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FREE MP3s MIX TAPE

Hyperstory Makes MAGNET A Mix Tape

hyperstory2Hyperstory is the current project of Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist C. Scott Blevins. Hyperstory’s self-titled debut album, featuring musicians who have played with the likes of Miles Davis, Beck and Jane’s Addiction, will be released November 10 on the Pureland label. The album is a mixture of live instrumentation and programming, and it seamlessly blends genres as diverse as funk, post-rock and jazz. Blevins made MAGNET a mix tape, and you can definitely hear the influence these artists have had on Hyperstory’s music.

“A Happening” (download):
https://magnetmagazine.com/audio/AHappening.mp3

“Ascension” (download):
https://magnetmagazine.com/audio/Ascension.mp3

John Coltrane “A Love Supreme Part 1”
Coltrane’s playing is multidimensional, surreal and seems to exist outside of time. Listening to him find his way musically when he improvises is transformative. He creates a unique world that takes you to an alternate plane. Video

Massive Attack “Teardrop”
This track astounds me. It’s a very haunting song. The production couldn’t be more perfect: dirty, dark and enveloping. The vocal is the centerpiece, delivering a really unique and perfectly suited performance. A classic album with multiple great tracks. Video

Jeff Buckley “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over”
Jeff Buckley had a sublime voice, and this track is emotive and brilliant from beginning to end. I think this song is a good representative of the classic record it appears on. Video

Roberta Flack “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”
I fall in love every time I hear this song. It’s achingly beautiful. The track is so simple, yet so moving; it is a testament to the power of a great song and a great performance. It doesn’t need to be complex, it just needs to be what it is: perfect. Video

Miles Davis “All Blues”
A timeless track on what is one of the greatest records of all time. If I were blasted off into space on a 30-year mission and I could only take one record with me, this might very well be the one. No matter how many times I listen to it, it just does not get old; it just seems to get better over time. It’s hard to believe that it was recorded nearly 50 years ago, because it’s probably more relevant now than ever. It’s a masterpiece of the highest order. Video

The Good, The Bad & The Queen “Herculean”
This song creates a ominous sonic world and transports me to the underbelly of some far-away urban cityscape at night—maybe London. Good stuff. Video

The Cinematic Orchestra “Durian”
Brilliant blend of classic jazz elements with electronica production sensibilities. A unique work and highly listenable. Great to chill to late at night, when the world is asleep. Like I’m doing right now as I write this. Video

Stevie Ray Vaughan “Life Without You”
This song expresses the way I feel about SRV and his leaving this world too early. For my money, he was maybe the most expressive and naturally skilled guitarist ever. Video

Ben Folds Five “Don’t Change Your Plans”
This one reminds me of a time of personal transition and brings me back when I hear it. It’s reflective and a little sad, yet it has a sense of conviction at the same time. It feels like a complex-yet-familiar emotion to me. Video

Brian Wilson/Beach Boys “Our Prayer”
What can you say about this? It’s bewitching. Reverent, mysterious and somber. Perhaps a direct glimpse into the the musical soul of Brian Wilson. And just when you think it’s going to end a little too sad, he sticks in a classic, warm and sunny California chord at the end. Video

—photo by Headhunter

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GUEST EDITOR

Give Patrick Carney Some: “Mappy”

Patricklogo100eFYou probably know drummer Patrick Carney as half of the Black Keys, the acclaimed Akron, Ohio, duo he formed in 2001 with guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach. But Carney has been equally prolific with his own ventures, including Audio Eagle (his record label and recording studio) and now Drummer (a band featuring four other Ohio skinsmen that just released Feel Good Together). Carney, the nephew of multi-instrumentalist Ralph Carney (Tom Waits, They Might Be Giants), always seems to have a lot going on, including Blakroc (a Black Keys project with rappers such as Jim Jones, Mos Def, Q-Tip, RZA and Ludacris with an album due next month) and a Black Keys New Year’s Eve show in Chicago. Carney will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com this week. Read our Q&A with him.

Mapp3Carney: Mappy is a classic (circa 1983) arcade game wherein the player is a mouse police officer chasing after (and being chased by, in turn) a bunch of very naughty cats. It looks like a really cute game, and girls are always like, “Oh, I bet I could be really good at that because it’s all cute and shit.” But then they find out that it is hard as fuck! It’s a man’s game! But even most men are actually girls where Mappy is concerned. None but the champions can get past the bell levels. And I am a Mappy champion. Video after the jump.

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VIDEOS

Film At 11: The Bravery

No, not the guyliner fans’ ode to former foe Brandon Flowers, “Hatefuck” (from the upcoming Stir The Blood) is a suitably nasty piece of video mayhem. In it, the members of the Bravery come across as feedback-friendly, bondage-obsessed Joy Division fans, and if that’s not the recipe for a good night out, nothing is. Plenty gritty, thanks to overflowing bathtubs, hazmat masks and a curious lack of pants, “Hatefuck” marks the return of the Bravery in triumphant (if creepy) fashion.

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TIVO PARTY TONIGHT

TiVo Party Tonight: Sting, “Weird Al” Yankovic

TIVOweirdal4448Ever wonder what will happen during the last five minutes of late-night TV talk shows? Here are tonight’s notable performers:

The Late Show With David Letterman (CBS): Sting
Sting is set to perform on Letterman tonight in support of his new If On A Winter’s Night. The Police frontman is scheduled to promote the new LP at NYC’s Cathedral Church Of St. John The Divine December 8 and 9 with special guest Chris Botti.

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (NBC): “Weird Al” Yankovic
Tonight Fallon hosts Yankovic, who has just released The Essential “Weird Al” Yankovic, a two-disc collection of the comical musician’s greatest hits from his 12 studio albums.

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GUEST EDITOR

Give Patrick Carney Some: Hobart Dishwashers

Patricklogo100eFYou probably know drummer Patrick Carney as half of the Black Keys, the acclaimed Akron, Ohio, duo he formed in 2001 with guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach. But Carney has been equally prolific with his own ventures, including Audio Eagle (his record label and recording studio) and now Drummer (a band featuring four other Ohio skinsmen that just released Feel Good Together). Carney, the nephew of multi-instrumentalist Ralph Carney (Tom Waits, They Might Be Giants), always seems to have a lot going on, including Blakroc (a Black Keys project with rappers such as Jim Jones, Mos Def, Q-Tip, RZA and Ludacris with an album due next month) and a Black Keys New Year’s Eve show in Chicago. Carney will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com this week. Read our Q&A with him.

Hobart2Carney: Hobart makes commercial dishwashers. The best kind are the conveyer-belt type. My friends and I all used to work at this natural-foods grocery store and restaurant in Akron called Mustard Seed. We were dishwashers. They had a really powerful Hobart machine. One time we put a whole tempeh burger on the belt and sent it through. The bun came out the other side, unscathed, but there was no tempeh remaining. That’s how precise and powerful a Hobart is. Video after the jump.