The Good from Haydee's- Mariachi El Bronx!

Well, Haydee's was not a good experience, but it reminded me of Mariachi El Bronx (MEB)- MEB is a side project of The Bronx, a punk band out of Los Angeles. The Bronx has recorded a few punk albums over the last 6 years, but recently released an album of Mariachi music to expand their sound and challenge themselves. It sounds great! Here are two videos, one for "Cellmates" the first single off the album:



And here is an awesome cover of Prince's "I Would Die for You":



So at least Haydee's wasn't a total loss!

Fela Kuti Biography

Here is an embed of the first part of a great (1983?) biography on Fela Kuti, a Nigerian-born originator of Afro-beat music (the other parts are available on Youtube as well). It is a great piece of work, and really shows a lot about Fela and his struggle against the Nigerian government of the time. There are some awesome excerpts from some of his live performances, showing the driving grooves, strident political messages, and charismatic stage presence that Fela is known for. Fela Kuti is a perfect example of how someone can use music as a weapon to fight injustice and corruption in society.

Taken by Trees- "My boys," an Animal Collective cover.

I love Animal Collective- great harmonies and grooves. Taken by Trees is a side project of Victoria Bergsman, the lead singer of the Concretes, a Swedish indie band. This cover is great- the musical box feel and understated lyrics are a really captivating spin on the original.

A Dilettante's concert for the day #2:

For my second concert from the Internet Archive, I bring you Tegan and Sara at the Dinwoodie Lounge in the University of Alberta in 2003. If you aren't familiar with Tegan and Sara, they are twin Canadian sisters. They still are pretty young, but have been making music for a long time- they first came into the US music scene on the Lilith tour like a million years ago! They started out as a mainly accousitc punk/folk duo(polk?), but over the years they have gone electric and their songwriting has matured somewhat, becoming a bit more rock-oriented, with a lot of catchy pop hooks.

My favorite thing about Tegan and Sara is their propensity to "banter" at their concerts- they often tell stories and jokes between songs. It definitely helps create a strong rapport with their crowd- I think that if you just listen to their CDs, people assume they are always serious and depressed. But listen to their banter on tracks 10 and 15 for example, they come off as smart, funny, and totally cute! Their newest album "The Con" is my Favorite of theirs so far, but they are playing larger venues these days, which hurts the banter rapport in my opinon. My favorite songs from this concert are "Monday Monday Monday" and "Living Room." Enjoy!

Concert Imbed:


Concert Link:
http://www.archive.org/details/ts2003-09-07.flac16

UK's Mercury Prize won by Speech Debelle

The Mercury Prize is an award given to the year's best album from the UK or Ireland. Generally, the award is given to an indie or alternative band, and it can be a great way to "get the word out" about a particular artist. This year, there were a lot of great nominees, such as the Friendly Fires and Bat for Lashes, and even Kasabian who dont ususally have a lot of artistic heft (but damn, I can't get the song "Fire" out of my head). On September 8th, the UK gave the prize to Speech Debelle for her album Speech Therapy. Speech is a British, and generally fits into the Rap/Hip-Hop genre. Her stuff is pretty good- here is a sample:

--> She is a talented rapper, and I love rap tracks with jazz backing music and/or samples. Congrats!

New Favorite Indie Band Flow Chart

Every day and every way I try to be a better music snob, and this chart is a big help:

--> From the Daily What

The Very Best- Warm Heart of Africa

This is a pretty sweet song I just heard on BBC6- It is by the Very Best, which is a collaboration between Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya and Euro DJ duo Radioclit. I love AfroBeat and all of the American/English artists that are heavily influenced by it, like The Talking Heads and Vampire Weekend. Ezra Koenig from VWeekend helps out on lead vocals here- buoyant and bubbly - a great summer song!

P.S. - I have no idea what is going on with the visuals in the YouTube clip though. Gotta love those crazy Japanese game shows!

The Jim Jones Revue

These guys kick so much ass it's illegal! This band is from the UK and I don't think you will hear much of them in the US, but BBC6 plays a good deal of their music. They are a cross between Jerry Lee Lewis and the Sex Pistols, if you can believe that. Check out this video- the piano breaks are my favorite part:

A Dilettante's concert for the day #1:

My first concert from the Internet Archive is of Pinback live at the Showbox in WA in February of 2008. If you haven't heard of Pinback, they are a great Indie Rock band from San Diego. Primarily composed of two guys, they evolved from a side project into a band with a solid following. They feature great harmonies and distinctive bass play. Highlights of this concert for me are the songs "Barnes," "Devil you Know," and "From Nothing to Nowhere" - Enjoy!

Here is an Embed of the Concert:


And Here is a Link to the Concert:
http://www.archive.org/details/Pinback2008-02-14

Archive.org- one of the best sites on the net!

If you haven't checked out Archive.org before, I suggest you run and give it a look-see! This site is an amazing repository of knowledge and media- from the written word, to movies and concerts! The content is completely free and easy to download. Personally, my favorite part of the Archive is the Live Music Archive, with thousands and thousands of free concerts to download! If you are a Grateful Dead Fan this site is manna from heaven, about 7,000 thousand Dead concerts alone! I must admit that the concerts tend to favor Jamming Bands like OAR and Blues Traveler, but there is a little bit of everything there. I will post links to my favorite concerts in the archive from time to time- you can listen to many of the concerts on an embedded music player on the concert's page, so there is no downloading necessary. Enjoy!

http://www.archive.org/index.php

BBC6- Is there a better way to stream?

Streaming BBC6 music is probably my favorite way to pass the hours and get focused on my work. The DJs on BBC6 are probably the most knowledgeable people that I have heard play music- and the station actually supports them and gives them the freedom to play what they want. If you can stream music at home or at work, you have to check out the station.

As for the music on BBC6- the DJs play a great deal of new Indie/Alternative music before it comes across the pond to the States, great bands you know or should know. What separates BBC6 from other Indie/Alternative stations if that the DJs play music from the 60's up as well- a lot of punk, Bowie and obscure stuff you might not have heard of before! So check it out and enjoy- my favorite DJ is Marc Riley- he was in the seminal British New Wave band The Fall, and is on Mon thru Thurs from 2-4 PM Eastern time!