This was a really hard thing to do for us, here at La Suite 303: to select from the huge music universe of this decade just a hundred of honorable representatives of the sonic dawn of the XXI century, the decade of the Euro, the iPod, global warming, energy crisis, the dependence on technology and social networks.

We’ve surely left out some best-selling artists, like Linkin Park or Christina Aguilera, some indie wonders like Kings Of Convenience, CocoRosie, The Postal Service or MGMT or even some of our personal favorites like Björk or PJ Harvey. But we’ve selected this one hundred entries based on a meticulous process that took several weeks and a lot of analysis, and our final result is as follows. Please comment. Click to go.

I would like to give you a little brief on my music roots, when I was a child, I remember my grandfather playing the piano for many hours, despite the fact that he was a self-taught musician, he composed a bunch of very complex original pieces and also played classical tunes like a virtuoso, in fact the first track of this podcast is like a time travel to my own childhood, so intense that I feel like being back in that living room listening to the chords of his magnificent Petrof, and something curious, the authorship of the first track belongs to the legendary Charles Mingus (I Can’t Get Started) which is from a recording named Spontaneous Compositions and Improvisations.

However in those days I wasn’t aware of the music universe around me, until I found a cassette which out-stood from others for its incredible cover, when I listened carefully, it burst a music revolution in my head, that recording was The Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Time Out (from 1959), that was the key that opened a whole new universe for me, and also a key to understand and enjoy more deeply the music of my grandfather.

This podcast doesn’t reflect the music that my grandfather used to listen to at all, some tracks might be too freestylish and too percussive for him. I grew up surrounded by his music and over the time I developed my personal music taste, and I want to dedicate this podcast with affection and respect to my grandfather who was an outstanding musician and also an excellent human being that encouraged me to expand my musical horizons.

Your perfect smile and compositions will remain with us forever
Dr. Eduardo Peña-Alfaro Sáenz
(1917-2007)

Podcast Tracklist:
01 - Charles Mingus - I Can’t Get Started
02 - Melody Gardot - Love Me Like A River Does
03 - Elizabeth Meza - Moondance
04 - Oscar Peterson - Younger Than Springtime
05 - Dianne Reeves - Love For Sale
06 - Tommy Flanagan - Let’s
07 - Masao Nakajima - Moments Notice
08 - Idea 6 - The Tune Up (Quasimode Remix)
09 - Red Garland - Daahoud
10 - Helen Merrill - My Favorite Things

But continuing with the taste of our podcasts, this time we have prepared a meticulous selection of tunes that in one way or another holds a substantial symphonic or orchestral essence but at the same time it preserves the innovation and grace of contemporary non-classical music, some good examples are: the impeccable collaboration of Phoneheads & The Düsseldorf Symphonic Orchestra or the impressive remix of an Oliver Nelson track made by Telefon Tel Aviv, as you know Charlie Wesley Cooper member of Telefon Tel Aviv died this past January 22nd and by means of this podcast we want to express our condolences and pay a little homage to this magnificent man, whose true love and fresh imagination for music never stopped.

Podcast Tracklist:
01 - The Cinematic Orchestra - Hyena
02 - Musetta - Some Thoughts Are Hard To Die
03 - The Heritage Orchestra - Tell Me Stories
04 - Emily Wells - Symphony 1 In the Barrel of a Gun
05 - Émilie Simon - Sweet Blossom
06 - Dosh - Um, Circles And Squares
07 - Xavier Bergman & Prague Symphonic Orchestra - Instinct In Paradise
08 - Phoneheads & The Düsseldorf Symphonic Orchestra - Syrinx
09 - Kattoo - Somber Happening
10 - Oliver Nelson - Stolen Moments (Telefon Tel Aviv Remix)
11 - Ryuichi Sakamoto - Aoneko No Torso

This sunday, March 8, the International Women’s Day is celebrated and it is the perfect excuse to drown yourself into a vast sea of music made by women, so we are sharing with you this astonishing blog: Guitarwomen, where you can find a huge amount of music from France, Iceland, USA, UK, Mexico, Spain, Brazil and many other places, it is a large catalogue of female related artists. Some of our favorites would be: Pee Shy, Vive la Fête, Camille, Róisín Murphy, Veruca Salt, Natacha Atlas, Le Tigre, Katia B, Tori Amos, The Like, Cibo Matto, Sonic Youth, Sara Valenzuela, Lyambiko, Emilíana Torrini, Björk, Cibelle and Au Revoir Simone, among many, maaany others. You can find there some Doo-wop, Metal, Pop, Punk, Electronic, some Jazz, and a lot of Rock… (sadly they forgot about Funk and Hip-Hop).

Celebrate women and enjoy their music!

The influence of these musicians on contemporary music is undeniable, especially Holly who was a role model for the Beatles and everything that came after, he was the first one to configure the band with two guitars, bass and drums, and Valens a precursor of the Chicano Rock movement. La Suite 303 remembers this sad event in music history.

Listen to one of our favorite songs of all times: Everyday by Buddy Holly.

This is the time of the year when we present to you the La Suite 303’s Podcast about the best songs of the year, according to our personal taste and perception. Remeber that the tracks are listed alphabetically since we don’t believe in assigning numbers to them (Who’s to say which is the best overall track?). We have several choices this year but we sum it down to around 20, that’s always our criteria, we always say “20 tracks, more or less”, so some tracks didn’t make it to the list, but it is worth to mention that this one didn’t make it, because of an opinion clash between the editors, one of the reasons was “it’s not daring enough” and also it was not a new song but it was noticed (and charted in the USA, UK, New Zealand and Canada) until 2008, it is: Handlebars by Flobots (Denver, USA) and we were not the only ones disagreeing, as you can read here. Once again enjoy this issue! These songs, like last year’s, are really great!

LaSuite 303 - The Best Songs of the Year 2008:

All The Wrong Places (Sensibility) by Dead Pixels
(London, UK)

Día by Juana Molina
(Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Errata by Xploding Plastix
(Oslo, Norway)

From Stardust To Sentience by High Places
(New York, USA)

Gun by Emiliana Torrini
(Kópavogur, Iceland)

Lights Out by Santogold
(Philadelphia, USA)

Mansard Roof by Vampire Weekend
(New York, USA)

Music Takes Me Up by Mr. Scruff
(Manchester, UK)

Náttúra by Björk
(Reykjavík, Iceland)

Parachute by Shugo Tokumaru
(Tokyo, Japan)

Profanity Prayers by Beck
(Los Angeles, USA)

Rising Up by The Roots (featuring Wale & Chrisette Michele)
(Philadelphia, Washington DC & New York, USA)

Serenade by The Naked And Famous
(Auckland, New Zealand)

Shoulda Known by Atmosphere
(Minneapolis, USA)

Showtime by Quiero Club
(Monterrey, Mexico)

Snake Patrol by Hint (featuring Gavin Stenhouse)
(Leicester & London, UK)

Suspendida Del Cielo by Taera
(Madrid, Spain)

The Girl Ain’t Preggers by Grampall Jookabox
(Indianapolis, USA)

White Winter Hymnal by Fleet Foxes
(Seattle, USA)

Won’t Say Anything by Hello Seahorse!
(Mexico City, Mexico)

Podcast Tracklist:
01 - Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
02 - Emiliana Torrini - Gun
03 - Beck - Profanity Prayers
04 - Hello Seahorse! - Won’t Say Anything
05 - Santogold - Lights Out
06 - Dead Pixels - All The Wrong Places (Sensibility)
07 - Atmosphere - Shoulda Known
08 - Grampall Jookabox - The Girl Ain’t Preggers
09 - Hint (featuring Gavin Stenhouse) - Snake Patrol
10 - Mr. Scruff - Music Takes Me Up
11 - The Roots (featuring Wale & Chrisette Michele) - Rising Up
12 - Taera - Suspendida Del Cielo
13 - Vampire Weekend - Mansard Roof
14 - Shugo Tokumaru - Parachute
15 - Juana Molina - Día
16 - The Naked And Famous - Serenade
17 - Quiero Club - Showtime
18 - Björk - Náttúra
19 - Xploding Plastix - Errata
20 - High Places - From Stardust To Sentience

Recently I discovered an incredible documentary called: Touch the Sound: A Sound Journey With Evelyn Glennie, and one of the things that I’ve found so appealing about this film was the fact that Evelyn Glennie is deaf since her childhood, but she’s also a remarkable percussionist. Through this documentary you can come to understand her silent life and her perspective on how she, literally, touches the vibrations of sound and how, despite her incompleteness, she has become a renowned musician nowadays. The director Thomas Riedelsheimer made a fantastic filmmaking work showing us her vision of this world in a unique and suggestive way.

She also has made contributions with some other artists in which Evelyn appears to be listening to every note on their performances because she made perfect synergy with them. From the crowded streets of New York City to a relaxing garden in Japan, She travels through, not only an amazing journey around the world, but also a deep journey into herself by which music lovers, like myself, are happily delighted.

Featuring:
Evelyn Glennie & Fred Frith. (this video)
Evelyn Glennie & This.
Evelyn Glennie & Za Ondekoza.
Evelyn Glennie & Roxanne Butterfly.
Evelyn Glennie & Jason “The Fogmaster”.
Evelyn Glennie & Horazio “El Negro” Hernández.
Among others.

More than 100 artists were picked, an MP3 compilation was made and it was distributed among close friends, the idea of a documentary film  was even discussed (but, unfortunately, we all have day-jobs and other things to do). Enclosed in that compilation were acts like Café Tacuba,  Julieta Venegas, Nortec and many others that are not included in our podcast tracklist, simply because on Suite 303 we always focus on the  not-so-obvious artists.

Needless to say that thanks to the Internet, the exposure to greater influences, DIY recording and other  contemporary issues, the quality of the new Mexican talent has recently improved and it is easier to get close to their music.

Please enjoy Mexhibit A, a contemporary Mexican  music podcast!

Tracklist

01 - Intro: Organillo
02 - Shy Genius - Mumerats
03 - People Project - Segundo Piso
04 - Muna Zul - Voto De Silencio
05 - Falcón - I Lobby
06 - Villa Jardín - Misiones
07 - MC Luka - Lupita’s Taco Shop
08 - Sonex (featuring Rubén Albarrán) - La Bamba
09 - Los Músicos De José - Nebulosa
10 - Maple - Pixel
11 - Faca - Nightshot
12 - Jorch Mono - Real e Imaginario
13 - Chikita Violenta - Turnaround
14 - Sub-Division - Blue Boy
15 - Maniquí Lazer - Mrs. Lazer
16 - Titán - Odisea 2001