Knight moves

House Music Friday is wondering how the hell Locke ends up in that casket, let me tell ya...



It's been nearly a year since we've heard the House heroes known as the Inland Knights around here, and that's way too long. Well, considering I'm trying not to blog any act more than one time a year in order to keep it fresh, I guess it's about right. But either way, it's time, so here you go... this one has a real familiar horn sample that I can't quite put my finger on, and it sounds like there's a bit of Q-Tip in there as well...

Inland Knights - The Game (ysi)

Maybe not the biggest banger they've ever put out, but another solid track (#56,249 btw... yeah, these guys got mad prolificacy... and yes that's a real word, I looked that shit up) from the Knights who say "Wheeee!". Have a great weekend!

Am I stoned or not? You'll never know...

Spark up a fatty for today's tune...



... because it's some classic reggae from Legalize It, Peter Tosh's debut solo record, which is, you know, pretty famous & stuff. I don't think he mentions weed in this particular song, but I'm too stoned to tell. Just kidding... or am I?

Peter Tosh - Igziabeher (Let Jah Be Praised) (ysi)

This Jah guy sounds pretty swell... anyhoo, I must also give Peter Tosh bonus points for inventing words, because inventing words is rad. My favorite - "tricknology" (instead of "technology")... that just sounds cool. But then again, he also invented "shitstem" for "system", which is pretty hacky in comparison and shows a general lack of effort. Maybe it would seem more clever if I was stoned... or am I?

What the... bonus post?

Yep, you gets a bonus post today... not because I'm feeling especially generous, but rather because I had picked out 5 songs for this week, but then, like a truly lazy American, didn't feel like blogging on Monday, my day off...



I think I've spoken before of my love/hate relationship with Mr. Will Holland, aka Quantic. Love because he makes such good music... hate because he's made so much good music at such a young age, making me feel like the underachiever I am. I mean, in addition to his Quantic releases (4, I believe?) and numerous remixes, he has a stonking live band, The Quantic Soul Orchestra, who've got 3 or 4 albums out now. Dude, just take a damn vacation or something, will ya? Let the rest of us catch up! But that probably won't happen... so we'll just have to deal with this whippersnapper and his good-ass tunes... the jerk...

The Quantic Soul Orchestra - Raw Ingredients (ysi)

And since I seem to be big on bonus content this week, here's a YouTubes...



I'm pretty sure Mr. Quantic is the beardy guitar guy in the hat... the cack... :P

Latin Hotness

Because there's nothing better to brighten up your day than some Latin hotness...



I've seen Latin percussionist Bobby Matos live a few times... this was a few years back when he hooked up with Ubiquity Records and turned out some albums and showed up playing hip clubs with some of the more electronic acts on their label. But he goes way back to Greenwich Village and the '60s and Tito Puente and all that stuff... which is another way of saying he's got "street cred", yo. Here's a cut from way back...

Bobby Matos & The Combo Conquistadores - En Casa de Alfredo (ysi)

Good, good stuff, that. And speaking of "good stuff" and "Latin hotness" (and "increasing your blog hits with a little gratuitous T & A"... :P ), here's a random photo of Adriana Lima for ya...





You're welcome...

Boppin' with Kenny

Hey there! So before we get to the music, I gotta give a shout-out to my Syracuse University Lacrosse team for winning the National Championship yesterday. "Lacrosse... at least it's not as gay as soccer!"...



We'll start the short week with some classic Blue Note Jazz from pianist Kenny Drew, a highly thought-of guy who wasn't super famous, though... probably because he was another one of those cats who moved to Europe in the Sixties because they liked Black people there. Anyhoo, this one does feature a couple of the more famous cats, namely Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and Hank Mobley on saxamaphone... and despite the title is not a funk track. Don't know what that's all about but I'm about 48 years too late to do anything about it so I'll just shut up and deal...

Kenny Drew - Funk-Cosity (ysi)

And because the YouTubes are so clogged up with good stuff, here's Kenny playing with Sonny Rollins...



Dig it...

Valicondo

Happy Memorial Day!

It's been a while since I've inflicted an original tune on ya, but the vacation is over, kids!

Tonegent - Valicondo (ysi)

Yep. I finally finished another track... and by finished, I mean "got to the point that I couldn't be arsed to twat around with it any further". It's a Tech-House number, I guess... I was told that it sounds a bit Underworld-y at one point, but I'll assume that person just told me that to be nice. Have a listen and leave a comment if you dig it...

Peace.

Darn series get me every time

It's House Music Friday and I promise not to bring up American Idol again...



Today's track comes courtesy of the now-defunct production team known as Circulation, who, in case you were wondering, are a couple of pasty British dudes. Didn't see that one coming, did ya? It's actually kind of strange that they (seemingly, according to Discogs) aren't making records anymore, because these guys were absolutely shit-hot for a while. This album is a compilation of their Colours series of vinyls, each of which was simply color-coded and contained no other information, which of course made them extra cool. I love that shit for some reason. Give me a themed "series" of some kind and I want all of them. Of course, it helps if the music's good... and these guys pretty much nail all the different kinds of House, from the deepness to the peak-hour progressive. This one is deep and techy...

Circulation - White (ysi)

It's a long weekend here in the States, and that means one thing. Drinking! Stay safe and have an awesome one...

David Cook meets Dr. Dre... possibly gets shot

I'm gonna lose some of my blogger street cred for this, but screw it... I am so psyched David Cook won American Idol last night. That dude is awesome and he's going to be a huge rock star, I guarantee it. Now, that's not too say that he's not going to put out a first album of Idol-producer-approved Nickelback-like crap (which will sell mega copies), but after he gets out of his contract to those people... then he's gonna be okay. If you saw his twist on Mariah Carey, you know what I mean... the guy's got some originality! And there are two other positives to take from it... a) American "voters" actually got one right for a change... maybe they'll get another one right in November and elect my boy Barry... but I'm still scurred... and b) Archuleta losing probably did more damage to the terrorists' cause that the entire Iraq War. We dodged a bullet there, folks. (Actually the breakfast burrito I ate this morning probably did more damage to the terrorists' cause than the Iraq War as well... ZING! Take that, Bush!). Okay, enough of the political humor...



Today, the shuffle lands on some sample-source goodness courtesy of Mr. Leon Haywood. Now Leon was never a big star... more of a session guy. But he did touch the R & B charts a couple of times, and this was his biggest hit. It might sound a bit familiar...

Leon Haywood - I Wanta Do Something Freaky To You (ysi)

Yep, I'm sure Leon got paid way more after Dr. Dre flipped this one than he ever did on its original release... and since I'm in a good mood today, here you go...

Dr. Dre - Nuthin' But A G Thang (ft. Snoop Dogg) (ysi)

I think the Haywood tune should be considered a classic with or without the update... don't you?

This is getting kinda random...

Today, we have another pretty ambient tune... plus a special bonus sure to confuse and appall you...



So, we have our second straight French artist today (I think), Mr. Jay Alansky (not the most French sounding name ever, but again information on this dude is somewhat scarce), aka A Reminiscent Drive, maker of relatively unheralded but very nice chillout biznezz. The album is called Mercy Street, but I don't think that has anything to do with the Peter Gabriel song. Why you'd want to name your album the same as a popular song by another musician is beyond me, but I'm not here to judge. Oh, wait a minute... this is a blog... I am here to judge! What a freakin' idiot!

A Reminiscent Drive - Life Is Beautiful (ysi)

And since (once again) I don't have a lot of material today... here, in honor of Indiana Jones 4, coming out tomorrow and I'm gonna see the shit out of that shit, is Harrison Ford getting his chest waxed...



Now, I get the sentiment, but WTF? I would have liked to have been in the pitch meeting for that one...

"So, we got Harrison Ford. He's a big supporter of the cause... I say we rip all of his chest hair out... symbolism, bitches!"

"I like it... Quick! Call him before he sobers up!"

Plus, I think it would have been much funnier if he yelled out "ArarraghKellyClarkson!"... but maybe that's just me...

Just how clutch is he?

Here's some international Hip-Hop action for ya...



Today is yet another day on which I'm not going to be a fountain of information, but here's what I know. Clutch Player is a French Hip-Hop producer... and there you have it. But when one puts out a record on BBE Music, one will get a listen from Tonegent, and this is a nice effort. There's an interesting roster of international MC's on the vocals, but this guy OneChance must be the most obscure, 'cuz I can't find a thing on him... nice enough flow, though. But hey, it's a producer album, so it's kinda all about the beats... which I think you will agree are pretty sweet...

Clutch Player - Family Ties (ft. OneChance) (ysi)

And by the way, if you watch American Idol (and I must admit that I do... don't hate me), you better vote for David Cook tonight... because if that Archuleta kid wins, the terrorists win. It's that simple...

Hippo Sex... intrigued?

Checked out the San Diego Zoo this weekend. Pretty awesome. Saw some Hippos having sex underwater. Hippos rule...



Howzabout we start off the week with some nice downtempo from Germany's A Forest Mighty Black? I put that question mark in there as a formality, because we all know you have no say in what gets posted here! I don't say that to be mean, it's just, you know... my blog and stuff. Not that I'd be averse to requests... feel free to make one if you like. Anyhoo, this one's got a great stand-up bass line (always good for bonus points) a solid funky beat and some cool Rhodes action... three things we likey a lot...

A Forest Mighty Black - Tides (ysi)

... and no, I can't really come up with a connection between that song and Hippos getting it on. Not that I didn't try...

Hippie House

House Music Friday takes you to the place we don't always like to talk about...



Now, I would guess most people wouldn't associate House music with dirty hippies, but there are House Hippies out there... and they're actually pretty easy to spot. Basically any party, music group or (best) "collective" that has the word "Tribe" in their name = dirty hippies. Full moon parties = dirty hippies. Didgeridoos & Nitrous tanks = dirty, dirty hippies. Were talking bonfires, bongos and birkenstocks. And there were no more popular makers of Hippie House than Dubtribe Sound System. Notice the word "Tribe" in there? Not a coincidence, folks. Hell, the two members of the group went by the names Sunshine and Moonbeam, for fuck sake. But, unlike your garden-variety hippies with their jam bands, House Hippies actually listen to good music... because Dubtribe, for one, were pretty awesome...

Dubtribe Sound System - Nothing Is Impossible (ysi)

As you might have guessed, I have attended such events in the past. And I've come to terms with it, so back off... :P

Have a fantastic weekend!

Homeboy, you never shut up!

Breaking away from the obscure for a stone cold classic today...



Now, at first I was thinking that there's certainly no need to tell anyone who Run-D.M.C. is... but then I realized this record is 23 YEARS OLD! And then I remembered how Raising Hell was the first Hip-Hop tape (TAPE!) I ever bought. Then I also remembered how I used to tape songs off Yo! MTV Raps and listen to them in my Walkman (WALKMAN!) as I drove a tractor around a hay field. Then I remembered that I'm really freaking old... and then I drank 2 bottles of Vodka. When I woke up, um... well, actually that just happened. So, what were we talking about?...

Run-D.M.C. - You Talk Too Much (ysi)

So there you have it, a nearly quarter-of-a-freakin'-century old version of "Stop Snitchin'"... they were ahead of their time...

(Reaches for new Vodka bottle)

Afro-funk King

A little life lesson before the tune today... being stoned is not conducive to keeping secrets...



It's been a while since I've posted some proper African Funk, and that, as they, ain't right! So let's fix that with a jammy by Nigerian sax man Peter King. That's about all I know about him, although if you click the name, I'm sure that article is very informative. I myself couldn't be arsed to read the whole thing this morning, but since when do I have to do all the work for you. Slackers...

Peter King - Shango (ysi)

While were on the Afro-Funk vibe, have I mentioned the blog Voodoo Funk to you yet? Well, if I haven't, I have now... so get your ass over there...

The D'n'B 3

I've been up since 4 AM, so forgive me if I ramble...



So, way back in the wee days of Drum & Bass, there were three main guys whose tunes got me into it (all courtesy of Jason Bentley), and they were LTJ Bukem, Goldie and Alex Reece. Now, Alex seemingly had the shortest run of the three, which is odd because his tunes probably had the most pronounced Pop edge. But then it was that Pop edge that seemingly led Goldie to shun Reece from his Metalheadz label, and after putting out a few records under the name "Al's Records", that was all for Mr. Reece. And then Goldie went on to shag Bjork, have a cameo in Snatch, and then become just as irrelevant himself. LTJ, of course, remains the man. The point of all of this discourse? Fucked if I know, but here's Alex Reece's best one...

Alex Reece - Feel The Sunshine (ysi)

How's that for scattered and pointless? Oh well, good tune at least...

One weird dude

Mondays are a very good day to be mellow...



Mixmaster Morris, aka The Irresistible Force, is one weird dude. The kind of weird that only a couple of decades of taking enough psychedelics to render an elephant retarded will make you. Pleasant guy to chat with though... good stories as you'd imagine. Heck, he even autographed one of my CD decks for me after he used it for a gig. But if you don't know the name (and many don't... I'd often show off my autographed deck only to hear, "who's that?"), he's definitely one of the larger figures of ambient electronica, right up there with Dr. Alex and Rick James, Bitch! (how I will now forever refer to Aphex Twin), and this album, Global Chillage, is one of the essentials of the genre. Just check out this trip...

The Irresistible Force - Moonrise (ysi)

Mixy, as his friends call him (ok, not really), has also been a fixture at The Big Chill Festival, which has an awesome lineup planned this year... if only I lived in England... sigh...

HMF + NHL

So, my little blog passed a milestone this week, hitting over 50,000 page views. Wow. Thanks to everyone who has stopped by... I really appreciate it! It's nice to know there are lots of folks out there who appreciate the good good music. Now, I had no idea you got a prize when you hit this milestone, but lo and behold, look what I got...



Now, I'm just as surprised as you that I was awarded the Stanley Cup, but it sure looks nice on my coffee table. Blogging has its rewards after all!

Now, on to House Music Friday...



I've never been to Nottingham, England, but I've sure been all over their music scene lately... and here's yet another great act from Robin Hood's, uh, hood. They're a couple of blokes named Steve & Andy, aka Toka Project, and they make good House music... that's really all you need to know...

Toka Project - I Gotta Go (ysi)

And let's end up the week with a video to celebrate my new award...



Have a great weekend!

Burger time

Quick political thought before we get started... is the difference between delegates and Superdelegates... that Superdelegates get to wear capes?



Today, I got more jazzy, Cali-style Hip-Hop for ya... which to me is a music of choice for the fast-approaching Summertime barbecue season. This one is courtesy of San Diego's The Sound Providers and NY MC Grap Luva, from the Looking Backwards compilation of previously 12"-only Sound Providers jammies. As is often the case, I can't claim to know too much about either of 'em (and I'm not the kind to cut-n-paste a Wikipedia entry and pretend I know stuff), but I do know the SPs have shown up on at least one of Mark Farina's Mushroom Jazz comps, which should tell you what you need to know about their sound... aka, it's good...

The Sound Providers - Who Am I (ft. Grap Luva) (ysi)

Yep, that kinda stuff makes me wanna grill burgers right there. So, who's bringin' the buns? (Make sure them shits have the sesame seeds on 'em, yo!)

Joe or no Joe? Who know?

I think today's song selection may be slightly ironic, but I'll have to check with Alanis Morisette on that and get back to you...



Today we have a return visit from the King of Latin Soul (it says so on his website!), Joe Bataan... sort of... because, well, Joe's famous for being a singer, but the shuffle (proving it's randomness) gave us an instrumental song. So, this Joe Bataan song may or may not contain any actual Joe Bataan. I'm guessing he's on piano, but who knows? He may just be in the back smoking a joint and hogging the credit. Which is fine with me. So yeah, you won't learn a hell of a lot about what Joe Bataan, the famous singer, sounds like from this track, but it is a killer uptempo Latin Funk bomb...

Joe Bataan - Latin Strut (ysi)

And yes, this was the first record to carry the "Salsoul" name. Turns out ol' Joe was in fact one of the founders of the famous Disco label and came up with the term (a bit of salsa, a bit of soul... clever guy!). Also, he's back out on the road playing gigs right now, so that might be cool to check out, too...

In which I say farewell to the Indie Kids

Predictably, the readership around here has taken a dip since the Blog-achella project ended and I'm no longer posting the same music as every other blog in the blog-o-sphere (did I say "blog" enough in that sentence?)... but you know what? Good! I don't need fans of flavor-of-the-day blog bands around here... I need you folks who appreciate the good stuff... like so...



Assuming that you don't recognize that album cover on sight, I'll tell you it's Skintone Collection, a compilation of Japanese producer Susumu Yokota's best work on his own label (Skintone, that is). This guy isn't super-well-known in the states, but that hasn't stopped him from being ridiculously prolific... he's put out something like 32 albums - you know those crazy Japanese with their "work ethic" and "efficiency"... hmph! Now, I'm guessing with 32 albums, there's gonna be a bit of crap in there once in a while, so this is a good place to start if you wanna check what this guy's about. He does all sorts of electronic styles, but has gotten most of his steez for his Downtempo/Ambient work...

Susumu Yokota - Illusion River (ysi)

So the folks who would take me to task for calling out bands like Gogol Bordello on their suckiness... good riddance and eat a bag of dicks! To the rest of you, just keep diggin' the tunes... and holla at ya boy!

Relaxo Monday

Hey all! Hope you had a great weekend. How about that Kentucky Death Race Derby, eh? That thing's starting to resemble the chariot race from Ben Hur more and more each year. Maybe they should just lace the track with hidden, spike-filled pits and get it over with... yikes! Anyhoo, let's start the week off easy-style...



The great Compost Records has put out many strong compilations over the years, but this might just be the best one, right here. Put together by DJ and bong aficionado Rainer Truby, this one is almost even worth the ridiculous price a used copy will cost you. Here's the lead-off track, courtesy of Extended Spirit, a side project of a couple of the guys from Jazzanova. Yep, another Jazzanova side project. What can I say? They're good at the music. This one's nice and relaxed...

Extended Spirit - Solid Water (ysi)

... yep, much more relaxed than, say, listening to a horse get it's brains blown out on live national television... ah, I'm just pissed 'cuz I didn't win any money on my bets... shoot 'em all! Daddy needed a new pair of shoes!

HMF!

And now for the actual return of House Music Friday...



... and a track from the first compilation released by the legendary Paris club, Respect, a track that stayed in my bag and received regular spins for years. That track is by a duo calling themselves Ame Strong, and if you believe what Discogs tells you, it's pretty much the only track these dudes ever produced. But hey, if you're only gonna have one track, ya better make it a good one... and it also doesn't hurt to have a legend like Francois K remix that bad boy for ya...

Ame Strong - Tout Est Bleu (FK Remix) (ysi)

You gotta wonder what the reason is for the 1-track discography? Let's see, they were French... did they eat some bad cheese? Trip into a guillotine? Can I come up with any more lame jokes to irritate my French readers? (Actually the answer to that last one is "yes", but I think I better quit while I'm ahead). Have a great weekend, everyone!

Tones of the world unite!

We've got kind of a first around here today...



... that being the first track submitted by a reader to be posted at Tonegents! This comes from my blog-buddy Floorman aka Tony Global (and yes, he does get special consideration for being a fellow Tony) reppin' Nottingham, UK. But this guy is no slouch sitting around in his underwear drinking Miller Lite and diddling around on Reason... you know, like myself... nope, Floorman runs with a cool crowd. Floorman Presents Stack is his tongue-in-cheek "supergroup", and that group includes members of a couple acts already loved by me, Fug and the awesome Crazy Penis! The results are predictably excellent, like this smooth Soul jam here, the kind of stuff that you'd think my man-crush Gilles Peterson would be all over...

Floorman - Closer To Me (ysi)

Buy it from Bocajito Records.

... pretty nice stuff, no doubt. My man also has some killer re-edits and more originals posted up on his blog so make sure you check it out. And hey, if you got some tunes and you want them to be exposed to the literally tens of people that read this blog, hit me up on the Gmail. If I like 'em, I'll post 'em. If I don't, I promise not to publicly ridicule you too badly... :P