Buttering Trio - Toast (2014)

The ME may be going to hell in a hand-basket, but the beats and music from the region keep rolling on towards a better and brighter day. Or maybe a darker one. I don't have a clue.

What I do know is that the ME, and Israel in particular, is the home to some great musicians who are making music that is pushing the boundaries of pop globally. I have championed Memory in Plant on this site and on the podcast, and this record by Buttering Trio is a perfect flip side to their music. Both are experimental and creative in their approach, but while Memory in Plant creates disjointed post-punk music for the pop crowd, Buttering Trio creates vibrant sounds-capes through the use of electronics. You can't always tell a book by its cover, but the sleeve to this record perfectly encapsulates the sound within.

When I say this is an electronic record, you should not expect disco and techno beats to coldly pound a simple vocal harmony into your eardrums. This is "warm music" that is often hard to come by in the electronic genre. Rather than forcing you do deal with the cruelty and dissonance of the modern world, Buttering Trio wrap you in warm embrace of beats. Then, and only then, do they share the horror that is the world.

Get it here:
Buttering Trio - Toast (2014)

Fela Soul - Amerigo Gazaway (2011)

A little late to the game with this one. Apparently it was an internet sensation? I use the internet extensively everyday and I'd never heard of this until now (and no, not exclusively for porn, you cheeky shits). I do almost all of my blogging for Spacerockmountain from work. I'm at work right now, in fact.

God, I can't wait till I have a job I give a shit about.

ANYWAY, if it wasn't already clear from the title, this is a mash-up record of Fela Kuti and De La Soul material. The DJ is a fellow from Nashville named Amerigo Gazaway, and since this record "blew up" he's gone on to make other mash-up records to similar of not more acclaim (check out his Mos Def and Marvin Gaye mash-ups). That one is actually more my jam, but since Fela Kuti has been a recent point of discussion on the podcast, and since De La is one of the greatest hip hop acts to ever exist, it seemed to me it would be a good post.

Besides we need some feel good, hot weather weekend jams. Especially out here in PDX, where today marks the beginning of a 5 day heat wave. Time to hit the river and dodge human poops.

9 tracks, name your price.

Fela Soul - Amerigo Gazaway