I paid the piper / I'm gon' pick the tune.

A list of music that I intend to buy, with my reasons for wanting to buy it.

[thewaysoundtravels]

Seinabo Sey – Silent Bus Sessions – Hard Time (A cappella)

If only buses in London sounded this good…

[thewaysoundtravels]

UK Hip-Hop outfit OthaSoul released mix-tape The Remedy earlier this month. Reminiscent of the good old golden days of Hip-Hop. Recommended listening.

[thewaysoundtravels]

In the market for some tasty drum programming? Aphex Twin is here to serve your needs. Watch out for the discordant twist/breakdown around the 2m 40s mark.

Umil 25 - 01 by aphextwin

[thewaysoundtravels]

CocoRosie  - Heartache City

The thing about CocoRosie is they inhabit a realm of music that is simultaneously whimsical and deadly serious in tone. The melodies sometimes have a childlike quality to them, yet the lyrics are totally at odds with the sound. I guess you could say they embody extremes in a way no one else manages or probably would even dream of attempting.

The new album captures all that was enchanting about their first album with the added benefit of the musical experience they have gained over the course of their career to date. Though the music still contains elements of pseudo music box tunes, they’ve embraced more solid beats since that first album that brought them into public consciousness. Their sound still remains polarising, that quality hasn’t changed. The vocals, for example, shift back and forth between spoken-word and sung without appearing to follow any pattern I could discern.

Listening to a track like Lost Girls…

I found myself thinking of Kanye West’s spoken segment at the start of his album ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ and pondering what a Kanye produced CocoRosie track might sound like. What surprises could such a pairing throw up? How could Kanye’s production feed into CocoRosie’s sensibilities? It’s something I would like to see.

Anyway, I should get back to CocoRosie’s new album, Heartache City. I have a confession to make though, I have no idea what most of the songs are about. That’s not due to any failing on CocoRosie’s part, the vocals are relatively clear and the words are appropriately enunciated. For me, the vocals merge into the mix with the other elements of the tracks to become another component of the sound. Somehow seeking out the lyrics would take away part of the music’s appeal that comes with the sudden awareness of the odd line or phrase. For me, the singing style is what contributes the spiritual heart to the songs, conveying sentiments as pure emotion, not the lyrics. Quirky, surreal, experimental, and endearing are some of the descriptors that spring to mind for Heartache City. You really have to dive head first into this album, allowing yourself the chance for complete submersion, almost as if you’ve strayed into a foreign country with rules you haven’t quite got to grips with. The nearest comparison is a literary one, the future Manchester of Jeff Noon’s ‘Automated Alice’. So, give up on rules and expectations, absorb the absurdity and you’ll do just fine with Heartache City.

[thewaysoundtravels]

EVM128 Nova by EVM128

EVM128 - Nova

I guess I’m a big fan of downtempo beat music and this certainly fits that bill.

[thewaysoundtravels]

Disclosure & Sam Smith - Hotline Bling

In my opinion, this is better than the original Drake track, just saying…

[thewaysoundtravels]

( James Vincent McMorrow - Cavalier (The 1975 Remix))

Sometimes a song works, and it’s best not to ask why, you just enjoy it

[thewaysoundtravels]

Narstie Vs Coldplay - Spun A Web Remix by Big Narstie 

When grime shines, the lyrics and flow hit hard!

[thewaysoundtravels]

Sea | Skalpel

Laid-back jazz to while away an evening, decently done, listen to the whole album.

[thewaysoundtravels]

Necrology | The Cinematic Orchestra

Now we’re into the deep cuts, the lesser known pieces; a slow build resembling the emergence of the first sign of life on Earth heads into an eruption of sparks as oraganisms come into existence across the whole planet taking stumbling steps that soon turn into exhilirating sprints, and then… the  first rains ever to grace this Earth sprinkles across the surface giving birth to spurts of luscious grass pushing aside rich soil…

[thewaysoundtravels]

Goddess by Waiwan

Something about the off-kilter beats shouldn’t work but it does & manages to be funky with it too. This was a tune and still is!

[thewaysoundtravels]

Isso e bom de mais(!!) and Tahira is fast becoming my favourite “remixer”. 

[thewaysoundtravels]

Drake - Hold On, We’re Going Home (Lykke Li Cover)

A lovely acoustic cover and here’s her doing a ‘bigger’ version - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_B9X-f1XLQ

[thewaysoundtravels]

Lykke Li - I’m Good, I’m Gone Acoustic version

Cool seeing a well-loved track done live; saw her perform at a festival when Youth Novels first came out, she’s absorbing as a performer. I’m a fan of the leftfield-pop of Youth Novels…

An interview - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/glastonbury/10919747/Lykke-Li-interview-Some-people-do-heroin-I-have-my-music.html

[thewaysoundtravels]

Wet Floors - Akufen

A mental hyperactive track from the 2002 album My Way; micro edits like a wired person flicking through digital stations at a disturbingly hectic pace!

[thewaysoundtravels]

[Art Department Presents Martina Topley-Bird feat. Mark Lanegan - Crystalised]

When is a cover not a remix? I like the gruffness of Mark’s voice up against Martina’s, one without the other would either be too dry in the former’s case or too sweet where the latter’s concerned. In fairness, this has a similar vibe to the original XX track.

[thewaysoundtravels]

Matthew Herbert - The Shakes - EPK

Info - Behind The Scenes: Matthew Herbert - A glimpse into the making of ‘The Shakes