10 posts tagged “trip hop”
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07/13/08 Eboli (Salerno/Naples), Italy
Discography
07/18/08 Arezzo Wave - Livorno, Italy 08/09/08 Carpi/Modena, Italy 08/29/08 Burning Man - Black Rock City, Nevada
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Costanza Francavilla, or simply known as Costanza is an Italian singer, has a full length album out on July 8th called Sonic Diary. After putting the album in to listen, I instantly think of electronica and trip hop, but with a dreampop quality, as her singing style is often breathy, sexy, and deamlike.
Looking at the very impressive/see-through press material, it looks like her music's been licensed out to a variety of television shows (CSI, L Word) and movies (.45, starring everyone's favorite Milla Jovovich). It doesn't surprise me, as this type of electronica music (think Moby) works well as background music.
However, I think the one thing people might know her from is her collaboration with British electronic artist, Tricky (and, sure, you might know him from another Jovovich film, The Fifth Element).
Apparently, Costanza who was a fan at one of his show gave Tricky's drummer a three-track demo CD and that was passed onto Tricky, who absolutely loved it. So all the songs on his Vulnerable album in 2003 featured Costanza's vocals with two songs co-written by her ("Stay" and "What is Wrong").
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One of the most bizarre and interesting song from their collaboration is their cover of XTC's "Dear God". I wouldn't go so far as to pronounce their version equal or better than the original grand epic song in three and a half minutes, but I will have to admit that it's "different". I think if I didn't know about XTC, I would really love Tricky and Costanza's version. (Side note: their cover of The Cure's "Love Cats" is better).
Now, if you thought "Dear God" was weird, the very original electronica take on Fugazi's "Promises" and Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down" must be heard to be believed. The way she sings "promises are shit", with her Italian accent, it doesn't sound bad or naughty at all.
Other songs I thought were interesting is the opening song, "Just Another Alien". Not so much a song, but a series of questions that she was probably asked when she was applying to live and work in the USA. The Italian song, "I Tuoi Occhi Sono Pieni Di Sale" (featuring Riccardo Sinigallia) was also interesting, it made me want to learn Italian. I did use babelfish and it tells me that the title translate to something like "Your Eyes Are Full Of [knowledge?]", so I'm assuming it's a personal/love song?
The one song that I think everyone will really enjoy is "Silence". This is such a dreamtronica song, full of child-like and innocent singing on a very lush music background. I feel like the song belongs to a soundtrack to a movie.
Fans of electronica lounge music, made famous by such compilations such as OM: Chilled and Lounge Experience series, should really enjoy this. These songs are perfect for either laying around the house or at a small party, really good for any occasion.
It looks like she'll be playing a few dates in Italy with Marco Messina. If you aren't lucky enough to live in Italy, her album Sonic Diary is out this Tuesday. For convience, you can actually get high quality MP3 from Amazon right now.
PS, Usually we just have one or two releases on Tuesday that I need to do coverage on. So I normally check on Sunday and work on the review that very day or, at the latest, on that Tuesday. I thought I was sitting pretty as I've already taken care of two releases already that was meant for July 7th (Connected) and 8th (Matt Keating), but we still have these that's being release this week: Wire's Object 47, The Coke Dares' Feelin' Up, Son Ambulance's Someone Else's Deja Vu, Patti Smith/Kevin Shield's The Coral Sea, and Costanza's Sonic Diary. If I have missed anything, please accept my apologies and contact me right away.
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The two Jasons (Jason Miles and Jason Kibler, aka DJ Logic) have teamed up for a cultural exploration in Global Noize, released April 29th on Shanachie Records.
If the name Jason Miles sounds familiar, that's because he was the mastermind behind Soul Summit, an album that captured the live energy of the Berks Jazz Festival.
Global Noize combines an array of sound, from electronica, funk, trip hop, world, and jazz - such fusion sounds that M.I.A. and Santogold are making famous. So if you enjoy those artists, you should definitely check out this phenomenon album.
This project started rolling into effect when Kibler, called to ask Miles to join him for a live performance at the Blue Notes in New York. Miles recalls:
On that day I had a horrible root canal and was mourning the loss of a close relative. I thought that this could be just the tonic I needed to pick myself up. We went through life-altering experiences. It was so new to us - mysterious, crazy and another view of the world. We both knew we had to make this project happen. The picture on the CD over of the both of us with the camel in the desert says it all!
The first song on the album, "A Jam 4 Joe" sets up the mood for the album: the vocals of Falu suggests Indian, while the dedication of Joe Zawinul, suggests jazz. This is a perfect song for any mild/chill party.
Falu appears again on "Bollywood", obviously because of her Indian voice, but the bass on this song made it sound like funk.
If you can't get enough of the relaxing vocals, there is another song that features singing, "Quero Dancar" (I Want to Dance With You). As the title suggests, this is a Spanish-based song (but sung in Portuguese?) with a smooth jazz mix, featuring some very sexy vocals by Vanessa Fallabella.
The large majority of this album is instrumental, that should comes as no surprise. Songs as "Dar' Abesque" showcase Miles' staple jazz sound (check out that Herb Alpert trumpets), but as you listen in closer, you can hear Logic's contribution in shifts and beats mixed in.
As far as I'm concern, these two perfectly compliment each other, making for an interesting collaboration on Global Noize. They are going to team up for a brief appearance at the Aspen Jazz Festival in Colorado on August 28th, so check it out if you're in the area.
Links:
myspace.com/globalnoizejazz
www.djlogic.com
www.jasonmilesmusic.com
This may just be an excuse to post as much of my record collection as possible in one post, but at least there's a common theme between them. You may not know him but you're bound to have heard one of the many countless bands he's been involved with; our Rollo has his finger in many musical pies, so to speak. Oh and, you deffinately know his sister. What's with everyone having famous sisters nowadays?
Trip hop festival faves Faithless are probably Rollo's most well known connection as one of three main members of the group, though as the band's permanent producer he's rarely seen onstage with them. Included is Mass Destruction, and no clues needed as to the lyrical content there. Whether it's the anti-Bush message or much more indie-ska-rock feel to the tune I don't know, but it's one of the only Faithless tracks I've been tempted to purchase.
Start of the wildcard stuff is On A Beautiful Day by Skinny. Although having no musical input, Skinny's album Taller from which the track is taken was released on Rollo's record lable Cheeky. The track samples the Wallace Collection's 1968 "Daydream", but you're much more likely to have heard that via an advert featuring I Monster's Dayd ream In Blue, also sampling the same tune and included as it's frankly just better than Skinny's efforts.
And if you don't like any of that lot, there's plenty more Rollo remixes and productions available, ranging from Sarah McLachlan and Simply Red to Robbie Williams and the Spice Girls. But I can't keep posting his stuff forever, so I'll be gone for the day.
Today is Tuesday, and you know what that means: new CD releases. Here's some music that's expected to hit stores today, April 29th.
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Madonna - Hard Candy
The New Frontiers - Mending
Portishead - Third
Jamie Lidell - Jim
Robyn - Robyn
The Roots - Rising Down
Sarah McLachlan - Rarities, B-Sides 2 And Other Stuff, Volume 2
Nerf Herder - Nerf Herder IV
Okay, the big album is obviously the Madonna's Hard Candy. I believe this is her final studio album for Warner Brothers Music. I don't make a habit of listening to music on myspace because I hate 'space and their flash player really mess up my audio on Firefox, but I did randomly listen to some of her new songs. It sounds like it's a mashup of some techno, some R&B, some dance stuff... basically if you like Madonna, you'll probably like this album.
I've already touched on Portishead on my previous article, but wanted to bring your attention that the third Third album comes out today.
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Tour Dates
April 29 Amarillo, TX@Amarillo Church May 1 Englewood, Denver, CO@Falcon Bowl May 2 Casper, WY @ American Legion May 3 SLC, UT@ olid Ground Cafe May 6 Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction May 7 West Hollywood, CA @ On The Rox May 8 San Diego, CA @ The Epicentre May 9 Temecula, CA @ The Underground May 10 Phoenix, AZ @ One Place May 11 Tucson, AZ @ Solar Culture |
Mending from The New Frontiers (thenewfrontiersmusic.com) is out today. What's most interesting is that they're selling their new album as a lost leader for $5.99 for 11 tracks on iTunes.
I think they're hoping to recoup their loss with live tour dates, which I believe is where most artists are making some revenue. They're currently on tour with Alive In Wild Paint.
Apparently, the band used to be called Stellamaris, but as they got more older and quieter, their music changed, and so did the name.
The two songs that stood out for me was "Black Lungs" (which you can hear on their myspace) and "Strangers". I liked Nathan Pettijohn's vocals against the indie guitars. Since both of these songs are more uptempo, it's not represented of the whole album.
The entire album is pretty mellow, and I hate to admit that I really need to be in that mood to listen to this album. Still, if you enjoy other slowcore bands, you need to check these guys out. They offered a few downloadable tracks on the ever popular daytrotter.com.
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Tour Dates
05.25 Vancouver - Richards on Richards
05.26 Seattle - Sasquatch! Festival 05.27 Portland - Berbatis Pan 05.28 San Francisco - Bimbos 365 Club 05.29 Los Angeles - El Rey Theater 05.30 Los Angeles - El Rey Theater 05.31 Tucson - Rialto Theater 06.02 Denver - Bluebird Theater 06.04 Chicago - Abbey Pub 06.05 Toronto - Opera House 06.06 Ottawa - Babylon Club 06.07 Boston - Paradise 06.08 New York City - Bowery Ballroom 06.09 New York City - Bowery Ballroom 06.11 Philadelphia - World Café 06.12 Washington DC - 9:30 Club |
British soul singer, Jamie Lidell (jamielidell.com), formerly of Super_Collider, has a new CD called Jim out today (actually, I think it was released yesterday in the UK).
I don't have his previous album, but this new album "takes a less electronica oriented direction compared to previous album Multiply"[1]
Apparently since everyone seems to look to the television show Grey's Anatomy for the next big thing (it seems a few artists have broken out on this series), he did have his song "Multiply" on the show and on its second soundtrack.
I haven't listened to enough of Jim, due to lack of time and commitment, but I can tell you that Lidell has a very soulful voice and singing style. His songs sounds like it's early, slower Motown, especially on "Green Light".
He is going on tour in May, so I'll include his tour information here.
I also wanted to mention that there is an EP called You and I In The Kaleidoscope by Kites (myspace.com/kitessite) that's also being released today, at least that's the information I was given. It seems it was released as early as February 2008.
The main person behind Kites is really Jean-Philip Grobler and, according to his biography, it took three years to produce this four-track EP.
I wanted the four tracks on the EP to represent everything that to me is beautiful about pop music, and that took a lot longer than I thought.
An interesting to note about this guy was that he grew up in South Africa and wasn't exposed to the same pop music that most people were fed. By high school, he had moved to Liverpool, England, to study music at the Sir Paul McCartney's Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, where he met some friends to start the band Kites.
The result after band members breakup and moving around, You and I In The Kaleidoscope was born. Grobler and Kites are currently based out of New York.
I thought easily the best song on the EP is "Easy Now", with its epic-sounding intro.
I couldn't find a place where you can get the physical CD, but the EP is available on iTunes ($3.98) and Amazon ($3.56). Alternatively, you can just buy Pepsi and get points to get the tracks for free on Amazon!
04/29/2008 09:52:18
vu
my♥posts
www.weheartmusic.com
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Discography
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Portishead, the band that helped pioneer trip-hop, is back with their new studio album, Third, due out on April 28th.
It's been 10 years since their last release, the live album PNYC, and since I have all their albums, I thought it would be cool to break down the albums for you.
Dummy
I first saw Portishead's "Sour Times" video, which I'll
have to say was probably the best music video I'd seen around that 1994
era.
I was later told that the video's actually a short story that some student had made, and someone at the Portishead camp had the bright idea to set their song "Sour Times" to the video. The video is still amazing, but I've never seen the original movie.
I've heard from Portishead, here and there, from time to time, but nothing really stood out for me.
Portishead
I bought this 1997, by accident, because I thought
it was their first album - so to my horror, "Sour Times" is not on this
album :(
Sadly, it's not one of the P albums that I listen to regularly - although "Cowboy" is excellent.
But my favorite song off this album is "All Mine", which sounds suspiciously like a James Bond theme.
Roseland NYC Live
Possibly at the height of their fame, they
did a one-time performance with the New York Philharmonic orchestra,
complete with DJs, at Roseland Ballroom in New York.
I thought I read that there was a DVD that was released of this performance, but I only have the audio CD.
There's a few great tracks from this live album, including a wonderful live rendition of "Cowboy" and "Glory Box". Man, I just love when Beth Gibbons sings "temptress".
Third
Currently, only "Machine Gun" is available on their official myspace page, which isn't one of my favorite tracks. It's too noisy for me, I guess.
I'm more of a fan of their melodic songs, like "The Rip" and "The Magic Door" (which has some interesting can drummings).
The more experimental songs sounds as like that last few Radiohead albums, but on Third, they sound as if the various sounds were produced organically and not from a computer.
Also for the first time, there will be a special limited edition of their new album. It comes with a USB 1 Gig Flash drive containing the entire album and 5 videos. You also get a double vinyl and 12" single of Machine Gun and 1 print. It's £40, which is about $80 USD, directly from portisheadshop.co.uk.
So, just to sum it up: Portishead have not broken up and they are still awesome. Their third album, called Third will be out April 28th on Island Records.
03/20/2008 00:28:58
vu
my♥posts
www.portishead.co.uk
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Discography
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Illuminate is the third release from Karmacoda, the female fronted, four-piece San Francisco based band.
To me, the album is very mood oriented, putting me in certain relaxed moods as I listened. This band has had a lot of success in the past with their music on soundtracks of TV and film and I can see why, as the music on this current album could easily fit into backgrounds of what one may be watching on screen.
I prefer more up-tempo music myself, but one track on Illuminate that I really liked is "Turn". This track has a very catchy chorus and the vocals by Heather Pierce are almost soothing in a mellowed Swing Out Sister tone.
The bands' songs are truly melodic in nature with emotion that illuminates the listener to what is being felt by the band on any particular track.
Overall, it is a bit too emotional for me, but the songwriting is excellent and the sounds created by the band are hypnotic. I would Reco Mend this CD to anyone that likes to feel the emotion in the music.
03/03/2008 20:17:23
Todd
my♥posts
www.karmacoda.com
myspace.com
Tour 12/12/07 ALL FM NightMoves Show - Live Set Manchester 12/21/07 Enchanted Brave, Britons Protection - Special Xmas Show Manchester
Sounds Like
Goldfrapp, Moby, David Bowie, A-ha, Boards of Canada, Doctor Who music, Matmos, Bjork, Blue Sky Research, The Whip, Snowfight in the City Centre, Moloko, Maximo Park, Minorplanet, Radiohead, Blue Cell, Aphex Twin, Strength of the Bear, Blur, Klaxons, Field Music, Olly Farshi, Sancho, Guillimots, Kylie Minogue, Posthuman, DJ Shadow, Idle Hands
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I wasn't really going to follow up on Ryan's summation of This Morning Call, because it was pretty thorough, but I thought the world really needed to know how a friend of mine described 'Clockwork': 'Portishead on decent anti-depressants'.
(Yes, that is a positive endorsement.)
Since Ryan's gone into the wider contextual stuff, I'll stick mostly to the technical aspects. If you're a fan of sweeping electronic landscapes, ambient pop-edged melodies and the occasional dark crunchy beat, start paying attention. This Morning Call take the atmospheric aspects of Coldplay which stop them being purely guilty easy listening, channel them through the bleeps and angular squawks of the New Order/Daft Punk school, and produce an experimental, light, sweet electronica.
I'll admit that, as a devoted electronica fan of the VNV Nation kind, it was their subtle, layered use of distortion, metallic echoes and computer-generated loops which won me over, but it touches base with pop often enough that it doesn't alienate (which is a big risk in electronic music). Sometimes, actually, This Morning Call goes the other way entirely, and trades so much on classic pop structures that it seems almost unambitious. Delicate balance, but they're getting there.
Anyway. New word from the band is that they had a well-received, sold-out first gig run by Sony/BMG in London on December the 1 st- so hurry up and check them out before they explode onto the wider scene, because that's looking increasingly likely.
12/04/2007 17:51:31
jennifer
my♥posts
www.thismorningcall.co.uk
I was originally going to write about Portishead, and somehow I mentioned Massive Attack, and then I started thinking about them, and I guess I'd much rather write about Mezzanine than Dummy. Now if that sentence just confused you, those respectively are the landmark albums of Trip Hop, a style of music that emerged out of the UK in the early to mid nineties. Instead of being influenced by the contemporary style of britpop, trip hop essentially took hip hop beats and slowed them down. It's kind of like Houston style Chopped and Screwed rap, except the vocals aren't slowed down with the music, and the whole result isn't as murky. Both genres are influenced by dub music, with sampling being essential. Somehow trip hop later became a subgenre of techno, which makes sense, considering that the UK at the time had a less vibrant rap scene than it does now.
So wh