Big Influence Music

Happy Birthday to an audio pioneer - Brian Eno. Roxy Music Solo...

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:39:24 -0700

Happy Birthday to an audio pioneer - Brian Eno.

Roxy Music
Solo Career
Producer (U2, Talking Heads, Laurie Anderson, Devo, among others
Father of Ambient Music
Tastemaker and he came up with the Microsoft start-up sound…

That being said, please take a moment, and listen to Track 1-1 from “Music For Airports”. Many of you know my opinion on it - it’s perfection, and arguably the first “ambient” record.

Breathe deeply, in through the nose, and out through the mouth whilst listening;). Enjoy.

Big deal - that’s the way we all feel. Everything But The...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:55:45 -0700

Big deal - that’s the way we all feel.

Everything But The Girl. Lush, intellectual drum & bass. Perfect in headphones.

Getting into Jazz, especially the modern stuff, can be...

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:31:06 -0700

Getting into Jazz, especially the modern stuff, can be intimidating. Lemme help you with the traditional piano trio-sector.

Start with Brad Mehldau.

He’s a smart, tasteful, nimble pianist - easily Top 5 working today. He’ll cover everything (check out his Radiohead & Soundgarden takes on YouTube), and then dazzle you with a Nick Drake cover, “Day Is Done” - the funkiest Nick Drake has ever been or ever will be.

Please buy a Brad Mehldau record, and impress people (and yourself for liking jazz again).

This is so sexy, so sleazy and yet, incredibly sophisticated...

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:32:05 -0700

This is so sexy, so sleazy and yet, incredibly sophisticated & classy. It is sweat on the cocktail glass, and the dirt on the dancefloor. Before it gets weird, I digress.

For a white boy from Cleveland, I love me some Latin Jazz. For my money, some of the best Latin Jazz in the world comes from Italy - serious. Let me introduce you to Schema Records.

There’s more than a decade of work from the label, and they’re responsible for names like Nicola Conte and Gerardo Frisina (who’s amazing work is above). Here’s the Amazon page for Schema MP3’s - you’ll get to sample them all.

Well worth your time, and money. So highly recommended, and with Summer coming up, it’s a lovely change of pace for a poolside Sunday.

Party-rockin' Led Zeppelin remix of Immigrant Song

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:31:00 -0700

Party-rockin' Led Zeppelin remix of Immigrant Song:

Thank you @Soundcloud for sharing remixes and re-edits from every end of the Earth. This thing is a monster party-starter - even though you’ve heard it hundreds of times, this Moombathon remix of “Immigrant Song” simply bumps.

DJ’s that drop this thing strategically will do damage. Click here to enjoy.

Before dubstep became the aural equivalent of a dentist’s...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:07:06 -0700

Before dubstep became the aural equivalent of a dentist’s drill, it was essentially the bridge between hip-hop, electronica and experimental rock. It used to be (and still could) be a bridge to anything, be molded to fit any sound, any genre.

As demonstrated here with the Enigma remix of “Hide & Seek” from Imogen Heap.

A warm, scenic take on the original, which needed little help to begin with. Enjoy…

The History of Hip Hop, one year @ a time...

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:08:05 -0700

The History of Hip Hop, one year @ a time...:

Brooklyn Radio has provided us with not only a credible source for amazing music and music knowledge, but almost 30 mixes, going year-by-year, and great enough for all - from the novice to expert, through “The History of Hip Hop”.

Free to download - ain’t gonna hurt nobody. Dare I say essential to your music collection.

Enjoy.

How the majors sold us the electronica genre...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 13:31:06 -0700

This rather lengthy article from NPR Music last year talks about how record labels sold a sound, a lifestyle and a brand new genre of music to the United States. Well worth more than a passing glance, especially if you long for the days of Big Beat (God, I’m old).

Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang” in Chinese? Yes,...

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 13:31:05 -0800

Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang” in Chinese? Yes, please!

Albeit a bit stiff in the swing department, it keeps the sleaze & slink of the original. Perfect for a party playlist - if you don’t get at least 1 question about it, you’re hanging with the wrong crowd…

Denver, CO-based alt rock band Devotchka is now on their 5th...

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:31:06 -0800

Denver, CO-based alt rock band Devotchka is now on their 5th album, “100 Lovers”, but nothing tops (for me) “She Loves Me”. Dripping with strings, acoustic guitar and more than a shimmer of reverb, it’s perfect for a sunny Sunday brunch, or if you’re hip, seating music for a wedding…

A new DJ Harvey mix is to be celebrated. Harvey, for those who...

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:33:06 -0800

A new DJ Harvey mix is to be celebrated. Harvey, for those who don’t know, is part enigma, and part DJ/tastemaker. You’ll never know when you’ll get a fresh mix from him (because of people ripping of both his name & sound, he stopped putting out mixes for years), so when you do, grab it and enjoy it.

Described as “Afro/Goth fusion with dark undertones” (it’s not, don’t run screaming), it’s Harvey at his deepest and best. Grab it through iTunes here…

Funk & Soul fans, if you don’t know the backstory...

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:34:05 -0800

Funk & Soul fans, if you don’t know the backstory behind Charles Bradley, you’re missing one of the great ones.

The TL/DR version? He didn’t start a professional singing career until 1996 - he ain’t young, and he sounds like he’s been doing it 50 years. It’s such a compelling story, it’s documentary-worthy.

Charles Bradley - The Soul of America debuts March 9 @ The SXSW Festival.

5 minutes of fury from Justice!

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 15:00:05 -0800

5 minutes of fury from Justice!:

Recorded for the Annie Mac show on BBC1, French electro-trailblazers Justice tear through 50+ records in 5 minutes. Everything from Hall & Oates to Black Sabbath to Serge Gainsbourg in 300 seconds - it’s staggering. Reminds me of old Soulwax or Avalanches DJ sets…

Thanks to @soundcloud on Twitter for hosting (yet again) another massive slice of zeros and ones…

On April 20th (duh), Magnolia Pictures releases...

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:12:45 -0800

On April 20th (duh), Magnolia Pictures releases “Marley”, what looks to be the definitive documentary on the man. Directed by Kevin McDonald (who gave us the “The Last King of Scotland, about Idi Amin, the infamous dictator of Uganda in the ’70s), expect a sneak preview of the biopic at SXSW.

Tightly packed psychedelic guitar rock from the Great Plains of...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:02:42 -0800

Tightly packed psychedelic guitar rock from the Great Plains of the USA. Radio Moscow hails from Story City, Iowa - perfect. Nothing to do there but dig through your older brother’s record collection, and it lovingly shows.

Fuzzed-out bliss. Get it here @ Amazon…

The Queen lives on! We’ve lost so many Soul legends in...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:42:36 -0800

The Queen lives on! We’ve lost so many Soul legends in the last few months, it’s hard to believe. Here, remix/mashup producer Dimitri from Stoke on Trent (aka French house legend Dimitri from Paris) gives us a lovely re-rub of Aretha’s “Say A Little Prayer”.

Dimitri gently adds a groove to it, and even though you’ve heard it a million times, it swings brand new now. Find the mp3 @ Juno Records - the website is a musical rabbit hole (you’ve been warned).

There is some synergistic magic going on right now with...

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:07:05 -0700

There is some synergistic magic going on right now with electronic dance music, and the long-coveted United States market. They’ve been talking about how clubbing would take over American for almost 20 years.

Maybe they’re right - now.

Give “Titanium” a listen - Guetta is one of the world’s biggest dance music producers, and for good reason.

Right place, right time, right sound, right everything.

Guetta has figured out how to cross dance music over to the R&B crowd. Tough to do, since so much of it’s shite. That being said, he chooses great talent to work with, has a fantastic management team around him, and if you ask anyone who knows what’s going on - he’s the real deal.

This track features Zero 7 vocalist (and has one hell of a solo career) Sia Furler.

Dubstep is NOT for everyone - not even close. It’s...

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:12:50 -0700

Dubstep is NOT for everyone - not even close. It’s Jungle’s darker, less-optimistic younger brother. And we all know that youth is all about being angry, and mostly having no idea why.

Musically, that’s dubstep…

At the intersection of electro-house and hip-hop (much of which based off old techno sounds, anyway) lies a fairly shallow puddle of big subwoofer-testing sounds and ideas lifted from other artists, decades, genres.

To get all meta on it, it’s too dark, creepy and slow for girls to dance to - but, if you’re 20 years old and on drugs, this crap probably sounds amazing. It’s the sound-of-the-moment, and for the moment, it’s fine.

In small doses…

Thankfully, the geniuses at Ninja Tune Records gave us this 4 minutes of lovely fury.

I’ll say it over and over. There’s no need for 4 hours of ANY one genre. Let’s start with a powerful 4 minutes, and go from there…

Two Fingers, “Fool’s Rhythm”, from the amazing 2010 compilation, “XX: 20 Years”. If you’re bored with your current music selections , here’s a free Amazon.com/Ninja Tune 20 20 sampler...

Slinky and sleazy downtempo electro...

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:33:05 -0700

Wonderful re-edit (taking the existing parts of a “regular” song, and then dissecting it, and rearranging the parts) of Nordic production genius Lindstrom’s “Lovesick”.

Think Studio 54 at closing time, and you’re right there.

A full listen @ Soundcloud, with a shout out of respect to DJ Vins for the edit…

Music for the elliptical, treadmill or torture device of your choice...

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 14:14:21 -0700

Guess who decided to get in shape? Guess what gets me through cardio?

DJ mixes.

Hot on the iPod this month is a 2-hour set from Techno pioneer (we can call him a legend now, right?) Richie Hawtin, recorded live in Paris, June 21st of this year.

DISCLAIMER - This is not one of the those harsh, repetitive, techno mixes. Hawtin’s 120-minute mix is a hypnotic ride. Techno (especially) is perfect for cardio - it’s all about repetition, and musically, it’s all about the gradual changes and evolution of the beats.

No divas singing, no samples, nobody rapping. It’s a tough sell for many. But trust me on this one. Put on some good shoes, jack up the incline on that treadmill and get into the groove.

http://soundcloud.com/r_co/richie-hawtin-live-red-grand

PS. He gives you a nice 5-minute ambient break at around 56:00. Sets you up for Hour 2 - an even deeper set. Enjoy it…