Sad songs always sound so pretty

Ever notice how some tunes have this gorgeous beat and just hearing it is cheering you up, and then you start to focus on the lyrics.  I love me a good lyric, and for some reason I have always found that kinda melancholic,"depressing" music to be a bit cheerful.  Someone like say Fiona Apple. She doesn't exactly instil the average listener with glee, but something in the way her songs are structured or maybe its her voice.. I dunno, it just kinda cheers me up.  Then you get something like the couple of tracks I have for you today.  Pretty sounding songs with this underscored sadness and hate. I LOVE IT!

First up is Steffi.  Steffi is regarded as "The First Lady of Berghain",  so you would naturally assume mind assaulting German minimalist tech. But if you did, like me, you would be wrong.  This is the opening track from the  Panorama Bar mix volume 3, done by Prosumer... and given how nice the opening track was I figured I was in store for a really great mix. Well guess who is batting 0 for 2! Me. To each their own but... its all over the place, pretty off the wall track selection, theres no real flow to it and doesn't really feel like its going anywhere. This opening track however is great and serves as a great example of what I was talking about up there in paragraph numero uno.

Steffi - Sadness

And to really drive home my point....

GusGus - Hateful(Ada feat. Mayburg Mix)

Ridin On Da Riddim

So we've been experiencing this unseasonably warm winter here in Toronto, even by global warming's standards.  I found out its because of some pretty bad ass and rare wind phenomenon happening at the North pole which is basically keeping all that cold air in a constant spiral circling the pole, neat eh?  Here I was thinking its because there's so much hot shit music wise every where that the planet just can't take it!-Actually, I'm going to keep that possibility open.

Some new stuff I happened across in the past few days:

Fink.  This multi-instrumentalist fellow out of somewhere in the UK, safe bet that its Brighton.  I've heard a few things with the name Fink involved but i was not entirely sure they were the same guy because they are sooo different.  Apparently, they are. As soon as I saw the name Ninjatune associated I knew the depth and breadth of his catalog was entirely possibly produced by the same guy. Cool.

Fink - Move On Me (Alphapriest Remix)

I don't really know anything about this guy, however, a point of note. There is a new movie out with Tom Hanks.. something about 9/11, called Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.  Well there is also a song of the same name on the full length LP, which was released back in the fall. Anyway, that isn't the one I'm posting.  My friend Josh brought this one over and we both agree that the actual name should be "ridin' on da riddim" not Riding on The Rhythm... discuss.

Spencer Parker - Riding On The Rhythm

Lastly here is a, as of yet, unreleased goodie!  Toronto's Gavin Bradley has teamed up with DJ Meme once again for this clubby tune that just screams summer.

DJ Meme feat. Gavin Bradley - Call For Me (Original Club Mix)

CANcon

Time for a little CANcon.  For those readers from outside our shores, CANcon was a measure introduced by the CRTC(Canadian Radio & Television Corp.) to make sure that Canadian talent was going to get exposed to viewing and listening audiences. Basically if you are a Radio or TV station based in Canada there are very strict guidelines that say you have to play X amount of Canadian content in relation to everything else you play.  And really, without it I'm sure we would be even more under the influence of American broadcasters than we already are... And Silly Dingdong would still be singing to loggers in remote regions of Quebec instead of counting her million$,  so I never thought I'd say this but... THANKS CRTC!

Now it kinda seems like Marc Houle is like a lost legend in the Canadian scene.  I dunno if he's moved abroad or something but he should really be mentioned in the same breath as Acquaviva and Hawtin etc.  Heres a reason why, courtesy of Marco Carola's mix from the Fabric series (#31- and its great btw.)

Marc Houle - Kicker

If Hamilton, Ontario can ever be accused of poppin' it'll be because of the Junior Boys.  I didn even know they were Canadian let alone from Hamilton until last year.  Something about that just doesn't make sense.  Although, thinking about it, some of the most talented musicians I've known have lived in or been from very industrial and culturally repressed places.  Add to their amazingness, a remix from Ewan Pearson (love!) and you get this track named after my Grandmother.. well sort of.

Junior Boys - Hazel (Ewan Pearson's House Remix)

Lastly, a friend of mine just released a new track.  Its a remix of the new Starkillers "Disco Fans". Sure to be blowing up floors all over the place and its now available on Beatport.  If you do not know who Deko-ze is, you either aren't a dance music head from Canada or you need a slap. So when you consider how much music we all get for free.... pop on over to Beatport and show some love for a little CANcon.

What does Black sound like?

No I am not about to entire into some racial tirade about what black music is. But i love the name of these guys.  Two young black kids from Jersey(New, not the Isle of) calling themselves the Voices of Black. Whether its a comment on the colour of their skin, some sort of political statement or maybe they are talking about something entirely different. I really don't care.  Its interesting shit. Sometimes it gets a little bit weird and spacey but its obvious that their influences are pretty varied. And like I said, Its interesting. Refreshing to the ears to hear such a diverse collection of stuff.  Especially this umm cover(?) of one of my All Time faves...

Voices of Black - Papa Was

Voices of Black - A Place Called Fame

Lost & Burried Treasure

Its been 2 weeks since my knee surgery and though I've been mostly sat on my ass, I dunno what it was I just wasn't really up to blogging.  It could easily have been the pain killers- I was a Percocet zombie.  Now that I've started physio and I'm walking, actually I'm not going to call how I move around walking because it looks more like a Neanderthal shuffle, but ya now that I am doing that, I really am feeling better about things.  That and a steady bunch of visiting friends have really helped.  And so this weekend, chilling with a few friends I managed to go on a search for sunken treasure without ever having to leave my gorgeous new sofa.

Sometimes I consume so much music in the run of a day that it kind of gets lost on me.  I'll hear it and move on, without ever really listening. Next day, rinse-repeat, and after 3 days I don't even manage to remember that I was completely in love with a track and it has died somewhere in the recently added side of my iTunes.  Lucky for me, my husband appears to pay a bit closer attention, and had harvested a bunch of these little beauties into a playlist which repeatedly had my scurrying off the couch to find out what they were and how they managed to sneak into my iTunes without me noticing.

Beacause I've taken a bit of flack from a few people for not posting during all this free time, Today its a SuperSized, two-parter.

It's a (bizarrely warm) rainy Monday here in Toronto, but I'm fairly certain you'll be able to notice that the weather has had an effect on my musical distractions in part number 1 of today's post:

Dinah Washington - This Bitter Earth

Ruede Haggelstein & The Noblettes - A Priori (Original Mix)

Groove Armada - History

And now for part 2. That Dinah Washington song by the way... amazing.  After we heard it in Shutter Island(meh) last week it was on repeat for about an hour, so at least something good came out of watching that. With these next couple I'm going to try and pretend its not a rainy Monday and that my dancing shoes are not on a shelf collecting dust. If you think you recognize In The City, its because that little ditty looping in the background is from Pharcyde and has been sampled to death for probably about 20 years.

Alena - Changes (Ron Basejam Mix)

Andre Crom & Martin Dawson - In The City

Goloka - Ain't No Game

hoping for some mighty efficient machines

I cannot stop listening to this album. Every spare second I have had for 2 days has been spent with this as my musical backdrop.  The album is about a year old, released last February by a producer from Denmark named Kasper Bjørke.  Its called Sitting On Top Of Utopia, and what a fucking marvelous view it is from the top! Hot damn.  Theres elements of disco, dark menacing electronia, indie pop and even parts of it that remind me of Muse and strangely it doesn't feel scattered.  This will be my soundtrack while im sitting in the hospital tomorrow recovering from ACL reconstructive surgery on my left knee, giddy'up!
These are my early two favourites from the album:

Kasper Bjørke - Efficient Machine

Kasper Bjørke - Fido & The Friendly Ghost

Cow birds in the clouds

So I ended up taking a little break from the blog over the Holidays... There was just so much going on I didnt really have time to spend an hour sorting through tunes and writing, but its nice to be back :). Eventful doesn't even begin to summarize the season but after all the parties, the presents, the drama and oh my god the booze, its a brand new year.  I don't tend to make grandiose resolutions, and this year will be no different.  Generally just striving to be a more complete person, and experience new things.. so bring it on 2012. 
Musically I'm going to sort of ease it on in on a pretty chilled tip.  A producer friend of mine from the UK whose musical opinion I really respect put this next album as his tops of 2011 and I completely agree. I won't get all flowery and start describing it but it is a 28 track album. Ambitious to say the least.  The album is called "Clouds" and its by a fellow named Apollo Brown, hailing from the Motor City... and no I don't mean Stuttgart this time. Also check the album art... i like it :)

Apollo Brown - Drinking Life

Apollo Brown - Know The Time

Now maybe Santa brought you new dancing shoes for Christmas.  Maybe yours have been in the closet picking up dust over the Holigays? Either way, dust those puppies off cuz its time for a nice proper House Jam! Courtesy of none other than Crosstown Rebels, comes this beauty of a soulful chuggin' track that, to quote my friend Walther, is a "real treat".  On top of the fact I really love the song, its got a completely foolish name... my favourite. Mind you, I mean... maybe every cow does have a bird and I'm just out of the loop?

Guti & Dubshape - Every Cow Has A Bird