"Sounds of Eternity" by W&D Project

Anybody listening to Seduction City semi-regularly is probably somewhat familiar with the W&D Project, a duo of Russian producer/DJs that specialize in electronica but also have remixed and produced a plethora of chillout tunes. These guys have an hour long mix they put together once a month called "Sounds of Eternity" which is great, and I've added the first episode to the playlist, so give it a listen.

In typical Seduction City fashion, the program does not air at any particular time because we don't have a watch and aren't organized enough to set a schedule. So just listen in and let me know what you think of it. Below is the playlist for the episode...I'm working on getting a link up.

01. Richard Durand feat. Simon Binkenborn – No Way Home (Unplugged Mix)

02. De / Vision – No Tomorrow

03. Craig Armstrong feat. Elizabet – This Love

04. Aerosoul feat. John Ward – Time is By Your Side (Armenian Soul Remix)

05. Technology-Youth – Dreams (Chillout Mix)

06. Blank & Jones – Fallen

07. K. Melody – Night Sky (W & D Chill Out Vocal Mix)

08. Rob Dougan – Nothing At All

09. Rob Dougan – Theres Only Me

10. Vlad Zhukov – Nothing (W & D Chill Out Vocal Mix)

11. Lamb – Gabriel

12. Iris – Island

Your mission, should you choose to accept it...

I was just listening to the Seduction City stream, as I'm wont to do occasionally, and realized that Garbage's World Is Not Enough (chillout version) cuts off about two-thirds of the way through the song. Why didn't anybody tell me?! It's been running that way for over a week, fer crissake.

I love you guys, my listeners. It pains me to think that you were listening to only 2:43 of a song that is 4:06. So because I'm such a magnanimous dude, I'm restoring the missing 1:23 of the song---ABSOLUTELY FREE!

Seriously, if you guys hear anything wrong with the stream...please e-mail me or send a shout-out. I want to make this your absolute favorite station ever! And to do that, I need to be giving you 100% of the songs you love, not 66%. That's a bitch move.

Forever yours,

Webslinger48

The world is not enough. Or is it?

Here on Seduction City we only deal with the most pressing issues of the day, like how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop and why don't they sell McDonalds St. Patty's Day milkshakes year-round?

But today we are going to tackle one of the all-time perplexing questions...what is the best version of Garbage's theme song to "The World is Not Enough"?

The movie version is not half-bad as far as Pierce Brosnan Bond themes go (the movies are nothing to write home about, though). But there are two obscure remixes of the song -- one entitled the "Chill Out Remix" and the other put together by UNKLE -- that raise eyebrows. I've embedded them both below as well as the original and leave the decision to you...

Sounds of Seduction City Episode 2

Break out a glass of red wine, grab the most comfortable easy chair you have or plop down in your comfy bed and wrap your arm around a pillow or your fluffy teddy...cause this here is a doozy...

New songs!

New to me, too! I was going through a bunch of new tunes last night trying to find some good stuff and discovered almost all of these, and figured "what the heck?", let's put these guys into a continuous mix for SOS-2! I did just that with Virtual DJ...without pre-thinking it at all, I just came up with a quick track order and then lined 'em up and let 'em rip with my limited DJ skills.

Among them is -- at long last -- a higher-quality stereo version of Believe by Luminary. This song was never officially released, to the best of my knowledge, and I had to trek high and low to find this. And it's worth it's weight in gold...assuming it weighed a ton instead of the negligible weight of an mp3 file. Once you hear it in it's magical unparalleled 128 kpbs glory, I am sure you will agree.

If this compilation was a baseball lineup, it would be all cleanup hitters...'cause this thing is LOADED:

Andre Nikkensen feat. Aneym - Weightlessness (Lukas Termena Chillout Mix)

Sundayman - Now That I Found You

Luminary - Believe

Aeriah with Nick Horn & Shadowfall feat. Di - And So It Goes (W&D Chill Down Remix)

Lovage - Anger Management (Instrumental Version)

Lukas Termena feat. Angelica Borof - Infinity

Activa feat. Julie Harrington - You Are Here (Ambient Mix)

Ben Gold feat. Senadee - Today (Chilled Datt Remix)

ADS feat. Di - Words That May Never Be Said

John O'Callaghan - Big Sky (Skydan Remix)

Super8 & Tab feat. Jan Burton - Free Love (Original Mix)

Nadia Ali - People (Original Mix)

Adyjay - The Only Chance

Post any comments or requests you have for future episodes right here.

Sounds of Seduction City Episode 001 -- Debuting this week

I'm reaching out my comfort zone this week...

I recorded a live hour-long mix of some of Seduction City's best songs, plus a few surprises, and am broadcasting it this week. I attempted to make it a seamless continuous mix and the results were...er...what's the word to describe an amateur doing something? Ah yes...amateurish. I have a PhD in amateurish.

My goal is to make this a semi-regular thing, only it won't be regular like once-a-week or once-a-month. It will be like once-whenever-I-feel-like-it because thought and effort does go into it. Even though it would be eminently easier to just put this thing together using an audio editing program (i.e. Audacity) I felt like there was something cooler doing it as as a "live" mix. Plus it makes me feel like an actual DJ even though I am not and never will be close. The tradeoff is that it is a freewheeling thing -- it doesn't have the polish I'd might like and is definitely improv'd. Luckily I enjoyed some "happy accidents" in the process and some of the seques turned out quite smooth an very nice, and I wouldn't be able to replicate if I tried. Regardless, the music holds its own regardless of the inept mixing, and I hope everyone will enjoy something in it.

Below is the song list as well as a link to the program for downloading.

Here's the complete playlist:

Sinead O'Connor - Troy (Schill Out Remix)
4 Strings - Let It Rain (Chill Out Mix)
Adyjay - Part of U (Chill Out Version)
Koop - Strange Love
Nacho Sotomayor - In the Room
Lustral - In My Life (Original Mix)
Waterbone - Tantra II
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Adrien Aubrun Private Remix)
Andru Donalds - (I'm Not Your) One Night Lover
Mads Arp feat. Julie Harrington - Alive
Timbaland feat. One Republic - Apologize (Lukas Termena Chillout Mix)
Dash Berlin - Believe In You
Hex - Surf (Hedfunk Remix)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=H4HRV59V

Bollywood Week on Seduction City (aka Featured artist -- Paul Riordan)

If you listened to Seduction City over the last few weeks you heard an extremely well-produced song called "My Soul Is At the End of the Universe" by an act called Rados. Frankly, I can't even remember where I first heard it but I liked it enough to start digging a little to find out who the hell Rados was and what else he/she/they did.

What I discovered was that the brain behind Rados was not named Rados at all, but rather a British musician/producer with the more pedestrian sounding name of Paul Riordan.

A few years ago Riordan released a project called Two Hearts
which combined samples from old Bollywood movies with modern-day soundscapes -- in other words, perfect fodder for Seduction City. It's all kinds of awesome, and I've added a few to the playlist this week. Just goes to show that inspiration can come from interesting places.

So enjoy. And don't say I don't take care of you.

If all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players, does that mean Jean Claude Van Damme still has an acting career?

Get Bent

Taking the blue pill and going all the way down the rabbit hole this week, Seduction City is getting bent.

We are referring, of course, to the British duo Bent, purveyors of a trippy, cacophonous brand of downtempo aural-ness (probably not a word) that enchants, challenges, mystifies, and just plain tempts it prey. While solid producers in their own right capable of synthesizing samples and creating something wholly enthralling, they are also amazingly adept at remixing other acts' music and adding a sheen of coolness to it.

Listen for it this week.

Congratulations on being a genius.

You are an unheralded genius.

Actually, I don't know that for sure, since I don't know you. Maybe you are heralded -- maybe you are worshiped by nerds, have your own fan club and can't go out in public without paparazzi dizzying your eyeballs with flash bulbs. But if that is the case, then you are heralded for something other than why you really should be heralded.

Put simply, you are a notable person -- because you discovered Seduction City. And not only that, you actually took the time to click on the link and come to The Seduction City website. In this topsy-turvy world, that should count for something, and it does. It means you have taste. Or lack thereof, but taste nonetheless.

There are other good internet radio stations, of course. Other stations that play Flunk, Hooverphonic, Massive Attack, Portishead, etc. Heck, I listen to many of them frequently even though i guess they are my "rivals" (hated enemies?) and I should be bagging on them for being not as good as Seduction City. But that's not my style. They have their genres, their artists and their songs that they like to play, and who can deny them that? They are all good and viable and their mothers love them and they don't make the world a worse place to live.

But c'mon, they aren't as good.

I mean, how many of them are going to sit around at 4:20am on a Saturday night searching for the goddamn Stefan Blomberg Vocal Chill Mix of Modulation's "Sky." They have social lives, they have people that care about them, they have more important thing to do like bathing, polishing their coin collections and picking lint from their toenails -- they don't have time to search for obscure vocal trance chill remixes recorded five years ago.

Did you hear about the guy in Japan who played video games for like 4 days straight and died from dehydration and starvation because he was so ENGROSSED in playing Halo or Everquest or whatever game he was addicted to, that he forgot to eat?

Well, neither did I...because I've spent countless months scouring cyberspace and record stores for ridiculous tunes that meet Seduction City standards. Who needs showering, bathing, sustenance or shelter when something so vital is at stake?

Okay, full disclosure: I have been consuming cans of 5-Hour-Energy. Every 15 minutes.

All hail the necessities of life--Music, checkered Vans, massage chairs, Pixie Stix and old Jonny Quest cartoons. And 80s video games like Joust and Pole Position. And while we're at it, hell...food and water. Because, they too have their niche in civilized society.

Just don't sniff my armpits.

Fondly,
Your Seduction City Programmer
Webslinger48

The Thievery Corp Conundrum

Everybody seems to love Thievery Corporation, with their Kruder & Dorfmeister-flavored brand of trip-hop/downbeat grooves. Truth be told, I have mixed emotions about a lot of their featured albums but one thing that is beyond dispute is that they can remix the hell out of a song. In almost every case, I find their remixes to be preferable to original versions. And that is why their album "Versions" is the featured album this week on Seduction City, landing an unprecedented trifecta of tracks on the playlist. If you like TC, this album is essential. For everybody else it's highly recommended.

Here are some samples -- of particular note are the tracks "Angels," "Nothing to Lose" and "Desert." And if you like any of what you hear and click through to Amazon via the below link to purchase, Seduction City will receive a small commission which will go right back into improving the station and paying the bills. Win-win all around.

Rising from the ashes. Like a Phoenix. Reunited with its lead singer.

Why do great bands break up?

Vanity and egos, mostly. Usually the individual parts of the groups become too big for their britches and feel like they are being dragged down. So, the egos in question dump their minions to go it alone.

Sometimes it works (Michael Jackson, George Michael), sometimes it doesn't (Mick Jagger) and sometimes it's a mixed bag (Sting, David Lee Roth).

Like spurned lovers, the remaining members are left to pick up the pieces. Some soldier on with new singers (Van Halen) and some just close up shop and pursue their own projects (The Police).

File Morcheeba under the former category. After lead singer and face-of-the-band Skye cashed out to pursue the mythical "solo career" in 2005, the remaining producing/songwriting Godfrey Brothers released two albums without her to minimal notice. At least, I didn't notice. No Skye, no Morcheeba as far as I'm concerned.

They were so off the radar that I didn't even realize that they had triumphantly reunited and released a new album, "Blood Like Lemonade."

And shocker, the new album is good. Because it sounds like Morcheeba again.

This song "Self Made Man" especially caught my attention and is on the playlist this week. You can hear it in the YouTube clip below (note: not the official video).

Scooby-Doo and the case of the missing trip-hop band

Hey...there'll be a lot of new stuff hitting the Seduction City airwaves this weekend, but keeping with the theme of obscure trip hop outfits that seemingly disappear after one album (Kolida, we hardly knew ye) I added a nice little ditty today from a Philly duo called Beauty's Confusion. The song is called "Walls" and is from their solid debut titled "Breathe In" which came out in 2004.

They have since followed that up with...well, nothing as far as I can tell. Their Myspace page says that something was supposed to release in 2009 but that year came and went with nary a whisper from them. Add to that the fact that their official website is basically dead and you get the feeling that they never made it big and there is no follow-up. That said, aside from the lousy name there is a lot to like here, especially this song Walls and several others on the album. You can hear some samples below:

Bullet-time...Every time.

So like almost everybody else, I'm a fan of the original Matrix movie that came out in '99. The sequels, not so much, but the original movie was sick. Great action, great story and of course, the great music. But that's actually not what I'm writing about here.

Of course everybody remembers the great "bullet time" sequences in which the camera roams around a scene in which everything appears to be slowed down or stopped in motion. That movie was my first glimpse at visuals like that and was a true pioneer in special effects. Or so I thought.

Turns out that the effect had already been developed and used well before then in a few movies and music videos, including the official vid for Smoke City's Underwater Love
(which is on the Seduction City playlist this week) back in 1997. Check it out, it's pretty cool:

Q: What makes it on Seduction City?

A: Only the best of the best -- the ELITE.

To wit: The Seduction City archives contain tens of thousands of songs. Of those, about 6% make it to air.

That said, recommendations from listeners have made the list. Also, SC takes requests. Let me know what you want to hear.

Broadcasting live today

Seduction City is broadcasting live from the Vault today. What that means is that there are no commercials, no repeats and every song in the library is fair game, including songs from the 1980s Miami Vice series done by Jan Hammer. I say this because there is one particular listener that has made his/her thoughts known about that "cheesy 80's keyboard stuff," but too bad for them. The beauty of broadcasting from the Vault is that you never know what kinda stuff you're gonna hear. But rest assured, it is still within the established Seduction City guidelines and who knows, there might just be something you've never heard before that sparks you.

LMNTL feat. Angela McCluskey - I'm Not the Girl

New on the playlist this week is an oddity...a song called "I'm Not the Girl" by LMNTL with vocals by Angela McClusky. This song was actually created and used solely for a cornball Quattro for Women commercial, which you can see here:

It's got a very cool vibe to it and even though they only used the intro for the ad, a complete version was finished. As far as I know the track is not available on any particular album, but they posted it online and you can download it free and legal here. And listen for it on Seduction City this week.

Nacho Sotomayor - Eternal

Goldfrapp - Lovely Head

The Dining Rooms - Tunnel

Welcome

Seduction City radio is for dreamers.

For lovers. For thinkers. For leaders. For followers. For the disenchanted. For the enchanted. For sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, sister-in-laws, brother-and-laws, and father-and-laws. And even Mother-in-laws. If they're nice. I started this station for you. And I need your help... Send me requests. Recommend songs. I thought I knew everything there was to know about this kind of music -- I was so wrong. Since I started Seduction City, my sound library has tripled, thanks to you. It has been mind-blowing. Life altering. And humbling. Because people have reached out to me and recommended things. People who know much more about music than me. And they did it for no selfish reason; they just wanted to make Seduction City better. And it's much better than I ever could've done on my own. Plus it allows me to write in short staccato sentences with a period at the end. Any. Time. I. Want. So join me on this journey. I can't tell you where we'll end up. But trust me, it will be worth it.