Tune in to The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien later on today to listen to the musical stylings of Telenovela superstar, Jencarlos. He’ll be performing his hit single “Amor Quédate”, off of his hugely successful debut release, Búscame, out now via Bullseye Music/Select O Hits. Get a preview of the track below:
Jencarlos
“Amor Quedate” (mp3)
from “Búscame”
(Bullseye Music)
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Eclectic synthpop with female vocals your thing? Then San Francisco’s Silver Swans are totally up your alley! In the video below, courtesy of The Owl, the duo discuss how they got together, their sound, and the female super-villains that inspired their name. We’ve also included a free download of the title track. Silver Swans’ Are You Really On My Side? is out now on Tricycle Records.
Silver Swans
“Are You Really On My Side” (mp3)
from “Realize The Ghost”
(Tricycle Records)
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Maybe this is the sign that you really have made it as a band. Dengue Fever was featured in a clue on Jeopardy last night, Monday, January 4th.
The answer: Cambodia.
Dengue Fever
“March of the Balloon Animals” (mp3)
from “Dengue Fever Presents: Sleepwalking Through the Mekong”
(M80)
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Artist: Charlie Hunter
Title: Gentlemen, I Neglected To Inform You You Will Not Be Getting Paid
Label: reapandsow, Inc.
Genre: Jazz : Jazz+Funk
UPC: 188450123309
Territory: World
Release Date: 01.12.10
Charlie Hunter’s latest recording effort, Gentlemen, I Neglected To Inform You You Will Not Be Getting Paid, features the jaw- dropping guitarist alongside drummer Eric Kalb (Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, John Scofield) and a new horn section including trombonist Curtis Fowlkes (Jazz Passengers, Lounge Lizards, Bill Frisell), trombonist Alan Ferber (Don Byron, Kenny Wheeler) and trumpeter Eric Biondo (Antibalas, TV On The Radio). Hunter will celebrate the release of Gentlemen with a four-week Tuesday night residency at Rose Live Music in Brooklyn, NY beginning January 5, 2010.
With a nod to the history of brass music, Hunter set out to embrace the full brass experience on Gentlemen. A fan of Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, he enlisted two trombonists and a trumpeter to open up the nine original compositions to infinite possibilities. Hunter says, “I love the sax, but it’s a modern jazz instrument, and when you hear it, it forces you to play a certain way. Brass is more malleable, how it works with an electric instrument, it can be so out of left field. I love that. There are so many things you can do.”
With a career spanning 16 years and almost 20 albums, Hunter consistently ups his game as an innovative writer and bandleader. He has worked with the likes of Norah Jones, Mos Def, John Mayer, D’Angelo and countless others. He is widely considered the authority on the seven and eight-string guitar, and continues to stun audiences with his ability to simultaneously bust out tasty bass parts, melodic leads and swinging rhythms. Hunter has previously recorded for the venerable Blue Note label, Concord, Ropeadope and others. His recent independent venture is steered by his motivation to release music that most inspires him. Critics have touted his genius technique, but it’s his profound artistic sensibility that propels his original music. Hunter’s signature style of writing and performing has secured his place as one of today’s great guitarists.
“…a man who [has] built his badass reputation by conquering hairy bass lines and heady post-bop melodies simultaneously on custom eight-string instruments… Hunter is still a musical beast.” -Guitar Player
“…Hunter – well known for playing a seven-string instrument – rips through the air with superrock fuzz and fusion mettle.” -Rolling Stone
Here’s a great upbeat track off the record:
Charlie Hunter
“High Pockets and a Fanny Pack” (mp3)
from “Gentlemen, I Neglected To Inform You You Will Not Be Getting Paid”
(reapandsow, Inc.)
Attention all producers and remixers! Nite Grooves Recordings and Juno Records UK have teamed up to bring you the very first remix contest. Chosen track for this debut competition is the recently acclaimed Asad Rizvi & Ingrid Hakanson collab “Valley of the Lost Souls” released earlier this year. They’ll be picking the top three productions with the option for the reigning remixes to be released on Nite Grooves. So fire up your favorite production software and show Kingstreet/Nite Grooves/Juno what you’ve got! Contest ends 2/1/2010.
Visit Kingstreetsounds.com/remixcontest to enter!
Prizes:
· First – One-year digital music subscription to King Street Sounds/Nite Grooves/Street King commercial releases ($600 value). 5 classic 12” & CD releases, King Street Logo T-Shirt, and the winning remix released on our label. £50 voucher from Juno Download.
· Second – One-year digital music subscription to King Street Sounds/Nite Grooves/Street King commercial releases ($600 value). *
· Third – Six months digital music subscription to King Street Sounds/Nite Grooves/Street King commercial releases ($300 value). *
*Remixes may also be considered for release on label.
Last Friday, December 25th, Singer-Songwriter Vic Chesnutt passed away after a two day coma induced by an overdose of muscle relaxers. Just 2 weeks prior, Chesnutt concluded a long tour with Guy Picciotto and members of Thee Silver Mt. Zion to support his fall release, At the Cut.
“In the few short years that we knew him personally, Vic transformed our sense of what true character, grace and determination are all about,” said the founders of Constellation Records, the label that put out Chesnutt’s albums. “Our grief is inexpressible and Vic’s absence unfathomable.”
He will be greatly missed.
Vic Chesnutt
“Chain” (mp3)
from “At the Cut”
(Constellation)
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Update:
A tribute/donation page has been set up by Vic’s close friend, Kristen Hersh. 100% of all donations will go to Vic’s family. Contribute here.
Planning your New Years resolutions? Maybe one should be to not judge music by it’s hipster cred alone. NPR affiliate station, KUT, posted a list of 10 albums out in 2009 that they think are worthy of your ear’s precious time even if it won’t add an edge to your record collection.
The collaboration between Asleep at the Wheel and Willie Nelson made it on the list: “This is no retro kitsch. For more than 30 years, it was the dream of producer Jerry Wexler to have Willie Nelson cover the masterworks of Western swing, backed by Ray Benson and his gang of modern swingmasters in Asleep at the Wheel. Wexler lived just long enough to see this happen: a collection that defines the best of the genre. An instant classic, 30 years in the making.”
Willie Nelson, Asleep at the Wheel
“Hesitation Blues” (mp3)
from “Willie And The Wheel”
(Bismeaux Records)
Buy at Willie and the Wheel Website
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Also, reunited San Antonio band, The Krayolas, make an appearance on the list:
“It’s hard to say exactly what someone would expect from a San Antonio band in the disco-drenched early ’80s, but “guys in suits and matching Rickenbacker guitars” was probably not high on the list. The Krayolas excelled in power-pop, but then called it quits. It must have surprised even the band that its 2008 comeback album La Conquistadora would gain critical raves and national attention on Dave Marsh’s Sirius show. But Long Leaf Pine (No Smack Gum) is even better. The writing is crisp, and the sound is powerful and locked-in, effortlessly mixing Tex-Mex, Motown and British Invasion sounds into a winning concoction.”
The Krayolas
“Long Leaf Pine” (mp3)
from “Long Leaf Pine (No Smack Gum)”
(Talking Taco Music)
Buy at Talking Taco Website
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Andrew Clements of The Guardian UK posted an article today about the lasting power of classical music labels over the past decade. Despite the many shifts in the music industry overall, classical labels have managed to adapt and continue to move forward. The article highlights two recently Grammy nominated labels, San Francisco Symphony and Mariinsky. Clements writes:
“Right across the world, from the San Francisco Symphony (whose Mahler cycle with their music director Michael Tilson Thomas has been widely admired, particularly for the exceptional quality of the recorded sound) to the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, which launched its own label earlier this year with an outstanding version of Shostakovich’s opera The Nose, conducted by Valery Gergiev, orchestras and opera companies have set up their own brands, over which they are able to exert complete artistic control.”
Clements also adds that the London Symphony Orchestra was the label to lead the way. “..the orchestra that led the way here was the London Symphony, which cannily played to its built-in strengths from the very start, by releasing a whole Berlioz cycle with its principal conductor for much of the decade, Colin Davis, that complemented and in some respects surpassed the series of Berlioz studio recordings that Davis had made for Philips a quarter of a century earlier, including an outstanding set of The Trojans.”
Valery Gergiev, London Symphony Orchestra
“Symphony No. 1″ (mp3)
from “Mahler: Symphony No. 1″
(LSO Live)
Buy at LSO Live
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Artist: Statik Selektah
Title: The Pre-Game – EP
Label: Brick Records
Genre: Hip-Hop : Rap
UPC: 765481880816
Territory: World
Release Date: 12.15.09
Statik Selektah is back at it with his new lead-up EP The Pre-Game EP. Following the successful release of the single “Critically Acclaimed” Statik is building serious buzz for his upcoming LP 100 Proof (The Hangover) due out Feb. 2nd, 2010 on Brick Records. The Pre-Game EP is already selling well putting it at #28 on iTunes’ Hip Hop album charts. Featuring Statik’s signature style and some of the best emcees in the game The Pre-Game EP is just a taste of what we can expect from the full-length. With guest appearances on the upcoming LP from Talib Kweli, Wale, Bun B, Kool G Rap, Styles P, Freeway, Royce da 5′9″, Souls Of Mischief and many more you won’t wanna miss this one!
Here’s the single “Jaded” off The Pre-Game – EP:
Statik Selektah
“Jaded (feat. Joe Scudda, Truck North & Diz Gibran)” (mp3)
from “The Pre-Game – EP”
(Brick Records)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
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And the official video as well:
The staff at Resident Advisor released their selection of the top 20 labels of 2009 with Hyperdub at the top. Hyperdub’s 5th anniversary compilation also made it toward the top of RA’s Top Compilations of 2009 list, coming in at number two.
From RA:
“What can we say about Hyperdub that hasn’t been said in the past few months? Any publication with an interest in electronic music, theory or the intersection of art and sound seemingly weighed in with their thoughts in advance of the imprint’s fifth anniversary compilation. Steve Goodman, AKA Kode9, has guided Hyperdub from its humble beginnings to its current status as one of the most consistently fascinating outlets in the world. You could call what they do dubstep, but we prefer to call it music. Because how else do you put together the likes of Darkstar, Cooly G, King Midas Sound, Burial, Joker and make it feel absolutely coherent? Bass may be the common currency, however it’s clear that Goodman doesn’t listen with dance floor functionality in mind. At heart, he’s a lot like us: A fan of thrilling music, plain and simple.”
Kode 9, the Spaceape
“Portal” (mp3)
from “Memories of the Future”
(Hyperdub)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Beet / NECODO
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Burial
“Ghost Hardware” (mp3)
from “Untrue”
(Hyperdub)
Buy at Cargo Records
Buy at Beet / NECODO
More On This Album
