Canada's online magazine: Politics, entertainment, technology, media, arts, books: backofthebook.ca

Politics, tech, media, culture and more, from a Canadian point-of-view

  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Science and Tech
  • Living
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
You are here: Home / Culture / Music that wants to be free

Music that wants to be free

02/04/2007 by Single Lane Media Leave a Comment

I’ve been distracted by a lot of really cool things lately (Never Drank the Kool-Aid, bloggin as nihilism, Little Mosque on the Prairie, and a spate of good weather).

And music, of course. In light of what’s happened with DJs Drama and Canon recently, I’m going to try to use this post to give you links to some free downloads for your mp3 player.

I missed out on seeing the Stones Throw crew when they rolled through Vancouver back in the fall. They were celebrating the label’s 10th anniversary. Too bad for me. At the time they had just released Chrome Children — a look at the label’s present and a glimpse of its future — and Ten Years — a Japan-only label retrospective. As a gift to their fans, they’ve released Ten domestically (pick it up if you want to get an idea of how weird and truely avant the label is) and Chrome Children 2 for free. Chrome 2 is available until 28th of February — get it while you can. Any album that has Gary Wilson, Oh No and Percee P on it is worth buying.

Staying on the Stones Throw kick — kinda — if you blinked you may have missed the release of the Talib Kweli and Madlib collabo Liberation, which was released on the net for free the first week of January. You might still be able to search out a copy if you look really hard. Do so — Kweli’s off beat rhymes combined with Madlib’s off time drum signatures combine like Voltron.

What’s not hard to hunt down is Mickey Eats Plastic‘s People eating tasty People. They’re a production duo from Italy that compose weird, abstract electronic music. Weird and abstract? I’m all over that! They’re offering the entire LP for free — check it out.

Just so you know, I was up on Ratatat before most of these music bloggers. I was also up on their hip-hop remix ep too. So I’m really excited to learn that they’ve got a new remix ep coming out. Should be hotter than your mom in a two piece bikini.

I’ve only recently gotten into French label Ed Banger records, but I’m going through their discography like Donald Trump goes through hair weaves. DJ Medhi’s Signatune (Thomas Banglatar edit) is beyond hot. Just an intense six minute blast of dance-floor carnage. Peep it at Discobelle.

Also at Discobelle, catch a low quality internet rip of M.I.A’s latest single Bird Flu. Jacked from her myspace, the track builds off the dhol to create the bhangra anthem of 2007. Check the vid for total indo-dancehall madness.

***Update*** Catch an even better rip from your boy at Notes from a different Kitchen

Sometimes writing about Canadian music means writing about your friends. This is such a case. The Urbane Decay (the ‘E’ is intentional) are (is?) a collection of musicians — or just one lonely guy — making lonely music for lonely people. The music is a lot better than that description. Hear some of the outtakes from their latest recordings at their myspace page.

I’m going to warn you right now: get on the Thunderheist train — immediately. This Toronto/Montreal duo are going to be huge. They’re like Peaches but with balls (side note: when comparing one thing to another favorably add “with balls” — it always livens up the context). Made up of Toronto based MC Isis and Montreal DJ/producer Grahm, Thunderheist mix Miami booty-bass (act like you know), electro, and a touch of baile funk (look it up) to create some real dance-floor heat. Their website has two tracks, Sulenos Dolces and Horny, up for download. Both are worth adding to your mp3 player and the mix at your next party.

Damon Albarn’s new supergroup The Good, The Bad and The Queen are actually really good. It helps to have former Clash bassist Paul Simonon and Fela Kuti’s former drummer Tony Allen playing the low end theory. Albarn’s political lyrics and a psychedelic mix of rock, dub, and afrobeat create a swirling, downbeat soundscape. Maybe the pop album of the year.

A little light reading: Jeff Chang’s brilliant piece on young Hov. When I grow up, I want to be like Jeff. And one 16 year old kid’s middle finger to the RIAA.

Filed Under: Culture Tagged With: music

Subscribe to BoB by e-mail or RSS

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Google+
  • Living
  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
Fire sale sign

Fort McMurray: Shopping time!

By Brady Tighe We’re now officially in the aftermath phase of the northern Alberta wildfire crisis. The fire is long gone, and everyone with a home to return to is back in its … [Read More...]

Nathan Cullen

Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking

By Alison@Creekside The most interesting and innovative idea to come out of the first meeting of the all-party Special Committee on Electoral Reform, or ERRE, was Nathan Cullen's suggestion, … [Read More...]

Trudeau on quantum computing

The Trudeau gush fest is getting old

By Jim Henshaw There have been several bewildered as well as angry accounts coming out of the USA lately about how little media time has been spent covering the Democratic Presidential Primary … [Read More...]

Rick Meyers in Nanaimo Pride Parade

My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade

By Frank Moher On this dreadful day, I don't want to write about the shootings in Orlando. I want to write about my friend, Rick. Rick lives just outside of Nanaimo, a city of about 80,000, … [Read More...]

Stephen Colbert on Late Night set

Triumph of the drama nerds

By Frank Moher Two drama nerds have recently moved into high profile positions. Before I name them (or perhaps you’ve already guessed who they are; or perhaps you’d like to scroll down and look at … [Read More...]

From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon

Originally published on Our Rape Blog, the author's account of the aftermath of a violent sexual assault. By Mary Fraughton Have you ever played Hearts? It’s a card game. For our purposes, … [Read More...]

First Nations defending Lelu Island

The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

From Creekside: The B.C. provincial government is trying to green light the construction of a massive LNG terminal on Lelu Island in the Skeena Estuary -- Pacific Northwest LNG, backed by Malaysian … [Read More...]

Google

Follow Us!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

RSS CBC News



Recent Posts

  • Fort McMurray: Shopping time!
  • From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon
  • Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking
  • The fish hotel
  • Hatred on an Alberta golf course
  • The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”
  • My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade
  • Our selective sympathy
  • The Water Bomber, The Frogman and The Great Canadian Novelist
  • Komagata Maru: The story behind the apology

Tags

9/11 Afghanistan Alberta bad behaviour books British Columbia business Canada Canadian military Canadian politics CBC celebrity computers Conservatives crime environment family film G20 Globe and Mail internet Jason Kenney journalism Justin Trudeau law Liberals Maclean's music National Post NDP newspapers oil sands online media Ontario Quebec RCMP religion sports Stephen Harper television theatre Toronto U.S. Vancouver women

Archives

The Video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

Pages

  • About
  • Privacy

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in