Saturday, January 31, 2009

DDOSFB#41 - Hyper Crush

Similar to LMFAO's new-rave sound (See Day 20), Hypercrush fuse HipHop, Electronica and 50's Doo-Hop.

"Fresh from the 80s, armed with fresh rhymes, funky beats, and enough neon to make you wear shades", as they put it themselves.

Hyper Crush - Disco Tech



Fact: Hypercrush was signed to Universal Motown in late November 2008 and is working on their debut album, to be released later this year.

Friday, January 30, 2009

DDOSFB#40 - Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra (1915-1998) rose to stardom as a solo artist in the early to mid 1940s. Currently he is probably most well-know for his song New York, New York. However, this song was only released in 1980. Before this song's succes, his music career had gone through a dip (1950-1953) after which a rebirth of his success followed and a retirement from music (1971-1973) followed by a comeback.

Frank Sinatra is credited with being the first singing teen-idol. Next to singing, he also appeared in several movies and musicals, some more succesful than others.

Fact: The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) kept a file of close to 2500 pages on him. Apparently his alleged involvement with and ties to organized crime such as the mafia and his political ties and involvement raised suspicion.

Frank Sinatra - I've Got You Under My Skin

Thursday, January 29, 2009

DDOSFB#39 - Rinôçérôse

"Clinical psychologists by day, musicians by night" is what the band members of Rinôçérôse, a French cross-over rock/electro band, call themselves.

Their song Cubicle can also be heard in an older iTunes commercial by Apple.

Rinôçérôse - Cubicle

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

DDOSFB#38 - Feist

Leslie Feist, a Canadian-American artist is likely known best for her popular song 1234. The inspiration for the music video she got when she was dancing in the opening ceremony of the Calgary Olympic Winter Games at age 12 as one of 1000 dancers.

However, her earlier work before she became well known with 1234 is also very good. In October 2008 she anounced that she wanted to "step away from the pressures of the music industry" after the succes of the album The Reminder to consider her next career move.

Feist - One Evening

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

DDOSFB#36 - Basement Jaxx

A real party song with a cacophony of old-skool influences.

Basement Jaxx - Make Me Sweat

Monday, January 26, 2009

DDOSFB#35 - Goldfish

The two members of South-African music duo Goldfish have their roots in Jazz but because of their work over the past years they have been credited with putting the South African electronic music scene on the global map with a pioneering sound.

Their music falls within the electronic genre but has distinct references to other styles. In live shows the tracks are created on the spot trough different sampling methods, even with live instruments at times.

Goldfish - Wet Welly

Sunday, January 25, 2009

DDOSFB#34 - Vivaldi

Before all this pop-nonsense started in the previous century, what was actually popular music were mostly classical pieces.

Perceived as a pastime for mainly the wealthier classes of society, Sundays were a suitable opportunity to take out the family and enjoy this form of art.

Nowadays, however, with the availability of- and access to music almost anywhere, instantly, classical pieces, just as other types of music, can fit in anywhere.

Antonio Vivaldi
(1678-1741) - Concerto in G Major "Alla Rustica"

Saturday, January 24, 2009

DDOSFB#33 - Phoenix

French indie band Phoenix has put out several albums over the years. The single "If I ever feel better" from their debut album has a refreshing retro-flavoured sound that extends beyond the rock genre alone.

Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better

Friday, January 23, 2009

DDOSFB#32 - Shwayze

Aaron Smith, better known as Shwayze, from Malibu, California is now 22 years old and released an album in August 2008. Some singles made it into the top 100 charts. Although the name refers to him as a solo artist, every one of the tracks on the album features Cisco Adler, making the two of them into more than just a one time duo.

Shwayze is a rapper by nature but his songs incorporate more than solely an old-school rap vibe.

See for yourself

If it sounds familiar, another one of his songs was featured in an episode of Gossip Girl (if that means anything to you...), Buzzin'.

Shwayze - Corona and Lime



Click here for the vid.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

DDOSFB#31 - Moby

Moby's eighth studio album has been considered far more house-orientated than his previous works.

His second single "I Love To Move In Here" was remixed by British producer Seamus Haji to give it an even greater electronic sound.

Check out the original if you prefer a slower vibe.

PS: The rapper that can be heard on the track is Grandmaster Caz, an MC who helped write Hip-Hop's first Top40 song "Rapper's Delight" (for The Sugarhill Gang) back in 1979.

Moby - I Love To Move In Here

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

DDOSFB#30 - Will.I.Am

Since the start of the presidential elections, Will.I.Am (See Day 27) has strongly expressed his support for the Presidency of Barrack Obama through the release of several singles.

His most recent song, "It's A New Day" was released on the official "Obama Inauguration CD" (It exists...) called 'Change is now', together with other popular artists, such as Maroon 5, Usher and Stevie Wonder.

Will.I.Am - It's A New Day

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

DDOSFB#29 - Norwegian Recycling

"A mash-up or bootleg is a song from the combination of the music of one song with the a cappella from another". At least, that is usually the case...

Norwegian Recycling, a solo project of a Norwegian Mash-Up artist, distinguishes his style from the rest of the market by mashing up to 9 songs into one track. The genres that are mixed range from Indie Rock to R&B and from Classical Music to Japanese Rap.

In this particular track you will be able to hear Jason Mraz, Howie Day, Five For Fighting, Angela Ammons, Boyzone and 3 Doors Down.

Norwegian Recycling - How Six Songs Collide

Monday, January 19, 2009

DDOSFB#28 - Nina Simone

The song Sinnerman stems from around the turn of the 20th century. Nina Simone released her 10 minute version on the album Pastel Blues in 1965. She learnt it from her mother who used it in religious context at revival meetings.

The song was remixed by Felix Da Housecat, it was used in the movie Miami Vice (2006).

Nina Simone - Sinnerman (Felix Da Housecat's Heavenly House Mix)

Sunday, January 18, 2009

DDOSFB#27 - Will.I.Am

At the end of 2007, Black Eyed Peas founder and frontman Will.I.Am took a chance at a solo career with the album "Songs About Girls".

The record turned out to be a commercial disappointment.
This is unfortunate, because it has a couple great songs on there.
Judge for yourself:

Wow this song is untraceable, so a preview it is...

Will.I.Am - Get Your Money



Sounds familiar?

Saturday, January 17, 2009

DDOSFB#26 - Juan Luis Guerra

Juan Luis Guerra (1957) won 5 Latin Grammy Awards in one night in 2007. However, the Dominican has been making music for over 2 decades before this.

His distinct style can be described as a "pop style of Merengue and Bolero and Afro-pop/Latin fusion (..) he is associated with the popular Dominican music called Bachata" but "he actually uses the basics of Bachata rhythm with a more Bolero feel to the melodies in some of his songs."

A classic in the Caribbean.

Juan Luis Guerra - Rosalia (1990)

Friday, January 16, 2009

DDOSFB#25 - Hanson

Feel like a kid again.

You know you love it.

As you might have guessed, they grew up since 1997, somewhat. All three are married + kids.

Hanson - Mmmbop (1997)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd0C_Us31kk

Thursday, January 15, 2009

DDOSFB#24 - Kings of Leon

Inspired by a fall out within the band a few days before a show, this song is credited to the city of Glasgow and the audience at the show.

A family fight apparently, since the band members are three brothers and their cousin.

Great song from a great album, Only By The Night

Kings of Leon - Use Somebody

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

DDOSFB#23 - Coldplay + Jay-Z

Despite their extremely successful track-record of three award-winning albums, Coldplay, for its fourth studio-album "Viva La Vida", decided to change its sound around completely.
A good example of this is the song "Lost", which uses exotic percussion, church organ riffs, looped hand-claps and a lower vocal register by Chris Martin.

Simultaneous with the release of "Viva La Vida", Coldplay put out the bonus album "Prospekt's March" with left-over recordings. One of these tracks is "Lost+" which adds an additional vocal track by Jay-Z (2:30 onwards) to the hit-single.

Coldplay - Lost+ (Feat. Jay-Z)

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

DDOSFB#22 - Louis Armstrong

In 1928 in Berlin a play premiered, "Die Dreigroschenoper" or, the 3 Penny Opera by Bertold Brecht. A translation of one song in particular, composed originally by Kurt Weill, from this play became quite famous.

Mack the Knife.

It was made popular firstly by Louis Armstrong but Bobby Darin's version is very famous as well. Singer's like Frank Sinatra and Michael Buble have also taken up this song in their repertoire.

The Louis Armstrong version has an early jazz/soul rawness to it as opposed to the Bobby Darin version, which leads to believe it was modified somewhat for one particular class in that time period.

Louis Armstrong - Mack the Knife

Monday, January 12, 2009

DDOSFB#21 - LMFAO Remixes

Having been signed by Interscope Records in late 2008, LMFAO is busy working on its debut album "Party Rock". Outside of their original music (see Day 20), the pseudo hipsterhop duo have worked on several remixes of other popular tracks, incorporating their new-rave sound.

Kanye West - Love Lockdown (LMFAO Remix)

Be sure to also check out their remix of Fergie's 'Clumsy' and Katy Perry's 'Hot N Cold'.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

DDOSFB#20 - LMFAO

"Nu 80's - a unique fusion of hip-hop, electronica, and funk."

That's how LMFAO describe their music. This duo from California consists of Red Foo and Sky Blu.

LMFAO, as you whizkids probably know, stands for Laughing My Fucking Ass Off.

LMFAO - YES

The flow and woomp in their electro-style is impressive. If you like it, check out 'La La La' and 'I Am Not A Whore'.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

DDOSFB#19 - Ian Pooley

Ian Pooley, German-born record producer and DJ.

Most of his music exemplifies the chilled-out roof terrace vibe. The summer in his tunes stems from Brazilian styles. Apart from the brazilian flavor, his music is influenced by different genres.

Ian Pooley - Coracao Tambor



Check out some more of his work, especially the song Venasque.

Friday, January 9, 2009

DDOSFB#18 - Bebel Gilberto

Born in New York into a musical family with roots in Brazil put Bebel Gilberto on to a career in music quite early in her life.

Her laid back Bossa Nova style is very distinct, and this song might ring a bell of familiarity with many people.

Bebel Gilberto - Samba Da Bencao

Thursday, January 8, 2009

DDOSFB#17 - Empire Of The Sun

The music from Australian duo 'Empire of the Sun' is categorized as Electro/Psychedelic Pop.

Their first single "Walking On A Dream" was remixed by Van She, adding a gradually increasing electro beat and some extra zing to the original.

Empire of the Sun - Walking on a Dream (Van She Remix)

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

DDOSFB#16 - Vampire Weekend

Based in New York, the indie rock band 'Vampire Weekend' has a unique and diverse sound.
Their musical influences range from Western classical to Congolese Soukous.

Check out the song "M79" with its playful Vivaldi-like violin.
For the other side of the spectrum, listen to "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"

http://www.myspace.com/vampireweekend

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

DDOSFB#15 - Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock's album 'River: The Joni Letters' was written as a tribute album to Folk Rock/Jazz singer Joni Mitchell. That year it won the grammy for album of the year.

Accompanying his piano work is Corrine Bailey Rae on the vocals.

Herbie Hancock - River (Feat. Corrine Bailey Rae

Monday, January 5, 2009

DDOSFB#14 - Tegan & Sara

Funny, interesting lyrics. It is somewhat of a indie song.

Tegan & Sara - Back In Your Head



DJ Tiesto did a remix of this song

As did RAC

And Morgan Page

Go easy now remix God!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

DDOSFB#12 - Katie Melua & Jamie Cullum

Katie Melua and http://www.myspace.com/jamiecullum are in their own right respectable artists but together they have some definite potential as a duet.

A bit of Jazz, a bit of Brit and some Big Band.

This is a cover version of the original "The Love Cats"

Katie Melua & Jamie Cullum - The Love Cats

Saturday, January 3, 2009

DDOSFB#12 - TMF Yearmix 2008




So this Dutch music television channel called TMF, The Music Factory, has been making a yearly mix at the end of each year. Tracks as well as videoclips are mixed. The mixing's superb.

If you can get your hands on the video, you're a good kid.


[Yearmix] TMF Yearmix 2008

Friday, January 2, 2009

DDOSFB#11 - Quintino

Electro is the way to go. Funky beats and popping sounds are a good combination.

Quintino - Rap Das Armas

DDOSFB#10 - The Cat Empire

Australian & Upbeat, it sounds like summer.

Enjoy

The Cat Empire - Hello