instead of doing an over-inflated tribute post to a fallen idol (not my style), i’d rather highlight my favourite Gil Scott-Heron song, a collaboration with Brian Jackson from the album “Winter In America”. this is the ‘Alternate Take’ version of “Song For Bobby Smith”, one which i became besotted with many years ago and used in a couple of key ways (which i will highlight with my next two posts).
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somehow this Dwele gem up n passed me by. it appears on the Slum Village-related/Detroit-based compilation series Dirty District (“Count Back” is on Vol. 3). i’ve taken the liberty of providing the .mp3 and uploading it to the Confessions Of A Curly Mind YouTube Channel (the screaming over the top of the track can’t be avoided, as the song only appears on the compilation and not as a standalone scream-less version). don’t let that detract from your enjoyment of the song, tho. it’s vintage laid back Dwe on the production tip with his patented playful storytelling method, this time applied to whether or not he’s a baby daddy.
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Danger of Dipped In Dollars & myself, with the aid of a mutual friend, hooked up for a collabo mix in honour of our respective seasons (hers: Spring in the U.S, mine: Autumn in Australia), and the result is a beautimus mix that goes from upbeat-chill, bouncy n optimistic & segues into contemplative indoor languish-mode. stream/download the whole thing below @ SoundCloud, or choose from .rar or .zip downloads above.
tracklist:
Spring Fever
01. ellie goulding – under the sheets (chiddy bang remix)
02. purity ring – ungirthed
03. vacationer – trip
04. bibio – anything new
05. clive tanaka y su orquesta – neu chicago
06. salva – beached
07. MOTHS – summer
08. taragana pyjarama – ocean
09. busta rhymes – put your hands where my eyes can see (datahowler mashup)
10. shlohmo – places
11. the weeknd – what you need
Autumn Leaves
12. kyoto jazz massive – the dawn (introduction) (feat. vanessa freeman)
13. dj mitsu – night in vienna
14. native – tradition
15. booster – mutation, pt. 1
16. quantic & his combo barbaro – cancao do deserto
17. bebo best & super lounge orchestra – entao en vou
18. embee – drop me by the stairs
19. kaskade – borrowed theme
20. acoustic ladyland – nagel
the beautiful front cover was done by Danger, co-mixed by both of us, final mixdown by Danger. GET AT IT. this whole experience was rather fun, and i got turned onto a buncha new artists as a result. would collab again.
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these days the name of the game is ‘random finds’, and in an era where any person with musical aptitude and access to the internet can make a dent, sometimes they make a muthafuckin SPLASH instead. a good example was the accumulative blow-up effect of L.A. trio King, who recently took over the entire web as the next undiscovered awesome musical entity. well now i proudly add The Weeknd to this list. real name Abel Tesfaye, he’s a Toronto native & sang on and self-released “House Of Balloons”, which i think is officially regarded as a ‘mixtape’ although most ppl consider it a fully-formed, sonically & thematically-unified true album. Abel’s songs under The Weeknd moniker first leaked in 2010, the album being released for free via his website in March of this year (the first of a planned trilogy, all coming in 2011). the album was produced entirely by Canadian producers Doc McKinney and Illangelo. i’ve yet to listen to the album as i can’t seem to get over “What You Need”. once i get sick of the song (which should be in a few weeks time once i’ve worn it the fugg out), i’ll give it a listen. but i’m confident enough from that one song to make this post and throw my weighty props behind this release.
tracklist:
01. high for this
02. what you need
03. house of balloons/glass table girls
04. the morning
05. wicked games
06. the party & after party
07. coming down
08. loft music
09. the knowing
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WHO RUN THE WORRRLLLDDDD? TURQUOISE JEEP! co-TJ founder & human elastic-man Flynt Flossy, along with “Lemme Smang It” star Yung Humma, recently caught wind of Beyonce‘s latest music video “Run The World (Girls)”, mostly notabley Bey’s brief inclusion of the “Smang It” dance near the end of it (round the 4:36 mark onwards >>> http://youtu.be/VBmMU_iwe6U). i thought i was the only one who noticed when the vid came out, then a couple days later The Jeep made the following video addressing the subtle big-ups.
and here’s a short comparison vid someone made on YouTube.
KTJR!
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Mr. Mayer Hawthorne recently released a free ep onto the interwebs (onto the inter…? nevermind), consisting of 6 covers of songs none of us have actually heard of. which kinda makes it NOT a covers ep, if u know what i mean (i’m banking on the statistical probability that some of u out there do). i’ve yet to give it a spin but from what i’m reading (all over the previously-mentioned interwebs) it’s got a unanimously positive response thus far. download link is above, background info on how and why each cover came to be is provided below by the man himself. enjoy!
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1. Work To Do
This one features my live band, The County: Quentin Joseph on drums, Topher Mohr on guitar, Quincy McCrary on piano, and Joe Abrams on bass. It was recorded live in a radio station studio somewhere during our Winter 2010 US tour. The tapes recently surfaced, but nobody can remember exactly where we were. The song is originally by The Isley Brothers, and that’s the only version I was familiar with until we started playing it in our live shows and people would come up to us and say “hey, loved your cover of Average White Band!”.
2. Don’t Turn The Lights On
My favorite track from Chromeo’s latest LP. On the surface it’s an electro-funk, dance floor filler, but underneath is a brilliant love ballad with lyrics that reminded me of something from Tyrone Davis. Dave1 (of Chromeo) told me the song is about a guy who falls in love with a ghost, so I wanted my version to have an eerie, ghostly feel to it. Quincy McCrary played the creepy piano solo at the end.
3. You’ve Got The Makings Of A Lover
Textbook Northern Soul from a little known Dallas, Texas group called The Festivals. I was digging for records in NY with my homey DJ Kurse, and the shopkeeper played the 45 in the store. Both of us immediately ran up to the counter and said “yo! what is THAT?!”. The original version was recorded in the late 60s, and the mix isn’t very good. I wanted a version that I could bump. Quentin Joseph played the drums and we recorded them at Sam Beaubien’s studio in Detroit. That’s Sam playing the trumpet as well.
4. Fantasy Girl
This song was written and composed by an amazing man from Pasadena named Steve Salazar. He was born with a heart condition and passed away at the young age of 27. Before he died he recorded one incredible album of demos in the mid-70s with a band called Shorty’s Portion. Peanut Butter Wolf found a copy of the album and I loved it so much that he gave it to me (thanks Wolf!). The vinyl had a handwritten note tucked in the sleeve that was addressed to anyone who could help the band with management, a record deal, radio airplay, etc. I’d estimate there were less than 300 copies pressed. That’s my Dad playing pedal steel guitar and Topher Mohr shredding the guitar solo on my version.
5. Little Person
Jon Brion is not from this planet. He penned this song for the soundtrack to Charlie Kaufman’s film “Synecdoche, NY”. I didn’t get the film at all, but I really got the soundtrack. The original has only female vocal and piano, but I always heard a larger arrangement. Hubert Alexander played some of the piano and I did everything else.
6. Mr. Blue Sky
This one also features my band, The County, and was recorded live, in one take, in a tiny makeshift tent, at a festival in Dour, Belgium.
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amazon | itunes | om records store
appearing seemingly out of nowhere, Soulstice (a downtempo outfit comprising of brother/sister combo Gina Rene + Gabriel Rene (aka Aquanote), superstar DJ & producer Andy Caldwell & Mei Lwun) have re-emerged a decade after their one and only debut album “Illusions” (released in 2001). this is and can only be GOOD FREAKIN NEWS. being a self-confessed Gabe Rene nut (i adore most everything he’s ever had a hand in writing or producing), it’s great to see him, indeed the entire original band, back in the limelight as it were (that was a slight reference to the album title, i fear i’m becoming too clever and not realising puns until after i’ve written them). now instead of going straight for the blog search engines to look for a free copy, i sussed out the album’s SoundCloud page, which features the entire album available for a CD quality streaming preview, courtesy of OM Records. i’ve also linked up a few spots to purchase the album online underneath the album cover pic.
after a couple runs through, it’s another solid winner. their style remains consistent but also feels like it’s got a new coat or sheen to it. it’s classic Soulstice, but considering the caliber of artists we’re dealing with, was the quality of another album ever in question? …no, no it wasn’t (wow i just answered my own rhetorical question…i feel dirty somehow).
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