Below is a list of my favourite records of the last ten years. Ranking these albums was led by a) what the album means to me and b) how often I’d listen to it. Each and every one of these albums blew me away repeatedly at some time between the ages of 18 and 27. Each one has something special going for it, something magical that brings me back to it. For that I can only thank the creators of each. Without further ado, here are my favourite 50 albums from the decade. And remember, you can’t be wrong if they are your favourites.
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K’NAAN was born in Mogadishu, Somalia and grew up during the Civil War. His aunt, Magool, was one of Somalia’s most famous singers. K’naan’s grandfather, Haji Mohamed, was a poet. If there was ever a male candidate for M.I.A-like stardom, it’s this guy. This song bolsters that sentiment by being called T.I.A. (This is Africa) and displaying the same global-centric sounds. Lovin’ this tune.
Dublin dubstep, ragga, jungle and electronica types !Kaboogie have made their most recent label sampler available for download from their website. There are eleven tracks in total from names like Cignol, 2-Bit, Bluefood, The Banker, A-Force, Prince Kong, Kachanski and Solen. Below are my favourites from the compilation. Get the whole thing though.
Bluebottle Farm – Tom’s Swings
They’ve also been doing a mashup series which is updated every Friday. Here are two of the most recent I like.
PCP described this as possibly the best Irish made mash he’s ever heard. It’s a mash/edit/arrangement of M.I.A’s ‘Galang’ , Aphex Twin’s ‘Jynweythek Ylow’, Shackleton’s ‘Tin Foil Sky’, The Banker and Beethoven ‘Adagio Sostenuto’.
Straight turntable mash of Dr Dre’s ‘What’s the difference’ and DJ Vadim ft. Demolition Man ‘Boom Sumting’.
Another video from N.A.S.A’s upcoming The Spirit of Apollo album coming on the 20th of February. Everyone knows Fatlip rules and N.A.S.A (North America South America) is like a Handsome Boy Modeling School for 2009 on crack. The album features:
Karen O, Lykke Li, Fatlip, Tom Waits, George Clinton, David Byrne, Z-Trip, Seu Jorge, Santogold, Krs-One, Cool Kids, Wu Tang (Method Man, Ghostface, RZA, ODB), Chali 2na, Gift of the Gab, DJ Swamp, John Frusciante, Amanda Blank, Spank Rock, Lovefoxxx, Sizzla, M.I.A, Nick Zinner, Kool Keith, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien & DJ Qbert. And probably a gazillion more.
N.A.S.A. – Spacious Thoughts feat. Tom Waits and Kool Keith
N.A.S.A. – Whatchadoin? feat. Spank Rock, M.I.A & Santogold
Yes, that’s TOM MUTHA FUCKIN WAITS KIDS. The album is solid hip-hop party jams all the way through. A trailer and another music video is after the cut.
Have you seen the Razorlight spoof? That hilarious video along with sites, links and videos of the week appear in Day and Night today. Or on the site. Last week, I lost TWO external hard drives to the ether so I wrote a guide to online backup for the Indo supplement.
There’s also this tune from N.A.S.A (Squeak E. Clean and DJ Zegon) whose album The Spirit of Apollo features everyone ever in music.
Hey the blog is three years old today! There are two ways to interpret this: 1) Major loser 2) Music fanatic (Is there really any difference?). So here’s a special post for a special day. I asked DJ Robbie Coffey to once again to put his skills to use for the occasion and this is what he concocted. Just check out the sweet tracklisting, it’s full of killer grime, dubstep and hip-hop and has some of my favourite tunes from the past few years.
DJ Robbie Coffey – Waxy Cocktail Mix
- Primal Scream – Loaded
- Missy Elliot – Get Ur Freak On (accapella)
- MC Lyte – I am the Lyte
- Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince – Summertime (inst.)
- Public Enemy – Shut em Down
- Schooly D – Gucci Time
- Wiley – Wearing my Rolex
- Ghislain Poirier – Blazin’ feat Face T (Modeselektor remix)
- Eazy E – Tha Muthafuckin Real (accapella)
- Daedelus – Fair Weather Friends
- Dizzee Rascal – Trapped
- Benga & Coki – Night
- The Bug feat Flowdan – Warning
- M.I.A. – Paper Planes (inst.)
- Roni Size Reprazent – Don’t Hold Back (TC & D*Minds remix)
- Utah Saints – Something Good (High Contrast ‘08 remix)
- Tricky D & Mez feat. Mirda Chikinba – When We Coming
- M.I.A. – Paper Planes (accapella)
- Ice T – Warning
The honour of Fabric’s first proper artist album release has fallen to Portugal’s Buraka Som Sistema and their debut album Black Diamond. Their sound has been invariably described as electro ghettotech and Euro baile funk but in reality, it is rooted in Kuduro – a genre which is thriving in Lisbon’s suburbs but was born in Angola. It shares tone and rhythm with that break-off track from earlier in the year DJ Mujava’s ‘Township Funk’. The album, Black Diamond is well worth a look if these tunes (one featuring the “retired” M.I.A and another Pongolove) take your fancy. They play Twisted Pepper on the 11th of December.
Buraka Som Sistema ft M.I.A – ‘Sound of Kuduro’
Buraka Som Sistema – ‘Kalemba (Wegue-Wegue)’
Or Yet Another Paper Planes Remix
Pedro alerted me to this DFA remix of “Paper Planes” after my Holy Fuck remix post earlier this month. I’ve since dug up with full-length version of it which will feature on Paper Planes: Homeland Security Remixes which also includes remixes by Afrikan Boy & Rye Rye, Big Bun & Rich Boy, Scottie B and a DJ Eli remix of “Bamboo Banger”. The Holy Fuck remix doesn’t feature, neither does the recent Adrock Beasties remix though.
This is another superb reworking as you’d expect from Murphy and Goldsworthy.
MP3
MIA – Paper Planes (DFA Remix)
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Buy the EP from iTunes /eMusic / Amazon MP3.
Full credit to Gorilla vs. Bear for this one. I stole it because it’s so good.
Holy Fuck remixes MIA. I love it cos it appropriates MIA into the Holy Fuck sound and thus, becomes like a new offering from the band. Really looking forward to the gig!
MP3
MIA – Paper Planes (Holy Fuck Remix)
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I relish compiling lists. So much so that I ended up with a list of 75 songs from this year on a longlist. So for the sake of your attention-span and as recommendation reminders here are my top 25 songs of 2007. I’ll talk about the track when it warrants it or if I’ve talked about it before, I’ll be lazy and quote myself. Link to the MP3, stream or video can be found on the title of the song.
25. Modeselektor – Dark Side of the Sun
My favourite track from Happy Birthday although it took a few months for me to settle on it, like a lottery ball in front of a hapless individual on Winning Streak.
24. Zach Condon – Venice
“The downtempo electronic tones may surprise you if you’ve been enjoying his Balkan ways..”. (June)
23. Caribou – Melody Day (Four Tet remix)
“It strips back the instrumentation completely and adds extra vocals from Adem, Luke LaLonde, and One Little Plane to produce a delectably sparse, acoustic-led track.”. (July 07 – Featured in July Podcast)
22. Justice – Stress
If Bernard Herrman was alive to make Blog House, it would sound like this. (Featured in May Podcast)
21. M.I.A – Paper Planes
A number of alternative versions popped up after Kala was released including the Bun B/Rich Boy and the Esau Mwamwaya all-African version.
20. Nouveau Noise – Cinnte
19. Jape – I was a Man
18. The Bees – Listening Man
The Bees: The best 60’s band of the 21st Century.
17. Dan Deacon – The Crystal Cat
My introduction to the bat-shit crazy world of Dan Deacon was this bat-shit crazy tune. (Kicked off the April Podcast)
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Considered to be one of the highlights of Diplo’s recent Pitchfork mix, this mashup of Battles “Atlas” and MIA’s “Boyz” has been put on Mad Decent by Diplo.
It’s not a perfect version but I applaud Diplo for getting the two to meet up in a nice compromise even though he says:
the battles one dont go anywhere i made it in 5 minutes and its totally out of tune- on its own though – that battles joint BANGS! there just wasnt enough room between the aliens singin to make a good edit!
A reckon it’s a toss-up between “Atlas” and “Wham City” for song of the year but these things will probably change.
MP3
Diplo – Battles Atlas / MIA Boyz mashup
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