日志

IZIA, Wu-Tang Clan, Suprême NTM, Assassin, Nirvana, IAM, Bob Marley & The Wailers, La Spirale, Django Reinhardt, Squarepusher, The Prodigy, Necro, Ill Bill, Cypress Hill, Craig Armstrong, Heather Nova, La Coka Nostra, Scala & Kolacny Brothers, Keny Arkana, Bérurier Noir, Birdy Nam Nam, System of a Down, dead prez, Le Peuple de l'Herbe, Beastie Boys, Busta Rhymes, Alpha & Omega, House of Pain, Seth Gueko, Aphex Twin, Profecy, DJ Krush, Prefuse 73, R.A. the Rugged Man, Rage Against the Machine, Laurent Garnier, Dead Can Dance, Kool Keith, High Tone, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Erik Truffaz, Portishead, Wax Poetic, Johnny Cash, Foreign Beggars, Lady Sovereign, Sinéad O'Connor, Vitalic, Radikal Dub Kolektiv, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Jan Garbarek, Svinkels, Love Spirals Downwards, KRS-One, Dave Clarke, DJ Cam, The Doors, Clint Mansell, Lisa Gerrard, Fat Jon, Les Gourmets, The Beatles, Johannes Heil, KoЯn, Sleater-Kinney, Wax Tailor, B-Real, J Dilla, Filastine, Two Fingers, Asian Dub Foundation, Eminem, Jefferson Airplane, Autumn's Grey Solace, Gym Class Heroes, Shpongle, Herbie Hancock, Radiohead, Rockin' Squat, Mike Patton, Björk, Esbjörn Svensson Trio, Waldeck, Millencolin, Massive Attack, This Ascension, Lordz of Brooklyn, Ensemble Badila, Snoop Dogg, The Problemaddicts, Dub Syndicate, Groundation, Wolf Myer Orchestra, Beth Orton, Oh No, Edward "Kid" Ory, The Offspring, Venetian Snares, Alexander Kowalski, Rageous Gratoons, Noir Désir, Ben Harper, Nas, Ideal J, Verbose, Micropoint, The Black Seeds, Metallica, General Elektriks, Buraka Som Sistema, The Chemical Brothers, Thom Yorke, Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke, Ayọ, EZ3kiel, Amon Tobin, Mano Negra, King of Conspiracy, Bob Marley, Moondog, 25G, Jimi Hendrix, Bauchklang, Moderat, Sigur Rós, DJ Muggs & Planet Asia, Louis Armstrong, Son Doobie, Tryo, Kronos Quartet, Iration Steppas, Looptroop, Mysa, Nine Inch Nails, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Olympic Gramofon, Leftfield, Fairy, Joy Division, 2Pac, Peace Orchestra, Eek-A-Mouse, Snowgoons, Heiko Laux, The Temptations, Le Trio Joubran, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Guru, Flunk, Earl Hines, Erykah Badu, Burning Spear, Mary Lou Williams, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Oi Va Voi, 80kidz, Infected Mushroom, Animal Collective, The Quantic Soul Orchestra, NOMAK, Year of No Light, Horace Andy, The Cinematic Orchestra, Red Snapper, Nneka, Leila, NOFX, Lucky Thompson, Cal Tjader, Le Klub des 7, Jeff Buckley, Manu Chao, Wagon Christ, Drummers of the Societe Absolument Guinin, Barney Wilen, Ol' Dirty Bastard, UNKLE, Erik Truffaz & Sly Johnson, The Blue Stars, Underworld, Shurik'N, Arsonists, Madeleine Peyroux, The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, Nostalgia 77, Terry Callier, Medine, Fingathing, Big Daddy Kane, Macka B, Keith Jarrett Trio, Iration Steppas Meet D. Rootical, De La Soul, Chali 2na, Lee "Scratch" Perry & The Upsetters, John Coltrane, DJ Food, Sergent Garcia, Rockamovya, Antonio Vivaldi, Notorious B.I.G., Sidney Bechet et Claude Luter, Tracy Chapman, Angélique Kidjo, EPMD, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, St. Germain, Daft Punk, Fat Freddy's Drop, Fatboy Slim, Johnny Clarke, RJD2, René Thomas, Soul Assassins, Deftones, Kaophonic Tribu, Linkin Park, The Skatalites, Muse, Belleruche, Sunflower Caravan, Les Reines Prochaines, DJ Shadow, Mass Hysteria, múm, Кочани Оркестар, Israel Vibration, Jurassic 5, Gelka, Lionel Hampton, Lost in Hildurness, Hilight Tribe, Shadow Dancer, Elek Bacsik, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Tânia Ârab, Troublemakers, William Orbit, Plastikman, The Specials, CunninLynguists, dead prez & DJ Green Lantern, Mansfield.TYA, Thievery Corporation, Raphael Saadiq, Smooth, Kery James, DJ Muggs vs. GZA/Genius, Love Is Colder Than Death, Miss Kittin & The Hacker, YAS, Chet Baker, Pendulum, Claude Bolling, Hubert Rostaing, Georges Brassens, Refractory, Scarface, Bill Coleman, Funkdoobiest, Telefon Tel Aviv, Lightning Bolt, Morcheeba, DJ Mitsu The Beats, Tricky, Hafdís Huld, Sidsel Endresen & Christian Wallumrød & Helge Sten, Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse, Akhenaton, Alif Tree, Tiken Jah Fakoly, Maurice Meunier, TAT, Carl Craig & Moritz von Oswald, Stéphane Grappelli, Black Uhuru, Kid Loco, Common, Ellen Allien, Roots Manuva, Joris Voorn, Method Man, Jah'licious, Hux Flux, Toots Thielemans, Blockhead, Rokia Traoré, Max Romeo, Cœur de Pirate, Method Man & Redman, RND, Volta & FX909, Venetian Snares & Speedranch, The Rolling Stones, BHASS Project, Orchestre National de Jazz, Pink Floyd, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Michel Legrand, Sayag Jazz Machine, Emilie Simon, Late Night Fruit, Buddy Banks, Pan•American, Booba, DJ Muggs vs. Planet Asia, The Kumba Mela Experiment, Jeff Mills, Ulytau, ZAMAN 8 & Hafez Modir, Ematom, Harmonic 313, Freestylers, The Gladiators, Control Machete, The Bush Chemists, Twista, Orange Street, The Roots, Michael Jackson, Los Hermanos, Dub Incorporation, RZA, The Ananda Shankar Experience and State of Bengal, Da Taz, Thelonious Monk, Limp Bizkit, Mr. Oizo, 雅-miyavi-, Ella Fitzgerald, Sex Pistols, AC/DC, Minty Fresh Beats, Gus Gus, Gideon, Themselves, Parabellum, K2R Riddim, Easy Star All-Stars, Rhythm & Sound, The Toraia Orchestra Of Algiers, Lee "Scratch" Perry & King Tubby, Keziah Jones, Ataraxia, TTC, Immortal Technique, Coldcut, A Tribe Called Quest, Lali Puna, Rhoda Scott & Kenny Clarke, Iron Maiden, Dizzy Gillespie, Pierre Michelot, Umek, Miles Davis, Gang Starr, DJ Muggs, Orbital, OutKast, Anthony Rother, Donald Byrd Quintet, Diego, Igorrr, Raekwon, Pharoahe Monch, Dream Theater, Anoushka Shankar, Sonny Criss, The Smashing Pumpkins, K's Choice, Massive Attack vs. Mad Professor, The Herbaliser, Blakroc, Lenny Kravitz, Cujo, Cosma, Killarmy, Big Punisher, Jamiroquai, Charles Mingus, Missak, Burial, Bernard Peiffer and his Saint-Germain-des-Prés Orchestra, Albert Nicholas, Édith Piaf, Mix Master Mike, Maceo Parker, Rae & Christian, Steel Pulse, Hocus Pocus, Opeth, Dee Nasty, Tom Waits, DJ Fresh, Manu le Malin, Khoiba, Animaltek, Peter Tosh, Steppenwolf, Alter Ego, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Boards of Canada, Red Hot Chili Peppers9, Bernard Zacharias et ses solistes, Ill Bill & Necro, Sublime, Crystal Distortion, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, GZA/Genius, Salmonella Dub, Harold Nicholas et son Orchestre, Grems, Missy Elliott, Sammy Price & Lucky Thompson, The Herbaliser Band, Ghostface Killah, Cranes, Slaine, Necro & Ill Bill, Lars Klein, Outlines, Saïan Supa Crew, John Dahlbäck, Junior Murvin, Delinquent Habits, Dubians, Arom & Gourmets Beatclub, Afu-Ra, Slide Hampton, Agoria, 2Pac & The Outlawz, Archive, The Alchemist, Somogo, Toots and The Maytals, Philip Glass, Ray Charles, Sia, Marcel et son Orchestre, Trust, Aretha Franklin, Sinsemilia, Public Enemy, Buck Clayton, James Brown, Zenzile & High Tone, The Streets, Adam F, Oscar Peterson, The Abyssinians, Improvisators Dub, Yuksek, Alanis Morissette, Alici, CAKE, Up, Bustle and Out, Art Blakey, Scan X, DMX, Etikal Lab, Lady B, Keith Jarrett, David Carretta, Cocteau Twins, Lhasa de Sela, Jacques Brel, Charlie Singleton, Dimitri from Paris, Bonobo, Emmanuel Top, CéU, Kosheen, Jungle Brothers, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Nada Surf, Cercle Rouge, Monolake, Marilyn Manson, Rachid Taha, Alain Goraguer, Dub Pistols, Jimmy Archey, Pat Metheny, Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass, Jimmy Riley, Wailing Souls, Taigaz, Air, Triston Palmer, Donald Byrd, Promoe, Ice Cube, Gang Gang Dance, Barbara Morgenstern, Technasia, Dubmood, Josh Wink, Eddy Louiss, Africa Combo & Bugge Wesseltoft.

Once again here is another monthly recap of the highest voted and most read news stories on videogame music posted to the Nobuooo website.

November 2009 saw the Data Beez chiptune micro tour take place on the West Coast. 2 Player Productions posted their first episode of Penny Arcade TV. Hiroki Kikuta and Hitoshi Sakimoto shared a conversation on writing RPG music for the Super Nintendo. Soundtracks for Tekken 6 and Aquaria were released online, together with Saitone's 8-bit MJ tribute and Machinarium's bonus EP.

Here is a selection of the most highly rated and read items for November.

News

Gaijin Games sponsoring Blip Festival 2009

Gaijin Games plans to release Bit Trip Void in the U.S. on 11/23 as a Thanksgiving week gift for 600 Nintendo Points, writes GameSetWatch. The company also announced that it is sponsoring New York City's Blip Festival 2009 this December. Both Nullsleep and Bit.Shifter, who guest starred on Bit.Trip Core's soundtrack, are slated to perform at the three-day chiptune concert.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6376

VGM Spotlight - Shadow Hearts: Covenant

Composer and video game enthusiast Mattias Häggström Gerdt (also known as Another Soundscape) analyzes and shines some light on the soundtrack for Shadow Hearts: Covenant. The main focus is how Yoshitaka Hirota's music helps set the mood for the game and portray characters.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6480

Piano Collections KINGDOM HEARTS Field & Battle site goes live

A second CD of piano arrangements of Kingdom Hearts music will be published by Square Enix on January 13. The theme of the album (catalog number SQEX-10177) will be field and battle music, composed and produced by Yoko Shimomura. An excerpt can be heard on the official website at Square Enix.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6369

Giant Robot & Attract Mode hosting West Coast Chiptunes Micro Tour

Videogame culture blog Attract Mode is teaming up with Giant Robot to bring together the East and West coast chiptune scenes for a West Coast micromusic mini-tour starting next week. The tour kicks off on November 7th in Los Angeles, with a chipmusic workshop at the Japanese American National Museum. Afterwards, head over to the Chop Suey Cafe for a live show featuring Trash80, minusbaby, StarPause and Crashfaster with visuals by Daniel Rehn and Paris Treantafeles.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6357

MAGFest VIII announces final bands

Game Music 4 All has news of the MAGFest VIII band lineup set for January 1-4 in Alexandria, Virginia. Groups include ArmCannon, Metroid Metal, Temp Sound Solutions, Rare Candy, A_Rival, The Smash Brothers, Armadillo Tank, This Place is Haunted, The OneUps, Select Start, Entertainment System and The Megas.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6422

Zelda: Spirit Tracks - Link's New Instrument

Nintendo is making use of the musical potential of the DS microphone in their upcoming Zelda title Spirit Tracks. Link's spirit pipes are a set of colored pan pipes, played by blowing into the DS microphone while cycling through different colored instruments with the stylus. They will be needed to overcome certain obstacles through the course of the game, and add an extra interactive audio element.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6390

Tekken 6 tracklist, samples online

Sweep Records has posted the tracklist and eight samples for their three-disc Tekken 6 Original Soundtrack. The artists include members of SuperSweep, Namco Bandai, Basiscape and Monaca. Samples include Bound by Blood (Hitoshi Sakimoto), Fist Festival (Shinji Hosoe), Only One Fight (Ayako Saso), Arisa and Ｇ ～Blast ver.～ (Go Shiina), Artificial Ruins, (Satoru Kousaki), Karma (Akitaka Tohyama), and Yodeling in Meadow Hill (Keiichi Okabe). The album is due out December 9.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6455

GM4A review of Calling All Dawns by Christopher Tin

Anthony "genoboost" does a track by track review of the recently released debut album Calling All Dawns by Civilization IV composer Christopher Tin.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6426

R-Type Your Best, Our Best soundtrack samples online

Pre-orders of R-TYPE TACTICS II -Operation BITTER CHOCOLATE- in Japan will come with a best-of music CD collection called R-Type Your Best, Our Best. The Irem site currently has a sample from the original game, and the sampler CD will include tracks from R-Type II, III, Final, Tactics and other installments in the series.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6384

BioShock 2 Special Edition includes OST CD, vinyl LP

Randy Nelson of Joystiq has posted news that $100 BioShock 2 Special Edition will come with a 164-page hardcover art book, three posters, the orchestral score by Garry Schyman on CD and also on a vinyl LP. The game is due out February 9.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6438

8bit Saitone『MJ 8bit tribute mix』release information

Little Desk has an article posted on the upcoming chiptune Michael Jackson tribute by Tokyo-based artist Saitone. Thriller and Smooth Criminal are scheduled to be released on November 25 on iTunes, while music and video previews from the mix can be sampled on the artist's myspace page.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6402

Nobuooo October '09 - Highest Voted Items

10.09 saw continued coverage of TGS and the Persona Live in Velvet Room concert in Japan. Original soundtrack albums for Muramasa: The Demon Blade and Tekken 6 were announced. It was a good month for chip music as well, with debuts for Chiptuned Rockman, Wanna Hld Yr Handheld, and the Bit.Trip Beat soundtrack. These are among the highest rated/ most viewed items posted to Nobuooo during the month of October.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6381

Podcast

Nitro Game Injection #124: Swordfish Ride

Hiatus? What hiatus? Kyle & Larry are back to give you a dose of great game music. On this episode, the duo talk weather, surf rock, Captain Lou Albano, and of course, games and game music. Album reviews return to NGI, and the guys take an in-depth look at Metroid Metal’s newest release, Varia Suite.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6398

Video

Official Blip Festival 2009 promo online

The three-day music and arts festival returns to Brooklyn's Bell House December 17-19, presented by Manhattan arts organization The Tank, in partnership with NYC artist collective 8bitpeoples. 2 Player Productions has uploaded the official trailer, featuring the track Sitges Savepoint by Random.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6437

Super Street Fighter IV: Guy, Cody, Adon trailer

Joining Dee Jay, T. Hawk and Juri in Super Street Fighter IV will be fighters Guy and Cody from Final Fight, along wtih Adon from Street Fighter Alpha. Capcom's latest trailer features voice acting and battle techniques from the six newcomers, set to music by Hideyuki Fukasawa. The game is due out in Spring 2010.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6463

Penny Arcade TV - The Pilot

2 Player Productions' pilot episode of Penny Arcade TV is now online. The reality show covers Mike and Jerry's daily activities over the course of the 2009 Penny Arcade Expo, with cameos by Ron Gilbert, MC Frontalot, Wil Wheaton and other PAX personalities. Music is by Anamanaguchi, Random, Alex Mauer, Cheap Dinosaurs and Frontalot, with sound design by Gabe Liberti.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6452

View PixelJunk Shooter's first level

Q-Games' PixelJunk Shooter isn't out on the PS3's Playstation Network until December 10, but for now VG247 has ten minutes of footage of the first level of the game. Music is by High Frequency Bandwidth, one half of the techno group The Orb.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6470

Melolune IGF Demo

Plants vs. Zombies composer Laura Shigihara has submitted her role-playing game Melolune to this year's 12th annual Independent Games Festival. A new trailer displays the sprite-based art, voice acting, and music by Shigihara. More info on the story and gameplay is available on the official site.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6419

JulieHally L.E.D. Nation video debuts

VORC Records has released a promotional video for "256 e.p." due out on November 25. The EP combines energizing 8bit rock with male and female vocals sung in a robotic style. (Hally is a chiptune pioneer who recently produced Chiptuned Rockman.) Sweden's DreamHack is welcoming JulieHally and Saitone with open 8bit arms, ie a live performance, later this month.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6436

Releases

Aquaria Original Soundtrack now on Bandcamp

Alec Holowka's original score to the IGF-winning game Aquaria is now up on Bandcamp, where tracks can be sampled and the full album downloaded for $10. The download includes several additions to the score: a new song with voice actor Jenna Sharpe and remixes by Danny B and Brandon McCartin.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6443

Amanita releases free Machinarium Bonus EP

Jakub Dvorsky of Czech Republic-based indie game company Amanita has posted a bonus EP of music from Machinarium. The five tracks, not included in the official soundtrack album, are by tomas dvorak (Floex), available both streaming on the Amanita website and as mp3 downloads.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6446

Tekken 6 Arcade Soundtrack released on iTunes

In anticipation of Sweeprecord's three-disc soundtrack to be released December 9, Namco Sounds has put an abridged Tekken 6 Arcade soundtrack on sale on iTunes for $5.99. The digital album includes 17 tracks, including Break Theory by Keiichi Okabe, Artificial Ruins by Satoru Kousaki, Only One Fight by Ayako Saso, G by Go Shiina, Cemetery by Rio Hamamoto and Staffroll by Ryuichi Takada.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6482

Interviews

West Coast Chiptune Romp - Data Beez Q&A

Data Beez coverage continues with an interview with participants Adam Robezzoli of Attract Mode, chiptune musician starPause and visual artist Paris Graphics. The Q&As take place at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, where the chip music and portable visualizer workshop took place over the weekend.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6397

Concerto Tactics: The Music of Hiroki Kikuta and Hitoshi Sakimoto

This informal conversation between game composers takes a look at Super Nintendo titles Secret of Mana and Ogre Battle, and also more recent game scores for Muramasa: The Demon Blade and Concerto Gate. The topic of the discussion is the use of electronic equipment in synthesizing and modifying orchestral music in games.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6462

2 Player Productions on Reformatting PAX for DVD

Paul Owens and Paul Levering are the makers of chip music documentary Reformat the Planet. This year they filmed the behind-the-scenes making of PS3's Infamous game and released the Blip Festival 2008 live album. Here they discuss their upcoming DVD chronicling the events of this year's Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6441

Aquaria Piano Jam - Alec Holowka Interview

Infinite Ammo's Alec Holowka has been busy shipping copies of his two-disc original soundtrack album for Aquaria, featuring cover art by Katie de Sousa, an eight-page booklet, mini-poster and additional audio content not found in the game. In this interview on the subject of CD release, the game creator describes how the making of the score reflects a broader perspective on game design.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6475

Kajiya Productions on Translating Final Fantasy

Gamasutra interviews Alexander O. Smith and Joseph Reeder, two localizers who have worked on the English-language translations of such games as Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, and Final Fantasy XII. The conversation delves into their treatment of song lyrics and even providing vocals on Square Enix music projects.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6420

GameCulture: DJ Shadow Talks DJ Hero

Joshua Davis may not be the household name that Eminem and Jay Z have become, but his keen ear for instrumentation, razor-sharp turntable skills and bottomless record crate have earned Davis a massive and fiercely loyal following as DJ Shadow. When it came to actually making DJ Hero and its plastic turntable Activision turned to Shadow.

http://nobuooo.com/item/6366

This concludes another month in videogame music news. Highlights for December will be online in early 2010.

renegadesteve2's top albums (overall) 1. The Smiths - The Very Best of the Smiths (153) 2. Deconstruction - Deconstruction (146) 3. The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (134) 4. Kyuss - Blues for the Red Sun (128) 5. John Frusciante - Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt (114) 6. Morrissey - Bona Drag (114) 7. De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (112) 8. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Mother's Milk (111) 9. Hole - Live Through This (110) 10. Joy Division - The Best Of Joy Division (109) 11. Wiley - Treddin' on Thin Ice (108) 12. Primus - Pork Soda (106) 13. Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime (104) 14. Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die (102) 15. DJ Shadow - Endtroducing.... (102) 16. The Smiths - The Smiths (102) 17. Massive Attack - Mezzanine (101) 18. Tool - Ænima (98) 19. Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (97) 20. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (97) 21. Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile (96) 22. Sublime - Sublime (95) 23. The Beatles - Revolver (94) 24. Sonic Youth - Bad Moon Rising (93) 25. Nas - Illmatic (90) 26. The Lemonheads - It's a Shame About Ray (88) 27. Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped (88) 28. Pixies - Doolittle (87) 29. Ol' Dirty Bastard - The Definitive Ol' Dirty Bastard Story (87) 30. Yo La Tengo - Summer Sun (86) 31. The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream (85) 32. The Breeders - Last Splash (85) 33. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (84) 34. Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill (84) 35. The Streets - Original Pirate Material (83) 36. Wiley - Race Against Time (83) 37. MF DOOM - Metalfingers Presents: Special Herbs, The Box Set Vol. 0-9 (80) 38. OutKast - Stankonia (79) 39. Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted/Kill At Will [EP] (76) 40. Organized Konfusion - Stress: The Extinction Agenda (76) 41. Mudhoney - Superfuzz Bigmuff (75) 42. Pink Floyd - The Wall [Disc 1] (72) 43. Madvillainy - Madvillainy (71) 44. Tricky - Nearly God (69) 45. Lil Wayne - No Ceilings (69) 46. Portishead - Dummy (68) 47. Tori Amos - Boys for Pele (68) 48. Jane's Addiction - Ritual de lo Habitual (67) 49. Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (67) 50. Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (66)

Been meaning to do this for years - here's an incomplete list of bands I've seen at least once. Good or absolutely shite, they all make the list. Bold type denotes artists that I've had the pleasure of seeing more than once.

A
Adem
The Airborne Toxic Event
Alabama 3
The Aliens
All About Eve
Lily Allen
Dot Allison
Alpha
Amusement Parks on Fire
Annuals
Arab Strap
Architecture in Helsinki
Arctic Monkeys
Arrested Development
Asian Dub Foundation
B
Badly Drawn Boy
Banco de Gaia
Basement Jaxx
Bat for Lashes
The Bays
The Beat
The Beastie Boys
The Beautiful South
Beck
Beep Beep
Belle and Sebastian
Ben Folds Five
Bent
The Besnard Lakes
Big Country
Black Kids
Blondie
Blur
The Bodines
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
The Boy Least Likely To
Billy Bragg
Brainiac
Bright Eyes
The Brilliant Corners
Broken Spindles
Ian Brown
Tim Burgess
Bernard Butler
C
Terry Callier
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
Carrie
Carter USM
Martin Carthy
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
Cast
Caterwaul
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
The Charlatans
The Charlottes
Chas N Dave
Cherry Ghost
The Cinematic Orchestra
Ross Clark & the Scarfs Go Missing
The Clerks
Clinic
The Close Lobsters
Coldcut
Coldplay
John Cooper Clarke
The Cooper Temple Clause
The Coral
Elvis Costello
Cousteau
Cranebuilders
Crazyhead
The Creatures
CUD
The Cure
D
The Darling Buds
The Datsuns
Death in Vegas
The Delgados
Delphic
Dodgy
Doves
Dreadzone
Dub Pistols
Dubtribe Sound System
Durutti Column
Bob Dylan
E
Steve Earle
Echo and the Bunnymen
Echoboy
The Eighteenth Day of May
Elbow
Electrafixion
Electric Soft Parade
Electric Sound Of Joy
Embrace
F
Fairport Convention
Th' Faith Healers
Faithless
Faith No More
The Fall
Fields of the Nephilim
Five Thirty
The Flaming Lips
Florence & The Machine
Foo Fighters
Four Tet
The Free Association
Friendly Fires
Frightened Rabbit
Fun Loving Criminals
The Futureheads
G
Ganger
Gaye Bykers on Acid
Ghost Dance
Glasvegas
Global Communication
Godflesh
Goldrush
Gomez
Jose Gonzalez
Gorkys Zygotic Mynci
The Go! Team
Grand Drive
Grass-Show
The Grave Architects
Gravenhurst
Al Green
Green on Red
Groove Armada
Guillemots
Guns N' Roses
H
Nick Harper
Rolf Harris
The Heart-throbs
Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid
The Matthew Herbert Big Band
Kristin Hersh
The Hidden Cameras
Micah P. Hinson
Hole
Jools Holland
Holy Fuck
House of Brothers
The House of Love
The Housemartins
Howlin' Rain
The Hunters Club
I
I Am Kloot
Idlewild
Interpol
Iron And Wine
It Bites
J
The Jack Rubies
Matthew Jay
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Jesus Jones
Johnny Domino
Joolz
K
Keane
The Killers
David Kitt
Kula Shaker
L
Lambchop
Leatherface
Leaves
The Levellers
The Libertines
Loop
Low
Lowgold
Lush
M
The Magic Numbers
Magnolia Electric Co.
The Majesticons
Manic Street Preachers
Mansun
Maps
Marillion
Marion
J Mascis
Massive Attack
Mega City Four
The Memory Band
The Men They Couldn't Hang
Mercury Rev
MGMT
Mia Doi Todd
The Mighty Lemon Drops
The Mission
Modest Mouse
Mono
The Montrose Avenue
John Moore And The Expressway
Morrissey
The Motorcycle Boy
Bob Mould
Mudhoney
My Bloody Valentine
Ralph Myerz and the Jack Herren Band
Mylo
N
The National
The Necks
Ned's Atomic Dustbin
The New Folk Implosion
New Model Army
New Order
Joanna Newsom
Scout Niblett
Nirvana
Now It's Overhead
O
Oasis
Okkervil River
Ooberman
Orbital
Beth Orton
P
The Pale Saints
The Parkinsons
Pavement
Penthouse
Pitman
The Pixies
The Pogues
Emma Pollock
Polytechnic
Pond
Pop Will Eat Itself
Primal Scream
The Primitives
The Prodigy
The Prudes
Public Enemy
Pulp
Q
Finlay Quaye
Queens of the Stone Age
R
Radiohead
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
Red Snapper
REM
Reverend and The Makers
Ride
Rival Schools
RJD2
Roots Manuva
Tim Rose
Run DMC
S
Saint Etienne
Saint Joan
Salvation
Samamidon
Ulrich Schnauss
Scott 4
DJ Scotch Egg
Mr Scruff
The Sea and Cake
Seafood
Shack
DJ Shadow
The Shins
Michelle Shocked
The Shortwave Set
Silver Sun
Simian
Six.by Seven
The Sleepy Jackson
Elliott Smith
The Smiths
Snuff
Sonic Youth
Soul II Soul
The Soup Dragons
Space
Spacemen 3
Sparklehorse
Spear of Destiny
Spin Spin The Dogs
Spiritualized
Spring Heel Jack
Starsailor
St. Germain
The Stills
The Stone Roses
The Streets
Joe Strummer
Subkicks
Sugar
The Sugarcubes
Sun Kil Moon
Swans
T
Tapes N Tapes
Teenage Fanclub
The Telescopes
Texas
That Petrol Emotion
Them Crooked Vultures
Richard Thompson
Throwing Muses
Glenn Tilbrook
Tindersticks
The Ting-Tings
Travis
Tricky
Tunng
Turin Brakes
The Twilight Sad
U
Ultrasound
Under Neath What
Underworld
V
The Verve
Voice of the Beehive
W
Martha Wainwright
The Walking Seeds
The Walkmen
The Waterboys
The Wedding Present
We Show Up On Radar
Whistler
White Lies
The White Stripes
Wilco
Robbie Williams
The Wisdom of Harry
Witness
The Wonder Stuff
World Domination Enterprises
The Wurzels
X
X-Press 2
Y
Yam Who
James Yorkston and The Athletes
Z
Zero 7
The Zutons

Here's a short, sweet, self-explanatory video (just 50 seconds) demonstrating the three most important breaks in history.



If you have 18 minutes - and if you don't, set them aside - watch this video detailing the history and usage of the Amen Break. It's a 6-second drum loop nicked from a song called "Amen, Brother" by The Winstons, released in 1969. It's the single most used break in history, and is responsible for spawning, oh, I don't know, 10 genres of music. I watched this in 2006, so am just posting it here for people still in the dark about it. No matter who you are on this site, I can guarantee you've heard this break hundreds of times and didn't even know what it was. Most of the time, it's slowed down drastically to act as backdrop to a track, be it for Bassbin Twins, DJ Shadow, DJ Krush, etc.



To hear "Amen, Brother" in its entirely, watch this video:



Out of those three breaks, James Brown is responsible for the other two of them. "Funky Drummer" is the obvious one. The not-as-obvious one is Lyn Collins's "Think (About It)."



Lyn Collins was James Brown's back up singer and was one of the artists who continued to promote and manage - which is why you hear him in the background. James Brown wrote and produced this track. Lyn Collins was on his label, People records. He really is The Godfather for a reason. I mean, Godfather of Soul, but really more like Godfather of 10 Genres of Music. It's thoroughly ridiculous how much modern music owes to James Brown.

So, I'm off to educate myself in depth about soul music. It's a great foundation of musical history.

Just for fun, by the way, there's some absolute goofball on youtube with the user name of AddedAmenBreak. S/he literally slaps Amen Breaks on top of completely random things and posts them. It's rather amusing.

So I decided to reset my charts... again (after about 23,000 scrobbles). Here are my top artists and albums from early January up until late November. It seems I can't go more than 25k scrobbles without resetting... I would probably have over 100,000 scrobbles if I never reset my charts (combined with my scrobbles from my old account).


1. Steve Roach- 504
2. Boards of Canada- 490
3. Agalloch- 377
4. maudlin of the Well- 343
5. Autechre- 324

6. Mayhem- 273
7. Bethlehem- 269
8. The Prodigy- 259
9. Organized Konfusion- 256
9. Tiesto- 256
9. Aphex Twin- 256
12. Stars of the Lid- 233
13. OutKast- 227
14. Enslaved- 202
15. Slowdive- 198
16. Global Communication- 183
17. Stendeck- 181
18. Gorguts- 179
18. Drudkh- 179
20. Sun Kil Moon- 177

21. Bjork- 174
22. Burzum- 168
23. Hypocrisy- 167
24. Emperor- 166
25. Biosphere- 163
26. J-Live- 160
27. Cannibal Ox- 157
28. Harold Budd- 156
29. Warning- 155
30. Have a Nice Life- 152
31. Bathory- 147
31. Isis- 147
33. Robert Rich- 145
34. Deepspace- 143
35. Tool- 142
36. Low-140
37. The Cure- 136
38. Darkthrone- 134
39. Venerean- 127
40. Katatonia- 124
40. Air Liquide- 124
42. Cryptopsy- 122
43. The Future Sound of London- 120
43. The Smashing Pumpkins- 120
45. dälek- 119
46. Wolves in the Throne Room- 117
47. Death- 115
47. Squarepusher- 115
49. diSEMBOWELMENT- 114
50. Red House Painters- 112

51. Thomas Köner-107
52. Jesu- 106
52. Atheist- 106
54. Nine Inch Nails- 105
55. Above & Beyond- 104
56. Ulrich Schnauss- 101
57. Devin Townsend- 100
58. Tenhi- 97
58. CunninLynguists- 97
60. Edge of Sanity- 96
61. Eluvium- 94
61. Jóhann Jóhannsson- 94
61. Tiamat- 94
61. Amorphis- 94
61. Lykathea Aflame- 94
61. The Orb- 94
67. Walknut- 93
68. Opeth- 92
68. DJ Shadow- 92
68. Pestilence- 92
68. Negură Bunget- 92
72. Jeru the Damaja- 91
72. Nas- 91
72. Shining- 91
72. Aesop Rock- 91
76. In the Woods...- 90
77. Harold Budd/Brian Eno- 88
78. Smif-N-Wessun- 86
79. Natural Snow Buildings- 81
80. Arcticology- 80
80. Proem- 80
82. Deep Puddle Dynamics- 79
83. Jedi Mind Tricks- 76
83. Ulver- 76
85. Neurosis- 75
86. Dereleech- 74
86. Lifelover- 74
86. Boris- 74
89. Morbid Angel- 73
90. In Flames- 71
90. Radiohead- 71
92. Antonio Vivaldi- 70
93. M83- 69
93. Carbon Based Lifeforms- 69
95. The Flaming Lips- 68
95. Depeche Mode- 68
95. Satyricon- 68
98. Weakling- 66
98. Wu-Tang Clan- 66
100. The Marcia Blaine School for Girls- 65
101. Genelec & Memphis Reigns- 64
102. Fen- 63
102. Blut aus Nord- 63
104. Dolorian 62
104. Elliot Smith- 62
104. Nadja- 62

Albums
1. Boards of Canada- Geogaddi- 283
2. The Prodigy- Music for the Jilted Generation- 251
3. Bethlehem- Sardonischer Untergang Im Zeichen Irrelioser- 249
4. Agalloch- The Mantle- 246
5. Steve Roach- Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces- 243
6. Organized Konfusion- Stress: The Extinction Agenda- 240
7. maudlin of the Well- Leaving Your Body Map- 227
8. Slowdive- Souvlaki- 192
9. Global Communication- 76:14- 166
10. Stendeck- Faces- 162

11. Stars of the Lid- The Tired Sounds of...- 159
12. Sun Kil Moon- April- 157
12. Cannibal Ox- The Cold Vein- 157
14. Warning- Watching From a Distance- 149
15. Bjork- Vespertine- 139
16. Mayhem- De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas- 136
17. OutKast- ATLiens- 120
18. Gorguts- The Erosion of Sanity- 118
19. diSEMBOWELMENT- Transcendence Into the Peripheral- 111
19. Mayhem- Wolf's Lair Abyss- 111
19. Autechre- Amber- 111
22. The Future Sound of London- Lifeforms Disk 1- 109
23. Steve Roach- Dreamtime Return- 107
24. Biosphere- Substrata- 103
25. Harold Budd- The White Arcades- 101

26. Red House Painters- Red House Painters [Rollercoaster]- 100
27. J-Live- The Best Part- 97
27. Tool- Lateralus- 97
29. Air Liquide- The Increased Difficulty of Concentration- 96
30. Ulrich Schnauss- Far Away Trains Passing By- 95
30. Low- I Could Live in Hope- 95
32. Lykathea Aflame- Elvenefris- 94
32. Eluvium- Copia- 94
34. Walknut- Graveforests And Their Shadows- 93
34. dälek- Absence- 93
36. Tiamat- Wildhoney- 92
36. DJ Shadow- Endtroducing...- 92
38. Hypocrisy- The Final Chapter- 91
38. Boards of Canada- Music Has the Right to Children- 91
40. Emperor- Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk- 89
40. Jeru the Damaja- The Sun Rises in the East- 89
42. Enslaved- Below the Lights- 88
42. Nas- Illmatic- 88
44. Tiesto- Magik, Vol. 7: Live in Los Angeles- 87
45. Bathory- Under the Sign of the Black Mark- 84
46. maudlin of the Well- Bath- 83
47. Negură Bunget- Om- 82
48. In the Woods...- HEart of the Ages- 81
49. Deep Puddle Dynamics- The Taste of Rain... Why Kneel- 79
49. Aphex Twin- Drukqs Disk 1- 79

51. Atheist- Unquestionable Presence- 77
51. Deepspace- World Ocean Atlas- 77
51. Smif-N-Wessun- Dah Shinin'- 77
54. Jedi Mind Tricks- Violent By Design- 76
55. Tenhi- Kauan- 75
56. Johann Johannsson- Fordlandia- 74
57. Have a Nice Life- Deathconsciousness- 73
57. Agalloch- Ashes Against the Grain- 73
59. CunninLynguists- Strange Journey Volume One- 70
60. Death- Human- 68
60. Natural Snow Buildings- The Dance of the Moon and the Sun- 68
62. Pestilence- Testimony of the Ancients- 67
63. Wu-Tang Clan- Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)- 66
63. Weakling- Dead as Dreams- 66
65. Amorphis- Tales From the Thousand Lakes- 65
65. Thomas Koner- Nuuk- 65
65. M83- Saturdays=Youth- 65
65. Drudkh- Autumn Aurora- 64
69. Genelec & Memphis Reigns – Scorpion Circles- 64
69. Devin Townsend- Ocean Machine- 64
71. Fen- The Malediction Fields- 63
71. The Orb- The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld Disk 1- 63
73. Have a Nice Life- Voids- 62
74. Burzum- Filosofem- 61
75. Drudkh- Forgotten Legends- 60
75. Arcticology- Eternal Now- 60
75. J-Live- All Of The Above- 60
79. Cryptopsy- Blasphemy Made Flesh- 59
79. The Marcia Blaine School for Girls – Halfway Into The Woods- 59
81. Sodom- Persecution Mania- 58
82. GZA/Genius- Liquid Swords- 57
82. The Higher Intelligence Agency & Biosphere- Polar Sequences- 57
82. Isis- Wavering Radiant- 57
82. Lifelover- Konkurs- 57
86. Stars of the Lid- Avec Laudenum- 56
87. Proem- Socially Inept- 55
87. Burzum- Det Som Engang Var- 55
87. OutKast- Aquemini- 55
87. Edge of Sanity- Purgatory Afterglow- 55
87. Elliot Smith- Either/Or- 55
93. Isis- Oceanic- 54
93. Jesu- Jesu- 54
95. The Cure- Pornography- 53
95. ColdWorld- Melancholie- 53
95. Terrorizer- World Downfall- 53
98. Enslaved- Blodhemn- 52
98. Massive Attack- Mezzanine- 52
98. Aphex Twin- 52
101. October Tide- Rain Without End- 51
101. Carbon Based Lifeforms- Hydroponic Garden- 51
103. Depeche Mode- Black Celebration- 51
103. Wolves in the Throne Room- 51
103. Robert Rich- Calling Down the Sky- 51
103. Darkthrone- A Blaze in the Northern Sky- 51

Švedski sastav Little Dragon se vratio posle samo godinu dana sa novim albumom Machine Dreams. Čuvena džez pevačica YUKIMI NAGANO i njeni srednjoškolski prijatelji Erik Bodin (bubnjevi), Fredrick Källgren (bas) i Håkan Wirenstrand (klavijature) su napustili svoj elektro soul fazon i sada su samo elektro. Zamenili su pesme za slušanje u sobi tipične za njihov debi u korist pesama koje mogu ići u klubovima (vraćanje u osamdesete u ,,Looking Glass’’ ili ,,My Step’’). Očigledno da Little Dragon teže promenama u svom muzičkom izrazu, što je dobro i možda će se ljubiteljima elektronike ovaj album svideti više nego prvi.

Yukimi i ekipa naročito vole je da elektrificiraju tradicionalnu azijsku muziku u cilju stvaranja moderne i vesele pop ili r&b pesme što su već radili na prvom abumu sa uvodnom ,,Twice’’, a sad to čine sa ,,Runabout’’ i predivnom ,,Fortune’’ koja je dobila pohvale od DJ Shadow-a. Pesma ,,Feather’’ zvuči kao nešto što će ići uz najavu programa ili vremensku prognozu na tv-u u ne tako dalekoj robotizovanoj budućnosti (ako tad bude tv-a uopšte). ,,Thunder Love’’ je suprotno svom nazivu sasvim mirna i lagana i jedina nosi taj stari Little Dragon šmek. Ukradeni, pozajmljeni ili nijedno od toga uvodni taktovi pesme ,,Swimming’’ neodoljivo podsećaju na Timbaland produkciju (tačnije hit ,,Maneater’’ Nelly Furtado) i čine da ova pesma bude jedna od boljih na albumu. Posebnu pažnju zaslužuje i pesma ,,Blinkin Pigs’’ koja jedina sadrži i neke žive instrumente kao i stvar ,,Come Home’’.

Yukimi objašnjava naziv albuma rečima da je naslov Machine Dreams bio očigledan obzirom da ljudi svaki dan sve više podsećaju na mašine, a kako tehnologija napreduje i mašine su sve sličnije ljudima i neophodne su nam u svakodnevnom životu, pa je konačna humanizacija mašina pripisujući im nešto takvo tipično za čoveka kao što je san sasvim logično predskazanje.

Little Dragon su takav bend, možda vam se na prvo slušanje neće svideti, čak će vam biti i odbojni, ali već posle nekog vremena nećete moći da izbacite zarazne bitove iz glave i kukovi će sami krenuti da se pomeraju. Kakvo god mišljenje da imate o njima, na trenutnoj muzičkoj sceni niko im nije ni sličan, uspeli su da stvore sopstveni prepoznatljiv zvuk, delom zahvaljujući inovativnim kompozicijama delom zahvaljujući karakterističnom glasu Yukimi Nagano. Činjenica je da svaka zvezdica koju ovaj album dobije je najviše zahvaljujući njenom glasu koji spašava ono nekoliko dobrih pesama od monotonije i jednoličnosti.

Iako je album pobrao uglavnom dobre kritike i dobio visoke ocene, po meni je lošiji od prvenca. Monoton je, manje inovativan nego prošli i samo se uklapa u već postojeće elektro kalupe. Dok je prvi album uporno odbijao da ode sa moje plejliste i čak našao svoje mesto medju omiljenim albumima, Machine Dreams uporno odbija da se tu zadrži pa makar i sa jednom pesmom. Verovatno da su napravili dužu pauzu ne bi bilo ovoliko promašaja, ali neka im to bude za nauk.

A ako nam Švedjani ne obezbede kvalitetni a opet neopterećujući elektro pop, ko će?

© 2009 Autabout Ltd. All rights reserved.