Archive for February, 2012
the FADER’s got the premiere of a pretty nice remix of jim-e stack’s new-ish track “come between.” it is highly recommended and streaming below (the original is great as well). i’ve been listening to a fair amount of the-drum, a production duo from chicago, these past few days, and i’m pretty impressed with their “sci-fi r&b” sounds. check out a standout from their recent ep heavy liquid, “omar” as well as a mixtape that just went up a few hours ago for norwegian blog smug. google translate tells me this mix is music currently inspiring the-drum and that you should be in “a place where you can relax and smoke weed or be high on something else while listening to the mix.” get to it.
jim e-stack – “come between” (the-drum remix)
the-drum – “omar”
the-drum mix for smug
The two musicians seem as if they are musical cousins. At least to my ears, it seems quite natural that Dam Funk would be the most qualified funkateer around to offer up a dignified mix of Prince’s music. Of course none of this would happen under regular circumstances so leave it up to the good people behind Wax Poetics Magazine to make it happen.
Enjoy the vibes from both artists and check out the full track list below.
It’s been a lonnnggg time since Mos Def did anything that really impressed me. But I’ll tell ya, this Yasiin Bey fella is captivating to say the least. Released on the anniversary of Malcolm X’s assassination, Mos/Yasin just put out a banger of a remix video to Kanye and Jay-Z’s highly overplayed “Niggas in Paris” track. This is going to get a lot of internet play over the next few days for good reason. It’s iconic and powerful and everything that artistic expression is supposed to be.
Since my comrade Praxis83 decided to post the fun-loving jam “Sunshine” from Portland based power house Purple and Green last week, it seems like a good time to follow it up with their official video for the song. Justin showed me this song while I was in Portland a few months back, and having recently watched Purple and Green devour a stage in Seattle a couple of weeks ago, I feel strongly that the group has the ability to go far if folks just give them enough attention.
We all loved her and will miss her dearly. One thing that’s for certain is that her music will live on forever…and the remixes are only getting started. Rest easy, Whitney. The producers and blogs can take it from here.
Black history month? Black history light years! Here’s a project that just came out today from a clique out of Chicago called BBU. It’s a 17 track mixtape named after lauded poet and laureate bell hooks and somehow mashes up black history with internet blister hop. There’s comedy here, a cameo from Das Racist, production by the Hood Internet and a different side of rap than most people might expect.
This isn’t meant to sound like Southside Chicago hip-hop or be all R.B.G. Dead Prez rap either but it does exist on the fringes of both styles. Listen and glisten at your own leisure.
Having built up a solid dance floor rep facilitating the much loved Boomclap weeklies in Montreal – graced by peers including Lunice, Jacques Greene, Brenmar, DJ Rashad, and Dubbel Dutch – Sinjin Hawke released a slew of vivid bootlegs and remixes in 2011 wringing the essential elements of beauty and booty out of top 40 R&B and Hip Hop, injecting symphonic chromosomes into ghettotech/grime influenced sounds. Download em.
Off the momentum of these releases, dude has recently secured a DJ residency in Barcelona. Now he’s collaborating with new friends to bend the musical arc away from poolside tourista house, toward more edgy beat chemistry – like that stirred by the cold winters and restless youth & artists of the Montreal scene.
The Lights EP – released in December on PelicanFly stretches his gritty romantic beatscapes even further. Here is a tease via megamix. Enjoy.
I’ll be damned if “Sunshine” isn’t one of the funnest dance jams I’ve heard in a while. Just try to get the thumping dusty drums, honey vocals, and that whistle out of your head, or better yet don’t. Portland based Adam Forkner (sounds) and Justin Leon Johnson (voice) sum their collective Purple and Green steez up rather well as PSYCHEDELIC LAZER FUNK & FUN TIME JAMS. ’nuff sed. Enjoy people!
Anybody who knows anything about the hip-hop coming out of the Bay Areauhhh right now knows it’s about impossible to classify or label as one style. For every Droop-E, Turf Talk and Roach Gigz getting attention, you’ve got someone like Hopie out there that is just as good with her words and message but flips it in an entirely different way.
Here’s the latest video cut off of her recent album Raw Gems and it’s directed by David Dutton who does a nice job capturing the spirit of the song itself and the artist behind it.
