Anyway how about some random tracks, eh? Yeah, i know you want them.
First up we a somewhat new track from Buraka Som Sistema, called Restless. This is probably the only Buraka track that i can tolerate well and i wont get tired of it, because i wont hear it every 3 ads on TV, because its sung in English! Yay.
Next up, one from the funky Brazillians Database and their track Dance Like 107. Dont really get the name of the track, but i sure get this track. A good sample and a big bassline, just the way i like it.
And finally, Yuksek's remix of Prodigy's Invaders Must Die. This is probably the best remix of this track ive ever heard, but if it was just a minute longer, the final buildup would climax and it would be eargasmic. Such a shame that it doesnt, but its still a damn awesome track.
San Francisco-based house label Naked Music has churned out some amazing deep and soulful house over the years, and yet they have gone relatively unknown for some reason. Well, no longer. Let me introduce you to some of their best-known tracks:
Blue Six, aka Naked Music founder Jay Denes, is one of the most scintillating and soulful artists to grace the deep house scene. "Music and Wine" is probably his most famous track, and for good reason. The androgynous vocals, smooth bass and simply orgasmic flute are unavoidable and irresistible. This is the kind of music I want to make love to (I hope you guys are taking notes). I actually prefer the T'hattaboy Vocal Mix to this one, but since it's impossible to find, this one will do.
On the other side of the spectrum is Miguel Migs. Migs is straight-up house with a tinge of soulful warmth. This track takes a Steve Winwood sample (hmmm, why does that sound familiar?) and takes it places it hadn't ever been prior. I don't know what is so hypnotic about this loop. Perhaps it's the beat, or Migs' sexy bell synths that does it. Either way, this is one of those tracks you keep on infinite loop.
:D I love high-octane house music, but from time to time I like to just mellow out.
Here's one of the mellowest, most chill-out, synth jams I've heard in a long time. It's layers and layers of relaxation and purity. Courtesy of my buddy Cloud9.
While we're listening to ambient, let's discuss. What do you think of ambient music overall? Is it lacking talent? Amazingly constructed? Let me know in the comments section - this could be an interesting discussion.
Last Christmas i got a very cool present, The Catalogue by Kraftwerk. A boxed set comprising eight studio albums from 1974 to 2003, all digitally remastered with exclusive coverarts and rare photographs to top it off.
“The sound needed remastering…it’s like a reconstruction, like when a painter takes his paintings from the archives and blows the dust off and puts them in a retrospective. It was quite time-consuming work, but I think once you see it you will immediately understand.” -Ralf Hütter
For all of you who spent the last 30-40 years in a cave (no hard feelings mister Osama):
Kraftwerk (german for “power plant”) is THE most influential electronic music band in the history of man. It’s a quartet from Düsseldorf with a signature sound combining repetitive rhytms with catchy melodies and very simple vocals. It was probably the first group to make electronic music popular and they had a lasting effect in most genres of music today.
Forming the band: Kraftwerk was formed in 1970 by Florian Schneider and Ralph Hutter, two musicians who met as students participating in the experimental “Krautrock” scene (this nickname was courtesy of the English press, that figures). After that they worked with some other musicians to get out some albums and live performances.
But everything really started to get moving with the release of Autobahn in 1974. They moved away from the style of their early albums and invested in some new equipment, redisigning their studio once Autobahn became a commercial succes. They didn’t have to rely on producers since that glorious event (later giving birth to Kling Klang studios). In 1975 the Kraftwerk quartet was completed when Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos joined the group for their tour.
Autobahn is the 4th studio album by Kraftwerk (good news everyone, the first three albums might be getting a similar threatment as the Catalogue). It is not a completely electronic album, mixing violin, flute, guitar and synths with a Minimoog and some various devices of their own (like the electronic drums seen in viseoclips).
Autobahn: The title track gives the feeling of driving with your friends through the landscape on a long monotony trip. It was made to describe driving on the A555, the first Autobahn ever (without any interceptions). I’ve posted the original 22 minute long version, but they did release a 3 minute version that got pretty high up in the charts. Interesting fact: The lyrics of the song are Fahren, Fahren, Fahren on die autobahn and not Fun Fun Fun (a mistake that is often made by non German people).
Kometenmelodie 1 and 2: Number one sounds very dark and creepy, not a very good listen, but boy oh boy the second version is one of my all time feel good tunes. Fully instrumental with some effects that actually sound like falling stars on a dark night. Hard to axplain, but it sure is fun and catchy.
Mitternacht and Morgenspaziergang: Mitternacht is another very omnious song that doesn’t really get me. But you gotta love the intro on Morgenspaziergang (“taking a stroll in the morning”), starting off with some electronic bird singing and a flute. I think this song explains how Kraftwerk managed to mix classical music with the influances of the new electronic era.
Something more about the album art: The original rear cover of the LP showed Hütter, Schneider, Röder an Emil Schult sitting in the back of a car. But when it seemed Flür was going to join the group they just put his head over Schult’s (the early shooping, I can tell by the pixels).
Hope you enjoyed this little trip and be sure to tune in next time with another album by Kraftwerk. Mr. Brown
Posts
