I [heart] summer jamz

I have a soft spot for a bumpin', hook-laden summer jam. The one everyone's listening to all summer long. It's become a rare species in American culture - some piece of art that a "tipping point" number of people are paying attention to that it rises above the din of everything else.

So I loved hearing the story this morning on Morning Edition about the summer jam and the return of the single - with a great line by reporter Frannie Kelley:

Sales, commercial airplay and release dates matter, but ultimately we the people decide what becomes a summer jam. It’s an agreement, really — a handshake between millions of people.

What was your favorite summer jam of the decade? Mine (with a pretty cool video to boot) has to be what Rolling Stone called song of the decade...

Virgin Lips

Like Madonna? Like the Flaming Lips? Then today's your lucky day. (PS - The Lips look like they're freezing. Couldn't someone have turned up the heat in their studio?)

Free live concerts from NPR

If you haven't already signed up for NPR's Live Concerts podcast, you don't know what your missing. I still have 2 hour-long live shows of James Brown (yes, just before he died) and Radiohead sitting on my iPod, and I love listening back to them.

NPR is offering some of 2009's greatest hits from that podcast here. Live sets from K'Naan, Gillian Welsh, Lee Fields, St. Vincent...a variety of genres for all pleasures. Enjoy!

Happy Holidaze from Delaney Flush

Those Swedes sure know they design. Delaney Flushboy, our music man on the ground in Malmo, Sweden, is a graphic designer in real life, along with his wife, Liza. Check out the website of their firm, Sveneighteen - so many pleasing things to look at.

Anyway, they wish you Beat Authority listeners a very happy holidays and a happy new year (Gott Nyt Ar!)

Free MP3s: Six Degrees records

Eight nice tracks from Vieux Farka Toure, Alice Russell, Brownout, and others. Download them for free here.

Beat Authority playlist: 12/18/09

Feliz Navidad a todos! Nos vemos en el Anno Nuevo...

The Beat Authority is pre-empted for Christmas Day next week. We'll be back live on New Years' Day. Stay tuned here...lots of updates throughout the season for your groove fix...

Another top 10: latin-style

2009 saw the deflating of King Reggaeton in latin music. And, according to this article's top 10, the rise of Latin Alternative acts (and Beat Authority faves) like Mexican Institute of Sound, Los Amigos Invisibles, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. I'll have to check out the number 2 on this list, which I've never heard of - Da'Zoo. Anyone know 'em?

Best of 2009 show on the archive stream

If you missed Friday's best of 2009 show, it's up on the on-demand stream. Just click the link at the right. Here's the top ten lists, too.

Cafe Tacuba, latino band of the Naughts?

La Banda Elastica is an online and print magazine en espanol that's a major trendsetter in the world of contemporary latino music. They've put out their most important artists of 2000s list. At the top is Cafe Tacuba from Mexico - a band that pushes boundaries of all genres. Hard to argue...

Beat Authority Top 10 of 2009

Here's my list. All in all, I'd call it a year that started slowly, but really hit hard in the fall. I'd love to hear your thoughts and what your faves of 2009 are. Comment below.

And support great musicians and buy these albums legally!

Band (country). Album. Label.

1. Mulatu Astatke & the Heliocentrics (Ethiopia/UK). Inspiration Information, Vol.3. Strut.
2. Ceu (Brazil). Vagarosa. Six Degrees.
3. Novalima (Peru). Coba Coba. Cumbancha.
4. Dragon Fli Empire (Canada). Redefine. Makebelieve.
5. Bomba Estereo (Colombia). Blow Up. Nacional.
6. Oumou Sangare (Mali). Seya. Nonesuch.
7. Mos Def (USA). The Ecstatic. Downtown.
8. Kailash Kher & Kailasa (India). Yatra (Nomadic Soul). Cumbancha.
9. Staff Benda Bilili (Congo). Tres Tres Fort. Crammed.
10. Adrian Quesada (USA) and his various incarnations:
a) Ocote Soul Sounds. Coconut Rock. ESL.
b) Brownout. Aguilas y Cobras. Six Degrees.
c) Grupo Fantasma. Sonidos Gold. High Wire (actually from 2008, but props regardless).

Best re-release:

Tito Puente. Dance Mania. Sony Legacy.

Best compilations:

Tru Thoughts: 10th Anniversary. Tru Thoughts.
Daptone Gold. Daptone.


And here's Delaney Flushboy's top 10:

1. Mulatu Astake & The Heliocentric / Inspiration Information
2. Fools Gold / Fool's Gold
3. Animal Collective / Merriwether Post Pavillion
4. Taken by Trees / East of Eden
5. The Fiery Furnaces / I'm Going Away
6. The Very Best / Warm Heart of Africa
7. Jenny Wilson / Hardships!
8. Major Lazer / Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do
9. Quantic And His Combo Barbaro / Tradition in Transition
10. Andrew Bird / Noble Beast

What's your favorite from 2009?

Tomorrow, I'm doing the annual best of 2009 show on the Beat Authority. Here's the best from previous years.

Putting together top 10 lists is pretty random and somewhat subject to the whims of how you're feeling (and what you remember) on a given day. But it's a fun exercise in taking stock in where music has been this year and where it's headed. (2010 looks to start out with a bang with late-late-2009 releases from Nickodemus, DJ Bitman, and Pacha Massive.)

So what was your favorite music released this year? Comment below...

Free MP3: Vieux farka Toure remixed

Everybody's gotta have a remix of their album these days - I guess it's way to get more revenue with too much more cost for the artist or the labels. Sometimes the remixes are even good.

You decide whether this new remix of Vieux Farka Toure works - it's free. Just right-click and save here.

Charlotte, VT world music maven on the tube

You've seen all those Food and Travel Network shows where a perky host with a great cinematographer in tow takes you on a tour of the world's sights/food/drinks/culture/landscapes, etc.

Well, a guy from our neck of the woods has a new TV show about the world's best music.

Jacob Edgar lives in Charlotte, Vermont and runs Cumbancha Records. He's also the guy who finds all the music on those colorful and diverse Putumayo world music compilations. Jacob's guest DJ-ed on the Beat Authority before, and I profiled his record label last year.

This winter, he's debuting a show called Music Voyager on PBS and one of the National Geographic channels. It looks awesome. Fresh tunes from all over the world, in their own context.

Check out the trailer and some clips here.

Go, Jacob!

Beat Authority playlist: 12/4/09 (and online contest info.)

Here's today's playlist. If you're looking for the online contest to win the free downloads from Nacional records, see the entry below this. While you're here, I hope you'll bookmark this site, add it to your RSS feed, and check in regularly! I often post links to free music, music news and videos, etc. And this is where you can listen to the Beat Authority anytime by clicking on the "listen on-demand" link to the right. Welcome! Bienvenidos! Marhaba!

DJ Bitman drops a fresh beat (win free music here!)

UPDATE: If you want to win a download card for 20 free songs from Nacional Records, just e-mail me at (david-at-ncpr-dot-org) with the name of the artist below. Put your address in the e-mail too! Thanks!

From Chile, DJ Bitman lays down approachable, danceable beats that are tough not to love. He's got a new album, "Colour", coming out on the awesome Nacional Records. Here's the first single...