I have been able to discover more new music and support artists more efficiently for the joy they share with us.
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The Hit List
NOTICE: List has been updated. Check it out!
There are many albums floating around in the blogsophere that are long out of print. Re-issues are nowhere in sight and the files available are low bit rates.
Since these command ridiculously high prices, a collaborative effort is the most efficient way to bring these to the masses.
In the midst of the almost unnavigable sea of dub techno artists several have risen to the surface each with their own trademark sound. ...
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The bottom line
This site is a repository of linked files; it is not a hosting site. Every single file linked here can be found freely online, usually with minimal effort.
The goal is to introduce quality music that is not as well known, is harder to find and/or is out of print.
Quite a bit of the material is old and/or common enough to be found on the cheap on auction sites.
If a copyright owner has an issue with any post, please send an email and the links will be removed.
Yes, folks, DJ culture has achieved critical mass. It has become - and I use this word with the utmost disgust - popular. Pop, in my vocabulary, is a very bad word.
Those things that made DJ culture unique, underground, alive have been watered down and extracted and what people want is the sugary pop sound that made turntables end up in McDonald's commercials and turned DJs into celebrities.
Though there is more irony in this statement than he may realize, DeadMau5 kind of sums it up well:
"David Guetta has two iPods and a mixer and he just plays tracks,” Deadmau5 sniffs...
He then takes aim at Skrillex -- who Rolling Stone says is a friend of his -- adding, “Even Skrillex isn't doing anything too technical. He has a laptop and a MIDI recorder, and he's just playing his [bleep].”
“There’s… button-pushers getting paid half a million [per show],” he says.
“And not to say I’m not a button-pusher. I’m just pushing a lot more buttons.”
So DJ Shadow upped the infamous set to Soundcloud.
Bringing together artists whose music represents and embraces a collision of styles, Ninja Tune is one of the labels that made the 90s such an amazing time in music.
Trip hop, future jazz, downtempo, whatever you call it, the music fit the times and the artists on their roster are still impacting the musical soundscape.
These are some compilations put together by Australia's Creative Vibes label (still around from what I can tell) and seemed a fitting way to wrap up the year on a slow note.
Went in for some minor slice and dice surgery and was going to post a pic of the post op results but figured that was a bit unnecessary.
Struggled to come up with album art and, well, a shout out to the happy pills given seemed fitting.
Have plenty of downtime so spent the morning listening to the shuffle and decided it was a mix worthy of posting.
A true hodgepodge of styles here, from light to dark, some familiar some fresh, and not once did I have the urge to fast forward. For some reason it seemed to flow and the opening and closing tracks actually seemed to tie it together nicely.
A really good mix if you want to explore the full range of EOMI and possibly pick up something new.
Right up there with the RA.153 mix from Intrusion (aka Steven Hitchell), this is a podcast under Hitchell's Soultek moniker right around the time their archives would burst.
Soultek was Hitchell's working monitor but this would take a back seat to the echospace [detroit] label and Hitchell's other projects.
The essence of the RA.153 mix can be found here but this one has some pleasant surprises.
This one intrigued me by the cover alone. Tonikom, aka Rachel Maloney, hearkens back to the heyday of deep, dark club electronica before it became cheesy and superficial, a mockery of itself.
She brings a strong, innovative flavor to the sound and brings quite a palette to her music. Forgot how much I enjoyed this until I popped it back in the shuffle mix and her tracks always stand out from the usual (mostly dub techno) fare.
Her new album, Lost And Foundon Hymen, is pretty mind blowing. You can get it here.
Just because this should always be with us and should be in everyone's library. Most of my knowledge of 'funk' came from the Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg heyday in the mid-90s and the backwards working through the origins of that beat.
One of my regrets was that I did not go see Bootsy Collins in '94 while living in Seattle. I was just coming out of my grunge phase and was diving into the burgeoning electronic dance music scene so was woefully clueless about who he was...
It wouldn't be until many years later that I stumbled across this one while doing a full immersion into Bill Laswell and all he touched.
While on one level this is a paean to true 'funk' on another level it is something completely original and allows the sound the freedom it requires.
Here's a review with a little background on the project:
"Bringing together key players from all decades, [Laswell] then twisted the mix with clever combinations of newly recorded material and sessions recorded long ago but never released. The Sly Stone tracks were recorded during Maceo Parker's All the King's Men period, while the Eddie Hazel tracks were among the last he ever recorded, shortly before his death in late 1992.
In all its guises, however, Funkcronomicon is a masterpiece.
From the old-school jams of George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Worrell, and Hazel to Hancock's jazzed-out funk and the righteously fresh sounds of reggae rhythm section Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare...and...the alternative rock stylings of Anton Fier...the resulting brew is almost unbelievable." (Source)
While I confess I am not much more knowledgeable on the essence of funk this album is a regular on my playlist and it's always a good jam.
While I combine files from various HDs onto the new 3TB HD (8 hours remaining according to the progress bar)...
The Erased Tapes label features a variety of artists from a variety of genres ("cinematic pop music from neo-classical to IDM - picturesque, universally speaking music for people of all ages to dream to" according to the label).
Though I am somewhat familiar with Peter Broderick's work, mostly through his collaborations with Machinefabriek, I stumbled across this video and it really caught my attention. With Peter reading something he has written, it shows the manufacturing process for the CD of his new album.
I work in manufacturing for my full-time gig so that, combined with the love of the 'stuff' of music (especially vinyl), brought the point home that there is a lot - and I mean a lot - that goes into making the 'stuff' of music.
This really gives an appreciation for what is involved.
Thought it interesting, thought you might as well:
I can't even begin to tell you how amazing the Entropy Records label is.
Easily one of the premiere labels for a new generation of dub techno artists (and willing to embrace other styles as well) there is a level of care and detail that hearkens back to the days when the physical product meant something.
The owner is available and engaged and innovative.
Most of my purchases from the label end up being digital due to shipping costs from France which is a nice option to have. I've warmed to digital file purchases and their site makes it easy.
It's a label that's gotten recognition from no less than Rod Modell and Stephen Hitchell as attested to by the fact that under their cv313 moniker they contributed a mix for the G.R.I.T. Expanse remix project and the appearance of a few tracks from the label on Modell's stellar Inverted Audio Mix.
In April 2009, Iceland’s neo-classical export Ólafur Arnalds created the 7-song series recording a song a day for 7 days and instantly making each track available via Twitter.
With artwork contributions from fans via Flickr, this modern release awakens memories of a tradition that seemed lost in the digital age we live in. (Source)
Created 7 songs. In 7 days. From scratch.
Exceptional.
Fans of Ludovico Einaudi and Jóhann Jóhannsson will feel right at home.
For a 128 kbps free download of each song (or to purchase higher bit rate files) go:
Post-rock is a fair tag but there is something almost ethereal about their music. It could be that their lyrics are sung in their native tongue (though some of the songs contain the wordless singing of Jónsi.
A sound like no other.
This EP contains the track from the film Vanilla Sky that moved them more into the public spotlight.
Ok, so he's not from Iceland (he's from Bristol actually, home of Massive Attack, Tricky and Portishead) but this is easily one of the best mixes from the GU series.
This isn't the actual release but an unreleased disc from GU 024 circulating around. A couple of the tracks made their way to the final mix but this will give you a good taste of the end result.
I've left off Iceland's favorite daughter, Björk, on the assumption that everyone knows who she is and is familiar with at least some of her work. Her roots go way back to the beginnings of what was to be called 'alternative' music, when the tag actually meant something, in the group Sugarcubes. They emerged with a sound like no other and Björk has carried that torch forward.
As a tribute, here's one of my favorites from her:
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For a good article on how not to think of musicians in Iceland go here.
Great new(er) Japanese label featuring artists that take the downtempo road with their dub techno (bvdub's Then and Arc of Doves being prime examples).
This is a free sampler given away with purchase of any album from their site.
Features artists you might not otherwise hear of and this turns out to be a pleasant surprise.
"A long time ago, in a ghetto far, far away, some serious subversive activity was going on in the subterranean realms of sound. A motley crew of iconoclasts captured the moment, and managed to ride a minor wave of notoriety that the music press dubbed Illbient [one of the contributors to this compilation, DJ Olive, had actually coined the term long before Illbient posta-child DJ Spooky ran away with all the glory].
Most of the people associated with Illbient hailed from the borough of Crooklyn, mostly clustered around the post-industrial wasteland that was once Williamsburg. Some of us knew each other from hanging out at this Manhattan club called The Cooler or from bumping into each other at Bass Mind Studios, the epicenter of much seismic activity in the neighborhood. Everyone was doing their own thing, but all of us were, in some capacity, influenced by dub. Of course, that dank, dungeon weed the Jamaicans on the Southside sold might have had something to do with it, too." (from the liner notes)
In other words: BASS. Crazy, slow, low, dubby bass.
One of my favorite discoveries was The Conet Project, a mysterious project filled with recordings of shortwave radio transmissions.
It radiates espionage and is quite otherworldly and intoxicating when inserted into the shuffle. When these tracks pop up it instantly transports the listener into the place of imagination.
Many artists have claimed inspiration from this project, perhaps most notably Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot taking the album name and borrowing samples directly from the project (and subsequently being sued by Irdial for unauthorized use).
The original was a massive 4 CD set. This re-issue has an additional bonus CD of odds and ends. I'm looking forward to diving in to this one.
It is currently being re-issued through the idea of crowd funding with the first 231 to donate a pledge of £50 (app. $80 USD) to have their names inscribed as 'patrons' on the 80 page insert. I don't know if there will only be 231 CDs manufactured or if only 231 names will be given 'patron' status but it's a really cool idea. They need about 60 more donors and there's only 20 days left to do it.
The minimum pledge is £8 which will give the donor digital files of the original 150 recordings from the 4 CD set.
I opted to donate to this as one of the 231 patrons rather than pick up Brock van Wey's White Clouds Drift On And On on vinyl via Echospace.
Exactly as the name sounds, this is a one-man band who collects and uses synthesizers to make music that is "somewhere between dub techno, Detroit techno, dub, downtempo...easy listening and...atmospheres which are sometimes used in documentaries and short films..." (Source)
"Combine Dimension Part One with Part Two and create your very own Dimension. Mix the 7&6 with the 8&6 and you get a 707 808 drumset with a deep Jupiter 6 Chord...or you can use the 303 Subbass with the 9&6 909 Clap...whatever you want. All in 119bpm. Slow down." (Source)
It's amazing how such simple instruments became the backbone of techno music and how it has the power to move the masses.
Whereas much techno, especially of the dub techno variety, washes into a sea of sameness (which is not a bad thing at all) this is electronic music that stands out and catches my ear every time it pops into the shuffle.
He released one of the gems of 2012, the full length album Home.
This goes back a bit to when I noticed Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers was gone.
Don't know if the sites were googlified or the blog owner simply moved on with life but it got me thinking about other blogs that have disappeared.
Below are some of the blogs that have been significant in helping me discover new music. I can't even begin to tell you the countless hours I spent surfing the web searching, discovering, seeking and absorbing new music that helped me break free of the musical confines of my youth.
You know times have changed when a "history" article is written about music blogging. This indicates not only a level of recognition but a level of maturity. It will be interesting to see where it all evolves to from here.
I'll add to the list as I remember, discover or am otherwise reminded.
Please feel free to add to the list if you remember any that are embedded with us in the music they shared:
I'm listening to music at the bookstore (yes, they still exist, even if it's only the box store variety) and the track "It's Too Late" from bvdub's Return To Tonglu comes in.
I'm always excited to see a track of his pop up as I've not been able to listen to everything he has put due to the sheer volume of his releases. All part of the journey...
Within seconds I recognize Allegri's "Miserere" and am thrilled as this holds a special place in my heart due to it's arrival during a period of serious soul searching. Moments like these weave together all of those disparate elements of musical variety and highlights how it is all connected.
So, to highlight that moment, here is Volume II of the Sacred Treasures series from the Hearts of Space label which contains a reworking of Allegri's Miserere.
Some folks complain about the addition of horns and the "new age" feel to it but it was my first experience with the piece and is quite special.
If you're really into it there are many versions of it out there. The Tallis Scholars' version seems to get high marks.
"So here’s the long and short of it: nearly 20 years ago, two best friends from Chicago, Chris Ike and John Kardaras, fell deep into the city’s house scene through club nights and dubs of WNUR shows. They got busy with some analog gear, christened themselves Shifty Science, released a couple of tracks to some acclaim, and then quickly fell into obscurity, even going so far as to quit releasing their music.
Fast-forward to 2009, when a couple of next-generation Chicago house heads (one of whom, full disclosure, is the editor-in-chief of this site) decide to throw a joint birthday party and invite one of Shifty Science’s biggest fans from back in the day, former DJ and current heart-on-sleeve ambient wunderkind bvdub, to headline.
Everyone hit it off famously; and when one of the birthday boys, James Cardis, started Love’s Label the next year, he hit up Shifty Science and bvdub for contributions. And now, as 2010 winds down, 300 copies of what resulted are fluttering around the world." (Source)
Side B is the "Earth House Hold" remix. Earth House Hold is one of bvdub's many monikers, this one harboring his house roots.
He just released the limited Where Love Lived in 2012 under this name (on top of at least half a dozen other releases/mixes under all his aliases).
There's a great small label story behind this release as well. I snapped up the 2xLP vinyl as soon as pre-orders were taken.
If you don't know who bvdub (aka Brock van Wey) is, start here.
The Echospace label has emerged of one of the highlights of the dub techno sound. For those who discover their sounds, the need for more becomes insatiable. So over the years live recordings, remixes, reworks and a host of other "exclusive" tracks have made their way out of their archives.
This was a collection issued on boomkat a while back. Mostly live recordings, this is a great introduction to the deeper essence of what makes their sound special.
Some of the tracks have made their way to other releases but you can also get a taste of some of the other monikers associated with the Echospace label.
I post these here not to be lazy but as a guide to where you can learn to fish, if you know what I'm getting at.
Trust me when I tell you that the links posted are not filler, they come highly and experientially recommended. Don't sleep, even if it requires a little effort to dig in.
There is so much music out there and lately I've found that the best way to discover new music is through the recommendations of others and many times it is podcasts that unearth hidden gems.
This one (from Finland) has some interesting tracks interlaced wit bits of "chatter" that have a consistent mood that ties the diversity of songs together nicely. One of the better ones out there.
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