I've been thinking about the future of High Speed Dubbing and sometime this year I know I want to have an entire week dedicated to UK R&B/Soul music. I need a name for it like "UK Explosion" (or maybe I should omit the "E" and use Xxplosion...more cutting edge, right? Worked for Dre.) Artists like the Bugz crew, Omar, Lewis Taylor, James Morrison, Jamiroquai, Julie Dexter, Amy Winehouse, Joss Stone...(eh, I've named too many). No joke, in my opinion they're doing more with R&B than we are here in the States. I'll get more in to that later. With UK Soul week coming at a later date, let me drop a preview of two songs that I've been playing constantly for the past year (yeah, YEAR)! Props to my man tREBELFREE for introducing me to Bugz via his compilation CD's and podcasts (went out and bought the CD a week later).
When I first heard "Consequences", I thought it was a lost cut from the mid 80s or something. Listen to that bassline! It's songs like this that make me wish I had my sub woofer hooked up in my car (Eric you're so bogus). Notice the vocal styles of Bembe Segue, who we featured earlier this month with The Politik.
"It Don't Work Like That" has taken over my 80 gig iPOD for the past year. THIS is the kinda R&B I'd love to hear on the radio (pipe dream, right?) The production and vocal arrangements on this song are fantastic, especially the harmonies at the end of the second verse! Anyway, these two songs help define the sub heading of High Speed Dubbing:
So, what are you listening to? Well, THIS is what I'm listening to.
I found this song through a two disc compilation CD put together by the Bugz In The Attic crew called Life: Styles. I originally thought it was an album filled with Bugz remixes. Turns out I was wrong, which upset me because a lot of the songs I already had. Then THIS joint shuffles it's way on a playlist and...wow!
I have always worshiped the church that preaches from the "Side 1/Side 2" bible of album construction. For the youth that may be reading, vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album. If an album contained tracks released separately as released singles, these were often placed at particular positions on the album. A common configuration was to have the album led off by the second and third singles, followed by a ballad. The first single (the "best" song) would lead off side 2 (ie. Prince's "When Doves Cry", Tribe's "Electric Relaxation", etc).
The Adventures Of Seymour Liberty is from an artist who's hails from side 2 of the United States; St. Louis, Missouri. His name is Coultrain, and his official debut album is going to have a lot of people checking for the Midwest. Our first visit with Coultrain on high speed dubbing delivered two very different tracks: "Green" and my favorite, the Wajeeed produced "The Hustler".
Upon purchasing and fully absorbing Adventures (only $7 at Dustygroove), I found out that the album follows the style and feel of "Green" more than anything. I later found out that "The Hustler" was destined for a mix tape, which was good because the song would have sorely stuck out on this more mellow album.
Adventures is a slow build, just merely setting you up for the meat of the album. Be patient while listening. "Swimmin' In The Stars" is nice, but "The Girl Of My Dreams" is what really kick starts the album and introduces you to Coultrain.
Did anyone else hear flashes of Donnie and Bilal on "Screw"? I couldn't put my finger on it for the longest, but once I did I began to really love the song. I imagine this song would kill in a small venue with the right band and background singers.
The next three songs show the true potential of this St. Louis product. The piano driven and cool jazz "Lilac Tree" is elegant in it's vocal and chord changes. That leads into the mid tempo "Lost In Translation" featuring background harmonics from blackspade (who is another cat y'all need to check out). To finish out the trio is the highlight of the album, "Playin' Catch Up". I knew it when I first heard it.
I really enjoyed the overall sound of this album. Very concise. I liked how some songs continued the jam sessions long after the lyrics were done. Not many artists give time for the groove to keep going. Overall, I'm excited about what this brother is ABOUT to do.
Adventures is a solid debut album, but I get the feeling he can do so much more. I'm hoping his comfort level increases and allows him to expand his sounds and palette. Ladies and gentlemen, we've only witnessed the beginning.
Props to Ayana Contreras of of Vocalo and 89.5 FM for introducing me to this Rufus & Chaka joint via a mix CD she made me a while back. This song alone is the reason I've started picking up every Rufus & Chaka album I can get my hands on. You can't tell me this isn't a top Chaka Khan performace! Top 5 at best! It's funky! It's fantastic!
Chaka Khan (LEAD VOCALS) Tony Maiden (LEAD GUITAR, BACKGROUND VOCALS) Kevin Murphy (ORGAN, CLAVINETTE, BACKGROUND VOCALS, ARP SYNTHESIZER) Bobby Watson (BASS, BACKGROUND VOCALS) Andre' Fischer (DRUMS, PERCUSSION) Rufus (ARRANGEMENTS)
I found out about James Morrison, another UK artist, from the guys over at Lessondary Never Secondary (to be more specific, donwill of the hip hop group Tanya Morgan). The song is currently being used on a promotional campaign for some new TV shows on FX. I took a listen and was thinking to myself, "He reminds me a lot of Lewis Taylor who's also out of the UK (surprise)." Anyway, props to james for the track, don for the link, FX for the exposure and my mama (just because).
About a month ago DJ Brainchild introduced a song called Get On The Dance Floor by a two producer team called Poly on his blog. Upon enjoying the track, I did some more detailed research. The result? The album Soundtrack For Sunrise. GB, one half of Poly, put out this album in 2004, and it's been on constant play for the past two weeks.
E-40 "Tell Me When To Go" (Trackademicks Remix) featuring Keak Da Sneak (2007)
Trackademicks. 'Yay area. One dude. Skateboard p keys. Dilla claps. Southern 808. It's the remix.
Slowly becoming one of my most favorite producers, Trackademicks is killing it all the way from Oakland, CA. I won't lie, I haven't checked for E-40 since he was "...hipper than a hippopotamus" back in 1995, but "Tell Me When To Go" is SICK! And I've loved "Top Sidin'" for a while now. Check out his MySpace page for a few more tracks, articles, videos and info.
Politik is a collaboration project between Mark De Clive-Lowe and Bembe Seque of Bugz In The Attic. I've had this CD for about a month, and I'm just NOW getting around to giving it a full listen. Truth be told, I was kinda iffy about it on the first few listens. I was feeling the production, but I was kinda iffy on Bembe Seque (who sings on a lot of tracks for Bugz).
But now (after I've played the album about 3 more times), I'm feeling this CD a lot! It's really growing on me. Initially I first typed this blog up a few weeks ago (yeah, I have these posts stored in a vault!), I only had two songs two share with y'all. I found one more joint that's very worthy of posting, "Saturn", which has this nice 1987 feel to it.
So yeah...here are a few tracks that have stood out so far.
(the end of "Mistaken" is sick).
You can check out some more tracks from this album on their MySpace page.
"J Dillalude" * Robert Glasper IN MY ELEMENT LP (2007)
HSD will have an entire month dedicated to the greatness that is James Yancey, best known as Jay Dee or JDilla (one of the best producers and beat makers in the history of Hip Hop music). But for now I wanted to share this interlude (or Dillalude as he calls it) from jazz pianist Robert Glasper's album "In My Element".
I love hearing Hip Hop in non traditional forms, and Glasper's interpretation of some of Dilla's best work is a must hear. I came across this song on a podcast called Yoruba Soul earlier this year and I've been spending the greater part of 2007 looking for this CD.
*please disregard the Q-Tip voice mail message at the start of the track.
First day of the month. Favorite track 1's. Four songs.
Omar "Lift Off" from the SING...IF YOU WANT IT LP (2005) Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a huge Omar fan (thanks Taunja for showing me the light!). I've seen dude in concert twice (fantastic shows) and I own all of his albums. Ever since I heard "In The Morning" from the Best By Far album, I've been hooked. Omar has blended his unique voice with a phenomenal sense of melody and song to create some fantastic music.
His first album There's Nothing Like This is a bit raw and is just OK in my book, but the rest of his catalog I highly recommend checking out! Now compared to his earlier albums, Sing...(If You Want It) is a slight let down. For every highlight on Sing, there's a low point. Some of the collaborations (Common, JC Bentley and Stevie Wonder) seem dialed in and forced. That being said, THIS short intro-lude that starts the album encompasses everything I love about Omar. Wonderous keys, well timed bets and vocals that sit ever so delicately on the track. This is a short example of Omar at his best.
Jazzanova "L.O.V.E. And You & I" from the IN BETWEEN LP (2002)
This song! This song alone introduced me to the sub-genre of broke beat (aka NuJazz), an amalgam of R&B, House, Jazz, Funk and Hip Hop music. My friend Taunja from Atlanta called me and told me to check out two CD's that she could not stop playing: 4Hero's Two Pages and Jazzanova's In Between. I walked out of Dustygroove with two CD's filled with music I'd never heard of.
I put In Between in my Alpine stereo and THIS song comes on. I pulled over and started the song over....and over...AND OVER! I couldn't believe my ears. What was this? The samples! The beats! Oh snap, that bass line half way through the song? Who were these guys? Just some Germans who loved Soul and Hip Hop music from the States.
The Jacksons "Music's Takin' Over" from the GOIN' PLACES LP (1977)
Press play above. Listen to that. Do you hear that? Do you hear that voice? Do you know who that is? Sounds familiar, don't it?
Let me ask you this...
Do you know where your favorite version of Michael Jackson lives?
Do you? Some of you may have lost him. Some of you may think he only exists between Off The Wall and Thriller (which is fine, it's the peak of his career). For the longest time I thought my favorite Michael Jackson existed somewhere between The Wiz Soundtrack and his 1988 Bad album. After more research, I asked myself "Could The Jackson 5ive be more than just the Motown manufactured candy coated sugar pop jams backed by The Funk Brothers?" I mean could they? So like a lot of you, Bad was the last solid MJ album. Everything after that just got...well, odd (honestly there are some cuts on the Dangerous album).
For a long time I treasured the Michael that fit in that time span, never once thinking he existed before The Wiz or after Bad. Well, I've awaken from my slumber and I'm here to tell you there's more Michael out there. For the past four years I've been reacquainting myself with the six brothers from Gary, Indiana and (surprise) there's some great music on those records consisting of the Michael Jackson we love. The Michael you love on Off The Wall and Thriller? Guess what? He's alive and well on this album. That voice from "Rock With You" and "PYT"? Yeah, it's him.
"Music's Takin' Over" showcases a funkier more 70s feel that I never knew Mike and his brothers had. In fact, the Jackson 5ive's 1973 concert in Japan shows that the boys had some more music in them besides "I Want You Back". Even more so, these early Jackson albums on CBS really showcase Michael maturing in to his new voice. The second version of The Jacksons, and to a lesser extent this song, really opened up my appreciation for Michael. We'll showcase a lot more of the Jacksons on HSD this year, but I wanted to showcase this song because it's one of my favorite track 1's.
The Beatles "Come Together" from the ABBEY ROAD LP (1969)
Want to know how late I am on this album? I bought Abbey Road (and the Beatles biography) about a year ago right after I heard the conspiracy theory about the album cover. Crazy huh? Honestly, a good story will get me to buy an album without hearing it, and hearing about about all the "clues" did it. Historic relevance goes a long way with me. Anyway, when I think of songs that start an album, I couldn't get far without thinking of the boys from Liverpool.
My appreciation for the Beatles grew exponentially after hearing this album. I think it was hearing the medley at the end of the album that sort of had me thinking, "Wow! So that's it? THIS is why the Beatles are loved around the world!" Like, the light finally went off in my head about these four dudes, and "Come Together" was the chain that hung from the bulb.
(EDIT: So it's the new year, and not only is Divshare down, but they've deleted all of the songs I had on file. ALL OF THEM! None of the flash players are up and none of the links are working. So please bare with me as I try to replace all the songs on the blog. Hopefully they'll have the site fixed in the next couple of days. As soon as it's fixed, I'll make the first official post of 2008. Thanks.)
