A taste from the tastemakers.

[Streed_303]

When reviewing some of the new music that is currently being readied for the RPM shelves, I came across the term tastemaker. Basically a ‘tastemaker’ is someone who determines what we like… Whether it is music or whatever, this person (or people) have the power to place certain things together to create an ‘experience’. In the example of new music, a couple of compilations from Quango have recently come in. One is from American Rag cie, and the other is Oliver Peoples 4. American Rag is a retail store on the west coast. Oliver Peoples is a brand of eyewear. Now, for someone to associate certain songs with these brands is the work of such tastemakers. In all, I like these compilations. As a matter of fact, the Oliver Peoples comp has recent tracks by Tosca (j.a.c.) and Thievery Corporation (Cosmic Game). so, if you were unsure of purchasing those full length releases, buy the Oliver Peoples 4 release and you will be set (just don’t feel too upset that you MAY be also part of some demographic… after all, a TASTEMAKER compiled these tracks together to provide listener satisfaction!) Anyway, we’ve got a few more things from Quango. The label seems to have a ‘sound’ ‘ kinda jazzy, a touch of world, sort of electronic. mostly downtempo; and somewhat ambient. Not too bad really

http://www.quango.com

In a previous post, I mentioned the track Tito’s Way by The Juan McLean. I found out in Remix mag, that Juan is actually John McLean – formerly of Six Finger Satellite. All the more reason to play this one!

Some releases of note include Alias & Ehren’s Lilian. Basically downtempo / trip-hop with live woodwinds. Black Dice’s Broken Ear Record is quite experimental. However if you don’t want to be too experimental, check out Himuro’s ‘Mild Fantasy Violence’ on Zod. Like the previous Zod release by Emotional Joystick, this label seems to mix the experimental with the accessible. Mild Fantasy Violence uses 8-bit noises to flavor the downtempo served on this disc.

In the realm of continuous mixes. !K7 brings us Dust My Broom from Boozoo Bajou. This is a dub style reggae affair. Very nice really.

The only other release that stands out is Convenience, by Die Warzau. This is a darker electro-pop (light industrial?) sort of thing. Most tracks have full vocals. If you are into Nine Inch Nails, give this one a spin.

Basically, the rest of the releases speak for themselves. Cantoma, Marc Antoine, Soul Ballet, and Tom & Joy have that ‘chill’ sound. Slightly jazzy, a touch of house, sort of ambient, and a bit of downtempo thrown in. You can easily make a set out of these.

Back to the tastemakers… I would consider every DJ here at WCNI a tastemaker. When you listen to a DJ’s set the music they are playing is not dictated to them by a tastemaker (or any other entity that forces them what they HAVE to play). One of our image lines is ‘For The Love Of Music’. And that is what we do. We pretty much play what we love. We know what our listeners love; and we try to create a middle ground where we keep both satisfied. Pure bliss really…

New Adds for August, 05 (part 2)

Alias & Ehren Lillian Anticon

Asian Mushroom New Wave Soul Toys Music

Black Dice Broken Ear Record Astralwerks / DFA

Boozoo Bajau Dust My Broom !K7

Cantoma Cantoma Quango

Die Warzau Convenience Pulseback

Himuro Mild Fantasy Violence Zod

Marc Antoine Modern Times Rendezvous

Soul Ballet Dream Beat Team 215 Records

Tom & Joy Antigua Tommy Boy

Various Latin Travels 2 Six Degrees

Various Oliver Peoples 4 Quango

Various Smooth Chill The Radio Singles – Waveform

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