jueves, 27 de febrero de 2014

A superb DJ set by Heatsick

http://www.xlr8r.com/podcast/2014/02/heatsick


Podcast 332: Heatsick

Much of the attention surrounding Heatsick (a.k.a. Steven Warwick) focuses on his relatively spartan set-up, as the UK-born, Berlin-based producer makes music with just a Casio keyboard and a series of guitar pedals. It's certainly intriguing that Warwick relies upon these rudimentary tools, but fixating on his process does his music something of a disservice, as his intricate, loop-based creations are noteworthy in their own right. Heatsick releases have been popping since the mid '00s, but there's little question that Warwick's efforts for the PAN label in recent years, especially 2013's Re-Engineering, have significantly elevated his stature. Still, after hearing so many of his original creations—many of which sound like off-kilter takes on house music by someone who most definitely didn't come of age in that scene—we found ourselves wondering what exactly a Heatsick DJ set would sound like. He's responded to that question with Back 2 Asics, an exclusive mix and the latest installment of the XLR8R podcast series.
Listening to the 70-plus-minute session, it seems that Heatsick's vision behind the decks isn't all that different from what he does with his own music. Although there's more of a direct focus on the floor, Warwick also breaks things up with obscure ambient passages and augments some of the dancier offerings with bizarre voiceovers and spoken-word excerpts. House music is definitely the through line here, but he also manages to fold in bits of electro and techno, a bootleg remix of Enya, some washy post-punk, and a closing piece of dance-pop from The Cardigans. It's not the average podcast mix, but it works. More importantly, it helps demonstrate that dance music's self-imposed boundaries perhaps don't need to be quite so rigid.

miércoles, 26 de febrero de 2014

Evian Christ: One weird extraordinary DJ set

http://www.residentadvisor.net/podcast-episode.aspx?id=404

Slow-motion trance, dancehall and more from one of the UK's most promising artists.
Joshua Leary's career so far has played out like a young producer's dream. The English artist was discovered through a series of tracks he uploaded to YouTube, which spread like wildfire over the internet in a single day. Tri Angle quickly snapped him up and released his first record, Kings And Them, and a year later Kanye West tapped him for production work onYeezus. This led to a publishing deal with West's G.O.O.D. Music, also home to Pusha T and Hudson Mohawke. Leary's next record, the Waterfall EP, is easily one of the most anticipated of the year.

Where Evian Christ's early material was dark and haunting, his recent work has tapped into a melancholic trance vibe, likely influenced by his father's stint as a trance DJ. He's always had a way with slamming hip-hop percussion, but last year's conceptual Duga-3 showed he could do ambient music just as well. That's the mode we find him in for his RA podcast. A carefully-constructed journey through new age, trance and dance hall (with a junglist edit of Actress thrown in for good measure), you'll want to turn the lights off for this one.

How and where was the mix recorded?

It was made at my girlfriend's flat in snowy New York. I ate a lot of toast and drank a lot of tea during the process.

Can you tell us about the idea behind the mix?

I'm not really sure. I'd just got back from Jamaica, so I generally threw a bunch of weird ambient/trancey songs at some dancehall stuff I'd been listening to out there... alongside some edits and unreleased bits from various people.

Tell us about the idea behind the Trance Party series?

I'm really picky about the shows I play so the curatorial aspect of it gives me a level of control over who I'm playing with, the venue I'm playing in, poster/stage design etc. I find most promoters do a pretty bad job of almost every aspect of putting on nights on so I figured I'd have a go and see if I could do any better.

Was it ever explained to you how you ended up on Kanye West's radar? 

He listens to a lot of music and so do his in-house production team. Kanye had a vision for a weird electronic record with a rap sensibility, which is kind of what I was doing anyway. So it was a pretty good fit for both of us.

sol seppy Slo Fuzz

domingo, 23 de febrero de 2014

NPR Alt-Latino: How Hip-Hop Changed Latin Music Forever


Rapper Bocafloja is a pioneer of Mexican hip-hop.
Rapper Bocafloja is a pioneer of Mexican hip-hop.
Thomas De Los Santos/Courtesy of the artist
This month on Alt.Latino, we're celebrating Black History Month — and this week, that means diving into a genre that's near and dear to our heart: Latin hip-hop. We play hip-hop often, and have our favorite artists, but this week we get to go deep alongside Latin music blogger Juan Data, as well as a pioneer of Mexican hip-hop, rapper Bocafloja. Together, we discuss how hip-hop trickled into Latin America, changing our music scene forever.
And, since this week we're all about hip-hop, now is a good time for a special announcement: We're about to head to SXSW to participate in the inaugural SXAmericas, a series of events geared to connect U.S. Latino and Latin American technology, music and film-industry thought leaders. We'll host an intimate chat with French-Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux at the SXSW Convention Center in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, March 13. Hope to see you there!

sábado, 22 de febrero de 2014

Fred Armisen's Fake Bands (And Their Real Songs), by the NPR staff

http://www.npr.org/2014/02/22/275918192/fred-armisens-fake-bands-and-their-real-songs


Bryan Cranston and Fred Armisen in character as The Bjelland Brothers, a sibling soft rock duo dreamed up by Armisen for a 2010 sketch on Saturday Night Live.
Bryan Cranston and Fred Armisen in character as The Bjelland Brothers, a sibling soft rock duo dreamed up by Armisen for a 2010 sketch on Saturday Night Live.

miércoles, 19 de febrero de 2014

NY Times Book Review podcast / Podcast de la reseña literaria del New York Times


http://www.nytimes.com/ref/books/books-podcast-archive.html

Inside The New York Times Book Review Podcast

Each week, Pamela Paul, the editor of the Book Review, talks to authors, editors and critics about new books, the literary scene and current best sellers. The downloadable audio files are in mp3 format; instructions for subscribing to the podcast are below.

Feb. 16, 2014
This week, Elizabeth Kolbert talks about “The Sixth Extinction”; Julie Bosman has notes from the field; Dave Itzkoff discusses “Mad as Hell,” about the making of the movie “Network”; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Pamela Paul is the host.



lunes, 17 de febrero de 2014

KZA, otro excelente DJ set de XLR8R

http://www.xlr8r.com/podcast/2014/02/kza

Podcast 330: KZA

It's not often that Japan is touted as a hotbed for disco, but those familiar with the work of KZA (a.k.a. Yotsukaido Nature) have little trouble acknowledging that the Tokyo-based producer is one of the genre's most compelling figures. For most of the '00s, KZA was best known as one half of Force of Nature, his collaborative—and similarly disco-minded—project with DJ Kent. But with the release of his debut full-length, Dig and Edit, the veteran artist established himself as a formidable solo act. Next week, he'll be issuing a follow-up LP, Dig & Edit 2, once again via Mule Musiq's Endless Flight imprint. Given the record's impending release, not to mention the fact that KZA is often renowned as one of Japan's most dedicated vinyl collectors, we figured that he would be an excellent candidate to put together an exclusive mix for the XLR8R podcast series.
With 11 tracks over the course of more than an hour, the mix seems to indicate that KZA's DJ stylings are just as unhurried and carefree as his productions. Basically, he lets the tracks—most of which walk the line between disco, boogie, and house—do the talking. It's not that the mixing isn't up to snuff; on the contrary, the blends are all well executed and rather lengthy. At the same time, KZA never puts himself in the spotlight; befitting his status as a collector and music lover, he's content to operate in the background and smoothly move the proceedings along from one track to the next. He's an excellent guide, and when this collection of washy melodies, funky basslines, softly glowing pads, and lightly bouncing rhythms comes to an end, it quickly becomes apparent that despite all of his subtlety, KZA has piloted an absolutely sublime journey.
01 KZA "Computerstimme" (Endless Flight)
02 Lord of the Isles "Eagle Lake" (Mule Musiq)
03 Ambrosia "Deep Guitar" (Xsign)
04 Blamma! Blamma! "Zsa Zsa feat. Kristina Train (Psychemagik Remix)" (Eskimo)
05 Tornado Wallace "Thinking Allowed" (ESP Institute)
06 Rayko "Easy Money" (Midnight Riot)
07 Hot Toddy "Won't Let Go" (Smoke N Mirrors)
08 Toby Tobias "The Feeling (I:Cube Remix)" (Rekids)
09 Baris K "200 (Asphodells Dub)" (Emotional Especial)
10 Satin Jackets "Night Keys" (Eskimo)
11 KZA "Fallin'" (Endless Flight)

Yes - Run Through The Light



Originally posted on January 20 2014 / Publicado originalmente el 20 de enero 2014

“Run Through the Light” by Yes is a beautiful and unusual track from Drama, definitely the band's oddest album. Released in 1980, Drama is the first Yes album done without founding member and lead singer Jon Anderson, the first one to have Geoff Downes on keyboards, and the only one to feature Trevor Horn on lead vocals  At that point, bassist Chris Squire became the only remaining founding member and the only one to have participated in all of the group's recordings and tours until then.

“Run Through the Light” is unique and unusual in the band's 40 year history for two reasons. First, it is the first Yes track ever to feature someone other than Chris Squire on bass, and the only Yes track which had Trevor Horn playing that instrument in Squire's stead. Second, the handiwork of session assistant Hugh Pagdham is particularly evident in this track. Pagdham would in later years become famous for producing for Phil Collins and Genesis, and is credited with developing Collins' famous gated drum sound. Just check out Allan White's drum sound in this track.

The instrumental towards the end of this song is one of the group's finest moments.

"Run Through the Light", de la banda Yes, es una bella e inusual canción del disco Drama, el cual es de por sí el disco más anómalo que ha hecho el grupo. Lanzado en 1980, Drama fue el primer disco del grupo sin el cantante y miembro fundador Jon Anderson, el primero con el tecladista Geoff Downes, y el único con el cantante Trevor Horn. El bajista Chris Squire se convirtió entonces en el único miembro de la banda en haber participado de todos sus discos y giras.

La canción "Run Through the Light" es única e inusual en los 40+ años de vida de Yes. Primero, es la primera canción que graban sin Squire tocando el bajo- el bajo lo toca Horn, de hecho es la única ocasión en que Horn toca el bajo con Yes. Segundo, la aportación técnica del asistente de grabación Hugh Pagdham es evidente en esta canción particular. Pagdham luego se haría famoso produciendo discos de Genesis y Phil Collins. A él se le atribuye el haber desarrollado el famoso "gated drum sound" de la batería de Collins. Oigan bien como suena la batería de Alan White en esta canción y se darán cuenta.

La parte instrumental hacia el final de esta canción es uno de los mejores momentos en la historia de Yes.

viernes, 14 de febrero de 2014

Alt.Latino

http://www.npr.org/blogs/altlatino/

NPR Music's program dedicated to Latin Alternative music and rock in Spanish is hosted byJasmine Garsd and Felix Contreras.

Rita Indiana, from the Dominican Republic, is one of many artists who have vocalized concerns over the relationship between her country and Haiti.
Rita Indiana, from the Dominican Republic, is one of many artists who have vocalized concerns over the relationship between her country and Haiti.

Herencia De Timbiqui, one of the many Afro-Latino artists on this week's show.
Herencia De Timbiqui, one of the many Afro-Latino artists on this week's show.

Alec Dempster is a Mexican artist living in Toronto. Many of his pieces focus on Son Jarocho.
Alec Dempster is a Mexican artist living in Toronto. Many of his pieces focus on Son Jarocho.


miércoles, 12 de febrero de 2014

Los Beatles!

http://www.npr.org/2014/02/07/273036967/fresh-air-celebrates-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-beatles-arrival

Fresh Air Celebrates The 50th Anniversary Of The Beatles' Arrival

Members of The Beatles play in the snow outside Washington, D.C.'s Coliseum where they were scheduled to perform before a sell-out audience in 1964.
Members of The Beatles play in the snow outside Washington, D.C.'s Coliseum where they were scheduled to perform before a sell-out audience in 1964.
Central Press/Getty Images
Fifty years ago, on Feb. 7, 1964, The Beatles touched down at JFK airport. Two days later they broke TV viewing records and changed music, fashion, history — and basically an entire generation — when they appeared live on The Ed Sullivan Show.