kidkanevil of electronic alternative rock band Stateless fame, as well as being a music maker and producer in his own right, dropped a sweet little EP last Sunday. and freebeatsnbleeps is exactly what it says; random beats and bleeps for free
keep your eyes peeled and ears pinned back for updates as we’ve been promised more freebies to come
additionally, here’s something from Stateless. it’s the video for I’m On Fire (feat Shara Worden) from their 2011 album Matilda
one of my favourite musical discoveries of 2011 has been neo-classical composer and performer Ólafur Arnalds. i’ve probably listened to his music more than anyones during the past year, so despite the following documentary being from 2009 (filmed during a UK tour in October 2008) it’s new to me and i suspect plenty of others too. it runs for about 24 minutes
here’s some great news for fans of Manchester’s mighty Barry Adamson. the ex-Magazine and Bad Seed’s guitarist and superb solo act for the last 25 years has got a new LP, I Will Set You Free, set for release early next year. this’ll be his first album since 2008′s Back To The Cat, though of course there was Adamson’s first venture into film making; writing, directing, editing and scoring Therapist, a 40-minute film noir about a Polish immigrant searching for her sister, that has kept him busy between records. i’ll supply more info on that below. in the meantime and as a way to whet one’s appetite for fresh music there’s a new track, Destination, that’s available for free download from Adamson’s Facebook account here
this is the video for Destination
also available for free, though a little older as this was released in September of last year, is the track Rag And Bone as well as Rag and Bone (version excursion)
so, back to Therapist and in the words of Annabel Grundy (East End Film Festival), “Therapist tells the story of Monika, a Polish immigrant searching for her sister, who encounters both tragedy and destruction. But is her story real or the metaphor for another man’s emotion, a story straight from the therapist’s couch? A truly metafictional experience, the film, with its looping narrative and world within a world structure, focuses on our experience-as reality and the contradiction between memory, fantasy, truth and the experience of life itself.“
here’s the trailer
Rick Smith, Karl Hyde and Danny Boyle
legendary British electronic group Underworld have been announced as the directors of music for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic games. the duo join a team that already includes filmmaker Danny Boyle as Artistic Director. Boyle’s worked with the duo before on his film version of Trainspotting and also on last years critically acclaimed National Theatre production of Frankenstein. Underworld (Rick Smith and Karl Hyde) will be entirely responsible for the musical side of the three-hour ceremony next summer
“We want to leave people with a musical memory of the show rather than a purely visual one,” said Underworld’s Karl Hyde. “It’s a great honour to be asked to do this and one we’re taking very seriously – it’s certainly not something we’ll get the chance to do again.“
there are so many great Underworld tracks to choose from, so the one i’ve settled on below as an example of their greatness is one of those that made me fall in love with them in the first place. this is Cowgirl from 1994′s superb album Dubnobasswithmyheadman
here’s a nice little freebie from YULT; a free d/l of his 2008 12″ single Opposite Influence that was originally limited to 500 vinyl copies. it’s an instrumental project that was recorded while traveling between France, London, the wildly exotic Leeds and Barcelona during 2007
you can follow YULT on Facebook, and by going to his Soundcloud page you can listen to some remix work for Portico Quartet, Natural Self, Tanya Auclair and others
additionally, to listen to YULT’s track Inland Empire from The Animal Inside EP released in February of this year, go here
i had a rather pleasant surprise today. i started following Hexstatic on Twitter (twitter.com/hexstatic), and for that i received an email offering me their 7 track, Scan Me EP, for free
should you not be a Twitterer (is that right? or a Twatter, perhaps? yes, should you not, unlike myself, be a Twatter), then click the ‘Download’ button below, and get yourself the EP of quality tracks from the great Hexstatic, absolutely free
additionally, here’s an audio/visual treat by the Hexstatic boys (Stuart Warren Hill and Robin Brunson), with much more to be found on their Vimeo page, just here
and lastly, 2001: A Space Odyssey and The League Of Gentlemen are brought together to make us smile
here’s a statement from Speech Debelle concerning events in England during the past week:
“I wrote this track months ago for my second album, and it wasn’t due for release until next year. But after the events of this week I want to give it away right now. I feel it could give insight into the hearts and minds of some of the people that have taken part in, not only the peaceful marches for Mark Duggan in Tottenham and the Smiley Culture march for justice, but also I believe it speaks of the frustration of many young people who took part in the rioting and the consequent looting over London and areas of the UK. I am not attempting to condone, I’m attempting to be a voice of understanding.
It’s without doubt that what these young people have been doing is destructive and shameful. Their greed for material things and appetite for destruction is unhealthy and selfish. It is not how we should live as a society. BUT I have to say destruction has become a form of communication and expression for so many young people.
These young people are not aliens dropped down from outer space on Friday night, they are our children. They go to our schools and are taught the curriculum our government has set out for them. They watch the films we write direct and produce and star in. They fantasize about computer games we imagine and sell them. They eat the food we produce packed with e numbers and feed them. We cannot say there is something wrong with them without acknowledging there must be something wrong with us as a society.
They are a big part of our future and we contribute to the creation of our futures. They are a continuum of what has come before them.
In the same way a child takes in the feeling of comfort from their parents about the environment they’re born into, they take on the fear and frustration of the environment they are born into. You cant have a conversation with an average person these days without them complaining about banking debt and how it affects them, the university fees, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the role our government has played, the phone hacking and media attack on privacy, the rise of the cost of living and cuts in services and education because of the greed of the privileged minority.
They hear these cries from the adults of this society and they have it right there in front of them on their TVs saying “this generation of young people have less opportunity then the generation before them.” They have been fed these things but cannot express these feelings of frustration in a mature way because again, their form of expression has become destruction and their environment provides them the fuel. This does not mean these frustrations are not real.
People have asked why they are destroying buildings and property from their own communities but they look at them as just buildings that do not belong to them, and never will. Only people who cannot envision a positive future will take part in the destruction of their own community and if we acknowledge that, then we to ask the question why somebody so young feels they have so little to look forward to? I cannot allow myself to de-humanize these kids and see them as my enemy.“
Speech Debelle 9 August 2011
fancy joining in a celebration of the boldest music from across the globe in East London, featuring UK exclusives and new commissions? if the answer is yes then head to Blaze. Blaze is presented by the Barbican and part of the Create Festival
it’s been running since June 19th but there’s still two weeks to go for a chance to witness commissions and new works, open-air concerts, and special shows in venues across East London including the historic Hackney Empire
here’s the fourth and final of the Blaze podcasts, though you can hear all the Barbican Contemporary Music podcasts uploaded on SoundCloud here, featuring Basement Jaxx, Ojos de Brujo, Paloma Faith, Asa, Kurt Elling, Van der Graaf Generator, Kronos Quartet, These New Puritans, NEU!, Angelique Kidjo and more
