Just watched the trailer for I Am The Gorgon – Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee and the Roots of Reggae, a feature length documentary film to be released in late 2013, and my jaw dropped! Highly anticipating this one!
The film was directed by Diggory Kenrick and animated by James Stirzaker. Narration is provided by Dennis Alcapone and the film includes interviews with U Roy, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Sly and Robbie, Johnny Clarke, John Holt, Ken Boothe, Horace Andy, Cornell Campbell, Linval Thompson, Niney The Observer, Dillinger, Tappa Zukie, Prince Jazzbo, Derrick Morgan, King Jammy, Scientist and many many more…!
Inna Ruminations Stylee has been a long time comin’ since the last one (9 months to be exact and 8 months before that one). Minimal time gets spent on the Web clicking away reading/watching/listening to this, that and the other; however, here are a variety of things I bookmarked on random occasions since mid-2012.
Dust & Grooves = Awesome! The brainchild of Brooklyn-based Eilon Paz, the site is a photography and interview project documenting vinyl collectors in their most natural and intimate environment: the record room.
Looking forward to the book coming out at the end of the summer and hoping I’ll be able to get my hands on it. Check the site if you never have and make a contribution to their book project if you’d like via Kickstarter!
Landfill Harmonic is a heartfelt & moving story of how instruments made from recycled trash bring hope to children whose future is otherwise spiritless. Wonderful!
Watched Wattstax recently. Here’s The Crown Prince of Dance, Rufus Thomas, killin’ it back in ’72. Looks like a helluva party!
Check out the “Rap Quotes” street art project by Jay Shells. Brilliant!
Volker Schaner spent 13 years to create Vision of Paradise. It’s billed as “the unique, poetic, humorous and “prophetic” adventure with the legendary Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, the one movie that explains it all…” Highly anticipating this one!
“Straight from the Horse’s Mouth” is a series of shorts featured on Groundation’s website from Leroy ‘Horsemouth’ Wallace, legendary Jamaican drummer and also member of Rockamovya along with the Groundation crew and others. Excellent content!
Speaking of Groundation, I had their live version of “We Free Again” on loop for weeks earlier this year. The percussion laid down is wickedly on point. Powerful!
Listening to the massive sounds of “Give Thanks and Praise” by Yabby U & The Prophets while writing this post. Nice it up!
Never knew that Ernest Ranglin, Monty Alexander, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare joined together for the Jamaican Legends concerts in various spots held throughout last year. Thrilled to see these masters of their instruments together and to serve up some classics. Below are “Surfin’” and “Ram Jam” from Blue Note, Tokyo. Click here to see a full concert at the Pori Jazz Festival in Finland which features Tyrone Downie on the keys. Niceness!
Al Newman aka Al Fingers, who assembled the Greensleeves: First 100 Covers book a few years back, has delivered another book, Clarks in Jamaica, which focuses on the popularity of Clarks shoes in Jamaica. Looks interesting! Great to see this 2011 photograph of one of my deejay heroes, Jah Stitch. No Dread Can Dead!
Wanted to show my love and respect to Ossie Hibbert who moved on to a higher place in July 2012. The legendary keyboardist, pianist, arranger, composer and engineer played on countless tunes while with the following groups: The Aggrovators, Joe Gibbs and the Professionals, The Revolutionaries and Soul Syndicate. The cream of the crop in Jamaican music.
Take a listen to one of my favorites attributed directly to him as Ossie Hibbert & The Revolutionaries. The thunderous “War of the Stars” which is a dub version of Gregory Isaacs “Mr. Know It All”. Jah bless!
Been wanting to check out Last Shop Standing for a while now, but can’t seem to hunt it down. Send it my way if you have it!
The Lions dropped another platter recently and I couldn’t have been more thrilled to toss it on the turntable. Jungle Struttin’, recorded in an impromptu session over a few days mind you, was choice from start to finish and has been a favorite for years. This Generation follows suit with more boss vibrations and the notable difference being the inclusion of more vocal cuts. Favorite tracks that I keep dropping the needle on are “Revelations” and “Let’s Go Out Tonight”. Strictly boss sounds in my book!
Darryl Reeves, saxophonist and fellow ATLien, delivered The Dillaquarium Mixtape back in February to honor the late J Dilla. Stream it here or download it here.
Say what? New Lord Quas vibes droppin’ soon via the Yessir Whatever LP which showcases some tunes that were released on rare and out-of-print vinyl as well as others that were previously unreleased and have been mixed and mastered for the first time. Yessir!
Haven’t followed the NBA season in the least bit this year. No TV. Limited highlights. However, DeAndre Jordan’s monstrous jam didn’t slip past my radar. Nasty!
Always been a huge fan of of non-verbal films and time-lapse cinema. LovetheFrame delivers a stunning time-lapse short titled Desolation.
That’s about all I got for now. Hope all is well wherever you are! Guidance and blessings from Lamai, Koh Samui, Surat Thani, Thailand.
Been hooked on listening to people talk about records since watching the Crate Diggers videos. Waajeed of Platinum Pied Pipers (PPP) and Bling47 is the man behind these creations that feature various people associated with the great J Dilla chat it up about their favorite breaks chopped and served up by the master himself. Nearly every one of these videos will have you shakin’ your head and sayin’ damn as you find out the records that Dilla sampled from (all over the genre map) and, moreover, how amazing his ear was for music to pick up on such minimal sections of a song and then flip it into something that was straight bangin’. There’s a whole slew of videos, but here’s five to showcase. Definitely visit Bling47 to peep ‘em all!
Guess this was launched back in May, but I happened to just come across it this week.
The John Peel Centre for Creative Arts takes us on an interactive journey of John Peel’s record collection and the experience is astounding. Dumbfounded at the attention to detail put into this project and the level of content delivered. Crazy to think this is just a small insight into the full collection. Simply remarkable.
If you haven’t taken a gander, I suggest you budget hours for clicking away here and there. Reserve the first five minutes for scratching your head while trying to figure out just how long it took to compile something like this.
Loving the commentary throughout and laughed at being able to relate to some of the obsessions they mention as well as being a fiend for vibrations. While mine has largely been in formats other than vinyl (the ol’ crates of wax haven’t seen any additions since moving to Thailand), the feeling is mutual. Incredible collections featured here and would kill to be able to spend time sorting through these gold mines let alone chat it up with these legends while doing so.
Featured thus far are Pete Rock, Cut Chemist, Rich Medina, DJ Jazzy Jay, Z-Trip, Da Beatminerz, J. Rocc, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Just Blaze, Peanut Butter Wolf, and DJ Muggs to name the best. The two most recent episodes feature fellow ATLiens, DJ Toomp and Jermaine Dupri, and, while it’s enjoyable listening to them, here’s to hoping we get a glimpse of the collections from more notable diggers (in my eyes at least) like Madlib, Gerald Jazzman, Nobody, DJ Premier, Nardwuar, Ian Wright, DJ Shadow, Gilles Peterson, Paul Mawhinney, David Rodigan, Boss Harmony, DOOM and a bunch of others. I’ll be waiting to see what comes out next!
Finally processed and organized my collection of super-wide and panoramic shots, and selected some of my favorites to share over at the GoLdBricK Gallery! Enjoy a few below or click the link to view the entire album.
It’s been a helluva long time since I dropped a ruminations post. Eight months to be exact. Spent the latter part of last year at home in the U.S. and have been busy since my return with this, that and the other. However, the following things have crossed my path in past months. Some are more recent, some aren’t.
Antibalas are set to release their latest effort via Daptone on 7th August. If simply reading that wasn’t enough to give you goosebumps, then take a listen to edited-versions of “Sare Kon Kon” (Killer!) followed by “Dirty Money”. With an extended hiatus since Security, the crew shows they are clearly still in fine form.
This Is My Home is a short documentary on Manhattan resident Anthony Pisano. It highlights the treasures found in his apartment and his sincere warmth as a person. Just wonderful. Watched this one a while back, yet it hasn’t lost its charm in the least bit. Check it if you’ve never seen it!
Andrew Jervis, store clerk of the legendary Groove Merchant record store in San Francisco and A&R representative of Ubiquity Records, recently started up a new site titled The Sport of Selection. Head on over there for the Friday Night Session and other audio adventures. While grabbing the link, I just watched the Kutiman video below. Dope!
Counting the days til the new Lions records drops on Stones Throw. Check the preview track, “This Generation (Dub)”, and I’d kill to get my hands on the five-song sampler disc that dropped via Drip.fm. Someone send it if you got it! Vibe on the live sounds below. Niceness!
Take a look back into Yo! MTV Raps and the impact it had on culture and music around the world. Almost instantly when I see a reference to this show, “The 900 Number” by 45 King starts playing in my head. Classic moments throughout this video.
Gotta dish out some news from the hardwood. Didn’t follow the action from the Association in the least bit this year. The shortened schedule kicked off the day I left from the States to return to the Land of Smiles and I never checked any highlights online as the season progressed. Revisited the best moments as the playoffs got underway. Gerald Green’s windmill dunk and Blake Griffin’s superhuman jam were some of the nastiest I’ve seen. Insane!
NBA Slam Dunk Contest was totally lame this year. Weak participants doing weak as hell dunks. Here’s the “low”lights. Guess Jeremy Evans’ two-ball dunk was pretty dope, but that’s about it. Boo!
Congrats to Bron Bron for finally getting his ring. Certainly was rooting for the Heat to lose, but they deserved to take home the Larry O’Brien trophy. Still hate the way Miami’s ‘Big Three’ came together and the whole ‘Decision‘ thing, but King James is definitely one of the greatest hoops players ever and I’m glad he got his due. Gotta love the video below.
Check out NBA TV’s The Dream Team documentary of the 1992 USA men’s Olympic basketball team. Legendary hoops heroes who changed basketball on a global level. Fantastic memories of being a 12-year old and watching their incredible level of play, then trying to emulate it in my driveway. Great to relive the awesome moments and to hear the commentary on the squad’s experience.
Moving away from the hardwood to the blacktop, Doin’ It in the Parkdelivers a look into the culture that is streetball in New York City as Bobbito Garcia and Kevin Couliau take us on a journey to courts around the city. Another one I can’t wait to see!
Well, moving on to other non-hoops related ish…
Listening to U Black’s “Jammys A Do It”, a version to The Travellers “Poor Man Cry” platter while compiling this. Studio real hot girl as I would say! Murderous style!
Following Texas Thunder Soul (still waiting to see it!) comes another music documentary that is essential viewing. The story of Charles Bradley as told in Soul of America looks completely captivating!
Paris DJs has always had you covered on the audio front. Now, in conjunction with Fred Feuillet, of Full Power Prod, and interviewer Nicolas Ragonneau, they are serving up some stellar footage of musical happenings in Paris including recent performances by Céu, The Black Seeds and Neal Sugarman (below). Keep checking back for more. Also, be sure to check out the other stellar videos (Charles Bradley, Quantic, Belleruche, TM Juke & Jack Baker Trio) from Full Power Prod here.
Never thought I’d see the day when these two things happened. 1. The Avett Brothers featuring Dirk Nowitzski on tambourine during “I Killed Sally’s Lover”. 2. Matisyahu lookin’ hella different. Say what???
Hi-ho! Ron Burgundy and gang are back for another Anchorman flick and here’s not one, but two teaser trailers. That is good news!
Watched these films, and a few others, while on a long-distance (very long-distance) flight from the U.S. to Japan. One made me laugh, two made me pissed off. Recommended.
Clever idea for this Trojan Records elbow tat. Reggae Got Soul! Nice one!
Big Youth recently stepped foot into Bakery Studio to voice a couple of Breadwinners riddims. Check the vibes on “By the Sweat of Your Brow” and “Joy” which are presented here unmixed and direct from the mic. The last cut is Al Breadwinner serving up a live dub mix. Riddim forward!
Tim Armstrong, from Rancid, recently stepped foot into Guitar Center’s Hollywood store to serve up three special tunes on his acoustic six-string. We were treated to “East Bay Night” off Let the Dominoes Fall, a cover of Johnny Cash’s “Big River” and a folk-version of “It’s Quite Alright” off Rancid V. These have been in heavy rotation for months.
B+ gives us a look into the Ondatrópica project from Mario Galeano and Will ‘Quantic’ Holland which is due out via Soundway on 16th July. They assembled an all-star cast of Colombian musicians at the legendary Discos Fuentes studio in January of this year with a focus on reinterpreting the tropical musical heritage of Colombia with new approaches in composition, arrangement and production in a classic and mythical setting. Gives me the chills!
Jaw-dropping cinematography in Tom Lowe’s TimeScapes which came out recently and can be purchased here. It’s the first 4D film to ever be sold to the public. Completely in awe over the visuals in the two trailers below. Simply astounding!
‘Til the next ruminations session…Jah Bless! Guidance!
Thanks to the help of my bro’, the Goldbrick is up and running again! Yeah yeah! Everything except for the Gallery that is, but it’s comin’ along soon. If you care to do so, drop a comment to offer your appreciation. That’s him on his hog with me and my son in tow during our visit back to my ol’ stomping grounds late last year.
More posts are comin’, but not until the Dashboard of my WordPress starts to function correctly. If you have any solutions as to why it is not displaying as CSS, then let me know! Surprised I was able to even get this short message posted! Hang in there, more vibes to come!
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Turns out that my site has been hacked! Ugh! I’ll work to get everything back up and running again, so keep me bookmarked! Busy until late April, so don’t expect anything from here until then.
Been chillin’ in the ol’ stomping grounds of the ATL for the past few weeks and my normal flipping through the crates has been on hiatus. Instead, WCLK has been dominating the hi-fi. Love revisiting the sounds from Clark Atlanta University, especially The Soul of Jazz show, in the late afternoons, hosted by Jamal Ahmad who crushes it on the daily. Beautiful sets to delight the ears!
Here are just a few cuts that had my head noddin’. A couple new platters, “We Live Today” from Derrick Hodge featuring Common and “Get Started” from Mark de Clive-Lowe featuring Omar and Sheila E, that just dropped in recent weeks and the stellar “Rebirth of the Cool” cut from the DJ Cam Quartet from a few years back. Dope!
Derrick Hodge – “We Live Today” featuring Common
Mark de Clive-Lowe – “Get Started” featuring Omar and Sheila E
Unfortunately, I can’t embed the MdCL cut, but I highly recommend you click here to listen. Seriously on-point sounds from his Renegades LP.
Just as in the last posting, way back in April, flooding continues to remain an issue for Thailand. While it was in the southern area earlier this year, it is presently the central region that is in a crisis state and the water is now moving into Bangkok with the situation worsening by the day.
While in Bangkok last week, I had hoped to go up to Ayutthaya, an ancient city in Thailand, and the former capital of the kingdom, that is littered with places that I could spend hour upon hour checking out. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen as the area has been totally evacuated and flood waters have inundated the entire city center and beyond. On the day I was going to set forth, the front page of the Bangkok Post featured this stunning shot.
Check out the events of Thai politics via this excellent timeline (2001-2010) created by Wit Pimkanchanapong. It starts with the election of Thaksin Shinawatra as Prime Minister back in 2001 and ends just one week before the assassination of Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdipol, commonly known as Seh Daeng, which would lead to the end of three-month-long Red Shirt protest in Bangkok. Campaigns would follow and, in the beginning of July, Thailand elected their first female Prime Minister, Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of the former Prime Minister who was ousted nearly five years earlier through a military coup. Clearly things have come full circle around here. Is that a good thing?
In my experience, I have met far too many Thais who possess very little knowledge of geography and historical events around the world. I can even go further to say that many don’t know the same subject matter in regards to their own country. Rather amazing, yet sad, to be honest. The Thai school system fails miserably in these areas. Case and point is the choice of costume at a school parade by students in Chiang Mai, the second largest city in Thailand. Teenagers dressed as Nazi soldiers! Click the link and shake your head in disbelief that this happened in 2011.
The video below was taken while riding on the canal boats of San Seab in Bangkok. A journey which consisted of being thrilled by the fast pace of the boats, the craziness of watching the workers traverse the narrow ledge of the boat, the disgust of the stench of sewage that was present throughout, the unfortunate surprise of being drenched in said sewage from an unexpected wave, the amazement of seeing a local guy fishing in the waters (can’t imagine eating anything out of those waters!) and, I shit you not, the shock of seeing a dead body of a person who hung himself on an overpass! Fucking for real! If you are looking for an adventure in Bangkok, it’s guaranteed to be just around every corner. Just spend 15 baht and ride these canal boats and you’ll never forget it. Holy shit!
Here’s the shitty picture I got. Had just put my camera up after getting drenched and couldn’t get it out in time. Probably better I didn’t get a close up. All the onlookers are on the far left side with the coppers on the bridge.
On the shitty pictures of amazing moments tip, here’s another one. This time it was a more pleasant siting in the water. It was the beautiful Indo-Pacific pink humpback dolphins that live off the waters of Khanom, Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Don Sak, Surat Thani. My jaw dropped when I was hanging over the railing of the ferry as we left the port and the pink dolphin jumped out of the water right next to me. Fumbled from my camera and wasn’t able to fire off in time for what might have been an incredible shot. Totally awesome moment!
Watched this a helluva long time ago, but just now posting it. It’s the trailer to the upcoming documentary,Take Me Away Fast, which follows Frank Gossner, of Voodoo Funk, as he journeys around West Africa in search of records. Can’t wait to see the full length feature of this one!
Column Five Media presents “The Value of Data Visualization” for a look into the intersection of data and design. Peep it.
Greenpeace activists and artist John Quigley created Leonardo da Vinci’s famous Vitruvian Man in the Arctic Ocean using copper pipes. The incomplete image was done to highlight the effects of climate change. Click here for a few more photos and to read the story.
Ever wanted to be Mikey Dread? Well, now you can! Check out the virtual Mikey Dread site and mash up di dance. Love that the selecta is a lion! Run di riddim! Raaaaaah!
Been a huge fan of the Kashmere Stage Band since 2006 when Now-Again dropped the Texas Thunder Soul anthology. Director Mark Landsman traced the roots of the band and delivered the story of bandleader Conrad O. Johnson with the Thunder Soul documentary. I’ve been watching with anticipation for it to be released ever since the first premiere was held at SXSW back in March in Austin, TX. Now it has arrived! Just gotta hunt down a screen that has it showing!
Check DJ Shadow’s short from the SXSW premiere.
Go for a ride on the International Space Station as it traverses the Earth from over the Pacific Ocean and continues over North and South America before entering daylight near Antarctica. Awesome!
3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38,000 miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage…all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food….into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films. Courtesy of Rick Mereki, director and producer; Tim White, director of photography, producer and editor; and Andrew Lees, actor. Move. Learn. Eat.
On the hi-fi while compiling this post is the Willows’ “Send Another Moses”. Original Roots style from Studio One. Extending the vibes with the Brentford Reggae Band’s version on the flip. Massive sounds!
Artist/Designer Lewis Heriz and DJ Hugo Mendez are the founders of Sofrito, a party held in London that is equal parts killer on the eyes, with incredible poster art, and on the ears, with plentiful amounts of tropical sounds from all corners of the globe. Check out the history of the event below and visit here, here, here, here and here for the vibes!
The Mikiphone Pocket Phonograph. One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Dope!
Tim Armstrong aka Lint aka Tim Timebomb of Rancid debuts his RockNRoll Theater series. Here’s the trailer to the first episode titled “Dante”. Excited to see the full episode and for more from the series to be delivered our way.
Roger Rivas, boss organist for the Aggrolites, serves up more Skinhead Reggae in this second volume of his Organ Versions series (…grab the first volume here). This time he was working with Mark Morales, L.A.-based record collector, and Jurassic Sound outta Brazil. Hotness!
Strut serves up a tribute to mark the anniversary with this special set. This selecta was known for his broad taste in music and this offering delivers nuff variety. Enjoy!
Punk rock, drinkin’, chillin’, crusin’ around on motorbikes. That’s the culture of Lexington, Kentucky as documented in Carlos Puga’s Satan Since 2003. Check it out!
Finally! Finally! Finally! It has arrived! Ron Fricke’s Samsara, which I have been anticipating for years, finally debuted on September 11th at the Toronto International Film Festival! Future showings are in the works and, while it may take some time for this to grace my eyes, I’m patiently awaiting that wonderful day.
All of the projects he has worked on in the past have had a significant impact on me after viewing them and this one will undoubtedly do the same. Check out a few of the stills below which certainly only represent a true fraction of the beauty that lies in the reels.
This last image of a mandala brought back memories of watching Werner Herzog’s Wheel of Time and recalling one of its more powerful and moving scenes, to me personally of course. I was in awe when watching this and learning for the first time about the Tibetan Buddhist monks who perform prostrations along their entire journey to Bodhgaya, India for the Kalachakra Initiation. Simply remarkable.
Check out this set of coasters modeled after Jamaican 45s. I picked them up a while back when they were being sold to support the legendary Alpha Boys School in Kingston, JA. Killer style on these. No drinks allowed!
