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The N.A.S.A. Alliance

posted by • January 14, 2009 • Leave a comment

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/2555969[/vimeo]

Where did these dudes come from?? It’s not like on first listen, these tracks sound so radically different from some other electro hip-pop out there right now. But the duo Sam Spiegel (Squeak E. Clean) and Ze Gonzales (DJ Zegon) that make N.A.S.A. (North America/South America), have constructed what at least has potential to be a really great project. With a full-length release due next month and a complimenting documentary (?) in the works, they are at least worth keeping an eye on. You can’t really listen to their tracks without thinking ‘mashup,’ but leaving it at that seems somewhat dismissive of the incredible collaborative work that went into this endeavor. These aren’t mere remixes, but original tracks with a choir of featured artists that don’t make up your everyday trip down to the recording studio: David Byrne, Chuck D, Seu Jorge, Santogold, M.I.A., Tom Waits, Kool Keith, Kanye, Lykke Li… WTF?? So again, I ask – where did these dudes come from? Check their MySpace page for more. Continue reading…

  • wc • January 14, 2009

    That’s the same question I’ve been asking. I started getting these SqueakeClean newsletters (probably via Scion or Antics), and dismissed them as post-Hollertronix wannabes. But when I first heard of the music video involving Chuck D, Obey, and the director duo.. and then numerous other projects involving Santogold, Kanye, and seeing them perform on the same bill as Justice, its like I HAD to notice.

    And the song ‘Money’ has more to it than just its musical qualities.

    The album’s contributor list absolutely nuts. It has to come from their combined networking right? Speigel being Spike Jonze’s brother and former producer for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

  • prince of ballard • January 19, 2009

    did sam spiegel, of spiegel catalog fame buy these artists??? everyone has a price. so maybe he used daddys money to gett these artists to work with a no-name?????? i’m not trying to hate, i’m just trying to make sense of somthing that doesnt add up.

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Slow & Haunting

posted by • January 14, 2009 • Leave a comment

Blood Bank coverEngineers coversaturdays__youth_m83

Bon Iver is dropping their new EP Blood Bank in less than a week and if they don’t hit a sophomore slump, hopefully it signals another strong full length to come later this year. Those not familiar with their hauntingly beautiful debut album For Emma, Forever Ago should make a point to check it out. I’ve always had somewhat of a taste for more downtempo & mellow grooves, but over the last year this has been taking me in more of a shoe-gazer / indie-rock direction. So in the spirit of sort of slow and haunting tunes on these cold and dark days, I wanted to share a couple tracks by the Engineers, M83, and Air (Virgin Suicides anyone?). And just to add a little quirkiness too, Bon Iver mixes things up a little with a live cover they did of the Outfield‘s (one?) hit Your Love. Continue reading…

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Chopped & Mixed

posted by • January 6, 2009 • Leave a comment

Here are just a few selections from an extensive collection of interesting video remixes by Matthias Heuermann. It was really difficult selecting just a few, so if you feel like checking out more, you can view the full collection here.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4P14V8YRUg[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY1WR0vJCAo[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etQwV6bk6Rc[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI3nK2pafTE[/youtube]

via: Chasing.Red

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So High You Can’t Get Over It

posted by • January 6, 2009 • Leave a comment

georgeclinton1

I wish I could say that I grew up listening to hip-hop, but I didn’t. Back in San Francisco, I went to a small school where you had to listen to Pink Floyd and the Grateful Dead to fit in (don’t hate!). But when the spacey, meandering jam sessions and 11 minute guitar solos got, well, boring, it wasn’t long before my friends and I ventured into the universe of George Clinton. I can almost imagine myself hearing Atomic Dog for the first time in middle school and going, So THAT’s what a beat sounds like!

Fast forward a few years, during which I’m sleeping on every great hip-hop artist to come up in the Bay, and a Deadhead friend introduces me to George Clinton’s Greatest Funkin’ Hits. I remember very clearly listening to Flashlight and wondering who the hell that dude was with the crazy smoove and yet nasal voice. Did he have a cold or was that, like, his thing? Either way, I shamelessly began asking people my age if they knew who A Tribe Called Quest was and if they were any good. Hooked.

George Clinton was undoubtedly my bridge to hip-hop. I used to get so geeked every time I’d hear a sample, whether it was on The Chronic or Del’s more brazenly titled I Wish My Brother George Was Here (produced by none other than his cousin, Ice Cube). Might I even propose that the G in G-Funk doesn’t stand for Gangsta? Wow, I kill me. With that, I present to you a couple of George’s collaborations with four rap giants of the day. Continue reading…

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TOP TEN (kinda)

posted by • December 30, 2008 •

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Top10.jpg

“Passport” radio broadcast from 12/29/08 – special BEST OF 2008 edition
Passport airs every Monday night on 89.1 FM WNYU

This is really not a top ten, and it doesn’t even cover half of my favorite albums of the year, but it does cover just about every one of my favorite records that got play on Passport this past year. Looking over the blog it’s easy to tell that my tastes are much more varied than what’s presented on the show – I would not, for example drop Kanye or even Mayer Hawthorne (since the station is all about focused programming). And the truth is, after 6 years of hosting and DJ-ing my Monday night program, I feel I’m coming much closer to saying goodbye to the show, especially now that I have a co-host I’ve been working with who’s going to keep it alive after I move on. However, since this year has been a good one on the program- starting off back in January with guest appearances from both Chico Mann and Ticklah– I wanted my BEST OF 2008 to highlight all the freaky, funky, global gems that I get to exercise out of my system each and every Monday. I say exersice, because I’m really not able to play too many of these cuts when I DJ out and about- your average club-goer is still not ready for the psychedelic Cumbias that I fiend. So here’s the playlist from last night’s show- I’ve thrown some honorable mentions at the bottom that didn’t make it into the show due to time restraints…

Artist – “Song Title” – Album Name – (Record Label)

Brownout “Barretta” Homenaje (Freestyle)
Karl Hector and The Malcouns “Toure Samar” Sahara Swing (Now Again)
Gabo Brown & Orchestre Poly-Rythmo “It’s A Vanity” African Scream Contest (Analog Africa)
Curumin “Compacto” JapanPopShow (Adrenaline)
Chicha Libre “Sonido Amazonico” Sonido Amazonico (Barbes)
Sonora Casino “Astronautas A Mercurio” Obsession (Bully)
Bio Ritmo “Bionic Boogaloo” Bionico (Locutor)
Grupo Fantasma “Se Te Mira” Sonidos Gold (Aire Sol)
Bronx River Parkway “Agua Con Sal” San Sebastian 152 (Truth & Soul)
Keziah Jones “Pimpin'” Nigerian Wood (Warner Bros)
Jackson Conti “Sao Paulo Nights” Sujinho (Mochilla)
Chico Mann “Dilo Como Yo” Analogue Drift (Unreleased)

honorable mentions:

V/A – The entire NIGERIA SPECIAL series on Soundway
V/A – Calypsoul
V/A – Bachata Roja
V/A – The Roots Of Chicha
Tito Puente – The Complete 78’s
Joe Bataan – Under The Streetlamps
Seun Kuti – Seun Kuti + Egypt 80
Femi Kuti – Day By Day

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RIP Adam Nation-Ames

posted by • December 23, 2008 •

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Adam&Me.jpg

The Grateful Dead : Brokedown Palace
taken from the album American Beauty on Warner Bros. (1970)

Charles Wilder : Big Heart (rough draft, don’t hate!)
a song for my bro.

Been a crazy week. I heard the moon is abnormally close to Earth right now, perhaps that’s a part of it. Less than a day after spending my first ever night in jail (story for another day), I heard the shocking news that one of my oldest and best friends (a true brother to me) had died in a car accident.

Adam and I learned how to skateboard together, learned how to get into trouble together, made our first cross-country road trip together when I had just gotten my license… So many of my most memorable experiences were with him. When I was 12 and he was 13, we were in a show together where we shared the part of the Donkey. One of us as the head, the other as the butt (which meant bending down holding onto the other dude’s waist for an ungodly period of time), and we’d switch off positions. This was all in the pursuit of chasing cute girls mind you. And we even got our first girlfriends together- the scheme worked! I remember sharing a couch watching some c-grade horror film and making out with our respective adolescent girls side-by-side, taking cues out of the corners of my eyes so I’d know when to proceed to the next step- GLORIOUS 2ND BASE!

I could go on for way too long about how much of who I am was shaped by him, but since none of you knew him, I won’t. In addition to being a serious lover of hip hop, dude was a Deadhead, as are many good people up here in the New England woods where I’m originally from. This particular Dead song was sung by a long haired hippie on guitar, who was accompanied by another on Djembe, at the beautiful service I attended this morning in his honor. I love you bro and you’ll be with me for all the rest of my days on this Earth.