Training and listening or training listening?

Kept training one day with one song on repeat for an hour. I was doing some new bouncing with my new orange bouncing balls. It was so much fun. This is such a great summer song!

It was Eliza Doolittle : "Money box (Jamie XX Remix)"

You can check the bounce video which I made to this song from here: http://juggling.tv/6553

I came a cross one festival in Belgium, called Forest Festival. http://forestfestival.be/2011/ I might go there because I spot some nice artists from there. But I'm just not soo much into house or acid music, this certain kind of house that doesn't change, house can be nice though! But I found a great DJ from the line-up.

I want to introduce you DJ Dunya.
You can find his work on Soundcloud http://soundcloud.com/dj-dunya

I was listening his Mambo Swing mix through so many times. I'm totally into mambo now!

Mambo Swing - www.DjDunya.com - by Dj Dunya

It has some most known mambo songs in it. Love it! But check out also the Desert Grooves mix and if you like balkan or electro swing check them! I already swore kind of that I will not listen anymore electro swing, but some of Dj Dunya's mixes are kind a cool!

I want to present you Gold Panda. I have listened to some of his music already a long time ago. But was today remembered of him by this beautiful video "You" but this must be a remix because the orginal one is different. This was some of the songs that I was so stuck to when I was listening it from the Lucky Shiner album which was his debut album. But actually I forgot the artist after, so I'll have to do some more research because he's a great artist! You can check his webpage  here: http://www.iamgoldpanda.com/ And youtube this guy, he has more great songs!



Gold Panda - You from Thomas Borowiak on Vimeo.


I want to tell you a bit about The Audio Porn Central which is a music blog creation of Simon Iddol. He has create some of the most massive music blog full of songs and mash ups of songs.


I found also this from the blog, a great remix of Foster the People: "Pumped Up Kicks"


Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks (Celebrity Murder Party Where were you in 91 remix) by Celebrity Murder Party

I'm still listening quite a bit Cloud and Bullion so I want to share one song more from Bullion.
This song has some beautiful lyrics you can check out here:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/112/crazyoveryou.html

"Crazy over you"

"And I'm,

Crazy over you,

I don't know what to do,

I'm Crazy over you... 

A love that never ends

You're more than just a friend

And my heart and soul I'll always give to you,

The only in my life"

What Canada, Denmark and France have in common?

Cassius is a French house duo of Philippe Cerboneschi and Hubert Blanc-Francart who have been busy already from the late 80's early 90's. I came a cross to them from a diabolo video.

It was the song called "I Love you so". This song is addictive because its bass and vocals!

I found a while ago great Danish singer songwriter Agnes Obel who has a beautiful special voice. Little bit like the Canadian Kyrie Kristmanson. I saw this cd cover with her and an owl in the email I got from Bleep, in records stores and posters and it just kept popping around for some time.


Agnes Obel: "Riverside"

And a very beautiful piano piece "Wallflower" from the album "Riverside".

Check also "Just So", "Falling Catching" and "Close Watch".

Kyrie Kristmanson is young Canadian singer songwriter with a white furry hat.
Her newest album is "Origin of Stars". She got known better trough her song "Song X"

Mp3 player

I feel shamed and stupid. I washed by accident my mp3 player in a washing machine. It gave some lights and bleeps still after. Don't know if it will work again or not. And it was quite new. It is a small thing but mp3 player is lot for me. Having your music always with you is something awesome. You can just listen music while sitting in the city, watching traffic, people and count the clouds.

Music always with! This song goes for my mp3 player.

Burial: Forgive

Don't drop your beats!

Did some youtube digging other day, when it was gray and bit rainy and found some new tunes! I started to bold also the album names so it's easier to find them from the text.

Actually I found the next artist a longer time ago, but never just listened it more through. The British guy is Paul White with the album "The strange dreams of Paul White". You can browse this album through at Bleep.com. "Surfing off the coast of Mexico" and "The uprise of the insane" are some great tunes from the album. Some other albums from White are "Sounds from the skylight" (2009), "Paul White & The Purple Brain" (2010) and "Rapping with Paul White" 2011. The label is called One-Handed Music http://onehandedmusic.com/

And to continue bit more into the hip-hop side I want to proudly present you Cloud. Warning about some deadly beats! This guy is awesome, genious and I thought I would never like hip hop! I highly recommend this artist, because this kind of hip hop you don't find easily! I think if I ever would buy only one hip-hop cd it would be from Cloud. He has created some massive beats mixing old with new. He's a hip hop artist out of Brooklyn, USA. You can download for free his album "Pimp Steak" (2008) from his webpage at http://cloudinstrumentals.com/album/pimp-steak

One deadly song from the album is "Ladies Brake"...Check this out!

Some other songs that popped up from the album are: "Chaser", "Spark it", "Down the aisles", "Pimp Steak", "Streetwalk pt2". Check some other albums of Cloud: "Ice cream cola [redux]" (check the songs "Trust Me", "Persuations", "Hart St"), 40oz (2009) (She's Fly (The Hookup) ), "Self law" (2009) (Songs: "Take Money", "Noxious" and "Rap Robin Hood", "Sluts and Saints" (2009) (Songs: "Money Blow Glow", "Easy slip") "Vault crack EP" (Songs: "These eyes", "Rip tide") and "Hang + Bang" (2011).

"She's Fly"

Check his webpage also http://machineromantic.com/ Still in love with his music! Support his work!


I want to introduce you also Bullion, real name Nathan Jenkins. I know only that he's from London at least what it says in his myspace at http://www.myspace.com/bullionness

What hit me totally was

"Are you the one?" So beautiful!

Other albums from him are "Get Familiar" (2008) "Pet Sounds: In the Key of Dee" (2007), "Young heartache" (2009), "Say goodbye to what" (2010) and "You drive me to plastic" (2011).

"Too right"

Keep it real!

Soundscapes

Different places have their own sound. You feel it around you.

Big cities, open fields, forest, lakes.

What I like in the cities that you can just pass your time watching other people and listen to the city. All the shouts, walking on the pavement with small stones rolling under the feet and the traffic lights changing. Some sound spaces you can listen only a moment and then it gets a burden. I need to to have also silence.

I like different soundscapes, I also connect a picture in my mind in to these soundscapes. Some of the top things I like, is the wind. Mostly wind anywhere, but especially in the forest, a mixed forest where birches, pine trees and aspen trees. Specially the aspen tree makes loud sound.

Water hitting against the stones on the strand. It's so calming to fall asleep into this sound. But this should not be tried to copy. Because you have so many "relaxing" cd-compilations full of this. And they barely never have the same feeling, unless you have the most amazing surround sound at your home.

Kaskas (in Finnish) cicada and grasshopper. Kaskas in the summer evenings, mostly in the mediterranian area. But I was so happy to hear that also in Netherlands some day. And the sound of grasshoppers in long hay in the summer. How you can hear if it's close or far.

Squeaking sound of the snow under your feet. I still get cold chills from hearing it.

I often choose my songs for acts to create atmosphere so every piece will have their own soundscape.
In ambient, minimal and electronic music is quite often about soundscapes. They are sort of songs of different spaces, you don't need to find a reason in the song, but you can enter into middle of something. I had this feeling quite strongly with Helios because one of the albums was so dark that I sometimes just skipped the middle part not to get too depressed. It felt like entering into a house full of strange sounds.

I found just couple days ago Arve Henriksen. He's great Norwegian trumpetist and a composer. I stumbled upon a song called "Planting trees creating beauty" and was totally mesmerized.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbu0vIEs4Vc

Another beautiful piece from him is "Recording Angel"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl_WTyHebhw&feature=related

Henriksen has collaborated with many many other musicians.He has released many cds. The latest is "Cartography" 2008, "Stjorn" 2007, "Chiaroscuro" 2004 and "Sakuteiki" 2001. You find more out of him here http://www.arvehenriksen.no/

Dance dance dance.

As in Lykke Li's lyrics from a brilliant song "Dance, dance, dance"

"Having troubles telling how I feel
But I can dance, dance, dance"

Dancing is fun. I think people should dance more. There would be less worries in the world if people would dance more. And you don't need to learn some specific dance moves, you have to find your own way. Because we all move in our own ways, we walk on our own ways so why we should all dance in the same way. It's so much fun to dance to really different music styles, feel how the rhythm want's your body to move. What moves you?

This summer I gladly want to present a very talented dj-producer from The Netherlands: Gregor Salto. He started dj-ing already from his teens. He has made some great remixes of "Mas que nada" and "Lambada".

Amazing beginning for the summer brings the song "Canoa"

and "Mexer (Groovenatics remix)"

Another amazing piece that makes me feel immediately happy is the collaboration of


Gregor Salto and Mokoomba: "Messe Messe (afro dub)"

Check also songs "Just a trip", "Bouncing harbour", "Looking good feat. Red", "Boa Viagem" and "I'm your friend".


http://www.gregorsalto.com/


I want to end with Roy Orbison "Pretty Woman"

and Elvis Presley "Jailhouse rock", the early dance music!

How can you leave your hart to Iceland without never being there?

I left part of my heart to Iceland already when I was quite young and bought my first album of Björk. I think it was Post and bit later I got also Vespertine. I was listening lot songs like "Modern things", "It's Oh So Quiet", "Enjoy", "Isobel", "All is full of love","Human behaviour" and "Bachelorette" which I think is still one of the best songs of Björk. Honestly I just went trough all these songs thinking they were the best ones. The best remix of Björk is undoubtedly "Hyberballad (Brodsky Quartet Remix)".

When Medúlla came out I was totally astonished by it. Whole album full of only "accapella" well you canät really say accapella, but use voice as the only tool without any instruments. It's an extremely demanding things to succeed in. I didn't actually listen it so much but loved songs like "Mouth's cradle", "Vökuró" which is amazingly beautiful and touching song and the small song "Miðvikudags".


When Volta came it brought again totally new kind of Björk. There was a beautiful collaboration in "The dull flame of desire" with Antony Hegarty from Antony and The Johnsons. The beginning trumpets of"Vertebrae by vertebrae" were great. I had strangely always this feeling of a harbor or sailing when I was listening to Volta. "Declare Independence" became the biggest media hype of the album, when Björk sung it in China with "...Tibet, Tibet, don't let them do that to you.." lyrics.


For me Björk has been always one of the artists who has experimented the most with their music. They are always on search for something new.

Now Björk is busy with a new album called Biophilia that will air still 2011.  She is researching the similarities in structure and shapes between nature and music in the coming album, so I'm really curious how it will be. There is already single "Crystalline" out from the forthcoming album. It has some nice beats of drum 'n' bass also in!

Björk was just the first artist I got to know from Iceland. It turned out that Iceland is the promised land of beautiful music.


I bought an album of Múm "Summer make good" in 2004. It was recorded in a lighthouse and I totally lost myself for the album. The album was haunted and sweet at the same time. The vocals sounded very strange first, but it totally fitted to the album. Some of most touching songs was "Weeping Rock, Rock" with dark strong bass in it. "The Island of Children's Children" was the small bundle on light in middle of dark. In 2002 released "Finally we are no one" was also a great album with songs like "Green Grass of tunnel", "Don't be afraid, You have just got your eyes closed" and "I can't feel my hand anymore, It's alright, Sleep still". Samuli Kosminen  known also from playing together with Kimmo Pohjonen, was also collaborating in Múms albums, where he was doing percussions.


In 2007 they released "Go go smear the poison ivy" that was much happier album which I totally loved and I got to see then band live also and got all the signatures to the sweet cover of the album! "Rhubarbidoo", "They made frogs smoke 'til they exploded" and "Dancing behind my eyelids" are just part of the happines of this album. I personally loved this album even more, because it didn't go so overwhelmingly dark as "Summer make good".


Theirs latest album from 2009 is "Sing along to songs you don't know". I haven't yet listened to this album, only couple songs, but it seems to go more for a new fresh direction. Some great songs from the album are "The smell of today is sweet like breast milk in the wind"...love the electric guitar in it that you don't hear often with Múm, and "Prophecies & Reverse".


Check out Múm here http://mum.is/

Sóley is another amazing band from Iceland that I just discovered. Be careful with typing the name right, otherwise you don't find the right band. Don't know so much from the band except it makes beautiful music and they have amazing vocalist Sóley Stefánsdóttir who's the lead.


These songs captured me...


"Kill the Clown"

and "Read Your Book"

Check out more of their music from their Myspace http://www.myspace.com/ssoolleeyy




Rökkurró I found also last weekend and like them so much already. They have also amazing vocalist Hildur Kristín Stefánsdóttir. Their debut "Það Kólnar Í Kvöld" translated "It's getting colder tonight" was released 2007.


Here's the beautiful video of "Sólin mun skína". 

And one very special is "Svanur".

And the Myspace of the band http://www.myspace.com/rokkurro


Amiina, also from Iceland! Great! It was originally a string quartet of four girls. Edda rún ólafsdóttir, hildur ársælsdóttir, maría huld markan sigfúsdóttir and sólrún sumarliðadóttir. Sorry for the small capitals, something went wrong with my keybord. But now the band is a sextet because they got addition of two guys.


Amiina: "Sexfaldur"

Amiina's debut album was "kurr" (2007). Their newest album, released in 2010 is "Puzzle". Some great pieces from them are, I haven't listened them yet enough but here's only two other faves "Hilli" and "Bláfeldur" "Lóri". I think I could just honestly say the whole production of them, even though I have listened under ten songs from them!


Find more about Amiina at their homepage http://amiina.com/

And yes, how can you talk about Icelandic music without mentioning Sigur Rós the band.
But I leave some search for you. I want to to end the Icelandic post with a music video "Viorar Vel Til Loftarasa".

I want to go Iceland some day.