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Pete Tongfeatured it in his Radio One Essential charts and 2 MANY DJ?s featured a few WhoMadeWho Songs in their latest Radio One mix. MTV in France and Italy and MTV in UK put the video on rotation. The 2 MANY DJ'S/ SOULWAX guys are such huge fans of WhoMadeWho that they invited the band to do their live support on their big UK tour in autumn 2005. Same with MYLO who invited the band to support them on their tours. UK Press quotes: "Brilliant!"(NME) "...focused and brilliant." (iD sept 2005) "while the record is super fun, the band is even better live!" (Dazed & Confused) "Should coax even the shyest of floors back from the death!"(DJ mag) NME about WHOMADEWHO's Remix of MUNK's Kick out the chairs!:One of our favorite dance tracks of the year!
Ep. 143: The Sit On It Episode
This week's episode is inspired by Natali's incredibly appropriate (if not unintended) comment from last week's episode. Really, if you haven't heard it, check it out. Then listen to today's show where we discuss a wide array of chairs on which to sit. That's right, chairs are the "it". Why, what were you thinking?
Paul Oakenfold featuring Brittany Murphy: "Faster Kill Pussycat"
A Lively Mind is Paul Oakenfold's second artist album and his second for Perfecto Records. Of course, every single one of his mix albums and projects have involved a high level of artistry, so perhaps a little explanation is in order... Paul Oakenfold has long been one of the most important--if not the most important--name in modern club culture. People who don't know that much about DJ culture or the music itself are familiar with Oakenfold's name and what he represents. Of course, many people who think they're unfamiliar with Oakenfolds music actually may have heard it often, thanks to appearances globally on the radio and TV featured in commercials supports mega brands such as Coca-Cola, Toyota, Motorola and Saab all which ran throughout 2005, not to mention his contributions to hit films such as Swordfish (which Oakenfold scored), The Matrix Reloaded and Michael Manns Collateral. In fact, when the superstar DJ sold out the Hollywood Bowl a couple of years ago, many pundits viewed the events as definitive proof that dance culture had finally arrived in America--a force as powerful as any other in modern pop music. Still, when he works as a DJ and/or as a remixer and releases mix CDs it's not a total expression of this Grammy Nominated artists musical creativity. Thus, A Lively Mind features 12 new songs composed and created by Paul Oakenfold. A work of love and passion, its been three years in the making. Bunkka, his debut artist album featuring the hits Ready Steady Go and Starry Eyed Surprise, was released in 2002, sold over a million copies worldwide and went Gold. "I'm an infant in the 'artist' world, weaned and ready to blossom," jokes the composer. "I still primarily believe that songs are the way to move forward in my musical world, which has always been very instrumentally-based. So coming up with great songs takes time. And, naturally, I'd jump from making the record to working on cues for films or doing a couple of remixes and then I'd get inspired and jump back into it. Some of the tracks have been reworked many times over to find a comfortable arena for me. "Plus, even though there are 12 tracks on the CD, I've recorded quite a few more. It wasn't a process of seeing what I could come up with and that's what's ended up on the album. There was a lot of tooing and froing until I was happy with the record". By his own admission, however, Oakenfold is not a singer. Bunkka featured such guest vocalists as Perry Farrell, Ice Cube, Tricky, Nelly Furtado, and--in what would turn out to be his final recorded appearance--Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. A Lively Mind continues the tradition of employing unique vocalists. "Faster Kill Pussycat," the kickoff track and first single, is perhaps the most unique and somewhat shocking of the album when it comes to guest singers. The song--which started life as a rock tune but now might best be described as reminiscent of a young Madonna at her very best--features the astounding singing talents of... Brittany Murphy. Yes, that Brittany MurphyEminems girlfriend in 8 Mile. The femme fatale in Sin City. The actress-turned-diva was recommended to Oakenfold by a mutual friend Oakenfold claims, by the way, to be totally unfamiliar with Russ Meyer's cult classic film, Faster, Pussycat, Kill Kill. "I was looking for a different genre and a different feel and something just original for me," explains Oakenfold. "I knew I wanted a girl vocalist but also someone who's not known as a singer. It had to be someone from a completely different world than mine. It ultimately seemed that film was the right place to look because I was venturing more and more into that world. But even more importantly, I needed someone who could sing--who could really, really sing--and Brittany Murphy fit the bill." The world of film--or at least of Hollywood--influenced another of the albums stand out tracks, this one featuring vocals by modern hip-hop great Pharrell Williams. Inspired by the four years the London-Raised Oakenfold has called L.A. "home," the track is titled "Sex 'N Money." "It was actually an idea I came up for my last record that didn't make it because it was to hip-hop back then and I already had enough hip-hop songs on that album," says the writer. "So I shelved it and then later came across it while hunting for some old stuff. I liked the lyrical connotations of sex and money, thinking if anything, it's more relevant to today. "It's a song about how soulless the Hollywood party scene can be. Ive been in situations where people are introduced to me and then they spot a celebrity, standing nearby, and they disappear, literally mid sentence. So the track is really Hollywood in a nutshell for me--it's all sex and money. We deconstructed our original track and rewrote it for Pharrell, in a way that's melodic and hypnotic and just keeps coming back at you in waves." Other vocalists include two artists signed to Oakenfold's long-running Perfecto custom label--Spitfire (who performs on "No Compromise" and "Feed Your Mind") and Ashley of the rock band Bad Apples (who adds his vocal talents to "Vulnerable"). And then theres one who can only be described as a true living legend. Grandmaster Flash, the man who gave birth to the whole hip-hop movement in the early '80s with his classic "The Message," joins Oakenfold on "Set It Off." "Flash and I have long talked about making a track together hes the godfather! So it was truly an honor to work with him. I don't think there's another DJ I would actually make a record with but I really liked the idea of the guy who arguably started the whole DJ thing being on my record. And I liked the idea of our worlds colliding and our sounds clashing. That's why the track is a little more electronic than some of the others. It's a perfect blend of both our elements." A perfect blend could also be the perfect phrase to describe the cohesiveness of A Lively Mind a title which means an active person, says its creator. Balance was the key on this one, and the artist believes that this album may strike with a larger audience than Bunkka, an album that tended to alienate a small portion of his large audience. "What I set out to do on my last record was probably one step ahead of the game," he says in retrospect. "The dance world or electronic world was expecting more of a DJ record and I wanted to make a record that was more out there. Direction is hugely important to me--to have a balance. And I felt like maybe I'd lost a bit of balance on Bunkka. So this record is a lot more up-tempo, a lot more focused, and a lot more comfortable in the electronic world than the last record was and yet it still has a variety of flavors." In fact, some of the titles and themes on the album have a direct correlation to that electronic and dance world, both lyrically and title-wise. "Save The Last Trance For Me" is, of course, a play on words from the Drifters' classic "Save The Last Dance For Me." His critics get their comeuppance in "No Compromise." And the instrumental "Amsterdam" pays tribute to a city that plays host to the biggest dance scene in Europe. Of course, on some levels, it seems almost absurd to think of Paul Oakenfold needing to get "more comfortable" in anything involving the electronic world. After all, the guy helped invent that world. His mark can be seen and heard in everything from the early rise of hip-hop to the birth of the "Madchester" scene. Oakenfolds career began in London, when he began DJing in small clubs around the West End. His rising reputation led to a job as an A&R rep at the UK-based Champion label, where his first signing was Will Smith (still part of Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince). His second? Salt N' Peppa. Not bad for a novice record exec. After stints at Profile and Def Jam (where he perfected the talent scouting skills that would eventually lead him to start his own Perfecto label in 1991), he returned to DJing. Oakenfold changed European youth culture throughout the late '80s and early '90s. He was one of the first DJ's to have a residency on the Island of Ibiza, leading to both a new sound and a yearly festival. He also started regular "Balearic" club nights in London, attracting a crossover audience and remixed legendary bands such as The Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays (whose Pills 'N' Thrills and Bellyaches album was produced by Oakenfold and his production partner Steve Osborne, becoming the biggest album of the band's career). His pivotal role in the Manchester scene was Oakenfold's visa into the rock world. Over the next several years, he, along with Osborne, remixed tracks by legendary bands New Order, The Cure and Massive Attack. In 1991, he first worked with U2 remixing "Even Better Than the Real Thing" and "Mysterious Ways" from their Achtung Baby album. It was the start of a long partnership with that band. He was the DJ on their historic ZOO TV tour and later remixed the band's "Beautiful Day," a number one hit for U2 on the U.S. and U.K. dance charts. Over the years, he's remixed tracks for everyone from Madonna to Elvis Presley to Justin Timberlake to Moby to Snoop Doggy Dog. He's the first electronic artist ever to be in the Guinness Book of World Records--for being the biggest DJ in the world. He's the only DJ to have a display case in the Hard Rock Cafe's Rock & Roll Museum. 2003 also saw Paul perform a concert on the Great Wall of China. That same year, not only was he honored with the UK's "Pioneer of Dance Music" award, which was presented by Queen Elizabeth herself at the "Pioneers of the Nation" celebration," shortly after Oakenfold had played the Nelson Mandela-organized South African AIDS benefit concert alongside Bono, Peter Gabriel and Beyonce Knowles. Oakenfolds mix compilation Another World (Perfecto) sold over 500,000 in the U.S. alone making it the biggest selling DJ compilation. He's also one helluva cook, having graduated from culinary school before beginning his journey in the music world. Now comes A Lively Mind, a totally new and fresh venture and perspective, musically speaking, for the artist. The album is just the beginning of an amazing 2006 that will find Oakenfold working on the scores of at least three new films--as well as remixing a number of singles including Madonnas new record Confessions of a Dance Floor and a track from the legendary Burning Spear. At the same time, the Perfecto label is releasing debut albums by the aforementioned Spitfire (who Oakenfold compares to a young Anthony Kiedis) and the London-by-way-of-Los Angeles Bad Apples. Then there's the U.S. and European tour that will follow the new albums release.
The truth is, Maria McKee is only beginning to tap into what she has to say. On Peddlin' Dreams (Eleven Thirty Records), her sixth solo album, she draws not only from her own songs but also from those of her bassist, producer, frequent co-writer, and husband, Jim Akin. Their distinctive styles, brought into focus by an approach to recording unlike any that McKee had followed before, make Peddlin' Dreams one of her most urgent and eloquent works. That, of course, is saying a lot. From her early performances at sixteen, singing with her brother, Bryan MacLean of the epochal group Love, through her run with Americana pioneers Lone Justice and on to the career she has established on her own, McKee has maintained an uncommon honesty and excellence as a writer and singer, as those who have written with her (Steve Earle), recorded her material (The Dixie Chicks), or added her songs to high-profile film soundtracks (Pulp Fiction) can attest. Her last studio album, High Dive (2002), epitomizes her work up to that point: Meticulously produced, finely polished, it fit McKee's pattern of spending as much time as necessary to come up with an album that met the high standards she sets for herself. Fans learned to be patient, knowing that the payoff would be worth the wait. It always was, especially High Dive, which earned vast praise. Mojo magazine, in a four-star review, called the album "an organic, risk-taking record oozing rich details," while USA Today declared that Maria "has one of the strongest and most versatile voices in pop music." In addition to dates in the U.S., Maria toured across the U.K. and Europe on a 10-country tour in support of the album. Peddlin' Dreams is a departure, conceived with the same self-imposed expectations yet reflective of her evolving ambitions. On this project, McKee and Akin emphasize emotion over seamless craftsmanship; the production quality is as strong as ever, but its intention is to invest each track with a live feel. On "My One True Love" she whispers her vocal, as if standing inches away from the listener in some quiet room of the heart; on "Everyone's Got a Story" she's fronting her band in a raucous jam, ripping licks on her guitar over a thrashing beat. The other songs settle between these extremes, each with its own balance of intimacy and abandon -- and all of it feels totally alive. "The truth is, High Dive was a labor of love," Maria explains. "It was also incredibly demanding -- a lot of hard work for both Jim and me. We wanted to make Peddlin' Dreams' more direct and spontaneous. We didn't think about it too much; we just went in and did it. The process was much more natural." More than that: Their approach on Peddlin' Dreams signals a shift in Maria's thoughts about recording, her relationship with the public, and deeper issues as well. "In the past I haven't been the most prolific artist," she admits. "It's taken me as much as six years to go from one album to the next. I've had to sit with songs and ideas a long time until I've felt satisfied with them. I want to make better use of my talent now. If I'm honest with my songs, I can put albums out more frequently; that's become important to me because of how incredible my fans have been and how important it is for me to connect with them as often as I can." Her first step was to surrender the reins of production. She had her reasons: to concentrate more fully on performance, to expedite the process. Most crucial, though, is her respect for Jim's insight and skills. "High Dive was very collaborative," Jim says. We shared production credit. This time, she said, 'Go ahead. You make it.' She came into the studio to sing and play her parts. I'd hear the chord progression, the lyrics, or maybe just the melodies -- the skeleton of the song -- and then flesh it out. It was effortless, immediate, a production based on intuition." Jim's expanded role made it easier for Maria to find the heart of each song. "With this album, I wanted a more open, almost stark recording," he explains. "It's all about emotion in the vocal. Where the voice cracks and reveals something that's almost beyond what the artist intends." Sessions began with Jim and the drummer, Tom Dunne, who drove out to a warehouse in Costa Mesa. There, they cut the drum tracks, without a click or even any demos for reference. "Tom was just playing to the music in his head," Jim says. We'd do three, four, or five complete takes, and I'd choose the best one. The idea was to go for a John Bonham sound -- very open, big, and natural, with minimal, mainly distant miking. I was very happy with what we got." These tracks were the foundation for Maria and the musicians as they cut the songs that featured the full band. Everything fed off the drums; you can hear it in "Everyone's Got a Story", "Sullen Soul", and "Peddlin' Dreams", where Dunne's sound, raw and punchy, defines the live feel. Each of these performances, like the ones cut solo or with a scaled-down lineup, were captured at Maria's and Jim's home studio, which they'd completed just in time for the High Dive sessions a little more than two years ago. This, too, served the goal of going for the emotional gold. "Jim loves having a home studio because he can capture me in different moods," Maria says. "I'm sort of mercurial, so he'll observe and say, 'Hmm, Maria would really handle this song especially well right now." Clearly Maria had her reflective, introspective days, as reflected on the plaintive "Appalachian Boy" and the wistful "My One True Love". Other times she must have been feeling playful ("The Horse Life"). And her gritty, snarling guitar solo on the jam that ends "Everyone's Got a Story" just might have come from what she describes as "a melancholy frame of mind." Maria also turns in a moving rendition of Neil Young's "Barstool Blues". "After going over the Americana terrain for years and years, the worst thing anybody can say to me about my music would be, 'Oh, it's like American barroom rock!'" She continues, "So it's ironic for me to do 'Barstool Blues', which is the greatest song ever written with that sort of imagery yet it totally transcends any genre because it's such a great piece of art. To Jim and me, Neil Young is a god -- but I have to do something risky on every album, and for me that meant recording this song because his original version is perfect." The point is that every moment of Peddlin' Dreams is real. Every note reflects the new immediacy in her music. In its details and taken as a whole, Peddlin' Dreams is a message to McKee devotees: Expect more exceptional work, covering more bases, more often from this extraordinary artist. For all that she's achieved, Peddlin' Dreams points the way toward greater things just over the horizon. "Who knows how the next record will sound?" says Maria. "I certainly don't. I just know that I'm staying in the moment now. And I believe that's going to bring everyone who's enjoyed my music -- the Lone Justice people, the High Dive people, and everyone else -- together like nothing I've ever done before."
For 10 years, you've watched as technology transformed the world. You've been there with us through a revolution that has changed all our lives forever. Thanks for joining us to celebrate those 10 years and to help us look forward to the wonders of the ne
