motel de moka

“Money is cool, I’m only human
But they use it as a tool to make the workers feel excluded
Like the shinier the jewel the more exclusive the troop is
Bullets don’t take bribes stupid, they shoot shit”

-Aesop Rock

It’s really too bad popular hip hop is filled with people like Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy, Flo Rida, and G-Unit. If only people would wake up and see how much more talented and interesting some of this underground hip hop is, the world might be just that much more intelligent.

Wish it was still the 90’s….at least the 2000s have given us these guys:

Aesop Rock- 39 Thieves
None Shall Pass ( Definitive Jux, 2007)
Brother Ali- Nine Double’Em
Rites of Passage (Rhymesayers Entertainment, 2000)
El-P ft. Mars Volta- Tasmanian Pain Coaster
I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead (Definitive Jux, 2007)
Shinsight Trio- Early Dayz Amazement
Shallow Nights Blurry Moon (Bad News Records, 2006)
Cannibal Ox- Pigeon
The Cold Vein (Definitive Jux, 2001)
Viktor Vaughn aka MF Doom- Vaudeville Villian
Vaudeville Villian (Sound-Ink, 2003)

Image: Lynt

Any serious discussion of East Coast hip hop and rap music must begin with reference to the legendary DJ Premier. Preemo, as he was affectionately known by the various emcees he worked with throughout his career, revolutionized the hip hop beat with his simplistic use of a punchy two bar breakbeat. His greatest contribution, however, may have been in the incorporation of vocal scratching into the rap producer’s arsenal.

His wide-ranging choice of samples also being a point of interest, it is mainly the perfecting of the scratch technique, that crazy wiki wiki sound, that has cemented DJ Premier’s legacy as one of the greatest of all time. He introduced the scratch to rap songs as a rock guitarist would perform a solo, and in doing so, completely changed the genre forever.

This is a small sampling of his work, if you are interested and want to listen to more, I suggest using his extensive discography on wikipedia to hunt down his beats. You may already have a few of them and not even know it, as he produced for Nas on Illmatic, Notorious B.I.G. on Ready To Die, and Jay-Z on Reasonable Doubt, in addition to Gang Starr’s entire catalog.

Sorry to ramble, but I can’t say enough about this guy. One of the best that ever touched a turntable.

Jeru the Damaja- Not the Average
on Wrath of the Math (1996/UMG Recordings)
Lord Finesse & DJ Mike Smooth- Slave to my Soundwave
on Funky Technician (1990/Wild Pitch Records)
Gang Starr- Precisely the Right Rhyme
on Step In The Arena (1991/Chrysalis Records)
Jeru the Damaja- Come Clean
on The Sun Rises in the East (1994/Polygram Records)
KRS-One- Mortal Thought
on The Return of the Boom Bap (1993/Jive Records)
Freddie Foxxx- R.N.S.
on Industry Shakedown (2000/Landspeed Records)
Buckshot LeFonque- Some Shit @ 78 BPM (The Scratch Opera)
on Buckshot LeFonque (1994)
Mos Def- Mathematics
on Black on Both Sides (1999/Rawkus Records)

“It’s what you all been waitin’ for ain’t it? They can’t stand it, they want something new. So let’s get re-acquainted.”

~~ || ~~

Mid-Air Tape Loop Dance Party
(Tape Loop EP/ 2008)
Prefuse 73 Pagina Dos
(Prefuse 73 Reads the Books E.P./ 2005)
Mid-Air Complex Admittance
(Mid-Air/ 2007)
RJD2 Chicken-Bone Circuit
(Dead Ringer/ 2002)
Mid-Air Mirror Mirror
(Mid-Air/ 2007)
Daedelus Pursed Lips Reply
(Invention/ 2002)
Mid-Air A Thousand Atomic Fireballs
(Unreleased)

Note(s): So there’s been some feigning for new, fresh tracks. Jungle is a tough MdM beat to make work, but with enough tenacity the rewards outweigh the struggle. Mid-Air takes jungle back to the roots and doesn’t let the “electronic” aspect of the genre overshadow the organic foundational focus of the sub-genre. Chris Harbach’s contribution to the greater jungle is a product that finds its roots in an urban experimental sound, works its way up through a solid trunk of jazz/hip-hop/funk, and branches off touching upon ambient, acid, trip-hop, and “electronica”, the fruits of which are best savored chilled and — even in the midst of the gritty and grainy samples — fresh. Essentially, as one put it, Mid-Air is “Too fast, too slow, too noisy, too melodic, too old skool, and way too ahead of his time,” (in all the right ways); that, as always, is for you to decide. So, intertwined with the linchpin artist’s works are a few third-party complementary sounds to guide you through the sonic landscape. Enjoi.

Photo Credit: Eugenio Recuenco
Mid-Air: MySpace, Official Site

- My attraction was hard to explain—she was so artistically driven, so demure and yet so bold, and those swimming eyes! I was lost in soul-to-soul contact. I checked her out of the library again and again, but when the summer came I found I needed her more than ever. I had to take her home with me. Anaïs. I bought all her diaries—the boxed set—a huge investment. By the time I went back to college in the fall and moved into a beautiful old half-wrecked farmhouse off campus, I was soaked in the oils of my own manufactured delirium. - Louise Erdrich, The Reptile Garden

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” Paris Dance 2008 ”

01. Stars - This Charming Man
Unmixed, Unmastered, Unsequenced (1999)
02. Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing (Dj Doc Rok Bmore Remix) (myspace)
(net release, 2008)
03. The Ting Tings - That’s Not My Name
We Started Nothing (2008)
04. Miss Soller - La belle et le bad boy
(anybody know where this come from?)
05. Amy Winehouse - Rehab (Hot Chip Remix)
Rehab (Hot Chip Remix) - Single (2008)
06. Radio 4 - Dance To The Underground
Dance To The Underground EP (Gern Blandsten, 2001)
07. Skindive - Tranquilizer
Skindive (Palm Pictures, 2001)
08. Mark Ronson Feat Lily Allen - Oh My God (Chris Lake Remix)
Version (2007)
09. Sébastien Tellier - Divine (Danger Remix)
Sexuality (Record Makers, 2008)

note: This is really a simple summer hip-hop. Mostly euro mix I found in french blog. (hence french edition) What is it with parisians and electro? Whatever it is, this one is a mellow summer beat. I think it’s passable and fun.

PS. The server issue is not quite resolved. We need to save bandwidth guys. quit clicking the “stream button” a million times. download it just once. Also use the RSS feed.

see also: Italian edition.
image: Squint october 2007, Alexandra Carr.

Nightmares. Can’t sleep…..

An excerpt from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein:

“I slept indeed, but I was disturbed by the wildest dreams. I thought I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised; I embraced her, but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that i held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms; a shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel.

“I started from my sleep with horror; a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed; when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window shutters, I beheld the wretch-the miserable monster whom I had created.”

John Murphy- In the House-In a Heartbeat
on 28 Days Later: The Soundtrack (2003)
Portishead- Mysterons
on Dummy (1994)
DJ Shadow- Stem/Long Stem
on Endtroducing… (1996)
Burial- Night Bus
on Burial (2006)
Gravediggas- Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide
on 6 Feet Deep (1994)

Image: horriblecherry

“Every generation has its own unique form of expression. Nothing really changes, only the people change…we are the reflection of those that came before us.” It was this particular statement that truly stuck out for myself. There is such truth squeezed in-between those words. It is the discussion the older generations have about the current one that really is amusing. Mainly because it was only several decades ago that their parents were having the exact same discussion about them. I have found that this “discussion” is a right of passage for every generation. -Davey D

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” The incomplete Future and Love ”

01. D.Johnson - Transmissions
The De La Soul Collection, Vol. 1 (Strictly Breaks, 2002)
02. Lou Rawls - Lifetime Monologue
Strictly Breaks: Beatnuts, Vol. 2 (Strictly Breaks Records, 1997)
03. The Roots - Act Too (Love of My Life)
Things Fall Apart (1999)
04. MC Lyte - Paper Thin
Lyte as a Rock (East/West Records, 1988)
05. N.W.A - Express Yourself
N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton (Priority Records, 1989)
06. A Tribe Called Quest - Check the Rhyme
The Low End Theory (Jive, 1991)
07. Cypress Hill - Lick A Shot
Black Sunday (2008)
08. Brand Nubian - Slow Down
One for All (1990)
09. Bettye Swann - These Arms Are Mine
Bettye Swann (Astralwerks, 2004)

note: Time to dig hip-hop. There is certain texture I like about hip-hop. The bare bone melody and chord, how it rejects late 70’s sugary pop-soul approach. Or how it carries away the strict beat and syncopation of funk to its logical end. The big structure is all in rhythm and rhyme. When the words match with the complex beat, you get a work that people can dance to and say it, pulsating street beat. It maybe telling story about urban life, but mainly it doesn’t forget where it comes from. That it must exist within the element of urban noise. It rides surrounding noise and create structures. It’s outdoor and for the folks to enjoy. Briefly invite. So here is my short sketch of hip-hop, before and now, between the street and the blog. I take apart the elements and put them back again, ala MdM, and hope it shines something in hip-hop. The bare soul of a grand popular culture. A modern nostalgia. Check out the subtle texture. Who says hip-hop is all blurry.

see also: The Return to Innocence Lost
image: Smeerch

Broken glasses, slicing open your palm. Computers beeping at you, demanding another kiddie meal. The cubicle, 9am, Monday morning. And, of course, the boss. He who controls your life for 40 hours a week. Work has a tendency to suck. But if there’s one thing to take away from this playlist, it’s that there are worse things in the world than having a really lame job…

Murs-God’s Work
on The End of the Beginning (2003)
Mr. Lif- Live From The Plantation
on I Phantom (2003)
Aesop Rock- 9-5ers Anthem
on Labor Days (2001)
De La Soul- Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa
on De La Soul Is Dead (1991)
Cage- Too Heavy For Cherubs
on Hell’s Winter (2005)
Cunninlynguists- Mic Like a Memory
on Will Rap For Food (2005)

Photo: Dunny

Photos: Moe Rex, C-monster & Herschell

Random Heroes - (Theme from) Gold Block
(Gold Block single / 2008)
Kokolo - Our own thing (Instrumental)
(Our own thing 7″ / 2007)
Enur ft. Natasja - Calabria 2007
(Calabria 2007 single / 2007)
Del Shannon - Gemini (Pilooski edit)
(Dirty edits / 2007)
The Heavy - That kind of man
(Great Vengeance & Furious Fire / 2007)
Clout - Sunshine Baby
(Save me / 1979)
Klint - Diamond
(Snatch OST / 2001)
Linkwood Family - Piece of mind
(Firecracker Ep / 2007)

Also: Londonism II.