Nick Wall (Nick) on Myspace

Nov 1, 2010
Band of the month - November 2010

Current mood:hopeful

NOVEMBER 2010

There's so much going on here, it's hard to know where to begin. Words tumbling out at a ferocious pace into what, depending on your point of view, is either an incredibly rich tapestry or a bewildering jungle of stream of consciousness ideas and cultural references. It's hip hop without all the cliches and the bad attitudes, which is clever and funny and thought provoking, and which repays repeated listens.

The name of the band is Das Racist (meaning "that's racist" - a typical in-joke). There are two rappers - Himanshu Suri from Queens, and Victor Vasquez from San Francisco - and one hype man. In 2010 they've released two highly acclaimed free mixtapes : Shut Up, Dude in March and Sit Down, Man in September. Sit Down, Man marks a clear progression : most of the 20 tracks are made by an array of different producers, which makes for some killer beats as well as a lot of variety.

For me, Das Racist are the most exciting thing to happen in hip hop for a long time. The music is fresh, it's inventive, it's packed full with great lines, and it's fun. These guys are so talented, there is nothing they cannot do. What I hope they do next is to put together an album which is tighter and shorter and with fewer musical experiments which can really made the whole world sit up and take notice.

MYSPACE

www.myspace.com/dasracist

FREE DOWNLOAD LINKS

Shut Up, Dude http://nahright.com/news/2010/03/29/das-racist-shut-up-dude-mixtape-premiere/

Sit Down, Man http://dasracist.bandcamp.com/

SELECTED TRACKS

From Sit Down, Man

Hahahaha jk? http://soundcloud.com/pretty-much-amazing/das-racist-hahahaha-jk-produced-by-boi-1da

Amazing http://soundcloud.com/obscuresound/das-racist-amazing-featuring-lakutis-produced-by-keepaway

Puerto Rican cousins http://soundcloud.com/lalalind/03-puerto-rican-cousins-produced-by-gordon-voidwell-and-alex-kestner

Return to Innocence http://soundcloud.com/lalalind/14-return-to-innocence-produced-by-dash-speaks"]

You Can Sell Anything http://soundcloud.com/fironov/das-racist-you-can-sell-anything-prod-diplo"]

Free Jazzmatazz http://soundcloud.com/hypetrak/das-racist-sit-down-man-mixtape-free-jazzmataz"]

From Shut Up, Dude

Who's That Brooown! http://soundcloud.com/dasracist/01-whos-that-brooown

Hugo Chavez http://soundcloud.com/dasracist/11-hugo-chavez

[http://musictodiefor.wordpress.com/2010/09/01/band-of-the-month/ ]
9:11 PM
- LikeYou liked this Unlike
- ·
- Comment
- Post a comment...
Oct 18, 2010
my own radio show !!

Current mood:excited
I have my own radio show, starting this week !!

The station is Wirral's Vintage Radio http://www.vintageradio.org.uk/, and my shows (currently broadcast every Tuesday) are called 'Nick Wall's roots music'. Vintage Radio are a community based radio station with studios in Birkenhead YMCA, currently broadcasting just on the internet. Their programmes are aimed at the over 50s. To listen to the shows live, try clicking on one of the icons. To see the programme schedules, click on 'Programmes'. Each programme is repeated at least 3 times, so for instance tomorrow my 1 hour show at 11am is also repeated at 2, 5 and 8pm.

My shows include a selection of folk, blues, country, bluegrass, traditional jazz and world music. I've also saved them here - http://www.mixcloud.com/nickwall/ , so you can listen to the show more easily, see the full track listing, and even download it if you feel so inclined.

The music is excellent and includes a lot of hard-to-find stuff, but I've still got lots to learn about making programmes, so I'm hoping to make various improvements as I go along. And yes, I do take requests.
6:13 PM
- LikeYou liked this Unlike
- ·
- Comment
- Post a comment...
Oct 2, 2010
Band of the month - October 2010

Current mood:groggy

OCTOBER 2010

September 28 saw the release of Everything in Between : the third album, and the second on Subpop, from No Age, who are Dean Spunt and Randy Randall, an art punk duo from LA. Their scuzzy DIY style has echoes of bands like My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth. But No Age avoid all the usual pitfalls of the genre. Each track on the album sounds different, yet they all hang together very well. Some tracks, mainly on the first half of the album, are more hooky and more accessible, but you seldom feel even on the instrumental tracks that they are being indulgent or boring. There are several highlights, and the selection below includes several tracks of real beauty.

No Age are closely associated with LA club The Smell, along with several other bands in LA's punk scene. The Smell is staffed by volunteers, sells vegan food at cost and haircuts for $5, and boasts that its events are drug-free, alcohol-free, and open to all ages. For all their growing success, No Age are determined to hang on to this DIY punk ethos. Randall : "One punk can smell another one—it’s the stench of doing it yourself and hard work and suffering for years because you love it, and not being a careerist, but just enjoying music in general. I think you can sort of smell that on another musician. We’re almost like dogs; we sniff each other’s butts, and you can sort of smell when someone’s been a punk or has come from a place with that DIY attitude."

MYSPACE

http://www.myspace.com/nonoage

AMAZON

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Everything-Between-No-Age/dp/B003XX2PRW

LISTEN ON SOUNDCLOUD
Glitter (free download) http://soundcloud.com/subpop/no-age-glitter
Depletion http://soundcloud.com/subpop/depletion
Skinned http://soundcloud.com/subpop/skinned
Fever Dreaming http://soundcloud.com/subpop/fever-dreaming
Valley Hump Crash http://soundcloud.com/subpop/valley-hump-crash
Shed and Transcend http://soundcloud.com/subpop/shed-and-transcend

[http://musictodiefor.wordpress.com/2010/09/01/band-of-the-month]
9:26 AM
- LikeYou liked this Unlike
- ·
- Comment
- Post a comment...
Sep 1, 2010
Band of the month - September 2010

Current mood:hopeful

SEPTEMBER 2010

The Stone Foxes are a young 4 piece band from San Francisco who wear their influences on their sleeve. Much of their output is classic blues rock which wouldn't have sounded out of place in the early 1970s. Contemporary bands who they're often compared to are the Black Keys and the White Stripes. They grabbed my attention a few weeks back with the single I Killed Robert Johnson, a great retelling of the legend surrounding the blues singer's death in 1938, which sounds better with every listen.

On the band's website you can currently listen to the whole of their new album Bears & Bulls, and you can download one of the songs, Stomp, for free. The album has been shaped through many months of playing the songs to live audiences before recording them. The single is the standout track, and generally the best tracks on the album are the rockers - Patience, Young Man, Reno. Below are some youtube links, particularly for those who miss the album stream; they include a live version of Little Red Rooster which is an improvement on the album version, and a track from their earlier debut album, Beneath Mt. Sinai.

WEBSITE

http://thestonefoxes.com/

MYSPACE

http://www.myspace.com/thestonefoxes/

AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/Bears-Bulls/dp/B003RJ7UG8

YOUTUBE

Beneath Mt. Sinai http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OCIa08tkpc
I killed Robert Johnson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFPymuMDikA
Patience http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlZoDwa2z-M
Little Red Rooster http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkQS3j349v8

[http://musictodiefor.wordpress.com/2010/09/01/band-of-the-month/]
8:55 PM
- LikeYou liked this Unlike
- ·
- Comment
- Post a comment...

More ▼Less ▲

Nick's Blog

Band of the month - November 2010

my own radio show !!

Band of the month - October 2010

Band of the month - September 2010

Login