MP3: Lifetime (Lifeline) - Madlib

Just a quick note the make sure everyone knows that Benji B's Deviation is taking over room one and the balcony bar at Fabric on Wednesday night for a night of hip-hop:

9pm-3am

ROOM ONE:

BENJI B PRESENTS DEVIATION...

Madlib (Stones Throw), J Rocc (Stones Throw), Benji B (Deviation/BBC 1 Xtra)

To get you in the mood check out 'Lifetime (Lifeline)' by Madlib from his recent Madlib the Beat Konducta Vol,5-6: A Tribute To.... album.  It's got a nice laid back J Dilla type vibe, especially when the sample kicks in at the end...

Speaking of which J Rocc recently did another podcast inspired by BlackPlastic's favourite late hip-hop producer, Tribute to Jay Dee Act 4, which is now available over at Stones Throw.  It blends together a ton of Jay Dee cuts together with some samples from both relatively well known songs that sound like the kind of thing he'd have sample as well as some of the tracks Jay Dee did himself use.  Check it out. 

BP x

MP3: Womanizer - Sliimey

Slightly stupid and kitsch? Yep... Disposable? Maybe... Fun? Hell yeah...

Campy cover versions seem to have fallen out of vogue a little lately but this take on Britney Spears' 'Womanizer' manages to just about go the distance.  It may sound like Kate Nash but it's actually 20 year-old Frenchman Sliimy whose wonky take on pop music appears to be causing a bit of a storm across Europe.

BlackPlastic isn't really sure this is a good idea but you can check out more of Sliimy over at his MySpace - there is some original material (the snippet of 'Magic Game' is enjoyable) as well as more cover versions ('Do You Really Want To Hurt Me' and 'Fever').

Single Wake Up is released soon.

Download 'Womanizer' by Sliimey (right click, save as).

Album / DVD Review: A Positive Rage - the Hold Steady

BlackPlastic cannot help - like physically can't not - tell people over, and over, and over just how fucking good this record is and how good the Hold Steady are.

They aren't 'electronic' in the sense of being even vaguely related to the central musical styles of this blog.  What they are however is one of the most passionate, mind-blowingly enjoyable rock bands around right now.  If you checked our top five non-electronic albums of 2008 you will know that the Hold Steady's Bruce Springsteen-esque sound blew us away on their album Stay Positive.

A Positive Rage is a double disc effort - a live recording from c. 2006 and a DVD documentary made at the same time as the band tour America (with a bit of London at the beginning).  BlackPlastic doesn't feel the need to say much about this beyond the fact that both components are essential (so don't do digital kids, buy a proper CD for once) and that this is a perfect introduction as to what is so great about the band.

The album closes on a couple of tracks that run into each other - 'Girls Like Status' and 'Killer Parties' - and the result feels like a moment of clarity in a drunken haze.  As Craig Finn's closing vocals (more shouted than sung) state:

If she said we partied then I'm pretty sure we partied...

I really don't remember...

I remember we departed... from our bodies.

It's a glorious moment - as the electronic warmth of guitar distortion and organ envelope the crowd and Finn himself BlackPlastic can't help but wish they were there.

Available on CD / DVD at Amazon.co.uk , or even better Rough Trade because they are releasing this and deserve your support.

BP x

Album Review: The Plot - WhoMadeWho

Much like Datarock, WhoMadeWho's début album was something of a cult record. A collection of interesting ideas stitched into an album that managed to leverage exposure mainly due to a couple of cover versions of dance tracks (Beni Bennasi's 'Satisfaction' and Mr Oizo's 'Flat Beat') that cropped up on a number of mix CDs.

WhoMadeWho's strength has, until now at least, been on a song-by-song basis. Taken all at once, as an album, their work can suffer from a lack of variety and flow.

The Plot is album proper number two (there was also a set of alternative takes on songs from the début entitled Green Versions in between that album and this) and is clearly an attempt to develop a more varied sound. The songs have all moved a little further away from the post-punk-disco sound of old and there are some more distinctive styles - the grimy garage rock of 'The Train' or the quickened beat of 'Office Clerk' together with it's electronic stabs for example.

BlackPlastic still can't help but find WhoMadeWho little more than a temporary diversion however. The problem is that, on the whole, the album suffers from a lack of consequence. It sounds like a band who have gone into the studio to knock out a record before they go home for tea. Most of the songs just don't have the gravitas, with only 'Ode to Joy' and 'Working After Midnight' demonstrating any emotion or depth.

WhoMadeWho definitely have the potential for a great album and indeed, though a little rough around the edges, their début was better than this. The Plot sounds like a band content with playing it safe.

Available to buy on Amazon.co.uk on CD , LP and MP3 .

BP x

Video: MTBig Planet

This is freaking awesome.  BlackPlastic loves the sackboys in Little Big Planet (there is a sentence we wouldn't have predicted a few years ago) and Danteneverdies has put together a video montage / parody of a series of well known dance music videos using Little Big Planet.

The take on the Prodigy complete with graphiti in the form of a LBP sticker is BlackPlastic's personal favourite.

Tracklist:

Flatbeat - Mr Oizo
Sing it Back - Moloko
Satisfaction - Benny Bennasi
Destination Calabria - Alex Gaudino
Right Here Right Now - FatboySlim
Who’s Your Daddy - Benny Bennassi
Starlight - Supermen Lovers
DANCE - Justice
My Boobs are Ok - Lene Alexandre
Hey Boy Hey Girl - The Chemical Brothers
Call on me - Eric Prydz
Invaders Must Die - The Prodigy
One More Time - DAFT PUNK

Source: Danteneverdies / Via: Rubbishcorp & @misstwinkle.

BP x