A bilingual blog by Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero dedicated to all things fun, like music, cinema, comedy and sci-fi. Contact: ruiz@tutanota.com - Un blog bilingüe de Carmelo Ruiz Marrero dedicado a todo lo que sea divertido, como música, cine, comedia y ciencia ficción. Contacto: ruiz@tutanota.com
“Dying Songs” focuses on melancholic electronic music but isn’t limited to that. Sometimes it gets dark, sometimes I try to mix techno awkwardly, sometimes i get nostalgic… I like stuff that’s dreamy, ghostly, pretty and sad. I’ll try out new productions of my own, as well. I’m keeping it pretty open and we’ll see how it evolves.” – Jimmy
The beauty and mystery of Po Girl's music - a sound that has beguiled fans the world over - springs from the mesmerizing bond shared by its two lead singers and writers - Allison Russell and Awna Teixeira. Hailing from Montreal and Toronto respectively, both women left untenable home situations at fourteen, found music instead of bad ends, and lived to sing the tales. The interplay between these two stunning performers is truly something to behold. You'll hear echoes of speakeasy jazz, the western lament, the accordion-strapped ghosts of European folk accompanied by the wail of the clarinet in the music of Po'Girl-- but it's delivered with a soulful clarity, and depth of feeling that makes it all their own. It seems almost silly - and not very interesting - to trot out a long, endlessly hyphenated list of the many influences coursing through Po Girl's music. Suffice to say it's 21st Century roots music - North Americana if you will--never derivative, not faithfully aping a beloved tradition. Teixeira and Russell don't re-hash the old forms, they reshape and reinvigorate them for new ears. Since Po'Girl's birth in Vancouver, BC in 2003- Russell and Teixeira (and an ever revolving cast of stellar musical friends), have averaged over 250 days/year on the road --bringing their inimitable roots revelry to 13 countries, and 4 continents-- winning over new fans and friends everywhere they go. With 5 internationally critically acclaimed studio albums, a live album, a b-sides album, and a DVD to their credit with Po'Girl- Alli and Awna have firmly established themselves as two dynamic, compelling songwriter/singer/multi-instrumentalists with true staying power.
DJ Quik is one of the most prolific figures in West Coast hip hop. He's a great rapper, but first and foremost, he's always considered himself a producer. He's produced some of the most inventive samples and beats of the genre. And even though he geeks out about latest and greatest studio equipment, he's always used whatever it takes to capture the sound he wants -- even if it means recording a music sample with a VCR.
Quik first made a name for himself in the hip hop scene in the late 80's and early 90's, handing out homemade mix tapes and deejaying around Los Angeles. He's since released ten albums, and produced records for everyone from Tupac, Snoop Dogg and Xzibit to Tony! Toni! Toné!.
He'll talk about why a leaked record and a couple of guns made him realize he needed a new circle of friends, why he never wants to stop making pretty beats for his records and his inspiration for his awesome, awesome hairstyles over the years.
DJ Quik's new EP is calledRosecrans. It's available now.
Quadrophenia is a 1979 British film, loosely based on the 1973 rock operaof the same name by The Who. The film stars Phil Daniels as Jimmy, a young 1960s London-based Mod who escapes from his dead-end job as amailroom boy by dancing, partying, taking amphetamines, riding his scooter and brawling with the motorcycle-riding Rockers.
After he and his friends participate in a huge brawl with the Rockers at the seaside town of Brighton, he is arrested and his life starts to spiral out of control; he loses his girlfriend (Leslie Ash) and discovers that his idol, the popular mod nicknamed "Ace Face" (Sting) is actually a bell boy at a hotel.
It was directed by Franc Roddam in his feature directing début. Unlike the film adaptation of Tommy,Quadrophenia is not a musical film, and the band does not appear live in the movie.
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who, released on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is a double album and the group's second rock opera. The story follows a young mod named Jimmy and his search for self-worth and importance, set in London and Brighton in 1965. It is the only Who album to be entirely composed by group leader Pete Townshend.
The group started work on the album in 1972, trying to follow up Tommy and Who's Next, which had both achieved substantial critical and commercial success. Recording was delayed while bassist John Entwistle and singer Roger Daltrey recorded solo albums and drummer Keith Moon worked on films. Because a new studio was not finished in time, the group had to use Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio. As well as the group's typical playing styles, especially from Moon, the album makes significant use of Townshend's multi-tracked synthesizers andsound effects, and Entwistle's layered horn parts. Relationships between the group and manager Kit Lambertbroke down irretrievably during recording and he had left the band's services by the time the album was released.
Quadrophenia was released to a positive reception in both the UK and the US, but the resulting tour was marred with problems with backing tapes replacing the additional instruments on the album, and the stage piece was retired in early 1974. It was revived in 1996 with a larger ensemble, and a further tour occurred in 2012. The album made a positive impact on the mod revival movement of the late 1970s, and the resulting film adaptation, released in 1979, was successful.
From the Wikipedia: Drama is the tenth studio album by the English rock band Yes, released on 18 August 1980 by Atlantic Records. It is their only album to feature Trevor Horn as lead vocalist, following the departure of Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman in March 1980 after unsuccessful recording sessions for a new album in Parisand London. Horn was joined by keyboardist Geoffrey Downes, his partner in the new wave band The Buggles. Drama was recorded in a short amount of time as a tour was already booked prior to the change in personnel. It marked a departure in the band's musical direction with songs more accessible and aggressive that featured the use of modern keyboards and a vocoder.
The album opens with the ten-minute "Machine Messiah" which, according to Horn, was written in one day.[13] It features some guitar riffs from Howe that reporter and critic Chris Welch described as "unexpectedly heavy metal".[8] White called the song his "baby", putting together much of its structure and rhythm. Squire found some of its passages difficult to play on his bass and thought it was more suited for keyboards, but was encouraged by White to master his parts. Downes rates the track highly, citing its various sections and mood changes.[14] When he was composing his keyboard parts for the song, Downes was influenced by the fifth movement of Symphony for Organ No. 5 by Charles-Marie Widor, a piece that he was familiar with from his youth.[15]
"White Car", recorded in one afternoon, originated from Downes who wrote the music inspired by watching Horn drive his car at the time, a white Stingray, which was given to him by his record company. Horn proceeded to write the lyrics based on pop figure Gary Numan who used to perform with his face painted white, something which is referenced in the lyric "Move like a ghost on the skyline".[13] Downes only played a Fairlight CMI synthesiser on the recording, to test its sampling capabilities: "I tried to simulate an orchestra using these samples, but it was very early days of digital sampling. The bandwidth was very narrow, but that's what gave it all that characteristic 'crunch factor'. We then added the vocoder and Trevor's vocal to the mix".[16]
"Does It Really Happen?" originated from the 1979 Paris sessions, with White coming up with its drum pattern. A version featuring Anderson singing a different set of lyrics was recorded, but it was shelved until it was developed further when Horn and Downes joined and made additions to the song. Horn and Squire wrote new lyrics.[13]
"Into the Lens" was originally completed by Horn and Downes before they joined the group, but Squire took a liking to it and wished to re-arrange it as a Yes track.[17] The track features Downes using a vocoder, further highlighting the band's new sound.[18] A version recorded by Horn and Downes only was later released on the second Buggles album, Adventures in Modern Recording (1981), with the title "I Am a Camera".
"Run Through the Light" features Howe playing a Les Paul guitar, "in the background being very melancholy" with Squire playing a piano and Horn playing bass, something which Horn did not particularly wish to do but Squire convinced him to perform. "I didn't quite know what to play on it ... one day we spent twelve hours playing and working the final bass part".[17] A different version of the song was recorded with Anderson.
"Tempus Fugit" was another song sketched out by the Squire, Howe and White trio in late 1979. Its title is an English translation of "time flies" in Latin. According to Howe, its name was derived from Squire's habit of arriving late to places.[17]
The group produced additional tracks that remained incomplete, but were performed during their 1980 tour: "We Can Fly from Here" and "Go Through This". Recordings of each were released as part of the live compilation album The Word is Live, in 2005. The former was used and expanded into a 20-minute suite on Yes's 2011 studio album, Fly from Here. A third track, "Crossfire", later included on In a Word: Yes (1969–), was used as part of "That, That Is" (from Keys to Ascension).
A rhythmic journey through all genres of music, exploring the past, present and future of good grooves… old, new, borrowed, and true.
Since beginning her career as a DJ and selector, Monalisa has gained respect and support from key influencers in the music & DJ industry, namely Pete Rock, Peanut Butter Wolf, DāM-FunK, Garth Trinidad, and the World Famous Beat Junkies. She’s done sets for favorable crowds at well known Los Angeles-based events such as Firecracker, Boombox, Rootdown, Kiss N Grind, Thanksgivends, Funkmosphere, Strictly Social, Wonder-Full, SoulSlam, The Do-Over, Afrofunke, Blazing 45s, Paid Dues, and Motown On Mondays. Monalisa is a member of LA’s own Umoja HiFi Soundsystem and KPL All-Stars, as well as Spinderella’s Backspin DJ Crew. She can usually be found working behind the scenes at Amoeba Music in Hollywood, digging for classics and discovering new music.
Kayla Cohen (occasionally DJ Kraylah) lives in Los Angeles, she plays guitar in folk outfit Itasca. She collects prison rock records, only so she can tell people about this collection, and also is in pursuit of time-travel, if only to encounter the bar band days of Dwayne Cannan and Thorn Oehrig.
1. Julian Bream – Sanz ; “Pavanas” – Baroque Guitar – RCA Victor 2. Curt Newbury – S&C See Me – Half A Month of Maydays – Verve 3. The Black Canyon Gang – Alcopulco Gold – Ridin’ High – Viking Studios (mp3) Break 4. (Under Break) Cristal Webb – Midnight Train – Misty Morning – Self-released (mp3) 5. Soft Shoe – Let Me Be the One – For Those Alone – GDR 6. White Cloud – Collection Box – White Cloud – Good Medicine (mp3) 7. Mike Cooper – Broken Bridges – Places I Know – Paradise of Bachelors 8. Robin Scott – I Am Your Suitcase Lover – Woman from the Warm Grass – Sunbeam (mp3) 9. John Stewart – Anna on a Memory – Cannons In the Rain – RCA Break 10. (Under Break) Emtidi – Touch the Sun – Saat – ZYX Music 11. Robbie Basho – Orphan’s Lament – Visions of the Country – Gnome Life Records 12. William Ackerman – Murray’s Song – Childhood and Memory – Windham Hill 13. James Emery – Colleen’s Dream – Exo Eso – FMP 14. Dana Westover – Dedication – Memorial to Fear – self-released (mp3) 15. Blind Owl – Some Tears You Have to Cry – Blind Owl – Strawberry Rain Break 16. (Under Break) Blind Owl – Song To the Wind – Blind Owl – Strawberry Rain 17. Sandy Harless – California Bound – Songs – Revelation Records (mp3) 18. Daniel Bachman – Won’t You Cross Over to that Other Shore – River – Three Lobed
May 20, 2016 by ROBIN HILTON • Saskatchewan singer-songwriter Andy Shauf is the kind of guy you'd find laying low at a party, maybe tucked into the corner of a room with a drink in his hand, keeping to himself but taking everything in. He's soft-spoken and reserved, more comfortable delivering the news than being a part of it (though "comfortable" may be too strong a word).
Shauf's latest album is, appropriately enough, called The Party. It's an emotionally remote collection of character studies and bent observations made during a gathering of drunken fools, smooth operators and the painfully self-aware.
Andy Shauf recently brought The Party to the NPR Music offices for this quietly affecting Tiny Desk performance. His set opens with "The Magician," a song about a poser schmoozing his way through a crowd, followed by "To You," a slightly comical but awkward confession of unrequited love. Shauf closes with the relatively propulsive "You're Out Wasting," a meditation on greed, selling out and late-night anxiety; it's from his 2015 album The Bearer Of Bad News.
Not From Georgia promises music that is true to the experiences of life as well as the delight of musical creation. Fortunately for us, Steve Westfall has found a hidden sanctuary, a place that allows him to transform his own 'heartaches' and 'joys' into words and music that we might also share. Although such a process is surely never simple, and downright treacherous at times, the culmination is lyrics and music that bring hope to others who are facing their own life surprises. In all cases, his music is engaging and genuine. He offers performances that are upbeat and personal. For the listener this can only mean an experience that is easy going, yet captivating. For Steve, being a musical wanderer has steadily added depth to his music. Spending his teenage years in Maine and moving to a myriad of locations across America, and for that matter the world, he has had a great deal of time to contemplate, write, and play. Wherever he has been, or is, making audiences smile and think have always been things he thoroughly enjoys.
"Our Spring 2016 Proton Drive has almost reached the half way mark, and we have been blessed with incredible live acts and DJ Sets every single day from artists around the globe. Yesterday was no exception considering we had the man, the myth, the legend known as Dan Deacon stop by and gift us all with an incredible hour long mix. Get your head right and listen/download below."
Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 American dance film directed by John Badham and starring John Travoltaas Tony Manero, a young man whose weekends are spent visiting a local Brooklyn discotheque; Karen Lynn Gorney as Stephanie Mangano, his dance partner and eventual friend; and Donna Pescow as Annette, Tony's former dance partner and would-be girlfriend. While in the disco, Tony is the king. His care-free youth and weekend dancing help him to temporarily forget the reality of his life: a dead-end job, clashes with his unsupportive and squabbling parents, racial tensions in the local community, and his associations with a gang of macho friends.
A huge commercial success, the film significantly helped to popularize disco music around the world and made Travolta, already well known from his role on TV's Welcome Back, Kotter, a household name. TheSaturday Night Fever soundtrack, featuring disco songs by the Bee Gees, is one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time.[5] The film is the first example of cross-media marketing, with the tie-in soundtrack's single being used to help promote the film before its release and the film popularizing the entire soundtrack after its release. The film also showcased aspects of the music, the dancing, and the subculturesurrounding the disco era: symphony-orchestrated melodies; haute couture styles of clothing; pre-AIDSsexual promiscuity; and graceful choreography.
The story is based upon a 1976 New York magazine article by British writer Nik Cohn, "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night". In the mid-1990s, Cohn acknowledged that he fabricated the article.[6] A newcomer to the United States and a stranger to the disco lifestyle, Cohn was unable to make any sense of the subculture he had been assigned to write about; instead, the character who became Tony Manero was based on a Mod[7] acquaintance of Cohn's. In 2010, Saturday Night Fever was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthecially significant" by the Library of Congress and therefore preserved for all time in their National Film Registry.
Devendra Banhart is a singer, songwriter, performer, and visual artist. Josiah Steinbrick is a producer, composer, performer, and session musician.
The duo provide a gentle journey through a landscape speckled with fragrant melodies and rhythmic delights. Diverse grounds will be covered – from Library Music to Modal Tones and Avant Pop to Minimalist Composition. We invite you now to pluck these flowers of exotic, sonic magnetism and breathe deeply ever inward.
Francesco Del Garda is one of the happiest-looking DJs you're ever likely to see. Grinning while moving from turntable to mixer to record bag, it usually looks like he's having as much as anyone in the crowd. Beneath Del Garda's cheery demeanour, though, is a highly skilled selector with an impressive record collection. He's been honing his technique since the '90s, developing an on-point style that allows him to smoothly blend UK garage, '90s house, oddball techno and electro. Based in Italy, Del Garda is a key player in a loosely defined scene that also includes DJs like the Berlin-based Binh, Nicolas Lutz and the recently-profiled Onur Özer (you can occasionally catch them all playing at the same party). These DJs take as much pride in their rare finds as they do in their technique. Their style and attitude is obviously infectious: Del Garda and co. are currently among the busiest and best-loved DJs on the scene.
We get the real Francesco Del Garda experience on this week's podcast. The same bounce and warmth you hear in the Italian's club sets underlies the house, garage and electro, all of it deftly spliced together.
Bing & Ruth is a minimalist collective based in New York, led by composer and pianist David Moore.
Formed in the mid-2010s, the group has evolved through several changes of personnel and label, recently settling with hometown label RVNG Intl. for the release of 2014’s Tomorrow Was The Golden Age. Bing & Ruth’s highest profile record to date, Joe Muggs described it in FACT as a record that “hints towards life as being full of beauty rather than something to be endured … basically really very gorgeous indeed. One to stick on after a really, really good night and have flying dreams to.”
This year, Bing & Ruth followed Tomorrow Was The Golden Age with a remastered reissue of 2010’s City Lake(also through RVNG) and a tour for Moore’s ensemble which includes a show at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Perfect for December mornings, Bing & Ruth’s FACT mix features frosty sweeps of ambience, moonlit torch songs, oddball jazz and more. Dive in below.
Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong,[2] known as Dido (/ˈdaɪdoʊ/, born 25 December 1971), is a British singer and songwriter. Dido attained international success with her debut album No Angel(1999). It sold over 21 million copies worldwide,[3] and won several awards, including the MTV Europe Music Award for Best New Act, two NRJ Awards for Best New Act and Best Album, and two Brit Awards for Best British Female and Best Album. Her next album, Life for Rent (2003), continued her success with the hit singles "White Flag" and "Life for Rent".
Dido's first two albums are among the best-selling albums in UK Chart history, and both are in the top 10 best-selling albums of the 2000s in the UK.[4] Her third studio album, Safe Trip Home (2008), received critical acclaim but failed to duplicate the commercial success of her previous efforts.[5] She was nominated for anAcademy Award for the song "If I Rise".[6] Dido was ranked No. 98 on the Billboard chart of the top Billboard200 artists of the 2000s (2000–2009) based on the success of her albums in the first decade of the 21st century.[7] Dido made a comeback in 2013, releasing her fourth studio album Girl Who Got Away, which reached the Top 5 in the United Kingdom.
Jazzin' for Blue Jean is a 20-minute short film featuring David Bowie and directed by Julien Temple.[1] It was created to promote Bowie's single "Blue Jean" in 1984[2] and released as a video single. The film depicts the adventures of the socially incompetent Vic (played by Bowie) as he tries to win the affections of a beautiful girl by claiming to personally know her favourite rock star, Screaming Lord Byron (also played by Bowie). Rightfully disbelieving him, she challenges Vic to introduce her to him. They make a date for a Screaming Lord Byron show, where Vic attempts to sneak backstage to convince Mr. Screaming to come say hello to him and the girl after the show. Screaming does come to Vic's table after the show and says hello to him and the girl, but the girl and Screaming Lord Byron have already met (in Peru), and she leaves with the rock star instead of Vic. As they drive off, Bowie breaks the fourth wall and asks the director why the story changed from his concept.
The majority of the film's animation was completed through rotoscoping,[1] a process in which live actors are filmed and the subsequent footage is used for animators to draw over.[2]However, the film also uses a variety of other mixed media including water colors, computer graphics, live-action shots, and archival footage.[3]
