Praises and Ballads

Still reeling from the heavy bass explosion that was tropical dance 3, I finally got a second to listen to the second collabo mix from simon + awesome tapes from africa. It's pretty bananas so far, not exactly on a hit you over the head kick, just in a slow burn, this is is gonna be on repeat forever kind of way. Perfect for shaking out the cobwebs and easing into the day.

If you missed part one, you will surely want to grab it now. I have had a chopped version sitting around for a while, but I haven't gotten around to uploading it, so drop me a line if that's your thing. Otherwise, the single-track version is below.

shout to awesome tapes, and simon, wherever you are, these sets are crazy.

Simon's Records + Awesome Tapes from Africa - Praises and Ballads
Thione Seck - Chauffeur Bi
Alou Fané & Daouda Sangaré - Nambara Mogo
Super Djata de Bamako - Bimoko Magnin
Etoile de Dakar - Aladj
Kojo Mireku's Band - Mepe Me Ho Asem
Ashanti Brothers Band - Odo Afre Me
Dr. T.O. Jazz International Band - Asem Atome
Oko's Guitar Band - Ebeye Yie
Salif Keita & Kante Manflia - Wara-Mana
Ali Farka Toure - Kady
Kassa Tresor Mihindou - Dwimbu
Virtuoses Diabate - N'fa
David Zé - Ngongo Mua Ngola
Balla et ses Balladins - Leydi Mendnin
Celestine Ukwu - Onwu Bu Ugwo
E.T. Mensah and the Tempos Band - Medaho Mao
Cardinal Rex Lawson - Elizer
Lijadu Sisters - Osupa


simons-records_-_praises-and-ballads.mp3

Simon's Records + Awesome Tapes from Africa - Slow Music from West Africa

Paulson Kalu - Dick Tiger A Naa (Nigeria)
Rex Lawson - Osuala Oru Enene (Nigeria)
Yamoah's Band - Saman Me (Ghana)
African Brothers Dance Band - Mmobrowa (Ghana)
Black Dragons - Emalon Ni Hokowo (Benin)
Sorry Bamba - M'makono 'Attends-Moi' (Mali)
Orchestre du Jardin de Guinée - J.R.D.A. (Guinea)
Star Number One - Waalo (Senegal)
Number One du Senegal - Mory (Senegal)
Orchestre Rail Band de Bamako - Koro Koni (Mali)
Camayenne Sofa - Wayalangaï (Guinea)
F. Kenya - Ewule Adoma Kuma (Ghana)
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou - Nous Avons Gagne (Benin)
Achille Johnny - Mede Woui (Benin)
Demba Camara et son Groupe - Exhumation Folklorique (Guinea)


simons-records_-_slow music from west africa.mp3

Really Bad Video from Ruff Skwad

this isn't so bad it's good, it's just bad.

Kode9 on Benji B

new kode9 mix, lotsa dubs. get familiar.


kode9_-_benjib-show-022009.mp3

01. Samiyam “Return” Hyperdub
02. Kode 9 “Black Sun” Hyperdub
03. Cooly G “Love Dub (Refix)” Hyperdub
04. Ikonika “Sahara Michael” Hyperdub
05. 2000F & J Kamata “You Don’t Know What Love Is” Hyperdub
06. Darkstar “Digital” Hyperdub
07. Burial “Untitled” Hyperdub
08. LV “Take Away” Hyperdub
09. Burial “Untitled” Hyperdub
10. Kode 9 “Too Far Gone” Hyperdub
11. Terror Danjah “Sonar” Dubplate
12. Lemon D “Manhattan Melody” Dubplate

Grievous Angel - Funky Manifesto

I am into this. Grevious Angel, big man in the scene, heavy with meticulous mp3 metadata + tracklists, has put together a new uk funky/whatdoyoucallit compilation. Instead of trying to hunt down the crucual tunes, which must be quite a challenge, GA has spliced together bunch of radio sets, and the result is BIG.

This is not a mix. Rather, this is a compilation of the best UK Funky I could find, taken from radio shows. I’m NOT pretending I have these tunes. Rather, I’m showcasing the best in UK Funky. Because, while funky is wonderful, there’s a lot of tunes out there I don’t like that much, and I wanted an hour of music I could point that would say, “this is what I want. This is what I want to make.”

http://blog.grievousangel.net/funky-manifesto-a-compilation-of-superb-uk-funky-radio-rips

Full Hundred

Don't be a wasteman. Check out the music. Full writeup here.



jahdan_-_full-hundred-0309.mp3

Don't Matter

Ryan sings the blues, powered by youtube. Via W&W. Too much.

Best of Rapid

There's a bunch of old bangers on this Best of Rapid comp from Dj Furious, nice blends and sequencing too. I never get tired of Ruff Squad, they have such a distinct sound, and their production always stood out, easily among the best in Grime. It was kind of like they were trying to flip that '03 Dipset/Heatmakers sound, but without samples.



Ruff Squad - Xtra



Ruff Squad - ANNA

what does it take

Mavado - So Special

I was admittedly not blown away by the new So Special video, what with the random 'in the club' scenes and the weak computer graphic sequences, but I was still bummed to hear that BET canceled its premiere on 106th and Park at the last second. If nothing else the video seemed to be a clear-cut bid to fit in smoothly with the jeezy/t-wayne/omarion-clone chart toppers of the moment. Looks like the reasons for the pull had nothing to do with homophobic lyrics or guntalk - just some scantily clad women and gratuitous alcohol shots.. Come on now BET, fair is fair.. I've seen some way more scandalous hiphop videos than this one in the after-school rotation. Hopefully this will just be a little speed-bump for the gully god, and will keep the hype up for a promising first-quarter release. (Your first chance to cop this track legitimately, almost a year after it started floating around youtube, a primo example of how screwed up/outdated the music retail model is, at least with respect to reggae..)

SURVEY - WHAT PATH WILL MAVADO TAKE IN HIS JOURNEY TO MAINSTREAM SUCCESS?
a) Sign w/ Puff and make exercise dvds, then vanish.
b) Sign w' Dame Dash, move to New York, and cease all output instantly.
c) Do a bunch of watered down rap collabos with miscellaneous hip-hoppers, who will inevitably draw for dubious patoi flows - tony yayo anyone?
d) None of the above.
e) All of the above, with new sneaker deals.

If this is getting you down, here are some old videos that got the lets-reshoot-this-and-make-it-commercially-viable treatment.. Wish I could find the BCAT version of ele's joint, all I can remember is they were standing on some school desks in actual water and it was pretty rad.

Elephant Man - Pon The River


Sean Paul - We'll Be Burning


And here is the proper gullyside one for Last Night:

Serious

Eddie Stats has profiled the Truck Back Crew in his latest Ghetto Palms installment. It turns out TB get the name from the location of their studio, inside an actual, physical truck in the back of a lot. There has been a lot of noise around Truck Back stemming from Erup's massive 'click my finger' from last year, and it looks like that was the first joint they put out. It's heavy and all, but it was when I heard the next TruckBack/Erup collabo that I started to really feel this camp. Just a deeper vibe from EtotheR on this one.


Erup - Roll Serious (Ol Axel Riddim)

GP Riddim Blend
Interview

Hungry Ghosts and Night Trains

All I've known about Filastine for the last few is that some of his tracks found their way into /Rupture's latest buyable mix*, which is as good an introduction as any I guess. It turns out Filastine has started a pretty excellent travel blog while touring Aisia. Lots of wild photos and youtube clips over there, documenting everything from his ad-hoc hotel room studio setups to encounters with renegade Vespa conventions in Bali. Can't forget the ubiquitous 'I was shaken down by shady officials at the borderline' story.. Nice.

* Which was recorded in August 07, and languished in LABEL HELL till a few months ago.. Out to all my dot com millionaires stop starting labels if you are not going to release things in a timely manner you wastemen.