Back Catalog - Beats Antique, Rough Guide to China

Beats Antique

Tribal Derivations

Label: CIA (Copeland International Arts)
Released: 2007
Genre: Downtempo, Electroncia

Heavily influenced by various Arabian rhythms and beats, with a healthy dose of downtempo styling, and electronica overlaid across the whole thing. Beats Antique sounds like it might be some form of updated 'traditional' music. In a sense it is, but only so far as its influences go back to "old world" rhythms, without actually borrowing from any specific tradition or songs.

Two guys playing music, and a belly dancer (which doesn't do much to the CD listener except provide cover art). Beats Antique is likely best done live. While I love the CD, I can't help but feel the live show is so much more. Still, I like the downtempo beats, mixed with uptempo elements to keep it moving along. I really like how it fits into the background of whatever I'm doing, it doesn't disappear (as so many downtempo/ambient works do), nor does it intrude (the lack of vocals helps greatly). It sits in that perfect middle ground of filling the room without taking over or being easily ignored.

The Rough Guide To The Music Of China

(Bonus CD) Introducing Hanggai

Label: World Music Network
Released: 2012
Genre: Traditional Chinese, Pop, Rock, Modern

With these Rough Guides most of the time you know pretty much what you're going to get. The compilation itself it usually full of traditional, or slightly modernized, music of the region being outlined. Sometimes what you get are a collection of bands local to the region, but not always playing music traditionally from that area. Like with China - while it contains a large portion of music traditional to various parts of China, which is large with a lot of variation to go over. It also contains so very modern bands that simply happen to be from China. Which is cool, because it's nice to hear other countries takes on something as 'simple' as Rock Music.

The Bonus CD is a re-issue of Hanggai's first international (and possibly debut) release. Hanggai incorporate both Mongolian and Chinese traditions. The singing is almost completely (or maybe completely) in Mongolian, along with some songs using Mongolian Throat Singing, and Chinese musics. When I first started listening I had to check because for a moment I thought I was listening to Irish Celtic music. It's that strangely similar. And it's very good. They have since put out some other titles on a different label that I'll be tracking down.

New Releases - Diana Krall, Nelly Furtado, Pneuma compilation

 

Diana Krall

Glad Rag Doll

Label: Verve Records

Released: 10/2 2012

Genre: Jazz

I've known of Diana Krall for a long time now, one of those artists that pops up every now and then and I think "wow, I love her voice, I should get some albums." But jazz of any style rarely makes it into my collection, which is something I can't explain since I love the genre. But, here it is, finally I picked up this album.

Her voice is made of silk, it's just smooth and soft, without losing any power at all. A great lounge style voice and some soft (though not easy listening soft) and lighter jazz. The album also punctuates itself with some torch-and-twang in the middle. A definite country feel to break up the jazz tunes. It works well, you can tell she had a lot of fun making the album. And her voice, did I mention her voice? Just amazing.

 

Nelly Furtado

The Spirit Indestructible

Label: Interscope Records
Released: 9/18 2012
Genre: Pop

While I only own Nelly's debut album, she's another artist that falls on and off my radar as I listen around. In this day and age her brand of softer, less dance-floor, influenced pop music gets drowned in the more boisterous artists. Another artist with an amazingly smooth voice, though in a different way that Diana.

This album bounces back and forth between a kind of smart-pop style and a slightly more bouncy radio-pop style (though never thankfully gets near the EDM-influenced dance-pop ala Lady Gaga). I ended up with the Deluxe version of the album, which adds six extra songs. Five tracks not on the normal release, and one remix of one of those tracks. Here's where the review gets weird.

The first 12 tracks (the standard release) for a great, tight, sensible album of smart pop music with just the right amount of bounce and serious, love songs. The 6 bonus tracks by themselves are good songs, and I'm never one to turn down more music. But as a whole, all 18 tracks  together create an overly long album that drags out, I started to not like the back third after a few listens all the way through. If you're a big Nelly fan, get the deluxe release, the bonus tracks are excellent and worth it. If you're a passing fan, or just getting into her and aren't sure, get the standard release and keep it short and sweet.

Pneuma

Label: none (http://pneuma.bandcamp.com/album/pneuma)
Released: 9/30 2012
Genre: Ambient, Industrial, EDM

This compilation was put together to raise funds for Lung Cancer research (hence the name). 22 songs of exclusive donated material by the bands for the release. That means if you follow any of the bands on here as a "hard core" fan, you'll probably pick this up. Beyond the good that it does for research into the disease.

The music itself, is almost all completely in a 'dark' ambient range. A lot of the bands on the release are known for a harsh industrial/EBM style, and some are known for other genres than what predominates this, but all are well versed in the electronica/EDM zone of music. The result is that everything fits, unlike a lot of fundraiser compilations which musically come across as haphazard as the bands they got to donate a song.

Getting 22 donated songs is hard enough, getting all of them to fit well together, and the creators managed to get the album to flow well too, is another matter. So, just from a perspective of adding some good music to your collection, and being able to play the album all the way through, this is a pretty solid compilation.

New Releases 9/25 - Deadmau5, Steve Harris, Murder By Death

Deadmau5

> Album Title Goes Here <

Label: Mousetrap Records / Ultra Records (US distro)
Released: 9/25 2012
Genre: House

The last Deadmau5 album I got did not impress me, but it was also mostly remixes. This is all brand new material and he seems to be pretty big in the EDM scene - and not producing dubstep, which seems to be some kind of feat these days. So... what do I think about this?

It's house music. Even when he manages to slide in some fuzzy bass and wobbles it (to give it that dubstep asthetic) it's house music. Because fuzzy wobbly *wubwubwub* is not dubstep, this sticks firmly to 4/4 dance beat timing. Which means, overall, I can't call it bad. Because there are very few house and rave-style dance albums I don't like. Something about them is all so very catchy.

But there are parts that drive me a little mad. Especially when I sit down to Listen to this. There are several 7 and 8 minute tracks, and less than half hover around 4 minutes - which tends to lose me. I'm definitely of the 3-4 minute/40 minute album preferences. My punk roots showing, I imagine. After 7 minutes (much less 8) of repetitive beats, with few drops, change ups or breaks, my eyes roll into the back of my head. It's like EDM DJs still just want to fill up the entire CD - and at nearly 1 hour and 20 minutes this album uses every last centimeter with music.

But! if you just put it on and don't Listen so much as let it wash through the room, it's not bad. Catchy, bouncy, and I find myself stopping every now and then to bop along for a few minutes before tuning it back out and into background music. It almost makes you miss the 90s.

Steve Harris

British Lion

Released: 9/25 2012
Genre: Hard Rock, Metal

I am a big Iron Maiden fan, have been for a few decades now (even through the Blaze years). When I heard Steve Harris was putting out a solo album I had to read the news twice. Steve hasn't, since founding Iron Maiden, done anything of note outside the band. Anything at all. I'm not even sure he put in a guest appearance on his daughters debut album. He's been the backbone, and primary writing force behind Maiden from Day 1.

So, what's this then? It's kind of generic Hard Rock. He gathered together a bunch of mates, went into the studio, and put down some pretty good rock music. Thing is, it still sound a little bit like he's writing for Iron Maiden. And this group (while full of seasoned and talented musicians) is not Iron Maiden. So, it comes off like a knock-off group, which is a little ironic.

It's not bad, I mean this is pretty good rock music. But it is weighted down by the name behind it. If you have no idea who Steve Harris is, then you'll probably like this for the British Metal sound alone - if you like that kind of thing. The solo effort just failed to grab me in any significant way. I'll probably revisit this in the future someday and come to like it a lot though.

Murder By Death

Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon

Label: Tentshow Records / Bloodshot Records
Released: 9/25 2012
Genre: Rock, Country

After that bout of mediocrity we move onto a band I just discovered. Their first album (reviewed recently) did not impress me much. I was expecting more generic indierock kind of music.

Holy shit was I wrong. This is a kind of subtle, slow, country-styled, rock that really gets into the skin. Equal parts Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and Richard Thompson - while being None Of Them hums deep down inside. They have found the kind of dark-americana that resonates.

Seriously, this album is dark, light, slow, fast, deep, and rumbles through the songs like a train in the middle of the night.

OK, enough with the metaphors. It's good music. Really good music. Country and Rock rhythms trade places across the album, nothing truly innovative is done, but what they do is just put together so well it doesn't need to cover new ground. I really really recommend this to, well, everyone. This is the winner for Buy That! this week.

Sunday Morning Blues - Little Axe (Hard Grind)

Little Axe

Hard Grind

Label: Fat Possum Records / Epitaph
Released: 2002
Genre: Blues, Electric Blues


This is the fourth solo album under the name Little Axe that Bernard Alexander (or Skip McDonald as he's known now) has made. Freely mixing in some electronic elements (dub, house-style samples) with a slow electric blues style, which is part of his trademark sound by this point. It'd been six years since his last solo album, and he comes out relaxed and ready to play.

This is slow, easy going, laced heavily with harmonica, most of the rest of the backing band is kept very low key, in the background behind the guitar and vocals. It is a slow, relaxed collection of electric blues and even some gospel blues. The instruments take full stage, with several songs that either have no lyrics, or voices samples instead of lyrics. It's different from a lot of blues you can find out there.

The opening track is a verion of Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground - whose original vocals were a hummed tune to begin with. This one places a sample over the guitar instead, though dropped way down I have trouble making them out. The fastest the album gets is a few mid-tempo pieces in the middle called Midnight Dream and Long Way To Go. Both of which are songs that made it onto some compilations later on and are the heaviest in electronica elements.

This is, when listened to in full, an excellent collection to sit back and chill out to. It's relaxed and easy going in a way only the blues can be. A superb piece of work.

Week Of 1/17 - J-pop/Trance, Brazilian Techno, Dubstep, Psychobilly

This week is a bunch of various electronica styles, and some Psychobilly.

New Releases:
Buck Satan And The 666 Shooters - Bikers Welcome Ladies Drink Free
Label: 13th Planet / Soulfoud
Released: 1/20 2012
Genre: Psychobilly
Al Jourgensen takes a break from industrial-rock songs about drugs to release an album of psychobilly songs about drugs. I didn't see Hank III in the credits anywhere, but it sounds like he should be on here. It's fast country beats with punk rock noise on top of it. A pretty good album, nice and quick. None of the songs linger around for too long, like proper punk infused anything. The country is fast, and full of fiddle and the occasional banjo, plus plenty of guitar and screaming vocals. Hopefully we see some more from Buck Satan in the future, as it's pretty good stuff - especially if you like your psychobilly with lots of country and your coutnry way too fast.
Adding To The Collection:
Rusko - O.M.G.!
Label: Mad Decent
Released: 2010
Genre: Dubstep
Reaching back just a little bit, right before dubstep exploded, is this album. It's got all the standard beats, drops, and wubs. Coupled with a few singers and several MCs, gives the tracks some depth beyond just trying to be dance-club only cuts. The album isn't a grouping of singles, but it's not quite the same as some of the 90s DJ mixes with nearly perfect flow between tracks. It's good, it's bouncy. You can pick out the evolution from the earlier stuff in the early 00s to the sound that caught mainstream success in the last year or so. All the really good tracks feature a vocalist, all the really basic, but decent, tracks are instrumental. As a producer Rusko has a good ear, but he really shines with vocals in the mix.

The Rough Guide To Brazilian Electronica
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2003
Genre: various electronica
This one pulls from various electronic styles from the 90s in an almost haphazard way. You can tell that house music was really just starting to pick up in Brazil a little before this was compiled. There's Chicago, Big Beay, Ambient, and all kinds of ideas mixed in with the more traditional, and pop, music of Brazil. And some of it is amazing. All of this is pure experimentation, there's no concept of genre limitation involved. The only possible reason these artists didn't make it bigger in the US and Europe had to be because they came to the party a little too late. A lot of it is relaxed, not so frantic, lots of samba bossa nova in mixed in. This made itself one of my favorite Rough Guides so far, everything here wants to be danced to.

Song + Nation 2 Trance
Label: Avex
Released: 2002
Genre: J-Pop / Trance
This is the second volume of Song + Nation, a collection of J-Pop megastars. This volume remixes all of it with trance/rave style. The two genres mix extremely well, as they aren't musically too far apart. But it's also a little boring, there's no real creativity in any of this. Aside from the mega-stars vocal presence the music is very recycled, so much so I can pick out the over-used samples. Fun if you needed some more trance, especially with Japanese vocals on it, but otherwise, stick with the first volume only.

Next Week - several new releases caught my attention, so many I had to actually narrow down my choices before I broke my budget too badly. And some other older stuff pulled off the shelf. Listen Hard!

N.A.S.A. - The Spirit Of Apollo

Released: Early 2009
Availability: stores, online, easily found.
Label: Spectrophonic Sound/Anti- (independent labels)

N.A.S.A. - North America South America - is two DJs (Squeak E. Clean ad DJ Zegon) and an idea. The idea was to collect as many different people as possible, and start recording music. Certainly not a new idea, I have a number of collaboration albums in my collection. This one is only slightly different - the collaboration in question wasn't primarily the DJs and Another Artist. It was Two Different Artists, that the DJs mixed together. The genre is primarily Hip Hop - as are the majority of the artists (Kanye West, KRS-One, Kool Keith, RZA, and others) but a few aren't (Tom Waits, George Clinton, Lykke Li). The albums swerves through Hip Hop, Funk, Samba, and Drum & Bass like a slalom course. For the most part it stays pretty on target with Hip Hop as the MC is the primary song style here - almost no traditional vocal singing is done, mostly rap.

But the genius is sometimes in the pairings, the way various parts of put together. And that a few new artists popped up onto my radar as they didn't stick exclusively with the Popular/Known Ones.

They didn't stop at the artists, they even commissioned five different artists for five (six if you count the booklet with lyrics) album covers. And thankfully did not commit the grievous sin of five different releases - all five pieces of art work are included on cards so you could switch the one you like best to the top of the jewel case (I scanned my favorite into iTunes and left them in order when putting it on the CDs shelves to look pretty). Each card - on the back - covers the artists who contributed to each song - which is the kind of thing I really look for in a booklet and why I avoid digital downloads if possible that don't include one.

Intro - This is not a song, it's not even really an introduction. It's a mission statement. I can imagine that they asked each artist to read the statement, and then hacked it apart and put it back together so it sounds like everyone said a word or two in sequence. Onto the music.

The People Tree - David Byrne (Talking Heads), Chali 2na (Jurassic Five, Ozomatli), Gift Of Gab (Blackalicious), DJ Z-Trip (Turntablist). The track is a mix between a smooth beat and a Top-40/Pop-Rock track. Chali and Gift Of Gab trade verses while David provides the chorus.

Money - David Byrne, Chuck D (Public Enemy), Ras Congo (I don't know - I need info!), Seu Jorge (Brazilian Samba artist), DJ Z-Trip. Combining David Byrne and Chuck D is an interesting mix here, especially when you pull in the Reggae (Ras Congo) and Samba (Seu Jorge) elements. It mixes well, the Reggae elements take over musically even as David brings a lighter elements and Chuck D a heavier one. The song it self is about the evils of money. . . I just like the beat.

N.A.S.A Music - Method Man (Wu-Tang Clan, among other acts), E-40 (rapper), DJ Swamp (turntablist). Pretty much straight up Hip Hop as Method Man and E-40 trade off while DJ Swamp provides a very danceable beat.

Way Down - RZA (Wu-Tang Clan, plus others), Barbie Hatch (unsigned singer), John Fruciante (Red Hot Chile Peppers). Now the collaborations are starting to flex some muscle. The ethereal lyrics of Barbie and RZA's rapping mix together with John's guitar bringing an extra layer to the backing electronica. The song is about a girl who falls in love with the devil. Musically it starts to show what the project is about - meshing wildly diverse elements.

Hip Hop - KRS-One (hip hop artist), Fatlip and Slim Kid Tre (The Pharcyde). Another purely hip-hop track, as the name says. KRS-One brings a lyrical smoothness rarely seen, but the song itself isn't very diverse. Almost a step backwards from the previous tracks raising of the bar.

Four Rooms, Earth View - Squeak E Clean & DJ Zegon, a short piece playing a recording from somewhere... nothing really interesting and I think maybe it could have been left out.

Strange Enough - Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Ol' Dirty Bastard (Wu-Tang Clan; posthumously), Fatlip. Ol' Dirty Bastard makes an appearance from old recordings opposite Fatlip as they switch back, Karen O provides a switch as she changes the tempo with the chorus considerably, and the whole attitude of the track. Another flexing of mixing muscles here.

Spacious Thoughts - Kool Keith (rapper), Tom Waits (singer). If there is a musical equivalent of a nuclear weapon this is it right here. None of the lyrics make much sense as Keith and Tom move back and forth, but there's an inevitable landscape created, something dark, urban, bright, and loud. Keith's very smooth style with Tom's very rough singing does exactly everything this album set out to do in my opinion - bring widely opposite styles into synch. These two need to be unleashed to record an entire album together, the song is gorgeous. I had the chorus stuck in my head for days.

Gifted - Kanye West (rapper), Santogold (rapper), Lykke Li (singer). While Kanye and Santogold are both rappers, their styles are both opposing and complimentary. His lyrics are nearly as smooth compared to her almost sung verse. Lykke provides one hell of a chorus and its too bad she didn't contribute a third verse to pull this song further apart and knit it closer together. The song is beautifully listenable, warm and upbeat.

A Volta - Sizzla (reggae artist), Amanda Blank (singer/rapper), Lovefoxxx (singer of Brazlian group Cansei de Ser Sexy). Again, the album finds the right groove of mixing styles, a smooth Reggae beat swings along while the versus move at a much faster pace than the beat would lead on. Again, I think they missed just off the mark by not giving Lovefoxxx a third verse, only a chorus appearance. Still, this track belongs on a dance floor.

There's A Party - George Clinton (funk), Chali 2na. George Clinton (everyone in his band really) leads a classic funk track here, Chali brings in a hip hop element that crosses and bridges the genres cleanly. It's a slower track, just the slow side of a dance floor track. A light hearted element on the album, complete with group clap along section.

Wachadoin? - Spank Rock (rapper), M.I.A. (rapper), Santogold, Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs). This is a bit of foot-stomper track, M.I.A. leads with her typical staccato beat, while Spank Rock provides a more classic rap. Nick's minimal guitar in the background prevents the track from falling into only drums and beats.

O Pato - Kool Kojak (DJ, producer), DJ Babao (turntablist). A swinging little samba number, with a lot of samples. The whole thing sounds a bit silly, but it's a really smooth dance track behind it all. Even with the weird pornographic Donald Duck imitation on it. . .

Samba Soul - Del Tha Funkee Homosapien (MC), DJ QBert (turntablist). Two powerhouses in the hip hop world put together a pretty standard track here, not quite as samba as the previous track (despite the name), though Del by far has the most verbose style of rap on the record. Always a good listen, while not really opposing musical styles, it's good to put these two together and see what happens.

The Mayor - The Cool Kids (hip hop duo), Ghostface Killa (Wu-Tang Clan, among others), Scarface (rapper), DJ AM (DJ). The last mix on the album here is another pretty straight forward hip hop track, nothing spectacular here in all honestly. There's talent here for sure, it just isn't a mix of opposing styles like some of the songs preceding it.

N.A.S.A. Anthem - The album closes out with the same kind of mash up as the intro provided. Though instead of cutting up everyone's contributions the artists here (and it's not quite everyone) harmonize a single long verse on repeat. It's a very happy together type verse.

then there's a lot of minutes of silence where I curse the entire concept of hidden tracks where there's no real information provided and be thankful I live in the Internet Age where I can find this information out so I don't have to spend days wondering. . . .

Electric Flowers (hidden track!) - Nina Persson (The Cardigans), RZA. The only saving grace to this as a hidden track is that is saves the album from ending on the pap of the "NASA Anthem" thing (which, while nice, is a crap 'song'). It allows the album to go out with a mellow, upbeat, track that juxtaposes RZA's rapping against Nina's smoothly sung chorus.

All in all - the experiment of bringing together these artists (from mega-stars to nearly unheard-ofs) is a success. It doesn't come off as Artist + Guest like so many of these do, but a series of collaborations. Some of which would never have happened were it not for NASA. Overall - the album is more than worth adding to a collection.