Wednesday, April 30, 2008

She The Best! Who?! SHE!!!


Looks like the interview was done before we did the show in Guadalajara and before the L.E.S. Artistes video was shot.  

Read the article here.


Her album just dropped 4/29.  Buy it -- its one really worth having.
She's doing shows in the UK now; trying to have her come down for Contrapalooza 2.0


I see the Switch remix of this song posted up everywhere; wonder if many people have heard the original version.

Santogold - You'll Find A Way (Original)


Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Lick Shots!


When the Genevan Heathen was seemingly living in Miami w/ "I have crazy international connects" Judd Katz, I asked him bout this French Haitian artist Edalam.  
I only had one song of his at the time; but it was on such a crazy energetic French Soca/Dancehall style i figured the smoke=fire rule would apply.

His summary was: "Yeah, I have heard of him.  He released an album.  That's about it."  

Thanks dude.

Well, here's that track, and some other ish i'll never hear/play in Miami.

Anyways, who needs an exciting video when you've got . . . um, 3 people milling around in the back.


Here's his follow-up vid/song:


Kinda reminds me of this Iconz video, which has my girl Heather as the token 'white girl'.



If you can read French (I'm still on the Rosetta Stone program) - get up on someone elses' take:

EDALAM …Influencé par les artistes locaux tels que DADDY YOD,
EDALAM enfant de la belle île en mer, il poursuit ses desseins
en toute modestie.

C’est à l’age de 15 ans qu’EDALAM découvrit son attrait
particulièrement aigu pour le monde artistique. Collégien dans
un établissement à Marie-Galante et danseur dans un groupe de
hip hop, il fit ses premiers pas dans ce milieu en griffonnant
quelques textes sur les pages de ses cahiers de cours.
Puis tout s’est articulé lors de sa rencontre avec MILIAOUSE et
OLMYTA jeunes deejays comme lui, ils entreprirent la création
d’un groupe nommé « OMEGA », ainsi commencèrent les
entraînements intensifs.
C’est à cet instant que le pseudonyme EDALAM prit forme.
Par « EDALAM » (malade à l’envers), l’artiste qualifie la vibe,
les lyrics, attrayants et captivants ; grâce à ses flows EDALAM
se dit guérir les malades.

Suite à cet ouvrage, le groupe OMEGA fut convié à diverses
festivités, telles que les podiums SUN FM et NRJ, les fêtes
municipales, puis quelques temps plus tard EDALAM atteint
un niveau supérieur avec sa participation à des free styles
et featurings dont sa collaboration avec BUDGI du
groupe « BLACK MICKY ».

Durant cette période EDALAM accomplit nombre de projets :
-> Deux maquettes avec OLMYTA et MILIAOUSE
-> Une quantité non négligeable de mixtapes entre autres :
« OMEGA Crew », « MIX STYLES » avec l’intervention de
SAMX, OCSEN, SADIK, BARONE et bien d’autres.
-> Le tournage de « FEROSS VIBES » dans son home studio,
avec la présence d’ADMIRAL T, KRYS, SAIK
-> l’enregistrement de MARIE-GALANTE avec l’aide du groupe
« RAS EN MWEN »
-> La participation au « CREOLE BLUES » événement regroupant
un bon nombre d’artistes afro caribéen, parmi eux KASSAV,
JEFF JOSEPH, Georgie Bond (USA), El Canario (République
Dominicaine), Myriam Makeba (Afrique du Sud), MALAVOI…

La chanson est une grande passion pour EDALAM, mais il a une
autre ardeur qui est l’informatique. Pour ne pas déroger à ses
ambitions, en 2004 il quitte sa terre natale pour s’installer en France
métropolitaine afin de poursuivre ses études. Là il fit la rencontre
de LYTTLE T-VOLY du groupe « SEPTENTRIONAL CREW » avec qui
il entreprendra quelques représentations.
Aussitôt arrivé sur sa terre d’accueil, voila le petit prodige de
Marie-Galante réaliser sa première prestation durant un barbecue
à Sarcelles.

Dès lors les invitations s’accrurent :
-> Participation au podium ESPACE FM
-> Tournage du clip de Spyker
-> Collaboration à l’enregistrement du mixtape « MIX DUB PLATES »
avec la présence de BIGJAY, SADIK, RADJA, OLMYTA, MILAOUSE
et nombreux d’autres deejays.
-> Invitation à Lille pour la tournée de la compile « QUARTIER LIBRE »
-> Présentation de la compile Nineteen seven karibean où figurent
des artistes comme ADMIRAL T, SAIK, BIGJAY.
-> Enregistrement du clip « Vie en Mwen »
-> Enregistrement du Clip «Nou SéKéLé » en la collaboration
de ZANDOLI production.
-> Proche des évènements se produisant dans les DOM, EDALAM,
a ainsi écrit un texte et tourner un clip en hommage aux familles,
proches, et amis, qui ont perdu les leurs, lors de la catastrophe
aérienne du 16 août 2004 : « Martinik big foss ».
-> Participation à la compile « BAD SOUND ONE » réalisée par PIT BUN
et « FRENEZY RIDDIM » réalisé par FANTOME ; où seront réunis
ADMIRAL T, SAIK, et bien d’autres

A son actif, EDALAM a déjà griffonné 54 textes, et fat 50 dubplates,
en collaboration avec bon nombres de deejays tels que Dj Mike one,
Dj KARIKARI, Dj KAWA, Dj KSS, Dj T cher, Dj JAIRO, Dj REMINGTON,
Dj FAST, Dj LOPEZ, Dj WEEDY.

En parallèle, EDALAM s’est vu proposer l’animation de bon
nombre d’occasions, aussi bien sur MEDIA TROPICAL, où étaient
à ses côtés KEROZEN, LYTTLE T-VOLY et BLACK SCARED CREW,
que les soirées, telles qu’au Club Sénia où il assurait la première
partie de DADDY MORY et JAMADOM, ou à la soirée Kalbass à
L’Elysée Mont Martre, ou encore à la Ferté Nignt où il garantissait
la première partie de JAMADOM.

EDALAM n’est pas qu’un chanteur, en effet il est à l’initiative
de « GALANTA PROD », association qui permet aux artistes de
tout milieu d’exhorter le style à travers des soirées ou encore
des collaborations.
Cette alliance créée depuis février 2005 compte à son actif déjà
quelques soirées.

Comme peuvent l’illustrer ces différents FLYERS, et le parcours
ascendant d’EDALAM, la dancehall ragga est un phénomène
entraînant avec lui une vague d’adeptes de plus en plus importante.
EDALAM, « l’artiste le plus proche du public », se veut être l’un
des précurseurs de cet évènement.
En adaptant ses lyrics et ses flows dans les différentes scenes,
il peut ainsi conquérir un très large auditoire.


Fort de tout cela EDALAM toujours empli d’ambition projette
l’enregistrement d’un album commercial à court terme.
A long terme, en espérant ne pas surestimer ses motivations,
il souhaiterait, avec la participation de grands artistes phare de
notre culture, tels que Jocelyne BEROARD, Esnard BOISURE,
et bien d’autres, dresser une mosaïque, où seraient réunies toutes
variétés de musiques afro caribéennes, en passant par le GWO KA,
le COMPAS, le ZOUK, la DANCEHALL, le JAZZ (etc), ainsi, par
des tournées nationales, promouvoir ces éruditions …

73-yr old Austrian - video



Akon - Locked Up


Richie Spice & Chuck Fender - Freedom

Sunday, April 27, 2008

*speechless*



Read the story here.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

finally

So, took a trip up to palm beach, Boca, to be specific, met up with my girl YUMNA
went here....



AND BOUGHT THIS...



bout to next level my bloggin.......

Take A Good Whiff!

Last week me and Dan were djing at Chocolate Sundays. It had been relatively slow all night, I was kinda 'out-of-it', and so naturally around 3:55am (closes ~4am) we're in the realm of "I don't give a fuck" jams [Assault's "Sex On The Beach", that "Finger In Your Booty Hole" track, etc].

A girl comes up asking for us to speed it up so that "everybody" [read: two people = her & her man] can start dancing.

This song was played next.







"You guys are the worst."
She left.

WVUM '00-'02



Back when I was hosting The Underground on WVUM, if there was one label I was constantly checking for, it was Tru Thoughts.  I have no idea how I got put up on them; but "Thank You!" to whomever was responsible.

I was so hooked on their sound that when I found out that Will Holland, aka Quantic, was going to be heading to the States for a gig in Philly and another in NYC, I hit up both Paul Jonas and Tom Simpson (awesome guy) to try and sort out a gig in Miami.

At the time a 'budget' to me was $200-$250, [imagine a 'broke-college-kid', then imagine a 'broke-college-kid-dj'; we're the 'brokest' kind], and after they tried negotiating, they realized I really didn't have anymore money.  So, because Will really wanted to play Miami, my $250 stretched out far enough to bring him down on the only night the venue (I/O Lounge, now The Vagabond) had open that particular week, a Monday.  


Needless to say, Quantic's non-NYC/Philly US debut was poorly attended.  That was probably the first time I started getting hip to the fact that Miami is just a 'little' behind the (music) times.  

Anyways, for all those squares that still aren't hip to Quantic or Tru Thoughts, get with this shit.


Quantic - Life In The Rain

Quantic produced this song when he was 20yrs old.



Quantic - Super 8 (Part 1)




Mawglee - Dreaming




Natural Self - Soloman (Nostalgia 77 Mix)




And the highest recommendation possible for this last track!
Alice Russell - Hurry On Now

Taken from her debut album, Under the Munka Moon. Buy it any chance you get; I've got two vinyl copies & one on cd.


I would also highly recommend -- possibly even more so than Alice Russell's LP -- purchasing TM Juke's Map From The Wilderness LP --- she's featured on two great songs on the album. I still play them out frequently.


* If you've downloaded any of these songs, congratulations, you're now only 6-8 years behind.  

Current TV: Portishead

Living with girls is pretty much awesome. They're clean, they keep the fridge stocked with all sorts of healthy name brand goodness, and they like their OnDemand super-extendo satellite cable.

Out of the hundreds of channels I get to pick from, I've recently started to get down w/ Current TV. Varied programming, fairly intelligent, and all wrapped-up in a sleek package.

Regardless, here's a bit they did w/ Portishead performing/practicing.


Induce, Buy A Video Camera

. . . cuz then, when you're just sitting at home listening to all of your records - you could also be garnering views and praise from thousands of dudes who haven't yet found out about Dusty Fingers comps, UBB comps, or .




That said, the sample he pulls from the last record he plays I never noticed before.  Mind = blown.

--------

Maya's going on tour w/ these guys in the summer - so expect to hear way more from/about them here on out.


Holy Fuck - Royal Gregory

Friday, April 25, 2008

You Got A Better Version!?


If you check back in the posts since I started keeping this blog relatively updated (*cough*), I mentioned a film Santa Sangre in a previous post (go ahead, check it out).  Well the soundtrack has an interesting and varied selection of tracks; below being my choice tune. 

Damazo Pérez Prado - Caballo Negro
*This is a 128kbps -- if you've got a higher quality version let me know, cuz i'd really like to chop it up.
*Note: Prado is the Cuban musician who also composed the original Mambo #5.
If you want to remember how great Louie Bega's version was, go right ahead.



For me, I'm all about the flair of the OG.  They're stylin on ya w/ those pure yak-hair sleeves!



Also I'm watching Lucky Number Slevin right now -- and a choice choice choice tune just came on, and I can't resist posting it.  It just oozes emotion.

*For the Wu-Tang fans out there, this was sampled on Tearz, which if memory serves, was the first Wu track recorded/released.  

Israeli NuFunk



Funkish cover of Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name Of" by these guys.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Millions in Miami



Two tracks from the Ed Banger Volume 3 thang:

Feadz ft Spank Rock - Back It Up


Busy P ft Murs - To Protect & Entertain

Note:~1:39 Murs name-checks DJ AM & Aoki!?!

Life After "Marked for Death"


Even though Seagal first burst on the scene w/ Above the Law in 1988, it wasn't until two feature films later, with Hard to Kill, did he achieve his dream of having a firm grasp around Hollywood's scrotum.  Dragging 'em to-and-fro, he was able to release such bonafied classics as Out For Justice, Marked For Death and the peculiarly titled Fire Down Below, without skipping a skull-crack.  


I mean, what kid in the late 80s/early 90s didn't constantly remind you about how badass Seagal was? Remember the fight in the pool hall?! Or the time when he just wanted to get some groceries and happened to end up murdering everyone in the store?! Or when he battled the crazy machete-wielding Screwface and his gang of Jamaicans -- and proceeded to totally break all of the bones in all of their bodies with one hand, while on his knees?!!

Well, I was just doing my monthly check-up on the guy, and am here to inform you that he's got a new song, "Hoochie Koochie Man", on his Myspace page.

"Wait, what?!@  You didn't know that Seagal had a Myspace page?~!   You didn't know that Seagal fronts a band?!!  And that his band was featured on the cover of Big City Rhythm & Blues Magazine?!?!!"

Well, while you're shamefully playing Seagal-catch-up, might as well listen to one of the tunes written by the legendary face-smasher.
  


Non-Seagal fight scene:


Also while i was doing intensive research, i found this:

It pretty much shits on all other fight scenes, ever!

pump up holmes


Tuesday, April 22, 2008

THIS SATURDAY

Unemployd Lloyd
is making his way back to Miami to start the first night in a monthly called After Midnight, taking place in the red room of POPLIFE the last Saturday of every month....

It should go a little something like this.....



Big Fun 2 (MLK) from Woods on Vimeo.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Just So YOu know...

That flyer was turned out in about an hour.... Heres, the new one, i hope its more to your liking....sheesh, you cant even make this guy a welcome home flyer without a complaint ;) Its good to have you back, check out the photos from last weeks MONEY$HOT with Contra, Flosstradamus and more...

Paper Planes Live Video - Exclusivish!

Maya just sent me the link to this video; and lets just pretend i'm the only guy w/ a blog <*insert air horn here*>.  



M.I.A. (ft. Rye Rye & Afrikan Boy) - Paper Planes (Remix)


Rye Rye - Wassup (Crookers Remix)



p.s. Hey Hype Machine, can we get on now?!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Speaking of Quality Control . . .

I'm back in Miami, and we've got a party celebrating that fact (seriously?!) goin down this Thursday!  

*Edit: Josh & Curt will be rolling through post-'their show' at the Fifth.  A lil Contradamus goin down.

Behold the flyer:


If you can read that small, you'll see that the flyer was designed by Shawn Wolfe!  

Now, for those that may not have been graphic design-nerds like myself, Mr. Wolfe is a super-accomplished artist.  I was definitely inspired by his works when I was heavy into the design world; I even bought his book Uncanny for myself as a Christmas present.


That said, take another look at the flyer he produced.  Go ahead, drink it in.  


Now, take a look at some of his other pieces below - and/or check out his online gallery.







Did you by any chance notice a small difference in the quality of the pieces?

Granted, I've seen some horrible flyers before; and this doesn't qualify as one of them.  Its just that when I found out who did the flyer, that he even branded it w/ his Beatkit ("The RemoverInstaller"), I was stupified.  I'd rather have been left thinking it was done by a 37-yr-old trying to rip-off a Freegums design.  
Actually, I would have really rathered seeing Alam Lohar's cassette design as the flyer!  I mean seriously!!  Look at that shit!  Its on some futuristic throwback amazingness!!

Here's to No QC in '08!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

You Know You Want It!



I saw this cassette cover on one of those random websites you always end up bookmarking but never really frequent.  I'm into it.  Check it out; they've got a bunch of crazy tapes recorded, as well as concert video-rips.



Also, a friend of mine asked for Armand Van Helden's Je T'aime remix Switch did.  If he didn't have it, you might not as well.

If you haven't yet watched it.

Portishead's Machine Gun Video



Portishead - Machine Gun

Monday, April 14, 2008

It's finally over!



Last time I was in Canada was w/ M.I.A. -- but we really didn't get much of a chance to 'experience' the cities we played in.  It was pretty much: Sleep in bus, wake up at venue > Sound-check > Eat quickly > Perform > Sleep in bus > Repeat.  

This time around, w/ Huggs, I had a completely different viewpoint.  

Things I learned in Canada:


1) They drink a lot.  

Miamians tend to restrict themselves to nightly hours unless you've got a bbq or WMC in town.  In Canada any hour is fair game.  People even plan out their daily schedules accordingly: 
"Mimosa for breakfast, then I'll get drunk for lunch, take a nap, maybe finish that report, and then go to the club/bar to get wasted."  


2) Drinks are super-expensive.
If you ever find yourself about to complain about the price of a drink, just picture a freezing-cold Canadian, all wrapped up in a parka, dropping almost twice as much dough on that same drink.  And yes, the exchange rate is pretty much equal.   

I bought an 18 pack for this hostel/hotel place I was staying at; it cost ~$48!!!  Yeah, I can't believe I bought it either.  Depending on where you are in Canada, you could be paying 3-5 different taxes for that sweet nectar of the Gods. 


3) Canadian hipsters are:

a) 3-10 years younger than those in Miami.  

This may have something to do w/ the fact that the legal drinking age is 18 or 19 (depending on where you are).

b) Way more open to whatever music you're playing.
During the course of the tour I found that I could play anything from Creedence to Blaqstarr to Justus Köhncke and the crowd would respond equally well.  'Responding well' is code for shirts off, hands in the air, jumping/dancing on the stage insanity.  

At the Ottawa show in particular, I was completely impressed with the party!  500 thumbs up to the Jokers of the Scene boys who were throwing it!  Super-evident that they have put in work (~5-6 years) in crafting such a refreshing party.  Granted most of the music can be found on the innrnet, but 85% of it i've never heard played out -- especially not in Miami!   

That said, most of the clubs/parties were heavily focused on hard and new dance (read: internet) music.  They were also not particularly into 'extended' mixing.  By 'extended' I mean, keep the song under 2 minutes, and don't bother running a mix longer than 8 bars.   
c) Into partying and not just 'being there'.

Maybe its just my jaded outlook, or maybe its that they're a bit younger, or maybe its the truth, either way Canadians love having fun.  Using just my fingers, I could count how many people, throughout the duration of the trip, came to the club to stand in the corner(takes one to know one).  Even when you've got a half-full club, everyone is either dancing or arm-thrusting. 


4) People from Quebec can find something bad to say about the USA no matter what the topic.  

Hey, funny guy, i heard you the first time; now, let's not get you hurt.  


5) When someone tells you its 'sweatshirt weather', bring a coat.

6) Bubble tea is set to sweep the nation.  

I had never heard/had this concoction before this trip.  Not that amazing, but I found places serving it everywhere we went.    

7) DJ Sega has the best work-ethic ever.
This kid cranks out tracks everywhere he goes; constantly working.  Not the most depth ever, but who needs depth when you're dropping dance-floor bombs every 1.5 minutes?


8) Facebook rules Canada.



That said; here are some random tracks you need in your life.

MGMT - Electric Feel

I heard good things about this band for a minute.  My connect for all things emo/hipster/indie-dance sent me this a while ago.  Into it.

During the last couple days of the tour my k'd version of Aibltun decided to catch me; and now prevents me from reopening earlier projects.  So here's something that's still playable, but not what I wanted as a finished project.  
Quality control?!  Never heard of it.
Take a listen for yourself.


Genesis - That's All (Contra Unfinished Remix)

Divshare is acting up, so I'll upload more later.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

dunno.


So last night we were scheduled to play an end-of-the-ski-season/all-drinks-must-go party at this hotel/bar spot in Fernie.  

Rowdy rowdy crowd downstairs. When we got in, they were in full bingo swing.  


Not the friendly bingo you lame's have at The Standard; where, if you happen to mistakenly call 'Bingo' when you haven't actually won - you apologize and everyone kindly smiles and you continue to sip on your freshly brewed iced tea.  
Nope.  In Fernie, if you falsely claim 'Bingo' -- you have two choices:

1) Drink a pint of soap water w/ hot sauce as the entire bar (~200 people) scream obscenities and throw shit at you.

2) Leave (as everyone screams obscenities etc), and never return, ever.

Needless to say, I fell asleep early.

Two tracks I got off this nice compilation:

Rolling Stones - If I Was A Dancer (Instrumental)
Previously only available on the promo 12" release.

L

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

I'd Rather ...



New track I roughed up in the minivan ride between Ottawa and somewhere else in Canada.  I played it out that night . . . sooo loud.  

@ 320kbps

Monday, April 7, 2008

Million Dollar Baby

It ain't Casual Sax, but here's my new catch phrase I came up with during conference after listening to a whole bunch of blog house.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Calling Any Canadians

Go here:


and then here:


I (*read: Huggs) will buy you a drink if you say you saw this blog.


Frank Popp Ensemble - Hip Teens (Don't Wear Blue Jeans)

In Canada


Took the Amtrak from NYC straight after rocking at Sway.  
In comparison to Greyhound - or even planes - u can't front on the train.  
Modestly priced ($61).  Lots of room for my long legs.  Not crowded w/ people all up in your grill.  The only downside is the length of time (12hrs); but sleep, pirated movies, and a bar/food train-car pretty much makes it a comfortable journey; that, and the oh-so-not-Miami scenery:


So, we left around 8am, and after 3 hours of watching over our gear as Huggs passed out face down (*imagine the photo I forgot to take here) in the middle of Penn Station, I fell asleep on the train till about 5pm.

As we approached the US/Canadian border, all of the stories Huggs has told me about dj's getting caught trying to sneak across the border w/o work visas flashed on repeat in my head. Sure enough, T-minus 5 minutes til the border, Huggs casually walks to my seat and quietly asks: 

"So, what are you doing in Canada?  Wedding?  Funeral?  What?"

In retrospect, I probably picked the worst of those options as a cover-story; but congratulations go out to Jake Jefferson, you're getting married this Saturday in Montreal!  

James Bond I am not.


Anyways, after the border guards did a 2-minute interview asking totally pertinent questions that I mumbled and stumbled my way through, ("Why did you buy your train ticket so last minute if you knew about the wedding?  Why don't you have a return ticket?  Did you not bring any gifts for the bride/groom?), they kept my passport and went on to interview others.  

After the border guard had moved a distance down the aisle, Huggs whispers: 

"Did they keep your passport?"
"Yup."
"Hmmm . . . ", he responds, with one of those 'That's not a good look' faces.

Luckily for me, there were 4 other passengers on the train with worse border-crossing techniques than I.  


1.
Mariah Carey look-a-like w/ out-of-this-world fake padded butt.
"Where are you going in Canada?"
"To see a guy I met on the Internet," she responds as she continues to chew on her bagel.
"What are you doing?!  Please stop eating.  Now, where does this guy live?" 
"I don't know, he said he lives 7 blocks away from the train station," she again replies mid-chew in a disdainful voice.
"Ok.  You need to put down your food now, grab your bags, and come with us."



2.
Dude w/ a knife.
I didn't really catch this whole interaction -- I was pretty focused on preparing for my next interrogation which was sure to happen.  But at some point he starts yelling about how the border guards were embarassing him and that: "Canada fucking sucks, France too!"
They start a search of his bag, and pull out a knife . . . 
Ooof.  
That was all she wrote for that guy.

3 & 4.  Didn't see them, but Huggs made sure to make a point of telling me as I was trying to memorize solid replies for my wedding cover-story.  

To shorten this up, I get my passport back w/ no further questions.  4 other suckers got kicked off the train.  Played the Peer Pressure party last night w/ Sixtoo, and now I'm in a web cafe in Montreal~!

 Apparently it's 'sweatshirt' weather for Canadians, but i'm pulling the 5-layer look.

Madonna - Borderline (320kbps)