Swittishness and good tunes...

A lack of posts recently is down to the fact that i'm seasonnairing in Switzerland for the winter so there aint gonna be much new music. I'll probably post pictures up when i can and recommend some beats for pure mountain enjoyment, but check out all the links on the right for up to date tunage.

Pure Groove records just sent me this crimbo mixtape so get the fire going and blast it out instead of the usual Cliff Richard and Fairytale Of New York malarkey.

Pure Groove Christmas Mixtape Side A

Pure Groove Christmas Mixtape Side B

There's tracks on there from Noah and the Whale, Eugene McGuinness, Lightspeed Champion, Jay Jay Pistolet, Beans on Toast and Chris T. Worth cocking a snook at I reckon.

Merry christmas y'all and a happy new year from the land of Clocks and Chocolate and snow and bell ringing.

Queue and Eh? - Little Joy Box...

I was introduced to Little Joy Box by Huw Stephens and his new music unsigned show on Radio1 a few weeks back. The track that hooked me in was Son of Dog, and after hearing the rest of their tunes on Myspace I had to contact LJB's creative voice, Sara, for more info.

Vital statistics (name, age, location etc)
A lady should never be asked to reveal her age, but I can tell you that i am, by birth and technicality an essex girl, though London is but a stones throw away!

How long have you been actively making music?
Little Joy Box was born about a year ago but before that I was playing bass, gigging and co-writing in The Itchy Tits (an all girl punk/rock band of friends I met at uni) for nearly 5 years which was great fun!

When did you realise that music was what you wanted to do?
My Mamma is a singer and had a contract with EMI when I was in the womb, in fact she was still gigging a week before i popped out so it's likely that I decided to do music about then!!

How did the name come about?
"Joy" in my opinion, is the ultimate word to describe happiness and I defo wanted that in the project. Put "Joy" with "Box" and (if you have a dirty mind) it can sound a bit rude, lol, but add "Little" to the front and it distracts from this and makes the name sound cutesy!

Does your location inform the music?
Hmm.. does Essex inform the music? Not intentionally, but i guess it must have an impact somewhere; circumstance, social, emotional situations are likely to impress my brain to paper.

What inspires you?
Gosh, if I analyse (haha i just noticed that anal makes up part of the word analyse!) my songs are about annoyances, animals, my Jesus complex, lost and future loves and sexuality, but i'm actually quite a nice simple girl in reality, these songs must just be a kind of cathartism!

What do you imagine people are doing when they listen to your music?
When people listen to my music they are either; loving it loathing it; busy being indifferent; eating, sleeping, going to the toilet, making babies, skipping and jumping all at once or not at all!

Favourite gig moment so far?
A lovely girl who randomly came to one of my gigs and is now a good friend told me that she liked my voice as it reminded her of chocolate, i liked that compliment!

Is there a particular song you like playing live?
When I play with my band, I like singing 'Hodgeheg' best as it's all jazzed up and about a hedgehog whose husband is cruel to her, so she decides that she "just can't deal with man's extra leg" and would "rather bat for the other side instead"

Have you a favourite moment from your career so far?
My most memorble JOY gig so far has to be my debut, when my loveable keyboardist didn't make it to the venue until the end of my 2nd song and then jumped on stage set up and played flawlessly through to the end of the set. It was kinda a Crystal Maze moment!

If my music was a fighting style it would be...
...akin to Buffy slayering demons whilst being witty in a US sitcom kind of way but being oh so girly at the same time. (or Mr Miagi; wax on, wax off!-who knows why?)

If I could be in any other band it would be...
...Queens of the Stone Age on their Songs for the Deaf tour and I'd be Dave Grohl pounding the drums!!

Are you signed to a label?
LJB is in discussion with labels but as of yet no pen has been put to paper.

Is your music available to buy?
There is a short run of JoY demo E.P'S which are to hand at gigs or on request via email.

Plans for the future?
Plans for the future all entail making JOY an epidemic!!!!

Thanks to Sara for taking the time to answer my reasonably cliched interview questions. Check out Son of Dog below, and when it's all over the blog-o-world in '08 don't cry when I said I told you so. Also, just put up on the Myspace is their cover of Pop-Hop track Hey Ya by the usually dependable Outkast. It's rather good I tell thee.

Little Joy Box - Son of Dog (YSI)

Little Joy Box - Hey Ya (Outkast) (YSI)

Little Joyspace

Squajillion Dollar DJs...

Bah, humbug the lot of ya. Billion Dollar DJs were good enough to send me their new mix, one created entirely from bleeps and bloops available on myspizzace, and by the time i get round to posting it it's already been downloaded 30,000 times and featured on kazillions of blogs.

Well done anyway boys, clearly big tings a gwarn for the future. If you're digging on this make sure to check out their Halloween mix posted in... October.

The MySpace Mix Compiled and Mixed by

Billion Dollar Djs

Click here to download

Frikstailers - Foonkie Boogie
Blackpool - Two Kids
Niyi - 808 Clapa
MK303 - Floos (Remix B)
Blamma! Blamma! - Carry Me Home
Catherine Ferroyer-Blanchard - Tu Fais Le Malina
The Faint - iDisappear
Matthew Savant Mix)
Arrow!!! - D.O.E.S (Demo)
Pimp The System - PTS Anthem
Lismore - All That You Are
Snowden - Black Eyes
Le Castle Vania Remix)
The Twelves - I Feel Fine
Trippple Nippples - RIP Meat
Bitchee Bitchee Ya Ya Ya - Fuck Friend
Flamingo Crash - Yes? Yes? Yes?
Shoot Charlie - Boaster
The Genevan Heathen - Swagger (feat Omnikrom)
You Say Party! We Say Die! - The Gap (Between The Rich And The Poor)
SIBOT - 12345
Glass Candy - Digital Versicolor

Karoshi Brothers could take Mario and Luigi down...

Recently i've been seeking out songs that soundtrack my life, were i a pro snowboarder. All songs like this fresh(ish) Karoshi Brothers track sound infinitely better when you can see Gigi Ruf dropping hammers on back-country kickers or Nicolas Muller popping off a cliff band on his way down a steep ass hill in your mind's eye.

I'm sure the press release for the song involved a combination of the phrases "anime-pop", "manga-disco", "Pokemon" and "Industrial-strength acid", because pretty much every review contains those words. And I thought journalists were hard-working types, not lazy hacks! (Note to self: get hold of industrial-strength acid)

Karoshi Bros - Love Da World
Karoshi Bros - Love Da World (Flash Atkins remix)

The Flash Atkins remix is great for when you want to escape those "cheeky" (another press cull) vocals and bliss out with the rolling bassline.

Bonus Turbo Points: Their label is based in Manchester. Big up the north.



Karoshispace

The Monday Chiller #26 - The Cinematic Orchestra...

Some of the more eagle-eyed among you will have noticed a dearth of posts on the Eclectic Hermit in the past few weeks. I wish I could say that my recent hiatus has been down to my constant pursuit of musical perfection and that i'm now able to present to you the most aurally pleasing sounds of the year. However, all i've been doing is working, drinking, planning for trips and most recently, getting into Jazz. More on the Jazz front later.

On the 14th of December i'm off to Switzerland to work as a ski guide for the winter. It's going to be great for me but not so much for the blog, which may well grind to a standstill while i'm away. Before I go i'll try to do as many posts as possible, which are set to include a couple of Q&As with bands that should be on your radar, and some electronica related goodness. Mashed potato anyone?

So for one of the last Monday Chillers here is some Cinematic Orchestra, a group specially bred for the purpose of appearing on this blog and giving the listener nigh-on 7 minutes of uninterrupted meditation. Sit back, turn up the volume, and enjoy a sample of our show.

The Cinematic Orchestra - Wheel Within A Wheel

The track comes from Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Exclusives CD, released in 2004. It's kind of taken me three years to get round to listening to it properly, but now that I have it'll go straight on the stereo when I need something to chill me to the core.

Buy some Cinematic Orchestra
Buy Worldwide Exclusives

Orchestraspace

Pyrelli freestyle...

My boy at Certified Banger posted a nice review of Pyrelli's debut album here a couple of weeks ago, and I just came across this little nugget on youtube of Sincere and Pyrelli freestyling on Tim Westwood's 1xtra show. Companion piece, or blatant idea biting? Answers on a postcard.



Buy Pyrelli's Vitamin A - A Twist Of Fate

I said fuck dancing all night but then that's just what we did...

This is the offical video for Jape's song Floating. It was directed by M&E and D.A.D.D.Y. Floating is taken from the EP "Jape is Grape" which is due for release on the 19th of November 2007 (yesterday) on V2 records.

Any video that involves slow-motion and exploding fruit is good in my book.




If you like that then be sure to cop a feel of the EP, and in the meantime check out the killer remix of Floating from Tronik Youth.

Jape - Floating (Tronik Youth Mix) (YSI)

www.myspace.com/richiejape
www.myspace.com/matthewandemelie
www.myspace.com/teamdaddy

The Monday Chiller #25 - Burial...

I can't say much about Burial without descending into hyperbole, but couldn't possibly not post a track from his new album Untrue.

As much as the Detroit Escalator Co's Black Buildings evokes images of the city, it's living and breathing core exposed through samples and caring construction, Untrue does the same for urban Britain. Black Buildings wasn't short of dreams, but where it sometimes lacked in substance, Untrue comes through with a plethora of new ideas and creates soundscapes to scenes you can hardly imagine. Listening to it brought up so many memories of travel, images of darkened streets and midnight driving, that i've been walking around in a daze since hearing it.

Burial's second LP is definitely one of the top 5 albums released this year. And yes, I have thought about what other records have been released so no, this is not a kneejerk reaction. Untrue really is that good.

To get a good idea of the themes and ideas behind Burial and the album (as much as is possible for an artist shrouded in mystery), check this Guardian article.

Burial - Untrue (YSI)

Buy Untrue
Burialspace

Hadouken Mini Mix on Radio1...

Radio 1 have finally decided to enable you to download the weekly Mini Mix as easy as right-clicking and saving as...

For the inaugural mix, grimey limeys Hadouken! are at the helm and provide a solid 5 minutes of hands-in-the-air mash-up goodness.

Get your listen on...

Hadouken! - Mini Mix on Annie Mac's Mashup (Save target as)

Go to the BBC website to subscribe to the podcast.

Popes on Dope remix Thieves Like us...

Before the slew of other remixes hit Hype Machine, check this one that Popes on Dope (aka me and Aidan of Certified Banger) have produced.

Thieves Like Us - Drugs In My Body (Popes on Dope Crack Team remix) (YSI)
Thieves Like Us - Drugs In My Body (Popes on Dope Crack Team remix) (ZP3)

Some would describe it as an ambient electro banger with a hint of gothic house, others would simply say it's a damn fine tune.

Let us know what you think and if you like it, pester Kitsune to let us win!

Feel free to share amongst your friends.

New Chewy Chocolate Cookies yeah?...

Chewy Chocolate Cookies (CCC to their friends) are responsible for the some of the (oven) freshest beats around at the moment, and they just made their new remix of The Toxic Avenger available for free on the myspace.

The list of upcoming projects sounds delicious, including a remix of Danger's 11h30 (Z-share link), a track that has been burning my stereo down for the past month or so.

The DJ Mehdi remix in particular is baked to perfection.

The Toxic Avenger - Superheroes (CCC rmx) (ZP3)

Chromeo - Bonified Lovin' (CCC rmx) (ZP3)

DJ Mehdi - Saharian Break (CCC rmx) (ZP3)

Remixes of Justice and SMD are also up for download on the Myspace.

Cookiespace
Official Site

Left of the centre...

Three things you should know about Middleman. They're from Leeds, they're on the Bad Sneakers record label, and their new single Good To Be Back is ahwicked, what?

The track is released on 7", CD, and digital download on November 26th and there just so happens to be a launch party happening down at the Faversham, Leeds at 7.30pm on November 28th.

Middleman - Good To Be Back (YSI)

Everything Could Be Light Green did a wee expose on Bad Sneakers last month, check it here.

Good To Be Back is just the sort of thing i've been looking for in the indie world, and will brighten up your day with its sentiments and singalongability.

Middlespace
Bad Sneakers

If you go down to the woods today...

I caught the end of this track on the radio the other day and thought 'Hmm, did Paul Weller invent trip-hop?'. Sadly, the answer was no. It turned out to be a little known remix of Wild Wood by lazy gobshite (in the nicest possible way) Geoff Barrow aka Portishead.

It took me an age to track down via the old interblag but get it i did and here it is. Two great artists combining to make sweet, sweet music.

Paul Weller - Wild Wood (Portishead remix)

The Deluxe Edition of Wild Wood has recently been released. Weller doesn't need any more money or recognition but if you have a few pennies to spare in the run up to christmas you might like to buy it and sit contented around an open fire, scoffing mince pies and soaking up the sounds of a man who is slowly ruining his good reputation with each successive release. Bah, humbug the lot of ya.

Wild Wood at Amazon

N.B. I considered 'Weller, Weller, Weller huh?' as an alternative title but the Grease nod was just too much.

Vice Unitaur @ The Faversham, Leeds - 31/10/07

Vice magazine are cooler than you. And me. In fact, reading the latest issue today i became quite disheartened at my lack of pop culture knowledge. It aint just Vice though, seems like every album/gig/whatever review i read these days has to contain at least two references to obscure artists that i've never heard of. Or maybe i just don't pay attention.

Having said that, the Vice boys and girls can put on a damn good show. The venue was the Faversham, bang in the middle of student-town, Leeds. Having never been before, i was wondering whether to expect a dirty underground club or something pretentiously shiny. Thankfully the Fav is neither of these and works nicely, with a bar on one side, sofas on the other and a stage in the middle, which is really all you need.

First on were The Teenagers, who did their best despite a pretty lacklustre reception from the crowd. I enjoyed the tunes but toward the end of the set it all seemed to melt into one. The lead singer had fun doing a good impression of Mr Flowers from The Killers and the rest of the band were looking suitably cool/geeky, whichever way you see it.

I hadn't heard anything by These New Puritans before, and on the strength of their set i'll try to avoid hearing anything by them again. With lyrics that really probed deep into the nature of our reality including 'What's your favourite number? What does it mean?', they might go far in the art scene but i couldn't be arsed with it. Good beats though.

After These New Puritans there was a fair break in which time: my sister left the gig to go sleep in the car, there was a ruckus in front of the stage between some lairy dudes who were alternating between all-smiles and whatchoo-lookin-at?, and the DJs proceeded to spin some of the best tunes i've ever heard played in a club.

The main event. Crystal Castles. Their Myspace page describes the music as thrash/thrash/thrash, but a lot of their work including Trash Hologram and Untrust Us is nothing of the sort, more chilled out beats than jump-around anger. Well from the moment the group took to the tiny stage it absolutely went off. The lights went out, the beer was discarded and the beats began. I was pretty much dancing/jumping for the entire set, although it was pretty hard to dance while being battered from all sides by manic drunkards. That's what the live experience is all about though, and Crystal Castles deliver the raw energy they are famous for in spades. Alice is a pretty scary looking lass when in full on performance mode and her strobe-light just hyped the audience up even more. The gentlest beats on the records became the biggest, pulsatingest, hardcorest bangers in the live arena and i loved every minute of it.

I left the gig exhilarated and already looking forward to the next time i might be able to see them live. All in all, one of the sweatiest bands i've seen but also one of the best.

Cheeeeeers, Vice.

Tom Vek! Where aaaarrrre yyyoooouuu?...

Seriously Tom, it's time to bring out some new material. The Blue Nile took 17 years between albums but that doesn't mean you have to try and match their record. I'm sure the new stuff will be good, and if it's not, then you can do a Prodigy and come back in 7 years with a half-arsed sophomore attempt.

Don't know Tom Vek? The guy invented New Rave! Not really, but he was blurring the lines between dance and and indie way before the current sweep of Dindie/Indiance artists.

MP3: Tom Vek - Things Are Here To Stay

To be fair, during his hiatus Tom has managed to appear on The O.C.

The Monday Chiller #24 - Johnny Flynn...

Johnny Flynn is one of those annoyingly multi-talented people who seem to be good at everything, especially when it comes to making music. Along with his band The Sussex Wit he creates good old-fashioned folk/pop music with no hint of pretension that serves as a complete antithesis to the current trend in certain scenes (i'm looking at you, Hoxton).

New single 'The Box' is getting a good push on 6music at the moment, get on down to Flynnspace to hear it in all its 96kb/s Myspace glory.

MP3: Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit - Oh, To Eat An Apple (Thanks to The Daily Growl)

And in case you missed it first time around, Brown Trout Blues is one of my favourite songs of the year and is well worthy of a re-posting.

MP3: Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit - Brown Trout Blues

'I could be somewhere else,

I should be someone else but,

I guess i'm happy as I am.
Sometimes I find it hard to be a man,
and it's easier just to play the same old game,
of trying to forget my bloody name.'

With lyrics like that at age 24, you know the guy has a future in music.

Flynnspace
The Box is out 12th November on Vertigo

Super Turbo bonus material:

The Black Cab Sessions Chapter 1: Johnny Flynn

The Black Cab Sessions, Chapter 12: Langhorne Slim and Johnny Flynn

I'm afraid that you've caught me by surprise...

Crystal Castles are playing as part of the Vice Unitaur over the next couple of weeks with French noise-makers The Teenagers and These New Puritans who I haven't actually listened to yet.

Get yourself over to this link to sign up for free tickets and get ya groove on, although if it's wall-to-wall with hipsters that could be harder than first imagined.

MP3: Crystal Castles - Trash Hologram

See you at The Faversham suckas.

The Monday Chiller #23 - Radiohead...

Surely everyone who wanted the album has got it by now, and even those who weren't sure couldn't cock a snook at a new record that was, for all intents and porpoises, free.

MP3: Radiohead - All I Need

All I Need is my favourite track from In Rainbows because it manages to sound unlike Radiohead, but then at the same time it sounds entirely like Radiohead. Purpose-built for a spot on The Monday Chiller.

The sounds of Claire Sweeney
Dead Air Space

Trick or Beats...

Shittybeatz aka Ric and Dan were kind enough to send me their new mix under the revised moniker Billion Dollar DJs. Here's what they have to say about it:

"Its a horror themed mix using loads of spooky electro/new-wave tracks, mostly from the 80's. Its got a kinda kitch b-movie feel to it and varys from fun Halloween dance tracks to dark horror stuff."

Bang it out loud while you're on a trick or treating mission or if you just want to annoy the neighbours.

Billion Dollar DJs - Nite of the Disco Dead mix (Z-share)

Tracklisting:

Chuckii Booker feat John 'Crypt Keeper' Kassir - The Crypt Jam
Goblin - Tenebre (Main Title)
John Carpenter - The End (Disco Version)
Ministry - Everyday Is Halloween
SSQ - Tonight (We'll Make Love Until We Die)
The Bollock Brothers - Horror Movies
Arch Oboler - Drop Dead Interlude
Mark Ayres - Nightmare On Elm Street Theme
Rockwell - Somebody's Watching
Marketts - Out Of Limits
Hashim - Al Naafyish (The Soul)
Pulsailama - Devil Lives In My Husbands Body
Honeymoon Killers - Wait And See
Flirts - Teenage Werewolf
Metronomy - Trick Or Treats
The Immortals - Ultimate Warlord (Remix)
The J Geils Band - Fright Night
Bush Tetras - Too Many Creeps
Severed Heads - Dead Eyes Opened
France Gall - Frankenstein

It's been a while since there were any electro beats on here, feels good to have them back. Mr Oizo did a mini-mix on Radio1 tonight so if I can track that down it will be up quicker than you can say 'My cats breath smells like cat food'. Blip.

Billion Dollarspace

Ray Lamontagne/100th post...

Blimey.

100 posts and it only took 7 months.

Thanks to everyone who has read, commented, linked to me, and generally supported Eclectic Hermit since its inception. Shout out especially to Aidan aka Certified Banger who started up at the same time as me and continues to keep me informed on all aspects of hip hop.

The biggest shout of them all goes to the artists, without whom none of this would be possible. (This is turning into an Oscars speech. I'd like to thank my mum, dad, my pet cat Stan, that goldfish I won at the village fair once...)

If you haven't commented before, or even if you have, click on the button below and show some love.

I'm going to be showing Ray Lamontagne some love at his gig in Bradford tonight. To whet my appetite, here's his cover of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy, and what a cover it is too.

Ray Lamontagne - Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)

Rayspace
Buy from Amazon

Here's to the next hundred. Hopefully you have enjoyed the tunes so far, i've certainly enjoyed posting them and have discovered so much music that without blogging would have completely passed me by.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink... oh, wait...

From Tobinspace:

At the end of November, Ninja Tune is releasing a 4-song remix ep of Amon Tobin's song titled Kitchen Sink from his latest album, Foley Room. The release features remixes from Clark, Noisia, Boxcutter and Sixtoo and will be available on 12" vinyl and in digital download format.

You can listen to the 4 remixes on Amon's Myspace page now. For some reason I haven't got Foley Room yet, which is strange seeing as Supermodified is one of my favourite albums. Maybe I didn't want to risk the new album not living up to my expectations. Whatever the reason, i'm off to buy it now.

Amon Tobin - Kitchen Sink (Clark Remix)

If you like your beats experimental with elements of dubstep, hip hop, mentalism, etc then this is for you.

Tobinspace
Buy Foley Room
Buy Supermodified (Hermetically recommended)

FAKE RABBIT, REAL SNAKE!...

I really like The Young Knives. They are an odd looking group but crank out awesome songs with plenty of sweaty energy and british wit.

New single Terra Firma is out on 29th October, check this 96Kb/s version if you haven't heard it and buy the single when it comes out.

The Hives also have a quality comeback single.

As do Oasis. Who'da thunk it.

The Young Knives - Terra Firma

Knifespace
Welcome to my official website

The Monday Chiller #22 - Angus and Julia Stone...

'A book like this is an absolute winner. Hands down a five star master-piece.' Eleven Magazine

Eclectic Hermit favourites Angus and Julia Stone have truly delivered on the promise of their early EPs and produced a beguiling album well worthy of commercial success. Why is it that mainstream music outlets champion mediocre artists? Sod playing it safe, put some money into supporting people with real talent.

Angus and Julia Stone - Horse and Cart

Seriously, this album is in the year's top 10.

Stonespace
Buy A Book Like This

If there's a party can i come?...

Sportsday Megaphone seem to be turning into quite the reliable source for remixes these days, following up the alarmingly good (see what i did there) re-shuffle of The Rumble Strips' 'Alarm Clock', which incidentally i'm keeping in mind for the obligatory end of year best of lists, with a re-fix (how many other ways can you say rmx) of the Envelopes' 'PARTY', turning it into a weirdly hypnotic and funky track that I just played 4 times in a row. That sentence was long.

Thanks to Resonator for making me aware.

Envelopes - PARTY (Sportsday Megaphone Remix)

Sportspace
Buy some shit

Having hard times...

This post could be the first in an ongoing discovery of the great songs behind great samples, in this case Ghostface Killah's Buck 50 which digs heavily on Baby Huey's Hard Times sound.

I discover a lot of good music through soundtracks, especially to Snowboard/Ski/Skate movies. This particular one is from Absinthe Films' More, a sick ass snowboard DVD available free with this months White Lines magazine.

The Original then:

Baby Huey - Hard Times

And the no less original:

Ghostface Killah - Buck 50

The original track was written by the funk-master himself, Curtis Mayfield.

The refrain 'Aint no love to be found, having hard times, in this crazy town' is ringing true with me at the moment after a few days in Amsterdam. That city needs to chill.

Tom's gone to Amsterdam...

Back in time for The Monday Chiller.

Peter, Bjorn & John - Amsterdam

Rrreaching in my cupboard for a painkiller...

Heavy heavy heavy.

Some heads knock pendulum for being overproduced and commercial, but tell me an entire club wouldn't lose their minds if this came over the speakers.

Freestylers ft. Pendulum and Sirreal - Painkiller

The Pendulum Radio1 Essential Mix is well worth seeking out if you like your DnB rrraucous.

Pot o' gold!...

Blaow! Pitchfork has all the sweaty details and every man and his/her blog has no doubt posted the news but I had to jump on just to say 'sick but about time'. That's my two cents.

While salivating at the mouth and waiting for the album to mmm drrrrrrrop, check these tasty morsels that may be new to your ear-holes.

Radiohead - Talk Show Host (Black Dog remix)

Radiohead - The Gloaming (DJ Shadow remix)

Sebadohead - Fog (Radiohead cover)

I signed up for a new Fileden account so you can download direct instead of buggering about with multi-click links. Huzzah.

Is it wrong to want to pay 10p for the new album if i'm going to buy the Discbox?

EDIT: Talk Show Host link fixed.

The Monday Chiller #21 - Nightmares on Wax...

Strings and lilting beats pour Les Nuits.

Nightmares on Wax – Les Nuits (Z-Share. Man I hate Z-Share, it sucks nuts but yousendit isn't working tonight)

Nightsite
Buy ‘Carboot Soul’ ici

The (late) Monday Chiller #20 - Tom McRae...

Before Tom McRae became the wearisome troubadour he is today, his eponymous debut album contained a perfect mix of brooding menace, melancholic lyrics and musical experimentation. The first track on the album, 'You Cut Her Hair' is a fine example of this and only serves to remind listeners of McRae's later work that they'd be much better off listening to his first effort.

Tom McRae - You Cut Her Hair

Buy the album here. Average 5 stars after 60 reviews? On Amazon? Good skills.

McRaespace. Listen to an ace live version of Bloodless from 'Tom McRae' with total audience participation.

Sons & Daughters are back...

I just heard the new single today on 6Music and it's safe to say that they've still got it, it never went away! (Note to self: tone down obscure Bo Selecta references).



Here's the blurb:

GILT COMPLEX is the first single to be lifted from Sons And Daughters' Bernard Butler-produced third album THIS GIFT (out early-2008). GILT COMPLEX is released on 7-inch vinyl and digital download on Domino Records on 29 October 2007.

Video directed by Forest Of Black (.co.uk).

It's Hip-Hop Jim, but not as we know it...

Previously known to some as 'Ms Dynamite's little brother', UK rapper Akala is truly out of his sister's shadow on his upcoming second LP 'Freedom Lasso'. For your sampling pleasure here are three tracks from it.

Akala - Electro Livin' (YSI)

'The illest whipper-snapper from the land of sausage and batter.'

This isn't just the first track on the album, it's a statement of intent. Akala comes out with some sick lines on this one, constantly referencing his home land of England and buoyed by the beat, an electro scuzz-fest that sounds like what would happen if Justice started producing Hip-Hop.

Akala - Where I'm From (YSI)

'If as much man was dying in the streets as are dying in the booth there'd be nobody left.'

Akala lays some honest and intelligent rhymes on this track, protesting against fake gangsters trying to emulate their american counterparts, his upbringing, the way generations of his african elders have been treated, and favouring a complete antithesis to the standard ends-repping.

Akala - Bit By Bit (YSI)

This beat is what would come out of Timbaland's studio, had he been raised on a South-London council estate and fed a diet of pies and crime. It acts as the first single and serves as a good taster of the rest of the album.

Freedom Lasso is out next week, get it from Amazon.

Akalaspace
Official site

The Monday Chiller #19 - Jose Gonzalez...

Jose Gonzalez - Fold

New album 'In Our Nature' drops next Monday September 24th.

Gonzalezpace
Buy it from Amazon UK

Mysterons will lively you up...

'More fun than a weekend in Penzance' NME

'I cried salty Grandma tears when this mix ended' Vice magazine

'Mysterons are to music what Captain Scarlet was to the Watergate scandal' Word magazine

The above quotes are entirely fictitious but hell, that's what they'd all be saying if they'd heard of Mysterons. Probably.

Also known as Tim Southorn and Oliver Quinlan, Mysterons have been experimenting with sound and modifying equipment since their days in the 6th-form. They list influences such as Dangermouse, Royksopp, Aphex Twin, The Specials, The Pharcyde and Stevie Wonder, and with such eclectic taste how could their own tunes be anything but?

Firstly check out this mixtape, recently featured in DJ magazine and available to download for free from the Mysterons site:

Mysterons mixtape (27 mins)

Just one look at the tracklisting and you knows it's gonna be hot:

Intro/ Commodores- Captain Quickdraw
Bugz in the attic- Consequences
Break machine- Break Dance Party
Gary Numan- M.E. / Ray Charles- I got a woman
Benny Golson- The new Killer Joe rap
Quantic Soul Orchestra- Hold it down
mysterons- Don't phunk with my CPU
Spektrum- Kinda New / The Dave
Collin's Band- Ride your Pony
Luke Vibert- YoSePH
The Method- Fat Hair
Jean Jaques Perry- E.V.A. (Fatboy Slim mix)
Royksopp- So Easy
2 Live Crew- Can a nigga get a table dance? / Kraftwerk- It's more fun to compute
Uffie- Ready to Uff
Ram Jam- Black Betty
K.C. & the Sunshine Band- Sound your funky horn

Ripped casually from the myspace and listened to animatedly:

Mysterons - Moving Coils (Highly Recommended)

Mysterons - That's The Way (Highly Recommended)

Mysterons - Black As Mourning (Why kid ourselves, you know it's Highly Recommended)

As yet they remain unsigned, go be their friend on Mice Space and tell them you want to buy their records.

Mysterons myspace
Official website

If you like this, give a holler by clicking on the comment button below. Do it now, before you click off elsewhere on your ceaseless mission to find new music to slake your thirst. We're all on the same trip.

Do believe the Hype?...

Well yes. I got bored of not being on Hype Machine so emailed them, espousing the greatness of my blog and asking them nicely to add me to their site. Which they did, and I am happy now, but it leaves me wondering where to go with Eclectic Hermit now that readers will be expecting some effort from my posts, instead of the usual half-arsed attempts at blogging I have been putting out lately.

New features are rolling around in my brain right now so fairly soon i'll splurt them out into Noughts and Ones and start getting excited about some of that music, which is why we're all here in the first place.

In the meanwhile, check the Mysterons on the next post, they're well worth a goose*.

*Yorkshire slang for 'look', get educated what!

The Monday Chiller #18 - RJD2...

RJD2 - Get Off My Spaceship Bitch

Taken from the 2004 '1976' EP on Def Jux.

The Monday Chiller #17 - Curtis Mayfield...

Curtis mayfield - Billy Jack

If you neglected to download the Electroma soundtrack the other week, here's another chance to catch Curtis Mayfield's ridiculous funk-fest 'Billy Jack'. By the time it's over you'll either be contemplating a career in funk or in a puddle on the floor. Feel that bass!

A to Z, because i'm bored...

A is for All Saints - Chick Fit (Kissy Sell Out's Excellent Adventure)

B is for Bat For Lashes - The Wizard (Should win the Mercury remix)

C is for Crystal Castles - 1983

D is for DJ Dimitry - Lohan's Revenge Vs Dudun-Dun

E is for Eels - It's A Motherfucker

F is for Fancy - What's Your Name Again? (Busy Penis remix)

G is for Girl Talk - Bounce That

H is for Hiem - Tweak

I is for Iggy Pop - Nightclubbing

J is for Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit - Brown Trout Blues

K is for Karen O - Hello Tomorrow

L is for Lismore - Come Undone

M is for Metric - Monster Hospital (acoustic)

N is for Nick Drake - Cocaine Blues

O is for One-Two - O-Hot Brain

P is for Product.01 - Heart Ov Glass (Original Mix)

Q is for QOTSA - Lost Art of Keeping a Secret

R is for RZA - Chamber of Fear

S is for Supersystem - Born Into The World

T is for The Black Ghosts - Any Way You Choose To Give It (Boy 8-bit remix)

U is for Uffie - Pop The Glock

V is for Venetian Snares - Breakbeat Malaria

W is for Wiley - Gangsters

X is for Xzibit - At the Speed of Life

Y is for Yelle - A Cause Des Garcons (Riot In Belgium remix)

Z is for Zapan - Activate

Click this for A - M in a Zip file from Z-Share

Click this for N - Z in a Zip file from Z-Share

Artwork by Edward Gorey.

Reactions, etcetera?

Put on, put down, come on, come down, bring down...

Beatsmithery. I like that word regardless of whether it’s officially a word or not. What we have here is some fine beatsmithery from Swedish artist/DJ/producer Staffan Ulmert aka Mojib, who is set to release his debut album proper ‘Whimsical Lifestyle’ on Canada’s Non-Existent Recordings on October 16th.

With beats reminiscent of Shadow’s best stuff, Mojib’s influences can clearly be heard in his work, but he manages to avoid falling into the category of ‘If I wanted to hear something sounding like Unkle then I would just listen to Unkle’ and also brings new shit to the table. Sampling film soundtracks such as Donnie Darko (My Love), Sigur Ros (Break Of Dawn), and remixing Kings Of Convenience and The Go! Team, his music never gets dull. The album looks like it could be a great soundtrack to the coming autumn.

Mojib – My Love

Mojib – Swamp Monster

Mojib – Break Of Dawn

Mojib – Learn the Put Down

The Go! Team – Grip Like a Vice (Mojib remix)

There is plenty to make and do on Mojib’s website: www.mojib.net. Along with snippets of the new album you can download his web-only LP ‘The Class of ‘00’, loads of remixes including a cracking Ian Brown rework, an Unkle megamix mashup and a great Avalanches mix.

All in all Mojib is a welcome addition to the experimental/beats/downtempo genre and sits happily alongside peers Unkle, DJ Shadow, RJD2, Four Tet et al. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes to outshine those dudes in years to come, seems like they’ve fallen off a bit lately. The outsider? No ta.

Pre-order Whimsical lifestyle here.

M.I.A.? Eh? Eh?

Seems I’m the only blogger in the West who hasn’t done a M.I.A. post, so check this remix she did of Cornershop’s Topknot. The first and last time Cornershop will ever feature on Eclectic Hermit. I hope.

Cornershop – Topknot (M.I.A. remix)

Get Kala here.

Fileden is for gays...

They've suspended my account without warning so it'll be z-share from now on and you can't download any old songs. Bummer.

The Monday Chiller #16 - Jackson C. Frank...

Catch a boat to England, baby
Maybe to Spain…. Wherever I’ve been
and gone….
the blues are all the same.

Jackson C. Frank - Blues Run The Game

Click over to Motel De Moka who earlier this month did a feature on Jackson.

The Monday Chiller #15 - Fug...

Fug - Fairweather Friend

Downtempo orchestral beats with loping bass and piano loops to ease you through a post-festival/post-weekend/post-holiday Monday. Try if you like: Zero 7, Feist, Morcheeba, etc.

Since when has weather been fair though? It's been miserable in Yorkshire for the past three days when i've had nothing to do and now the weekend is over we've got bluebird skies. Gutted.

Incidentally this is the only record I ever bought from the now defunct Fopp shop. R.I.P. Fopp, Musiczone, Tony Wilson.

Electromawhat?...

I saw Daft Punk's Electroma for the first time last night and well... it amazed me. Forget about the lack of dialogue and/or Daft Punk songs, because once you've witnessed 70-odd minutes of stunning cinematography, beautiful soundscapes, and the ambience of the piece has seeped into your very being, it won't matter. Just don't expect anything even faintly resembling "normal".

Bringing to mind the oppresively wide shots of Kubrick and the creeping unease of Lynch, the Punksters continue their journey of creative experimentation and push themselves into wholly new realms of audio/visual entertainment (Thomas Bangalter read over 200 back-issues of American Cinematography in preparation for the shoot).

The film tells a straightforward story, of two robots on their quest to become human. There are moments of comedy and poignancy throughout, and a couple of times i found myself drifting off into thoughts about the deeper meaning of the story and snapped back to the robots still doing what they were doing ten minutes ago. Action-packed it aint, interesting it is, depending on what floats your boat.

The soundtrack is awesome and isn't officially available, but in a great piece of timing Motel De Moka have put the whole thing up for your downloading enjoyment. My picks are the Curtis Mayfield track (pure steez) and Jackson C. Frank's haunting ballad.

If you have drugs, take them now.

I think Electroma is being released in the next month or two, so keep an eye out for it. If you've seen it, drop me a comment saying what your reaction was.

Purely bombastic...

6 months later than everyone else... that's how i roll. I guess it's one of the problems you get from being a hermit, along with the lack of social networking.

No talk, just beats. The biggest, heaviest, neck-breakingist beats of the year, and it aint like there's no competition. Santogold what!

Santogold - Creator (Z-Share) (WMA)

Santogold - You'll find a way (Switch & Sinden Remix) (Z-Share)

I can see my speakers getting blown pretty soon.

The Monday Chiller #14 - Lovage...

Dan the Automator doesn't put many of his feet wrong, and this 2002 mixtape supports that in a big way. One of the hardest working men in music takes some time to roll out the beats and produces a seriously eclectic mix, one of the highlights of which is available for your i-pod below.

Lovage - Stroker Ace (Z-Share)

Get it off of Amazon
Monkeys available here

Tussk Tussk...

There's no need for all this secrecy and subterfuge from Rephlex surrounding The Tuss, everyone knows it's RDJ anyway and it's not like they need to work hard to create interest for new material by Mr James. I suppose if the tunes weren't up to scratch they could have continued the ruse to save face, but the EP Confederation Trough and following LP Rushup Edge (still short at 6 tracks) are simply as good as anything the Twin has ever done. In any guise.

This snippet of a review by Plan B magazine describes the music much better than I could right now:

'Rushup Edge continues the rededication to fast-paced, brain-bruising fun-fun-FUN! shown by the more recent Analords series of releases. There’s plenty of room for simplicity and repetition in music, but these six tracks reinvent themselves every few seconds, constantly refusing to get bored with one rhythm or melody. Every sound is fresh, as though each juicy synth wiggle and crisp beat were harvested from the circuit board in peak condition, Man from del Monte style. Each successive track piles on the layers, until ‘Death Fuck’ sweeps an avalanche through the speakers, leaving ‘Goodbye Rute’ in a realm of glacial relative calm.'

Check it.

From Confederation Trough:

The Tuss - Alspacka (Z-Share)

I especially dig the sample of the sound that's made when you clack your tongue off the roof of your mouth. Inspired.

From Rushup Edge:

The Tuss - Rushup I Bank 12 (Z-Share)
The Tuss - Death Fuck Mental Beats (Z-Share)

Or buy both from Boomkat if you're not down with the whole 'Amazon = world domination' thing.

Get deeper into the enigma and find other songs here, here and here. (The last two look the same but are different).

I'm using Z-Share for this cos fileden has just about filled it's bandwith boots for the month and will be resetting in 6 days.

Angus & Julia Stone @ Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh - 08/08/07

At the risk of sounding like one of those '100 greatest films ever made... ever' lists where No.1 is something like Hot Fuzz or Gladiator because no-one can be arsed to remember anything further back in time, i'm putting Angus & Julia Stone right up there at No.1 on my favourite gigs list after seeing them on wednesday night, and consequence be damned.

If you know anything about said extremely talented Australian duo you'll know that they're not known for being extroverts (too many knowns?). In fact Angus sometimes looks like he'd rather be anywhere else than on stage, and they walked onto the small platform at Cabaret Voltaire (imagine an elongated cave and you're there) in a grand display of meekness before kicking off with opener 'All of me'.

Sounding better live than they do on record, Julia's voice alternates between a fragile croon and powerful wail (that's meant as a compliment) and Angus's finger-picking ensures that every track has an incredible lilting melody to it. The crowd were very appreciative and gave a good old whoop and a holler after every song, and the location gave a real intimate feel to proceedings.

The set was peppered with tracks from their forthcoming new album, including new single 'The Beast', 'Horse and Cart', 'Bella', and a track that could be called 'Memories' but i'm none too sure. Highlights included favourites like 'Mango Tree' and 'Private Lawns', but the real surprise was their folk version of Chumbawumba's 'I get knocked down', which started off slowly before rising to a storming crescendo and getting the crowd all hyped-up on memories of John Prescott getting soaked.

For me though the best moment happened when they came back on stage for the encore and the bassist started the opening riff to 90s classic 'Everybody dance now'. Julia explained that they played the song at home while mucking about and practising and wouldn't be playing it as part of the set, but after some encouragement from the crowd they burst into a strange folk-dance version of the song with Julia screaming the refrain and looking at the drummer because she was too embarassed to face the audience. It was one of those off-the-cuff/you had to be there moments that makes live music so interesting.

So after all that waffle here is the video for new single 'The Beast', out on August 20th.

The Beast

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Debut album 'A Book Like This...' is out on September 8th. They're continuing to tour the UK as we speak so get some tickets and go along.

I got a letter this morning...

What do you reckon it read? That's right, it read that Eclectic Hermit was posting three different versions of Death Letter in the vain hope of a triple-threat type situation whereby countless visitors are wowed by my knowledge of said song. Well instead of that we have The Original Blues, 70s style garage-rock Blues and Dad Blues (Mellencamp = BomChicka slide guitar), pick your favourite and imagine a world where wars are fought over whose version of the song is the bestestest.

Son House - Death Letter (Peel Session)

The White Stripes - Death Letter

John Mellencamp - Death Letter

The next step in this covers type malarkey is another triple-threat (phrase of the week) meets degrees of separation type situation where three artists are featured, linked to the previous artist by a cover of their song, for example: The Whites Stripes - Jolene (Dolly Parton), Dolly Parton - something by someone else, etc.

In case you were wondering, my favourite version is The White Stripes's's. If you don't own De Stijl, do yerself a favour and cop it on the cheap thanks to this Icky Thump furore.

The Monday Chiller #13 - Nick Drake...

I'm in Edinburgh at the moment for a few days at The Fringe, but I did go record shopping today for the first time in yonks and have got 6 new albums and a couple of vinyls to pick tunes from, so expect a steady trickle of these from Thursday onwards, which is when I have to get back to Yorkshire and reality.

I got the Nick Drake Family Tree album last week and pretty much every track is worthy of being a Monday Chiller but Leaving Me Behind fits the bill perfectly.

Nick Drake - Leaving Me Behind

Maybe this feature should be renamed the Monday Melancholy Moment, most of the songs I post are quite depressing! Not to worry, upbeat electro next week.

Oh aye and if you are in Edinburgh this week then go see Hostage on Friday night @ Studio 24.

Lux Aeterna...

Lux Aeterna, the orchestral piece written for the film Requiem For A Dream by Clint Mansell and performed by the Kronos Quartet is an astonishingly powerful piece of music that has seeped into popular culture in a way that not many other modern compositions can lay claim to.

The use of Lux Aeterna has been widespread in recent years, from film soundtracks (Sunshine, Lord of The Rings) to TV shows (Charlie Brooker - check the brilliant aspirational TV rant, best line: "suburban coffee-slurping smugitude") and adverts.

In terms of head noddage it's right up there with the heaviest Neptunes beat and never fails to get me hyped. The Lord of The Rings remix in particular amps up the aggression and immediacy of the original version and makes me want to go Hooooooooooo!

Oh Fortuna, you have been replaced.

Clint Mansell - Lux Aeterna
Clint Mansell - Lux Aeterna (Full Orchestral Version)
Clint Mansell - Lux Aeterna (Lord of The Rings Remix)

This will only work if you've seen the film, but it's awesome nonetheless. Toy Story 2: Requiem

The Monday Chiller #12 - Tunng...

Tunng have a new album out August 20th. From it, here's 'King', a killer song containing a rambling grip of melodies combined with an ominous vocal delivery and the usual array of intriguing glitches and samples.

Tunng - King (Removed at the request of the Web Sheriff and Tunng. Buy the album!)

Pre-order 'Good Arrows' from Amazon.

The new single 'Bricks' will be released August 13th (my birthday) on Ltd Edition 7", featuring remixes from Dntel (aka Figurine / The Postal Service member Jimmy Tamborello) and Daedelus. Download it from Bleep.com on August 6th.

With this banger i thee wed...

Wamp Wamp! What it do what it do? That's right, Aidan of Certified Banger infamy and his girlfriend Bec have gotten themselves engaged.

What better excuse to post good songs with 'wedding' in the title than the impending nuptials of this lovely couple (ahh). Well, they only just got engaged, but no doubt when they actually do tie the knot there'll be another celebratory post (leaving out Billy Connolly's D.I.V.O.R.C.E. of C.O.U.R.S.E.)

I hope there are plans to walk down the aisle to the Number 1 song on the HHC Top 100!

Andre 3000 - Dracula's Wedding (ft. Kelis)

Radiohead - A Punchup at a Wedding

Queens of the Stone Age - White Wedding (Billy Idol)

Evan Dando - $1000 Wedding

Congrats bruv.