MALCOLM MIDDLETON [SCOTLAND]
a happy medium mp3
malcolm middelton is one part of the scottish band, arab strap – renowned for their dark, twisted tales of modern life, usually involving being down the pub and fighting with your ex-girlfriend. if it sounds banal, it’s far from it – arab strap have an incredible ability to give the everyday trials of life a deep gravitas, there’s drama in the humdrum. there’s a scottish word ‘dour’ which means (generally) miserable, unhappy. too often arab strap are landed with the ‘dour’ tag, but listen deeper and there’s plenty of humour and positivity in there, if only in the realisation that we’re not in alone in such tribulations, we’re all in the same boat. middleton’s second solo album is called ‘into the woods’ and features contributions from fellow scots mogwai and the delgados, as well as from strap member aidan moffat. the track above is a perfect marriage of uptempo beats and beautiful harmonies matched with the lyrical refrain: ‘woke up today, realised i hate myself, my face is a disease’. more at middleton’s site, and at the glasgow label chemikal underground.
RETINA.IT [ITALY]
sambush mp3
retina.it are an electronic duo made up of lino monaco and nicola buono. their label, mousikelab, was founded in 2003 and one of their primary releases last year was a self-penned, self-titled back-catalogue compilation of tracks from which the above mp3 is taken. click here for free label downloads from retina.it and more. a more recent label release is a compilation entitled ‘condominum’ with brings together iceland’s mum, russia’s dj vadim, italy’s populous and many more. unlike retina.it, who seem to specialise in beats (albeit metallic or micro), the condominium comp is very much of the abstract side of contemporary electronica. dare i use the word ambient? ahh – there goes a flashback… [retina.it site]
DJ BC [US: BOSTON]
quem vai encontrar a festa da maconha? (who is going to find the pot party?) mp3
a quick mention of this sweet bootleg from dj bc, mixing m.i.a.‘s ‘galang’, a 1962 bossa track called ‘quem quiser encontar o amor’, plus gloria gaynor, dj paris and some dialogue from an anti-drug movie. more bootlegs from dj bc at his site.
baile funk trainspotters – if you want to see what the scene is like in brazil, check out dj marlboro‘s fotoblog. as one of the main proponents of the scene (and apprarently responsible for a phenomenal % of the musical output), this is a great visual insight into what’s happening.