Versis - iLLCANDESCENT LP x 'The Need' Promo Video

I posted HERE earlier this month about the impending arrival of MC Versis' debut LP 'iLLCANDESCENT' as well as the Bandcamp links for free DL's of his earlier treats.

For a re-up, follow the link above.

Well, it has arrived, and to support his great music, here is the link to that very album available at peanuts prices from his Bandcamp site also. It's great stuff.

Also, for your aural and visual pleasure, here is the LP promo vid for the dope track that is 'The Need'.

Sample & Flip #4

I interviewed US MC Buff-1 the other day on 'Off the Record'. Good guy.

As a bed for the interview I dropped the instrumental of C.R.A.C Knuckle's (Blu & Ta'Raach) 'Bullet Through Me'. When the drum intro hit, Buff was saying, "Yeah man, I love this one!"

(Foreshadow: There's actually a clue in the title and it's basically a crazy cover version...)

Turned out he thought it was the Ta'Raach beat for Erykah Badu's lovely 'Gone Baby, Don't Be Long'.

Mild confusion ensued, and we both mistakenly concluded that the C.R.A.C beat was by Johnson & Jonson producer Mainframe.

(Fact: Blu is also the rapper for Johnson & Jonson.)

Actually, it is also Ta'Raach on the beat.

Buff was elusive as to who the original artist was that was sampled for both of the beats, the drums being the same. 

I didn't know then on the spot, but I do now!

So, after my knowledge seeking, I thought that this was a suitable addition to the 'Sample & Flip' series.

Stones Throw Pop-up Store x Tokyo

If any of you have ever been to Tokyo you'll know that it is a seriously great shopping town.

Stones Throw Records is quite possibly my fave record label, and is super-classy in it's own right.

So, when Tokyo and Stones Throw combine to create an oh so hot right now pop-up store in the Harajuku district, you know you wanna be there.

Obviously there are some logistical and time/money constraints for most of us, so the next best thing is to live vicariously through the web-page and dream a little dream.

And while we're on Stones Throw, here is a link to the prolific Dam-Funk's latest free offering. Enjoy.

NeverTongueInCheek (Fade-Out Version/Unreleased) - DâM-FunK by DâM-FunK

Monday Five - 30th August, 2010

Ohhh yeah! Monday again. The best thing about Mondays is the 'Off the Record' Monday Five eh! Eh guys. Guys? Guys?!

I fell asleep listening to my i-Pod last night and woke up in this half-sleep/Inception kind of place with the Catcall track swimming around my head. Surreal experience, I thought I was listening to some otherworld version of Biggie's 'Notorious'.

There's some lovely stuff here, so please enjoy following the digital path-ways to your own musical discoveries.

One. Catcall - 'Swimming Pool' (Julian Mendelsohn Remix)
Two. Wings - 'Arrow Through Me'
Three. Pollyn - 'Shake It Off' (James Pants Remix)
Four. Andreya Triana - 'A Town Called Obsolete' (Mount Kimbie Remix)
Five. Flying Lotus - 'Camera Day'

August 'Off the Record' Podcast DOWNLOAD

Been a long time coming, but here is a DL link to the 'Off the Record' Podcast that I put together for the show to play while I was on my Oz excursion.

It's a two hour monster for your listening pleasure. Hope you enjoy!

1. Electric Wire Hustle - 'They Don't Want' (Scratch 22 Edit)

2. Caribou - 'Odessa'

3. Flying Lotus - 'Do the Astral Plane'

4. Caribou - 'Lalibela'

5. ? - 'Hologram' (Salem Remix'

6. Matthew David - 'Rome'

7. Washed Out feat. Caroline Polachek - 'You & I'

8. Shigeto - 'What We Held On To'

9. Toro Y Moi - 'Freak Love'

10. The Smiths - 'Death of A Disco Dancer'

11. Mathemagic - 'High'

12. Space Invadas - 'Imaginist'

13. Katalyst - 'How Bout Us'

14. Florrie - 'Come Back to Mine' (Elite Gymnastics Remix)

15. Shafiq Husayn feat. Bilal - '3 Cheeba' (Nottz Remix)

16. Alex B. - 'You & I Both Know'

17. Michoacan - 'In the Dark of the Night'

18. Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - 'War'

19. Yamasuki - 'Yama Yama'

20. Elephant & Castle - 'The Look'

21. DJ Center/Flow Dynamics - 'In A Song/Straight From the Ground' (DJP Edit)

22. Nottz - 'Shine So Brite'

23. Caribou - 'Sun'

24. Sepalcure - 'Feeling That I Know So Well'

25. Pearson Sound - 'WAD'

26. Gold Panda - 'Back Home'

27. Ghostpoet feat. Micachu - 'Morning'

28. Sonic Youth - 'Antenna'

29. Nite Jewel - Am I Real?

30. Howard Johnson - 'So Fine' (12" Mix)

31. Instant Funk - 'Got My Mind Made Up'

32. JR Funk & The Love Machine - 'Feel Good Party Time'

33. Jori Hullkonen - 'I Am Dead' (CFCF Remix)

34. Teams - 'Bali'

ATCQ in Melbourne w/ Set-list

It was with much anticipation that we hit the Melbourne Festival Hall on Thursday 12th August to witness the legendary ATCQ perform to a sell-out crowd.

I was super-hyped, but was also vaguely concerned that my favourite group of all time might leave us a little dissapointed. There were nagging doubts that they might not be up to it, after all their hey-day was back in the early to mid-nineties.

Anyway, me and my boy Jellyfish smashed a few rums and bounced out there ready for some akshun.

Kool Keith kicked things off with a breezy 6-track set of freestyles topped off with his Dr. Octagon classics 'Blue Flowers' and 'Girl Let Me Touch You There'. What he was up to I don't know, cos he lip-synched them after clearly freestyling live the previous four tracks?! Lame.

DJ Maseo from De La Soul then hit the ones & twos for a hip-hop and funk warm-up to the main event. He did a nice job whilst pumping up the lax Aussie crowd on the mic with his gruff baritone.

He bounced, the stage lights dimmed and as I watched the turntables as close as I could, I saw Ali Shaheed's hand pop up on the right turnie. A quick cut and in came the familiar tones of the Midnight Marauders intro, and it was on!

Then cam e the horn intro for 'Steve Biko (Stir It Up'). "Lyndon Boulevard represent, represent, zent/Tribe Called Quest represent, represent, zent/... holy shit! And that was that. The crowd went absolutely bananas as Phife hit the stage and then Q-Tip as he kicked off the second verse. 

From there the Tribe just flowed. For me it went way beyond expectation, they were totally on point, the sound was bang on, and you could hear every lyric crystal clear. They SMASHED it! For the first 10-15 minutes I actually couldn't believe it and was a bit bewildered really. 

Anyway, I can't really say much more except that here is the playlist for all who are interested. It was Midnight Marauders heavy which seems to suggest that my fave record is also the band's favourite record. Dope.

1. Steve Biko (Stir It Up)
2. Phony Rappers
3. The Chase, Part II
4. Midnight
5. Butter
6. Sucka Nigga
7. Oh My God
8. Clap Your Hands
9. God Lives Through
10. Everything Is Fair
11. Footprints
12. Lyrics To Go
13. Can I Kick It?
14. Excursions
15. Rap Promoter
16. Find a Way
17. Bonita Applebum
18. Electric Relaxation
19. Encore:
20. Buggin' Out
21. Scenario
22. Check the Rhime
23. Encore 2:
24. Award Tour

DTMD - New shit

DTMD - A Loan For The Lonely from dunc & toine makin' dollas on Vimeo.

Been hangin' for somethin' new from these young fullas for a while now after their EP 'The Basics' appeared from nowhere in 2009.

This jam is lovely shit, and it heralds the news that they are working on their debut LP, 'Makin' Dollars' which I for one am very excited about!

They are both 19 years-old and FRESH.

The Monday Five - 23rd August, 2010

Like Rakim, "It's been a long time."
Have been super busy, with an excursion to Australia for A Tribe Called Quest and a some business on the Goldie.

So, i'm back and here is the latest tunes to be making my head move.

One. Caribou - 'Leave House'
Two. Beans - 'Mutescreamer' (El-P Remix)
Three. Broken Social Scene - 'Ungrateful Little Father'
Four. Smashing Pumpkins - 'Hummer'
Five. A Tribe Called Quest - 'Steve Biko (Stir It Up)'

Fu/Zen 11th Birthday

FU BAR 11th BIRTHDAY PROMO

Really excited about this party! Fu has been around for... well, it's self explanatory really, but I have the opportunity to knock the club over the head with a Stonesthrow Records set. 

It is gonna be HEAVY, trust me.

Christoph El' Truento - EP01 X 'She Just Don't Know'

'She Just Don't Know' by El' Truento

Local glamour-boy, el-producto/talented disc-jockey bad-man, and fellow Base FM radio-show host Cristoph El' Truento has finally got together an "official" release for the ears of the world, and here it is in glorious black and colour cover-art form.

From the horsie's mouth I have the word that he's gonna be releasing this 5-tracker on i-tunes and also through Bandcamp (free for a limited time) in the near future.

Butt...In the Meantime, you can enjoy some of his other smooth tracks available right here as DL's, from earlier this year and 2009;  'Homemade Shit' & 'I Wanna Write a Book One Day... But For Now'

Monday Five - 9th August, 2010

One. Matthew Dear - 'Little People (Black City)'

Two. M.E.D - 'Medical Card'

Three. Nite Jewel - 'Am I Real?'

Four. Howard Johnson - 'So Fine'

Five. Versis - 'The Need'

Cee Lo Green - 'The Lady Killer'

This time an album that I am EXTREMELY excited about. Cee Lo Green's forthcoming 'The Lady Killer' LP is gonna manifest some time in the not too distant future.

Talented guy for sure. Great voice!

He can sing his own mega-smash hit as Gnarls Barkley, 'Crazy', produce mega-smash hits, the Pussycat Dolls 'Don't Cha', get grimey with his posse Goodie Mob ('Cell Therapy' ) and now release straight up blissful guitar pop like 'What Part of Forever' from the fucking 'Twilight: Eclipse' soundtrack! Um...crazy.

Info on the 'Stray Bullets' Mixtape mention production by someone called The Grey Area.

I'm not gonna bother myself with any net research on that matter now, for the main reason that I would like to suggest/speculate that this maybe an alias for his regular collaborator, Dangermouse?

Like C & C Music Factory; things that make you go "Hmmmmmm..."

In the interim, check out the 'Stray Bullets' Mixtape DL here. Particular faves off this one for me are "I'll Kill Her" and "Is It?".

PS Dungeon Family!!!

Versis - 'iLLCANDESCENT' x 'The Need'

The digital distribution revolution has meant that an artist can go straight to the source etc. etc., you know the deal. But, what it also does is give some artists notoriety off of ONE track! 

I do still carry a bit of an old-school 'pay your dues' kind of mentality, so I am always a bit hesitant to wax lyrical about a band or artist that gets piles of hype based on one or two releases.

That said, Versis is an MC that appeared (to me anyway) on the scene in the last year or two. He has released bits and pieces via MP3 as is pretty much standard these days.

What I will say about him though is that his current back-catalogue is pretty solid, there are some great straight-up hip-hop tunes in his repetoire, so I am pretty interested to see what his debut LP, 'iLLCANDESCENT' is going to sound like.

Peep the release date up top, and in the meantime, check out some of his released music and his lovely newest joint, 'The Need'.

MED x Madliberator - 'MEDical Card'

I have always repped Stonesthrow records hard, and will be dropping an all Stonesthrow artist set at the forthcoming Fu/Zen 11th Birthday party (more on this one in a minute).

M.E.D bka Medaphoar is one of the labels soldiers, always putting out super-solid rap tracks whilst the majority of the stable releases amazing fruity soul, funk, latin, freak-music.

Here is yet another example of how when him and label backbone Madlib connect, the results are generally WOW! Fantastic Madlib electro/funk beat and M.E.D's blunted gravelly raps.

This is for the smokers for sure!

PS The sample is (apparently) taken from '82 party groover 'So Fine' by Howard Johnson. ;)

MEDical Card from Stones Throw on Vimeo.

Sample & Flip #3

With the imminent arrival of my (and many others to be honest) day of destiny, I thought it fitting that I post 'Sample & Flip #3 as a nod to the greatest, A Tribe Called Quest.

I really thought that I would never ever get the chance to see the legendary hip-hop group perform in the flesh, and I am one of the lucky ones who has a ticket for the Melbourne gig.

Therefore, it's just right that I post one of my favourite tracks of theirs off of my favourite LP of ALL TIME, 'Midnight Marauders'

Yep, 'The Chase Pt. II' (where in the funk is 'The Chase Pt. I'?!?) is an ab-soul-ute stunner! In the context of the record as a whole it is just another dope track off the most perfect record, but for me it just stands out as one of the best. Can't really say why, it just does...

BUT, if I had to find one reason, it might help that the loop comes from an absolute killer track in it's own right; Steve Arrington's 'Beddie Biey'. 

I was lucky as hell to find a vinyl pressing of this track while on holiday in Japan, but for you fullas and fullesses, here's the 'Tube version; amazing floaty vibes and the most hilarious lyrics! Somehow though, it just DEEE-LIVERS.

Monday Five - August 2nd, 2010

Clearly it has been a busy week. My last post sums it up.
Getting pretty damn excited about the ATCQ gig in Melbourne by now! Only a week and a bit away.

Ahhh, yeah, anyway, the Monday Five:

One. Dam Funk - 'A(nother) Day At the Carnival' (Say Uhn's Cosmic Carnival Remix)
Two. Elephant & Castle - 'The Look'
Three. Active Child - 'When Your Love Is Safe' (Classixx Remix)
Four. Killer Mike - 'Swimming'
Five. Toro Y Moi - 'Leave Everywhere'

Clever clogs get the DL!