Thursday, 6 January 2011

brooklyn flower

"brooklyn flower is a privately commissioned project in conjunction with slice-of-spice records, and redef records.

the title track is a reworking of the ramsey lewis and minnie ripperton versions of the charles ttepney classic, 'les fleur'. the intention of this track and project is a dedication for the birth of my daughter. these samples, and others deemed relevant, were referenced to damu the fudgemunk, when the project was first commissioned in late 2009, and as expected he produced something quite extraordinary and sublime. this is not a track he created for himself, or intended for commercial release."

download (right click and save as)

damu the fudgemunk - brooklyn flower

onra interview (bbc world service)

onra gave an interesting interview on his use of far eastern samples for the 'chinoseries' record in the wake of its follow-up due for release this year. he talks about the influence of both french and vietnamese cultures on his music, providing an insight into the creation of such a unique sound.


onra interview (bbc world service 27th dec 2010)

avalanche/victory lap

Monday, 6 December 2010

fick soul



flat pocket (twit one & lazy jones) - fick soul (mixtape)

Thursday, 28 October 2010

freedom suite

"echoing the style of guru’s jazzmatazz, jazz vocalist and multi grammy nominee nnenna freelon join hip-hop quartet the beast torelease 'freedom suite', a 10-track collection of creative reflections on jazz and hip-hop hosted by 9th wonder.

drawing from a traditional jazz canon as well as hip-hop “standards” from the recent past, the album brings a live jazz sound to some of the most loved tracks in popular music. the album features six original songs written and produced by the beast and also re-makings of modern classics such as mos def’s “umi says,” johnny mercer & hoagy carmichael’s “skylark,” and lauryn hill’s “doo wop”. the project has guest appearances from branford marsalis, phonte (of the foreign exhchange/little brother), yahzarah and geechi suede (of camp lo).

recognizing the importance of talking about the convergence of jazz and hip-hop and its role in forward-thinking culture, the album also features conversations among some of hip-hop and jazz’s greatest intellectual minds including ?uestlove, herbie hancock, amiri baraka, branford marsalis, angela davis and more."


Monday, 18 October 2010

kill your co-workers

"the minute you catch the striking, psychedelic artwork of theo ellsworth you know you're in for a treat. the insatiable, electrifying talent of flying lotus is back to treat us again. high concept beat-science is again order of the day, frazzled with invention, propelled by myriad time signatures and colour burst, cosmic-electronics. it's been noted before but flylo is slowly unravelling as the natural hip-hop heir to sun ra, a maverick oneness with sonic art is his, sit back and jump in."


Sunday, 17 October 2010

jet set siempre 1°

'clive tanaka y su orquesta' release 'jet set siempre 1°' with a dense electronic sound and a miami vice edge. split into two halfs, 'for dance' and 'for romance', we can hear the two different personailities break away but intimacy remains throughout.


Friday, 15 October 2010

death gate

"the gaslamp killer, AKA william bensussen, is a peculiar entity. on the one hand, he's an artist that refuses to be bound by convention or accepted practice. on the other, he's an obsessive perfectionist. while the L.A. beat scene within which he operates has been around for several years now, its musical parameters have not been completely set. there's no time signature to work within, no rules regarding melody and harmony, and definitely no constraints when it comes to rhythm.

'fun over 100' kicks the EP off and is testament to that. it's downtempo and, unlike the rest of the package, doesn't purport to have been built around dusty analogue sampling. "when i'm in awe" follows, calling up san diego-based vocalist gonjasufi to sing out-of-tune lyrics over a kick-less excursion into psychedelic rock, with bensussen blending digital bass with vintage strings, which results in an eerie three-minute loop.

it's with the arrival of 'carpool dummy' that bensussen's skills behind the boards really shine. the drums are programmed to perfection, but daring at the same time. unlike other members of the brainfeeder clique—lorn, daedelus and even flying lotus, for example — bensussen frequently departs from the conventions of melody. sometimes, it seems, he just wants you to bang your head. the rhythms crafted from sampled breaks on 'carpool dummy' are superb. they're looped, looped and looped again, and while some would call that lazy, in the hands of bensussen they're superb, as every few bars brings a slight shift in the snare arrangement.

'shatering inner journeys' and 'monsterfromtheundergound' close out the release. on the former, fellow L.A. resident computer jay provides guest synths over a shifting snare and hi-hat loop. the latter is the EP's shortest and most relentless, making use of a distorted midrange and up-tempo pace, closing out a solid and adventurous release."



carpool dummy (feat. mophono)

Tuesday, 28 September 2010

why like this?

teebs is a producer and visual artist signed to brainfeeder and his debut album 'ardour' is out pretty soon. lead single from the record 'why like this?' can be downloaded here.


Saturday, 25 September 2010

soulsessions

'loving you is killing me' by aloe blacc.

Thursday, 23 September 2010

timeless: j rocc

this video is from mochilla's 'timeless' film/music series and features a live audio/visual mix from j rocc.

Monday, 6 September 2010

rapohnelizenz

"here it is. our first very own beatcompilation. when we started this about a year ago, living together in the same building, sharing the same passion for music, we were passing on links of the stuff we found online. it´s a bit like digging for wax - a lot of crap but then at the end of the box you find a beautiful piece of music. so the next step was to share what you find on an bigger platform. while browsing the web and selecting everyday what stuff is worth promoting, we meet artists who catch our attention. we just want more of their music. we invented this compilation as fans and asked our favorite underground producers to contribute. we´re happy to deliver you a selection of mainly unreleased beats. get your mp3-player ready and let us know what you think.

we thank all artists for contributing and making this happen. for more information about the artists, click his track and check his info-section!

SOLO.JIMMY.JONES.YACKFOU.IP"

Rapohnelizenz.com
twitter.com/rapohnelizenz


01. boom baptist – 8-bit-try
02. xperiment beats – sound barrier
03. jon phonics – face music
04. chemo (telemachus) – dirt digler
05. das geraet – beck’s
06. dibiase – choke ya hood
07. anatol atonal – a-tzeton
08. torky tork – signal rap
09. dday one – give and take
10. suff daddy – message break
11. boom baptist – asian march
12. bugseed – break of dawn
13. elaquent – good fortune
14. j. bizness – biz reason 105 nevermind
15. pigeondust – wingless believer

<a href="http://rapohnelizenz.bandcamp.com/track/chemo-telemachus-dirt-digler">Chemo (Telemachus) - Dirt Digler by rapohnelizenz</a>

Monday, 30 August 2010

who says boys

five-piece oxford pysch-pop band fixers are guys to look out for, bringing the beach boys into the 21st century.


Wednesday, 18 August 2010

rattling cage

get the new forest swords 7" 'rattling cage' here.

Monday, 16 August 2010

someday we'll all be free

miguel atwood-ferguson ensemble performing 'someday we'll all be free' live in los angeles at the grand performances, california plaza july 23rd 2010. free download here.



bilal (vocals)
flying lotus (laptop)
miguel atwood-ferguson (violin)
evan francis (flute)
dontae winslow (trumpet)
joey dosik (alto sax)
kamasi washington (tenor sax)
garrett smith (trombone)
rebekah raff (harp)
marcel camargo (guitar)
brandon coleman (keys)
stephen 'thundercat' bruner (bass)
chris 'daddy' dave (drums)
nikki campbell (percussion)

Sunday, 15 August 2010

the outsiders are back

perhaps one of the most pleasantly suprising debut records to be released this year comes in the form of this brilliantly infectious funk/soul LP from kings go forth on luaka bop records. this 10-piece soul unit from milwaukee, wisconsin consist of seven players and three singers. this band have created their own sound from a broad palete of classic rhythm & blues, from mid-60s chicago to early-70s philadelphia, and those even more obscure. groove-heavy and horn-powered, 'the outsiders are back' cements its place in the exciting soul-revival.


kings go forth - fight with love

Saturday, 14 August 2010

last chants

here's a track from the forthcoming sun araw EP out on woodist this october. this is the project of magic lantern's cameroon stallones which takes you down a distinct psych/dub/drone path of escapism.


sun araw - last chants

Wednesday, 11 August 2010

heritage

"hypnotic brass ensemble are one of a kind. graced with soul, funk, and spirituality these guys have captivated audiences worldwide. their music is a combination of all genres. with the undeniable drive of hip-hop, the freedom of rock and the melodic thread of R&B these guys are nothing short of unique.

all band members are the sons of legendary sun ra trumpeter phil cohran. the group began performing together as children (some as early as 3 years old). in 1999 they formed what is now known as the hypnotic brass ensemble and have performed or collaborated with some of the greatest musical stars of the last two decades. from mos def to maxwell, wu tang clan’s ghostface killah to UK superstar damon alburn, erykah badu to fela kuti’s drummer tony allen. if you don’t know these guys you’re missing out.

during one of their many stays in dublin with choicecuts, hypnotic decided to shack up in a studio located high in the dublin mountains to rehearse for a week and write new material. hypnotic and choicecuts had a bit of down time in between these sessions and with plenty of guinness and jameson in tow chose to rework some of their favourite records from other artists that have influenced them both.

hypnotic know their fans. they also know their fans know real music. the heritage EP released by choicecuts with hypnotic is a nod to that fact, a sprinkling of the hypnotic dust over some of the tunes that influenced the band and their musical direction over the course of their lives."


hypnotic brass ensemble - spottie (free download)

Sunday, 8 August 2010

lloyd miller & the heliocentrics

"following their award-winning collaboration with ethio jazz godfather mulatu astatke (sunday times world music album of the year), pioneering UK collective the heliocentrics resurface alongside another fascinating jazz enigma, ethno-musicologist, jazz maestro and multi-instrumentalist, lloyd miller.

learning various instruments and immersing himself in new orleans jazz through his father, a professional clarinet player, lloyd miller first trained himself in the styles of george lewis and jimmy giuffre and cut his first dixieland jazz 78 rpm record in 1950. during the late ‘50s, his father landed a job in iran and miller began to develop a lifelong interest in persian and eastern music forms, learning to play a vast array of traditional ethnic instruments from across asia and the middle east.

he toured Europe heavily, basing himself in switzerland, belgium, sweden, germany (where he played with eddie harris and don ellis) and, most famously, in paris where he worked with oddball bandleader jef gilson, a phenomenon in french jazz during the early ‘60s. miller returned to the middle east during the ‘70s, landing his own TV show on NIRTV in tehran under the name kurosh ali khan. his show became a national fixture and ran for seven years.

miller has since been a vocal ambassador for preserving the traditions of many forms of wastern music. In recent years, his mid-‘60s album ‘oriental jazz’ has become a collector’s favourite and the UK’s jazzman label have issued a compilation, ‘a lifetime in oriental jazz’, covering work from across his career. the renewed interest in his music has spawned this new collaboration with the heliocentrics, a freeform mix of eastern arrangements, jazz and angular psychedelics and represents the heliocentrics’ most accomplished work to date".


lloyd miller & the heliocentrics - nava