Dan Condon: Sick Tunes, November 2, 2012

Good day to you.

JOEY BADA$$ - Fromdatomb$

Okay, so I slept on Joey Bada$$. I don't even know why, it was a couple of months ago that he was first brought to my attention; honestly, I think it might be because I was still exhausted from everything that Odd Future threw at us for 18 months or so and I didn't think I could handle any more young, energetic rappers for a while. Well, I am an idiot, because any comparison between Joey Bada$$ and OFWGKTA (and there have been more than a few) are completely ridiculous, pointless and not even worth listening to.

The style of hip hop this 17-year-old dude is pumping out is a classic mid-'90s kind of soulful, heavily rhythmic, clever rapping over super groovy beats. The subject matter doesn't even touch any of that stuff that Odd Future were on about either, sure there's a bit of weed talk and a little posturing, but that's to be expected from any kid of this age. Back to the whole mid-'90s thing, the clip for Fromdatomb$ is just classic

Get into his great mixtape 1999 and you'll feel fucking great. Listen to the songs that he rejected from that mixtape on 1999 Rejex and you'll feel completely fucking useless; this kid's offcuts are better than 90 percent of the hip hop records being released these days. Rest assured I'll be keeping my eye on what the rest of Bada$$'s Progressive Era crew over the coming months, sounds like there's gonna be some seriously good shit coming from these kids.

DREAM KOALA – Blur EP

While we're on the topic of young people with far too much talent, I'd like you to have a listen to Dream Koala, an 18-year-old dude out of Paris who makes a really downbeat kind of chill-out R&B that is just really beautiful. His use of space, his use of contrasting and complementary musical textures, his skewed melodic sense and his dazzling ability to be both experimental and completely in the box at the same time is something that I don't believe you can learn or be taught; the kid is a natural artist. How did I come across him? His name is Dream Koala, as if I'm not going to listen to that…

Anyway, he has uploaded his new EP onto YouTube in the hope some people will love it and then rush out and buy a copy. I know I will. If you're going to listen to this on the weekend, I suggest you either do it at the end of a very long night or the beginning of what is going to be a very long, and tiresome day due to possible indiscretions from the night previous. Draw the blinds, make a cup of tea, throw this on and learn to live with your regrets. It's really stunning stuff.

If you only have time to listen to one song; I'd suggest Gone, which kicks in at the 11min29sec mark.

GIORGIO MORODER – Luky Luky

I was recently directed to a SoundCloud page of none other than Giorgio Moroder, and it turns out the dude has really taken to the site, uploading a whole whack of tunes for fans to get into. He has uploaded so much music that he's had to start three accounts to fit it all in, and the best thing? It's pretty much all gold. Some of the tunes he has put up are rare, some of them aren't, some are old, some are kinda new and while plenty of the tunes sound a little cheesy in 2012 that can be part of their appeal.

It was really, really, really hard for me to figure out which song to put up here, because most of them are sick as hell and frankly I'd like to make this week's blog a Moroder special, but I've resisted that and gone for Luky Luky, the Italian version of his 1969 hit Looky Looky. His take on bubblegum pop in the late-'60s was better than anyone else's, and while the English version of this song is fantastic, I got a real kick hearing Moroder sing it in his native tongue and I kinda think it sounds better. You can make up your own mind on that.

CHRISTOPHER OWENS – Here We Go

I don't know what it was about San Franciscan indie dudes Girls, but for a band who wrote some of my absolute favourite songs of the past couple of years (listen to this and try not to melt) and a band who seemed rather consistent, they could never completely sell themselves to me. Maybe it was the hype (which was immense), maybe it was the fact that they never really kicked into a gear beyond the dreamy, stoned haze of their sweet pop tunes, maybe it was that I was jealous of their ability to make the ladies swoon… I was still a little bummed when Christopher Owens decided that the band was over and that we wouldn't be getting another Girls record. I was pleasantly surprised to hear last week, then, that he has made a solo record with Girls producer Doug Boehm that – and this is the clincher – is replete with intricate instrumentation and plenty of backing vocals. I always did like Girls at their most grandiose.

Given the record follows a direct narrative based on Owens' first touring experience with his old band, this first track proper from the album sets things up really well and, importantly, makes me want to hear what happens next. The grimy fuzz guitar that rips through the end of the chorus, the silky flute that glides over the second verse and the rather unexpected, almost proggy outro that finishes it all off, hint at this being Owens' most interesting work to date. We'll see early next year.

KYLIE MINOGUE & NICK CAVE – Where The Wild Roses Grow (The Abbey Road Sessions)

Listen to it here.

I don't really know why Kylie Minogue had to go and re-record all of those songs at Abbey Road for a “new” album, I'm guessing it has something to do with the millions of dollars she stands to make from the record, which is bound to be a big stocking-stuffer this festive season. She gets major kudos for bringing Mr Nick Cave back into the fold for a new rendition of Where The Wild Roses Grow though, and while you can't possibly say that this version is better than the original, it's actually pretty stunning. Let's face it, this is one of the best Australian songs ever written, everything about it rules – it's dark and pretty and it basically has this guy, who at one stage was one of Australia's most fucked up musicians, smashing our biggest pop star's head in with a fucking rock. Anyway, this re-record is all acoustic guitar and oboe and the tasteful piano comes in at the end as something of a reference to the original rendition. The song doesn't lose any of its power with this stripped back arrangement, but such is the power of the song and those who sing it, it's hardly surprising.

Give me a yell on the email or the twitter if you want me to listen to something you reckon is sick. What else am I gonna do with my time?