You know the drill. Another vid from last week’s champ the Gravediggaz along with four new ones.

Go.

Gravediggaz: “Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide”

Leaders of the New School: “Case of the PTA”

David Holmes: Rip Rip, I Think You Flooded It and The Drive to Ripley’s
From Out of Sight Original Soundtrack [MCA, 1998]

After dstill’s post on the fantastic soundtrack work of David Holmes for Ocean’s 11 and 12, I’ve decided to highlight his work for another Steven Soderbergh film, Out of Sight. I remember going to see this as a little dude in high school, before I was into records, djing, or genuine music appreciation for that matter. But this movie was the shit, and I remember digging the music so much that I immediately went out to buy the soundtrack, which was strange at the time because I was mainly a hip hop and alternative rock head. In fact this could have very well been one of my earliest inclinations to the funk. Funny thing after buying it was my mom asking me, “so you like Jennifer Lopez huh?” Well yeah she’s all fine and dandy, but I’m not gonna buy a soundtrack just because one of the stars is hot.

Just like Holmes’ work for Ocean’s 11 and 12, his ability to create drama while sticking with the central themes of the scenes at hand makes the music in Out of Sight nothing short of incredible and really helps solidify it as a complete cinematic experience. While you get kind of a crime jazz feel from his Ocean’s work, the stuff on OOS has a lot of Latin influences as highlighted by “Rip Rip” and “I Think You Flooded It.” Unfortunately the cut dialogue sequences interspersed throughout do a fine job of disrupting any fluidity.

I have a feeling Holmes studied suspense legends like Lalo Schifrin and Roy Budd as you can certainly see a lot of similarities in his work. Take “The Drive to Ripley’s” for example, which sets up the pivotal final scene in the movie through an array of crushing drums, thumping bass stabs, atmospheric keys and tones. It all leads straight to Ocean’s 11 which has obviously already been covered here.

Barbara & Ernie: Play With Fire and Searching The Circle
From:Prelude To…(Cotillion, 1971)

So, continuing with the theme of my last post, today I’m giving you a couple of tracks from another legendary hard to get your hands on record, Barbara & Ernie’s Prelude To.

This record goes for serious money on eBay, partly due to it’s drums being sampled by Smif-N-Wessun’s “Wrektime”, partly due to it’s lack of a single reprint, but mostly due to it’s rather excellent music.

Probably best categorized as Psyche/Folk/Soul, it’s the kind of record that could only have been made at the end of the sixties/beginning of the seventies – the album’s truly exquisite harmonies laced with a melancholy edge making it a simply sublime record to play on a chilled summer’s day.

Primarily made up of Barbara Massey, a session vocalist for artists such as Cat Stevens, and Ernie Calabria, a guitarist in Harry Belafonte’s band in the sixties, the singers were backed up by a fine selection of musicians including legendary jazz pianist Keith Jarrett. Apart from that I’m afraid I know nada about it or the artists themselves, any light that could be sown would be gratefully received.

The first song I have for your blissed out sonic experience is Play With Fire. The track starts with the most somber of folk organs before quickly slipping into an easy, laid back groove. I can not put in words how much I love Barbara’s voice, it’s got a wonderfully relaxed edge that belies the intensity that she’s putting into the vocals. The voice is so soothing and the production so subtle that it takes a moment to fully comprehend the supreme goodness of this record.

The second song, Searching The Circle, kicks off with a cheeky little snare/bass riff before the perfected harmonies kick in. This track is all about the chorus, equal to anything I’ve ever heard the Rotary Connection do even in their prime. Like Play With Fire, the way the song builds to a crescendo is truly masterful. I don’t have the greatest knowledge of the Psyche/Folk/Soul scene (who does?) but I seriously doubt that there’s much else out there as great as this.

All I can wonder is what the hell it was a Prelude To since this is the only record I’ve ever seen by them and while 100 plus dollars is maybe a bit too high, it is indeed a damn fine album. If you get the chance to get this cheaper I seriously recommend it……

David Holmes: Track 5 and Track 6
From Ocean’s 12 Oscar Consideration Promo CD

David Holmes: Track 12 and Track 13
From Ocean’s 11 Oscar Consideration Promo CD

So forget that the story didn’t make any sense and the caper was kind of wack; Ocean’s 12 was pretty rad. I know people who get all into Lord of the Rings and wish they could fly away on a dragon and live in Middle Earth. Fuck that, I want to get lost in a high society jewel heist world. It’s all snakeskin, $400 bottles of wine, Riviera terraces, and my girl Catherine Zeta. And all the music is by David Holmes.

In the comments section a couple posts back some people expressed frustration at the commercial releases of the Holmes soundtracks to the Steven Soderbergh movies. Cosigned; that shit sucks. I don’t need to hear dialogue over the music because I saw the damn movies, and the soundtrack was the best part. What’s more, some of the hottest tracks didn’t make the cut, even though they play in the movies multiple times.

Faced with this predicament, I turned to the internet, where eventually I found out that the Academy promos for Best Original Score feature all the original music, and none of the extraneous crap. The prices get kinda ridiculous, but I figured, “what would Elliot Gould do?” and I plonked down the dough, fuggetabout it.

Seriously, the shit is incredible. David Holmes takes all my favorite elements of 60s and 70s scores and exaggerates them, without making a parody. The music straight knocks, and you can almost feel the silk suits. Here are a couple of my favorite bits from Ocean’s 11 and Ocean’s 12. Rock them the next time you’re playing baccarat, and I guarantee the French girls will wink at you.

Gravediggaz: 1-800-SUICIDE (Music Video)
From 6 Feet Deep [Polygram, 1994]

You guys asked for it, and now you’ve got it; the dark and eerie video for the Gravediggaz’ single “1-800-SUICIDE,” a song that details the many ways in which one can commit suicide. This track definitely punctuates the horror and downright obsession with death across their ‘94 album and I’m actually surprised such a project was picked up by a major. Nevertheless, the Prince Paul and Rza spearheaded project is now considered a defining statement in hip hop despite its rather lackluster debut, as this video demonstrates the true genius behind the group.

Enjoy.

Towa Tei: Dubnova (Part 1&2)
From Future Listening! [Elektra, 1995]

A Tribe Called Quest: Find a Way
From The Love Movement [Jive, 1998]

A homie of mine bumps this Towa Tei stuff non-stop. Most of you probably know Tei best as the dude with the Air Jordans from Dee-Lite, but he’s spent even more time as a DJ and a solo producer. This joint comes from his first solo record, Future Listening! You’re kind of setting people up for disappointment when you give your record a title like that, but this albums’s mix of bossa nova, lounge and hip hop holds up just fine.

When I first heard “Dubnova,” I was thinking that Tei had flipped the same sample as Jay Dee and the Ummah did for Tribe’s “Find a Way,” beating them to the punch. As it turns out, the Bebel Gilberto vocal is actually the result of a collaboration specifically for the record. I love it when Jay Dee grabs something off a fairly new record. It seems like that must have been the vibe in the late 70’s, when much of the funk backing for rap tracks came from contemporary records. It’s also fresh how Tribe write their chorus to fit the Portuguese in the Gilberto version. It’s like a rap version of Paul Simon’s “I Know What I Know.” Yeah, something like that…

The Psycheground Group: “Easy”
From Psycheground [Lupus, 1970]

The Psycheground Group was an obscure progressive rock group from Italy, so obscure in fact that their exact makeup is not entirely known. Supposedly members of Nuova Idea and keyboardist Vince Tempera were members, but I just pulled that information from a random website. Nevertheless, they released this album in 1970 containing five instrumental tracks that span prog and psych while maintaining a funky jazz type of vibe. The standout cut is “Easy,” an absolutely nasty exercise in funky drumming, hammond organ, guitar, and bass. The first time I heard this I seriously couldn’t believe my ears. Now it’s a top want of mine, and with only a supposed 50 copies produced, I know it’s gonna be a tough hunt.

Here’s you chance to have a say on Ear Fuzz’s content. I have so many hip hop videos that I have trouble choosing which one I should put up next so I’m going to leave it up to our readers. All you have to do is submit a comment with your request and the video with the most votes will be posted on Monday’s update. All of these vids will most definitely be posted at some point in time, but yall get to choose which one you want to see first. TRL for the real headz.

Here are your choices:

A Tribe Called Quest: “Electric Relaxation”

Common: “I Used to Love Her”

Eddie Warner: Devil’s Anvil and Brutas Drums
From: Le Jazzbeat – Vol 2 (Phantom, 2004)

While sounding like a new wave arthouse movement, L’Illustration Musicale was actually nothing more fancy than a French library label, brought into being in the 60’s by Jazz pianist Eddie Warner to provide the requisite funk for film and tv soundtracks.

However, as the many gems produced by the BBC Radiophonic recordings have proved, never judge a book by it’s cover as the music that was produced by Eddie during this period is a cutting edge blend of funk and electronic experimentation. What Warner’s tracks had in particular though was a sense of fun that is perhaps missing from more contemporary funk – an ability to make you nod your head and smile at the same time.

Long the desire of beathunters, some of the best of this music is now available on the compilation album Le Jazzbeat – Vol 2 and I’ve got up two funky french zingers for your listening pleasure.

Devil’s Anvil kicks in straight away with an absolute killer of a headnodding break quickly coupled with a cheeky bassline, a harpsichord(!) and then tops all this with a guitar riff of pure sci-fi dimensions. You really can’t believe that he could fit so much into a track that barely lasts two minutes.

Brutas Drums is perhaps the most aptly named track ever, offering, as it does, pure unadulterated drums of extreme high quality coupled with the most simple of organ accompaniments. This track really is all about the drums and what drumming it is. Eddie once again avoids any chance of the track outstaying it’s welcome by wrapping it up within two minutes.

Big L, AG, D Flow, and Party Arty: Interview and Freestyle
From Fat Beats Radio [199?]

Every time I listen to Big L I get a little bummed that he’s not still with us. There’s just something about his voice that makes you realize how passionate and hungry he was to show and tell, and there’s no doubt in my mind that he had so much more to say.

This interview and freestyle session with L shows just how genuine of a character he was and really how much was lost after his untimely death in ‘99. Crew mate AG, as well as D Flow and Party Arty from the Ghetto Dwellaz also take stabs at the mic.

This one will likely be up for only a few days. Not to be missed.