‘Misdemeanour’, originally recorded in 1975, is a great but often overlooked slice of pop influenced soul. Sung by the 11 year old Foster, the record perfectly emulated the sound of the young Michael Jackson; so much so that the original version of ‘Misdemeanour’ is often mistaken for a lost Jackson 5 record. Now, new British production outfit the CB’s have taken the song and given it an almost note perfect reworking. Already finding favour with DJ’s such as Craig Charles, who runs the UK’s premier funk radio show on BBC 6 Music, ‘Misdemeanour’ is sure to go down well with all fans of vintage soul.
For more info you can check out Jam City Record’s MySpace
Whether it’s Jason Derulo’s ‘Whatcha Say’ using a hefty proportion of Imogen Heap’s ‘Hide And Seek’; David Guetta lifting the top line from ‘Tainted Love’; or even Flo Rida using the backing from Eifel 65’s ‘Blue’; many of the world’s biggest hits in the last year have heavily used samples to provide instantly memorable hooks. Of course, this isn’t anything new. Since the Sugar Hill Gang lifted the bassline from Chic’s ‘Good Times’ on ‘Rapper’s Delight’ over 30 years ago, sampling has provided the backbone of hip-hop, house and techno.
More often than not the best samples and breaks are taken from obscure, rare and unloved tracks that by their very nature can be hard to place. Thankfully, the boffins at Whosampled.com have now launched a service that aggregates and cross references samples from even the most hard to find records – something that’s sure to please crate diggers and record collectors the world over.
With a database of over 16,000 tracks, whosampled.com contains everything from dance music to pop. One of the more obscure gem’s highlighted on the site include Bernard Wright’s ‘Spinning’; a super cool funk number that provides the break in Skee-Lo’s mid 90’s rap hit ‘I Wish’. Check it out below:
Hot Chip’s quirky brand of synth pop has seen them develop into one of Britain’s most in demand acts in the last 5 years. Their latest single ‘One Life Stand’ is the first to be taken from Hot Chip’s new album and is one of their most accomplished singles ever – no mean feat when you consider that the group’s previous hits ‘Over And Over’ and ‘Ready For The Floor’ have been cropping up in many ‘Track Of The Decade’ lists in the past few weeks. Taking its cues from oddball DFA style disco, ‘One Life Stand’ mixes a throbbing techno bassline with distorted falsetto vocals and a smattering of calypso steel drums and is probably the group’s most ambitious work. This introduction of some new musical flavours to the Hot Chip mixing pot probably has a little to do with the group’s extracurricular activities: namely the burgeoning DJ careers of several of Hot Chip’s members and the solo electronic work of Hot Chip’s keyboardist Joe Goddard. And if ‘One Life Stand’ wasn’t enough to get you in the Hot Chip mood, the group have also released the track listings for their new album which is due for release Feb 8th on Parlophone. One Life Stand Tracklisting 01 Thieves in the Night 02 Hand Me Down Your Love 03 I Feel Better 04 One Life Stand 05 Brothers 06 Slush 07 Alley Cats 08 We Have Love 09 Keep Quiet 10 Take It In
In 2001 Daft Punk released ‘Discovery’, an album that continues to influence countless other artists. A leaner affair when compared with their 1997 debut, ‘Homework’, on this album Daft Punk embraced an 80’s synthpop feel, rather than the Chicago House sound of their early work. While it took Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo six years to craft the album, for many it was well worth the wait. Opening with the stomping ‘One More Time’ ‘Discovery’ immediately grabs the listener and engages them through to the final chords of epic album closer ‘Too Long’.
The album was also accompanied by an animated film, Interstella 5555, in which the songs were juxtaposed against the adventures of a band in a parallel galaxy. The album also featured Daft Punk’s first ever collaborations, with American DJ/producers Romanthy and Todd Edwards on ‘One More Time’ and ‘Face To Face’ respectively. The album would go on to be a huge influence on the likes of Justice, Soulwax and LCD Soundsystem – who penned the track ‘Daft Punk Is Playing At My House’ in tribute to the French duo.
After a spectacular return to form two years ago with their third studio album, and the subsequent parting of ways with their record label, Portishead reassured their fans they wouldn’t have to wait another ten years for a follow-up and shortly afterwards they went back to the studio.
The first fruit of those studio sessions is ‘Chase The Tear’, a song that shares the same Krautrock influence of Geoff Barrow’s recent project Beak. Bristol’s finest have teamed up with Amnesty International to support their campaign for world-wide implementation of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. ‘Chase The Tear’ has been made available for purchase as an exclusive download through 7 Digital for the International Human Rights Day, a date dedicated to commemorate the anniversary of the historic achievement.
For more information about the International Human Rights Day here.
Last week audiophiles and DJ’s from around the world were left in shock as rumours spread that Panasonic had made the decision to stop producing their legendary Technics 1210 turntables. The humble 1210 record deck could reasonably be argued to be one of, if not the, most important instrument of the last 30 years– having a defining role in the development of disco, hip-hop and dance music since the ‘70’s. An increase in the popularity of digital technology has pushed Technics slightly out of the picture in recent years; however, the 1210 is still the preferred tool of the world’s top DJ’s such as Ricardo Villalobos, Andy C and Grandmaster Flash. The 1210 even has a place in London’s Science Museum as one of the pieces of technology that shaped the world we live in. Thankfully, after a week of speculation, Panasonic have now quashed rumours they will discontinue the deck with this statement.
“As a major global business, Panasonic keeps all of its operations under constant review. However, there are no current plans to discontinue the Technics brand and the production of Technics turntables.”
And good thing as well, Despite CDJ’s and Laptops being more convenient and arguably easier to use, you will never be able to do anything anywhere near as cool as this on them:
Welsh rockers Stereophonics have remained one of the UK’s most popular bands since the early ‘90’s. Consistently turning out hit singles such as ‘The Barteneder And The Thief’, ‘Just Looking’ and ‘Dakota’ as well as 5 UK number one albums; The ‘Phonics have stood firm while many of their contemporaries have fallen by the wayside. Now after the success of their latest album, ‘Keep Calm And Carry On’, Kelly Jones and co. announce one of their biggest tours to date. Kicking off in late January 2010 in Copenhagen, the tour takes in some of Europe’s most prestigious venues and includes slots at London’s O2 and Wembley Arena.
Tour details are below, for more info check out their MySpace.
Those who like their music new and ground breaking will find little trouble at choosing their band of the decade: Animal Collective’s achievements clearly outdo any competitors.
The band’s evolution has run in parallel to that of cutting edge music in the States. From the masked live shows and psychedelic freak-folk of their beginnings in Baltimore to recently breaking into mainstream acclaim, Animal Collective encapsulated like no other the most creative sounds the last ten years had on offer. Drinking in sources as diverse as LSD induced tribe-like chants and percussion trips, Krautrock loops, sound samples, noise and drone to create intense aural landscapes.
The group was originally formed by Avey Tare and Panda Bear; with Deakin and Geologist joining shortly afterwards – a mobile line-up that has seen every member coming and going through their output. Their fifth record ‘Sung Tongs’, recorded by the Avey Tare/Panda Bear initial core, shaped their experimental ways into tracks resembling fully fleshed out songs, spawning cult classics such as ‘Who Could Win A Rabbit’ or ‘Leaf House’. It was this moment where they began gaining international notoriety, as their reputation earned them a deal with British label Fat Cat. Next giant step came in 2005 with ‘Feels’, where the embellishing hand of Dave Fridmann helped on production; in a move that was considered Animal Collective’s expansion towards more established indie circles. Read more…
The Montreal based Arcade Fire released their debut album in 2004 to a cacophony of critical praise – and quite rightly so. Taking in a wide range of influences including pop, post-punk, opera and disco; ‘Funeral’ is a staggering, assured debut. Fronted by husband and wife Win and Géraldine Butler, the album was influenced by the deaths of several band members’ relatives. Naturally the influence of these events had an effect on the band and their music and ‘Funeral’ gave them an outlet for this grief and frustration. It would be unfair to categorise the album as a depressing listen, however it’s clear the events had an influence on Butler’s reflective lyrics.
With tracks as varied as the rabble rousing ‘Wake Up’, to the slow burning ‘Crown Of Love’- a track that starts out as a lush orchestral number and gives way to a storming disco beat – the album isn’t never predictable and entices the listener back again and again. While the band would go on to release another album in the decade, 2007’s ‘Neon Bible’, it’s ‘Funeral’ that stands up as their essential album. The band have recently confirmed that they’ve completed work on their third album, due for release in May 2010.
There’s no shifting ‘Riverside’ from the top of the Shazam Pre-releases Chart USA as Sidney Samson holds on to the number one spot for a fourth week in a row – pre-empting big success for the Dutch producer in 2010. New entries to the chart come from Miss Li, Passion Pit, Gucci Mane, JLS, Owl City, Leona Lewis and Vampire Weekend.
