Audio Absinthe

At the end of 2009, Florence and the Machine released a special 4-disc deluxe edition of their debut album, Lungs.  The bonus tracks include acoustic versions, remixes, and live performances of the songs from the debut album.  Florence’s powerful voice shines on these acoustic tracks.  ”Hurricane Drunk” is the 6th single from the album and will be released on March 22, 2010 with the acoustic version included.  Not included in the deluxe re-release was Florence’s cover of Robert Palmer’s “Addicted To Love.”  It’s a pretty amazing version of the hit song from ‘86 and certainly not what I was expecting when I first learned of it.  These are truly great, beautiful songs.

MP3: Florence and the Machine – “Hurricane Drunk (Acoustic Version)”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MP3: Florence and the Machine – “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) (Acoustic Version)”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Lungs (Deluxe Edition) (November 2009)

MP3: Florence and the Machine – “Addicted To Love (Robert Palmer)”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I first heard the song “Blood” by Australian band The Middle East on KCRW a couple of months ago.  The harmonies and soft, melodic progressions build to create moving, stirring music and the same is true for all of their songs, most of which are between 5 to 7 minutes long.  ”Blood” immediately reminded me of “Wake Up” by Arcade Fire although I’m not sure if most people would feel the same way.  When I first heard “Pig Food” I thought it had to be a cover of a Radiohead track.  The debut album, The Recordings of The Middle East, was self-released in Australia in 2008.  An EP was made available in the US on iTunes just a couple of weeks ago.  Check out the tracks below including “Pig Food” which isn’t included on the EP.

MP3: The Middle East – “Blood” (Download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MP3: The Middle East – “The Darkest Side” (Download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The Recordings of The Middle East EP (October 2009)

MP3: The Middle East – “Pig Food” (Download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The Recordings of The Middle East (2008)

I’ve wanted to share these songs for a while now but I didn’t have too much to say about them all.  I think they’re all awesome remixes and covers of great tracks but check them out and decide for yourself…

The xx – “You’ve Got The Love” (Florence and the Machine) (Download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Washed Out – “Feel It All Around (Toro y Moi Remix)” (Download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Taken By Trees – “My Boys” (Animal Collective) (Download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Florence and the Machine – “Drumming Song (Boy 8-bit Remix)” (Download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Phoenix – “Lisztomania (Alex Metric Remix)” (Download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Dr. Fox’s Old Timey String Band – “Kids” (MGMT) (Download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Mayer Hawthorne – “Green Eyed Love (Waajeed Remix)” (Download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

AIR’s new album, Love 2, will be released in just a couple of days.  The French duo wrote, performed, and produced the album and are joined by drummer Joey Waronker (Beck, REM, Thom Yorke’s new band) for 9 of the 12 tracks.  The ethereal guitar pop wins me over for several songs but not throughout the entire album.  ”Love” and “African Velvet” are two that stand out for me, along with “So Light Is Her Footfall” which has a fuzzy, psychedelic feel.  All of the songs on the album have that warm, ambient pop sound AIR is well known for, but some of the tracks are just too soft for me.  ”Heaven’s Light” and “Sing Sang Sung” are two examples; they are great electronic pop tracks but a little too sweet sounding for my taste.  Love 2 has lot of fun, cool parts that I enjoy but for the most part, it stays too clean and too light for me to really love it.

MP3: AIR – “So Light Is Her Footfall” (Download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MP3: AIR – “African Velvet” (Download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Love 2 (October 2009)

Zero 7 is well known for clean electronic, sonic-landscapes.  Their new album Yeah Ghost is like cake; it’s warm, rich, and sweet.  Soothingly downtempo beats are always accompanied by beautiful melodies (listen to “Pop Art Blue”).  The duo blend together electronic and contemporary rock influences to create their own unique sound complete with serious pop sensibilities.  ”Everything Up (Zizou)”and “All of Us” are more electronic while “The Road” and “Swing” might have a more mainstream appeal yet all are perfect examples of the kind of genre blending Zero 7 is known for.  ”Solastalgia” and some other tracks are more ambient and atmospheric, something that might be boring to some.  What makes the album great is that it mixes together radio friendly songs like “Mr. Magee” with ambient and off-beat, electronic ones like “Ghost Symbol” but all the while Yeah Ghost manages to keep it’s momentum and doesn’t really miss a step.

MP3: Zero 7 – “The Road”
MP3: Zero 7 – “Pop Art Blue”
MP3: Zero 7 – “Swing”
MP3: Zero 7 – “Mr Magee”
Yeah Ghost (September 2009)

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.

MP3: AM – “Grand Opinion”
Future Sons & Daughters (August 2009)

Sample more songs from FS&D:
The Other Side
Jorge Ben
Darker Days

A little over a week ago, I heard a great, new Thom Yorke track on the radio.  The song Yorke’s version of Miracle Legion’s “All For The Best” that he recorded and contributed to the album Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy.  The album is a tribute to Mark Mulcahy who lost his wife 1 year prior to the album’s release date, September 2009.  Check out the original if you haven’t heard it.  It’s a great track and Thom Yorke did an impressively distinctive cover of it.

MP3: Thom Yorke – “All For The Best”
Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy (due September 2009)

MP3: Miracle Legion – “All For The Best”
Surprise Surprise Surprise (1987)

-

Jeremy Sole is one of my favorite DJ’s on KCRW.  He also DJs every Thursday night at Zanzibar in Santa Monica for an event called “Afro Funke” which features an ecclectic mix of music from all over the world.  When I originally checked out SoundCloud.com, I noticed Jeremy Sole had an account.  He had uploaded a remix of a Femi Kuti song and it was awesome.  Recently, he posted this awesome remix of Marvin Gaye’s “Anger.”

-

Portugal. The Man released their new album, The Satanic Satanist, on July 21st.  The blues-style indie rock sound is undeniably attractive and it isn’t just limited to 1 or 2 tracks.  The album is great all the way through.  These are some of my favorites…

MP3: Portugal. The Man – “Guns and Dogs”
MP3: Portugal. The Man – “People Say”
The Satanic Satanist (July 2009)

-

Rakim hasn’t released an album since The Master in 1999.  There was supposed to be one released in 2002 but Dr Dre, who was producing the album, and Rakim cited “creative differences” when they announced that they would not be releasing an album.  Pretty much since then, I haven’t even tried to keep up with the drama surrounding the album, I just want to hear it.  ”Holy Are You” was released on July 28th and is the first single from the upcoming album The Seventh Seal.

MP3: Rakim – “Holy Are You”
The Seventh Seal (Fall 2009?)

-

Yim Yames, better known as Jim James of My Morning Jacket, posted his tribute album to George Harrison on his website, yimyames.com.  The album will be available everywhere on August 4th.  Check it out below…

MP3: Yim Yames- “My Sweet Lord”
MP3: Yim Yames – “All Things Must Pass”
Tribute to (August 2009)

-

It’s been a couple of weeks, maybe a month, since Muse released their newest track, “United Stated of Eurasia.”  The song has been compared to Queen, as has Muse, and especially the lead singers of both bands.  Matthew Bellamy isn’t as great as Freddie Mercury, but they are from very different times so it’s hard to compare them.  But the sound and style of “United States of Eurasia” is so similar to Queen’s rock-opera anthems that it makes it hard not to compare them.  To be honest, I don’t really care.  Muse is different enough even though this song’s resemblance to Queen’s sound is unmistakable but the song is enjoyable nonetheless.  I don’t love it, but it’s good.  For me, comparisons like that will occasionally take the fun out of listening and that’s perhaps the best reason of all to try to sound more original.

MP3: “Muse – United States of Eurasia”
The Resistance (September 2009)

Gritty, grimey, rough rock feels good.  ”60 Feet Tall,” the first track on The Dead Weather’s new album, Horehound (July 2009), is the perfect intro to an album filled with that kind of edgy, authentic rock.  Definitely one of the best albums this year, check it out if you haven’t already…

MP3: The Dead Weather – So Far From Your Weapon

-

The Temper Trap album Conditions (August 2009) has been playing in my car non stop since my friend gave it to me a couple of weeks ago. The band’s official website has the album coming out in August of 2009 but I think it leaked on the internet last month because a lot of people already have it. The only thing available in iTunes right now is the single. Check out as much as you can on the internet until you can get the whole album.  This is another great one.

The Temper Trap
MP3: Sweet Disposition
MP3: Down River

-

Every month I like to check out the KCRW DJ picks of the month at KCRW.com.  The DJs always have great choices and occasionally they pick an album from a group I’ve never heard of.  Black Moth Super Rainbow is one of these groups and they’re latest album, Eating Us (May 2009), is the band’s fourth full length release.  The sound is pretty unique but if I had to describe it I would say it’s like Air meets Boards of Canada.  Now I need to go back and listen to the older material.

Black Moth Super Rainbow
MP3: Born On A Day The Sun Didn’t Rise
MP3: Twin Of Myself
MP3: Fields Are Breathing

Interesting album cover art…-

Speaking of great things on KCRW, 89.9 is where I first heard “Strangers” by St Vincent.  I think it’s a great, artistic song with cinematic qualities that instantly captivated me.  St Vincent is Annie Clark, who toured with Sufjan Stevens and the Polyphonic Spree.

St Vincent
MP3: Strangers

-

The Very Best is Esau Mwamwaya plus producers Radioclit.  The title track from the upcoming album features Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend.  It’s arguable as to whether or not Vampire Weekend is responsible for the surge in popuarity of African influenced styles in the music world right now.

The Very Best
MP3: Warm Heart of Africa

It took me a while but I finally got around to posting them all.  In no particular order, here are my favorites from 2009, so far…

Phoenix
MP3: “1901”
MP3: “Lisztomania”

Dan Auerbach
MP3: “When The Night Comes”

Grizzly Bear
MP3: “Two Weeks”

Wilco
MP3: “Solitaire”
MP3: “One Wing”
MP3: “I’ll Fight”

Quantic and His Combo Barbaro
Amazon: “The Dreaming Mind”

Andrew Bird
MP3: “Oh No”

Franz Ferdinand
MP3: “No You Girls”

Doves
MP3: “Jetstream”
MP3: “Kingdom of Rust”

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
MP3: “Hysteric”

Black Crowes
MP3: “I Ain’t Hiding”

White Rabbits
MP3: “Percussion Gun”

K’naan
MP3: “Take A Minute”

Manchester Orchestra
MP3: “I’ve Got Friends”

Mocky
MP3: “Birds Of A Feather”

Kutiman
http://thru-you.com/

Black Moth Super Rainbow
MP3: “Born On A Day The Sun Didn’t Rise”
MP3: “Twin Of Myself”
MP3: “Fields Are Breathing”

Animal Collective
MP3: “My Girls”

Matt and Kim
MP3: “Daylight”

Silversun Pickups
MP3: “Panic Switch”

Curumin
MP3: “Compacto”
MP3: “Salto No Vacuo Con Joelhada”

Emiliani Torrini
MP3: “Me and Armini”

Zion I
MP3: “Coastin”

Junior Boys
MP3: “Parallel Lines”

General Elektriks

MP3: “You Don’t Listen”

St Vincent
MP3: “Strangers”

Coconut Records
MP3: “Any Fun”

Matisyahu
“One Day”

Method Man and Redman
MP3: “A Yo”

Tosca
MP3 Link: “Joe Si Ha”
MP3: “Fondue”

The BPA
MP3: “Toe Jam”
MP3: “He’s Frank”

Bishop Allen
MP3: “The Ancient Commonsense of Things”

—-

Newer acts:

Band of Skulls
MP3 Link: “Death By Diamonds and Pearls”
MP3: “I Know What I Am”

Empire of the Sun
MP3: “Walking On A Dream”

One eskimO
Link to listen: “Given Up”
MP3: “Givin Up (Don Diablo remix)”

Nickel Eye
MP3: “Brandy of the Damned featuring Wale (Mark Ronson remix)”
MySpace link to listen: “Bonnie and Clyde”

Mayer Hawthorne
MP3: “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out”

Zee Avi
MP3: “Bitter Heart”
MP3: “The Story”

Passion Pit
MP3: “Moth’s Wings”
MP3 link: “The Reeling”
MP3: “Little Secrets”

Fight From Above
MP3: “Between The Curves”

Vosotros Presents: The Years
MP3 link: “Lose My Number”
MP3 link: “Heartbreaker”

Daniel Merriweather
MP3: “Change” featuring Wale

The Big Pink
MP3: “Velvet”

The Temper Trap
MP3: Sweet Disposition

Thenewno2
MP3 link: “Yomp”
MP3 link: “Give You Love”
MP3: “Crazy Tuesday”

Asa
MP3: “Jailer”
MP3: “Subway”

The Very Best
MP3: “Warm Heart of Africa”

St Motel
MP3: “Dear Dictator”

Danny Chaimson
MySpace link to listen: “This Is Life”

Hey Champ
MP3: “Cold Dust Girl”

Jaydiohead by Minty Fresh Productions
MP3: “Wrong Prayer”

Asher Roth feat. Busta Rhymes and New Kingdom
MP3: “Lion’s Roar” produced by Oren Yoel

—-

Mixtapes:

Wale & 9th Wonder - Back To The Feature

TiRon – Ketchup
Miguel featuring TiRon – “Go”

Band of Skulls‘ debut album Baby Darling Doll Face Honey ias released in April on iTunes.  My friend got me a copy last week and I now can’t stop playing the 2nd and 3rd tracks, “Death By Diamonds and Pearls” and ”I Know What I Am.”  The songs combine the qualities of the White Stripes and The Black Keys; edgy, bluesy hard rock at it’s best.  At first, I only really liked these tracks.  Now I like the whole album, a lot.  The album as a whole is original and progressive and that’s what makes Band of Skulls great.  ”Patterns,” Hollywood Bowl,” “Impossible,” and “Blood” are all great, distinctive songs.  ”Dull Gold Heart” is a great track that, like the album, took me a couple of listens to realize how much I truly enjoy it.  It’s definitely going to be considered one of the best albums of 2009.

MP3: Band Of Skulls – “I Know What I Am”
MP3 Link: Band of Skulls – “Death By Diamonds and Pearls”

-

Mocky – Saskamodie

I liked to check out the KCRW DJ picks of the month.  I usually find something I didn’t know about before like Saskamodie, the new album from Mocky released back in April.  The variety of genres and eras of music blended together on this album is seriously impressive and even more enjoyable.

MP3: Mocky – “Birds Of A Feather”

-

Nickodemus – Sun People

Nickodemus’ new album Sun People was released last month.  You can listen to the whole album for free at Nickodemus.com where I got the cool widget below.  They’re letting people embed the widget so now you can listen to the album right here.

MP3: Nickodemus – “Sun Children (Ft. The Real Live Show)”

Air – Love 2

Air’s upcoming album, Love 2 is due October 6th.  The band released the track below, “Do The Joy” via their website, Aircheology.com.  Check it out here:

MP3: Air – “Do The Joy”