Aloe Blacc – I Need a Dollar

From: I Need a Dollar single Good Things LP (Stones Throw, 2010)

quick note:  the single on Itunes as it comes with an instrumental and 2 more tracks for 2 bucks.

So you may have remembered Aloe Blacc from his debut a few years back on Stones Throw.  Called Shine Through it had some interesting cuts but was a little scattershot.  It still held some promise.  His new album is supposed to feature the help of a few members of El Michels affair amongst some other Truth and Soul artists.  This definately is shaping up to be a great 2nd album.

The one thing I never realized on his first album was how great his voice was.  After hearing this track which is now the theme song on How to Make It In America, HBO’s new entourage like show, I was a little mesmerized.  The backing insrumentation is fantastic with the piano stabs, solid snare back drop and the backup singers, but his croon is outright amazing.

Right now I’ve been doing a little updating of our look.  We’re still sticking with the Yellow, but I thought I might try to change the background colors and make it pop a little better.  I’ve also been mocking up various new headers over the past month.  Tell us what you think, diggin it?

Index: Fire Eyes and Eight Miles High

From: Index [DC records, 1967]

Apologies for the break from posting for a little while, I’ve come into the possession of some fantastic soul and funk records and been busy going through them and picking out what I want to share with you the listener. Also, um, Modern Warfare 2 is really, really, addictive. While I put the final touches to my choices I thought that with the fantastic, rap, soul, funk and jazz we’ve had up here recently we’ve not really touched on the world of rock for a while so to balance it out thought I’d share a bit of some of the most fuzzed out psych rock I know of, Index’s self titled album from 1967.

It’s worth keeping the year this came out in mind when you listen to the album, I know that “ahead of it’s time” is an overused phrase in the world of old record appreciation but I’m going to have to use it here. The whole record is drenched in layers of feedback to the point where the guitars and percussion feel like they’re fighting to be heard over the ambient noise. For those tracks where vocals are also in the mix they appear to be sung in from an adjacent room, floating semi coherently through the wall of sound that covers the track like a sonic mist. If this sounds heavy or in any way unlistenable, I can only apologise as it’s far from it. Heavy heavy playing and a true garage sound make this record a hypnotic and fulfilling listen you’re unlikely to forget in a hurry.

So I’ve been thinking about doing a new feature showcasing the best of the best of mixtapes.  This is the first one featuring tracks that popped up last February either on mixtapes or freestyles or what have you.  I may not do a full fledged writeup on everything and I am debating on making this a monthly or weekly thing.  I don’t think there’s enough quality material for a weekly post.  I will not be posting leaks or album tracks howeve unless they are remixes.  Also a billion mixtapes come out every month so I’m just trying to post some of the stuff I was able to comb through and come up with that I thought was top notch.  I’ll try adding the links to the mixtapes a little later, or you can search em out on your own if I don’t get to it in time.

9th Wonder and Method Man: Babydoll Remix

From: 9th ReInvented the Remix 2

First up is 9th Wonder with a remix of Method Man.  This track is almost a little more bouncy than some of the stuff 9th has been putting out lately and is it too much to ask he produce a Wu-Tang Album?

Drag-on: Robodrag

I used to love Drag-On back when I could stand DMX and he wasn’t getting arrested for pretending to be the FBI or abusing dogs.  Drag-on came up right around the same time and I remembered him as being legitimately good before he fell off the face of the earth.  He has a new album coming out soon and this is one of the best freestyles over a Lil Wayne track I’ve heard in forever.

Feroz: The Tonight Show

From: The Invisible Man mixtape

I don’t know much about Feroz but this track is crazy solid.  He reminds me of a lot of the late 90s Rawkus MCs in the best way possible.

Mistah F.A.B.: Ungrateful

From: Prince of the Coast mixtape

This would be hot just with the beat and faB but the line about Jay-Z was fantastic.  I have always wondered why outside of the Bay Area and that brief moment where he rapped over the Ghostbusters theme – Mistah F.A.B. hasn’t had much notice.

Pill: Thoughts

From: 11:40 the Overdose (not sure if this is out yet)

Originally heard a variation of this sample only less fuzzed out on a Rhymesayers track, either Ali or Slug.  Pill like Killer Mike and Jeezy sounds angry as hell on his tracks and it works.  I love Atlanta hip hop.

Reks: Down Like That (Lawtown)

From: In Between The Lines mixtape

I think its a shame outside of Boston and Statik Selektah most people haven’t heard of Reks.  His last two albums produced mostly by Statik Selektah were filled with great production and rapping and even had an assist from DJ Premier.  It reminded me of the early 90s and Gang Starr (Good news if you hadn’t heard Guru’s awake).

JD Era: First and Last

From: TH1RT3EN

I had heard a little bit about JD era here and there.  He’s been around for a little bit and his work on Th1rt3en is hit or miss but tracks like this make me think he’s got NBA draftlike upside.  This track also had an assist from Boi 1da.

Let me know if you’re digging this feature or if its all just garbage.  If I do it again expect it to go a little deeper, 10 tracks maybe and be a little more comprehensive.

Ike White: Love & Affection and Changin’ Times

From: Changin’ Times [LA International, 1976]

Back with the rare today and Ike White’s 1976 LP, Changin’ Times. This post will be of the mercifully short type due to my knowledge of Ike being limited to that he recorded this album while in prison, it was at least partially produced by Jerry Goldstein, the man behind War’s sound, and that it was endorsed enough by Mr Stevie Wonder for him to page the liner notes that accompany the great music. I can certainly see why Stevie felt drawn to this artist, the combination of beautifully produced jazz/soul is right up his alley as White ventures into many a noodling territory before always bringing the track back into the funk lane.

While the entire album is of a high quality there’s no doubting that the reason why it regularly goes for over 100 dollars is due to the inclusion of the much comped, much loved, Love & Affection. I couldn’t really feature this album without including this track just in case you haven’t been witness to its majesty before. A combination of great horns, cow bell, an irresistible groove and a more than slightly Sly approach to tune structure and vocals result in a true funk classic and one that never gets old. Absolute belter.

I was torn between throwing up Antoinette, a 9 minute jam that ventures from deep groove to cheesy jazz funk to beautiful groove and Changin’ Times, another nine minute track that is more of the mellow soul variety. In the end I had to plump for the title track, its mixture of soul and jazz too much to resist. Very much a slow burner, the track really takes off around the two minute mark as the strings enter the mix and, to my ears at least, the guitar work takes on an extra intricacy as the percussion also steps up a gear. Very smooth but never dull, and, in its own way, rather beautiful.

Sadly this album still appears to be far from being reissued though as we so many of these, we live in hope. Nice heavy vinyl pressing please.

Gang Starr: Full Clip

From: Full Clip (Virgin, 1999)

and Royalty

From: Moment of Truth (Virgin, 1998)

Over the weekend Guru of Gang Starr and Jazzmatazz suffered a heart attack.  He’s currently in the hospital and here’s to hoping he pulls through.  Along with DJ Premier, as part of Gang Starr they were responsible for some of the best hip hop albums to come out of the 90s.

I remember borrowing a friends copy of Full Clip.  It was one of the rare times I could listen up and down and album and not pull a favorite.  Everything was solid from top to bottom.  To be fair it was a greatest hits collection but it was 2 discs deep.  Their other albums were just as consistent and along with Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, each group created a solid sound that’s hard to find now.

I still remember getting my copy of Gang Starr’s last album The Ownerz right before a road trip almost 7 years ago and listening to that album back and forth pretty much the whole trip.  Guru also put out over 4 albums of his Jazzmatazz series working with live jazz musicians.  Here’s hoping Guru pulls through.

3rd Bass: Steppin’ to the A.M.
From: The Cactus Album [Def Jam, 1989]

Banbarra: Shack Up
From: Shack Up single [Atco, 1976]

James Brown: Stoned to the Bone
From: The Payback [Polydor, 1974]

Gary Wright: Can’t Find the Judge
From: The Dreamweaver [Warner Bros, 1975]

Pink Floyd: Time
From: The Dark Side of the Moon [EMI, 1973]

Kool and the Gang: Mother Earth
From: Spirit of the Boogie [De-Lite, 1975]

Spoonie Gee: Spoonin’ Rap
From: Single [Sugar Hill, 1980]

Beastie Boys: Time to Get Ill
From: Licensed to Ill [Def Jam, 1986]

I know that I promised you all that another Anatomy of a Sample post was right around the corner about two months ago, but good things always come to those who wait.  Today’s Anatomy of a Sample focuses on the standout track from one of the best rap albums to come out of the Def Jam stable in the late 80’s.  The act, song and album in question are 3rd Bass with “Steppin’ to the A.M.” from The Cactus Album.  With the Bomb Squad’s versatile samples and exemplary production alone,  this record was destined to be one for the ages.  But these two Mc’s had the skills to pay the bills and then some, with a witty repartee and hard-hitting rhymes that would go on to influence the next generation of independent hip-hop.

However, due to a lackluster second effort called Derilects of Dialect, the group would fade into obscurity, only to reappear on the scene as solo artists in the coming years.  Even though they never achieved the same level of recognition that other white hip-hop acts such as the Beastie Boys, and House of Pain were given on a regular basis, The Cactus Album would prove to stand the test of time.   In fact, as I reached for my cassette tape of The Cactus Album the other day,  a sense of nostalgia rushed over me that took me right back to the day that I first heard this album.

Today, I will be analyzing the samples that were used to create the slamming track “Steppin’ To the A.M” on the pioneering first record from 3rd Bass.  This one gets started immediately with a horn stab taken from the two second mark of James Brown’s “Stone to the Bone”. This sample has been slowed down and the tone has been changed to disguise it’s origin, but it appears several times in the track.  There is a sample of woman’s voice at the one second mark that says “At the sound of the tone the time will be 12 a.m.”.  I was at a loss when trying to locate the sample for this one, but I’m thinking that it could be a person who provided a voiceover for the track, instead of an actual sample.  At the six second mark, a melange of bells and chimes are taken from the twenty second mark of Pink Floyd’s “Time”.

Then, at the ten second mark, the first sign of a drum beat and bassline enter the picture as the ten second mark of Banbarra’s “Shack Up” is sampled to great effect.  It appears that this has been slowed down considerably, as the pace of the original track is much more uptempo than the beat on “Steppin’ to the A.M.”  It took repeated listens to figure this one out, as the Bomb Squad  have expertly crafted this sample to mask its identity.  Coming in at the same time as the Banbarra sample are the high hats from the opening bars of Slick Rick’s “Lick the Balls”.

Next, as MC Serch begins to deliver his first verse on the track, the twenty second mark of Gary Wright’s “Can’t Find the Judge is sampled to add more complexity to the bassline.  After the first verse, the horns from the five second mark of Kool and the Gang’s “Mother Earth” are sampled at the fifty-seven second point of the track.  This horn sample will also appear at the 2:02 and 2:58 point of the track. Directly after the horn sample is a montage of samples taken from Hip hop tracks that feature the word “time”.   First, is the Beastie Boys “What’s the time” mantra taken from “Time to Get Ill”. Then, it samples the lines “Time to Get Stupid” from Public Enemy’s Raise the Roof, followed by the lines “Kickin’ till the A.M.  from Big Daddy Kane’s “Raw”.  One of the samples that is not present in the first group of “time” samples is the :07 mark of Spoonie Gee’s “Two for the time” lyric taken from Spoonin’ Rap.  This makes it’s first appearance at the 2:06 part of the track, and then later appears at the 4:26 mark of the track.  There is a spacey synthesizer sample that plays in the background of these montages, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what it is.

At the 3:17 point of the song, the high hats from the Slick Rick sample are the only thing left in the mix.  But after a few more seconds, the bassline from “Can’t Find the Judge” enters, and it is much easier to identify it with everything else absent from the mix. The song closes out with numerous horn stabs from the “Stoned to the Bone” sample juxtaposed with the time-themed samples from Beastie Boys, Big Daddy Kane, Public Enemy and Spoonie Gee.

I hope you have enjoyed this edition of Anatomy of a Sample, and I look forward to bringing you more of these in the future.

Please send me any requests for hip-hop songs that you would like to see featured on Anatomy of a Sample, and I will do my best to make it happen.

Get ‘Em Mamis: Alpines Kickin’, Cold Summer, Soul Talk
From: Terawesome [Darkroom Productions, 2009]

Ok. Finally got a break and some time to get into what I started in January – ladies throwing down on the mic… thanks 2Shaney and E.Powers for the excellent suggestions; I’ve been digging on all the artists you mentioned. Let’s kick it off with a selection from 2Shaney’s list, something happening right now – Baltimore’s Get ‘Em Mamis. Their ‘Terawesome’ mixtape is a free and easy download and it is indeed a pleasing blend of terrific and awesome. The beats don’t skimp on booty and the ladies show no mercy on the mic.

From what I can glean from the internets, Roxzi and Symphony are a long time coming:  rap fanatics since childhood, they honed their craft for many years; writing, performing, and working together in different groups before streamlining to their current winning chemistry as a duo. With a pivotal career break in 2008, earning inclusion on HBO’s The Wire’s Beyond Hamsterdam soundtrack, they caught the ear of local Baltimore production crew Darkroom Productions. Recently, I’ve seen a few 2010 tour dates popping up (though mostly in MD… come to NYC!).

Throughout Terawesome, Get ‘Em Mamis prove themselves gifted vocalists with plenty of personality, versatility, and quality rhymes. Of the three tracks posted above, though, I’ll say ‘Soul Talk’ is my favorite as the song holds some of Roxzi and Symphony’s  most expressive lines:

while the whole world is sleeping or fucking
I’m up thinking of nothing but how I’m gonna give myself to the public
to make ‘em say that they want it, but I need it
Hip Hop will never be dead if I’m breathing

… and the hook hits it home. Sounds like they love what they’re doing. Look forward to hearing more.

The Souljazz Orchestra: Mamaya
From: Rising Sun [2010, Strut]

It’s been an exciting year or so for African music at Strut. In addition to releases from one of my musical heroes (Mulatu Astatke) and the Nigeria 70 series, there’s the Jimi Tenor / Tony Allen Inspiration Information album, and this March will see a reissue of the seminal Duncan Brooker compilation Afro Rock Vol. 1 (I’ll try to post a track from that one coming up as well). But this project holds a special place in my heart, because it’s from a new band, and one that not a lot of people seem to be up on (at least in the States). The Souljazz Orchestra have quietly been making Afrobeat and jazz-inspired masterpieces for the better part of the last decade, earning them accolades from the likes of Afro enthusiasts Gilles Peterson and Rich Medina. I was ignorant of the group’s efforts though until their awesome remix of Horace Andy & Ashley Beedle’s “Watch We,” from that duo’s own Inspiration Information project. The way they flipped that one from a mellow dancehall loper into a slice of Afro heat really impressed me, and I was eager to hear what else the group had up its sleeve.

On Rising Sun the group maintains the same intensity (see the video above) while expanding a little bit into the realm of cosmic jazz, and Ethio style modes. It’s nice to have the floor fillers book-ended by some spacier, introspective numbers. There’s even a Pharaoh Sanders cover, to give you an idea of the kind of territory they’re treading. Unfortunately, there aren’t any US dates planned so far. I’d love to see these guys tear up a stage, but it’s looking like I’ll have to wait on that one. If I hear anything about upcoming dates, I’ll be sure to get on the horn. For the Canadians though, you’re all set:

Sounds of Liberation – New Horizons I

Sounds of Liberation – New Life

YouTube Blog Posts = You’re Not on The Hype Machine

Is it me, or is every funk and soul song ever on YouTube now?

It certainly feels like it. Last weekend, I was on YouTube nabbing some of my favorite ‘real tough’ love soul songs from back in the day in honor of anti-valentines day, and posting them right up on the Facebook Earfuzz fan page – http://bit.ly/earfuzz …

On the Earfuzz.com site, I don’t do entire posts of songs from YouTube, because mp3s are better for discovery of the Earfuzz posts. What I mean is, The Hype Machine – the biggest and best music blog aggregator – doesn’t seem pick up YouTube videos you post on your blog. So, if I do all YouTube content posts on Earfuzz, you won’t see them on the Hype Machine.

At the same time, Google is taking down audio blogs on it’s Blogger platform that are posting mp3s. I find this to be ** WILDLY IRONIC ** because like I said, all of those mp3s bloggers are putting up, well likely Google’s YouTube has FLV / video versions of those same songs!

BTW, my brothers over at the law / tech / music blog 95Years.com – have a great post up about the whole Google blog take down stuff that you should read…

I often try to point to YouTube videos from Earfuzz for the reason that it saves me the onus of uploading and getting the content from my own archive. Also on YouTube – you get sometimes the real experience of seeing the record spin, or the cover art.

But yeah, then you don’t show up on the Hype Machine, when you post the YouTube videos of songs.

Bei Bei and Shawn Lee: Hot Thursday and Little Sunrise

From: Into the Wind (Ubiquity, 2010)
I don’t know if there’s a more active artist out there outside of Robert Pollard and Lil’ Wayne circa 2007 than Shawn Lee.  Altogether in a little over a decade he’s had a hand in nearly 22 albums.  Some are solo projects, some are soundtracks (Bully, The Getaway), some are with his funk Orchestra and some are with mystery characters (The Clutchy Hopkins albums).  He’s worked within genres including afrobeat, funk, instrumental hiphop, soul and often uses many different latin genres as inspiration as well.

On this new album with Bei Bei he veers into eastern instruments adding funk to the Gu Zheng playing of Bei Bei.  While it might be that my only real familiarity with the instrument is from foreign flicks that usually have their share of battles to the sounds of the Gu Zheng, I think its the funky backdrop that makes me think of it as a the perfect soundtrack to a blaxploitation kung fu hybrid that could take place in Chinese back alleys, rooftops and basements.  Even some of the song titles like The Ambush, The Tiger and The Blue Grotto lend themselves to soundtracking.

If I had to pick a track for the Opening titles it’d be Hot Thursday.  Sharp drum snares and percussion back the quick and yet relaxed playing of Bei Bei.  Some sounds in the backround almost duplicate the sound of sirens.  I can imagine the cuts around the city, smoke on the rooftops wide shots panning around, busy streets and changing lights.  It might be that I need to watch more Hong Kong cinema, or just the fact that it was a great movie, but I keep picturing scenes from Chunking Express while listening.

Little Sunrise is one of the most down tempo tracks on the album and gives Bei Bei a little more room to move with a few less instruments.  The best part that Shawn Lee adds behind her is a subtle and occasional Xylophone and a latin instrument that I can’t even place at the moment.  Basically this could wake me up every morning and I can’t see myself being anything other than completely relaxed.  It ends uptempo and much less relaxed than it began, I imagine its saying time to get the investigation up and running again, Kung Fu thugs be damned.

In addition to Shawn Lee the record also features a little help from Georgia Ann Muldrow and a cover of Billy Paul’s East.  There’s also a short EP up on the Ubiquity website that features a remix and an instrumental of one of the Georgia Ann Muldrow songs.  I can’t wait for the next 20 albums Shawn Lee puts out this decade.