Category: Electronic

MEAUX GREEN - CHRISTMAS IN THE NEW LANDS

1/4/2013

1. Christmas In The New Lands
(Justice x A-trak x Run DMC)
2. Diplo Hates Where We Go
(Rashid x Blasterjaxx x Dani Deahl x Oh Snap!)
3. Pull Up Trapsistion
(Ookay x Snails x Partysquad x Meaux Green)

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MEAUX GREEN WEB SITE
DOWNLOAD FREE FROM MEDIAFIRE

Feeling all blah and blech--hungover from the holidays just passed? Can't get into a '13 swing? Well, this here's yer tonic, courtesy of musical medicine man Meaux Green--an Orlando based DJ/Producer, a man on the very front lines of the cutting edge of high energy beats for the club set. Meaux's rep is that of a mad genius gone berzerk and this "Bah Humbug! Bootleg Booster Pack" will show you why.

Now I'm not qualified to speak to the other two tunes, here, but I will say that "Christmas In The New Lands" is a nicely done shot of adrenalin guaranteed to get your festive party goers on the Christmas dance floor. And I suspect it would be a welcome change of pace on your Christmas mixtapes as well. And, these days, you can never go wrong sampling "Christmas In Hollis" (sampling "Back Door Santa"). I think, after hearing this one, you'll be hoping to find Mo' Meaux under next year's Christmas tree.

Grab Meaux Green's "Bah Humbug! Bootleg Booster Pack" straight from MeadiFire, while it lasts. And, if you're in the mood for Mo' Meaux, long form, now, stop by Soundcloud for the hour and ten minute long "2012 Hangover Mix".

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LORD HURON - AULD LANG SYNE

12/29/2012

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Lord Huron - Auld Lang Syne by Lord Huron

L.A. Indie Folk/Rock band Lord Huron has just released their cover of "Auld Lang Syne". Lord Huron incorporates a bit of electronica and what the L.A. Times calls "Wild West Romance" into their sound. They're unique and happening enough to have appeared on The Tonight Show in 2012 and their latest full-length is "Lonesome Dreams". "Auld Lang Syne" is free through Soundcloud for the moment, so pick it up.

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VARIOUS - THE BFW CHRISTMAS ALBUM 2012

12/28/2012

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1. Amygdala projects - Betelgeuse
2. Bing Satellites - New Horizons
3. Eko_Fisk - Outside 'Angels' 241285
4. JCM - 24th Rusharound
5. Killer Haven's Insanity Claus - MF Xmas
6. Poodleplay Arkestra - The Heavenly Tea Dance
7. The Reverse - First Christmas
8. Magic Mountain - Sublight
9. ROGUE SPORE - The Beguiling Black Ice Nymph
10. Jon Johnson - Peppermint Twists
11. Shane Morris - The Ghost of Christmas Future
12. Elypixa - The rain subsided
13. Cousin Silas - Lights Aglow On Christmas Island

FREE AT BANDCAMP
THE BFW WEB SITE

Finding the "All Is Calm 2012" set reminded me of another annual collection I think of when I think of Ambient music, "The BFW Christmas Album". And sure enough, the eclectic label, for the third year running, issued their free digital Christmas set. Though BFW initially made their name with Ambient, they tend to be far more wide reaching, and the variety I was looking for from "All Is Calm" is much more in evidence here. I'm still not in an Ambient state of mind at the moment. But I did think the Bing Satellites track on the BFW album, "New Horizons", had more energy and direction. Cousin Silas charmed, here, once again with a lovely Ambient number, "Lights Aglow On Christmas Island". But, beyond the Ambient, there was an interesting assortment of sounds. As a wonderful change of pace, BFW included a pretty much straight Indie Folk effort from The Reverse; "First Christmas" might seem out of place, but it works exceedingly well, probably because it's such a well written song about a first Christmas without someone dear. From "we hold these cliches dear", I was putty in their hands. "The BFW Christmas Album 2012" also features some electronica, some music that's much more New Age than Ambient, and a dash of Zombies up top from Amygdala Projects. All in all, another nice package from the label where everything's free, BFW. Download it at Bandcamp, and pick up their previous holiday sets while you're there.

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VARIOUS - ALL IS CALM 2012

12/28/2012

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1. Chris Russell - Borealis
2. Michael Meara - Hymnal
3. Phillip Wilkerson - Snow Is Glistening
4. Lattice - Bathing in December Streetlight
5. Benjamin Dauer - The Softest of Light
6. Cousin Silas - White
7. Gregg Plummer - Winter's Dream
8. Steve Brand - Host
9. Jack Hertz - Winter Breeze
10. Bing Satellites - Fireside
11. eyes cast down - Snowdance in Starlight

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Completely missed this this year. Mind you, it's only been out a week. But, usually, since one of the primary guiding forces behind the "All Is Calm" collections is Brad Ross-MacLeod (aka The King of Jingaling), I'm usually watching for it more closely.

In addition to being a Christmas music enthusiast and the beloved ringmaster at FaLaLaLaLa.com, Brad is also the host of the ambient music program Free Floating which, last time I checked, was part of the StillStream network.

At some point, Brad decided it would be a natural evolution to combine his love for seasonal music with his love for the Ambient art form and "All Is Calm" was born--a free download compilation of original winter works and compositions submitted by artists oft featured on Free Floating. "All Is Calm 2012" is the third such compilation of meditations of the winter season. And, yes, there's little doubt the "All Is Calm" collections focus more on the winter time than on Christmas itself, though that's not a requirement for inclusion.

This year's collection seemed to be a bit less varied than previous year's sets, with Chris Russell's "Borealis" setting the tone for much of what follows. Some of my annual favorites are here--The Bing Satellites with "Fireside", Phillip Wilkerson with "Snow Is Glistening"--and most of the 11 tracks are musical soundscapes of some length. And the thing about Ambient music is that you have to relax and just dissolve into it and let it carry you. And I'm just not in that mood this year, I guess. I did very much like "White" by Cousin Silas, which, for my money, seemed to capture some of the beauty and majesty of the season. And "Winter Breeze" by Jack Hertz was (pardon the pun) kinda cool. But I mostly found myself outside the music and that simply doesn't work with Ambient. Not for me, at any rate. The fault, here, likely lies in myself and not in the stars. I'll take another swing at it when the time is right.

If you find yourself in the proper mood for a little winter meditation and electronic space walking, pick up "All Is Calm 2012" as a Name-Your-Price download from Bandcamp. And, by all means, check out "All Is Calm 2011" and "All Is Calm 2010" as well.

As a bit of a bonus, this year, Free Floating has also released the Winter inspired "The Sidereal Cycle 3" by Altus. It's one huge 55 minute piece of Ambient composition, also available as a Name-Your-Price download at Bandcamp. In the early minutes, at least, that one sounded a little more to my taste of the moment.

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CHRISTINE BERGER & BEN DE VRIES - LEISE RIESELT DER SCHNEE

12/26/2012

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So, right before Christmas, I got the most amazing gift from Lie In The Sound, a German blog run by Brigitte and Christoph that seems to have an overabundance of holiday spirit each year (made manifest by the many free holiday downloads they manage to find).

First of all, there was this really sweet write-up. Not the kind of thing we all write about fellow bloggers from time to time when we're trying to point you to a worthy site, but a very personalized...."Christmas card" I'd call it. But the gift beneath their endearing words was the gift of turning me on to a traditional German folk song that seems to have escaped my attention all these years. And that's no small feat.

“Leise rieselt der Schnee” roughly translates as "Snow Is Falling Gently" (Brigitte even took the time to try and translate the lyrics into English...because we all know I don't speak anything else) and you should definitely check them out. It's a song about the growing excitement as Christkind draws near (rather than Santa, Christkind is an angel-like girl, Brigitte explains, who wanders the woods bringing presents to the children). Not stopping there, our friends at Lie In The Sound found a few videos and this lovely free download of “Leise rieselt der Schnee” performed by Christine Berger and Ben DeVries. It's a lo-fi folk recording, but no less beautiful for that.

What's more, the song was part of an entire FREE compilation of Christmas music from Canadian DIY label Badgerland released last year, "A Very Badgerland Christmas". AND what's even more, the Badgerland label has been releasing holiday comps of homemade music since 2009. Needless to say, that's a lot of music I haven't had tome to sift through just yet, but they're all free, so you might as well get them, right? (This Christmas music obsession is a sickness, I tellz ya.)

So, first, go read the Lie In The Sound "Christmas card" to Stubby's. Then check out “Leise rieselt der Schnee” by Christine Berger and Ben DeVries. And then grab all the Badgerland Christmas comps via Bandcamp. You've got some work ahead of you, so go get started. (And thank you, Brigitte and Christoph for a most wonderful gift.)

SONGS FOR CHRISTMAS (2009)
THEE CHRISTMAS MIXTAPE (2010)
A VERY BADGERLAND CHRISTMAS (2011)
YULETIDE ENTERTAINMENTS (2012)

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MEAUX GREEN - CHRISTMAS IN THE NEW LANDS

LORD HURON - AULD LANG SYNE

VARIOUS - THE BFW CHRISTMAS ALBUM 2012

VARIOUS - ALL IS CALM 2012

CHRISTINE BERGER & BEN DE VRIES - LEISE RIESELT DER SCHNEE

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