Archive for July, 2008
Belanova shows that synth pop is not just the playground of tech-savvy Brits or Americans. On “One, Two, Three, Go!,” the Guadalajara, Mexico, trio (Denisse Guerrero, Edgar Huerta, Ricardo Arreola) cut loose with programmed beats, shout-along hooks and Guerrero’s high-pitch yelp reminiscent of Le Tigre’s Kathleen Hanna. “One, Two, Three, Go!” is a sweet blast of international pop, equally useful on the treadmill and the dance floor.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Kicking off with a crystal clear piano melody and then layering that with a warm twang and a tight rock backing band, Katie Armiger’s bright-eyed vocals sound right at home on this track from her album Believe. Armiger is a teenage singer from Sugar Land, Texas, whose voice has a straightforward crossover quality that is not unlike those who have blazed this trail before, such as Shania Twain and Faith Hill.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Kerli’s “Walking On Air” might give you goosebumps. This Estonian storyteller sounds a bit like Björk as she paints an ethereal picture of a “little creepy town” that could be the setting for Tim Burton’s next movie. The steady clip-clopping drums give way to a weightless chorus that colors this eerie electronica track with shades of pop bliss.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Bajofondo bring the sounds of tango into more contemporary realms with a luscious backdrop that draws heavily from dance and contemporary electronica. One of the members of the group is noted film music composer Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain, Babel). This track, “El Mareo”, features Gustavo Cerati on vocals.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Scars on Broadway is the group started up by System of a Down members Daron Malakian and John Dolmayan who insist this is more of a side-project than proof that System of a Down is no more. Either way, it’s a good thing as Scars on Broadway rule in their own particular way. “They Say” is driven by some knuckle-dragging riffs and Malakian’s sneering, Johnny Rotten-esque vocals and crazed guitar lines. It’s a blazing track and we hope you enjoy it.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Seun Kuti is the new heir to the Afro-beat throne. His father was legendary rebel, leader, poet, and musician Fela Kuti. Seun is Fela’s youngest son and is joined on this track from his debut by his father’s band, Egypt 80. It’s a band that Seun began playing with at age 9, so it’s no surprise who adept he is at laying down his socially-minded lyrics over the group’s call-and-response funk. If you’re a stranger to the Afro-beat style laid out by Fela, there is a rich world of deep music awaiting you and this cut, with it’s hypnotic, brassy rhythms and solid groove, shows that the form is alive and well.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Coining the new musical style called “anarcumbia”, Mexico’s Amandititita fuses modern cumbia beats with occasionally tongue-in-cheek, observational lyrics about life in Mexico. The songs on her self-titled debut contain all sorts of off-kilter pop songs including a tale about Mexico’s billionaire tycoon Carlos Slim and one track about a serial killer nurse. The one we’ve chosen to present is the futuristic, slightly satirical track about the singer and her metrosexual boyfriend and it’s called (no surprise) “Metrosexual”.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
“Go On, Say It” is an exemplary bit of minimalist melancholy from the Portland duo known as Blind Pilot. Acoustic guitars, brushed drums, strings, and chiming percussion combine to create a sweet bit of pleading heartbreak. The song comes from the album 3 Rounds and a Sound, and the album is a new favorite around here – working in the same areas as the Shins or Death Cab for Cutie, but with a more homespun, folk feel.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
The Body Snatchers is the name taken by the underground dance producers 30Hz and Baobinga and Feeling Good, Looking Nice, Smelling Right is the first full-length to come from these beat-possessed, freak-obsessed minds. “Call Me” is an intergalactic dose of crunked-up, electro-infused dirty breaks with Sporty-O (recently signed to Lil Jon’s label) adding in gold-chain-wearing rhymes and Yolanda (as heard with Bugz in the Attic) arriving to anchor the track to the earth with her swooning vocal hook.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
A star of screens both small and large, Ximena Sariñana has also flirted with music throughout various periods in her young career. But the music contained on her official full-length debut, Mediocre is her most complete statement yet. Her individual songwriting style has a wounded jazzy style that is somewhere between Norah Jones and Fiona Apple, but she has a more evocative way of enunciating – and the instrumentation has a luscious, rock-edged feel.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
