Inside Nokia Music

According to trends seen on Nokia’s Ovi Music Store, 2010 is tipped to be the summer of dance as festival season gets into full swing and dance music downloads soar. The genre has now jumped two places up to the sixth most downloaded music category online – behind Pop, Rock and Hip Hop.

According to Ovi, Russia is currently the biggest downloader of dance music, followed by Austria, Netherlands, UK, Switzerland, South Africa, Finland, Italy and Mexico.

Driving this rapid rise is French DJ turned global superstar David Guetta. The research, conducted by Nokia across 36 countries, revealed that Guetta – famous for his chart-topping dance songs When Love Takes Over (featuring Kelly Rowland) and Sexy Bitch (featuring Akon) – currently dominates half of the top ten most downloaded dance tracks on Ovi Music. This makes David Guetta the most downloaded dance artist of all time on Ovi Music, outselling the next four most popular dance artists combined.

TOP 10 DANCE MUSIC ACTS OF ALL TIME

(Based on Ovi Music downloads)

In terms of total downloads on Ovi, dance music is currently the sixth most popular genre, up from eighth place the same time last year – ahead of Indie and Latin music.

“This trends snapshot reveals a growing interest in dance music across the world which has traditionally been a niche genre online” said Ovi Musicologist, Geoff Roberts.

“Artists such as David Guetta are helping bring dance music to the masses, spiking an increase in downloads over the past year. This is only going to increase as we get deeper into festival season – last year dance music downloads peaked between May and September, and this trend looks like it is set to continue this year.”

GLOBAL POPULARITY OF DANCE MUSIC

(based on total Ovi Music downloads)

Check out our playlist of the current most downloaded dance songs, alongside updates on the latest dance additions to the store.

For those who enjoy dance music there are also many great apps on Ovi to enjoy. From the Playlist DJ to instantly create playlists of your favourite tunes, to SmartGrooves Pack 1 to mix built in beats and loops, to Gig Finder to search for local concerts and purchase tickets direct from your mobile, there is something for everyone.

The trouble with Glastonbury is having to make choices. It’s not something I’m hugely fond of in everyday life, never mind when it comes to choosing who’s set to watch… and so it all comes down to logistics.

Having suffered from near heat exhaustion the day before with 5 treks between my tent on the western perimeter and the parking area way beyond the eastern perimeter, my choice becomes obvious as the John Peel tent entices me with it’s offering of sanctuary from the blazing sun, and a chance to see Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke’s solo incarnation.

Now Kele (his solo moniker) has been accused of being a miserable individual in the past, not something that I’ve ever observed, but this has been the general perception of him none the less. Touching down just in time for the start of the set, my eyes adjust from the glare outside to see a spritely Kele take to the stage with his debut solo album opener Walk Tall and it becomes immediately obvious that any of the aforementioned perceptions are either circumstantial, or just plain misperception. Kele’s in a good headspace!

Keeping close to The Boxer’s track order, playing On The Lam, The Other Side and Everything You Wanted sequentially, saving debut solo single Tenderoni until after a Bloc Party medley featuring a dance rendition of Blue Light, The Prayer and the ominously suggestive One More Chance – With consideration to the fact that moments before, Kele makes the bothersome statement “For those of you who don’t know, I used to be in a band”, suggesting that Bloc Party are officially no more!

Following 2 more tracks from The Boxer, we’re treated to the Euro-Techno stomper Flux as the set closer, elevating my mood in combination with my first proper Glasto set of 2010, and a moderately successful test shoot with the obscene lens I hired for the weekend.

Flicker Set

Kele – The Boxer and Bloc Party are both available to download now from Nokia/Ovi Music Store and if you’re a Comes With Music member, they’re all free!

If last week was the widely-lauded (at least within my household) Wooden Week, this week it’s Comeback Week. We have no less than three – count ‘em – three bands with important new releases. And yes, one releasing their debut album, but hey: f**k you. Feeder are about to unleash Renegades, the band’s first album in two years and an important return to their roots. Devo, 80s-era electronic pop-rockers, return with their first proper album in 20 years, while Underworld get back to business with the first single from their upcoming album, their first in three years. Makes me kind of nostalgic, actually. Oh, and the newbies spoiling my finely crafted theme this week? Sound Of Guns. Damn their eyes.

Sound Of Guns – What Came From Fire

Ah yes, this is anthemic stuff – the sort of thing you’d be forgiven for wanting to wave your cigarette lighter at (or fling a p**s-filled bottle at, depending on your persuasion). Sound Of Guns are the next big thing, if the music press are to believed (don’t think for a minute that I include myself as part of that group) and as they’re usually the ones who determine this sort of thing, you’ll probably hear loads about them. Luckily for me I quite like What Came From Fire. Apart from a few Coldplay-esque forays into the middle of the road with tracks like Architects, Collisions and Starts With An End, it’s a record boasting a few genuine fist-pumping party numbers – Alcatraz and Bullets In The Bloodstream being the standouts.

Underworld – Scribble

Not an album, this, but the prelude to one: Scribble is the first single from Underworld’s upcoming album, Barking, which is due out in September, and should put the dance duo back on the popular map. They’ve had criticism from some of their old-school fans (Scribble has memorably been described as ‘Moby on Prozac’ by one less-than-impressed forum poster at Stereogum) but it’s a sunny slice of drum and bass lite that’s easy to nod your head to. And, even better, you can download the radio edit for free from Underworld’s website. If that’s too nancy for your tastes, check out the fizzing Netsky remix on the virtual B-side.

Devo – Something For Everybody

I was worried for a minute that this was an ill-considered change in direction for Simon Cowell’s operatic boy band, but actually Devo is a synth-pop band whose heyday was the late Seventies and early Eighties. Which goes to prove that you really do learn something new everyday. Anyway, to Something For Everybody, an album that’s in turns laughable (laughing with, rather than laughing at, though – it’s an important distinction to make) and admirable. Rooted firmly in the 1980s, it’s a mix of electronic bleepery, rock guitars and programmed drumbeats that’s wonderfully nuts. And nothing whatsoever to do with faux-classical vocalists.

My album of the week:

Feeder – Renegades

Feeder are back and boy, have they been putting away the pies. Renegades is a far heavier collection of tracks than Feeder have become known for and that’s no bad thing – this is a 40-odd minute slab of prime beef that should go down a treat live. Don’t think for a minute that more heavy equals less catchy, mind – several of the tracks here are veritable butchers’ hooks (don’t worry, that’s the end of the meat-metaphors). Boasting a brand-new drummer, Renegades sounds downright invigorating and it no doubt was as refreshing to record as it is to listen to. Tracks like The End, Sentimental and Home drive and thud their way into your ears with sledgehammer surety, while the Call Out shows Feeder haven’t lost any of their finesse for a more radio-friendly guitar-led pop song. Renegades is out on July 5^th and has to be a contender for rock album of the year…

Have at it. All the music featured here is available now, apart from Renegades by Feeder, which is out on July 5th, on Nokia Music Store now and is free to Comes With Music members.

Recently there have been a load of confessions from various Nokians about their guilty music pleasures, so I thought to follow up with my own rather dodgy arena of music taste.

For me it’s the 70s, especially Funk and Disco. Bands like George Clinton , BT Express, Rose Royce, Ohio Players and numerous others. Big hair, a splash of slap bass and outrageous styles, it’s music that certainly defined an era and features in one of my favourite films, “Undercover Brother”. The story of a “Soul Train reject, with a Robin Hood complex”, it is silly but underneath, there is sharp humour and in-jokes about the era.

So here are three songs that I find defines my guilty pleasure. Rose Royce of ‘Carwash’ fame, Suzy Q with a funky disco number and a really hard to find tune from Swamp Dogg.

And as Undercover Brother might say:

“There are times for falling apart, and there are times for getting funky. This is one of them funky times. So whats it gonna be? ”

You dig?

You can download George Clinton , BT Express, Rose Royce, Ohio Players and loads of other Spells approved disco at Nokia Music Store. If you’ve got Comes With Music download the lot for free!

‘How cool is that?!’ exclaims Sophie Ellis-Bextor, a mix of excitement and disbelief in her voice, even though she’s heard the story before. I’ve managed to get 20 minutes of telephone time with the singer during the hectic publicity schedule preceding the launch of her new single, Bittersweet, on May 3^rd, and we’re talking technology. Specifically, the fact that Groovejet, the single which catapulted her into the public consciousness in the summer of 2000, was the first track ever played on an iPod, on a prototype in Apple’s labs. ‘I love that story! Can you tell your friends that I don’t think enough people know about that.’ She laughs, an infectious sound somewhere between a giggle and a chuckle. ‘I think that’s really cool,’ she adds. A self-confessed gadget fan, she’s just bought her first Apple iPhone and is enthusiastically praising it when I mention that I write for the Nokia Music blog. ‘You know what, I’ve kept my Nokia, don’t worry,’ she playfully reassures me. ‘I’ve been using Nokias since I was 18, so there you go. 13 years of Nokia use.’

It’s also been 13 years since Sophie Ellis-Bextor first appeared in the charts, singing with Theaudience. That single, I Got The Wherewithal, and the subsequent self-titled album, didn’t make the impact the band was expecting. ‘Theaudience was very hyped when we first got together and then nothing really happened, so it was over before it began,’ she recalls. ‘No-one really knew about Theaudience. It was a wonderful time for me and a very steep learning curve, but I was aware that we didn’t really break out of music industry circles and the Camden scene.’ While it might not have been the success that Ellis-Bextor and her three bandmates had imagined, the then-18-year-old was able to learn from the experience. ‘That stood me in really good stead, so I can always take everything else with a pinch of salt. That’s meant I’ve kind of kept part of myself back, I suppose.’

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A few years back, before I joined the auspices of Nokia, I spent some time in Sri Lanka for a job.

It was an interesting experience, the work colleagues were great and I integrated with some really interesting characters. On the first day, they thought I needed some comfort food and so ended up in a McDonald’s! Still, I was soon into the curries and local foods that were just fantastic, such as Lamprais, Vada, Kothu Roti, String Hoppers and Curd. If you are a seafood fanatic then its worth going to Sri Lanka for that, the lobsters and crab were fantastic!

I still remember some of the escapades that we got up to, including trying to all get into one of those 3 wheeler “tuk-tuks” with about 6 people. It was late, we had quaffed a lot of drinks, and so I’m surprised I didn’t lose my legs as there sticking outside the vehicle for most of the journey.

A tight squeeze with 6 in the back!

But back to music, which was a big thing there. Even the PA system in the office piped music from our resident wannabe DJ. One thing that I found was that a lot of the nightclubs had this fusion of Western and Asian tunes that was just great.

When I left, one of the colleagues gave me a compilation CD that had some of those tunes. Still have it somewhere although much has been transferred to my computer.

One of the hits at the time was Flute Fantasy by DJ Nasha. My main memory (or lack of!) with this song is being at a beach nightclub near Galle. We had just finished a seafood supper of lobster with French fries (delicious!) and had moved to this club from drinks. One wall of this place had been removed so that the dancefloor rolled into the sandy beach and out into the ocean. Very surreal experience especially after drinking what I suspect might have been locally brewed vodka or arrack. The hangover the next day was truly spectacular!

Other stuff on this compilation included Bollywood hits. One favourite I picked up was “Chaiya Chaiya” from the film Dil Se. It’s notable for the music video being filmed on a moving train.

The final song that I picked up was by the Bhangra Knights. The backing tune was used in a rather popular car advert here in the UK and involved someone taking an Elephant to a car, so that he could convert it into his dream vehicle.

As you may or may not already know, Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke released the tracklisting for his upcoming solo debut a couple days back (finger on the pulse eh?) which is great news for fans like myself to fill the vacuous void of the band’s current hiatus… But it’s a little bittersweet (my buzz-word of the week apparently!) as in an interview in this week’s NME Kele responded to a statement they made about the apparent New York influence by saying “I’d never seen the soul of the city until I recorded my album there. It made me realise I have to move there. I’m going to move there this year.”

This bothers me for two reasons… Firstly, I’ve taken a particular shine to the dude and now I won’t have chance encounters with him as I’ve done in the past, but more importantly where does that leave Bloc Party?… It’s not uncommon for internationally successful artists to live in different countries from the other band members, but Bloc Party’s soul is heavily rooted in East London in my opinion… Only time will tell!

Kele - The Boxer is due for release on the 14th June with first single Tenderoni due later this month… here’s the tracklisting

Walk Tall
On The Lam
Tenderoni
The Other Side
Everything You Wanted
New Rules
Unholy Thoughts
Rise
All The Things I Could Never Say
Yesterday’s Gone

Bloc Party albums are available to download at Nokia Music Store or if you’ve got Comes With Music get them all for free!

Living in Bristol has undoubtedly shaped the types of  music that I listen to.  Drum and Bass is (or was before Dubstep came alone) the most popular underground music in the city.

Being just down the road from London, many of the capitals top DJ’s and producers frequently pop down to Bristol to play gigs.  Now more than ever as there’s an abundance of promoters in this small city trying to get the latest stars of the underground to play at their nights.

Me being one of those promoters in this saturated market I can only promote the music, DJs and producers I believe in.

One of those producers is Heist, a Drum and Bass producer from Braintree who started his production career started just over five years ago.  Since then Heist has seen his tunes shock the Drum and Bass world with many of the top DJs carrying his tunes in their boxes.

As well as signing his releases to a number of big D’n’B labels he has also worked with Goldie on his productions. Engineering the hugely well-received LP ‘Malice in Wonderland’ for the Metalheadz boss together with anthem ‘Is This Real’, the success of which has seen them return to the studio to work on follow-up LP ‘Memoires Of An Afterlife’.

As well as working with a biggest name in the scene Heist has also started his own labels, Sumo Beats and Calypso in order to accommodate the ever-increasing volume of solo work; future plans alongside producers like Lomax, Taxman, Original Sin and Die lurk in the pipeline together with releases on Propaganda and Frontline, keeping the vinyl-buying public on their toes with an impressively expansive repertoire of production credits.

His production styles are varied across the D’n’B spectrum.  As well the the jump up dancefloor tunes many know him for Heist can also lend his talents to more chilled and techy styles which you’ll see released on labels like Fabio’s Creative Source and Goldie’s Metalheadz.

If you happen to live in the great and musical city of Bristol you can catch Heist on Saturday 3^rd April at Basement 45.

Check this mad video from Netherlands Dance producers Nobody Beats The Drum – made from a few wooden blocks and just a few more photos:

Nobody Beats The Drum – Grindin’

You can see the making of it here.

Found on this blog

You can download Nobody Beats This Drum’s album ‘Beats Work’  from the Nokia Music Store - if you’ve got ‘Comes With Music’, it’s completely free!

Everyone’s favourite cut’n'paste DJ’s back with a new mix that you can download for free from the Bestival blog. With typical DJ Yoda aplomb, expect the likes of Biggie, Fleetwood Mac, Prince and more nestling snugly together like penguins on an ice floe. Think I walked past some on the way into work this morning.

Rock it: http://besti-blog.blogspot.com/2010/02/besti-mix-6-dj-yoda.html