dane
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?
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.
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.
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.
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble: Gibbous and War
From: Self Titled (Honest Jon’s, 2009)
What better way to celebrate the Saints victory of which I’m not actually celebrating then to post some great Brass Ensemble music. I had been trying to get this post up for a while but now seems like the perfect time.
Despite being indebted to New Orleans, The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble are actually from Chicago. In a way you can hear it, as they definately stray from the traditional brass band mode. Besides the traditional brass they throw hard hitting type of hiphop rhythms and drums as well as taking from Brass marching bands and drum corps to make an epic hard hitting sound. All eight members are the sons of longtime Sun Ra collaborator Phil Cochran and you can hear the inspiration of the Arkestra in their music.
Both songs are off of their self titled album. What you’ll first notice is almost all their songs aren’t longer than 3-4 minutes. Solos find there way in but 1-2 minute trumpet solos are rare. They move to fast and too hard to get caught up with drawn out solos. Gibbous is a marching band brass epic. It barely lasts 3 minutes of solid brass funk. This is exactly why I’m excited to hear what they do with Gorillaz on their new Plastic Beach album.
The 2nd track is War which is carried by a dirty hard trumpet part. This song is begging to be remixed and rapped over and makes me wish I had Just Blaze’s phone number. Tuesday night I was able to see Brother Ali perform at a Haiti Benefit show and he rapped over a Hypnotic Brass Ensemble track. That might have been my favorite moment of the entire night.
Funky Louie
Black on White Affair: Bold Soul Sister, Bold Soul Brother
Mister Holmes and the Brotherhood: Thrift Store Find
The Overton Berry Trio: Hey Jude
There’s something about music from the Pacific Northwest. It’s got this slightly weird bent almost disconnected vibe from everywhere else. Which might explain why it’s been the home to Jimmy Hendrix, Louie Louie, Sir Mix-A-Lot and the Grunge scene which was much weirder than it got credit for post Nirvana Blow Up.
This compilation has some of the most killer straight up funk jams and jazz twists I’ve heard in awhile. My favorite band on the compilation is easily The Black and White Affair. I originally heard their version of Auld Lang Syne which is also on the comp. On their version the song starts off slow and somber and then subtly turns into a straight funk jam. I had to include Bold Soul Sister, Bold Soul Brother in the post though because its actually got some real vocals too it. The drums are straight up precision and that wail makes anything sound slick. The Black on White Affair made it all the way down to Southern California performing in and around the clubs, putting together a few recordings but never full achieving much in the way of mainstream success. Damn shame theres not more.
At first when I heard the clapping and the little bass groove I was reading maybe doing something else, then the little snare kicks and the piano and all of a sudden the realization it was a Beatles cover. Better than the original in my opinion. A little Bit of the Beatles a little bit of Vince Guaraldi equals a whole lot of Overton Berry. He’s still recording today and from what I gather still playing occasionally in Seattle. Straight up just solid funk jazz fusion.
Mister Holmes and the Brotherhood is like perfect soundtrack material. Its like the perfect downtempo leadup to something ominous on the horizon. Creeping dirty guitar licks. This is as sparse as funk gets.
This whole compilation is full of awesome amazing songs from artists who may have never recorded anything else. Its a lot like many of the numero compilations that have come out in the past year and is just as worthy of a listen.
Oliver Mtukudzi and the Black Spirits: Mwana Asingacheme and Take My Mistake as a Kiss
From: Africa (1980)
I think one of the reasons I initially was able to get into African music, especially highlife and Chimurenga was due to the fact that I loved Reggae first and that served as a great branch to to familiar sounds. In the same way that the warm tones from a Peter Tosh or Toots and the Maytals song can feel like the perfect soundtrack to summer day, the guitar playing on a Oliver Mtukudzi record is so warm and bouncy.
Mtukudzi is from Zimbabwe and came up just after Thomas Mapfumo. There are conflicting stories, some say that Mapfumo and Mtukudzi played together in a band called Wagon Wheels but in an interview of Mapfumo he denies having played with Mtukudzi, merely being from the same country and same movement that produced the two musicians. Both have been instrumental since the revolution in Zimbabwe with Mtukudzi being writing parables and stories to drive his message and Mapfumo writing more political material. If Mtukudzi is Marley than Mapfumo is Tosh.
Like Marley and Tosh, both were a part of the politics of their country and started making music around the same time. The two songs above are from my favorite Mtukudzi album called simply Africa. Released in 1980 it features songs written in English and Shona. Much of the album reminds me of Mapfumo’s first band the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band which might be some of my favorite Zimbabwean music of all.
The first track Mwana Asingacheme is absolutely brilliant. The warm tones of that guitar lines that just bubbles up and down over the sparse beat with Mtukudzi singing and the Blacks Unlimited backing him up. I like to think If just had this song constantly blasting from a broken down boombox I could melt winter away.
The next song Take My Mistake as a Kiss reminds me of some of the warmer grunge tracks. I don’t know if its the way the vocals sound sad but the music sounds bright or maybe its just the unique tuning that reminds me of the kind of licks Kim Thayil would produce in Soundgarden. It’s song has such as simple message but its delivered with a great voice and better lyrics. This has fast become one of my favorite albums ever and I’m still hoping I get the chance to see both Mtukudzi and Mapfumo play in person.
Doctor Nico and African Fiesta – Save Me
Teta Lando – Muato Wa N\’gingila
From: Cazumbi African Sixties Garage Vol. 1 (No Smoke, 2009)
In the last year No Smoke has released two African garage rock compilations. The second was released just a few months ago, however this post features songs from the first released at the beginning of the year. This compilation is really interesting. Many people have been digging around into the archives of highlife, afrobeat and many other african genres from the 50’s and onward lately, but there were many bands on the continent playing fuzzed out R and B, blues and rock and roll.
What is really interesting is that in the 60s and 70s you could hear many american and western bands emulating some of the sounds found in African genres and being adopted by Cymande, Parliament, Curtis Mayfield and others to some extent. The Cazumbi compilation features bands in these areas adapting instead to more americanized rock and blues forms. It’s kind of a weird wormhole thing going on as many american genres can be traced back to some of the original sounds and scales of African music. It makes for some incredibly interesting garage rock and some new takes that results in some very funky, very fuzzed out rock.
Save Me is a cover of an Aretha Franklin song and has a small little drum kit, and a rumbling bass over some great vocals. You can just feel the sound on this one, the music rides low and the vocal rips high above letting your brain reside in a steady middle zone, surfing the expansion between the two.
The Krakmen start out their signature Twist with a standard blues scale before the vocals come in shouting over the top like Wooly Bully before dissapearing and letting the guitar pick up and dive into jumpy solo. Later a sax comes in and it sounds like King Curtis’ sqawking sax when he played with the Coasters. The song dissapears sounding like it could have gone on for another 10 minutes and that probably wouldnt have been a bad thing.
The last song I struggle to call garage rock, other than its fuzzed out nature. But it doesn’t matter. They found this song and it deserved to show up somewhere. This is a spaced out spiritual over some sparse bongos, soothing back vocals and a little bit of electric guitar. If Save Me is the lead up int he first act and Krakmen Twist highlights the action of the 2nd, Muato Wa N’gingila is the music as as the day ends and things fade to the titles.
Hey Everybody, we’re gettin’ ready for the comeback. Any lackadaisical posting will be heretofore remedied as we and by we I mean Chuck and Junior mostly were fixing things up, making the switch and just generally making things happen and hopefully Ear Fuzz will now be more user friendly as well as work a little better.
I got a little something for you all this Halloween, its something I’ve been posting over at The Ghost Town. Just like the last 4 years I’ve been posting a spooky supernatural song a day and recently completed a mix. It’s called There Goes Your Corpse and has some classics, some remixes, some out of print stuff and a little bit of everything. It’s over at Divshare so you can download it there. And Later tonight I’ll put it on our FTP. Let me know what you think.
Here it is.
Thin Lizzy: Mama Nature Said
From: Vegabonds of the Western World [Dream, 1973]
and Renegade
From: Renagade [Warner Bros, 1981]
I have developed a love for Thin Lizzy that really isn’t like any other band I like. To me they are the perfect blend of hard rock, melodic vocals and brilliant guitar playing. They never went so much as Platinum in the United State but were able to play epic shows around the world. It seems weird to me that they never blew up in the United States. They were like a precursor to Iron Maiden, another group that seemingly should have been just as big if not bigger than their peers in the United States and also were a band that was quite possibly the biggest hard rock/metal band in the world at one point.
The way I got into Thin Lizzy was the way in which I’ve found inroads to many of my musical passions and that was through a underrated film that is part pulp action movie, part comedy and part hard rock musical. A Knight’s Tale was so weird it’s surprisng that it was ever made and by a studio no less. Taking a medieval action story it used Thin Lizzy, Queen and David Bowie as it’s soundtrack. When I saw their use of Thin Lizzy’s The Boy’s Are Back In Town I realized how perfect it is. That led to me buying Jailbreak and then came the whole catalogue.
Thin Lizzy by and large is an album band. Generally their albums don’t dissapoint. Jailbreak includes the singles Jailbreak and The Boy’s are Back in Town and standouts Cowboy Song and Emerald. The rest of the album holds together just as well and is the perfect place to start. Thin Lizzy put out twelve studio albums and the two songs I’ve chosen showcase the beginning and end of their career.
Mama Nature Said is a perfect showcase of dueling guitar work, hustling drums and smooth vocals. Phil Lynott the Bass guitarist and vocalist was like a Rich Man’s Hendrix on vocals. Backed by various guitarists throughout his career including Brian Robertson also of Motorhead and Scott Gorham. The two part guitar was used as a method for making the music flow together rather than to simply blast the listener with guitar solos. However once the guitars were let loose they were nothing but soulfully fun.
Renegade captures Thin Lizzy at their most toned down. It starts slow but the music picks up (it always does in a Thin Lizzy song). It’s hard not to have the lyrics of Thin Lizzy resonate as you listen. Rebels and outcasts were the main protagonists and its impossible not to hear the truth and experiences that Phil is describing. He’s singing to the listener and for himself at the same time. It’s an amazing thing.
I’m just happy they were able to get out twelve studio albums and Phil was able to finish two solo albums before his death at 36 but it’s still a shame we missed out on possibly years of great music. Outside of the music the most telling factor of Thin Lizzy’s success is in the bands who list them as influences, everyone from Ted Leo and the Pharmacists to The Hold Steady.
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