Today, because I know how much you loved (LOVED!) the Kid 'N Play post last week, here's another dip in the Ol' School pool...
Mellow Man Ace, yo! The creator of "Spanglish" and no, I'm not talking about the horrible Adam Sandler movie. My man Mellow Man rapped in Spanish and English in the same song! Holy shitburgers! There were other reasons he was cool... did you know he was Sen-Dog from Cypress Hill's brother? I did not know that. Also, half his debut album was produced by none other than The Dust Brothers, so Ace had really hot beats. Of course they did not produce this particular song, because then it would have made sense for me to mention it...
Lee Morgan was an incredibly talented and prolific trumpet player, appearing as leader or sideman on approximately 300 Blue Note albums until his death at the young age of 33... when his girlfriend shot him right in the heart between sets at a NYC Jazz club. Bitch...
You know what's fun? When the cable guy comes and accidentally unhooks your cable, net and home phone on noon on a Saturday... and you can't get it fixed until Monday. Yeah, that's a regular hoot...
... maybe I should send that tough guy up there to go deal with 'em. He looks like he could kick some ass... oorrrrrrr not. Anyhoo, he's a keyboard player, not a fighter, this Joao Donato cat. Legend has it that the record company told him to do "whatever the hell you want" on this one (shouldn't that be the rule on every record? I know, just sayin'...), so he went to town buying some new electronics, called up a bunch of equally rough and rugged characters and Voila! Brazilian Psych-Funk masterpiece. Seriously, this record is really fucking good...
Some of the other cuts are funkier but I like this one best, so suck on that. Or else I'll send Loungey McDenim up there over to your house after he bitch slaps Time Warner...
House Music Friday is rockin' it '91 style today, yo...
I know very little about this record, except that it's one of my all-time favorite old-school underground NYC jammies. I thought at one point that Houz' Neegroz was some kind of Masters At Work side project, but I was wrong. Kinda like I was wrong about the Eagles winning last week. Nah, not that wrong. I don't know what the hell I was thinking on that one...
"Like this!" has to be one of my favorite vocal sample cues evar. Major kudos to Jez from Innersounds for hooking me up with this MP3 as I have been looking for it for years, no joke. The blog-o-sphere brings us all together! Huzzah!
After the book I wrote yesterday, I'm gonna keep today's post simple...
Now, I'm not much of one for acts with punny names (says the guy with the blog with the punny name... STFU, me!), but I'll let new UK producer Joy Orbison slide because he's put out a record that has the Dubstep world all a-tingle. Major, major heat on this one and it's easy to see why...
Being the semi-popular niche music blogger that I am, there are some people out there with the crazy idea that if their music were featured here at Tonegents, someone would actually notice. So people send me shit to my Inter-mails sometimes in hopes of gaining this vast exposure. Which is funny, but hey, I'll go with it. Now most of this shit people send me is, not surprisingly, shitty. But lately some of it hasn't been, thus the first installment of STUFFED IN MY BOXHOLE!
I recently got an email from Benjamin, the man in charge of Akwaaba Records. Take it away, promo copy...
"Akwaaba is a fair trade label of music from Africa. We feature music by locally established yet globally isolated artists, regardless of musical style or genre.
At our core is an eclectic catalog of African music, ranging from acoustic and traditional sounds to contemporary fusions of urban and dance styles.The scope of music in Africa is staggering. Our catalog reflects and spreads this wealth, in a simple, straight-forward way.
Akwaaba offers a fair and simple deal: we share our net revenue 50-50 with licensees, and sign directly with the artist whenever possible. We do all the work to spread the music worldwide. We distribute, license, manage and represent the artists.
The internet allows us to directly share the music and the journey with increasingly curious and socially-aware fans. Our trips to Africa are meticulously documented on the site: how we found the music, the story behind an artist or a music scene, tidbits about local culture and trends. Videos, sound bites, photos and words to share this first-hand experience with you, enjoy!"
So basically they find people who are big in Africa (because people in Africa don't have time to be listening to our shitty pop music) but unknown outside of whatever country in Africa they're big in (because we waste too much time listening to shitty Pop music to discover these people on our own). That sounds pretty awesome to me, as I have no idea where to start when looking for actual new African music. So I was very happy to hear from these guys and here are a couple of compilations from the label that kick much ass...
Compilation #1, Akwaaba Wo Africa (Welcome To Africa) features more traditional sounds, which means lots of pretty acoustic stringy things that are not guitars. Kind of exactly what you think of when you think of African music. Absolutely beautiful stuff top to bottom, like for instance this song by Mamou Sidibe, who's fucking huge in Mali...
Although really you should get it straight from Akwaaba and there's iTunes linkage on their site as well.
BUT it's not all on this vibe, as there's some Reggae and Salsa on there, too. Bet you didn't know they had Salsa in Africa, eh? Well, they do. It's right here on the CD. Anyhoo, the second compy they sent me focuses on a more modern and distinctly Urban sound...
... and that sound is called Hiplife, being a combination of sorts between Hip-Hop and Highlife. Highlife rhythms & modern beats together, synths and rapping. Not as Dancehall-sounding as Kuduro (which I've posted on a couple of times) but it's got some of that going on, too. Really unique and pretty dang funky to boot... check this jammy by Akyeame who are so big in Ghana that they can't even walk down the street without being mobbed and offered assorted sexual favors...
They actually also sent me a Kuduro comp, but let's not get carried away here, folks. So to wrap up, Akwaaba Records has got some nice music and a really solid mission, so I'm certainly stoked to give them some shine. Go out and buy their shit like nowzers...
Thus concludes the first ever episode of STUFFED IN MY BOXHOLE! Huzzah!
Sorry I missed you all yesterday... had a lot of television to make, then got to check out a new Hollywood hotspot, pre-opening, which was kind of fun because it's nice to check out a place before it's got that Paris Hilton taint on it. Seriously, you can't get that shit out of your clothes...
So how 'bout some Kid 'N Play? Don't pretend you don't love it. Don't tell me you haven't seen House Party like 50 times. And do NOT front on the Kid 'N Play dance or the High Top Fade. Because that would just make you seem petty. You don't want to seem petty, do you?
Tomorrow a new feature at Tonegents... as I post for you some goodies from the ol' inbox. Yep, people send me shit... and sometimes it doesn't even suck!
Sometimes I can't think of anything particularly good to say above the picture... this is one of these times...
Once a year I am compelled to turn House Music Friday over to the mighty Inland Knights, and that time has come again. Here they do a collabo with the pair of brothers (as in, having the same mother) known as Da Sunlounge on some White Label bootleg style shits. You'll know why this release had to go this route when you hear what they sampled...
Cop this one and the rest of the "Borrowed" Series at Stompy.com
Yeah, that one probably wouldn't have slipped by without them owing someone about 50 kajillion dollars... so good for them to put it out on the down low and good for you because now you have it... 'til Monday, stay classy, Interwebs...
When a group releases a follow-up to an album you were completely gay for, sometimes it's hard to assimilate. "These songs are different than those songs! What the? Do I like it? Um... yes?" You know what I mean?
Anyhoo, that's the deal for me with Fat Freddy's Drop. I was so obsessed with pretty much every song on their debut that it just sounded weird to hear them doing different songs. But I'm getting over it, because Joe Dukie still has that voice and the tunes, after the initial shock, reveal themselves to be more than worthy...
I've been posting a whole lot of brand new shit lately, which is nice, but it's time to pull out something a bit dustier...
The Rimshots were one of those groups like the Funk Brothers... a record label house band. Which means you've known them even if you don't know them, you know? What?
It's about time I blogged this song... since Don Cornelius and I are such close personal friends. You probably think I'm kidding. I'm totally not. I go to the set of Soul Train, Don says hi to me first. Just how I roll. Anyhoo, you can't buy this record unless you have a lot of money, so go download it somewhere. 'Til tomorrow, keep dancin'...
From one of the toughest hoods you can think of comes what may be the Hip-Hop record of the year...
So far this year, there have been 3 new Hip-Hop records that have really stood out to me as being extremely not awful. Those three would be the P.O.S. record, the Tanya Morgan record, and this gem by Poorly Drawn People who are... white guys from Rhode Island.
Whaaaaaaa?
You heard me. Hey, Jay-z's new record apparently sucks, so somebody's gotta pick up the slack. These guys got nice beats, clever samples and really good, funny rhymes. They are some regular Triple Threats, Debbie Allen! Hear for yourself...
I got some good news just a while ago! Tonegent happy! Is super happy fun blog music time WHEEEEE!
Hey, look! Cornershop is back! Awesome exciting! I like them! They make good music for dancing feet and thirsty ear! Come do the joy dance!
Okay, enough of that...
But seriously, I am quite happy to see Tjinder Singh and his cronies back on the scene after 7 years. I thought they were dunzo. And cool thing is... this sounds exactly like a Cornershop album. Tight, catchy guitar tracks with a sprinkling of the funky and experimental side (which I have always preferred, of course... not hatin' on the Pop songs, just sayin'). Here's a more leftfield track, but there's more than a few next "Brimful of Asha"'s on here, so never fear...
I really hope they tour this record in America, as they put on an amazing show. Fingers crossed! Fuzzy anticipation! Splashing you with pleasure juice! Wait, what?
It's been a half-assed week, let's end it with a half-assed post (but full-assed song)...
So this Bibio record is pretty interesting... half of it sounds kinda like a more low-fi Thief and the other half sounds like Boards of Canada. Very groovy. Here's one from the Boards of Canada half...
Once again I have disappeared for days at a time. Once again I apologize. I hate when stupid things like "work" and "life" get in the way of blogging. Soooooo irritating. But whatevs. Here's a new one that's been delighting my earholes...
First off, this John Daly is not the world's most drunkest professional athlete. Although that John Daly does have a music career as well. We'll get to that. This John Daly is an Irish DJ, kinda new on my radar, who has put together the soundtrack to a beachside cafe at dush, circa 2009. Seriously, if this isn't the biggest album of the year at Cafe Del Mar, I might just eat my hat...
That's a dumb figure of speech, isn't it? "Eat my hat". What does chewing up a fedora have to do with being right or wrong? Anyhoo, do you not agree with me on the Cafe Del Mar idea? No? Well then YOU eat my hat, dickhole! Anyhoo, back to John Daly. Even thought I despise shit-kicking Rednecks, I love John Daly for being the shit-kicking redneck that he is because he plays golf... and I hate country club douchebaggery even more than shit-kicking redneckery. I highly recommend you read up on this guy's exploits if you are unawares. And I wasn't joking about the musical aspirations...
Don't quit your day job, John. Please, don't quit. And kick Phil Mickelson in the cock for me someday, okay?
Normally this blog is quite jovial and humorous... not today though. No particular reason, just feeling like venting some bile...
I might be a little late to the game on the whole Flying Lotus thing, but I tend to be wary when all those blogs that are so much cooler than this one start to get behind an electronic act. Because 9 times out of 10, those blogs that have thousands more readers than this one get behind an electronic act, it tends to be unlistenable garbage like Animal Collective or Yacht or (shudder) Dan Deacon. Seriously, fuck that guy and his stupid music and his whole retard schtick. If you like Dan Deacon, don't ever read this blog again, okay? Sorry, had to be said. Anyhoo, so all of the cooler blogs were all over Flying Lotus from the get-go, but finally I caved, gave it a listen... and it's not half bad. Dark, off-kilter, but interesting...
What's cooler than a guy playing a saxamaphone? A blind guy playing three saxamaphones at the same time...
That's how Rahsaan Roland Kirk rolled. Plus he played flute with his nose. So he pretty much fuckin' rules no matter what the music sounds like, no? Actually, I'm still delving into his stuff, but I likes what I hear. This one's kind of a Big Band Latin Jazz tune that really gets into a nice groove on the solos...
I came up with a new term recently... hobosexual. It's a person that likes getting it on with homeless people. Get it? I kill me! Anyhoo...
Has VH-1 done a "One-Hit Wonders of the '90s" yet? (I kinda love those shows despite the fact that I'm pretty sure they kill brain cells.) When they do, you know that Whale's "Hobo Humpin' Slobo Babe" will be on that shit. Thrown together as a joke, the song hit the charts and prompted the Swedish group to actually go record the full-length they never intended. And although said full-length (pictured above, fig. 1) and it's follow-up scored Whale exactly zero more hits, they were both surprisingly good listens... talented people who don't really give a shit making Pop songs because it's fun usually = something enjoyable. Plus it doesn't hurt to have that hit, which makes things happen like having Tricky produce your album. Yep, that's him you hear on this one, a track that exemplifies the whole Whale vibe. It's sloppy, it's silly, but dammit the hook will not leave your head...
The music posted on this blog is for evaluation purposes only and will be removed after a short time... so if you like it... support the artists, dammit! Buy the records, go to the shows, give them a ride to the airport if they need it! Don't be a schmuck! If you are an artist or scary lawyer type and want something removed from here, just holla and it's gone! I'm easy like that!
