Angry Brasstards: Youngblood Brass Band

A friend pointed me in the direction of this great brassy-scratchy Rage cover after I shared with him the funky steel stuff.

The Apples - Killing


Reminded me of the Youngblood Brass Band, a group of a dozen or so angry young guys with various skins to bang and tubes to blow. Saw them a few years ago touring thier 'Is That A Riot?' album in Cab Vol in Edinburgh, a dark wee tunnel of a club. They barely fitted on the stage, but blew us all away with such an energy and anger in their sound.

I'd say they are a jazzed-up, poetic Rage Against The Machine with brass instead of guitars. Here are a few faves on Youtube to see what I mean.

Youngblood Brass Band - Nuclear Summer


Youngblood Brass Band - March


Youngblood Brass Band - Dead Man Stomping


It mite be my woeful laptop speakers, but as explosive as these tunes sound, they are poor imitation of what it's like to have them go off live in your face. Go see them if they're ever around! Their Myspace says they're touring the UK over the next couple of weeks...

Nova Tunes: The Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band

A most rewarding by-product of trying to find Sara Schiralli's stuff was the discovery of Nova Tunes, a compilation series put out by Radio Nova, a Parisian station that sounds a lot like Radio Sing Sing, playing an eclectic mix of funky, rocky, hiphoppy, balladic, dancable stuff.

There are 22 of these compilations so far, and Sara Schiralli opens the 2.0th one (they sensibly started numbering at 0.1).

Here's Another fave off Nova Tunes 2.0:

The Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band - P.I.M.P.


This other vid's description gives some background, and explains why I've heard this tune before:

"Mocambo is proud to offer another 45 from the vaults of this obscure band from Trinidad & Tobago.
This moody downtempo tune shows the influence of Latin styles and Jamaican reggae in early 1970's Trinidadian music culture. The theme is said to be derived from Venzuela and was adapted by rapper 50 Cent for his massive smash "P.I.M.P.". Our chief engineer Steven "Def Stef" Tantrum did a wonderful job in restauring the old 8-track tape and mixing the track.
While the A-Side spotlights the pan section and a featured trumpet, the B-side underlines the impact of Jamaican dub on Trinidadian Steel Bands with the spaced-out melodica solo in the style of the great Augustus Pablo.
Each one is hand-stamped on the flip side!!!"

The description apparently was sourced from Mocambo, a German record label, but they no longer have the bit about Venezuela or 50 Cent.

If you love the steel sound give this a shot too. A traditional funk instrumental with a steel drum lead. Less catchy than the first, but then it is pretty damn catchy.

THe Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band - Look-A-Py-Py

Funky Female House: Don't Call Me Baby

One of my fave French-style funky house tracks with sexy vocals on top.

Madison Avenue - Don't Call Me Baby


"French-style" because Madison Avenue is actually Australian, but I reckon it just owes so much to Daft Punk and the like. The vid isn't just glitter dance and posture; about halfway thru the DJ is showing off the creative process on his blobby iMac with an old copy of ProTools or something. The remaining shots show him slightly confused about why he's on camera.

According to Wikipedia, "The song features a bass line sample from Ma Quale Idea by Italo Disco artist Pino D'Angiò which in turn is based on Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now by McFadden & Whitehead." I dug them up, and it's pretty clear.

Pino D'Angiò - Ma Quale Idea


Never heard this Italian guy before, but it's cheesy chanty fun! One to add to my Italo-Disco guilty pleasures box. The aussies basically sped this up a a bit and put a new vocal on top. And they left the popcorny "boo!" synthdrums in as a lol.

McFadden & Whitehead - Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now


Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now is a proper classic you'll get on any essential dad-age disco mix. And while researching this, Wikipedia confirmed my suspicion that this was also sampled by the GTA2 soundtrack.

Davidson - All I Wanna Do


Pop eats itself, eh?

Glitchy Reggae n Gyptek from Glasgow: MC Soom T

MC Soom T on Myspace Music
http://www.myspace.com/mcsoomt

Last time I was in the Meadow Bar (to see Kunt & the Gang) there was some really good reggae and dubby stuff playing downstairs. When I asked the DJ about the amazing voice in one record, he told me the girl's name was Soom T and well worth checking out.

Gotta agree! I was halfway to being wankered by the time I got out of Kunt, so I can't remember exactly what I heard, but everything on the Myspace is worth a listen.

It's an eclectic mix of glitchy reggae, jaunty folk, and big beats with sweet vocals. She's collaborated with lots of folk I love and lots more folk I'm gonna be checking out ;)

Fave tracks are probably What Is Life (with King Creosote), Dirty Money (with Jahtari 8-bit reggae soundsystem), Don't Forget To Wake Up (Asian Dub-esque), and Net In A Circle (atmospheric glitchyness about "when the drugs are done dancing").

What Is Life


Dirty Money


And lots lots more to click thru on Youtube. Have a look!