August 31, 2009

iN tHe MiX VII: dJ Connect-I-Cut






Mix Sessions Part 7: Summer tunes II






Traxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:



Flight Of The Conchords Business Time

Debarge I Like It (Barna Soundmachine RMX)

Nujabes Ole (Instrumental)

Ernie K. Doe Here Come The Girls

Ink (feat. Q-Tip) Breathe And Stop (Jazzy RH Mix)

Tombee Amélie In Dub (Diesler RMX)

Herbert Pen

Matthew Dear Elementary Lover

El Remolon The Beach Era (Djef Mix)

Paul Kalkbrenner Aaron

Cécile feat. Dennis Coffey Una Domenica Italiana

DJ Kaos Love The Nite Away (Tiedye Mix)







August 28, 2009

Jamie Woon





"Ladies and Gentlemen
Surely we're here in mind
Watching our spirits dance on the
On the backs of our lives"



I discovered Jamie Woon earlier this year when I got the Burial RMX of his 'Wayfaring Stranger'. I must confess that I didn't listen carefully enough to the tune in the beginning and so it got lost in my iTunes between all the other novelties. It was only later that someone called my attention to the 25-year-old singer again and I started to rummage his music. Soon I found out about the versatility of the Londoner. He understands to mix Soul with HipHop, Blues and alternative Rock. In the video below, Jamie Woon performs my favourite of his songs, 'Spirits'. The way he makes use of his voice, creating the impression of a full band by means of beatboxing and his multi-layered vocal harmonies is simply amazing.








Another one of my favourite tracks is a collaboration with Subeena that will be released on Planet Mu in October this year. Until then you can purchase Jamie's sublime sounds here or here.








August 24, 2009

onesongonepic III




Blinky Palermo
Black Square and Green Triangle, 1970


..................learn more...................buy..............







................learn more..............buy......................





August 23, 2009

Asaf Avidan and the Mojos







When I first listened to an Asaf Avidan tune I thought Janis Joplin had resurrected. In fact, if you leave aside the mode of production in his songs, which give some indication about the time of origin, Avidan's music could as well date from the 70s.

While Janis Joplin had a voice a bit too masculine, with the Israeli singer it is the other way round. His voice - when he sings, his speaking voice is much darker - sounds rather feminine or is simply not classifiable. It is a powerful, a yearning and a raddled voice, just like hers.

Yesterday night I went to see him play and for the first time I had a picture appendant to the sound. The performer Asaf Avidan is as difficult to pigeonhole as his voice is. His movements vary from tender to aggressive while his band accompanies the changes. Asaf Avidan and The Mojos surely make a real good match.

The Mojos are Ran Nir on the bass guitar, Yoni Sheleg on the drums, Roi Peled on the lead guitar and Hadas Kleinman on the cello. Especially the songs Asaf Avidan performs together with the only girl in the band, the cello player Hadas Kleinman, radiate this certain fragility that can also be found in his voice. Other tunes such as "Little Stallion" that are escorted by drums, bass and another guitar (Asaf Avidan plays the guitar too) are overflowing with vitality.

I personally tend to like Avidan best when it comes to the more quiet, intense pieces of music. His "Maybe You Are" and "Your Anchor" are consummate beauties that make clear why the singer was quite recently named "a new messiah" by the Rolling Stone Magazine.






Below you find livetubes of Asaf Avidan and Janis Joplin. I'm curious to hear your opinions. You can buy Asaf Avidan's album 'The Reckoning' here.









August 21, 2009

ROBERT GLASPER






Jazz pianist Robert Glasper is going to release his third album "Double-Booked" next week. I've been listening to the CD for the past few weeks but still haven't come to a definite opinion. I like the record in many ways - especially the first half of it which represents his trio - but I can't deny that Glasper's music sounds too directionless from time to time (or song to song) in my opinion. This mainly has to do with part 2 of the album. Here, "The Robert Glasper Experiment" takes over.

Experiment, because it is supposed to combine Jazz with HipHop, Glasper's other passion. The result is a fusion of both, a bit of everything, unfortunately without a clear statement. Collaborations with Mos Def, Bilal and ?uestlove (if only on Glasper's voice mail) promise a lot, and these promises are difficult to keep. Questions arise, for example, why Mos Def only contributes to "4eva" by repeating to say "forever ever" for 20 seconds.

Track 8, "Butterfly" features a vocoder voice. I'm sorry, but I had my heavy dose of it. It just doesn't make things better. Not even if it's inspired by a Herbie Hancock tune. Following on, "Festival" demonstrates how Free Jazz got its name. The song is wild, digresses in every possible direction and...is making me nervous. Similar things can be said about the last tune of the album, "Open Mind". Track 11, "All Matter" in contrast, which highlights Bilal's yearning voice, is a wonderful track. It is full, consistent, perfect. Same applies to tracks 2 to 6, with a special emphasis on "59 South" and "Think Of One", a Thelonious Monk remake. They are harmonic Jazz compositions, and it just doesn't need more (freedom & fusion).

Below you find listening examples of my favourite 3 "Double-Booked" tunes. These songs are brilliant. And isn't it worth buying an album for 3 outstanding pieces of music? I think so.




Track 5 "59 South"





Track 6 "Think of One"





Track 11 "All Matter"