For whatever reason, there are no particularly exciting LP releases coming up in the pre-Christmas season. Weezy is busting out Rebirth in December, if you’re into that, and Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster is out soon.  A couple of reality-show runners-up are releasing debut albums (Billboard yelled in my ear this morning that Susan Boyle is projected to sell 550,000 copies in her first week).  But in terms of releases with new things to say, not much.  (Tom Waits does have a live album coming out, which I’ll be checking out shortly.)

However, for whatever reason, the Indie Rock Powers That Be have aligned themselves to dash out a few exciting-looking EPs.  We’ve got Deer Tick and Animal Collective coming up most noticeably, and Spoon just put out a disc called Got Nuffin in support of their January album.  That EP, I have to say, feels more like a single–the title track is pretty edgy, B-side-of-Gimme Fiction stuff with heavy drums, but the supporting tracks mostly feel like filler (“Stroke Their Brains” is growing on me).  Hell, here’s the title track.  See what you think.

I guess what I’m saying is gear up for a month or so of few interesting national releases.  Snag the EPs, bust out some old stuff (when did you last listen to the Sonics?) and wait for January, when Spoon, Vampire Weekend, and Flying Lotus will provide us with some juicy new stuff.

(Portland music fans, however, should probably pick up Brown Bird’s The Devil Dancing right the frig now, and also probably download Wesley Hartley’s album fo’ free.)

If y’allz don’t check out SHOOK magazine then… well you probably should. It rose out of the ashes of Straight No Chaser, made by a bunch of the same people and still with a lot of the artwork done by the legendary Swifty. The main difference from Chaser is that there’s a bit less jazz and a bit more hip-hop. Also comics.

Anways they’ve got a cool little interview with beatmaker and hallucinogen-enthusiast Flying Lotus up at the minute, where he runs down his top five tunes like EVER.

“I think that beat is a perfect beat. The mix is just so perfect, it’s a great reference point for any EQ-ing. A lot of people use Dr. Dre as a reference when they’re mastering but I think that’s as close as it gets to classic Dre mixing. It’s just a dope song. The snare drum on that is from this disco tune. It’s just incredible. Dilla at his finest I’d say. The EQ-ing, the samples, all the melodic stuff that’s happening, it’s so musical. And it’s so pretty. That’s the beat that’s hard to deny. It’s also one of those beats that can blend well with anything, so I play that song in almost all my DJ sets. I think it’s perfect.”

So I dug out Fantastic Volume II and it turns out he’s not wrong: Players is awesome. If you don’t know, get to know.

Slum Village – Players

Do yourself a favour and don’t put it on the laptop speakers.

TURN IT UP.

Hummus rules (Belly Hop, various types of dub, qawwali, digi, balkan, ’step etc) ….is the name of this interesting mix on the SoundCloud website, put together by a gentleman named Ghandi. Features a few of my favourite artists…have a listen.

TRACKS

Flying Lotus ‘GNGBNG’

Bassnectar & Kraddy ‘Snakecharmer’ (instr.) 2.22

BJ Nevenko ‘Infusion Du Ment’ 5.48

Gypsy Caravan ‘Sputnik’ 8.32

Knossos ‘Tarak’ 10.57

Orient Expressions ‘Ehmendo’ (Pressure Drop rmx) 15.00

Nusrat Fatih Ali Khan / Gaudi ‘Dil Da Rog Muka Ja Mahi’ (Pinch 4/4 rmx) 20.28

Cesaria Evora ‘Angola’ (Carl Craig rmx) 25.04

Praful ‘Says Kabir’ (Kareem Raihani Broken Beat rmx) 32.36

Pole ‘Winkelstreben’ (Ghislain Poirier rmx) 37.10

Vieux Farka Toure ‘Ana’ (Captain Planet rmx) 41.04

Disrupt ‘Riddim Grid’ 45.21

Radiq ‘The Grass Roots’ (Radiq’s Babylon dub rmx) 48.50

Disrupt ‘Selassie I Continually’ 53.53

Gnawa Njoum Experience ‘Sourie’ 58.39

Bigga Bush vs Kocani Orkestra ‘L’Orient est Roots’ 63.00

SubSwara ‘Backwater Dub’ 65.42

Grim Feast ‘Beast VIP’ 68.23

Fundamental ‘The Last Gospel’ 72.04

So last week, my Editor sorta told me that GlamTings are doing an erm… ‘25 fav things’ type special editorial… I dunno… 2 commiserate us being 25? I dunno lol! Anyway so she asks me to do a top-25 songs list or something like that & in my head, I go ‘Pardon Me’, the exact same way Rob Gordon replied when the reporter asked him what his all-time top 5 records were, in the movie ‘High Fidelity’… & so in this movie High Fidelity, the reporter asks again ‘Your desert-island top 5?’, to which Rob replies ‘Oh Boy… in the club OR at home?’ and the reporter ignorantly asks if there’s a difference… Ofcourse there’s a difference & you guys can back me up on this BUT ‘Top 25 Songs?’… What? Love Songs? Gospel songs? Songs to make love to (as Distinctly different from love songs! Understand!), Easy Breazy Sunday Morning Songs? Angry Songs? Songs for the car? Songs for the bus? LIKE what are you tryna do to me out here???

Anyway so Rob eventually mentions 5 of his all-time desert-island favorite records & the reporter ventures to continue interviewing him BUT she CANNOT & you wanna know why? Because he keeps interrupting her to chop & change his all-time top 5 records… It’s near enough an impossible task for the likes of Rob & I… He ends up offering to make the reporter a tape… And… And… He calls the reporter the next week to change, yet again, his all-time top 5 records list!!! ‘WHERE AM I GOING WITH THIS?’ do I hear you ask? Oh figure it OUT, will ya? And oh top 5? top 25? Equally as impossible ok!

BUT this is what I say to my Editor… ‘Ok Cool x’! OK COOL? Somebody shoot me now! Please!

Alright so expect this to be a long & painful process, it might actually take US a long while to arrive at any comprehensive top 25 list on any level so you have duly been warned lol! & that’s why we’ll be dividing this mammoth exercise into PARTS… Jheez!

PART ONE… Because this is my favorite genre of Music at the moment… Top 25 Hip-Hop Records!?!?????? Ah ahn.. Ah Ahn! Nah I can’t! Let’s start off with something easier, we’ll ease in to the tougher lists (in a couple months maybe lol).

OK let’s do that again…

PART ONE… Top 25 Albums of the 21st Century!!! **I Keep digging a GRAVE for myself, don’t I?**

One thing I will say about this list is… The first draft had 70 records on it & I was thinking of changing this ‘top 25′ list to a ‘top 50′ list because it’d be so much easier & OMG I have had to cut out some of my all time favorite albums from the final list BUT alas, the show must GO ON… SO Without further adieu!!!

Slightly MISSING OUT however ARE…

Georgia Anne Muldrow – Olesi: Fragments of an Earth (2006)

Now most of you will probably NOT have heard this album… It’s your LOSS to be honest BUT what I will say though is, THIS is one of the very few R&B albums this decade that made this list because let’s be honest R&B in the 2000s lost its way… Fragments of an Earth is progressive music 4 your soul and I like it so there!

&

Blur – Think Tank (2003)

F**K what you heard alright, Damon Albarn is a MUSICAL GENIUS & this album proves it… This was Blur’s forray away from BritPop into more experimental sounds such as Dub, Jazz, Hip-Hop & World Music BUT still laced with gorgeous melodic sounds of their epic ‘ParkLife’ album… I find it interesting how most of the musical backdrop of this album is led by the BASS sounds as against the strings of a lead-guitar (YES Coxon the lead guitarist left the band around the time of recording BUT I think it’s more than that)… On a different week, this would be in my top 25 easily… That’s how much I love this album & how fickle this top 25 list can be!!!

Other Notable mentions from my original top 70 list include BUT are not exhausted to Ledisi’s ‘Lost & Found’, Little Brother’s ‘The Listening’, Common’s ‘Like Water for Chocolate’, The Clipse’s ‘Hell Hath No Fury’, Amel Larriex’s ‘Brave Bird’, Scarface’s ‘The Fix’, El-P’s ‘Fantastic Damage’, Blu & Exile’s ‘Below the Heavens’, Outkast’s ‘Stankonia’, Queens of the Stone Age’s ‘Songs for the Deaf’, Ryan Adam’s ‘Heartbreaker’, Johnny Cash’s ‘American IV: The Man Comes Around’, Portishead’s ‘Third’… OK! I should stop! We will have another conversation about these albums on a later date!!!

OK NOW to the Nitty Gritty…

25. Femi Kuti – Fight to Win (2001)

It took me a long minute to decide which Femi Kuti LP to include in this list… ‘Shoki Shoki’ or Fight to Win because let’s face it, the man made two CLASSIC albums this century (He seats comfortably in the same box as Radiohead? Jay-Z? M.I.A? Kanye West? in that respect)… Some will argue that without a ‘Shoki Shoki’, there would never have been a ‘Fight to Win’ so ‘Shoki Shoki’ should make the list BUT ‘Fight to Win’ is a near-perfect record! John Armstrong (BBC) calls it an excellent showcase of 21st Century Afrobeat & we cannot argue with that.

24. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells (2001)

I will come out and say it NOW! I’ve cheated by putting this album so far down this list… It’s Rock & Roll music at its very purest form & at its best! Even if you’re NOT into that kinda garage rock music, this album gets you. its 40 odd minutes and I dare you to want to skip any of the 16 songs on this… I just DARE you!

23. Jamie Lidell – Multiply (2005)

And now for some controversy…

Otis Redding? Stevie Wonder? Sam Cooke? Al Green? Willie Mitchell? Prince? You hear them ALL on this album & you have to ask, how does an Electronica producer all of a sudden turn into this rarity of a Soul Singer creating these amazing soul records. Never mind that he’s White, that just makes it more unreal… This album is Amazing & that is putting it very lightly.

22. Dizzee Rascal – Boy in Da Corner (2003)

GRIME never & possibly will never sound this GOOD & you can quote me on that one! Dizzee’s 2003 debut is still the only grime LP that I can play from start to finish without wanting to skip a track… Say what you will about the Londoner BUT at 18, he made one of the best records to come out of the UK period! It Certainly isn’t NO ‘Sgt. Pepper’ but it is Iconic in its own right! & for the last time, it’s NOT hip-hop, its GRIME & its GRIME at its very BEST, heights of which the genre will not reach again.

21. Flying Lotus – Los Angeles (2008)

Experimental Hip-Hop? Electronica? Indie Hip-Hop? Psychedelic? Whatever you wanna call it, FlyLo has got it mastered to a tee on ‘Los Angeles’! Now many people will question this inclusion to the list BUT if you’ve heard this LP, if you’ve actually listened to it, you’d understand that the (somewhat premature) comparisons to such greats as Cannibal Ox & El-P stem from this one album & you’d understand why… Just listen to ‘Golden Diva’ & come back to talk to me!!!

20. Erykah Badu – Mama’s Gun (2000)

On this one, I really couldn’t decide between this album & last year’s ‘New Amerykah Part One: 4th World War’, I’m sorry! I’m more leaning towards Mama’s Gun to be honest, it’s been with me for longer & it hasn’t LOST it’s GOODNESS… Who know what ‘New Amerykah’ will sound like in 2017 so based off of that longevity and impact continuously over 9 years, ‘Mama’s Gun’ takes the cake. Its beautiful music that’s effortless & what else would you expect from Ms. Badu working with such minds as Questlove, D’Angelo, Jay Dilla & Common… certainly nothing less!

19. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)

One of the all-time BEST Emcees at his all-time BEST is what ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’ is. It’s nothing short of an epic work of art. Mr. Mather’s lyrical genuis & explicit narratives on this album match up with the best that Hip-Hop has ever had to offer & Dr. Dre is on hand to offer the musical back-drop for the lyrical onslaught… It’s a match made in heaven and the ‘Marshall Mathers LP’ is the miracle baby! SNM!!!

18. The Avalanches – Since I left You (2000)

I kinda have a feeling… let’s call it a theory… that any conversation about the best albums of this decade will be grossly incomplete without mentioning this Album & please quote me on that! It is what DJ Shadow’s ‘Endtroducing’ was to the 90’s and a STRAIGHT MASTERCLASS in the art of sampling. If you’re a producer & you sample (which is everybody lol) & you don’t own this record (actually if you don’t own this record & DJ Shadow’s ‘ENDtroducing’)… & you haven’t studied this record THEN you’re for all intents & purposes, well & truly LOST! It’s a travesty in itself that I’ve placed it so low as Number 18!!!

17. The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come for Free (2004)

Would it be so BOLD for me to say that this album is the best urban UK album… YES it’s NOT technically Hip-Hop or Grime & it’s NOT Garage-infused like Mike Skinner’s debut LP ‘Original Pirate Material’, it’s JUST an amazingly put-together body of work… Where ‘O.P.M’ was daring & groundbreaking & revolutionary (dare I say), ‘A Grand Don’t Come for Free’ is just simply better… It was a concept album before concept albums became ‘cool’ again in Hip-Hop & it’s 11 tracks of pure genius, witty vivid lyrics, near perfect narratives & an amazing musical backdrop that takes you right into the scene of this ‘movie’… #NuffSaid

16. The Roots – Game Theory (2006)

We always knew that The Roots were somewhat of a phenomena (well to the back-packers they are near enough gods!)… I mean, what else would you get by mixing Questlove, who in my opinion, is one of the greatest musical minds there are & Black Thought, the most slept-on & underrated emcee in the game & arguably one of the greatest all-time emcees… But The Roots had never quite delivered on any of their previous LPs (except for ‘Illadelph Halflife’ & marginally on 1999’s ‘Things Fall Apart’) in my humble opinion… ‘Game Theory’ was the album for me when The Roots became all they could be… It was dark, it was gritty, but it oozed life… it swayed from angry to depressing quite effortlessly & it was The Roots at their most cohesive. Simply put… Amazing music.

**AND BREATHE**

Alright Ladies & Gentlemen, that’s all you get from me for this week… Join me next week and we’ll go through the top 15 albums of this decade!!! OH P.S LET the RIOTING begin…

Until the Next Time

Triple A

A lot of things has happened this fall. There has been so many unbelievably good releases, and I’ve been to lazy to post anything. So here is a small digest. The best of the fall 09 (click the images for info and purchasable downloads):

The Clonious – One At a Time (feat. Muhsinah) (download)

Autopilot – She Says (RDubz RMX) (download)

Paul Frick – Would You (download)

FaltyDL – Pressure (download)

Antislash – Life Is A Bitch (download)

Luke Vibert – Belief File (download)

Tuneboxii – What You Make of It (download)

Besides all these beautiful releases, DR. Strangeloop has announced a new audiovisual lp (what is a audio visual lp btw?), which I am awaiting very impatiantly. I saw him VJ’ing for flying lotus in Copenhagen some months ago, and he blew my mind with his pixelated lunar landscapes and shit. Can’t wait for that one.

Chase & Status – Eastern Jam (Strangeloop Mix) (download)

Is the world a big rubber band ball with everything connected to everything? Maybe. When you look for common threads among people, history, science…relationships start to surface. At the very least, you and I are connected right now through the Internet. So with this in mind, let’s play a game (not the Kevin Bacon game).

Question: What do “The Secret” (the Law of Attraction philosophy featured on Oprah), jazz artists Eddie Harris and Pharaoh Sanders (best known for their work in the ‘60s and ‘70s) and the year 1983 have in common?

Answer: Georgia Anne Muldrow.

Many of the universe’s funkiest wavelengths have converged recently to create the neo-soul hip-hopstress, Georgia Ann Muldrow (jahjahmuldrow on Twitter).

Born in 1983, Muldrow was raised in a musical home in Los Angeles. Her mom, Rickie Byars Beckwith, sang with avant-garde jazz saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders among others. Muldrow’s late father, Ronald Muldrow, was a jazz guitarist who played with artists such as soul-jazz pioneer Eddie Harris.

With this foundation, Georgia naturally gravitated toward music, and also appears to have incorporated her mother’s spirituality. Beckwith is the musical director of Agape Spiritual Center, a “New Thought” church founded by Muldrow’s stepdad, Dr. Michael Beckwith. The reverend was featured in the 2006 movie, “The Secret.”

Here’s an excerpt of the lyrics:

“My prayer is to be better, and to live a life of love
An honest human being, whose light heart can soar with the doves.
It’s hard to keep your head up, when life’s smoke obscures your gaze
I pray to see the beauty, even in that smoke’s dark haze
And when, I feel worthy to receive, the universe opens up to me
I’m a wide open vessel, true love expressin’,
I’ll never live a day in vain”

Another 1983 Connection
Steven Ellison (Flying Lotus), with whom Muldrow and her partner, Dudley Perkins have recorded and performed, called his debut album, “1983.” (I can all but confirm that this was the year he was born.)

Here’s a video of Perkins (a.k.a. Declaime) and Muldrow (a.k.a. Patti Blingh) performing to Flying Lotus’ beats.

Ellison’s background was similar to Muldrow’s in that he grew up in L.A. in a musical family. He is the great nephew of Alice Coltrane, the late free-jazz singer/mystic and John Coltrane, the late jazz god.

Now follow me here. Pharaoh Sanders, who played with Muldrow’s mom, also recorded and played with the Coltranes, who were big influences of Muldrow’s and just about all serious musicians out there.

And so our story comes full circle.

So check out Georgia Anne Muldrow’s song, “Never a Day in Vain,” on the album “Early.” Muldrow’s web sites include http://www.myspace.com/georgiaannemuldrow and www.myspace.com/theworthnothingskrew . She has a fan page on Facebook.

Sources: http://www.stonesthrow.com/georgia, http://www.billboard.com/artist/georgia-anne-muldrow, http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2008/12/01/081201crmu_music_frerejones, http://www.rickiebyars.com/bio.html, www.myspace.com/flyinglotus and http://exclaim.ca/articles/points.aspx?csid1=135 .

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A quick video dump, or should be audio dump I guess but you have some sort of visuals to stare at… anyway,
as usual load the video and play before you read on .

Well, what to talk about … I guess this bit of music for now and we’ll see what develops.

So for those of you who don’t know Flying Lotus or commonly (and awfully I might add) referred to as FlyLo is a hell of a producer. Based in Los Angeles he’s been referred to as LA’s Burial… now I don’t quite see the comparison of musical styles so much but I can definitely see a resemblance when it comes to a profound influence in shaping a musical movement.

Flying Lotus

What Burial has done for Dubstep is sort of what Flying Lotus has done for the world of experimental hip hop, trip hop, and low end theory music. Alongside Glitch Mob, and Nosaj Thing to name a few Flying Lotus has revolutionized music especially in the way it is made, bringing to the forefront any and all technology which can be manipulated and changed to produce the sound he is looking for. (Difference is Flying Lotus has got his hands dirty in enough dubstep as well whereas I don’t think Burial has done much hip hop influence shiat).

A couple of weeks back I read an article I heard of when I was listening to the Mary Ann Hobbs show and fuck me was she right, the article does a great job in summing up whats been happening in this scene over the last year or 2. Have a read if youre interested and check out music by Flying Lotus, Nosaj Thing, Samiyam, and of course Prefuse 73. (be sure to check out these related links if you don’t want to read the article but get to some media : ONE and TWO )

I realized I haven’t said anything about Declaime aka Dudley Perkins and to be honest it’s cuz I don’t know shit about him but after a bit of research I found this :
He apparently has a grip of shit out (since ‘99 and was also featured on Mushroom Jazz Volume 5… he’s also done a bunch of shit with Madlib including a Hi-Tek vs. Madlib mixtape … could be worth checking out )

Let me know if anyone knows more about Declaime or if I missed something uber important, oh shit … I missed Pattie Blingh (aka G.A.M) but I also have 0 Idea who she is. So much music to be discovered so little time…. Stay tuned

Enjoy,
D.

And since a I love you all so much … a little bonus a “J Dilla Lightworks” Remix by Flying Lotus …

Definitely some of the best music to chill & burn to, I always wondered what music was playing in between the [adult swim] commercials, so of course I pulled out the IPhone and Shazaam!!! enjoy

A gravadora Warp surgiu em 1989, criada por Steve Beckett e Rob Mitchell, lançando projetos de música eletrônica como LFO e Nightmares on Wax. Em pouco tempo, consolidou-se como a base da cena eletrônica experimental do Reino Unido, lançando artistas como Aphex Twin, Autechre, Boards of Canada, Plaid e Chris Clark, entre outros. O título das compilações regulares da gravadora, Artificial Intelligence, serviu de inspiração para a criação do rótulo IDM, Intelligent Dance Music, que ficou marcado como “gênero” de muitos dos artistas da gravadora. Com o tempo, a Warp Records foi versatilizando o perfil de seus artistas, assinando com projetos de hip-hop e pop/rock, como Prefuse 73, Antipop Consortium, Maximo Park, Grizzly Bear, Broadcast, Battles, entre outros. Warp20 é uma série de discos celebrando os vinte anos da gravadora. Como parte da comemoração, foram lançados Warp20 (Chosen), uma coletânea dupla dos maiores sucessos da gravadora, selecionada 50% por fãs, 50% por Steve Beckett; Warp20 (Recreated), cd duplo com recriações de músicas de artistas da Warp feitas por outros artistas da gravadora; e Warp20 (Unheard), com músicas inéditas de projetos da Warp. Foi também lançado o Boxset Warp20, compilando todos esses lançamentos mais Warp20 (Elemental) e Warp20 (Infinite), o primeiro um mix pelo DJ Osymyso de faixas da Warp, e o segundo um disco com loops de músicas da gravadora.

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E a Warp faz vinte anos… Olhando para trás, fica difícil notar por onde não se estende a influência do selo: ambient, música eletrônica feita para a pista, música eletrônica feita para audição caseira, hip-hop (a partir do Prefuse 73, que incorporou a estética clicks&cuts e posteriormente assinou com a gravadora), chegando até o rock mais interessante da década, tanto dentro como fora da Warp (Thom Yorke é o primeiro a admitir a influência de Autechre e Aphex Twin para a guinada que tornou o Radiohead uma banda mais ousada e interessante com Kid A e Amnesiac). Comparando mesmo com as gravadoras independentes mais significativas de todos os tempos, Rough Trade, Factory, SST, Sub Pop, 4AD, nenhuma estendeu seu domínio por tanto tempo, com tanta coerência nas escolhas e tanta qualidade de lançamentos. Warp20 é uma série comemorativa, mas seu lançamento é também uma forma de fazer o público atentar para a história da gravadora e notar que papel determinante foi desempenhado por ela naquilo que a gente entende por música hoje. E como isso varia de vinte anos atrás.

A Warp já em meados dos anos 90 se identificou rapidamente com o cutting edge da música eletrônica (sem esquecer a Mille Plateaux, criada em 1993, não tão influente, mas igualmente ousada e importante). Mas talvez inicialmente esse não fosse o plano. A Warp nasceu inspirada em lançar projetos eletrônicos associados com a estética acid dos sons dos sintetizadores Roland TB-303 e TR-808, como LFO e Nightmares on Wax, os dois grandes primeiros hits da Warp. Como um pai cioso de ressaltar a importância de seus filhos que hoje já não estão mais nos holofotes, Steve Beckett aproveitou a chance da Warp20 para reavivar esses primeiros anos de gravadora, e com Warp20 (Unheard) a estratégia fique talvez mais clara. Ainda que as faixas não sejam datadas, há por boa parte delas um feeling dos cinco primeiros anos da gravadora: as duas músicas do Nightmares on Wax, versões dub de faixas do disco de 1991 A Word of Science; uma faixa do Autechre facilmente identificável como anterior a Incunabula, ou seja, anterior a 1993; uma faixa do Seefeel e outra dos Elecktroids que provavelmente datam da meiúca dos 90 e duas faixas do Plaid que, embora provavelmente datem do final dos anos 90, contém aquela “pureza” típica do começo da estética da Warp. Essa preferência acaba dando a Warp20 um charme quase hauntological, ou seja, de espectros sonoros que remetem à infância, que no caso é a da gravadora, mas que incidentalmente também pode ser a do ouvinte caso este tenha ouvido – como com este escriba foi o caso – coisas como “LFO” e “Aftermath” aos 14 anos, cortesia de José Roberto Mahr e seu Novas Tendências.

Warp20 (Unheard), para bem ou para mal, não apresenta nenhuma faixa que acrescente algo de muito significativo à carreira de algum dos artistas presentes. O disco começa com uma boa faixa do Boards of Canada, regada de esguichos gasosos de sintetizador, tão cheios que até chegam a parecer um Fuck Buttons menos nervoso e trabalhando com timbres de dez anos atrás. Em seguida vem uma deliciosa e estranha faixa do Autechre, quase irreconhecível porque muito calorosa e sem as ousadias rítmicas que já desde o primeiro álbum caracterizam o grupo. “Oval Moon (IBC Mx)” vem somar-se ao single “Cavity Job”, de 1991, como a pré-história do grupo, o momento em que Sean Booth e Rob Brown ainda lutavam para amadurecer seu estilo. Para fãs, portanto, é peça obrigatória. Em seguida vem “Rattlesnake”, de (Chris) Clark, uma quase-vinheta que, pelo quebra-cabeça rítmico e pela melodia adorável de sintetizador, evoca um possível encontro de BoC e Autechre. As duas faixas do Plaid são medianas e as duas do Nightmares on Wax são curiosidades que relembram, com linhas de grave sutis acrescidas às versões originais, como eram pulsantes os riffs do projeto no começo, bastante influenciados pelo hardcore techno então dominante. “As Link”, do Seefeel, é uma faixa ambient atmosférica que lembra Gas e o Aphex Twin de Selected Ambient Works 2. “Tronix”, do Flying Lotus, mostra que o produtor ainda não dominou a confecção de faixas etéreas do mesmo jeito que domina seus beats. Uma grata surpresa é “Sixty Forty”, do Broadcast, uma releitura de Nico retirada de uma Peel Session que mostra o grupo em onda climática e guitarreira, muito mais interessante que o disco inteiro que eles lançaram junto com o Focus Group.

Em suma: Warp20 (Unheard) é mais para colecionadores do que para neófitos. A esses, recomendamos Warp20 (Chosen), um sumário que atesta a excelência do trabalho vanguardístico da Warp ao longo desses vinte anos. Mas, para todos aqueles que vêm acompanhando a trajetória da gravadora por parte desse período, ouvir Warp20 (Unheard) é um exercício para lá de estimulante. (Ruy Gardnier)

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Estou ciente de que convém a Camarilha concentrar seus posts na análise do álbum em questão, operação que particularmente não me agrada tanto… Prefiro a detecção dos panoramas do que a parcialidade da análise miúda. Esta obviamente possui sua relevância e seus mestres, mas normalmente eu utilizaria esse álbum para louvar os feitos da Warp, sua importância e pioneirismo. Ocorre que seu conteúdo me trouxe uma impressão muito estranha. Vislumbrei uma dialética curiosa neste movimento ininterrupto de detectar a emersão da novidade que algumas vezes entrega o cetro não a um artista, não a um grupo, mas a um contexto. Isto levando em consideração que o brilho do novo deva ser necessariamente duradouro, para não dizer, errr… eterno. Esta coleção de “unheard tracks” revela que talvez se tenha glorificado excessivamente a ascenção da música eletrônica, inclusive aquela que aos ouvidos da época parecia algo novo e arrojado. Mas o que se ouve aqui, o material “unheard”, indica certas pulsações do passado, certos modos de se conceber a música eletrônica que eram considerados por uma medida bem mais nobre do que a justa e adequada. Claro que algumas contribuições permaneceram relevantes, dentro e fora da Warp. O problema é que o trabalho de vanguarda de Aphex Twin, Goldie, Autechre, Wolfgang Voigt muitas vezes coabita o campo nem tão relevante do Nightmares on Wax, do Plaid, do Clark etc. Situados muitas vezes no mesmo contexto, níveis tão diferentes de expressão musical são como que agrupados para criar tanto uma explicação como também uma estabilidade conceitual e comercial. Trata-se pois de defender o contexto da chamada “música eletrônica”, um problema para críticos, eu diria. Pois a defesa desse balaio de gatos demonstra uma visão que privilegia não a expressão e a pesquisa, mas o suporte (eletrônico) e o contexto “hype” (rave, drogas…). Tudo bem, sem questionamentos nesse nível: não há como analisar a música dos últimos 20 anos sem citar a Warp, essa gravadora independente e prolífica que já nos presenteou com trabalhos ousados e determinantes. A comemoração procede, portanto. Mas a experiência de escutar esse “unheard” serve mais como profilaxia contra o endeusamento de meros sintomas, como por exemplo a música de Dusk & Blackdown e Boards of Canada. Os grandes artistas da Warp se tornaram sinônimo de avant-garde pela qualidade de seus respectivos trabalhos, não por fazer parte de um selo ou de um contexto. E aí, “it’s a dirty job, but someone’s got do it”: talvez fosse melhor que este material “unheard” permanecesse no limbo, pois sua publicação vem com um certo sabor de auto-indulgência e narcisismo. (Bernardo Oliveira)

2562 - Unbalance

As coisas estão começando a minguar para o dubstep, que já não parece mais tão sólido como antes. Simultaneamente a uma evidente redução do estilo à uma formula, em 2007 a cena entrou no grande circuito enquanto todos esperaram ansiosos pelo Untrue do Burial, a Skull Disco fez seu status de aposta para o futuro do gênero, a Punch Drunk fazia a cena de Bristol reconhecida. Em 2008, parecia que as coisas iam ser diferentes e tudo começou a seguir uma nova direção. Começou-se falar em wonky, UK Funky e a introdução de techno, enquanto Hudson Mohawke, Rustie, Zomby, Skull Disco e até mesmo a Hyperdub começaram a mostrar que as coisas deviam mudar. E mudaram: 2009 quase não ouviu clichês em dubstep.

Dessa rápida introdução, vale tomar um destaque a Unbalance, novo disco de 2562, projeto do holandês Dave Huismans. O músico fez uma das maiores revelações nesta cena com o lançamento de Aerial, atestando mutações no gênero ao evidenciar a influência de dub techno na cena. Unbalance, mantém a mesma direção, olhando adiante. Porém, dessa vez, parece haver menos distinção autoral para justificar as conquistas recentes do gênero.

Unbalance é repleto do bom e velho dub techno, mas com sua palheta de sons líquidos e metálicos enquadrados numa lógica dubstep. Flashback abre o disco com esta proposta e a tardia Superflight parece propor o mesmo. O som da Tectonic é logo reconhecível e são evidentes os ecos de Martyn e Flying Lotus, que se juntaram ao selo neste ano. Aqui, o dubstep é mero pretexto para algo muito mais evoluído, que destaca camadas rítmicas, ecos e teclados baleáricos.

2562: Divulgação (www.last.fm)

Por outro lado, o toque de grime, como nos teclados de Like a Dream e no baixo quase wobble da música soam fora de lugar. Com certeza um dos destaques do álbum, essa faixa soa como uma aposta no dubstep à moda antiga, quando ainda preso à vertente do hip hop inglês.

Unbalance transforma-se em algo muito rico ao seguir esta linha. Huismans parece ainda acreditar no dubstep como sonoridade, ainda que reconheça sua evolução em algo distinto, principalmente pelas mãos de nomes citados acima. E parece uma proposta clara, sugerindo dupla interpretação ao título. Afinal, não é de des-balanço que se fala ao considerar as batidas complexas e múltiplas deste disco; ao mesmo tempo em que sugere as variações de uma estrutura que parecia justamente engessar-se conforme passou a ser aceita?

Listening to the trippy experimental soundscapes of L.A-based producer Nosaj Thing transports me into another world. Especially with a set of earphones. Sounds to me like Burial meets Flying Lotus meets Radiohead meets… I’m into his debut album Drift that dropped June 9th, 2009. Here are a few tracks from it except the first one which is off his EP Octopus. You’ll prob recognize it as the backdrop to Kid Cudi’s “Man On The Moon”.

Nosaj Thing – Aquarium

Nosaj Thing – Cave

Nosaj Thing – IOIO

Nosaj Thing – Lights1

Het is een van de belangrijkste muzikanten van nu. Overal gaat het over FlyLo-beats en FlyLo-muziek. En toch heeft Flying Lotus niet meer dan één EP en één album uit.

Alles wat de achterneef van John Coltrane doet, wordt op een goudschaaltje gewogen. Als de man vier nieuwe nummers op zijn MySpace zet, is dat een vermelding waard.

Prince, Data Entry, Lullaby en I Feel Like Dying (Lil Wayne remix) staan klaar voor de gretige oortjes.

DJs, Producers, Live Mad Scientists, MCs, Poets, you know…

In no order, and I am going to update this once a week-ish:

1. OOah
2. Robot Koch
3. Datsik
4. Mimosa
5. Take
6. Opiuo
7. Flying Lotus
8. Nasty Nasty
9. R/D
10. Modeselektor

Another crackin’ week in the center of the universe! The electronic arts scene here in Los Angeles is thriving; any given night you can throw a rock (or a flaming trash can) and hit a party with beats going off like wild animals. And I’m not talking about the plethora of horrific meet-market clubs packed to the gills with people who don’t give a flying shit about the music, dancing to 1998’s greatest house hits and trying not to spill an $11 vodka tonic on their shiny shirts.

I am talking about forward-moving music that engages your brain as well as your body. I am talking about the good shit. Puff puff give:

Low End Theory this week was a bit of an anomaly as all the residents were in route to Japan, but that didn’t stop the Low End community from doing it up proper and partying like it was Wednesday night or something. I arrived after 11PM half expecting a half-full room, but the upstairs dance floor was bouncy with head-nodders all the way back to Sharky’s bar.

While the absence of Daddy Kev, Nocando, Nobody, D-Styles and Gaslamp Killer was definitely noticeable, the people don’t come to Low End for the faces, but for the beats. And we got them. Devonwho was twisting minds with Tully of My Hollow Drum taking up as MC, and the MHD crew was rotating in and out of the DJ slot, keeping the energy lit. The crowd at Low End is always pretty young, and I love it. Seeing all those minors with X’s on their hands who are there for the music is so inspiring; it makes me wonder what beats are brewing in their heads tonight that I will dance to tomorrow.

I was thinking wow, this is a great night and I should write it up, and then who walks up to the stage but Flying Lotus. I should have recognized his laptop from the Obama sticker. A slap of excitement hit the crowd as we knew we were in for a real treat. As always FlyLo played some shit you have never heard before and that you can’t imagine existing until it does, right there in your ears and undeniable. We heard new beats from his new album no doubt, as well as a track that he and Thom Yorke had just made in NYC. I was swimming in the beat love, we all were, and Wednesday night confirmed for me that indeed Low End Theory is greater than the sum of it’s parts. It is a community but even more than that, it is an energy, a mental place of feral creativity where the normal rules of music and nightlife do not apply- because we are making new ones.

See you next week.

Dear readers: sorry for the astounding lack of photos on my recent posts. My camera has bit the shit.

hot damn, this is a hell of a collaboration. one of the best dubstep producers around now taking on what is quite possibly the most eerie and my personal favorite wayne song. the syrupy (no shots) street hit is one of wayne’s most drug-induced and prolific anthems that had the blogs spinning a few years ago. now it’s even more fucked up. unfortunately, it’s just a stream for now, but someone get to steppin’ with the cdq asap.

pop. pop.

stream:

lil wayne – i feel like dying [flying lotus remix]

-flying grizzly

Los Angeles based Psychedelic Beat-Maker MONO/POLY is probably one of the best up and coming LA beatmakers right now, however just a little while ago he was struggling to get started as a musician while trying to get through college, but finally with help from the Brainfeeder crew is entering the limelight to get a chance to release some of the fantastic music which he has been making, My interest in MONO/POLY started after hearing a mix of his a while back, which although still some what amateurish at the time (he hasn’t been DJing that long, but if you listen to his Mary Anne Hobbs mix below you’ll see hes signifigantly improved), still managed to win me over because of the production and how he somehow dropped a Vitalic song in the mix along the way, his style of psych hip-hop stuff is really electro tinged funkyness with hard hitting, fantastic sounds the likes of which Oizo and early HudMo would love. He has a ton of unreleased material, all of which that i’ve heard is awesome especially his remix of T-Pain and Lil’ Wayne’s ‘Can’t Believe It’, which i hope will at point see the light of day, in fact i hope we see alot in the next year from MONO/POLY. Here Is His First EP The George Machine, out on Faces Records, along with the fantastic Mary Anne Hobbs Mix he did this last spring. ‘Beatles Bitch’ takes the cake as far as the best track goes. Enjoy!

I will be lucky enough to mix up sets with panda slap as the other half of flexisonic on Nov. 20 and you will be lucky enough to see it if you are in Victoria! come for dinner, stay for tunes.  flexisonic will be playing at the whitebird lounge (768 yates st. 250.380.7040)

also check out the whitebirdlifestyle website

if you are not sure what you are getting yourself into, here is a live promo mix tossed together last minute (some new tunes, some old)

live mix 36:23

my secret lover (diplo remix)
sleeping bear lament (take remix) – architeq
robertaflack (mike slott’s other mix) – flying lotus
stepback (instrumental) – nadsroic
roller skates – samiyam
nothing like this (instrumental) – j dilla
low club anthem – fulgeance
just 4 kicks (instrumental) – rustie
nice green riddim – jahdan blackkamoore
gave you all my love (matt shadetek’s remix) – dj rupture
piano madness – terror danjah
seamonkey (untold remix) – moderat
versus – burial
kingdom – untold
work dat – jaybird
try humanity (starkey remix) – the brown acid
compass (christian martin remix) – l-vis 1990
midnight oil – pinch
color sexist-dorian concept
konotakosuke – dizz1

flexisonic whitebird lounge teaser

Denz & Biz (Cyberworks) Are Back With A Brand New Cyber Show For November Featuring Music By : 4hero, Deborah Jordan, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Dorian Concept, Flying Lotus & Much More…

Listen Now On Nuwaveradio.co.uk

Sarah Aument and the rest of O, Morning Records rocked Funk 'n Waffles on Friday, 11/6

You never know what to expect while stumbling down the stairs of Syracuse’s Funk ‘n Waffles on the night of a show. Acts can alternate between amateurs and professionals, hip-hop and folk-rock. Lucky for the college crowd that O, Morning Records was on the job last night, serving an aesthetically and musically eclectic platter of shoegazing, dancing and hand-clapping.

Sarah Aument, O, Morning’s very first signee, headlined the show with her new band. Before her came stellar performances from Bears in America, Mouth’s Cradle and The Northbound Traveling Minstrel Jug Band. Not many student acts in the Syracuse area can realistically follow The NTMJB, the liveliest of the night and probably the biggest crowd-pleaser.

This put Aument in a tight position. It’s not that her music fails to stand up to the Jug Band’s — quite the contrary. But, with her new band and her particular brand of mellow, singer-songwriter folk, following such vibrant acts could be daunting. Nonetheless, her talent as both a songwriter and performer shone through during her set.

“Is it the winning grin? I think it’s the winning grin,” Aument commented casually on fans’ opinions of the similarities between her and her new long-haired lead guitarist. However, her backing band — which she jokingly referred to as “Swine Crew” — seemed to be going through the motions for most of the show, perhaps not used to playing together in a live setting. Even so, Aument’s set picked up significantly by the end, and the finale’s triumphant swell of instrumentation showed promise for a band that demonstrated both talent and organization. Though no one danced, despite her encouragement, everyone enjoyed it.

The Northbound Traveling Minstrel Jug Band, however, rivaled Aument to be the best act of the night. With influences spanning folksy Americana in the vein of The Felice Brothers and The Hold Steady, frontman Aaron Gittleman even claimed: “This is hoedown music!” between songs.

Indeed, watching the band blister through Lynrd Skynrd solos and trade off a mandolin, banjo, tambourine and bongo drums made it easy to forget that the four guys had barely broken twenty and had just formed last year. As their set wound down, the same fans who had held an impromptu square dance watched, listened and sang along as the band harmonized the chorus to a song about a seagull by the beach.

The other two acts put on fine shows as well. Bears in America put on a melodious opening act with what they call “hibernation music.” Their concordantly howled vocals and minimalist, ambient instrumentation recalled noted influence Jónsi & Alex.

As the poppier Mouth’s Cradle took the stage, Kevin Hegedus, a.k.a. Mouf, told the crowd, “If you’re lying down, seek medical attention,” encouraging everyone else to stand. Throughout their set, attendees packed around Funk ‘n Waffles’s tiny stage, swaying as B-Linn (Brandon Linn) sampled Passion Pit’s “Sleepyhead” while Mouf rapped with a flow to rival most mainstream MCs today.

O, Morning Records have added a group of exceptionally talented artists to their repertoire since first forming in co-founder Dan Creahan’s dorm room last year. Last night’s showcase presented a label in growth — not all pros, but certainly not amateurs. With any luck the label and its bands’ popularity will extend past Syracuse soon.

– Eric Vilas-Boas

just found this image on Illab’s flickr page, wanted to share

Flying Lotus

Hey Folks!!!

Today marks the first day of  Producer Month. Its not actually a holiday or anything like that. However, I just felt I would move aside from the MCs for a little bit and exhibit true recognition for our Real Hip-Hop Producers. Also considering that I am a producer-rapper I have a special appreciation for those that have come before me. With this in mind, the first producer of the month is one of my favorite producers of all time. Flying Lotus is an experimental producer from Winnetka, California. His music is often used on Adult Swim, the most common being “Message Situation” from his 2007 Reset Ep released on Warp Records.  The song I will be posting today entitled, “1983″ after the album 1983, released in the fall of 2006 for Plug Research. I hope you all enjoy!!!

Flying Lotus – “1983″