For a bit last year I was fascinated with MSTRKRFT and all of their remixes. MSTRKRFT is Jesse F. Keeler from Death From Above 1979 and Alex “Al-P” Puodziukas who produced DFA 1979’s You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine.
Some really great remixes came from this pair ahead of their first album The Looks. The Looks, in my opinion didn’t completely live up to the expectations set by their remixes. “Easy Love” was a great single, though. MSTRKRFT’s trademark 808 beats with dirty analog synths and bass guitar funneled through distortion deliver a party in every mix in my opinon. Mixes to look for include their mixes of “Woman” by Wolfmother (you might recognize the original version in Guitar Hero II), “Listen Up” by The Gossip, their brilliant remixes of “Two More Years” by Bloc Party and “Got Love to Kill” by Juliette & the Licks.” I stumbled over their hilarious remix of “Love in this Club” by Usher. They reproduce the piano ending of “Layla” by Derek and the Dominos in it!
The fine folks at RCRD LBL, which is sort of a self-described “network of ad supported online record labels and blogs” have re-served up a MSTRKRFT remix of Toronto indie band Metric’s “Monster Hospital.” The original track, which you can hear served up on their MySpace page is kind of a punky guitar song that sounds a bit like Sonic Youth to me. MSTRKRFT flips the song on it’s side and refocuses on the chorus and even changes the overall tone with a neat stripped-down electric piano and vocals. The rest of the song is nearly a complete re-imagining of the song in a different key.
Worth the download if you want some dancy disco electro.
Click Here to go to the RCRD_LBL “Monster Hospital (MSTRKRFT)” page.
Click Here to go to the MSTRKRFT Wikipedia Article that has a complete list of the remixes they’ve done.
You could look here to see if there are MSTRKRFT tracks to download…
I got an e-mail yesterday from Amazon letting me know that I only have until 12/31/2008 to take advantage of the fairly decent PepsiStuff promotion, where you can spend 5 PepsiStuff points for one song download.
I guess I wasn’t aware that this promotion had an “end date” but, I guess it couldn’t go on indefinitely. I’m not really a Pepsi drinker– I’m more of a Coca-Cola guy– but there is a guy at work who drinks gallons of it a week, so he gives me his caps which is generous, although I feel like I’m contributing to his eventual kidney failure or diabetes or something.
At any rate, make sure you get your points spent before the time runs out!
Since I’m watching the developments on the new Umphrey’s McGee album closely, ya’ll get to benefit by getting updates. It seems that January 20th is a long way off, so the UM camp has figured out that they are going to need to keep the fire going by throwing out little tastes of the album and bonus goodies to the fans.
Yesterday it was announced that the monster Chicago FM station XRT would be playing the first track from Mantis— “Made to Measure” as part of their new music Thursday today.
Additionally, a one-minute audio “teaser” was posted to The Floor today (the band’s blog). It has snippets of a couple of songs in it. Click Here to listen.
And, if that wasn’t enough– everyone who has pre-ordered Mantis will be given instructions on Friday on how to download an mp3 of “Made to Measure” for free!
The Police – Certifiable : Live in Buenos Aires (3 LP, Cherrytree/A&M Records B0011945-01, 2008) ($24.99) You’d think with all of the time that I spend reading about music, things like this wouldn’t take me by surprise. Thank goodness for the Sunday BestBuy flier which informed me that today there would be an exclusive Police Live CD/DVD of their live concert from Buenos Aires called Certifiable. The Police played there two nights, December 1 & 2, 2007. I can’t find anything that tells me which “especially hot night” (quote from the press release) it was. There would be a limited 180g 3 LP version of this album. Well, sort of limited, the flier said “a minimum of three per store” and according to this Wikipedia article, there are 962 stores. When I called this morning, Cedar Rapids had five copies. When I got there a guy was there with a copy under his arm chatting with an employee about digging his turntable out for the first time in ten years recently and listening to Quadrophenia by the Who. The records weren’t on the shelves, so I had to ask this employee where the records were. He had to go to the warehouse to get it. This guy wanted to pull on my ear for a bit about how excited he was to listen to vinyl again after all these years.
The three records are in a massive gatefold with a collage of photos from the tour. In addition to the records, there is a single sheet with another collage of photos and a code for an mp3 download. The resulting download are 256Kbps mp3’s which is acceptible. The mp3’s are handled by same folks who do the downloads for the new Beck and the new Ryan Adams.
I turned forty this year and Sherry wanted to throw a big party for me that included family and friends. My family wanted to know what to get me so I advised Sherry to tell them “vinyl.” What I meant was “go to a record store that has used vinyl and pick something out– even if I might already have it.” What I got for vinyl was all new vinyl, but some very cool stuff nonetheless!
Black Mountain – In The Future (2 LP, Jagjaguwar JAG90, 2008) (gift) This one was a complete surprise! While I was familiar with Jagjaguwar (home of blog-friendly bands like Okkervil River, Oakley Hall, Bon Iver, and Sunset Rubdown) but not Black Mountain. I’m floored by this album! Psych/Folk/Metal– would be a good companion to Thrill Jockey bands Arbouretum or Pontiak. 180g in a sweet gatefold. Also comes with 192Kbps mp3 download. I’ve listened to this album 5 or 6 times already on the iPhone, but I need to spend some time with the vinyl, for sure. The song “Wucan” was included in the Spiderman III soundtrack.
Beck – Modern Guilt (LP, DGC Records B0011630-01, 2008) (gift) Right now this is my favorite Beck album EVER. Produced by Dangermouse of Gnarls Barkley fame. Just brilliant, whatever. Comes with nifty 320Kbps mp3 download that they claim was ripped from the vinyl master, but I have my doubts. They could have added the needle drop and pickup noises afterwords. Still, way cool. 180g
The Traveling Wilburys – The Traveling Wilburys Collection (3 LP, Rhino R2 167868, 2007) (gift) Sheesh, this is the motherlode! This is the 180g vinyl boxset version of the much-awaited re-release of the Traveling Wilburys catalog. Most folks know the story: Petty and Jeff Lynne were working together around the same time George Harrison was working on Cloud 9 and ended up working together with Dylan on “Handle With Care.” This spawnned the most unlikely supergroup ever when they included Roy Orbison. The first album took off with two huge singles. Orbison passes away but the group decides to carry on and record the sarcastically-named Traveling Wilburys III. Time passes, the catalog goes out-of-print, Harrison passes and Petty feels like he shouldn’t perform any of the material until Harrison’s widow requests it. This starts the ball rolling to get the albums back in print. Thankfully, too, as the eBay prices for the album were approaching $50, not to mention all of the bootlegging that was happening. This box includes both of the albums plus an LP of bonus material from the singles and b-sides. The box includes a booklet of history and non-history of the band. The LP’s are in their original sleeves, and the box includes a set of postcards that must have been used to promote the records when they first came out.
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals – Cardinology (LP, Lost Highway B0012195-01, 2008) ($17.95) I’ve written about this on the blog before. This is the very limited pressing of Cardinology that comes with special artwork done by Leah Hayes. It is pressed in Red, clear vinyl and came with a special 7″ and a comic that illustrates the lyrics of the album. Amazing version of this album and completely blows-away the likely “robot cardinal” black-and-blue cover of the future pressings. Comes with the same 320Kbps “vinyl rip” mp3 download. According to posts Ryan has made to his blog, he is considering making his next release a vinyl-only release, which would be interesting.
I have been watching the Umphrey’s McGee Mantis page for updates on newly unlocked Levels and as a result I’m signed into the Meebo chat (as “playbsides” if anyone wants to talk). Other than the grand debate about whether 1000 copies of the Deluxe Package depreciates the “value” or rarity of it versus the fact that some fans are bummed they didn’t get in on it– there hasn’t been a lot of useful chatter. I’ve helped some folks understand what the deal is with the pre-order mostly.
But, today I happened to catch someone mentioning the free downloads in the UMLive accounts and sure enough– I signed into “My Stash” and in addition to the pre-order for Mantis, there was another item ready for download called “Mantis Pre-Order: Early Bird Bonus” which showed available for download! I didn’t get an e-mail about it, but my e-mail gateway does whitelisting so it bounces the mails for resend and that adds some time to e-mail receipt for me.
At any rate– very cool deal! I got two tracks: both from the amazing 10-31-2008 Halloween show at the Warfield in San Francisco. This show was pretty cool in that they decided to do live performed “mash-ups.”
The two tracks we got were “Women, Wine and Song” (a 128Kbps rip) from the show and a Backstage Vocal Rehearsal of the band working out the vocals to “Thriller” which was mashed with “Another Brick in the Wall” (a 192Kbps rip).
In other cool news, the Umphrey’s Camp has noticed my Mantis Bonus Watch article and linked to it from The Floor, which is their blog. It’s driven my page views to the highest they’ve ever been! Hello to new visitors, I hope your stay is pleasant.
For a limited time Amazon is having a sale on the entire Daptone Records catalog in mp3 format. All titles are $6.99 each! Daptone, for the uninitiated is the incredible indie record label out of NYC that specializes in retro R&B and funk and is the home of the amazing Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings as well as The Budos Band and the Sugarman 3. To promote the sale, Amazon and Daptone are providing for a limited time a free 14-track sampler download. DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS!
1. The Sugarman 3 Feat. Naomi Shelton “Promised Land”
2. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings “100 Days, 100 Nights”
3. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings “Pick it Up, Lay it in the Cut”
4. The Budos Band “Chicago Falcon”
5. The Mighty Imperials “Thunder Chicken”
6. The Budos Band “Up From the South”
7. The Daktaris “Eltsuhg Ibal Lasiti”
8. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings “How Long Do I Have to Wait for You?”
9. The Sugarman 3 “Chicken Half”
10. The Sugarman 3 “Turtle Walk”
11. The Poets of Rhythm ” More Mess On My Thing”
12. Bob & Gene “I Can Be Cool”
13. The Como Mamas Feat. Mary Moore “Trouble In My Way”
14. Menahan Street Band “Make the Road by Walking”
On January 20th, 2009– Inauguration Day– Umphrey’s McGee will be releasing their next studio album, Mantis. According to their press release, Mantis is different from their last studio albums in that it is entirely new music written in the studio as opposed to songs that had been given workouts on the road. The band considers this the “centerpiece of a new era” and extending the notion of innovation, they have set up a unique pre-order for Mantis.
So, hang tight– this gets a bit complicated. I have done my pre-order already, and recommend that if you’re interested you do, too. Here is the shizzle:
First, there are three versions of Mantis. In addition to the CD and mp3 versions you’d expect, the band is pressing a very limited number of 180g LP’s! That’s right! VINYL! The vinyl is included in the Deluxe Package which includes a CD and mp3 download plus other goodies.
The CD version of the album is will be the “key” to unlocking exclusive bonus content that the band will be providing throughout the year through Push Entertainmentincluding live versions of the Mantis songs, rehearsals and impromptu “bus jams” and more. This content– referred to as “Bonus Part II” will be available to anyone who buys the album either as a pre-order or after the release date.
As if that isn’t cool enough, anyone who pre-orders the album in either CD format (for $19.99) or as part of the Deluxe Package ($49.99) will have access to “Bonus Part I.” This is where it gets interesting. If you pre-order the album, you will get a free download of the album in mp3 format to make sure everyone who pre-orders can listen to the album on its release date in case there are unpredictable mailing delays. In addition to that, the band will be making available up to 8 Levels of bonus material encoded as 160Kbps mp3’s that will be available on January 20th as well. The number of levels made available will be based on how many pre-orders are placed of either of the versions. Pre-orders were taken starting October 27th, and as of 11/5, five of the eight levels are unlocked. The special Mantis page has a progress bar at the top of the page that shows how many levels are unlocked and floats a box with what is included in each level. On December 4th Level 1 will be available for download to all who pre-order.
Anyone who pre-orders will also receive a lifetime subscription to the digital edition of Relix Magazine, and be entered in a drawing for a “RelixBand” which is a bracelet made from guitar strings from Jake and Brendan used in a live performance.
When the pre-order opened, there was initially only going to be 500 of the Deluxe Package, but they sold out in TWO DAYS! So, the band increased the number to 1000. At this moment, there appear to still be some available for order. The Deluxe Package has a bunch of great content, and totally worth $50. You get the CD of Mantis, the mp3 download, the 180g vinyl, a special DVD of the 10th Anniversary Retrospective that was shown at last years’ New Year’s Eve shows plus some other video content, a Mantis poster plus other goodies from UMHQ all in a box signed by the band! Apparently, every box will have slightly different extra goodies added by the band themselves.
Here are the levels for the pre-order Bonus. The band scoured the Internet boards to see what rare content was most in demand, so that determined what they’ve included. As cool as the pop-up boxes on the website are, I’ve decided to type it up here, and I will be updating this as the new levels are added, so check back or subscribe to updates on this article to stay up-to-date.
Level 1(8 tracks total, and available in December to pre-orders) unlocked
1 track from Greatest Hits Vol. III – The long out-of-print first record selected via a fan poll.
4 tracks from annual Acoustic Christmas Show 2005
2 tracks from Jake Cinniger’s home studio 4-track archives -One track you’re likely to recognize and one you’re not.
1 track from inside the studio control room during an album tracking session – Fly on the wall perspective.
Level 2 (8 tracks total) unlocked
1 track from ‘beat guru’ Andy Farag -Andy often spends his spare time cooking up a variety of hip-hop and r&b beats that are rarely released for public consumption.
Jake’s original demo version of feature track ‘Made to Measure’ with different lyrics. Long before this song evolved into its current state, Jake sang about the joys of man’s best friend.
‘Made to Measure’ alternate take with scratch vocals.
2 acoustic tracks from the soundtrack The Trip There written and performed by Brendan Bayliss.
2 ‘Solo’ audio stems from the title track “Mantis” – Hear instruments and vocal arrangements of this track with everything else stripped away, a microscopic view inside a dense Umphrey’s composition.
1 potential album cut that was ultimately left unfinished.
Level 3 (7 tracks total) unlocked
2 control room montage tracks – Experience what it’s like to be a fly on the wall inside the control room of our studio. Hear songs come to life (or be put to death) as the recording process unfolds.
3 tracks from UM sound checks – “What songs are we going to screw up if we don’t practice them?”
Early sketch version of album track #4.
4-track studio version of the song EAT, recorded in Jake’s home studio.
Level 4 (7 tracks total) unlocked
‘Dance Remix’ of album track 5 from Andy Farag
‘Work in Progress’ track – Listen to the conception of album track number 7 from an improvisation during a live show. Follow it through adolescence and beyond!
4 tracks from Acoustic Christmas 2006.
‘Birth of a Song’ – Listen as an album cut is constructed, deconstructed, written, rewritten, tweaked, and birthed from recordings taken from basement tapes, pre-production writing sessions and ‘Grammy take’ sessions.
Level 5 (8 tracks total) unlocked (as of 11/5)
2 live tracks from the mythic ‘Taper Appreciation Nights’ at Shank Hall, Milwaukee, WI
2 tracks from Jake Cinninger’s home studio 4-track archives.
Early demo version of album track #6
Mistake Montage – Listen to the less glamorous side of being in the studio with UM.
2 ‘Solo’ audio stems from album track #4 – Hear various instruments and vocal arrangements of this track with everything else stripped away.
Level 6 (8 Tracks total) unlocked (as of 11/16)
“Radio” edit of an album track
“Work in Progress” – Listen to the conception of album track #9 from an improvisation during a live show. Follow it through adolescence and beyond!
Early 4-track versions of track #7 including Jake’s first scratch version from 1994. Yes kids, 1994.
3 tracks from the Acoustic Christmas Show 2005.
Time Relevant Track – The original solo guitar audio that became “Wizard Burial Ground” recorded during album brainstorming sessions.
Level 7 (7 Tracks Total) unlocked (as of 12/11)
‘Birth of a Song’ – Listen as an album cut is constructed, deconstructed, written, rewritten, tweaked, and birthed from recordings taken from basement tapes, pre-production writing sessions, and ‘Grammy take’ sessions.
2 alternate versions of Jake’s guitar solo from album track #6. Listen to the options we sorted through before deciding on this monstrosity.
Umphrey’s Round Table Pt. 1 – A discussion of all things Mantis.
2 tracks of solo grand piano from Joel’s Holiday show in 2006
Early rough version of the title track ‘Mantis’ recorded in Joel’s attic in early 2007.
‘Puncle Wally’ – Video the lone performance at historic CBGB’s in NYC.
1 track of solo grand piano from Joel’s Holiday show in 2005
2 tracks from Joel, Jake & Andy from Joel’s Holiday show in 2006
Mantis Ghetts – Just wait and see. Guaranteed to please!
1 track from the mythic ‘Taper Appreciation Nights’ at Shank Hall, Milwaukee, WI
Unreleased track from the Acoustic Planet Tour ’06 featuring Bela Fleck
2 tracks from Acoustic Christmas 2008
Level 9 (1 Track + Video + 1 Live Set) Unocked (as of 1/7/09) A new level added after 8 unlocked to drive more presales!
FOH Jam – Video from the soundboard jam on 12/31/07
Early scratch version of album track 1348
Entire set from the 1/19/09 CD Release show at the Vic Theatre
I have to say that in the last year since I became aware of Umphrey’s McGee, one thing I have been really impressed with is how they’ve embraced new avenues for keeping the fans up-to-date and providing content as well. They have had regular podcasts with interesting songs from shows, their site provides RSS feeds, the band as well as their soundman regularly blog with photos, you can purchase every show, they allow taping and trading as well. They have also implemented an interesting TXT service via kadoink that sends updates to your cell phone and provides the ability for the band to send recorded messages and music to your phone. This new approach to releasing an album is just another step. It’s clear that Umphrey’s McGee understands their fanbase and seems to cater to them. The Mantis website has an embedded player that is getting updated daily with recent live tracks and has an embedded chat tool as well that the band seems to check.
Click Here to visit the Mantis Website and pre-order Mantis. While you’re there sign up for updates from UM, and be entered into a contest for the “Ultimate Umphrey’s Package.” The grand prize is tickets to any and all 2009 UM shows, a signed copy of Mantis and a signed lithograph of the Mantis artwork, ten first prizes are tickets to three shows and the signed album and litho, and ten second prizes are a signed Mantis and litho.
Click Here to subscribe to an RSS feed of this article to watch for updates.
Barack Obama-BFF Lyrics Born has released the next single from his sophomore solo album Everywhere At Once. “Whispers” –an unexpectedly somber track from the man who brought us such bumpin’ slices of funky pie as “Callin’ Out” and Everywhere‘s first single “I Like It, I Love It”– is a slow, stripped-to-the-bass Isaak Hayes-style track.
“Whispers” was written by LB inspired by hearing the news of the passing of his longtime friend Benjamin “Mack B. Dog” Davis. I wasn’t familiar with B. Dog other than his participation in the Quannum Spectrum project where he provided the inter-song “skits” of a late-night DJ. The song provides the soulful vocals of Codany Holiday aka “C-Holiday.” You might be familiar with C-Holiday from his participation in the controversial Rainydayz Remixes done by AmpLive. Click Here to download this fantastic mix.
Stay tuned for a video of this song as well. The generous folks in the LB camp have granted permission to post “Whispers” for download, but do yourself a favor and buy Everywhere At Once it’s one of the great hip hop albums– LB does a great job of bringing all of his influences to this record.
For about two minutes today there was a blog post on Pieta Brown’s MySpace page about a new self-released 7-song EP called Flight Time and is reported to be available starting 10/10 via Pieta’s website as a download or eventually by iTunes. The album was produced and played on by Bo Ramsey and includes Sliders luminaries Marty Christensen and Steve Hayes.
The physical media– which will be available at her shows– is in bio-degradable packaging and is designed by Pieta’s sister Zoe Brown.
Tracklist: Sunrise, Highway 44 (Click Here to visit Pieta’s MySpace Page which has this track streaming)
Still Runnin’
Just
The Lion’s Dream
Bad News
I Thought I Heard You Call My Name
Even When
I got an e-mail yesterday from Amazon letting me know that I only have until 12/31/2008 to take advantage of the fairly decent 
For a limited time Amazon is having a sale on the entire Daptone Records catalog in mp3 format. All titles are $6.99 each! Daptone, for the uninitiated is the incredible indie record label out of NYC that specializes in retro R&B and funk and is the home of the amazing Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings as well as The Budos Band and the Sugarman 3. To promote the sale, Amazon and Daptone are providing for a limited time a free 14-track sampler download. DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS!
