• BeatPick.com – License Music for Film, Tv and any other use (license pre-cleared music)

Search

• Follow us on Twitter! @beatpick

  • Could not connect to Twitter

Demetrios Katis was born in Athens, Greece and has been composing songs for over twenty years. Since the age of 17, Demetrios has proven his talent through many awards for his historically driven sound and has been published in London, the U.K. and the Netherlands.

Epic Scores, is a compilation of Demetrios’s best tracks; each track offering a haunting, mysterious and enchanting soundtrack to historical battles, mythological stories, past emperors and more. Each score is composed through a dramatically brilliant orchestra that’s full of emotion and imagination that is woven with an intensity that cannot be ignored. The President of the Greek Parliament, Mr. Kaklamanis, publicly acclaimed Demetrios for his work and the board of directors of the educational institute in Athens have unanimously approved one of Demetris’ albums, Blazing March, to be included as part of the high school curriculum in music. There is no greater acknowledgment than to be used in a teaching curriculum for thousands of students, making this one of many reasons why BeatPick is proud to post Demetrios Katis on our site.

Demetrios Katis’s continues to create rich orchestral symphonic tunes of mythological and historical music. His intense passion for his work has led to many projects, not only with major film music libraries, but even taking him as far as producing and presenting his own radio programme “The Dance of the Danas,” on “Athens 9.84 FM”. Epic Scores is emotionally stimulating and is an album that will motivate and enchant your thoughts, listen here, at BeatPick.com.

This past week, two of BeatPick’s artists, Henrik Frenzel and Simon Wolfe, were selected for the soundtrack of a nonprofit video created by the Majority Leaders’ Office of Steny Hoyer, in Washington D.C. The Majority Leader is the second-ranking official in the United States House of Representatives. That’s huge, but what is more important to us BeatPickers, is not the politics of this debate but the music surrounding it (yes, politics are important to, but BeatPick does music not politics)!

The video begins with a serious tone, using Henrik Frenzel’s song “See You in Paris,” which is a beautiful slow tempo score from his album Wide Screen Music. The uplifting turn in the video is when Simon Wolfe’s “Power and Glory”, from his album Moving Sound, takes over. The song is a powerful motivational vote for change.

No one can deny that adding music to political statements makes it that much more emotionally stimulating. Who can blame them when most people think of politics they think BORING. Without Henrik Frenzel and Simon Wolfe’s songs, this video would have been just that, less meaningful, boring and impersonal. And not only does an important issue actually receive more attention but so do our much deserving artists.

In no way do the songs of our artists in this video represent their personal opinion. BeatPick and our artists are neither Republican nor Democratic, nor American or European, nor Eastside or Westside! What BeatPick is, what we are, and proud to be, is a FairPlay Music label.

Link to the video and to their website

Howard Richards has been playing piano since he was five years old, barely reaching the pedals yet finding the keys like it was meant to be. His life has been dedicated to the piano and his passion for those ivory keys has led him to create a complex melodic and harmonic compilation called Piano styles. Piano Styles is an album of mixed tempos, each track playing beautiful notes that only a master of the piano could harness.

Richards’ CD focuses on the lighter and upbeat side of the piano, focusing less on lower notes and staying true to a more slapstick jazzy sound. Tracks like “Just For Fun,” is very playful and sounds like a fun walk through a city park with the possibility of falling into a pond. It’s a perfect fit for a Charlie Chaplin film. If you are more of a fast on-the-go kind of Jazz lover, than track number 2 “Rondo”, is just for you. “Rondo” shows the more serious piano side of Howard Richards, giving the listener a chance to hear his versatility on the piano hence, the albums’ name Piano Styles. Richard’s piano solos have proven that he is one of the finest Jazz pianists out there.

If you’re a jazz buff or just love the harmonic sounds of the piano, then listen to his album for free, here at BeatPick.com. Don’t miss out- Piano Styles is certainly worth the listen!

To check out Howard Richards personal site click here.

During the ICommons Summit, the founder of CC, Lawrence Lessig, discussed the endless possibilities of using the cc and how it is economically sound and profits all who use it. He also explained that the future of CC lies in what he called the “crossover” possibility for users, to pass from free services to commercial licensing within the same web site. BeatPick was ecstatic to find that Lessig’s example for such a new typology of web sites, was yours’ truly BeatPick.com! Creative Commons is the basis of how BeatPick works; giving independent artists greater opportunities to break into the money crazed music industry. Without Lessig’s ideas and revisions of the Internet, society and copyright laws, BeatPick wouldn’t be here today.

["It is no accident that those who understand this are those closest to technology. Our challenge will be to find ways to explain it so other creators get it as well. "Lawrence Lessig.
http://lessig.org/blog/creative_commons.]

As always, our hats off to the creators and innovators of what we believe to be the best thing to happen for all struggling artists in every field. To see BeatPicks placement within the ICommons Summit, click and watch the video below. Our site shows up on the big screen about fifteen minutes into Lessig’s presentation.

[coolplayer width="480" height="380" autoplay="0" loop="0" charset="GBK" download="1" mediatype=""]
ICommons Summit 2007, youtube
[/coolplayer]

Thought-provoking, genre-crossing Pop-Rock laboratory OHN are at the moment working hard on promoting their latest album “Revolutionary Revolution“, certainly the most mature piece of work the Austin-based ensemble have published so far.

The band’s formation is in constant evolution, having dropped from seven elements to just four, and with the fundamental addition of female vocalist Allison Scharf, who plays a key-role in the new album’s sound: an often brilliant crossover between Electronic Rock/Pop and more complex influences, such as Dub, Jazz and Downtempo.

“Any Way U Look At It” is a wonderful example of what OHN’s sound is today: starting with a percussion-driven Funk Groove, and soon developing into a masterful post-modern Pop patchwork, the song leaves no grounds unexplored, constantly swinging between jazzy sax solos, ethnic Downtempo Dance and highly melodic vocal interventions.

And as mastermind Bill Sarver’s elaborate texture rolls into full charge, Scharf’s vocals invite the listener to find empowerment in the modern Era, to “stand up, and ask the right questions…Stop acting so,so mad“: each sentence she pronounces is immediately underlined by the Sax, in a Question-Answer structure that leaves the phrases floating in the listener’s head, with undeniable hypnotic effect.

“Any way you look at it you can’t lose“: optimistic and uplifting, the chorus carries the listener towards an almost ambient-jazz bridge section, where the soulful Electronica OHN proposed in their first two albums regains the full center of the stage. Such transitions only great musicians and songwriters can afford to attempt.

To download the full track for free, click here.

OHN will be playing live at the next NAMM convention on July the 27th, and continue to attract attention from both public and music lovers, as recent use of their music for PBS television show Roadtrip Nation demonstrates. Listen to all OHN albums from their Beatpick Profile, here.

This past June 21^st 2007, for the first time ever, the European Festival of Music (a free live music celebration held every summer in European cities), was held in Second Life! What is Second Life you ask? Well, let me tell you-it is the strangest, most fascinating and coolest freaking thing on the net. It is a 3-D virtual world entirely constructed and owned by its 8,006,758 users from around the globe. What makes it even cooler to us Beatpickers is that two of our Italian artists, Piergiorgio Lucidi and Leo Pari, performed at this virtual event in 3d characters! It gets even cooler, because not only did two of our artists join this event but so did one of our very own BeatPick colleagues, Teodoro Pizzolante and his band Madreperla!

Second Life has incorporated all aspects of real life on the Internet, so it comes to no surprise that this virtual world has opened it doors to the music industry, because for us, what is life without music? Independent artists now have another outlet for reaching a global fan base with little expense or effort!

["Second Life is the future right now, offering endless possibilities for artists" - Nick Rhodes, Duran Duran]

What will come next for Second Life and Beatpick…maybe a BeatPick office in this virtual world? Who knows, but for now, stay tuned and rock out to our artists video performance on second life!!

Meet one of the newest and fewest legit rappers out there, Tony Cash.   Tony Cash is from Detroit Michigan, and has been an artist for over ten years. His main influences are Redman, Methodman, Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Nas, Ghetto Boys, Dr. Dre and N.W.A., and many many more.  Already labeled as one of the top up and coming underground rappers, it’s no wonder that his album is titled the Ripple Effect, because this album is literally making ripples in the rap community.  

Ripple Effect brings gangsta rap back to its true roots, with pumped up beats and lyrics to match, making this album fit for any low-rider’s stereo. Forget about the played out ‘bitches and hoes’ kind of lyrics, this album actually has something to offer society besides oversized ‘bling bling’.
Tracks that really stands out on Ripple Effect are “Gone Get It” and “Success”. Straight up street smart, these tracks are lyrically up to date with the politics of street life, fellow rappers and today’s politicians. Tony Cash is going to get success no matter what comes at him.
Blunt and tough is how we like it here at BeatPick.com and the track, “My Level” brings both to the table. This powerful track raps about Tony Cash’s entrance into the Midwest rap scene and describes the inner-city life surrounded his rise. “What do haters want from me?” he asks, well it’s obvious to us- His talent!

To hear this latest album click here.

Tony Cash’s production label O-Face Productions, is involved in the tracks on the album.  His family and close friends involved on this alubm are Jugg, Complex, Phat Roc, Big Steve, and G-Wizz.

As readers can check out on our main blog, 2006 Global Battle of the Bands winners Heavy Mojo will soon be leaving us, having signed a deal for their first Major record release with Universal. Surely we’re sad (and thrilled at the same time), yet what better occasion to celebrate one of the greatest bands to have been on Beatpick??

Blow Out The Sound is the band’s second album, a truly inspiring journey across the past, present and future of Hip Hop: from Funk to Rock, from Old Skool beats to Jazzy breaks, no influences are excluded, in such a fresh and intriguing melting pot no music fan will be disappointed.

Still, Blow Out The Sound is actually even more than that: its sharp lyrics have no problems tackling all modern Hip Hop values and clichès, and carrying home a strong, convincing message very few records are brave enough to even attempt.

“Carz and Clothes” brings down the axe on all the sexist and capitalistic ideals ruling nowadays Hip Hop imagery: “I never thought I’d see the day when music don’t exist, when every song’s about putting money in your fist or putting shiny shit around your wrist“. Following in the steps of Chicago-based Rap prophet Common, the band are clearly out to deliver a message to the whole afro-american community, and this is just a beginning, as practically all the songs on the record deliver hard-hitting, uncompromising lessons in credibility and morality.

Take “Lovely Lie“, for example, a surprisingly feminist semi-ballad, where the black woman’s self-subjugating dependence on drug-dealing, prostitute-fueling men is examined in a crude and passionate mode, reaching emotional peaks in the Faith No More styled crossover chorus (”Baby, why’d you live that lie?”): no surprise that with producers James Salter and Rusty Fowler (previously at work with Rage against the Machine and Stone Temple Pilots) the Rock heritage should be so clear.

Kicking off with a human beatbox solo, “Black Sand” is another standout track, where Dirty Dollarz, Priest and Simon Stone’s alternated vocals pay a tribute to the involution of a Black neighbourhood and its traditions. An intimate and touching insight on afro-american family and community relations.

Another favourite song at Beatpick is closing track “Mojo’s Last Stand“, a self-celebratory, light-hearted Funky Rock anthem for the next generation of Hipsters, driven by contagious hand-clapping and obsessive guitar rifferama.

Now’s the perfect moment to discover one of the hottest bands on the planet! Before their notoriety shoots up (and, alas, also the price of their music), buy or license Heavy Mojo music at Beatpick rates!

To download the four aforementioned songs for free, click here. (this link will only be active until the 25th of July)

To hear the full album in streaming, visit the Heavy Mojo profile on Beatpick.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Straight Up is what jazz lovers everywhere will soon be calling their newest favorite album. Is that too bold? No way!

    B.D. Lenz newest album Straight Up, is straight up jazz and straight up amazing! Having played guitar since the age of 14 and graduated with honors from the Musicians Institute in Hollywood California, it’s no wonder that he can fuse jazz, soul and funk into a beautiful combination of melodic jazz funk. Straight Up is BD Lenz’s third project with Apria Record label, (a U.S. based label featuring jazz, R&B, smooth jazz and Latin artists). This third album takes a very outgoing, free spirited kind of style that allows the band to be really creative. B.D. Lenz is said to have, “agonized over every tune and is always modifying each song”, making each track a collection of instrumental genius that makes us ‘BeatPickers’, proud to promote on our site.
    Straight Up, consists of ten amazing tracks all ranging from slow tempo to medium fast tempo rhythms. This definitely gives the listener a chance to hear a variety of jazz for chill nights at home, or for cocktail hour on a night on the town. Straight Up’s first track “Uh Huh”, is a nice introduction into B.D. Lenz’s live vibe style. It’s upbeat and confident, with a touch of piano to bring in that cool classy feel. Track 5, “Love, as a flower blossoms”, is beautifully done with slow tempo piano keys complimented by a heartbreaking guitar. This track pulls at ones emotions; it’s sad yet uplifting and instrumentally poetically brilliant and one of my favorite on this album.

    There is no need for convincing, if you love jazz music with a taste of something extra, then don’t hesitate to check out this album and hear for yourself. If anything, it’s a winner and just another great reason why B.D. Lenz is one of New Jersey’s Top 20 up-and-coming jazz musicians. Hear it here at Beatpick.com.

Band Members: B.D. Lenz (guitar), Geoff Mattoon (sax), Joe Ashlar (keys), James Rosocha (bass), Tom Cottone (drums), Joe Meckler (percussion).

If you would like to check out B.D. Lenz on myspace click here.