Free Music: Diplo - Chasing The Dragon

Diplo is the production maestro best known for spinning the masterful Clash-sampling beat behind M.I.A.'s "Paperplanes" and more recently as half of the zombie-reggae-dancehall-electro project Major Lazer with fellow producer Switch.  Playing notoriously raucous shows and remixing everything from Peter, Bjorn, and John to Daft Punk and Black Lips, he has established himself as an essential element in the producer/DJ crowd, even starting his own label, Mad Decent.  This new mixtape spans lots of different types of psychedelic bluesy jams but definitely has a groovy Diplo feel to it.  And did I mention it's FREE?

Download it now at Some Kind of Awesome's Soundcloud.

Or

Stream it now at Mad Decent's site.

New Feature and New Review: Rusko - O.M.G.!

You would think that after doing legal writing for 48 hours straight I wouldn't want to do any more, yet here I am.  Gotta spread the gospel friends.  If you look to the right side of the blog you will see a new feature that I am going to do every Monday.  It's a ten song playlist courtesy of our friends at grooveshark.com that I will compile based on my favorites of the past week plus some artists who will be coming into San Diego.  Throw it on at work, home, or if you are a DJ up in tha club.  I'll try to mix it up and I hope you enjoy it.

This isn't the first time I've thrown some dubstep production on here and it certainly won't be the last if the music continues its sludgy evolution into deeper and wonkier bass that makes the booty go 'woah'.  Alongside other genre mainstays like Skream and Benga, the latest dubber most consistently spitting out my speakers is Rusko.  The one-time Englishman now lives stateside up in Lost Angeles playing the electronic festival circuit all over the U.S. this past summer.  Rumor has it he is even producing some tracks on the new Britney... Spears... record...  I'll just pretend I didn't hear that actually.  Regardless of his future plans, his current beats are bumpin', kinda glitchy, and combine the best elements of modern dubstep with the best elements of 90's breakbeat and early 90's electronica.

Releasing only two EPs previously, O.M.G.! is Rusko's debut LP and it really does push dubstep into a new level that it had not previously touched.  Rusko successfully shows the range that is possible within the confines of the 'womp-womp-womp' that is the spine-crushing beat present in every dubstep track.  Some songs definitely even have an air of those block rockin' hip-hop anthems that they used to make those music videos for with all the people in the hood dancing in the street waving their shirts in the air (when you listen to "Scareware" tell me you don't think of Petey Pablo's "Raise Up"). 

Key tracks on this one are: "Hold On", "Dial My Number", "You're On My Mind Baby", and "Raver's Special"

Get it son.

Mayer Hawthorne - A Strange Arrangement

Sitting in the shade of lemonade stand on Day 3 of Coachella, outside of the Gobi Tent I tried to take a nap. I failed to sleep not because I wasn't exhausted and probably dehydrated, but because the music that began coming from the tent was great and I didn't want to miss it. Mayer Hawthorne, and the County, his touring band, play a brand of soul music that is more suited to the 1960s than the early 2010s. Coming from Detroit, Michigan, Hawthorne has soul in his bones and his label, the always pressing good records, Stones Throw, has really tapped into a great new artist in a genre that they don't generally produce.

Like the Hipstones, Jamie Lidell, Sharon Jones, Black Joe Lewis, and JC Brooks, Mayer Hawthorne doesn't make music to dance to he makes music to groove to. The neo-soul movement is refreshing at a time when popular music is generally made up of the same four chords, and a lack of any meaningful sentiments other than 'let's pop bottles!' or 'i luvs california girls!'. Not that Hawthorne doesn't have a sense of humor with regard to the popular stuff as his concerts often include live sing-a-longs to Biz Markie's "Just a Friend".

The tracks generally all have the same message of love lost, found, misplaced, or underestimated, and he has the soulful chops to make the proverbial panties get wet. Play this one on an early Sunday drive or a lazy afternoon and I promise your day will immediately improve upon hearing Hawthorne's smooth delivery. Key tracks are 'Just Ain't Gonna Work Out' (which has a GREAT music video), 'Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin', and 'Shiny and New'.

Concert Calender July 2010 - San Diego and Los Angeles

It's been quite some time since my last post, but seeing as I'm not getting anything done in summer school right now, here's my picks for what's good in Southern California this July.  A summer of great music (and some comedy) is ahead of us!
Also, for those of you that don't already use it, please check out the good folks over at Grooveshark.com they are now the preeminent source of streaming music now that LaLa has been shut down by Apple and shit do they have EVERYTHING. Use it now while it still exists.

7/9 - Kings Of Leon and Built to Spill @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre (SD)
7/10 - Harlem @ Bar Pink (FREE!)
7/15 - MGMT @ SDSU Open Air Theatre (SD)
7/17 - Slightly Stoopid and Cypress Hill @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre (SD)
7/18 - Zane Lampry (Comedy) @ Belly Up (SD)
7/19 - The Dead Weather @ The House of Blues (SD)
7/19 - Jamie Lidell @ El Rey (LA)
7/23 - Pinback @ Del Mar Racetrack (Free with racetrack admission) (SD)
7/24 - Boris @ Casbah (SD)
7/24-25 - Aziz Ansari (Comedy) @ The House of Blues (SD)
7/25 - 311, The Offspring, and Pepper @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre (SD)
7/31 -Wolf Parade @ The Wiltern (LA)

May 2010 Concert Calendar - San Diego

April hasn't quite ended yet but it almost has and seeing as I will be locked in a room with law books for the next 3 weeks, here's May's schedule a little early.

5/1 - Busdriver @ Winstons Beach Club
5/4 - The Hold Steady @ Belly Up Tavern
5/5 - Mastodon, Baroness, Between the Buried and Me, and Valiant Thorr @ House Of Blues
5/6 - MONO @ The Casbah
5/12 - The Besnard Lakes @ The Casbah
5/13 - Tortoise @ The Casbah
5/20 - Caribou @ The Casbah
5/22 - Minus The Bear @ SOMA
5/23 - The National @ Spreckels Theatre
5/24 - Nada Surf @ Belly Up Tavern
5/26 - ISIS @ The Casbah
5/27 - Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings @ Belly Up Tavern

BBC Radio 1 Essential Mixes - Streaming Archive

Ever since the 1993 Essential Mix, a two-hour radio show on the BBC 1 radio station in the UK has brought the best DJs in the world into their studio or to play live.  The DJs mix their 'essential' favorite tracks into one seamless mix for you to groove to.  A while back I found this website that has the streaming recordings of every essential mix dating from the present all the way back to 1993.  It's A LOT of music, and what's more, it's free!  On there you can check out mixes by Flying Lotus, Faithless, The Twelves, Boyz Noize, Four Tet, Deadmau5, Tiesto, The Stanton Warriors, John Digweed, Bassment Jaxx, and Armin Van Buuren among hundreds of others.  I'll try to find a site where you can actually download these for free but until then...

Essential Mixes . net

AoC Plans Your Coachella Weekend

 Conflicts got you down?  Worried about your bad ankle when having to run from stage to stage?  Worried about not even finding the stage because you took too much (insert chemical of choice here)?  Well I've got you covered.  Here's my line-up of must sees for this coming weekend.  See you all out there in the hot-as-shit best weekend of the year.

FRIDAY:
1:00 pm @ Mojave - Jets Overhead
1:30 pm @ Gobi - P.O.S.
2:00 pm @ Mohave - Baroness
2:20 pm @ Outdoor - Deer Tick
3:00 pm @ Main - Wale
3:20 pm @ Outdoor - The Avett Brothers
4:20 pm @ Mojave - Yeasayer
5:15 pm @ Sahara - Aeroplane
5:45 pm @ Outdoor - She & Him
6:35 pm @ Main - The Specials
7:20 pm @ Outdoor - Passion Pit
7:50 pm @ Main - Them Crooked Vultures
8:30 pm @ Mojave - Grizzly Bear
9:05 pm @ Main - LCD Soundsystem
10:00 pm @ Outdoor - Vampire Weekend
10:50 pm @ Main - Jay-Z
12:00 am @ Sahara - Deadmau5
1:00 am @ Campgrounds - Bassface Sessions w/ Daedelus and The Gaslamp Killer

SATURDAY:
12:25 pm @ Outdoor - RX Bandits
1:05 pm @ Gobi - The Almighty Defenders
2:15 pm @ Gobi - Portugal. The Man
3:10 pm @ Mojave - Camera Obscura
4:00 pm @ Outdoor - The Temper Trap
5:10 pm @ Outdoor - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
6:25 pm @ Outdoor - The XX
7:00 pm @ Mojave - Dirty Projectors
7:40 pm @ Outdoor - Hot Chip
8:50 pm @ Outdoor - MGMT
9:40 pm @ Main - Muse
11:05 pm @ Outdoor - The Dead Weather
12:00 am @ Main - Tiesto OR @ Sahara - 2manyDJs
1:00 am @ Campgrounds - Bassface Sessions with Flying Lotus

SUNDAY:
12:00 pm @ Mojave - One EskimO
12:55 pm @ Mojave - The Soft Pack
1:30 pm @ Gobi - Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
2:10 pm @ Gobi - Local Natives
3:00 pm @ Sahara - Rusko
3:50 pm @ Main - De La Soul
5:00 pm @ Main - Yo La Tengo
5:35 pm @ Mojave - Julian Casablancas
6:30 pm @ Main - Spoon
7:10 pm @ Outdoor - Phoenix
8:05 pm @ Sahara - Orbital
9:00 pm @ Outdoor - Thom Yorke and Atoms for Peace
10:30 pm @ Main - The motherfucking GORILLAZ