The South Rakkas Crew a group of fantastic producers and dancehall artists. The legendary Greensleeves label called them "a dancefloor filler and radio killer" they are definately that. The south Candian born danchallers now call rodent world (Orlando) home.
The Mad Decent crew first came to my attention after reading about them over at the offical blog. What I didn't know is that I have heard a bunch of remixes over their Chinzuki Riddim which is just plain huge. Awesome stuff. Don't sleep on this. Check it out:
Mp3: South Rakkas Crew feat. TOK - "Carry Feelings"
Buy: Get the full mix record here.
Bonus Mp3: Beck - "Black Tambourine" (South Rakkas Crew Remix)
There is even a remix of DJ Shadow the Crew did as well floating around...
New exclusive track from Ninja Tune and Big Dada. Montreal DJ/Producer Ghislain Poirier has joined fellow Mount Real emcee Face T. Poirier's ear for production is spot on and Face T has a good flow to him (how can you beat that accent?). Be sure to check it out, track hits real hard. ALSO don't forget to show some support by picking up one of many great records by Ghislain.
This track is off his new album NO GROUND UNDER which is out in Canada now but doesn't come stateside till January.
Support: Get Poirier records here.
photo from Pitchfork.
Nice conclusion to the weekend with Rage Against the Machine closing out the festival. They played about an hour and 20 minute jam packed set. The energy was up there, and all the classics from "Bombtrack," "Testify" and "Know Your Enemy" were played. They played a couple unrecognizable tunes as well which were either new cuts or tracks I haven't heard. They encored with "Killing in the Name Of" which was fantastic. Was able to check out Spearhead, UNKLE, and Muse. I wasn't all that impressed with Muse guess its not really my sound but enjoyed Spearhead and UNKLE.
The festival overall was great and spot was fantastic. Very happy I made the trip out from the windy city to check it out. Really in all my only complaint was the hip hop artists in attendance didn't get a fair shake. Lupe and Pharoahe Monch both had the 1:00 time slot which is pretty rough given that the Daft Punk and RATM didn't play till 9:00...thats 6 or so hours of desert heat and 10 dollar burritos until you see the main event. Ghost didn't manage a much better slot as well. I know alot of people head to Vegoose for the jam bands but I would have loved to see a single hip hop artist in a slot later than 4:00. Again happy I was there just wish some hip hop music was played in the twilight hours.
After some interesting high jinks with the most over priced shuttle service I have ever experienced I arrived in the desert just in time to see The Shins. The Sin City concert is set in the beautiful desert abutting some beautiful mountains and the night weather was wonderful. The Shins put on a good show, I love their records but its difficult to get excited about the Shins in a large scale setting. I just don't find their music translates well to upping the decimal levels. Next to check out was MIA who put on a great show as usual. Again Low Bee's affinity for using the shotgun sample was a bit over done. In the end the performance was great and MIA ended up inviting around 200 people on stage. After MIA we headed over to check out Queens of the Stone Age who played a great set.
I haven't listened to them a whole lot. I am familiar with some of their tracks and they played a couple cool covers which I can't name at the moment...Daft Punk was the closer and played a similar set to the one I saw in Chicago. Yet they broke out some tracks not played in Chicago and given the amount of coordination that needs to take place to pull off a musical and visual performance such as this one it was impressive. The show was fantastic with the energy ramped up to unbelievable levels. I was surprised with the amount of people surrounding me that were not familiar with the songs but overall I think the set went of well. Would have liked to see something a bit more out of the final appearance of the pyramid on US soil but hey beggars can't be choosers and the set was still fantastic. Hopefully they'll be back at some point.
Spearhead, Ghostface and Rage Against the Machine today.
Was able to make it just in time to see Thievery Corporation open Vegoose at the House of Blues. After attempted sabotage by the New York New York hotel by having a ridiculously long check in line (took us nearly 30 minutes to get checked in!) and then having them put us in a smoking room. We got some bum directions to the HOB but we ended up figuring it all out and getting there right when Thievery started.
They had a live band along with a group of miscellaneous singers, ranging from a cute french girl, a Portuguese model, an old Spanish dude, a duo of Jamaicans and a belly dancer. Didn't anticipate how entergtic they're live show turned out to be. A great set where they played some old stuff along with their more recognizable downtempo chill classics. Certainly a good time and I was so happy we were able to make it there by the 12:30 PM opener. Its off to the desert here in about 30 minutes for some great music so Ill be sure to post up what happens at Vegoose Day 1 tomorrow.
Peace.
Sans 9th Wonder Little Brother dropped The Getback on Tuesday. The North Carolina duo consisting of Big Pooh and Phonte. I worried that having them part ways with 9th would result in a production drop off but the duo came up huge by keeping 9th for some tracks and then having some of the best do work for them. Hi-Tek, and Denaun Porter both produce tracks and probably the most hard hitting song "Good Clothes" was produced by a dude that helped them with their mixtapes, Illmind.
The best part about this new record and given the crack down by record labels is the fact that Phonte leaked the album himself on Okayplayer.com. Hilarious. The album is laced with humor, great production and lyrics. Right up there for best hip hop record of the year. Check out a track:
Buy: Get the record right here.
Rare opportunity for those in the Chicago area. There is an absolutely FREE (can you beat free?) party we are inviting you to this Friday night October 26th. The party is presented by DKNY, Details Magazine, and 3D-MAS.
Its pretty simple all YOU HAVE TO DO IS RSVP to be in attendance (email info@3dmas.com). Free drinks and Matthew Dear. Doesn't get a whole lot better. The details are:
MATTHEW DEAR (live band performance)
Friday, October 26th, 2007
STOLI HOTEL 240 N Ashland Ave - Chicago, IL
doors: 8:00pm close: 11:00pm ages: 21+tickets:
FREE - just rsvp to info@3dmas.com or by phone at 1.800.813.9158 straight away.
Matthew Dear aside from his work with the Ghostly International label he also released his critically aclaimed Asa Breed record. I know if I wasn't going to be in Vegas for Vegoose I would be at this thing. Don't miss it.
Hometaping got me thinking...
Today, one of the largest music sharing sites has gone down at the hands of an international group of RIAA thugs law enforcement. It was an exclusive site based upon invites, that kept to a strict ratio of uploads to downloads with the goal of maintaining its integrity and speed.
Probably the largest such place since Napster (bigger than Soulseek?) went down 8 years ago. Its 2007 quickly going on 2008 and while it cost some fat cats some money it showed that there is a gaping hole when it comes to downloadable digital music that doesn't suck (aka music outside of the major labels).
iTunes doesn't have nearly the selection it had or the quality. Obviously the problem was free music with no type of payment system. What its popularity does show (outside of people that like to steal) that there is a void when it comes to access to non-MTV mainstream bull. Typically it wasn't used to get the top 20 single it was used to get that 320 bit quality EP of that 1982 Greensleeve release of The Scientist's Scientist Wins The World Cup record. Like Hometaping says you can take away all the major record label stuff most didn't use it for that.
Again its seems like Record Labels have missed the boat. They have come up a dollar short and a day late. While there are a few out there that are thieves, a majority of music lovers have a craving for rare and hard to get digital music and would LOVE an outlet to get the artists the money they deserve. Wikipedia has a point in this:
"In contrast to the opinion of the police, the site's main purpose was not to release albums before they were commercially released. The albums that were leaked early only accounted for a very small percentage of the vinyl, lossless and hard to find rips of rare music."
This seems to be about right. eMusic might be a start but its depth is just not there. It seems that we must resort to labels continuing to use scare tactics and intimidation to put listeners into their place and fight for their spot in the music listening pecking order.
The writing is on the wall however for the fat cats, as we move forward and in light of Radiohead's latest effort, label execs and their cd printing will soon be an unnecessary middle man that will hopefully be cut out. Hopefully at some point listeners can directly get money to the artist and get the rare stuff they crave. Sure shut it down it really doesn't matter give a couple months and there will be something rearing its ugly dome.
Read more:
Huge pirate music site shut down from BBC News Online
4hero's album Play with the Changes is one of the best of the year. The North London nu-jazz broken beat group are widely known for their pioneer work in the genre of drum and bass. Their 1994 album is often called the "first" drum and bass album.
Play with the Changes is a departure from their signature style that they forged back in 94 but the sound is truely fantastic. Mixmag described it as "their finest album to date" and I wouldn't disagree. Any fan of the broken beat genre certainly needs to 1. check out the album and 2. check out the single for "Morning Child." Here is a remix off the single.
Mp3: 4hero - "Morning Child" (Danya Vodovoz Midnight House Mix)
Buy: Get Playing with the Changes here. Check out more remixes like from Daddy G (of Massive Attack) here. Listen to tracks off the single here.
One of the best R&B tracks of the 90s. Klaxons give the classic a nice edge. Pretty subtle but enjoyable. Check it out:
Taste of what is out there this weekend in Chicago. Some great hip hop and electro. Check it out
*Digitalism at the Smart Bar (Friday)
*Ween at the Aragon Ballroom (Saturday)
*Unkle (with DOSH opening) at the Metro (Saturday)
*DJ Mehdi, A-Trak, Catchdubs, Kool Kids, Kid Sister, Kavinsky at the Empty Bottle(Sunday)
Lots of good music to see on your days off. I am certainly going to be at UNKLE on Saturday night. I would really like to see the Fool's Gold people at the Empty Bottle on Sunday but going to a late show and being at work the next day at 7 might be a stretch. We'll see. Check out a rare UNKLE track off a single from back in the day.
Go Bears!
Ewan Pearson is a UK producer/remixer and also half of Partial Arts with Al Usher. Pearson produced "Pieces Of The People We Love" from The Rapture and has done work for Ladytron and Gwen Stefani along with a LONG list of remixes. His latest release on K7! records is a compilation of that very long list of remixes. The album Piece Work is a truely exhausting two disc effort in which many of Pearson most famous extended remixes appear.
Remixes of Seelenluft, The Chemical Brothers feat The Flaming Lips, Playgroup, Slam feat Dot Allison, Goldfrapp, Franz Ferdinand, The Rapture, Alter Ego, Röyksopp, Moby, Depeche Mode, rare or unreleased renditions of Mocky, Ladytron, Fields, Cortney Tidwell all show up in force on this record.
Mp3: Franz Ferdinand - "Outsiders" (Ewan Pearson Remix)
Read: Check out the Pitchfork review here.
Buy: Get the record here or here.
Bayani remains one of my favorite records of the year and comes with my highest recommendation. Hailing from the NW, the Blue Scholars create catchy beats paired with fantastic rhymes with an intellectual edge.
Joe Metro is their latest. The new record is a digital-only EP (which is 10 songs deep) was cut right before they head out on their massive US tour. Their upcoming third full-length is in the works and Emcee Geologic and DJ/producer Sabzi are taking their beats on the road. They are scheduled to hit Chicago on November 17th with the talented Psalm One at Subterranean. Check out a remix off the upcoming EP.
Mp3: Blue Scholars - "North by Northwest" (Jake One Remix)
Vincent Belorgey, aka Kavinsky is a French electronic artist. His first EP was released in 2006 on the Record Makers label. Entitled Teddy Boy EP and features remixes by Mr. Oizo and Arpanet. This year Kavinsky has been touring with his other French electonic counter parts Daft Punk, SebastiAn and Justice. Like Daft Punk before him Kavinsky has created a made up world to engulf himself and his music in. Instead of a robot he's a zombie. But, he's the best kind of zombie a 1980's zombie who has come back from a fatal car crash suffered in 1986 in a Testarossa.
His 2007 electo record is aptly named 1986 commerating the year this zombie was born. Kavinsky has a knack for making a great short EP crammed with 80's style electro synth music ramped up to around 120 bpm. Check out a track of his 2006 release and then head over to his myspace for his 2007 release.
Mp3: Kavinsky - "Testarossa Autodrive" (Arpanet Nightdrive Rework)
Also check out his anime style video (you have to have animation when creating a zombie persona). I can see the criticism that its a bit to video game sounding but hell I enjoy it.
Video: Check out the entertaining video.
More: Head over to Kavinsky's myspace for a preview of the 2007 release. Get Kavisky records here.
Kavinsky and other AG favorites DJ Mehdi, A-Trak, Kid Sister, Catchdubs and the Kool Kids rock the Empty Bottle this Sunday.
I have kinda dropped the ball on the Friday wrap up and stopped doing Tuesday dig ages ago maybe for the lack of interest by both me and readers. I am going to try a new concept. A Friday post that highlights things I think are interesting in the Windy City for the weekend.
First up, the show I will certainly be at is Eliot Lipp and Bassnectar at Abbey Pub on Saturday night. I haven't heard Bassnectar in person but the hype is definitely there and I am always open to finding new stuff. Lipp is surely a favorite of mine just love his music.
Other Windy city attractions for the weekend certainly include the Bears versus Vikings. Bears are on the up swing and should drop the norsemen handly I think.
Certainly if you get the chance you have to head down to Sonoteque and check out the legendary 9th Wonder and Chicago's own Flosstradamus on Saturday night.
Its certainly a great weekend for DJ and hip hop music. Get out there and enjoy yourself.
Flowriders are the jazz soul outfit of beat maker and producer Vincent Helbers. The latest album is entitled R.U.E.D.Y. and is set for release at the end of the month (Oct. 22nd). J Dilla, Slum Village, Cassandra Wilson and Bob Marley are just several of his listed influences. Check out a track off the upcoming disc.
Mp3: Flowriders - "President"
Buy: Get the new album here. You know when you can countGilles Peterson and Mr. Scruff as fans you are doing something right.
Analog Giant will definately be there and certainly interested in what kind of access my first ever press pass will get me. If Rage Against the Machine, Ghostface, Thievery Corporation, The Shins and Spearhead wasnt enough reason for you to show up at Vegoose news that this will be the last time you'll see the Daft Punk pyramid in the states should be reason enough. The Duo is also set to release a new live album titled Alive 2007 on November 19, 2007.
See you in Vegas.
photo from Fader Magzine.
Posted a bit of Sharkey and C-Rayz Walz awhile back but I have just been playing this cover of the 80s classic "Electric Avenue" for a minute now. Definately something all 80s hip hop lover should check out. Even if its just for novelty sake.
Mp3:Sharkey and C-Rayz Walz - "Electric Avenue '07"
Track off Monster Maker get it here.
Stones Throw's compilation album Peanut Butter Wolf presents B-ball Zombie War has been released and features new Q-Tip, a Kweli and Dilla joint, Madlib's new group Supreme Team along with the usual ST suspects. Make sure you check out the podcast. Stones Throw Podcast #24: The Zombie Playoffs. Here is an instramental for you to bump as well.
Mp3: Supreme Team - "See (Suite)" (Instramental)
Great great comp record that everyone needs to have. Go get it here.
Not sure the circumstances of what brought a bassist/tunesmith from the fatherland (Norway) and guitarist/software enthusiast from Oklahoma together but the result is a electronic minimalist bliss. The New York Times' say "they're tidy and sweet, calling attention to their design, but they don’t want to be understood too easily."
The result of Opsvik and Jennings latest album Commuter Anthems sounds like the perfect soundtrack. If you are a fan of minimalist music and this is certainly that with elements of folk, jazz and electronic I recommend you check this one out.
Mp3: Opsvik & Jennings - "The Pedler"
Buy: Get this record from eMusic here.
Analog Giant's favorite resident DJ B.Cause just sent over some fresh refixes/remixes. We got some of Timbaland, a bit of Stevie and MJ. Check'em out they are sure to get you moving. Friday is almost here.
Mp3: Stevie Wonder - Uptight" (B.Cause Bass Re-Fix)
Mp3: Timbaland - Way I Are (B.Cause MJ Re-Flip Simple)
Support: Head over to B.Cause's myspace to grab his various mixtapes. I have a bunch and they never disappoint.
Earmint, fellow Chicagoan, Eliot Lipp collaborator and all around cool producer has released a new album. He ups the ante as well but offering it up free for download. Few things in this world are truly free but Earmint aka Robert Krums' is. That's right just there for the taking. Check it out, you will be impressed.
Earmint's last record shouldn't be overlooked either. Another Early Evening features Psalm One, Murs, Longshot and Diverse to name several guest emcees. Check it out right after you download his newest. Here is a sample:
Mp3: Earmint - "Medellin"
Buy: Go get Another Early Evening here. ALSO check out all the covers for the album here. Lots of cool artwork.
album cover shown is by Joey Potts.
Latest offering from the mighty Pressure Sounds is Bin Sherman's Tribulations. Sherman a man of many alias (Jarrett Tomlinson, Jarrett Vincent, Lloyd Vincent, Bim Shieman, Lloyd Tomlinson, and J.L. Vincent to name 6) was born in rural Westmoreland Jamaica. Tribulation is a testiment to this unhearlded dub reggae great and covers the years 1974 to '79 of Sherman's life. Check out a track:
Mp3: Bin Sherman - "Tribulation" (Original 1974 Mix)
Get the record here.
