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Crazy Musical Instruments Made from Household Objects

By Tom Hawking on

We were fascinated to see a new video from The Creators Project recently — it explores the work of South Korean artist Viktor Jan, and specifically a home-made Traktor controller he’s made that starts or stops various loops as you put them in and take them out of a kitchen saucepan. The device blurs the line between art and utility, but it does call to mind all the weird and wonderful ways you can make music if you step outside the idea of using the same prefabricated instruments that everyone else does. Here are some other weird and wonderful homemade instruments — some are used by famous musicians, and others are pleasantly bizarre YouTube discoveries. … Read More

Music

5 Albums to Stream for Free This Week: Micachu, Lawrence Arabia

By Tom Hawking on

It’s Monday, which means it’s time for another edition of our regular start-of-the-week stream-a-thon, wherein we scour the Internet for worthy and/or noteworthy albums that are streaming this week at absolutely no cost. It’s a bit of an uninspiring haul this week, to be honest, but happily we’ve still managed to dredge up five records that are worth your time, led by the excellent new album from ever-fascinating UK producer Micachu and her band the Shapes. There’s also fine indie pop from the antipodes courtesy of Lawrence Arabia, a killer new reggae compilation for the 50th anniversary of Jamaica’s independence, Black Dice type Eric Copeland’s new solo record, and The Gaslight Anthem “doing” Springsteen. Again. It’s all awaiting you after the jump, so click through and get a piece of the action! … Read More

Music

10 Albums You Need To Hear in July

By Tom Hawking on

Summer is in full swing, and if you haven’t melted yet, you’re probably looking forward to getting hold of some of the surfeit of new music that’s being released over the next month. In all honesty, July is shaping up as something of a strange month for music — lots of album releases, but not a whole heap of really, really exciting ones. But happily, we’re here to help — we’ve sorted the wheat from the chaff, the diamonds from the rough, the sheep from the goats, and all that. And so after the jump we’ve selected what we reckon are the 10 compulsory releases to hear this month, along with a suitably pithy roundup of everything else out there. Let us know what you love/hate/reckon we missed. … Read More

Music

10 MP3s You Need to Download for Free This Week: Iggy Pop, Dan Deacon

By Tom Hawking on

It’s Friday, and we’re back with another installment of our regular roundup of downloadable MP3 goodness from around the web. This week there’s, um, Iggy covering the Black Keys, along with a slew of other interesting new tracks — everything from the return of Dan Deacon and Los Campesinos! to a new signing for one of our favorite labels and a soundtrack for entering a spaceship and leaving Earth for good. In other words, there’s plenty of interesting sounds awaiting you after the jump, and since they won’t cost a penny or land you an RIAA lawsuit, as your attorneys we advise you to start downloading immediately. … Read More

Music

10 MP3s You Need to Download for Free This Week: Twin Shadow, Hunx

By Tom Hawking on

It’s Friday, and we’re back with another installment of our regular roundup of downloadable MP3 goodness from around the web. This week there’s new work from Twin Shadow and the glorious Hunx, a distinct antipodean vibe from Leaving and Royal Headache, thoroughly real feelings from Pictureplane, an entire mixtape from Kwes and Micachu, and some fascinating remix action thrown in for good measure. In other words, there’s plenty of interesting sounds awaiting you after the jump, and since they won’t cost a penny or land you an RIAA lawsuit, as your attorneys we advise you to start downloading immediately. … Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: Speech Debelle

By Doug Levy on

Featuring guest appearances from Roots Manuva and Micachu, UK rapper Speech Debelle’s debut has already garnered a Mercury Prize nomination.

An introspective, emotionally stark offering, Speech Therapy finds the young hip-hop artist exploring every facet of her own psyche, revealing the highs and lows that come from love, heartbreak, homelessness, and recognition. The album was produced by musical innovator Wayne Lotek after the two met at the offices of pioneering record label Big Dada.… Read More