Troika

This episode of Troika is a collection of music that uses NASA samples. The first track is *"Space Walk" by Lemon Jelly*, which samples Ed White's reaction to the first ever space walk on the Gemini 4 mission in 1965. Then we have *"V1 | 130" by Geremia Vinattieri*, released as part of the Space Songs EP from Bad Panda records. The final track, called simply *'Go', comes from Public Service Broadcasting*'s second brilliant album 'Race for Space' uses samples of the hubbub of Mission Control.

I discovered the music of J Dilla (aka James Dewitt Yancey or Jay Dee) by going backwards. I'm a big fan of the band Phantogram, and when they mentioned their sound uses 'J Dilla beats' I looked back on his extensive back catalog and found his influence everywhere. He's one of hip hop’s most influential producers and artists, but his career was cut short at just 32 after battling the incurable blood disease, lupus. I've chosen one he produced, one of his own, and one that was a homage. As Erykah Badu says in the last track "This one's for Dilla"…

The theme for this Troika is a little more esoteric than normal - it's comedians, singing parody songs, in the style of other artists. Weird Al Yankovic has made a whole career out of this, but these are maybe slightly less well known.

Back in the mid-90's the British Music Press had decided that Shoegaze music was finished, and that if you weren't Britpop or Grunge you deserved to be mocked. Bands like Slowdive disbanded and explored other genres, but it had left enough quality work to inspire the next generation of bands, nastily called 'Nu gaze'.

So welcome to Troika Episode 4! This one is all about a genre called Light Music, a form of orchestral music that was at its height in the 1950s and 60s. These were shorter, lighter, more whimsical pieces of music, often used in the soundtracks of films and Pathe News reels.

I'm not a fan of Kraftwerk at the best of times. I have friends who adore them, but they leave me cold. I was listening to one last week that was all about using a 'Pocket Calculator' - adding and subtracting. In particular, when there is a Cycling related programme on telly, the likelihood is that they will end up using their 'Tour De France'. Its feels about as far removed from the experience of cycling as I can think of. I love electronic music, but for me it doesn't have the right feel. I think Rapha have got it spot on. They're a high-end cycling clothes brand, but to promote their range they regularly publish videos of their rides. If you were cynical, you'd say these are just big adverts, which they are in part, but they're also very inspirational. It was watching these videos that made we want to get a proper road bike and head out into the countryside. Maybe they've twisted my view of what 'music to cycle to' should be, but these are the sounds in my head when I'm riding.

I heard an interview with Jarvis Cocker where he was asked about 'guilty pleasures'. His response was "There's no such thing as a guilty pleasure. If it's music, and you like it, why feel guilty about it?". Quite right - there's too much music snobbery. Somehow there's this rule that certain types of music are to be embarrassed about. With that in mind, I want to present three songs on a similar power ballad/rawk arena that all come from the 80s/ early 90s. They're not the kind that get repeated ad-infinitum on commercial radio though.

This first edition of Troika is about ambient music. Not the bleepy,beaty, dancy kind, but the more soothing 'neo-classical' or drone style of Ambient. Music for watching the stars (amongst other things).