Another year passes, and we find ourselves in a brand new decade. 2010 is upon us, and that means... well, the same thing every new year means: new stuff!
It's been a fairly hectic year already, and I'm sure it'll continue to be the same. But luckily, the music that has already dropped is a precursor to some great things this year. That being said, let's get started.
I haven't discussed it much on this blog (I'm sure I will eventually), but I'm an admitted sci-fi geek. I love both Star Wars and Star Trek (even though some might call that blasphemy), and most things sci-fi are right up my alley. I was really into the Battlestar Gallactica TV show, and am one of the few people I know who was actually ok with the end of the series. I've seen The Plan, and watched the pilot of SyFy's new series, Caprica, which I think has the potential to be a really interesting show. Apparently, so do the folks at XLR8R, Pitchfork and Create Digital Music.
They've released a free compliation entitled "Music For Our Future: A Special Compliation Inspired by the SyFy Original Series, Caprica." The comp features some really great things you may or may not have heard yet from artists like L'usine, The Field and Richard Devine. Its free, its awesome, and it ties in with Caprica, so its got my recommendation.
V/A - Music For Our Future: A Special Compilation Inspired by the SyFy Original Series, Caprica (via RCRD LBL)
Hate on Kanye West all you want, but I'm still a fan. Sure, he's made some ridiculous comments, interrupted America's sweetheart, Taylor Swift, at the VMAs, makes questionable choices in fashion and women, and has generally made people hate him, but you can't argue that the guy's not talented... and he keeps working and pumping out hits.
VH1 Storytellers picked up where MTV Unplugged left off (considering MTV never even airs music videos anymore), and in my opinion, does a bit of a better job by letting the artists talk a bit about what inspired some of thier stuff, as well as giving them the stage to perform it live. Kanye is the next artist to do a Storytellers show, and it's hit the shelves in dual CD+DVD release this past week. Sure, he's autotuned, but every track of 808s and Heartbreak was autotuned, so stop whining.
Kanye West - VH1 Storytellers (Amazon.com link)
In 2001, Adam F released Kaos: The Anti-Acoustic Warfare, and caught a lot of people off guard by transitioning from being a renound drum & bass producer to working with some of the biggest names in hip-hop at that time. The album was pretty damn good too. Adam did some things that really infused the two sounds, and opened the doors for other producers to make the jump as well (Chase + Status' working with Jay-Z and Rhinanna would be a great example). Kaos was remixed by some of the biggest names in the DnB scene and released as Drum and Bass Warfare: The Remixes, making for a whole other album of smashers for the DnB purists among us.
Now, he and Horx have re-vamped one of the tunes, Shut The Lights Off featuring Redman (which originally appeared as "Smash Sumthin" and remixed by both Roni Size and Bad Company UK), which won't be too familiar even if you owned either of the Kaos albums. The tune has a house vibe, and could work well in a club atmosphere, but also comes with a killer mix from Adam F and Sigma that's been rocking dancefloors, as well as a remix from dubsteppers Caspa & Trolley Snatcher. The variety alone is well worth the price.
Adam F - Kaos: The Anti-Acoustic Warfare (Amazon.com - Import only) / Drum and Bass Warfare: The Remixes (iTunes)
Adam F & Horx - Shut the Lights Off (f/ Redman)
When Jay-Z dropped The Black Album, he also released the acapellas to the world for remixers to go wild with. Dangermouse's "The Grey Album" was the biggest and most successful hit of them all (mashing the acapellas with beats sampled from The Beatles' White Album - and causing a world of controversy along with it), but there was also The Purple Album (beats sampled from Prince), The Silver Album (with RJD2 beats), The Brown Album (with original production by Kev Brown), and Black is Back! (produced by 9th Wonder) among a whole host of others - including one I remember called The Double Black Album, placing Jay's vocals over Metallica... which I never was able to make it through.
Just when you thought it had been done to death, Fly Boy Viz comes along and shakes things up by sampling The Who into a new The Who Print album, featuring current and more recent acapellas as well. Considering its a bootleg, free, and Jay-Z with The Who, I'd check it out if I were you. (No, I didn't rhyme that on purpose)
Fly Boy Viz x Jay-Z x The Who - The Who Print (via RTD)
I haven't posted links or even mentioned Symphony of Science here, but I should have. I absolutely love this concept, and think Colorpulse (aka. John Boswell) is incredibly talented. If you haven't heard of Symphony of Science, you've obviously been under a rock, but you must check it out. Boswell just released the newest song/video in the series last week, called "The Unbroken Thread."
Basically, its clips of scientists and philosophers (including Carl Sagan, Bill Nye, Stephen Hawking, Neil deGrasse Tyson and more) pontificating in autotune over some really interesting textures and music from Boswell. If you're at all into the cosmos, biology, or just what generally makes us tick as the human species, head over, watch the videos and download the songs if you're so inclined.
Symphony of Science
Colorpulse
So that's it for this week. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and new year vacation (if you got to take one), and I hope you downloaded my last mix... because I'm into cheap plugs for my own stuff.
Till next week...
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