In the wake of their grunge-y breakout hit
"Creep" and the success of sophomore record
The Bends, Thom Yorke and the rest of
Radiohead were under pressure to deliver once more.
So they shut themselves away inside the echoing halls of
a secluded 16th century manor and got to work.
What emerged from that crumbling Elizabethan castle fifteen years ago today was a shockingly ambitious masterpiece of progressive rock, a visionary concept album that explored
the "fridge buzz" of modernity -- alienation, social disconnection, existential dread,
the impersonal hum of technology -- through a mosaic of
challenging,
innovative,
eerily beautiful music unlike anything else at the time.
Tentatively called
Ones and Zeroes, then
Your Home May Be at Risk If You Do Not Keep Up Payments, the band finally settled on
OK Computer, an appropriately enigmatic title for this
acclaimed harbinger of millennial angst. For more, you can watch the retrospective
OK Computer: A Classic Album Under Review for a track-by-track rundown, or the unsettling documentary
Meeting People is Easy for a look at how the album's whirlwind tour nearly gave Yorke
a nervous breakdown. Or look inside for more details and cool interpretations of all the tracks -- including
an upcoming MeFi Music Challenge! [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Jun 16, 2012 -
66 comments
OkayAfrica keeps up to date with pop culture and news from across the continent. Africa In Your Earbuds gives DJs and musicians from across the diaspora the chance to curate a playlist or mixtape of their favorite African and African diaspora music. Chief Boima of
Dutty Artz starts off
Africa In Your Earbuds.
[more inside]
posted by ChuraChura
on May 1, 2012 -
8 comments
Each of the following
MySpace Music pages features bios and/or photos and/or videos and/or miscellaneous related materials and/or up to six songs by each of the following old school Jamaican
Reggae and/or
dub artists:
Alton Ellis,
Toots and the Maytals,
Jimmy Cliff,
The Wailing Wailers,
Big Youth,
Dennis Brown,
Mikey Dread,
The Meditations,
Leroy Brown,
Mad Professor,
Augustus Pablo,
Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus,
King Tubby,
The Abyssinians,
Everton Blender,
Bunny Wailer,
Prince Alla,
Israel Vibration,
Peter Tosh,
Gregory Isaacs,
Shinehead,
Jah Ruby,
Carlton Livingston,
King Jammy,
Duckie Simpson,
I Threes,
Judy Mowatt,
Sly and Robbie,
Barrington Levi,
Yellowman,
Delroy Williams,
Wailing Souls,
Earl "Chinna" Smith,
Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace,
Burning Spear,
Max Romeo,
Black Uhuru,
Leroy Sibbles,
Ijahman Levi and
Earl Cunningham.
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Mar 7, 2008 -
25 comments
WaxDJ.com - an excellent source for free downloads and streams of original electronic music mixes of all sorts, from seasoned pros to beginning bedroom amatuers, all told numbering in the hundreds or thousands. My current brand new favorite is the very diverse and well-versed Detriot/Chicago techno stylings of DJ
Rubsilent. Recomended mix: Future Funk 23:
(Direct MP3 link) (Streaming mp3 link) But don't let me divert you - search for your favorite local DJ or browse for new ones.
posted by loquacious
on Oct 11, 2006 -
19 comments
Easy Star Records, which previously released the underground hit reggae album
The Dub Side of the Moon, is nearing completion on a followup,
Radiodread, "a reggae re-vision of Radiohead’s OK Computer."
Listen to four tracks from Dub Side online (via flash). Don't miss the gurgling bong sound effects on "Money". Artists on Radiodread include
Toots Hibbert,
Citizen Cope,
Sugar Minott,
Junior Jazz,
Tamar-Kali,
Horace Andy,
Morgan Heritage,
Frankie Paul and
Kirsty Rock.
posted by fochsenhirt
on Mar 28, 2006 -
15 comments
Galang-alang-alang-a. (insane, 18MB QuickTime music video) [MusicFilter] Cranking out music somewhere between hip-hop, electronica, Nintendo cartridges, and reggae, 27-year-old Maya Arulpragasam is getting a lot of attention for the results of tinkering with
one box.
M.I.A. (her stage name) dresses in garish flourescents like it's 1983, dances like no one's watching, and is making waves all around the critic-o-sphere.
[RS|NYT|Eye|pm|pfm|New Yorker|CBC] Want a sample?
The video for "Galang" takes her grattifi-esque art, animates it, and mashes it all together with her, um, unusual style of dance, for a music+video experience that is hard to forget. Is M.I.A. redefining the world of 21st century global pop... or is it just crap?
(via WG)
posted by blacklite
on Mar 12, 2005 -
118 comments
