The End's Not Near

Well Open House has returned after an unofficial break throughout the entire month of December. Unfortunately our hiatus was not by choice though, it was in fact due to "technical difficulties." To make a long story short, in October when the file hosting website that we paid for, EZ Archive, decided to "upgrade," it also decided to downgrade the quality of our mp3 files, making them muffled and slightly distorted. We did not realize this until the end of November, resulting in our month long break. When we inquired about the loss of clarity in our files they said that they "found in the past that allowing people to download files when shared was primarily being used to share copyrighted materials and that created infringement concerns, which was not the intention of the service." In spite of their obvious "concerns" about copyrighted materials, they for some reason still provide the same service that allows people to download files, but now it is the subscribers that are getting screwed. Everything that was posted prior to this post probably sounds like crap. Whatever.

At any rate, we are moving forward with a free service called Filexoom. In most cases you will probably still be able to simply right-click, and save-as. For some reason though, it will also occasionally make you click on the link and actually go to the Filexoom site. If that happens, just simply scroll to bottom and wait for about 15 seconds until it says you can download the file. This does seem like a hassle to me, but at least the sound quality will be up to snuff.

There is yet another change in the works for Open House, this one is less annoying, we have a new contributor named Drew. His first post will be on Tuesday.

For now, since there’s going to be a crapload of New Years Eve parties tonight, I’ve decided to return to the Sunday Singles format with a song by the New Year about a party.

Sinking Ship (mp3)

Bonus
The End’s Not Near (mp3)

Sorry about all the problems, please check back on Tuesday.
We hope everyone has a Happy New Year.

-Popkoff

Bahamadia

Bahamadia is synonymous with True School Hip Hop. From her beginnings as a protégé of Guru and DJ Premier to her affiliations with the Roots, Talib Kweli, Vikter Duplaix, Slum Village and countless others, she has consistently been involved in hip hop with a jazz and soulful vibe. Bahamadia is known for her subdued monotone delivery and her socially conscious lyrics. Her new album is set for release this year and from the previews at her Myspace, it looks like it is going to be a scorcher.

From the album B.B. Queen:
Common Wealth (Cheap Chicks) [mp3]
One-4-Teen (Funky for You) [mp3]

From the album Kollage:
UKNOWHOWWEDU [mp3]

As a bonus here are two tracks that include her as a guest:
Sylk 130 "The Reason" [Playa Duplaix Remix] [mp3]
Roni Size "New Forms" [mp3]

Buy Bahamadia’s records here.

---Mr. Mark

Sunday Singles: Champion Sounds, indeed!

Dance music is based on repetition and keeping a groove. Great dance music keeps a solid groove and still manages to make it sound interesting. I don’t like Fatboy Slim, but this remix is amazing. It is completely un-EQed, raw electro, and verges on falling apart before old school synth horn hits blast into the mix and it turns from just dance music into pure ear candy. This rawness and disregard for industry standards is uncommon among such big-named DJ’s and producers, in my opinion I think Switch is pushing the new electro scene forward-we are so lucky.
On a side note, Switch teamed up with Sinden to form A. Brucker and Sinden.



Fatboy Slim "Champion Sound" [Switch Remix] (mp3)

as an added bonus YOU NEED THIS:

Switch "A Bit Patchy" (mp3)

Buy his music here.

—Mr. Mark

For John: Daniel Francis Doyle (Live on KXLU)

Daniel Francis Doyle = drums, feedback, guitar loops, microphone headset. He is from Austin, TX. This performance was recorded for KXLU in LA, and contains a new track by DFD, "You're Nowhere."

This recording has been edited by Open House:

1) Intro (mp3)
2) Pitching Arm (mp3)
3) Strange Way of Speaking (mp3)
4) Ready to Develop (mp3)
5) Wrapped Up (mp3)
6) You’re Nowhere (mp3)
7) Official News (mp3)
8) Heads Up (mp3)
9) Outro (mp3)

We Love you Dan,

-Popkoff

A Day Like Tomorrow

Jazz. /jaz/ noun
1. music originating in New Orleans around the beginning of the 20th century and subsequently developing through various increasingly complex styles, generally marked by intricate, propulsive rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, improvisatory, virtuosic solos, melodic freedom, and a harmonic idiom ranging from simple diatonicism through chromaticism to atonality.
2. a style of dance music, popular esp. in the 1920s, arranged for a large band and marked by some of the features of jazz.
3. dancing or a dance performed to such music, as with violent bodily motions and gestures.
4. Slang. liveliness; spirit; excitement.
5. Slang. insincere, exaggerated, or pretentious talk: Don't give me any of that jazz about your great job!
6. Slang. similar or related but unspecified things, activities, etc.: He goes for fishing and all that jazz.
from Dictonary.com

Some of my jazz favorites:

Jose James "The Dreamer" (MP3) [Brownswood Recordings]
Carmen McCrae "How Long Has This Been Going On" (MP3) [Verve]
John Coltrane "Giant Steps" (MP3) [Atlantic Records]
Nuyorican Soul "Gotta New Life" (MP3) [Giant Step Records]
Jorge Ben "Comanche" (MP3) [Compost]

--Mr. Mark

Sunday Singles: Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me

Friday night I found a single that I have been searching years for, and cheap no less. I was fortunate to come across Low’s rendition of the Smith’s "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Love Me," which of course, is not as good as the original version, but is still well worth a listen. As expected, it pretty much remains faithful to Low’s traditional shoegazer sound, but it is not in such obvious contradiction, as say, their beautiful cover of Joy Division’s "Transmission."

Low:

Side A: Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me (mp3)
Side B: Because You Stood Still (mp3)

Bonus Tracks:

The Smiths – Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me (mp3)
Low – Transmission (mp3)
Joy Division – Transmission (mp3)

Come to think of it, this probably should of been a Themed Thursday, but whatever, Enjoy!

–Popkoff