Last week, I heard a Spanish song on the radio and I couldn’t get it out of my head after one listen. I found out the song is “Equivocado” by DePedro.
DePedro – “Equivocado”
DePedro is the solo project of singer/guitarist Jairo Zavala who has toured with, as well as written songs and recorded for Calexico and Spanish acts Amparanoia and Los Coronas. His self-titled debut album was originally released in 2008, but I’m pretty sure Nat Geo Music (National Geographic’s music label) just re-released DePedro about a month ago. The album is filled with well written, passionate Spanish/Americana style music but you can also hear influences from different genres of music such as classic rock, surf rock, and even jazz. Listen to “Tomorrow” and you’ll realize there’s something special about DePedro. The surf guitar style of “Comanche” is downright infectious. ”Te Sigo Sonando,” and “La Memoria” sound a little more like what I was expecting but I’m enjoying them much more than I ever would have guessed. The album is just a great, solid listen, one I’ve been enjoying at home and in my car. Check it out as soon as you get a chance…
A couple of weeks ago, I saw AM at the Hotel Cafe and it was an awesome show. His music reaches across a number of genres from psychedelic rock and folk to soul and classic rock, even jazz. AM’s new album, Future Sons & Daughters, draws on an eclectic variety of musical influences to create a blend of 60’s rock with well arranged, folk-rock pop music. It’s easy to hear the influence of past artists such as David Axelrod and Jorge Ben which produces a result somewhere between more modern influences such as Beck and Shawn Lee. Some of the songs have parts that really remind me of Clutchy Hopkins and Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra. The wide ranging influences and the seamless blending of so many genres makes it hard to categorize as any one kind, but is entirely AM’s own, unique brand of music. Future Sons & Daughters is something special for serious music enthusiasts and casual listeners alike. And definitely make sure you check out the live show if you get a chance too.
I went out to Coachella this weekend and, for the most part, I wasn’t really that impressed. A lot of acts just don’t know how to get the crowd going. One band that is the complete opposite of this is Dr. Dog. They were very impressive. It was my third time seeing them and I was blown away, again. They might be my favorite act out there right now. Even when they were having some sound problems with one of the guitars on stage, it was still an awesome set. I think their most recent album Fate is great, one of the best albums of 2008, but the songs sound so much better when they’re performed live (at least for me). The band’s touring experience is starting to show and it makes for a great live performance. ”Army of Ancients” is a perfect example of a song that is much better when it’s live (again, for me). I still can’t get it out of my head. ”The Ark” was another personal favorite of mine and also of a friend who hadn’t ever seen or heard of Dr Dog before. They opened with a slightly sped up version which made the crowd go completely nuts and set the pace for the rest of the show. Needless to say, my friend’s a fan now.
Asleep In The Bread Aisle hit stores today. ”Lion’s Roar” is definitely a stand out track for me. Asher Roth comes pretty hard on it but I don’t think Busta Rhymes has sounded this good since Leaders of the New School and his early solo career. With all the leaked tracks out there, by now you should know- if it’s a Oren Yoel production it’s gonna be dope. And the smooth hook from New Kingdom’s Noah King ties it all together and makes it a song you want to rap and sing along to. Oren Yoel’s also worked with another great up and coming hip hop artist in TiRon whose mixtape Ketchup is featured in the LA Times for the top ten best hip hop albums of the year.
Asher Roth ft Busta Rhymes and New Kingdom – Lion’s Roar (produced by Oren Yoel)
TiRon – Shine On (produced by Oren Yoel)
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An interesting Nas remix album was released last month called the Far East Project. From the name, it sounds like it’s a bunch of Nas tracks remixed by Asian DJ’s and producers. Because “Far East” could mean Asian, right? I’m not racist, I swear. Anyway, I haven’t heard of any of the guys who remixed the tracks but some of them are really well done.
Recently, I’ve had a couple of tracks sent to me via email and SoundCloud.com. Some of the songs were actually really good. I don’t know why I expected anything different but I was kind of surprised at how much I enjoyed these:
The first is “Folkie Song #2″ by Rosie and Me out of Curitiba, Brazil. It’s indie, acoustic, folk music but it’s got a rock kind of edge to it. And like all things Brazilian, I pretty much love everything about it. It’s a very cool track they got here. As if they didn’t even care when recording the song, you can even hear the microphone get bumped a couple of times, but it just makes the song sound cooler. I’m really digging this one. MP3: Rosie and Me – Folkie Song #2
The second is by The Unravelling from their album 13 Arcane Hymns. They’re a rock/progessive act out of Calgary and if you check out their myspace, you’ll hear some serious metal. ”In The Safe House” isn’t exactly metal though. It’s catchy and dark at the same time and it’s a really well arranged song. Their other songs on myspace are well written tracks too. These guys probably have awesome live shows with lots of energy and songs that build and really get crowds going. MP3: The Unravelling – In The Safe House
The last one is by a group called Pree. These guys are from D.C. and their music combines a lot of elements from different genres that I like a lot. Give the whole song a listen, it’s really impressive stuff. The quality isn’t amazing, but the track is a great one nonetheless. These guys have something very interesting going on and now I’m definitely paying attention. MP3: Pree – In The Parlor
Spoon – Monkey Feelings
This is a semi-unreleased song ( I say semi because it was put on a companion CD/Single to was a limited release.) The song was released at the same time as the Gimmie Fiction album and has that same sound but is better then most any of the songs on the album in my opinion. Spoon always comes with the hits and this song is no exception.
Daniel Merriweather ft Wale – Change
Daniel Merriweather is a Mark Ronson produced artist along with Wale. Ronson has been doing a lot of work with these two individually and Merriweather appeared on Wale’s Mixtape About Nothing (which is excellent if you haven’t heard it.) The song has Ronson written all over it with the horns and big band sound. Wale comes in with a brief yet solid verse near the end. If you haven’t heard of Wale check him out for sure, I have both his mixtapes if interested. He’s the best rapper out there right now in my opinion that hasn’t blown up huge. Check it out…
Kutiman Mixes YouTube<—–Click that. It’s amazing. It’s the brand new project from Kutiman and, to date, it’s one of the greatest things that exists on the internet. I know it’s a bold statement, and I stand by it… one of the greatest things. He takes random YouTube clibs of people playing different instruments, or people doing things that create different sounds, and he cuts them up, and restructures them for a new, single song- and there are 7 songs. He samples YouTube to create his own brand of funky, soulful beats. It must have taken a very long time since he samples between 10-20 youtube videos for each song. A little personal history on Kutiman (this kind of ties it all together for me)- I bought his debut, self titled album back in 2007 and I loved it. It’s extremely funky and soulful and draws on hip hop, rock, and world music which creates a very mature, passionate overall sound. That’s why I was surprised to learn that Ophir “Kutiman” Kutiel was born in Jerusalem in 1982. He was 25 and his music sounded like it was made by someone who’s been making music for decades collaborating with people from all over the world. After this new project, all i can say is- what a talent. What a modern, musical genius.
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Don’t know much about this track. Haven’t really researched it at all. Found it, loved it, wanted to share it. It’s Nickel Eye featuring Wale- the Mark Ronson remix of “Brandy of the Damned”. And it’s pretty “damned” good if you ask me. Nickel Eye – Brandy of the Damned Feat. Wale (Mark Ronson Remix)
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Redman and Method Man are coming out with a new album. Awesome. I still play 1999’s Blackout and I think it would have to be in my top 20 best albums in hip hop. So when I heard these two tracks I haven’t heard before, I got a little excited about it all. They’ve always managed to combine hardcore style with goofy lyrics and the music is cool, fun, and has some serious mainstream appeal. At least it did. I’m not so sure Redman and Method Man’s new album will do that well but not because of the songs alone. It’s more because of the fact that they are old news in a world that’s overwhelmed with new acts everyday. Check out the new tracks. Redman and Method Man – A Yo / Broken Language
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I feel pretty bad that the last song is a Kid Cudi song and I’m not really going to talk about Kid Cudi. I picked this song to talk about Kanye West because Kanye bugs me. But he is a great producer and there’s no doubt about that. I just wish he would always let great emcees rap over his beats instead of saving the best beats for himself. I don’t think he’s a good emcee and he tries way too hard to be a rockstar for me to really like him. Kanye produced this new Kid Cudi track, “Sky Might Fall”. Kanye’s beat is only ok, but what’s great about it is that it’s sound really captures the style of the music of this decade- the 00’s. The sixties, seventies, eighties- when you think of the sound of music from each decade, certain songs stand out more than others. It’s similar to what happens with art and artists who become popular- and I hope I don’t get too into this for you- certain artists really capture something unique about a culture and time and they’re work becomes relevant and, in time, valuable. Seriously though, Kanye is a b. Kid Cudi – Sky Might Fall
Royksopp’s “Happy Up Here” is the first single leaked from the Norwegian duo’s upcoming album, Junior, which will be released on March 16, 2009. The single samples an old favorite of mine- Parliament’s “Do That Stuff”- which was originally released back in 1976 on The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein. The drum break intro is an incredibly crisp and desirable break beat, but Royksopp only uses the funky keys from the song and layers their own drums, claps, and other electronica sounds over the restructured loop. Personally, I don’t think “Happy Up Here” is all that special but after you listen to both you definitely get a sense of appreciation for the new sound/feel Roykopp creates out of the old funk classic.
(When the site crashed in March and I thought I lost everything, this ended up being the only post I really lost… Unfortunately, because of that, I will leave you with the songs only…)
First song is “Don’t Want To Know” by the John Martyn who passed away this last Thursday. In memory, Jason Bentley played “Don’t Want To Know” on KCRW Thursday morning and that was my introduction to the song. I couldn’t find a link to any MP3 of the song, so here is the song in it’s entirety on YouTube:
And here’s a cool MP3 I came across while I was searching for the first track- John Martyn covering Portishead’s “Glory Box” John Martyn - Glory Box
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Second song was shown to me by Oscar who had this to say about it: Asa(pronounced “Asha”) is a Paris born Nigerian who can de described as a female Wyclef Jean, minus the entourage of celebrities. What separates her from the pack of many in her reggae/soul/jazz genre is the fact that she writes and performs damn good songs! Blips of Afro-Beat blended with rustic guitar sounds and a jazzy finger snap rhythm- you just can’t go wrong. One track in particular getting some attention is a song called “Jailer”, check out the song and video below. Since the release of the track, it has sparked some serious attention in her native Nigeria and has earned her the opportunity to open for Akon, John Legend, Beyonce and even Snoop. Believe it or not MTV South Africa has made her the “ambassador” for the music network (whatever that means?). Let’s just assume she is the face of Nigerian music right now and, from America, might be the best kept music secret in Africa. -Oscar M- Asa - Jailer | Subway
Third song is Emiliana Torrini’s “Me and Armini” which was released as the title track of her September 2008 album. To be perfectly honest though, I don’t know much about Torrini, the album, or any other songs of hers. I’m going to check that out and then maybe I’ll update this…
Fourth song is “Walking on a Dream” by Empire of the Sun. The song was actually leaked in June or July of last year but wasn’t officially available until August of ‘08. And it’s great but the pictures (and music video) of the Australian duo that is Empire, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore, are pretty weird and a little creepy (see below). It’s like dark child fantasy weird, like Pan’s Labrynth characters or The Labrynth, especially since the main guy sports David Bowie style creepy makeup and some crazy looking gear. Sorry, I kind of get thrown off and distracted by that kind of stuff, but at least the song is good. Empire of the Sun - Walking on a Dream
First song is the brand new Peter, Bjorn, and John track “Nothing To Worry About” due in March/April on their upcoming album Living Thing. Apparently, Kanye West leaked the track to the world after the Stockholm based crew personally sent it to him. PBJ backed the world’s most narcissistic hip hop solo act (and yes, that is saying a lot) during at least one live show in Sweden. Kanye also recorded a remix of the trio’s hit, “Young Folks” (click the picture-link below). So what’s the deal with this strange relationship? It’s like hearing Jay-Z and Chris Martin are not only friends but their actually playing on the same bill. Oh wait, that is happening. Jay Z supporting Cold Play makes about as much sense as hotchickswithdouchebags.com. It’s funny when you think about it but in reality it’s just weird that it even exists. What may shed a little light on the situation is this- “Nothing To Worry About” has a hint of Kanye’s style in it. Obviously, Peter and the other two are fans of Kanye West, they’re influenced by him, even making a song they think he will like (since they sent it to him first) and they love the fact that he’s paying attention to them really into them as well.
Second song is “Make The Road By Walking” by the Menahan Street Band. I kept hearing the song on KCRW, I found it on their myspace and on the Weiss’s blog, and now I can’t stop playing it. It’s kind of cinematic, it’s funky, it’s got great horn arrangements, it’s melodic and sweet… You get the point, I like this one a lot. I’m definitely going to look into this more and then maybe I’ll update this post…
Third song is brand new Souls Of Mischief, it’s “Tour Stories”, the single off the upcoming album (produced by Prince Paul?). I can’t believe 93′ Til Infinity was 16 years ago. And they really do tour A LOT. I’ve probably seen Hiero (with some of or all of Souls) more than any other crew. But that’s also because Del is on every festival bill ever.
Fourth song is “Misterio Stereo” by Curumin. The Brazil based, Spanish/Japanese musician’s album JapanPopShow came out in October of 2008 on Quannum Records. Chief Xcel of Blackalicious discovered Curumin’s first album, Achados e Perdidos, while on tour in Brazil. JapanPopShow features label-mates Gift of Gab and Lateef on one of the tracks, “Kyoto” and a couple of other Brazilian artists whose names I don’t recognize… Definitely check the song, album, and myspace out.
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