'The Street's' latest release, 'The Escapist' as free download

'The Streets' has released his comeback track 'The Escapist' as a free download following in the footsteps of Coldplay and Radiohead.

Mike Skinner's new album 'Everything is borrowed' will be out on September 15th. This album will not come free & a single of the same name will be released on September 29th (again, not free)

So if you like your music free of charge, click here to bag your freebie.

Morgenochtend 'te gast' bij Michiel Veenstra op Radio 3FM

For those of you in Holland, I'll be chatting with Michiel Veenstra op 3FM. Sometime between 6 & 9 AM. It turns out that tomorrow (the first of August) is the 22nd anniversary of MTV Europe. I would say 'happy birthday', but to whom? To all the old fractions of MTV Europe? Nah...guess the channel is dead and gone. So sad : (

Preview of the new Oasis track, Shock of lightning

A preview of 'Shock of the lightning' has now been made available on Utube, at the end of a short compilation of their previous hits. The song will be released on September 29th, ahead of their 7th studio album, 'Dig out your soul'. Which will be released on October the 6th.

Here is the clip:

Gnarls Barkley's 'Who's gonna save my soul'

Here is the latest release of 'The odd couple' album: 'Who's gonna save my soul'.

By the way, I am baffled by the lack of success of their previous single 'Going on'. I thought it was brilliant and expected it to become huge. But somehow it just never took off properly.

Oh, and how annoying is it to hear certain people in the press talking about Gnarls Barkley being a one-hit wonder? I mean, come on, what a load of crap. I know they haven't (yet) matched the success of 'Crazy', but I am sure they will as they are so bloody talented. Danger Mouse is such a shit hot producer, which he has proved over the years, not only with all these great Gnarls Barkley tunes but also with (amongst other things) the 'Demon days' album that he produced for Gorillaz.

And Cee-lo? Jeez, that man can sing. But then, the world has known that for many years too. So surely these guys are gonna end up having another worldwide number one hit again some day, some how. Right? They will have to do it soonish though as they have said that they will only make one more album together.

So will this be the track that will do it? To be honest, I don't actually think so. But then, I've been wrong before. It surely should get an award for having the weirdest video ever. I mean, with a blood dripping heart singing into a broccoli? Ever seen anything that insane? Enjoy....

Aha...and here it is: Chromeo's 'Momma's boy'

Big up to Andre for passing me this link. Supurb! Great site too, what a find! Muchos gracias.

Chromeo

Just saw the video for Chromeo's new track 'Momma's boy' on MTV. It is sheer genius. Very retro, just like several of their former vids. The 'Momma's boy' video is a throw-back of Aha's 'Take on me'. Sadly enough, it's nowhere to be found online yet. Not even on Chromeo's own MySpace page. So for now, I'll just give their 'Beat it', 'Saturday night fever' and what? inspired vid, 'Fancy footwork' & their 'Money for nothing' inspired 'Bonafide loving'. Absolutely fabulous stuff!





Here's a write-up from their MySpace page. I thought it was so funny, I should add it:

Chromeo is P-Thugg and Dave 1: best friends since their adolescence, virtuoso musicians, walking hip hop encyclopedias, and the only successful Arab/Jew partnership since the dawn of human culture.

After spending the three years since the release of their debut album, She’s In Control, jet setting, globetrotting, and embarking on an overall sensual conquest of planet Earth, Chromeo headed back to their Montreal lab to put together album number deux.

The result, Fancy Footwork, is quite simply the most smoothed-out, hook-heavy, unabashed lovers’ funk since…Chromeo’s last album, actually. What makes this footwork so fancy, you ask? The finest distillation of Minneapolis groove this side of Mazarati. Dave and Pee are back in the ‘07 to heal the fractured soul of dance music. Teenage lovers, 20 something blogpoders, 30 something burn-out ex-raver “graphic designers” and 40 something sistas can all finally party under one roof...and that roof has a name, AND that roof is on fire, and the only ones who can put out that funk-fire also happen to be the guys the roof is named after: CHROMEO.

Does analog synth wizard P-Thugg still rock nightgown-sized DipSet t-shirts, talk through a keyboard, and have the thousand-yard stare of a well-practiced gangster? You bet he does. Does vocalist and guitarist Dave 1 still dress like a French Lit professor from 1965? Can he still ask you to twerk without coming off like an imposter? You better believe he can.

Chromeo is slick. Chromeo is dripping with reverb. Chromeo is Moog riffs, luxurious harmonies, macho guitar solos and real-deal songcraft. From the dancefloor-ready singles “Fancy Footwork” and “Tenderoni,” to the autobiographical Jew-boy ballad “Momma's Boy,” to the epic sax-laden album closer “100%,” Fancy Footwork rolls you through a sleek, melodic world where all you need to worry about is whether you’ve got your sunglasses on and the right moves to keep up.

Remember the debate when Chromeo first came on the scene? The endless back and forth about whether those boys were joking or not? Well, Fancy Footwork will put any vestigial haters to sleep forever. There ain’t nothing “ironical” about this music. It’s Hall & Oates riding on 22’s, busting shots in the air with Quincy Jones driving. That shit ain’t funny.

So there you have it: Chromeo, the band reborn...the sex, the beats, the dream, the suits, the gloves, the laughs, the tears, the past and the future. All rolled up into one big blunt, smoked up through Pee’s talkbox tube and exhaled into your brain. Enjoy.

No Weekend Express until August the 16th.

Just wanted to let you know that I won't be doing any radioshows until we go back to Aruba again. I had hoped to broadcast from Belize this summer, but we just couldn't find a studio/local radio station to do it with. Oh well, in the meantime, I've been collecting new music and am rearing to go. I'm so looking forward to getting back behind the microphone and telling everyone of the great new music that's out there...

Spoon, Harris and Obernik video, Baditude

The trio of Spoon, Harris & Obernik already had more than enough respective club credibility to their names before teaming up for what quickly became one of Pete Tong’s Essential New Tunes in ‘Baditude’.

Massive party tune, average vid....

BTW, I really wanted to post MGMT's 'Electric feel' on this blog too, but they won't allow you to embed it. How crap! Do have a look at it on Utube. It's a fantastic video and very cool track.

Another meditation rave clip

The man who rocked the house that night (all those years ago)...DJ Hype. Still one of the best sets I have seen in my life. Together with his 'partner in crime' DJ Zinc. Lovely boys, great music. They were definatelly some of those who really made drum and bass exciting for me.

Coldplay's album 'Viva la Vida' number 1 in 36 Countries!

Wow, Coldplay’s album Viva La Vida has been the No.1 selling album in 36 countries around the world, including in the U.S. where it held the top spot for two weeks, and in the U.K. where the album has been No.1 for the last four weeks!

Coldplay’s previous album, the 10 million-selling X&Y didn't do too shabby either. It reached the No.1 spot in 32 countries in 2005.

Viva La Vida (or 'Death and all his friends') has also been certified gold or platinum in 31 countries including platinum in the USA, Germany and Australia and double platinum in the U.K. and Canada.

It has set the record for the highest first week album sales ever on the iTunes Store worldwide & is the biggest album pre-order in iTunes’ history.

So isn't it crazy really, that Coldplay have been getting trashed by the media so much recently? I mean, the public obviously loves what they are doing, yet many journalists are slagging them off for becoming 'the new U2' and turning into 'a stadium act'. What on earth could be wrong with that then? I mean, to be called the new U2 should be one of the biggest compliments a band can get and becoming a stadium act, means that you are popular enough to be filling stadiums. Again...nothing wrong with that. Isn't that the dream of every band?

If you want to see this great 'stadium act' you better get your tickets soon. Coldplay's first dates of the tour in Los Angeles on July 14th and 15th are already sold out and I'm sure the other dates will be sold out soon too.

For more details on the tour visit http://www.coldplay.com/ or http://www.livenation.com/

The BPA, Toe Jam. Featuring David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal

Great track from Norman Cook yet again on Southern Fried Records, under the name BPA or Brighton Port Authority. And how wonderful it is to hear a good David Byrne vocal on a track like this, the man's a legend! As a matter of fact...so is Norman Cook. Big up!

Oh, and I just checked with Norman and the backing vocals on Toe Jam are ones that he recorded here in Belize with us with the Garifuna women. I thought I recognized it. That just shows again how great Norman is at grabbing odds and sods from everywhere and turning them into something amazing.

BTW...the track he did with Iggy Pop is also fantastic. Top bloody producer!

We're in Belize for the coming weeks.

Just in case you've listened in to Cool FM today and wondered what happened to my show? Well, I'm not on-air for a few weeks. My husband and I had to go back to Belize to take over the running of our resort for the summer. I will let you know when I'm back in the studio.

Love, Simone

'Let this feeling' sample

How funny...some guys sampled my old Eurodance track 'Let this feeling' and even added some old MTV clips of me to it. Very silly.

Oasis change the title of their upcoming album because of Geri Halliwell

Oasis changed the title of their new album after realising it shared its name with a Geri Halliwell song.

The rockers’ forthcoming seventh studio LP was originally due to be called 'Bag It Up’ until Noel Gallagher’s long-term girlfriend realised she had heard the title before. The guitarist revealed to MOJO magazine: 'My girlfriend said, 'Bag It Up’, isn't that a song by Geri Halliwell?’ I was like, 'You’ve ruined my entire f***ing year.’ '

Noel also revealed the band can’t remember some of the songs they recorded in the sessions for the album, which is now titled 'Dig Out Your Soul’. He explained: 'I was doing the Electric Proms with The Coral, who had recorded at my studio. They’d had a sneaky listen to our new stuff so singer James Skelly asks me, 'Are you going to do 'Soldier On’? 'I don’t remember it. Turns out Andy Bell recorded it with Liam – but Liam still doesn’t remember it.'

The band recently recruited Robbie Williams’ former drummer Chris Sharrock – and Noel admits he couldn’t resist the chance to hire his rival’s former employee. Noel said: 'It was too much of a temptation to p**s Robbie and Liam off in one phone call.'

'Dig Out Your Soul’ is released on October 6. Geri Halliwell released 'Bag It Up’ in 2000, scoring her third solo number one in the UK singles chart.

soldiers on drugs

Now, I know that this clip has nothing to do with music, but I felt compelled to show it. On the one hand it's completely out of order what's happening in it (governments should be held accountable for the results of using their own forces as guinnea pigs like this), but the clip is also very funny. Btw, I like the dude with the headphones ; )

So this is what happens when you give LSD to soldiers. From the brilliant Current TV.