tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27265407357846463912011-10-12T18:24:27.794-04:00Danielnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1761100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-55114140045027302992011-03-04T21:27:00.003-05:002011-03-04T21:33:51.804-05:00

Daniel Johnson "Don't Fence Me In (feat. Brie Stoner)"Click here to download it

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-88892308568051860392010-03-17T09:30:00.001-04:002010-03-17T09:31:29.777-04:00

I'm over here: danielmusica.com

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-3105600056404166752010-02-22T23:25:00.002-05:002010-02-22T23:33:05.963-05:00

This guy's voice is many things. Thunder. Fairy dust. Stuff in between. Wild Beasts - "Two Dancers 1" Wild Beasts "Hooting and Howling"

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-54060377976531056192010-02-17T21:23:00.000-05:002010-02-17T21:23:00.854-05:00

I really didn't get this band last record out. I really get them now.Beach House - "Take Care"

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-69110462653312917082010-02-17T09:12:00.004-05:002010-02-17T09:20:07.453-05:00

This song drives me wild. It's like Lauryn Hill backed by Tony Allen. The video is worse.Nneka - "Heartbeat"Nneka - Heartbeat from BooGieMan on Vimeo.

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-27087063352720822242010-02-05T21:45:00.004-05:002010-02-05T22:10:35.281-05:00

This is so glorious. This is the music I've always dreamed Jamie Lidell would eventually make.Jamie Lidell "Compass"

Danielnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-26714934051165309302010-01-29T10:42:00.003-05:002010-01-29T10:59:01.373-05:00

White people are making the best music again. That's been the theme of the past half-year for me. Not like it's a competition, but there were some dark, dark days there for the white man.Yeasayer - "Madder Red"Yeasayer - "Grizelda"

Danielnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-55200386589907386292010-01-17T12:56:00.003-05:002010-01-17T13:22:30.597-05:00

This new album Heartland by Owen Pallett is really beautiful. It's a mix of small ensemble orchestral instruments and a bit of Nintendo soft synths. Usually stuff this gentle is a bit more twee than I can take but the material and the vision is really strong.Owen Pallett - "What Do You Think Will Happen Now?"Owen Pallett - "Red Sun No. 5"Pallett reminds me of Patrick Watson, whose album Wooden

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-3103900122304916552009-12-31T11:28:00.013-05:002010-10-04T09:21:29.952-04:00

I would have difficulty coming up with a top ten list of best albums for this year and I've been posting the individual tracks that I got excited about throughout 2009, so instead I'm just going to post a list of 10 television shows that I loved.It's kind of shocking how much TV I've consumed this year. My job as a composer requires a lot of waiting - for files to bounce down - as well as breaks

Danielnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-4073133189387056362009-12-23T12:18:00.004-05:002009-12-23T12:30:56.167-05:00

Something about these new Midlake tracks seems appropriate for the season. It's the cold end of the year, the ground is hard, the leaves have dropped dead and we too can let the past drop from our memories - and then we can start again.There's a "Greensleeves" quality to Acts of Man with its fireplace warmth, gentle acoustic guitars, flutes and soiled mix that seems out of time, haunted and

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-48418581790612981322009-12-18T23:44:00.006-05:002009-12-31T21:05:35.928-05:00

I can't help but hear the tracks on Rihanna's new record in the context of her publicly getting the shit beat out of her, and then taking another beating in the press and on the blogs (oddly, in most of the black blogs I read I see more support for Chris Brown and a weirdly emotional hatred for Rihanna). Her response is to release a record cover where she's covering her eye up (so you don't see

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-4093290425122883312009-11-17T12:04:00.001-05:002009-11-17T12:03:46.233-05:00

Daniel "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover"Get it at iTunes.

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-45097545992315208722009-11-12T22:44:00.007-05:002009-11-12T23:27:01.305-05:00

There is nobody else doing what Ryan Leslie is doing right now. He's found some sweet middle ground between Dilla-ugly concepts of what a beat can be, futuristic synth pop production, moody D'Angelo-isms and black top 40 r'n'b writing. The complaint about Leslie is that he never goes far enough out down either road - experimental or pop accessibility - but I like the balance and minimalism. So

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-73934395891803922542009-11-06T20:41:00.004-05:002009-11-06T21:01:13.426-05:00

I can't answer why State of Grace (1990) is not held in higher, more revered esteem. It's an Irish gangster movie set in Hell's Kitchen featuring Sean Penn, Robin Wright Penn, Gary Oldman and Ed Harris. Beyond being a near flawless movie I'll always remember it for having the only love scene I can think of in cinema that actually approaches reality.I also can't answer why Ennio Morricone's

Danielnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-38647527599954377702009-10-21T00:06:00.001-04:002009-10-21T00:06:19.764-04:00

Spike Jonze / We Were Once A Fairytale from background on Vimeo.Spike Jonze is killing me these days. I find it an encouraging testament to the elasticity of human potential to watch a skater kid turn into one of the preeminent philosophers of our time. Where The Wild Things Are was part Camus, part Cassavettes and completely without filters. I felt something every second of that film. At the end

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-48930793330738198852009-10-18T16:45:00.003-04:002009-10-18T16:54:07.045-04:00

This album makes up for the lack of new Sade and Kate Bush albums in the world. El Perro Del Mar - "Change of Heart" El Perro Del Mar - "Heavenly Arms"

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-37785409516058865362009-10-13T08:20:00.001-04:002009-10-13T08:20:17.095-04:00

Followers of the Hebrew g-d believe that h-s name is so holy it can't be spoken, only referred to. Muslims believe it's a sin to make an image of their prophet, and aboriginal Australians won't let you take their photograph lest you capture their soul. I'm a shitty mystic, but there is something about the music of Christian Fennesz that makes me want to avert my descriptive gaze - to shuffle in

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-78218171410084376862009-10-04T22:52:00.006-04:002009-10-04T23:06:30.621-04:00

"Black Swan""And It Rained All Night"This band is just killing it. I have to imagine that playing The Eraser live would be any drummer's dream and Joey Waronker has brought the deep hip hop kick drums and busy stick clatter to nasty life.Choosing Flea was an inspired move. He has such a cartoonish persona that people forget what a sensitive and versatile musician he is. But this material is

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-445295239291719092009-09-26T10:31:00.003-04:002009-09-26T11:20:36.094-04:00

"It Kills Me" leaked last year and I've been loving on it ever since. It's a rare thing when a single this catchy grabs my attention for a while... and then won't go away. There are, like, ten different hooks in this thing. Collect them all.I guess the hugeness and theater of it give it a Supremes/Motown quality but for some reason I hear Ennio Morricone and the scores he did for the epic Sergio

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-28829446227547090762009-09-18T13:39:00.003-04:002009-09-18T13:44:15.321-04:00

Daniel "Sugar Fish" [From Lazrus]

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-76714500729972387942009-09-16T21:04:00.002-04:002009-09-16T21:04:00.346-04:00

D. Grant is the drummer in Alkaline Trio and this year he released a three-song EP (downloadable as one 11-minute mp3) called The Purple Trilogy, which features my friend and former bandmate Arun Bali on axe. D. Grant "The Purple Trilogy (feat. Arun Bali)" It's really hard to believe that the first song, "Betray U, Betray Me," is not an actual Prince composition. The second is a purple original,

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-6828604167497670522009-09-13T20:23:00.004-04:002009-09-13T20:47:11.991-04:00

Kid Cudi requires no further hype. His debut "Man on the Moon: The End of Day" hasn't even dropped yet and it already feels ubiquitous. But I'm happy to jump on this man's bandwagon. Cudi is a protoge of Kanye West and West's new minimalism is a welcome influence here. Cudi's arrangements are really well thought out and uncluttered. Simplicity rules. One of the best examples of this is the song "

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-61609516295369621142009-08-10T10:58:00.002-04:002009-08-10T11:05:03.910-04:00

I'm very jealous of this singer's name. Why didn't I think of that? I'm also jealous of this groin-rattling bass line. I've listened to this song at least 20 times in the past 24 hours."When you're rolling in style..."Major Lazer - "Cash Flow (Feat. Jah Dan)"

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-19049739590592467032009-08-03T22:56:00.003-04:002009-08-03T22:58:57.566-04:00

What the first drag sounds like.Mos Def - "No Hay Nada Mas"

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-20332581681311835632009-07-28T14:12:00.008-04:002009-07-28T23:46:59.918-04:00

My full-length record "Lazrus" dropped digitally last week on iTunes and will hit full online distribution as well as physical CDs in the coming weeks.Download the first single, Goodbye Sillhouette.Daniel - "Goodbye Silhouette".XLR8R said of the album and the single: An album of melancholy electronic pop. Summoning Jamie Lidell's soulfulness and Ben Gibbard's plaintive vocals, "Goodbye Silhouette

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-70517552500579339952009-07-11T12:48:00.003-04:002009-08-03T23:00:10.885-04:00

Even before the silhouettes start dancing before the star machines this video gets to me. I don't know why, because there's nothing to it. But it makes some kind of sense. From video footage following the singer through an outdoor fair (looking for someone?), it rolls like a snowball into something haunting.

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-20020923286989678912009-06-23T10:51:00.007-04:002009-06-23T11:38:38.681-04:00

Below is a post I did in February of '08 where I decided to come out of the closet and start posting Reggae - which I personally refer to as "Jamaican soul." For my first post of Jamaican soul I decided to contrast two covers of the Supremes classic "You Keep Me Hangin' On," one by Mike Dorane and the other by the master Ken Boothe. The Suprems original was already one of my favorite songs of all

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-68070676136631883582009-06-21T21:10:00.005-04:002009-06-21T21:28:07.458-04:00

La Roux singer Elly Jackson conveys something that I hear in so few contemporary singers: the basic pleasure of singing itself. In the few singles La Roux has released so far there is always a moment or two when Jackson lets some kind of howl or "ooh" loose and you thank god that some jackass producer never threw a pitch corrector on it. Her flatness and sharpness is always on target. I prefer

Danielnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-86542795434564089702009-06-15T20:43:00.000-04:002009-06-15T20:44:01.632-04:00

Noah Harris is a songwriter from Champaign, IL that I met probably seven years ago. My band was on an epically bad tour (which we named The Trail of Tears Tour after the fact because it had been so poorly booked). We shared a bill with Noah at a coffee shop in Wisconsin and I watched the room go still as he chased the demons out with his voice, acoustic guitar and strong fingers. Days later he

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-10423180494352507302009-06-06T19:58:00.004-04:002009-06-06T20:09:49.536-04:00

My EP, BULBZ, is available here. Stream away. Daniel - "Love Lockdown (Like Ripples") [Kanye West/Radiohead]Daniel - "Does Not Compute" [Prince]Daniel - "Cruise With Me" [Smokey Robinson]

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-90314865996064640682009-06-02T11:18:00.005-04:002009-06-06T20:09:27.646-04:00

BULBZ is a three-song covers EP I made. It's released today on Moodgadget. It's kind of a teaser for my full-length, which will be released later in the summer. I covered Smokey Robinson, Kanye West, Radiohead and Prince.You can choose your own price and download the EP here. BULBZ is a brief vision of Top 40 in a parallel universe of blown speakers and circuit-bent taste -

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-17631733100954164982009-05-31T11:34:00.002-04:002009-06-06T20:08:47.246-04:00

It's a little hokey to break it down like this, but jesus, Bernard Purdie!

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-7145127401488139682009-05-26T19:04:00.001-04:002009-05-26T19:07:24.344-04:00

(My post "In Search of Champ" has gotten more feedback, by far, than anything I've ever published on this blog (21 comments to date, compared to the average 1 or 2 tops). I'm glad everybody loves this track as much as me and it's amazing how many people went through the same steps I did to try and find it. Glad I could help.)The things I'm about to tell you are incriminating. Multiple laws were

Danielnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-85315947195604547352009-05-24T00:58:00.004-04:002009-05-24T01:07:46.853-04:00

[Thank-you, Soul Sides]DJ O-Dub "I Who Have Nothing"

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-68911343814609324782009-05-14T23:48:00.001-04:002009-05-14T23:50:06.570-04:00

What's not to love?

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-69313449386939832652009-05-14T22:25:00.001-04:002009-05-14T22:25:29.078-04:00

Deastro live in London.

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-13078518801023596682009-05-07T20:45:00.002-04:002009-05-07T21:03:57.432-04:00

Modeselektor + Apparat = ModeratAs an equation, this combo holds true. A good middle path between Apparat's gentle minimalism and Modeselektor's macro theatricality.The demonic dubstep of "Slow Match" reminded me of the post-reggae Turrets Syndrom in Lee "Scratch" Perry's latest Repentance. So ima post some of that too.Moderat - "Nasty Silence"Moderat - "Slow Match"Lee "Scratch" Perry - "Baby

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-35357958028086516542009-04-30T10:21:00.003-04:002009-04-30T13:40:22.541-04:00

Two of the three reasons I like hip hop are finishing new records right now. This is good.The third tenor of my hip hop triumvirate is Black Milk, so I'll post a little of him too and call it holy.Clipse (with Kanye West) - "Kinda Like a Big Deal" [From forthcoming Till the Casket Drops]Mos Def "Quiet Dog" [From forthcoming Ecstatic]Fat Ray and Black Milk (feat. Nametag) "Lookout"

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-54516697072580630872009-04-14T18:05:00.026-04:002009-04-15T00:08:16.762-04:00

I met someone recently who told me they occasionally read this blog and at some point in the conversation he told me he thought my subtitle, All Pro, No Con, was my way of saying that this blog is very professional. Funny. But no, it's just a little mission statement: that I try, as much as possible, to only write about things I like.This led to the topic of a recent conviction of mine: there is

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-39569936000864471682009-04-02T20:30:00.006-04:002009-04-08T14:41:39.699-04:00

In a recent interview Karin Dreijer Andersson, who records as Fever Ray and is one half of The Knife, said that her greatest current musical inspiration was the aesthetic of Miami Vice. She also mentioned Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight," which was famously used in a crucial scene from the Miami Vice pilot.This makes total sense listening to her music. I love those things too (part of the

Danielnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-63200391722623846132009-03-31T21:16:00.003-04:002009-03-31T21:30:42.463-04:00

I want to be Dan Boeckner, making rock records with my wife, having not one (Wolf Parade) but two (Handsome Furs) great bands, making videos where house shows turn into zombie romance epics. I love the new Handsome Furs record Face Control. Much more than the latest Wolf Parade even. Some of Boeckner's songs take a sec to find their power and it's got me back into longer forms, taking my time,

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-41554418280238334802009-03-26T12:30:00.005-04:002009-03-26T13:19:52.498-04:00

In November I did a post on the Numero Group's Eccentric Soul reissue series. I keep digging into these vaults and keep finding gold. Here are some of my latest favorites as well as a repost of my earlier blog."Don't Be Surprised" - Lynn Williams [Eccentric Soul: The Outskirts Of Deep City]"Never Walk Out On You" - Mitchell Mitchell, Gene King [Eccentric Soul Vol. 7: The Prix Label]"Yesterday's

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-20689252452191294662009-03-25T14:15:00.004-04:002009-03-25T14:41:47.704-04:00

The same man that wrote "Single Ladies" for Beyonce wrote "Umbrella" for Rihanna. He calls himself The Dream and with hits like that, who's going to argue. I tend to love the work of producers and writers who step out from behind the curtain to make their own records (Timbaland, Keri Hilson, Ryan Leslie) and it's good to see The Dream doing that with Love Vs. Money.Listening yesterday for the

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-26092531306163927922009-03-23T19:11:00.006-04:002009-03-23T19:41:16.656-04:00

Cale Parks has a new song called "Places We've Created" available for download at RCRDLBL.com today. It's totally worth the click.Cale is an old friend of mine who I mostly knew through his band Aloha. Friend, yes. But I've always considered myself a fan of his consummate musicianship (Don't let his slender, debonair appearance fool you - the man is an absolute savage on the kit). Years ago, in

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-46874255063396209522009-03-19T19:41:00.006-04:002009-03-19T19:49:02.477-04:00

I discovered Röyksopp many springs ago and their music will always carry the connotation of bloom for me. The new record Junior is out next week.Röyksopp - Miss it So Much Röyksopp - Silver CruiserHappy Up Here from Röyksopp on Vimeo.

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-15489316026641385072009-03-16T10:06:00.005-04:002009-03-16T11:01:02.181-04:00

I had the immense pleasure of seeing Raphel Saadiq and his bad band of bad badasses last night in Detroit. I almost never get out to see national acts anymore (thanks Ticketmaster), let alone the people whose records I've gone deep with (Al Green didn't come by on this tour, Radiohead hasn't hit Detroit in over a decade, etc.) so this was a little bit of Christmas. And the venue couldn't have

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-81951951326774733832009-03-04T18:31:00.003-05:002009-03-04T18:40:43.921-05:00

Earlier this year I posted on a Solange track that used music from a Boards of Canada track (the gorgeous and somewhat obscure "Slow This Bird Down"). I liked the way that top 40 artists were looking into experimental electronica acts for inspiration, and not even those groups' most popular tracks. It's happened again on Jazmine Sullivan's "Dream Big," which is sung over a bed of Daft Punk's "

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-47635217366306784922009-03-03T19:00:00.002-05:002009-03-03T19:00:46.852-05:00

Happy Up Here from Röyksopp on Vimeo.

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-59208836811147379772009-02-26T13:01:00.003-05:002009-02-26T13:58:30.116-05:00

Just when I thought I was done with the album as a format... first Jazmine Sullivan releases an entire record of even quality, and now this: Ryan Leslie's Ryan Leslie. Leslie calls all the shots, playing the instruments, writing the songs, producing the whole thing right up to the edge of slick. I particularly like his synth sounds, like the Clusterish bubbles on "Just Right." "How It Was

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-24775600729047583542009-02-22T21:56:00.009-05:002009-02-23T11:43:37.503-05:00

This was the year I, along with just about everybody else, discovered the amazing avant-garde dance music of Arthur Rusell thanks to Audika's essential reissues. Russell's distinctive recordings, created mostly in the '70s and '80s, are remarkable as much for their restistance to aging as their hypnotic beauty. Think later Talk Talk with tribal Eno-ness underneath.If you're already a fan, or if

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-12298349669136335252009-02-20T17:31:00.000-05:002009-02-20T17:32:07.796-05:00

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-82967883917226869352009-02-15T11:58:00.004-05:002009-02-15T12:12:32.793-05:00

Thanks to the DJ at Bar Nine for helping me feel correct last night. I was in Hell's Kitchen with some friends after a long, intense day and just needing to drink myself to relaxation. We walk in and I'm giving the door man my ID when it hits me, that feeling of relief that good soul music gives me. I know the song, "Still Waters." But I don't. I walk up to the DJ to get the scoop and he blows my

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-77891758372359934372009-02-14T10:00:00.001-05:002009-02-14T10:00:02.641-05:00

Because my life has turned into a giant fortune cookie it doesn't really surprise me that my ipod has randomly selected the same Telefon Tel Aviv track four days in a row, sometimes a few times a day, and that when I finally looked to see the name of the song it was "Stay Away From Being Maybe." I'm trying. I'm trying.[R.I.P. Charlie Cooper, one half of Telefon Tel Aviv, who passed last week just

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-35609397890542934362009-02-13T13:53:00.005-05:002009-02-14T12:26:54.113-05:00

I am standing in a flood of thought and inspiration these days. My mind is fixed on the idea of outsideness, of any instance of someone stepping outside of their programming. There is no finer example of this than Kanye West's challenging the black community on its homophobia-as-a-rule. It's not uncommon for a celebrity to be an activist for the causes they believe in, but the stances they take,

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-80134967992594492522009-02-11T18:00:00.001-05:002009-02-11T18:00:00.856-05:00

I have a piece in the Metro Times this week that is as close to what I want to do with writing as I've gotten yet (I'm not even close). I don't think I've ever wanted to get a story right as much as I did this one. It's a profile of Melanie Rutherford, a Pontiac, MI-based songwriter and singer who I discovered this winter after becoming obsessed with her guest appearance on Black Milk's "Bond 4

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-13794123046183506062009-02-10T22:04:00.006-05:002009-02-11T13:36:18.102-05:00

Speaking of questioning...Saturday's This American Life came at an inconvenient time for me. I was running a couple of crucial errands for my girlfriend, who was home sick with the flu. A few of these errands required me to get out of the car during this, one of the most captivating pieces of radio programming my ass has ever heard. I was so torn!This American Life "The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar"I

Danielnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-45007388901625303432009-02-09T21:14:00.004-05:002009-02-09T23:35:42.027-05:00

I loved Terry Gross's interview with Antony. As someone who's fascinated with questioning my suppositions, and withdrawing from society's psychological rules as much as possible in my own slow way, a trans-gender artist like Antony has a perspective I want to learn from.I had a similar experience reading Esquire's "What It's Like" piece on Coral Hull, a writer with multiple personalities.In

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-11844240494699500392009-02-06T11:43:00.005-05:002009-02-06T12:01:38.268-05:00

That's all I have to say, really. You need to get with Jazmine Sullivan. And that Top 40 music needs to follow her direction: i.e. lyrics can be smart without being preachy; modern and raw without being hedonistic. And that her record has the songs, but it also has the production, so everybody wins. And that she's got weapons-grade pipes, but she keeps it in check with real-soul phrasing and

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-12004705206932457722009-01-27T18:31:00.003-05:002009-01-27T18:51:50.735-05:00

The Hidden Ghost Balloon Ship long player is finally available today for download at Romantic Air Records' web site. This album is a phenomenal work of art. The group is largely the work of Detroit-area composer/artist Trevor Naud, done in collaboration with PAS/CAL drummer TLD. Like the name of the project, the music is mysterious, rare and elevated. Download it now and you might just survive

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-49150963306285501142009-01-22T17:00:00.007-05:002009-01-22T17:11:15.776-05:00

I know nothing about Hawthorne. Just some white kid from the burbs who moved to LA and ended up sounding black. Aside from the Marvin Gaye-on-grass intro and roomy backbeat, I'm hearing way more of a Jamaican influence than Detroit on the way he's singing those notes: dipping down, rather than up "out." Mayer Hawthorne and the County - "Just Aint Gonna Work Out"

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-41378846549806555452009-01-19T23:02:00.004-05:002009-02-14T12:27:39.019-05:00

There is so much cool music. But most of that cool music has nothing to do with me and my life, and I often suspect that it has nothing to do with anybody's life, including the people making it. And so what good is detachment?Once in a while, I'll see something by somebody who's cool but not afraid of sentiment. It takes skill to walk that fine line. I think that this song by Mr. Hudson walks it

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-86980634901822382662009-01-19T22:21:00.001-05:002009-01-19T22:21:59.775-05:00

So I'm standing in the living room of my friend A.J. making small talk when it happened. I had come by to borrow a midi controller and it was my first time setting foot in his home. We had digressed about cats, Christian rock and a pretty mindblowing concept for a screenplay based on A.J.'s recent breakup when I looked across the room and saw it. And my speech slurred to a stop. "Wha–? Is that...

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-52521509280147594742009-01-10T11:25:00.004-05:002009-01-10T12:04:21.480-05:00

Daniel Demaggio is a visual artist working out of the Detroit area. He's been drinking the next-level gravy for sure and I'm a little infatuated with his perverse and beautiful style. A friend hipped me to "Circuit Bending with Satan" yesterday and I can't stop watching it. In this bizarre short, Satan patiently explains to his child viewers how to hack into their music toys and rearrange the

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-3900057555295183452009-01-05T10:32:00.003-05:002009-01-05T11:29:41.590-05:00

The record is called Tronic. A made-up word that combines "The Chronic" + "Tron" = the second territory of rap. Black Milk is a disciple's disciple - a producer who's clearly separated the wheat from the chaff when it comes to the landfills of mostly-stupid urban music that have preceded him. But he sifts through it to pave his own way, like half-trained Jedi with the right amount of reverence

Danielnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-27801281312134435252008-12-22T11:47:00.015-05:002008-12-22T14:31:00.937-05:00

Photo by Matthew Nistor.Mp3 blogs are mostly an indie-rock medium. This is an mp3 blog, and yet, indie rock has never left me more cold than it does now. I spent time this year with probably 75% of the records listed on Pitchfork's year-end Top 50. It felt dutiful, like being in a relationship where you're trying to talk yourself into being in love. To indie rock, I say this: it's not you, it's

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-17627999677054202812008-12-20T13:17:00.003-05:002008-12-22T14:45:09.472-05:00

It's hard to shake my conditioning, raised, as I was, slanted as a row of pews. It's hard to delete the want of soulful communion with fellow travelers. Or to end the search for a liturgy that I can get behind, some kind of text that speaks to the bursts of reverence emanating from my own heart. Because those bursts seem to have a very uncommon frequency, and I've never found a hymnal that could

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-88861503517727833422008-12-15T23:01:00.010-05:002008-12-16T00:23:09.946-05:00

Photo by Matthew NistorI really hate the idea of making lists of things I like. It seems a little petty and like a symptom of cultural gluttony. But I also know that I read the lists others make at this time every year and that it works as a filter for me so that I can get a sense of what to go look for. I'm at a conflicted point in my life about culture - feeling both that there's just too much

Danielnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-73389206685320042562008-12-10T13:32:00.004-05:002008-12-10T13:38:50.432-05:00

This is my all-time favorite Christmas track. It's sex in a can. Julie London just kills it.Julie London - "I'd Like You For Christmas"

Danielnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-35332131451393281992008-12-06T12:04:00.023-05:002008-12-08T10:03:22.450-05:00

Followers of the Hebrew g-d believe that h-s name is so holy it can't be spoken, only referred to. Muslims believe it's a sin to make an image of their prophet, and aboriginal Australians won't let you take their photograph lest you capture their soul. I'm a shitty mystic, but there is something about the music of Christian Fennesz that makes me want to avert my descriptive gaze - to shuffle in

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-9016034266180131762008-11-23T11:44:00.008-05:002009-11-20T20:11:23.090-05:00

Love him or hate him, Kanye West is simply the most interesting thing happening in pop music right now and before his style-shifting new album 808s and Heartbreaks could even drop it's been something to both anticipate and argue about. Not to add to the glut, but let me add to the glut.I guess at some point I started looking to Kanye to become what Bjork was in the mid to late '90s, the avant

Danielnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-39952994092159378712008-11-20T17:21:00.014-05:002008-11-24T12:16:35.846-05:00

(L-R, Trevor Naud and LTD)Back in June I leaked some early mixes of Hidden Ghost Balloon Ship, a new project of my good friend Trevor Naud in collaboration with Pas/Cal drummer LTD. (I hesitate to mention that Trevor is kin because I don't want to imply that my fascination with his music is in some way pro-rated by my affection for him as a person. The majesty of Trevor's gift is wide and

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-33243265444963951502008-11-17T21:14:00.013-05:002008-11-20T18:45:43.127-05:00

For "Single Ladies" and its accompanying video alone, Beyonce had my jaw-dropped awe. But her performance of it this past weekend on SNL only furthered underscored my deepening suspicion that angels once walked the earth mating freely with humans, and that their progeny are gorgeous big-bootied divas with digitally-perfect banshee voices, special-action swivel hips and complexions as golden and

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-68426424156904254512008-11-11T13:42:00.004-05:002008-11-12T09:47:25.991-05:00

Q-tip has returned, but I have a confession: I'm only just discovering his solo work and his old band A Tribe Called Quest, both at the same time. I'm not a devotee yet, but I adore his flow and I'm always up for rhymes this thoughtful. This is from his new record The Renaissance. Can I just say that it's so good to hear D'Angelo's voice again:Q-Tip - "Believe (feat. D'Angelo)" This is what

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-43999555873713115782008-11-09T15:02:00.005-05:002008-11-09T15:20:58.767-05:00

True or false: Rick James and Neil Young used to be in a band together, called the Mynah Byrds.From Wiki:James and [bassist] Palmer soon formed a new Mynah Birds lineup with guitarists Tom Morgan and Xavier Taylor, and drummer Rick Mason. In early 1966, the Mynah Birds auditioned for the Motown label in Detroit. Morgan was unhappy with the label's attitude towards the musicians and left, with

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-74366394506481160552008-11-08T01:26:00.001-05:002008-11-09T12:18:15.659-05:00

No archival music project that I know of has unearthed more quality forgotten music than Buda Music's Ethiopiques series, which restored and re-presented a wealth of Ethiopian jazz from the '60s and '70s. I spent a good year picking through those audio mines - for every gold nugget there are mounds of granite - and it was worth it to get ahold of something that sounded so harmonically and

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-42068960731835804322008-11-05T08:19:00.001-05:002008-11-05T09:13:55.388-05:00

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-47282829410560051862008-10-30T15:41:00.007-04:002008-10-30T16:51:28.221-04:00

I just wrapped up production and mixing for Millions of Brazilians, a real up-and-coming Detroit band and a fine bunch of idiots. My so-called production consisted of shitting synthesizer over their rock tracks and then editing and mixing in as much of it as they would let me. On "Happy Dagger," though, they put a stop to it and told me I had gone to far. "Fine," I said, "then I'm doing a remix."

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-73564517991231632842008-10-29T19:22:00.005-04:002008-10-31T10:00:58.290-04:00

Note: Blogspot took down this John Legend entry a few days ago. There was no discussion, no requests to remove offending content or to stream my mp3s instead of hosting them. They just sent me an email saying: "Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that certain content in your blog infringes upon the copyrights of others." I went to look

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-5438921823332206632008-10-26T20:56:00.005-04:002008-10-29T10:29:11.973-04:00

I thought there was something familiar about "I Will Not Apologize" from the new The Roots album Rising Down. And then I had it: it reminded me of Camp Lo. These guest spots by Porn and Dice Raw have that staccato, machine-gun-in-slo-mo rhythmic approach that I love so much about Camp Lo's Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede. Camp Lo's Uptown Saturday Night is one of the few rap albums I will listen to

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-62802071746030771562008-10-21T21:33:00.009-04:002008-10-23T01:00:11.179-04:00

There are a lot of reasons why I failed to listen to You & Me, the new album by The Walkmen, when it was released this summer. Most of those had nothing to do with The Walkmen at all and everything to do with the fact that I've drowned myself in a hot sea of black music. But to be frank, I had also lost a lot of the love I once had for the handsome New York-based quintet, its preppy clothes, its

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-77294926337867154762008-10-17T11:23:00.002-04:002008-10-17T11:27:13.441-04:00

Simone Pace is one of my favorite drummers of all time and is also sickeningly cool."This video joins Simone Pace, best known as one-third of Blonde Redhead, on one of his vintage Italian motorcycles, from an East Village garage, across the Brooklyn bridge, to the band's recording studio. Simone shares some of the design elements that make him a fan of Motoguzzis, offers some insight on Blonde

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-36463032066902359672008-10-06T10:38:00.003-04:002008-10-06T11:17:33.257-04:00

I'm going to take a break for a moment from all of the R&B and old Soul I've been writing about and focus on the white man's music for a sec. I've been wanting to do a post for a while about Kansas City hardcore, a scene and a brand of sound that was way ahead of its time and that was a huge influence on me at one point. But trying to get all musical-historian on this topic is probably out of my

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-42798686482782717352008-09-30T20:43:00.010-04:002008-09-30T22:34:14.175-04:00

I'm reading an excellent bio of the Motown label by Gerald Posner. My ass is engrossed! The stories are unbelievable, almost as unbelievable as the music. So there will probably be a lot of Motown-related posts coming on this blog.Diana Ross... she comes across pretty badly in the book. Like just this side of demon. Posner paints the picture of a skinny, pretty young woman with cosmos-sized

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-79931257553338342652008-09-27T00:56:00.005-04:002008-09-27T01:19:40.860-04:00

Even growing up in Detroit, even having the Motown sound in my blood, I never thought much of Smokey Robinson. That opinion is being rehabilitated. Somehow an mp3 of his, "Cruisin,'" ended up on my iPod. That tune filled me to overflowing with happiness and lightingbolts of soul and I listened to it non-stop for days. Now that I'm doing some digging in old soul dumptsters, I've found some real

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-51092272169800217182008-09-22T22:16:00.008-04:002008-09-24T19:00:45.492-04:00

It's no secret that the way music is made, sold and listened to is in a state of reinvention and that many of the old models are getting shown the door. A perfect example of an old practice that's outstayed its welcome is the frustrating delay between the white-hot moment of conception - that original burst of inspiration when the artist believes in their new work the most - and the moment a

Danielnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-77331362974823509102008-09-18T22:51:00.003-04:002008-09-18T23:32:31.582-04:00

I don't know if I even dig this song, but I'm glad to see that some of today's pop and soul artists are listening to good stuff on the side (e.g. Kanye reconstructing Daft Punk for "Stronger.")This is from Solange Knowle's (Beyonce's little sister) new album Sol-Angel & The Hadley St. Dreams, which is being marketed as another return to the classic soul sound that Amy Winehouse recaptured on her

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-19008193397733867322008-08-20T16:37:00.017-04:002008-08-20T23:16:57.339-04:00

A few months ago, in a post I did on the new Al Green, Lay It Down (which is an even better record than I realized at the time), I ended with a prayer for the return of D'Angelo. I guess I was feeling nostalgic. Lay It Down was produced by members of the Roots and features guest appearances by some of today's better soul singers like Anthony Hamilton and John Legend. It comes off like a real

Danielnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-4769581864120453202008-08-18T23:27:00.005-04:002008-08-20T19:58:29.651-04:00

Studio footage of the new buff, slimmed-down Timbaland and the new paunchy, shorn Busta in the studio goofing around. Timbaland pulls a hot shit beat straight out of his ass and Busta is all "Whoooo-eeee!"Best quote, from Busta: Oooh, there go that foul ass 808 right there son.

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-52075647322411709802008-08-13T07:29:00.004-04:002008-08-13T07:38:42.747-04:00

So, I've been an absentee father these past few weeks on this blog. That's bad. What's good is that I've been getting some things published on the side as well as working on a record. It's not that these are more noble pursuits than passing on the fire of good music to my beautiful children, but throw in a soul crushing contract job with no internet access and you end up with a cease fire on

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-37869913018144451362008-07-29T20:44:00.005-04:002008-12-11T10:42:49.476-05:00

This is a very important piece of music to me and I share it with everybody that I know who loves their music with a deepness. It's the Durufle Requiem. I first heard it about ten years ago on a classical radio station in Phoenix, where I was visiting my grandmother. I remember the sensation of driving through the desert in her luxury car as the "Introit" came on, sealed inside the

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-40547043027578445832008-07-20T20:28:00.006-04:002008-12-11T10:42:49.702-05:00

For anybody taking notes, we here at the Institute of the Deep and Real have by now covered two of the three "masters" of Jamaican soul singing: Anton Ellis and Ken Boothe. I give these guys the reverential status treatment because they are the most innovative and most expressive and have the deepest, most consistent bodies of work out of many brilliant and under-known Jamaican soul singers. I

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-63486076599022146822008-07-17T23:16:00.012-04:002008-12-11T10:42:49.838-05:00

I can't escape the pull of NOMO's hypnotic new Ghost Rock and have been listening non-stop for days. One of the best tracks is called "Rings," which would have made a fine album title as well considering it's all harmonic cycles and endlessly expanding circles on the pool of rhythm. In fact, "Rings" could just as well be a name for their genre itself, since Ghost Rock will carve out for NOMO a

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-32018294140929031362008-07-15T19:47:00.007-04:002008-12-11T10:42:50.220-05:00

JavelinsI first moved back to Detroit in 1999, after living out of state for about five years during my late teens and early 20s. This meant that I basically had to discover everything that was happening in Detroit music fresh, since before I left I wasn't even of legal drinking age. I met a lot of bands then and a few labels, almost none of which still exist - that is except for Suburban Sprawl,

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-21336210213268375112008-07-14T11:20:00.005-04:002008-12-11T10:42:50.976-05:00

I like other things besides music:A good book: The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert. This is the true story of Eustace Conway, a naturalist and authentic badass. When Conway was still in high school (in the '80s), he decided he liked living outside better than indoors and literally moved out. He graduated from his state college with honors, living in a teepee the entire time. A little while

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-3777677856838737862008-07-08T13:16:00.008-04:002008-12-11T10:42:51.402-05:00

Maurice Fulton is half of Mu and Mu gave me the crazies. By the time I heard 2004's Afro Finger and Gel I had grown a bit soft and smooth, like pudding. Music didn't feel that abrasive anymore, just done-before. There was much to love, but the rub was gone, and so was the itch. The last time I had been made a believer in music as barbed wire was nearly a decade previous when Fugazi's Red Medicine

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-13541089156438875942008-07-03T13:30:00.003-04:002008-12-11T10:42:51.599-05:00

I had to take the week off from Fone Culturing to attend to some other personal things, one of which is actually making music. But a few comments yesterday on my post in March about the new Jamie Lidell reminded me to say something: I take it all back! I love Jim. I love everything about it. I don't care if it's a nostalgia piece, it feels completely authentic to me - I just had to give it some

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-60366573094813357832008-06-26T23:25:00.008-04:002008-12-11T10:42:52.043-05:00

Click here for Part 1.After the crushing bad luck of getting dropped by their label the week of their record release, more misfortune followed. American major Geffen Records scooped them up at the tail end of the '90s indie rock bubble, which saw major labels impulsively signing everything from Urge Overkill to Shudder to Think to Jesus Lizard. Initially this was a boon, and Swervedriver

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-54493492034735082862008-06-25T23:28:00.007-04:002008-12-11T10:42:53.601-05:00

So, I'm kind of obsessed with this video now.

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-44660059391784507652008-06-25T10:37:00.003-04:002008-06-25T17:29:44.750-04:00

I prefer to imagine that the images in this Jimmy Cliff video are not from a movie but are directed - in random, stream-of-consciousness perfection. The way Cliff moves while singing, holding his cigarette in the middle of his fingers the whole time... the rastas flying the kite on the beach... the rolling of a baseball-bat-sized spliff... the graffetti message: "I WAS HERE BUT I DISAPEAR"... the

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2726540735784646391.post-74870552647956881052008-06-24T23:21:00.003-04:002008-12-11T10:42:53.631-05:00

I found a copy of Swervedriver's first album, Raise (1991), in a Springfield, Missouri pawn shop. This was spring of '95, during my freshman year in college. It was lying dusty in a cardboard box alongside a few other beat-up CDs and I probably paid a dollar for it. At the time I was hungry for anything soaking in massive guitar blast - Catherine Wheel, Smashing Pumpkins, Slowdive, stuff like

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0