Welcome to NEOLOOP


Step in to the Neoloop, have a look and listen!

You'll find a cornucopia of tasty tunes to bounce off your eardrums. I update with new tunes, art and photography every week, depending on what I'm doing and listening to at the time, old and new. I'm based in London UK but I love to travel and discover new music along the way and share my musical journey on neoloop.

Please support the artists and buy their music. If you are or represent an artist being featured on here and want me to remove something, email me.

Happy listening!

Neo

Email: neo@neoloop.com
  Heavy Rotation
  Category Cloud
  Albums of the year
Jun 30th, 2009 02:04am

Lazer guided Killa riddims and baselines from Babylon!

Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do, the new album from Major Lazer is just gonna blow up, buy it, beg for it, steal it... A massive contender for album of the year. Electro squelches, sirens and Nokia ringtones sprinkled over Basslines booming with intensity and distortion, digital dancehall for the future, but the future is already here! Bags of special select guests make it an eclectic affair.

Major Lazer is a Jamaican commando who fought in the “secret Zombie War of 1984” and lost both arms in combat. Then the U.S. military equipped him with experimental lasers that double as prosthetic limbs. That's the pitch, but it's really Diplo and Switch!

A bands place in MySpace

Jun 30th, 2009 01:27am

Hard Rock in Hyde park last weekend, I went on the Saturday, headlining act was the godfather of grunge Neil Young. A great performance from the main man, but I the act that really blew me away was Seasick Steve.

This track is from the album 'I Started Out With Nothin And I Still Got Most Of It Left' - Thunderbird (about the wine) is a big crowd pleaser! Mad as a box of frogs but you can't help tapping your foot to this one.

Steven Gene Wold, commonly known as Seasick Steve, (born circa 1941) is an American bluesman, although he prefers to be called "a song and dance man". Steve said: Hobos are people who move around looking for work, tramps are people who move around but don't look for work, and bums are people who don't move and don't work. I've been all three.

Buy it - iTunes

Official Site seasicksteve.com

 

Categories: Bluegrass, Blues, Raw
Jun 26th, 2009 01:18am

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009)

Just heard the news of MJ's death, love him or hate him, he was a global icon. I've always loved Off the Wall and Thriller albums.

I thought I'd post up one of his lesser know tracks from the Jackson 5 days. A great little tune!

"Dancing Machine", originally recorded for the group's 1973 album G.I.T.: Get It Together, was also the title track of their 1974 album Dancing Machine released in 1974 as a remix for a response to the success of the single. This song was sampled recently in 2008 by Q-tip for the fantastic album The Renaissance ("Move")

R.I.P  Jacko.


 

Categories: Disco, Pop
Jun 14th, 2009 18:17pm

Erotico!

I'm off to France this week so I'l compiling a few playlists to accompany my road trip, hence the last few blog entries have a very French influence. If you like Serge Gainsbourg and want hear more, try this excessively kitsch concept album about, well, sex! Orchestral funk, moody whispering over breezy bossa, smokey organ porn. Furiously pop and totally cult for perverse record collectors everywhere. This is a cracking track from a classic album.

The incredible Philippe Nicaud. A rising young talent of 50s French cinema, filming with Jeanne Moreau (Dos au mur), Dalida (L’Inconnue de Hong Kong) and Brigitte Bardot (Voulez-vous danser avec moi). With Erotico… Nicaud he plunges hungrily into the era’s melting pot of pop with the help of Gérard Gustin and his pulsingly crafted orchestrations. Great album cover too!

Philippe Nicaud left us April 18th of this year in the age of 82 years... R.I.P

Buy it from Vadim Music

 

Categories: French, Lo-Fi, Pop
Jun 14th, 2009 17:55pm

Psychedelic French Pop from the Master

Serge Gainsbourg's varied musical style and individuality made him difficult to categorize. His legacy has been firmly established, and he is often regarded as one of the world's most influential musicians. I've admired much of his music over the years, just when you think you've heard it all I can't help re-discovering another track everytime I trawl through his extensive back catalogue. Pure class!

Histoire de Melody Nelson (from which this track was taken from) is a 1971 concept album. The Lolita-esque pseudo-autobiographical plot involves the middle-aged Gainsbourg unintentionally colliding his Rolls Royce Silver Ghost into teenage nymphet Melody Nelson's bicycle (Jane Birkin), and the subsequent seduction and romance that ensues. Histoire de Melody Nelson is considered by many critics and fans to be Gainsbourg's most influential and accomplished album.

At just under twenty-eight minutes, the short running time and the stylistic consistency and similarity throughout the album gives it qualities more in line with an EP or an extended musical piece with a number of movements. Histoire de Melody Nelsons is a mix of freewheeling guitar, funk style bass guitar, near spoken word vocal delivery, and lush, deep orchestrated string and choral arrangements by Jean-Claude Vannier who composed almost the entire music for the album.

Buy it on iTunes

 

Categories: French, Lo-Fi, Pop
Jun 13th, 2009 19:39pm

Sunshine and Psychedelic pop

Every summer I always dig out some old Serge Gainsbourg to drop in to mix compilations. This is from a soundtrack to a movie called La Horse.

Composed by Gainsbourg and Vannier in 1970, a true pearl of Psychedelic pop stunningly modern and powerful.

Categories: Chill, French, Lo-Fi, Soundtrack, World
Jun 13th, 2009 16:29pm

Bar grooves and Mojito's!

I was out last night in very cool little bar in Soho and the DJ was spinning some great stuff, mainly on hip hop tip. This track went down a storm, a great party vibe from a class act. I've been hammering this album in the car for the last couple of months.

Q-Tip has definitely found his mojo on The Renaissance, his latest long player offering. This track also features vocals from Amanda Diva. 

 

Official site for Q-Tip - q-tipnetwork.ning.com

Official site for Amanda Diva - www.amandadiva.com

Buy it - iTunes

Jun 13th, 2009 15:56pm

When the sun is shining you need some happy tunes for the summer vibe, so for the soundtrack to your next BBQ look to further than this album Veckatimest from NYC, Brooklyn band Grizzly Bear. Everyones raving about this band all over the internet, lazy grooves with some beach boys harmonies going on. The first single from the album 'two weeks' has been getting quite a lot of airplay of late. 

Official site - www.grizzly-bear.net

Buy it - Itunes

Jun 8th, 2009 23:40pm

Metal Monday!

This will clear the cobwebs out your ears, this track is taken off the album Wrath, one of the best metal albums I've heard in years. Absolute wall of noise, but it grooves like a bastard, killer metal riff!

 

Metallica's kirt Hammett describes this track as "One of the greatest metal riffs I've heard in a long time... the guitars sound as if your face is covered in honey and a swarm of bees is buzzing around your head".

 

Couldn't put it better myself!

 

Buy it - iTunes

Bands place on myspace

Official site www.lamb-of-god.com

 

Categories: Metal
Jun 6th, 2009 17:26pm

SKA for a sunny day... The legendary Prince Buster! - Original SKA from 1967

A true pioneer of the Ska sound, Cecil Bustamente Campbell, O.D. (born May 28, 1938), better known as Prince Buster and less known by his muslim name Muhammed Yusef Ali, is a musician from Kingston, Jamaica and regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska and rocksteady music. The records he made on the Blue Beat label in the 1960s inspired many reggae and ska artists. Prince Buster had two hit singles in the UK. "Al Capone" (#18, 1967) and with an updated version of "Whine And Grine"

This track was covered by The Specials, adding their own lyrics.

Buy it - Amazon

 

Categories: Reggae, SKA
Jun 6th, 2009 16:43pm

The Specials are and always will be the greatest band ever for me.

Following the last blog entry of Terry Hall's collaboration with Mushtaq it only seams right to follow the loop with a Specials track. Doesn't Make It Alright - is from their debut album The Specials.

The Specials had the perfect combination of fucking great tunes, impeccable style and attitude, they are just as important to the Ska revival as what the Sex Pistols were to punk and the Clash were to bring Reggae to a punk generation. The Specials first toured the UK in support to the Clash back in 1979. I was ten went I first heard the Specials debut album on a tatty old record player I shared with my older brother. By default my brother always used to introduce me to latest tunes during the late 70s and early 80s - Fellow 2 Tone acts Madness and the Selector were also skanking on the stereo along with The Beat and Bad Manners. The Specials started it all, the great Ska revival as it was dubbed at the time covering old 60s Jamaican Ska which was irresistible for those who founds punks sartorial alienation just that bit too alienating. After two amazing albums and various EPs The Specials spit in 1981 following their crowning moment when Ghost Town was at number one in the UK charts during the run-up to the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.

Now 30 years later their music is still relevant, the landscape has changed but the message is still the same. If you don't own a copy of the Specials (1st Album) and More Specials albums, buy them quick, become a convert and make out you've loved them all along!


 

Categories: Neo's top choices, SKA
Jun 6th, 2009 01:53am

Infectious groove, can't fail to get your foot tapping this one!

Terry Hall is enjoying Rave reviews touring with the Specials at the moment, I was lucky enough to see them at Brixton Academy last month, definitely gig of the year for me! This tune is currently on the cover mount CD with Uncut magazine this month and it reminded me how good it was and what a great album it comes from.

On this tune Hall's voice is joined by Romany Rad, a group of Polish gypsy refugees living in the East End, the blind Algerian rapper Mohammed and Damon Albarn. The album is also on Albarns record label Honest Jons.

Buy it - honestjons.com

Categories: Hip Hop, Reggae, World
Jun 6th, 2009 01:24am

More Mulatu Astatke, this is a classic track!

In 2005, this track appeared on the soundtrack to the Jim Jarmusch film Broken Flowers. In addition, Volume 4 of the Ethiopiques series is devoted entirely to Mulatu's music. Mulatu has also produced songs for many artists from East Africa, including Mahmoud Ahmed. His signature instrument is the vibraphone.

Mulatu Astatke is considered the father of Ethiopian jazz (or Ethio-jazz!) And this is one of the reasons why.

More info - ethiojazz.com

Categories: Jazz
Jun 6th, 2009 01:10am

You have to be in a certain mood I think to really get into a bit of late night jazz. I guess it helps if your propping up the bar at midnight in Ronnie Scotts with a Rum and Coke. But Mulatu Astatke I can listen to any time, the African rhythms just get you. With his new material (released in the Uk in February 2009) he's teamed up with a London-based psychedelic jazz ensemble called The Heliocentrics and the results are exceptional. If you like this check out the album, really good shit!

More info - inspiration-information-3.com

Buy it - iTunes

Categories: Jazz
Jun 3rd, 2009 00:50am

These guys churn out heavier riffs than a sack of full of spanners! Low down dirty blues for modern times. Music don't get any more raw than this shit, it grinds away with gritted teeth to a solid groove of the lord! This track is taken from their fourth album, 'Magic Potion', released September 2006 in the UK. I strongly recommend all their albums, especially 'Magic Potion' and 'Attack and Release'.

The Black Keys first came to my attention when their song 'When the Lights Go Out' was featured on the soundtrack to Samuel L. Jackson's 2007 film Black Snake Moan.

American blues-rock music duo, vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney. Formed in Akron, Ohio in 2001.

Buy it on iTunes

Official site theblackkeys.com

Categories: Blues, Raw, Rock
Jun 2nd, 2009 16:17pm

The sun is shining in little old London town, everybody's got a bit of the feel good factor! Now all you need is a soundtrack to document the summer of 2009.

I've been filling my head with this lush soundscape from Kleerup for some time now. Pure beauty on a summers day, lying under a clear blue sky with the warmth of the sun caressing your face.

The rest of the album, out this week... is an eclectic array of polished grooves, from club to beach and back again via lip smacking Scandinavian disco pop!

Kleerup is Swedish producer Andreas Kleerup. He went to number one in the UK co-writing and producing Robyn’s 'With Every Heartbeat'.

Fellow Swede Lykke Li lends her babydoll vocal to 'Until we bleed' with dreamy results, spellbinding!

More info on kleerup.net

More Lykke Li - lykkeli.com

 

Categories: Chill, Disco, Lo-Fi, Pop
Jun 2nd, 2009 00:51am

A superb little tune by the up and coming band Hayman, Watkins, trout and Lee. You can't beat a bit banjo knee-slapping bluegrass. Inspired lyrics about a hard up bloke sponging off his misses sung with a traditional delta blues vibe makes for an intriguing mix. Nothing to do with the band Sly and Family stone BTW.

The band are made up of Darren Hayman (Hefner, The French) on bass and vocals, Dan Mayfield (Enderby, Ellis Island Sound, The Secondary Modern) on violin, Dave Tattersall (The Wave Pictures) on guitar and vocals and Dave Watkins (Pete and the Egg, The Secondary Modern) on banjo.

Hayman, Watkins, trout and Lee debut album is out now

A bands place in myspace

More info hefnet.com

Buy it on iTunes

Categories: Acoustic, Bluegrass, Folk
Jun 1st, 2009 23:55pm

Who's that knocking at the door! This is such an addictive track, I only discovered it by chance while I was checking out some of Flash and the Pan's more well known tracks. I've always loved 'Waiting for a Train' their sublime pop classic from 1983. Midnight Man was originally released as a single in 1985, it sounds as fresh today as it did back then with it's monotonous hammering beat that runs through the entire track, it could have come off the last Hot Chip album. In fact Hot Chip should do a cover of this!

Flash and the Pan was an Australian New Wave group formed in the late 1970s by Harry Vanda and George Young, both former members of the Easybeats. George Young is also an older brother to Angus Young and Malcolm Young of AC/DC. Both Vanda and Young produced several AC/DC albums.

Until the release of "Waiting for a Train" in 1983 they had been a one-hit wonder in the UK,'a flash in the pan'. The duo gained further exposure through the track from their debut album, "Walking in the Rain", which was later covered by the amazing Grace Jones. If you like this track it's well worth checking out the greatest hits album.

 

Buy it: Greatest Hits - iTunes

Categories: Pop