She really, really, delivered. The way Epps aerially veers between spiritualist vocalism, outer-body poetics, convulsing grooves and a paranormal beat cavity with boom-bap for a terrestrial heartbeat (with Apex, Amdex, Flying Lotus, S1, Muhsinah, Everett James, Nick Speed and Slugabed all behind the boards). Avant Garde Soul comes a step closer to it’s requiem for a future.
‘Floatin’ is already one of the top 5 songs of the year, if I find a single person contradicting that I’ll stab their brain with their nose-bone like Ballerina P. The rest of the album is now joining the higher tier of my (obsessive compulsive) mental ranking system.
It’s no secret why Lib runs with this girl- she’s on a higher plain.
“Passin’ clouds passin’ you passin’ me by,
Passionately we can be so high,
Heavens are over the sea,
Gravity can’t hold us down, baby…”
[IF YOU WANT THE ABOVE LINK/S TAKEN DOWN, E-MAIL US DIRECTLY ON ibootleggedyourmum@gmail.com & IT WILL BE DONE AS SOON AS REQUEST IS SEEN.]
1. Eppisode (Prod. by Slugabed) 2. The Awakening
3. OM (Prod. by Muhsinah)
4. Addicted (Prod. by Amdex)
5. Heaven (Prod. by S1) 6. Cosmik Dust (Prod. by Flying Lotus) 7. Floatin
8. Floatin (reprise) 9. Who Knows (Prod. by Nick Speed)
10. Mothership
11. 00:00
My favourite tracks highlighted in Bold Red above.
Adorable Miss. Asplund is one of my breakthrough artists of 2008 with her futuristic Soul debut ‘Plethora’ (shouts to my duke DJ Cavalry for puttin’ me on that earlier this year, and all the heads I had hooked on it consequential to that). Not sure why I have to keep repeating, “don’t sleep on the Swedes”.
The new single ‘Silverlake’ and it’s B-side ‘Snowfall’ are produced by Dorian Concept (with artwork from Piet Parra) exclusively for Nike’s AM90 launch campaign, and they’re both quite simply spellbinding. It excites me to hear artists challenging the status quo as Kissey does. It’s like the rebirth of Trip-Hop’s most intoxicating aspects.
Respects to Nike for having the balls (product placement pun intended) to put this ill sista on. It’s a wise move if they’re looking to tap into a market of progressive music-orientated fashionistas.
Drops today Oct 22nd as a limited 12″ vinyl, and digitally November 3rd.
Just been shot over this brand new exclusive J-Rawls joint from the forthcoming Liquid Crystals Project Vol. 2 (dropping in Europe this week, and the US in October).
I’m intensely diggin’ the fly, jazzy, reinterpretation of the classic Beatnuts bumper ‘Off The Books’. Rawls has a knack for honey-dripping melodies (evident on such early works as his production of Blackstar’s heartwarming ‘Brown Skin Lady’).
Props to Rah over at soulBEAUTIFUL, holdin’ it down for international Soul and Hip-Hop artists touring in the UK. Hit them up if you require intelligent distribution, promotion & event management in the UK. They handle Eric Roberson and Miles Bonney amongst others as clients and let’s be honest, SB’s got London’s Soul community locked. Plus they come recommended courtesy of… well, me.
I’ve just been sent over this track by gracious Geek Escort (Infinite Love right back at you).
It’s a brand new Little Dragon song done exclusively for a new Cartier ad campaign.
More quirky, bouncing Euro-Soultronica with a chilled Nu Jazz nonchalantness.
Their self-titled debut album was one of the most gradually addictive (general consensus from all the heads I’ve put onto it) and perhaps overlooked of 2007. I’ve maintained that they could easily break mainstream, so I suggest you jump on this immediately before a band of Twiggy-clad trendies from Hoxton and Brick Lane claim ownership of your Smörgåsbord.
And don’t sleep on the Swedes, they’re rising again fast.
What are you having sex to tonight? Mind if I make a recommendation?
While we’re busy waiting for D’Angelo (a musical hero/martyr of mine) to put the coca plant down and apply fingers to Fender- I suggest you all observe the ascension of 23 year old Brooklyn/Chi-Town’s gifted Jesse Boykins III. His debut EP, an ode to the chemical that makes one fall in love or form addictions, was entirely written, produced, engineered and mixed by the 5-octave ranged prodigy (who despite his age, wearing canerows and being confined to the Contemporary R&B categorisation for it, is as far from Lloyd as is Boris Yeltsin).
There’s a rich, hazy-dream, Neo-Soul aura reminiscent here of Raheem DeVaughn and Dwele’s early work and I adore how the lax trumpet weaves in and out of tracks. I bugged out and started making lecherous, erotic mouth contortions when I first heard ‘Sobriety’ five months ago; I also found relation to the visceral, poetic quality of the songwriting that’s as tender as the last sensuous touch to plague the mind after a heartbreak.
My homegirl Rah informs me exclusively Jesse’s debut album ‘Fake It Till U Make It’ is dropping shortly and he’ll be performing live dates in the UK to promote the release some time in the Autumn.
Right now, I sense this kid got next.
Tabloids [Link Deleted by Request From Copyright Holder]
The Sea [Link Deleted by Request From Copyright Holder]
Sobriety [Link Deleted by Request From Copyright Holder]
1. My Life On My Backft. James W.A.T.T.S. 2. Tabloids
3. Sounds Like Love
4. Baby “I Don’t Know” 5. The Sea
6. Sobriety
7. Think
8. All (Outro)
My stand-out tracks highlighted in Bold Red above.
Eyes wanting closure, head begging rest; yet duty calls and bloody blogging prevails.
I’m lying in bed right now having this soaring sensory experience bumping Californian electronic/experimental Hip-Hop producer Afta-1’s debut instrumental LP with my headphones fully engaged. In comparison to the fresh hoards of “Glitch-Hop” aspirants, this stands out as one of the most Soulful palettes I’ve heard with heavier emphasis on melody and a less mechanized perversion of the groove. Still there’s tingles, twitches, head-nodders, euthermic bass and even an industrial sensuality if there can be such a thing.
In short, these compositions flow seamlessly like a volcanic spring oozing blunt-scented perfume which forms an estuary around your dome that you can backstroke in. And if analogies aren’t your bag, then lie down and just play the damn thing with the lights off.
It’s a vision to craft something authentic that shows sublime love for a bygone era- and it’s a vision perfectly realised.
Vintage heaven in surround-sound. The strings, the percussion, the harmonies, arrangements, echoes, bass guitars and the conviction of it all… makes me straight up wanna fall in love right now.
Ray-Ray’s goin’ on like a legend.
01. Sure Hope You Mean It 02. 100 Yard Dash
03. Keep Marchin’ 04. Big Easy
05. Just One Kiss (feat. Joss Stone) 06. Love That Girl 07. Calling
08. Staying In Love 09. Oh Girl 10. Let’s Take A Walk 11. Never Give You Up (feat. Stevie Wonder & CJ Hilton)
12. Sometimes
13. Oh Girl (feat. Jay-Z)
My stand-out tracks highlighted in Bold Red above.
I’m suddenly a tad addicted to this LP; three mornings I’ve lay in bed and let it run dawn through daylight.
You may remember my palpable championing of Detroit beat-buster Daru (former drummer for Slum Village and Dwele tours; now a pad-pounding production powerhouse drawn into his element) right here. Now he’s combined Caltroit forces with rising Cali singer/songwriter Reggie B (quite the Purple disciple with that recurrent lusty rasp creeping in every so often) to run the train on your cotton-wool arse.
This be that full-bodied, nod factor, basement bounce, Hip-Hop Soul music with oscillating two-bar breaks, sparse loops that verge on thunderous, and a pinch of groove throbbing electrolysis to marry to that which is readily raw.
Daru is dangerous.
01. It’s Not A Game 02. Future Music
03. I Was Wrong
04. Play House 05. Stay Free
06. Anywhere You Go
07. A Ways To Go 08. Juni’s Revenge
09. Cry No More 10. Good Love
11. Juni’s Revenge (Part 2)
12. Future Music (Gerd Edit) (Bonus Track)
My stand-out tracks highlighted in Bold Red above.
Saadiq’s truly grown into optimum genius with age. The new throwback project (‘The Way I See It’, dropping Tuesday next week!) is destined to meet the yearning of Soul’s devoted far and wide.
You realise this song (available here courtesy of Your Mum) was already an instant classical classic right?
And then Lord Hov jumped on it (carrying a couple o’ those ’96 flow syllables 21 seconds in too for sweet measure). Bam.
This just made me forget I was anxiously awaiting Kanye’s new single ‘Love Lockdown’ to drop any hour/night now.
For I’ve waited only 14 months since Kanye’s last effort, and yet 48 months (4 years) for some new material from Phonte & Nicolay. Yes, I goes & does me a bitta’ math still.
A mellow, ambient first number (featuring Your Mum’s beloved Muhsinah) signalling a broader downtempo direction for the duo’s forthcoming sophmore set ‘Leave It All Behind’ due October 14th. ‘Daykeeper’ very slightly reminds me of a stripped-down, sombre Gnarls Barkley cut; though it’s delicately hypnotic in a way that doesn’t feel forced. A song to give us company in the mornings.
Couldn’t stay holdin’ onto these priceless numbers now could I? Such innovative, refreshing, avant-minded music is churned out annually at the Red Bull Music Academy; I really must Solid Snake stealth sneak up into that motherfucker one day, a few little taps on the Korgs and MPCs and I gaurantee you I’ll end up remixing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ into a talismanic, new-age, glitch-hop jingle.
The Jake One + Muhsinah collaboration here is outstanding; what an adorably eccentric creature she is, defiant of Rn’B songwriting banalities. Now if only I could get the whole damn CD (non-purchase exclusive industry shit they say), so take a-quarter-of-a-damn-disc and get you some wings (forgive this inevitable carbonated soft-drink punchline).
[IF YOU WANT THE ABOVE LINK TAKEN DOWN, E-MAIL US DIRECTLY ON ibootleggedyourmum@gmail.com & IT WILL BE DONE AS SOON AS REQUEST IS SEEN.]
01. Jake One & Muhsinah – You
02. Marks & Muhsinah – In Need Of 10. Africa Hi Tec feat. Rio – Too Late
11. Happy Melody – Indian Summer 12. Samiyam & Hudson Mohawke – Eff This 15. Sarah Lahey & Om’Mas Keith – Get Over It
My stand-out tracks highlighted in Bold Red above.
Whilst I am impatiently still awaiting acquisition of prog-soul songtress Stacy Epps new LP ‘The Awakening’, with Dilla, Lib and even Jneiro Jarel alias Dr. WhoDat on the boards I’ll gladly make do with THIS dunny…
01. Blessing (Prod. Apex) 02. Skin Play ft. Madlib (Prod. J-Dilla)
03. 222 (Hit Me) ft. Muhsinah 04. Arms ft. Bilal Salaam (Prod. Madlib)
05. Loose Change (Prod. Pudgemcee) 06. Down Falling (Prod. Madlib)
07. Rhyme Cycle ft. Panama Black, Doodlebug, & Jawwaad (Prod. Dr. WhoDat)
08. Smoky Mirrors (Prod. Apex)
09. Muthaland (Prod. Madlib)
10. Miuzik (Prod. Stacy Epps)
11. Peace (Prod. Apex)
My stand-out tracks highlighted in Bold Red above.
Hurrah bitches! Batting for the home team, I can proudly advocate vocalist/producer Steve Spacek as a United Kingdom legend: an original pre & post-millenial pioneer of electronic and progressive Soul music (‘Soultronica’ I insist, vainly re-enforcing usage).
Alongside Edmund Cavill (Ed Spacek) and Morgan Zarate (Morgan Spacek) he formed the groundbreaking electro-soul band Spacek: once hailed as “the Radiohead of Soul”. The experimentalism of backbone Steve Spacek himself implanted the seeds of soulful expansion and influenced dozens of space-funk and futurebeat musicians currently astro-rockin’ our pods and laptops right now… in hindsight the groups LPs ‘Curvatia’ (2001) and ‘Vintage Hi-Tech’ (2003) were the definition of what one would discern as ahead of the times.
The new project is Black Pocket: an experi-instru-mental Blacktronic soul hodgepodge of exclusive re-interpretations for Exit Records back catalogue of underground (notably Drum n’ Bass) classics. Steve yet again raises another set of (Blighty) V fingers to the notion of boundaries/limitations within black music. I preferred his 2005 solo ‘Spaceshift’, but this is a decent, relaxed, self-assured effort from the statesman that grows on the listener given the right ambience. Respect to sir, though I would have preferred a great deal more of his honeyed Mayfield-styled vocal (present only on cyber-sexy ‘You’re A Sta’) all over this to really complete the hallucinatory vision presented.
01. For Real
02. Mountain
03. Juiced
04. Field 05. You’re A Sta
06. Sta Simonez
07. Sta Simone
08. Other Magic 09. Amplifly
10. Bartin Groove
11. Hangin St
12. Vandlance 13. Al Softly
My stand-out tracks highlighted in Bold Red above.
I inadvertently found this whilst looking for something completely different altogether (I think it was a song by Bjork so I’m not sure how the hell the two correlate). To my bonny suprise, it contained a number I’d be searching months for and knew not the name of (now revealed to be ‘Lonely Nights’). Actually wait, no, it’s ‘The Roots Dilla Spirit Mix’ of that particular joint on their MySpace that I desperately need, but I’ll still claim fancy fuckin’ luck to gratify myself.
This is Detroit produer Daru’s recent collaboration project with singer/songwriter and sibling Rena, and quite the sturdy, stereo-stompers they are. In fact, I didn’t even know cats/kittens were still making Soul as rugged and gravel-textured as this anymore. The backbeats sound as if they were fashioned around the fiercer time period of mid 90s Eastcoast Hip-Hop: pounding boom-bap drum loops and some tremendous break chopping (all delightfully Primo-esque) as Rena’s airy vox glides and glitches along the contour of kicks and snares. You could easily be mistaken into thinking this was recorded in ’96.
If you were ever a fan of Groove Theory, or you just like your beats hard like 2 day old shit- you’ll be particularly jubilant.
Exceedingly bangin’. Only a total pussy would sleep on this.
1. All Alone
2. Turn It On
3. Your There Part 1 4. Happy 5. Take Your Hand
6. Sometime
7. Feel The Love
8. When You’re There 9. Lonely Nights
10. Things You Do
11. Spirit Part 2
My stand-out tracks highlighted in Bold Red above.
This LP is the closest I get to feeling like a total girl (no homo).
I’d been harboring a secret affection for her Neptunes laced lead single ‘I Decided’ for the last 4 months, yet it was approximately 14 seconds into the soulfully cosmic first track that I squinted and thought, “oh shit, she’s actually onto sumthin’ here”.
Then a strange evening it was when I realised Beyonce’s picknie sister had made one of the most accomplished Pop(?) albums I’d heard in a long time. Despite common criticisms of Sol’s non-powerhouse pipe prowess, musically she renders her elder slightly insipid with this statement of stubborn personal growth and deviation from the wishy-washy, spineless contemporary Rn’B genre. Time to abandon unjust comparisons.
And suddenly in front of you all, I’m incapable of denying it even if I come off like a big bitches’s blouse: soaring production value (I’ve been telling people to watch out for producer Jack Splash from Plantlife a while now), sonic fluidity, loveable, catchy, harmonies, diverse pop songwriting and above all else satisfying tunes perfectly crafted for radios and rides through the Riviera- all prominent here when other commercial Black artists severely fail with their hollow sets and Heinz Baked Bean tin sounds. (Don’t worry, we all know the majors are fascists responsible for excessive cloning.)
Sol’s greatest strengths lies in the dispensing with current cliché and her adopting retro aesthetic, romping around the merriest of Motown, the energy of 70s disco, some genuine funk-soul percussion, and even extending all of that to be pacified with cutely cut down-tempo electronica (‘Cosmic Journey’ and ‘The Bird’ are quite extraordinary and on par with many of the Soultronica acts I’ve championed in the past, though minus of course the disturbingly camp trance-techno breakdown that Bilal should never have agreed to be a part of- you’ll understand what I mean when you hear it). Also, ‘Champangechroniknight-Cap’ arguably sounds as if it’s the best song her older sibling never did at the height of Bey’s solo powers during the otherwise solid ‘03 ‘Dangerously In Love’ period; a gentle dig at the label and public expectation maybe.
I may be a murky little man sometimes, but yo son, the sun shining off this disc is irresistible. All I need right now is ribbons. Lots of ribbons. And a health spa visit. And low-calorie fudge.
[Download Link Deleted By Request from Copyright Holder]
1. God Given Name
2. T.ON.Y.
3. Dancing In The Dark 4. Would’ve Been The One
5. Sandcastle Disco 6. I Decided (Part I)
7. Valentines Day
8. 6 O’Clock Blues
9. Ode To Marvin
10. I Told You So 11. Cosmic Journey feat. Bilal
12. The Bird
13. I Decided (Part II)
14. Champagnechroniknight-Cap
My stand-out tracks highlighted in Bold Red above.
I stumbled upon this in the morning. And became embroiled in it’s whimsy (the grim, dark bastard within was slapped with a soapy flannel). Airy, bodouir-bound soul for the ripe and glamourous. Lovely stuff, from this winsome voiced and strikingly dusky young lady from Amsterdam. Christ, it’s no secret I fucking love the Dutch. Emigration, soon come, soon come.
Right, off your periods, and onto this you go.
01. On My Way 02. Joyride 03. Hypnotize You
04. A Matter Of Facts…
05. Melancholic You
06. Pure Bliss
07. Moving Me
08. You Can Do It
09. Free
10. To The Moon
11. Stay Together
12. U Again
My stand-out tracks highlighted in Bold Red above.
Your Mum had this up a month ago via the blockbuster Future Sounds of Soul Music post so ‘fore you diagnose me a senile bugger, understand the EP was re-released in the States yesterday with 2 additional bonus cuts, hence a vital re-up.
I’ve been trying to tell people for months, and I’m back at it again- however due to the lethargic haziness of recent sleep deprivation one is currently at his least comprehensive, so, yeah…
Janelle Monae is the future of your goddamn world. A bold, brilliant, bonafide superstar creature. Recognise.
And I’m esoterically in love with her, with plans to pro-create. Hol’ tight forthcoming babymother.
[IF YOU WANT THE ABOVE LINK TAKEN DOWN, E-MAIL US DIRECTLY ON ibootleggedyourmum@gmail.com & IT WILL BE DONE AS SOON AS REQUEST IS SEEN.]
01. March Of The Wolfmasters
02. Violet Stars Happy Hunting! 03. Many Moons
04. Cybertronic Purgatory
05. Sincerely, Jane
06. Smile (Bonus)
07. Mr. President (Bonus)
My stand-out tracks highlighted in Bold Red above.
Often I hear people utter, “I can’t believe it” in reaction to a legendary artist’s passing. I think folks need to acknowledge the detail those we consider the architects of modern musical history of are now in their most precarious years- believe it please. In short my advice to you is to see these originators relay their glorious medleys when they decide to stage a live show round your way, as you don’t know if it’s your last chance to experience them. This is said because I sit here with fingertips flittering over this keyboard choked up off the fact I’ll never see Isaac live now, and that’s agonizing when you think how profoundly young men (and women) desire to be in the presence of their heroes; to glimpse greatness.
I won’t post Hayes’ most renowned and easily identifiable work, the iconic ‘Shaft’ soundtrack despite it seminally altering Black music and providing the score to the insurgence of Black-American culture in the early to mid 1970s. No, instead I’m earnestly going to post my favourite LP of his career, the 1970 Stax release ‘To Be Continued’ which is softly overlooked between 1969’s milestone ‘Hot Buttered Soul’ and 1971’s landmark ‘Shaft’. Plus as it’s all too rarely cited, I’ll declare it one of the finest Soul albums of the 20th century. Entirely arranged and orchestrated by Hayes (with instrumental assistance from The Bar Kays and The Memphis Symphony Orchestra), here’s five epic songs that overflow with the some of the most lush, sprawling philharmonics committed to wax. Oh and not forgetting that erotic, god-like gust of a voice.
To my heads that know, remember that feeling first time you heard Hayes’ epic 11 minute re-envisioning of Burt Bacharach’s ‘The Look Of Love’ on here and clocked the identical break later used for Jay-Z’s classic ‘Can I Live’…? Electrifying.
Reside with fellow angels Isaac, you are one of the forefathers of Hip-Hop and arguably the greatest musical composer of the 70s- I’ll try & make everyone aware of that.
(Props to UniverSOUL for puttin’ up this list of known performers to sample from this record.)
To Be Continued: (Enterprise 1971)
-“Monologue: Ike’s Rap 1″ Micranots – “Farward”
Nas- A Message To The Feds, Sincerely, We The People
Pete Rock ft Un – “Cake”
-“Our Day Will Come”
Imani Coppola – “It’s All about Me, Me and Me”
Massive Attack – “Exchange”
MF Doom – “Operation Greenbacks”
-“The Look of Love”
3rd Bass – “The Gladiator”
Allure – “You’re Gonna Love Me”
Ashanti – “Rain on Me”
Compton’s Most Wanted – “Niggaz Strugglin’”
II Unorthodox – “Just a Little Flava”
Jay-Z – “Can I Live”
Kim Summerson – “Choices”
LL Cool J – “Hollis to Hollywood”
Lost Boys – “Is this Da Part?”
Mary J. Blige – “I Love You”
Monie Love – “Better Way”
Pressure Drop – “Senorita”
Smif-N-Wessun – “Stand Strong”
Snoop Dogg – “G’z Up, Hoes Down”
Special Ed – “Neva Go Back”
-“Ike’s Mood I/You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”
Alkaholiks – “Mary Jane”
Beanie Sigel – “Still Got Love for You”
Biz Markie – “Cool V’s Tribute to Scratching”
Biz Markie – “Make the Music”
C-Murder ft Snoop Dogg & Magic – “Down for My Niggas”
Das EFX – “East Coast”
Foxxy Brown – “(Holy Matrimony) Letter to the Firm”
Intelligent Hoodlum – “Grand Groove”
Jeru – “Jungle Music”
JVC Force – “Stylin’ Lyrics”
Kenny Dope – “The Magnificent”
Kurupt ft Daz – “Tha Streetz Iz a Mutha”
LL Cool J – “Six Minutes of Pleasure”
Marley Marl ft Juice Crew – “He Cuts So Fresh”
Mary J. Blige – “I Love You”
Massive Attack – “One Love”
Naughty by Nature – “Knock ‘Em out Da Box”
Peanut Butter Wolf – “I Will Always Love H.E.R.”
Rahzel – “Make the Music 2000″
Ron C – “On and On”
The LOX – “Bitches from Eastwick”
Warren G – “Still Can’t Fade It”
[IF YOU WANT THE ABOVE LINK TAKEN DOWN, E-MAIL US DIRECTLY ON ibootleggedyourmum@gmail.com & IT WILL BE DONE AS SOON AS REQUEST IS SEEN.]
1. Bullion- Get Familiar
2. Sunburst Band- Turn It Out 3. Katalyst feat. Steve Spacek- How Bout Us
4. DJ Day- Find A Place to Go 5. Jukes- Something Important 6. Stacy Epps – Floatin
7. Rozzi Dame- Morning Light 8. Yaw- Where Would You Be
9. Emantive feat. Ahu- Turn Your Lights On 10. The Invisables- Spiral
11. Arun Ghosh- Aurora 12. Charlie Dark & Roger Robinson- Prayers For Angry Young Men
13. Keneth Bager- Fragment One (And I Kept Hearing)
My stand-out tracks highlighted in Bold Red above.
Really rather pleasing soulful compilation from the multi-instrumentalist producer Symbolyc One (S1) of Strange Fruit Project behind the harmonious (key)boards for some notable guest spots (who misses Miss Rah Digga like I miss Miss Rah Digga?)
I’ve been sitting on this shit for a hot, cosmic minute.
Washington DC newcomer Olivier Day Soul, that man, is a sexual beast with a lightsabre microphone caught in his paw; he howls with lunatic longing over warped synthesisers like the baroque love-child of P-Funk in its hallucinatory prime and subatomic soul of the nearby future.
The debut album dazzles with fantastic voyages into intergalactic instrumentals and sci-fi songwriting clearly penned in the haze of ODS’ own reverie. Myself I can’t quite testify that Earth girls are easy, but I’ll take the bloke’s word for it from what’s depicted on the record.
The contour that separates Olivier from his peers in the sphere of contemporary Soul is the inspired, rainbow-decorated palette he’s obtained from touring Europe (in particular the UK) and forming alliances with space-age Scot beatsmith Hudson Mohawk- a wise ploy since I’ve proposed before Hud-Mo’s work signifies the future territory of where (that allegedly dead donkey) UK Hip-Hop/’Urban’ needs to travel if it is to transcend this epoch and regain consciousness. I’ve heard the bulk of production here was handled by Planet Mohawk, fashioning a psychedelic progeny of funk, electronica and new wave; their chemistry fuses and throbs throughout the record, especially on the exceptional dancefloor cuts ‘Spaceship’ and ‘Dance’.
For personal/ethical reasons, I’m not going to provide the full download link for the album. Instead, I’ll opt for an alternative system I’ve been planning to incorporate on the blog for some time. It’s simple: I’m going to take my 3 favourite joints from the LP, wrap them up in a pretty likkle .rar folder and upload them for your download gluttony with the successive aim to inspire you to buy the rest of record from one of the many fine retailers it’s currently available at (link down below). Sir Day Soul deserves your dollars and dineros.
Worth purchasing alone just to hear Olivier squeal, “I’m bout to lose my maaaaaaaarbles” on the intro into track 12. Doing wonders for transatlantic relations.
Tokyo-born, Berlin-based producer & turntabilist’s sophomore LP full of faraway grooves and fertile, unprocessed vibrations oozing underneath a fantastic support cast like my mans Kev Brown, Oh No, Aloe Blacc and Ta’Raach… exceedingly recommended listening.
01. Intro
02. Sugar Hill feat. Om’Mas (from SA-RA Creative Partners)
03. Love And Sex
04. Still Significant feat. Kev Brown
05. 0804-005 06. Right Here feat. Oh No 07. Morioka Sunset (JS Love)
08. Night Will Fall
09. Interlude 10. Try feat. Aloe Blacc
11. Let’s Do It
12. Lovelude feat. Ta’Raach 13. Get down feat. Ta’Raach
14. No te puedo ver feat. Laura Lopez Castro
15. Y.W.A.G.D 16. cp2sk feat. Christian Prommer
17. Playground
18. Outro
My stand-out tracks highlighted in Bold Red above.
This was released rather unexpectedly with one of my choice cuts of the year ‘She Loves Everybody’ from forthcoming Star Trak signed, prep-school, Harvard white boys Chester French… on some late-60s-chamber-pop-Walker-Brothers-overdosing-on-early-80’s-new-wave-shit, which doesn’t seem to be available elsewhere. Worth downloading for the one joint alone; the rest of the mixtape despite some very capable newbies, is sadly unremarkable.
1. Mickey Factz- War (Prod By Precize)
2. Mickey Factz- Mick Joy (Prod By N*E*R*D)
3. Theophilus London – Sand Castles feat. Salonge (Prod By Machine Drum)
4. Mickeylude
5. Kid Cudi- Embrace The Martian (Prod By Crookers) 6. Fresh Daily- Jump f. Jesse Boykins III (prod The Milkman) 7. Chester French- She Loves Everybody (Prod By Chester French)
8. Curtis Santiago- TKO
9. Mickeylude II
10. Mickey Factz- Rockin N Rollin Remix feat. The Cool Kids (ILLFONICS REMIX)
11. Mickeylude III
12. The Cool Kids- Oscar The Grouch (Prod By Chuck Inglish)
13. FKi- Clap Ya Hands (Prod By FKi)
14. Nakim- I Get It In (Prod By The Runners)
15. Smoke Dza- Go Getter feat. Nipsey Hustle
16. Mickey Factz- Salute feat. Jesse Boykins III & Mz.Mimz (Prod By Chase N. Cashe) 17. Melo X- XXX 18. Jesse Boykins III- Sobriety (Prod By Jesse Boykins III) 19. Jade- So Fresh
20. Mickey Factz- Peace (Prod By Precize)
My stand-out tracks highlighted in Bold Red above.
I don’t normally post music videos (ooh-whee, all this goddamn cyber-Capitalistic expansion)…
…but then this is barely any substandard music video; dialogue-driven & adroit with dramatic irony. It’s close to pitch-perfect for social/interpersonal relevance alone. I found myself realising that with age it’s easier to forbodingly map out the grand design of any relationship from it’s dawn to it’s doom, and the human casualty. I think this piece illustrates that on behalf of many.
Gnarls Barkley – Who’s Gonna Save My Soul?
Link to ‘The Odd Couple’ LP in the reasonably monumental 7 Months Into 2008 post where it was awarded Your Mum’s Album of The Year.
Video: Who’s Gonna Save My Soul [Uncensored]
Gnarls Barkley, in terms of creativity in the current mainstream landscape, are just paranormal beings altogether. They’ve managed to follow up their mesmeric Afro-Bollywood visual for ‘Going On’ (previous frontrunner for video of the year) with another jewel in the crown. Video of the year for one of the songs of the year from the album of the year? I think they have my undying groupie love at this point.
Directed by Chris Milk (Kanye’s ‘Jesus Walks’ and ‘Touch The Sky’, Gnarl’s Barkley’s ‘Gone Daddy Gone’, U2 & Green Day’s ‘The Saints Are Coming’).
Despite the current rampant fixation with this peculiar decade, after two full listens I’m not quite sure what the point of this uneven record is/was…
I’ve always found Phonte (Little Brother and Foreign Exchange, if you’re a bit slow) an endearing emcee, and his Percy Miracles alter-ego a tolerable troubadour aswell. Here he presents himself under the camp retro guise of Tiggalo: appearance rather Rick James, but vocally Rick James’ backing singer at the most (unless we’re talking The Mary Jane Girls, then scratch that, but you understand me).
Metro Detroit’s Zo! (keyboardist/beatsmith) has produced some exquisite numbers, most recently coming to mind his gorgeous instrumentation for Median’s joint ‘Simile’ last year. Yet on this set you’ll find lackluster reinterpretations of the 80s most heinous pleasures; this is essentially no more than an unsatisfactory novelty work despite the following claim…
“We had fun recording the record, but its not a ‘joke’ album at all,” says Phonte. “We were very serious with everything, from the vocal side, to the production side, to the final mixing and mastering…it was a real painstaking process to recreate it all. [The album includes covers of ] ‘Take On Me’ by A-Ha, ‘Africa’ by Toto, and a new revamped version of ‘Steppin’ Out’ by Joe Jackson…and that’s all I’mma say…”
The Zo! and Tigallo Love the 80’s EP will be available in early July as a limited edition CD. Only 2,500 copies will be pressed, all individually numbered.
“No iTunes, Amazon, or other any digital spots will have it; once we sell out, its gone forever”
My opinion? Perhaps Phonte should stop pissing about and prolonging my 4 year wait for the second Foreign Exchange album ‘Leave It All Behind’ that is supposedly to fall from the skies finally in late Autumn huh maybe?
01. Africa 06:59
02. Take On Me 05:49
03. Steppin’ Out 2008 05:04 04. Something About You 05:22
05. I’m Only Human 06:24 06. Written All Over Your Face 05:51
07. Steppin’ Out 04:03 (Trackademicks Extra Wet Like Stoney Jackson’s Curl Remix)
08. Something About You 04:06 (Nicolay’s Nighty Night Quiet Storm Remix)
My stand-out tracks highlighted in Bold Red above.
I made this shit. Handpicked. Precision selected. Aurally organised. No whacky mix n’ blend bollocks, partially because my turntable skills leave much to be desired, but atleast I can select(ah) like a polyphonic dictator. This bevy comprises of joints under-the-radar over the last 3 years as the sound’s been evolving: serious gems. For greater expansion I suggest you refer to my post prior to this which has some key LP releases (thus songs which are not featured here and vice versa).
This is a free, individual, track-by-track mp3 selection (18 to be precise which should just about fit onto an 80 minute disc) all wrapped up sweetly in a .rar folder. Pinch my cheeks and rub talcum into the batty, I know I’m good to you.
Accept this as a proverbial Soultronica godsend of what thou newbies + zealots alike should be rockin’ in your iPods, your cassette decks, your CD walkmans, your houses, your correctional facilities, your Nissan Micras and your spaceships. Show some modesty you say? Piss off. Listen to this…
My 5 year old half-brother made this cover-art on paint, hol’ tight little man, I owe you royalties.
1. Flying Lotus ft. Andreya Triana – Tea Leaf Dancer
2. Sa-Ra – Second Time Around
3. Jneiro Jarel ft. Rocque Wun – Breathin’
4. Carol Riddick – I Like The Way It Feels
5. Van Hunt – The Lowest 1 Of My Desires
6. Victor Duplaix – In The Middle Of You
7. Peter Hadar – Sleeping Pills
8. Ta’raach & The Lovelutions – Liberation’s Lullabye
9. Kevin Michael – Liquid Lava Love
10. Green Tea – Soul Connection
11. Res – U Know What (Demo)
12. Wayna ft. Muhsinah – Billy Club
13. Erykah Badu – Twinkle
14. Crossrhodes (Raheem DeVaughn + Wes Felton) ft. Sy Smith – 3 Sides
15. Natalie Gardiner – Can’t Quit You Now
16. FLYamSAM (Flying Lotus + SamiYam) – The Offbeat
17. Sam Sparro – Cottonmouth
18. Bilal ft. Sa-Ra – Hollywood
Fantasticunt mixtape rating:
10.5 mums out of 10
[This is a free promotional release- appreciate free shit.]
Let your speakers ripple on the emerging influx of spacey, forward-thinking, progressive, slightly off-kilter, bugged-out, psychadelic, acid-Rn’B, electro-funk, soul music… or as I sometimes refer to it, Soultronica.
After a stagnant decline in the last decade (starting off tenaciously with the emerging Neo-Soul trend in the late 90s which by now seems to have deteriorated), you’ll be forced admit it’s a very exciting time for Black music. As some artists of that era struggle to maintain an athletic relevance (e.g. Musiq’s corny arse, lyrically Lloyd/R. Kelly’esque new Crunk-n’-B single ‘Radio‘ which complete with Atlanta strip-club synths, is perchance an un-wise career move as it wreaks of commercial desperation and could severely repel his unanimous core fanbase); others such as Erykah Badu embrace the offspring of this Rainbow Child generation by injecting the sound of these seeds into her latest LP alongside her own vintage sonance (i.e. ‘My People’, ‘Twinkle’, ‘Master Teacher’).
I also believe this sound I’m trying to characterize lies affectionately somewhere between…
Point A:
A Funk come New Wave god of ‘the Minneapolis sound’.
&
Point B:
A pioneering Hip-Hop prophet of ‘the Detroit sound’.
Maybe also what we’re seeing is greater than the categorization of soul music itself- as a growing number of Black artists refuse to be pigeonholed in an effort to reject mainstream mundanity and draw back the eclectic, imaginative light under which many great Black musicians have been illuminated: Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, Funkadelic, George Clinton, Parliament, Prince, Joan Armatrading, Tracey Chapman, Tina Turner and most recently even Outkast to name but a few of the conspicuous ones.
The next wave is here- are you listening? (Don’t turn around in 2 years and act like I didn’t tell you so).
-J*Davey – Beauty In Distortion/Land of The Lost [2008]
As a primary example of this burgeoning genre, I assure you the following debut offering by percussive LA duo J*Davey is the most fearless and exciting soul(tronica) album of 2008; unafraid to fortify influences that suggest a hybrid of the Eurythmics crossbred with J-Dilla and even acclimatize some of these sonics to contemporary pop music (as illustrated on ‘Mister Mister’) and yet build lush, magnetic soundscapes such as ‘Enterception’ that make your heart float on a bed of protons, whilst not forgetting to emphasise one of groups key strengths- Miss Jack Davey’s labia dripping sensuality- via ‘No More’.
I believe out of any Soultronica act that has modish appeal to crack the mainstream, it could very well be J*Davey. But will those fucking record label pussies market/promote this shit right (keeping in mind they are signed to a major like Warner)? Well both Beauty In Distortion and Land of The Lost had been individually floating around the bootleg circut for the last year (I been bumpin’ since late ’07) and were only officially released this month as a double-disc package, so perhaps it’s too late for this record to seize the industry though a potential sophmore effort (no news yet) could definitely spell a landmark breakthrough. Time will tell.
Also, on a slightly less theoretical note… Jack Davey herself (bar the androgynous name) is so sexy it actually hurts my face.
Beauty In Distortion Tracklist
01. Divisions Of Joy 02. Mr. Mister
03. Touch It
04. Private Parts 05. No More
06. Gangsta
07. Might As Well
08. Cowboys & Indians
09. Enterception (originally entitled ‘Beat (Tell You Goodbye)’
10. Mr. Mister (Remix)
Land of The Lost Tracklist
01 Hi’s & Lo’s
02 Just Because 03 Lil Big Heads (co-produced by ?uestlove of The Roots)
04 Red Light (produced by J-Dilla)
05 Hi Sun 06 Dirty Love
07 Slooow
08 Thick Interlude
09 sLAyer
10 Lalaland 11 Dancehall
12 Mr. Mister (Cock Out Remix)
13 Venus 2 Mars
14 Valley of Love
15 Let It Bleed
My stand-out tracks highlighted in Bold Red above and the following tracklists below.
01. Still The Baddest (Intro) 02. Beam Me Up 03. Caos
04. You & I
05. Entrapped
06. Fuss’N’Fight 07. Hit Me With Medication 08. 6am
09. Another Glass 10. Syntax Error
11. Phone Call
12. Work It Out
13. With You
14. I’m Out!!!
1. Conflict (This Is Your Brain On Drugs)
2. Fly Away With Me
3. The Things I Do 4. Overthought feat. Bilal Salaam
5. The Art Of You 6. Spies
7. Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness 8. Reach Down In Your Soul feat. Wes Felton
9. B-Side Love Affair
10. Would All The People From Compton Please Leave?
11. Star
01. Twice
02. Turn Left
03. No Love 04. Recommendation
05. Constant Suprises 06. Forever
07. After The Rain
08. Place To Belong 09. Stormy Weather
10. Test
11. Wink
12. Scribbled Paper
-G & D (Georgia Anne Muldrow & Dudley Perkins) – The Message Uni Versa [2007]
1. Ye Olde Skit
2. GodUnit
3. On One 4. One
5. Peace Of Mind
6. Time
7. Found
8. U 9. All 4 U
10. Ye Olde Skit Too
11. Good Mornin Amerikkka
12. P.I.F.O.T.P.H. 34
13. War Drums
14. Stomp, The
15. Poppa’s Song
16. MGD – (with M.E.D.) 17. Stronger
18. Ye Last Olde Skit
19. Message, The
20. Uncle Dudley’s Outro
