June 16, 2011Big drop on the Firecracker Recordings sublabel Unthank, the follow up to UNTHANK001 which ushered in the name Bakey Ustl as one of the top releases for 2010. Both labels are run by Lindsay Todd aka House Of Traps who, through sheer quality of releases and care in delivering a timeless product has earned his place as an important figure…
June 15, 2011Not sure why I don’t shout out Retro Thing a lot more, especially as it may be my most hit website of the last 12 months. Get addicted to it and they’ll put you on to some amazing stuff. Their Do-It-Yourself section especially gets my over-excited, and leaves me planning on building an awesome-but-cheap retro synth or a ZX80 or…
June 14, 2011Years back Straight No Chaser ran an article on the man Roy Hargrove and a project of his named The RH Factor. The project was a side working for the jazz trumpeter / composer to explore his influences in hip-hop, soul and funk while not straying too far from ‘progressive jazz’ as it was called. A few days later I…
June 13, 2011Saturday night was big. Recent obsession with the undiscovered side of live music means it’s been proper time since I’ve seen a lineup as epically important as the one at Koko this weekend gone. I definitely wasn’t alone in thinking that the sound system had been given something extra too. We’ve been talking a bit about Dorian Concept playing live…
June 13, 2011via Jimmy Monsta Funk The Chicago vocalist Darryl Pandy sadly passed away on the 10th June. Although his vocals appeared on many tracks, he will be fondly remembered for the huge vocal performance he gave on the worldwide hit Love Can’t Take Turn Around, a collaboration with Farley “Jackmaster” Funk (who co-produced the track along house music pioneers Vince Lawrence…
June 10, 2011When I read about this it sounded unnecessarily gimmicky, performing within a sphere, but watching the video it actually looks immense. Apparently DJ Shadow has been touring around the states in The Shadowsphere for time (since at least 2009) and the graphics work looks mind-blowing. Definitely worth the ever increasing cost of admission to see live. That said I’m…
June 9, 2011Thought we’d share some recently dropped releases that I’ve been rinsing on my iPod but not seen much about around. Officially out on Monday, but selling now through Juno is the latest 12″ from the Wolf Music label, appropriately titled Wolf Music 8 EP. Four artists offering up a tune each, possibly the finest to date from each of the…
June 7, 2011Wow, we’re only eight years from 2019. First time I saw this film in the mid ’90s it seemed an eternity away at the time. If you’re new to the world of anime, Akira is still the benchmark for 2D animation, and represents many firsts for film-making in general, including the lip-synched dialogue and the fluid motion of the movie.…
June 7, 2011Not sure if this is a glitch or some sort of promo thing that was never exploited, but there’s half-price tickets for Kode9, Harmonic 313, Alex Nut, Dorian Concept and King Midas Sound, happening this week at Koko in Camden. Link: http://www.wegottickets.com/sct/Y8vZ22FpCa For full details on the gig check the earlier post here, it’s going to be a big night.
June 6, 2011He of the tea – Chairman Kato – is officially well under way with putting together his next art installation in the basement of Tea Smith. With Underbelly properly closed off then, and no one left in risk of spoilers, they’ve thrown up the promo video, that, unlike the installation itself, can now live forever in cyberspace. Big shouts once…