tomorrow, saturday, I will be giving an artist talk alongside Daniel Perlin at Austin’s Mexican American Cultural Center, 4pm. then, evening party. (thanks for the music & food tips!)
next time in TX i’ll make it to Houston, hotspot of American psychedelic gangsta realism.
from Choppaholix chopped & screwed mixtape Choppinupdablock vol. 9
this evening is a good one for WFMU — from 7-8pm I’ll be playing some brand new dubsteppy/grimey stuff & hosting a live set by Dave Q & JuaKali of Dub War NYC. After that comes Dave Mandl w/ special guest Colleen. Colleen’s real name isn’t Colleen, she’s great, we played a show together in France and although i haven’t heard any of the studio albums i’m sure her delicate, neo-archaic music translates quite well to radio.
Power Cut Version + Nikki B – Get High (buyable here)
…and to think that some unfortunate people stil turn to Bob Marley for their weed anthems. The Stephen McGregor riddim voiced here (after the instrumental plays for a minute or so) is about one of the things it tells us it is about: network disruption, knocking out an important signal. The holes left by his cut-up guitars and intricate, rickety beat remind me of Steely & Cleevie’s classic Streetsweeper riddim – both tunes fight for rhythmic space and win, staccato, percussive, in a fullness they tore apart.
i’m waiting for the rice to cook, so, time for The Things I’ve Been Meaning To Say Roundup:
893 & I are looking for an intern/volunteer to help us build a… thing in the internets. Basic MySql and Php skills are needed. Tech wizards are welcome. It will be fun and not too complicated. NYC-based is good but not crucial. file under: net-art, data analysis, search engine deoptimization, clicktrail shacks, the psychology behind decision-making. interested? email muddup at fea dot st.
DJ C’s new blog is awesome. Mashit, Jake, mash it up! Below, a rare paparazzi shot of DJ C emerging from his pink Lamborghini:
I’ll be playing in Austin TX in 2 weeks. can y’all tell me about the good record shops? i’m esp interested in Texan rap & latin / mexican music. Below, a rare paparazzi shot of DJ Rupture as he scratches on a turntable made of paint fumes.
& then there’s Woofah, a great new zine from London (dissensus-scented, they tell me) focusing on reggae grime & dubstep – that sweet bassy space. Lots of interviews (Skepta, Iration Steppas, Pinch); one of my fav music writers, Simon Hampson, in longform; plus the general not-needing-electricty aspect of a real zine. f$ck a blog, let’s xerox!
if Simon’s grime optimism ain’t infectious enough, i suggest you try Anger Is A Gift, a powerful mixtape by Prancehall, with some next-level specials (Ce’Cile!) & dubplates on it, not to mention southern US rap. I slept on this one but wow.
The first Iranian national radio program to feature a female vocalist in 27 years happened last month, on the occasion of Elaheh’s death. For this sound – cabaret music, opium music, the ‘provocation’ of a woman’s voice unaccompanied by a male or a choir – has long been illegal in public. Silence is a kind of death but suppression doesn’t equal forgetting & when the right song enters you it will not soon leave.
Elaheh – title unknown, pre Islamic Revolution radio recording
Bani gave me this. She writes:
It’s all from this old program Golha, from before the revolution. The songs are unfortunately not titled, just by singer names… Elaheh was one of the most important.
well, they were all very important…. And very famous. Still are, especially among the older generations and Iranians in the diaspora. But these (women) are the voice of Iran for so many…
Elaheh sadly died just a few weeks ago, and in July Mahasti died… another pillar in this kind of music,
There are few of their generation left, but some of them still give concerts from time to time in LA.
You ask about the lyrics. They are usually amazingly beautiful… and sad. Lost love. Love not reciprocated.
a lot of folks have asked about this, so here it is, the tracklist to my Secret Google Cheat Codes mix. the mix is part of Violent Turd’s Shotgun Wedding series, buyable here , stealable everywhere else. (at least we’re honest.) Tracklist assembly assistance from u know who.
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one can find several discs from Buda Musique’s Ethiopiques series, plus Manu Chao’s new album – which happens to be his least interesting – dwnldable here. [via ] Chocoreve (I dream of chocolate).
Mp3 blog as library. Weird little broken libraries. you take the book and dont ever have to give it back.
speaking of Ethiopiques, here’s a track from vol. 17 . I dare you to find a more soulful out-of-tune piano number.
short version: free North African music at Central Park Summerstage this Saturday Sunday!
new school princes of Moroccan beats, Fnaïre, make what they call ‘traditional rap’. until hearing their new album, Yed El Henna, i couldn’t get with Maghrebi hiphop — it always sounded like behind the times French rap or slightly more behind the times American rap. but Fnaïre is on it. The pan-Moroccan samples & structures sit inside the music in a comfortable way; the sound has become its own thing. Masala blogs em. check ‘Sah Raoui feat. Salah Edin.’ for the most successful gnawa-hiphop fusion tune i’ve ever heard (and it’s a genre i’m suspicious of!)
this tune, i can almost ID the sample/riff they are using. I have this music… somewhere.
Fnaïre – Tagine Loghate feat. Providence
for old-school Moroccan styles, the Orchestre de Tanger is giving a special NYC concert tomorrow. $35, ouch! thankfully, the virtuoso classical Andalusian music ensemble will give a FREE concert this Saturday, as part of the Mediterranean-themed Central Park Summerstage event. Also appearing at that, Hassan Hakmoun, a gnawa fusionist who’ve work i’ve never warmed up to.
reggae/ dubstep/ grime/ hiphop/ bailefunk/ worldbeat & other things that go BUMP in the night.
Soot Records & Funkworthy FM team up to bring you: FIESTA SOOT. Friday Oct. 5 @ Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery @ Bleeker St, NYC.
10PM-late. $5 before midnight, $8 after.
DJ /rupture, Filastine, Matt Shadetek, Maga Bo, Geko Jones, Reaganomics.
tonite’s radio show will be mostly ‘quiet’ North African tunes.
then next week, a heap of new beats.
coming soon, special guests: Dave Q & JuaKali (Dub War live!), Nick Catchdubs, Filastine, and Thursday Born (Awesome Tapes From Africa).
producers from various European stations have been reaching out — as a result, my show, Mudd Up!, will be rebroadcast in Belgium, France, and Croatia! very exciting, the sound spreads, someone is listening amidst all that silence and static, details next week.
we did field recordings all around NYC yesterday, more on that soon
On the Death of the Music Industry
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Maga Bo’s new videos are still being vivisected in the cutting room, but until then, here’s a mini-documentary he did between shoots, talking to Xuman of Pee Froiss and Keyti (Dakar All Stars, R.A.P.A.D.I.O.) about polyglot rap, cultural exchange, and more. Filmed on location in Dakar, Senegal, using Bo’s still digital camera!