Bombay Dub Orchestra - Junoon Dub

Bombay Dub Orchestra's Junoon Dub, from the 3 Cities in Dub album, video by Alpha Omega.
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Shantel - Planet Paprika

Dig the new Shantel video for the single Planet Paprika from the album of the same name on Essay Recordings. -Read the full Post-

Céu live on KEXP Seattle

In July while on a brief U.S. tour in support of her new lp Vagarosa, Céu stopped by KEXP in Seattle to play a live set.
You can stream her performance here.

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Brownout: Aguilas & Cobras

Free Download - Brownout - Olvidalo (Right-click and return to download)

Listen/Pre-Order Brownout - Aguilas and Cobras


I first saw the members of Brownout when they were performing under their other band identity of Grupo Fantasma at Yoshi's here in San Francisco. Six Degrees and the band share publishing partners and I had consistently heard that they were a "must see" live band from many people who I trust. I was also intrigued by the fact that Prince loved them and often jammed with them. After all, you don't win the admiration of the little purple one unless you can throw down some pretty serious heat. Sure enough, the group delivered the goods and put on a smoking performance of Latin jams. I was particularly impressed with the twin electric guitar attack of members, Adrian Quesada and Beto Martinez who kept sneaking in little flurries of psychedelia into the mix. I left the show very impressed but craving more trippy axe shredding.

So it was that I was immediately interested when I later heard from the group's manager that they were shopping a project that was the band's "hardcore, psychedelic Latin" side project. Basically an alter ego of Grupo that focused more on all that good weird funky stuff that I wanted to hear more of. Brownout's Aguilas & Cobras has enough intertwined guitar textures and authentically sweaty grooves to satisfy even the most hardened funk junkie. I love this record because it reeks of the real deal, original Latin funk vibes of old schoolers like Malo while managing to have a distinctly unique vibe all its own. There's a lot of retro psychedelic funk revivalism going around these days but to my ears, Brownout towers above the fray.

Check out the free "taster" download that we are offering today and mark your calendars for September 15th when the full length will be dropping and blowing minds everywhere.
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Baaba Maal - Television Remix Contest

Baaba Maal returns with a fresh new album, complete with video and remix contest.
The winning entry will be selected by Baaba Maal himself and the remix will be released on his official website www.baabamaal.tv. The winner will also receive a prize of £200 for the track and you will be credited with the remix.
So if you’ve got creativity flowing through your veins, and a love of moulding music to make your own, this is it the competition for you. You can download the stems here.

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Kush Arora - Boiling Over

Free Download - Kush Arora - Boiling Over - from the upcoming Boiling Over release.
Listen/Buy - Boiling Over

Kush Arora, king ambassador of dread bass, returns with a follow up to his recent critically acclaimed Dread Bass Chronicles with an album of instrumental dubstep, bass heavy, low-end nuggets.
The album drops on September 8th, you can pre-order and listen to the entire record here.
Dig the interview with Kush below, waxing poetic about the new release.

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Bomba Estereo - Fuego (Remixed by Pacha Massive)

Free Download - Bomba Estereo - Fuego (Remixed by Pacha Massive)
Buy/Listen from iTunes

Bomba Estereo just released their ablum Blow Up a month ago and already the infectious lead single, Fuego, is burning up dancefloors from their hometown of Bogota to Brooklyn and Berlin. A perfect blend of organic and electronic, Bomba styilstically combines cumbia, dub, chicha, and dancehall into a moveable feast of sound. Check the rest of the record out and you will find a group that can write not only dancefloor bangers but also is comfortable laying down great hooks and great pop songs that are accessible to all. Bomba Estereo aren't following any trends, they are making them. Dig the video for the original version of Fuego below.



guest post by Señor Oz -Read the full Post-

Alice at Big Chill

This footage is a little rough, but gives a good idea of how Alice Russell ripped it up at this year's Big Chill Festival.
Pot of Gold Remixes coming soon! -Read the full Post-

Rena Jones- Indra's Web:

Free Download - Rena Jones - "Indra's Web" (Click on divshare icon to download)
Rena Jones is one of those artists who I have been discovering bit by bit, through a series of excellent tracks on various compilations. We recently connected on Facebook, resulting in her sending me her wonderful latest release, Indra's Web. By combining the mournful sound of her cello with dubby electronics and full string arrangements featuring the New Millennium Orchestra, Rena has crafted an electronic record with a warm, organic heart. The title track which we are sharing with you today should give you a good idea of the pleasures that await you in the full release. By all means dig deeper into Indra's Web as well as into Rena's other releases, some of which feature beautiful smatterings of Indian instrumentation.






Bio:

“Multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer Rena Jones is a force to be reckoned with. At age 30, she boasts more than 30 collaborative albums, 3 full length solo albums, 20 years of classical violin study, and 12 years of cello–and she is considered one of the leading women in audio engineering today.” – Strings Magazine

Her extensive background in music and sound covers a colorful spectrum from award winning video games “Dance Dance Revolution and Karaoke Revolution” and for various films as a sound editor, sound design and composition.

Rena Jones slips through the veils of defined sound, weaving cello, violin, woodwinds, rhodes, electronics and sound design through unique instrumentation. Her most recent album “Driftwood” was given the honor of the sixth most essential albums of 2006 on NPR Echoes Radio.

Jones’ live sets are a potent sonic session. She orchestrates her violin over hand crafted beats melding the organic with the electronic. Her performance is a sophisticated example of the modern movement in electronic dance and ambient music.

Multiple tours around North America and Europe have lead Rena to perform at some of the worlds most established cutting edge electronic music festivals; The Glade Festival (UK), Shambhala Music Festival (Canada) and The Secret Garden Festival (UK) as well as tour support for Plaid and opener for Ladytron.

Rena Jones has released tracks with such reputable international labels as Iboga, Spun Records, Aleph Zero and Native State Records and has just launched her own label Cartesian Binary Recordings.
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Naina Laagey - Karsh Kale & Midival Punditz (Live at Paleo Fest 09)

Karsh Kale & Midival Punditz Live at The Paleo Festival in Geneva 2009.
Featuring Pandit Ajay Prasanna & Papon



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Amadou and Mariam - The Magic Couple

FREE DOWNLOAD - Amadou and Mariam - 'Sarama (La Charmante)'

To say that Amadou and Mariam are breaking down borders between what is considered "world music" and what is just great music is an understatement. The Malian born couple just finished touring with Coldplay in amphitheaters across the U.S., their last album, Welcome to Bamako, was produced by Damon Alburn of Blur and Gorillaz fame and their previous record was produced by Manu Chao. Their journey has been a long time coming, first meeting at a school for the blind in Mali in the 1970's, moving to France in the 1990's to enhance their recordings and careers, producing three stellar albums that began to catch the ears of the rest of the world. The Magic Couple (Wrasse Records) is a greatest hits compilation covering the period of albums from 1997-2001; Sou Ni Tile, Tje Ni Mousso, and Wati
It is the best of three unmissable albums of Amadou & Mariam. It is worthy of even the casual listener and required if you're just getting into their sound.


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Alice blogs from France

We just got some exciting updates from Alice Russell during her summer tour across France, you can read more on her website!


Hello there,

Montreaux Jazz Festival

Well recently got back from a lil leg of gigs....we started off at the Montreux Jazz festival, rammed to the rafters the crowd were so up for it, the energy could have been sliced into pieces of electric cake, check the pictures here!
After the gig I was bursting to catch Earth Wind & Fire, so grabbed a beer and ran for it. Sweet Be-Jesus, those guys hit them high notes and the drummer never stopped!!!
But the icing on the most tasty of cakes was spying Mr Quincy Jones!!! So there I was with Mikee by my side, a bit bedraggled, definitely sweaty, still in my stage-wear, two CD's of Pot Of Gold in hand and my eyes fixed on my hero, waiting my turn to go to and hand over my humble offering! We had a warm hand shake and exchanged some cockney rhyming-slang so another great hero meeting tick! Al Green last month this month Quincy, maybe Prince for August?? He was in my dream last night, does that count?

France and Joss Stone

So onwards to France where we were supporting Joss Stone! To say the boys in the band were pleased is a small understatement! We got to see her show and hang out her and her band afterwards (check the pics here). They where all lovely peeps and there happened to be a big fridge with a seemingly unending supply of vino ‘n’ champers The drinking of which, saw us all ending up in the sea and the boys got to see lovely Joss in her pink bikini!

Then onto Warsaw and Croatia by which point sleep was in high demand, but, no time! Once again the crowd where so lovely and full of energy that 2 hours sleep felt like 12 and we got cracking!! So big love was had and it was an ace ending to a hectic but rather amazing lil week!
Big love and a massive thank you to all who made these shows so great to play!! You keep us going!!!! So thank you thank you thank you!





The Big Chill

So, I’m writing this as the band and I munch our lunch, in the middle of rehearsing the delights we have planned for this weekend’s Big Chill set. I’m getting excited now and hoping the sun will shine upon us! So, this is a call out to all of you that are coming to get down and get involved in some audience participation! Also, to come to the Scruff tea tent on Sat afternoon, as we have had some rather fetching head sweat- bands made up which we’re giving away! And, at some point in the set I will be calling upon all of you to don the sweat band and join us in the running man.... Are u game?


Also look out for our autumn tour dates! We’ve got Koko on October 1st and other dates to follow.....
Big love
Ax


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DePedro (from Calexico) new solo album and download

Free Download - DePedro - Don't Leave Me Now from the self-titled debut album by DePedro (click on downward arrow to download)

DePedro – a name chosen because it sounded “kind of Mediterranean, kind of Spanish” – is the musical project of singer and guitarist Jairo Zavala. His first solo project, DePedro is the culmination of years of writing and playing songs for others, including Spanish star Amparanoia, Spanish instrumental surf phenoms Los Coronas and as the touring guitarist for Calexico, not to mention as frontman and founder of Vacazul and 3000 Hombres, both renowned bands in the respective Spanish rock and blues scenes. He will be touring this summer with Calexico as part of the band, as well as supporting them for their European shows. As DePedro, he has also appeared at SXSW, the WOMAD festival, at the nationally-broadcast Spanish Music Awards, and at various other festivals across the country.

Zavala grew up in Madrid listening to both the pre-WWII songs his grandparents used to play and the music his Peruvian father brought back from his travels to Latin America and Africa, as well the rock from the 70s and 80s that was popular in Spain. He credits these various influences for helping to shape his own style of guitar playing, one that pulled from blues, folk, flamenco, Afrobeat, Latin, and rock.

This is Tex-Mex border music meets the Spanish sense of melody, and songs like “La Memoria,” which was inspired by a trip to Mexico and the poverty and injustice he saw there, and “Como El Viento,” a kind of love song, reflect both equally. On “Don’t Leave Me Now,” Jairo’s voice – warm and expressive, but edged with a scratchiness that makes it as much of a focal point as his guitar playing – draws out the same Spanish melancholy also heard in Amparanoia’s version. Yet there’s a slyness there, enhanced by Calexico’s Joey Burns’ upright bass, and it gives the song a sultry, dusty Western feel, the expanse of the land stretching out before them.

The result is a personable, vibrant album that celebrates Zavala’s many influences and inspirations while retaining a warmth and a center that engages and entertains. It’s the product of a lifetime spent listening and observing and playing, of living; it’s Jairo Zavala and everything he’s done, but most of all, it’s DePedro

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