Telephone Thing: I am the Emperor of Last Year

Not much to say at the moment, except to say hi and apologize for the lack of content to anyone following the link from DJ Martian's blog.

So, while I enjoy a weekend at home, here are some more hopelessly old and well-known OMG FREE HAWT downloads:

Prince Po's debut album on Lex is out now- the sampler CD has me sort of intrigued, though I'm not too big on the lead single "Hold Dat" (which is odd given how much of a Richard X fan I normally am). Lex still have a few tracks up for download here, including the aforementioned "Hold Dat," "Social Distortion" with MF Doom (probably the best of the lot, at least to my biased ears) and the non-album "Better Things," a fun little freestyle over a loop from the eponymous Blue Lines-era Massive Attack track.

Also, here's Danger Mouse and Murs' "To a Black Boy" if you haven't downloaded it yet- Marcus Dixon's sentence has been overturned, thankfully, but it's still a great track.

Here's Dykehouse's free EP Leftovers, consisting of outtakes from his Planet Mu debut Dynamic Obsolescence. With printable artwork for those of you who want to burn a copy, which is awfully nice of them.

Brothomstates, who seems to have vanished (save for a 12" release on Arcola) after a great debut EP and harshly panned follow-up album, has tons of free stuff for download, including three live bootlegs and the mp3-only Kobn-Tich-Ey album. Also with printable artwork.

And Bleep is stocking Ninja Tune now, though irritatingly not any of the rare vinyl-only stuff. At least, not yet.

PS Does anyone know if the promotional Airborn Audio mix CDs can still be had anywhere? Afraid I slept on these...

Saddam has had six nucular weapons in his arse...

The exam has been thoroughly defeated, so now I have free time again. Hooray. And since the last update rather embarrassingly failed to pan out properly (and since I'm up and have nothing better to do), here's the first of several posts pointing you to free music elsewhere on the web, mostly on label and artist sites. So, anyway:

Controller 7. Talented downtempo beatsmith, sort of affiliated with Anticon, and with some great releases on Bully Records (whose website hasn't been updated in a while, unfortunately). His site has three unreleased tracks, a version of "Rain Men" from an out-of-print single, and "Heckles from the Peanut Gallery" from his Left Handed Straw album.

Buy Left Handed Straw (Direct from Controller 7- it's cheaper than buying from Amazon, he'll sign it for you, and this way he sees a significantly larger profit from the sale of his music.)

Dangermouse remix of Zero 7's "Somersault" featuring MF Doom. DM's been all over the mainstream press after the Grey Album controversy (and to a lesser extent his collaboration with Jemini for the Ghetto Pop Life album), and MF Doom is possibly the most popular "underground" rapper in the world right now. Zero 7 are, unfortunately, kind of boring, but DM takes the soporific original and makes it into something else entirely by dropping in hard drum breaks and Doom spreads his usual laid-back, gravel-voiced delivery over the top.

Bushwhacked. A Bush cutup by Chris Morris, in the style of his infamous Archbishop of Canterbury cutup. With accompanying video and Osymyso remix. It's worth tracking down the original Bushwhacked- Warp have taken down their mirror of it, but it can be pretty easily found on Soulseek. And be sure to get Adrian Sutton's orchestral remix while you're at it- it's been taken down from his site, but is also Soulseek-able. While you're at his site, though, check out the warped background music he did for Morris' short film My Wrongs #8245-8249 & 117...

And Osymyso. None of this stuff is particularly new- Osymyso was, along with Freelance Hellraiser, Richard X, 2 Many DJ's, and Donna Summer, one of the most visible mash-up artists back when the music press was starved for novelty and pounced upon a fairly basic aspect of DJ culture and...where was I? Oh yes, the music. It's very good, and you should download it. Especially the aptly-named "Puckish Mix," the slightly disturbing "Fiver to Bigwig" (currently on Amon Tobin's Solid Steel live mix album), and "Intro-inspection," a twelve-minute piece stitched together out of the intros to various pop songs. Where else are you likely to hear "Safety Dance," "Lust for Life" and "My Generation" all playing at the same time and not sounding like complete ass? Or "Sweet Dreams," "Song 2" and "Blue Monday"?

Airborn Audio, the newest permutation of the late, lamented Antipop Consortium, have set up shop here. Click "music" to download their song "Inside the Globe." I kind of miss Beans, but M. Sayyid was my favorite of the Antipop crew so I'm not too upset...

And now to squeeze in two hours of sleep before my flight. Hooray.

EDIT This week's Boomkat update has clips of the two B-sides on Rjd2's Europe-only "Exotic Talk" 12" single ("The Move" and "Get Off My Spaceship Bitch" [heh]). Those of you (like me) who prefer things digital (or without ridiculous exchange rates and shipping costs) can wait, since www.rjd2.net is supposed to put them up for download in mp3 sometime soon. And, just as exciting, some clips from Amon Tobin's Solid Steel mix.

EDIT A helpful (though anonymous) reader has kindly pointed out that Warp does still have "Bushwhacked 1" up for download right here. Which pretty conclusively proves that I shouldn't do this so late at night/early in the morning. But anyway, download! Enjoy!

EDIT More anonymous help- the hilarious Adrian Sutton orchestral mix of "Bushwhacked" can be had here (warning: direct link to mp3), via Cook'd and Bomb'd. Be sure to dig around there, too, as they've got tons of goodness- mp3s of On the Hour, Blue Jam, and Morris' Radio 1 show, as well as his two Breezeblock DJ sets. And the infamous Richard Geefe hoax columns, which later inspired the "Suicide Journalist" sketch on Blue Jam...

KRAFTWERK LIVE

Kraftwerk live! Kraftwerk? Live!

Kraftwerk live!

Download the whole freakin' concert here.

Via Swen's blog. It is mighty. Read it.

EDIT Hm. After it's (finally) finished downloading, I end up with an empty 144 meg zip file. Something, I fear, is amiss. Suggestions/help, anyone?

EDIT Nothing I've tried can get the Berlin 2004 bootleg working- however, helpful reader melaten suggests bootleg.freakin.nl, which looks to have more downloadable concert bootlegs than I could possibly fit on my hard drive... Not all links guaranteed to work, of course, but still a hell of a lot. Enjoy, and thanks melaten...

Holy crap

Apparently this is a bit more popular than I assumed- I've already used up 90% of a five gig allotment for the month of July. Sorry about this, but the mp3s are going to have to go for a bit- if you want any of the tracks I've listed, email me or leave a comment, but until such time as I get my hosting issues worked out, I'm going to have to take them down.

Wow.

So, how many people read this thing, anyway? Please leave a comment so I can get some kind of idea of my bandwidth demands, straighten things out, and continue hosting music. Thanks.

One last mp3 for today

Boards of Canada, "XYZ"

A Peel Session track never officially released by Warp- a shame, since it's one of BoC's best. Their usual lush synth chords and tweaked vocal samples eventually give way to some surprisingly heavy, chopped-up beats and backwards guitar snippets (later used in their Beatles-homage remix of cLOUDDEAD's "Dead Dogs Two"). "XYZ" leans a bit more toward their Geogaddi-era sound than Music Has the Right ("Alpha and Omega" particularly, and some of the other more obviously psychedelic tracks), but it's not as dark or heavy.

Quickie update

Guy Garvey's new interview with BBC Manchester mentions that Elbow will be releasing a live EP next Monday of "Grace Under Pressure" performed live at this year's Glastonbury festival. If it's properly mastered, it should be amazing- the album version uses crowd vocals from their 2002 Glastonbury performance, and by all accounts this year's was even better.

Here's the tracklist (from the band's official site):

1. Grace Under Pressure (edit)
2. Switching Off (album version)
3. Waving From Windows
4. Not A Job [acoustic track from Radio 2 Stuart Maconie session]
5. Grace Under Pressure (live from Glastonbury 2004)

Aside from a radio edit of "Grace Under Pressure," no previously published tracks. Excellent. If you've never heard any Elbow- not likely if you're interested enough in music to be reading this, yes, but certainly possible (especially if you're in the States)- what are you waiting for? They're fantastic, one of the best mainstream rock bands going today. I'd post an mp3, but all my Elbow CDs are at home and my trusty Nomad mp3 player has recently up and died, so listen here.

Also!

The reports of a new MF Doom album under his Viktor Vaughn alias have been substantiated. Here's the press release:



The industry has churned out many rap stars during the last few decades, but it has delivered very few Hip Hop super heroes and only one Super Villain. MF DOOM, is definitely underground Hip Hop's most mysterious entity, and his alter ego, VIKTOR VAUGHN, is even more shadowy.

After receiving critical acclaim for "MadVillainy" and previously for Vaughn's debut "Vaudeville Villain," the faceless rhyme scoundrel has returned to bring a new era of cyber rap with "VV:2" aka "VENOMOUS VILLAIN."

"VV:2" is a different kind of Hip Hop record; it's engulfed in cryptic messages and cutting edge production that delivers both a classic Hip Hop vibe and a cutting edge one. Vaughn is also accompanied by some underground contenders including StrongHold's Poison Pen (on the venomous street tale, "Bloody Chain"), MARS ILL's Manchild and executive producer and longtime emcee IZ-REAL on "R.A.P. G.A.M.E." and the new rap miscreant, Carl Kavorkian, on "Dope Skill." However, no cameo is more welcome on VV:2 than that of Hip Hop's original and reigning enigma, KOOL KEITH (aka Dr. Dooom, aka Dr. Octagon, etc.). The electrified and beat-burned "Doper Skiller" delivers Hip Hop's two cult favorites bringing lyrical carnage like only they can.

Executive producer, IZ-REAL (the creator of the critically acclaimed Insomniac releases "The Mic Planet Sessions" and " The Drastic Jungle Project"), scouted, assembled and directed a skilled cast of up and coming beat creators and DJs from all walks to complete "VV:2." Some of the featured beat-makers include New York's Dub L (Aesop Rock), Chicago acid jazz veteran DJ I.N.C., Philly beat maker Session 31, experimentalistic DJ System D128, and Orlando based electro-beat magician DiViNCi, who works digital sorcery on tracks with his unique glitch scratching effects¾ enhancing the work of dope scratchers such as Sure Shot (1200 Hobos), drum n bass DJ Escher and System D128.

VIKTOR is in prime lyrical form, continually bringing verbal onslaught and dark dramatic tales of blight from outside the space-time continuum. Personality #1, DOOM, also makes appearances on tracks including the high energy, electro-hyped, "Pop Quiz," which he once again spits cyber rap flames with IZ-REAL.

What is "VV:2"? Among other things, it's a dramatic, progressively thugged-out, future-rap, classic soundtrack for fans of a genre without boundaries.

The "VV:2" release will also feature a bonus enhanced element. When put into a CD-ROM, viewers will be able to watch a mini-documentary based on Insomniac's critically acclaimed release "THE MIC PLANET SESSIONS." "The Mic Planet Sessions" features many top lyricists including MF DOOM, KOOL KEITH, PLANET ASIA, MYSTIC and others.

Look for "VV:2" in stores in late August 2004.

Kool Keith and Doom. Ooh yes. I'm a bit worried about this- Doom seems to put out an album, productions, or guest verse almost every month, and while he hasn't put his name on anything bad yet, I hope he doesn't spread himself too thin. Also a bit surprised this isn't on SoundInk. The cover art is neat, though.

EDIT Said the Gramophone is hosting "Doper Skiller," the track with Kool Keith, and it's really good stuff. I'm not sure what to think about the electronic-heavy production- it sounds a bit tinny, but to be fair I'm listening through laptop speakers (bad headphone jack) and can't really give it a fair evaluation. I'm much less worried now, though, since Doom and Keith work incredibly well together- vocal-wise, this is easily the equal of "Never Dead" with M. Sayyid off the last Viktor Vaughn album (Vaudeville Villain).

Oops

No review today, probably. Sorry about that. I would eat my hat as I said I would, but ha! I have no hat!

There is some good stuff out there at the moment that's well worth your downloading/listening/etc, though:

1. This week's Solid Steel show is a great one- Rjd2's mix is a bit staid and traditional, but still damned good, and Strictly Kev dropping George Carlin into his mix (part 4 of the show) is a nice touch.

2. Joost of the inestimable Solesides.com is hosting some fantastic mp3s right now- three tracks from DJ Shadow's 2002 tour that don't show up on the set documented on his (fantastic) In Tune and On Time live DVD. And also a complete DJ Shadow live set in Nottingham. Get them here.

3. And some great music blogs that I'll be adding to the right-hand sidebar ASAP: Scissorkick, I'm Losing My Edge, and Teaching the Indie Kids to Dance Again.

And since I'd feel negligent if I didn't at least offer an mp3, here you go:

Team Shadetek, "Cold as Ice/Gantz_Graf"
M.O.P mixed with Autechre's completely insane "Gantz_Graf." And it works, sort of. From Team Shadetek's WSHT: Radio Mix CD on Violent Turd Records out of *cough* "New Zealand" *cough*. Yes. New Zealand. I'm not really feeling Shadetek's debut release on Warp (the Burnerism EP), but this mix is fantastic. Lots of hyperactive, nasty hip-hop, ragga and IDM mixed and mashed up in all kinds of inadvisable ways, and arguably conveying the Shadetek aesthetic better than their own original music. And there's another Autechre appearance for those of you who, like me, can't get enough of Rob 'n' Sean, with "Netlon Sentinel" pitted against Ghostface's "Stroke of Death."

Also, I've taken down the first two downloads (M.I.A and LFO vs. Dizzee Rascal) for bandwidth reasons. If you still want them, though, just email me or leave a comment and I can AIM them to you.


Links:
Buy WSHT: Radio Mix (from Tigerbeat6)
Change Agent, comprising Team Shadetek, amazing graf artist Swoon, and others. Nose around a bit, it's good stuff.