When it comes to feminist-punk, there’s none more femme, nor punk, than the mighty Peaches.

So it’s no real surprise to learn that Peaches has been following the Pussy Riot trial closely, and has turned her hand to making both a video and a track in support of the persecuted Russian rock group.

A YouTube casting call went out last week, asking for fans to send in their own, pro-Pussy Riot footage to be included in the video. Well it is now done and dusted, and available to watch online. The track itself, called “Free Pussy Riot”, is available as a free download, and all Peaches is asking in return for her work is that everyone sign the Free Pussy Riot petition at change.org.

This is the statement Peaches and friends have made to go with the download:

Peaches, Simonne Jones, and tons of musicians, artists, activists, and free-thinkers are came together to make a video for this song in support of the russian punk feminist band PUSSY RIOT! Now that you have heard about the song and video, we want you to take action! Here is why:

In March 2012 three members of Pussy Riot, Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina Samutsevitch, were taken into custody by Russian authorities for their participation as part of a protest at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow. Their punk prayer is and was an act of free speech and the charges of “hooliganism” and detainment of the three women are seen by the world as a cruel heavy handed act of oppression, are being carried out to discourage free thought and speech in Russia.

If Russia wishes to be a part of the modern globalized world it must adhere to the standards and principles of a free nation where its people have the right to have a free and open dialogue about all subjects. Discussion, debate, and action are the basic building blocks of a free society. By following through with the prosecution of these women Russian political bullies are currently making a mockery of free speech, free thought, and Russia’s own country’s constitution.

We, the citizens of the world and advocates for free speech, DEMAND the immediate release of Pussy Riot. The verdict is planned for August 17th - let’s show Pussy Riot our support!

The charges and punishments facing Maria, Nadezhda, and Ekaterina are nothing more than a political stunt by the Russian authorities and Russian Orthodox Chruch to retain control over the Russian people and instill fear into the free-thinkers, political activists, and artists of Russia.

The world is watching, and we do not like what we see.

I do, however, like what I see here:
 
Peaches “Free Pussy Riot!”
 

 
And here is the track itself:
 

   Free Pussy Riot by Peaches Rocks
 
You can sign the Free Pussy Riot petition at: www.change.org/freepussyriot

Donations are also accepted at: http://freepussyriot.org
 

 
Lee Perry and The Orb? That’s a match made in psychedelic dub heaven!

Taken from the forthcoming collaboration album The Observer In The Star House, which is out in September, ‘Hold Me Upsetter’ is a neat little slice of bass-heavy shuffle-house. You can download it for free below, and if this is a good example of the rest of the album, then both electronica and dub aficionados have a lot to be excited about.

There’s more info on the album (and some funny pictures of a very young Dr Alex Patterson) over at theorb.com.
 

 
Favorites of the Manchester alternative and electronic undergrounds, SIlverclub are releasing their debut album in a few weeks, and in the meantime are giving away a free, four track EP featuring one of the album’s highlights, the brilliant track “Your Headphones.”

Subtly reminiscent of Manchester’s golden age of danceable alternative pop, without being your typical retro-based cash-in, Silverclub have been slowly building a legion of fans with some excellent past singles and and a steady stream of quality live gigs.

I already have Silverclub’s debut album on promo, and it’s excellent, highly recommended for fans of quality music regardless of genre. “Your Headphones” is one of the album’s definite highlights, a shimmery wash of gorgeous synths and summery harmonies underpinned by what could almost be a “baggy” beat. It’s a tune about the sheer joy of music that thankfully manages to joyously brilliant in its own right.

You can listen to, and pre-order, Silverclub’s eponymous debut long-player from the website SIlverclubuk.com. In the meantime, here are the band themselves playing “Your Heaphones” live at London’s Saatchi Gallery a few months ago, and below that, the link to download the Your Headphones EP for free. It’s worth it. 

Silverclub “Your Headphones” (live)
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds: 
Silverclub: the sound of Manchester 2012

 
Dub fans and post-punks take note: Glasgow’s Optimo dj team/production unit have just put out another of their excellent podcasts, and this time it’s a whole hundred minutes of the best and most spaced out dub productions by Adrian Sherwood.

According to JD Twitch, who compiled the mix and skillfully blended the tracks together, it “covers music from the years 1979 - 88 and focuses on Adrian Sherwood’s dubwise productions, most of which were released on his ON U Sound label.”

Twitch also interviewed Sherwood after a recent gig in Glasgow, and the dub maestro talks at length about his introduction to reggae and dub music, and to djing, production and running labels:

How old were you when you were working for and running labels, Carib Gems and Hit Run?

I used to go to a reggae club in the town where I lived called the Newlands Club or the Twilight Club. I think Dave Rodigan did his first ever gig there. I was DJing there when I was really young. The owner of the club, a Jamaican guy, was like my dad. He looked after me. My dad had died when I was very young and I had a step-dad but I wasn’t close to him so this guy took me under his wing and I started DJing in there when I was at school, on Saturday afternoons… Then eventually Sunday afternoons and then moved up to doing the early evening stints. I worked there with Emperor Rosco a couple of times and lots of other Radio 1 DJs and Judge Dread, who came down and did a PA in the club. I used to play early evenings before the sound systems. It had been a funk a soul club… Then in around 72 or 73 or something, it was a really, really hot summer and no-one was going to the club for months. The only people going were the reggae fans. It suddenly just turned into this reggae club whereas it had been a lot of soul drinkers prior to 72 or 73… So it went from a group of people who drank a lot and listened to soul to a group of reggae fans who would only want to drink one beer and smoke lots of weed. So it was only a matter of time before the club went bust. I was doing it from the age of 13 – 15, then the club went under. I had became good friends with the owner and his wife so when the club went under the owner, who had previously ran Pama Records, restarted the label and I got a little job doing promotions for them. Then we started our own distribution company out of the Pama office. That pre-dates Jet Star, Jet Star started after we had left. They basically copied the model we had created.

Do you think any of the music on your early labels will ever get re-issued?

There was a bootleg a couple of years ago of a Carol Kalphat record. That was a fucking character! I had to send a message asking not to bootleg any more of my tunes. The real problem with releasing that stuff is that if I start re-issuing it begins to bring people out of the woodwork which isn’t always worth it. I think it’s actually better that they are there and available as collector’s items and that’s it.

If you are new to Sherwood and ON U Sound, then that interview (on the Racket Racket site) is a good place to start, as is this mix. Even if you’re not it’s well worth checking out: just over 100 minutes of non-stop, heavy, psychedelic dub, the perfect soundtrack to an evening in relaxing. Or tripping out.

As usual, Optimo have withheld the tracklist, and have promised to follow up this podcast with another focusing on Sherwood’s more dance-based productions from the late 80s and the 90s. That will be called part one, and here, confusingly, is part two:
 

   Optimo Podcast 12 - Adrian Sherwood On U Sound mix part 2 (dub) by JD Twitch
 
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Don’t call it ambient: Optimo Fact 214 Mix

 
Tummy Touch is a label I’ve been a fan of since it started putting out records in the mid-90s. It has veered from the offbeat disco slackness of Tutto Matto and early Groove Armada to more recent “artist” based fare like the solo troubadour Tom Vek and the live sensation The Phenomenal Handclap Band, all the time being steered by the eccentric and “extravagantly bearded” dj Tim “Love” Lee.

The label’s website describes its sound as “Bohemian disco rock, sci-fi electro soul, unruly latin mash ups and oddball urban exotica”, and I’m not gonna argue with that, except to add that analog warmth is a key element of their sound. Oh, and that the split Groove Armada/Tim “Love” Lee twelve inch called “Disco Insert/Again Son” is one of my favourites from that period and should be in every discerning DJ’s box. “Again Son” in particular is a twisted delight, an early 90s breakbeat classic that samples a Christian preacher admonishing his own son to beat him “again, son… harder!”

Now based in New York as opposed to London, Tummy Touch is currently celebrating 15 years of releasing fine music by giving away a free compilation album, Fully Bearded: 15 Years Of Tummy Touch, featuring many of the labels best known acts remixed in a dub style.

This is simply some of the finest downtempo music around right now. From the Police-esque post-punk of Circuits and the psych-pop-funk of Bing Ji Ling, to the more dancefloor aimed grooves of New Young Pony Club and the previously mentioned Phenomenal Handclap Band, this is definitely worth a click of the mouse and the donation of your email address. 

In fairness, I should have posted this ages ago, as it went up on the Tummy Touch Facebook wall 3 weeks ago with a note that said it would available for a limited time only. Which I guess means you should just download it now before it gets yanked.
 

 
In the worlds of deep house and techno, artists don’t come more revered than Detroit’s Kenny Dixon Jr, aka Moodymann. Releasing records for almost two decades now, his music has attracted a devoted, almost cult-like fan base.

This is due largely to his unique sound, a blend of minimalist Detroit soul with spaced out disco, jazz and abstract electronics, not to mention the lashings of found sound, disembodied voices and crowd noise he weaves in and out of his hypnotic and, yes, moody tracks.

But it also has a lot to do with Moodymann the character. Staying true to his Detroit techno roots, Dixon tends to shy away from the press and the music industry at large, and on the rare occasions he does make a pronouncement, his Afro-centric and iconoclastic views can draw criticism. His releases follow the same ideological path, with regular 12"s and albums coming out independently through his umbrella organisation Mahogani Music. Often the only marking to distinguish these releases from an anonymous white label is the recognisable afro-and-shades Moodymann logo.

So it’s a surprise to see him releasing a new 8 track album digitally and for free through the website Scion A/V. Not that these guys don’t know their shit, with past free releases from the likes of Dam Funk, Skream & Benga and The Melvins, but more that Dixon has decided to persue this avenue of free digital releasing at all. Well, the times they are a’changin’. 

If you are new to Moodymann and his work, this might not be the best place to start (I would recommend starting by checking out the sinlge “Joy Pt II” and the album A Silent Introduction) but at the very least this release gives you a taste of his work, and you can always ask for your money back. For the Moodymann fan who has not yet downloaded Picture This, well, what are you waiting for? The download widget for the free release is below, and here is the video for the album’s opening track:

Moodymann “9 Nites 2 Nowhere”
 

 
Last Friday I posted the new video from the band SSION called “My Love Grows in The Dark.” If you haven’t watched it yet, then go and do so right now. It’s a little bizarre and rather brilliant. The album that song is taken from, Bent, was available as a free download release for one month only last year, and it was one of my favorites. This year too in fact, as it is being given a physical re-release soon by the Dovecote label.

SSION, which has existed in various forms over the years, is essentially the brainchild of Cody Critcheloe. Cody is a visual artist and video director by day (he has directed clips for Peaches and Santigold) but by night he transforms into a gender-and-preconception bending performer whose live shows have been picking up a lot of acclaim. I spoke to Cody a short while back about SSION, and his decision to release such an excellent album for free. Here’s a little taster:

Bent is a great pop album. In fact, I’d say it is surprisingly great for a free download release. How did the idea to release it for free first come about?

I have always worked outside of labels, and the way it goes I’ll put out a record every four years. I’ll take a while to develop it and work out what I wanna do with it. At the time there’s wasn’t anyone anxious to put it out, so it seemed like the right thing to do. I thought if a label really wants to be a part of this they’ll figure out a way to go about this, because SSION is such a different kind of project. It seemed like a big FU to put it out and let people get it and listen to it, and I like the idea of people being able to get it, so people who aren’t even your fans can still get into it.

What has your fans’ reaction been to the download release?

It’s crazy ‘cos I think in the long term it’s gonna pay off. The shows we’ve played in New York have all been really amazing, and everyone knows the words to the songs already. It’s been instant, like this has already had an effect, an effect outside of any label being behind it to pump it up or publicize it. Everything that has happened to SSION is because of people who are genuinely interested and really into the music. I love the fact that there’s gonna be a physical release ‘cos I put a lot of work into the art work, but I could also take it or leave it. If it doesn’t work out I can still have a life. I still somehow survive off doing these things and other projects. I’m just into it as a very punk way of going about things.

But what about an effect on sales?

The thing about it is, the last record we had you can find it online for free, so why not make it available for everyone? And it’s crazy too because our other records are on iTunes and we still make money of them every month, even though people could easily get them for free.

You can read the full interview after the jump, and here’s one of my favorite SSION videos to keep you going, in which Cody gives his “mother” a particularly icky makeover:
 
SSION “Ah Ma”
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
‘My Love Grows In The Dark’: SSION’s springtime pop perfection
Get SSION’s new album ‘Bent’ free for a month
 
After the jump, that whole interview in full.

Image from the English riots, the defining moment of 2011 for me

So here it is, what I just know you’ve all been waiting for - a round up of 20 of my favourite tracks from the past 12 months. It’s just over 60 minutes, meaning that some of the tracks have been edited to fit, and it’s in 192kbps resolution to make the file size manageable for download. 

This mix is pretty eclectic and features a ton of acts I have covered over the last year on Dangerous Minds. I’m sure there’s tracks on this mixtape that the other DM writers will hate, but that’s part of the fun. One of the points of Dangerous Minds is that we have not set out to push some unified, all-encompassing, easily-packaged view of the world. We’re all different, and at the end of the day debating stuff is healthy. 

As for the music itself, well I’m with Andrew Dubber on this - the past 12 months have seen some fantastic music, and some very interesting trends in both the artform and music consumption. I mean that stands to reason right? As the amount of music that becomes available increases, the amount of good music increases. It might not come to us through the traditional channels, but it is out there. So here’s twenty of mine (and before you say it, yeah, some of these tunes came out in previous years, but those tracks are also featured on albums released this year):
 

 
Fucked Up - The Other Shoe
SIlverclub - The Goldener Reiter
Atari Teenage Riot - Black Flags
SSION - Feel Good (4 Ever)
Den Haan - Metamorphosis
Black Devil Disco Club ft Farris Rotter - Distrust
Ali Renault - Dignitas Machine
John Maus - Keep Pushing On
Neon indian - Halogen (I Could Be A Shadow)
MEN - Who Am I To Feel So Free?
Azari & III - Into The Night
Midnight Magic - Beam Me Up
Dam Funk - Forever
Destroyer - Chinatown
Grace Jones - Devil Dub
Mungo’s Hi Fi - Super Sharp Roller
Beyonce - Who Runs The World (intro version edit)
Ben Butler & Mousepad ft The Niallist - Infinite Capacity
Arthur’s Landing - Bobby
Andrew WK - Vagabond

You can download my Best of 2011 mixtape here.

BONUS!

If I had to pick just one record from the past 12 months, it would have to be We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves by John Maus. It’s glorious, genuine outsider music that’s also genuinely brilliant. If you dig Ariel Pink, don’t mind a bit of lo-fi hiss and have a soft spot for early OMD, then I can’t recommend it enough. Here’s a fan vid for the album’s opening track featuring a scene from Abel Ferrera’s Ms. 45:

John Maus “Streetlight”
 

 
EXTRA BONUS!

I originally uploaded my Best of 2011 mixtape to Soundcloud as it’s my music sharing site of choice, but oddly it was blocked because of the inclusion of Fucked Up’s track “The Other Shoe”. That’s not very punk rock, now is it? But hey, I don’t blame the band, rather their label Matador. What’s even funnier is “The Other Shoe” is widely available freely, and legitimately, from the label itself. I considered taking it off the mix, but as it’s my single of the year I decided to upload the whole thing to Mixcloud, intact, with a separate download option . 

So just for you dear readers, here’s a link to the free download of my single of the year:

Fucked Up “The Other Shoe”

And here is the mixtape minus Fucked Up.

And here’s to an exciting and eventful 2012!

 
Ali Renault is one of my favourite producers working right now. Formerly one half of the ace Italo revivalists Heartbreak he has been building a reputation over the last few years with his solo techno-disco outings on labels like Moustache and Dissident, and now he has just dropped his excellent debut album for the London label Cyber Dance.

Renault’s heavily Italo-influenced sound is clean and crisp, but with a tangible sense of creeping dread, like that point on a night out when you notice the sun has come up and your high is beginning to wear off. It’s what might happen if you took the synths of Claudio Simonetti, slow them down to a warped ketamine crawl and lock them in a wardrobe with Michael Myers. It’s not nearly as hellish as that makes it sound - in a way it’s kind of comforting, like the knowledge that someday you are going to die. It’s no surprise to learn that Renault’s formative musical influences as a teenager were both metal and techno. 

“I like using old cheap hardware and I enjoy trying to evoke a dark mood with machines” he says.  Renault’s self-titled debut album is 8 tracks of what he describes as “detective-noir” and will appeal to fans of golden age John Carpenter, classic Detroit techno, Garth Merenghi re-runs and the darker side of Italo disco. This isn’t music designed to impress with tricks and technology, it has a cleanliness of form and a melodic richness that is unique and brilliant. You can download the excellent “Pagan Run” from the 20 Jazz Funk Greats blog at this link (highly recommended), and here’s a download of the track “Promises”, courtesy of Mixmag:
 

 
 
And here’s another album track, “Dignitas Machine”:
 

 
 
Ali Renault performs “Zombie Raffle” live at Magic Waves festival 2010:
 

 
Ali Renault can be purchased on vinyl from Juno and Beatport.

 
In memory of the late great Paradise Garage dj here’s a mystery set that has turned up on Soundcloud and is credited to Levan from the early 80s. Uploader R_co hasn’t been able to locate a playlist, but he has found a list of (nearly) every song played during his run as resident at the Garage - that’s quite a lot of music if you care to have a look. The mixing on this set is a bit hit and miss, but the crowd audibly loves it and the drop into Loose Joints’ “Is It All Over My Face” (from an excellent mystery track) at around 6 minutes in is heavenly:
 

  Larry Levan Live @ The Paradise Garage, New York (Early 80s) by R_co
 
Of course, Levan was more than just a dj - he was a remixer of no small talent, and some of his remixes are guaranteed dance floor fillers more than 30 years after their release (such as the previously mentioned Loose Joints track, one of my desert island discs). As a special bonus, here’s Levan’s first ever remix, which he mixed as a try-out for the Sesame Street disco album project, and which remained unreleased for almost 30 years:

Cookie Monster & The Girls “C Is For Cookie (Larry Levan Special Version Funky Disco Mix)”:
 

 
Thanks to Tara McGinley
 
After the jump more of Larry Levan’s best remixes, including the Joubert Singers, Grace Jones, Gwen Guthrie and more…

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
A piece of Paradise: Larry Levan mixing live at the Paradise Garage in 1979
‘Maestro’ - a film about the Paradise Garage and the birth of Disco culture

 
Ghostfunk is a Ghostface Killah mashup album by the producer Max Tannone, who describes it thusly:

Released in July 2011, Ghostfunk pairs one of my favorite hip-hop artists, Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah, with vintage African funk, high-life, and psychedelic rock music.

This is really good, and definitely worthy of a free download. You can get it from Max’s website or directly from this link.
 

Ghostfunk by Max Tannone
 
Thanks Tara McGinley!

 
Meet Ssion, the gender bending electro-punk dance band from Kansas City, led by front person Cody Critcheloe. Is Cody a man or a woman? I’m not completely sure, but it’s not important - s/he can be whatever you want hir to be. And as with other current queer artists like JD Samson, Cody likes to play with people’s traditional perceptions of style and beauty - witness the trademark combo monobrow and mustache, a pretty risqué fashion move in these anti-hair-biased times

Ssion (pronounced “shun”) are a full on audio/visual/performance-troupe well known for their live shows and support slots for the likes of Gossip and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Critcheloe has been making a respectable career as a video director on the side, working with Peaches, Liars and Scream Club. Ssion formed in Kansas in 1996 and released their first material in 2003. The band released their last album Fools Gold in 2007 and with it the full length feature film Boy which compiled all their music videos and has been described as a “gay, punk rock equivalent of Forest Gump.” Ssion have taken the step of releasing their new album Bent as a free download for a limited time, and it’s definitely worth downloading. As with Tyler the Creator’s first album Bastard, it’s surprising to hear music released for free that is of this high quality.

Make no mistake though - Bent is pop music. It’s party music, it’s designed for dancing - for those moments at a friend’s house when the sun is coming up, you’ve had a ball, but you’ve got that melancholic feeling that to quit now as it’s can’t get any better. There are shades of very early Madonna here, coupled with the classic mid-80s synth driven sound of the Pet Shop Boys and Eurodisco, all refracted through early 90s NY dance pop like Deee-Lite. Bent is basically the album the Scissor Sisters should have made by now, classy dance music stripped of the chintz (and Elton bloody John references) and honed to a sharp electro-pop point. It’s pretty damn good. So my advice to you dear readers is to let a little bit of Ssion into your life - get Bent.

Ssion - “Clown”
 

 
Ssion - “Psy-Chic”
 

 
Ssion - “Luvvbazaar”
 

 
Ssion - “Credit In The Straight World” Excellent cover of

Hole

Young Marble Giants.
 

 
Volume One (1978 - 1983)

01 [00:00]  Laurie Anderson – “Example #22″ (‘Big Science,’ 1982)
02 [02:48]  Delta 5 – “Innocenti” (‘See the Whirl,’ 1981)
03 [04:54]  The Go-Go’s – “Automatic” (‘Beauty & The Beat,’ 1981)
04 [07:40]  Raincoats – “Red Shoes” (‘Odyshape,’ 1981)
05 [10:28]  X – “The Once Over Twice” (‘Wild Gift,’ 1981)
06 [13:01]  Flying Lizards – “Her Story” (‘Flying Lizards,’ 1979)
07 [17:17]  Jane Hudson – “Mystery Chant” (‘Flesh,’ 1983)
08 [21:00]  Crass – “Smother Love” (‘Penis Envy,’ 1981)
09 [22:46]  Blondie – “Heart of Glass” (‘Parallel Lines,’ 1978)
10 [27:17]  Sonic Youth – “I Dreamed I Dream” (‘Sonic Youth’ EP, 1982)
11 [31:55]  Selecter – “On My Radio” (‘Too Much Pressure,’ 1980)
12 [34:54]  Marine Girls – “A Place in the Sun” (‘Lazy Ways,’ 1983)
13 [37:26]  Lizzy Mercier-Descloux – “Funky Stuff” (‘Mambo Nassau,’ 1981)
14 [41:34]  Weekend – “Nostalgia” (‘La Varieté,’ 1982)

[Total Time: 45:18] Download here. 

 
Volume Two (1979 - 1983)

01 [00:00]  Family Fodder – “Savoir Faire” (Monkey Banana Kitchen, 1980)
02 [02:23]  Au Pairs – “It’s Obvious” (Playing With a Different Sex, 1981)
03 [08:43]  Chris & Cosey – “This Is Me” (Heartbeat, 1981)
04 [11:42]  Plastics – “Back to Wigtown” (Origato Plastico, 1980)
05 [14:20]  Pylon – “Cool” (Cool/Dub 7″, 1979)
06 [17:18]  The Slits – “Love und Romance” (Cut, 1979)
07 [19:46]  Siouxsie & The Banshees – “Lunar Camel” (Kaleidoscope, 1980)
08 [22:43]  The B-52′s – “52 Girls” (The B-52′s, 1979)
09 [26:19]  Swamp Children – “Boy” (Little Voices EP, 1981)
10 [29:36]  Y Pants – “That’s The Way Boys Are” (Beat It Down, 1982)
11 [32:30]  Antena – “Camino Del Sol” (Camino Del Sol, 1982)
12 [36:15]  Vivien Goldman – “Launderette” (Launderette 7″, 1981)
13 [39:14]  Cocteau Twins – “But I’m Not” (Garlands, 1982)
14 [41:55]  Thick Pigeon – “Jess + Bart (Mix)” (Unreleased [Miranda Dali bonus], 1983)

[Total Time: 45:10] Download here.

 
Volume 3 (1980 - 1983)

01 [00:00]  Creatures – “Miss The Girl” (Feast, 1983)
02 [02:27]  Eurythmics – “Sing-Sing” (In the Garden, 1981)
03 [06:30]  Phew – “Doze” (Phew, 1981)
04 [09:57]  E.S.G. – “Moody” (ESG EP, 1981)
05 [12:47]  Maximum Joy – “Searching for a Feeling” (Station M.X.J.Y., 1982)
06 [17:01]  Los Microwaves – “La Voix Humane” (Life After Breakfast, 1982)
07 [19:44]  Ludus – “My Cherry is in Sherry” (The Seduction, 1981)
08 [22:24]  Crash Course in Science – “Cardboard Lamb” (Signals from Pier Thirteen EP, 1981)
09 [24:57]  Grace Jones – “Nightclubbing” (Nightclubbing, 1981)
10 [29:57]  Lydia Lunch – “Gloomy Sunday” (Queen of Siam, 1980)
11 [32:46]  Marilyn & The Movie Stars – “So Disgraceful” (So Disgraceful EP, 1982)
12 [36:16]  Young Marble Giants – “Music for Evenings” (Colossal Youth, 1980)
13 [39:19]  The Pretenders – “Lovers of Today” (Pretenders, 1980)

[Total Time: 45:14] Download here.

A set of 3 female-centric, post-punk mixes from the Musicophilia blog. To quote:

In a way, it seems slightly odd to explore “the role of women in post-punk” because I don’t want to ghettoise or marginalise it–women were so central that there is none of the feeling of searching for exceptions to the rule here: many of the artists featured are Big Names, who’d make any top-40 list of Most Important Post-Punk Bands.  However, singling women out only illustrates their centrality: you could play these mixes for a post-punk neophyte, and they would come away with a good sense of the breadth and depth of the fertile era/ethos; but they might not even notice, if you didn’t point it out, that the mix focuses on women.

Full article here.

Thanks to Sian Williams.

 
Depending on how much you loved or hated Richard’s post about Odd Future live on Jimmy Kimmel, oops I mean Jimmy Fallon, you might be interested to know that the debut album by Tyler The Creator (kingpin of that crew) is available as a free download from the Odd Future blog**. Released at the very tail end of 2009 (presumably to foil end of year lists) rumor has it that Bastard has had over a million downloads at this point. This doesn’t seem so far fetched. It might explain why the hype is so strong for Tyler, and how Odd Future got on Jimmy Fallon in the first place. Tyler’s new single “Yonkers” (not bad but not his best work) is also gaining a lot of hype, not least due to the video, and his follow up to Bastard is set to drop in April.
 

 
Hip-hop hasn’t been pushing sonic boundaries in the last few years, for me anyway, but it’s great to see it pushing other envelopes. The album brings to mind memories of late 90s Rawkus records, acts like Cannibal Ox and Anti-Pop Consortium/Beans and even vaguely the detuned synth-styles of the RZA, updated here for the Garageband/soft-synth age. I really like some of his music, but what I like most about Tyler is his methods of getting himself out there, creating a buzz without having to resort to the usual mainstream channels. Of course, if his music was terrible it would be different, but as it is, he might become the most high profile emerging artist yet to give away his product for free.

** Looks like the original upload has expired. You can still find Bastard for download very easily though, at links like this one. The Odd Future blog is worth having a look at, for other releases and general wackiness.