popround / free mixtape collective » experimental

Beyond the fjord

yari — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:47:18 +0000

This was fun – I went on a little mission to find out what’s been going on in Norway, and found heaps of really interesting stuff. In particular there’s Gisle Martens Meyer, a kind of… musical David Lynch? On this compilation he’s behind Ugress, Shadow of the beat, Pixxel Tyger and Spokelsekladden. And these are just some of his projects. Highly recommended, as is Ralph Myerz’s album Ralphorama! Most of these are available on Spotify if you want to check them out further.

Kjempeflott, as my Norwegian colleagues would say.

Tunes:

Intro – Ralph Myerz
Juliuss – Bermuda Triangle
Innerthieves – Shadow of the beat
Dead eyes – Pixxel Tyger
Cthulhu’s night out – Ugress
Kalaallit nunaat daquiri – Shadow of the beat
Heatwave (summersong) feat. Caro – Ralph Myerz
It was a great year (movies with robots) – Ugress
The dancer – Ralph Myerz
Hatten Passer – Bjorn Torske
In transit – Bermuda Triangle
Kapteinens skjegg – Bjorn Torske
Kommisär kontemporär – Ugress
Kyoto 02 AM – Shadow of the beat
Evil jeans – Ugress
My darling feat. Christine Sandtorv – Ralph Myerz
Manhattan sapphire – Ugress
Fembussen hjem – Bjorn Torske
Follow up – Spokelsekladden
Amz 1974 – Ugress

Jesus Christ, Har Mar Superstar

harry covert — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:00:19 +0000

I’ve had this category called ‘all over the place’ on this blog for a while… finally I’ve found the perfect subject matter. Last night at Benders for the opening of Noisepop, our man Har Mar was not just ‘all over the place’, but quite simply all in our face (one of our friends narrowly missed a teabagging). This indie court jester/rock hobbit has a stage act nonpareil.

To be honest, I’ve sampled his recorded music before and have never been that enthused. For the same reason I’ve passed up tickets to his show in the past. But the music really isn’t the point. It’s a prop along with the spandex cloak, the African tunic and, erm, his underpants. Not one to blush at pretentious ideas like artistic integrity, there’s even a spell of ‘yelling at the soundman’ drama, where HMS makes it clear the music player dishing out the backing track (including vocals from the likes of Beth Ditto and Karen O) is his fourth band member. The other two floppy-haired fellas being a bassist and drummer, both play it relatively straight as Har Mar pounces and preens through his dance/funk R&B, undressing at will.

Finally, the crowd has what it wants – HMS sporting little more than the garb that brought him into the world. And there, within his ‘barefaced cheek’ lies the crux of my enjoyment: Har Mar exults and adores us humans at our basest, most sordid, most ironic. Like a 40-year old accountant fantasizing about winning gold at the 100 meter sprint and getting it on with a supermodel. Har Mar just brings this fantasy to the stage as an urban yank version of the laughing Buddha. One that gets the last laugh.

More on Har Mar Superstar

A selection of hits from the sleek Har Mar Superstar website (I guess we’re still awaiting his release of a clothing line):

Surprisingly downbeat whilst being interviewed in a launderette:

Dirty Laundry Presents: Har Mar Superstar from Dirty Laundry on Vimeo.

You’ll find a collection of his ‘works’ on YouTube and he’s not too prouo to Tweet.

Best of the blogs for 2009

kiterae — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:00:01 +0000

Here it is – getting on the 2009 teary nostalgia tip like a bunch of other Poprounders (thug wife, doc and yari, who covered the whole noughties).

Most of these tracks have been hacked off the blogs I monitor. Definitely veering on the side of taught electronic production, and me like all the other bloggers is a sucker for the crafty remix so there’s more than a few featured here.

Chelonis R Jones – Rehabilitation (Excerpt)
Kleerup – Until We Bleed (With Lykke Li)
Can you feel it – Barack Obama mix
Vancouver – Felix Cartal
I Remember (Caspa Remix) – Deadmau5
Mr Oizo – Gay Dentists
M.I.A. – Death to the throne
WTF (DJ Wool remix) – Tittsworth
Bot (Original Mix) – Deadmau5
Black Music (One Kitten vs Chris T-T Remix) – Chris T-T
Jack got Macked – Julio Bashmore
Tanya Stephens – “It’s a Pity” (Lulu Rouge Bootleg)
Bigmouth Strikes Again (David Starfire remix) – The Smiths

If you’re interested in more like this, check out this listing of mp3 downloads from time to time.

What’s in store for 2010? Looks like dubstep is fragmenting yet still enjoying a share of the hype/limelight. Personally, can’t wait to get to SXSW in Austin!

Long faded shine of summer

kiterae — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:15:47 +0000

So, this mix started some months back under the glow of an Indian summer. Finally it sees the light of day – just in time for what these Americans call The Holidays.

I’ve been digging back into the past with wisps of drum and bass and old skool trance (303 workouts), mixed up with some new found numbers culled from the wonderful blogosphere. Enjoy…

Tracklisting

Kadebostan – Spirit Soldiers
Sweet Surrender (Roni Size Mix V2) – Sarah McLachlan
Warhead – DJ Krust
Life In Minds – Life On Mars
Kings Of Spain – Agent Purple
When I Grow Up (Bassnectar Remix) – Fever Ray
Sisters, I Don’t Know What This World Is Coming To – Terre Thaemlitz
Psylodub – Transequence
Katouka – Tony Hunt
Reptil – Synesthasia
Vancouver – Felix Cartal
Cicada (Pedro De La Faydro Birth Mix) – Justin Martin
Fucking Boyfriend [Peaches Remix] – The Bird And The Bee
Tira’s boot – DJ Tira
Bot (Original Mix) – Deadmau5
Tom’s Diner (Bingo Players Bootleg) – Suzanne Vega
Wighnomy Bros. – Lampatee (Nick Curly Remix)
IC19 (Deathface Remix) – Buraka Som Sistema
Water From A Vine Leaf – William Orbit

Northern Lights XVIII

yari — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:18:41 +0000

Imagine a sufi version of Animal Collective’s ‘My girls’, sung by Victoria Bergsman (previously the singer of the Concretes and the female voice on Peter Bjorn & John’s ‘Young folks’) – how amazing would that be?!

This is exactly what Victoria did – she went to Pakistan, found a group of sufi musicians and recorded not just ‘My girls’ (‘My boys’ in their version) but a whole album of cool stuff.

Northern Lights number 18 is on the whole a very low-key affair – something for those long autumn nights perhaps…

I had to include Pugh Rogefeldt’s ‘Love love love’, having learnt that DJ Shadow sampled it on his Endtroducing album. And the Andreas Tilliander version of ‘Millions’ is, allegedly, the first ever Bear Quartet remix.

Enough said. Full track listing:

Millions (Andreas Tilliander version) – The Bear Quartet
Naimamelodin – Hans Appelqvist
My boys – Taken by trees
Dance with somebody (the internet hood RMX feat. GZA, Cadence Weapon) – Mando Diao
Boat Behind – Kings of Convenience
Anchor made of gold – Sara Wilson
Don Quite – Blood Music
Love love love – Pugh Rogefeldt
Dance on my skin – Mi and L’au
Build the wall up – Lake Heartbeat
Day by day – Taken by trees
Se hur det dagas – Hans Appelqvist
The swim – Liminals
My girls – Animal Collective
Fok – Olafur Arnalds

Deep tribal house from L-Vis 1990

harry covert — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:35:25 +0000

Well, this was the mi-summer mix from L-Vis 1990. But hang on – I’m in San Francisco. We’re actually half way through the second summer of the year. San Franciscans are treated to dense fog May through August so the halcyon days come in Spring and Autumn.

Blah, blah, blah. Back to the mix. This time L-Vis 1990 delivers a serious slow burner. The languid dubby bass meanders across clattering high-hats and strict tribal toms, treading on the toes of both dubstep and broken beat. A perfect soundtrack to watch wisps of fog melt into a welcome Indian summer.

Thanks to Curb Crawlers for the mix and tracklistings.

Better days ahead

kiterae — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:30:09 +0000

So said Jimi Polo all the way back in 1989 over the top of one of dance music’s most memorable piano riffs. But then house music in those days was all about gay black kids coming up with funky piano snippets on their Utopian search. Oh, how far we’ve come.

So, here it is, my latest mixtape, after much procrastinating (in part brought on by an interest in listening to the mixtapes of others over on the Harry Covert channel. As always, there are a smattering of offerings lifted from other music blogs, but I’ve also been dipping back into past tracks – some from Beatport, others from Netlabels.

I Remember (Caspa Remix) – Deadmau5
Dreamy ethereal house gets a dubstep retrofit courtesy of Caspa

The LSD User – Stagga
Deeeeep bass workout

Pon Da Floor (Vinnie, Donnie & Sjakie remake) – Major Lazer
Mindless football chanting from Diplo and Switch under the Major Lazer guise

Acid Machine – Mike Mind
All these years have passed and I’m still a sucker for acid squelching and burps

Sweeter Than (Original Mix) – Audiofly
Audiofly tech workout with a liberal dose of funk

Better Days – Jimi Polo
“There’s gonna be…”. Here’s hoping it all worked out well for Jimi Polo in the end

Jack got Macked – Julio Bashmore
What a beauty. laidback groove overlaid with delicate piano riff and that falsetto ‘jack’ statement

Aundy – Claude VonStroke
Claude Von Stroke continues on that blissful vibe

All Of My Heart – ABC
dug up some old vinyl i’d burnt and lo and behold I’m singing in the shower

Say U Will (Cajual Records) (Original Mix) – Cajmere, Dajae
serious slab of trademark chicago house

Foonky – René Breitbarth
another fine riff. credit the electric guitar this time round

Egypt Egypt – Egyptian Lover
i’m afraid this takes me back to breakdancing round my bedroom to the bemusement of my poor ailing mum

Let It Roll – Doug Lazy
there will forever be a place in my heart for hip house. and doug lazy was one of the finest purveyors. “i’m like the porche and not the yugo” – a piece of motor history right there

Dusty Dream (Dub) – Snowcone
italo house rip-off (although fair do’s, wasn’t most italo house ripped off?)

A Volta (feat. Sizzla, Amanda Blank & Lovefoxxx) (Database remix) – N.A.S.A
A maximal workout that keeps references to the original to a minimum

Bless You (Trentemøller Remix) – Lulu Rouge
A perfect pairing in the world of deeeep house music

Gazebo (Joe and Will Ask? rmx) – Fairmont
Masterful 4×4 glitch updated

The Messiah – Le Castle Vania + Computer Club
Screaming for attention

Bigmouth Strikes Again (David Starfire remix) – The Smiths
I’ve been dying to get this into a mix for a while now

Drop the Lime picks up the bass

harry covert — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:55:01 +0000

Brooklyn’s Drop the Lime is a busy bee. Aside from performing on Institubes as Curses!, he’s remixed everyone from Armand Van Helden to Rex the Dog.

Prior to ingesting this mix for the wonderful XLR8R mag, I’d have labelled DTL as a fine purveyor of seriiious basslines. Now, for the first 15 mins or so of this mix, all the activity happens in the higher spectrum: tension comes from shuffling hisses (a nod to early Sheffield rave?) and the snap of snares on speed. More than enough to keep you enthralled before that signature bass drops like an Amazonian storm.

The warbling basslines bleed out of twisted funk from Boabinga, Mujava (that track), DTL himself and Little Jinder, amongst others. Definitely high octane, but for me the interest comes in the juxtaposition with a deeper house (eg. Acid Jacks) – an unlikely yet heavily rewarding partnership.

Tracklisting and more information on XLR8R

SOLO: the atmospheric mashup is here (Fabriclive mix)

harry covert — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:25:46 +0000

My first exposure to mashup culture goes back to the early heady days of rap when the ganstas and daisy agers achieved notoriety by borrowing freely from old funk and pop classics to create the dance-punk propaganda that I guess now gets labeled ‘Golden Age Hip Hop’. The likes of George Clinton took offense to these collages (which, perhaps intentionally, opened me and many of my generation up to the P-Funk classics of the technicolored-haired one) and laid bare the whole discussion over appropriation of culture. Was it unimaginative stealing or the creation of a new paradigm of music-making through sampling?

Enter the internet and the battleground is prepped anew for debate over the crop of mashups that followed the emergence of mp3 file sharing. And the battle continues with new artists picking up and redeining the gauntlet: the latest being Girl Talk. For an excellent discussion on this, check out RIP: A Remix Manifesto, a multimedia soapbox praise of Girl Talk’s adroit cultural appropriation. The argument being that the originals are so transmogrified that this technique is arch creation, but the music industry and legislature are struggling to keep up.

There are the politics, and they generally seem to impose some shape on the music. The collages become intricate, throwing out new references thick and fast.

Enter SOLO, the UK tech-house maestro who clearly sidesteps this approach and deals more subtly with his historical references. In this Fabriclive mix, those references are far-ranging: funky slabs of James Brown, opulent 1920’s era bohemian dance and, believe it or not, the Flash Gorden soundtrack all pepper this storming mix of house music straddling both sides of the Atlantic. Tiny samples flutter in as staccato snippets before giving way to full unedited blasts from the past. And like being woken from a rambling reverie, suddenly the tribal beats edge back in: creating an appearance of more vigor.

We’re talking more atmosphere than politics here, with an upfront party vibe maintained throughout. I found myself having to explain to my loved one why I was pogoing around the lounge like an elephant on a yoga ball.

SOLO leaves the pontificating for his Myspace page, quoting the mighty Rick Rubin:

“FEAR IS MAKING THE RECORD COMPANIES LESS ARROGANT..THEY’RE MORE OPEN TO IDEAS…”

A change soon come?

Tracklisting courtesy of Palms Out Sounds

Scratch that itch: shiny new toys for Ableton

harry covert — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 06:55:26 +0000

Amazing what happens when you get together 4 fingers and the new Akai Ableton controller with aesthetics borrowed from a ’seventies dancefloor.

“The APC40 Ableton Performance Controller in action!” screams the headline. More wrist action than a spotty teen during rainy summer hols.