Some raw Bay Area heat was brought to my attention last week, a tape called Time for Turmoil released by East Palo Alto’s Parts Unknown in 1991. A fascinating time capsule into Bay Area rap, with influences coming from all corners of hip hop. “911 Funk” has that classic Bay Area bounce, while “Another Day in EPA” has a golden era feel to it, and “Time for Turmoil” sounds like a stripped down Bomb Squad production. Hearing stuff like this makes me want to delve deeper into the Bay’s rap vaults, although I’m not sure I have the time or money to add another genre to my music fetishes. A cassette copy just sold on ebay for $325. Damn!
At the very least someone needs to step up and start reissuing stuff like this. There’s certainly a market for it, and I’m sure there’s an endless supply of dope raps dying to be unearthed.
Soul Scrapbook marks the beginning of a new feature on D.I.A. – a showcase of vintage photography, album covers and anything else in the way of music related graphics. I mean, the music is where it’s at, but sometimes I get just as excited flipping through a batch of stunning photos, and this set that I’m about to share is definitely no exception.
For this first post I’m thrilled to share an amazing collection of vintage soul, jazz, funk and gospel photos I was fortunate enough to stumble upon – essentially a who’s who of all things soulful from the 50′s through the 70′s. You can click on the thumbnails above to start the slideshow or you can go directly to my new flickr page where you can view the entire set (only about 50 out of 100 are posted here). I’ll be uploading all of my scrapbook photos, mixtape covers, as well as other music related images onto this page, and I probably won’t post about it all so I’d recommend adding it to your bookmarks or checking it periodically so you don’t miss anything.
Favela on Blast is the directorial debut of Wesley Pentz (better known as DJ and producer Diplo) and Leandro HBL. A true labor of love and years in the making, the documentary explores Brazil’s vibrant musical subculture called Baile Funk, as Pentz travels deep into favelas to examine the artists and communities that have helped shape this culture, as well as the output of his Mad Decent label.
Really looking forward to watching this. You can get a digital copy for only $5 here.
As I’m currently working on a project involving typographic treatments and motion graphics, I’ve been looking for possible things to reference. This Cee-Lo video came just in the nick of time as it’s a perfect example of how engaging simple text animation can be, and is very close to the vision I had in mind for this particular project. The old school film treatment is a nice touch too.
This is a really cool video celebrating Reid Miles’ work for Blue Note records, and his monumental impact on album cover art and graphic design. Seriously, if you flip through the CD bins at your local record store you’ll see how many people his work has influenced. The video was made to promote a series of summer jazz concerts at the Bella Vista Social Pub in Siena, Tuscany.
You can learn more about Miles here and see the side-by-side comparisons of the original cover art with the hi-fi versions.
Miles Cleret, founder of UK-based Soundway Records, is inspired by music from some of the world’s most colorful cultures. From Africa to Latin America to the Caribbean, Cleret has made it his life’s mission to scour the world for sounds on the brink of extinction, in some cases sourcing the artists and learning about the [...]
Hey friends. I got around to redesigning the site this weekend which I hope you will find a bit more organized and intuitive. I’m still tweaking things here and there and am constantly looking for ways to improve the site, so if you find any bugs or have any ideas or features you would like [...]
Alemayehu Eshete: Kochen Messassate From Kochen Messassate b/w Alemayehu Eshete 7″ (Amha, 1973) Like many people, I was introduced to Ethiopian music through Mulatu Astatke, the most commercially successful Ethiopian musician, arranger and composer and whose career seems to be enjoying a second wind through renewed interest in his work. But I must admit, beyond [...]
Academy Records and Frank at Voodoo Funk will soon be releasing the heavily anticipated CD and 7″ box set for the Psychedelic Aliens, an obscure rock outfit from Ghana that released the obscenely rare EP pictured above. Original copies are pretty much non-existent, and thanks to the dusty fingers and hard work of Frank and [...]
