arizona, hip-hop, remix

Z-Trip blends Gnarls Barkley: “Crazy Good Times”

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Has Crazy lost its mojo yet? I had to chuckle when I heard it was played on Phoenix radio station, KEZ-FM (99.9), whose tagline is “The most soft rock!” (Underline and exclamation point are theirs, not mine.). I guess you could argue that Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse created a ubiquitous song that appeals to all ages. But the thought of my mom jammin’ out to Crazy in her car on the way to work really makes me laugh.

Regardless, Gnarls Barkley apparently provided DJ Z-Trip the vocals exclusively, which Z blended with Chic’s Good Times. He’s streaming it at his MySpace.

If you missed it, I posted on Z-Trip earlier this week. Like, two days ago. (Shut up, Ben.)

hip-hop, remix

Mr. Lif: “Brothaz (9th Wonder remix)”

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Remixes have long vexed me: gratuitous overexposure of a song or worthwhile artistic endeavor? (My co-hort Royce is rolling his eyes as he reads this.) I know remixes have their place in deejays’ crates and the dance clubs. But casual listening is another story.

I don’t necessarily think a remix waters down an original, but it certainly might steal some of its thunder. That depends, of course, on the producers behind it. On this track, though, off Mr. Lif’s 2006 release Mo’ Mega, I’m coming around to see the value of different production.

The original version of Brothaz is produced by El-P, who never (as far as I know) has made a soft beat. It holds true here, his gritty, concrete style complementing Lif’s political diatribes.

Then there’s the remix by 9th Wonder, whose responsible for the production on one of my favorite albums of the year in Murs’ Murray’s Revenge. On Brothaz, he takes the edge off – it’s more soul than street. It’s debatable whether the style fits with the Important Message Lif is trying to get across, but a remix is probably more about what the producer can do than the emcee.

Mr. Lif | Brothaz (original)
Mr. Lif | Brothaz (9th Wonder remix)

arizona, hip-hop, radio rips

DJ Z-Trip live on Power 106

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We make no bones about it: We’re major, unabashed fans of all things Z-Trip around here. You might have noticed that before.

As promised, he’s keeping his Web site fresh with updates and downloads. The latest download is a live mix he did for Los Angeles radio station Power 106, which apparently recorded it and provided a copy for Z-Trip. Fair warning: It’s a large file (75.5 mb) and it’s taped off a radio show, so you’ll hear those somewhat annoying drops during the mix (“P-P-P-P-P-Power 106 … Where hip-hop lives!”). That said, it could be worse: The station couldn’t have made it available at all. You know, beggars can’t be choosers.

As to be expected, Z’s devotees have partial playlists of the tracks he uses in the blend on his forum. I’m sort of shocked at how well the Maroon 5 This Love/Nas Made You Look mix goes together.

Z dropped in on one thread to explain that the mixes were done on vinyl, although (and this is kind of surprising) he’s breaking into the world of mp3 mixing with Serato Final Scratch, which my boy Jay has, and it’s pretty damn cool. As Jay said, Z-Trip can do things on vinyl that amateurs can’t even do on Serato. Give him mp3s and the possibilities are potentially endless. In Z-Trip’s own words: “… trying to work it in, but still very much on the vinyl side … But yeah, I’m embracing it slowly.”

DJ Z-Trip | Live on Power 106

radio rips

Cold War Kids, Dr. Dog, Elvis Perkins on KEXP

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Having recently been more than slightly obsessed with Elvis Perkins’ beautiful track While You Were Sleeping (mp3s at his site), I didn’t quite know what to make of his touring with the Cold War Kids and Dr. Dog (the latter of which I admittedly know nothing about).

From what I’ve heard, Perkins exudes a hushed, introspective tone; Cold War Kids have a more outgoing, blues style. I suppose stranger tour pairings have been hatched, with successful results at that. Then this KEXP session from Tuesday went ahead and squashed whatever aspirations I had of being any sort of concert promoter; seriously, what the hell do I know?

Each band played two of its own songs, but, by the sound of it, I think were assisted by just about every musician in the room. (If that sounds like I’m asking KEXP nicely to add video to its in-studio performances, you’re probably right.) This version of Cold War Kids’ Saint John, aided by an upright bass, is soulful and full of life; that bassline just grounds the whole affair, no matter how many musicians are whistling or clanging away on cymbals.

But my favorite track of the session is How’s Forever Been Baby by Perkins, who sometimes plays with his band, Elvis Perkins in Dearland. His voice walks this fine line of being peaceful, haunting and comforting. A self-released CD, Ash Wednesday, is available at Insound.

Be sure to visit KEXP’s blog.

Dr. Dog, Elvis Perkins, Cold War Kids, live on KEXP (9/12/06):

1. California (Dr. Dog)
2. Die, Die, Die (Dr. Dog)
3. How’s Forever Been Baby (Elvis Perkins)
4. Doom’s Day (Elvis Perkins)
5. Expensive Tastes (Cold War Kids)
6. Saint John (Cold War Kids)

Meanwhile, file under EERIE: When I last posted Cold War Kids performing on KEXP in June, I also wrote a couple lines about Elvis Perkins’ While You Were Sleeping, a totally unrelated and, now it appears, bizarre coincidence.

video

Baby Dayliner: “The Morning Sun” video

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Ah, Baby Dayliner. He’s threatening to become the most-posted-about artist at this here site if he’s not careful. That’s a good sign, though, because it means his 2006 release, Critics Pass Away (Brassland), is enduring as one of my favorites this year.

It also means I’ve outgrown my very initial impression that his stylish loungey vibe is some sort of cheap shtick. Critics Pass Away shows Baby Dayliner (aka Ethan Marunas) as a strangely endearing romantic – kinda campy, a little cheesy, but warm and infectious.

The video for The Morning Sun, an unreleased track, certainly isn’t a breakthrough in cinematic achievement; it was shot near a pool behind his home in Brooklyn as he performed the song. But the sunbathers, floating lazily in the background in the pool, seem to capture the breezy horns and laid-back attitude of the track.

The single (and sort of unsteady) camera angle captures Baby Dayliner, slicked back hair and all, standing next to this above-ground pool, singing away to nobody in particular, as if he does this sort of thing every day in his backyard (and maybe he does).

Critics Pass Away is available at eMusic, as is the entire Brassland stock, which includes the back catalog of the National, for whom Baby Dayliner is opening some West Coast dates.

An mp3 of The Morning Sun is available at Music (For Robots).

Related
10 questions with Baby Dayliner.
Baby Dayliner Silent Places video.

hip-hop, remix

The Gray Kid feat. My Brightest Diamond: “Bang”

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Can I get a holla for my boy Ben, who gave me the heads up on this track from the Gray Kid?

Born Steve Cooper, the Gray Kid is, from what I can gather, a one-man show: producer, DJ, emcee. He’s a rapper and a soul enthusiast, evident in the track Lonely Love. He goes from soul-inspired falsetto crooning in one verse to bad-ass emcee the next.

Bang is a “vocal mashup,” taking the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Bang and mashing it with B-52 and Nas vocals from My Brightest Diamond and himself. I’ve sort of grown tired of mashups, but this is cool because the Gray Kid is mixing reworked vocals, not the originals. It gives the whole thing a twist.

World’s Fair Label Group has all the latest on the Gray Kid, including a pretty hilarious video flyer. And the Gray Kid keeps a well-written and humorous blog: The Gray Kid Says.

The Gray Kid feat. My Brightest Diamond | Bang
The Gray Kid | Lonely Love

hip-hop

Masta Killa: “Made in Brooklyn”

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Man, my wife makes me crack up, even when she doesn’t mean to. We were in the car yesterday, rockin’ out to Ghostface’s Fishscale. I said that I wondered how many of the original Wu-Tang members showed up for a Phoenix concert in early August. (The only time I saw them like nine years ago, about half the Clan was missing.) So, Annie says, in all seriousness, “Are they still accepting new members?” It sounded like question for a country club: “Excuse me, Mr. RZA, are you still taking applications for this Wu-Tang Clan?”

Far as I know, Wu-Tang still consists of its original nine members (minus, ODB, of course, R.I.P.) with its extended family (Killah Priest, Cappadonna, etc.). It’s been a pretty busy year what with Fishscale, Method Man’s 4:21 The Day After and Inspectah Deck’s Resident Patient released this year. But the album that’s really taken me aback, if only because of his more anonymous status among Wu-Tang members, is Masta Killa’s Made in Brooklyn (Nature Sounds).

With appearances by all Wu members (of course), Made in Brooklyn also features production from MF Doom and the inimitable Pete Rock. Without the benefit of liner notes (I bought it at eMusic), I’m not sure of all emcee/production credits, which is too bad because the album’s first cut, Then & Now, features kids rapping – and rapping pretty damn tight, too.

But, no doubt, the hottest track is Iron God Chamber, a low-down, dirty jam with a choppy electric guitar sample that inspires recollections of what made Wu-Tang so great in the first place. (John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats describes the beat, correctly, as “tinny and oily.”) RZA’s turn is a little clumsy, but U-God, Method Man and Masta Killa make up for that, dropping verses succinctly timed to that disciplined beat. (Or, as my man Royce said, and I think Wu-Tang should use this for press releases: “I just punched myself in the face it’s so good.”)

For the first time in awhile, I was compelled to dust off 36 Chambers and Forever. Even with no production from Wu architect RZA, Made in Brooklyn has that distinct Wu-Tang sound. No matter the release, every Wu project feels … different. The production is polished but still raw, grimy; it never forgets where it came from: that’s to say, 36 Chambers, of course.

If you haven’t visited, the Wu-Tang Web site has mad downloads available.

Made in Brooklyn is available at eMusic.

Masta Killa (feat. U-God, Method Man, RZA) | Iron God Chamber

BONUS: Method Man | O.D.
(Bonus track off 4:21)

general

The old lady

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In a first for this blog, my wife, Annie, is going to post something. In fact, I’m going to write this little introduction and leave the room and let her write. Now I know what it’ll be like on the other side, when she’s in bed, long asleep, while I’m still clacking away at the keyboard. Enjoy!

Hi. Right now Kevin is looking in the mirror saying, “Hi, I’m 29” over and over. That’s right it’s my favorite blogger’s birthday. He was a little shy in telling everyone so here I am. Don’t worry it’s not going to be a totally cheesey confession of my love for him, nor am I going to try and post on my own musical tastes. I wouldn’t want the traffic of people googling “chick + rock + ok + lesbian” coming to sms. But, I will let all of you know that Kevin has been letting people know what he’s listening to and what is really good music for quite some time. When we first started dating back in the summer of ’96 he made me a little mix tape to sweeten the relationship. I was expecting the usual slow dance Alphaville-ish music that boys use to tell girls how they really feel. Granted, Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On was the first song but there were so many other gems on there. So this post is a little tribute to the guy that had me at Good, Passin Me By and 100 Ways. I still have that cassette somewhere in a box labeled KEVO that has traveled with me since. Happy Birthday, Kevin.

Morphine | Good
The Pharcyde | Passing Me By
Porno for Pyros | 100 Ways

Plus, since I’m such a good wife I got him this for his birthday!

UPDATE: Whoa. That was awesome. I watched the end of Die Hard with a glass of Stella Artois in hand: “Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker.” I should let Annie post more often.

I can’t believe I put that Marvin Gaye track on there. What a tool. What can I say? I needed to cut to the chase.

hip-hop, i used to love h.e.r.

I Used to Love H.E.R.: Joel Hatstat of Cinemechanica

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The second installment of I Used to Love H.E.R., a series in which artists/bloggers/writers discuss their most essential hip-hop albums (introduction), comes from Joel Hatstat, who played bass and recorded on Cinemechanica’s The Martial Arts, which was released earlier this year to positive reviews (Pitchfork | Coke Machine Glow | Tiny Mix Tapes). Hatstat, also working with Athens, Ga., project Pegasuses, offers incredibly insightful and inspiring thoughts on a terribly overlooked album of the ’90s. (Coincidentally, Cinemechanica plays at Modified in Phoenix on Oct. 3.)

Digital Underground
Sex Packets (Tommy Boy, 1990)
(Note: Cassette version includes four bonus tracks.)

“I don’t credit myself as a thief, but sometimes you just gotta grab what grabs at you, right? Sometime in 1990, when I was about 10, it struck me that rockin’ some tunes while mowing the lawn would make for a far more pleasurable experience. The only tape I knew about in the house, aside from various Weird Al records, was my brother’s copy of Sex Packets by Digital Underground. I didn’t know where it was, so I rifled through a few of his drawers in his bedroom until I found it. I never gave it back, and he never knew what happened to it. To this day I still rock that record and it still comes across as listenable and entertaining.

“Sex Packets was not only my introduction to Digital Underground, but also P-Funk, Jimi Hendrix, and Rap Music in general. The underlying brand of their ‘crew’ was impeccable. There was character depth; verses flowed from Humpty Hump, Shock G, Money B, Kenny K, MC Blowfish, Schmoovy Schmoove, and later Tupac Shakur. There were stupid costumes, party-tinged videos, and high concept. The “Sex Packets” themselves served as the vehicle for the entire album, as well as the 9-minute songs with bridges, verses, choruses and jazzy piano interludes. The best part of their style was that the characters and the music didn’t really seem to fit anywhere in the context of what was popular. Extreme, EMF, Guns and Roses and Scorpions are probably more in line with what was playing in my room at the time. To hear a Hendrix guitar line scratched on a turntable over top of a kickin’ 808 beat really made everything else just seem pointless. Then to pour a bucket of cred onto the whole mess, 7 minutes into Doowutchyalike the Packet Man comes in and shreds some of the nastiest piano I’ve heard for about 2 minutes over top of just straight beat. There is melody all over this record, there is even a slowjam that is sung instead of rapped. I haven’t heard a rap crew come forward with so much versatility and respect for music in the 15 years since its release. It set a bar long ago that I strive to achieve with all of my projects, most of which have nothing to do with the genre whatsoever.”

Peace, and Humptiness forever,

joel

Digital Underground | Doowutchyalike

Previously:
I Used to Love H.E.R.: G. Love
I Used to Love H.E.R.: an introduction

general, hip-hop

Fat Jon and Styrofoam: “The Same Channel”

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With styles rooted in drums, bass and beats, it seems like there should be more collaborations between hip-hop and electronica artists. I’ve said before that I have a hard time swallowing electronic music on its own, so any element of hip-hop mixed in makes it more palatable for me.

That’s the case with The Same Channel, an album bringing together Fat Jon, of Cincinnati’s Five Deez, and Styrofoam, a Belgian electronic artist from the Morr Music camp. Judging by the press pictures, I’m not sure there could be two more, uh, different-looking guys (I’ll give you one guess who the Belgian electronic artist is in that photo).

Musically, the pairing is a natural fit. In my estimation, what makes this work is Fat Jon’s lyrical delivery. He’s not breathy nor does he struggle to keep pace with drums at a faster BPM. You can’t even hear him catch his breath in between rhymes, an annoying trait of some MCs (*cough* Kanye West *cough*). Fat Jon’s seamless flow is a great complement to the spaced-out compositions by Styrofoam, who also remixed Jimmy Eat World’s Drugs or Me for the Stay On My Side Tonight EP.

The Same Channel comes out Oct. 17 on Morr Music. Check out Fat Jon and Styrofoam on MySpace, where they’re streaming three tracks.

Fat Jon + Styrofoam | Runnin’ Circles

Also, homeboy Ben has the deliciously campy video for Space Gangsta, also off The Same Channel.