Haunt Me Haunt Me, Do It Again

Canadian artist Tim Hecker has never left my iPod after I found his music. True, he does doth protest the use of iPods or any other such "mp3 low quality" music; and that's just something even more to love about the man. He puts effort and top notch sound into all of his work. If you get the chance, either listen to his stuff on an amazing stereo system, or get a great cd/vinyl player and listen through an amazing pair of headphones. The soundscapes are just otherworldly, and it is just worth it if you are a huge audiophile. The Work of Art in...

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Humerus + Radius + Ulna =

Elbow. This British alternative rock group has memorable, fantastic lyrics, dreamy backdrops, and a sound completely and utterly their own. They have a few albums out already, the songs below all from The Seldom-Seen Kid. Have a listen and tell me what you think:"Grounds For Divorce""The Bones Of You""One Day Like This"--The Last Mos...

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Okay--3, 2, 1, Let's Jam!

"Tank!" is the name of this delicious jazz song, written by Yoko Kanno (the woman in the red jacket) as the theme for the late '90s anime Cowboy Bebop. Though she's composed for a lot of anime, you don't have to know anything about that artform to enjoy the incredible punch this number packs. This live performance was undertaken by a Japanese supergroup of sorts called Seatbelts, and the alto sax solo at the end is (to this blogger) ineffably, staggeringly, jaw-droppingly brilliant. Any doubters of jazz out there may just be converted to orthodox...

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Who says Drum'N'Bass can't be happy?

IF you have followed Electronica, you undoubtedly know Relphex Records, created by the famous Aphex Twin himself, Richard D. James. IF not knowing this, go look into it. Now, being informed about this, perhaps you know about a man named Tom Jenkinson. Yes? No? Of course... better known as Squarepusher. Still don't know? Well, let's educate you. Back in the day when Drum'N'Bass was still being experimented with, and nobody really knew what to do, ol'Tom came out of the woodwork and, wabam!, brilliantly took jazz ideals and glitchcore beats to create...

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Soundtrack Outcasts (Vol. 2)

Welcome to Volume 2 of Soundtrack Outcasts! (To read the goals and manifesto for of this series, click here.)Instead of looking at one film this time, I wanted to give prime, meaty examples of a single composer: James Newton Howard. He has great themes and works across all film genres. You might have only recently heard about him with a movie called The Dark Knight in ’08, but this talented musician has 20 years of work under his belt, much of it thrilling.Let’s start with the 2000 Disney film Dinosaur. The theme doesn’t kick in till the end, but...

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Pre-Owned Heart-Shaped Box

Happy Valentine's Day! Why not take a 7-minute break from snogging your significant tax-deductible other by drowning in some hand-picked love song staples, all of them covers, with me not disclosing who originally wrote and/or performed them? Sound good? But of course! Hey, chocolate's still chocolate, right?Frank Sinatra--"My Funny Valentine"Cake--"Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps"Rita Moreno--"Fever"XoXo--The Last Moslow--X...

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Guns in C Major

Here are a few quirky musical experiments. Using the gun sounds and sound effects from two Valve games--Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2--several people have crafted genuinely impressive percussion pieces. This is the first time I've heard anything like this before, though MinimalfoX found a similar mash-up of Pixar sounds last month. The first track's not nearly as loud and piercing as the second (which reminds me of banging on trash cans for the first minute or so), but still, the effort that went into these projects is pretty staggering to me:The...

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Utensil Grooves

Just an indie rock band for you today, one that's been getting more exposure as of late--Spoon! They have a relaxed, balanced, upbeat quality to most of their tunes. Somehow, I kind of hear a throwback to older rock styles in Spoon's songs, but I can't quite put my finger on which ones. Whatever they are, they work swimmingly here. Hope you enjoy their sound:The Book I WriteYou Got Yr. Cherry BombDon't You Evah--The Last Mos...

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Ghost(ly) Calm

Well, a quick post and download for you Ghost - Lullaby. Really great chill-downtempo/ ambient electronica song. No really, this one is looking into. I couldn't dig up more of this artist at the moment, but it's somewhat Brian Eno meets Boards of Canada. Soundtrack for the game Crayon Physics. Part of a new style of games called Ambient Games. Mainly slower paced games with ambient electronica. They are quite nice, and provide something to get lost in while your in an airport, they provide Music for Airports. -Minimal foX (Heading back to Anchorage...

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Soundtrack Outcasts (Vol. 1)

Fact: Disregarding soundtracks is a musical sin.This series of posts aims to resurrect those film soundtracks that have been needlessly forgotten, either by proxy of their movie counterpart's slip from mainstream consciousness, or simply because no one really gets excited about original soundtracks (which truly is a shame). Soundtracks and themes in films aggrandize the universes we passively invest in by actively guiding our emotions; without them, modern cinema would not resonate.It is my sincerest wish that the names and works of Harry Gregson-Williams,...

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The Courage Of Others

Short shout out today, Texas based indie rock band Midlake just dropped a new CD today, entitled The Courage Of Others. If you're like me, this is just estatic news, since it's been 3 years since the last Midlake full LP release. I haven't gotten my hands on it yet and have yet to find a place to listen to it, but this is just a lo-fi band that you...

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And that can falter, But my swing is tropical

Ah Quantic what great music you have. I am so very surprized you've flown under the radar for so long. It wasn't until the song "Mi Swing Es Tropical" with Nickodemus being aired on an iPod commercial that people suddenly realized what great dance music you make. Ah, as a DJ myself, I love using Quantic songs for a mood. Whether I need an upbeat dance song, or something to play at a dinner party, or even something to just sit and relax too, Quantic just has it. I heavily recommend this artist. He does great postmodern music work, great sasla music,...

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