I could listen to this song over and over and never get bored with it. I love the vocal arrangements – very simple but hooky as hell. The use of Saxophone is perfect. All in all it’s the perfect song.

Jamiroquai – Talullah

Xploding Plastix is a Norwegian two-man band playing Electrofunk/Big beat music with elements of jazz. However how much I simply love this band, I find it very hard to describe what they do and why they’re so good. They use a blend of typical jazz sounds with fast and unusual beats and bass lines. The mix is simply astonishing. Although, that is mostly only true for the album “Amateur Girlfriends Go Proskirt Agent” (the best, IMHO). But as I said, you really have to hear this to fully understand what this great band does. So enough talking, get the album “Amateur Girlfriends Go Proskirt Agent” and enjoy the ride.

Recommended songs :
- Funnybones and Lazylegs
- Treat Me Mean, I Need the Reputation
- Sports, Not Heavy Crime
- Happy Jizz Girl

Website : http://www.xplodingplastix.com/
MySpace : http://www.myspace.com/xplodingplastix

* Highly recommended *

(Originally aired on September 02, 2007)

Time for the funk again. an ode to the organ grinder’s swing, the trumpet toccatas and all that funk-inspired acid jazz and fusion. get ready to jazz it up.

Herbie Hancock - Cantaloupe Island and Watermelon Man
Cannonball Adderley – Straight, no Chaser
Stanley Turrentine – Jubilee shout
Dizzy Gillespie – Trumpet Blues
Jimmy Smith – When the Saints go Marching in.

Music Fact #11: What I love most about Incognito? The basslines: funky just the way needed, in order to support the whole groove of the songs.

This was written while listening to their debut album, Jazz Funk (1981).

This is a re-post of a previous blog entry from 1996.

As I sit listening to pop-rock group Of Montreal, glancing around at posters and photograph collages of Green Day, The Cardigans, The Hives and my Jackson 5 album covers, I smile. The jangly guitars and heart-wrought vocals dance through my ears and fingers typing away. It’s second nature to have music accompany my writing, and nothing does me better than a guitarist, bassist and drummer riding shotgun.

10 years ago, I would have never admitted to liking rock music—let alone realizing it would be the force that would change me. Being a black male in the Chicago suburbs, admitting to liking rock was the equivalent of Jamie Kennedy’s Malibu’s Most Wanted: a subject of ridicule–if even acknowledged.

I had always loved music. As a kid, I grew up influenced by my parents’ diverse record collections. Everything from early Motown to album-oriented rock, blues, early rap and pop wafted though the house most hours of the day.

The group that first captured my heart was the Jackson 5. My parents were fans, and I had access to their 45s and LPs. I remember nights begging my dad to play their songs one more time, loving each play more than the last. That love exploded when my dad first took me to Rose Records at the age of eight. Browsing the album stacks, I found several Jackson 5 re-releases and took them home, beaming proudly.

But that affection soon changed. As kids talked about Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, I felt out of the loop with my J5 fervor. When asked what music I liked, I would mumble, “I like Dr. Dre.” It wasn’t a lie: I liked the G-Funk samples and comical videos, but like dating on the rebound, they didn’t compare to that quintessential love.

In an effort to get hip, I started watching MTV, BET and The Box, absorbing whatever was played. Some of it was good, some was bad, and some was not even worth mentioning…

(Shabba!)

In the sea of discovery, I made one connection, and it frightened me: rock. The soul-tinged howls of Chris Cornell, the wall of guitars and monstrous drumming of Stone Temple Pilots, and the wailing solos of Pearl Jam; I could not understand why I lit up when I heard them.

But nothing hit harder than Green Day. Maybe it was the teenage angst I was wrestling with, but it struck a chord that still resonates: the faux-British bleating vocals, the simple yet powerful three-chord guitars, the melodic bass in step, and the breakneck drumming of Mr. Tre Cool. I wanted to jump up and air guitar/air drum whenever their videos came on.

But the peer pressure! I was so afraid of what people would say to me, a black suburbanite, liking the very music they did. My biggest fear was of what my family would think. My brother Steve and my cousin Corey especially wouldn’t understand how I could prefer guitars to sampled beats and rhymes.

As my love for rock grew, I knew I couldn’t hide it much longer. And one day in 1996, out it came. Sitting in my grandparents’ basement, Steve, Corey and I were watching The Box when Green Day’s “Brain Stew/Jaded” video came on. As Steve normally did when Green Day came on, he imitated Billie Joe’s nasally whine (“Waooww!”) jokingly. As the second half, “Jaded,” came on, I was anxious beyond belief; I wanted nothing more than to jump up and imitate the intense guitar work. And Steve had worked my last nerve.

I told him to cut it out.

Surprised, he and Corey wondered where my outburst came from. Cornered, I admitted, finally, that I liked Green Day. All of the effort to contain my secret escaped in that moment. I braced myself for the teasing and laughing I expected to follow.

But it didn’t happen. Instead, there was surprise, apologies for making fun, and best of all, acceptance. That day, the Indiana Jones-like boulder on my shoulders crumbled. (In an interesting twist, Steve was with me at my first Green Day concert in 2004 and loved it.)

From then on, I strutted proudly in my musical likes. Unfortunately, others weren’t as liberated in their beliefs. When asked what groups I liked, I received puzzled looks when naming rock acts. “I thought you would like rap,” was a common response. More and more, I became similarly puzzled why they didn’t understand that I didn’t have to be pigeonholed because of my skin color.

As I accepted my rock fandom, I opened myself up to different sub-genres—Britpop, Swedish rock (The Cardigans), electronica, acid-jazz (Jamiroquai)—and also revisited the early influences, listening to more rap (sadly, my first CD was Crucial Conflict), R&B, pop and soul. I began going to concerts (Steve and Corey came with me to my first concert, The Cardigans), collecting posters and other merchandise, and becoming a student of past and current music. I even rekindled my love for the Jackson 5.

Becoming more open-minded to music opened me up to try different things and encounter new challenges I previously feared. It was also a great icebreaker, meeting some of my best college friends and adult friendships while connecting over our likes and dislikes. The foundation was laid by growing up in a musically inspired household, but it was forging my own path that led me to find myself.

Gang de loubards d’Orange Mécanique, Droog peut aussi désigner un collectif qui vous veut du bien. Trio de Los Angeles, Andrei Osyka, Brett Griffin et Justin Sloe composent une célébration sucrée à la douceur de vivre tout en acid jazz, minimal et deep house. Un mix ouaté d’une heure et demi, qui contrairement à une choucroute, peut se déguster, allongé ou en club.

http://www.tsugi.fr/

Mr. Woodnote performs ‘Wolf’ in the old lido, Eastville Park, Bristol 2009 check also his myspace www.myspace.com/mrwoodnote

Monofónicos presenta con total alegría la llegada del Drum’n’Bass a su catálogo de podcast.

Sebastian Tabares, mejor conocido como Cohete, fiel representante del género en Medellín nos presenta lo mas suave y deslizante del liquidfunk, bajo un calido y efervescente atmosfera de ritmos quebrados que constantemente crece, se llena de ritmos finos y exquisitos para pasar a convertirse en un gran djset que demuestra el lado mas profundo del liquidfunk… aquí lo tenemos, solo Drum’n’Bass para flotar.

Fecha: 27 Nov 2009

Duración: 61:38

Calidad: 320 Kbps

Tracklist:

1. Eveson And Redeyes – State Of Mind
2. Lenzman – Memory Loss
3. Spectrasoul – How Strange
4. Level 2 – Extensions
5. Invisible Landscape – Go On And Cry
6. D Bridge – On Your Mind
7. Eveson – Revert
8. Alix Perez – Crooklyn
9. Calibre – Shine (Feat Spacek)
10. Level 2 – First Me
11. Aaron Jay And Lynx – Wait For Me
12. Eveson – Elysian Fields
13. Bal – Blow Up
14. Calibre – Hard Times
15. Peyo And Cloud Nine – Thats What You Do To Me (Random Movement Remix)
16. Utah Jazz – River Theme (Feat Atlantic Connection)

[Download MonoPodcast 009 - Cohete]

[Download info PDF]

Artwork: Andrés De Fex

Made In Sweden (1995)
The Blacknuss collective was born amid the heyday of Acid Jazz in 1990. The musicians and Djs behind the club later went on to form the band that now realeased two albums of the very best dance music ever made in Sweden. Which, coincidentally, was the name of their first album in 1995, an improvisational debut built around the Sly & Robbie-style playing of drummer Martin Jonsson and bass man Christian Falk. It included the hit “it should have been you”.
It has now been 10 years since Blacknuss’ debut album “Made in Sweden” was relaesed. In the fall of 2005, the album Gold hit the stores. This album consists of all of their hit songs throughout the years! (www.myspace.com/blacknnuss)
Tracks:
01. Rising the Top
02. Freaky
03. Looking Up to You
04. Let’s Go Through the Motion
05. It Should Have Been You
06. I’m So into You
07. Superbad
08. Love No Limit
09. Organisk 2
10. Organisk 1
11. Daddy
12. It Should Have Been You (Cutfather & Joe Radio Edit)
See the comments

*Gracias Kamal

- Gyro

The more I listen to this album, the more impressed I am with it. It is some sort of hybrid creature of jazzy, r&b, downtempo and electronic dance influences, and it positively oozes with cool. It’s low-key but not at all boring or repetitive — deep bass hits and continually interesting percussion keep it groovily moving along. Synths, rappers, crooning soul singers and vocal samples keep trading places at center stage. The melodies strike me as sort of strange (maybe… austere?), in a very interesting way — perhaps because my exposure to r&b, soul and the like is minimal. The whole thing is very solid, with a couple of total standout tracks. Below: first, one that is probably most representative of the whole style, and second, one of said standout tracks.

There is another album of these guys’ that I also adore, and a new one that I’m digesting, but I’m so enthused that I have to do posts on individual albums.

Por Murillo Moret

Aonde? Luleå, Suécia. Quando? 2008.

Os escandinavos do Movits! fazem um som completamente diferente do que rola no cenário europeu atual. Fugindo do modelo britpop do Blur, Oasis, Radiohead, Manic Street Preachers e, até mesmo dos seus conterrâneos, The Hives e Mando Diao, o Movits! toca o que podemos chamar de swedish jazz hip-hop, uma mistura bem criativa e temperada de um swing divertido que remete ao dansbandsmusik, estilo de música nórdica do começo dos anos 80, que se referia aos ritmos dançantes de rock e country.

Com apenas um cd lançado, o “Äppelknyckarjazz” é fácil acompanhar a carreira dos irmãos Rensfeldt (Johan e Anders) e Jocke Nilsson.

Por que ouvir Movits!? É uma experiência única.

Vídeo da música “Fel del av gården”, canção que foi apresentada no programa The Colbert Report, um late night talk show dos Estados Unidos, com a seguinte frase escrita numa camiseta segurada pelo apresentador Stephen Colbert:

“They say hiphop was born in the Bronx, but the Bronx was born in Sweden”. (Falam que o hiphop nasceu no Bronx, mas o Bronx nasceu na Suécia)

Particularmente, porém, acho que o single “Swing för Hyresgästföreningen” fala um pouco mais sobre a banda do que a música acima:

Para os que gostaram, dá para baixar as músicas nesse link.

“On the Sly” es el primer clip del nuevo disco de la banda australiana de Deep Funk  ”The Bamboos“. Se trata del avance de su álbum “4″, que saldrá el próximo mes de marzo, publicado por el sello Tru Thoughts.  La banda, formada en 2001, vuelve a la carga bajo la dirección del guitarrista Lance Ferguson y la imprescindible cantante Kylie Auldist.

Todavía no hay fechas de su gira de presentación pero esperamos que “The Bamboos” recalen en España. Ahora que triunfa el soul blandito y para todos los públicos, su visita nos ayudará a abrir los oídos. It´s not quite acid jazz but i like it!

Το 2003 οι Red Snapper κυκλοφόρησαν τον δίσκο “Redone” σε ένα ιδιόμορφο layout, καθώς η συσκευασία συνδύαζε το πλαστικό με το ύφασμα!!! Σε αυτό το album, τις μουσικές των Red Snapper επιμελούνται και καταπιάνουν στα χέρια τους, ονόματα της ηλεκτρονικής σκηνής, όπως οι Blue States, Susumu Yokota, Depth Charge, Radioactive Man και πολλοί άλλοι, δίνοντας τους έτσι μια νέα πινελιά. Experimental μέχρι θανάτου… 3/5.

myspace.com/redsnapperofficial

2000 και οι Red Snapper επιστρέφουν με τέταρτη δισκογραφική δουλειά. Το “Our Aim Is To Satisfy” αποτελεί συνέχεια του “Making Bones” και δανείζεται πολλά στοιχεία του. Η acid jazz συνδυάζεται άψογα με την electronica και την trip hop και σε αυτόν τον δίσκο, ενώ το χαρακτηριστικό στοιχείο του είναι ότι είναι πιο εγκεφαλικός. Αν και δεν έχουν να επιδείξουν κάτι εξαιρετικό σε αυτό το album, οι Red Snapper, εξακολουθεί να αποτελεί έναν δίσκο απαραίτητο για τη συλλογή σου… 3/5.

myspace.com/redsnapperofficial

Photograph – Jamie Cullum

Photograph by Jamie Cullum

Her name was written on the photograph,
right next to her red, sunburnt face,
it all had happened in that long tall grass,
about a mile from her old place,
I can’t remember how it started and if it lasted that day in the sun.

We said that we were going to study hard,
we held our books instead of hands,
she held a blanket over cans of beer,
I can’t deny I was so full of fear.

It’s just another story caught up in another photograph I found.
and it seems like another person lived that life a great many years ago from now,

When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.
when I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.

And there’s the first time that I tried that stuff,
I think I look a little green,
I remember throwing up behind a bush,
and I found it hard to use my feet,
and who’s that easily led little boy who’s really off his head?

It was the same night that I kissed that girl,
the tall one with the auburn hair,
I remember laughing coz to kiss me,
she had to sit down on a chair!
she tasted like the schnapps she’d drunk,
and the cigarette she’d stolen from her mum.

And it’s just another story caught up in another photograph I found.

When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.
When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.

When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.

Το 1998 οι Red Snapper επέστρεψαν με νέα δουλειά, αν όχι την καλύτερη, τότε μια από τις πιο δυνατές. Το Making Bones έχει μείνει στην ιστορία ως ένας από τους πιο ατμοσφαιρικούς και σκοτεινούς δίσκους. Retro στοιχεία, jazz, trip hop και instrumental hip hop καταλήγουν σε ένα από τα πιο όμορφα soundtracks. Στην Αμερική ο δίσκος εξαντλήθηκε, στην Ελλάδα εξάντλησε τις ψυχές μας… 4/5!!

myspace.com/redsnapperofficial

Συνεχίζοντας τις παρουσιάσεις των albums των Red Snapper, περνάμε στη δεύτερη δουλειά τους που κυκλοφόρησε το 1996 και είχε τίτλο Prince Blimey. Οι Red Snapper, προβάλλουν την μουσική τους ωρίμανση, δίνοντας μια χορευτική νότα στον ήχο τους και παντρεύοντας την acid jazz με την hip hop. Οι σκοταδιστικές αναλαμπές είναι εμφανείς σε ολόκληρο τον δίσκο, δίνοντας σου την αίσθηση ότι ο ήχος βγαίνει από μπουντρούμι. Long live the prince… 3,5/5!

myspace.com/redsnapperofficial

Our first entry in the Forgotten Classic series is one of my favorite tracks of all time: groove monster ‘Magic Man’ by Ben Human. This track is not even ’supposed’ to be Funky House, and yet it funks with the best of ‘em. Ben Human is actually Ben Addison, who along with his brother Scott were members of the 90s Acid Jazz group ‘Corduroy’. They had a radio hit with ‘Something in my Eye‘, released five records, and split up around 2000 before reforming in 2007 for a series of sold out concerts.

Magic Man is taken from Ben’s debut release ‘Go Human Not Ape‘ and it’s an otherworldly fusion of funk, acid jazz and house with some brilliant keyboard work. And just listen to that bassline! Oh mama! I’ve never quite heard anything like it since. It’s the kind of track you would expect to hear in an intergalactic night club. Why it wasn’t one of the biggest hits of 2002 is a mystery to me.

He’s the magic man.

Οι Red Snapper δεν χρειάζονται ιδιαίτερες συστάσεις. Από τα μεγαθήρια της acid jazz – electronica, δημιούργησαν ένα ξεχωριστό μουσικό στυλ, συνδυάζοντας funk, punk, dub, hip hop και drum ‘n’ bass. Η πρώτη τους δουλειά κυκλοφόρησε το 1995, με τίτλο Reeled And Skinned και περιλαμβάνει 9 tracks που αποτελούν τα πρώτα EPs που έβγαλαν. Η πρώτη γεύση από μια μουσική ιστορία που έγραψαν με χρυσά γράμματα. 3,5/5!

myspace.com/redsnapperofficial