It has been a great couple of days for musical initiatives.
Just today I discover Ten Tracks.
Each month you get ten DRM-free tracks totally DRM free.
Total price. 1 pound. Even with today’s rubbish exchange rate we’re talking about AU$2.50 – 25 cents a track.
What’s best of all, Optimo are curating a special monthly selection.
What are you waiting for?
One of the best things I’ve picked up from my recent Picnic08 sourjourn has been a Squeezebox. It arrived today from a local internet wholesaler and I set it up this morning.
This all came about because I had a lovely meal at a house in Amsterdam where I was shown an odd device with VU meters bouncing up and down near a hifi system. It turned out to a be a Squeezebox and the music we were listening to was coming streaming from a radio station on the otherside of the world. A bit of scrolling and we dialled up FBI and 2SER, even Radio Skid Row – the first radio station I did a show on, before settling on an Afghani radio station.
The Squeezebox, it turns out, does a whole lot more than just connect to thousands of terrestrial and internet radio stations. It now connects to the digital music files on hard disks on the network meaning no more plugging in music players with minijack-RCA cables (it plays OGGs and FLACs and everything else). It scrobbles my plays to my Last.FM account. And, with a bit of tweaking I’ve been able to get it to play Last.FM radio! And all of this is through my ‘proper’ hi-fi – at original bitrate.
My ancient component-sized tuner can now be turfed, along with a bunch of useless cables and adaptors. And finally I don’t have to rely on the cheap DACs that my music player has to play 320s through my hi-fi.
Why didn’t I see this when it first came out?
Ahh a lovely pop song from one of my high rotation bands of the moment. Maybe Mistletone will get them down here. They should.
Skulls! Bass! (well, not thru computer speakers)
The best track by far from The Bug’s latest album (and previously on the mighty Hyperdub label as a 12″). No nonsense, just dark as hell.
Yes . . . we have received our first ever promo CD from Kazakhstan.
A review will be coming soon over at Cyclic Defrost . . .
I love the Kazpost logo . . . it implies a swiftness of delivery – which three weeks airmail certainly is not.
OK, so I ring my bank and they have this ‘new’ and ‘funky’ automatic voice.
If I wanted to bank with General Pants then I would.
Try it. Dial 13 17 18. And listen.
Then vomit.
(charges apply)
“I’ve been sending you signals, the signals have never been seen, I’ve been writing you letters, but those letters never leave me . . . oooooooooooh, oooooooooooh”
Ahhhh sometimes there are songs that immediately strike a chord and this week has had two of them – first there was Animal Collective’s riotous Peacebone and now this which landed in my advance promo box yesterday . . . . the Hot Chip remix of Matthew Dear’s Don & Sherri is just, well, lovely. The original was, in comparison, clunky. Like most Hot Chip remixes it is a ‘cover’ with the lyrics resung – it is now rendered just so melancholy and, if I lived in the northern hemisphere it would remind me that Autumn had just started.
It is out in October.
Like many I’ve been revisiting a lot of Chain Reaction/Basic Channel minimal dub techno over the past few months and have been really exctied about the recent releases by Rod Modell and friends.
Ron Schepper has done up a splendid Q&A over at Textura.
Scrolling right to the very bottom you’ll find their favourite records and there are some interesting and slightly unexpected choices there . . .
Ahh that was a fun set last night – even if the bassbin kept dropping out. Limpet is a monthly night at the Lord Raglan organised by former Undercurrents and Couchblip folk, it is pretty eclectic and had a pretty good turnout.
Here’s what we played in our one hour set. Kind of 2008 back to 1988, dubstep to acid house. I’m feeling the time might be right to do another flashback set somewhere.
Bob Leftsetz – Comments on the State of Music
Rhythm & Sound – Poor People Must Work (Carl Craig remix)
T++ – Allied
2562 – Channel Two
Kode 9 – Magnetic City
Mala – Lean Forward
Aaron Spectre – Say More Fire
Skream & Cluekid – Sandsnake
Appleblim – Fear
The Others – Hear Dis Style
The Art of Noise – Moments In Love (Caspa remix)
Skynet – Time on Earth
Vista – Gameboy Dub
Prince Fatty vs Moody Boyz – Milk & Honey (Moody Boyz remix)
Random Trio – Press Button (Cyrus Steppers version)
Massive Music – Find My Way (Kode 9 remix)
Benga – Wobblers
Aaron Spectre – Music is the Weapon
Addis Posse – Let the Warriors Dance
The Ace of Clubs – Classid One
Jahcoozi – BLN
Neil Landstrumm – Kids Wake Up
D-Mob – We Call It Acieed (The Matey mix)
N-Joi – Rhythm Zone
Hithouse – Jack To The Sound of the Underground
808 State – Pacific State
S’Express – Superfly Guy
Bob Lefsetz was over here for the Immedia conference. His keynote is online and well worth a listen. You can almost hear the jaws dropping in the room.
His taste in music is, well, terrible. But his ideas are great.