Archive for the Fashion Category
Last year, I procrastinated heavily. I think there were a lot of good records that came out the last couple of years, but I started to think that for every record that came out, there was an equal number of these “best-of” lists being bandied about. At first I thought, “Wow, it’s finally happened. Everyone’s a music critic.” Then, with this pervasive thought entrenched in my gourd, I started reading these other lists before making my own.
I suddenly felt small.
So deadlines for the “best of 2007″ rolled around, and I was in a tailspin, dogged by the massive amount of music I had encountered. I kept reflecting on these words of Billy Corgan that I’d read years ago. Billy had once quipped to, I think, Rolling Stone, that, “Not every year can be a great, or even good, year in music.” This thought just stirred in my head and fed into some neurosis. The thought actually fucked with me; maybe 2007 wasn’t that great? Or was it? So I slacked until it was way too late to really do it with any fervor.
Newsflash: Shit aint happening like that this year. I’m past all that, and this year’s going to be different.
I don’t know if my opinion is necessarily better or worse than anyone else’s when it comes to music. I’m a long-time deep music fan who combs the trenches for something new and different, someone who’s been doing that for years. I have an opinion about music which is informed by all that, but I don’t pretend to know what is or isn’t “good” or “the best”. If you love hip-hop, you’re going to think a different album is the #1 album of the year than I am (even though I love hip-hop). If you love indie rock, same thing.
If I sat down and tried to pinpoint the one unifying factor in the music that I listen to and enjoy, it would have to be “music with a soul”. It doesn’t have to preach an ideology or start a movement, it doesn’t have to be anthemic or angelic. It simply has to get me to stop what I’m doing and go, “What in the hell is this?” When I become awestruck, the music will stay with me.
This list represents the songs released in 2008 (to the best of my knowledge) which caught me in my tracks, got me to stand up and take notice, gave me a reason to write and feel good at the end of the day that I was telling everyone a new secret or spreading the good news. I hope you’ll enjoy these as much as I have enjoyed hearing them.
1 - Voxpop - “The Boomerang Generation” (unsigned)
When this London four-piece popped this song into my inbox, I had no idea what I was getting. They sent a sweet and humble letter along with it asking me to please share with my readers. The song is dynamic in a string of ways: it’s a pop song, it’s a protest song, and it’s filled with the kind of energy I love to hear. Far and away, this is my favorite song of 2008. Let’s hope that 2009 will bring us a Voxpop album to hear & enjoy.
2 - Lil’ Wayne (produced by Bangladesh) - “A Milli”
The song is inescapable. You couldn’t get away from it most of this entire year & it took some folks a minute to get with the program. But love or hate Lil’ Wayne, this song was a cornerstone of 2008 stereos, parties, clubs, remixes, and just about everything else. Respect.
3 - MGMT - “Time to Pretend”
I am extremely proud of MGMT and happy for them — what started as an experiment in their dorm room at Wesleyan has blossomed into an anthemic world-wide phenomenon. This song was on the tips of every tongue that knew its words and could relate. This song is great because, plainly, it paints a portrait of a certain truth (to which you’re either hip or you’re not). The song’s intent, along the group themselves, seem to lack the pretension that the press wants to heap on them. I, for one, can’t wait to hear what their work with The Chemical Brothers is going to sound like.
4 - Santogold - “L.E.S. Artistes”
Santi White is an operator of the highest order: she’s the real deal, wearing every helmet she comes across with dignity and sheer style. Performer, songwriter, executive — she can do it all and do it all well. In the song “L.E.S. Artistes”, Santogold has both capitalized on and captured a portrait of a time in music and arts that has seemed fairly desperate. If ever an anthemic line was needed by those on their way to whatever success, “I can say I hope it will be worth what I give up” should be the mantra to which they adhere.
5 - Estelle (feat. kanYe West) - “American Boy”
It took me a long time to get into this record, but once it stuck with me I was sold. The maturity of Estelle’s progress as a performer and singer is impressive, her vocal prowess unmistakable. The marriage of her style with kanYe’s flows make the song as world-class as it purports to be.
6 - Lord T & Eloise (feat. 8 Ball) - “Back From the Business Trip”
If you’re from down in my neck of the woods, you know that Lord T & Eloise were everywhere this year, selling out (and overselling) venues everywhere. Word of mouth has been kind to them with good reason. Not just because I told you so (and I did tell you so), but because they gave 300% to every packed out venue they set foot in and ripped every microphone they touched. “The Industry” still haven’t figured out how to classify LT&E, but they need to stop thinking about it and just blast their jams. Aristocrunk is on the move.
7 - Aimee Mann - “Looking for Nothing”
As Aimee Mann carries on her journey as a songwriter and performer, she continues to craft elegant pop song structures around stories that evoke the wistfulness of a by-gone era with distinction. Fully modern in their presentation and execution, her 2008 release was a peerless collection of satisfying, soul-wrenching odes, perfecting a sound she has long been masterful in shaping and humbled by creating. “Looking for Nothing” represents her finest material, and one of the most perfectly-penned songs of the year.
From time to time, it seems to me that the least liked (or known) songs are often the most loved. Folk singer-songwriter Meg Hutchinson has, perhaps, suffered from a curse of virtual anonymity this year, but by no fault of her music. Some songs cannot be reviewed effectively; they can only take on meaning to the listener through time and circumstance. It is my great hope that others will come to find the deep-ceded affection that I have found for this song, an ode to appreciation for the things we all take for granted far too often.
9 - Erykah Badu - “Honey”
Erykah Badu….man man man. A soul diva and performer of the highest order, she just continues to release albums (and songs) that turn my knobs, nahh mean? Seems like on every record she releases, it’s the “bonus track” that really contains an actual bonus to it. New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) will likely be in my year’s best, and this song represents to the fullest what Ms. Badu is laying down.
10 - Portishead - “We Carry On”
I didn’t know what I was going to do when I heard a new Portishead album was on the way. With so much time gone between records, I couldn’t have imagined them being in bed with their old sound. I remember my shock as darker and moodier sounds came from my stereo; it was everything that I could have hoped for. This song was my #1 favorite from Third, an album I continue to love and be fascinated by.
The Rest Of The Best (Click Individual Songs in the Playlist to Play, or play for continuous stream in order)
11 Bon Iver - Skinny Love
12 TV on the Radio - Halfway Home
13 Raphael Saadiq - Love That Girl
14 Blitzen Trapper - Sleepytime In The Western World
15 Grace Jones - Williams Blood
16 Teenagers - Starlett Johannson
17 Al Green - You’ve Got The Love I Need (feat. Anthony Hamilton)
18 Adele - Chasing Pavements
19 Q-Tip - Manwomanboogie (feat. Amanda Diva)
20 Oasis - The Turning
21 Treasure Fingers - Cross The Dancefloor
22 Kutiman - Music Is Ruling My World
23 Smoking Popes - If You Don’t Care
24 Chad VanGaalen - Bare Feet on Wet Griptape
25 Benji Hughes - So Well
26 Friendly Fires - Paris
27 Brazilian Girls - Good Time
28 John Elliott - The Ballad of Wallace Green and his Dog
29 Bob Dylan - Dreamin’ of You
30 Department of Eagles - No One Does It Like You
31 Ssion - Street Jizz
32 The Roots - 75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction)
33 Charles Hamilton - Brooklyn Girls
34 Sigur Ros - Gobbledygook
35 Jamie Lidell - Another Day
36 Gossip - Listen Up (Punks Jump Up Remix)
37 Of Montreal - Gallery Piece
38 Fujiya & Miyagi - Knickerbocker
39 Anthem In - Down
40 Blood Red Shoes - You Bring Me Down
41 Graham Weber - Italian Lullaby
42 Oh Snap!! - Bill Cosby Sweater (Hostage Remix)
43 Beck - Chemtrails
44 Thunderheist - Jerk It
45 T.I. - Swagga Like Us (feat. kanYe West, Jay-Z & Lil’ Wayne)
46 Coldplay - Death and all His Friends
47 Ivan Colon - Gabriel
48 Cut Copy - Far Away
49 Monsters are Waiting - Don’t Lie
50 Beach House - Gila
Near as I can tell, ART WHIPLASH is the 8-bit meanderings of les jeune homme sexy Vincent Jardin. Vincent has created a one-man electro trash outfit in Paris & through his people, he has kindly made this track available to the readers of Loudersoft. The title speaks for itself: “Party, Sex and Bullshit”. If you’re not familiar with what that title means or what to do with it when you say it, this blog update probably won’t help you. However, if you do know, then this song is what you should play the next time you’re doing everything on that list.
Here is the original along with three remixes he has offered. We kinda dig this.
ART WHIPLASH - Party, Sex and Bullshit
ART WHIPLASH - Party, Sex and Bullshit (Youth Attack! Disco and Bullshit remix)
ART WHIPLASH - Party, Sex and Bullshit (THE TOXIC AVENGER Remix)
ART WHIPLASH - Party, Sex and Bullshit (KIWI Remix)
If you were born in the 1980’s, you may not remember the band known as Bomb The Bass, the sacred brain trust of revered British musician/producer/DJ Tim Simenon. Bomb The Bass has proven itself a root force in the current climate of music, one which helped usher in the modern era of DJ culture way back in 1987. Bomb The Bass’ seminal acid house track, “Beat Dis”, is an infectious blend of borrowed samples over original bass and drum creations. The success of the song was meteoric by any standard, one which sent young Tim to the top of the UK pop chart, tearing up dancefloors on both sides of the Atlantic as it lead the charge into a new phase of electronic music.
Over the years, Simenon has released only a handful of his own recordings, taking time to start a record label and produce recordings for others, never losing the carte blanche he has established for himself in the industry. With 2008’s Future Chaos, he emulates his own trusted collaborative formula by teaming up with Mark Lanegan, Fujiya & Miyagi, Richard Thair and Jakeone (of Toob) and Paul Conboy. The eminent departures and contrasting soundscapes on Future Chaos are future forward, barely resembling his previous outings, taking his music into stark new directions. These nine songs are both roundly precocious in their adventurousness and markedly mature in their texture. We’re so glad to know he’s still about.
Bomb The Bass - So Special (Radio Edit)
PURCHASE: Future Chaos via Amazon.Com
Yes okay. I admit it: I have not shown Santogold enough posting love on Loudersoft because I watched everyone else posting her music and I kind of didn’t want to get involved. Seeing her immense popularity explode, I assumed the rest of the world would do it for me, and they did.
But I cannot hold back any longer: I have to profess my undying love for Santogold’s debut album, all of her remixes that I’ve heard, for the Top Ranking dubplate she did with Diplo, and just about everything else. I am totally crushed out: I admit openly that I love Santi White and I want her to know of my affections, but I’ve been too busy or timid to say anything.
So, here is the latest remix that I’ve discovered of a song that is strong contender for #1 in my “song of the year” contest, “L.E.S. Artistes”.
The early birthday presents just keep on coming. Now if I could get her to play my birthday party….
Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes (Left/Right Remix)
If you don’t already own it, Santogold’s self-titled debut album
I guess I don’t know enough about The Cool Kids other than I know that The Bake Sale is stupid tight, my boys in Lord T & Eloise stupid love them, the rhymes I hear them drop are stupid fresh and this mixtape entitled “That’s Stupid (The Mixtape)” is right banging.
Go grab this shit while you can. Somewhere in these six songs, you might just get silly, stupid dumb — just make sure that girl ain’t no bum.
01 Oscar the Grouch
02 That’ll Work
03 Dinner Time
04 Full & Paid
05 Box of Rocks
06 Don’t Trip (Bake Sale UK)
Get it here or here. (HT nialler9)
Get The Bake Sale from Amazon [cd or mp3] by clicking here.
Just in time for my database recovery, here’s a track from the new Lord T & Eloise album Chairmen of the Bored.
Featuring Gangsta Boo on lead vocals, get ready to take a trip with “Hollywood Stars” & turn up the bass. Bangity bang bangity bang bang, y’all! It’s going to be a minute before you can get your hands on a copy, so enjoy the jam & keep your eyes peeled for further updates.
In the interest of full disclosure, let me say it right up front: yeah, I’m friends with the men of Lord T & Eloise and I even make a guest appearance on their new album, Chairmen of the Bored. However, that being said, if you read this website with any frequency, you know I make a big deal about being very particular about what I write about. I have plenty of friends and acquaintances out there about whom I have never written a single word because of my strong conviction to only write about music that really blows my mind or trends in music that I see as vital to the progression of things. Furthermore, my friends (at least my real friends) will tell you that I’m more critical of their work than anyone. Why? Simple: because if I actually care about you as a person and I know that you value my opinion, what good does it do you for me to want to sit around and bullshit you?
If you’re the kind of person who comes to me for my opinion only because you want to hear someone else tell you how great you are, I don’t want to be bothered with talking to you or talking about you. Ever. The Lord T & Eloise situation is no different for me, and these gentlemen know it all too well. Now if you want to know the story, read it after the jump.
This just in from Bonnaroo 2008 — kanYe West has moved his Bonnaroo 2008 set time to the late night Saturday slot! This is very exciting news for everyone attending.
The speculation: Could there now be a surprise appearance during kanYe’s set from Daft Punk as well??? I’m not doing anything to quell these rumors, but either way it’s sure to be an amazing light show.
We are excited to announce that Kanye West will now be performing a late night show on the Main Stage on Saturday, June 14th instead of the previously announced time! This scheduling change is being made to allow Kanye to fully present his critically acclaimed “Glow In The Dark” show.
This show marks the first time that anyone has played a late night set on the Main Stage, and it promises to be one of the festival’s many highlights.
We have also shifted a few other artists, so make sure to check the schedule for updates!
So I’m not a metal head. I’m not even a fashion junkie, really. But I have this overwhelming problem: I’m a fking Nike head to the extreme. I have a shoe problem that goes far beyond anything rational or reasonable. When I saw these joints, I almost had a heart attack. The new Nike Metal pack is coming out on June 14th and I gots to have these. Sad to say, they’ll initially only be available from Atmos in Tokyo — however, according to CrownDozen, they’ll be part of Nike’s Fall ‘08 collection and won’t be strictly limited edition.
So remember me when you’re out buying these and send me a pair of the Vandals, wouldja? I’m a Size 12 for the record. I’ll hook you up, dudes, I swear! A couple more pictures after the jump.
