Big Brother's Little Brother?

So, of course by now you are well acquainted with producer 9th Wonder, right? The man behind numerous hits and critical smashes. "Threat" from Jay-Z's Black Album, anyone? Massive. Destiny's Child, De La, Jean Grae, Masta Ace, Mary J, the list goes on and on, and virtually all standouts. But did you know (I expect you did) that Wonder is also DJ and producer for his own band, Little Brother? And that the group, also featuring long time friends and collaborators Rapper Big Pooh and Phonte, have released two of the freshest rap albums of recent years - The Listening in 2003, and 2005's The Minstrel Show? If you don't know these gems I strongly urge you to get a hold. Intelligent and often hilarious lyrics, unique concepts, biting commentary, all backed by some of the tightest production you'll hear. Soon to drop their third long player, Getback (slated for early '07), the group make a rare foray to the UK in a week or two and I for one will be there. If you like a good live show I'm sure you'll be there too, and any true beat head should not pass up this opportunity to see 9th Wonder flex his wrists in person. As the Minstrel Show intro sings, "We'd like to welcome you to everything there is to know....", and let's start with Little Brother!

Even Hotter Than July!

Apparently today is the hottest July day ever recorded, and as we can all vouch it is damn hot. Reminds me of Good Morning Vietnam when Robin Williams states that "It's Hot, Daaamn Hot!! Good if you're with a woman, baaad if you in the jungle!". And I might add even badder if you are in the concrete jungle and working for the man. However this is all just an aside and really a lame excuse to talk about one of my favourite albums, Stevie Wonder's Hotter Than July. Released in 1980 this was actually the first of Stevie's albums to reach platinum sales, despite the critical acclaim of preceding albums in his mid to late 70s golden period which included Innervisions, Songs in the Key of Life and Talking Book. Indeed this is really Stevie's last truly great long player, and well worth checking out if you only know the more famous albums mentioned above, or indeed his earlier Motown work. Not only does it contain the classic stomper Master Blaster, but also the way-ahead-of-its-time All I Do, and the incredible ballad Lately. Not to mention the classic golden-tinged cover art. An absolute belter and a perfect summer accompaniment. Oh, and of course i'll come back to Stevie time and again - too much genius to fit into one message.

Inside Outside

　
老舗雑誌Backjumpsが昨年開いた大規模なエキシビションの模様を中心においたストリート・アート・ドキュメンタリ。
　ヒョウ柄のストッキングを頭から被り、ライティングや夜間蛍光塗料など一風変わった素材を用いるパリのZEVS。街中に大量のドリップを垂らし続けるニューヨークのKR。ビルのトップにタグを残し続ける行為を、都市のロッククライミングと言い切るサンパウロのPIGMEUS…
　対して、出てくる社会派はヴァンダル・スクワッドだけではない。「グラフィティよりはマシさ」と言いながらiPodの広告をひたすら貼り続けるパートの中年。カメラマンとZEVSは深夜に残したタグの現場へ行き、その除去作業を行う男にインタヴューまで決行。
　社会的問題点などはこの際おいておいて、彼らの行動を律している信念やエネルギー、思索の発露に限って言えば、それはまさしくアートだと思う。企業広告の人物写真の眉間部に赤いドリップを残すZEVSにしてみれば、例えばこうだ。「人々は誇大広告のもたらす潜在的な影響力に気づいていない。俺は赤い点を打ってモデル達を＜殺す＞ことで、そこからその力を剥奪する」。彼はそうやって、パリ中の何百という看板広告に＜ヴィジュアル・アタック＞を行っているという。またニューヨークのSWOONは、危険を侵しながらもストリートで活動することについてこう語る、「セキュリティを与えてくれるあらゆる物は、ある観点からすると結果的にはこっちを管理していることになる」
　きれいな映像と編集、旅好きならではのユニークな視点で映像を切り取っていくのは、デンマークのフリー作家Andreas Johnsen。出演者によるグラフィティに対することばも、現代ならではのアップデートされた切り口。アドヴァタイズとアート、ジレンマなどをひたすら並列することで、なにかを表現していく欲求と彼らのヒューマニティが立ち表れてくる素晴らしい作品。

http://rosforth.com/

Shine On You Crazy Diamond

There’s only one possible subject for today’s blog, prompted as it was by the sad news of Roger “Syd” Barrett’s death at the age of 60, a victim of cancer. As a nipper growing up near Cambridge, as I did, Syd was something of a mythical figure. Founder, of course, of Pink Floyd, and responsible in large part for their incredible debut The Piper At The Gates of Dawn (released in 1967), Syd tragically left the band only a year later. His inability to deal with burgeoning fame and copious use of LSD are often blamed for his increasingly erratic behaviour and descent into mental difficulties, which left his place as a member of a successful new band impossible. This may be true, but regardless of the causes, his exile from music is etched in rock folklore. He removed himself to his mother’s house near Cambridge, remaining there until the end of his life. He did emerge to release two solo efforts, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett, in 1970, but apart from these under-appreciated efforts, that was your lot – into total recluse mode. Brilliantly creative, Barrett’s star was destined, it seems, to burn brightly but fleetingly. And so back to the story, where as a youngster this author would also indulge from time to time with friends in experimenting with mind-altering substances while also discovering a love of music of all types. Every young man worth a salt should go through a Floyd stage, surely, and Syd was a bit of a local hero, albeit one rarely glimpsed but with a rich “rock legend” back-story. It afforded him a mythic status of sorts in his self-imposed, psychedelic influenced reclusion in a village nearby. So I am especially sad that Syd’s flame has now gone out entirely, but pleased also that some of his genius remains in the music he left behind. If you don’t know Pipers you should check it out and enjoy the original space rocker, our very own supernova, one last time.

Welcome To Miami

Ok ... For the last six months every time I have walked back into my office I have caught the dude sitting next to me who will remain nameless watching old episodes of Miami Vice ... As you can imagine this started to freak me out after a while so I decided to ignore it and try and get on with my business but there was only so long I could carry on pretending it wasn't happening ... So yesterday, under tremendous pressure, I finally got out of my seat and walked over to him to see what he was watching ... Now, what has this got to do with music I hear you asking ... Well I'll tell you what ... Forget about the fact that Crockett and Tubbs are so fucking cool it isn't even funny ... Forget about the fact that Crockett has a pet alligator on his boat ... Forget about the cars, the ridiculous characters, the absurb plot lines, the shoulder pads, the slacks, the shades and the girls ... Just listen to the music ... Listen to it ... And I'm not just talking about Jan Hammer's classic theme tune ... Listen to the music Michael Mann uses in the show ... Phil Collins' In The Air Tonight ... Lionel Richie's All Night Long ... Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" ... It is truly incredible ... So basically what I'm trying to say is if you are looking for me at work you'll most likely find me sitting somewhere near that dude next to me's monitor ...

Pharrell

You may not like Billionaire Boys Club ... You may not like Ice Cream ... And I'm pretty sure you don't like those "Millionaire" sunglasses he designed for Louis Vuitton last year ... But one thing that it's hard to argue about are the man's skills when it comes to production ... Sure he has taken his eye off the ball in the last year or so and much of his recent work is clearly the product of someone who has been spending way too little time in the studio and way too much time running around the globe posing, strutting his stuff and wearing farcical jewellery but the early work of Pharrell Williams with the help of his partner Chad Hugo is in my opinion some of the best stuff out there ... It's easy to knock him now but go and listen to all the tracks he has laid down in the past ... Mystikal's "Danger" ... Birdman's "What Happened To That Boy" ... Ray J's "Wait A Minute" ... Nelly's "Flap Your Wings" ... Busta's "Pass The Courvoisier" ... Jay Z's "Excuse Me Miss" ... Snoop Dogg's "Beautiful" ... The list just goes on and on and on like Benetton and there is absolutely no disputing that the work of The Neptunes will certainly go down in the annals of history ... Schooled by one of the true masters himself Teddy Riley and with their own distinctive sound using next to no samples The Neptunes are true pioneers and their frontman Pharrell is a musical genius ... There will be more about to follow about this another day but for now just show respect where respect is due and don't front ...

Summer Jam

There are a number of songs which rear their pretty heads at this time of year as the harshness of the British winter and never-ending drudge of springtime gives in to tropical highs. We are a nation of weather watchers and prone to never be satisfied even when bathed in tropical sunshine, but one thing that the summer is always good for is digging out those tunes that seem to play sunrays through the speakers. Now there are numerous examples to mention, but I challenge you to find a more lazily happy and tranquil example than this old gem - Major Lance's "Um, Um, Um , Um, Um, Um" (don't tell me either that you won't be able to remember the title). Lance was one of Chicago soul's leading lights in the 1960s and an old friend of Curtis Mayfield who wrote many of his hits, including "Um..", and whose Impressions often performed backing harmonies. His style was often quite Latin-tinged, and he became a popular staple of the Northern Soul circuit in the UK in the 1970s, but for me the highlight of his output is this track made for Sunday chilling. Check it out and slide away (but for heaven's sake, please resist the 70s disco remix).

The Promo

I know I have been talking about the Native Tongues quite a lot recently but I had to write one more post about them so I hope you don't mind ... I just felt it was my duty to remind everybody about a track entitled The Promo which I think is one of the most slept on hip hop tunes of all time ... Seriously ... Go and dig out Straight Out The Jungle by the Jungle Brothers ... As hard as it will be to do this, skip past Straight Out The Jungle, Black Is Black, Behind The Bush and countless other classics and go to the final tune on the record ... Then just kick back and listen to it because this for me is rap music at its finest ... The loop is so distinctive and strong it is ridiculous - If anyone knows where it is sampled from please let me know - and the rhyming is clean and to the point with a little bragging and boasting but not too much ... The cutting at the end of the track is totally wicked too and I just love the way they let the music run on for a while after the rhyming has finished which was such a rare thing at the time and something that in later years The RZA made an art form out of ... On top of all that pay attention to Q Tip as this was one of the first times he appeared on wax and even at such an early stage you could tell the man was a don ...

Italo unexplored regions

　アフロ・コズミック・シーンの紹介を通じて、21世紀に入りやっと世界に知られることとなった、80年代イタリアン・ディスコの秘境。そのうちのひとつ、伝説的ディスコ＜タイフーン＞でレジデントを務めていたベッピ・ローダのリエディット／リミックス・シリーズ・レア音源集5枚が、最近日本で再発された。コズミック的な低いBPMのシンセ・トリップから、ニュー・ウェーヴのアレンジ、アフロや中近東的なミクスチャー音楽、ブラジリアンの45RPM、バトゥカーダのロング・エディットなどなど、DJ的な自由な発想と豊かな音楽ヴァリエーションに、感動と驚きの連続！
　このプロジェクトをコーディネートしたのは、陰鬱になることなくディスコの歴史を軽やかに分け入って行く、シスコ・ハウス店名バイヤー、ドクター・ニシムラ。活動の素晴らしさは、1バイヤーとしての範疇を完全に超えていると思う。
　ベッピ・ローダのインタヴューはコチラにて。

http://www.cisco-records.co.jp/docs/topics/house/beppeloda_interview_english.php