RCRD LBL: An Overview

With so many different music blogs and sites on the Internet these days, sometimes it’s hard to find good stuff without knowing what you’re looking for. However, one site that’s great for discovering new artists is RCRD LBL. The site was put together in 2007 by Downtown Music and Peter Rojas, who collaborated with independent labels to create a new kind of music website. It features over 10,000 free, legal music downloads from a wide range of new and established artists like Santigold, MSTRKRFT, and Florence & The Machine. New tracks are uploaded daily, so with every trip to the site you’re guaranteed to leave with something fresh. I discovered the site about a year and a half ago, and it’s still a frontrunner on my daily go-to list. Today, I’m going to show you some of the gold you can find on RCRD LBL, with little to no digging involved.

(Note: I was going to embed the RCRD LBL widgets directly into the post, but they won’t work with WordPress, so SoundCloud will have to do.)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Marina & The Diamonds

I Am Not A Robot (Doorly Remix)

679/Atlantic

Marina & The Diamonds (stage name of Marina Diamandis) have quietly been making waves overseas for the past couple years, but have finally arrived on Yankee territory to show America what we’ve been missing.  The original “I Am Not A Robot” was released last summer as a taster from her album The Family Jewels, and instantly won her fans with its poignant “screw you, conformity” theme. Readying the track for a re-release, fellow Brit Doorly was brought in to man the knobs & switches for a bit of a rejig. But instead of overhauling the original with the typical synths-n-sirens, Doorly gingerly dissects it; taking the tender piano chords and coupling them with plunging bass drops to create a refreshingly different take on the track.

If you like this, check out the Boy 8-Bit remix of Florence & The Machine’s “Drumming Song”, also available on RCRD LBL.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Ocelot

Beating Hearts (Blende Extended Mix)

Wall of Sound

Ocelot are more than just an amazing name. They have earned their reputation as premier remixers over the past couple of years, producing excellent remakes for Röyksopp and The Killers, among others. However, in 2010, the Leeds-via-Texas duo decided it was time to release some of their own material, and here we are delivered “Beating Hearts”. Londoner Blende is on the remix, dropping some unnecessary vocals and frenzy from the original in favor of a dirtily deep electro-funk riff, complete with choppy scratches and blippy synth work.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Bloc Party

One More Chance (Alex Metric Remix)

Wichita Recordings

And now for a bit of a throwback: this remix surfaced last summer and it was so good that I had absolutely no desire to even hear the original, let alone listen to any other track ever again. Being a massive fan of both Bloc Party and Alex Metric, to me this remix is literally what dreams are made of. Revisiting it today, I realized it hasn’t aged at all; that pounding keyboard refrain is just as anthemic as it was a year ago. It’s an absolute classic, and is collectively one of both BP’s and Alex Metric’s finest moments to date.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

The selection and broad spectrum of music offered at RCRD LBL is rare to find completely wrapped in one website. It’s a great resource if you find yourself craving new music and want to find it quickly and easily. Hopefully the tracks I showcased for you here have garnered some interest within you for the site, and I hope you check it out to see everything else it has to offer.

Website: RCRD LBL

Four tracks for your Monday morning

Right when you think it’s that time of the year again when every day is the perfect day to spend at the beach, you step outside and it looks like a hurricane just hit. This is the unpredictability of San Luis Obispo at its finest. But hey, on the bright side, over the past week I have come across some ridiculously good new music, and the following songs are the cream of the crop. I guarantee that these four tracks will get you excited about the potentials of music in 2010 and hopefully forget about this torrential downpour.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Jamaica

I Think I Like U 2

Control Freak Records

Jamaica, France’s latest feel-good indie-pop export has just landed. Think ‘United’-era Phoenix with less emphasis on calmness and a little more on electric guitar.  The duo, comprised of Antoine Hilaire and Flo Lyonnet, collaborated with Xavier de Rosnay (one-half of Justice) and Peter Franco (of Daft Punk engineering fame) on this summery blast of a first single. The So-Me directed video is just another addition to his fantastic resume of work (“DVNO”, “D.A.N.C.E.”, “Good Life”), and I have a feeling it will be one of the coolest things you’ll see all year. Check it out.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Flight Facilities

Crave You / Crave You (Cassian Remix)

BangGang 12s

I just discovered this track a couple days ago and cannot believe what I’ve been missing out on for the past 3 months! All discussion aside, this track is on point. The Sydney duo has combined a minimal, yet banging instrumental, an absolutely sublime vocal from Giselle, and just the right amount of 80s to create the ultimate chill out track. And if the original isn’t quite enough for you, Australian producer Cassian takes the track from the after party to the main room of the club, adding a plunking piano riff and a substantial dose of disco.

The entire package, including additional remixes from the C90s and James Curd, is available to buy on Beatport right now.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

–

Mason

Exceeder (Felguk Remix)

Tasted Music

Mason’s ‘Exceeder’ was without a doubt THE tune of 2006, regularly bringing every wallflower and their mother down from the rafters and onto the dance floor. Well, Brazilian wunderkinds Felguk have dug it out from the vaults and turned it into an absolutely insane electro assault. Think of it as an auditory A-bomb, if you will. This is hands down the best electro house track I’ve heard this year to date, and I expect it to clobber everything in its path when it comes to decide the anthem of Ibiza 2010.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

MoonRunners vs. Daft Punk

Feels Like Magic

Currently unsigned, for more info: MySpace

Over-sampling is getting a bit tedious these days (e.g. Chiddy Bang), and when you’re fiddling around with something as legendary as Daft Punk’s ‘Around The World’, the results would rarely come out as listenable. But for some reason, this product is simply fantastic. The MoonRunners, an upcoming London electro-hop ‘collective’, mesh their verses around a sample reorganized just enough to seem innovative. But in all reality, they have created something so unashamedly saccharine yet ridiculously catchy that you’ll find yourself pressing repeat a good ten times. Or in my case, 14. The track is backed by an effortlessly outstanding video, and the fact that they only spent £55 on it (for parking tickets) just makes it that much better.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

The rain doesn’t seem so bad anymore, right?