"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."
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.
"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."
"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!
these dilla tracks consist of previously unreleased instrumentals selected by j.rocc from the dilla archives and three original beats of dilla's production for mos def, q-tip, and busta rhymes. out of interest, the q-tip beat 'move' samples 'dancing machine' by the jackson 5.
01. safety dance 02. sycamore 03. bars & twists 04. history (mos instrumental) 05. move (tip instrumental) 06. you can’t hold a torch (busta instrumental)
new lp from japenese artist bugseed is essentially a beat tape combining mellow rhodes piano and melancholy horns with those dusty drum breaks we love so much.
"on may 23rd we celebrated the art of beatmaking at friedenspark, cologne together with 700 likeminded music lovers. upmyalley and MPM say thank you with a free tape with unreleased beats from suff daddy, dexter, powell, twit one, adlib, moo, hubert daviz and tobrock. download the tape for free and check robert's photos."
the latest beatsmith to delve into the funk and soul of the now-again records catalog is maker from the chicago area. previous effort from oh no was a resounding success, up there with some of my favourite instrumental hip-hop albums, so the next instalment in the 'music-library' series had been eagerly awaited. maker definitely puts his own stamp on these samples with golden-era dusty drum breaks and two-bar loops. there is more of an old school hip-hop feel to this release in the series, perhaps even a more normative framework in which the producer builds around. those of you residing in the U.S. have the opportunity to grab yourself one of the CDs which were limited to 1000 copies here.
"secondhand sureshots is a filmed experiment in creative sound recycling. dublab directors bryan “morpho” younce & mark "frosty" mcneill sent beatmakers daedelus, nobody, j.rocc and ras g on safari into L.A. thrift stores with orders to make new music out of five finds while the cameras filmed the whole process. the result is a mini-documentary about putting new life into old vinyl. over 2 hours of footage, music & bonus material.
the deluxe super set is a true sound and vision experiment. dublab scoured southern california and rescued 500 gatefold LP covers from dusty thrift store bin obscurity. our graphic friends at hit+run took the covers and screen-printed them by hand, making new visual masterpieces to house the first public release of secondhand sureshots. stuffed in this package is all-exclusive material sampled and shredded into new forms fine-tuned to blow your mind. we hope it inspires you to make your own creative gems and jams!"
dr. quandary, a boston-based producer, uses psychedelic samples while introducing dusty hip-hop breaks. his first record 'quanny sitar' is a tribute to india, mixing folk traditions with mid-70s bollywood soundtracks. download the record for free courtesy of bandcamp.
latest release from german beat-maker suff daddy, 'the gin diaries', is a real treat for fans of soulful hip-hop. collaborations with the likes of miles bonny, fleur earth, mariama, and jim dunloop produce a similar neo-soul feel to that created by erykah badu's latest record. 'the gin diaries' has been described as a beat novel consisting of 13 musical short stories providing snapshots of the producer's life.
washington dc's soulful beatmaker damu the fudgemunk has a new album out entitled 'how it should sound vol.1 & 2', and as damu himself states in the first track - 'interpret the title how you will'. this is a great instrumental hip-hop record made with little more than an MPC 2000 and a large record collection which harks back to the '90s era of jazz-rap. most of the footage in this promo video was shot by damu's younger brother while 'how it should sound' was being recorded...
info and on the new instrumental hip-hop album from oddisee...
"as a musician, life is often lived on the road. each city leaves its imprint on the artist as they develop their craft. touring, recording, and keeping up with friends and family took oddisee beyond his hometown of washington dc to australia, europe, asia, africa, and south america. from cities like east africa’s khartoum in sudan, to cosmopolitan jaunts like paris & tokyo. the influence of these travels can be heard on every one of the 24 tracks included on “traveling man"
each track was produced while oddisee stayed in the city it was titled after. the result is a 24 city sonic tour of the world. listen as oddisee guides you throught his instrumental journed around the globe. visit the lonely winter streets of detroit, festive san francisco, hynotic khartoum - or let your swagger loose with the theme music of chicago or the bounces of south central. oddisee sees the world, so that you can hear it."
this album comes from german dj & producer dexter and provides some great jazz samples arranged around a contemporary hip-hop beat. this dusty sounding record retains a modern element and even looks forward to the future of the relationship between jazz & hip-hop. quotes and samples are interspersed from interviews and tv shows adding to the narrative of the album.
hip-hop instrumentalist oh no is the younger brother of madlib and is seriously rivaling his sibling's beat-making abilities. as a follow-up to his album 'dr. no's oxperiment', created with turkish and lebanese-psych samples, 'dr. no's ethiopium' is another region-based beat album created using strictly 60's and 70's ethiopium samples.
onra is a french beat-maker who uses predominantly asian samples. his first album 'chinoiseries', which features this track 'smoking buddha', uses mainly chinese and vietnamese samples which gives it a really unique feel.
this is a track from one of madlib's projects that takes a distinct step away from traditional hip-hop - yesterday's new quintet. recently i have been on a journey discovering all the madlib-related material out there and with each new turn the music takes, my appreciation greatens. this jazz-based quintet, made up of four fictitious characters, has released a few albums that i highly recommend you check out.
j dilla was a hip-hop producer from detroit, michigan. having only discovered his work recently, i was instantly intrigued by his use of sampling and the misty, almost nostalgic atmosphere his music creates.
