Férias

Esta semana não tenho postado aqui novidades. Encontro-me a tirar uns dias de férias, mas para a semana voltarei em força e com novas sugestões. Obrigado a todos pela visita e até a próxima semana. THE TRIP IS ALIVE!

Joker's Daughter - The last laugh

Muito haveria para dizer da colaboração da cantora Helena Costas com o produtor Danger Mouse, mas infelizmente não tenho muito tempo por agora. Deixo aqui o excelente álbum The last laugh, para escuta, deste projecto que dá pelo nome de Joker's Daughter. Anda entre a indie, a pop e alguma electrónica.

"The origins of Joker's Daughter almost sound apocryphal. In 2003, London-born, Greek-descended folkie Helena Costas struck up a transatlantic correspondence with New York-based beat-sculptor Danger Mouse-- well before The Grey Album made him internet-famous and "Crazy" cemented his reputation as a producer with a deep knowledge of pop's usable past. They planned to collaborate eventually, and six years later, they finally have: The Last Laugh, another hyped project for him but a debut for her-- is their first album under the Joker's Daughter moniker, which is based on one of Costas' many revolving stage names.

They sound like a spacey pastoral, a shroom trip along Hadrian's Wall. With contributions ranging from subliminal to unmistakable, Danger Mouse makes Costas' beatific folk sound even more beatific, more folksy-- kaleidoscopic, storybookish-- while she gives him a whimsical framework on which to hang his samples, beats, and synths. For Costas, this is a walk along familiar glens; for Danger Mouse, it's a sojourn to the exotic countryside. Rather than infuse her songs with his own signature sounds, he approaches the project less like a producer and more like a backing band. Nevertheless, he gets to cut loose a little more here than he did on higher-profile collaborations with the Black Keys and Beck."

in www.pitchfork.com

Joker's Daughter - Worm's head

The last laugh download

Shano - A butterfly in boston

Antes de falar da minha próxima descoberta, quero agradecer ao amigo

A. Paulo Ferreira, pela sugestão de dar títulos aos posts. Depois de alguma resistência da minha parte, vou ter de dar a mão à palmatória e alterar essa política. As razões, bastam as que o A. Paulo Ferreira apontou aqui.

Depois disto vamos à música. O projecto que apresento hoje vem de Nova Iorque pela mão de Shano. Lançou o álbum A butterfly in Boston recentemente, que vem cheio de boa produção downtempo, recheada com batidas à hip-hop e que bebe um pouco à pop. São intrumentais cheios de teclados doces com o jazz na veia, histórias de amor e paz contadas através da música. Tudo isto disponibilizado gratuitamente. Deixo umas quantas linhas tiradas daqui.

"Check out NY producer Shano's first full length project A Butterfly in Boston. ABiB is an album that relies on jazzy samples, soulful loops and a plethora of kicks-n-snares to document a tale of love, pleasure and eventual heartache.
Shano sez, "What I was trying to convey is a love story from beginning to end, or what may seem like an end at least. It starts with meeting, learning about each other, falling in love, then having things fall apart.It takes a turn to where you’re unsure about it and it falls out and all that’s left is confusion and you don’t really know where to go from there. You maybe get over it and move on but part of you will always wonder what could’ve been."

Shano - No matter what it is up there

A butterfly in Boston download

Las Flores Project chega de Nova Iorque pela mão do produtor Christian Banks. Em 2008 lançou o álbum Colores y memorias. Uma sonoridade downtempo com traços de produção hip-hop e com elementos vindos do jazz. Um grande álbum para escutar com atenção.

Las Flores Project - Sound from behind closed doors

Colores y memorias download

Just press play #18

Mais uma mixtape tendo como base a música dos Portishead. Desta vez é o rapper Nickelus F utilizar os beats dos Portishead e onde aproveita ao máximo a voz de Beth Gibbons. Muito agradável!

Nickelus F & Portishead - Roads

R.A.R.E. (Reliving A Real Experience) download

A editora grega Klik Records tem nas suas fileiras um leque de artistas de lucho. Nomes como Yosebu, Aris Kokou, Serafim Tsotsonis, Nikos Diamantopoulos e Timo Maas, entre outros, movem-se dentro das sonoridades electrónicas, sejam elas downtempo, chillout ou deep house. Alguns destes artistas já eu falei aqui no blog e hoje trago mais um que lança pela Klik. Thomas Kosidis a.k.a Blue Pilots Project nasceu em Tessalónica e fez conservatório enquanto tomava contacto com os sons do mundo. A sua música traz downtempo de primeira, recorrendo a elementos jazz, dub e a alguma world music. Em 2007 lançou o álbum Flight for everyone e este ano foi a vez de Reboot. Mais em baixo, fica este último para conferir e para conferir em inglês sobre o mesmo álbum, ficam as seguintes linhas tiradas do site da editora.

"It’s almost two years since the day that Thomas Kosidis made his debut release as Blue Pilots Project. Suddenly he found himself carrying the prestige of the Greek electronica and carry it on the edges of the planet. "Flight for everyone" has been extremely loved by the audience and the critics in Greece and internationally. Two years after it’s release, tracks like , Guess, African Paths and Avandgarde still keep us company through the radio stations. An album of it’s kind could only be followed with something equal. The moment has come and the second album for Blue Pilots Project titled "Reboot" is here. Thomas Kosidis chooses to step into the same musical paths with his previous project, combining electronica with music from all around the world and using into all these a psychedelic filter in order to make something unique, something labeled Blue Pilots Project. What makes a great impression from the very first moment is the feeling that you are somewhere among the instruments at the moment of the recording. The mastering by the hands and equipment of George Nomikos (Nomik) gives an amazing liveliness to the project and manages to boost every sound. Blue Pilots Project - Reboot, it will definitely earn our hearts once more."

Blue Pilots Project - Reboot

Reboot download

Charlotte é francesa e Magon é israelita e juntos são simplesmente Charlotte & Magoon. Conheceram-se pela internet e dicidiram fazer um álbum. Love happening é composto por histórias de amor simples, recorrendo à pop, à electrónica e à indie. É tão simples e bonito que não vou escrever mais e deixar apenas umas linhas tiradas do site de Charlotte & Magon.

"Charlotte (France) and Magon (Israel), met each other for the first time in March 2008 at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel-Aviv.After meeting and communicating over the internet for 2 years, Magon invited Charlotte to meet him in the real world and to create an "authentic and marvelous" pop album together in 12 days.Charlotte, curious and instinctive, agreed to the invitation, booked a flight, and they met.They composed 9 songs and fell deeply in love. Their love became the core of the songs and brought to their music a timeless universality.

Other then it's obvious meaning, "Love Happening" is also a reflection on the 60's and 70's, when artists were spreading their work on the streets, transforming a normal day into an unforgettable creative moment.The sweet and catchy melodies sung with passion and playfulness, the energetic rhythmic section, the groovy guitars and bass, the lyrical pianos and the psychedelic synth’s create an intelligent pop inspired by its faith in love.On stage, joined by talented musicians, the couple shares their love with an almost cinematic presence."

Charlotte & Magon - All my sorries

Love happening download
Password - SirensSound.blogspot.com

Agradecimentos a www.thesirenssound.com

The Desert People é um duo constituido pelos produtores Mike Clouds e Mosh. Em 2006 lançaram o álbum de remisturas intitulado The Desert People remix the music of Vincent Gallo, onde pegam na música do realizador/actor/músico e mais alguma coisa, Vincent Gallo, e a transformam numa sonoridade trip-hop, downtempo e hip-hop instrumental. Um álbum com ambientes dark, onde se cruza o melhor do trip-hop e do hip-hop instrumental, resultando num excelente disco. É a música de Vincet Gallo vista de outra perspectiva!
Deixo aqui o excelente Applegirl, para abrir o apetite.

The Desert People - Applegirl

The Desert People remix the music of Vincent Gallo download

Cinnamon Chasers é o alter ego de Russ Davies, filho de um dos elementos dos The Kinks. O londrino lançou este ano o álbum de estreia, A million miles from home, onde faz a ponte entre as sonoridades retro e a pop electrónica da actualidade. O resultado é um álbum onde entra o disco, a pop, o electro e ambientes synth. Um disco para ouvir sentado num sofá ou simplesmente para dançar, mas com tranquilidade. Mais um dos bons álbuns saídos este ano.

"Davies has “DJ’d” globally for the last four years investigating Japan’s experimental electronic festivals and warehouse parties in Russia. It’s not surprising that this album shows such range and breadth – Davies has an open and gifted approach to songwriting.
That said, we all know that being “a million miles from home” has its joys and peril and that is what this 12 track project investigates. The film, 'Flight of The Navigator' was cited as another major influence and this wide-eyed wonder is evident in several tracks.

'Jetstreams' has a high- bobabillity quotient and it eases your central nervous system with the limbic lyric, “always in my dream.” 'Lux Deluxe' broaches blossoming, instrumental bliss. 'Modern Love' features edgy melodies that whittle their way through robotic utterance. 'Candle Lights' engages both voice and instrument in a bittersweet electronica chase. 'Adored' begins with a menacing thrash, then shifts into savy bleeps that bleed imaginatively – regaining their panache when explosive super novas collide.

The vocal serenade in 'Wishing for the Fire' is like liquid glass – spellbinding and constantly shifting. 'The World is Yours' is steeped in minimalist motif. This crackerjack box of prizes contains layer after layer of revealing passages. A parade of discordant notes mingle with drums, then evaporate. When it all gets just too intergalactic and starry, 'Ray of Sun' appears – with its coarse cry for help – it’s a parfait of celestial dream and David Bowie pyrotechnics.

'Your Heart Doesn’t Open Anymore' belies the thumping bass, but impassions scrumptious, pulsating, baroque-tinged vocals. 'Ultraviolent' is like a Rubik’s Cube – it is equipped with mysterious imaginings that juxtapose fragments of lucidity. The penultimate 'White Flag' with its percussive hijinks strokes the soul as legato skips hobble randomly and suddenly you’re engaged in a brazen flurry."

in www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk

Cinnamon Chasers - Ultraviolent

A million miles from home download

Hoje trago por aqui quatro projectos que se movem dentro das sonoridades hip-hop, sejam elas mais indie, jazz ou soul. Uma selecção underground do movimento e quatro discos que certamente estarão dentro das minhas escolhas de 2009, na área do hip-hop.

Para começar, apresento o projecto AndrRomak e o seu disco de estreia, Beauty is but skin deep. Andrre nas vozes e Roma na produção, trazem um disco de hip-hop indie, com muito sentimento a saír da pele e do coração. Uma produção brutal onde se ouvem muitos teclados, violinos e outros instrumentos mais, que nos envolvem na música. Ouçam porque isto é muito mais do que hip-hop.
Do myspace do grupo, o seguinte:

"Andrromak is a meeting point between 2 ocean sides.. 2 brothers who have never seen each other.. It’s at the same time beautiful and unclear … like old fashion meets new world , like purity meets complexicity , love meets anger..
The world of Andrromak is weird , weird as a sober mustache guy in a bar cruisin for big fat ladies, weird as a priest fuckin young children in his church, weird as the news you heard on your pixellised information filler. Andrromak is another hand to take, nothing big. Just a whispering in a day without words
.If you’re a girl, we love you, cause we love to be sad and empty. I met music in speakers and melt it with how I feel since I got a piece of mic in my hands.But we’re not sad people, we love our life to the fullest.
So take a break, if you don’t like us, just say it and we’ll do strong incantations to exorcise you, wishing you’ll die in a tragic way so we could make a concept of your stupid death.Once upon a time, ladies and gentleman weren't the coolest people around here."

AndrRomak - Another dedication

Beauty is but skin deep download

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Os Pseudo Slang, constituidos por Emcee Sick e por Tone Atlas, vêm de Nova Iorque com o seu hip-hop/jazz de fino recorte e inteligente. Este ano lançaram We'll keep looking, sucessor de Catalogue, lançado em 2004. Hip-hop cool com muito jazz na veia. Da Wikipedia vieram as seguintes linhas:

"Pseudo Slang are an underground hip hop group from Buffalo, New York, United States of America group signed to Fat Beats Records. The group consists of lyricist Emcee Sick and producer/rapper Tone Atlas. Their first group effort was the independently released "Catalogue". After signing to Fat Beats in 2004, they released the single "Broke & Copasetic" featuring Vinia Mojica as well as independently released the EP "Thank God It's Not Another Mixtape" with Buffalo label Baby Steps Hip Hop. The long awaited Pseudo Slang full-length album "We'll Keep Looking" was release spring 2009 on Fat Beats Records."

Pseudo Slang - Bedouin

We'll keep looking download

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Factor & Awol One, uma colaboração que já deu muitos frutos, acaba de dar mais um, o álbum Owl hours. O canadiano Factor, com a sua produção bastante eclética e o MC californiano Awol One com o seu flow único, apresentam um disco de hip-hop indie com grandes beats e com uma produção do melhor, coisa que a Factor já nos vem habituando. O que se segue foi roubado daqui:

"Awol and Factor have been working together for some time. While touring through Canada a few years ago Awol met the Producer/DJ named Factor and began building a friendship. Awol and Factor even rocked to packed crowds of teenybopper indie rock fans when they toured with Montreal band Islands in 2008. Through the years Awol continues to gain respect from artists and fans of all genres and never fails to keep his art and music completely real and original.
Over his nearly 15 year career Awol One has built a strong grassroots fan base from touring extensively throughout the US, Canada and Europe by himself and as a member of the legendary Shape Shifters crew. He has collaborated on tracks with very high profile hip hop artists such as KRS one, Kool Keith and Atmosphere just to name a few.
AWOL ONE, born Anthony Martin in East L.A. California, was born like any other kid…in a manger. His father, Portuguese, and his mother, Irish, grew up poor on the east coast and moved to California where they met and conceived a little walrus. The walrus grew to love music and knew that he would do it forever, now in his early 30’s he feels that he has recorded his best album yet."

Awol One & Factor - Destination

Owl hours download

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Para finalizar, deixo por aqui Moe Pope & Headnodic e a sua brincadeira a partir das músicas da Björk. Estes dois pegaram na discografia da Björk, escolheram uma dezena e meia de temas e construiram um álbum com samplers, quer de voz, quer de batidas. À produção de Headnodic junta-se a voz de Moe Pope. O resultado é o álbum MegaBjörk. Mais em baixo deixo o tema AirBjörk, tema que tenho ouvido vezes sem parar. O seguinte, veio deste sítio.

"Boston MC Moe Pope (Project Move) & Los Angeles Producer Headnodic touch on another legendary indie act in Icelandic artist Bjork. A hip hop addition to Tea's Bjork Remix site, Pope and Headnodic cook up a nice neck noodlin' nod to one of independent music's most eccentric acts by mashing some of their greatest collaborations with Bjork's belligerent sounds."

Moe Pope & Headnodic - AirBjörk

MegaBjörk download

Depois do JJ nº 1, EP que chamou a atenção da crítica, os suecos JJ lançam agora o álbum intitulado JJ nº 2. É um album que alberga sonoridades indie, pop e electrónica. Nem alegre nem triste, nem doce nem amargo, mas muito bom. É pop melódica, sensível, por vezes melancólica e de influências tropicais. São belíssimas canções que chegam para nos encherem os ouvidos de boas sensações. Altamente recomendado aqui pelo sítio.

"A new release from our favourite Swedish record label Sincerely Yours is always welcome in our station. The latest release is a new full-length album from the mysterious electronic duo JJ entitled “No. 2″. We don’t know anything about them, but all that matters is their music. After listening to their new album all you wanna do is lay back and enjoy a journey with them into a parallel universe, from Africa to Malaga. We just found the soundtrack of our summer nights. Soon, you will realize that things with JJ…will never be the same again."

in www.lastgasstation.wordpress.com

JJ - Things will never be the same again

JJ nº 2 download

Antes de mais, quero pedir desculpa aos habituais visitantes do blog pelo facto de ultimamente as actualizações serem inconstantes. A normalidade aproxima-se.
Relativamente a música, hoje trago o projecto do francês François Fabergé. Lançou este ano o seu álbum de estreia sob o nome de Fabergé, de título Dining & dreaming. Um álbum downtempo cheio de melodias de verão, leves e relaxantes e cheias de texturas exóticas com fortes toques de jazz. Um álbum muito agradável para finais de dia numa esplanada qulaquer. E o que se segue veio daqui.

"This remarkable debut catches the eccentric dwellings of French producer François Fabergé, which have been wandering around in his head and his little studio during the last 5 years. These petite songs are all about the simple virtues and little things in life. “This album deals with 2 of my most favorite past times, eating and daydreaming” says our friend. For those familiar with previous work from François Fabergé, this first solo album will sound as comfortable as always, with his well-known signature of relaxed down tempo and imaginary textures of exotica & spaciness.

‘Dining & Dreaming’ has a timeless quality. It refers as easily to 60’s exotica and 70’s psychedelica as to new century down tempo. It has an overall soothing, calm and melodic character with an slightly disorientating dimension underneath. Monte La Rue releases this artist album on his own imprint La Maison La Rue. So what’s up with this man of mystery? “François is not a studio man or trained musician, but has a one-of-a-kind musical mind and only pops in when inspiration strikes. Just see it as a full moon cycle, waves of artistry. It took him a couple of years to complete this astonishing record, but the result is close to jaw-dropping.”

Fabergé - Dejeuner sur l'herbe

Dining & dreaming download

De Illinois, Chicago, vem esta The High Street Orchestra constituida por Jeck, Harsh, Baily, L. Was, Bauer. Em 2004, lançam o álbum When eggs go rotten, onde se dizem influênciados por gente como Digable Planets, Portishead, Sneaker Pimps, Miles Davis, Radiohead, etc. A sua sonoridade parte do hip-hop easy listening e caminha em várias direcções. Há trip-hop, jazz, spoken word e ambiente.

"The faction of artists in hip-hop that realize "keeping it real" has nothing to do with your rim size is growing. Rap is an autobiographical art form, and High Street Orchestra MC Jeck seems to understand that all to well. After a stately piano intro (played by Jeck himself), "Opening Statements" gets the album going with horns and strings rebounding off the drum lick from Massive Attack's "Teardrop," as Jeck lays out his manifesto with a nimble delivery, astute wordplay and deft sense of humor. This contagious sense of serious Wackiness seems to be the main thrust of this record. Things may be dire, as when Jeck gets robbed in "Bad Luck" ("Have you ever been mugged by a bunch of fucking thugs thugs who just wanted you ass for money or drugs / And you couldn't identify them to the Colonial Pantry guy, your roommate or the police / Just because you can't see?"), but the MC's own blindness is a part of his story, not just a tool used to elicit a response. Another prime, although more lighthearted, example of this comes on "Beastmaster" ("Sex Machine! / My eyes are scarred and I'm large"); Jeck is an MC first, and anything else is merely window dressing. With a hype verse from Harsh, and a light bouncy track from local beat maestro Tim Baily, "Beastmasters" might be the most fun you can have with local hip-hop right now. This is the first recorded effort from this local collective and, aside from the freestyled "Friday Flow," it fires on all cylinders, rarely missing a beat. Hip-hop in the C-U has a new underground hero."

Brand T. Washington (The HUB)

The High Street Orchestra - Opening statements

When eggs go rotten download

Just press play #17

Da Suíça com o seu trip-hop jazz, os BSK com o álbum homónimo.

BSK - Feel Like

BSK download

Lançados pela Outernational Music dos Thievery Corporation, os Telepath são costituidos por Michael Christie, homem que domina os teclados, a melódica e os samplers, por Curt Heiny, responsável pelos baixos e, Mike B nos loops e na percursão. Nos seus dois álbuns, Fire one (2006) e Contact (2008), apresentam um som downtempo, infectado fortemente pelo dub, com traços de música indiana, funk e de dancehall. Deixo o álbum Fire one para confirmar e daqui deixo isto:

"Telepath, represented by Thievery Corporation's "Outernational Music", is the creation of producer and multi-instrumentalist Michael Christie. Using his background as a drummer and keyboardist in various electronic and Afrobeat bands, Michael informs his music with an organic, human element that is often lacking in modern electronic music. The new album 'Fire One' mixes the influences of dub, dancehall, Indian and Arabic music, gritty funk, and more into an album of downtempo magic equally at home in a dark, smoky living room, or bangin' in a late-night club."

Telepath - Black box

Fire one download