Muxtape

Muxtape is a new site, created by Jstn which allows users to share mixtapes via a rather nice flash interface. The site is very simple. It allows you to upload up to 12 songs of up to 10mb each. To share your mix you just send somebody the link to your profile i.e yournickname.muxtape.com



The simplicity of the interface reminds me of a lot of cool sites like instapaper (which lets you save articles to read later in a newspaper format) and writer (the internet typewriter).
To try out the service I've uploaded a mix. This was a pain free exercise which is great especially when you consider that it was launched today.
My mix is similar to the one I posted previously via lastfm in that it is more of a mix tape than a DJ mix. In fact the main overriding theme is that the songs are all great but don't necessarily go together.
Listen here Thomaz.muxtape.com

1. Biffy Clyro - Now I'm Everyone
2. The Crimea - Loop A Loop
3. 3 Inches Of Blood - Goat Riders Horde
4. Jens Lekman - A Postcard To Nina
5. Burial - Archangel
6. Hot Chip - Don't Dance
7. Antipop Consortium Ghostlawns - (Original Version)
8. Le Tigre - Deceptacon
9. Lil' Wayne - Seat Down Low

The Rip Off Artist.

I'm currently listening to The Rip-Off Artist. There isn't that much information about him out there, so I can't be too specific. From his website I discovered that he is called Matt Haines and he has " retired from the music business." The album I'm listening to is called Pump and features 13 songs split over 69 tracks on the CD. If you are familiar with the record label, Mille Plateaux you will have some idea how this album sounds. It's more catchy and less minimalist than your average Mille Plateaux release however. Pitchfork describe it thus:

"electronic to be certain-- there isn't a single organic sound to be found here-- but outside of that broad disclaimer, it's hard to peg. Pump's roots are clearly in house music: more often than not there's a clearly discernable 4/4 beat, marked by repeated drum patterns and sounds which creep in then back out a few times over the course of a song; minute details that appear, then disappear, one by one. Meanwhile, Haines cycles through a seemingly endless catalog of goofy electronic noises which suggest everything from 60's library music to old-school Warp Records to kids' toy samplers. "

If that doesn't interest you then I give up! More info and some mp3s here.

Marnie Stern

If you liked my last post, you should check out Marnie Stern. Her guitar style is similar to Mick Barr's: full-on, layered noise as fast as possible. She also reminds me of another Barr due to her use of spoken-word passages and meta-narratives. “Nothing I do is esoteric,” She says. “I have constant references in mind for everything. Everything’s intentional.” This, combined with a guitar technique which can only be described as 'shredding' makes for quite a mix.

Stern's last album 'In Advance of the Broken Arm'
features Hella's Zach Hill on drums and production. Her sound reminds me of the bass and drums duo lightning Bolt although it is perhaps a bit more accessible as you can actually comprehend the lyrics which are looped and layered. As Brandon Stosuy put it in his review for Pitchfork.com:

"she sets up her own call-and-response (musically and lyrically), her sing-talk style cutting across the strings like a rogue auctioneer or cheerleader."

Here is the video for the single 'Every Single Line Means Something'



More songs and information can be found at Marnie Stern's Myspace page.

The Complete Sound Mix

I thought I would share some music I have been enjoying lately with you. There is a nice mix of different styles, mostly Indie with a bit of Dubstep, Electro and Dance.
Click the arrow below to stream.

TRACKLISTING:

Jens Lekman - The Opposite of Hallelujah 4:19
Neutral Milk Hotel – Everything Is 3:40
Foals – Cassius 3:48
Klaxons – It's Not Over Yet 3:34
Vampire Weekend – Oxford Comma 3:14
Burial – Archangel 4:01
Justice – D.A.N.C.E. [Justice Remix] 4:01
Simian Mobile Disco – Hustler (Club Version) 6:36
Hot Chip – Over and Over 5:49
Robyn – Konichiwa Bitches 2:39
LCD Soundsystem – North American Scum 5:24
Battles – UW 3:00
Liars – Plaster Casts of Everything 3:57
Cat Power – The Greatest 3:24
Cursive – Big Bang

The Crimea - 'Secrets of the Witching Hour' free album download

I discovered The Crimea via a television advert. Not the best place to find new music I grant you but it worked well this time. You might have seen the advert, it features a man going on a magical adventure through a world populated by bunny rabbits, clouds etc. This strange journey is bought about by a piece of chewing gum. I'm not sure if the gum was spiked with some kind of psychedelic drug or not but either way the music stands out from all the rubbish normally featured on adverts (with a few exceptions).




It turns out that the band who created the song, The Crimea were formed from the ashes of the first ever rock band I saw, many moons ago. Back then they were called The Crocketts and were fronted by a man named Davey Crockett, who, to my young mind at least, was a complete lunatic. I saw them supporting The Levellers and they blew me away. I soon stopped listening to The Levellers (in my defense) but always kept an ear out for The Crocketts.
After The Crocketts were dropped by V2 Davey "Crockett" MacManus and Owen Hopkin went on to form The Crimea who were dropped from Warner Bros after one album. Their latest album 'Secrets of the Witching Hour' is available to download for free from their website. This seems like a good approach for them at this point. It should result in a lot more people getting to hear, and love, the album. People have nothing to lose in giving it a try after all!

I read an interesting article on Wired.com entitled 'Free! why $0.00 is the future of business' which puts forward a very compelling argument for big businesses giving away products (and regaining the loss elsewhere). This is reliant on the low costs of production and distribution, particularly online. I would guess that the costs involved in releasing an album for free online are minimal even if recording time is not. With physical album sales falling drastically and illegal downloading becoming so prevalent even your nan is doing it, this looks to be a trend that will grow and grow. I only hope that the band can recoup the costs elsewhere. Not having to give a cut of the profits to a record company must help (although The Crimea have also released a CD for the hardcore fans.)

As fans of music I think we should try to support the artists we listen to, particularly those who are not living in a mansion somewhere moaning about people stealing their music. Maybe the lack of money spent on albums will mean an increase in gig goers or more money spent on merchandise.

Check out the video below to save me trying to describe the band's sound because I can only think of hackey, cliched ways of putting it and this isn't the NME, so we will have none of that here thankyou-very-much.

MGMT - Time to pretend - Live on Letterman.

I can't get this song out of my head. I recommend you check out the video here (The Youtube version is not embeddable, just in case, heaven-forbid, somebody decides to distribute the video on their blog. Record labels seem to have forgotten that videos are PROMOTIONAL material.) Just listening to the rest of the album now. Its much more guitar orientated than I expected from this song. It's sort of funky and spaced-out. Reminds me of AIR, prog and The Flaming Lips. As beatlawrence notes the album is created with traditional instruments more than electronics. This seems a bit of a shame to me but it is defiantly worth a listen and sounds like it will stand up to repeated spins.