End of the year...

So this is my 100th post, and I just wanted to say thank you to everybody who checks in from time to time to see what's going on in my world. I really appreciate the support, and I hope you bring in the new year safely and happily, whether you are home alone watching TV or net-surfing, or out in the club with your friends...you guys stay warm in this Freezing World.



Rest in peace, Ed Knight, we'll miss you old man...

Front porch hip-hop...

I found this on DJ Hyphen's blog, TheAudacityofDope.com, and I had to repost. It reminded me of some of the old front porch jams we used to have with the crew (Austin on congas, JT on kneeslaps, myself on guitar, and all the fellas taking turns on the rhymes...nostalgic). We also had Mike D on the sax. He took it to the next level. Rest in peace, homie, we miss you.

Surreal Art...

"Stumbled upon" these when I was checking out www.stumbleupon.com. A very cool site that will take you around to web pages that you probably would not find on your own. You just tell it what you are interested in and it will take it from there (if you are logged in, it will remember you and save sites that you like as favorites).

If you click on any picture it will take you to the site that is hosting them...

"UNDER THE LAST MOON"



"BRAINWASH"



"SAROJA"

Appreciation...

"How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people -- first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving..."

-- Albert Einstein "The World As I See It"

Carry on, Karuan...

Austrian producer/musician Karuan was born in Vienna in 1976 to Kurdish parents. His second album, Pop Arif, is described as "Unique Urban Oriental Soul," and is blowing it up in Greece and Austria. It is a self-described an homage to Kurdish music, and although some of it gets kind of bubblegum for my tastes, there are definitely some stand-outs. And he's he's on his website flexing a Fender Telecaster guitar in the desert, so I gotta give it up...

A Classic Revisited...

Ghetto Medley...

It's amazing how many times this song has been gaffled! For me personally, none of them tops the original. Of the following, Rakim's is most nostalgic, but Jill Scott's version featuring Common is the cleanest-sounding, and the Disciples' version is the least obvious rip-off...



(Heads-up, the Grooveshark widgets may be louder than the YouTube rips, and there is no volume adjust on them...be prepared to adjust manually if you check them out.)

Spanish Hip-Hop 103...

I had to get one more quick course in before the year closed.



My favorite hip-hop duo from Spain, Solo Los Solo, consisted of Juan Solo on the mic and the legendary Griffi on production and cuts. To my disappointment, they are no longer working together as a group, but fortunately each are independently producing new material. Here was their last big video, "Todo El Mundo Lo Sabe":



And here's one of my favorites from the album Quimera, called "Brujos":

Slow Train Soul...

Slow Train Soul is a musical duo out of London self-classified as a "soulful mix of Nu Jazz and Electronica, uptempo downtempo, twilight tales, urban realities and great escapes." It is comprised of Lady-Z on vocals and Morten Varano on production. His beats are dope, and she has a cool raspy voice.

They have two albums out, the first one being Illegal Cargo, released in 2004:





The most recent album is Santimanitay, released in 2006:



Click the picture below to visit their official site for more info.
(Note - music starts automatically):



Once again, thanks to Stephane Pompougnac for the put-on. He has featured them on the Hotel Costes series a few times:

One More for the Road...

I gotta give it up, that Stephane sure has some good taste. Here's another gem from the Hotel Costes series. It's a remix of a Shirley Bassey called "Where Do I Begin (Love Story)" produced by Away Team (which I assume is THE Away Team, consisting of Khrysis and Sean Boog, of Justus League fame):



Here's the original:



Here she is live, pretty awesome voice:

Lazy Sunday Lounge...

A groove by French DJ/Sound Designer Emmanuel Santarromana caught my ear while listening to some lounge music this morning. I found it by entering the name Stephane Pompougnac into a Grooveshark query. For the most part, these guys are French house/dance DJs, but Stephane puts out these Hotel Costes lounge mixes full of dope down-tempo tracks. When exploring more of their work, I found that I had to sift through a lot of corny house tracks, but here are some stand-outs.

This is the Emmanuel Santarromana song that I was feeling, called "Metropolitan":



...and another by DJ/producer Nickodemus:

China Syndrome...

My man Eli Sweet just posted a link for his new mixtape. A collection of music he recorded here at the crib during his latest visits back from China. Some excellent verses/songs on this joint, really some of his best work to date. Mostly the production consists of tracks he "borrowed" from various producers, but he makes sure he gives credit where credit is due...respectfully. Eli is one of the nicest, and on China Syndrome, he's got his superman swagger on and shines on every track he blesses...don't sleep.



You can click the picture, or here to get to the download link. (I had to download Winzip since he made it a .zipx file, but it's worth it.)

Check the track-listing here

Below are words from Eli himself:

Album Notes

1. THIS ALBUM IS FREE. IF YOU LIKE IT PASS IT ALONG TO YOUR FRIENDS.

2. I didn't pay for any of the beats on this album. Some of them were made by friends of mine, or offered by their creators for free download, but the majority were taken from other hip hop artists' mixtapes or albums without their permission. The production credits for the beats are listed below.

3. I stole that Usain Bolt punchline from my buddy Leif. We were freestyling and he dropped that shit; I thought it was funny, so I took it and ran with it. I told him about it and hes cool with. He gets props.

4. You can learn about my time as Captain Morgan in China at www.EliSweetIsAPirate.blogspot.com

5. If you like my music you can download stuff from my previous album, “Firebrand” here (www.ReverbNation.com/EliSweet).
New music will also be available for free download here: http://elisweet.bandcamp.com.

6. Eli Sweet is my given name. You can contact me at Eli.M.Sweet@gmail.com.

Post-Rock Music...

Wasn't really familiar with the genre, but I'm kind of diggin' it...

Here are some examples.

The Six Parts Seven, a "post-rock" band from Kent, Ohio, that played together from 1995-2008:



Myspace page
Wikipedia page

"Post-rock" duo from L.A. called El Ten Eleven:



elteneleven.com
Wikipedia page

CE Holiday Throwdown...

If you are in town, please don't miss this show!
Click the banner below to get more info from the CE website.