Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Booktracks - La musica liberata (Spotify playlist + ebook free download)



What:
In my real non-Spotirama life, I often write about music & Internet. So often, that last year I even published a book about it. It's called La musica liberata (something like "music got free") and tells the story of 15 years of digital sonic revolution: from MP3 to Napster, from iPod to Radiohead, from blogs to Pitchfork, from iTunes to Spotify. Data, people, songs, software, devices, sharing culture: all filtered through my personal experience of writer and, especially, music buff. Now, after one year and four months, I convinced the publisher to free the book, too. The full .pdf version of it is in free download, until Christmas. You can get more infos about it on my italian blog Il Pozzo di Cabal. And you can download it directly from here. Yes, the book is in italian, likely not your favourite language of choice. But, ehi, it's free! And maybe someone in the great Interweb can be interested on it. So, if you please, download it and spread the voice. :o)

Comment:
Castelli voice: off. cabal voice: on. Here it is the Spotify soundtrack of the book: 50 songs that appear in the book, chosen for exquisite technology reasons (Ok Go, NIN, Propellerheads, Beatallica, Suzanne Vega mother of MP3 and Rick Astley lord of rickrollers) or for more personal perversions (U2, Heroes del Silencio, Sigur Ros, Doves, Karo, the grunge era). 



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THE PLAYLIST
(50 songs, about 3 hours)

U2 – The Fly
Nirvana – Come As You Are
Pearl Jam – Black
Alice In Chains – Would?
Stone Temple Pilots – Interstate Love Song
Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
Radiohead – Paranoid Android
Oasis – Stand By Me
Guns N' Roses – Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Heroes Del Silencio – Entre Dos Tierras
The Undertones – Teenage Kicks
Michael Jackson – Thriller
Radiohead – Everything In Its Right Place
Doves – Kingdom Of Rust
Peter Gabriel – Solsbury Hill
a-ha – Take On Me
Tears For Fears – Head Over Heels
R.E.M. – Supernatural Superserious
Coldplay – Viva La Vida
Joe Satriani – If I Could Fly
Radiohead – India Rubber
Beatallica – Hey Dude
Prince & The Revolution – Kiss
Subsonica – Strade
Arctic Monkeys – Fake Tales Of San Francisco
Lily Allen – Smile
Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up
OK Go – Here It Goes Again
Vitamin String Quartet – Nude
Nine Inch Nails – 01 Ghosts I
Doves – Jetstream
Sigur Ros – Viorar Vel Til Loftarasa
Heroes Del Silencio – La Sirena Varada
Propellerheads – Take California
U2 – Vertigo
Feist – 1234
David Bowie – Life On Mars?
Black Eyed Peas – My Humps
Daft Punk – Harder Better Faster Stronger
Bat For Lashes – Daniel
Nine Inch Nails – Discipline
Mötley Crüe – Saints Of Los Angeles (Gang Vocal)
Guns N' Roses – Shackler's Revenge
Depeche Mode – Wrong
U2 – No Line On The Horizon
The Beta Band – Dry The Rain
Moby – Shot In The Back Of The Head
Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine
Karo – All Is Light
Karo – The Sailor

Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0297)


Previously booktracked:
Nick Hornby's High Fidelity

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Mucchio Classic Rock #7 - Top 20 Canterbury scene albums


Seventh rock history lesson, courtesy of italian magazine Il Mucchio and its Classic Rock special features. After Punk, New Wave, Dark/Gothic, Hard Rock, Psychedelia and Power Pop, this time we have some Canterbury music tales.

From Wikipedia:

The Canterbury scene (or Canterbury sound) is a term used to loosely describe the group of progressive rock, avant-garde and jazz musicians, many of whom were based around the city of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Many prominent British avant-garde or fusion musicians began their career in Canterbury bands, such as Hugh Hopper, Steve Hillage, Dave Stewart (the keyboardist), Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen, Mike Ratledge, Fred Frith, and Peter Blegvad. Over the years, with band membership changes and new bands evolving, the term has been used to describe a musical style or subgenre, rather than a regional group of musicians.

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The Playlist
(13 albums out of 20, 65%)


10 Pivotal Albums
Soft Machine - Volume Two (Probe, 1969)

Kevin Ayers - Joy of a Toy (Harvest, 1969)
Caravan - If I Could Do It All Over Again I'd Do It All Over You (Decca, 1970)
Gong - Camembert Electrique (Byg, 1971)
Khan - Space Shanty (Decca, 1972)
Matching Mole - Matching Mole (CBS, 1972)
Hatfield and the North - Hatfield and the North (Virgin, 1974)
Egg - Civil Surface (Virgin, 1974)
Camel - Snow Goose (Decca, 1975)
National Health - National Health (Affinity, 1978)

10 Albums More
Wilde Flowers - The Wilde Flowers (Voiceprint, 1994)

Arzachel - Arzachel (Egg, 1969)
Egg - The Polite Force (Deram, 1970)
Soft Machine - Third (CBS, 1970)
Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink (Deram, 1971)
Comus - First Utterance (Dawn, 1971)
Kevin Ayers - Whatevershebringswesing (Harvest, 1972)
Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom (Virgin, 1974)
Henry Cow - Unrest (Virgin, 1974)
Steve Hillage - L (Virgin, 1976)

Listen to it on Spotify:
Mammoth (full albums, 131 tracks, about 6 hours): HTTP Link, URI. (SR0295)
Lite (3 songs each "pivotal" album, 2 songs each "more" album, 25 tracks, about 1 hour): HTTP Link, URI. (SR0296)

Mucchio Classic Rock - Top 20 Albums series:

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

The Complete Guide To Downloading #2 - If You Like...




Dear old vintage iPods, dear old vintage Gallaghers

These playlists are little, but good.
In 2005, people from Q, Mojo and Kerrang! allied to publish The Complete Guide To Downloading, a 150-pages magazine filled with playlists about... everything. It was a fantastic guide for the downloading era. I think it's definitely worth in the age of streaming, too. 

Today, I spotified the playlists from the section "If You Like...", where songs were chosen for their connections/influences/similarities with modern anthems like Franz Ferdinand's Take Me Out, Kaiser Chiefs' I Predict a Riot, Coldplay's Fix You and OutKast's Hey Ya! (yes, it was 2005...).

Nine little playlists and, at the bottom, a big mammoth collecting them all.

Enjoy!



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THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO DOWNLOADING #2
"IF YOU LIKE..."



... COLDPLAY's FIX YOU
(7 songs out of 8, 87,5%, 26 minutes)
Elbow - Grace Under Pressure
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
Morrissey - Now My Heart Is Full
Johnny Cash - One
Athlete - Wires
Spiritualized - Lay It Down Slow
Embrace - Fireworks
Coldplay - Fix You

Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI (SR0280)


... FRANZ FERDINAND's TAKE ME OUT
(8 songs out of 8, bingo!, 22 minutes)

Blondie – Rip Her To Shreds
Richard Hell & The Voidoids – Blank Generation
Television – Friction
Josef K – Crazy To Exist
Orange Juice – Simply Thrilled Honey
Clor – Love + Pain
The Futureheads – Decent Days And Nights
Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out

Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0281)


...JAMES BLUNT's YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL 
(7 songs out of 8, 87,5%, 30 minutes)
Van Morrison – Crazy Love
James Taylor – You've Got A Friend
Joni Mitchell - River
Jackson Browne – Late For The Sky
Ray LaMontagne – Trouble
David Gray – Please Forgive Me
Damien Rice – The Blower's Daughter
James Blunt – You're Beautiful
Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0282)


... THE STREETS' DRY YOUR EYES 
(7 songs out of 8, 87,5%, 31 minutes)
Josh Rouse – It's The Night Time
Suede – The Wild Ones
Ian Brown – F.E.A.R.
Blur – This Is A Low
Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone
The Flaming Lips – Do You Realize??
The Verve – History
The Streets – Dry Your Eyes
Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0283)


FOO FIGHTERS' BEST OF YOU
(7 songs out of 8, 87,5%, 25 minutes)
Jimmy Eat World – A Praise Chorus
Teenage Fanclub – What You Do To Me
Weezer – Undone -- The Sweater Song
The Lemonheads – Rudderless
Nirvana – Lithium
Queens of the Stone Age - Gonna Leave You
Pixies – Gouge Away
Foo Fighters – Best Of You
Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0284)


...OUTKAST's HEY YA! 
(7 songs out of 8, 87,5%, 33 minutes)
The Beatles - It's All Too Much
Prince & The Revolution – Raspberry Beret
Grace Jones – Nipple To The Bottle
Digital Underground – The Humpty Dance
Michael Jackson – Can You Feel It
The B-52's – Rock Lobster
Sly & The Family Stone – Dance To The Music
OutKast – Hey Ya!
Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0285)


...BEYONCE's CRAZY IN LOVE 
(7 songs out of 8, 87,5%, 27 minutes)
Janet Jackson – Rhythm Nation
Spice Girls – Stop
Faith Evans - Love Like This
TLC – No Scrubs - With Rap
Mis-Teeq – Scandalous
Rachel Stevens – Sweet Dreams My LA Ex
Britney Spears – Toxic
Beyoncé feat. Jay-Z – Crazy In Love
Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0286)


... KAISER CHIEFS' I PREDICT A RIOT 
(7 songs out of 8, 87,5%, 21 minutes)
Elastica - Connection
Kingmaker – Ten Years Asleep
Supergrass – Caught By The Fuzz
Vic Reeves – Dizzy
The Small Faces – Lazy Sunday
Pulp – Sorted For E's & Wizz
The Housemartins – Happy Hour
Kaiser Chiefs – I Predict A Riot
Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0287)


...PINK FLOYD's WISH YOU WERE HERE 
(6 songs out of 8, 75%, 23 minutes)
Johnny Otis feat. Shuggie Otis – Country Girl
Erma Franklyn – Light My Fire
Muse – Feeling Good
Dodgy – Grassman
Thunderclap Newman – Something In The Air
The Silent League - Linus
The Flaming Lips – What Is The Light?
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0288)


...THE GAME's DREAMS 
(6 songs out of 8, 75%, 26 minutes)
Cypress Hill – How I Could Just Kill A Man
Ice Cube – When Will They Shoot?
GZA – Shadowboxin'
Jay-Z – Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love)
Canibus – Bis vs. Rip
The Last Emperor - Secret Wars
Blade Reflection

The Game – Dreams
Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0289)


...GORILLAZ' FEEL GOOD INC
 (8 songs out of 8, bingo!, 31 minutes)
De La Soul – Me, Myself & I
Ol' Dirty Bastard feat. Kelis – Got Your Money
Kelis feat. Andre 3000 – Millionaire
Gwen Stefani – Rich Girl
No Doubt – Hella Good
Fun Boy Three – It Ain't What You Do It's The Way That You Do It
The Specials – Ghost Town
Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc
Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0290)


...THE MAMMOTH! 
(all songs from "If you like..." playlists, 
77 songs, about five hours)
Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0291)


PREVIOUSLY ON "THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO DOWNLOADING SERIES":
Times of Day

Monday, November 22, 2010

Mucchio Classic Rock #6 - Power-Pop Top 20 Albums

The Bangles: staring at you like an Egyptian. 

Sixth rock history lesson, courtesy of italian magazine Il Mucchio. After Punk, New Wave, Dark/Gothic, Hard Rock and Psychedelia, this time we happily dance with Power-Pop. Well, not so happily: on Spotify I just found 10 albums out of 20... :o(


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The Playlist
(10 albums out of 20, 50%)


10 Pivotal Albums
Big Star - Radio City (Ardent, 1973)

Paul Collins' Beat - Paul Collins' Beat (Columbia, 1979)
DB's - Repercussion (Albion, 1982)
Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action (Sire, 1976)
Hoodoo Gurus - Mars Needs Guitars! (Big Time, 1985)
Last - L.A. Explosion (Bomp!, 1979)
Jack Lee - Jack Lee's Greatest Hits Vol.1 (Maiden America, 1981)
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (Shelter, 1976)
Plimsouls - Everywhere At Once (Geffen, 1983)
Sunnyboys - Sunnyboys (Mushrooms, 1981)

10 Albums More
Bangles - All Over the Place (Columbia, 1984)

Stiv Bators - Disconnected (Bomp!, 1980)
Go-Go's - Beauty and the Beat (I.R.S., 1981)
Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool (Radar, 1978)
Paley Brothers - The Paley Brothers (Sire, 1978)
Playmates - Long Sweet Dreams (What Goes On, 1986)
Psychotic Pineapple - Where's the Party (Richmond, 1980)
Shoes - Present Tense (Elektra, 1979)
Slickee Boys - Cybernetic Dreams of Pi (Twin Tone, 1983)
Smithereens - Especially For You (Enigma, 1986)



Listen to it on Spotify:
Mammoth (full albums, 131 tracks, about 6 hours): HTTP Link, URI. (SR0278)
Lite (3 songs each "pivotal" album, 2 songs each "more" album, 25 tracks, about 1 hour): HTTP Link, URI. (SR0279)

Mucchio Classic Rock - Top 20 Albums series:

Sunday, November 21, 2010

The Greatest Indie Soundtrack in the World (69 Original Movie Soundtracks for Indie Lovers)



The Social Network and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World are responsible for this playlist. I watched them recently: I loved Atticus Ross & Trent Reznor soundtrack of the first, and liked the funny indie we-are-sex-bob-ombed atmosphere of the last. So I started googling the Web for a "indie-soundtrack-top-50", or something like that. Not finding anything I liked, I decided to create it for myself. 

Here it is. It's a collection of 69 movie soundtracks from the last thirteen years (1998-2010). Not all of them are indie. Let's say they're indie in the spirit. Unfortunately, I haven't found on Spotify all I was looking for. No Lost in Translation or Garden State, no Before Sunset or 24 Hour Party People, no Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, no Daft Punk's Interstella or Jonny Greenwood's Let There Be Blood. Anyway, I think the results are good. The problem is that now I'd like to watch many of these movies again. :o)

I made three playlists:
#1: full soundtracks
#2: one song each soundtrack, to have a sip.
#3: three songs each soundtrack, for a tastier sip. 

Enjoy!

P.S. If you think I missed some unmissable indie-movie-soundtrack, tell me!   


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THE PLAYLIST


Listen to it on Spotify:

Mammoth (full soundtracks, 
1361 tracks, about 2 days): LINK, URI. (SR0275)
Lite (one track each soundtrack, 
69 tracks, about 4 hours): LINK, URI. (SR0276)
Regular (three tracks each soundtrack, 
207 tracks, about 12 hours): LINK, URI. (SR0277)



101 Reykjavik (2000, Damon Albarn & Einar Orn Benediktsson)

(500) Days of Summer (2009, various artists)

About a Boy (2002, Badly Drawn Boy)

Across the Universe (2007, various artists)

Adventureland (2009, various artists)

Alpha Dog (2006, various artists)

Amores Perros (2000, Gustavo Santaolalla + various artists)

Angels of the Universe (2000, Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson & Sigur Ros)


Away We Go (2009, Alexi Murdoch + various artists)

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008, Florian Tessloff & Peter Hinderthur)

Babel (2006,Gustavo Santaolalla + various artists)

Berlin Calling (2008, Paul Kalkbrenner)

Big Fish (2003, Danny Elfman + various artists)

Black Dynamite (2009, Adrian Younge)

The Boat That Rocked (2009, various artists)

Bodysong (2003, Jonny Greenwood)

Breakfast on Pluto (2005, various artists)

Brokeback Mountain (2005, Gustavo Santaolalla + various artists)

Cidade de deus (2002, Antonio Pinto & Ed Cortes + various artists)

Le Concert (2009, Armand Amar + various artists)

Control (2007, various artists)

Dancer in the Dark (2000, Bjork album Selmasongs)

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002, Marco Beltrami & Joshua Homme)

Danny the Dog (2005, Massive Attack)

Death Proof (2007, various artists)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, various artists)


Factotum (2005, Kristin Asbjornsen)

Ghost World (2001, various artists)

Goodbye Lenin! (2003, Yann Tiersen)

Hable con ella (2002, Alberto Iglesias + various artists)

In the Mood For Love (2000, Michael Galasso/Shigeru Umebayashi + various artists)

Into the Wild (2007, Eddie Vedder)

Juno (2007) (various artists)

Kill Bill: vol.1 (2003, various artists)

Kill Bill: vol.2 (2004, various artists)

The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004, various artists)

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998, various artists)

Lola Rennt (1998, Tom Tykwer + various artists)

Marie Antoinette (2006, various artists)

Moulin Rouge (2001, various artists)

Nightmare Revisited (2008 revisitation of Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack, various artists)

No One Knows About Persian Cats (2009, various artists)

Nowhere Boy (2009, various artists)

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000, various artists)

Once (2006) (Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova)

Persepolis (2007, Oliver Bernet)

The Proposition (2005, Nick Cave & Warren Ellis)

The Road (2009, Nick Cave & Warren Ellis)

The Science of Sleep (2006, Jean-Michel Bernard + various artists)

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010, various artists)

The Social Network (2010, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross)

Soul Kitchen (2009, various artists)

The Squid and the Whale (2005, various artists)

Storytelling (2001, Belle & Sebastian)

Thirteen (2003, various artists)

Todo sobre mi madre (1999, Alberto Iglesias + various artists)

Transamerica (2005, various artists)

Les triplettes de Belleville (2003, Benoit Charest + various artists)

Tropa de elite (2007, various artists)


Valse avec Bachir (2008, Max Richter + various artists)

Vanilla Sky (2001, various artists)

La vie en rose (2007, Christopher Cunning + various artists, mostly Edith Piaf)

The Virgin Suicides (1999, double album: various artists + Air)

Walk the Line (2005, Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Whiterspoon)

Where the Wild Things Are (2009, Karen O and the Kids)

Whip It (2009, various artists)




Listen to it on Spotify:

Mammoth (full soundtracks, 
1361 tracks, about 2 days): LINKURI.
Lite (one track each soundtrack, 
69 tracks, about 4 hours): LINKURI.
Regular (three tracks each soundtrack, 
207 tracks, about 12 hours): LINKURI.