The Dancing Thumb (aka: music recommendations)

[Roderick]

Speaking of jazz; I recently discovered Soil and "Pimp" Sessions. It's superenergetic jazz by a gang of Japanese people with, apparently, limitless stamina. If you're into this sort of thing, listen to numbers like Mashiroke, Avalanche and this one, Summer Goddess:

Hot.

[n0wak]

I've been listening to Crystal Castles for the past month or so, and like the 8 bit influence a lot.

If by "influence" you mean "outright thievery" then, yes... Which is a shame cause I liked them too, before it became apparent that they are total dipshits.

[Nachimir]

If by "influence" you mean "outright thievery" then, yes... Which is a shame cause I liked them too, before it became apparent that they are total dipshits.

Yeah, I found out about them using artwork without attribution or payment and "remixing" a song yesterday evening. Perhaps piracy is something they deserve...

Also, while I believe abusing IP is shitty, I think the application of the term theft is confusing nonsense. Reproducing something is not the same as taking it, and has a different effect.

After really enjoying Toonstruck's soundtrack, I'm listening endlessly to Ren & Stimpy Unofficial Production Music : they've got most of the classics from 50's/60's cartoons which gives the whole thing a nostalgia bonus but if you're into light jazz you'll find the pieces themselves pretty amazing,.

Thanks for the link. He Also mentions Raymond Scott, who not only did lots of music for/used in Warner Brothers cartoons, but also did pioneering electronic music that sounded like chiptunes decades before their time

[vimes]

Avalanche and this one, Summer Goddess:

Hot.

1 minute in or so the piano kicks in and the song really takes off! Thanks for the link!

If you're into Jazz and you're willing to listen to people singing waves of French words then you need to try Paris Combo (

- Fibre de Verre and

) and San Severino (Maigrir)

[DanJW]

Ooh, I'm enjoying this little jazz foray. Thanks all!

[Wrestlevania]

The Flashbulb - Soundtrack to a Vacant Life*

I love this. Its immediacy and masterful delivery across quite a range of musical styles is a sweet as each track is succinct. By track 6 you know exactly what you're in for: crackling, intelligent electronic fun. The only thing I can fault is the album title; SEGA Holiday would've been loads better...

Battles - Mirrored

"Ooh, look at us - with our wailing Chipmunk voices and the same sodding riffs and percussion patterns over and over!" Shut up.

Panda Bear - Person Pitch

Sounds like how the Beach Boys might if you'd taken a respectable amount of Acid. It works, but I'm not sure if I really like it just yet.

The Field - From Here We Go Sublime

Bouncy, interesting and not at all unpleasant throughout. If you like your Electronica with a large dollop of soul, definitely check this out.

* Many thanks to whoever tipped this one here at Thumbs a while ago (it's getting late and I can't be bothered to page back, sorry).

[n0wak]

The Flashbulb is cool because he, himself, upped his album to some "key" torrent sites and asked for donations if people liked it, basically taking the label out of the equation. So, yeah, if you do like it donate some money to the dude.

I've been listening to some... seriously hipster stuff lately. After getting my fill of super-minimal electronica I guess I wanted something a little more flamboyant (but about equally pretentious). I feel like I should get some ultra-tight jeans and white rimmed sunglasses now.

HEARTSREVOLUTION.Good, though no full album yet. Kinda similar to Crystal Castles, except without that whole steal music from chiptune artists thing so I can listen to it without any guilt.

Shitdisco Isn't it too soon for the second coming of Franz Ferdinand? Some good tracks though

New Young Pony Club listen

The Kills Liking it but have to listen some more before giving a verdict.

And I like a couple Battles tracks though I honestly never understood the orgasm that Pitchfork had over them.

[Wrestlevania]

And I like a couple Battles tracks though I honestly never understood the orgasm that Pitchfork had over them.

A couple of the early tracks on Mirrored are genuinely worthwhile. But by the time it chugga-chugged into track 8, it was all sounding very samey.

[Wrestlevania]

New Young Pony Club listen

Oh wow - they sound fantastic!

You may like this lot, if you don't already...

Neon Neon - Stainless Style

Blistering, pouting 80s style Retro Electro-Pop ridiculousness; simply fabulous.

(Skip past the couple of jarring gangsta rap fluffs towards the end though--they're arse.)

[miffy495]

So it turns out that my new job is as the head "games guy" at the city's biggest HMV. No one else really plays games, so my word is law when it comes to ordering, what to promote, and where to display it. w00t. As an aside, I also happen to be working in what primarily bills itself as a music store. Today, Foxboro Hot Tubs released their first album and I picked it up as I was finishing my shift. I'm completely floored.

For those who don't know, Foxboro Hot Tubs are Green Day. A side project, they wanted to make an album with a distinctly 60's pop feel and figured that releasing it as Green Day would confuse a lot of people, so they changed their name for this one. (Sorta like when they released a new wave album as The Network)

Holy crap. This may be the best genre mash-up I've heard. The 60's vibe combined with an energy and intensity that I thought had left after Dookie and Nimrod had me dancing along with the entire album the second I threw it in my CD player. The amount of fun they had with this project comes through so brilliantly and just makes everything feel perfect. One second they sound just like they did in 1992, the next they sound like Steppenwolf. Simply the most fun album I've listened to in a long time.

And after all this, I just realized I haven't mentioned the name of it. It's called Stop Drop and Roll!!! (exclamation points theirs) and is actually pretty cheap. At least try out a couple of tracks.

Anyway, /shameless plugging of CD.

Oh, and Crystal Castles has been playing a lot over the PA at work. I'm getting kinda sick of it, honestly.

[vimes]

so my word is law when it comes to ordering, what to promote, and where to display it. w00t.

That's awesome : you're going to educate the masses!

[miffy495]

Yeah, I'm really enjoying the job.

Getting back to music, this weekend I'll be at the Sasquatch music festival. Leaving in about an hour. So psyched. Talk to you folks next week!

[ysbreker]

Funnily enough, I finally signed up for an account this morning.

I shall foster my taste in music upon the world in short order (then post my URL here).

Where's you're muxtape, wrestle? Still sorting out your songs?

[Wrestlevania]

Where's you're muxtape, wrestle? Still sorting out your songs?

Yeah, you could say that...

Trying to find and fit together meaningful tracks seems much more troublesome than it ever used to be. Maybe my tastes have diversified too much, or maybe I'm just getting old.

I promise I will endeavor to get this sorted out in the next couple of weeks.

[ysbreker]

Grace Jones is back, apparently. And it's pretty good:

[Nachimir]

n0wak, congrats on getting this featured here

(Found it through my RSS reader today).

[n0wak]

Oh, n'gai reblogs -- as the nerds say -- plenty of stuff I post. It's my brush with internet gaming media celebrity. It's not a very big brush.

On topic, I should add: in two months in London I bought 18 CDs! Most of them at Rough Trade and Sound 323. You know, maybe that town isn't so bad after all.

[n0wak]

I've been liking the "Empire of the Sun" album quite a bit lately. Not exactly the type of music I listen to normally, but the album is mostly quite good. Certainly very catchy, even in that kind of cornball disco kind of way (like the video).

Also: new ohGr, alva noto, duo505 but I won't bore you with those.

[Marek]

Normally I only get full albums but lately I've been getting into downloading just singles or EPs here and there, as an easy way to add some variety to my music library.

Yesterday I bought:

The White Stripes - Icky Thump

The Raconteurs - Steady As She Goes

Phoenix - Long Distance Call

I also got some New Young Pony Club and The Kills after I saw them in this thread.

My library is still fairly sparse, having only been rebuilding it over the past 8 months following a hard drive disaster. I realized that I have way too much indie/alternative and too little of other genres. Anyone got recommendations for some cool downtempo, jazz, electronic, hiphop (not the bullshitty kind... e.g. I have some Eyedea and Outkast), etc.?

I like stuff like Nouvelle Vague - anything of that nature that isn't a cover band? Anything Gnarls Barkley esque? Help me Idle Thumbs!

[Nachimir]

Jazz: Skalpel. I normally hate jazz, but they really got under my skin this year. Apparently (I'm told) Polish jazz is full of strange offshoots, since under communism a lot of Western music was forbidden but jazz was ok. It led to a lot of experimentation.

Claro Intelecto also do some downbeat stuff like this, this, and this which I love but can only find a 30 second sample of online.

Not so downtempo, but I've been listening a lot for the past few months:

The Field <-- full tracks at last FM, also like

(Thanks Wrestlevania ).

Max De Wardener is ok though bleak.

I've also been getting addicted to some raucous tracks recently. Teenage Badgirl by Cocotte has some absolutely excellent glitch+70s synths in there after the 2 minute mark, and Ccut Up by Duchess Says is probably the best song for running to ever made.

Edited November 2, 2008 by Nachimir

[Wrestlevania]

Been listening to a lot of Editors lately. They just get better and better each time--can't wait for their imminent 3rd album!

[miffy495]

Just got an EP from a guy from Toronto who goes by Final Fantasy. Yeah, he is just that geeky. He's a classically trained violinist who branched out and began doing some incredibly cool stuff. Among his most recognizable work is that he arranged all of the strings for the Arcade Fire's Funeral. I already loved his solo album He Poos Clouds and this new EP Spectrum 14th Century is fantastic. If you're a fan of the band Beirut, (and I am) it's especially cool as for this release he decided to partner with their horn section for an even cooler sound. Definitely one to check out.

[Wrestlevania]

I've got James Zabiela's 4.4 Part Four [MP3, 160MB] in heavy rotation at the moment--subtle and superb. I think everyone should listen to something like this at least once.

Marek: This is a kick-arse down tempo Progressive mix! Best I've picked up in the last couple of months.

[ysbreker]

ooh! James Zabiela! *download*

[ThunderPeel2001]

Hmmm. I usually hate this kind of music, but I'm listening to it right now and I'm really enjoying it! Thanks for the link!