foX Note Hunter

From The Soul

noreply@blogger.com (Finimal MoX) — Thu, 10 May 2012 02:12:00 +0000

De La Soul has been around for over 20 years now. Their start, out of high school in New York, was from producer DJ "Prince Paul" after hearing their smashing debut song "Plug Tunin". The three rappers go by multiple stage names, but in most of their songs refer to themselves by "Plug One," "Plug Two," and "Plug Three." These stage names are in reference to the order of the plugs their microphones were plugged into. "Plug One," Kelvin Mercer; "Plug Two," David Jude Jolicoeur; and "Plug Three," Vincent Mason; were great innovators of rap back in the 80's, showing that an upbeat attitude, clever lyricism, and quite innovative backgrounds to their raps could be as popular as other genres of rap.
      Rap at the time was hitting its start of the Gangsta/Hardcore Rap phase. Ice T , Schoolly D, and N.W.A., the best known pioneers of this hardcore rap, were making in-your-face statements about the world, "F**k the police" and drug use being some of the messages thrown through their lyrics. De La Soul had a different idea. They were the start of alternative lyricism, having a more upbeat and thoughtful message, keeping a laid-back old-school style.
     With DJ "Prince Paul" producing for them, their first album, 3 Feet High & Rising, was a pinnacle piece of hip-hop, and one of the all-time best rap albums made. De La Soul rapped about peace and harmony, about the community coming together; a stark contrast to hardcore rap at the time. The album took in funk, psychedelic, jazz, and old-school hip-hop styles. It exploded the rap community in a new direction entirely. I think most of you know already know quite a few of the songs on this album, but here was the most famous of them.
De La Soul's - "Me, Myself, and I"

     The group was a smashing success. This new alternative rap style out of New York caught on, gaining popularity and sparking many new groups: Black Sheep, A Tribe Called Quest, and even Queen Latifah (Collectively the Native Tongues Posse). This new alternative rap seemed to be almost bypassing hardcore in popularity with the start of the 90's.
    De La Soul stayed with their alternative style. Their career saw rather a slow decline after 3 Feet High & Rising. Granted, they stayed with their genre, but they did quite a few new things trying to push their sound all around. They experimented with a three part series called Art Of Intelligence: but only released 2 albums in that series. For me, one of the greatest tracks from them came out of the second release AOI: Bionix; "Trying People"
De La Soul's - "Trying People"

     Sadly to say, they have stayed pretty under the radar more recently (the exception of collaborating with The Gorillaz for the songs "Superfast Jellyfish" and "Feel Good Inc."). However, they are still a great band to fall back on. They are very original, different, and quite a good remedy for the soul, from the soul.
-Minimal FoX

Girl Talk Mashup Mayhem

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 15:13:00 +0000

First, no samples of the artist on this blog when you can download the album for free at his website (Girl Talk's All Day album). I know you'll want a snipet to know if you'll like it, but trust me, if you've followed radio at all, can take a music joke (Having Pitbull's "Hotel Room Service" being played over the happy Depeche Mode's "I Just Can't Get Enough"), and have the time to sit down with the whole album, this album will blow the clothing off of you and leaving you sitting naked on your sofa wondering what just happened and if it can happen again.

In all seriousness though, albums like this (All Day by Girl Talk) are meant to be played all in one go, to be taken as a whole idea and not to be broken into songs. All of the samples flow seamlessly into each other, all 372 of the songs being sampled in fact. Surprisingly, you'll recognize all of these chart-hitting songs, or at least close to all of them. You'll laugh at some of the combination, be amazed at how some songs worked amazingly well together, and find yourself hitting repeat to replay through some of the 10 second mash-ups you wished were longer.

Girl Talk (originally known as Greg Gillis, hard at work in the photo above) is a remarkable mash-up artist. This album is another remarkable non-stop dance album. Not much more to say other than just get it, dance about, and then wonder how you ever survived without it.

Look forward to hearing more about this artist and keep a lookout for tour dates. If you can listen to All Day or Feed The Animals and not at some point say, this is quite epic, let me know. Hell, give me more recommendations for Mash-Up artists you think make the world explode sonically with new ideas raised from old. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

-FoX Out

Re: Website Update

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 14:27:00 +0000

Sorry for the constantly changing design for the website. I keep finding templates to use for blogger--sometimes I think I should just use wordpress--and by the time I've happily started building this foxy website, some line of HTML becomes incompatible and instead of going through everything, I just decide to start over with a new template. I think I'd learn, but sadly no.

New news... new news... oh yes! New SoundCloud profile was easiest for uploading music. No really, it is. Free profile only gives you two hours of music, but I mix about 15 minutes of music a week, so I figure if I keep it cycling I can get all the music uploads I could ever need. That means you, the listener, either has to find a way to download all that music--again I apologize for the huge file sizes for all the music, Torq only wants to record in giant quality .wav files and I don't feel like converting them to anything less just to put it online to listen to-- or just ask for the songs and I'll send them to you in a way that's best for you.
Profile at Minimal FoX's SoundCloud.

On that same note, I'm trying out Torq 2.0.1 . Sadly, at the moment, I don't entirely recommend it. I think Tracktor pulls off the software you'd be looking for for a four turntable computer set-up. But, I still recommend Torq 1.5 for any 2 turntable software needs. I love it very much in comparison to most of the others out there, and it's served many a good live performance for me. This is just a short version of an indepth review I could give.

Still looking for new writers. It doesn't pay, but you'll get your ideas out there. Send in a sample and maybe we'll hire you. If we can get this successfully off the ground, then we'll talk salary, but for now, GSSE feels like keeping this free.

As for fans still reading, I'll try keeping a decent sleep schedule one day and it'll lead to a decent updating schedule. I have quite a few new amazing artists to share with everybody, and some groundbreaking music as well, as well as a earth-shattering studio--GSSE of course--to talk more about as well.

We have a new logo once again, thanks to one of our writers : Igloo. Please tell him thank you very, very, very much!

So, as a thank you, here's one of my most favorite chip-tone tracks:

-Minimal FoX <3's You All

New Mix Up

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 18:46:00 +0000

Singin' At Sunshining Summer Mix

A quick mix using Torq. Had the idea in mind and had to get it down. There's some hard transitions and beat-matching messups, but overall I think the idea is at least... danceable?
Track list:
Singin' In The Rain (Mint Royale Remix)
Bonkers - Dizzee Rascal
Stickin' (Original Mix) - SonicC vs. Gifted (The Ashton Shuffle Remix)- N.A.S.A.
Blow Your Head (Wassup Wassup Crookers Remix) - Diplo feat. Rye Rye
No Turning Back - Gui Boratto
Sabali (Uproot Andi Remix) - Amadou & Mariam
Pyramid At Night (Hardwell Mix) - John Dahlback vs. Shakedown
Singin' In The Rain (Mint Royale Remix)

Singin' At Sunshining Night Mix by DJ Minimal FoX

Hope you all cat get at least a good headnod in at somepoint. Let me know what you think. Anything it reminds you of, tracks that should be included, thoughts on how your summer is going, what music are you listening to? The FoX wants to know!

-Minimal FoX

Just for fun: Only The Best

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Wed, 25 May 2011 10:38:00 +0000

A short post this time: I stumbled upon George and Jonathan about a month ago, and haven't stopped listening to this fun music since. They have been writing electronica music for a few years now and I absolutely love the 8-bit sound style they have going on. I love what they are doing and thought I should support their works in this blog. George and Jonathan, keep up the good work! Highlights for me were Whale, Out With My Girlfriends, Party Every Night, Toy Factor, and Kevin Don't Give Up.

-Minimal FoX

An Old Actress Finds New Talent

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Sun, 22 May 2011 11:43:00 +0000

     Claim to fame and quoted as, "... wanting to take that damn [Crazy] Frog off the charts...," Stephen Coates, (The Clerkenwell Kid), or better known as the lead mind behind, The Real Tuesday Weld, I dare to say, has no other comparison in the music world. The name comes from none other than old film actress Tuesday Weld, and the music is just as one of a kind lovely. Taking samples of early jazz music, infusing it with modern electronica beats, occasional folk sounds, and his slightly scratchy but wonderfully seductive voice, sounds very common, but the way he does it makes it stunningly unique. Take a listen to a few samples:

Over The Hillsides From "The End Of The World"

Days Of You And Me (Remix) From "Kindercore 50"

Anything But Love From "The Return Of The Clerkenwell Kid"

     He simply has found his voice and nitche in the music world and as a remixer, his style isn't lost at all. This Beyonce remix of Crazy In Love, with the help of The Puppini Sisters, is completely his own unique "classic meets new style" that has yet to be replicated.
Crazy In Love (The Real Tuesday Weld & The Puppini Sisters Remix)

      I feel horrible taking these songs as small snippets of his very talented library of sounds. Why, you may ask? Stephen Coates is a firm believer in making a story arc for his albums. "I, Lucifer" tracks a romance story, an actual book soundtrack mind you, of Lucifer coming up to Earth and finding love. "Where Cupid Meets Psyche" and "The Return Of The Clerkenwell Kid" are both soundtracks to a love affair gone wry. Himself describing his music as having been an interpretation of "...jazz playing in the other room," something he grew up with his parents listening to, I wholeheartedly not only agree, but add it's like an entire love story set to jazz coming from the other room, and you're captivated to keep listening to find out what happens next. Not all of his songs are sample based however. The Real Tuesday Weld does have wonderful piano, guitar, clarinet, and many other instruments used at their disposal that can change the feel of the music from old jazz cover to modern folk song in almost an instant.

      Needless to say, with a vast majority of Stephen's work, love, loss, and overall sonic soundscaping of fun are recurring motifs in all of his work. I highly recommend checking out almost anything of The Real Tuesday Weld that you can.
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I Love The Rain From "Where Cupid Meets Psyche"

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-Minimal FoX

Embedded Player 2

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Sun, 22 May 2011 10:29:00 +0000

Same as posted before, but realized the last player doesn't fully play through the entire audio files. So, same music as last time, Gold Teeth Theif Mix from DJ/ Rupture.

Part A:

Part B

Slowly working this out when other projects don't take up all of my time. I think this player is much better than the last, though not as visually enticing as a singular play button. Let me know what you think.

-Minimal FoX

Embedded Player 1

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Wed, 11 May 2011 08:35:00 +0000

DJ/Rupture makes another appearence in this blog with his very famous Gold Teeth Mix from 2001. Here's both parts.
Part A-

Part B-

Tracklist for part A:

Missy Elliot Get Ur Freak On (Elektra)
Nas Oochie Wallie Instrumental (Columbia)
Ricky Dog aka Bling Dog Risen to the Top (Massive Sounds)
DJ Scud Badman Time (Ambush)
Barrington Levy Here I Come - Jungle (Greensleeves)
Nettle Duende (Soot)
Dead Prez Cop Shot (Raptivism)
Monie Muss Crew Thugz Riddim (Greensleeves)
Spragga Benz Certain Bwoy (Greensleeves)
Bounty Killer Corrupt System (Greensleeves)
Snares Man Breakbeat Malaria (History of the Future)
Tommy Zwedberg Hanging (Fylkingen)
Kid 606 Get Yr Kicks on Route 606 (Vinyl Communications)
Luciano Berio Visage (Turnabout)
Venetian Snares Boarded Up Swan Entrance (Planet-Mu)
Larbi Lamtougi Salhine Assalihate (Casaphone)
Nettle Duende: DJ Scud's In Chains remix (Soot)
Shabba Ranks Peanie Peanie (Digital B)
Quincy Bruce Lee MC (Ninja Tune)
DJ /rupture Descarriada (Broklyn Beats)

Tracklist for Part B:

Dahlena Dabka (DJ Dance Records)
Non Phixon Four W's Instrumental (Serchlite)
Djivan Gasparyan Dle Yaman (Opal)
Wu-Tang Clan Reunited Funkstrung's mix (K7!)
Nettle Untitled (white label)
Cannibal Ox Vein (Def Jux)
Sub Dub Dawa Zango (theAgriculture)
DJ /rupture Rumbo Babylon (Broklyn Beats)
Missing Links No Lodge (Primeight)
DJ /rupture Taqsim Distorsionada (Soot)
Rude Ass Tinker U Can't Touch This (Planet-Mu)
DJ /rupture feat. Mercedes Ferrer (white label)
John Wall Track 1 (Utterpsalm)
Moosaka w/ Splice Airbrushing (Street Forest)
Welmo Romero & Splice Si A Plomo Vives: Rupture's Remix (Broklyn Beats)
Project Pat Chickenhead (Loud)
Nettle Duppy (Soot)
Ilhan Mimaroglu Agony (Turnabout)
Nettle Ensamblaje (Soot)
Oval Shop In Store (Thrill Jockey)
Muslimgauze The Taliban (Jara)
Paul Simon w/ Ladysmith Black Mambazo Homeless (Warner Bros.)
Miriam Makeba Djiguinira (Syliphone)

I can't stop listening to this mix over and over again, and if you want to download it, I suggest you go here.

Let us what you think of the new player. This isn't permanent, but we're testing out new players in blogger. We value your comments, criticisms, and any helpful advice for our site.

Other than that, we're renovating the site, so expect to have some new changes, new music, and perhaps new writers as well, coming at you. Worse comes to worse, we'll be changing websites, but let's not burn bridges until we get to them.

-Minimal FoX

Already mentioned this producer

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 08:58:00 +0000

I know I keep bringing him up over and over again, but this guy really inspires me. I know it's electronic, and I get accused of being only a "techno guy" or only a "rap guy" but I do listen to more music than that.
That being said, I want to, once again, give critical acclaim to a DJ/Producer that I've already brought up several times in this blog: Flying Lotus. His use of ambiance within his work is just amazing, and his ability to make mainstream rap more artistic with his remixes is quite phenomenal.
Check out his two mixes of Lil Wayne songs:

I Feel Like Dying (Flying Lotus Remix)

and

Robo Tussin (Flying Lotus Remix of Lil Wayne's A Milli)

Again, sorry for the lack of other genres on this blog for a moment... but have you ever tried remixing country music, Celtic music, opera, or many of the other thousands of genres? I'm working on making a new mix with some untouched genres, but... give it some time.

-Minimal FoX

Give Hendrix Some Respect.

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:23:00 +0000

This post is another go out and find it for yourself post.

Now the title might be a bit misleading. First of all, I don't entirely condone and push for the heavy drug use Hendrix found infamy from.

That being said, if there's one genre I see pretty under represented in music, it's definitely blues and heavy vamped music. In the 60s' through 80's the blues had an explosive revival. If you know it, you know it, the big names; Clapton, Otis Rush, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and of course Hendrix. Any history of rock'n'roll 101 course will get you through this. The art of vamping on the guitar in almost every style, country to metal, in a specific chord progression. Lyrics sung in the same styles. It was sweet, it was the state of the country, the blues.

Hendrix, a drop out of high school teenager, from a troubled home, honorably discharged from the army, found sweet sanctuary in his music; teaching himself guitar from the early blues and rock'n'roll he listened too and found comfort in. For him, it seemed life was his guitar (aside from the drugs and fame it brought him). Stories of Hendrix having sold his soul to the devil to have such great work swept the nation and he brough on thousands with his performances with guitar. He started to change rock'n'roll with this passion found in the guitar, many claiming it was if he wasn't even touching the guitar; a pure energy straight from his soul.
What did Hendrix do for us? The wah-wah pedal started to reach more fame, use of "space" on a cd, new ways of playing a guitar to add atmosphere to music, his unique style and voice stretching into almost every genre of music itself (hitting artist such as Led Zeppelin, and almost every blues and rock album you hear now you can seem to find traces of Hendrix himself).

I'm not claiming this man is god himself playing guitar. I am not claiming that he was a good man. I am not claiming his use of heavy drugs and alcohol is the only way to play a guitar.

What I am saying is that you do have to find that Hendrix was a man, whose love of the guitar and music itself, pushed modern rock'n'roll/Blues, to the place it is now. A man dedicated heavily to his guitar. A man dedicated heavily to experimenting with music. Love heavily within music, his passion on fire, along with his guitar, and coming through the speakers. His vamping and smart guitar playing wasn't just a one hit wonder.

So today, go out and listen to some Hendrix. I'm not saying fall in love with the man or worship him, but give some respect to why there are thousands of posters of him. Give respect to what he could do with a guitar. Realize that great music comes from within. Just like Jacques Cousteau is synonymous with Marine Biology, Jimi Hendrix is synonymous with music. He both loved and respected music, was partially a slave to it, but lived it too.

-Minimal foX

Chemically Electronica

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 11:28:00 +0000

So, I eventually settled on, The Chemical Brothers, a duo of outrageously popular electronic artists. Alright, alright, if you have followed the origins of so called, "Techno" music, you'd see a huge branch off dedicated entirely to The Chemical Brothers. Quite interesting blend of what I'd say is trance and house if you really wanted to put a genre to it. So, what do you need to know? This duo is famous for guest appearances, catchy tracks, and hitting it hard on the radios around the world. Really, this is another artist that you already know, you just might not know you know. If you grew up as the MTV Generation you might remember most of the extremely drug reference music videos and trippy scenes brought by their music. As I always say, I'd write more, but let's let the music talk for itself.

Oh, and for this mix, I figured why not go with another electronic artist known to hit the pop charts around the same time as The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk. For those of you who don't know Daft Punk, congratulations, you have successfully avoided world culture since the 80's. There's no saying these two bands really don't need much to be said about them and are stand alone pop icons themselves. I just thought I'd refresh you and remind you that The Chemical Brothers are due for a new album as well as Daft Punk working on their next album a.k.a. The TRON Soundtrack.

Chemically Electronic Mix

Daft Punk - Club Soda
The Chemical Brothers - Hold Tight London
The Chemical Brothers - Surface to Air vs. The Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar (Minimal foX Mix)

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Let me know if you have any mix preferences, or comments about the new idea behind presenting bands, or if you just have something to say. Let's keep it about the music, I know my mixing skills can be called into question, but it's not about me, I just needed a new way to present the music to you, and I thought maybe if I did mixes you could appreciate it more.

-Minimal foX

The Sounds of Electronic...Cats?

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 09:59:00 +0000

So, as I was finding the next artist to do a mix about, I couldn't help but run into an old album I was ga-ga for when I first discovered drill'n'bass music.
Songs About My Cats by Venetian Snares. For it's time of release, 2001 so not THAT long ago but you have to consider IDM is really close to dying as is the fast paced monster that electronic music is, it was pure genius. I do agree, this album is NOT for everybody. The scattered, glitched, fast past mind and almost random sounding melodies and beats will more than likely turn off most of those who listen to it. However, for those of us who are quite into glitch sounds, fast paced, and dirty synth music, I would equate this to running into a Van Gogh in your local art gallery; something extremely huge and magnificent and you're not quite sure why it's here. "Neptalactone" is a great track, slowly building something, and you're not quite sure where it's going, but it's not in your face aggressive, but more of a tour guide saying "Look here, and now over here, and now here, and aren't you seeing the pattern yet?" For me this is where the album starts to take off. The following tracks "Poor Kakarooke," "Fluff Master," "Pouncelcoit," and "Cleaning Each Other" are good highlights from the album. The other tracks take a bit of work to get into, but when you do find you can let them in, they do a great job bolstering the overall feel, which strangely never shies away from... cats. The album ends on a rather weird note with the white washed white noise of "Look" heavily contrasting the opening track. Again, if you can give it time, and a place to stay, you might find yourself suddenly taking a quite warm heart to this album, given it's very unique times such as "For Bertha Rand," and come out on the end wanting to hit repeat to take that kitten filled trip all over again.
Side note: The ending track look is quite interesting to see... given the track was made using by taking many pictures of his cats and turning those pictures into sound waves. Look
I'll have the next mix up soon guys and gals. Until then, keep an open mind to your music and remember, just because you don't like something, does it mean it's bad?

-Minimal foX

Mix #1: See rap run. RUN DMC, Run!

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Mon, 31 May 2010 08:03:00 +0000

So, without further adieu, I bid you the new project for the blog I've been working on. Yes, I am a mediocre DJ, but without practice, I can't get too much better now can I? At the same time, I want to share music with you guys without it being of cost to you, but at the same time I want it legal. So, what is the solution? Eureka! Though technically I don't have the legal rights to do this, I thought maybe I could present you with mixes I have made and you can listen to. If you download it, good for you, if you just listen, that's what it's meant for. Since I'm not making money off of it, I don't believe it is illegal, but I'm still trying to check in on it.

So, today I present Mix #1: See rap run. RUN DMC, Run!

If you were not present for the 80-90's rap scene, who was more famous than RUN DMC could only be Public Enemy, Nas, or maybe even Eminem, or even Wu Tang Clan. Rap was starting to hit the radio hard and people were eating up the pop-rap hits. So, I thought, for those of us not too familiar with RUN DMC, why not make a mix and then let you explore it more if it is something that seems to interest you? Either way, here's a mix (The download is fine, let me know if you can't get it).

See rap run. RUN DMC, Run! Mix

Track List :
Quasimoto - Blitz
Run DMC - King of Rock vs. Run DMCJam Master Jay (Minimal foX mix)
Run DMC - Peter Piper
Run DMC - Mary Mary vs. Zombie Nation- Kernkraft 400 (Stadium Mix) (Minimal foX mix)

Let me know if you have any mix preferences, or comments about the new idea behind presenting bands, or if you just have something to say. (I know there's some work on my part that I need to do, but I've spent the past few months developing new ideas and mixes so let's get this done together, eh?)

-DJ Minimal foX

When We Rise!

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Mon, 24 May 2010 01:03:00 +0000

Sorry if the breif Hiatus had paniced anybody, but sometimes a blog writer has to face the life outside the internet for a bit before getting back to the comforting glow of a monitor.

Well, summer has come and started, and for those in Alaska, the breakup period is over and it's damn green on everything. Time to get out, do something, dance about, and enjoy the few months before work starts up even heavier for next year. But, you're tired of that same music over and over again. You'd want to get your rump in gear, but, you need something new to move you. I have an idea for you...

Major Lazer. Now, before just blindly clicking the link, let me give you the down-low about this album. If you remember awhile back, progressive DJ Diplo was mentioned. Major Lazer is a collaboration of Diplo with DJ Switch. Switch has made his name with Dub-House music; Diplo with reggae/pop DJ work, especially with Santogold. Now, the creation here, Major Lazer, is a fictional character, know to have "...faught in the secret zombie wars..." and is a big fan of the music coming out of Jamacia. This album Guns don't kill people... Lazers do, is an exploration of both artists into modern Jamacian music, poppy island feel mixed with reggae.

The whole thing is a bit hard to just sit down and listen to, but is great music to get moving too. If you want a couple track samples to convince you Link to Lala.

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Next update will be a bit better, still trying to find places to share music with you for free, so hold tight.

-Minimal foX

Night Furries & Milkshakes

noreply@blogger.com (The Last Moslow) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 01:02:00 +0000

Hi-ho! No Soundtrack Outcasts today, but rather two film scores that deserve all of the limelight they've thus received (as always, tell me what you think). First, a small part of the score for Dreamworks' "How To Train Your Dragon" by John Powell. Gorgeous themes, boisterous brass and bagpipes for a Nordic/Irish sound, warm strings and flutters--fun and powerful and unashamedly smile-inducing:

"This is Berk"

"Test Drive"

"Romantic Flight"

Now a total gear shift. Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" has a disconcerting soundtrack fashioned by Johnny Greenwood, a member of Radiohead. The songs work best and rile your blood most when you pair them with their respective on-screen scenes (durhay), but their discordant percussion and upsetting, pulsing unease still loft them high enough on their own to disquiet you:

"Proven Lands"

"Oil"

"Convergence"

--The Last Moslow

French Atmosphere

noreply@blogger.com (The Last Moslow) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 03:01:00 +0000

Around for over 10 years, Air is a French synth-electronica duo. They aren't really club techno; though some of their beats near the border, don't go slapping that stereotype too quickly. It's their myriad of fun, slip-beat, and poignant themes which makes them both minorly ambiant and cooly pigeon-headable. Their official YouTube channel doesn't allow embedding, but take a sample from these 200% virus-free hyperlinks to said port and tell me what you think:

Sing Sang Sung

Playground Love

Don't Be Light

How Does It Make You Feel

Alpha Beta Gaga

--The Last Moslow

We Need Heroes; Build Them

noreply@blogger.com (The Last Moslow) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 23:18:00 +0000

There’s a hell of a lot you can voice about Flobots, which is incredible because they already say so much, and they've only had one major commercial album release (until now). To me, and undoubtedly many others, Flobots’ “Fight With Tools” is about coming together for change, voicing that things are not the ideal, looking hard and realistically at race and capitalistic no-nos. Their sound is kind of a hodgepodge: they emphasize wonderful violin solos and highlight sparse brass and their harmonies have the real-world texture of a clubhouse of people, not boy-band conventions. There is a theme, a message to their efforts, sure, but there are still some fun, non sequitur tracks (“The Rhythm Method,” “Combat”) to break the tension. They’re entertainers slash community advocators. Take a listen:

“Fight With Tools”

“Never Had It”

“Handlebars” (According to the band, it’s about the power of decisions--you can do great good or evil depending on where you hone your efforts.)

“Rise”

Just for reassurance, it isn't mandatory for you to embrace their worldview or their political ideals--I know I sure don’t to a T (very anti-Bush and -globalization). You don’t have to agree with every couplet or little history lesson. But I think there’s something to be impressed by here. That a quasi-rap/hip-hop album makes you open up the Dictionary to find out what the world the intricate metaphor you just heard means is a rarity in any musical genre these days. I think it’s something to admire that they've had 5 number one chart toppers but their rap harks back to the first rappers, the fountainheads, the ones who used it as an outlet for social change and sung expos’es about class issues with present-tense violence. They are not perpetuators of materialism or dropping their name every other verse or writing a success autobiography, electronically warping the same vapid, repititous lyrics. They acknowledge that being impartial or stagnant is not an option in America anymore. It’s a welcome, gritty, heartfelt album.

Most reviews and forum posts seem to say--and I’d agree with them--that their second dip is more hopeful. If the first disc can be interpreted as a “distant early warning,” this one is the coin’s nicer side—still scuffed with chips and gum but there’s a shine there, dull though it remains. I like it on-par with “Tools.” (CLICK RIGHT HERE to safely listen to “Survivor Story," their second major release out now, on LaLa. Actually, just buy them both--they're less than $12 bucks each most places.)

Jonny 5, Brer Rabbit, and the rest of the group may not convince you to join a rally or jump up and volunteer or join Big Brothers, Big Sisters...but they’ll make you feel like you should, and not through guilt. They’re not renegades or extremists—they’re iconoclasts with a lot of talent and energy. These guys are important; they speak for themselves about all of us.

--The Last Moslow

/Rupture, Shade, and Moor

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 10:21:00 +0000

DJ /Rupture has been becoming a legend in his own field in New York. His skills at sociopolitical commentary through DJ work has been staggering. His work speaks subtly and is rabidly unique. When a DJ develops a taste that just sits in your head for days after, that DJ has done something great. DJ /Rupture is just that.

If you're not familiar with DJ/Rupture, he is a quite the interesting DJ, having remixed country songs, poetry, and made amazing architecture with his music. His renown Special Gunpowder and Uproot albums were quite critically acclaimed. Work with Andy Moor, not the Brit DJ, has also lead to quite unique songs The Sheep Look Up. Now if it's not your cup of tea, that's quite alright, but you should learn to respect how unique DJ /Rupture is and how well he crafts his voice and ideas so subtly into his work, and his amazing ability to take you song to song and keep a single idea going. Tiesto really doesn't have much on him, but that's a whole other story.

If you're not familiar with Matt Shadetek, he is quite the good dance remixer, and is starting to gain lots of popularity. He too has quite a ability to logically flow songs together like threads in a blanket. Just have to check out only one of his mixes, (this one is one of my favs. I might add), Get Drunk and Loose Your Phone to become aware at how well he can craft flow.
The two combined create an amazing trip into the consciousness. That's what Solar Life Raft really does. The poetry and mix of it all create an other-worldly experience like no other! It's a cd that is continuous, and though some of the songs are great stand alone songs, you need to sit down for the full hour the cd takes, turn off the lights, and just go through the experience that this cd will take you.

DJ /Rupture's work with Andy Moor, as stated above NOT THE BRIT DJ, is just as powerful. Andy Moor has become a strong guitarist (from the band The Ex)and has an amazingly great musical sense about him, as can be heard in the collaboration album with /Rupture, Patches. It is quite it's own taste, but, again, if you can find a place for DJ /Rupture's style, you're really going to dig this album as well.

If you also find that you're liking DJ /Rupture more and more, check out his music blog here.

--Minimal foX

Apples In Stereo?

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 06:30:00 +0000

There are many bands out there that have made themselves entirely known, been playing popular songs, made impressive covers, been on tours, and yet are never publicly known more than, "Oh, they play that song??" It's not a shame, but it's just a bit sad to see it happen to The Apples In Stereo. You know this band, even if you don't know you know. Don't believe me? This is their website and listen to a few songs. You can even sign up for their mailing list and download the latest single "Dancefloor." Ah psychedelica music, where would we be without the 70's?

-Minimal foX with a short note.

*cough cough* Did someone say advertisements? *cough cough* Heh, it's a good buy if you're into the band and want their single hits. Even a great introduction to the band. But I'd suggest... finding... other ways... of getting it instead... >>

Triumvirate

noreply@blogger.com (The Last Moslow) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:29:00 +0000

I haven't scoped out new music in a while (actually I've been listening to a lot of Johnny Cash) so I thought I'd bring a trio of songs that's been steadily lodged in my head to your attention. Now mind you, I've only tepidly investigated these artists and so can't recommend them on the whole--but in part these singles are worth a playthrough. Tell me what you think; I'll have more next time, Scout's honor:

Jack's Mannequin--"Swim"

No More Kings--"Michael"

Lisa Miskovsky--"Still Alive"

--The Last Moslow

Life on a Plastic Beach

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 20:54:00 +0000

0Only a few weeks ago did a new Gorillaz album drop. And only a few weeks ago, did I never hear anything about it, and was only informed about it two days ago by a friend who randomly stumbled across a Pitchfork review giving the album 8.5/10. Here at foX Note Hunter, we don't quite believe in a rating system, but never-the-less, I started to see nothing but good reviews for this music.

All I can say is, THIS IS NOT YOUR PREVIOUS GORILLAZ RELEASE! That noted, and please do note it, it is quite interesting, but a good interesting mind you, to listen to. If you have seemed to have found yourself wondered away from any form of Pop music, prepare to be take back to the life of bright colors, glittery sounds, poppy sounds, and just plain pop culture. The entire album reminded me of a quaint trip back to the 80's, with someone's boombox blaring the latest Flock Of Seagulls single.

It's been fashion to be taken back to roots and make something new from them, and I do believe the Gorillaz concept of pop roots is definitely pulled off here. You should be able to respect that. Doesn't mean it is your particular taste, especially if you dig the rap culture Gorillaz almost seemed to infuse and inspire within rap culture itself.

What's the idea here behind Plastic Beach as an album? I can only say it's like walking on a beach resort, and running across a multitude of people, each with their own unique event and feel on this beach. Plastic is a definitely recurring motif, and so is the island music feel. Gorillaz pulled it off, but at some points it does feel a bit messier than it should be, and some songs just shorter or not reaching what they could have been. These aren't complaints though, the multitude of diversity of pop songs you get here is staggering and the moments themselves that you do get are just plain fun.

But I digress, and am putting links to listen to the whole album:

Orchestral Intro (Feat. sinfon...

Welcome To The World of The Pl...

White Flag (Feat. Bashy, Kano ...

Rhinestone Eyes - Gorillaz

Stylo (Album Version) (Feat. M...

Superfast Jellyfish (Feat. Gru...

Empire Ants (Feat. Little Drag...

Glitter Freeze (Feat. Mark E S...

Some Kind of Nature (Feat. Lou...

On Melancholy Hill - Gorillaz

Broken - Gorillaz

Sweepstakes (Feat. Mos Def and...

Plastic Beach (Feat. Mick Jone...

To Binge (Feat. Little Dragon)...

Cloud of Unknowing (Feat. Bobb...

Pirate Jet - Gorillaz

The ending was alright, but tracks such as "Empire Ants," "Broken," "On Melancholy Hill," "Sweepstakes," and "White Flags" are good tracks if you don't have the time to sit down with the entire album.

--Minimal foX (Still working in the foxhole)

Pinch Me...Pinch Me...

noreply@blogger.com (The Last Moslow) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:26:00 +0000

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Here's a newsflash about Canadians!

According to Amazon.com, Barenaked Ladies' next album “All in Good Time” drops March 30th, and it’s their 11th to date. Though their sound has fluctuated from quasi-bubble gum ‘90s pop to indi-ish lyrics near the ozone layer from their newer album “Are Men,” I still love ‘em. And Stephen Page, the plump lead singer with the glasses, has left the quintet--we’ll see how they fare with Ed Robertson front and center (though he’s written most of their songs).

Anyhoozle, here's two samples from the unreleased disc. If you haven't heard any of their hits by now, which seems enormously unlikely, don't hesitate to search YouTube. It's not hard to love them at all:

"Ordinary"

"You Run Away"

--The Last Moslow

Balloons and Espresso

noreply@blogger.com (MinimalfoX) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:15:00 +0000

First, let's just say, if you lived thru the 90's and you've managed to never have heard of the Goo Goo Dolls, you might have been living in the middle of nowhere, have never seen a cheesy romance movie, or were completely stuck in Techno, (which there supposedly even is a techno remix of the song, but don't quote me on that).
When everybody thinks of the Goo Goo Dolls... no not "Iris". No, no that one either. Ok, the song is

"Black Balloon"

Black Balloon - Goo Goo Dolls

Ah, the distinct guitar picking at the start. The wondrous vocals. It's no wonder that this song is so commonly found in romance movies. You can just feel the emotions from his voice, the build up and break down of the song, it's just all in all a great generational song. The mastery over their instruments to create something so outstanding. Really, there is a good reason the Goo Goo Dolls are so well loved. If there is the chance that you don't have ANY of their albums in your library, take the time to get the greatest hits at least.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As a special double post today, I have been catching up with the Seattle music scene. A great rap duo has come out of the works, and I can only describe it as a combination of Outkast (between Stankonia and The Speakerboxx Compilation), Q-Tip, and a bit of MF DOOM.
Their album Glamour is a pretty nice ride the entire time through. It makes me think of what would have happened to the rap genre if Stankonia had made it so much bigger. Big and dirty synth pop with rap over it. Quite interesting. Highlights include:

"Diamond Pistols"

Diamond Pistols - Fresh Espres...

"Big or Small"

Big Or Small - Fresh Espresso

"The Lazerbeams"

The Lazerbeams - Fresh Espress...

and

"Girls and Fast Cars"

Girls and Fast Cars - Fresh Es...

Sure, a bit stereotypical rap, but it's really great pop/rap and brand new (ok a few months old, but still new right?) coming out of Seattle. The whole album is quite a fun listen, and you can just taste and smell the fresh roast that is Fresh Espresso.

-Minimal foX (Busy doing some underground work in the foxhole at the moment).

Kinda Like a Chimp

noreply@blogger.com (The Last Moslow) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:43:00 +0000

Bonobo is a British DJ who writes delicious trip-hop/downtempo tunes. Some might call this stoner music, but I don't care about the label, and neither should you. Beautiful music just is--have a 25 minute listen and find out for yourself:

"Ketto"

"Silver"

"Noctuary"

"Kota"

"Pick Up"

--The Last Moslow

"You're a Bold Kid, Arnold."

noreply@blogger.com (The Last Moslow) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:39:00 +0000

"Hey Arnold!" is one of many reasons why I'm proud to be a product of '90s entertainment, especially cartoons. Here was a show with depth, heart, subtle humor, and characters who'd tackle real problems (bullies, rough family life, peer pressure) without resorting to zany editing or the easy way out. It was Nickelodeon's best effort, and whenever I peripherally catch wind of what's popular on the network now, I get downcast and grim. God, was I lucky to catch its heyday.

Regardless if you know it or not, "Hey Arnold!" wouldn't've been half what it was without the supporting music of Jim Lang. Tiny tracks of emotion and pigeon-necking vibes, playful and grounded in light jazz and synth R&B. If you're a fellow '90s brat, I'll bet you'll be hard-pressed to not remember at least a few of these nuggets...they're in our blood.

Below are links to some hand-picked mainstays, and if you visit the sponsoring YouTube channel you can hear more (he had very pretty violin flutters for Helga as well, and don't skip over the 30-second bits). Oh, you can also watch a few choice episodes. 'Nough said.

My tiny blue hat is off to you, Mr. Lang. Thanks for being a part of my childhood:

Jim Lang--"Groove Remote"

"Groove Remote (Abner)"

"The Moral Is"

"The Kids Finally Get It"

"Rhonda’s Party Source"

"Meet Angel"

"Invisible Hippo 2"

"Home Wit Jerome"

"Helga and Arnold Make Up"

"Dangerous Lumber"

"Caper at Gene’s"

"Mom and Dad"

--The Last Moslow