I just Nabcasted out my first Nabcast...  yay for me.  It's the aforementioned "Discoveries"

As this would be the first song in this Nabcast, I was thinking about trying to find the perfect song to show off how cool I could ever be... carefully scanning my iTunes library for just the right balance of interesting, edgy, and artistic.  Then I realized that was just completely moronic and totally against the spirit of the Nabcast anyway.

The spirit is discovery and so, I said to myself, I'll just jump right in with whatever caught my ear recently, and first impressions be damned.

THE TRACK
I Will Survue by the Puppini Sisters

What a shock this was!  Here I am, listening to a cover of the perennially aggravating and widely over-covered "I Will Survive"... and loving every second of it!  This comes from a very new group of young women modeling themselves after The Andrews Sisters and other old school, vocal groups.  It's a good old American subgenre (50's vocal jazz) that generally got boring over 40 years ago and was apparently just waiting for a few young European women to light a fire under it's behind.

I'm a big fan of groups that find something new in something old.  Or anyone with the nerve to put a disco ball in an ice cream parlor.  Not to mention groups that have outfits.  Groups with outfits need to make a comeback.  So, good marks all around for this Italian/English team of three singers and three musicians.  Their arrangements are very clever and very fun.

HOW I FOUND THEM
KCRW's Today's Top Tune Podcast

KCRW is a radio station in LA that has been pumping out great music and NPR programming since 1978 (and has existed in one form or another since 1945).  It has lead to me discovering all types of music in the last 7 or 8 years.  They have been streaming their station over the internet and podcasting since the technologies became available (you can even listen to them on your Nabaztag!).  I remember, years ago, hearing Beck as a guest DJ on their "Morning Becomes Eclectic" show and being completely blown away.  In that broadcast alone, I found Sigur Ros, The Beta Band, and Belle and Sebastian... not to mention a crazy old Ween sing I'd never heard.

So, naturally, I started getting their podcasts the second I could.  Sometimes, I love what I find, other times... not so much.  Anyway, it's almost always something I didn't know about the day before.

Happy Hunting!
BK

Today's Track
"Nothing Without You" by Pigeon John

Continuing my new trend of new artists that begin with P, I give you Pigeon John.  He's easily one of the best rappers I've heard in a while, and every new song I hear surprises me with just how good it is musically and lyrically.  As much as I love hip-hop, the fact that so few artists actually have real music is just silly.  I'm all for sampling... but only to a point.  Pigeon John has a really organic sound, usually very energetic, sometimes more sombre, as with this track.  His raps are diverse, touching a lot of different topics.  This track is about the woman of his life (I'll assume his wife, as this is not the first song of his like this).  Another favorite of mine, called "Matter" is a funny, philosophical riff on trying to have a zen attitude.  And yet another, "Highschool Reunion" recounts how being an "aspiring rapper" makes you look like a joke to your 9 to 5 former classmates... etc., etc.

I wish more rappers would take as creative approach to their music as they do to their rhymes... thankfully we have people like Pigeon John, who is one of the elite few as far as that goes.

How I Found Him
CBC Radio 3

If a country only has three radio stations, what is the likelihood that one of them will be dedicated to independent, new music?  Sounds pretty low to me, but there it is, staring me right in the face.  I found CBC 3 just browsing around the stations included in iTunes' radio tab and was hooked immediately.  They actually, honestly are "breaking new sound," as their tagline so righteously claims.  I found a couple of great acts on this station pretty quickly, and I know I will again, so you can expect more from this station to wind up in the Nabcast.

At first, I thought all the music was Canadian, so I was sure that Pigeon John was based in Toronto or something.  I said, "Wow!  When did Canada get such a kicking rap scene!?"  The answer turned out to be "never" as Pigeon John is from LA...

PS - You can listen to CBC Radio 3 on your Nabaztag!!!  It's in the "Music" section of Nablife.

Enjoy!
BK

THE TRACK
"D.A.N.C.E." by Jusitce

Snappy!  This Paris based rising electro phenom really knocked my socks off with this one.  A fun, Jackson 5 infused song that makes you want to... well you get the idea.  The energy in this one is just infectious.  Sadly, the guy's other tracks seem pretty weak... oh well.  The best thing, however, is the video.  This song has an absolutely screaming wicked video.

HOW I FOUND HIM
KEXP's Song of the Day podcast

KEXP is an all online, completely listener supported tube of kick ass.  You can stream the station or download a load of killer podcasts.  Either way, you're bound to find all types of great new stuff (generally in the area of indie rock, but as you can tell from the song above, they are not averse to playing other genres).  This is another station I found in the never-ending search for good, free music online.  After I found them, I have been a dedicated listener ever since... especially on ly Rabbit, as you can listen to their radio stream right on your tag/tag (check the music section, noob!).

Cheers,
BK

THE TRACK
"In the One Mic" by DJ Johnny Red (Nas vs. Helmet Mashup)

I love Nas.  I like Helmet.  So it wasn't too surprising that I dug the hell out of this.  For me, "One Mic" is one of the pinnacles of American rap.  Its brilliance and intensity are second to none, both in the clean and unedited versions (which is generally unimaginable).  I am blown away every single time I hear this song and use it often when a "rap is/isn't poetry" discussion pops up. 

Anyway, the vocals are really intense, but the beat of the original song, while perfectly serviceable, isn't quite as intense, so the track was kind of calling out for this kind of a mash up.  So the always mashing DJ Johnny Red came through with this hard rocking take on the Queens rapper's instant classic.  I thoroughly enjoyed this, but it is not the best or most creative mash up I've ever heard (a distinction which falls squarely onto the shoulders of Dangermouse's "Grey Album," which may be the best thing that ever happened to planet Earth).  Also, going through Johnny Red's repetoire, his mash ups are generally a bit lackluster, though certainly fun.  His YouTube channel has all of his tracks as simple, mash up videos, the best of which may be another hard rocking rap song: "Radio Dig," Dead Prez mashed up with Mudvayne.

Sadly, this dude has the audacity to do much worse things like sullying Metallica with Fergie.  Yuck.

WHERE I FOUND IT/HIM/THEM
Mashup town's blog

Mashup town is the place to go to find the best "mash up" songs and videos.  I remember painfully waiting for odd, late night radio shows to give me my mash up fix back when the phenomenon started in the late nineties.  I remember AC/DC vs. Eminem and other such awesomeness.  Well, now adays we have RSS feeds and podcasts (and Nabcasts), so radio's set in stone schedules can go suck it.  If you dare enter this blog (with accompanying podcast), prepare to lose hours of your life as they have a giant library of really, really awesome MP3's just waiting for you to procrastinate to.

Enjoy!
BK

After a teeny tiny vacation, I return with:

THE TRACK
"Paris is Burning" by St. Vincent

Wow wow and double wow.  This young talent formerly of The Polyphonic Spree (which instrument(s) she played there seems to be unknown) has just hit the ground running with her first solo record.  I've been listening to the tracks she has available on her myspace page for the last hour or so and I can not believe how good they are.  I think "Now Now" is my favorite for the moment, but I couldn't find a download of it anywhere.  So you'll get Paris is Burning, which demonstrates her ability to craft really beautiful and clever songs as well as everything else I've heard so far.

Go listen to more of this young lady immediately.  She's a star.

HOW I FOUND HER
www.metacritic.com

What I do when I'm bored:  Go to metacritic.com's music section.  Look at the albums with extraordinarily high ratings.  Give them a listen.

It's a good formula and has worked well before.  So, today, I gave it a go and when I saw a review that said 1) She's amazing and 2) she was a member of The Polyphonic Spree (a band I love with no reservations), I had to see what that grand cult of Texan Sun music had birthed.  Low and behold, she is a song-writer of absolutely extraordinary capabilities and I guarantee this will not be a secret for very long.

I can't wait for some more Polyphonic off-shoots...

Cheers,
BK

BK, my 18 year old son was in the room when Imaginary Places was played by Harvie. He immediately asked, "What's that?" with great interest. Normally he has no patience with Harvie since he sometimes interrupts television viewing. I think my boy is already upstairs looking up Busdriver! Thanks for keeping me one step hipper than my teen
Porter