Next Friday I'll be spinning at the night Set The Tone. There will be a an exhibition B-Boy battle, a live set from the jazz/hip hop group 5 Coffees and DJ Sets from Sage One, D-Lect and myself and the Swat DJs. So if your down with the jazz, funk, disco boogie and old school hip hop sounds get on down.
So i just picked up the new album from UK producer Ghost. Its his third album and limited to 300 copies available from his bandcamp site and a select few stores in NZ where he now resides. Im not sure what they put in the water in NZ but it seems to agree with overseas producers who move there. Postcards From The Edge (Which incidentally is also the title of Carrie Fishers autobiography) is a radical departure from Ghosts previous work on labels such as Breakin Bread. Gone are the jazz samples and the swinging organic drums. Also most of the vocals as well as only three of the thirteen tracks feature Mcs. Instead they are replaced by dark and sweeping synths that create rich soundscapes akin to something that could have been put out on Warp Records in the late 90s. Hearts and Minds remind me of something Autechre or Black Dog would have produced. This is not so say Postcards sound derivative, far from it. Ghost has crafted a dark yet uplifting album that conjures up blade Runner like images of the future.
Mexican Summer is a label hailing out of Brooklyn that straddles the sounds of psychedelic folk, synth driven electro pop and echo and delayed affected rock. They have an amazing roster of artists that include the chill wave sounds of Washed Out and the Lo Fi driven rock of Best Coast. Most of their artists release their albums on vinyl as well as mp3 which is becoming a rarity in this day and age. The move to vinyl seems to have payed off though with Washed Out's first 12" already in its 3rd press and with OG copies changing hands for increasing large sums of money.
Check out the new blog from some homies over in London. Basically its about records and music and all that good stuff. One of the most interesting ideas is their Diggin For Wax Mix Series. The premise being that with a $20 (pound) budget they go into a record store and make a mix out of the records that they find. The first mix is up now. Check it out.
Im loving the down tempo/lo-fi, pych, atmospherics of Mount Kimbie and Scuba. Hot Flush is definitely one of the more interesting dubstep labels out there right now.
Eli Escobar just dropped a new single on Planet Music and what a nice piece of seriously deep cosmic/disco it is. Love Thing features Amanda Blank who is amazing on this yet managed to turn out a very disappointing album last year. This track will be perfect for the upcoming summer months. Props to The Late Show for the heads up.
The Legion were a group from The Bronx who were put on by Dres from Black Sheep and down with Show and AG. I first heard this on Dj Krush's awesome Code 4109 mix. Its fairly easy 12" to come by these days but the album is still worth loot. One of my favourite hip hop 12"s of all time.. .1993 new york classic !
