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« Older Entries | Newer Entries »Take A Walk On The Zef Side With Die Antwoord
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on February 8, 2010 by admin in Music
Monday, February 8th, 2010The name of South Africa’s suddenly “Internet Famous” Rave/Rap/Zef sensation “Die Antwoord” means “The Answer” in Afrikaan, but it’s hard to figure out what the question was.
The first time you see & hear South Africa’s Die Antwoord , you might think to yourself something like “Wow, America really hasn’t cornered the market on white trash wiggerdom, has it?” But that would not only be a choice of words that many would find offensive, it would be horribly inaccurate as well. The fact is, I’m not sure there are words to describe the band. They sort of look like someone traveled to the future and dragged Vanilla Ice from the geriatric ward, paired him with Pink’s abandoned trailer child, and then stuck them out in the Cape Town slums to fend for themselves. Or like extras living on the fringe of the alien ghetto in District 9
The Relentless Terror of Loituma’s Ievan Polkka
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on February 3, 2010 by admin in Music
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010The Finnish song “Ieva’s Polkka” may be an excellent alternative to waterboarding.
What do 19th century Finnish villagers, 21st century nerds, dancing donkey girls, and Darth Vader have in common? Well, the “Ievan Polkka”, of course. We’ve touched on Internet memes before, but one that somehow escaped our attention was the Loituma Girl and the Finnish band Loituma’s version (clip below) of the Ievan Polkka. Our apologies in advance for the earworm infection you’re likely to contract if you actually watch these clips, you may need the aural equivalent of eye bleach when you’re done. We recommend something a little easier on the brain, like “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”. So what’s this all about? Well, it started innocently enough, with a catchy Finnish folk song. The haunting and bittersweet kind you write when it’s dark all the time because you live in the arctic circle, and with gibberish words in the lyrics so you can still sing it when you’re bombed on vodka. Fast forward a couple hundred years. A Finnish pop band called “Loituma” does a catchy version of it that becomes an international hit. Then – as is inevitable when Finnish pop bands have international hits based on 200 year old polkas – a Swedish DJ named Basshunter does a really bad rave remix of the tune. From there the history gets a little muddled, but like many Internet memes, it basically boils down to a question of whether you’re the kind of person who would say “Yes, I absolutely understand the humor in a female Japanese cartoon character spinning a leek while a Finnish polka plays” or the kind of person who would say “Wow. I really don’t see the humor in a female Japanese cartoon character spinning a leek while a Finnish polka plays“. From there, much like the Crazy Frog (strangely, also a Swedish creation) the meme took on a life of its own, so we end up with the song set to everything from the original “Loituma Girl” swinging her leek to Darth Vader swinging a light saber (Flash). And thanks to Internet Rule 34, there are hundreds of pornographic versions as well. For a slightly NSFW version (it’s a Hentai character shaking her breasts in a sheer top) see the Hentai Ievan Polkka (Flash). And if you want to watch the time pass as you listen to the tune 24 hours a day, there’s even a Loituma Girl Clock. We’ve rounded up a few of the more popular renditions below, let us know if we’ve missed anything important. Read the rest of this entry »
More Mashups: Girls Aloud Allowed, But EMI Goes GooGoo Over Gaga
[ Comments Off ]Posted on January 28, 2010 by admin in Music
Thursday, January 28th, 2010Will major labels ever figure out the equation of rights management versus free exposure?
We’ve touched on mashups before, but hadn’t realized how deeply they’d been cross-infected with mainstream pop culture, and hadn’t considered the daunting task they bring to record labels operating with a Jurassic attitude toward media distribution and rights management. First of all, let’s look at an example of how not to do a mashup, and then take a look at an example of why issuing takedowns to mashup artists is probably not all that productive. So how not to do a mashup? Fox TV’s Glee “got hip” and jumped on the mashup train by taking the Police song “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” and Gary Puckett’s “Young Girl”, and having one of the stars of the show sing them as a mashup. The result was predictably horrifying. The problem? The music was obviously licensed, played by studio session players, and badly dubbed over by the actor. The net result is comparable to watching your friend who majored in drama but ended up being an MBA singing “Halo” at karaoke night. If anyone should get sued in the world of mashups, it’s the producers of Glee. On the other end of the spectrum, we have situations where a label like EMI issues a takedown when the repurposing of their property would probably do them more benefit than harm. The piece just linked to explains why EMI issued a takedown for NirGaga, the Lady Gaga Vs. Nirvana mashup. What’s wrong with that scenario? For me, the mashup made me remember Nirvana, who I hadn’t thought of in ages, and exposed me to Lady Gaga, who I would otherwise not go out of my way to listen to. In either case, it’s doubtful that the free distribution of the mashup would dent EMI’s profits, and in spite of EMI’s takedown, the video and song remain “in the wild”, and fairly easy to find, as evident with the YouTube link above. Another example of reaching a new and unlikely end-user (i.e.: me) is a series of mashups of Girls Aloud, the British reality TV superstar girl band that’s made millions and that I’d bet a million that – like me – you’ve never heard of before. Below are examples of Girls Aloud and a few other mashups (Devo vs Souljaboy, Lady Gaga vs Eurythmics) that – at least to my ears – make the unlistenable fairly listenable. I doubt major media companies will ever get this property management vs exposure equation, and will continue throwing the baby out with the bath water until they’re bankrupt. If you want a quick roundup of some of last year’s best mashups, check out CultureBully’s list, or Best of Bootie 2009. Read the rest of this entry »
Two Tuned Tablas And A Microphone Part III – Maybe Bad Boy & Bhangra Don’t Mix
[ Comments Off ]Posted on January 22, 2010 by admin in Music
Friday, January 22nd, 2010As we continue to drown in a sea of desi music, we wonder if goa and gangsta really work together, and decide that D is for Detroit, not Desi.
 Sorry, Kidd Skilly. The D is for “Detroit” not “Desi” |
In part one and two of our dip into desi music, we whimpered a lot about the overwhelming amount of material to explore. We’re still whimpering, but after a watching a LOT of video clips and listening to dozens of streams, we’ve reached a few conclusions, even if we have only scratched the surface of the larger desi market. One is that we’ll be doing a part IV. Another is that the best of the current releases are the ones that don’t pander to rap cultural inflections. If you think a rural white guy co-opting black urban culture is funny, you should see what happens when a British Indian guy tries it. As an example, an artist like ADH can turn out a fairly decent live groove like Tu Ni Jaandi and then turn around and produce a rapper-wannabe absurdity like Taubah Taubah. I mean, if I’m not mistaken, the fellow is wearing a “Members Only” jacket in that last video. In part II we mentioned the lack of terminology for desi genres. I’m classifying that one as “Pootyjab”. Along the same lines, ADH’s Kurri – while a cool groove – might’ve benefited from a little less autotune. The guy’s got a great voice, there’s no need to “Akon it up”. In what is nearly the inverse of this problem, you have white Euro swami-wannabes like Prem Joshua jamming around India in their old man ponytails and 70′s facial hair. I can’t help wondering if I might have actually liked a tune like Sharanay if I hadn’t seen the aging Euro-hippies playing it. All these little criticisms serve to point up what does work though, which is when the artists adhere to their own cultural strengths, which in the case of a lot of desi music is either an almost kitschy romantic eroticism, or a passionate and deeply expressive melodic and rhythmic sophistication. If the fusion they reach for is musical rather than visual, as in the case of an artist like Surinder Rattan – who fuses his Indian stylings with Two-Step Garage – the results can actually be gratifyingly original as with his chart-climber Tappe from 2006 (which strangely keeps reminding me of Stereo MC’s Elevate My Mind from the 90′s). So as we said, we’re still only scratching the surface here. We not only haven’t finished digging into the more diverse global desi market, we’ve omitted a huge segment of this market by focusing mostly on the “poppier” material, and especially the UK-influenced bhangra scene. We’re actually bringing in an “expert” on Part IV, in which we’ll explore both the complex distribution channels for this stuff, as well as the more classically-influenced material. Unfortunately, in spite of the wealth of material out there, even sites like Pitchfork.com don’t cover these genres; there’s just not enough money in a single niche to garner revenue-generating readership. For now though, if you’ve been enjoying the material we’ve already explored, you might want to check out sources like SimplyBhangra.com, the UK label Moviebox, and YouTube channels like Felonious Vindaloo. They’re all great launchpads to a mind-boggling world of bhangra. Read the rest of this entry »
Two Tuned Tablas And A Microphone Part II: Ululate To The Party
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on January 16, 2010 by admin in Music
Saturday, January 16th, 2010Who knew Brimful of Asha was considered desi? Part two of our look at desi pop and hip hop with Panjabi MC, Notorious Jatt, Juggy D, Punjabi By Nature, and the Rishi Rich Project.
In part one of our little exploration of desi pop, we mentioned the difficulty of sifting through complex history of the music, and the mountain of material that’s out there. Even after a lot of digging, that remained an obstacle to finding material we thought worth sharing. A great example of just how convoluted the history is would be the 1997 international hit Brimful of Asha, by Cornerstore. You almost certainly know the tune, but likewise, you almost certainly don’t know that it’s considered desi. There’s a great explanation of how it’s a Bollywood tribute here. This kind of music also really needs some better distribution channels and terminology. A good example of the lack of terminology is Juggy D’s Sohniye, which has a little reggae-ish tinge, but not enough bhangra feel to use one of the few common terms like bhangramuffin. Juggy D, by the way, is one of three fairly established UK artists that gained most of their recognition via the Rishi Rich Project, the others being Rishi Rich himself, and Jay Sean. For my tastes, the Rishi Rich crew is a bit too white bread R&B. A little more up my alley is stuff like Notorious Jatt. Never mind his affected smooth gangsta fashions, this dude can ululate, and throws down some fat-bottomed rhythms. I especially like the urban-to-turban Marrey Dil Vaaliyan De’. In the same way that you’d have to have a serious nerve disorder to not move to mambo, you’ve got a serious problem if that tune doesn’t cause something in you to wiggle a little. Also inclined to make something in you move is Panjabi By Nature’s Jaan Punjabi. I have no idea who the featured rapper in that clip is; help me out if you do. A rapper I do recognize is Jay-Z, who manages to not get in the way too much in Panjabi MC’s Beware, which is a bit funkier than these other tunes while still maintaining the Panjabi vibe. As we get a better grasp on the larger view of this incredibly diverse market, we’ll be back in part three with a list of the best sources we’ve found, and clips from about ten more artists we’d like to share. For now, enjoy the clips below, and feel free to correct any artist names or song titles. Or turn us on to artists we should know about. Read the rest of this entry »