Author: Dan Dickinson

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Created

Ted Leo New Song MP3

During the concert tonight, Ted shocked the crowd by busting out an all-new song, written just that morning.

Knowing that Ted has been rather bootleg friendly (he instructed all of us to trade the *Since U Been Gone* cover all we wanted, but they wouldn’t play it live), I immediately stuck up my camera and recorded the whole thing. Rather than have my bandwidth get further thrashed with a 90 meg MPEG, I’ve ripped it to MP3, leaving us with a much smaller footprint.

The quality is okay but not great. My camera only does 64kbps audio, so the MP3 is at 128 if only to avoid losing more quality during the transcode. There is a fair amount of crowd noise at the beginning/middle/end. There’s some extra audio at the end from the next song, since there wasn’t a clean break. I haven’t balanced it or equalized it or anything like that. It’s a bootleg – one recorded on a digital camera – so don’t expect CD quality.

With all that said, enjoy.

(To those worried about the legality of this MP3, I have cleared this with Ted.)

*Append*: mligon [points out a potential song title](http://mligon08.blogspot.com/2005_08_01_mligon08_archive.html#112527994739896106) of “Sons Of Cain”, which jives at least partially with the [set list](http://img363.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tedseaportsetlist2dj.jpg).

*Append 2nd*: Those of you dying for the video can [find it here](http://timorousme.org/movies/tedleonewsong.mov), thanks to the lovely people at [TimorousMe.org](http://timorousme.org).

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Enjoyed

Save Your Strength

Almost exactly a week ago at this time, I was collapsing in bed, having just had a somewhat reasonable night out with Katie and was looking forward to an open-ended weekend.

But lo and behold, I woke up with a horrendous cough. The painful dry hacking cough, which I had seen plenty of other people at work fall prey to, had come to beat my head in. I spent almost all of Saturday in bed, alone, coughing and muttering to myself about how life is unfair.

Sunday was not much better, and coming into Monday, I was faced with a real dilemma: yes, I was sick. Yes, I needed to recoup. But, this was probably the most critical week of the year at work. Falling behind this week – and there’s a lot of projects that were available to do for the first time this week – would lead to massive amounts of pain in the coming months. So, of course, I worked through it – coughing my head off at my desk, alleviating it temporarily with cups of tea and water.
By Thursday, it still hadn’t broken, although most of my projects for the week were completed to satisfaction. While talking to one of my bosses, I continued coughing, and he remarked – “You don’t sound so good.” I explained the whole critical-week thing, and he suggested that if I didn’t have any urgent projects on Friday, I should take a sick day. I didn’t, so I did (although I seem to have put in two hours of work from home).

But a little coughing didn’t stop me from attending two events I had on my agenda for a long while now; one Thursday night, and one Friday night.

## Thursday Night: Premium Blend

Yes, Katie and I subjected ourselves to the nearly two-hour line to be at the taping of two episodes of the new season of Premium Blend. Why, you might ask, would we put ourselves through such a trial? To see good comedians – in particular, one Aziz Ansari. I’m more than happy to say Aziz tore the roof off the place. Even [he was surprised](http://azizisbored.com/2005_08_21_azizisbored_archive.html#112508568070458159):

> I taped my Premium Blend set last night and it was a blast. The audience was amazing to the point of even throwing me off my game a little bit.

In any case, like I said, we were there for two shows, and we weren’t moved in the audience for either show – so for both of the episodes in question, we’re in the fourth row, center. No idea if or how much we were on camera, but since Premium Blend is repeated on Comedy Central about 5,000 times, I’m sure we’ll figure it out at some point.

## Friday: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists

I had been waiting for this concert for two months. All the coughing in the world is not going to keep me from Ted Leo.
Yes, at long last, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists returned to the Seaport Music Festival. This year, there was no rain, no killer bees, no blackout – it was a gorgeous day.

The opener was [Tigers & Monkeys](http://www.tigersandmonkeys.com/), who impressed me for being thoroughly well-rounded and rocking to just the right degree. I look forward to their album later this year.

As for Ted and the boys – well, what can I say really? The concert rocked, through and through. Even when a mosh pit opened behind me during the last song, and I got hit and stepped on repeatedly for no good reason, it couldn’t bring me down. (Ted Leo fans should definitely check out the next post as well.)

All my pictures from the event are in this flickr set: [Seaport Music Festival 2005 – Ted Leo & The Pharmacists](http://www.flickr.com/photos/remydwd/sets/828408/)

——

All in all, it’s been a good week – which is not something I can normally say when I’m hacking my lungs out.

Categories
Recommended

Review: m-flo’s Beat Space Nine

There are few things that can make me turn into a giddy music nerd as quickly as a new m-flo album.

*Beat Space Nine* is the fourth full-length album from the Japanese hip-hop collective known as [m-flo](http://www.m-flo.com/), and their second in the line of dance-flavored cameo-filled albums. With Verbal doing the MC work and Taku doing the production, m-flo brings infectious hooks, smooth rhymes that switch between English and Japanese seemlessly, and above all else a very polished and fun take on hip-hop. Anyone who has an ounce of rhythm in their body have a good chance of liking at least a few of their tracks, if not their whole back catalog.

Songs will be rated on the traditional MP3 rating scale of 1-100; over 80 indicates love, over 60 indicates like, 50 indicates the thin line between positive and negative feelings. I am listening to most of these songs for the first time, so forgive me for not grasping nuances or whatever.

### BEAT

m-flo traditionally has a handful of filler tracks on their albums, and I normally skip them. But for once, the opening filler has an actual musical hook, drum beats, and sets the album going on a high note. I’m actually sitting here wishing this was a full-length track, but since it’s not, **60**.

### Taste Your Stuff (m-flo loves BENNIE K)

I actually got my hands on this track a week or two ago, and was warned it was more dance pop than hip hop. I shrugged off this warning, and put it on – who was I to let a little warning get in the way of my musical cravings?
I now extend this warning to you: this thing will get stuck in your head. If you put this on your MP3 player, there’s a good chance you will bounce along to it. It will lodge itself in your brain and will not leave. Why can’t American pop songs be this good? **90**.

### Loop In My Heart (m-flo loves EMYLI & YOSHIKA)

A bit of a back and forth over some very nice disco beats. I actually think Verbal is a little overpowering here, and I’d much rather here Emyli and Yoshika shining with their very nice melodies over Verbals spitting out a lot of responses. Still, decent track. **60**.

### SO EXCLUSIVE (m-flo loves Sowelu)

Again with the disco beats (although with a bit more funk), this time we get a lot of focus on the female vocals. Verbal is just right here, not overpowering the vocalists with his stuff. The funk is definitely prevalent here, with the whole backbeat claps and everything. The track has clicked for me – not the sort of thing I want to listen to 24/7, but a track I wouldn’t turn off if it came on. **70**.

### I’M DA 1 (m-flo loves WHEE SUNG)

I’m not really sure what’s going on here. I mean, sure, Verbal is going rap crazy, but I’m totally baffled with the music underneath. It’s a little drum’n’bass, which doesn’t fit in with some of the refrain harmonizing…I think I’ll be passing on this one. **40**.

### ONE DAY (m-flo loves Miriya Katou)

Slow start, probably a good choice after doing four up-beat songs. I’m not sure why, but this is sort of reminding me of a few tracks by The Streets (*It’s Too Late*, mostly) – I may not know what exactly is being said, but it feels rather reminiscent, sort of sorrowful. Not quite on the level of *Come Back To Me* off the first m-flo album, but it’s good. **62**.

### A.D.D.P. (m-flo loves Monday Michiru)

Recent m-flo fans will remember the brilliance of *Way U Move* off last year’s Astromantic; where a Dragon Ash ballad was suddenly twisted into a Daft Punk-lite dance floor burner. If you take the dance floor portion, stick on some very classic house/rave piano, throw in some disco strings, and layer some Monday Michiru harmonizing in, you get A.D.D.P. Hello, dream track. **95**.

### tO yOUR bEAT (m-flo loves YOSHIKA)

We slow down again for some more Yoshika loving. There’s nothing particularly wrong with this track, but it’s not standing out in any way over what we’ve heard thus far. **55**.

### SPACE

Filler track #2. Unfortunately, this is the traditional m-flo filler track, with some weird Japanese speech sample over top of a little beat. Passing, hardcore. **20**.

### DOPEMAN? (m-flo loves EMYLI & Diggy-MO’)

A number of months ago, when the singles that would make up this album were starting to get released as EPs, there was a wonderfully crazy track called *Dopamine*, featuring EMYLI and Diggy-MO. I really, really got into it, and it had a fun video too.
*DOPEMAN?* is essentially a rework of this track – slightly different vocals, somewhat different backing music. While it’s a decent little remix, the original version really blows this away. Those that have the original single would do well to hang onto it. **50**.

### COZMO-NAUGHTY (m-flo loves Kahimi Karie)

Best song title ever. The disco funk returns with a vengance, and brings along some slinky vocals with it. Very experimental in parts, it’s got a definite lounge feel. The whispered rapping is a little weird – never mind the very Orange Lounge flairs – but there’s something very appealing about the track as a whole. **74**

### The Other Side Of Love (m-flo loves EMYLI)

Saving me the trouble of listening to this all the way through, I’ve actually owned the Let Go EP for a few months, which had this as a B-side. With some minimal bass paired with a light guitar, Emyli provides some nice melodies over the occasional breakbeat rhythms. I certainly enjoyed this enough when I initially heard it, so let’s not ruin a good thing. **75**

### Float’n Flow (m-flo loves Rie Fu)

Please, please tell me this isn’t island reggae. Please please please…okay, it’s not quite reggae, but it’s definitely got a tropical feel, and that’s really throwing me off during a sci-fi themed album. Don’t get me wrong – if there’s any band I enjoy going on musical tangents, it’s m-flo. I loved *Life Is Beautiful* and *Vanessa* off the last album, both with a very obvious jazz direction. But I don’t go for this style of music, any time. **39**, just to keep it off all my playlists.

### HEY! (m-flo loves Akiko Wada)

Wow, this is…okay, let’s see, the rhythm and backing samples are totally motown soul. The instruments on top of that are sort of psychedelic rock. This is a hell of a hybridization of a few genres; I can only think to describe this as modern soul. This is the sort of musical tangent I like. **66**.

### let go (m-flo loves YOSHIKA)

Obviously the track from the previously mentioned Let Go EP, this starts slow and languid with very pretty vocals from Yoshika and nice string ensemble work. There’s a hell of a bridge near the middle, with some well timed rapping; it all mixes together great. **78**

### TRIPOD BABY (m-flo loves LISA)

This track strikes me as funny, in a way. Originally, m-flo was a three person unit, with Verbal, Taku, and Lisa. Lisa, after two albums, decided she wanted to go off and start a solo career. And so here we are, a few years after the band split, with all three of the members back together giving us one more track.

But, strangely enough, it’s also a symbolic track. Lisa’s solo portions are very much typical of the old m-flo; single melody, not a terribly complicated rhythm, and her voice shines well. The Verbal portions are typical of new m-flo; experimental, branching into new genres – here I’d say we’re delving into dancehall. The refrains bridge these different styles, and it works fairly well.

It’s not the strongest track off the album musically, so the rating won’t be terribly high (although it’s certainly listenable). But *Tripod Baby* signifies the transitions the band has made over the last three years, and it’s worth noting just for that. **60**

### NINE

The closer filler track; exactly the same as the first track on their first album, *Planet Shining*. I don’t even want to try and figure out the significance of this. As it’s filler, and not really musically interesting filler, it pulls a **20**.

## In Closing

While it’s not quite as obviously great as Astromantic (where I had two tracks pegged at 100), this is a solid album, and anyone who’s ever liked m-flo will likely not be disappointed.