69 (Carl Craig) - 4 Jazz Funk Classics (Planet E)

Over the holidaze I spent some time digging through my old crates of vinyl tryin' to decide if its time to sell some of those old underplayed not yet forgotten vinyl gems.

One of the gems I came across was the VERY FIRST bit of wax I ever purchased way back in 1991...

An early Carl Craig release on Planet E (under his 69 moniker) called 4 Jazz Funk Classics.

The A side on this disc, the 8 minute opus entitled Ladies & Gentlemen is a cut that I would list as one of my most influential. After 4 minutes of winding twisting techno - a brief moment of silence - then the breakbeat drops in and the entire track changes course into some serious pre-pre-pre Boards of Canada ISH.

Still bloody brilliant.

I've never really been one of those cats that follows everything Carl Craig does (though I probably should) but over the years I've picked up numerous 12s by him. Some Paperclip People, his fucking fantastic Bodyjazz Bodyfusion EP and here recently The Detroit Experiment side project (which he co-produced along with Amp Fiddler). I'll have to post some Detroit Experiment another day. But that shit comes on a serious Neo-Detroit-Soul vibe. Sick. Sick. Sick. Coughcoughcough. I have mad respect for the diverse cats. Producers who don't just release house music or hip hop or idm or wutever, cats who mix it up on numerous levels. Carl Craig does that.

Peep it. Enjoy it. Buy it on Ebay.

69 (Carl Craig) - Ladies & Gentlemen

Music: Rich Harrison / Amerie / Mark Ronson

Even though producer Rich Harrison has been creating straight forward R&B for a number of years, it wasn't until recently that he did something that made my ears tune in...

...and THAT was his hugely successful Crazy in Love anthem for Beyonce (a track with beat work unlike any of his previous productions). Yes... that shit has been played to def, but the beats are fire and Rich is continuing to bring the heat... Apparently this is a style hes gonna stick with for a minute. He gave the drummer some on Tha Rayne's Didn't Cha Know (a track which suffered from so so vocals) and now hes doing it again on this new Amerie jump off - One Thing.

Amerie - One Thing

Mark Ronson is another cat coming on some crazy peter piper rock the bells type o shit. With beats that have more in common with old Funk and Soul than any of today's Rap and R&B programming.

If you haven't heard Mark Ronson - cop his album Here Comes The Fuzz and track down these Mark Ronson 12s on Fatbeats... if you don't already own 'em.

Mark Ronson - Ooh Wee Feat. Ghostface Killah, Nate Dogg & Obie Trice
Loose Cannons - I Like It When Ya (Mark Ronson Remix)

Fuck it, heres some Mark Ronson versus Quantic Soul Orchestra limited pressing bootleg ISH...

Mark Ronson Vs Quantic Soul Orchestra - Pushin Ronson (Bonobo Edit)

Now go buy something.

Music: Squarepusher - Breezeblock Mix - March 15, 2004

Here is a excellent live PA from Squarepusher, recorded just before he began his most recent tour. I can't tell how much is straight new material since so much classic stuff has been reinterpreted in a new way. Enjoy!

Squarepusher - Breezeblock Mix - 040315

I think this interview is the real highlight, however. I haven't heard a good interview with Mr. Tom Jenkinson before. Usually, its just a bunch of stupid questions and stupider answers nothin' too serious... ala Richard D. James.

Squarepusher - Breezeblock Mix - 040315 - Interview

hosted by Krack.org

Music: Bruce Wang - cos(PPL+DNT-LSTN) - An IDM / Hip Hop Mix

Well I finally recorded a new mix cd this past week. It is the first mix I have recorded in almost 2 years. I've been piecing this together off and on for just over a year now. The selection is IDM / Braindance / Glitch Hop / Blip Hop / wutever the kids are calling it these days.

I call it good.

Most of it was put together for Lowpro Audio's Day Out of Time Festival which took place in Northern California in August 2003. The set I played at that show was the basis for this mix and much of the order and selection remain but with several new additions such as the Kelpe tune from his fantastic but underplayed new full length on DC. Definately a glitch hop/idm producer you should peep up on and BUY.

Bruce Wang - cos(PPL+DNT-LSTN)

Support these artists...

John Tejada - I’ll See You In A Place With Lights
from Dublab Presents Freeways (Emperor Norton) 2001

Richard Devine – Untitled
from Across The Cell Wall (Kodama) 2000

Machine Drum - Are I (Xela Soul In The Machine Mix)
from Half The Battle (Merck) 2002

Mùm - The Ballad Of The Broken Birdie Records (Ruxpin Mix 2)
from Remixed (Thule Musik) 2000

Midwest Product – Laundry
from Idol Tryouts: Ghostly International Vol. 1 (Ghostly International) 2003

Busta 73 – No Time Fo’ Yo Ass (Bruce Wang's Mo Fiya Mash)
Unreleased Bootleg Mash Up 2003

Kelpe – Sickly Situation
from Sea Inside Body (D.C. Recordings) 2004

Machine Drum - Yo What Uh Yeh
from Half The Battle (Merck) 2002

Push Button Objects - Non Existant (Gescom Mix) / (Bruce Wang's Fuckit in Nantucket Edit)
from Rapid Transit (Chocolate Industries)

Mr. Oizo - Monophonic Shit
from Analog Worms Attack (F-Communications) 1999

Dabrye - Truffle No Shuffle
from One/Three (Ghostly International) 2002

Ortem - Hold On
from Data City (Pivotal) 2000

Global Goon – Long Whiney
from Cradle Of History (Rephlex) 1998

Cex - Cal And Brady Style
from Starship Galactica (555 Recordings) 2001

Machine Drum – Def In It
from Urban Biology (Merck) 2003

Nautilis – 081301
from Are You An Axolotl (Planet Mu) 2002

Music: Roots Manuva - Skiver's Guide (Bruce Wang's 214 Mix)

Here is a remix hot off the press. I finished it about 10 minutes ago.

Roots Manuva - Skiver's Guide (Bruce Wang's 214 Mix)

I'm a big fan of UK hip hop and Roots Manuva is an MC that has been pushing that scene from the get-go. Mad flows, mad lyrical science, wicked beats. The original version appears as a B-Side on the Motion 5000 12". That was a limited edition release on Ninja Tune sub Big Dada in 1999.

I decided to remix this cut because the flows are fucking insane. ESPECIALLY SEANIE T's verbal ragga shredding which I recut and used as the hook. There is just 2muchFIYA behind it.

The guest list reads as a veritable whos who of UK Hip Hop... Taipanic (from Blak Twang), Seanie T and then Juice Aleem / Robotic E.B.U. (Gamma). Taipanic also produced the original version of Skiver's Guide.

Enjoy the remix. BUY THE ORIGINAL.

FYI: Skiving is slacking... and 214 is the Dallas area code...

Film: Gift of Gab - Rat Race directed by Shafei & Levitz

Here is the video Shafei & Levitz did for Gift of Gab's lead single from his new(ish) solo album "4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up"

Gift of Gab is one/half of Blackalicious alongside Lateef. An ill bay area crew in their own right... But this new solo album by Gab is just ridiculous. Better than any of the Blackalicious albums to date. They just keep getting better and better with each release.

Gift of Gab - Rat Race (Video)

And if you haven't seen Gift of Gab and Lateef do their thing live... you must. Straight LYRICS.

Music: Terri Walker / UK Garage

Terri Walker is leaving a quite mark on the UK soul scene... Her new album "Untitled" is fantastic...

Terri Walker - Ching Ching (Loving You Still)

Terri Walker - Ching Ching (Video)

Buy it... Mos Def is on there too.

More Here...

Terri Walker isn't new to the game... she added her lovely voice to various UK Garage productions a couple years ago when UKG was still London's music fad of the moment... One of the favorite records I own from her is this Treading New Territories produced cut...

TNT Feat. Terri Walker - Easy Lovin' (Go Beat) 2001

She also did some work with Shanks and Bigfoot on the big stomper - Sing-a-Long, which is just a ridonkulous UK Garage anthem. Fat fat beat. The Shack Up breakbeat Shanks and Bigfoot flip into a 2-Step stylee is one of my favorite breaks.

Gah! I miss that R&B and Pop flavored UK Garage - a style which has almost completely disappeared and made way for 8 Bar and Grime and Dubstep and all those other off shoots straight out tha gutter. And all of which I am into... 'cept I still wanna hear this style too... Seems like it died around the time So Solid Crew appeared on the scene and got mad amounts of hype and press they didn't deserve (their album ended up being WEAK) and they spit the same fake-ass gangsta bullshit American MCs do. Course, much of the R&B flavored UK Garage was just a different type of bullshit (lyrically speaking) - namely that club flossin' blinged out trife-livin' materialism.

But you don't hear me though...

Music: Mercedes-Benz Mixed Tape 04

The new Mercedes-Benz Mixed Tape is up... not as good as the last two but still some great stuff on here. Sébastian Tellier's piano and symphony gem - La Ritournelle from his new album... being the best of the bunch.

Keston & Westdal Featuring Ester G - Se Fue

Download it now for more earhole pleasure.

Mercedes-Benz Mixed Tape 04

Film: Massive Attack - Danny The Dog / Unleashed

Massive Attack's score for the new Luc Besson (Leon, La Femme Nikita) film Danny The Dog (now called Unleashed) is out now. Overall the score is solid, though not as good as moving as I'd hoped. It falls somewhere in between The Dust Brothers' Fight Club score and Massive's 100th Window. Check it out...

Massive Attack - Polaroid Girl

More Samples Here...

Luc Besson has kinda lost my interest since he did The 5th Element which I was not feelin' at all (good vfx though) I will hit the theatre for this one however...

Morgan Freeman and Jet Li star.

Trailer 1 / Trailer 2

While your at it... peep the trailer for the Besson produced french actioneer Banlieue 13.

Banlieue 13 (Trailer)

Art: Animaris by Theo Jansen

This has to be some of the most amazing moving artwork I have ever seen. This

Artist/Engineer Theo Jansen has create a giant steel beast weighing 2 tons but can be pushed easily by a single man...

Watch the videos...

I think the Animaris Currens Ventosa is my favorite.

strandbeest.com

The Animaris Rhinoceros Transport

Crazy.

Music: Boards of Canada - Geogaddi (Warp)

This was one of my favorite albums of 2002. Has it been that long!?!?! The original Boards of Canada full length Music Has a Right to Children is an IDM/Braindance classic and an incredible piece of Lo-Fi brilliance.

Check out their follow up...

Boards of Canada - Geogaddi (Warp)

...and then immediately go out and buy everything they have ever done. I'm still looking for their releases on Skam myself...

Music: Nas - Street Disciple

I haven't given the new album a thorough listen yet... but this is the funkin' jam of the moment... hands down... It's also on the new Luda album Red Light District

Nas Featuring Ludacris & Doug E. Fresh - Virgo

Baby girl won’t you come and hold my hand
Won’t you come and chill out with the Virgo
Hey girl, just come and hold my hand
Won’t you come and just chill with the Virgo
We sippin’ on Merlot
You ain’t got be my girl though
I’ll drop you off at Market and Guerrero
Smash with the Virgo
Ain’t got to take your shirt off
But see me convince your homegirl though

Music: Floan Project

Here are some cats I came across last time I was in Los Angeles. I just happened to hear it playing on the soundsystem in a shop on Melrose... so I bribed the clerk for his copy. :)

Floan Project

Try on some abstract beatness for your earholes...

Floan Project - Forest Movement

Their album Movement Towards Awake is out now.

Film: Tetsujin-28 aka Gigantor

Here is the trailer for the classic Japanese story about a boy and his robot - Gigantor. Looks like the same company that did Casshern... which was... as I suspected visually superb (though somewhat heavy handed in parts) but with a WEAK story and charecters. I had the same problem with the french film Immortel: Ad Vitam. Hell, even Ghost in the Shell 2 suffered from the same problems.

2004 has turned into a rather lackluster year in cinema. Most of the films I had been really excited about have been disapointments. With House of Flying Daggers and Kung FU Hustle on the way... there is still hope.

Anyway check 'em out for yourself. Here is the trailer.

Gigantor - Trailer

Music: De La Soul & MF Doom on The Carson Daly Show

Here is De La Soul & MF Doom performing on the Carson Daly Show. TOO HYPE.

Ya know I wasn't really feelin' MF Doom when he re-emerged a few years back... but ill tell ya what... the more I listen to him, the more I love him... The more I get "IT"... He easily has one of the wickedest flows out there and his lyrics are friggin' ridunkulous. Cat is sick. Even sicker with the right producer.

Windows Media Stream

Real Audio Stream

Buy the new De La Soul and MF Doom albums. Both are out now.

Music: Dego - Live in San Francisco / Fresco

Well the Fresco boys brought another heavy hitter last night... Dego of 4 Hero, 2000 Black fame. An absolute legend... from old school hardcore to jungle to broken beat to hip hop to future jazz. This cat has been a great influence on a generation of fans who like there beats shaken and their riddims twisted.

I must admit, the Fresco DJ before Dego, stoled the show from Dego playin a super selection of crowd movin broken beat. Dego, went in a more chilled and jazzy direction. It was an excellent show but I was hoping for a rump shaker and he did play a couple cuts that you just couldn't deny... hell if the dj was on the dance floor I woulda been trainspotting half the night. He did drop some shit from Madlib's blue note album and immediately followed it up with 2 incredibly sick pristinely EQ hip hop instrumentals I've never heard before but fuck me they were dope. I had to throw my hands in the air. Easily worth the $10 cover, as are all Fresco shows.

Here is an interview with Dego on KCRW Radio outta Santa Monica from 2003.

Dego - KCRW Interview

So… Dego is one half of 4 Hero along with Mark Mac aka Remarc. They have an incredible body of work. Probably their most well known cuts would be the track they did on Jill Scott's Experience album or the 1991 rave anthem Mr. Kirk's Nightmare (best believe original vinyl is worth some serious $$$).

I won't post either of those here cause you have already heard em (own em hopefully). But here are some Dego cuts you probably missed...

4 Hero – The Scorcher (Dance Mix) Reinforced (12004) 1990 … 19FUCKIN90!!! and 4 hero is already dropping bombs...

Internal Affairs – Find A Way Reinforced (12046) 1993 – This is an early collaboration between Dego, Mark Mac and… up and coming drum and bass star and Metalheadz honcho… Goldie

Jacob’s Optical Stairway-Fusion Formula (Metamorphosis) R&S 1995 – One of Dego and Mark’s many aliases, pushing the boundaries of Breakbeat and Jungle. This is one of my favorite tunes by the duo.

4 Hero – Planetaria (A Theme From A Dream) from the aptly named Pioneers EP on Talkin' Loud 1997

Tek 9 Feat. Capital A - Stand Clear SSR 1999 – This is Dego’s foray into hip hop… if you don’t know Tek 9 they you best hit your local Amoeba now… This is not a project you wanna miss… The Tek 9 remix of King Britt’s Sylk 130 - Gettin' Into It is REQUIRED LISTENING. SICK. SICK. SICK.

The most recent Dego project is his Daz-I-Kue and Kaidi Tatham colabo as DKD. The new album is entitled Future Rage. Out now on Bitasweet Black.

RESPECT.

Music: Deceptikon / Maps & Diagrams

Here is an excellent mix by fab glitchy hip hop producer Deceptikon. This cat is one of my favorites in the genre alongside Dabrye, Machine Drum and Prefuse 73. Pick up his releases on Merck.

Deceptikon - Live

Also of note...

Maps & Diagrams - Live

Hell, check out all the mixes from Percussion Lab...

Music: Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information (1974)

I picked up a sparkling used cd of summa dat ol' 1974 sticky icky icky funk soul jazz... Shuggie Otis' Inspiration Information.

Though, I love Shuggie's voice on the cuts, I think his guitar free instrumentals are when he really shines... songs like Pling! and my favorite XL30...

Shuggie Otis - XL30

but then he does a cut like Strawberry Letters 23... and I forget what I just said about instrumentals and all that...

Shuggie Otis - Strawberry Letter 23

Beautiful. The albums a classic. Buy it or steal your dad's copy. He don't listen to it anymore anyway..