Sep 1, 2010

Episode Twenty One

Simply put, when an artist claims that his or her music is how music should sound, he or she better make sure that the music is something special – worthy of such a claim. Risking an aura of arrogance, producer Damu The Fudgemunk does just that for his latest album, How It Should Sound, Volumes 1 & 2. Preceded by a teaser-EP of the same name, How It Should Sound is another instrumental album comprised of beats made between 2003 – 2008, featuring some of Damu’s finest work to date.

check this video of him live on the MPC on the New York streets, jamming with some emcees, or then bounce to the blog he’s involved in.





For those who haven't heard about Stevo, he is an excellent beat maker from Germany.
Stevo experiments his way through sound. Imagine a mixture of beats based with a chilled futuristic sound, hip hop slash soul. 15 track's long 'Antother Space Odyssey' & 'Muffins' are a great pieces of work that prove Stevo's skills & it paints a clear picture of how a great beat maker should sound.






Lone, is a producer that has been around for a minute. His music paints a dreamy landscape of with hip-hop beats and enticing synths in a disjointed fantasy world within each and every track. The best electronica dream beat you've ever encountered.








Minneapolis native Project Prospect laced each of the 10 cuts that can be found “As Of Late” with some very familiar samples. Described as “10 tracks that convey the feelings that I’m havin’ this summer”, “As Of Late” is just that, a perfect album for those summer evenings.








The British had those mop tops and rolling pebbles, but the States had Sky Saxon and the Seeds. These guys just hammered out their music until they dropped. So they dropped pretty quickly, except Sky kept himself on the road until he died. Best-known for their rock & roll standard "Pushin' Too Hard," the Seeds combined the raw appeal of garage rock with a fondness for ragged, trashy psychedelia. Supremely heavy organic psych-rock with snotty lyrics with none of the fruity flower power stuff they would later fall into, this album represents The Seeds finest moment.



This band started out as Bobby Jenkins and the Jades with a 45 from January 1964, by 1965 they had changed their name to Robb London and the Rogues, releasing three 45s. They played shows around San Antonio on the east side of the city and had a reputation as both a soul cover group and for British Invasion sounds. In 1967 the name of his backing band changed to Soul Unlimited, with one release, "Funny Situation" / "Gloria" on the Suzuki label. On the flip side of the record is a slow version of "Gloria" with Robb's best vocal performance, the band encouraging him with shouts. Most remarkable is the arrangement that dispenses with the repetitive chords and syncopated build-up of Them's version in favor of a relaxed pace that suits the lyrics. The opening guitar riff works well with the horns; it could of been one of there favorite song to play live.



Set 1

Q65 - Get Out My Life Woman
The Animals - I'm Mad Again
Robb London - Gloria
The Tempters - Boom Boom
The Seeds - Just Let Go
The Small Faces - You Need Lovin'

Set 3

Damu the Fudgemunk - Rock Climbing [Byte 1]
Onra and Quetzal - 476 Pourcent
Stevo - Foreign Love
Jay Dee - So Far To Go (Featuring Common & D'Angelo)
Flako - Milky Way
Jel - Oh Dear
Dreas - Lavender Rain
Teebs and Jackhigh - Splash
S.Maharba - M-L-M-H
Lone - Karen Loves Kate
Feashbeats - With Love
Project Prospect - Loser






This legendary progressive rock band, which was responsible for the UK's most expensive album was formed in 1668. They performed at a few local gigs, and as their playing got tighter, they decided to go into the studio and record an album. The six tracks, written and arranged by the band were recorded over a weekend in 1972 and consist of melodic progressive rock laced with lots of fuzzy guitar riffs. Only a handful of copies were pressed, and the first twelve copies were made into full-color gatefold sleeves, complete with booklets of photographs stapled together, augmented with handwritten notes. In 1994 the members got back together and decided to see if they could still play. Previously unrecorded tracks were dusted off, more material written, and in 1996 "Anonymous Days" was completed. They decided to do just one farewell gig, which turned out to be the Northampton Beer Festival, on May 31st, 1997.


The internet and streets have been buzzing about this young female Emcee from Brooklyn. Nikki NTU paints such vivid pictures through words. Her lyrics incorporate so much knowledge wisdom and understanding. She also has a Fierce competitive side that shows when she delivers her more harder music.
Here is what she had too say,

“For the past few months I’ve been working to the sounds of some of Brainfeeder’s greatest masterminds. Nikki NTU vs. Brainfeeder “Medulla Dinner” is a seven track EP featuring production from Ras G, Samiyam, Teebs, and Flying Lotus. It was definitely a challenge to take on such amazing music so I wanted to go where I haven’t gone both lyrically and conceptually.”


Alex B takes electronica, trip-hop, hip-hop, and electro-hop and throws all these sounds into a lo-fi mixing pot, pouring out the portions in small two-minute chunks over the course of his 45-minute debut. The tracks on "Moments" are intricately crafted with painstaking care and attention to detail. A careful mix of analog and digital sounds elevated by imaginative samples and the insight of a classically trained musician. The result is a blend of timeless warmth and future beats that is as easily adaptable to introspective time with one's headphones as it is to group mania on a mobbed dance floor.



Fresh off the London Red Bull Music Academy Moscow-based beat elevator DZA makes himself known in 2010. DZA is central to the How2make crew which ties the loose ends of bass music in Moscow and pushes Russian talents. Quick, dirty and raw. His 16-track beat tape "Five-Finger Discount" hijacks you into his kinderzimmer wherein sticker-laden efx pedals render homage to the MPC. This tape has detailed textures and beats full of precise details.





Patience is a virtue, and few know that better than understated electronic beat-maker Daisuke Tanabe. After carefully honing his craft from the age of 16, it was his first EP release in 2006 named "Gas" that really brought him to the attention of Gilles Peterson and Pete Adarkwah. Since then he has remixed and and released music on labels like Ninja Tune, BBE, and Brownswood Recordings. Taking inspiration from jazz, folk, and reggae as well as the whole canon of electronic music, this member of Tony Nwachukwu's CD-R community knows that notes and melodies are just the guidelines for the feelings that lie beneath.


The subject is jazz! Dexter is taking an new look at the long going love affair between hip-hop and jazz. From Stetsasonic to Gang Starr to Madlib, it is not an easy path to follow, but the 26 year old producer is adding a new and fresh style to it. The sound design of Dexter's "Jazz Files" is dusty but with an unmistakable 2010 twist. By implanting quotes an samples from interviews and tv shows such as the classic NBC program "The Subject Is Jazz", Dexter is telling his own little story of jazz.




Set 2

Dark - Live For Today
Parva - Mosem E Gol
P.Monnehay - Tittle Tatle
Terry Cox - Strange Dream
Madlib - Episode XIV
Plawz - Gram 8 Into Gram 14
Nikki NTU Vs. Brainfeeder - Time Lords
Alex B - At Channel One
DZA - Shifty

Set 4

Janelle Monae - Sir Greendown
Quantic - Long Road Ahead
Daisuke Tanabe - My Fish
Prefuse 73 - Ampexian Tribe of a Lesser Time
Actress - The Kettle Man
Oddisee - South Central
Skylab - Evil
Exile - Your Summer Song
Dexter - Practice Noir
Jeremiah Jae - Mash Potatoes Spinach
G.Sklair/G.Galbraith - Killer Whale