The first of a two-part series, Dta Wan Awk Jer Dta Wan Dtok: Cha Bap Nueng showcases lost 45s, dating from the 60s and 70s, that have been unearthed here in The Land of Smiles. This session features sounds ranging from Luk-Thueng, roots-funk grooves from Isaan to Morlam-influenced arrangements played on the phin, khaen and sor to offbeat-disco dance scorchers to who knows what is coming out of my speaker. Thick horn lines, traditional percussion and string elements, deep bass lines, and intriguing vocals. The tunes are originals, covers, and adapted covers that were formed by the hybrid of Western-influenced sounds and instrumentation, and the native, traditional sounds of Thailand.
This massive collection features every track Bob Marley & The Wailers recorded for Lee Perry’s Upsetter label and features fellow Wailers Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingstone on lead vocals as well as Reggae legends U-Roy, Dave Barker, Big Youth and more. The cigarette-style flip box includes all known vocal, Dub, DJ, instrumental and alternative versions and clocks in with 110 tracks spanning 6 discs.
Collective Efforts is a crew out of Atlanta, GA that was formed out of the ashes of Live on Arrival and has been laying down positive hip-hop vibes for the better part of a decade. The crew originally consisted of three MCs and a DJ, but they’ve recently expanded their entourage to include an eclectically-influenced backing band where each member brings something unique to the table giving the crew a more dynamic and full sound.
Check the free single, “Crazy Things”, off their upcoming full length, Freezing World, set to be released on February 16th on 1320 Records. (Simply add the free track to your cart, sign up, then select the download preference of your choice.)
Check the mash-up of “The Dream” feat. Senor Kaos, off Freezing World, and “Sleepyhead” by Passion Pit mixed by Athens, GA DJ and Collective Efforts member Immuzikation.
The crew made an appearance on the 11Alive (Atlanta’s NBC affiliate) morning show last week to perform a few songs. Check the video below and be on the lookout for the unedited footage to come out sometime relatively soon.
Diggin’ the vibes you heard above. Don’t sleep on two of their earlier works. Crucial additions to your crates.
This dish was finally served up a few weeks ago. Feast on the vibes of Studies in Hunger featuring Dillon on the mic and Paten Locke on the beats. Hella tasty.
This past January, Jamaican-music lovers lost two very important figures. Lynn Taitt (1934-2010), the Trinidad-born guitarist who was critical in the development of the Rocksteady sound of the late ’60s that would go on to form the basis of Reggae, and Vivian “Yabby You” Jackson (1946-2010), who laid down some of the most wicked Roots and Dub vibes ever recorded during the late ’70s and early ’80s. Both will be sorely missed, but their music will surely live on forever. Jah bless!
In every corner of the globe, we are polluting, diverting, pumping, and wasting our limited supply of fresh water at an expediential level as population and technology grows. The rampant overdevelopment of agriculture, housing and industry increase the demands for fresh water well beyond the finite supply, resulting in the desertification of the earth.
Corporate giants force developing countries to privatize their water supply for profit. Wall Street investors target desalination and mass bulk water export schemes. Corrupt governments use water for economic and political gain. Military control of water emerges and a new geo-political map and power structure forms, setting the stage for world water wars.
We follow numerous worldwide examples of people fighting for their basic right to water, from court cases to violent revolutions to U.N. conventions to revised constitutions to local protests at grade schools. As Maude Barlow proclaims, “This is our revolution, this is our war”. A line is crossed as water becomes a commodity. Will we survive?
After nearly a half century, Ella Fitzgerald’s Twelve Nights In Hollywood finally sees the light of day. It’s an unprecedented release showcasing 73 completely-unreleased live recordings from Ella in her relaxed, absolute prime.
For Twelve Nights In Hollywood, Verve Select dug into the vault to collect the best of her performances across her extended 10-night 1961 engagement at Los Angeles’ Crescendo Club and her two-night return engagement the following year, presenting an unforgettable experience that puts you right in the front seat at the club. It includes several tracks never before heard by Ella live, tracks she had just recorded or had yet to record in the studio, and old chestnuts she revisited in a fresh way. There have been several Ella live albums, but this is indeed unlike any other.
Ella Fitzgerald – Twelve Nights in Hollywood; Hip-O Select, 2010
Grabbed lunch earlier this week at Laem Pakarang (Cape Coral). Chill spot that is about five minutes from my house in Kuk Kak, Phang Nga. Relaxed at the small restaurant at the end of the tree line. Interesting to walk around that area since the entire cape is covered with rocks and dead coral. Here’s a glimpse of what you’d see there.
Incredible sounds from the collaboration of masterful Guzheng composer/performer Bei Bei He and the prolific musician/producer Shawn Lee. Read more about the introductory limited-edition 10″ EP, Beauty and the Beats, which features two non-LP cuts of “Make Me Stronger”, an instrumental version and a remix by Floating Points, here and read more about the full length, Into the Wind, here.
Afro-Punk explores race identity within the punk scene and tackles the hard questions such as issues of loneliness, exile, interracial dating and black power. It follows the lives of four people who have dedicated themselves to the punk rock lifestyle. They find themselves in conflicting situations, living the dual life of a person of color in a mostly white community.
The documentary laces interviews from scores of black punk rockers from all over the nation with scenes from our four protagonists’ lives. They each come from different regions, generations, genders and sexual preferences, but their stories are amazingly similar. Thousands more with similar tales exist throughout the world to form a subculture within a subculture.
The Afro-Punk movement presently exists as an online community at afropunk.com and also as a festival that tours throughout the country and abroad spread the messages of unity contained within the full-length feature. Support it when it comes to your town.
The hi-fi was on fire last nite with Madlib’s latest joint. Got outta control when that remix of “Kill ‘Em” dropped. Can’t wait to see what’s to come in the next 11! volumes.
To listen to Dancing Drums is to imagine the bazaars and markets of Bombay being seismically unsettled by the drums and the bass of sample freaks and ambidextrous turntabla-ists. It is an album that provides any number of routes to an infinite amount of journeys and has been described as “an epic of explosive percussion and crafty melody lines”.
Badmarsh and Shri’s first collaborative effort for Outcaste Records bridges decades, genres and cultures. Breakbeats are coaxed, pulped, rearranged and deranged. As new forms become old norms and progressive beatmastery overshadows the soul of songwriting, Badmarsh and Shri have achieved the constantly craved, yet rarely attained accolade of creating an album that is intense without the pretense, and funky without the superficiality.
From Jackie Mittoo to Winston Wright, the organ players of the day would version top songs in their own manner. Presented here are five classic JA/UK reggae tracks versioned by the organ of today, Roger Rivas of the mighty Aggrolites!
