Authentic Sh*t, Delancey Music Service, & The Rub

We are big fans of the musical taste of Mark Ronson. BIG fans. I've heard so much amazing music (new & old) on his Friday night East Village Radio show, Authentic Sh*t, it's unbelievable. J.Period & K'Naan, the amazing Joker remix of Simian Mobile Disco/Beth Ditto's "Cruel Intentions," Penguin Prison, Theophilus London, Jay Electronica, Primary 1, Mr. Chop, Mayer Hawthorne, Diamond District, The Electric Prunes, Todd Terje, new jams by the Clipse... and I COULD go on. For a really long time. I can't think of anyone who has been more influential with the type of music I listen to these days, so, thank you, Mark. You can listen to Authentic Sh*t archives here. And, as it happens so many times, when you discover one artist/dj/tastemaker, you get a tiny glimpse into their world and what/who influences them. Through Mark I've become a big fan of Dj's Eli Escobar, Stretch Armstrong (together they host their won East Village Radio Show, Delancey Music Service), Aaron LaCrate (he guested on A.S. last night, btw), and the geniuses who make up Brooklyn's The Rub (DJ Ayres & Cosmo Baker). These guys are all mad talented and have brilliant taste in music. Thanks for all the tunes and inspiration!

JJ

Everyone loves a mystery. Not only is there very little info on Swedish band, JJ, but their sound is also a bit of a mystery (in the best way). Some songs offer gentle twee stylings with the ethereal vocals to match, others employ everyone's favorite global rhythm phenomenon, and then there's the Lil' Wayne sample? What? Who are you guys/gals, and, where have you been all my life? The band has recently signed stateside to Secretly Canadian and will be touring with the xx, starting in March. In the twitterverse yesterday, bloggers were fawning over the album leak, so by a few accounts at least, jj nº 3, will be worth the wait (3/9/10 is the official release). In the meantime, Secretly Canadian is offering Let Go as a teaser.

Dre Day Approacheth

Feb 18th is Dre Day and if you're in or near any city of substance, chances are you can hit the party (Minneapolis, the party is at the Triple Rock, with DJ sets by King Otto and Jimmy Two Times). To get everyone warmed up, we're giving you two dj sets by the man himself from 1986. These mixes have been floating around the Internet for years and every couple months someone reposts them (I'm just doing my part. And, I'm behind on hearing it).

Dr. Dre DJ Set 1986 Side A

Dr. Dre DJ Set 1986 Side B

Magical Mystery Chambers

Not necessarily breaking news (http://community.nytimes.com/comments/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/roll-up-the-beatles-meet-the-wu-tang-clan-in-magical-mystery-chambers/), but, last week Tom Carauna (who?) and his record label, Tea Sea Records (http://www.teasearecords.net/home.cfm) released a free download of a mashup album setting the Wu-Tang Clan against the Beatles. Been done before? Well, yes (http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/02/09/040209ta_talk_greenman). The awesome part about this incarnation of using Beatles songs as backdrops for hip hop is Caruana doesn't use straight-up Beatles songs, but, uses a variety of versions of the songs (orchestral instrumentals, jazz versions, etc.). There are complex layers to these songs, complete with short hilarious samples of adoring fans being interviewed before and after the shows. Sometimes the samples are hard to recognize, making this a really interesting listen and worthy of it bogarting your iPod for awhile.

You can download the album, read more about Caruana, and, donate if you want to support this awesome project: http://www.teasearecords.net/wuvsbeatles.cfm

Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic

Not a proper post, but, this song brings back so many memories. Harriet Wheeler and 120 Minutes FOREVER!

The Sundays - Here's Where the Story Ends

I (Still) Love Mixtapes!

Now that EVERYONE from every different music genre in the game has released a mixtape, on any given day you can find a blog hyping a new mix from the obvious hip hop to electro to mashups from either established artists who are trying out new material on the new world or the up and comer's who are anxious to get their music out to the world. Mixtapes are genius. Maybe it's nostalgia for the 80s, but, I love the idea of them and how they provide a corporate-free environment for artists to take chances and there's still the outside chance that - like back in the day - an MC or dj can get discovered. I also just love the culture of the mixtape and how the music was spread word-of-mouth. If you had so-and-so's mixtape, you were in the know! They weren't playing it on the radio (yet), it was just playing on kids boomboxes and getting talked about all over the neighborhood. It's such a contrast to today's mass consumptive A.D.D. digital culture, but, even though it's an entirely different ballgame, a whole new generation and genres of musicians are utilizing the mixtape. I'm glad bigger artists still use them as a vehicle to get new music out to the world that their label might not release and I also love that the newbies are still getting discovered through the (online) distro of these things. I know this is not breaking news, but, god bless mixtape culture and how it's adapted to the new terms and conditions of the music world.

A recent mashup mixtape I've been digging is from White Panda, a dj duo from LA and Chicago, respectively. You can download it here:

http://www.thewhitepanda.com/the-white-panda-mixtape-versus/

Dessa

Although people outside of Minneapolis might still reminisce over the Replacements, Husker Du, or even Prince and Morris Day when thinking about the city's musical offerings, hip-hop has always been on the minds and in the souls of its residents. The city's hip-hop rep might still be considered underground on the national level (or, is it), but, people in this town are as passionate about their music as any other -- and, probably more. Would you leave your cozy apartment and schlep through the snow in -30 degree weather to check out local hip-hop on a Tuesday night? If you're from Minneapolis you would.

From Atmosphere and the entire Rhymesayers label (www.rhymesayers.com), Eyedea and Abilities, Brother Ali, Felt, Heiruspecs, and the Doomtree Collective (http://www.doomtree.net/) - this city has a wealth of talented MC's, musicians, producers, and dj's involved in the game. Any of these acts could easily take it to the next level, it's only a matter of time.

The Doomtree collective is a hip-hop crew, yes, but they are also a fast-growing label. Their biggest resident might be critically-acclaimed MC, P.O.S., but, they've also got Cecil Otter, SIMS, Mike Mictlan, Lazerbeak, Paper Tiger, and, the writer and MC I'm here to talk about -- Dessa.

Dessa's debut full-length album, "A Badly Broken Code," was released this past Tuesday. What I've listened to so far is a complex mix of dazzling wordplay and hip-hop production with trace elements of RnB, with more than a few nods to vintage torch singers. Her voice is gorgeous, the production is killer, and, the songs are not only solid, they're inspiring.

Here are a few cuts from "A Badly Broken Code" ala youtube:

Dixon's Girl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eQL3BrRqM8

The Crow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JfAnS8mRK4

Alibi (not the best sound quality on this one)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j2A4Lb7RFo


Buy Dessa's album on Doomtree:
http://store.doomtree.net/product/a-badly-broken-code-dessa

Check out Dessa's profile on Myspace:
www.myspace.com/dessadarling

We're big fans of Ellie Goulding here at OSS-- but then again, who isn't? Anticipation is building for the release of her debut album, entitled Lights, on 1 March, and the new darling of the British music industry (from the BRITs to the BBC) is well on her way to becoming one very successful pop star.

Of course we've all heard the songs that have been floating around online for the past year, but recently I came upon a new one entitled "This Love (Will Be Your Downfall)", and I am more than smitten. The recording is a live one taken from (what I gather is) a recent show at Shepherd's Bush Empire; the quality isn't great, but you gotta hand it to the amateur recorders at these gigs for giving the impatient among us something to latch onto until the real thing comes out.

"This Love" is beat driven, dance-pop with an angsty bent-- that uniquely Ellie Goulding sound-- and I can't seem to turn it off.

Thanks the folks at elliegoulding.net for the original upload of this track. Hop over to the site for downloads of all the other Ellie stuff floating around that you may have missed, including live performances & demos.

Ellie's on tour through the spring in the UK, so hop to one of the gigs (London shows are sold out, among others). You will be glad you did! Check elliegoulding.co.uk for details.

Ellie Goulding - This Love (Will Be Your Downfall) (Live @ Shepherd's Bush Empire)

Since 2005, Rio's Baile Funk movement has had a thriving European base with the help of Daniel Haaksman and his Berlin label, Man Recordings (www.manrecordings.com). Dubstep and B-more aside, I can't think of a more talked-about genre in the past few years. This music is huge!

Besides promoting Brazil's best producers, artists, and dj's (Edu K, DJ Sandrinho, DJ Edgar, DJ Amazing Clay, etc.) to the rest of the world, Haaksman also releases albums by artists who are inspired by this amazing style of music (Diplo, Crookers, Feadz, Sinden, Scottie B, etc.), as well as his own music.

Man's most recent release is from two German dj's/producers, SCHLACHTHOFBRONX (if you can't say their name, just say "schnitzel"). Their first release from Man is an EP called "Ayoba" and keeping with the German kitsch theme here, Brazilian producers/dj's, Mixhell called it "Bavarian Baile Funk" on the Man website. SCHLACHTHOFBRONX is appropriately influenced by Baile Funk, Jamaican Dancehall, Angolan Kuduro, Trinidad carnival sounds, the Dirty South and Balkan beats (aaaaaand, rinse!). I am guessing/knowing these dudes throw one helluva party.

The lead track, "Ayoba," features two MC's, Spoek Mathambo of Sweat X and Playdoe, and MC Gnucci Banana and more crazy tropical beats than the noontime sun in Jamaica!

Fans of Major Lazer and a nice crisp Pilsner, this will not disappoint.

Just listen to it.

Ayoba - SCHLACHTHOFBRONX

No one can argue Florence + The Machine had one of the most interesting, beautiful albums of 2009. One of my favourite tracks from Lungs was 'Hurricane Drunk', a boozy dream of a song. I kinda thought it couldn't get better, but then suddenly, it did-- The Horrors remixed it.

Flo played this version on the BBC yesterday, where she hosted the Takeover for Zane Lowe on Radio 1. The .mp3 is a radio rip from Radio 1, so it's not 100% quality, but it'll do until it's commercially available.

Without further ado, I present you:

Florence + The Machine - Hurricane Drunk (The Horrors remix)