cubikmusik

ramadanman

i still like me a bit of minimal every now and again and this sure tickles that fancy for me.

ramadanman's 'humber' on the apple pips label out of bristol.

Ramadanman - Humber (Apple Pips Recordings) from applepips on Vimeo.

drumlesson zwei

Christian Prommer talking about his upcoming album Drumlesson Zwei, an immense collection of acoustic jazz covers of classic electronic tracks. Out April 2010 on !K7 Records. And while we're at it go for a trio of 'strings of life'.

by all accounts i reckon this is gonna be a top album of 2010.  as Lefto says : 

"Christian Prommer's "Drumlesson Zwei" .... Niiiice!"

"Christian Prommer deconstructing Jean Michel Jarre's Oxigen Part IV... interesting, can't beat the original though !!!"

Download The Williams Fairey Brass Band - Strings Of Life  

Download 11 Strings of Life

Download 27 Strings of Life

buy 'strings of life': christian prommer, william fairey brass band, derrick may

under the influence with...ghostpoet

*March 10th, 2010 UPDATE: Just heard that Ghostpoet is joining the Brownswood family of artists which is great news. Needless to say he's happy about this latest development in his journey. Best of luck to Ghostpoet and Brownswood. I can't wait for the album!

been a while since our last installment in the series and once again I am honored to have our latest guest talking about his musical influences. welcome to ghostpoet , a musically talented mc/ spoken wordsmith and gent. i heard him a few weeks back on gilles peterson's bbc show and was immediately struck by the enthralling vocals and minimal beats to accompany. then we got to check him out at the WWAs and the live show was great. much livelier than one would expect and it had the crowd well engrossed. 

good things in 2010 ahead of this particular musical poet who i very much look forward to supporting on his journey. 

check him on myspace, twitter or his blog.

cheers

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Ghostpoet

Under The Influence

 

I’ve been toying with putting this together for awhile, really tried to dig deep and think of the song’s down the years, that has not as much influenced what I make now, pulled at the heart strings and brought a tear to the cheek.

 

1. Mos Def – Umi Says. I think it was the first neo/soul/hip-hop track I ever heard, it started something, planted a seed of sorts, it was that bass and keys. Mos singing to the heavens and creating that hot summer night’s vibe.

 

2. Fela Kuti – Water Get No Enemy. The welcoming of the brass, the piano plonk, the words . . . wow . . . The words were like fireflies, dancing amongst the afro jazz haze, I discovered Fela when I was really young and I was enthralled by the stories he weaved around those infectious grooves, love his work dearly.

 

3. Badly Drawn Boy – Camping Next To Water. Pure emotion, I was too young to appreciate it as a kid, I remember buying the Bewilderbeast album in Woolworth’s as a nipper, it was just so exciting, all that noise, experimentation, waves of sound . . . It’s one of those tunes I’ve always kept close like my house keys.

 

4. S.i.A  - Little Man (Exeman Rmx). Maaaan, I was heavily into oldskool garage as a teen, dj’d and mc’d in my uni years. When Sia’s voice drop’s in, my heart just lift’s, it was the combination of her haunting vocal and production that was just so different for the time, I remember hearing this dropped in at raves and the noise! The joy on ravers’ faces! It made me really appreciate what music can do to people.

 

5. Wiley – Eskimo. When I got into grime in my teens and more heavily in uni, this tune was a like a firework set off in my brain, I couldn’t play any type of instrument (and still can’t) and here was this monster of a track made using a computer, my love affair with electronics had begun.

(streaming roll deep's eskimo although i prefer the instrumental version)

 

6. The Streets – Has It Come To This. It was a mish mash of the underground music I loved and I related to the words so much, such honesty and everydayness. So different from everything around at the time, a curveball of sorts and it was a great source of inspiration at the time.

 

7. Roots Manuva – Dreamy Days. Brings back so many memories! Such a contemplative tune, is it the piano melody? Is it the strings? Or manuva mc just doing what he does? Discovering Root’s Manuva made me really look at what I was doing musically. Him, Ty and The Streets gave me the confidence to just be me me me.

 

8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Pin. New York Indie has a place in my heart, such great music. Loved this track for it’s energy, melody and dark lyrics, it just drew me in and didn’t let me go for awhile, was really captivated by there artwork as well, gave me real food for thought.

 

9. Bloc Party – This Modern Love. Just beautiful, the guitars intertwining, the gathering pace of the drums, Kele’s lyric’s get to me every time, mantra’s to a unseen lover, jostling for emotional positioning, great stuff.

 

10. Square pusher – Lambic 9 Poetry. There was not one person I played this tune to who wasn’t moved in some way, it just trot’s along, starts to swerve left and right, then opens out into this opus of beauty, I still listen to it today and time stands still, nothing else matters for 6 minute’s and 56 seconds.

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ghostpoet-love confusion  by  cubikmusik

also check out the amazing 'cash & carry me home' over at jus' like music

a tribe called quest movie

via boycott magazine comes news of an upcoming movie about A Tribe Called Quest featuring Pharell, Nas, Mos Def, Travis Barker, Ludacris, Beastie Boys, Santigold, Mary J. Blige, Monie Love, Busta Rhymes, Pete Rock, Common, Large Professor, De La Soul, The Jungle Brothers and much more…

notes & neurons

simply amazing!

thanks to choice cuts for pointing me to this via twitter.

cubikmusik's charity release: update

back in January I announced that this year cubikmusik would be releasing a compilation of music to raise money for charity. today I am so very happy to give an update on this project that has received amazing support from so many people that I know or have been introduced to in recent weeks.

first off, the charity: we have decided to support just one charity (as opposed to multiple charities as originally considered) and this charity is Nordoff Robbins. much thanks to charlie dark for suggesting this absolutely worthy cause.   

a bit about Nordoff Robbins: Nordoff Robbins is the charity that specialises in transforming the lives of children and adults constrained by illness, disability, trauma or isolation, through the power of music.Clap your hands. Tap your feet. Sing out loud. Dance or stomp. Shout or cry. We all react to music in different ways. But we all react. Because music has a universal power to reach us, touch us and make us feel different.

secondly, the music: just a reminder that the compilation will have one common theme and that is for it to be suitable for babies/ kids as lullably or 'waking up' music. an alternative for 'baby mozart' type CDs with music created by contemporary artists. some of these artists will be known to cubimusik readers and others will not so I hope that this compilation will also help these artists reach a wider audience. 

at this stage can I just say that I have been overwhelmed by the responses of those that i got in touch with. amazingly grateful i am. i have been contacted by artists that haven't been featured on cubikmusik to offer songs, etc. (which I of course gladly accepted) and at this stage we have 16 artists that will contribute tracks to the compilation. i'm not going to release artist names yet but expect an update in about 2 weeks. i can assure you that you won't be disappointed and most likely excited to hear the outcome. 

thirdly: we are also exploring other ways to promote the release and to further support Nordoff Robbins so expect more updates in a few weeks. i'll leave one hint though and that's just to say that Orsii might be involved and if you know Orsii that can only mean good things....

i look forward to this latest avenue for cubikmusik, to working with the amazing people that are supporting it and also to hearing from you with your thoughts, ideas, etc. 

cheers

colin

behind closed doors

upcoming documentary that looks at just some of britain's beat making scientists. looks interesting as there is so much great beats coming outta there.

COMING SOON #BCD2 from Andy Brown on Vimeo.

20 winks

 

first off in this post a big shout out to gavin over at jus' like music on the launch of his new label of the same name. with this as his first release I am delighted to be able to write about BUG, a producer from London that Gavin is promoting and is getting great props from the likes of Eric Lau, Ty, Debruit and Ohmega Watts. 

"24 year-old Londoner, BUG, is a keyboard player, songwriter and producer. Under the moniker, BUG, he creates an experimental, instrumentally grounded style of music with a compositional approach. The BUG sound encompasses the finer elements of hip-hop and neo-soul, yet the real beauty is in the delivery. Think the smooth richness of the Dam-Funk vibe, the solid construction of a Dilla beat, the electronic wizardry of Flying Lotus and the soulful melodies ofLonnie Liston Smith's jazz."

I gotta say that ouf the two tunes i'll go for 20 Winks as the better one for its deeper beats and rich keys that a layered just so. decide for yourself but checking it out below and grab both tunes for free here. 

Very nice job on a debut release. Good things to come from this label.

Keep an eye our for the upcoming Oscillations compilation that Jus' Like Music and Apple Juice Break are working together to release next month.

nothing is original

got this from keep schtum today. great stuff courtesy of Jim Jarmusch. 

 

no contact

 

 

international man of mystery (otherwise known as clutchy hopkins) is back with some new music and so far i'm liking the sounds of it.

The Story Teller is out on April 13th on Ubiquity. 

at the end of the day i really don't give a shit about who this may be or if he is:

"Fact or fiction? Is Clutchy Hopkins an alias? Or is this the true name for a reclusive musical powerhouse? Are his recordings vintage, new, or a mix of both? Some may wonder about these things, along with why some dudes have a long pinky nails or whatever happened to myspace, others may ask if any of this really matters? While the mystery surrounding the artist is no longer news, the music only gets better, maturing like a fine wine."

Seriously. The music is ace. Lets just leave it at that.

Download No Contact...Contact

speaking of ubiquity, andrew meza who works for them has this excellent set-up over at bts radio so be sure to check it out. amazing mix from dego waiting for you.

rising sun

 

 
 

Hailing from Canada, signed to Strut Records, The Souljazz Orchestra have just released 'Rising Sun'. Full of raw grooves with Afro and Latin rhythms fused to create an astounding energy. If you've been watching and listening to all the buzz around fela's reissues on knitting factory records or the fela musical in NY then you'll be well into this release. 

You know i'm well into anything that gets a review starting like this:

"What I love is when an artist takes awhile to for their musical story to begin, long drawn out introductions lure me in, just like anticipation of a movie starting and the credits seem to last forever. It takes almost three minutes for the Souljazz Orchestrao to finally kick things in gear, and when it does, you wish life would sound this great 24 hours a day." via okayplayer

here's a video for Agbara off the album.

check out the tour dates and do try to support as "The Souljazz Orchestra will be donating a portion of the proceeds generated by the "Rising Sun" album release tour directly to families affected by the earthquake, as well as to NGOs working on the Haiti relief effort." 

also on Strut, check out the upcoming release 'Next Stop...Soweto'. I can't wait for that! 

simon says

it was with great sadness when I heard that simon goss, co-founder of the amazing label Wah Wah 45s, had passed just months after being diagnosed with lung cancer. by all accounts he was truly a gent in the world of music. when attending the Worldwide Awards in London a few weeks back I got to meet Scrimshire (featured here) who is a part of the Wah Wah 45s family and we talked a bit about Simon, his family and his absolute love of music. he will be missed by those that knew and loved him as well as those that got to hear and appreciate great music as a result of all that he did.

As a testament to all that Simon did you can check out the Simon Says event on March 25th in the Jazz Cafe in London where you can go to hear an absolute stunning lineup of artists and support The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.

Check out the facebook page for more details and please, if in London, go along and support the night to honor Simon, his family, friends and the music he wished to share.

guardian obituary. shook piece by dom servini.

Joe Pass - A Time For Us  by  thermm

fretless fader

i picked this up on twitter last night (can't remember who tweeted the link).  via ThrowingSnow and djdescry

pretty amazing stuff that will open new doors for dj's out there.

r.i.p

found out tonight that a friend of mine of way back was found dead this morning. we're not sure how yet. hadn't seen him in ages. great memories from years back when he was part of our posse that partied out in Dublin, dancing the nights away into the early mornings and growing up. 

sorry to see you go mate. 

Download WAP02 Can U Feel It

jump in the air

yes, yes, yes. erykah badu is getting ready to return with New Amerykah Part 2: Return Of The Ankh.

New Amerykah was for sure one of my favourite albums of 2008 with honey and soldier topping the charts. check out this seiji remix of honey that will bowl you over as well as two remixes featured in last week's soundcloud special.

one of the most innovative and exciting hip-hop artists around so expect an album that will stretch your imagination and keep you wanting more.

Download Jump In The Air (Stay There)

mind over matter

back in July we featured greymmatter on our 'under the influence with...' series. we're back with him again as he prepares to release his album, mind over matter, with the album launched mid- Feb and the launch party on Feb 19th in London. You know I'd deffo be there if in London that weekend to support this launch. The line up is Greymatter (Unique Uncut), Alex Nut (Rinse FM / Eglo), Illum Sphere (Hoya:Hoya / Fat City) w/ Kev Luckhurst and Simon See.
This all happens at Life, 2-4 Old St, London EC1V 9AA / 9-2am / £3 concs / £5 door / £10 inc album.

We've already heard We Are One/ Watch This both produced with another past guest Domu who has since retired from music. Today I bring you Eu Fumo w/  Deize Tigrona. This is baile funk with a London twist. Massive tune to blow up the dancefloors.

Check the tune, find the album and be sure you don't forget the 9 exclusively digital remixes from the likes  all-star line including Illum Sphere, Klic, TRG, and Karizma, and early supporters include Simbad, Jus Wan, Mr Lager, and Sinden.

Nice one Greymatter. Great to see 2010 kicking off so well and we look forward to continuing the support while enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Eu Fumo ft. Deize Tigrona by greymatter

requiem

much thanks to the wonderful mint collective for turning me onto this EP by The Shelltoes. Coming from Australia The Shelltoes are Glen Coates (now based in San Diego) and Kyla Sexton. This tune, Requiem, is off their latest EP, I Was Told There Would Be Refreshments. Requiem reminds me of some of the old Nightmares On Wax sounds from Carboot Soul with luscious vocals and warmth from the organ playing. Elsewhere on the EP is a great take on 'I Love You Porgy' and three other tunes. 

Download 05 Requiem

buy the EP on iTunes

under the influence with...blackjoy

What better way to introduce our latest guest for the 'under the influence with...' series than to have the man himself talk about his musical journey so far before singling out the tunes that are key influences over the sounds we hear from his edits, productions and dj sets. much thanks to Blackjoy for taking time out to share these stories.

enjoying listening and reading into the sounds of Blackjoy.

Born in a small town, raised in a just a lil bigger one, I had no clue of what "growing with the commercial radios" was. I was trained under the influence of Bernard Lenoir on France Inter (french John Peel), and I got the feeling music is my favorite part of life. Later I went into Jazz, Soul, House, Techno, Rare Grooves and so on. I got my first radio show on Radio Campus Dijon for which I was playin' the early french touch bands as Alex Gopher, La Funk Mob, Daft Punk and Mighty Bop. My studies and connections made a job possible at Yellow Productions in 1998 and I started djing around Europe and Canada... I took the decision of touring less and went deep into making music. A mpc2000, 2 turntables and a zip disk...and here we are: I met the incredible keyboard player François Faure, I knew Thomas Naïm from Tom & Joyce from the Yellow years and this outstanding guitarist became one of my closest friend... And last but not least Guillaume Farley, « the » bassman.

 

Is Blackjoy a band? Yes and no. I'm the brain and I handle the science. I do drums, some keys, arrangements, editing, producing but the instrumentalist parts of the music couldn't exist without the team...

 

The first EP, Untitled was released in 2002 and got heavy plays from specialists and legends such as Kenny Dope, Phil Asher, Lil' Louis, Kerri Chandler, Benji B, Dj Deep... Then I started to work on remixes but the next big job came with the production of Moustache for Yellow in 2005. Still doing remixes I was going deep into producing the first album which I started to work on in 2001. The album was released in France since October 1^st 2007. First single was a song from General Elektriks', who’s signed on Quannum. Then the second single Metalbossa included the remixes from Phil Asher's Restless Soul. The album is called TIME and contains 2 songs from Shawn Lee, a Weather Report's cover and diverse blues and soul atmospheres.

 

Now back behind the desks, I spin the Blackjoy disco sounds and vibes around the globe with more pleasure than ever. Several Edits and Remixes have been released (Blackjoy Edits Vol.1&2, Blackjoy Versions) and a new Blackjoy record project is in process, with featurings from Sandra Nkaké, De Tropix and Aqeel.

 

My name’s Jérôme Caron, hope you’ll like the sound of Blackjoy.

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Michael Jackson - Thriller

This is my first time being scared by music images on TV. I was a kid when the main shows broadcast the Thriller video. That's my most honest memory about it. I didn't know anything about funky music, I was way too young and my parents didn't have a big music background. My father used to play some piano and guitar, he still does actually, but no big record collection. A nice taste to music but... Back to Michael, I maybe didn't know about the groove or the funkyness, I've been listening to this album till he broke. For a long time Beat it was my favorite, but now I'd say The lady in my life is maybe my diamond in there. The ad lib is just insane.

Led Zeppelin - Communication Breakdown

Drumming is something I can't do but this is anyway a passion. I love drums, I can spend 2 days on a drum programming and John Bonham is responsible for that obsession. Communication breakdown used to to make me jump every on my bedroom when I was a kid. Of course the rest of the band was amazing to me but the strengh Bonham had in his playing was pure fascination to me.

The Stone Roses - Fool's Gold

English music was my biggest influence until I got to my 20s. Manchester's bands were very important and I was proud as hell to be able to go to Manchester at 15. I actually discovered this Roses first album several years after it's been released but Fool's Gold never went away, I always kept that song somewhere. I love the idea that pop can be funky, I mean this is a lazy melody on a funky drummer type of... somehow it's insane but it works. Big tune.

Sonic Youth - Shoot

Being obsessed with England, I even went to Darlington for my holidays... in the County of Durham. That's where Dirty from Sonic Youth became my holiday friend. I was killing the tape I had the album on and Shoot had a funky feeling that was always taking over the other songs. With few more years I'd clearly say this album isn't my Sonic Youth favorite but Shoot is my favorite groove from them.

Beatles - Eleonore Rigby

Classic. Unmissable. This tune painted part of my teenage years. The complete Beatles post Rubber Soul made me what I am in term of harmony. But if I'd pick one song that would be it. It's funny when you listen to Caetano Veloso's cover of Billie Jean 'cause he's skipping at the end to Eleonore Rigby, and you could think it's the same song..

Mc Solaar - Prose Combat

The music on this record has been more influential than the rapping but I loved this record. Boombass beats killed me. Same as Bonham, Boombass got me into drumming, fat sound. I just got the chance to spend 1 hour with him to do an interview for my show on Redbull Music Academy Radio. It was hard not to tell him how much his music has been important for me. I still love what he does but Nouveau Western was a revolution in my world. I wasn't into hip hop but this even gave me a certain sensitivity to go to electronic beats too. 

Herbie Hancock - Inventions & Dimensions

Herbie is the man who made me found in love with jazz but I didn't know... short story but! Check that. I was talking to guy who was a drummer in a funk band to get tips 'cause I didn't know about funk. I had my pop rock background when I arrived in University. This guy is telling me about Herbie Hancock, how much funky stuff he did. So the day after I run in a record store and I found that little boxset witht the 3 first albums Herbie recorded. Came back home and discovered these jazz record. At first I was kind of disappointed but Invention & Dimension changed my life. Literraly. I even try not to listen to it too much 'cause I can't do anything else than listening when this is on.

Motorbass - Pansoul

Best house / techno / whatever album. When this came out, I chased it because these guys were involved in the Mc Solaar sound I loved so much. When I finally got it, oh my god. Zdar is maybe one of my favorite sound engineer. Plus this urban sound disappeared a little bit in the newer stuff people are trying to produce now, especially for albums. There was no single in there but who cares? This hasn't been played on the radio but who cares? Best dance music album. 

Peter Brown - Do you wanna get funky with me

Disco in France is a bad word, a nasty style. Disco means pop dance here. So when Dimitri from Paris got big I was not sure being very french myself... but he gave a disco mixtape to a friend of mine and we listened to it so much. The breakdown version changed my vision for the style. Disco was cool and dark too. This tune will stay top 10. Huge vibe.

D'Angelo - Voodoo

I could have had Here 'my dear' from Marvin Gaye on that selection but somehow Voodoo is even bigger because it's more new. D'Angelo has lost himself, sad, very sad. What I know is Voodoo influence but way of doing music, of thinking groove, and once again this album has one single but this was a tv single because of the video more than a radio single. But who cares? Fuck radios. I love album, this is one great album.

Download 02 Devil's Pie (Raw)

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Download 08 baby erik (blackjoy rmx) 1

check out more Blackjoy sounds here.

songs of praise january 24th: soundcloud special

 

cross-post from spaceinvader radio

this week's show has a little bit of a twist. i've been spending a bit of time lately wandering the virtual corridors and rooms of soundcloud, taking in a massive amount of music. it really is an amazing way to find new music, artists, producers, labels and like-minded fans. with a half a million users (and growing) its an exciting way to discover and be discovered. fair dues to the team behind it.

so, onto the show. track-listing and links to each of the tracks on soundcloud for you to download most of them. enjoy.

as ever, feedback welcome. cheers

p.s. this show, and the opinions expressed in it are in no way endorsed by the management of soundcloud.

Al_PD n P    X.Liminal
Rekoner (ascott's deep sofa mix)    Radiohead
tommy james + shondells-candymaker (ettiem's taffypull edit)    ATM
Will She Ever Know?    Amede & The Soundsmith
Gettin' Up (Colm K Remix)    Q-Tip
MJ vs QTip vs MNPHC     Monophonic
Nono    JtotheC
Eleven Hours VI (MIX)    Mark evan
Sunset Light    Hubert Daviz
lovefunk duex    devonwho
Blue Night    Mizz Beats
when she looked at me (I saw her wondering)    niwa
Soupy (Cutso Re-Heat)    Maggie Thrett
loverain pointerstyles take 2    LP Bootleg
Soldier (Mark Wayward remix)    Erykah Badu
Summertime (Ishfaq remix)    Mos Def
Abre Que Voi Dance Edits 2    svendex
Quiet Dog Bite Hard(er) (Jonny Miller re-edit)    Mos Def
.38 Special f. Cee-Lo    Jack Splash
Too hot to witness (Make It Funky edit)    Roots Manuva vs The Barkeys
tout va bien edit (72Soul)    pierre citron
South African Man (Alkalino Re-work)    Hamilton Bohannon
street sound (chris luck edit)    pimps of joytime
BJ STOMP    Brother j
Let Me Love You (DJ Anonymous Edit)    Clausel
honey (souled remix)    erykah badu
Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Extended    St. Etienne

Download Songs of praise_january 24th_2010_soundcloud special w_ cubikmusik

plastic beach

 
picked this up today from spine magazine

Gorillaz f/Bobby Womack & Mos Def off the upcoming album, Plastic Beach. Loving this tune. great sounds that will definitely get people curious about where the album direction will take us with plenty of collaborations to keep it fresh.

(Update: just read that this was a leak so I've removed the track. apologies).