Sunday, August 16, 2009

Ring The Alarm

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away Altern 8 warned us to "watch your bass bins". Similar advice recommended for this bass HEAVY tune from Donaeo, "Riot Music". With a seductive breakbeat and Donaeo's vocal and production skills, it's no wonder this track has been mashing dance floors, car stereos and generally annoying neighbours up and down the UK.

It's taken from his debut album "Party Hard" and is going to rock Notting Hill Carnival this month for sure.



In fact Donaeo is onto a good thing with that song title. How many good tunes have the word 'riot' in them? Well, at least one anyway........

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Creepy Clowns

Just a quick one for ya. Check out the psychedelic hip hop sounds of The Gaslamp Killer and his eery ensemble. If a twisted circus came to town I would like to think they would send out macabre clowns to walk the streets handing out flyers, their mp3 players loaded with The Gas Lamp Killers tunes to keep them in the mood for all things morbid and dark.



And then, after a hard days work scaring the townsfolk, back at the ranch when the clowns are chilling out and getting down with the lady clowns i think they might wanna check this one out



Paz, amor y payasos
Peace, love and clowns

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Future Minimal

OK, so I've got a bit of a problem with this guys glasses and cardigan. Potentially hypocritical, I am a wearer of specs myself and I have a cardigan. But I have looked and I have looked and I still can't find no defect with this slice of blissed out future funk. They're from Canada, thats about all I know about them. They are here on MySpace
And to hear what I am wittering on about hit play here

Friday, July 31, 2009

The weekend is here, it's Friday night. So what you gonna do? If it's dancing, I don't know about you but in my 80's disco fantasy weekend this record would most definitely have me up there, quite literally enjoying my life, or at least 6 minutes of guilt and care free dance floor pleasure .......



And in my fantasy 'new music from old hip hop legends with a slightly younger hip hop legend' scenario? Clearly it would have to be the Beasties, who are kicking it all over again, because "grandpa been rappin' since '83" and Nas is helping out. Can't wait for the album "Hot Sauce Comittee" to come out but more importantly, MCA get well soon, good health is the most precious thing we have isn't it?

In the meantime, check out "Too Many Rappers"



So there we have it, enjoy your life. And good health. And dance. It's that easy. Paz y amor a todos.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Know Your Rights

If you love rock and roll memorabilia, The Clash or just are curious about an interesting alternative library head over to Portobello Road maket and visit Mick Jones' Rock n Roll Public Library. I went over today and was lucky enough to see and hear Mick in the rehearsal room jamming with Glenn Matlock of The Sex Pistols, two legends of punk just hanging out playing Clash and Sex Pistols tunes and drinking cans of Carlsberg. The library is full of memorabilia from Mick Jones private collection and encourages the visitor to interact, photograph and even use the scanner to create their own images to take away (maybe put one on a t shirt?) and is heavy on Clash, BAD and Beatles stuff, although is by no means limited to these bands.

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We were treated to "Pretty Vacant" and "Train In Vain". I did take some photos but because we were behind glass (or were they?) they didn't come out great, click here to check them and some of the library


Keep an eye out also for the very friendly old dude with bleached blonde hair who goes by the name of Desmond. He is the older brother of punk documentor (is that a word) Don Letts and will personally welcome you to the library and entertain with stories of his past ("John Lennon, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, I sold them all ganja"). Top bloke, as was Mick who came out of the rehearsal room and thanked the gob smacked fans for coming along to his little show.

Full details here


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Thursday, July 23, 2009

Swine Time

I have a cold. But its not swine flu. I know this because colds come on slow, flu's hit you fast. So remember that. But be careful. Swine flu can strike at any moment just like a tune from the past, thats 30 years old, that you never heard before, but you instantly know and love. When I was 8 my favourite record was Grandmaster Flash's "White Lines". I didnt know what it was about, but I knew it was an incredible sound. I heard this for the first time last night, it is Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five under their earlier name "The Younger Generation". Why did no one tell me about this tune before?

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I was reminded, by the power of Facebook and an old friend, of this wicked little number as a result of uploading The Younger Generation to my Facebook profile



Now, I heard this ladies voice on a Mos Def track this week, which is called "The Ecstatic" and is out around now. She features on the track "Roses" and goes by the name of Georgia Anne Muldrow. In my opinion she steals the track, I don't know if it was her track originally, but have a listen and see what I mean.



To liken her to the Erykah Badu would be easy and unfair but she does have the nu soul vibe going on. Signed to Stones Throw she has been releasing albums for a few years now so worth checking out. http://www.myspace.com/georgiaannemuldrow



Just gotta mention this one, cos its Mos Def rapping in Spanish. Really looking forward to getting hold of the album now.

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Ending on a high, this one kind of smashes it........

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No, we're not ending it there because you have to listen to this wonderful African Funk sound from the 70s.......make you clap your hands.........



Paz, salud y amor a todos, because that's all it's about.......

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

New Old Soul

This guys stuff is the shit, and there is quite a buzz building up, Gilles Peterson and Benji B are big fans. Well, from what I've heard of it anyway demonstrates he deserves such learned fans. Smokey Robinson influenced, his music sounds like it comes from a different age whilst still sounding fresh and relevant, kind of like The White Stripes in that respect, although he has allowed the modern world to work into his sounds, namely hip hop, of the J Dilla variety.



His album is going to drop this Autumn on Stones Throw, a highly recommended label

and check this sound out



Can't wait for the album to hit the streets, plus would love to hear him spin, guesting on a Gilles Peterson podcast he played some of the most divine soul sounds I have heard, which you should be able to hear right about here



On a darker note, I have recently been receiving some racist emails into my junk folder in my hotmail account. Some guy called RJames, a right wing Christian scary type somehow started spamming me through Google Groups. I certainly don't recall subscribing to his particular line of hatred and have notified Google of his groups offensive postings. I know of at least one other person who was receiving unsolicited messages from this guy. At least it is a reminder that although the web can be used for good purposes, there is also some bad folk out there using it to spread their messages of hate and we need to remain vigilant of them.

Paz y amor a todos