Song Of The Day

Today's song is dedicated to all of the people who lost family or friends on this day 10 years ago.

Miss Me by Joe Purdy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RAbLMY6BN8

Rest In Peace

Stephen Kaplan

This Weeks Album

Well, it's Saturday, which means it's time for a new album.
 Recently I've gotten very into Afrobeat. I love the horn section, and the funky rhythms but more than anything what I love about Afrobeat is the layers of groove that work perfectly. One of my favorite artists in Afrobeat is this weeks album artist, Fanga. I don't know much about them other that they're a funky bunch of dudes who released the album Natural Juice with some of my favorite Afrobeat songs on it.
My first favorite song on the album is the first song on the album, Crache La Douleur (Feat. Tony Allen) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ1Tb--pzUojust listen to that brass section and you'll know why.
After that is Kononi (Feat. Kady Diara) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5jI9ZmwI0M this is a chiller song than crache la douleur, but it's still awesome. The other amazing thing is the flow that this album has. All of the songs lead into the other, so it's really nice to just put on and chill out to.
Ok, I'll give you one more song off the album, Iba http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTWXIggS6Ok is pretty sweet too, but actually, this is an album to be listened to the whole way through.

Alright, that's all for today, make sure to check in tomorrow for the song of the day. Keep on listening to music and expanding your knowledge. Stephen Kaplan

Song Of The Day

Here's a new segment that I'm gonna do. Album of the week will still be around but this is something little and extra. I hope you enjoy.

Well, it's Friday, and that means it's time for party music. That leaves room for a lot of different stuff, but the song for today is gonna be some Euro-pop. Allez Olla Ole http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX2pxtkhx-M by french euro-pop artist Jesse Matador is perfect for Friday. It's catchy, it moves fast with a driving bass and it's just happy music. Hope you enjoy, and come back tomorrow for this weeks album. Keep listening to music and expanding your knowledge. Stephen

Songs That Are Stuck In My Head

Hey all, I've missed a couple of installments, so, this morning I'm doing just a few songs for you. These are songs that I've heard recently and have been stuck in my head.

I. Them Belly Full- Bob Marley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fhxiAHeYs8 I heard this song sampled in Messengers by J. Period and K'naan, they used this as a beat. It's a really cool song.

II. The Gardner- The Tallest Man On Earth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5DyCIdYfpA I'm pretty sure this song's about killing people and lying, but it's really pretty and I really like it.

III. Lemonade- Coco Rosie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu3EcAHdHlE&ob=av2e A really haunting song. It takes a while to get used to her voice, but when I first heard this song I listened to it on repeat about 5 times.

IV. Wash Away- Joe Purdy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTdCzIduUb4 A really pretty tune, it was on lost, but I heard it for the first time by Joe Purdy at Mile High Music Fest.

V. When The Saints Go Marching In- James Brown http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGVwatv00sY FUNK.FUNK.FUNK. Gotta have that funk. It doesn't get much better than this.

VI. Exhibit C- Jay Electronica http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPRl0LzD_MA A truly sensational young lyricist, Jay Electronica does some really cool word play in this song.

VII. Oyimbo (live)- Femi Kuti http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3VADO7mwnI Fela's son Femi Kuti does some awesome Afro beat here, I love the horn section, awesome groove, and he starts out the song singing do re mi fa and so on. Cool stuff.

That's all for today, I have to go to school. Keep on listening to music and expanding your knowledge. Stephen

Week One (Starting Over)

Hey guys, I'm back. I was gone this summer and so the posting stopped, maybe you noticed, whatever... Anyways, I'm back now and this year I'm going to actually try to do an album every week (hopefully I'll be posting on Saturdays). So here it goes. When most people hear "dub" they immediately think dubstep, well there is such thing as dub music and it's amazing. I was first introduced to dub when a friend showed me Aswad's Dub Fire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzeIFr_RK2o. This isn't about that though, this is about another dub group called the Easy Star All Stars who put out the album Dub Side of the Moon. Released in 2003 Dub Side is a dub version of Pink Floyd's classic Dark Side of the Moon. The really cool thing about Dub Side is that it is pretty true to the original while managing to really change it. For instance take money, it starts with an odd sound not found in Pink Floyd's version, but then it goes directly into the original, only to be remixed into dub, here it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFVdTw4PwE0. Money is probably my favorite track, but not by much. Time, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6mzAGRY7uo&feature=related and Speak To Me/ Breath, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttzwW7pIVIw&feature=related are also really cool. But when it comes down to it the whole album is amazing, and just like the original, the best way to listen to it is all the way through. That's all for this week. Keep listening to music and expanding your knowledge, Stephen

Chill Out Playlist

Hey, I don't know about you, but I love chilling out. This playlist is going to be almost exclusively acid jazz, ambient, chillstep and other chill electronica. This is the music I listen while studying or writing, it's also great background music.

Track 1: Home VIP by Dubba Johnny http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjl-aCQ2Sos (I recently found this song, it's pretty chill over all)

Track 2:  Ave Maria by Paul Schwartz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suelMbF_RP8 (I think that this is my favorite version of the classic Ave Maria, even beats the Pavarotti version in my opinion)

Track 3: Richest Man In Babylon by Thievery Corporation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmWGaKgXnHM (Thievery is my favorite acid jazz, ambient group by far. So good.)

Track 4: Bulgarian Interlude by Don Peyote & Marcell Cellier http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTfldOkhWOc (I got this off of an album called Chill Out In Paris, definitely worth checking out if you like this kind of music)

Track 5: On Melancholy Hill by Gorillaz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04mfKJWDSzI (Gorillaz, amazing. That is all)

Track 6: Dil Cheez by Bally Sagoo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7torjkkGek0 (I love Indian music anyways, but this is so sweet)

Track 7: Blossom From India by Ginkgo Garden http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBhaH1v4G7E (More stuff like the one above.)

Track 8: Morenito (Bossa Mix ft. Clementine) by Stephane Pompougnac http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA3UtK-4A0Y (A mix of bossa nova and ambient. Really relaxing)

Track 9: Nawal Al Zoghbi by El Layali http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9aZWgXN1fE (It's an old song, but this is a new take on it.)

Track 10: Cay's Crays by Fat Freddys Drop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SveqAY9tZ24 (I love dub. It's incredible and Fat Freddys may be my favorite dub group. So great)

That's all folks. I hope you like this one, I sure do. Keep on listening to music and expanding your knowledge. Stephen.

Hardstyle Playlist

To me, there are two sides of the summer vibe, the chill side, and the party side. So far I've only done the chill side so this playlist will be the beginning of the party playlist. I don't know much about electronika because I just recently started listening to it, so for this one I got my buddy Alan to help me out. Oh, Alan's a DJ, check out his soundcloud, but in a little bit, he's working on it. I'll post a link later on. Get hype. Anyways, this is the party playlist and it's gonna be all hardstyle so if you're not a fan this isn't for you, but you should still check it out.

Track 1: Technoboy by The Undersound feat. MC Ruffian http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtQLpn3SUeQ (We're gonna start off a little slow and then build up. This song is pretty solid hardstyle.)

Track 2: Rockin Ur Mind by D-Block & S-te-fan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V69-t5unCM (I really can't say much so I'm just gonna say the artist and song and link to youtube now...)

Track 3: In And Out by Wildstylez http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ld3WuFuo6E

Track 4: Just Don't Care by The Prophet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV3P27I2x9A

Track 5: The Way That I Ride by Coone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQhpLU4cVfQ

Track 6: Reveal Our Existence (Da Tweekaz GTFO remix) by Sebulba http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr_6GxaxEd0

Track 7: Gimmie Love by Noisecontrollers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHb_Izo8tTo

Track 8: Irreplaceable by Zatox http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AqT7m9tRBA

Track 9: Segarra by Norin & Rad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQtacUyUYn4

Track 10: A New Today by Endymion & Art of Fighters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAvQFkdJ70U

That's it for this one. I'll put up another one later on today so check it out. Keep on listening to music and expanding your knowledge. Stephen