Monday, October 24, 2011

The Forces of Jazz

This is pretty much the beautiful surprise I was looking for at the end of a hard day. I was looking for something new to hear and I needed jazz,' cause jazz helps me to relax, to refresh my tired neurons and make space for new things in my crowded mind. And there they come out! This is what we could name a strange couple. An austrian saxophonist, Karolina Strassmayer, and an american drummer, Drori Mondlak, joining their forces in a very very successful union. Their music is fresh, somewhat intellectual but never too much introspective to be understood. They both are more than excellent musicians and the tracks of this album are one better than the other, telling stories and not just playing around a theme. Playing and writing with them, equally excellent guitar, Cary DeNigris, and bass, John Goldsby, make the quartet Klaro a group that no jazz lover should miss.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

One sting, two sting, many bite!

When I was a little more than a child I had two (alright, maybe three) great loves: one was Prince. I loved him unconditionally, whatever he was doing. The other one was Sting. He was in the second place just because he was a little too blond and a little too british to be my first. But like many first love-s they didn't stop. Here I am, still in love with them (now I'm more focused on the music though). So, here are some different ways to make Police/Sting classics still perfectly alive. I was just a little surprise that with so many cool tracks they produced there are just few of them used for mashing and remixing. Roxanne's on the top... come on guys!

An unexpected version of this song. I really hadn't consider an englishman with umbrella and dubstep beats. Warning: It's contagious.
Sting - Englishman In New York (Free bootleg) by kator

Now two versions of the superclassic Roxanne. We heard it all, and still can't forget the tango version of Moulin Rouge. But still there's plenty of space to work on. My 3yrs old daughter was dancing and jumping to these two, so it should work for everybody.
LeeDM101 - Roxanne's Tainted Fly (The Police / Soft Cell / Miley Cyrus (?!)) by LeeDM101

Put On The RedLight ( Police vs Coldplay ) Dj Lobsterdust by Mixes and Mashups #2

Finally, one of the most played and danced bass lines ever ever. Walking on the moon. This is maybe a little too ambient to my taste, but I think it wasn't bad to chill out a bit.
The Police - Walking on The Moon (sageone remix feat Hannah Fogel) by sageone

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Traveling: Philadelphia

I've never been in Philadelphia. Not phisically. But there's so much music I love that comes from that city that I think I kind of know it and I wanted to explore a little more the unofficial scene. There's a lot coming out from Philly, in every possible music genre you could think about.
This is a little taste, and maybe there'll be a second part.


Zilla Rocca is one of those underground stars that you surely have met several times, listening to hip-hop projects, without knowing it. He's fertile, productive, smart and the music that comes out of his mind has some of all these qualities. I love this album and the title says a lot about it. Pour a glass of something strong, volume up, and start enjoying.


Philadelphia is not exclusively hip-hop. There's so much music worth to be listened to, and this is a wonderful example. An extremely good band, a perfect melt between rock, funky, electronic and dub and everythings it takes to make you move.


Back to hip-hop. True Philly sound and philosophy with the work of Dumhi, a DJ, a musician and an idea. Music and rhythm are in the spotlight while the mics change and borrow their voices and their skills to the project.


There's something of Badu, and a little of Jill Scott moving around here. This album is beautiful, with athmospheres that fly on soul and r'n b vibes, play with hip-hop and jazz and always come out in the right way. And it's free. Do we need more?

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Say White! And make it sound

I spent a long time searching for some good music that could fit the "White" vibe. I knew it wouldn't be easy because white and black are not just colors. There are tons of albums and tracks tagged white, but just few that really got something that reminds white. I chose four examples of what could possibly be, in my mind, a white sound.


This is a strange australian couple of artists. Poetry, music, drawings... in their blog you can get to know them better. But the music speaks alone. It's a little psychedelic, very lirical, aethereal and simple. It's what I thought could be white sound.


White to dance. If you were thinking about the Beatles, forget it. This is jungle and electronic well mixed and shaked.


Let's take a break and relax. This ambient music is what it takes when you just want to lay down and stay still. Meditate, maybe, or take a nap. Quite good, by the way.


This album is quite creepy. I don't exactly get what they mean saying that vocals are from people that are not with us anymore... maybe it's better like that. But this music got something, something special.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Who moves like Jagger?

This is one of those tunes that gets in your mind easily and never gets out, even if you hate it. Let's say it, this track of Maroon 5 will never be a classic. But surely is one of the songs that everyone this summer sang once in the shower. And it seems that almost everyone in SoundCloud community fell into it.
These are my favs:

Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera - Moves Like Jagger [Davide Lama Re-Edit] by Davide Lama
Davide Lama (Naples, Italy), takes out of this track the acid and funky flavour and makes it sound quite irresistible. Surely better than the original. Bravo Davide!

Maroon 5 - Moves Like Jagger ft. Christina Aguilera (ЯETRO Bootleg) by ЯETRO
Different vibe, more relax and chill, by a russian DJ in Idaho. Cool track.

Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera - Moves Like Jagger (Merk Hard remix) by MerkOfficial
Staying in Italy, Milan, same track totally different story. This is kinda "boom boom" rendition, but with cool rhythms changes and breaks. Has its own charm and seems to like a lot.

Maroon 5 Ft. Christina Aguilera - Moves Like Jagger (Ashworth IV Remix) by AshworthIV
And this is the NYC style taking over. Electric and a little acid. Good beats, makes you move and that's all that counts.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

The Soul & the Fela

What do you think could happen if you mix the afrobeat of Fela Kuti with the soulness of De La Soul?
This happens:



This album is a joy for the ears. Is the demonstration that mashing up is not just a copy&paste job. Is about imagination and creating something new from something that has its own life. It's kind of magic.
Amerigo is very good in mashing things. And this album is free. Totally a download must. And you don't want to miss the previous albums.