The holidays are upon us, and in the spirit of spreading holiday cheer, we've lined up a 12-day series of special offers that you'll only find here. Starting today and continuing through 12/17, we'll unwrap a unique new offer at the start of each day, available for one day only (today's offer: enter to win everything in Lady Gaga's Amazon.com shopping cart!). We've done our best to find something for everyone. Find out about all of our offers by signing up for our daily 12 Days e-mail.
Happy Holidays from all of us here at ChordStrike!
London rapper Speech Debelle is the surprise winner of the 2009 Mercury Music Prize. Her debut album Speech Therapy
won the award, which is given to the best album of the last 12 months
by a British or Irish artist according to a panel of judges. The prize
comes with a check for £20,000 ($33,000), and it will give a huge
boost to her profile. Reportedly, prior to its nomination Speech Therapy had sold only 3,000 copies. After nomination she was quoted as a 15/1 long-shot, though odds had shortened nearer the ceremony. She told the BBC after winning: "It feels so much better than I
imagined. I don't really get emotional but I'm emotional now. This
proves that if you believe in something, you can achieve it." Speech
Debelle's victory was a big surprise, with several better-known names
also in the running. Florence and the Machine were favorites, thanks to debut album Lungs, while Glasvegas, Kasabian, Bat For Lashes and Friendly Fires were also all widely tipped. Last year's award was won by Elbow's fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid.
So what do you think - do you agree with the judges' choice? Here's a few videos of the budding star to help you decide:
"The Key" is available as a free download from Amazon here, and British fans can download the entire album for £3 from here.
SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and
quirky stories which catch the eye. We'll be posting a selection of
these news stories on Chordstrike every week; for much, much more,
visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.
Johnny Cash was famous for recording his seminal album in an American prison, Radiohead
was famous for introducing a revolutionary pay-what-you-want model of
album release, and Manu Chao has taken elements of both to record and
release his latest album, Viva La Colifata.
Chao took himself to La Borda, a psychiatric hospital in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, which is famous for its revolutionary patient-run radio
station Radio La Colifata – literally “Radio Crazy,” a name chosen by
the residents themselves. During a series of music workshops he got to
know the patients, and the end result is a 20 track album inspired by
and featuring the stars of Radio La Colifata. Psychologist and creator
of the radio station Alfredo Olivera confirmed: "The process was very
positive, not only because it tackled the social stigma of mental
illness, but because it helped people leave the hospital and develop
their own autonomy. Chao is not a psychologist or a psychiatrist but he
knows how to listen to the rhythm of each person.” The album is
available via a special website which uses the In Rainbows optional payment system, and all proceeds raised will go to the hospital and its radio station.
Here's Manu's "El Hoyo" performed to a raucous crowd in Spain last year...
SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and
quirky stories which catch the eye. We'll be posting a selection of
these news stories on Chordstrike every week; for much, much more,
visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.
First, an apology—I was supposed to post this yesterday, but
time got away from me, and “World Music Wednesday” has become…“World Music
Thursday.”At least this week.
Anyway, I was perusing our free world music MP3
samplers yesterday evening, and the first one that I happened to download was Alula’s Celtic
Sampler Summer 2009.I was wary at first
(I’m picky about my celtic music!), but
it turned out to be a lovely collection, and I decided that I had to write about it.
I’ve always loved celtic music.I’ve had a thing for celtic
mythology ever since I was little, and traditional celtic tunes are full of stories.When I think of celtic music, I still have romantic
visions spring to mind—of wandering bards, mummers, and céilidhs.My love for celtic music deepened when I lived in France; I
would make regular jaunts over to Brittany, where I’d sit in dark pubs, soaking up live music over tangy cider brut
and a savory buckwheat galette.
So it’s no wonder that celtic music has remained lodged in
my psyche.Celtic music is difficult to define
accurately, since the term itself is extremely broad and general (kind of like “world
music.”)For the purposes of this post, I’ll
define celtic music as the music of the Celtic Nations (Ireland,
Scotland, the the Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall (southwestern England), Brittany (western France), and Galicia (northwestern Spain).
In researching celtic music, I discovered that it’s far more
complex than I have space to describe here (sadly), so for the time being, I’ll
provide you with a brief synopsis of Irish music, since much of the music on
the Alula sampler is based on traditional Irish music.
Many Irish folk songs originated in rural areas and evolved
over time.The human voice is an
important component of Irish music, and one of the most prevalent styles of
traditional Irish vocal singing is known as sean-nós
(“old style.”)Sean-nós singers have marvelously flexible voices, and their vocals
normally soar and dip, creating a pure, haunting, and melodically rich listening
experience.
Instruments used in Irish music include the Irish harp, the bodhrán (a drum with a goatskin frame), uilleann
pipes, the tin whistle, the fiddle and the accordion.I’m partial to the fiddle and tin whistle, both of which feature in the
sampler.Download it free (for a limited time only), and
check out all the free samplers here.
--Bri Nguyen
August is an exciting month here at ChordStrike. We've put together our World Music Event and our editors’ picks for the 100 Greatest World Music Albums of All Time, and in honor of these internationally-themed
occasions (and frankly because I’ll use any excuse to blog about world
music), I’ve created a month-long miniseries of blog posts called
“World Music Wednesdays." Each Wednesday this month, I’ll highlight a
different genre of world music. Suggestions welcome!
What's cheaper than travel and almost as good a way to get your cosmopolitan bona fides up to snuff? Try 29 free world music samplers. As part of our World Music Festival, we're offering free music downloads from more than two dozen labels and artists, including a few personal favorites (pictured below, click to download) from Soweto Gospel Choir, JDub (Israel), Tuff Gong (RIYL Bob Marley), Luaka Bop (RIYL David Byrne), ESL (RIYL Thievery Corporation):
Download any or all of the free samplers (totaling hundreds of free song downloads) from here. Bon voyage...
D.Folks' self-released album Jupiter doesn't stay in one place very
long, moving seamlessly between organic, '80s-indebted, uptempo pop and
contemporary loverman R&B in a way that's more refreshing than
schizophrenic. Jupiter is an album that both parents and kids will
enjoy, but would probably never enjoy together as a family. Songs like
"Superficial World" bring to mind not only the golden era of his fellow
Virginians the Neptunes' production career, but also their label signee
Robin Thicke. "Falling In Love Again," on the other hand sounds almost
like a soul song for the Yacht Rock set, which is a surprisingly good
thing. D. Folks' closest contemporary is Van Hunt, who is also
currently working sans-label. Maybe they're onto something.
As they're both from Bergen, Norway and seem to share most of the same influences, it's difficult to imagine Matias Tellez as anything but the sequel to Sondre Lerche. Clouds in particular sounds like an extension of Phantom Punch, only written by a teenager. This is charmingly spastic, raucous rock, a musical expression of what it is to be young. This will likely make you feel joyful or awkward. For me, it's a little of both.
Assembled by a crew of some premier sidemen, this fluid set of thumping
soul is the sort of album that as fun to listen to as
it seems like it was to make. With one eye pointed towards the past and the other one
winking, they show love for not only the funky greats of the past 30
years, but affection for kitsch, too. Vosotros takes their motto,
"music for you-all," seriously. They've made the album available as a free download for a limited time and licensed it under Creative Commons to encourage sharing. Enjoy it, remix it, and tell your friends.
Though she's had a song featured on a couple of TV shows you might recognize, there's a good chance you don't know about the Swedish singer-songwriter Miss Li. "I Heard of a Girl" is somewhere between the Cure and Belle and Sebastian, only sung by a dark, unknowable pixie. Much of the rest drifts towards cabaret or '60s girl group sounds. It's pop with a weird streak, salty and sweet, all delicious.
Shimmering, lo-fi, and glorious, Build a Garden feels like the
early work of Beulah, only more earnest and with boy-girl vocals.
Featuring more low-key revamps of four songs from last year's Build it Up and another four new cuts, my only complaint is that the serving size is too small.
But before you go perusing, browsing, and downloading, make sure you enter the code (JULY4MP3) into your account (that's the part that makes it free). You can find simple instructions on how to do that here. But do it quick--it all goes away, much like the fireworks, BBQ stains, and sleeping in, on July 6th (ok, so maybe the BBQ stains will stick around a bit longer).
It's limited to one per customer, but if you want to share the FREEdom with someone else, send them to Amazon MP3where they can download their own favorite version, as well.
Have a safe and fantastic 4th of July, and happy birthday, America!
Beck's last album Modern Guilt fulfilled his record deal with Interscope, and because he's far from the loser he once claimed to be, he's comfortable enough to not be in a hurry to get another one. That means he can spend the intervening time hanging around with his mates -- people like Devendra Banhart, MGMT, Jamie Lidell and producer Nigel Godrich -- and record some cover versions of classic albums. Beck's new 'Record Club' is an informal gathering of musicians who will record an album in a day, his website says, "nothing rehearsed or arranged ahead of time," and at least one song will be uploaded every week. First up is "Sunday Morning," the opening track from The Velvet Underground's seminal debut album with Nico, a video of which has been uploaded to beck.com.
Godrich helped record this one, along with a group of lesser known collaborators, and they've even drawn a new version of the original album's sleeve to start the video. Whether these covers will ever be released for purchase is doubtful - that would require the involvement of lawyers, which seems to go against the informality of the whole plan.
There's no word yet on what other albums Beck and his pals might record, so what are your suggestions?
SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and
quirky stories which catch the eye. We'll be posting a selection of
these news stories on Chordstrike every week; for much, much more,
visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon.
My fellow editor Alan Wiley and I will be heading to the gorgeous Gorge in (or at least very near) George, WA this weekend to partake in the glory of the 2009 Sasquatch! Music Festival, where we'll bring you all the gory details via the majesty of on-the-scene blogging (wi-fi permitting) . To get a taste of what we're in for, minus the inevitable sunburns, enjoy the playlist below; it features songs from most of the bands slated to play Saturday through Monday. In case you need some motivation to click the play button, there are even some free songs in there. Give 'er a listen and let us know if there's anyone whose Sasquatch! set you'd like us to cover.
Through Valentine's Day 2009, you can download the ultra-classic Marvin Gaye loverman jam "Let's Get It On" absolutely free over at Amazon MP3. Download it and play it often, but please don't blame any subsequent unintentional babymaking on us.
Also, not to get too shilly or anything, but the album from which this song comes, plus four other albums from our list of the 100 Greatest Romantic Albums are on sale for $5 each through the weekend. Just thought you might like to know. -- Jeff Reguilon
Board members and patrons of Dallas Opera, TX were breathing a sigh of relief just before the new year, when the New York Times published a very eloquent denial from Dallas' new general director, George Steel, saying he was happy in Dallas and not contemplating a move back to New York to head up the fast-sinking New York City Opera. Today, the same newspaper broke the story that George is, indeed, returning to the big apple to become general manager. I'm linking to the Alex Ross blog, for the details.
NYCO is in big trouble. They owe a large amount of money. Their original choice for the position, Gerard Mortier (Paris Opera / Salzburg Festival), walked away from the position at the last minute, because he thought their budget wasn't big enough. They are also homeless. The New York State Theater is under a massive renovation, which will keep the company flitting around the five boroughs in temporary accommodation for 2009/2010.
I really like the idea of George Steel taking over. He is a proven impresario from his days at the 92nd Street Y, and at The Miller Theatre, where he built a reputation for imaginative, high-quality programming, that proved very pleasing to new and established audiences, alike. He's also a conductor, which could save them a buck or two, as he could moonlight. I've even heard him sing counter tenor, but I should stop right there.
This appointment feels a lot better than unsuccessful attempts to import big, expensive stars from Europe. I also think that City Opera's founder, Mayor, Fiorello La Guardia, were he around today, would also want to give the local boy a chance. Go GRS! Make us proud! -- Hugo Munday
While you could argue that rappers are already doing a fine enough job killing autotune on their own, two pranksters going by the names Roger Riley and Teddy Troutman officially put the knife through the heart (or heart-shaped balloon as it were) of the overused ProTools plug-in with their new mixtape, Death of Autotune. On it, they imagine what the world would have been like if, back in the '90s, autotune had been as prevalent as it is now. Aided by the magically melodifying computer crutch, they've re-recorded vocals on "Electric Relaxation" by a Tribe Called Quest, "Nothin' But a G Thang" by Dre and Snoop, "One More Chance" by Biggie, and nine other well-loved jams. The result is both amusing and terrifying. You can download it free and it and hear it for yourself here. -- Jeff Reguilon
Much of the Seattle area is covered with snow, at the moment. It's rare for us living near sea-level to get this much white stuff prior to Christmas and the New Year. So much snow has fallen, so early, that mass-transit is at a standstill and many flights in and out, canceled or delayed. Still - the kids are having a blast and it does put you in a very traditional Christmas mood. If I can get into town over the next few days, I can see trudging through the "deep and crisp and even" to a really traditional carol service, would be in order. I've never heard the Northwest Boychoir and they've done the most traditional carol service format, as a concert, for thirty years now. Tuesday night (December 23rd) at Benaroya Hall, but I'd check to make sure the weather hasn't altered their plans. If you can't get out, you can hear the Northwest Boychoir on King FM (98.1) live, or you can go to the source. King's College Cambridge came up with this format in 1918 and the BBC started broadcasting it about a decade later. You can hear the whole service on the BBC World Service broadcast live at 3:02 pm local time, Christmas Eve. If you simply have to have a CD? - EMI re-bundled a lot of the traditional King's carols on a very well-priced CD called Classic Christmas Carols. Stunning arrangements, flawless performances, but the real star of the show? The Chapel. One of the best acoustics you'll ever hear a choir sing in.
What could be more inclusive and equitable than a YouTube Symphony Orchestra, composed of successful applicants from all over the world?
I love the idea of Tan Dun writing an Internet Symphony No. 1. Calling it "Eroica” waves a flag for a brave, new era, even if we are more than 20 years into this revolution. Also, what better conductor than Maestro Tilson Thomas, who has championed new works as a conductor from the podium of the San Francisco Symphony and other orchestras, even composing extensively himself?
This whole project looks to have a very bright future,if it doesn't get soiled by ugly mistakes we have made in the past. For many years, anybody that wasn't male or white stood little chance of being hired by a major symphony orchestra, until blind auditions, conducted with a screen between the applicant and the audition panel, were instituted. Some orchestras have brought on vitriolic criticism, because they adopted these practices late or half-heartedly, most notable among them, The Vienna Philharmonic. Malcolm Gladwell uses the blind audition problem as a prime example of bias in his book "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking."
In the competition rules and regulations, I can't find any language that says that YouTube have made a provision for blind auditions, and for a website whose mission is to allow people to discover, watch and share original videos, I think this is something they will need to address.
Would it be that hard to do? I think there are ways to demonstrate attempts to eliminate bias, even in a medium that begins with watching and listening. Whatever they come up with, I fully acknowledge the need for YouTube to scrutinize the applicants, to make sure they're actually playing and not miming to a brilliant recording of "The Flight of the Bumblebee". Actually that could become a competition in itself. Who can spoof the audition panel? I can see it now - "Eh-hem. I would now like to perform the percussion part from "Fire", by the late James Hendrix..." -- Hugo Munday
Considering how many words we've spilled following the flamboyant genius/egotist, we might need to institute an "OMG! KANYE" tag 'round these parts.
In today's Kanye "FIGJAM" West news, he, Plain Pat, and DJ Benzi have a new remix mixtape out in advance of Monday's release of 808s & Heartbreak.
It's a decent collection of remixes that's largely inessential unless you're a Kanye superfan, mostly because it doesn't include any peeks at new material aside from a remix of "Love Lockdown" that's been floating around the internet for a while. It's something you could throw on, set it and forget it Popeil-style, at a party, but it's a little disappointing when stacked up against his past mixtapes, including the two that came out around the release of his last record (the Can't Tell Me Nothing mixtape also mixed by Plain Pat, or The Graduate mixtape, which also features the hipster-pleasing A-trak mashup of "Get 'em High" and the Knife's "Heartbeats" found on Sky High).
If you're curious, you can stream the Sky High mixtape (complete with irritating flow-interrupting between-track advertisements) over at imeem. If you happen to find somewhere to download the thing, please be a friend and leave the URL in a comment.
Sometimes you can almost see the stink lines coming off of these collaborations*, but when one of my favorite developing rappers reworks one of my favorite songs of the year, I take the time to listen. Thankfully, Wale's take on Duffy's "Warwick Avenue" works. Head over to XXL to stream it, but since there's some spicy language, you might want to give the kids earmuffs.
After the jump, find the emotional video for the original version of "Warwick Avenue" and a link to Wale's Seinfeld-referencing Mixtape About Nothing, which you can download for free.
Makana recently dropped by the Amazon Music offices to chat with
Chordstrike
about his new album, and give us a lesson on the traditional Hawaiian
art of slack key guitar. If you like music of any kind, I think you'll find the history of slack key fascinating, and Makana's talent humbling.
Makana was recently invited to compete live in
Guitar Player's Guitar Superstar Competition: an honor bestowed
to only 10 artists. The winner will be decided in San Francisco on
September 13. Take a listen and let me know what you think.
Bob Dylan today released "Dreamin' of You'" as a free download. The track comes from the three-disc Tell Tale Signs, the eighth in the poet's Bootleg series.
9/8 update!We've got the video on an exclusive basis for the next week. Have a look:
But back to the music. The complete tracklist for Tell Tale Signs runs as follows:
Disc One
Mississippi (Unreleased, Time Out Of Mind)
Most of the Time (Alternate version, Oh Mercy)
Dignity (Piano demo, Oh Mercy)
Someday Baby (Alternate version, Modern Times)
Red River Shore (Unreleased, Time Out Of Mind)
Tell ‘Ole Bill (Alternate version, North Country soundtrack)
Born in Time (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
Can’t Wait (Alternate version, Time Out Of Mind)
Everything is Broken (Alternate version, Oh Mercy)
Dreamin’ of You (Unreleased, Time Out Of Mind)
Huck’s Tune (From Lucky You soundtrack)
Marching to the City (Unreleased, Time Out Of Mind)
High Water (For Charley Patton) (Live, Niagara, 2003)
Disc Two
Mississippi (Unreleased version #2, Time Out Of Mind)
32-20 Blues (Unreleased, World Gone Wrong)
Series of Dreams (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
God Knows (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
Can’t Escape From You (Unreleased, December 2005)
Dignity (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
Ring Them Bells (Live at the Supper Club, 1993)
Cocaine Blues (Live, Vienna, Virginia, 1997)
Ain’t Talkin’ (Alternate version, Modern Times)
The Girl On The Greenbriar Shore (Live, 1992)
Lonesome Day Blues (Live, Sunrise, Florida, 2002)
Miss the Mississippi (Unreleased, 1992)
The Lonesome River (With Ralph Stanley, from
Clinch
Mountain Country)
‘Cross The Green Mountain (From Gods And Generals soundtrack)
Disc Three
Duncan And Brady (Unreleased, 1992)
Cold Irons Bound (Live, Bonnaroo, June 2004)
Mississippi (Unreleased version #3, Time Out Of Mind)
Most Of The Time (Alternate version #2, Oh Mercy)
Ring Them Bells (Alternate version, Oh Mercy)
Things Have Changed (Live, Portland, Oregon, 2000)
Red River Shore (Unreleased version #2, Time Out Of Mind)
Born In Time (Unreleased version #2, Oh Mercy)
Tryin’ To Get To Heaven (Live, London, England, 2000)
Marchin’ To The City (Unreleased version #2, Time Out Of Mind)
Can’t Wait (Alternate version #2, Time Out Of Mind)
Mary And The Soldier (Unreleased, World Gone Wrong)
