french minimalist pop
Cute playful bounce. For all the people I’ve shared Mathieu with, “cute” is the most used descriptor upon first listen. It was definitely his fragrant and clean sound that first attracted me to him. His American fans affectionately call him “Booger” and he’s collaborated with Yann Tiersen (composer of Amelie). That’s reason enough.
Certified Bananas – Kiss The Girl (Baltimore Remix)
UPDATE: If you’re feeling this, the boys are in Boston at the Enormous Room TONIGHT! Also, drop by Discobelle to peep their brand new exclusive mix ‘Sweden on Blast’. Holla.
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nu-jazz // broken beat
This music exudes solid, soothing feeling. Feeling I’ve been looking for; to fill the emotional gap that’s come as I’ve just finished my undergraduate education. I’d say these two songs are a fair representation of my duality of feelings towards school. “Another Day” is an earthy nu-jazz groove with Jill Scott voicing some deliciously soulful complaints about having to work. “Les Fleur” then enters quietly; it’s unassuming track gradually leading up to a crescendo of accomplishment. Good job, mate. funky breaks // dance // freestyle 
Sicilian Fab Samperi a.k.a. The Captain has played his eclectic sets all over the world. In summer 2010, Fab is releasing his first album Power Bossa with Agogo records, the label of such talents as Una Mas Trio, The Juju Orchestra and Mo`Horizons. While waiting for the full length album to be released, we’re excited about his first single. “In The River” will definitely appeal to the dancefloor music lovers as it carries incredibly addictive bluesy riff, uptempo beats and solid grooves. Bellissimo!
Probably Italy’s most stylish freestyle groove.
Fab Samperi – In The River
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bluegrass // folk
I’ve never seen Cletus and the Burners live, but I feel like I have a pretty good idea of how it would go down. They’re from Ithaca, so the crowd would be equal parts aging hippies and youthful hipsters; the light in the room would be a dusty, dark brown; and the air would be lazily floating around, disturbed by a couple of asthmatic ceiling fans. Oh, and the music would be really good. (I’ve never seen Jill Sobule live, either, though I was once on the other side of a stone cellar wall from one of her shows. Her tiny voice didn’t carry, but the cheers from the audience did.)Good ol’ fashioned music.
Cletus & The Burners – Five Dollar Rag
Jill Sobule – Lucky In Love (track 8 on the Aurgasm Summer Soundtrack)
buy cletus buy jill
electronic // post-rock
Many of you might be already familiar with the Copenhagen-based electronic-post-rock collective Efterklang. Following last year’s release of Performing Parades, featuring the Danish National Chamber Orchestra, Efterklang are back with their third full-length studio album Magic Chairs (2010). While they are finishing their North American tour and heading to SXSW, I caught them at Seattle for a quick chat with Rasmus Stoldberg, one of their core members. But before the words, Efterklang made an exclusive gift to Aurgasm readers: a remix of Magic Chair’s opening track “Modern Drift”.
Efterklang – Modern Drift (Anders B Remix)
I think we had a lot of dreams in that direction, but mostly (and that’s what we still try to keep the focus on) we just concentrated on the music. All these years, what mattered most to us is the music we play and the albums we record. That’s the real motivation. When you succeed doing those things, that’s when you really feel good as a band. When you succeed in making the music you imagine you can do. That was the starting point. To be honest, it took me 6 years to realize that maybe I could actually make a living from music. I was doing it as a hobby and thinking to stop it some time, but now it’s a full time job, something we do every day. We do our best to maintain this reality so we can keep on doing it. Also, you need to find the balance, because once you start having those thoughts that you need to remain successful, you also start to lose focus on the most important thing — the music. So we’ve been trying to mostly focus on the music we want to make.
I thought to myself tonight, seeing this great gig and the queuing crowd after the show, that Efterklang is an example of a good management in 2010. You seem to be the manager of the band? Efterklant frequently updates their website, Facebook, Twitter, their photo journal on Flickr and more. How does the social media helps you to connect with your audience?
Yes, I’m the manager. I make sure we get the record deals that we want and such. The new record is released via 4AD (editor’s note: Efterklang has previously worked with Leaf and they also run their own label), a bigger label than we used to be on and this means that they actually have money to market Efterklang. That’s really nice, but at the same time our background is all about direct contact with people: going out and playing a lot of shows, getting people to sign up for the newsletter, trying to communicate with them on MySpace or Facebook, whenever we can find these people. When you’re a small band with no marketing budget, it’s really a nice way not only to communicate with the fans, but also make sure that all the people who like Efterklang know what is going on. It’s especially important when you’re on tour, maybe you go to play a show in Denver, Colorado and maybe a hundred people show up, and that is really nice. But it is really painful to think maybe there is actually two hundred and fifty people in Denver who like Efterklang, but didn’t hear about the show. It’s also tough to be on so many websites, but it is also fun! We do everything ourselves, we’re a big band, so everyone has a role. If you’re a singer-songwriter and you do everything on your own I understand it’s something you probably can’t spend so much time on. We took a drive from Chicago to Seattle and we were in the car for two and a half days and we had internet in the car, so it was fun to update on the way.
Do you maybe have any tips for bands and musicians how to use social media better? And, let’s face it, some fans download and pirate your music… Any tips how to survive as a band like that?
Well, it all comes down to the music. That’s the main thing that I care about. You can get on so many websites, and you can do all the right things or all the wrong things, but it all comes down to the music. So my best advice is to spend a lot of time on making good music. And then, if that’s working for you, there are a lot of things you can do. I think it’s a way of finding a balance between doing what you think is fun and what you feel you have time to do, and making sure it doesn’t become too much, because the important thing, naturally, is to write songs and play a lot of concerts. So the the most important is writing good songs and playing live.
Do you think live music is the future of the music industry? Now that record sales are declining…
Well, recorded music has existed for about a hundrend years, but live music has been around for thousands of years. It’s difficult. I try to figure out what is the right thing and I realize I’m not gonna come up with an answer. Hopefully someone will come up with a good method. Where I am from, I actually like record labels and I’m sad to see the way things are… We have our own label and we work with different labels, and what they do for our band is actually great. They invest a lot of time and money in our work. We work with different, special kind of labels — only with some good indie labels and I hope they will keep existing because they do really good things.
Let’s talk about Efterklang’s musical influences. Anything in particular you could name as your biggest influence and inspiration?
There are a lot of things, not a single one I can name. Over the last ten years, it’s been so many different things, we listened to a lot of German electronic music, and then we listened to music from Iceland. Maybe the biggest influence is a band called Einstürzende Neubauten. It still remains one of our key influences. What they do is completely different from what we do, but their ideas are incredible. It’s nice that you can be inspired by a band you would never sound like. It’s a hard question, because we’re deriving inspiration from so many different areas, from electronic music to Rock, and we mix different influences.
You’ve worked with so many talented people, musicians, video artists etc. You’ve done many collaborations and projects, including with the Danish National Chamber Orchestra. Is there anyone in the world you would love to collaborate with on a special project?
Old school Danish bands. We grew up with their music. They mean a lot to us, but they wouldn’t mean a lot to you. They sing in Danish. Old guys that have been around since the 60’s. And maybe Tom Waits would be fun.
We provide the readers of Aurgasm with great music they’ve probably not heard. Are there any tracks that you’ve been listening to recently that you’d recommend? What new music excites you at the moment?
I can help you with that! I’m excited about a new Danish band called the The Late Great Fitzcarraldos. It hasn’t been announced yet, but they’re going to support our tour in Denmark in April. They have a new record out in April or May.
Thank you so much!
Thank you, Julija.
Efterklang’s recommendation:
The Late Great Fitzcarraldos – My Temptation (Radio Edit) from My Temptation single (2010)
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soul // french // motown 
The sounds of Ben l’Oncle Soul are spreading through Europe, with a major hit this summer in the form of an uptempo soul cover of “Seven Nation Army”. Signed to Motown, Ben has all elements covered. Some say his style is not original enough, but when the styles are blended and performed this well, and the songs are this catchy, who really cares. This is good music. Period. So if you like soul & funk and appreciate a singer that knows how to manipulate his sound to range from John Legend to Jamie Lidell and back to all the soul greats from the ol’ days, this should be on blast.
French retro soul with a modern edge.
Ben l’oncle Soul – Seven Nation Army
Ben l’oncle Soul – Soulman
[Editor’s Note: Please join me in welcoming Sjoerd Kranendonk to Aurgasm. Also known as zephirnl on soundcloud and @mffonline on twitter, he has a mean habit of unearthing the good ‘n raw funky stuff. We’re thrilled to have him share his best finds here.]
alternative rock
Of all the songs I love with endless feeling or thought attachable, Kinnie Starr‘s “Friendship and Creativity” goes beyond; joining core values of who I am. Her confrontational statements unsettle then affirm as she slides between tranquil and stern, with music swelling among concerns, confusion, and vehement frustration. It’s her direct, lively, and personal manner that resonates viscerally in me, and this hasn’t been matched since discovery in 2000. She speaks to and of humanity; tying her honest desires into one simple, nakedly exposing wish. (thx, Nelly)My favorite song.
Kinnie Starr – Friendship and Creativity
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I need to share with you an encounter I had with a superstar French MC.
Poking around my myspace two weeks ago, I noticed a bulletin from the French rap group TTC, signed to Ninja Tune’s Big Dada label. This bulletin contained two interesting facts:
TTC – Dancingbox (Modeselektor remix)
Ever since hearing the Modeselektor remix of Dancingbox, I’d been deep into their sound. I figured I could offer up my pad, so I fired back a reply.
Cuizinier replied and was down for it:
hey thanks a lot man
i’ll call you when we’re in town
i already putted you on the guest list
peace
cuiz
Thursday afternoon I got a phone call from a number with seemingly too many digits. Hello? “Hey this is Cuiz”. After a short chat, I was set to meet up with him at the show. Going to the show I realized I didn’t really know what Cuizinier looked like, but I figured I could recognize a skinny white French rapper. On my way out the door I had grabbed my three bangin pairs of sunglasses so I could look my flyest; DJ A-Trak (Kanye West’s dj and 5-time World DMC Champion) and Brooklyn’s favorite dj duo, The Rub, were spinning.
The Rub warmed everything up with some reggae, then dropping into their signature dance/soul sound. Midway through their set we learned that this was the “Sunglasses Is A Must” tour and the three pair I brought along seemed fortuitously apropos.
A-Trak tore up his set, as usual, with some old classics and brand new hiphop– and of course he brought his turntablism a-game:
Video of A-Trak mixing it up (live)
Cuizinier took the stage around midnight and when I first realized the guy wearing the XXXL Celtics shirt was actually sleeping on my couch, I pretty much blew my shit. His set was hype as hell, bringing out the fire jams from both TTC’s Bâtards Sensibles and Cuizinier’s own Pour Les Filles records.
Video of Cuizinier – L’encule le plus cool (live)
Cuizinier – L’enculé le plus cool from Cuizinier’s Pour Les Filles Vol. 1 (2005)
Cuizinier – Seulement Toi (feat. Tido Berman) from Cuizinier’s Pour Les Filles Vol. 2 (2006)
After the show, me and my girl Anne waited for Cuizi to collect enough cash from the venue to pay for the next day’s train to New York. Cash in hand, we started heading back to my place. Cuizinier told me about the rest of the tour and TTC and Big Dada and all the news, accidentally slipping into French for several sentences, apologizing once he realized, and continuing. Off the stage, Cuizinier and DJ Orgasmic were surprisingly polite and well-spoken Frenchmen. We crashed at my pad, I woke them up at 9am and they took off for the subway shortly thereafter.
Before leaving however, my boy Cuizi Cuiz insisted in giving me a couple “presents” as thanks. I wound up with some goodies: copies of vols. 1 and 2 of his Pour Les Filles records, some flashy stickers and a dope ass Cuizinier sweatshirt.
So of course,
As this was the Sunglasses Is A Must tour, y’all gotta email me your best photo of you rockin out in sunglasses.
Prizes will be awarded based on how fly y’all look. You might get just a sticker, or you may get all the booty.
afro-disco // urban // funk
Undeservingly forgotten and ignored for decades, in the late 70’s Lagos, as a large Nigerian metropolitan, was home to many recording studios and the real disco queen of West Africa. Lagos Disco Inferno (2010) is the first compilation of rare and groovy Nigerian disco tunes released outside of Africa. The compilation offers 12 examples of the 70’s disco era where African rhythms meet irresistible urban grooves. “Boogie Trip”, the opening track of the record, gives a taste of this funky and vibrant 70’s spirit, carrying that somewhat familiar disco vibe, yet unique and exotic. Put on your dancing shoes!
Tropical boogie party.
Doris Ebong – Boogie Trip
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