Monthly Archive for September, 2008

BOTR vol 10

Published
by
billy
on September 30, 2008
in botr and music
. 6 Comments

Here we march toward the end of September.  Let these remixes be the drumbeat that guides you.  Once again the BOTR series is comprised of the best remixes I heard this month.  Yes I have a lot of free time.  Yes I listen to a lot of music.  No I don’t have time to listen to every single track that was online during the past thirty days.  In my opinion, these thirteen tracks are the best of what I heard.  Enjoy the music, tell your friends, and if you want to see all the previous volumes in the Best of the Remix series click here.

All the tracks in one zip file : here {zshare = left click}

mp3 : Beck – Cellphone’s Dead (Ellen Allien Remix)
A lot of the tracks this time around are of the slow burn variety.  They’re steady, consistent, and they get better the longer you listen to them.  This is one of those tracks.  A perfect remix for the start of Autumn {sorry to all you Southern Hemisphere folks, have fun with your spring}.

mp3 : Jackson 5 – I Want You Back (Z-Trip Remix)
It seems that almost every month a classic tune or three crop up in a clean and efficient sort of remix.  There’s something about this track that is intoxicating.  Almost makes me wish I was double dutching on a playground somewhere.

mp3 : LCD Soundsystem – Someone Great (Shokking Shokkaboy Remix)
This is kinda what I imagine LCD Soundsystem would sound like if they were rooted, completely, in the eighties.  And not in a bad way.  In a blippy and bleepy sort of carefree, let’s all go listen to some Flock of Seagulls, sort of way.

mp3 : M.I.A. – Paper Planes (Dskotek Remix)
My mind is still confused over whether or not I like M.I.A.  My mind is definitely made up that I love this remix.  This track is as close to perfect as any M.I.A. remix I’ve ever heard.

mp3 : Midnight Juggernauts – Into the Galaxy (Danger Remix)
The opening effects sound like they’re taken from Street Fighter, or some other completely radical arcade fighter, and from there the song continues to build into a sort of classic rock, pop, fuzz guitar, synth mashup that actually sounds better than that random string of words I just used to decribe it.

mp3 : Muse – Knights Of Cydonia (Ocelot Remix)
Non remixed tracks impress me with the amount of energy they somehow cram into each and every song.  Seriously, go see them live and you’ll come away with your mouth hanging open.  Somehow this Ocelot remix proves that you can add even more awesome to a Muse track.  If you’re only going to download one remix this month this should be it.

mp3 : Mystery Jets – Flakes (Loud Pipes Remix)
It’d be fair to say that this month I’ve been all about Mystery Jets.  And deservedly so.  They make great music and the remixes that have sprung from their tunes are equally impressive.  Check it out.

mp3 : Mystery Jets – Half In Love With Elizabeth (Delorean Remix)
That’s right, I’m posting a slew of Mystery Jets remixes and you’re loving every second of it.  You’re welcome by the way.  I like this track because it’s laid back.  It’s one of those rare remixes that’s soothing as well as dance worthy.  Everyone just chill out and listen to the bubble bursting.

mp3 : Mystery Jets – Hand Me Down (Riton Remix)
Classic example of what can be done with a minimalistic pallate.  Welcome to the remix where the opening forty five seconds consist of very little other than three repeated words.  And you love it.

mp3 : Mystery Jets – Hideaway (Switch Remix)
This is what Hideaway would sound like if a steamroller of beats was smashed throughout the entire song; verse, chorus, and all.  Also this might be the best use of the echo effect I’ve heard in a long long time.  At about one minute fifty seconds into this track it really starts poppin’ and it ain’t stoppin’.

mp3 : Mystery Jets – Young Love (Shoes Remix)
Ok, I promise this is the last Mystery Jets remix I’m posting this month.  But each of them is unique in their own way.  I think it’s great how one band has been remixed in such a variety of ways.  This track is tops.

mp3 : The Streets – Let’s Push Things Forward (Hostage Remix)
This is about one “chicka chicka 4 minutes” from sounding like Timbaland and Mike Skinner met up in some dark back alley of London and decided to drop some heat.  This track proves, yet again, that I am a sucker for almost all things that start simple and build until they reach true extasy.

mp3 : Vampire Weekend – Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (The Teenagers Remix)
What happend to Vampire Weekend?  Remember nine months ago when they were cancelling festival appearances to play on SNL?  Where have they been since then?  Does anyone even care?  We’d probably care more if they released some songs that sounded like this.

Peace out.  Stay sweet.  I’ll keep posting music if you keep pretending to care.  That’s it for this month’s volume of BOTR.

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BOTM vol 11

Published
by
billy
on September 29, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 11 Comments

The end of the month draws nigh, and I have sought only to serve the blogosphere what meager offerings I could find.  In my endless search of great music there are, on occasion, songs that fall through the cracks.  Sometimes they’re brand new tracks, in other instances they are old and almost forgotten.  It is for this reason that each month I present to you my Best of the Month series.  Enjoy the tracks below, I’ve done all I could to bring you only that which is worthy of your precious time.  If you’d like to peruse all the other BOTM volumes click this link.

All the tracks in one zip file : here {zshare = left click}

mp3 : Arcade Fire – Maps (Yeah Yeah Yeahs Cover)
It’s almost a sure bet that when one of my favorite bands covers one of my favorite songs it’ll be worth listening to.  This cover comes from the wonderful year 2005 and it’s still hot.

mp3 : Coldplay – Death Will Never Conquer
The four boys from England gave this track away for free on their website.  I’m not sure if it would qualify as a b-side, as a hidden track, or whatnot.  Regardless of nomenclature it’s a nice slice of Coldplay.

mp3 : Enur (feat Natasja) – Calabria 2008
Yes, this is that song, from the Target commercial featuring two undergrads setting up their dorm room {with an appropriate amount of dance off panache}.  It’s good, trust me.

mp3 : Jack White and Alicia Keys – Another Way To Die
Could the upcoming bond be as good as this summer’s Batman movie?  A large part of me thinks it will be impossible, but I can always hope.  This is for certain, Jack White makes amazing songs.

mp3 : Kanye West – Love Lockdown
It’s been remixed to shreds, already, and to be honest I hope Kanye realizes his albums sell because of his rhymes, not his vocals {however computer aided/distorted they are}.  As a single song this track is nice, I would cringe if it filled out an entire album.

mp3 : Katy Perry – Electric Feel (MGMT Cover)
Katy Perry ranks right down about the same level as Rhianna or Amy Winehouse on my list of those who shouldn’t have a recording career.  But even broken clocks are right twice a day.  Or in Katy’s case, once.  This cover proves yet again that anyone can sound decent when they’re playing someone else’s song.

mp3 : Mystery Jets – Bleeding Love (Leona Lewis Cover)
While my mind is as of yet undecided about whether Leona Lewis is talented or not, one thing is for certain.  Mystery Jets have yet to do something that disappoints me.  This track is superb.

mp3 : Phoenix – If I Ever Feel Better
I’ve often thought of Phoenix as the much much more talented version of Maroon 5.  See Maroon 5 is terrible {always}.  Phoenix, on the other hand, seems to be getting better and better with each and every album they produce.

mp3 : Snow Patrol – Take Back The City
It’s officially a toss up whether or not the upcoming Snow Patrol album will be amazing or terrible.  I like the progress they’ve made with their latest two albums, although I know some fans would vehemently disagree.  This song shows promise.

mp3 : The Kooks – Kids (MGMT Cover)
If you skipped over the Katy Perry cover of MGMT {which you rightly could do, she’s not that talented} then this is definitely a track you should hear.  One word comes to mind when I listen to this track, and that word is love.

mp3 : The Postal Service – Grow Old With Me
Will they ever release another album?  Not likely.  If they do somehow get the tracks together and release an album will it be epic?  Probably not.  Probably not even close.  It’ll probably disappoint as much as the second half of Weezer’s latest disc {and I really wanted to love that one}.

mp3 : TV On The Radio – Family Tree
Their latest album is solidly in the running for best album of the year.  Honestly, every track is brilliant off this album, and Family Tree is one of those tracks.

mp3 : Yannis Kamarinos – Money Shot
Yes, this is that song from the AT&T techno twins commercial.  I had to search high and low for this little slice of danceable goodness.  You are welcome.  The next volume in the Best of the Remix series should hit tomorrow.

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Mystery Jets

Published
by
billy
on September 24, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 4 Comments

This year has been filled with amazing albums.  In fact there’s been enough that I already cringe when imagining picking just ten for my best of the year list.  At times, though, I thought I was on top of it.  Each time I figure I’m completely caught up I realize I missed an album that came out months ago and, upon listening, it rips my preconceived notions to shreds.  The latest album by Mystery Jets, Twenty One (amazon) (itunes), is one of those albums.  It was released in March of this year and it seems to be influenced by The Strokes and The Killers {at least the Killers when they’re more current and less Bruce Springsteen}.  I first stumbled upon their music when countless solid remixes kept showing up on the internet month after month.  After awhile I finally gave in and decided it was time to investigate the source material.

mp3 : Mystery Jets – Young Love (feat Laura Marling)
mp3 : Mystery Jets – Flakes

What I found was an album that everyone should listen to.  I know I posted yesterday about TV On The Radio, telling everyone in the world to go out and listen to their album, and that proclaimation still stands.  But if you’re in the mood for well crafted, catchy, intelligent indie pop you need not look any further than these four boys from England.

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TV On The Radio

Published
by
billy
on September 23, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 3 Comments

Today is a great day for the music world.  Why you ask?  Today is the day that the latest TV On The Radio album, Dear Science (amazon) (itunes), is finally available for purchase or download.  If you’re into physical copies make sure you stop somewhere on your way home from work today to pick it up.  Yes, it is that good.  It’s good enough that for the next month you won’t take the album out of your car.  It’s good enough that you just might forget that you own any other albums at all.  No matter how many more albums TV On The Radio release this is one that will always be remembered as a masterpiece.

mp3 : TV On The Radio – Halfway Home
mp3 : TV On The Radio – Dancing Choose

This was one of the hardest albums to pick just two songs to post here on TWF.  With all integrity I can honestly say that I love each and every track that appears on this album.  I chose these two because I felt they show a good contrast, both sides of the TV On The Radio coin, if you will.  Luckily for me {and for you} they’ve put their entire album up on their myspace page.  Head over there and you can listen to the entire disc from start to finish.  Simply brilliant.

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Tonedeff

Published
by
billy
on September 22, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

I had something else planned for today’s post, but a quick trip through my inbox reorganized my priorities.  I got an email about Tonedeff’s reworking of Kanye’s recent song Love Lockdown.  I recently posted a slew of the best of the first round of remixes for this song and, to be honest, most of them were a dime a dozen ho-hum sort of vanilla.  If these two remixes, one by Tonedeff and one by Chew Fu, are a sign of the remixes yet to come then we should all get excited.  Both of these tracks are excellent.  Listening to the rap section that closes out the song should give you goosebumps, or at least wake you up.

mp3 : Tonedeff – Warden (Love Lockdown Remix)
mp3 : Tonedeff – Warden (Love Lockdown Remix) (Chew Fu House Remix)

Both of these tracks should be listened to immediately.  Especially if you’re stuck at work and sick of listening to the boring radio station your fellow cube dwellers love.

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The Streets

Published
by
billy
on September 18, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

If you’ve been hanging around here long enough you probably realize that I rarely, if ever, get excited for modern rap or hip hop.  Hopefully that makes my endorsement of Mike Skinner’s latest album, Everything Is Borrowed (amazon) (itunes), even more meaningful.  Seriously, this album is quite amazing.  Mike’s trademark Brit vocals slide through rhymes not yet dreamed up by most of his contemporaries and on this album he lays them across his best musical work to date.  Twenty years from now, when your children are just starting to listen to your lame old music, when they stumble upon The Streets this is the album they will listen to over and over again.

mp3 : The Streets – Everything Is Borrowed
mp3 : The Streets – The Strongest Person I Know

I have always been impressed with Mike Skinner and the way that he grafts together stunning melodies and brilliantly fluid rhymes.  On this album it seems as if he’s taken it up a full three notches.  Where some of his previous albums could be pigeon holed into the Brit Rap niche, this album stands out, tall and proud, as a true landmark in a field of ever expanding rap mediocrity.

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The Bombhappies

Published
by
billy
on September 17, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

The Bombhappies are a five pice band out of Sweden that continue the tradition of great indie music pouring forth from the minds of the Swedes.  Honestly these five lads have made a solid album in Ok ok ok ok ok ok ok (itunes).  If you’ve ever liked anything else I’ve ever posted here on TWF then I strongly recommend that you download these two tracks and purchase their album.  Trust me, this is the cream of the crop.

mp3 : The Bombhappies – And at Belle Inn, I Told You
mp3 : The Bombhappies – When I’m Asleep

For some reason the first track, And at Belle Inn, I Told You conjures up images of a younger Michael Stipe on vocals.  I’m not sure the music throughout the entire song jives with an REM image, but the vocals on the first verse somehow trigger the Michael Stipe response.  For those of you looking for more handouts check out their myspace page {link below} where they have a third track from Ok ok ok ok ok ok ok available for download.

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Arwa Abid

Published
by
billy
on September 16, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 18 Comments

If you’re like me, or the rest of the entire world, you’ve never heard of Arwa Abid until today.  You see she’s from Pakistan and she plays a solid acoustic melody.  The only problem is that there literally is no information on her whatsoever.  Anywhere.  Maybe there’s something out there in languages my computer {let alone my brain} cannot comprehend.  Maybe there’s an album somewhere floating around.  What I have today are two simple tracks.  The first was sent to me by a regular reader here on The World Forgot with the simple request of “what song is this?”  Fortunately I was able to identify the artist and song title and during my research I stumbled upon another track that has made its way onto the internet.

It’s not often that I can claim to be the first blog to post about an artist {and really, who can truthfully say that, ever}, but I do believe that this is the first time Arwa has made it onto a music blog.  I hope you enjoy her music and I hope she continues to make music.

mp3 : Arwa Abid – To Watch You Finally Go
mp3 : Arwa Abid – Say It’s Possible (Terra Naomi Cover)

I really like the track To Watch You Finally Go.  The way it ends could use a little tweaking, but I really enjoy the simple melancholic melody employed here.  I swear that the guitar melody is stolen from a song I’ve heard countless times before.  I just can’t seem to place it off the top of my head.

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Kanye West Remixed

Published
by
billy
on September 15, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 7 Comments

Let’s be honest here for a minute.  Who doesn’t love Kanye West?  Ok, other than photogs, camera operators at LAX, TMZ, and other rappers who try to release albums on the same day as Kanye; who doesn’t love Kanye West?  Even though we’d all love to hate  this aggressive, megalomaniac trendsetter, there’s something about his smooth rhymes and his blatantly obvious arrogance that draws the world back to him each and every time.

Recently Kanye has been lighting up blogs, the general interwebs, and most every airwave with his new single Love Lockdown.  He’s also gotten some love from some quick on the draw remix kids the world over.  Because today is Monday, and we’re all hating that fact that yet another weekend has drawn to a close, I thought I would throw up the best remixes I’ve heard yet of Love Lockdown.  Granted, many of the heavy hitters in the remix world have yet to weigh in on this track {and we all know they will}, but these are the best of what’s come first.

All the remixes in one zip file : here {zshare = left click}

mp3 : Kanye West – Love Lockdown (Aerotronic Remix)
mp3 : Kanye West – Love Lockdown (Cenzo Remix)
mp3 : Kanye West – Love Lockdown (Chew Fu Small Room Remix)
mp3 : Kanye West – Love Lockdown (Flufftronix Remix)
mp3 : Kanye West – Love Lockdown (Jake Troth Remix)
mp3 : Kanye West – Love Lockdown (Jin Remix)
mp3 : Kanye West – Love Lockdown (Prince William Remix)

The first five tracks are pretty much your stereotypical remixes.  They’re each slightly different from each other, yet the all maintain just enough of the original track to be recognizable {and ultimately dance beat laden}.  I’m not entire sure but the Flufftronix Remix might be my favorite right now.  The last two tracks are a bit different than the standard issue remix as they feature some talented MC’s rhyming over the instrumental portions of the track.  Both the Jin Remix and Prince William Remix are of the must hear it now variety.

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Arcade Fire : Live On KCRW

Published
by
billy
on September 12, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 7 Comments

The kids of Arcade Fire are awesome.  They also span quite an impressive range of heights.  Sorry for cutting you off there love, that’s just the way it is.  Anyway, I get quite a few requests to repost old material every week in email format.  Some songs and artists get requested once, some two or three times, but only one post of mine consistently comes up and is requested again and again {probably once every ten days or so}.  For all the lovely readers who’ve wanted to see these tracks once again grace the interwebs, here is the moment you’ve been waiting for.

mp3 : Arcade Fire – Intro (Live on KCRW)
mp3 : Arcade Fire – Wake Up (Live on KCRW)
mp3 : Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #4 (Live on KCRW)
mp3 : Arcade Fire – Vampire Forest Fire (Live on KCRW)
mp3 : Arcade Fire – Interview (Live on KCRW)
mp3 : Arcade Fire – Intervention (Live on KCRW)
mp3 : Arcade Fire – Born on a Train (Live on KCRW)
mp3 : Arcade Fire – In the Backseat (Live on KCRW)
mp3 : Arcade Fire – Outro (Live on KCRW)

All the tracks in one zip file : here {zshare = left click}

For those of you who are interested this recording was made January 17th of 2005 and it is quite amazing.  It’s worth listening to it just for the alternate version of Intervention {and the rest of the tracks are equally compelling}.  *It’s also worth noting, and Win Butler says so quite clearly, that Born on a Train is a Magnetic Fields cover.  Cheers.

Much thanks goes to KCRW for consistently putting amazing music on the internet.  If you’ve never been to their website that simply must be changed.   Click on through and have a listen to the Morning Becomes Eclectic archives.  You’ll love it.

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