Beat Authority playlist: 7/31/09

Celebrate Prince.

Purple Rain turns 25 - free mp3s

When Purple Rain came out, my Dad - disgusted by the noise he heard - said, "aww, this guy Prince, he's a nobody. He's a one hit wonder. 20 years from now, no one will know Prince's name."

This is why my Dad's not a music critic.

25 years later, Prince's masterpiece is the subject of a great story in Spin magazine. And they're offering a free 9-track album of covers of the originals. Hint: "keyboardist".

Who needs Delaney Flushboy...

...when NCPR's own membership director, June Peoples, is turning me on to new Swedish hip hop? Movits is swing meets brass band meets gypsy jazz meets hip hop. They're from Luleå, which is wayyy up in northern Sweden where Lule Bay meets the Gulf of Bothnia (and has that cool circle over its "a"). If they blow up, you can chalk it down to Monday night's appearance on The Colbert Report.

When I think about the Thousand Islands, I think about gangster rap

Well, maybe not. But this summer, I will. None other than Snoop "Gin & Juice" Dogg is headlining the Thousand Islands music festival in Ganonoque. And Akon is co-headlining. So strap on your auto-tune and motor your 19th century runabout over to Ganonoque on August 13th.

Cat Empire hitting Canada later this year

Hat tip to alert listener James G., who pointed out Beat Authority fave, The Cat Empire, is leaving Australia to tour Canada in November. Catch them in Ottawa on Nov.28th and in Montreal on December 1st. They're on a road promoting a new live CD. You can get a free 20-minute version (!) of The Car Song here.

Beat Authority playlist: 7/24/09

I [heart] Alice Russell.

free mp3s: NPR treats us to folk and jazz

NPR Music keeps on boosting its profile as a major presenter of music in America. It's really great stuff. To promote its sponsorship of the Newport Jazz and Folk festivals next month, NPR is offering two free playlists of artists they'll feature there. Brandford Marsalis, Esperanza Spaulding, Fleet Foxes, Pete Seeger, etc. A couple dozen tracks in all and all free through iTunes. Click here to get started.

A Helluva Show

There's just not enough Jackson 5 footage like this...



It's gems like this that help us understand why the world reacted as it did when Michael Jackson died.

Oh, and that opening, slow burner of a funk groove? Sampled in the bridge of Public Enemy's seminal political jam, "By the Time I Get to Arizona" (at 3:33 into the song). PE #1 gets the job done.

Beat Authority playlist: 7/10/09

Big ups to Delaney Flushboy!

I like this.

Last night, I previewed a new CD from Canadian rapper, Shad. He's from London, Ontario, halfway between Toronto and Detroit. He's fresh and I set it aside to play on the Beat Authority.

So it's welcome to get an e-mail this morning pointing to this video of his single, "Compromise". Nice song for the day...

Beat Authority playlist: 7/3/09

Stay dry.

Potsdam summerfest kick-off Wednesday night!

Potsdam's annual summer festival is next weekend. To kick it off all funky fresh, I'll be DJ-ing with DJ Mark Suede Wednesday night (July 8th) at La Casbah in Potsdam. Come shake off all that raininess and get down!

Free Ceu!

I've gushing about Brazilian singer Ceu's new EP, and playing it a lot. The full-length, Vagarosa, is being released next week. So Six Degrees, the record label, is giving away one of the songs. Here's the free download. I promise you'll like it.