Viben

K-Liber - Liber Nan So ke Kome

These guys are my favorite non-U.S. Hip-Hop group for a number of reasons. The first being that I have become a slave to Bubbling/Bubbeling/Bobbeling. The second being how successful they are able to mesh it with their craft, like DJ Moortje was their DJ Screw. And it's not just rap in another language too lost in translation for me to fully understand, but really in its own league of "rapping" in the same way Dancehall and Reggaeton are well, sort of Hip-Hop. Curacao is a different island, and while it was bitten by the raggamuffin bug along with the rest of the Caribbean it comes with its own set of rules. This is why K-Liber are able to place on pop charts in the Netherlands, and in this case able to pull off straight up Tambu as a reminder of where they come from. A pop group making references to the root, modern national pride not far off from certain Jamaicans trying to link Daggering to Kumina. A further investigation into the idea that "it's all hip-hop" to quote Toy Selectah, and to me both strengthening the legitimacy of non-U.S. hip-hop as well as further distancing it from such.

Harp Strings

Juan B Mora Y Los Indolatinos - Yasy Moroti (from Musicas Rescatadas de Coleccion)

Paraguayan Polka and Gaurania have been staples in my relaxation as of late, for those times when I worry about all the bass I put into my ears and just feel like enjoying a nice couch to lie down on. Polka isn't at all uncommon in Latin America where Germans ect immigrated to, and Paraguay was even a hot spot for war criminals to try and settle after World War II. It was also the location of the first communist experiment (see Nueva Australia?!). The Paraguayan version is way different than the European one, both musically and it makes me want to reach for a good tequila than a stein of beer. Very different melodically and very heavy on the harp, an instrument that dates back to the 16th century in South America. Los Indolatinos are maybe more of Gaurania band, but with plenty of elements of Paraguayan Polka as well. If your interested in hearing more of this stuff, there is plenty to be found here.

Don't be afraid of the word Polka, Schlachthofbronx fans.

Crawling Similar To An Ant

I.D. and Baobinga - Still Tippin (Hush Up Riddim) (From Bass Music Sessions 2010)

A lot of bassentric rap remixes tend to go in the wrong directions, often so far into the deep end that the low end loses its original purpose. That, and there's almost no point to a lazer bass version of a Gucci track when he's already rapping over such. On paper, these feats might seem like a perfect match for Hip-Hop in this decade, but in reality it's pretty much always bad. Which is why this is at risk of being in the wrong hands especially due to the monumental importance of Still Tippin to the communities that would go on to make such remixes, the people who learned about Houston in 2005. It was a big track to me no doubt, having been collecting Screw tapes for only some time before the single got it's northern exposure. The Hush Up Riddim fits like a glove, and I might be able to picture this outside of a club and inside somebody's car on vogues. Still very much a DJ track, but it retains the original twang without having to use words like "syrupy" or "lean soaked" that are rarely avoided when any Texas references are made. No over the top cut-up techniques exercised here ether, with or without the Paul Wall verse. Lots and lots of delay though. Part of the Bass Music Sessions album, a free release out March 1st that you can read more about here.

Jheri Curl Sucker Wearin' High Heel Boots

Welcome to Swagtard Hell

Based God Metal t-shirt. Here.

Any fashion post will be done a la Kayne. Hah.

We Can Pop Xanex

Three Six Mafia - Stomach 2010

Oh man, this song is fucked up.

Free Your Slaves And Your Ass Will Follow

Tambu plays a large part in the roots of much of the music of the Dutch Antilles as mentioned by the likes of DJ Moortje and can't be ignored by those of us who love movement of the hips. Much like Batuko in Cape Verde and other dances done by displaced Africans, it was forbidden by European Slave traders due to it's "risque" nature, labeled as heathen and remained in secrecy for hundreds of years. The story of cultures condemned due to ass shaking can be told a number of ways (more on the 200+ year old history of Juke/Jit later) but since we've been talking about Bubbling a lot this video seemed totally appropriate. My collection of this stuff is small but growing, Grupo Zojojo being the top dogs so far. I recommend spending time on Youtube checking out some of the performances, which are more than worth watching.

Weird Mixtapes Vol 1

Since countless instances of philosophizing the mixtape have occurred before, I'm not going to add anything to the pile. Instead, I'm going to make it a regular feature over here to talk about the hidden gems I've collected from secret Youtube links, Datpiff, and street CD-Rs. The ritual of digging through all this shit is one that makes music fun for me, and probably the reason I'm content about the lack of solid albums in the world today. Hopefully I'm finding some stuff your not, but if you got something you want to talk about send it, I like getting emails.


Munchi - Baltimore Club Promo 2009

"Weird" isn't really the word to describe most Baltimore Club, but it works when we're talking about the complicated relationship it has with the Netherlands. As strange as Bubbling is to begin with, it's even stranger when your trying to make Bmore anthems with the Murder She Wrote Riddim. The title of 20 year old Dominican born, Rotterdam raised Munchi's demo is a bit deceiving, because I don't think Dutch Pop remixes will get you a gig in Maryland. Maybe in a parallel universe where people pop and lock while doing the Crazy Leg, but we live in a world where the Wu-Tang and the Dutty Wine sit on ether side of Watagatapitusberry. Your usually supposed to pick a side but the young producer's culture clashes push the kind of buttons we love to talk about around here. An outsider with a passion who gives back almost as much as he takes, these tracks are like classic Unruly records holding hands with Mr Moortje and the friendship they have is pretty damn cute.

DOWNLOAD

Drop Bombs Like Hiroshima

Reflex DJ - Death Row Bubbling Battle Mix

While were still on the subject...

Weird The Club Up

Unknown DJ - Bubbling Battle Loop Mix

Bubbling battle tracks can be a scary swamp to trudge through, and you will step in plenty of shit along the way. Cramming 10 songs into 5 minutes while pulling them up and down like taffy is no easy task. The hardest part is making them not sound ridiculously corny, and tracks are often full of lame sound effects, muscle flexing, and sometimes even fucking South Park samples (I have a great track that's ruined by just that). A bad taste similar to the one Breakcore always leaves in my mouth. Yet sometimes, it all falls into the right place. This is one of those miniature DJ mixes that makes my obsession worth it and I can forget about all the incredibly dated turntable masturbation that I've put me ears through. A perfect battle track and like the best, an incredibly weird one too. Tiny guitars and a ghost organ lead into DJ Class' Tear The Club Up(!!!) and we are happy. From what I can tell, Baltimore Club isn't so rare in these parts and as strange a phenomenon as Bubbling is to begin with I'm not even surprised. There might be some kid in Suriname baking up some Juke for all I know (I can dream can't I? I mean they fuck with Paul Johnson). It's all one big mutated diaspora due to Dutch Slavery that has it's roots planted in Turkish raves, Jamaican cartoon chase footwork competitions, and the Mad Decent Website.

Edit: The DJ says his name at the end but I can't make it out very well. Maybe you can.

Enough of the Talk, Let's Show 'Em What You Got

Not the only Footwork music video out there, but the only one I know with smoke machines and a teacher that jukes(!!!). SO POSITIVE.

Blowin Bubbels

Reflex DJ - Kassav Bubbeling Remix

Bit more DJ friendly version of Zouk La Ce Sel Medicament Nou Ni for the Antilles crowd.

A Holy Ghost Kiss

Reverend Julius Cheeks - If Servin God is Wrong, I Don't Wanna Be Right

Woke up this morning with my mind on Jesus, but when I reached out into the darkness all I could hear was Luther Ingram. The good lord told me not to worry and that the good Reverend Cheeks would be my guide. Rather than white collar he wore sun glasses with a Stax sharpie shirt, and there was a Black Moses poster on the wall in place of the cross. "Are you an angel?" I asked. "Angels don't sing like this, they never had trials and tribulations like us" he said. We talked about the Soul Stirrers and sports over coffee and cigarettes and I got the feeling he was a little bothered by the fact he never got any of that Soul Jazz money. Servin had become more popular in his church than any traditional ever had been, and when asked about it all he had to say was "if Memphis soul is wrong, I don't wanna be right". I was sent off with a recording that he claimed was "an hour and a half long version of If There's a Hell Below, Were All Going to Go", which I unfortunately left on the bus. If you find a CD-R with Jesus in a yellow leisure suit and a guitar on it, holler at me.

Drunken Daggering Fist

Buju Banton - Can't Count (Shaolin Temple Riddim)

This doesn't seem to be on the CD and is probably a few years old but I've been enjoying it lately. I also fuck with Kung Fu flicks pretty hard and while it's not as interesting as Sinogrime its got funny synths. Macka Diamonds performance is cool too.

Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy

DJ Milton - Acosmic (from Hittin Hard 12" 1994)

This is ether Milton's first or second 12" and as I don't see a bright future in any of them being reissued anytime soon I doubt I'm hurting anybody by posting any of his music. Behind closed doors chipmunk chatter a little slower in that nineteen-ninety four way, maybe appealing to the prudes even if said chipmunk might be saying "fuck it". One of the most unique voices in Ghetto House who really knew how to work vocals over interplanetary project party music. Cosmic records provided an early home to a handful of Chicago singles worth checking out, even if their labels didn't look as cool as Dance Mania's. Also, purple side b/w white side is far inferior to Hennesy side b/w Swisha side.

And come to think about it, there is basically a sped up inferior version of this track that is Milton's guest appearance on DJ Flint's Spank You Very Much. When your this deep into a catalog the lines between Dungeons and Dragons and Ghetto House get kind of blurry.

The Right, The Right, The Right...

DJ Nehpets - Cupid Shuffle Juke Remix

Happy Valentines Day.

"It's After The End Of The World, Don't You Know That Yet?"

DJ Trouble Minimix

Imagine a footwork battle in a Mad Max movie and your close. Imagine a Nurse With Wound album made on Fruity Loops and your closer. Sure, Nate sold his soul to the devil in return for a Rap career but this is an even darker shade of black. A cold and hopeless Midwest winter science fiction soundtrack made in a vacant board-up with tape loops and a drum machine, almost free of references despite being music for your feet. More questionable than most things that make me worry about the youth. DJ Trouble remains a bigger mystery to me than any other Chicago DJ who doesn't answer emails, and as far as I know he has almost no web presence. I'm almost convinced he doesn't exist but the kids say he's real. I guess you don't actually need a Myspace to be among the living, and along with his fellow tradesmen he's proof thisstuff doesn't only exist on the internet. Still, it's perfect "I'm not going out tonight" music. This short little mix I found mislabeled as DJ Nate is all three of his tracks I know of, somewhat mixed together. DJ Trouble, if your out there get at me. We need to have a talk. I'm worried.

Face It

DJ Deeon - Have You Thought About It (from the time when you could download music on myspace)

Really beautiful music.

Moments In Moments In Love

NGUZUNGUZU - Focus Mixtape Vol 1: Moments In Love (zshare)

You know, that song, but a whole mix of where that song left it's footprints. A lot more places than I ever collected. I had no idea these guys went this deep with it but I should have known when they sent me the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble version. All for this as I have a habit or listening to certain songs for hours at a time. This is dedication to an obsession that I fully support. When you have beat boxing in it, you know you've got a serious problem!

P.S. 69 Boyz? Ghetto House?! Cumbia?!!!!!

I thought it was cool when Gucci did it, but I'm now convinced nobody digs harder.

Track List:

MOMENTS IN HOUSE: ESSENCE

GO DOWN BABY: DIAMOND K

MACHETE MOMENTS: ERIDSON VS. LUCIFER (NGUZU EDIT)

SUPERSTAR REMIX: DJ (7)+->

ART IN MOMENTS : DJ QUEST VS. LIEBRAND (NGUZU EDIT)

TONITE: 2 SMOOTH

MOMENTS IN LOVE: ART OF NOISE (A.MC EDIT)

EVERYDAY: DJ DEEON

MOMENTS: DJ GODFATHER AND STARSKI

TOOTSIE ROLL (QUIET STORM CLUB REMIX): 69 BOYZ

MOMENTS IN LOVE: ART OF NOISE (CASPA REMIX)

TIP OF MY TONGUE: JAGGED EDGE FT. GUCCI MANE AND TRINA

THE ART OF FUNKIN: DJ FUNK

MOMENTS IN LOVE: ART OF NOISE (UNKNOWN DRUM N BASS REMIX) (NGUZU VOCAL EDIT W/ AALIYAH)

MOMENTS IN LOVE (BEAT BOX REMIX): RHAZEL

MOMENTO ENAMORADO: LOS DADDYS

DOING IT WELL (REMIX): LL COOL J

MOMENT: JT AND THE BIG FAMILY

MOMENTS IN LOVE (EXTENDED MIX) SNIPPET: ART OF NOISE

MURDA MO: BONE THUGS N HARMONY

THE WORLD HAS TOO MANY FREAKS: KRAYZIE BONE FT. ADINA HOWARD AND PLAY N SKILLZ

PONY (BOOTY BASS REMIX): GINUWINE

RNB 24 INSTRUMENTAL (ART OF NOISE REMIX): DJ SMOOTH4LYFE

MOMENTS IN LOVE (LIVE AT HIGHLINE BALLROOM, NYC): HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE

Mix Series Vol 5: Dubbel Dutch

DOWNLOAD

Dubbel Dutch makes just the kind of mess we like over here. Big weird track lists that we can't file under anything. Austin to Africa and everything in the middle, the familiar becoming unfamiliar. Crafted with the touch of tone control records by someone who cares, thinking about composition as much as blurring the lines of House music. I think dancing too. A soundtrack for invisible cities, I'm definitely going to be using this one for headphones and train rides.

Track list:
DVA - Natty
DJ Gregory / Sidney Samson - Salon Feat. Dama S
DJ Sdunkero - Tops Off
NKC - Marie
Contakt - Not Forgotten
DJ Donna Summer - Back
Ghosts On Tape - Predator Mode VIP
Cheasleun - Off the Glass (Ghost Town rmx) - dd fast edit
DJ Icon Audioadiccion - La Musica
Busy Signal - wooeeii gal wooeeii (Murlo refix)
MessLess - Killing Kuduro
Rudy Currence - Christmas Card (Buckmaster's Love Dub)
Distal - Love a la Venturo
Brandy / Fantastic Mr. Fox refix
Raffertie - 7th Dimension
Kingdom - Mindreader bok bok rmx V. Starkey - Ok Luv (vocal dub)
Party Boyz - Flex v. Rude Kid
Big Dope P - Kazfara Juke
Cold Pumas - Jela (Murlo's Carribean Twist Rework)
Dj Nut Nut - Special Dedication
Instra:mental - Watching You

Only Time I'm Ever Posting a Trip-Hop Track

Audio Sports - Return to 1 More (from Era of Glittering Gas 1992)

Getting into Boredoms back in high school was when music got really fun for me. Me and Yamatsuka Eye go back like car seats, and this Audio Sports record is kind of a hidden gem. Maybe not in Japan in the early 90s, but I'm impressed by how good it still sounds 20 years later. I mean it's Trip-Hop for Christ's sake, and not in the same way that say Fabo is Trip-Hop. Heavy on the weed, I imagine Eye's dreadlocks wrapped up in a studio kinda cloudy listening to Buju Banton and Main Source. I dig the rapping throughout the album, but their re-version of this riddim (whose name slips my mind right now) is my favorite moment.

Throwback To The Future

DJ Technics - Doo Doo Rock (remix) (from Dick Like a New Jack 12" 2002)

Perfect Baltimore Club, though maybe not as perfect as Rock the Boat.

Don Dadaist

DJ Posh E - Dada Supercat Bubbling Remix 2006ish

It's a shame the last 30 seconds don't go on for about 10 minutes longer.

Go Go Yardies

Backyard Band - Reggae In The Yard (from Jungle Music 2000)

Seems as though some Go Go bands in DC are also known for doing whole Regg'Go sets, not sure if this is a new thing or what. I have some scattered tracks of the sort, this Backyard Band joint being the first time I ever heard of such a thing.

"I Don't Have No Skin Hang-Ups"

Charley Pride - Is Anybody Goin to San Antone? (from VA - From Where I Stand 1998)

My laptop is in the shop right now so for the next week or so I'm going to be posting random stuff found on my old computer and maybe some vinyl rips. Going to be throwing some curve balls, half of which you will probably hate but I expect you hate half of the music I post regularly anyways.

Grammy winner, semi-professional baseball player, manic depressive, and the most successful black Country music artist who ever lived. In fact, Charley Pride was the best selling artist since Elvis on RCA in the mid 70s. He surprised many early in his career who came to see a white man play hillbilly music, eventually becoming the 2nd black artist ever to play the Grand Ole Opry. Did I mention he was nominated for an Oscar too? This kind of success isn't even really possible in the music industry today, and Pride had one hell of a battle within the white medium he was working with. That and dealing with good friend George Jones' Klu Klux Klan tour pranks(read, great/fucked up book). A very interesting artist who put out some great ballads on the poppy tip. I generally lean towards the "drunk and alone" side of things, but sometimes I'm a sap. This is his cover of a Doug Sahm tune and one of my favorites. Off of From Where I Stand, a chronological box set of black Country music that is wonderful.

Oh...My...God...

We are going to keep most fashion talk off of here, but this is really something. By Japanese designers Destroy Babylon, who also make tube socks that say just that.

"I Wanna Learn How to Footwork"

First Lil B announces he's doing a footwork mixtape, then the New Boyz hang out in Chicago and discuss dance moves with the locals. Juke's biggest supporter these days is the Jerkin scene, almost keeping it alive on a national level. You don't even see this kind of blending going on in the Midwest so much. It's a beautiful thing.