Diplo and Santogold clash

Download Guns Of Brooklyn - Santogold and Diplo
The hottest female star of the year teams up with one of the hottest DJ/producers around to cover a Clash classic and flip it from London to New York. Santogold and Diplo take Guns Of Brixton (which was last year covered by Arcade Fire live in London) and dub it out to the max. It features on the pair's new mixtape, Top Ranking, which is available at your favourite independent record retailer from this week. The mix includes exclusive tracks by both artists as well classics from Aretha Franklin, Desmond Dekker and Devo.

Buy Top Ranking from Phonica or Rough Trade

Ally

Dr. Dog - Fate

I have to admit i don't know that much about Dr. Dog, in fact, i only recently discovered them through their cover of Architecture In Helsinki's 'Heart It Races' but this week i've been listening to their new album Fate and am mightily impressed. Psychadelic pop songs with a country, bluesy instrumentation, almost like listening to Band of Horses playing The White Album...with Dan Auerbach singing...and just the slightest dash of Animal Collective. I've really got to stop these complicated, artist-hybrid descriptions.

The best track is Hang On but i'm posting this one as I prefer the title.

Dr Dog - The Rabbit, The Bat & The Reindeer

Pre-order the album from Amazon here.

Koushik

Download Lying In The Sun by Koushik

Wow, this is my new favourite song in the world. Canadian beatsmith Koushik has distilled the summer into MP3 format. Lovely loud drums, horns, swirling electronics and a psychedelic vocal - someone hand me a beer quick.
Just to fill you in on the back story, Koushik is signed to Californian alt-hip-hop super-label Stones Throw and will release his second album Out My Window in September. He first came to my attention when he released a single on Beat Poetry hero Four Tet's record label Text.
Here's hoping the rest of the LP is as good as this track.

Ally

Drums and other instruments

Hey I made you a tape. A muxtape to be precise. If you don't know what that is, a muxtape is an online compilation of songs that anyone can put together and send to all their friends. Remember in the old days how you would slavishly tape your new fave tunes off the top40 countdown on the radio and give it to your mate/girlfriend/some chick you didn't have a hope in hell with? Well, now you can do it all electronically. So instead of your target audience having to listen to it on a shoddy Aiwa walkman their nan got them for Christmas, they can now marvel at your superior music taste while they sit at their office computer mindlessly doing their skull-crushingly dull job. Ah progress. Technology is a beautiful thing.

Anyway, here is my effort: beatpoetics.muxtape.com

Tracklist:
Kid Koala - Slew Test 2
Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock
The Roots - Meltin' Pot (live)
Sam And Dave - Hold On, I'm Coming
Turbulence - Notorious (Wabenzi Vocal Version)
Eek-A-Mouse - Ganja Smuggling
SeaSick Steve - Cut My Wings
The Black Keys - Same Old Thing
Ellen McIlwaine - Can't Find My Way Home
Cold War Kids - Electioneering
The Teenagers - Homecoming (Gentlemen Drivers Rave Mix)
Nine Inch Nails - Discipline

Ally

Bon Iver and La Blogotheque

Hello there people, today I'd like to talk to you about two wonderful things. They are the fantastic album For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver and the splendid website La Blogotheque.

Bon Iver's debut LP is a mesmerising, deep record which gets better with every listen and is essential for every Elliott Smith/Jeff Buckley fan. He recorded it in a mountain shack in the depth of the American winter, only pausing to chop up fire wood or hunt for deer to eat. It was put together on very simple equipment but the end result is stunning as Mr Iver (aka Justin Vernon) meticulously layered up vocal and guitar parts to create a very rich sound. It also helps that he is blessed with a voice that would reduce practically anyone on the planet into a quivering, sobbing wreck.

La Blogotheque, meanwhile, is a French website which posts up beautifully shot video clips of all your favourite bands playing impromptu street gigs on swish Parisian back roads. It is one of those sites that make you fall to your knees and exclaim: God bless the internet.

I've been meaning to write something about both these things for some time now so when La Blogotheque recently posted some Bon Iver clips I was spurred into action.

Here's Lump Sum:


Check out the full show at La Blogotheque

Download Bon Iver's Skinny Love

The above polaroid of Bon Iver was snapped by Alex at his London show at St Giles church recently.

Ally

Sonny J

Thanks to everyone who came down to our club night last Friday. Everything went well except for some over zealous security staff who thought it was appropriate to call the police after someone had tested a pen on the side of a construction site.

One of the songs i was most looking forward to playing was Sonny J's edit of an old Donna Hightower song 'Handsfree (If You Hold My Hand)'. I haven't got a copy of the album yet but this guy seems set to tear up this summer. For some unknown reason, i didn't play the record in all the confusion so i'll just have to play it here instead.

Sonny J - Handsfree (If You Hold My Hand)

And while i'm at it, here's another one.

Sonny J - Enfant Terrible

Buy music from Sonny J at Rough Trade here.

Alex

Lost Classics - The UMC's

The UMC's are a bit of an enigma. Not quite Native Tongues, not quite Daisy Age and, hailing from Staten Island, always playing second fiddle to their neighbourhood peers. Some heads out there will probably know 'One To Grow On' or maybe 'Blue Cheese' but if you should dig out a copy of their album 'Fruits of Nature' as i did from ebay recently, you'll find an album that plays like the hip-hop classic album you've never heard. Somewhere between 'Midnight Marauders' and Slick Rick's 'The Great Adventures Of...', why the hell didn't i find it 15 years ago?

Check out this track, definitely getting a spin at the next Beat Poetry night on the 13th June.

The UMC's - Never Never Land

Alex