DMC visits Hollis, Queens

from The Wall Street Journals WalkAbout NY series, DMC giving a tour of his old Hollis neighbourhood... seriously cool vid.  Hat tip The Couch Sessions

Sha Rock autobiography

Sha Rock - autobiography of the 1st female hiphop MC...
You can buy The Story Of The Beginning and End Of The First Hip Hop Female MC...Luminary Icon by Sha-Rock of The Funky Four Plus One on Amazon. Hat tip to Diff Kitchen

YMO Tighten up

Yellow Magic Orchestra on Soul Train, doing Tighten up, the Archie Bell & the Drells tune. Check out the random dancing Japanese dude in suit. And the interview at the end is pretty funny. Hat tip to my fellow BaseFM DJ Nabeel for this. Killer.



Bonus - footage from YMO's first US gig, at the Greek Theatre, complete with cheesy MC's intro.

Rap map

Via Sedgwick and Cedar blog: "This new Google Maps-based web app called The Rap Map shows placemarks for major locations in Hip Hop. From Mos Def’s childhood home in Brooklyn to 2Pac’s Elementary school in Baltimore, the map is slowly expanding it’s reach as users suggest locations. The app was created by Rap Genius, a website dedicated to the history, meanings and stories rooted in Hip Hop lyrics."

Essential Mixes

From the BBC Essential Mixes show, archives going back to 1993. Search by genre, stream or download, plus full track listing. Carl Cox, Greg Wilson, Mr Scruff, Norman Jay, Freddy Fresh, Andrew Weatherall, Daft Punk, Danny Krivit... all sorts.... Check it out here.

John Morales

Just came across this cool blog called Nerdy Frames, go have a look. There's a great interview with local talent Zowie (hat tip to Trevor for the link).

They also have a very cool interview with New York DJ and producer John Morales, who had a  bunch of his edits reissued earlier this year on BBE (pictured above).

IV excerpt... "In 1975, being a DJ , I realized that I wanted to make some of the records I liked to play longer in time. It was then that I saved my money and bought my first reel-to-reel tape and cassette recorder, which I still have today. The first re-edits I did were using the pause button on the cassette.




"I learned to edit tape after many hours of trial and error. In so doing, I became an expert on how and where to cut the tape to create all the effects I wanted. After editing several records to make them longer, I realized that I could achieve the same effect by mixing parts from different records. Thus, the basis for the medley was born.

"And the place to go get the edits mixes pressed was Sunshine Sound at 1650 Broadway in NY. For the next few years this is where I met many NY DJ’s and also met Greg Carmichael & Patrick Adams who gave me my start in the studio."

 

Read Nerdy Frame's John Morales interview here. There's also a free download of Universal Robot Band’s “Barely Breaking Even (Club Version)” at the end of the IV too.

Good Records NYC

Photo: Sarah DuBoys/Wax Poetics

Jonny Sklute (alternatively known under the handle Jonny Paycheck), [is] owner, clerk, and CEO of Good Records NYC... A risk management broker turned record dealer, Sklute launched his storefront venture in 2005, right alongside the storied and busy market of East Village/Lower East Side record stores: A-1, the Sound Library, Gimme Gimme.

In keeping your inventory as sleek and clean as the store, where do all of these records that are near mint thirty years later come from?

Records are everywhere. They are the effects of previous lives and lifestyles, sometimes filed away without a thought or played heavily. Records are kept near mint because either the owner didn't care about them at all or cared about them a whole lot.

Read the interview in full at Wax Poetics. 

Soul train

Read an interview with Soul Train's Don Cornelius here, at LA Times.He talks about the release of the 9-DVD set The Best Of Soul Train.

Google Music by xmas

That's according to this report from Hypebot. "Google is in final stage talks with labels to open a download store and a cloud-based song locker that would allow mobile users to play songs wherever they are. Google hopes to open its new music service before Christmas. Some label executives believe that Google Music will become the first real competitor to iTunes."

Ring The Alarm playlist, BaseFM, Sept 4

Derrick Morgan - I'm the rulerViceroys - Give it to him
Austin Faithful - I'm in a rocking mood
Dennis Bovell - Jah jah children - melodica version
Ragga twins - Shine eye
Issac Hayes - Zeke the freak - Todd Terje edit
Astrid Gilberto  -Black magic - Todd Terje edit
Fatback band - Wicky wacky
Ealzee - barefoot dub
Improvisators dub meets iration steppas - Wah wah 12" mix
Resonators - Sweet dub affair
Augustus Pablo - Iggy Iggy
Damian Marley  - Move
Ian Hird and Nambo - Universal horns
Fat freddys drop - The raft steppers dub
Barrington Levy - No fus nor fight
Kenny Dope - Supa
Dynamo productions - Breaking a channel
The Jackson sisters - I believe in miracles (remix)
Bill Withers - You got the stuff
Lyn Collins  - Mr bigstuff
Ernie K Doe - Her come the girls - Andy Smith and K5 reboot
Tyra and the tornadoes - Hui hui
Eru Dangerspiel - Chilli moules
El Michels affair -Yennecita
Naomi Shelton and the gospel queens - Trouble in my way
New mastersounds - Nervous  - Kenny Dope bonus beats remix
Lefties soul connection - Have love will travel
Unitone hifi - Sneeze off
Frankie Paul - Anytime

Bristol boom!

Copped these wicked tunes via Stinky Jim's blog Stink Inc (cheers, ears!) from Bristol beat bandito (as Jim calls him) Ealzee. Have a listen, then go grab them. He's also got remixes of MIA, Horace Andy, The Streets, and Matisyahu over on his Bandcampery. And if you like em, drop Ealzee a line - his email addy is listed under "For other inquiries" on the Bandcamp page.

Ealzee 'Remixes' from bandcamp

Look! It's the vinyl revival ! (Story #280)

If you're a regular visitor, you'll know how much I love this story. It's like the universal MSM  easy-pitch on the music industry, and it's a pleasant antidote to the usual "music industry is dying" stories from the media, which are often read as smug "look how bad they've got it" from an industry that is going thru difficult times too.

This story is from Oshawa, north of Toronto. Watch the video too - "We asked some civic leaders to tell us about the their first vinyl record they bought..." First up, the mayor. Choice.

Why does Oshawa local Connor Steele like vinyl? "I can keep them forever and I can pass them on to my children. Instead of downloading music, this is the real thing; the quality is better." Connor is 12. 
The beat goes on in Durham Region.


ADDED: Vinyl LP Manufacturing Continues to Increase

Freaky deaky

Wicked new video from Julien Dyne (Open Souls) off his debut solo album, Pins and Digits. Video by Mark Trethewey.