I started out the week with Charles Mingus "Paris TNP". This is a concert from 1971. I'm not sure if this a bootleg or a regular release. The sound quality is pretty good. This is all really solid stuff. If I had to pick a favourite, it would be the Duke Ellington Medley. I really like the album cover, check it out.
To find the Mingus I searched for Paris on my itunes. The next thing on the playlist after that was Grandaddy Black Session Le Studio 105 Maison De La Radio Paris (recorded in 23/6/03). It's a live performance on a radio show -- you can hear the host translating the singers comments to the audience into French. This is the only thing in my collection by Grandaddy. I never see anyone posting about them in the mp3 blogs that I know. Its strange because this stuff is really good. I think the band broke up a few years ago.
I also listened to RJD2 "Things Go Better Instrumentals". I have this thing for hip hop instrumental albums. I have a quite a few in my collection. This one is OK, nothing great.
DJ Shadow Endtroducing Deluxe Edition. This is great. DJ Shadow is a true artist. Apparently, this was put together with vinyl he picked up in the bargain bin. If I had to pick a favourite I would say the Number Song (Cut Chemist Party Mix). But there are quite a few standouts on this one.
I also worked my way through Little Brother "The Chittlin Circuit 1.5" and Mick Boogie and Little Brother "And Justus for All". Both of these are mixtapes. Little Brother is a crew from North Carolina. There stuff is different from most southern hip hop in that its not crunked out or like the other styles you get from the South. It can be a little jazzy at times and sometimes they like have these really lush harmonies underlying the beats. The beats are really good. An instrumental version of the Chitlin Circuit would be a nice pickup. "And Justus for All" is probably not on the same level as the Chitlin Circuit, but its still pretty good.
Last night I was listen to Dr. Octagon "Dr. Octagonecologyst". For those of you don't know this is Kool Keith from the Ultra Magnetic MCs with Dan the Automator producing. This has a really dark and sinister vibe in terms of the beats. Kool Keith's verses are all over the place, but he strings together a solid narrative. He was in Toronto a few years ago. He had a section of the stage roped off with velvet curtains. He told the audience that was the VIP section. Then he took some women out of the audience and disappeared into the VIP section for a while.
After listening to that I checked my ipod for more Dan the Automator stuff. I listened to Dan his "The Automator Presents 2K7". This is how a producer puts together an album with guest MCs. You give each of the MCs a dope beat and you tell them to structure there raps around basketball or sports. This is so good. I thought back to how disjointed Marco Polo's Port Authority was and part of it is due to the guest MCs just doing whatever. So the end result is that there is nothing there to hold the thing together.
No comments:
Post a Comment