Week Of 8/2 - Dubstep, Raï, Industrial, Jazz, & Iran

Short trip around the world this week. From Algeria by way of France I have Rachid Taha, adding some rock to the native Raï music of North Africa. Also from france, the jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, SoCal delivers the dubstep monster of Bassnectar, and the Industrial beats of Imperative Reaction. And finally a compilation of musicians from Iran - both new and old.

New Release:
Bassnector - Divergent Spectrum
Label: Amorphous Music
Released: 8/2 2011
Genre: Dubstep
Normally Bassnector is good for solid back to back beats and bass, Divergent Spectrum fuzzes it up a little. The opening track is pretty classic, put it on a big system and it'll bounce the floor around. It's by track 3 that things shift, Immigraniada (Gogol Bordello) comes on almost completely unmolested, until the break hits, then you get a few seconds of deep bass. After that a few tracks really add some fuzz to the beat, sounding almost like guitars. And finally around track 8 (through the end) the floor is finally dropped out and all that wonderful heavy bass and drum and rhythm crushes the dancefloor. As the liner notes say: the bigger the system you play this on the better the impact.

Adding To The Collection:
Inperative Reaction - Surface
Label: Metropolis
Released: 2011
Genre: Industrial
This is just a short EP to precede their upcoming full release. They're pretty straight up industrial-rock, if you liked early Orgy, and the like, you'll be into this group. There's a 'club edit' of What Is Left To Say which is, well, clubby. After that you've got a whole wide variety of remixes of the title track. Six of them. Some better than others, some only work if you're in the right mood. Sebastian Komor kicks out the best mix of the group - heavy and hard. Not much else to say about an 8 track EP.

Django Reinhardt - The Best Of
Label: Blue Note
Released: 1996
Genre: Jazz, Jazz guitar
Django, born in a gypsy caravan, ended up redefining and inventing all new elements of jazz through his guitar. If you don't know him, and aren't a jazz fan... go become one and then buy this album. The compilation does a pretty good job covering his entire career, short as it was. The recordings are clean and clear as well. Eighteen tracks of some really good, mellow, jazz guitar.

Rachid Taha - Rock El Casbah
Label: Wrasse Records
Released: 2007
Genre: Rock, Raï
Before we get started - Raï is a style of pop music predominant in Algeria and other areas of North Africa. Rachid was born in Algeria, and is living in France where he added even more of a rock element to his native style. Another best of collection, this covers his career through most of the 90s and a bit of the 2000s. Including an Algerian cover of The Clash's "Rock The Casbah" - and it rocks. It's all definitely radio-friendly rock and club-friendly rhythms (though nothing with the big bass of House is here).

Rough Guide To The Music Of Iran
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2006
Genre: native Iran (rock, traditional folk, and pop)
Another Rough Guide, another comprehensive look at a country in the world. Everything here has a very traditional feel to it, even the very obviously modern songs with outside influence. This isn't "music by Persians" it's local music in both traditional and modern settings. Like any Rough Guide, it's a perfect entry into a region of the world to find some new artists.

Bonus Track:
M.I.A. - 27
Label: Strerogum
Released: 7/24 2011
Genre: Pop
M.I.A. put this out the day after Amy Winehouse passed away, hence the title. A little pop-track as only M.I.A. could put out (meaning, heavy doses of dancehall and house). A sad and almost angry song about losing talent too soon, it's obvious this is not specifically aimed at Winehouse, but at the loss in general. It's also short, and to the point, a couple verses and end. M.I.A. doesn't harp, almost like a musical PSA. Available free as well.

And that's the new tunes I've been listening to over the past week. This upcoming week includes bunches of House, and Gothic Rock, and some really really new stuff - as in totally new genre of music. Listen Hard.