An Imogen Heap hit for those waiting for her new CD….your interpretation!!

I LOVE IMOGEN HEAP!!!!!!!!!!! i am anxiously awaiting her new disc. she has donated some vocals to the twestival.fm which is being put on by Twitter. she had vocal parts for “a song that never was”. it was supposed to be for a kids television show. the vocals don’t have any music background, and she has asked people to get creative. she has also asked the site to post people’s mixes and they are so different and fun to listen to. The vocals will be up for about a month. Are you ready to create a masterpiece? They are trying to raise some moeny for clean drinking water for those without. Giving is not easy right now, but the need is still there. There are over 400 tracks that musicians from Bloc Party to Ingrid Michaelson to James Yuill (a budz favorite) have donated. Go check it out. Give what you can. http://www.twestival.com

 

 

The link below sends you to vocals and remixes. scroll down a bit, my favorite is 21.

http://www.twestival.fm/?page_id=195

My favorite albums of 2008

I have never done year end accolades, but I have never had a music blog before.  These days purchasing an album in it’s entirety seems almost archaic. I feel there are two types of albums now…those that are concept albums and kind of need to be listened to in whole and those gems that have a bunch of really good singles. For this list, I have considered good EP’s too, because it seems a more expedited way, with more rapid turnover to feed our A.D.D. (at least mine) need for new music.  In no particular order….

Viva La Vida/Prospekts March EP - Coldplay  So Coldplay and Brian Eno nuff said. The late year add on EP showed a different side of Coldplay. BTW, they have rescinded there retirement threat.

Turning Down Water For Air  -  James Yuill  Folktronica fans rejoice. This guy is great. Blips and bleeps and scratches can be warm and fuzzy. One of my favorite new artists in a long time.

Youth Novels- Lykke Li     Thank you 90210. Lykke is vulnerable, yet demands your attention.

Emergence- Trifonic   Organic electronica with guitar riffs and everyday sounds, from proteges of BT.

Random Album Title – Deadmau5  This Canadian musician has changed the landscape of dance music. Really!!!

Down to Earth- Jem  Jem invokes gospel, rap and folktronica in spite of poor record label relations. Thankfully they didn’t ruin it for everybody.

Eyes Wide Open – Olivia Broadfield  Just love her. Accessibly. Female best new artist of the year for me. This years “TV made me” winner.

Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart – Rachel Yamagata   Usually a little toasted on stage she is raw and powerful and makes Chicago proud.

Robyn – Robyn  Sugary pop that took 3 years to make it to our shores. Can you handle her?

Elevate- Morgan Page  Tasty originals and remixes including personal favorite Jenny Owen Youngs.

Last Night – Moby  Returning to his roots…no glow sticks necessary.

Strobelite Seduction – Kaskade  His Chicago connection won him resident of the year at Smart Bar. Accessible and always evolving…enter collaboration with Deadmau5

 We Sing, We Dance. We Steal Things – Jason Mraz   Hello – Tristan Prettyman  Cute, fun, poignant and Left Coast love.

Feed The Animals – Girltalk  This is my internal monologue after just one cup of coffee. How anyone cannot have fun listening to this is beyond me.

 

posted by : cooper

folktronica

the first time i heard the term “folktronica” it was to describe the awesome cd by four tet, pause. i would argue that was not a great album to christen as such, because although the electronic blips and beeps were warm, there were no true vocals.

singersongwritertronica, doesn’t flow as easily off the tongue, but i think that is a better name for this genre. i think true folk artists would beat down an 808 or any synthesiser type apparatus if they saw one…or maybe it try and burn it with incense.

i love electronica. songs without words don’t bother me. maybe because i was cultured by bands like cocteau twins and dif juz that used vocals like instruments. the warm dub of burial or jazztronica fusion of bt can soothe the most broken heart because there are no word associations. brilliant. like always, i digress.

enter james yuill (left), the newest darling to be dubbed folktronic. he is great and a true representation of folktronica.  his  fantastic and accessible album, turning down water for air, is in my top 10 of 2008. i have hit repeat so many times on the pod, it just knows to play it again.

i feel as though there are a group of artists that have been passed over as pioneering folktronies. the postal service are in the urban dictionary in my mind, as the picture next to the word. william fitzsimmons 2nd album, goodnight, is brilliant. (he has retreated back to the folk side though ) he says that he was inspired by the group paper route, who imho has one of the best songs of 2008 with, “are we all forgotten.” fink, imogen heap, kate havnevik, milosh, i am jen…i could go on for hours. these are my people.

give james yuill a listen. you will be pleasantly surprised. he is not on itunes anymore…why do they take things off? so you can find him on amazon in the mp3 store.

posted by: cooper