dimanche 27 février 2011

DRYDECK VS ONDUBGROUND - 2 (DUDSTEP/DUB)




Huitème sortie de cette année 2010 et second opus pour le duo DDK & ODG. Un an bien tassé après le premier choc simplement intituléDrydeck meets Ondubground, les deux crews se relancent dans leur "duel" de remixs avec ce deuxième volet nommé Drydeck versusOndubground. Les critiques avaient décrit comme "fusionnel" l'univers enveloppant les quatre premiers tracks, ce dernier n'y échappe pas mais tend vers un tout autre style assez sombre...
Rappelons-le, Drydeck est une formation instrumentale et électronique de la Drôme pratiquant originellement un style de musique hybride autant inspiré du dub que du hiphop. Depuis 2007, DDK & ODG entretiennent une relation amicale et musicale et ont pu a plusieurs reprises cotoyer les même scènes. Malgré les 600 km séparant les deux groupes, leurs visions du "dub contemporain" (au sens large du terme) ont elles grandis et se sont affirmées côte à côte. Teintées d'un espoir mélancolique, d'un anarchisme artistique les similitudes entre leurs productions sont nombreuses ; il semblait logique que ce nouvel opus en témoigne, DDK versus ODG est pleinement dédié à ce style que chacun saura nommé dès la première écoute.


ASCENDING CHANGE EP - THE BEEKEEPERS (DOWNTEMPO)


The Beekeepers Ascending Change Cover


The Beekeepers released their Bee Funk EP last year and will be releasing their debut LP, ‘Apiculture’, on Jalapeno Records later this year – this latest EP contains a couple of the left-field instrumental tracks from that forthcoming album. The vocal tracks are to be released as singles later on, but we’re really pleased with these grand, sweeping tracks that perfectly exude an air of dark foreboding counter-pointed by the uplifting strings. The Beekeepers are Scott ‘Boca 45′ Hendy and DJ Parker who gave us that superb Monkey Butler mix a few weeks ago. There is a determinedness in the Beekeeper sound that promises a great deal for the full album. The EP will be released on March 7th 2011, but, in the meantime, have a listen to both tracks right now.

Sea Change

Dark Ascending

 

dimanche 20 février 2011

SUNDAY JAM VOL#2 COOKED BY KAMIKAZE (SOUL/FUNK)


1 : Praful - Wishful Walk Kareem Raihani Remix
2 : Ebo Taylor - Nga Nga
3 : Midnight Lab Band - Run Riot
4 : Blackman Akeeb Kareem & His Super Black Borgs - Awa Na Re
5 : The New Matersounds - Idle Time (Lack of Afro Remix)
6 : Praful - Moon glide mark rae & rhys adams arp remix
7 : Andy Lewis - Devastated (Mr. Comicstore Remix)
8 : Kyoto Jazz Massive - Kudu (Re-Work)
9 : Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - Keep on Looking (Kenny Dope Remix)
10 : Ebo Taylor - Love And Death
11 : Unknow Artist - Let's straighten it out _ O. V. Wright
12 : Jayl Funk - Together
13 : Soulive & Blackthought - Clap!
14 : Ebo Taylor - Mizin
15 : Syl Johnson - Walk a Mile in My Shoes
16 : Dj Aeon 7 - funky furious
17 : Steele Beautttah - Africa
18 : Los manolos vs lack of afro - Polonio Lack of afro remix

dimanche 13 février 2011

LOVE AND DEATH - EBO TAYLOR (AFROBEAT/AFROFUNK)



When one thinks of Afrobeat, it’s the mug of Nigeria’s Fela Kuti and his 1,000 watt smile that comes to mind. After all, he is the face of Afrobeat, what James Brown is to American funk. But in Kuti’s neighboring country was a composer, arranger, producer and guitarist who, unbeknownst to most, is considered almost as important to the genre. Surprisingly, the over-shadowed Ebo Taylor actually studied with Kuti from 1962 to 1965, at the Eric Guilder School of Music in London. Soon after, Taylor became a fixture in Ghana’s music scene, helping define the West African sound, studio session by studio session.
In 1977, years after gaining respect in Accra as a session player and arranger, Taylor released a self-titled solo record on the local Essiebons label. Good luck finding it. Still, you could easily hear a Taylor cut with some quick googling, likely on one of the many African comps that have come to fashion (he appears on Ghana Special, Afro-Beat Airways, and both Ghana Soundz volumes). So it’s fitting that Strut has given the now 74-year-old Taylor a chance to record another proper full-length, reimagining old standards and crafting original songs, too, backed by Berlin’s Afrobeat Academy.
In place of the raw antiqued crackle of his vintage material, here you have a glossed, digital soundstage for those same horn sections, noodling bass, keys, sunny guitars and omnipresent drums. On Love And Death, Taylor sticks with the style he played 40 years prior, singing in both English and the Akan dialect, in short, complimentary phrases. And though his voice may have aged, he retains the same swagger from yesteryear, able to keep up with the band and rudder them as needed, like the Godfather of Soul did with his JBs.
The album is remarkably well paced and cohesive. Of the non-singing tracks, “Kwame” is a tribute to the late Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president who famously championed Pan-Africanism. Over a funky wah guitar tapestry, rubbing against Hammond organs and a solid rhythm section, Taylor lays down some great guitar lines of his own — perhaps expressing what words cannot. This gives way to the more upbeat “Aborekyair Aba,” a seven-minute workout of interlocking grooves and spirited playing by all members, with female vocal accompaniments contrasting Taylor’s weathered chords.
It’s certainly nice to see the legacy of Kuti living on, and the proliferation of comps from labels like Soundway, Analog Africa and Strut continually prove his undeniable influence on the continent’s music, where hundred’s of bands bit his Afrobeat style. But the involution of digging deeper into a genre, with a collection of songs by a single artist — in this case, providing a timely rediscovery of Taylor in fine form — is sometimes all the more satisfying.

DO IT FOR THE LOVE MIX - DJ DUNKS (GROOVE/DOWNTEMPO)


In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, here is a new downtempo mix for you all to enjoy <3


What’d I Say (Josh One Remix) – Ray Charles

Together (Dunks Edit) – Jayl Funk
(Black Is The Night – DJ Vadim Feat Katherin Deboer – Acapella)

Moon Glide (Mark Rae Remix) – Praful
(I want You Back – Jackson 5 – Acapella)

Walk Into Space (Space Jam Instrumental) – Mo Horizons
(Dude – Beenie Man – Acapella)

This is Going Out – The 3 Foot People
(Love Games – Old Greg – Acapella)

Aint That Perculiar (Ambassadeurs Reconstruct) – Marvin Gaye

Let’s Stay Runnin – Soulique

Bootoo – Jugoe
Nighttime – GFM Feat Akil – Acapella

Music in your Head – DJ Catalist

Soup Fiction – Bison
(It’s a Pity – Tanya Stephens – Acapella)

Cross That Bridge – Ginga Snaps
(No Diggity – Blackstreet – Acapella)

Lost in the Feeling – Latyrx

Rude Boy Style – Zeb
(Doin’ Time – Sublime – Acapella)

Get Off (Manuel Bundy Remix) – One Million Dollows

Whole Lotta Love (AJ’s Edit) – Tina Turner

Monty – Grinny Grandad

I’ve Been Trying – DJ Shadow

Good Bye – The Bas Lexter Ensample

vendredi 11 février 2011

THIS IS SO YOU - THE GREAT MUNDANE (ELECTRONIC)

Video game deprived and pop culturally challenged, The Great Mundane grew up in a southeastern Michigan home where TV was made of cardboard boxes, the tree in the backyard was his best friend and the words “I am bored” were household blasphemy. Aside from occasional piano lessons, he passed time deep in his own imagination and on spontaneous road trips, a.k.a his mother’s famous mystery van rides, that seem to have provoked his current state of restlessness.

Itching to hit the road, The Great Mundane left his hip-hop roots in Michigan to delve into Chicago’s house/techno scene before arriving in the Pacific Northwest. Now based in Portland, Oregon he takes listeners on a journey exploring the complexities and intricacies of his minimalist and innovative approach to beatmaking. He invents fractured, heady instrumentals laced with lush synthesizer work that navigate the terrain of forward thinking hip-hop and electro/house, all while exhibiting genuine emotion and talented production skills. Each arrangement is collaged with friends, found sounds,
synthesizers, and samples meticulously programmed to convey what it might feel like to fall in love with a tree, travel through a wormhole, or to never be bored again.

His debut LP “When Falls Arrive” (psymbolic) was released in 2007 exposing him as one of the top underground electronic musicians to keep an ear out for. Since, he has released “The Wires Remixes” EP (self-released, 2008), a remix of Deru’s “Peanut Butter and Patience” (Mush, 2009) and his second full length entitled

“Humdrum” (RunRiotRecords, 2010). The Great Mundane’s music is featured on a long list of compilation albums including Portland’s annual “PDX Pop Now” series. Expect remixes for SPL, Lorn, KiloWatts & Bluetech as well as his next full length in May 2011 on 1320 Records.
ENJOY!