Noisetrade {Fair Trade Music}

A great music site I was recently tuned into, noisetrade, is not only a healthy resource for checking out new indie bands for free but also allows you to download entire albums for free! Noisetrade, you are music to my ears!

Slumdog Wins a Million Times Over

My techno/dance fever has now taken an international turn after being completely moved by the highly acclaimed indie flick Slumdog Millionaire (now playing in select theaters). This modern day love story is set in India's inner-city slums and driven by A.R. Rahman's emotionally heart-pumping and rhythmically pulsating sounds that not only defy international borders in their appeal but in influence as well. This entire album exudes such energy and passion for life that it is easy to see it as the driving force behind this film's growing success and pre-oscar buzz. 

A.R. Rahman is best known in India as the most sought after Bollywood film composer with a reported success of over 100 million records and 200 million cassettes sold. Slumdog's soundtrack also includes M.I.A., a Sri Lankan rapper well known stateside after receiving a huge burst of popularity through the US summer concert festival circuit, a Late Night with David Letterman performance in support of her newest album Kala and a recent cover shoot with Spin Magazine. This album included her uber mixable, Paper Planes, which is also found on the Slumdog soundtrack as well as a much more listenable (minus the choruses gunshots) remix by DFA. One of the most exciting songs in the bunch is the film opener's  and only collaborative work between M.I.A. and Rahman, O... Saya. For all it's raw inner-city grittiness, it's the universal tale of hope amid love's tragic struggles and the incredible depth presented seamlessly in all performances that are sure to leave a more impressionable impact on audiences everywhere.

This soundtrack is now available online and through iTunes. Record store release date set for December 23.

Track listing:
"O... Saya" performed by A. R. Rahman, M.I.A.
"Riots" by A. R. Rahman
"Mausam & Escape" by A. R. Rahman
"Paper Planes"# performed by M.I.A.
"Paper Planes (DFA Remix)" performed by M.I.A.
"Ringa Ringa" by A. R. Rahman featuring Alka Yagnik, Ila Arun
"Liquid Dance" by A. R. Rahman featuring Palakkad Sriram, Madhumitha
"Latika's Theme" by A. R. Rahman featuring Suzanne D'Mello
"Aaj Ki Raat"#2 performed by Sonu Nigam, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Alisha Chinai
"Millionaire" by A. R. Rahman featuring Madhumitha
"Gangsta Blues" by A. R. Rahman featuring BlaaZe, Tanvi Shah
"Dreams on Fire" by A. R. Rahman featuring Suzanne D'Mello
"Jai Ho" by A. R. Rahman featuring Sukhwinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, Mahalakshmi Iyer

Cat Power Brings Another Batch of Great Covers

Cat Power's newest release, Dark Side of the Street, consists of half a dozen somberly jazzy covers originally recorded for her January 2008 release Jukebox. This bonus cover EP showcases Chan's hauntingly expressive vocals breathing new life into classic hits like Fortunate Son and I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now). 

As David Morris of Strangeglue remarks, "Cat Power strip [Fortunate Son] down to a gorgeous, hazy rebellion, without diminishing its impact one bit." And I most certainly agree. 

Whether you're a long time fan with an appreciation for the clearly fluid vocals of Moonpix or you prefer the more soulful tonality of today, I think all will enjoy this bonus cover EP released just in time for the holidays.

This Bird's Got a Song to Sing

...check it out will ya.

Friday Freebie: FREE Hip Hop CDs!

In the spirit of the season I'm giving away freebies every Friday of December. All you need to do is comment below with a list of your top 3 artists of the moment and let me know which of this week's freebie items you'd like. I'll have a drawing the following Thursday and let you know this week's winner in next Friday's blog entry. This weeks freebies include some good 'ol classic hip hop staples:

Mos Def - Black on Both Sides
will.i.am - Songs About Girls
A Tribe Called Quest - The Love Movement

I get the weekends off to soak up the sounds of new music, so I'll see you all on the flip side of Sunday.

Yacht Mixes It Up With RATATAT & Stereolab

Many great things have come out of Portland, Oregon...Stumptown coffee, McMennamin's Terminator Stout and Communication Breakdown Burgers, the ACE vintage hotel chain and radically innovative musicians like native "genre-smasher" Yacht. Their unique sound may best be described generally as indie rock but can really stretch the gamut from crunk to electronica and anything in between or beyond. Having toured with LCD Soundsystem, Architecture in Helsinki, High Places and Vampire Weekend in over 17 countries in 2007, they are currently slated to do the European tour this month after the release of this year's newest EP, Summer Song (music video below). A hefty shout out not only for Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evan's highly acclaimed premiere album and genre-exploding abilities but for the killer remixes created for fellow electronica buffs RATATAT and Stereolab...will their talents never cease?? My guess is, not in this lifetime...and that's fine by me.

YACHT - Summer Song

As an aside and in order to help promote Portland's tourism (as any karma-fearing native Oregonian should), I'm putting in a shameless plug for the Stumptown Rock, Vol 1 CD (compilation of all that rocks in Ptown)...now go on and enjoy your Oregonian salmon and Erath Pinot!

Technorati Profile

This is Ivy in an Indie League All Their Own

I shall step away from the ecstasy that is Electronica to bring rise to this breezy indie duo from Brooklyn, This Is Ivy League. I first got a glimpse of Ivy's melodic sweetness when I heard their masterful cover of The Magnetic Fields' You and Me and the Moon. But I became hooked after catching the whimsical music video for London Bridges (below). TIIL's unique fusion of vintage Beatlesque pop with Simon & Garfunkel-like harmonies comes off as both genuine and carefree making it a great album to counter the stress of cramming for finals or preparing for a series of hectic holiday shindigs. If you find yourself in Brooklyn next Saturday (December 13th), Alex Suarez and Ryland Blackinton will be playing a late show at The Bell House, but if NYC is out of reach their self-titled debut album is available to all on iTunes ($9.99). 

BK Delves into a Techno-Tinted Dreamworld

Brooklyn's Blip Festival 2008 could not be coming at a better time in my music phase-craze of Technopop/Dance Punk/Electronic earcandy. Kicking off this Thursday at Park Slope's The Bell House you can catch over 40 Electro / Techno / Powerpop / Punk / New Wave / Experimental Electronica groups from all over the world for only $15/day or snag a full 4-day festival pass for only $50. They're also throwing in a few workshops and demos through the weekend as well as a doc screening Sunday afternoon of Reformat the Planet, a film on the "chiptunes" movement (creating new and original music using video game hardware). 

Recommended shows: Stu,  M-.-n,  minusbaby,  Sidabitball,  Nullsleep,  and noteNdo 

Cut Copy's 'Colours' Is Razor-Sharp

As you can tell I'm on an Electronic/Dance high, but who can blame me when guys like Dan Whitford, Tim Hoey and Mitchell Scott are kickin' out hot, hot and hotter dance tracks like Lights & Music, Feel the Love and Hearts on Fire. Honestly, I'm not really sure how to contain this entry from sounding like a love letter from an overly excited stalker, but CC is just plain ridiculous. You just can't get enough of their songs' somber yet pulsating beats, absorbing lyrics and stricking danceability...and this coming from someone whose been listening to The Ghost Colours daily for about, oh, three solid months now. Cut Copy is blazing a more evolved kind of Electropop/Dance Punk trail that I am crazy ecstatic to be swept away by. These Williamsburg-worthy Aussies are spending their holidays and new year on tour at home in the land down under and will be returning stateside in March 2009.