Bad Bad sooo right.

Had a little reprieve from posting some stuff so thought I might go for another biggie like I did a couple months ago.  People seemed to like that one.  Plus its a nice distraction from thinking about hockey where the Leafs have not won a game at home(in Toronto) for nearly 50 days. ouch. Though we might not be putting together any winning possibilities in any of our professional sports teams right now(but the Jays look great in spring training), one thing Toronto is absolutely flourishing in is great music.  Me being the dufus that I am, didn't even realize it was Canadian Music Week, and inspite of that fact managed to get out to see the absolutely fantastic Nicolas Jaar (could he be more attractive??) last night at Revival.  Ive loved nearly everything I've heard him produce, and as entertaining as the live show was... I kinda expected a bit more.  Maybe its because he didnt go on until ONE bastard THIRTY in the morning and the place was rammed so full you literally COULD NOT move for 2 hours prior to him going on...Doors at 10, act at 1:30? No. Aside from that booking/promotion gaff, solid friggin show! Oh.. well.. except for the slight production software fart about a minute into his first track, but after a quick reboot of the ol' macbook pro.. all good.  Even with the couple negative comments i made there... VERY happy i heard him, it was a great night.
So I mentioned the TO music scene a bit up there.. these guys BadBad, NotGood have been on a bit of an internet tear the past few months. So much so that they've dropped out of music college because of the demand for public performance. They're a jazz & hip hop 3 piece that brings in guest vocalists and have a pretty wicked reputation right now.. winning accolades from jazz festivals in Europe and a lot of print space.  They did a show honouring the late J Dilla a few months back here which I would have loved to have been at but alas... heres a lil taste:

BadBad, NotGood - Electric Relaxation

Not even arguably.. one of the best pop albums to come out in the last 10 years, The Arcade Fire's The Suburbs is probably what I listened to the most over the past year and a half.  This past week my friend Jenn showed me this cover. Total departure from the original but pretty cool in its own right.

Mr Little Jeans - The Suburbs

I wish I could remember where I hear some of the stuff that I come across... but I have no idea. Some mix somewhere and I do remember that until I got the track I skipped back to the time in the set this one came in at a lot.

M.in & Mr. Pong - My Hands Are Closed ( Dan Caster & Rene Bourgeois Remix)

So after that Nicolas Jaar show was the awesome (and new to my ears..) Andrew Ross. It started out with this funky vibe and everyone was dancing and having a great time.  Me being an idiot left a bit early and of course it turned into a full on disco stomper, where, according to my friends that stayed he dropped this little beauty.  Which I now remember was performed by a drag Queen at a friend's album launch party years ago and I had always loved but never had until today! My life would be an empty shell without Shazam, truly.

Material & Nona Hendryx - Bustin' Out

And lastly, on one of my dives into the depths of my hard drive I found this one that I hadn't heard in a couple years.  I had a pretty intense love affair with Solid Groove for a pretty long time and this remix of a Nick Holder track is a very good example of why.  Turns out I'm still burnin' that candle...  This ones a total bangin' floor filler so crank it up, kids.

Nick Holder - Bad Girl (Solid Groove Remix)

rinse.repeat.

The last time, and I think the only time, I listened to a song on such a ridiculously heavy rotation was Azari & III's Hungry for the power.  We're talking a good solid 15 times on repeat here, before my friend Josh said he couldn't handle another listen. But we couldn't figure out what the track was. It was in a mix with no tracklist, and Shazam was not being very helpful.  I log into soundcloud and was checking out a new Rob Dietz track and then this came on when it finished!  Is that destiny? Good luck? I dunno, but its something.... I'm just happy as shit that I have it now :)

Superhero - Drugs & Choices (Original Mix)

a little something for the weekend, Sir?

I have to think that if Danny Tenaglia is giving another DJ props thats a good thing. I know some of my friends don't like Danny's style but you can't deny hes a legend either way.  So today when I log into facebook and theres a post from DT saying how much he likes this guy, I take notice.  I've heard of Simon Baker before but theres so many damn DJs in this World of ours I tend to glaze over a lot unless someone gives me a reason to check out something new... like DT did.  Anyhoo... the mix was pretty fun and a lot more of a deep house vibe than I expected given who was promoting it.  So as a result of that, I have a post! :) Thanks Simon Baker & Danny for giving me a new soundtrack for my weekend.

Cajmere & Russoul - Let's Dance (Original Mix)

Claude VonStroke & Jaw - Le Fantome (Original Mix)

Holy Ghost!

Its funny how the same name or words can be appropriated completely differently.  I was listening to BBC Radio 6 (6music) on my walk home from physio this morning and Steve Lamacque was asking listeners to check their library and see how many duplicates of the same song they have.. like covers remixes whatever.  And then I'm at home and I hear this track called Holy Ghost! and I start to realize I have seen this before...  So this track is essentially the 90s hip-hop sensation Got Your Money by Ol' Dirty Bastard.  Its pretty fun, and its keeping with my theory that everything old is new again in the spectrum of electronic music. You've got all these versions of The Sound of Violence being played again. You've got life is changing by Cricco Castelli serving as the basic entire track of Alex Kenji's Get Down, and there was the awesome lyric sample of Missy Elliott's lose control in Leon's  Body Monster.  Basically as I get older all these things are coming back... but seemingly faster than they used to.  Maybe producers are getting lazy and not looking far enough back for their samples and inspiration.  No maybe, they are.

Back to the task at hand, I decided to see where I knew Holy Ghost! from and it was a band name.. not a track. but strange how there's an exclamation point in both I thought.  Maybe I'm looking too deeply for a connection that just isn't there.  However as I would expect from music in my iTunes, I quite like both... so here you go.

Holy Ghost! - I Know I Hear (Jacques Renault Remix)

Sharam Jey & Tom Breu - Holy Ghost! (Original Mix)

The Wonder of Stevie

Stevie Wonder's reach seems to know no bounds.  The man is without a doubt one of the most referenced, covered, sampled, respected and highly regarded artists ever.  You'll hear people from every style and genre of music singing his praises and citing him as a big influence on their career.  But I think this is the first time I've heard a new edit of something of his that really jumped out at me.  I heard it via facebook courtesy my friend Angus and  I was pretty floored.  I hope you are too.

Stevie Wonder - I wish (Kolombo Re-work)

take these shackles off my feet so I can dance!

Whatever it is these fellas dropped out of the move sounds to me like it's paying off.  Drop Out Orchestra area couple of Swedish lads who my friend Charles sent my way via SoundCloud.  Most of Drop Out Orchestra's(LOVE the name) stuff that you can hear on their SoundCloud is remixes and edits of old disco and soul tracks, which are all pretty light hearted, fun ways to hear old tunes we all know and love, like the one they do of Shackles(Praise you).. love it. And I can't tell you how many times I've used the line "take these shackles off my feet so I can dance"!  Theres a few cute little mixes there too that sorta run through a bit of an ambient-spacey disco vibe.  But for the post today I have a remix of one of their own productions... happy listening :)

Drop Out Orchestra - Ego (Second Date Remix)

old man winter

I've been living in Toronto for about 7 years now.  March has come to mean a few certainties to my life in Toronto. One is that our "beloved" Maple Leafs(ice hockey team) will be finally starting to look like a competitive team and strive for the playoffs only to fall short and miss them.  They have not qualified for the payoffs since I moved here and I'm starting to take it personally.  This year they decided to look like a team for the first hald and are now tanking badly.. sigh. 

The other certainty is (at least for the first part of the month) shitty weather. Today is a shining example that the lovely mild winter we have become used to this year was just a tease, as Old Man Winter decided to slap me around with some rather nasty hail on my way to physio this morning. Its the kind of weather that makes me want to curl up no a bearskin rug with a bottle of scotch and something that might sound like this first track, brought to my ears by the fantastic Marc Riley of BBC's Radio 6 Music.  I just downloaded one of those fabulous radio apps that allows me to get virtually any radio station in the world on my phone, and if you're a music fan... 6 Music is awesome.  They kinda stick to the theme of playing whatever they feel like. and have some very interesting presenters, like Mr Riley (formerly of Marc & Lard if you ever listened to Radio 1 about 10 years ago) and Jarvis Cocker has a show on Sundays which im very excited to listen to this week! Moving swiftly on... Im going to go grab that scotch and look for a bearskin rug now that I found the music..

Francois & The Atlas Mountains - Edge Of Town

I got sent this one by my buddy Josh who I have a little musical exchange going with and I've been meaning to post it for ages but something would always sneak in there.  I seriously hope this dudes name is a stage name... or he must've had a hell of a lot of teasing as a kid. Gorgeous track regardless!

Bonar Bradberry - You Were Away