From KCRW DJ Anne Litt:
I’ve been really digging San Francisco sextet Monophonics, who have a sound that is swampy, funky and a little dirty. Horns, guitars, with a bit of the Bay Area’s late 60’s psychedelic vibes thrown in for good measure.
The best way to get a feel for this band is to read the first three song titles on their new album in order: “There’s a Riot Going On”. “In Your Brain”. ”Sure Feels Funky”.
That tells you everything you need to know.
Check out the newly released video for “There’s …
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Written by various KCRW DJs & Staff: Listen to the recent discoveries of the music lovers of KCRW
From KCRW DJ Anne Litt:
I’ve been really digging San Francisco sextet Monophonics, who have a sound that is swampy, funky and a little dirty. Horns, guitars, with a bit of the Bay Area’s late 60’s psychedelic vibes thrown in for good measure.
The best way to get a feel for this band is to read the first three song titles on their new album in order: “There’s a Riot Going On”. “In Your Brain”. ”Sure Feels Funky”.
That tells you everything you need to know.
Check out the newly released video for “There’s a Riot Going On” and grab a free download of the track right here.
Their new album, out now on Ubiquity Records, pays homage to greats like Sly Stone, Norman Whitfield and Funkedelic’s George Clinton. I hear they are even better live and while there aren’t any LA dates planned yet, you can check out their tour schedule here.
– Anne Litt
I discovered Thought Catalog on Twitter when someone retweeted one of their articles. I started following them and quickly became obsessed because they have — by FAR — the best headlines of any publication anywhere.
This is no small thing.
I’m a publicist so I’m constantly trying to come up with snazzy ways to say things. It’s hard. And they nail it on a regular basis.
Even if I don’t read the whole thing, I always want to take a peak at articles like, say, ”Quit Asking Me to Watch Your Computer“, “How To Kill Your Creativity” or “Things People Should Stop Pretending to Hate”. (Some are completely silly and some are outright naughty, but they all amuse me.)
Ryan O’Connell is the 25-year-old editor of Thought Catalog and main writer (check out this gem: “8 Songs That Will Put You To Sleep Faster Than an Ambien”) and I asked him to do his take on the Guest DJ Project via the blog.
Not surprisingly, his choices are insightful and funny like all of his writing.
1. “Harvest Moon” by Neil Young
This song is basically my childhood wrapped up in a pretty classic rock bow. My mom’s favorite musician is Neil Young and our house would always be flooded with his music. I didn’t like a lot of it when I was younger—it took me years until I could appreciate his genius—but I ALWAYS loved “Harvest Moon.” It sounded so tender and romantic, like a song you could play at your wedding or something. My mom would put it on sometimes and slow dance with my father (before they divorced, oops!) Whenever I listen to this song, I’m reminded of my mother in a dress with her long flowing back hair, having her head buried in my father’s shoulder. I don’t have many good memories of the two of them together so this song is especially poignant to me.
2. “Keep On Livin’” by Le Tigre
When I came out of the closet in high school, I was such a little wannavbe gay boy activist, so it made sense that Le Tigre was my favorite band. Their music was not only fun to dance to when you were wasted at a house party, it was also totally feminist and inspiring. You could be getting down to a song and not even realize until later that it was about, like, Communism or something. Their track “Keep On Livin” held particular resonance for me because it was all about being gay and loving yourself.During my closeted days, I would listen to it and repeat the lyrics in my head—”this is your time, this is your life”—until it finally gave me the courage to be honest. ~~~CUE THE VIOLINS~~~~
3. “I Am Waiting” by The Rolling Stones
When I was 20 years old, I got hit by a car in San Francisco and had to spend three weeks in the hospital having all of these surgeries, including a painful skin graft operation. It was miserable, to say the least. I’m usually someone who listens to music all day every day but I was honestly too depressed to even do that. For a whole month, I didn’t listen to anything besides the sounds of my own violent sobs. But one day, while recovering at home, I decided to get out of bed, put on some street clothes, and play some music. It may not seem like a big deal but, at that point, I had been so checked out that even the slightest movement was considered an achievement. I chose to put on this Rolling Stones song for energy. I had never even heard it before but it was in my iTunes so I figured, “What the hell?” and played it over and over again until I could get dressed, which ended up taking me an hour and a half.
I know it sounds dramatic but the whole process was very emotional. After spending a month immobile, dressed like a homeless person, and surrounded by deafening silence, it felt amazing to see myself inching back to normalcy. In a way, this song was like my battle cry. I was going to get better. I was going to get my life back, one cute outfit and Rolling Stones song at a time.
4. “Dreaming My Life Away” by Best Coast
I listen to Best Coast a lot when I’m writing. Not just because their music is catchy as hell but because I think we’re often inspired by the same themes of love and loneliness. “Dreaming My Life Away” is definitely one of their darker tracks and playing it always put me in this weird, hazy mood. I listen to it whenever I need to write about something that makes me uncomfortable or if I want to do something that’s less direct and more poetic. I don’t know what it is about this song but it always turns me into a raw nerve, and all of a sudden I’m just purging my feelings out on the page. I love it.
5. “I Only Have Eyes For You” by The Flamingos
This is the perfect love song, in my opinion.
It’s eerie, romantic and a little creepy, which are all the hallmarks of good love, right?! Whoever dates me next is going to have to slow dance with me to this song a million times. Preferably on some New York City rooftop in the summertime.
– Ryan O’Connell
Nicolas Jaar has been a KCRW favorite for over a year now and his popularity is exploding, having been featured in the New York Times recently, among other things.
KCRW DJ Chris Douridas is quoted in the piece and he actually recorded a Guest DJ set and interview with Jaar during SXSW this year that is available in our archives. Nico talks about the influence of John Cage (Jaar’s mother was part of Merce Cuningham’s dance troupe) and the loudness of silence in his life, which he talks about on a very personal level.
Now he’s put together a two-hour mix as part of the BBC Radio 1′s Essential series which you can stream and download via Soundcloud.
Followers of this young talent are sure to enjoy his eclectic choices – Aphex Twin, Charles Minghus, Feist, Marvin Gaye, and Jonny Greenwood among them. See the tracklist below.
Nicolas Jaar – Essential Mix (05-19-2012) by EverybodywantstobetheDJ
Nicolas Jaar Essential Mix
01. Nicolas Jaar & Maceo Plex – Gravy Train (Nicolas Jaar Remix) [Get Physical Music]
02. Nicolas Jaar – Space Is Only Noise [Clown & Sunset]
03. Laxx & Farkas – Creature
04. Nicolas Jaar – Don’t Break My Love [Clown & Sunset]
05. Angelo Badalamenti – Conversation On Twin Peaks [Warner Bros]
06. The Brothers Four – Greenfields [Columbia]
07. Jay-Z – My First Song (Acapella) [Roc-A- Fella]
08. Jonny Greenwood – There Will Be Blood [NONESUCH]
09. Los Ángeles Negros – Tu Y Tu Mirar… Yo Y Mi Cancion [Harmless]
10. LaShun Pace – It’s Me Oh Lord (Acapella Praise) [Shanachie]
11. Jonny Greenwood – Open Spaces [NONESUCH]
12. Pearson Sound – Footloose [Pearson Sound]
13. The Electric Prunes – Holy Are You (There Is No God Edit) [Reprise]
14. Aphex Twin – Ziggomatic 17 [WARP]
15. Keith Jarrett – Tokyo, November 14 (Encore) [ECM Records]
16. My Girl And Me – Always Back To You (feat. Lorraine) [Unknown]
17. Vera November – Last Night Together (You’re Coming Back Edit) [Rough Trade]
18. Nikita Quasim – L’amour L’après Midi [Clown and Sunset]
19. Nikita Quasim – The Way I Felt Today [Clown and Sunset]
20. Feist – Caught A Long Wind [Polydor]
21. Shigeru Umebayashi – Yumeji’s Theme (In The Mood For Love) [In The Mood For Love OST, Higher Octave OmTown]
22. *NSYNC – It Makes Me Ill (Edit) [JIVE]
23. Unknown – Unknown
24. Charles Mingus – Myself When I’m Real [IMPULSE]
25. Bill Callahan – America! [DRAG CITY]
26. The Field – The Little Heart Beats So Fast [Kompakt]
27. Sneaky Sound System – Always By Your Side (Nicolas Jaar Remix) [Modular]
28. Just Friends – Avalanche [Unknown]
29. Pavla + Noura – Don’t Owe Me A Thing [The Prism, Clown and Sunset]
30. Acid Pauli – La Voz Tan Tierna [Clown and Sunset]
31. Igor Wakhevitch – Taddy’s Dream: Ramallah’s Road [Pathé Marconi EMI]
32. Nikita Quasim – Derridu [Unknown]
33. Beyoncé Knowles – 1+1 [Columbia]
34. Anouar Brahem – Vague / E La Nave Va [ECM]
35. Rio Grande – Let’s Groove (Tonight Edit) [Unknown]
36. Gonzales – Manifesto [Sunnyside]
37. The Grass Roots – Let’s Live For Today (Learn To Live Edit) [Dunhill]
38. Marvin Gaye – Inner City Blues (Sk Edit) [TAMLA]
39. Man Friday – Real Love (The Paradise Garage Mix) (feat. Larry Levan) [Nite Grooves]
40. DJ Slugo – What That Do [Subterranean Playhouse]
41. Ricardo Villalobos – What You Say Is More Than I Can Say [Playhouse]
42. Untitled – Untitled [Unknown]
43. Nicolas Jaar – The Student [Wolf & Lamb]
RR
Ever met someone whose name is not necessarily fitting? There’s an Odd Future side-project/off-shoot called “The Internet.” However, I think that’s a misnomer. The name “The Internet” is much more befitting Mauritian-UK beatmaker Mo Kolours.
Mo Kolours music is fantastic evidence of the manner in which the Internet is making the world and all the music in it more accessible than it’s ever been, but it simultaneously is also making one’s self accessible to the world. Like an update of Francis Bebey’s foray into electronic sounds in the late 70s, Mo Kolours’ first EP, Drum Talking, is a wicked electronic beat album rooted in the percussive drum sounds of Sega music from his native Mauritius. It’s really unlike anything else I’ve heard recently.
Here’s a mindblowingly mezmering track off “Drum Talking“…
Mo Kolours – Biddies by Wax Poetics
His most recent release, “Banana Wine“, is out now…and is a free download. FREE!
Like the previous EP, “Banana Wine“ still has a lush worldbeat, but it also has an urban (and urbane) quality that finds him dipping into a sound that has strains of Madlib’s blunted shuffling beats.
When it’s all said and done, Mo Kolours is a better name than “The Internet” for this project as A) that is his name, and B) if these 2 EPs are any indication…the palette he’s working with is going to continue expanding and we can expect really bright and fascinating things from him. Both EPs are well worth seeking out, you’ll be super glad you did…just use the link above on your internets.
– Mario Cotto
May 22nd 2012 Campo: Tu Lugar
This week on #MBE. Tennis. Kimbra. (Taken with Instagram at KCRW)
