Holy Ghost! Collabs n Covers to the Next Level

Nancy Whang from LCD Soundsystem and the Juan Maclean joined up with Holy Ghost! to cover an early hit by Ministry. Collectively, they do the original track justice and deliver some smooth, rich disco-synth all along.

Hazlewood Strikes Again

About to eat some purple mashed potatoes, (not sure why they're purple, but they were delicious) when I hear a beautiful tune pour from a 007 theme song collection record spinning in the living room. Amidst all the corny, commercialized and kinda crappy title songs THIS theme evoked emotions and told a story. Another gem produced by the Psychedelic Cowboy himself, Lee Hazlewood.

HOLLY-DECKIN', a BTHOMP Christmas original

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a dance party!

Jimi, live in '70

The solo is from "Stone Free" Jan 1, 1970 Filmore East with Billy Cox on Bass and Buddy Miles on Drums/backing Vocals. There is no video of it so some guy smartly dubbed it into the 1969 New Port Jazz Festival. Matches up decently.

Just listen to Jimi wail. An artist at his peak.

Speaking of wailing, check out this gnarly Prince guitar solo from '93. Gets good around 1:39 onward. After decades of genre mashing, he lays out an unbelievably cool session here.

Visage: Fade To Grey, 1981 or 2011?

Boyoyo Boys combined South African sunshine w/ 80's cool

South Africa's Boyoyo Boys weren't credited with much other than making groovy dance jams. However, it's said that the classic album Graceland was originally inspired by Paul Simon's listening to a cassette of the Boyoyo Boys instrumental "Gumboots" (which eventually became the foundation for his foot-tappin' track of the same name).

Niki & The Dove: The Drummer

So fresh.

The Drummer from Niki And The Dove on Vimeo.

A ridiculously bad interviewer gets some time with with PHISH

This is the way I'd respond to these questions.

We Almost Lost Detroit, twice over

We just KEEP almost losing Detroit. Enjoy the jam from the past and present.

Burt Bacharach falls in love with Sir Stevie Wonder

Amy Winehouse 1983-2011

In 2006, Amy Winehouse worked with Mark Ronson to create an album that captivated an entire generation, and will forever remind the world of Amy at her best.

Time magazine named "Rehab" the Best Song of 2007. Writer Josh Tyrangiel praised Winehouse for her confidence, saying, "What she is is mouthy, funny, sultry, and quite possibly crazy" and "It's impossible not to be seduced by her originality. Combine it with production by Mark Ronson that references four decades worth of soul music without once ripping it off, and you've got the best song of 2007." Thank God, for music's sake, it happened.

The "Winehouse phenomenon" has been credited by Sebastian Danchin, author of Encyclopedia of Rhythm & Blues and Soul, of kick-starting a revival of soul music that has been ongoing since 2000. We've lost a truly great artist.

Foster The People does just that

Some bands make cool songs, and some bands make great albums. Foster The People did both. They don't just have a sweet band name, it's exactly what they do. MGMT gave us Oracular Spectacular in 2007, and since then not one album has captured its anthemic-future-pop sound & energy. Until now, almost 4 years later, when a polished L.A. outfit dropoped their self-titled debut to satisfy music fans everywhere, and every song on it is just what we've been needing.

Make sure to blast their single 'Pumped Up Kicks', but here are some other standouts:

Foster The People - Helena Beat from inaharris on Vimeo.

Cloudy Busey: A Good Japanese Band?

Loving anything I hear from Cloudy Busey. This project is the singular output of Bob from puzzlingly good Japanese band Ice Cream Shout. Bob describes Cloudy Busey as 'orphan' songs that don't fit in with Ice Cream Shout." Fresh, throwback, pure and totally radio-ready. His blog should keep you updated on new tracks etc, so I recommend checkin' back in:

http://icecreamshout.blogspot.com/

Cloudy Busey - broken by inertia from ice cream shout on Vimeo.

Ferris Club: It all makes sense now

MillionYoung: New Floridian Chillwave

Almost two years have gone by since I first heard this song by Mike Diaz, AKA MillionYoung, and it still gets me every time. No matter how often I hear it. Magic.



More info here.

Wu Tang's Unreleased Nintendo Commercial

Unreleased Nintendo Commercial (filmed in Williamsburg, Brooklyn) from 1993 promoting the Super Game Boy featuring ODB, RZA, Prince Paul on the beat, and street art by the COD Crew.

While I'm at it, another classic. This one from '95:

Beth Ditto goes solo. FINALLY.

Beth Ditto, the incredible vocalist and larger-than-life frontwoman of The Gossip, finally graces us with a solo EP that lives up to expectations at the least. Her long-awaited, eponymous debut was produced by James Ford, founding member of Simian Mobile Disco and frequent Arctic Monkeys collaborator. The combo couldn't have been a better fit for Beth's vocal stylings.

In a time of endlessly emerging female lead stalwarts (Florence & The Machine, Marina & The Diamonds, Lykke Li, Little Dragon etc.), Ditto not only brings a distinct and powerful sound, but also a maturity not yet heard in previous efforts with her own band. This could be the beginning of something, well, huge.

RIP GSH

Yesterday:



And Today:

Das Pop'n Fresh

The Belgian band Das Pop has been around for a minute now, and their new sound is better than ever.

The hamonies are about as fresh as it gets these days, while the dancey production

is enough to get anybody on their feet.

NewVillager

Their new album will be very good.

NewVillager - "LightHouse" from stereogum on Vimeo.

Battles give us a Summer Blaster

The song Ice Cream features techno producer/singer Matias Aguayo on vocals, which comes from the group's forthcoming LP Gloss Drop.

Russian Futurists: Radical from 1911 to 2011

They may be Futurists, but they're hardly Russian. Hailing from Totonto, Russian Futurists is primarily Matthew Hart's brainchild. He got into indie hip hop beat-making and then grew more musical in his tastes. With talented musicians joining him for live performances, they've accomplished that for which most bands strive: A completely unique, and yet accessible sound that uplifts and invigorates.

This one's called Still Life, and is only one of several solid songs

included on Our Thickness, released back in 2005.

	Russian Futurists - Still Life .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

For entirely unrelated information on the fascinating ideology of Russian Futurism

(founding fathers pictured below), click here.

Sir Paul Gets Smooooth, Oh Yeah

The band Wings dropped the single Arrow Through Me in the Summer of '79. This R&B / Soft Rock gem was co-created by Paul, his wife Linda and Denny Laine of The Moody Blues. An experiment I can't get enough of.

Sasquatch Mix Bag: Wye Oak, Head Like A Kite and

All playing Sasquatch this year. All totally different. Give these songs a real listen and dig on their collective sound.

Wye Oak:



Head Like A Kite:



Matt & Kim:

Michael Bolton: Rock God? Hell yes.

April 1983. It was his 3rd studio album and first major label release.

Co-produced by Gerry Block.

The album was titled simply Michael Bolton.

He finally changed his name from Bolotin to Bolton. His incredible voice was now finally paired with equally talented musicians. Recording and on tour, he enlisted the help of guitarists Al Pitrelli and Bruce Kulick who went on to join Megadeth and KISS, respectively.

Best yet, Mike plays the guitar solos on most tracks.

And he wails.

Michael Kiwanuka: Soul Has No Age

Although the voice and production may recall Motown in the 60's, Michael Kiwanuka is just 23 years old. Hailing from North London, he is yet another standout among the red hot neo-Soul renaissance that's been thriving for a decade or so in the UK. ‘Tell Me A Tale’ is laced with the savvy production of Paul Butler of The Bees, who has been crafting throwback soul jams for a minute now.




Here's a gorgeous one from The Bees, released way back in 2004:

Theophilus & Sara?

Here's why he's different/important:

Theophilus London - Flying Overseas from GreenLabelSound on Vimeo.

And here's his latest sound with Sara Quin (Half of the twins from Tegan & Sara) layin down the glittery chorus. After a recent performance on Letterman, and if his music maintains this direction he may just become a household name:

Stevie Wonder on Sesame Street

Wow. This was way more than 'a kids show'.



While I'm at it, here's a great clip of Stevie with Diana back in the day:

This HAS to be good, right?

Rosco Gordon. Yeah, it's old.

Dogboarding

Fantastic song provided by Foster The People

Dogboarding from DANIELS on Vimeo.

Holy Ghost!

My buddy LSP turned me onto Holy Ghost. I downloaded the album instantly after listening to 'Do It Again', their leading single.

However, once I made it to their last track, they completely sealed the deal. THE Michael McDonald lent his golden vocals to their closing song, 'Some Children'.

Start-to-finish a great record.

Play it all summer long.

The Weeknd: Modern Indie R&B at its most alluring

From wikipedia: The Weeknd is a Toronto-based R&B singer named Abel Tesfaye. Songs recorded under The Weeknd name first leaked in early 2011, though the identity of the individual behind the project was initially unknown. The Weeknd released a nine-song mixtape, House of Balloons, on March 21.

Mr. Lee Hazlewood

The work of any musician who made a sound described as "Cowboy Psychedelia" or "Saccharine Underground" deserves a listen. I mean, the guy wrote hits for Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, which would be like producing Jay Z and Kanye today.




Aside from working with the Rat Pack, he wrote and produced Frank's daughter's best song (yeah, she had some other good ones too) These Boots Are Made For Walkin'



He ALSO produced and cowrote a string of songs with guitarist Duane Eddy



This guy was everything Burt Reynolds wanted to be.

The Strokes Return Strong

When I heard The Strokes were gonna make another album together, I was a bit aprehensive. After Casalancas dropped his mediocre solo 'effort' I didn't think they'd turn something out as good as in their glory days. Yet with a few solid jams at the anchor, their newest (dubbed Angles) delivers that good ol' Strokes sound that made em' rad in the first place.

Here's my favorite, and the album opener, Machu Picchu.



Such a BOSS album cover, too

New Aloe Blacc

Another solid, soulful jam from Aloe Blacc.

New Justice song in Adidas commercial

Stepdad: My Leather, My Fur and My Nails

This song has long been stuck in my head, and now that I've seen the video, it's all come full circle. Behold the unbelievable hipsterness of Stepdad.

Sheen Interview

I could watch this guy's brain at work all day. Wack-town, USA.

YouTube link

Billy Ocean feat. Devito, Douglas & that manly 80's lady

A while ago, I posted this song on my blog, but with a video of its live performance. However, if you're gonna have Danny Devito, Mike Douglas and that broad from Moonlighting lending synchronized dance moves and backup vocals in your official music video, your work deserves to be seen and shared forever.

Surfer Blood said 'Take It Easy'

Yeah, I know this is a year old, but it doesn't make it any less of a great sunny weather jam. Sadly, I missed out on Surfer Blood's album all last Summer, listening only to their singles. The entire album will not only bring the sunshine, but will help you party in it all Spring/Summer long.

Spoonfull 'a suga

If you have nice speakers or earbuds, listen closely to this production. The vocals are coming from two totally different places and are sung in unison. This is as cool as Spoon gets. Minimalist, sharp, smokey, leathery coolness.

Shooter

Forgot how GD cool this song is. Weezy before the sizzurp stupor and Robin Thicke laying down perhaps the freshest vocals of his career, IMO.

Finally, Lykke Li's gettin' known

I wanna play music in this shop.

Lykke Li: 'I Follow Rivers' from The Line Of Best Fit on Vimeo.

Fitz & The Tantrums

Caught these guys at an in-store @ Sonic Boom and it took me until just now to get their album. It's reeeeal cool. A kind of cool that you don't hear much these days.

Never get tired of THIS song

This 'Art Thing' is getting out of hand...

It's been 7 days since I started painting. I've made 9 paintings, most of them good. I feel like I've improved with each one, too. I've been to art supply stores, Fred Meyer and thrift stores in search of inspiration and tools. I've Youtubed Yo MTV Raps extensively.

I was just commissioned for a 10-piece installation for Capitol Hill's Art Walk in March. My stuff will be displayed (and for sale) in Throwbacks NW for the entire month. The owner, Mark, said that he "digs my colors and the old-school vibe" and that it "goes with a lot of the inventory". Pretty excited for that.

Here's a couple from yesterday and the day before, respectively, that I snapped with my iPhone:

I call this one Illhouette

More to come, I'm sure...

Shapes 'n Shapes

My new hobby is addictive.

BTHOMP - Polish Decent

I like the name because it could be read 'of Polish Descent' with a misspelling, or like something with 'a Decent Polish', like the hood of a classic car.

Anyways, it's yet another one of my short songs that I made and never really posted anywhere. So now it's on the youtube, and this ol' blog.

Painting 2011

I was watching The Rescuers Down Under the other day. This came out in 1990. The lead character Bernard (voiced by Bob Newhart) was easily the most sylish mouse in film to date, if not the most stylish male lead I've seen in a while. It struck me how much contemporary art and fashion is relishing in late-80's-early-90's colors, sounds, shapes and culture. I mean, I could see Kanye West sporting this outifit today.

I was 8 and the colors of the day were so fresh. Think Charlotte Hornets when LJ and Alonzo were in their prime. Very clearly, this movie's colors, lines and textures carried over into a couple paintings I made today.

The stuff reminds me of Wham, back when women still thought George Michael was straight. This is how Bill Cosby would've designed road signs in 1986.

It was this time last year that I made music for the first time, and it's rad to start 2011 with a new creative outlet. Stay tuned for more.