Veni, Vidi, Avicii

Avicii, Tim Berg & Tom Hangs... yes, these are all the same person.  One name wouldn't cut it, so he uses several aliases.  If you don't know this man by now, come out from the rock you been chillin under!  He's taken the electronic dance music (EDM) genre by storm in the last 2 years and is gathering a serious fan base.  At only 22 he's already made quite the impact.  Named breakthrough producer of 2009 by Tiesto, Laidback Luke & Dirty South, he is currently making some of the hottest and most uplifting happy house music around - certainly getting the credit he deserves. 

Thus far I've shared his tracks "Levels" and "Silhouettes" with you, in one of the Certified Summa Jams posts.  This time I'm featuring a remix he did of a classic Nadia Ali trance song, "Rapture".  His remixes are top quality, just like his releases, and feature the familiar big room signature Avicii sound.  I heard this particular remix while out clubbing last night, although the stupid DJ only played about 1 minute of its 7!  Anyway, a friend requested this, so enjoy Katia.  Read on to listen and download many more songs by this young musical genius.

1) Nadia Ali - Rapture (Avicii New Generation Extended Mix)

Dreaming

I have 5 tracks for you today, all of blissfully brilliant electronic music. 
The Field, real name Axel Willner, is a musician from Stolkholm in Sveden.  Some may call this music Minimal.  However I prefer Wikipedia's description, saying it falls under the genre of "Ambient Techno".  This pretty little number is nearly 8 minutes of looped vocals laid over a slow piano melody from his upcoming album, aptly titled Looping State of Mind.  It kinda reminds me of that period when you're really tired between resting your head on the pillow and actually drifting off to sleep.  If this tune doesn't suit your fancy, don't fret.  Read on for Gui Boratto, Deadmau5 and some German techno dude, all awesome tunes!

1) The Field - Then It's White (Click title to dwld)

And she said...

Reason for this post:  cuz The Pharcyde (a Californian hip-hop group) are wicked and make super chilled out and funny hip-hop music.  Their hay day was also back in the early 90s, like much of the underground rap I find myself listening to (see De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Souls of Mischief, etc).  It wasn't until I saw them live in Toronto this summer however, that I realised how many classics they actually made.  Despite having not released an album in over 7 years, they showed that they still know how to rock a crowd.  After "Runnin" (probably their biggest hit), this song, entitled "She Said", really does it for me.  The lazy hazy vocals about love and relationships over top of a relaxing beat by none other than the late great J Dilla are a perfect combo.  Read on for more songs by the Pharcyde and a little bonus track.

The Pharcyde - She Said

The coolest motherfunkers on the planet

I LOVE WHO YOU ARE
I LOVE WHO YOU AINT
YOU'RE SO ANNE FRANK
LET'S HIT THE ATTIC & HIDE OUT FOR BOUT 2 WEEKS

Album: Stankonia
Year:  Two Thousand
Genre: Hip-Hop / Funk
Successful?  ...quadruple platinum!

Outkast - So Fresh, So Clean

That girl is poison

Bel Biv DeVoe are an American trio from the 90s whose music was sort of a fusion between hip-hop and R&B - a genre called New Jack Swing.  This song, "Poison", was their most successful and comically warns the listener about falling in love.  I have a hunch you'll recognise it.  The chorus goes "That girl is poisoooooooon, never trust a big butt and a smile!", hehe.  Keep reading for other tunes from this genre.

Bell Biv DeVoe - Poison

Oh Sinnerman, where you gonna run to?

This post is intended to educate Peiter about a serious classic =P    "Sinnerman" is a very old American spiritual song, it was first popularised in the 60s and is probably Nina Simone's most famous song.  It's also been sampled by some big artists like KanYe West, Timbaland and apparently Felix da Housecat.  For me however, I cannot listen to the song without it reminding me of the epic climax to the film "The Thomas Crown Affair" (starring Pierce Brosnan... if you haven't seen it, sort your life out).  If you have seen it, skip forward to 4:50 and you'll recognise the piano melody with the clapping in the background which they loop over and over.  Very effective use of music in the movie to build tension I thought.  At over 10 minutes it's a very long tune, but it's worth it!

Nina Simone - Sinnerman

If you like Piña Coladas...

Thought I'd throw out an oldie to keep you smiling on this happy Saturday.  Heard this playin on the radio yesterday on the boat and had to get a copy.  If you listen to the lyrics it's actually quite funny.  Apparently when this dude wrote the song back in '79 he was originally going to sing the chorus as "if you like Humphrey Bogart..." but switched it to "if you like piña coladas" five minutes before recording.  When first released it was simply titled "Escape" but they eventually tacked on (The Pina Colada Song) because initially sales were slow and that's the line everyone remembered.  Just a piece of trivia for you.  Download, listen and leave a comment.

Rupert Holmes - Escape (The Pina Colada Song)

Drunk in the Grass at Sunset

This is an incredible tune by an American producer named Casey Keyworth, aka Breakfast.  In 2006 he was signed to Ferry Corsten's Flashover Recordings and has done pretty well for himself since then.  This is the first tune I heard by him and probably still  by favourite.  Puts me in a trance.  Yes the album artwork features a photo I took up in Abaco, cuz I'm fresh like that.  Njoi  

Breakfast - Drunk in the Grass at Sunset