You know how a song grows on you? How it subtly creeps into your brain and then takes up permanent residence? Well here's one that is now an official citizen of my head: Without You, by Junip...
This song starts so deceptively simply with a percussive guitar riff and not much else, but as it continues, it builds in layers and complexity, lead by dreamy and almost fragile vocals by Jose Gonzales. It reaches a wonderful crescendo with synthesizers adding volume and an other-worldliness to the sound.
This is a fantastic live version, more than matching up to the actual cut on Junip's album, Fields, which we highly recommend you should give a listen to...
No matter what your opinion of the man, Jay-Z has staked a claim in the modern music industry. A rapper who has crossed musical borders, broken through genres, and instigated some really inspired collaborations.
He's on top of the world, and underlined his domination by performing live in one of the planet's most prestigious concert venues...
Just a decade or so ago, who would have thought that a rapper would be selling out the former home of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. It certainly is a sign of the times.
There are many highlights in the March 2012 concert, with Jay-Z backed up not just by his band and DJs, but an entire orchestra as well. (Most ironic of all, the track "U Don't Know", a rap about selling cocaine - performed in this most hallowed of establishments!)
In this clip, Jay-Z opens the entire show with all guns blazing; Public Service Announcement:
Radiohead never fail to amaze... With such a wide repertoire of sounds and instrumentation, they're a band that persistently keep their listeners on the edges of their seats, wondering what they'll come up with next...
I have personally been wallowing in the blissful depths of their latest "King of Limbs", for the past year or so. It's a rare thing to say, but almost every track on the album works for me.
Every song has its strength, and the lyrics range in typical fashion from joyful incoherence, to angry politics, to poetic metaphors, and emotionally charged offerings of frustration, rage, love and depression.
And there's even a little humor thrown in...
Thom Yorke's vocals are at their best and the band play in perfect unison. You just have to check out their "From the Basement" performance on YouTube to see how much they love what they're doing right now. A band truly at the top of their game.
So it was with even greater surprise that I recently explored Radiohead's extensive back catalogue of work, and re-acquainted myself with some real gems. Even in their early days (Radiohead have been around for 27 years and recorded eight albums) the band were undertaking devious musical experimentation and writing wonderfully subversive, sarcastic lyrics. And after all that time, even their earliest work sounds fresh and new.
Just check out this jewel of a song from their 2001 album, Amnesiac. Cunningly disguised as a smoky, blues-laden closing-time lament, this call-to-arms, itching-for-a-fight song builds into a rock-anthem crescendo, in characteristic Radiohead irony. "You and Who's Army?" Love it.
Indeed, at the risk of quoting our current favourite celluloid robot, David from Prometheus - "Big things have small beginnings..."
This will definitely not be the last time we'll be talking about Radiohead at LXG!
There is no-one that quite compares with Tricky. Originating in the incredibly diverse, beats-orientated Bristol scene of the 1990's, Tricky was instrumental in shaping the sound and vision of seminal trip-hoppers, Massive Attack...
But he soon veered away onto his own solo journey through the realms of trip-hop, rap, electronica, punk, and even heavy metal - mashing it all up into a unique catalogue of tracks that feature his distinct, spliff-laden growl, partnered with the angelic tones of his once partner-in-crime, Marina Topley Bird.
He has undertaken some incredible collaborations with artists from all sorts of different music genres - and has always been respected for doing things his own way, without ever comprising for commercial success.
Here is the Man in epic action with Ed Kowalczyk (of Live), and rapper Hawkman:
The beauty of Electronica is
simply that its an ever-evolving genre of music - so there's always
something new; always some musical boundary being crossed...
From the early pioneering days of Kraftwerk, the synthesizer
drove dance music into a place where no-one else had ever gone.
Everything you could possibly create on a live physical instrument was
now available at the touch of a synthesizer key or pad. The new kids
went mad and experimented with beats and samples and loops, and in the
Eighties and Nineties, Depeche Mode brought Electronica into the mainstream - and many of us would never be the same again.
This continuing evolution produced House, Ambient, and Trip Hop. The sounds of Massive Attack invaded our brains and found permanent residence in the darker recesses of our minds.
And now in the early days of the new millennium, it's been the dawn of Dubstep. And today, Magnetic Man epitomizes the genre...
Here the collective of 3 DJs are at the top of their game, in collaboration with John Legend.
A loop station, effects pedals and a microphone - put 'em all together and you get DUB FX, the next generation DJ from outta Australia, who's been taking Cyberspace by storm.
Developing his own innovative sound and emulating well-known dance genres. Dub FX has collaborated with various rappers and musicians thar has now taken him on a musical odyssey around the world.
Recently touring India and Sri Lanka, he's also added some eastern flavour to his music.
Even in promoting his work, Dub FX is completely independent, using only: live performance, word of mouth, internet social networking and a number of easily accessible free music samples.
Musical proteges... Don't you just hate them? Mere mortals like us spend weeks just trying to master the chords to "(your choice of anthemic rock tune to impress friends with)" - and then along comes some early twenty-something genius who composes an entire album in the same amount of time.
Jack Steadman is the frontman of UK popsters, the Bombay Bicycle Club - who, in just a few short years conquered Europe and have now set their sights on the rest of the world.
How to describe their music... Indie Rock? Pop? Folksy? Well yes, all of them actually, and a little bit of Dance thrown into the mix as well. They are hard to categorize, and that's what makes them so interesting in a time of otherwise Tried and Tested, Copycat, Formulaic music...
But young Mr. Steadman (the rascal is just 22 years old) obviously has an Electronica itch that he has felt compelled to scratch - resulting in a string of solo tracks that just ooze ambient synth-pop sensibilities.
When a musician experiments outside of their comfort zone and takes their sound into new territories, either something magical happens, or it falls flat on its face. Thom Yorke of Radiohead did it wonderfully with his solo album, The Eraser - which had echoes of classic Radiohead atmospheres, with the added fragility of Yorke's stripped down electronica and bittersweet lyricism. Highly recommended by the way...
But with his solo efforts (album yet to be released), Jack Steadman seems to have jumped head-first into the realms of trip-hop, ambient dance and it quite honestly seems to have been an effortless transition. His rhythms, beats, samples and loops all gel to create a unique but instantly recognizable sound.
And for those closet human beatboxes in all of us (come on, own up) its almost impossible not to bust out a kick drum beat to some of his tunes... Check out "Mong Kok":
When you listen to BBC's latest singles there is a definite electronic edge to their sound, so perhaps Steadman's influence is gradually steering them in that direction...
Meanwhile we wait with interest to see what the man himself will come up with next... If this is what he's producing in his twenties, God only knows how he'll be sounding in his thirties...
Sounds definitely worth adding to a Gentleman's playlist.
It is with a heavy heart that I convey this sad news, even though our LXG blog is but a few days old…
Hip-hop pioneers and all-round funky dudes The Beastie Boys lost one of their members last month. Adam Yauch died at the age of 47. Also known as MCA, he had been in treatment for cancer since 2009.
The Beastie Boys have been looked up to, for always maintaining artistic control producing their unique sound and rhymes – while still being represented by a major record label. They also organized the Tibetan Freedom Concerts. Yauch was instrumental in the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in 1996, which drew 100,000 people – the largest U.S. benefit concert since 1985's Live Aid.
Yauch also directed many of the Beastie Boys' music videos under the pseudonym Nathaniel Hornblower. In 2002, he launched the film production company Oscilloscope Laboratories. As a filmmaker, he directed the 2006 Beastie Boys concert film Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!, and his production company released the acclaimed Banksy movie Exit Through the Gift Shop.
Super-talented and multi-disciplinary, Adam was apparently a mellow and smart dude – and conducted himself with dignity in dealing with his illness – right to the end.
Rest in Peace, MCA.
Here they are in happier times aided by some familiar celebrity wannabees –
The Beastie Boys in full effect in Fight for Your Right (Revisited):
Greetings LXGers, its the man they call Breaker Red - I am the overseer of music here at the League, and it is my duty to bring you the best in the smoothest tunes around.
Ambient, Pop, Trip Hop, Hip Hop, Electronica, Dance, Folk, Punk, World, Metal - it's all good. The Rhythm, the beats, the lyrics, the chords - an appreciation of music means all of the above, and I intend to move beyond the commercial charts and delve deeper into the world of music that exists beyond our familiar frequencies.
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