I paid the piper / I'm gon' pick the tune.

If only buses in London sounded this good…

UK Hip-Hop outfit OthaSoul released mix-tape The Remedy earlier this month. Reminiscent of the good old golden days of Hip-Hop. Recommended listening.

Umil 25 - 01 by aphextwin

Anyway, I should get back to CocoRosie’s new album, Heartache City. I have a confession to make though, I have no idea what most of the songs are about. That’s not due to any failing on CocoRosie’s part, the vocals are relatively clear and the words are appropriately enunciated. For me, the vocals merge into the mix with the other elements of the tracks to become another component of the sound. Somehow seeking out the lyrics would take away part of the music’s appeal that comes with the sudden awareness of the odd line or phrase. For me, the singing style is what contributes the spiritual heart to the songs, conveying sentiments as pure emotion, not the lyrics. Quirky, surreal, experimental, and endearing are some of the descriptors that spring to mind for Heartache City. You really have to dive head first into this album, allowing yourself the chance for complete submersion, almost as if you’ve strayed into a foreign country with rules you haven’t quite got to grips with. The nearest comparison is a literary one, the future Manchester of Jeff Noon’s ‘Automated Alice’. So, give up on rules and expectations, absorb the absurdity and you’ll do just fine with Heartache City.

I guess I’m a big fan of downtempo beat music and this certainly fits that bill.

In my opinion, this is better than the original Drake track, just saying…

Sometimes a song works, and it’s best not to ask why, you just enjoy it

When grime shines, the lyrics and flow hit hard!

Laid-back jazz to while away an evening, decently done, listen to the whole album.

Now we’re into the deep cuts, the lesser known pieces; a slow build resembling the emergence of the first sign of life on Earth heads into an eruption of sparks as oraganisms come into existence across the whole planet taking stumbling steps that soon turn into exhilirating sprints, and then… the  first rains ever to grace this Earth sprinkles across the surface giving birth to spurts of luscious grass pushing aside rich soil…

Something about the off-kilter beats shouldn’t work but it does & manages to be funky with it too. This was a tune and still is!

Isso e bom de mais(!!) and Tahira is fast becoming my favourite “remixer”. 

A lovely acoustic cover and here’s her doing a ‘bigger’ version - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_B9X-f1XLQ

An interview - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/glastonbury/10919747/Lykke-Li-interview-Some-people-do-heroin-I-have-my-music.html

A mental hyperactive track from the 2002 album My Way; micro edits like a wired person flicking through digital stations at a disturbingly hectic pace!

When is a cover not a remix? I like the gruffness of Mark’s voice up against Martina’s, one without the other would either be too dry in the former’s case or too sweet where the latter’s concerned. In fairness, this has a similar vibe to the original XX track.

Info - Behind The Scenes: Matthew Herbert - A glimpse into the making of ‘The Shakes