Cian @ Conch x Vinyl Now.

Pretty much my favourite store around AK City; Conch Records sells actual records!

Here is a recent link to a vid of co-owner and accomplished DJ/selector Cian having a yarn about vinyl in the present day.

Monday Five - May 30th, 2011

All of the following are great tunes. Seriously, like...OMG.

Great winter jams actually. Hit the titles for the DL's

One. Buck UK - 'Once'

Two. Jai Paul - 'BTSTU'

Three. JBrown - 'The Eye Cry'

Four. 18 Carat Affair - 'Saturday Night'

Five. Thundercat - 'For Love I Come'

So if you are in the southern hemisphere with me, listen to them and look at the image below simultaneously...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

'Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest' NZFF?

Will this documentary screen at the New Zealand film festival?!

It kicks off mid-july, the programme is just about to be issued, and I would love for this to be there for this year.

Very well received at Sundance and Tribeca, it sees U.S. release on July 8th.

In the meantime, check the 5-minute trailer right here.

JBrown - 'Winter' EP DL

JBrown clearly has too much time on his hands.

Another week, another EP! The 'Winter EP'.

Nice.

Datahowler - 'Passengers As Eggs' EP DL

Fruity spacious free DL funk from Datahowler.

From his Bandcamp page...

"Passengers As Eggs is an exploration into space and the outer realms of imagination. As Datahowler's interstellar territory develops and expands the terrain of his music changes and morphs for each release. Passengers As Eggs was created as a follow up to Slowdrifter. After Slowdrifter was completed another wave of creativity hit Datahowler and he created this EP in a few days time."

"The Earth is just too small and fragile a basket for the human race to keep all its eggs in." -- Robert Heinlein

"The Earth is the cradle of humankind, but one cannot live in the cradle forever." -- Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, 1895 

Samiyam - 'Cushion'

Samiyam's new one, 'Cushion' is big, chunky, robust and tough... most unlike most cushions I have encountered.

It is the lead single from his forthcoming LP, 'Sam Baker's Album'. Cute.

Samiyam – “Cushion”

Buck UK - 'Once'

Here's a lovely DL of this sweet, tapping ambient tune from Buck UK on Cut Music.

Head to XLR8R for the FREE DL of the original or head over to the Bandcamp page for the full EP.

Kolab - 'Standards' EP GIVEAWAY

Yo! The lads from Kolab have a new EP on release and as you can see from the empty shopping trolley, copies are hard to come by.

BUT! I have one hard-copy of their sweet 'Standards' EP to give away right here.

Just pop your name, city of rez and e-mail addy in the coments box below and i'll send it out to the person who happens to reside the furthest distance from where I live.

That be Auckland, New Zild.

Or,you could go all modern on it and just DL from i-Toons.

East Liberty Quarters - 'East Liberty Quarters' EP

I was put onto this one by my man Cian at Conch Records.

New boogie-funk, heavy on the keys and bound to make a lump in your dancing pants, it's E.L.Q!

Have a taste HERE.

James Blake - 'Lindisfarne' VIDEO

New James Blake video?

Why not!

Here is the vid for Blake's KILLER 'Lindisfarne (2)' from his self-titled LP.

It's a bit spooky and creepy, but it's the kid's latest...

JAMES BLAKE - LINDISFARNE from martin de thurah on Vimeo.

Monday Five - May 23rd 2011

How do you like the shitty clip-art number 5 this week?

Well, these tracks have a little more class.

One. Monster Rally - 'Siberian Girls'

Two. James Pants - 'Kathleen'

Three. Tommy Tempa - 'Fragments'

Four. Thundercat - 'For Love I Come'

Five. The Park - 'Belleville'

Elzhi - 'Elmatic' FREE DL

Oh yes, been waiting for a while to hear how Elzhi goes about his work on this.

Verdict? FIRE!

Free DL HERE.

JBrown - 'This Is A Beat Tape By JBrown' x FREE DL

'THIS IS A BEAT TAPE BY JBROWN' FREE DL

JB! There's ya face!

My homie James from Kolab and JBrown & The Mic Smith has just dropped a free beat tape for you ears.

More NZ ish comin' your way!

I always tell him this but his production just gets better and better each track I hear.

Seriously, there is some DOPE shit here. 

My faves below:

Get em' JB!!!
Have a jam in the club soon eh?!

Monday Five - 16th May 2011

Unngh!

One. James Pants - 'Kathleen'

Two. Fresh Daily - 'Art Mirrors'

Three. Debruit - 'Accorde Don'

Four. Mo Kolours - '8 Hours'

Five. Vanilla - 'Passenger'

Mo Kolours - 'Drum Talking' EP + FREE DL

Bandcamp strikes again!!!

Fresh in the inbox today, Mo Kolours debut EP 'Drum Talking'.

I posted a while back about his sneaky little Afro-tronic (did I just coin that phrase? ;) track 'Biddies'

From his Bandcamp blurb:

"Some records seem to come out of nowhere. Witness this debut EP by the half-Mauritian percussionist & singer Mo Kolours, which unites an array of more familiar influences with the Sega music of his island roots.


The rhythms lead the way here, whether the straight percussive workout of Drum Talking or the crafty vocal manipulation that drives the low-slung bump of Biddies, a song that traces an imaginary line between Theo Parrish and Gonjasufi.


Dead of Night mines the symbolism of The Beatles’ outwardly chirpy Blackbird while his own Bakiraq (like Burt, the songwriter) resembles a soul classic pieced together from fragments around the flickering light of a fire.

Features the first ever remix behind the connoisseur's edit label of choice: Truth Is Light."

A while back I posted about this new-comer's single 'Biddies'...

I tell you now, this new EP is the real deal. Beautiful African rhythms with dubbed-out bass lines ('Bakiraq') and sweet electronically programmed click-clap drums ('Drum Talking' - FREE DL), and the Dilla-like wobble lope of '8 Hours'.

If you're fast enough you can cop a pre-order of the limited first-run copies of the vinyl HERE.

James Pants - 'James Pants'

Some of James Pants' work is freaky and fruity; at times hard to listen to...

Some of James Pants' work is quite simply A.M.A.Z.I.N.G...

... but overall his albums can be a little schizophrenic.

His new LP, simply titled 'James Pants' is the real deal. Killer!

Check out James getting his props in the big UK rag The Guardian right HERE in their 'New Band' column for the plebs. Yeah we been up on Pants for ages, man.

Head to your local i-Tunes store for a DL of some or all (go on, it's really good) of his newest chapter and check out some audio for his track 'Clouds Over the Pacific' below.

I love this string-plucked shit!

Mayer Hawthorne - 'Impressions' EP x FREE DL

Stones Throw Records'  Mayer Hawthorne has produced a six-track digital EP of  cover versions.

The 'Impressions' EP is a bunch of obscure tunes that he and his band The County have done over in their own style to present to you for a big whopping FREE!

Cop the DL and Mayer's blurb on each track HERE.

V/A - 'Secret Hangout' Volume 4 FREE DL

'SECRET HANGOUT' VOLUME 4 x DOWNLOAD

Choice as DL from Turntable Lab on-line, 'Secret Hangout' Volume 4.

Tracks from a myriad of artists you know and love.

V/A

Secret Hangout Vol.4 FREE DOWNLOAD

Download M3U »

Powered by Turntable Lab Digital

The Very Best - 'Super Mom' Mixtape DL

The Very Best have always warmed my heart with their uplifting (in a good way) electronic African club-music.

Just in time for next year's Mother's Day, HERE is a mixtape from the lads paying homage to the Mums/Moms of the world.

Get in there now though, I would say that it won't hang around for the DL for long.

From the boys themselves:

“From the people who brought you The Lion King, Graceland, The World Cup, Humanity and Bono and also that random one... what was it called? Warm Arm Of South Africa? Warm Heart Of Africa?. ANYWAYS! This year Mothers Day becomes SUPER MOM day!”

Here's their video for one of their older killers, 'Warm Heart of Africa' featuring Esau Mwamwaya and Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend.

Love this track!

Onra - L.O.V.E

Parisian beatmaker Onra has a demo. 

That demo is titled 'L.O.V.E'.

It's heat!

Onra - L.O.V.E by Onra

Here's a home-made video for 'My Comet' which I don't think I ever posted, but the track has been a top fave for the last couple of years.

Monday Five - 9th May, 2011

Number 5 is keeping warm on his little knit ruggy right there.

Cute.

Lots of delicious goodies this week, heavy on the electronic ish with a splash of sunny Cali hip-hop and classic acoustic rock to keep you warm as we enter the wenter.

One. Debruit - 'Turkish Ish'

Two. Beastie Boys - 'Non-Stop Disco Powerpack'

Three. Fonzworth Bentley - 'Venice Beaches'

Four. Dynooo - 'Onion Funck'

Five. Red Hot Chili Peppers - 'Breaking the Girl'

RHCP - 'Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik' x 20 Years

Before the Red Hot Chili Peppers records fell into sprawling mediocrity, there was a beast of a band that made LP's that seriously kicked ass.

RHCP polarise people a lot.

There is certainly a love/hate thing going on, but I gotta say I always was and still am (in fits and starts) a fan of their early output; records that kicked and squirmed, had funk and spunk, were doirty, grimy and raw.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers - 1984

'Freaky Styley' - 1985

'The Uplift Mofo Party Plan' - 1987

'Mother's Milk' - 1989

However, their crowning glory HAS to be 1991's classic 'Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik'.

Led by hit song 'Give It Away' and mega-smash 'Under the Bridge', and produced by the bearded one, Rick Rubin, 'BSSM' smashed a hole in 1991.

I remember watching this air on TV in NZ...

Check out some of the famous faces joining them on-stage as RHCP perform 'Give It Away' at the 1992 MTV Awards.

It was while digging out my DVD copy of the killer "making-of" doco 'Funky Monks' last night that triggered my thoughts for this post today. 

In the title credits it states, "In May-June of 1991, the Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded 'Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik'."

"20 years ago!!!" was my first thought, followed by "How old am I? How old was I when this record came out?!"

I was actually pretty young, and me and my mates used to jam this record back to front ALL THE TIME.

So, a good time to post a few of my favourite jams of this all-time top 20 record of mine then. 

That is a hard thing to do with such a strong track-list.

Here we go...

The closest this album gets to a hip-hop track. Dope funk guitar intro and Anthony Keidis' raps.

Track 2, 'If You Have To Ask'...

Acoustic guitar fire! The bridge with the band banging heaps of shit is epic.

Plus, pan-pipes never sounded so good; except on the Karl Katte TV ad.

Track 3, 'Breaking the Girl'...

John Frusciante ripping it again on an acoustic guitar for the intro with rhythm section Flea and Chad Smith holding it down tight as fuck.

Track 4, 'Funky Monks'...

Flea doing his thing on my old bass the Musicman Stingray.

Interviewed by the late River Phoenix...

Title track with a rock-solid drum break and JF's guitar on some serious wah.

Mono-tone chant-raps and a super-heavy chorus.

Track 10, 'Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik'...

Track 13, 'Apache Rose Peacock'.
As DeathLeftHid says on YouTube comments: "This song makes me want to fuck shit."...

Not long after releasing their LP 'Uplift Mofo Party Plan' original guitarist Hilel Slovak died of a heroin overdose.

Track 15, 'My Lovely Man'...

Possibly my favourite track off the album and with the greatest ever lyrics about female officers-of-the-law, a bass line that squelches into your fonky conciousness, and the most beautiful floating guitar outro...

Track 16, 'Sir Pshyco Sexy'...

For a little bit of extra back-up cred, check out Rob Swift formerly of The X-ecutioners giving props to BSSM.

I really could go on and on, as if I haven't already, but if you want to read more about the life and times of RHCP, check out lead-singer Anthony Keidis' auto-biography 'Scar Tissue' for an insight.

Comes across as a bit of an asshole but hey, it's a great read.

Homebrew Crew - 'Underneath the Shade' VIDEO

Homebrew Crew are pretty much funny guys.

I loved the way that this video manifested from a grass-roots campaign to get a music video done after NZ On Air turned the boys down once again for music video funding.

It is with great excitement that they have just released their debut video for their Kiwi-classic hip-hop track 'Underneath the Shade'.

Directed by G.C., Chris Graham, the release party was on Thursday night. Couldn't make it myself but was there in spirits.

Onya fellas!

Monday Five - May 2nd 2011

Songs that are quite simply floating my boat...

One. Teebs - 'Pretty Polly'

Two. Simo & Mood Schula - 'Sliceslice'

Three. Vanilla - '66'

Four. Tokimonsta - 'Bright Shadows'

Five. Red Hot Chili Peppers - 'If You Have To Ask'