Beats & Brass: The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

I first heard about Hypnotic Brass Ensemble when someone posted a youtube clip of a New York Times feature (see bottom) a few years ago, and it was the first time in a long time that I remember being truly blown away by music. Comprised of 8 members, 7 of them blood brothers of the trumpeter and former member of Sun Ra’s Arkestra Phil Cohran, the group started out as a street ensemble, hypnotizing audiences on the streets and subway stations of Chicago before moving to New York. Picking up influences from their father, and combining that with their own interests in hip hop and soul, HBE’s music is an infectious cocktail of brass and rhythm that reminds me a little of Kashmere Stage Band’s material.

Over the past couple of years their career has really taken off, having recorded with Eryka Badu and Mos Def, as well as releasing a number of 7″ and 12″ singles, and their first official full-length album on the Honest Jon label in 2009. If any story deserves to be told it’s of these guys, and filmmaker Reuben Atlas is making it happen with his documentary Hypnotic, scheduled to be released later this year. Check out the trailer below.

I began filming in the fall of 2006, during my last year of law school. (I snuck in shoots between classes and visits to the library.) Hypnotic’s music is what sparked my initial interest—it also helped me pass the bar exam—but it was their nomadic, Utopian existence and deep commitment to uphold their family’s values that inspired the documentary. About six months into filming, the band’s career started to take off and I was fortunate enough to capture their evolution. The feature-length documentary is scheduled for completion by the summer of 2010.

Read more about this project here.

Mercury (WAR) from moriza on Vimeo.


Raps, Caps & Alien Slaps

Friday, February 19, 2010

Some nice Bay Area rap videos from up and coming filmmaker Aris Jerome. You can find more of his work here.

Young L (of The Pack) – Young L-E-N from Aris Jerome on Vimeo.

Nht Boyz – 6 In The Morning from Aris Jerome on Vimeo.

E-Gunna – Gangsta On Grove feat. Ya Boy, Dip and Big Rich from Aris Jerome on Vimeo.


Thunder Soul: The Story of the Kashmere Stage Band

Thursday, February 4, 2010

My step dad is a jazz drummer and music instructor, and as I was really getting into jazz a few years ago I decided to flip through his record collection to see what kind of records he had. His involvement with different school bands in the 60’s and 70’s yielded a bunch of interesting looking records that he either played on, conducted, or was affiliated with in some way or another. Eventually I came across a copy of Kashmere Stage Band’s Out of Gas But Still Burnin’ LP that he had acquired from the band’s director, Conrad Johnson. My eyes lit up. I knew that Kashmere records were rare and highly sought after by jazz and funk enthusiasts, and until then I had never come across an original KSB record.

In general, my experience with stage band records has been poor; they are typically tepid and cheesy, but the Kashmere kids are another story. Johnson apparently saw the potential in some of his best and brightest students from Kashmere High School in Houston, Texas, forming the KSB in the late 60’s. Between 1968 and 1978 they cut eight studio albums, toured the nation, and won several national championships in the process, becoming a national phenomenon of sorts. The group eventually disbanded in 1978, as several of the players went on to become professional musicians.

I just caught the trailer for an upcoming documentary, Thunder Soul, that traces the band’s history, catches up with some of the players and reunites them for a concert, honoring the man that pushed them to become the greatest high school band ever made. If you want to hear more, check out the compilation Texas, Thunder Soul 1968-1974.


Beautiful Losers

Monday, February 1, 2010

Beautiful Losers, an exhibit, book and most recently a documentary, follows the work of several artists, rooted in subcultures like skateboarding, hip hop, punk, and graffiti, who helped power a movement and generation of culturally significant art. Some of my favorite artists like Shepard Fairey, Geoff McFetridge, and Barry McGee are prominently featured. A highly recommended rental – watch the trailer below.

Beautiful Losers film trailer from beautifullosersfilm on Vimeo.


African Disco

Monday, January 25, 2010

Teaser from the forthcoming Nigerian Disco comp by Academy Records and Voodoo Funk. Killin’ it as always.


Pads of Fire

Monday, January 11, 2010

After college I tried my hand at production, messing around and recording backpacker rap tracks with friends. I started off with stuff like Acid Pro, Fruity Loops and all that stuff until I eventually splurged for an MPC XL2000. Nowadays it seems you can make just about anything on a computer, but I don’t think any program has been able to emulate the natural feeling of the MPC’s pads. I’ve always thought that Jel from Anticon was one of the best MPC performers I’d ever seen, but I saw this video of new Dipset producer AraabMuzik and damn; kids have been steeping their game up. Impressive stuff.

araabMUZIK Live MPC Set Part 1 from Death by Electric Shock on Vimeo.


Novos Baianos – Misterio Do Planeta

Friday, January 8, 2010

Here’s a beautiful live version of Novos Baianos’ “Mysterio Do Planeta” taken from their album Acabou Chorare. I used this track for my Braziliance mix, but this version sounds even better to my ears.


Edan’s Echo Party

Thursday, December 3, 2009

T his is a video for Edan’s latest release, Echo Party, quite possibly one of the wildest mixtapes ever made. Edan was given access to the Traffic Ent. Group’s back catalog of old school rap labels like Magic Records, Chocolate Star, and P&P, and asked to create something entirely new. He could have gone the simple mixtape route, but instead Edan has created a 30-min record of dance, rap and punk, utilizing everything from turntables, tape echo, guitar, moog and maybe even kazoos. Crazy, but genius stuff.

CDs are in stores now. Stones Throw was taking pre-orders for the LP but looks like they are all sold out. Too bad because each LP was going to feature individualized art by Edan himself.

edan-echo-party-1edan-echo-party-2edan-echo-party-3


Into The Fire: An African Mix

Monday, November 30, 2009

M y first exposure to African music (and I think this is true for a lot of people) was Fela Kuti. His records regularly, albeit inaccurately, show up in funk bins and through the years I’ve obtained a bunch of his titles. Ignorantly, I thought that Fela Kuti was the end of the road for African music and it wasn’t until many years later that I realized Africa has one of the richest music histories; Kuti was just the gateway drug.

african_funk

My infatuation with African music started a little over a year ago when I stumbled upon a comp called Ghana Soundz released by UK based Soundway Records. The comp explored rare, and for many, previously unheard of afro-beat, afro-funk and afro-fusion sounds from Ghana. I had also recently discovered Voodoo Funk, Frank Gossner’s blog documenting his time living in Africa with the sole mission of re-discovering Africa’s long lost archives of music. In some cases he sourced and found many of the artists who’s records he unearthed in dusty basements and abandoned warehouses. The stories of his travels are fascinating enough to write a book about, and in actuality, director Leigh Iacobucci followed Gossner during some of his time in Africa and will be releasing a documentary called Take Me Away Fast (see trailer below).

“Take Me Away Fast” Trailer from Leigh Iacobucci on Vimeo.

Frank also has a ton of mixes up on his blog highlighting some of his African finds. Some of my favorites are his Big Beats, Sweet Talks, and Psychedelic Aliens, Everybody Get Down and African Heat mixes, although they are all pretty fantastic. I’ve learned a lot from his blog and mixes alone, not to mention scored a bunch of great African titles from him. He also has had his hand in a number of reissue projects, including the amazing reissue of Pax Nicholas’ uber rare solo album, Na Teef Know the Road of Teef.

poly_rythmo

Everyone seems to be catching on to the hypnotic quality of African music as Soundway continues to release superb compilations (their latest Ghana Special is a must have) as well as Analog Africa, who’s comps are amongst the best across any genre. Academy Records has also recently reissued three rare African records, Ofege’s Try and Love, one of the best psychedelic Afro records out there, as well as SJOB Movement’s A Move in the Right Direction and Mebusas’ Blood Brothers. These compilations and reissues are a great place to start exploring the depths of African music, although I must warn you: addiction may ensue.

For the past year I’ve focused most of my attention on African records, and to punctuate this post I’ve made my first African mix. There is no real focus to this mix, just tracks that I dig and think may be a good introduction to the African sound. I am by no means an expert on African music, but strongly believe that stuff like this needs to be preserved, remembered and heard by anyone willing to listen. I hope you enjoy it.

Download Into the Fire

into_the_fire

Into the Fire Tracklisting:
01. Bob Pinodo – Africa
(from Show Master of Africa, 1978)
02. Uhuru Dance Band – Biribi
(from The Sound of Africa, 1975)
03. Bunzu Soundz – Zinabu
(from Bunzu Soundz, 1977)
04. Ogyatanaa – Akosua Manu
(from Yerefrefre, 1975)
05. Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou – Minsatole Mi Dayi Homin
(from Volume 1, 1972/1983)
06. Orchestre Picoby Band – Jo Ahi Nou Se
(from Jo Ahi Nou Se/Vikoue 7″, 197?)
07. The Big Beats – Kyenkyema
(from Kyenkyema/Mi Nsumoo Bo Donn 7″, 197?)
08. K Frimpong & His Cubano Fiestas – Kyenkyen Bi Adi M’awu
(from Self Titled, 1976)
09. Ebo Taylor – Heaven
(from Self Titled, 1978)
10. Sweet Talks – Eyi Su Ngaangaa
(from The Kusum Beat, 1976)
11. Dan Satch – Je Nr’okan
(from Je Nr’okan/Woman Pin Down 7″, 1971)
12. Avolonto Honore – Na Mi Do Gbe Hue Nu
(from La Mort N’a Pas De Date Fixe, 197?)
13. The Funkees – Break Through
(from Break Through/Slipping Into Darkness 7″, 197?)
14. One World – I Need Your Help
(from Victory, 197?)
15. The Apostles – Play Girl
(from Self Titled, 197?)
16. SJOB Movement – You Only Live Once
(from A Move in the Right Direction, 197?)
17. Thony Shorby Nwenyi – No Wrong Show
(from Sweet Funk Music, 1978)
18. Akeeb Kareem – Tomorrow
(from Blackman, 1972)


Clipse – “I’m Good (Remix)” feat Rick Ross

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

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