Forgotten Treasure: The Ahmad Jamal Trio “The Awakening” (1970) + Samples
Ahmad Jamal is without a doubt one of the last true jazz giants who is still active. Armed with his piano, the Pittsburg native delivered a legendary trio session at the beginning of the 70’s. After having produced close to 20 albums for Chess Records and sub-labels Argo and Cadet, …
Inkswel & Lexis – Red Light Radio Guest Session
I was invited to play the BBE Records night at Canvas in Amsterdam by Australia’s Inkswel, one of my favorite producers in the world and representative of the great BBE label. A few hours before our night, we dropped by the fantastic little radio station in AMS’ red light district …
Exclusive Preview: Massive Suits Quartet “Full Moon Wizard” LP
via UbiquityRecords: “Full Moon Wizard” by Massive Suits Quartet (MSQ) is a personal journey by its creator Grégoire Marty (aka Dandy Teru) delving into his love of original movie soundtracks and various composers. Crafting a sonic and aural odyssey for a movie that exists only in his mind and imagination. …
Future Classic: Finale “Odds & Ends”
via Mello Music Group: Finale needed to live. Such a fundamental and basic idea often gets overlooked in the fast food mentality of popular culture. You can make music without something to say, but it rarely lasts. The records that stick with us are usually those with a deeper understanding …
Classic Mixes: Dj Premier “New York Reality Check 101″ (1997)
This CD is a compilation of independent New York City artists from 1997. It is arranged & presented by Haze (New York City graffiti artist) & mixed by DJ Premier. Blends, mixes, scratches and all that slick stuff: DJ Premier. Album mixed at Premier’s Crib. The various intro/outro/skit tracks on this …
Future Classic: Henry Wu “Good Morning Peckham” (Rhythm Section)
The small but mighty independent label from Peckham (south-east London) known as Rhythm Section has been on an absolute tear lately. They’ve become one of the go-to labels for the loose, trippy and organic slow-house music sound we love. After a solid first year with 2 releases, Bradley Zero‘s brain …
Oddisee – Belong To The World (Official Video)
Oddisee says: “Belong to the World” is a song about making a transition from feeling like i didnt fit it to anything, into understanding we belong to everything. It is a song about understanding that the world is bigger than the small things we want to be a part of. …
Future Classic: Capone-N-Noreaga “Lessons”
I was reading through the latest rap news and releases this morning: Meek Mill wants to run for mayor of Chicago, Drake releases a diss track to Meek for riding Nicky Minaj’s coattails, Fetty Wap has two songs in the top 10… Maybe it’s an age thing. Maybe I don’t understand, …
“Rapping to the Beat” 1981 Report by ABC News
When the mainstream media reports on an emerging artistic movement or even new technology it’s usually pretty cringe-worthy. Much like the hilarious 1994 TV feature on “what is the internet“, this 1981 TV report on ABC News will make you laugh, shake your head is disbelief and make you realize how far …
Future Classic: Reginald Omas Mamode IV “All Together” (Intimate Friends)
If this EP would have come out in the early 2000’s it would have found a place next to Jazzanova, Vikter Duplaix, Sa-Ra Creative Partners and other great releases of the Nu-Jazz / Broken Beat / Future Soul era. But there’s no use in looking back. It’s 2015 and there …
Future Classic: Nickolas Thee Ruin “Distant Implosions”
I discovered this dude on reddit.com/r/hiphopheads, under an unfortunate title: “A year ago yesterday, my 20 year old best friend died a natural death.” He had been working on a project titled “Distant Implosions” and I thought I would check it out, having no expectations from it. I was pleasantly …
Future Classic: Kool Keith & L’Orange “Time? Astonishing!”
Taken from Martin Boev’s great MGNT site I wrote an article earlier this month about Kool Keith’s legacy- the way he was able to break common perceptions of rap as an art form. I described his style as eccentric, at times seeming like he’s talking through the beat, with no …