James Brown - Star Time Compilation (1956 - 1965)

been listening to this early james brown compilation (1955 to 1965) over and over. brown brings the raw power with tracks covering solid 50's R&B and soul to the early stages of funk. get it.



http://www.mediafire.com/?mzhxmitm0zr

p.s. for all 4 volumes of the box-set, go here

-p

El Rego - El Rego et ses Commandos (2011)

El Rego is a rediscovered legend of West-African music from Benin. Blending afro-beat, afro-funk, soul, psychedelia, crazy wah-wahing guitars and James Brown-esque wails - this isn't one to be missed. El Rego is, like many underground African artists of the 60s and 70s, gaining a new Western following and a collection of his material has been compiled and reissued by Daptone Records this month - available here.

El Rego's also featured on Analog Africa's compilation 'African Scream Contest' (2008). It's amazing - buy it. Here's a track from it:



Vimado Wingnan (I'm going with Daptone's title rather than the youtube vid) is also available on a release from Daptone:


You can grab a two track vinyl rip here. The tunes are more chilled than the videos above, but just beautiful.

If you like this, then you'll love Orchestre Polyrhythmo de Cotenou.

-L

The Advantage - Elf Titled (2006)

NES meets math rock meets Television: The Advantage is fucking amazing. Listened to both their self- and elf-titled albums for years until my ex gf dropped a precious 1TB external drive with all my shit on it. Now they’re back on the phil-scene, banging tracks like Batman – Stage 1, Contra - Alien's Lair and Megaman – Flashman. There’s barely any synth (unlike most other NES bands), just wave after wave of outrageous riffs and math-rock beats. Unbeatable.



http://www.mediafire.com/?o5k6psorlsh

-p

Molton Bonderas: Musical Footballers Extraordinaire

For the past few years I've been playing in a 5/7-a-side football team - Molton Bonderas - which has seen a host of awesome guys come through its roster. During the summer we usually expand to a larger collective of guys playing in Regents Park in London.

Recently I was thinking how amazingly prolific and diverse musically our team and the wider group of guys we play with have been, so I thought I'd dedicate a bit of space on Fucking Chill to highlight the phenomenal and varied talents of my football compadres:

1. Ed Godden
Position: team captain; absolute hero of the pitch with a penchant for blind rage.
Music: Jason and the Astronauts - ace post-punk with electronic flourishes and shouty vocals. Check it.
He's also put out some great compilation CDs to fundraise for Homerton Hospital.

2. Evan Morgan
Position: Rock in defence; rugby tactics.
Music: Dubious Caesar - beautiful future-folk duo of soaring harmonies and macabre anthems. More on them here.

3. Alex Gordon
Position: Midfield maestro; chilled gait.
Music: DJs as Gongon, some awesome future bassy and tech mixes. Plays with Deadboy as D&G.

4. Allan Wootton
Position: Regent's Park football crew; gangly antics!
Music: DJs as Deadboy - now getting massive and deserved acclaim. His Fact Mag mix was voted mix of the year I believe. It's fucking ace: check it out here.

5. Alex Jackson
Position: Fill-in keeper; wonder shot-stopper.
Music: Dynamo Garage - Bewilderingly good drummer in this great alt-indie outfit; ace live show.

6. Luke Massey (yep. me.)
Position: Undoubtedly the fulcrum of the team; playmaker and striker extraordinaire. :D
Music: Green as a Primary - we're not making tunes anymore but this is what we were doing back then - drifty electronica with ambient instrumentation with Evan Morgan and Alex Massey of Dubious Caesar (above).

7. Leon Marks
Position: I forget where he played, but play he did ;)
Music: Shit and Shine - crazy noise-rock; wowing live experience.
Leon also made tunes for a while as Hyper Black Bass which to this day is the best name I've ever heard for a DJ (ref to the fishing game on the Game Boy circa '95).

8. Matt Parker:
Position: Hotstepper; silent assassin who played with us a couple of times (so I thought he should get an honourable mention here!).
Music: Nedry - great bass-fuelled tunes with shimmering guitars and beautiful vocals. Blogged about them a while back.

-L

Vani Jayaram / Shankar Ganesh - Kola Kola (1985)

Big props to eclectica cybernaut Henry Hobson for the tip on this one. I've had trouble finding out exactly who is responsible for what is potentially one of the greatest audio-visual advertising experiences ever created. In short, it seems to be from a film called Mangamma Sabatham (1985). The song featured here is essentially an elaborate advert for Coca Cola, but the tune, choreography and production is all blinding.

The female singer is Vani Jayaram; some production on the song is by musical producer duo Shankar Ganesh. Other than that, what needs to be explained; just soak it up.



-L

P.S. I've just seen that this is our 100th post! w00t. What a corker to celebrate haha.

Etherea / Balam Acab - Free Etherea (2011)

Usually known for his dreamy electroniscapes, Balam Acab has been foraying into hip-hop terrains of late under the name Etherea. I've been loving the ace mash-up of MF Doom and noise-poppers Wavves (below), which reminds me of some the progressive glitch-hop stuff coming out in the early 2000s like Prefuse 73:



Here's a typically downbeat track off his free release 'Free Etherea':



Download 'Free Etherea' (2011) here (some of which is really nice, some of which is a bit uninspired - but worth a listen nonetheless). Remember, it's free, so the DL is guilt-free :)

-L

The Lana Del Rey Phenomenon

Like it or or loathe it, Lana Del Rey is here, and lurching industry promo, obsequious radio stations and hysterical blogs (just like this one!) are going to make sure that you know about it. There have been far more interesting discussions about her going on than I have to contribute here, so to get you up to speed: check this.

Having some serious reservations about this kind of perfectly image-conscious creation and the meteoric rise that naturally accompanies it, I particularly like Amy Klein's deconstruction of the Del Rey phenomenon.

The tunes are definitely catchy, and I guess that's the point. The things that leaves me feeling slightly hollow about it all are as follows:
1. The hackneyed nature of the retro film reel footage, which is empty despite seeking to evoke a warm and nostalgic feeling in us. It runs like the end of an uninspired film, with the "emotional music" kicking in at just the right time to deliver the sob and imperceptible slump of the doting audience.
2. The overwhelmingly derivative substance of the songs. It feels to me like some of the melodic hooks from Video Games and Blue Jeans have literally been cherry picked from great songs and blended into something which is a sure fire hit.
3. Similarly, the emphasis on image over content. It's built for internet viral appeal, which is kind of depressing, because I think that she has a genuinely decent voice, and obviously some great production behind her.
4. It's empty empty empty.
5. Did I mention the hollowness of it all?

But anyway, make up your own minds; this is what all the fuss is about:




-L

Twin Shadow - Forget (2010)

Check this awesome track 'Castles in the Snow' from Twin Shadow's 2010 album Forget - it's totally addictive:
(ignore video!)



-L

Crystal Fighters - Star of Love (2010)

Crystal Fighters are a London-based Basque troupe band who've been together since back in 2007 and have reached real critical and commercial success over the last couple of years with some stellar singles (one on Kitsuné I believe), including Xtatic Youth (below) culminating in the release last year of their debut album Star of Love. The album reveals a collage of influences, frequently fusing Basque folk instruments with dirty basslines and scenester London-electro; add some densely layered vocals and you've got some real gems.

As such, the album is beyond varied, but this doesn't detract from the flow but merely demonstrates what a wonderfully playful and prodigious talent these guys are.
Compare for example the delicate electronics, instrumentation and soft poppy melodies of 'At Home' with the dirty shoreditch electro anthem of 'Xtatic Truth' (complete with half-rap vocal hook - not a fan of that, but hey).







And here's a clip of a fresh mix of the CF track 'Champion' from London producer Gongon, who's an accomplice of Deadboy's and a former football compadre of mine!

-L

The Vaselines - Son of a Gun (1987)

That Saint Etienne song made me think of another awesome indie-pop classic - Son of a Gun by The Vaselines. The chorus is beyond addictive:



-L

Saint Etienne - You're In A Bad Way (1993)

just noticed we've had over 5000 visitors since we started! awesome.

a perfect pop song to celebrate:



-p

Zomby - Dedication (2011)

Posting those tunes below has made me remember that I wanted to pen something on Zomby's latest offering - 'Dedication' - which came out a few months ago on 4AD. He's not your average producer so you should read up on the trajectory of his music, but as I never got round to writing anything substantial, I thought I may as well just stick it up.

It's a deeply personal album with some dark currents running through it and some chill samples. The quite Burial-esque "Natalia's Song" is an instant YES, but the whole album deserves some solid you-time.



-L

Burial / Sepalcure / Julio Bashmore

Things have been pretty hectic recently and I haven't had time to finish off more elaborate posts, so here are just a few cool tunes that are hanging around in my circulation...

Dark urban sounds from Burial. Perfect for walking home from work in the early darkness of approaching Winter... (chills video as well - the animation kind of reminds me of parts of Monkey Dust):


Similar vibes in this Sepalcure tune, love that bass:


On a lighter note - Julio Bashmore's been brightening my journeys to work in the morning. It should be too banging for a sleepy-eyed tube ride. But it's not.


-L

Avus - Furry Hat (2009)

border community 4 life. been loving james holden for years, then nathan fake, and now this track.

hypnotic holdenesque soundscapes floating on minimal beats. tasty shit.

www.mediafire.com/?3x30midmm0t

-p

Earth - Hex (2005)/The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull (2008)

Hey Everyone,

My name is Andrew. I met Phil this past summer when we lived and worked together in Jerusalem, sticking it to the man. Turns out we both listen to too much music, so he let me in on this cool blog you guys got going. Anyways, I'm from Connecticut, USA, go to school there, waste my life there, etc, and this is my first post.

I recently decided to try out some drone bands for size. This band, Earth, is my favorite so far. They are from Seattle Washington, and fathered an entire scene of metal-drone heads, but eventually their music morphed from dark metal chords to western-influenced soundscapes. The two albums below are filled with relaxing, beautiful tunes. Believe it or not, a Youtube comment describes it best: "This makes me wanna sit in a chair on a farm in a big feild next to a fence starring at the scenery of trees off in the distance and the giant barn infront of me while i live life slowly as i puff on a joint watching the vibrational energy of existance take its course seeing the truth that the man made reality ignores..."

If you're in a darker mood, check out their older stuff too (i.e. Pentastar: In The Style Of Demons), but be ready for some sludge.

Check it. Drone on.



Earth - Hex (Or Printing In The Infernal Method) (c) 2005 Earth/Southern Lord

www.mediafire.com/?zegyvommivw



Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull (c) 2008 Southern Lord

http://www.mediafire.com/?mtjm42gkmj5

-A