Aurgasm

urban soul

Gilles Peterson would be proud of me. Mr Peterson, radio host on BBC Radio 1 and one of my favorite DJs, has an affinity for a particular sound. What is that sound like? These adjectives might get you close: urban, sultry, smooth, jazzy, funky. And all those are perfectly applicable to New Orleans songstress Voice who just dropped a new CD on Toronto’s Public Transit Recordings. A grooving rhythm section and an eccentric tempo curl around Voice’s.. umm”¦ voice. The result is close to the current West Coast soul sound (a la Raul Campos’ Nocturna show on KCRW).

Tight little one for the head nodders and the soul sistas.
Voice – Know Rhythm
buy this cd

singer-songwriter // urban-folk-blues

If I told you Piers’ producer also worked with Ben Harper and Jack Johnson, you might hold it against him, you might reckon you can predict his sound, or you may hear in his music an attention to detail that surprises you. Not that there’s a lot of musical elements fighting to be heard; we have Piers’ candlelight voice and his Martin 018 complemented by a sparse but perfect instrumentation. (Listen close: Ben Harper and Inara George lend backing vocals.) As luck has it, his tour is hitting New York, Boston and Philly this week; perfect aural setting for your next date. ;-)

A multicultural background that creates a simplicity of sound.
Piers Faccini – If I
Piers Faccini – Sharpening Bone
buy this cd

Since Aurgasm’s launch over two years ago, I have been putting all of aurgasm’s mp3s in this folder called /tracks/. If you had pulled it up in your web browser, it was a directory listing of all the music I’ve posted for the past 6-8 months. What you may consider a treasure trove for you, the IFPI (essentially a worldwide RIAA) considered it a violation of the DMCA. The Digital Millenium Copyright Act is what the RIAA uses to sue dead grandmas without computers, claiming they’re sharing mp3s.

So what happened the other day?

Thursday, the IFPI contacted my webhost and had them remove all the mp3s on my site. No further legal action is being taken (that’s a good thing), but all of aurgasm’s music is gone for the moment.

…and thank you.

I appreciate the outpour of support everyone has given. Fellow bloggers have been educated by my mistakes and supportive of my plight. Aurgasm’s readers have eager to help; offering to document their purchases that came from this site and more. For the moment, be comfortable and sit tight. Things will hopefully return to normal quickly.

So what now?

Aurgasm will continue to feature your favorite music you’ve never heard, but we’ll be thorough in obtaining permission to share the music we need to share. Up to now, a good portion of the music on Aurgasm has been posted with artists’ (or their representatives’) consent, though not all. I am eager to put Aurgasm’s music back online, but need to first get legal consent from all artists to share their wares. I’m in the midst of communications with the IFPI to rectify the situation.

With sage advice from EJ of Loudersoft, I fired off this email to the IFPI this morning:

To Whom It May Concern:

1) I have permission from the record label, PR company or the artist directly for many of the tracks posted on my site. Additionally, some of them are not copyrighted whatsoever, therefore it’s unlawful to claim to represent the copyright for all of them.
2) If there are any specific examples of tracks that you consider to be in violation, you are required under U.S. jurisdiction to provide me with complete and full disclosure of the specific offending items.
3) If you fail to respond to this with the appropriate information on or before November 1st, 2006, I will assume that the IFPI is withdrawing their DMCA complaint, that it has no further merit, and that I am exempt from future action on this claim.

-Paul Irish
http://aurgasm.us

Stay tuned for more music and hopefully less drama. :)

We have received a formal DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) notice
regarding allegedly infringing content hosted on your site. The specific
items in question are as follows:

The party making the complaint (International Federation of the
Phonographic Industry), claims under penalty of perjury to be or
represent the copyright owner of these works. Pursuant to 17 U.S.C. §
512(c), we have removed access to the files in question.

lounge vocal jazz // scandinavian jazz

I came home from work grumpy and needed something upbeat. A track I couldn’t ignore. A clever hook I couldn’t help but smile at. Some percussion to make me nod my head and tap my fingers. I found exactly what I needed in Koop’s “Come to Me”. Horns. Cymbals. Hand claps. Classy, seductive vocals. It’s really just jazz, but it’s smooth and clean. When you tire of the syrupy sweetness, “Drum Rhythm A” is a crisp palate cleanser. Both these tracks glide off the new release Koop Islands.

Classic, classy, comfortable.
Koop – Come To Me
Koop – Drum Rhythm A
buy this cd

acoustic pop // turin brakes-ish

Master Rios was born in Puerto Rico but left at eighteen for Belgium in a search to find his passion. In his travels he ran into Jo Bogaert, whom you might know as Technotronic, renowned for the dance hit, Pump Up The Jam. The two collaborated and developed Gabe’s first solo album Ghostboy. I found his single “Broad Daylight” on the Nova Tunes 1.4 compilation (The whole Nova Tunes series is primo). In the track, Rios mixes clean vocals against clever production, creating a surprising presentation of the melody.

Atypical innovation in typical music.
Gabriel Rios – Broad Daylight
buy this cd

intimate pop-rock // folk // chanson

Mansfield.TYA is a duo of musicians Julia Lanoë (voice, guitar, piano) and Carla Pallone (violin, piano, harmonium, voice) from Nantes, France. The duo was seen and noticed for its intimate, beautifully tensed music at the openings of such artists as Cat Power, Erik Truffaz, Camille, Elysian Fields, Cocorosie and others. Their album June (2005) is a magnificent combination of dark and sombre yet beautiful ballads with folk elements enveloped in a romantic and melancholic atmosphere. The raw and sincere vocals and instrumentation are comparable to the fine collaboration of Shannon Wright and Amélie composer Yann Tiersen. Or to quote one of the reviews it is une possible réponse française aux Cocorosie.

So fragile and très triste.
Mansfield.Tya – Mon Amoureuse
Mansfield.Tya – Pour Oublier Je Dors
buy this cd

trip hop // vocal downtempo

Inga Liljeström is Australian with Scandinavian roots and beautiful name (the ‘j’ is pronounced as a ‘y’ sound). And as the title of her recent album Elk (2005) indicates to the cold far north too, one could not expect icy landscapes surrounded by warm latin melodies. That’s how eclectic and rich the record is. It is captivating with its subtle beats, lush orchestrated music and cinematic atmosphere. The comparisons vary from Björk to Lamb and early Goldfrapp, but her own diverse experiences and knowledge of aesthetics in music industry distinguish her.

Movie-like, powerful and mesmerizing.
Inga Liljestrom – Phoenix
Inga Liljestrom – Bullet
buy this cd

lounge jazz // downtempo // polish future jazz

What the nascent polish jazz group Muzykoterapia has already mastered is bringing the fun and dynamicism of live music to the studio, while maintaining a modicum of post-production that keeps your brain as busy as your body. In “Haunting Love”, vocalist Iza Kowalewska dominates a vamping piano, slathering on a sultry flavor while each rimshot bitchslaps your pleasure center. Raising the energy level, the MZT remix of Roman Two sets a fire in the lounge hall and expects your sweat to extinguish the flames.

On the rocks. What a fox.
Muzykoterapia – Love Haunting
Muzykoterapia – Roman Two (MZT Remix)
buy this cd

folk pop // vocal rock

Cerys, an intrepid Welsh musician has a lot in her favor: a quirky name, a past bout with fame as lead in the 90’s Welsh pop group Catatonia, and a cute renown-to-rehab-to-folk backstory. And the music? To be honest, I wasn’t really touched by her album, with the striking exception of the song below. Though it feels like it just jumped out of Pro-Tools, Cerys used a good amount of odd instrumentation and clever polyrhythms to complement your more traditional guitar and drums.

Listen, hold tight till 0:59, and release.
Cerys Matthews – Streets Of New York
buy this cd