You Ain't Nothing But A Hound Dog

Sometimes, just like my boys at Twelve Bar, you have to take things back to the source. I myself have been undergoing something of a Blues renaissance recently in my listening pleasures and felt that it was apt to share with you news of a tune that may other wise go criminally unnoticed. "Make It Funky" by Chicago Blues legend Hound Dog Taylor is one of the finest live cuts you will ever come across and drips sweaty funk from its every note. Released as part of the posthumous live album "Beware of the Dog" in 1975, this tune is just a gem built around Taylor's slashing slide guitar and is one of those live recordings that make you wish you were there in person. The good vibes really do fly out of the speaker and I urge you to track it down. Taylor's backing band, the House Rockers, only consisted of two men, guitarist Brewer Phillips and drummer Ted Harvey, but such is the energy that it feels like the stage is packed with jamming good-time musicians. It is raucous, frenetic, controlled, loose and tight all at the same time but comes together to form an imperfectly perfect whole. Sound confusing? Listen to the track and it will all become clear.

What's There To Say, There's Not Much To Talk About

We all have favourite intros to tunes, those opening bars that bring with them the unbridled joy at what is to aurally unfold. Hip-hop often has its skits, a la the answer phone messages over rolling beats for Biggie's One More Chance, or countless others - The bassline that kicks off Tribe's Scenario, anyone? Anyway, I digress slightly, as the intro I wanted to mention today is not from rap's bulging canon, but from one of the world's smoothest singers, sadly no longer with us. Of course I'm talking about Luther, and particularly the intro to Give Me The Reason. How incredible is it as the understated but somehow dramatic keyboard, bass and drums are overlaid by Luther's swooping and swooning vocals. Luther really does have the smoothest vocal styling, and this is one of his finest moments. The intro serves as a perfect precursor to the rest of the tune, a heart-felt ode to broken love, and if you don't already know this track, and this album, you really do need to get involved. The king of modern 80s R&B without doubt, and such a rich catalogue to explore. In fact, that reminds me, how amazing is the intro to Never Too Much....

New York New York

What do you do when you have 36 hours in the world’s most hectic city and a million things to do? Well let me tell you - You run around like a madman getting soaking wet in the pouring rain but somehow manage to get loads of stuff done!!! First stop was Brooklyn and who is the first person I see when I get off the subway – Yup the one and only Englishman in New York, Fatsarazzi, who was in town with the Exposure crew for the Hennessy party with Kanye West.













After a good catch up with Fats it was off to the offices of King Stampede & Boundless to catch up with the crew over there. Not only are these guys killing it with the new King Stampede line which looks fresh to death but they are also building a physical Boundless retail store to support their crazy online business (http://www.boundlessny.com/) which is due to open in Brooklyn any minute now and is going to take the game in the 718 to a new level.

Nick took a little time out to brave the cold and show myself and Greg from Mishka how the outside of the store is going to look.














Inside the office Mikol was looking a little weary at the end of a long day which I think was continuing from the day before if you know what I mean (!) so after blessing me with some wicked gear including the King Stampede New Era which is one of the best fitteds I have seen in a while it was time to get out of there and head back across the bridge.














Back in Manhattan it was straight to Complex Magazine to see Bradley to discuss a few forthcoming projects.














Then I went upstairs to see some of my crew who are now running things at Ecko. Rex and his brother are two of the most talented illustrators you will ever meet which you can probably tell if you have seen the recent Zoo York decks they designed and Chip is just an all-round don! Watch out for big things from these guys in the 07.




























As the rain continued to pour I jumped in a taxi and dashed downtown to The Reed Space to pay a quick visit to Nico and Jeff. Nico was rocking the dopest North Face jacket I have ever seen which surprise surprise was released in Japan only and, after spotting me in the Adult Section of a bookshop in Tokyo, Jeff very kindly added to my magazine collection with a few of his favorites which I am guessing he won’t want back.



























From the Lower East Side I then rolled to the East Village to meet with my boy Eddie B who runs the US side of Barely Breaking Even (http://www.bbemusic.com/) to discuss some forthcoming Twelve Bar and BBE projects which are in the pipeline for next year.














Last but definitely not least, after spending way too much time with way too many guys, I hooked up with my girl Mae for some amazing dumplings before leaving only I am not sure if she enjoyed them as much as I did!















London is calling. More tomorrow.

From Cali To New York

It seems like I am spending all day everyday at the moment apologizing to everyone and I owe all the readers of A Story To Tell quite possibly the biggest apology of all as I have been neglecting my duties over the past week. This is due to the fact that I took a few days out from the game to get some rest but I’m back now like the Mayor of California in Total Recall so get ready.

For those of you who could well be wondering why on earth I needed some time out, I can assure you it’s not all play in the world of Twelve Bar and my last day in LA just over a week ago was a pretty tough one as I had to get up damn early around 10 o’clock and make my way over to the offices of Digital Gravel (http://www.digitalgravel.com/) for a meeting of the minds with the guys there. When it comes to online clothing boutiques, Digital Gravel pretty much have the game on lock and Nima and his crew are true pioneers. From humble origins in New York, these guys now have a huge warehouse set up in LA and are taking things to the next level and it was a pleasure to catch up with them.

John was putting on a brave face for a Friday morning after a long week whilst Nima looked a little weary but you would too after 5 days of ensuring that thousands and thousands of parcels are sent to their rightful owners within 24 hours of being ordered.














In LA, it’s all about family so it was all good when The Hundreds (www.thehundreds.com) up to join in the discussion although Dame Ca$h wasn’t too impressed with Ben’s poor attempts to talk on the phone and take part in a conversation at the same time.













Scotty and Nima’s younger brother who is the biggest hustler you will ever meet threw their five cents in to let the old-timers know what’s really up today













And then Brett from Estate LA arrived on the scene too to kick it.













After 3 hours of intense discussion about pressing issues such as whether all-over print hoodies are the new Dunk SBs I was exhausted so it was time to head back to Fairfax to chill out a little and rest the brain cells. As it was Friday afternoon everyone was out on the street and the one and only Sal Barbier, fresh from his first day of karate class, wanted to practise some moves on Scotty. The first involved Sal grabbing Scotty forcibly by the wrist.














This was then followed by an attempted roundhouse to the face which didn’t quite turn out as Sal intended but I’m not going to be picking any fights with him when we next hang out.














I then had to pack my bags and after a few days out of the mix I arrived in New York late on Sunday. Within minutes of touching down I found myself in the heart of the Lower East Side with Catzie from Dork Mag (http://www.dorkmag.com/) for an interview who was very patient with my tired self.














After a couple of coffees and more than a few challenging questions as Catzie is one journalist who seriously does her homework I had to bounce so we took a couple of pictures and then I was out.



























How dope are Catzie’s Air Max 90 IDs. I think I am going to ask her to do my next pair for me!

Believe The Hype

So, again, a young prodigy enters the stage for real, and the hype machine blows up with tales of a true heir to the throne of hip-hop's finest, as opposed to another plumped up pretender. But on the evidence of Monday night's show here in London town, and the strength of rhyming that we have all known for a while from his official long player (leaked a few weeks back), it appears to this writer that Lupe Fiasco could well be the real deal. Helped by unusually crisp sound quality at the intimate Islington Academy, Mr. Fiasco delivered a humdinger of a show with biting lyrics, incredible delivery and an energetic and captivating stage presence. The story of his trials and tribulations with labels is a familiar hip-hop tale to a degree, and can be found easily elsewhere, but it appears that the Jigga man has done well to stick by this particular talent from Chi-town who he first signed up over three years ago. It is highly unlikely that Lupe would have ever slipped through the cracks completely, as his skills, and crucially his writing, are clearly a cut above the current crop vying for the crown of "most likely to". But this show just confirmed it. I don't know what they are putting in the Chicago water at the moment, but the Windy City is blowing hard, and it's far from hot air.

Brand New And Heavy

I've never really known how many people own, or are into, one of my favourite albums of all time. It certainly isn't something you hear out and about a great deal, nor tend to see in people's collections. I don't even know whether to describe it as an album, or a mix-tape, or a compilation. Heavy Rhyme Experience Volume 1 is a hip-hop concept album from 1992, featuring British retro funksters the Brand New Heavies on live instrumental backing, and the cream of that age's rap and dancehall on vocals, released through Delicious Vinyl. It only consists of ten songs, but these ten songs are arguably some of the finest cuts from one of rap's true golden ages, and the line-up is just sick: Main Source, Gangstarr, Grand Puba, Masta Ace, Jamal-ski, Kool G Rap, Black Sheep, Ed O.G, Tiger, and last, but certainly not least, the first vinyl cut from the mighty Pharcyde (this live version of Soul Flower preceded Bizarre Ride's release by a few months, and is simply stunning). What is best about this album is that it is a concept that has been executed perfectly, with skills and integrity all round. In a genre that has always been dominated by samples, this collection stands out a mile. If you can find it, check it out and I promise you won't be disappointed.

Freestylin'

First of all apologies to everyone for the lack of updates. Due to a combination of not eating or drinking for 25 hours and forgetting to pack a certain cable in my bag I haven’t been able to transfer the pictures from my camera to my computer until now but hopefully it will be worth the wait …

I’ve been going to San Diego for a long time now but it wasn’t until this weekend that I found out exactly how they get down over there. As soon as I arrived in town I was greeted by Yons and AJ of the ShitYeahs! who didn’t stop smiling all weekend.













Our first stop was this crazy Japanese restaurant called Ebisu where within five minutes the drinks were flowing and we linked up with Aly of Fiberops and Eric who runs one of San Diego’s freshest boutiques Unsteady.













Then Mr 5 & A Dime himself, Jay Dread, showed up with a few ladies to get the party started right.













With half of San Diego’s female population in tow, Jay led the charge to his regular Friday night jump-off downtown where he cut up everything from classic 70s Soul to 80s Brit-Pop and tore the place apart.













The 5 & A Dime family were up in the club getting down and Aly and Yons had to give me their toughest stares to keep me off the dancefloor.













At around 2.00 AM it was time for me to go home but I ended up getting caught up for about two hours on the sidewalk when I should have been asleep catching up with old friends Damon who is heading up to the Bay to work as the new A&R man at ABB Records and Maria who is now at American Apparel.

























After way too little sleep it was time to head back out again and party at the One Year Anniversary for Commissary. Andrew, the man behind both Commissary and Invisible Man, was obviously there running things and very kindly gave me the sickest Commissary tee which will be getting rocked this week.













Snapping at Andrew’s heels was Commissary’s most infamous employee who turned up with her b*tch at her side and was giving it a lot of mouth before Scotty from The Hundreds managed to quieten her down with a sharp kick in the shins.


























Angeline, quite possibly the cutest DJ on the planet, then arrived and was representing Twelve Bar to the fullest and, as the Sunday night jam wound down, Maria was generous enough to drive me home as it was looking like a really long walk.













San Diego really is the business and thanks to everyone for all their hospitality. It was smiles all round right until I jumped on the train back to LA.