Electric Wire Hustle

EWH at Matakana Summer Sunday - Sunday January 29th, 2012

We caught Electric Wire Hustle at the Summer Sunday outdoor festival gig yesterday and as expected, they blew minds; well ours anyway.

Didn't really get to catch up with the boys, but saw Mara briefly earlier in the day and he mentioned that this was the last live gig where they were gonna play their current set.

Mean as, I can dig it!

They reminded me once again just why I love what they do as I could see, and feel the largely "mainstream" crowd get polarised around us by the EWH jazz break-downs and deep vibrations.

Suffice to say that Anna and I were having a fucking ball!

Favourite for the night, 'Waters' and that new one?! DAMNNN.

So, my belief is reaffirmed once more as I reacquaint myself (for the millionth time) with their 'Every Waking Hour' LP and look ahead to the sophomore release on which Dave 'Taay Ninh' Wright says: 'Tryin' to get this sucker finished bro - working on it!'. 

In the meantime, head to electricwirehustle.com for updates and check out the video from their sojourn to NYC from late 2010.

http://www.electricwirehustle.com/

Monday Six - 30th January, 2012

I have been a mega busy buddy over the past month and the blog has taken a back seat as a result.

But I'm back and willing to share good vibes.

For 2012 let's make it a "Monday Six". Five on a Monday is truly last year.

One. Thundercat - 'Is It Love?'

Two. SBTRKT - 'Atomic Peace'

Three. Mos Def - 'Love'

Four. Hazel - 'The V'

Five. Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti - 'Round and Round'

Six. Hugh Masekela - 'Night In Tunisia'

Georgia Anne Muldrow x Madlib - 'Seeds'

Stonesthrow Records label mates Georgia Anne Muldrow and Madlib have combined to create a full album together!

Significant for the fact that it is the first time that Muldrow has had anyone aside from partner Dudley Perkins produce one of her own records. Makes sense though because I have always thought of her as a bit like the female incarnation of the great Oxnard producer.

Peep the lead single from the collab 'Seeds' right HERE and head to Rolling Stone for the exclusive DL before release in mid-February.

A Tribe Called Quest Live in '95 - London

Tribe live in London at Subterania in 1995.

Record skips and bad sound quality and all.

Must listen!

A Tribe called Quest 'Midnight Marauders' live Subterania 2.12.95 London UK

Summertime Rolls @ Leigh Sawmill Cafe

Big jams this Saturday at the un-fadeable Leigh Sawmill Cafe

_Julien Dyne feat. Parks_

_Christoph El' Truento_

_DJ's Dylan C & Dan Paine_

_Saturday 7th January_

_From 8pm_

_$15 on the door_

Stones Throw Sweats - Winter 2012

I know it's summer down here in NZ, but there are one or two international readers right?

Check the lovely new sweats range for 2012 from my favourite record label Stones Throw.

Girls and boys cuts in grey/black speckle and classic grey marl crew necks and hoodies.

With the exchange rate looking real nice for us here, look into the future and see that you need one of these babies for your Winter wardrobe.

Head to stonesthrow.com

Madlib x Black Star x Blu

Madlib. Man or BEAST?

Black Star have just released their reunion single 'Fix Up' on the world.

It is the pre-cursor to what is being touted as the lead-single of their upcoming sophomore release.

Talk about 'the difficult second album'; their sublime debut LP 'Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are...' was released in 2002!

Turns out that Blu also had dibs on that same beat w/ a track titled 'EZ'.

Oh well, all great MC's. 

Double ups are mean as boltz!

Sam Champ - Remix EP Instro's

Sam Champs dope Remix EP from late 2010 had some of THE best remixes goin' round for this past year.

Understandably it was an underground/internet with track from it doing some serious play time on more discerning radio stations around the planet.

The king remix off it was probably his rework of D'Angelo's 'Left & Right'...

Well, now you can cop the remix instrumentals for some serious blend action.

Courtesy of  DJ Rahdu over at BamaLoveSoul. 

Also, keep a look out for Sam Champ's upcoming project with Buscrate's 16-Bit Ensemble.

Big up Rahdu and Sam Champ!

It's the D, Baby! Well, Maybe

Holy mother-of-soul!!!
D'Angelo dates have been announced for Europe in early T-12, and it all looks pretty legit according to Okayplayer.

Mr. We Miss You needs to actually hit the stage (and his notes for that matter) for the long awaited dream to come true, but we can live in hope can't we.

It was pretty hard deciding on which pic of the man to use for this post as most are either buff-D from a decade ago or ruff-D looking all bloated and unhealthy in his mug-shots.

So as you can see I plumped for the above classic from the sleeve of his absolute classic 'Voodoo' LP.
In the meantime, let's cross fingers, hope the man is doin' okay and have a listen to an all-time jam.

Freddie Gibbs x Madlib ( I call it Mad-Gib) - 'Thuggin'' EP

Sometimes I try and make mixtapes in a Madlib style but it just doesn't work.

Even if I set out to do a totally loose mix, my inner semi-perfectionist (I'm not completely pshyco) can't resist cleaning it up just a little.

So, I really admire the way that 'Lib just keeps putting out music with a hit & miss attitude.

He is so prolific that he seems to just put it out there which you could say is reflected in the way he treats his DJ sets.

You could argue that he might not be as focused as he was in the early to mid 00's when he put out his best works, but i'm really not that fussed. Although we're all hangin' for Madvilllainy 2!

Anyhow, here's his new shit with Freddie Gibbs...

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Thuggin' by Rappcats

Tony Andrews (Funktion One) x RBMA Interview

Hadn't heard of this guy, but I am really interested in what he has to say about the way that musical payback trends are inherently affecting the way listeners hear and consequently do or don't enjoy their listening experience of music.

Vinyl vs. digital and all that...

Lecture: Tony Andrews of Funktion One (Madrid 2011) from Red Bull Music Academy on Vimeo.

Monday Five - 14th November, 2011

This week's tasty jams...

One. Tom Browne - 'Come For A Ride'

Two. Busta Rhymes - 'Turn Me Up Some'

Three. MED - 'Flying High'

Four. Jaylib - 'Raw Shit' (Instrumental)

Five. Herman Chin-Loy - 'Heavy Duty'