As an semi-obsessed collector of all things KLF related, the other day I downloaded an unreleased album called Waiting For The Rites Of Mu. It consists of 2 tracks, Waiting and For The Rites Of Mu, both soundtracks to short films made by the KLF, and never released, like so much of their recorded material. Here is the movie of Rites Of Mu:
The audio is the better one, a half an hour long ambient film noir road movie soundtrack, with a Japanese childrens choir, and religious and Indian elements. It's a deranged piece of genius.
There are two important events this week. The first is the expiration of my tourist visa, which means I may be here illegally depending on the varacity of the federal police officer that I spoke to (it's likely to be fine though, don't worry yourselves). The second is the release of Joanna Newsom's new album Ys, which I beseech you to buy. It's absolutely amazing. I'm not going to go on about it, because it's all over the internet (read the Guardian review and the Pitchfork one), and I'm not going to post any songs because a million blogs have. So I suggest that if you want to check it out you go here, here and here. This is the best album of the year, no doubt.
We all love Talking Heads. We have to. They were the perfect combination of intelligence, fun, dance, art, rhythm, punk, funk, and pop. My perfect band. I have loads of rarities to post in the coming weeks. Here's the first:
Unbelievably, an internationally famous band is coming to play live here, in Brasília. Unfortunately, it's the Black Eyed Peas. Nevermind.
To celebrate this, on behalf of the young folks who are no doubt excited at this rare and subsequently somewhat cruel opportunity, here are two pieces of mediocre popular music bastardised by infinetly more talented people into something far superior.
Okay firstly, mp3's are back. So you can download those Beck tracks now. Hurrah. I have only gone back a couple of posts because its loads of effort and I figured that those of you who want them probably already have them. But if I am wrong, let me know and I will re-up (is that a word?) them for you.
But mainly, I wanted to file my match report on Sundays concert in São Paulo. I have always found it easier to write negative reviews than good ones, and boy, am I going to get my chance. But that will have to wait for a minute.
Personality seemed to be the defining characteristic of the evening for me. First band on were Monbojo, a Brazilian band from Recife, and that's about all I can tell you about them. Despite being excessively loud (dodgy soundman), they were pretty decent. I liked the fact that the had the personality to wear their Brazilian-ness on their sleeves, there was a definite tropicalia element going on, but they were not afraid to drop in other influences like drum 'n' bass. I have an mp3 to post when I can work out how, until then you can check them out here:
Then it was TV On The Radio. Like every single blogger, I think Return To Cookie Mountain is one of the albums of the year (I think there is some kind of law about it), so I was highly excited about the prospect of seeing it live. Also I saw this performance on Letterman, which also got me like well excited:
Lead singer Tunde Adebimpe is an excellent performer and singer, none of that indie boy staring at the floor, mumbling business for him. The relevance of their song Staring At The Sun has just hit me like a cheese covered curveball. I like them because they are ambitious and different and interesting and arty and because they have great songs, which is ultimately all I want from a band.
My original review of Thievery Corporation was this:
They have bongos.
But I can't resist this opportunity to spew forth so much bile, it's too gooood to pass up. Lame, lame, lame. On stage there were numerous singers, rappers, tablas, a sitar (it's getting worse and worse isn't it?), two terribly nice English men probably called Rupert, and yes, bongos, current holder of James' most loathed musical instrument award. The beats were the most pedestrian imaginable, as if the last 10 years of hip hop never happened. I kept imagining Timbaland and Pharrell standing in front of the stage, pointing and laughing. To take all these influences from so many disparate areas and put them together in something so bland takes a special lack of talent.
Of course I don't know if those two men are called Rupert, and if they are English (although I'm sure they are British), and if they are middle or upper class toffs, and frankly I don't care because that's how they sound. English toffs cherry picking the most obviously accesible and least challenging elements from other peoples cultures, and spewing them out in an equally uninspiring form to other English middle class people, just back from the shops having spent £30 on a new Buddha Bar album. Bland, and completely lacking in personality.
Which is not an accusation you can level at Karen O. She bounces onstage wearing a purple leotard with yellow flashes, a cape, a tight red hood, and mask that looks like its made out of biscuits, and I say "yay" because I am in the presence of a true pop star, that rarest and most wonderful of sights. She has that quality that I have only seen a few times (David Byrne and Pharrell come to mind) where you can't take your eyes off her. She's compelling because you know that this matters to her, she doesn't dress like that because she's wacky, she does it because she is there to put on a show, she's a performer there to entertain us. You can see this below (although you might want to turn the volume down on Y Control as it's the most distorted video on YouTube).
I was also struck by how raw and abrasive the Yeah Yeah Yeahs can sound live. Nick Zinner is an amazing guitarist, the sound he generates is remarkable and quite near the pain barrier at times, especially when accompanied by Karen’s banshee scream. I was surprised how at times they sounded Shellac with pop songs (a considerable compliment). But most of all I liked that fact that this was a show, put together for our entertainment by people who really care about what they do.
The contrast with Daft Punk is obvious. If there is one thing that dance music can suffer from it is a lack of personality. When you adopt the guise of robots, only allowing yourself to be seen as man machine, not man, then it seems like you are taking this to its logical conclusion. But listen to Daft Punks music and the personality of it is overwhelming, there are oceans of it. I think some of the most entertaining concerts I have seen have been ones that could so easily have suffered from the two men and a laptop problem. The acts are aware that they have to make an effort to turn this into a show, so they go to town on lights and projections and suddenly you are standing inside a kaleidoscope and the music surrounds you in a way that rock 'n' roll almost never does.
They appear from behind the curtain standing inside what could be a triangular spaceship. Then that thud begins, the one that has shaped house music for the last 10 years, the one that makes you dance like a buffoon and grin like an idiot (that grin didn't leave for 20 minutes). And yes they play all the hits, but in a way that makes it more than a greatest hits set. It's more of a dj set of their own music, songs weaving in and out of each other (the Around The World vocal sample is a recurring motif for about half the set). There are slower moments, like any good dj set, and there are bits where you jump and down, fist in the air, especially during One More Time. The tracks from the last sorely underrated album (listen to it again, on headphones!) don't sound at all out of place, the opening Robot Rock, the brutal Brainwasher and the closing medley of Steam Machine and Da Funk. To experience this in a room full of Brazilians, people who do not need a second invitation to enjoy themselves, was truly memorable.
The other side to this evening was the fact that it finished at 2am on Monday morning, that we were there for 7 and half hours, that by the end Bruna, who was really only there for me, was exhausted and understandably a bit grumpy, and that we had to be up at 5 to catch a flight to return to Brasília. The next two days were lost as we were exhausted, and it seemed to give me a cold. I now have to be the best boyfriend in the world for about a year to make up for all the girlfriend points Bruna acquired that evening. But none of these things matter as they will fade with time. However, the memory of the time I saw Daft Punk in São Paulo, Brazil, will not.
You can download an excellent quality recording of Daft Punks set from the Coachella festival in April this year from here. Do it.
UPDATE: The links below are now working. Splendid.
If I know you, and I think I do, I think you listened to the new Beck album and you went "Yeah, it's alright, bit disappointing though." That's what I thought but I gave it another listen and its better than you think. Okay, it's no Odelay or my favourite Mutations, but there are some really good tracks on there. And I think anyone who can give songs as good as the following away to b-sides, soundtracks and other artists deserves another listen:
This morning I was in a terrible mood. I was going to write about baile funk, but I couldn't motivate myself. The reason for this is because I was seriously concerned that I wouldn't be able to stay here beyond the end of my tourist visa, which expires in just under a month. For about two months Bruna and I have been on an extremely frustrating and irritating wild goose chase. Normally people hire lawyers to complete this proceedure for them, but that's way too expensive, so we have to do everything. The problem, apart from the fact that I don't speak Portuguese, is that Brazilian bureaucracy is ridiculously complex. Not only do they require all kinds of documentation, but they also need it to be verified. So imagine that whenever you need to show your passport or driving licence you first have to photocopy it, take it a special office, wait for half an hour and then pay for someone to look at it and stamp the copy. We have collected all kinds of documents and declarations that we are in 'stable union', that Bruna will take financial and healthcare responsibilty for me, and testimonials of my good character, written by people who barely know me, all verified, paid for and stamped.
It feels like the system is designed to be as uneccessarily complicated as possible, and the worst aspect is the failure of anyone to take responsibility and say "Yes, that's my job, I'll help you!." I don't think this flaw is unique to Brazilian bureaucracy, by the way, as anyone who has called a call centre anywhere in the world will know. It's the lack of coordination that really gets you. Someone will say that they can deal with a particular aspect of the proceedure "but you have to go to this office to blah blah blah..." and when you go to that office they contradict the previous person, and so it continues.
But the reason I'm writing this is not to have a rant, but because maybe, just maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel. We have just returned from the Federal Police, where they informed me that my current paperwork is fine, that I don't need any additional visas or documents and I don't have to pay anything. This isn't for my permanant status, but it keeps me here for a few months so I can sort things out. It seems too good to be true, but maybe I'm going to be fine. That is until tomorrow when I go to the British Embassy and they say "No that's not right, you need to blah blah........."
...and I have never been there before. I went to a party at the Australian embassy, so technically I have now been to Australia. I might go to all the embassies then I can claim to be a seasoned world traveller. Or maybe not...
I mention it because I experienced one of those incongruous moments when you hear a piece of music that you really like and think "How did this end up here?" The dj was playing some atrocious Kelly Clarkson house remix which he then decided to mix into Laid Back's White Horse. This sits alongside hearing Talking Heads in my local hypermarket (which is about the size of Australia) and the man on an adjacent desk in the Brazilian ministry of work (where I am attempting to get my permenant visa sorted out) deciding to use his computer to listen to Patti Smith.
I have been a bad blogger this week so next week normal service will be resumed, promise.
I have been doing this blog for over a month now, and I have yet to post any Brazilian music, which, frankly, is shocking. So that follows after this description of my ongoing attempt to learn the language.
Yesterday and Monday I had my written and oral tests to complete my first semester as a Portuguese language student. I think I did quite well, obviously there were mistakes, but I think the most important things were all in place. I find it difficult to learn, partly I think because I don't speak French or Spanish or another latin language, and partly because I am the worst student in the world. This is where Bruna and I are different, she loves studying and would happily be a student for the rest of her days. I find sitting down to study akin to torture. I can happily occupy myself for hours with any inanimate object, a spoon or a paper clip say, if it means that I don't have to face up to that text written by someone far cleverer than me. I am the only person you'll ever meet who has a degree with no mark, no 2:1 for me, I just have a degree (I think they gave it to me so I didn't mess up their statistics).
To give you an idea of some of the diffences between our languages, I give you the example of Titanic. It's my favourite one. Firstly, the letter i is pronounced e, so the first syllable is tee. Secondly, when a letter t appears in the middle of a word, it is pronounced ch, so the second syllable is chan. Lastly, the only words that end in hard sounds (c,k,d,t etc) are words that have come from English. All Portuguese words end in a vowel or a soft sound like r, m or s if it's plural. If there is a hard sound they add an e to the end. So park becomes parque. But they also do this even if there is no e actually written there. So internet is pronounced internechee, blog becomes blogee and titanic becomes teechanikee. Which is a bit different, to say the least.
Once you've got this principle in your head, its okay, it's like using a secret code, you just have to remember it as you are speaking. In fact it's quite easy to guess words if you don't know them, just say it in English and add an e. It works surprisingly often.
Now for some musica Brasileira. My favourite Brazilian singer is Caetano Veloso. He was part of Tropicalia movement of the 1960's that has recently become popular again in the western world (if you don't own this, you really need to). I think he has a wonderful voice, it makes me want to use terrible words like pure and angelic. Don't let those words put you off, I guess what I mean is that he just has a beautiful voice. This is my favourite of his tracks:
I explained the origins on the original post, but as far as I was concerned it was super obscure. I only knew about due to the fine work of the people at WFMU via 20 Jazz Funk Greats. If you didn't listen to it the first time, try it now, trust me its magnificent.
Then I download a track from OOIOO's new album. I don't know too much of the bands stuff, but I should as I am a huge fan of Boredoms (this is Yoshimi of that bands side project). And what do I hear? OOIOO - Uma
Its only a cover of the Roberto Di Simone track. So I guess it shows that no matter how obscure you think you are getting, there is always someone there before you. Freaky huh? Compare and contrast, they both sound pretty fine to me.
I'm feeling excited because I have my first Brazilian gig coming up, and what a gig it is. So good that I'm prepared to make a 1088 mile round trip from Brasilia to Sao Paulo to go. The line up includes TV On The Radio, Thievery Corporation (yawn), Yeah Yeah Yeah's and Daft Punk. I have wanted to see Daft Punk live for years so this was the clincher. In fact I was going to buy a ticket anyway, then I found out that the Yeah Yeah Yeah's (who I like lot) and TV On The Radio (album of the year contenders? I think so) were also playing. And that was that.
It will be interesting to see how the audience reacts to the bands, and how, if at all, they will be different. I will post a full report after the event, no doubt.
The above picture I think, is possibly the greatest photo ever, indeed it adorned my desktop for months. It is a picture of 'Weird Al' Yankovic being kissed by a whale. Say no more. I guess 'Weird Al' is most famous in the UK for his '84 hit 'Eat It'. But in the US he's huge, and I think he's great. I have a real soft spot for comedy music, which is shaky ground, I know, but I guess I'm so obsessed with music it can include this much derided genre.
'Weird Al' has a new album out (buy it on import here) and it continues a tradition that I am very keen on. Every album contains a medley of contempory pop hits in a polka style. Listen to this and tell me it's not genius:
It's an extremely well observed Beach Boys and Brian Wilson parody, based around the latters Smile album. Listen to all the fantastic instrumentation he uses to recreate the sound of the album. It's brilliant. And it's about his pancreas. Its also appropriate that he uses Smile as a template for a song, as Brian Wilson's original concept for the album was that it should be funny as well as moving. But I think he has such an odd mind, that what was funny for him just sounds weird to us.
And there is a very good 'Trapped In The Closet' parody for you R Kelly fans, and I know there is an army of you out there.
As usual, I was wasting time by trawling through Last FM, and I found this group who have set up upon discussing one of my favourite music subjects, namely "Does Humour Belong In Music?". Obviously I didn't join, but I had a root around, checking out their list of band connections. Not surprisingly, Sebadoh were not on the list. Surprisingly, Sebadoh are responsible for one of my favourite peices of comedy ever. This track:
is on the new fancy extended version of Sebadoh III (buy it here). It is a 12 minute long introduction tape that Sebadoh would play before coming on stage. I remember being about 15 and going to my friend Joes house to listen to it (it was released as a b-side), and laughing ourselves into a non-existant coma. And I still think it's funny today.
I'm going to continue the comedy theme tomorrow. Now I know this might strike fear into some of your hearts, which is why I'd like you to suggest any good combinations of music and comedy that you can think of in the comments section. Don't be shy...
Ps. That image came from a google search for 'sad clown'. Spooky huh?
I think I can speak on behalf of the entire human race when I say we felt pretty damn miserable when we heard of the demise of Death From Above 1979. But then we saw, rising from the ashes, the mighty disco monster MSTRKRFT and we felt a lot better. Using the same straightforward dynamic for the dancefloor that served DFA1979 so well in the world of rock, their album 'The Looks' is ridiculously good, as I mentioned here before (buy it here). So even though this is only post number nine, I'm going to post more MSTRKRFT remixes here, because frankly you need them. Firstly, the dream ticket:
I noticed the name 'Grizzly Bear' appearing several blogs over a couple of weeks, so I thought I'd check them out, especially when I found out they were signed to Warp in the UK. Having now listened to their album 'Yellow House' (buy it here), I think it's one of the best albums of the year. They have been described as pychedelic on other blogs, but I think that's misleading, multilayered and dense are more accurate. I'd put them somewhere between Animal Collective, Beta Band and My Morning Jacket. Here's a taster:
So as I said in my last post, I thought that I should highlight a couple of bands that keep cropping up in my blog trawling. But first important business. Cornelius, Japan's finest pop star and a bonafide genius in my eyes, has posted his new single 'Music' on his myspace page. It's great, but perhaps not up to his previous high standards. Such is the problem with releasing two albums of such exceptional high quality.
So a lot of kids are getting excited about Crystal Castles, a male/female duo from Toronto. They sound like a woman shouting over a commodore 64. If that doesn't sound like your cup of tea, or you have an aversion to music liked by people with angular hair and ripped clothes, you may want to avoid the mp3's below. If, however, you are like me and, even though you know you shouldn't because if it was up to you the audience at one of their gigs would be forced to work in a mine for life rather than mince around spending their parents money on £200 t-shirts, you can't help but be suckered in by a lo-fi punk rock ethic, a complete lack of decernable talent and the sheer bad taste junk noise of it all. Enjoy!!
There aren't many unreleased Talking Heads tracks that I know of, so enjoy this rarity. I think this may not be the last Talking Heads track I post on here...
The original of this is pretty good, but in this version, Beyond The Wizards Sleeve (Erol Alkan and Richard Norris) make it a little less twee and add a shuffle. The track also includes whistling, and I am a sucker for whistling. I may do a whistling top ten at some point.
This originates here, where you can read about it. But the short version is that it is from an Italian opera of 1976. Somehow it ended up sounding like a supergroup of the Slits, the Au Pairs and 'Bone Machine' era Tom Waits. And it is as good, if not better, than that sounds. Let me know what you think by leaving comments below.
Tomorrow, I'll start looking at the most hyped bands in the blogs right now.
Just a quick one folks, as I'm currently entertaining the mother-in-law, the grandmother-in-law, and the great aunt-in-law. Here's a a Sonic Youth double bill. First, the Yeah Yeah Yeah's splendid cover of 'The Diamond Sea', and then the Yoof themselves with a live track from '87:
I was just looking at the (recommended) website for the new Michel Gondry film 'Science Of Sleep', which looks tremendous. It appears to be an expansion of the ideas behind the Chemical Brothers 'Let Forever Be' video, where dreams and real life become confused. Sounds like the perfect setting for a Gondry film, fingers crossed it plays here.
I am as sad as anyone regarding the sad demise of Australia's own Princess Diana, stone cold Steve Irwin. I could write a long tribute like some blogs, but I feel Steve would be happier knowing that we celebrated his life through the medium of electronic music. So in celebration of a life of grappling creatures, enjoy this Hot Chip double bill:
Then head over to R Bally where you can download live shows from Sonic Youth, Pavement, Fugazi, Cat Power and the Specials, and Daytrotter for a Bonnie Prince Billy session. Then go to Captains Dead for an Afghan Whigs show from '94, and over to Gorilla vs Bear for a new Sufjan christmas song.
Having just witnessed Jamie Cullum perform on Brazils most popular and ridiculous variety show, the appropriately named 'Faustao', I felt a need to talk about the real Brazil. Honestly, his attempt to ingratiate himself with the population by morphing his latest easy jazz rock number into an all out samba fest with drums and dancing girls was quite revolting. It will probably work though. There is a popular image that Brazilians are cool, and while quite a few of them are, there is a significantly higher proportion who consider the worst dregs of 'western' culture as something worth co-opting.
This morning, while finally getting around to listening to Sufjan Stevens 'The Avalanche' (verdict: predictably, I loved it) I was treated to a full volume rave nation version of 'I Say A Little Prayer.' I don't know about you but i always thought that the one thing lacking from Aretha's tender classic was a 160 bpm gabba beat. And when I say full volume, I mean dub soundsystem at the Notting Hill carnival, headphones rendered useless, full volume. This was not the soundtrack you asscociate with Brazil, if you think it'll be bossa nova, tropicalia and samba all the way, you are sadly mistaken. Last week I was treated to Stoke's own Robbie Williams, also playing outside my flat at retina shattering volume.
Don't get me wrong, I love this country, and virtually every person I have met has been very friendly and helpful. I'm just saying that Brazilians are as lazy as everyone else when it comes to their culture, and if one offers to lend you a CD, you might want to politely decline.
"And where are these mp3's you promised us?" the kids (okay, kid) demanded. Well they begin right now. I have decided on my favourite ten downloads from the last month and I am going to put them up here all week, ending with my absolute favourite, just to make it exciting. Kinda.
I thought it would be appropriate to start with Brazilian Girls, as you know I'm like in Brazil and that. Also, this is a MSTRKRFT remix and i can't stop listening to their fantastic album 'The Looks', which if I was a lazy journalist I would describe it as the album that Daft Punk should have made after 'Homework'. However, I am not a journalist and I love both those follow up Daft Punk albums, so I am not going to say that. Brazilian Girls - Jique (MSTRKRFT Remix)
09.04.06 Just looking around the internet I discovered that Stoplight Sleep has also given love to the MSTRKRFT album yesterday and posted a different remix. And Shake Ira Shake Ira has posted a DFA Remix of Arthur Russell which I can't tell you anything about because the blog is in Italian. Sounds great though.
Greetings from Brasilia, and welcome to my blog. I thought today was a good day to start, as yesterday, after three months, I experienced my first Brazilian rainstorm, and if anything reminds me of home, it's rain. But it made a pleasant change to be wet because of rain, rather than sweat. Nice.
Firstly, let me apologise for the appearence of the blog. I am new to all this blogging business and in time everything will look pretty, but for now it's pretty basic.
I would tell you a little about myself, but as you are reading this there is a 99% probability that you already know who I am. But just in case you are in that 1%, and here as a result of an odd google search, then here is a brief biography. I was born in Brighton, England, where I lived until I was 18. I moved to London for 11 years, until may of this year when I came here to Brasilia in Brazil. So why Brasilia? Because my girlfriend is Brazilian, and she said so. And besides, friends and family apart, I had nothing to lose.
So why start a blog? There are two reasons. Firstly, I am no diarist, but I thought you might find some of my experiences of living here interesting. This is definitely not an opportunity for me to show off: "ooh look at me, its so hot here, isn't this all glamorous?" you don't want to read that, and I don't want to write it. And anyway, I am not a traveler, its not as if I spend everyday on a beach or up a mountain. Which leads me to the second reason.
I am not working (yet), so I spend a lot of time on the internet, and I mean a lot of time. So everyday I wade through the numerous blogs and websites out there, many of which have very good music available to download. But you don't have the time to wade like me, you have lives, jobs and responsibilities. I have none of these things, so I will post my findings on here for your pleasure. I hope you enjoy it. Please feedback, leave comments, and let me know what you think.
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