Reggie Watts - Live Collection 2:27 PM

Hailing from what we all know to be the mecca of cutting edge comedy and one-man-beat-box-bands, Great Falls, Montana, Mr. Reggie Watts has been picking up steam on the comedy circuit and on the interwebs. Last year his performance of "I Just Want To" went kinda viral... As you can see from the youtube video dude's setup is lo-fi... so the quality of the audio on this download is sub-par demo quality at best.... however the creative content exceeds expectations IMO....

I don't know what the box on our left is... but the box on our right, which the mic goes through before it reaches the other sample, looper, mixer box thingy is a Line 6 Digital Delay modeling guitar effect peddle with built in single loop, w/ overdub feature... I have one of these in the garage, it's a fun box especially in reverse mode which gives you that Jimi Hendrix sound if you can play like Jimi, that is.... more info on the Line 6 Delay here

TRACKLIST

01. Wha

02. The Beginning Is Near

03. Binary Existence

04. Sugar Got It Going On

05. Something To Crunch

06. Rock It

07. Out Of Control

08. Only Life

09. Love Line

10. Lost In The Options

11. It's Over

12. I Just Want To

13. Fuck Shit Stack

Mediafire d/l

Ka-La-Ka Afro Beat Band "Soul Ethiopia" 6:15 PM

Do you like Fela? I lubs me some afrobeat so I thought I'd post this recent find. If you don't know who Fela is perhaps you have been living under a rock or on another planet. If it's the latter you should watch out for the evil aliens that Stephen Hawking warns us of and proceed to google (Fela Anikulapo-Kuti). If you're already down then listen first to track B2 "No I'm Not A Monkey" or, as it was originally titled on 1977 album from the Ikenga Super Stars of Africa, "Soffry Soffry Catch Monkey"

A1		No More Colonial Greediness
A2		Belle Femme D'Afrique Noire
A3		Every Do It Your Own Way
B1		Le Baiser De L'Elephant
B2		No I'm Not A Monkey
B3		Soul Ethiopia

Marketed as a reissue of a 1970's album by a loose collective of African musicians recorded in Ethiopia, this is in fact a bootleg issue of an Ikenga Super Stars Of Africa album recorded in Nigeria in 1977. The title track B3 however does not correspond to any of the tracks on the Ikenga Super Stars Of Africa album and is rumoured to be "Soul Guinea" from the Orquesta de Felix del Rosario album "Los Saxofones".

The liner notes and credits on the cover of this album are all invented and have nothing to do with the actual music.

Download

Primo's Guru Tribute Mix 6:02 PM

Fuck the Drama. Here's a tribute mix to Guru from the one and only DJ Premier. RIP GURU.

1. Gang Starr – "Betrayal" (Feat. Scarface)
2. Gang Starr – "Intro" (The First Step)
3. Gang Starr – "Execution Of A Chump" (No More Mr. Nice Guy Pt. 2)
4. Gang Starr – "Name Tag" (Premier & The Guru)
5. Gang Starr – "Speak Ya Clout" (Feat. Jeru the Damaja & Lil Dap)
6. Gang Starr – "Peace Of Mine"
7. Gang Starr – "Eulogy"
8. Gang Starr – "Royalty" (Feat. K-Ci & JoJo)
9. Gang Starr – "Daily Operation" (Intro)
10. Gang Starr – "In This Life…" (Feat. Snoop Dogg & Uncle Reo)
11. Gang Starr – "Above The Clouds" (Feat. Inspectah Deck)
12. Gang Starr – "The Planet"
13. Gang Starr – "Daily Operation" (Intro)
14. Gang Starr – "Next Time"
15. Gang Starr – "93 Interlude" (Unreleased Moment Of Truth Interlude)
16. Gang Starr – "The Militia II" (Feat. Rakim & WC)
17. Gang Starr – "Intro" (HQ, Goo, Panch)
18. Heavy D. – "A Buncha Niggas" (Feat. The Notorious B.I.G., Busta Rhymes, Guru, Rob-O & Third Eye)
19. M.O.P. – "Salute Part II" (Feat. Guru)
20. D&D Allstars – "Hot Shit" (Feat. Big Daddy Kane, Sadat X, Guru & Greg Nice)
21. Gang Starr – "PLAYTAWIN"
22. Gang Starr – "Soliloquy Of Chaos"
23. Group Home – "The Legacy" (Feat. Guru)
24. Gang Starr – "Conspiracy"
25. Gang Starr – "Stay Tuned"
26. Gang Starr – "Zonin'"

Listen/Download Here

The Best Stevie Wonder Songs that Stevie Wonder Never Made 8:49 PM

Anyone who knows me knows I love Stevie Wonder... I even met him one time in a studio supply shop on Sunset.

Having exhausted the Stevie Wonder catalog, which contains many gems, once in a while I happen across a tune that has that certain Stevie Wonder sound.

The first one up came as quite a surprise.... Past Due records out of Chicago, a Fantastic label under the Still Music family of labels, recently released their 2nd reissue of songs by the D.I.T. Band... Also known as Destiny In Time, this band released several 7"s and a 12" in the late 70's/early 80's... I have a few of their releases in my collection... so when I saw this latest release with a Prins Thomas remix of one of their more up tempo dance tunes I wasn't all that excited at first.... until I got to the song on the EP titled "Get It Together"... immediately visions of Stevie started to flow through my head.... what a brilliant tune with a distinct Stevie Wonder sound.

Listen here. And please support Past Due, Still Music, and the DIT Band!!!

Second up is a tune that was introduced to me and many others by Theo Parrish... I still get asked to ID this tune and everyone is always as surprised as I was to find out that it is by The Gap Band... from their first (Self Titled) album.

The song I'm talking about is, of course, "Out Of The Blue (Can You Feel It)"

Listen here.

The last Stevie (Not Stevie) tune that comes to my mind is even more obscure than the D.I.T. Band. Black Giant Records out of Chicago, which is best known to collectors for the Jim Manns 12" "I Got To Have Your Love" (which is actually a cover of Norman Brown's "Sugar"), also had some even lesser known 7" releases. One of which is Jerome Rogers "Decision Is Yours". This tune is basically "Superstition" with all new lyrics... a great tune and sounds very much like Stevie himself doing an alternate version! it's very unfortunate that the pressing is bad, which is probably why this was gifted to me by the (in)famous digger Dante Carfagna (who btw has a brand new "loner mix" on Shadows site).

Unfortunately I wasn't able to find any audio but here is a scan of the record.

If anyone has anymore Stevie (not Stevie) tunes please post them!! Or contact me so I can hunt them down.

thx. klas.

VIDEO: "PIXELS" by PATRICK JEAN 1:06 PM

I hope I don't get read the riot act for posting this, as it has nothing to do with music, but it's just too SICK not to share!

PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN.
Uploaded by onemoreprod. - Arts and animation videos.

Annie - I Will Get On - Telle Records 2002 3:28 PM

Here is a record that tugs at my heart-strings.... A little background here... For the last few years of the 20th century my favorite house music producer was a norwegian by the name of Tore Kroknes (AKA EROT). EROT and his friend, the equally prolific, Bjorn Torske were the main artists on the great and now defunct Telle Records label. EROT had his first real worldwide club hit when his girlfriend Annie lent her vocals to some reworked samples from Madonna's "Everybody" for their track "The Greatest Hit"... this song launched Annie's carrier and things seemed good for EROT & Annie & The entire Telle Camp.

Tragically EROT's lifelong battle with heart disease caught up to him and he was taken from us in 2001. This song was EROT's last production and his last collaboration with his girlfriend Annie. Given the context of his approaching death the lyrics to this song are extremely personal as she sings to him that she will have to get on with her life but that she will always love him....

This song, and EROT's previous "Song For Annie" (an instrumental but equally emotional rework of The Crusader's "Sweet 'n Sour") are two EROT productions that never fail to bring a tear to my eye.

Telle Records went on for a few years but, from my correspondence with label owner Mikal Telle, everything just kind of fell apart after EROT's passing.

Bjorn Torske now runs the great Small-Town-Supersounds label. And Annie's career has continued to flourish!

Click Here to download "I Will Get On" via Mediafire.

or watch the youtube video.

A couple notes and a correction:

-"I Will Get On" borrows the melody of Taana Gardner's "Heartbeat", a West End Records disco hit produced by Kenton Nix.

-Royksopp and Ralph Myerz & The Jack Herren Band were also early members of the Telle Stable of Artists.

-Telle is actually not defunct. The label still exists, it has just gone in a different direction and the original core group of artists and friends have moved on to other things.

Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part Two - Return Of The Ankh 2010 9:47 AM

So I guess there was supposed to be some meaning behind the "window seat" video where Ms. Badu walks down the street stripping off her cloths and gets shot in the same place as JFK did. Unfortunately the meaning was lost on me...unless it was.... DAT ASS!!!!

Here we have her latest CD a nice little outing.... oh and Erykah does Sylvia Striplin... You Can't Turn Me Away... and sings it very similar to the way Striplin did but adding little bullshit drops about "get money"... which is kinda lame because the original obviously reigns supreme.

1. 20 Feet Tall
2. Window Seat
3. Agitation
4. Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY)
5. Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long
6. Umm Hmm
7. Love
8. You Loving Me (session)
9. Fall In Love (your funeral)
10. Strawberry Incense
11. Out My Mind, Just In Time

mediafire

Tranqill - The Hidden Treasures EP 2010 9:29 AM

Here we have an EP by an artist that is new to me but I liked the sound so here it goes in the bin!

mediafire d/l

or sample one of the tracks here>>>

Remember support vinyl and buy the 12" if you're feeling it!!

Evidence - Tape Series 9:19 AM

Here we have a series of colored tapes from Evidence of the Dilated Peoples. The names on the folders suggest that the Yellow Tape is from 2003, the Red Tape is from 2007, and the Purple Tape is from 2008. All I know is that these are pretty nice instrumentals so grab your mic and make it right!

Yellow Tape D/L via mediafire!

Red Tape D/L via mediafire!

Purple Tape D/L via mediafire!

Wooden Shjips - Contact 2:41 PM

Funny how one things leads to another... while combing through the Mexican Summer list of releases I found this curious release with a disco 12" sleeve. Well that's all it took to get me googling...

Make no mistake Wooden Shjips are a ROCK band, but this single is on the proggy side with a nice heavy beat and spacey effects.... it's actually a cover of a Serge Gainsbourg song (one of France's most prolific musical perverts).

So sit back with your favorite hallucinogen and take a listen.

rapidshit

or youtube preview below

Washed Out - High Times (Tape) 10:41 AM

Who is Ernest Greene, beside being my favorite new artist? I have no fucking idea. I got tipped off to his "Life Of Leisure" LP (on Mexican Summer) about a week and a half ago and was super bummed to find out that even though it just came out last year that it was already sold out and fetching close to $100 on ebay.... Good news direct from the label though, the repress will drop on May 1st. Mexican Summer is a label that does vinyl right! Heavy virgin vinyl packaged beautifully, in limited numbers, accompanied by a free download card. No CDs!

Check the youtube video for "Feel It All Around" if you want a peak at whats on the LP.

For now we have Washed Out's, also deleted, "High Times" tape. That's right, Tape! Lots of rappers are doing mixed tapes on CD's (I never got that). This MoFo dropped an actual cassette tape and that shit sold out in weeks. It actually makes sense because Washed Out describes his sound as "NoFi".... although I'm being told it fits into the newly created "Chillwave" genre.

I think this tape is great for this blog because half the songs have the whimsical, blissed out, summer, balearic vibe that "Life Of Leisure" has, While the other half of the tracks have a more sample heavy, breakbeat, hiphop vibe to them.... All great in my opinion.

mediafire link

(now that's love cause you know the shit's quick)

King Rhythm - Mad & Hating 3:57 PM

I'll just post one track from this album and let you decide if you want to track the whole thing.

IMO opinion it's a nice use of fuzzed our rock samples with average lyricism on top.

clicky

The Natural Yogurt Band "Away With Melancholy" 2008 6:44 PM

Here we have the 2008 (First) release of the "Away With Melancholy" LP that was released on Jazzman. I was looking for the 2009 release with 3 extra tracks on one of our favorite labels (ST), but this was all I could find.... still this is an awesome LP.... Jazzman is a label that does almost entirely reissues of old music but they were so blown away by this that they had to put it out.

rapidshit

Release Music Orchestra "Atlantis" 6:21 PM

Beat heavy progressive kraut-rock. Not gonna waste your time with the whole LP, which does have it's moments... but I always end up going right to Atlantis anyway...

So here it is.

The Whitefield Brothers "Earthology" 6:06 PM

Just about to sample this LP... I heard "The Gift" with Edan & Mr. Lif and had to hear the whole thing. There is a Oh No remix on the single but the album version does it for me.

Tracklist:

1. Joyful Exaltation (feat. Bajka) (1:57)
2. Safari Strut (3:19)
3. Reverse (feat. Percee P & MED) (5:27)
4. Taisho (2:23)
5. Sad Nile (3:44)
6. The Gift (feat. Edan & Mr. Lif) (3:54)
7. Ntu (2:08)
8. Pamukkale (3:58)
9. Alin (2:16)
10. Breakin' Through (feat. El Michels Affair) (4:20)
11. Sem Yelesh (3:21)
12. Lullaby For Lagos (feat. Quantic) (2:39)
13. Chich (2:30)

Check it here.

Mark Capanni "I Believe In Miracles" 6:14 PM

Many of you are already familiar with the Jackson Sisters "I Believe In Miracles" which contains a killer break and has been sampled countless times. Well I was shocked to discover that this song is a cover... and one with some interesting info behind it. First in case you haven't heard it, The Jackson Sisters version.

2 Quick things about the Jackson Sisters: 1) To the best of my knowledge there is no relation to the more famous Jackson family (Jackson 5). I mention this because the man credited with hooking them up with this tune is also one of the people credited with discovering the Jackson 5. 2) The quoted text below mentions the Jackson Sisters being signed to a label names Prophecy. I've never heard of Prophecy but they were released on Tiger Lily records, which has a very interesting story of it's own... you ever watch the Soprano's? Hesh's character was modeled after owner of Roulette records who also ran Tiger Lily as a tax scam. Some Tiger Lily records are insanely rare because they were pressed in such limited quantities, however they were reported as being pressed in larger quantities with no sales to show a loss for a tax deduction. anyway enough of that tangent.

Here is some very interesting information about Mark Capanni and his original version of the song.

"Mark is an italian dude that owns a restaurant in Hollywood at the moment. He recorded this song with Bobby Taylor in the early seventies. Bobby took this song further with Gene Page and recorded it with The Jackson Sisters."

The link between Capanni and Jackson Sisters is Bobby Taylor, who co-authored "I Believe In Miracles". Obviously Taylor was not died to a label, since Capanni's version came out on Capitol, and the Jackson Sisters were signed to Prophecy via Columbia (Prophecy had briefly been associated with Atlantic in the early 70's).

Unfortunately, I can't find a stock copy of "I Believe In Miracles", which leads me to believe (for now) the song on Capitol was promo only, maybe the other two songs were too. Nonetheless, the cover by Jackson Sisters has been his moneymaker in music, I'm sure the many samples and comp appearances have helped him a bit. Judging from the restaurant links, he seems to be much more successful in that field.

EDIT: Apparently this Bobby Taylor in question was the leader of Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers, a name I did recognize. At one point, The Vancouvers featured a singer/guitarist named Thomas Chong, and they were on Motown. Mr. Chong would become more well known as one-half of Cheech & Chong. Taylor is credited as being one of the people who discovered the Jackson 5, and Taylor is known for his songwriting and production. Obviously staying in Vancouver, British Columbia wasn't going to get him any more deals, so after the failure of his own group, he worked the industry and became a success that way.

Download Link

Human Egg "Love Like This" / Venus Gang "Love To Fly" 12:33 PM

Human Egg

First heard this on a Madlib mix. I dig that it kinda crosses genres. This track is off the self titled Human Egg LP. Produced by J.P. Massiera which isn't easy too easy to get on wax. Massiera did a ton, and when I say a ton, I mean a fucking ton, of great electronica dance music under all sorts of aliases.

Mediafire DL here.

Venus Gang

Venus Gang is another J.P. Massiera project. Another one off LP but this LP was pressed several times

Download "Love To Fly" here.

Pastor T.L. Barrett and the Youth For Christ Choir "Like a Ship... (Without a Sail)" 7:59 PM

This rare gospel album from 1971 just came under my radar. Looks like the folks at Numero Group records caught on before me because "Like A Ship" is the kick off track on their latest gospel comp due out this month.

Here we have the rip of the entire original T.L. Barrett LP and while I have to admit that I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, I think it's worth a download just for the original version of "Like A Ship". Pastor Barrett's church is still active and his choir recently performed "Like A Ship" with him at a Numero Group release party in Chi-Town. This video gives you an idea of the song but the original LP version is much tighter and features OG Chigago session players like Phil Upchurch!

DL the LP here.

Gloria Ann Taylor EP 7:11 PM

There's soul music and then there's Gloria Ann Taylor... Gloria really puts her foot in this one... and all the heart and soul she has... ("Tito get me a tissue")... This one is highly recommended and near and dear to my heart.

So at one time Gloria was a background singer for James Brown... she had several soul 45s that fit more into your standard soul category... She hooked up with Walter "The Wiz" Whisenhunt and he produced several tracks for her. The first 2 songs on this EP ("Deep Inside Of You" and "What's Your Word") were released on a 45 for CBS records... later her and Walter moved from Detroit to LA and decided to start their own label (Selector Sounds a division of Whisenhunt Records & Tapes)... They said fuck it and decide to rerelease the 2 songs from the CBS 45 with stronger kicks and echos and they threw in the soul-disco masterpiece "Love Is A Hurting Thing" to round out this EP.

While Walter Whisenhunt is no longer with us, Gloria Taylor is still alive and well living in Ohio. Word is some of her unsung soul classics included on this EP may see an official reissue this year... Please support when they do... hopefully some unreleased material will be included... and this lady is long overdue for some attention.

Sample this classic EP HERE.

Here's the first glimpse of Walter Whisenhunt that most oh us have had ever. I would love to see some pics of Gloria if anyone can turn some up.

Nike+ Sport Music 8:25 PM

Wait Nike makes shoes... well looks like they make music too... or release other peoples music... In the long standing tradition of big companies trying to capitalize off of cool shit Nike brings you the Nike+ Sport Music record label featuring, you guess'd it..... cool shit.

An earlier post on this blog featuring an LCD Soundsystem remix by Prince Language reminded me that LCD Soundsystem's 44:33 LP, while later being released on the NYC imprint DFA records (which drew much underground acclaim at that time), was originally released in 2006 by Nike+ Sport Music as a file you could download and listen to on your long runs after you had paid way too much for a pair of professional Nike running shoes...

Here's a rundown of the Nike+ Sport Music Releases

And here's the original 44:33 (it's supposed to be 44min & 33sec long... for yer run... get it?.... clever!)



Download Link

BTW. I was looking for Theo Parrish's 44:33 Runaway Remix which is pretty damn serious, but I couldn't find a download... you can listen here though.

So that's cool that Nike+ put out this weird electronica/punk/funk album but shit they also put out some hip hop.... market research!

Here's De La Soul's "Are You In?" from Nike+ Sport Music (the "+" means it must be good shhhh).


Download Link