Ode To The Big Sea

 

Amplive - Rainydayz Remixes

Amplive have remixed their own version of Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' album, chopping and sampling it with great creativity to create a range of sounds from hip-hop to electronic down tempo.

Radiohead famously sold 'In Rainbows' in a unique way - allowing their fans to decide how much to pay. Amplive have gone one step further saying... "It's not up to you. It's free".

I thoroughly recommend downloading 'Rainydayz Remixes', after all it's free so you've got nothing to lose.

Filed under  //   hip hop  

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Free Fink Download

Website rcdlbl.com are offering a free download of an unreleased demo of Fink's 'Make It Good'.

According to the Ninjatune website this will be for a limited time only.

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The Maccabees - Colour it in

The Maccabees' have recently released a new version of their album 'Colour it in' which was first out last year. I'd not actually heard it before so it was all brand new to me.

What a great find.

Fast, energetic, indy rock. Much in the same vain as Bloc Party. In fact I think they have toured with them.

The tracks are short and to the point, there's no messing about. Loads of catchy lyrics and riffs without the cheese factor.

Well worth a listen.

Filed under  //   indie  

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The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse

The Besnard Lakes sound like a cross between The Beach Boys, Arcade Fire and Pink Floyd.

Their new album 'The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse' is atmospheric, psychedelic, orchestral and harmonic all at the same time.

"For Agent 13" is the stand out track for me. Here's a radio edit with video although note it doesn't really get going until 2 mins 30 secs if you're impatient :-)

Filed under  //   indie  

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Sia - Some People Have Real Problems

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A brand new album from Zero 7 singer Sia.It's soulful, full of stings, piano's and trumpets and is great to listen to.

I'd say she sounds a bit like Corinne Bailey Rae.

You could easily glaze over 'Some People Have Real Problems' on first listen as it is very inoffensive, the kind of thing you might put on over dinner and forget about it in the background. 

You would be doing yourself an injustice though.

It's an album i've listened to numerous times over and it gets better each time round.

Filed under  //   chillout   indie  

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CunninLynguists - Dirty Acres

I first heard of the CunninLynguists when they released their latest album 'Dirty Acres' in November last year. It's Hip-hop at it's best. Great production and music behind interesting lyrics. 

Some tracks are so simple but they just work. They're not afraid of a bit of singing as well which is all good to break things up.

Lots of down tempo chill, nothing gangster, nothing in your face. I like the way on some of the tracks they begin with a small snippet of the original record they've sampled throughout. 

I just need to go get hold of their old stuff now.

Filed under  //   hip hop  

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Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass

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At the end of 2007 Aesop Rock released his album "None Shall Pass", american hip-hop at it's best. Each track features a guest producer, yet the album ebbs and flows really well.

I took me about 3 or 4 listens to really get into - it's definitely a 'grower'. Each time round you hear new sounds and there are all kinds of influences in this album. Funk, Rock, heavy bass lines and plenty of cheeky samples. The lyrics sit really well on the tracks.

'Fumes' is the standout track for me. Produced by Blockhead the beats are awesome and the bassline is so distinctive. I just love the way the samples are used.

This is the title track 'None Shall Pass'...

Filed under  //   hip hop  

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Fink - Distance and Time

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Acoustic goodness from Fink. If you like Jose Gonzales you'll like Fink.

I first discovered him because he features on the latest Bonobo album 'Days to come'. His own take on that track ('Make it Good') is on 'Distance and Time'. I guess they collaborated as both artists are signed to Ninjatune. 

It's quiet, moody and it's engineered by Lamb producer Andy Barlow. I like it a lot.

Filed under  //   chillout   indie  

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Explosions in the sky - All of a sudden I miss everyone

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Explosions in the sky are a cinematic rock band, there's no lead singer and on their latest album 'All of a sudden I miss everyone' they have a record that goes on for more than 13 minutes.

You could say they are a bit different.

Their tracks are epic journeys with changing moods and sounds. I guess the closest I could compare them to would be Mogwai. Just.

Filed under  //   indie  

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Ode to the big what?!?

This blog is a means for me to post about the music I discover. My music taste is varied and really enjoy introducing people to new sounds.

What follows is a history, if you like, of the music I have been influenced by in my life... I'ts really long and I don't actually expect anyone will read it.

I grew up listening to my dad's favourites - Prince, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeplin, The Beatles, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Madonna amongst many others.

I first developed my own taste in the late 80's / early 90's - getting into the commercial side of the rave/acid house scene that was going on.

Bands like The Shamen, The KLF, The Prodigy (at one point I owned every single they had released on CD single), 2 Unlimited, Leftfield, Snap, Urban Cookie Collective.

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A CD called "In the Mix '96" was the first mixed 'clubbing' CD I bought and I absolutely played it to death. By the end of the '90s I was listening to funky house, trance, progressive house and garage.

In 2001 Zero 7 released "Simple things" - it opened my eyes to the whole chill out scene. I managed to discover Aphex Twin's "Ambient Works 85-92" and Bebel Gilberto's "Tanto Tempo" - two absolute master pieces.

In 2003 I heard a drum and bass CD called "Hospital Mix Vol.1". This was the beginning of my love of soulful, musical, drum and bass. Also known as "Fast soul music", coined by Tony Colman of London Electricity and Hospital records. A musical genius.

Over the next few years drum and bass became my sole passion. Artists like Logistics, Nu:Tone, LTJ Bukem, Calibre, Artificial Intelligence became my new favourites.

In the meantime my brother discovered Gilles Peterson and introduced me to The Cinematic Orchestra, Jazzanova, Quantic, 4 Hero, Ninja Tune, Bonobo and the whole broken beat/jazz/down-tempo sound.

In 2004 I started listening to Jazz FM and artists like George Benson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Amy Winehouse, Al Green, Bill Withers, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Angie Stone. I love this sound.

In 2005 I started a new job in an office with an open jukebox. Everyone's music networked across all our computers to form easily the largest music collection I've ever had access to. Literally terabytes of music. My music horizons have been broadened no end.

The biggest addition to my taste was the exposure to all the indie rock bands around that I had never given any time to. The White Stripes, The Strokes, The Killers, The Editors, The Kooks, The Kaiser Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand, The Arctic Monkeys, Magic Numbers, Bloc Party.

Which brings us to now. Currently I'm into all the down-tempo jazz stuff, anything soulful and I'm really starting to get into the 'sampled' hip-hop sound. People like Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Timbaland (anything Neptunes) - I've always liked De La Soul, Souls of Mischief, Tribe Called Quest and I'm finding new hip-hop artists all the time. Anyway I'll save what I'm into now for future posts.

So why Ode To The Big Sea? ... it's a Cinematic Orchestra track (who are probably my favourite band) and I thought it was a suitably vague name to use. That's it really.

If just one person discovers a new band they enjoy from this blog then I will be happy.

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