popround / free mixtape collective

Smooth, dark house from Darling Farah on Phase02

harry covert — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:36:10 +0000

Don’t know too much about this guy other than those peeps at Phase02 have been plugging him. Apparently he’s the ripe old age of 16 but packs a rich heritage, having Detroit roots. Already his mixing shows maturity well beyond his years.

Here’s a tracklisting or check out more information on Darling Farah.

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!

Best of 2009

thug wife — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:27:16 +0000

you know the year has flown by when you have to check the song to make sure it’s the right year…saying that it’s been a great year for good music not to mention decade (ooh that might mean another compilation to follow!!). SXSW 09 really set the tone for the year so much that we have to go this year as well!

White Feather – Wolfmother
Farewell to the Fairground – White Lies
The Reeling – Passion Pit
Rabbit Heart [Raise It Up] – Florence And The Machine
This Tornado Loves You – Neko Case
1901 – Phoenix
Too Many Dicks [On The Dancefloor] – Flight Of The Conchords
Fast Fuse – Kasabian
Must Be The Ganja – Eminem
Love And Let Love – Gossip
Panic Switch – Silversun Pickups
Lady Don’t Fall Backwards – Peter Doherty
We Are The Hunters – The D’Urbervilles
Ankles – CHRIS T.T.
Daniel – Bat For Lashes
My Girls – Animal Collective
Voices In My Head – K’naan
Concrete Walls – Fever Ray
Further Complications – Jarvis Cocker
Life on Earth – Tiny Vipers

Pop Rocks for 2009

DOC — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 06:45:55 +0000

I’m over a week into 2010, but here is my best of 2009. I have seen about 80% of the groups on this play list, and the hope is to see the rest in 2010. My highlights would be The XX and Yacht. Notable omissions for ‘09 would be the Silversun Pickups, Muse, the bay area’s own AFI, and of course the fine ass Lily Allen. As for 2009 you’ve probably heard a lot of these songs on television commercials and movie soundtracks.

1. Little Boots – New In Town
2. Daylight – Matt & Kim
3. Out of the Blue – Julian Casablancas
4. Lust For Life – Girls
5. All is Love – Karen O and the Kids
6. Heavy Cross – Gossip
7. Little Secrets – Passion Pit
8. Hearing Damage – Thom Yorke
9. Hell – Tegan & Sara
10. Young Adult Friction – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
11. Islands – The XX
12. Kiss With a Fist – Florence and the Machine
13. Psychic City (Voodoo City) – Yacht
14. Gold Guns Girls – Metric
15. Shame and Fortune – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
16. Around the Bend – The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
17. Fireflies – Owl City
18. Bourgeois Shangri-La – Miss Li
19. Lions – The Features
20. Can’t Stop Partying – Weezer
21. Sunlight – tUnE-YArdS

Justin Bua interview show

harry covert — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 02:09:37 +0000

I really don’t spend enough time keeping up with the colorful world of US street culture. When it comes down to it, I’m nowhere near as hip as ex-US president Bill Clinton. According to Justin Bua in this article for Vancouver student radio station CJSF, the erstwhile US pres has a bunch of Bua’s seminal artwork gracing various walls in his house.

For those of you that don’t know, Bua is a street artist who creates cartoonish portraits documenting the various cultural icons to be found in the lower stratas of the US social fabric, such as ‘The DJ’, featured here.

Check out this interview with the man himself interspersed with fitting old school hip hop classics from the likes of Afrika Bambaataa and Eric B and Rakim.

This interview is courtesy of the wonderful Winnie Cooper blog.

Ten top albums from the noughties

yari — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:33:03 +0000

Happy New Year!

1. Eternity Now (2006) – The Bear Quartet
2. Vespertine (2001) – Björk
3. Dimanche a Bamako (2005) – Amadou & Mariam
4. Silent Shout (2006) – The Knife
5. Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009) – Animal Collective
6. Ny Våg (2002) – The Bear Quartet
7. Funeral (2004) – Arcade Fire
8. Fleet Foxes (2008) – Fleet Foxes
9. Saturday Night (2005) – The Bear Quartet
10. Passing Stranger (2006) – Scott Matthews

My New Year’s resolution, by the way, is to be less obsessive about the Bear Quartet. It’s going to be tricky…

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

Rakim: return to the golden age

harry covert — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:25:32 +0000

In terms of rappers that have been around the block, there are few that have traveled further than Rakim. From the early days with Eric B, The R established himself as one of the true legends behind the mic.

Blentwell feature a great showcase from Elmattic tracing the history of this boy with the golden tonsils from Queens. There’s something in this laidback delivery that you rarely see in current hip hop but at the time was popularized by Rakim and the likes of Guru from Gangstarr.

The other thing about Rakim is that just about everybody remixed him (his biggest hit in the UK being ‘Paid in Full’ remixed by none other than a very young Norman Cook) and there are a bunch of those remixes featured here. Some of my faves are the ones where the vocals are cut back to grunts and shouts over a percussive workout.

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

New findings from the old skool

harry covert — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:42:29 +0000

This mix owes some gratitude to Tim Everest. Frozen, wandering down Haight, promising myself I won’t hand over any more money to those Amoeba bastards (a previous altercation with a snobby buyer – don’t ask), I’m quite happy to pass a cursory glance, toss up my head and walk on. But oh no, Tim. You had to make the case for entering into the mighty Amoeba Records emporium and taking a ‘look around’.

Half an hour later and my wallet is $30 lighters and I’ve got some obscure hip hop from labels I never bumped into as a kid. B-Boy Records is probably the standout. This fine establishment is most notable for having brought Boogie Down Productions to the world, but other standouts include the J.V.C Force.

A second thank-you goes out to David Grimes for turning the ripe old age of thirty. Still fresh-faced and probably a mere Morrisey-loving imp in Arizona when a lot of this stuff came out, somehow I felt this mix might be appropriate. C’mon surely even the miserable Mancunian had a soft spot for Brooklyn’s finest spitting rhymes over the drum and bass (well, apart from the bigotted homophobic rantings the genre lapses into from time to time). So Dave: happy birthday and erm, here’s an old school hip hop mix…

Here Come The Drums – Keenan Webster & Balafo
Conflict (Remix) – Masta Ace, Guru
Doin’ Damage (Original Version) – J.V.C. F.O.R.C.E.
Conquer Mentally (Large Pro remix) (Large Pro Remix feat. Sadat X, O.C., & Large Professor) – Presto
Part of Greatness (feat. CL Smooth) – Presto
Kiterae Premier Track 08 – Notorious B.I.G
Work That Pole – The Beatnuts
Any Type Of Way – Big Daddy Kane
Hip Hop Worth Dying For – Main Flow Feat. Talib Kweli
Ready or Not (Jungle Mix) – Fugees Dj Hype Remix
Word Association – 7L & Esoteric
KRS One – BDP – My Philosophy
Let’s Jam – DJ Matte
The Bridge Is Over (The Bladerunners Edit) – Boogie Down Productions

BTW, I didn’t even know that I had a Notorious track on here until Thug Wife chirped in and schooled me.