MC Abdominal - Pedal Pusher

Artist: MC Abdominal

Song: Pedal Pusher

Album: Escape From the Pigeon Hole (2008)

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New album's called "Escape From the Pigeon Hole". First single is "Pedal Pusher" (produced by Young Einstein of Ugly Duckling), with B-side "Radio Friendly" (prod. by Cut Chemist formerly of Jurassic 5). The album's out already in Japan on Handcut records, dropping in UK/Europe sometime in April on Antidote, & is coming out in Canada March 27th on Do Right! music. Still working on the States & Australia...looking good, will keep you posted here.

Aside from Einstein & Cut, there's also production on there from Format & Fase (of course), as well as Circle Research, DJ Serious, Bird, Phat Tony, Jus Cuz, + a special collabo with my boys Notes to Self. Also, all kinds of sick cuts throughout from 2003 world DMC champ, DJ Dopey.

I'm really hyped & excited to finally get this out...been working on it for the better part of 2 years! For everyone inquiring about shows/touring...all that should be getting underway very soon after the album drops. The only thing confirmed thus far is Japan for the first half of April, but I should know about everywhere else soon...again, will keep you posted here.

Finally...website. Just bought a domain name & should have something up soon. You guessed it...I'll keep you posted here. That's it, that's all...thanks everybody for all your support, Abs.

Note on new "PedalWorkout" Remix EP

We had a remix contest for my track “Pedal Pusher” on myspace a while back. The point was to eventually release the winner’s entry. We ended up getting so many good entries however, that we decided we had to include a few of the runners-up as well. So this little remix EP you’re about to (hopefully) download includes said winner (The Plain Ensemble, hailing from Eugene, Oregon), as well as 2 other mixes…1 from The Commonwealth (a production duo out of Toronto & Chicago respectively), & the other from DJ Maniphest (who’s from Milton Keynes, over in the UK). We also included a live version of the tune, recorded with my new band, “The Obliques”. And then, just because we’re good sports, we’ve also tacked on a few other hard to find remixes & tidbits. You’ve got remixes for “Abdominal Workout” from both Natural Self and Jellybass, as well as “Satan Music” (a tune which came out as the bonus cut on a UK only 12”, that had a run of about 80), & “Beatbox Shit” (up for a Grammy this year in the “most creative song title” category…fingers crossed!!), which has never before seen the light of day. So buy the tracks individually, as you see fit, or take the plunge & shell out for the whole shebang (& enjoy a whopping savings of: 0 cents). Regardless, thanks for the support…yours, Abs (aka the guy who’s too broke to hire someone to write these kinds of things for him).

Bad Man - Cyclist Massive

Artist: Bad Man

Album: Cyclist Massive (2010)

“12 tracks of anger-fuelled dancehall ragga music, inspired by 12 years of cycle courierisationment. Nobody can test this ex-cycle courier’s temperament. This is the album of the year!” – Raggatisation Magazine

Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra - Nine Doors

Artist: Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra

Album: Nine Doors (2010)

Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra. That’s gotta be one of he best band names of all time.Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra. Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra. It’s so satisfying to say. It’s almost as satisfying to type out, time and again. Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra. The best thing about the name is that it’s wholly accurate: Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra are a troop of musicians based in a certain district of Manchester who come together to make music from all kinds of instruments, including bicycles. They’ve been a going concern for a few years now, but this is their debut release; a full-length CD album (or download if you’re so inclined) capturing nine of their collective improvisations for posterity and general confusion.

“Marlon. Marlon Brando are you the famous film star?”

And he says, “yes I’m afraid I am.”

“Why aren’t you happy with your existence?”

“Well that’s the question isn’t it?”

Confusion? Yes. It’s not like they don’t warn you: open up the beautifully packaged CD, pull out the bonkers fold-out poster and look on the back; you’re confronted with what reads like the ramblings of an insane man and a small disclaimer: “All lyrics improvised at time of recording and sung by Zeke S Clough”. Pity the fool that volunteered to transcribe them.

Zeke S. Clough (voice, synthesizer, percussion), perhaps better known for his insane artwork for Skull Disco that also adorns this release, is just one of the quartet of fearless improvisers that make up Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra. Huw T. Wahl (bicycle percussion, clarinet, piano, voice), David M. (for Magnus) Birchall (bass, small instruments, percussion, voice) and Josh J. Kopecek (synthesizer, piano, flugelhorn) are the other constituent parts that make up this glorious whole.

So what is the sound of confusion? The album opens up with some typically deranged moans from Zeke, before some clattering of bicycle percussion, fizzing pedals and rhythmic random percussion. This builds up to a point of tension before Zeke begins his first sermon, quickly accompanied by bass thrums and other assorted layers before it all collapses into the next song. “Starved Dog” features a piano accompanying what sounds like someone playing a bass guitar with a slide, a kazoo and god knows what else. “Oily Film” features what sounds like the ghost of crazed organist playing the soundtrack toChopper Chicks in Zombietown, accompanied by creaks, groans and moans and the odd whoop here and there. “Whale in a Duckpond” almost sounds like an actual, recognisable song at various points, with some welcome musicality as David plays the bass like an upright and Zeke croons in his best Geno Washington impersonation. Then it all goes wrong; maggots start crawling over the windows and hell gradually breaks loose. “Marlon Brando”? Well, you know how that one goes. Everything starts falling apart by the time we reach “Primate Engineer” and Huw’s clarinet starts wailing over the top of abstract piano phrases, phased bass rumbles and some beatboxing. Eventually it all comes to a crashing, triumphant halt with final track “Nine Doors”, which runs a full 20 minutes and encapsulates virtually everything that precedes it, mutating from broken-down church organ jam to skeletal percussion workout to bizarre melody hopscotch, all held together by another bizarre, nonsensical story. A glorious hymn to the power of collective free improvisation, it’s probably the finest moment on this fantastically cock-eyed album.

“Nine Doors” is the sound of what happens when you lock four like-minded musical voyagers in a room for 2 days and distill their inevitable improvisations down to something that approaches the coherent “music” your lazy brain desires. Live, Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra must sprawl all over the place as they take different paths towards collective enlightenment. On record, you’re served the mere highlights of their wanderings, jumbled-up and thrown together to create this mind-flaying assemblage of sounds, textures, noises, words and song. Running nicely over an hour, it might be too much to take in at one sitting, but keep listening and it’s the collective inspiration that frazzles your mind. Awesomely inspired and dazzlingly weird, simply nothing sounds like Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra.

LBO are out in the mainland of Europe right now blowing minds night after night. If you’re anywhere near anywhere they’re playing, I suggest you take a trip and check them out:

Gosta Ekman - Isabella (Daisy Bell)

Artist: Gosta Ekman

Song: Isabella

Alma Rek wrote Daisy Bell lyrics in Swedish, as Isabella, recorded by Gösta Ekman, who had a 1929 hit with this version of the song. (…)

Jag har en blomma på hjärtats grund,
Isabella.
Född av en blick i en månskensstund,
blick från min Isabell.
Fast jag vet ej om du vill med mej
gå under brudepäll,
vill jag dock giva mitt liv för dej,
förtjusande Isabell.

Isabella,
skänk nu mitt hjärta tröst,
låt nu gälla
kärlekens milda röst.
Vi kunna förtroligt språka
fast ej i vagn vi åka:
Ty du kan få
en plats ändå,
på min bicykel gjord för två.

Som äkta makar på livets stråt,
Isabella,
hjula vi skulle med fröjd framåt.
Jag och min Isabell.
Ingen polis skull oss hejda då
ty i den mörka kväll
lyste vår färd dina ögon blå,
min strålande Isabell!

Isabella,
skänk åt mitt hjärta tröst,
låt nu gälla
kärlekens ljuva röst.
Vi kunna så härligt språka
fast ej i vagn vi åka:
ty du kan få
en plats ändå,
på min bicykel gjord för två.

Men om en fara oss hota må -
Isabella,
då skall med pinglan du passa på:
Pling, Pling, Pling, Plang, Isabell!
Jag tar den kurs som dig synes bäst
Och - är du riktigt snäll,
ska´ - du få styra båd karl och häst.
min tjusande Isabell!

Isabella,
skänk åt mitt hjärta tröst,
låt nu gälla
kärlekens ljuva röst.
Vi kunna så härligt språka
fast ej i vagn vi åka:
Ty du kan få
en plats ändå,
på min bicykel gjord för två.

Captain Hero - Daisy Bell

Artist: Captain Hero

Song: Daisy Bell

Album: Drawn Together: The Uncensored Soundtrack (2010)

A soul version of the song appears in the series finale of Drawn Together (American Idol Parody Clip Show) which is sung by Captain Hero. It will also be featured in the Drawn Together: The Uncensored Soundtrack

At long last the soundtrack to the hit Comedy Central show Drawn Together is now available! Pulling the music from TV's only animated reality show, the CD is packed with all of your favorites from "La La Labia" to "Black Chick's Tongue" and many more we can't mention. The album contains songs from all of the seasons including the new movie in their raw, uncensored glory!

Dinah Shore - Daisy Bell

Artist: Dinah Shore

Song: Daisy Bell

Album: Happy In Love (1995)

Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore February 29, 1916 - February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality. She was most popular during the Big Band era of the 1940s and 1950s.

After failing singing auditions for the bands of Benny Goodman and both Jimmy Dorsey and his brother Tommy Dorsey, Shore struck out on her own to become the first singer of her era to achieve huge solo success. She had a string of 80 charted popular hits, lasting from 1940 into the late '50s, and after appearing in a handful of films went on to a four-decade career in American television,…

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The Gay 90's with Beatrice Key - Daisy Bell

Artist: The Gay 90’s with Beatrice Key

Song: Daisy Bell

Album: The Gay 90's with Beatrice Kay

A medley of "BICYCLE BUILT FOR TWO/WHILE STROLLING THROUGH THE PARK ONE DAY/THE SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK" from the album "The Gay 90's with Beatrice Kay"
The name of the wonderful Barbershop quartet singing behind her is the "Eligibles."

9655 - Beatrice Kay Sings Gay '90s - Beatrice Kay with Gerald Dolin & Eligibles [196?] There are actually two versions of this album on Golden Tone. The first (shown at right) is actually the intact Mayfair 9655S, on yellow vinyl, inside a Mayfair jacket, but with a gold sticker with the Golden Tone Logo on it pasted over the Mayfair logo on the front. The second version (shown at left), pressed on black vinyl and with song titles on the front, has one less song and a slightly different playing sequence, as follows. Mention My Name In Sheboygan (S)/After The Ball Is Over (S)/Medley: Bicycle Built For Two (Daisy Belle)-While Strolling Through The Park One Day-The Sidewalks Of New York (S)/She's More To Be Pitied Than Censured (S)/The Band Played On (S)//Hello Ma Baby (S)/My Mother Was A Lady (S)/Bill Bailey (S)/Medley: You Tell Me Your Dream And I'll Tell You Mine-In The Evening By The Moonlight-Sweet Rosie O'Grady (S)/She May Have Seen Better Days (S)

Beatrice Kay (April 21, 1907, New York City – November 8, 1986) was an American singer, vaudevillian, music hall performer, stage and film actress. She died in North Hollywood, California, aged 79.

From Wikipedia:

"Daisy Bell" was composed by Harry Dacre in 1892. As David Ewen writes in American Popular Songs: “When Dacre, an English popular composer, first came to the United States, he brought with him a bicycle, for which he was charged duty. His friend (the songwriter William Jerome) remarked lightly: 'It's lucky you didn't bring a bicycle built for two, otherwise you'd have to pay double duty.' Dacre was so taken with the phrase 'bicycle built for two' that he decided to use it in a song. That song, Daisy Bell, first became successful in a London music hall, in a performance by Katie Lawrence. Tony Pastor was the first one to sing it in the United States. Its success in America began when Jennie Lindsay brought down the house with it at the Atlantic Gardens on the Bowery early in 1892.”

It is said that the song was inspired by Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, a British socialite and mistress of King Edward VII.