you are mean computer

Dutty Artz Radio tonight! Check the Ustream channel 7pm. Turrbotax resident DJs Contakt and Mayster are joining us.

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Baths – Lovely Bloodflow
Cerulean (anticon., 2010)

The latest release from anticon., debut album by Baths is in heavy rotation this week. It has some extremely lovely moments – worth checking – also worth spending money on, if you all are still into that.

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Erykah Badu – Love

Alright, Spring is here & Miss Badu has blessed us with yet another extremely good album.  I’ve returned to it already a few times this week — New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh). At first, I was unsatisfied (I had that same feeling when I heard Worldwide Underground, as if the project was unfinished/not completely realized) but for New Amerykah Part Two, with each listen, something magnificent is revealed –subtle, satiric undertones buried in samples, live instrumentation, and that voice – raw emotional honesty (+ sometimes turbulence.) I’ve said it before, if you think Erykah Badu’s music is only serious/militant/political/etc. — which it obviously is — you’re missing the point.  She’s more playful, more humorous than she’s often credited for, and this album has some of the most amusing moments in R&B you’ll hear this year.

SUPERFRONT‘s “Architecture Mixtape” series launches tomorrow – Thursday, April 1st – at Studio X, with our own DJ /rupture sharing hosting duties with MITCH McEWEN, Founder and Director of SUPERFRONT – presenting recent exhibits curated in both SUPERFRONT’s Los Angeles and Brooklyn galleries. The audience will be invited to participate in a public program that integrates music and community organizing into the production of architectural discourse. Catalog publications and the DJ /rupture-produced soundtrack will be on display.

Superfront “Architecture Mixtape” has four sections – w/ Matt Shadetek dropping all all kinds of dutty dancehall wickedness, and Mosholu Park delivers more recent, ferocious, dancehall explosives, DJ /rupture blurs sublime dancehall riddims he acquired in Brooklyn over the years, and Taliesin’s section is heavy on the R&B side and it’s terrifically good fun!

Free and open to the public
RSVP: gdb210[at]columbia[dot]edu

Studio-X
180 Varick Street, Suite 1610
1 train to Houston Street

A few days ago, I found a CDR compilation labeled Super Hits of Nigeria in the ungoogleable/bootleg section of my CD-DVD collection. It was a gift from my cousin who bought it in the streets of Freetown sometime last year. The opening track from the comp is “Yori Yori”– a massive pan-Nigerian/pan-African (global) hit in 2009 by the duo Bracket. This tune was large from Lagos to Nairobi, Freetown to London, even nightclubs in Guangzhou were unsafe from the contagious tune (Guangzhou has the largest population of Africans in China.) I saw a video for the tune in early ’09 while watching Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in northern Virginia. Boima also mentioned it over at Ghetto Bassquake.

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Bracket – Yori Yori

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Timaya, who appears on at least 6 tracks on the compilation also had a great year in ’09. I saw a few of his videos on NTA – epic, conscious Nigerian rap grooves. Here are two more tracks -

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Timaya – Yankuluya

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J Martins feat. Timaya, P-Square, Banky W., etc. – Good Or Bad (Owey)

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“Heavy As Stone” by Mark Pritchard
from Elephant Dub / Heavy As Stone “12 – it’s a real no-brainer!

These are not not normal times. We are in the midst of another major winter storm in Brooklyn, NY (and our neighboring east coast cities and towns are witnessing/feeling the wrath of Old Man Winter.) Mala’s Deep Medi Musik released this superb 12″ from Mark Pritchard a few days ago. Side A is probably more apt for the weather (wet and heavy snow + smouldering xtra-subs = murky funk for dead bodies) but I’ve decided go with the flip because it melds many beautiful things together easily and well! It’s also warm – Tell the people of earth to be strong / You’re as heavy as stone / You are never alone…

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The O’Jays – Cry Together

Happy Valentine’s Day to all! Yes, we’re also suckers for classic American soul/R&B, especially the ones from the heartland. Keep love in your heart.

New video from Erykah Badu featuring Lil Wayne “Jump Up In The Air (Stay There)” from her upcoming album New Amerykah Part II: Return Of The Ankh – You already know this is a great song, but pay close attention to the lyrics and you’ll appreciate it even more; plenty memorable lines – (hip-hop) “church never felt this good before,” “my level, far from the devil/have some manners, and say hello to the angels,” “I am on the ceiling stuck like a fan full of dust, like a fist full of bucks…” etc.  As for the video, it has stunning moments; Wayne clearing a cloud of purple smoke to “elevate” with Ms. Badu is one of those.

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Four Tet – Plastic People
There Is Love in You (Domino, 2010)

Kieran Hebden’s latest album was in heavy rotation this weekend. It has some extremely lovely moments.

me: i couldnt wait, got it off —-. itd been there since July or something. criminally slept on by us!

Lamin: yeah. the album had very little buzz, considering the fact that it was released by Def Jam and produced by The-Dream (& Tricky Stewart)! my sis mentioned it to me after she heard about it from a cousin in Maryland who’s 14 years old! so yeah, this is what 14 year old girls are listening to in the DMV.

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Electric Red – P Is For Power

from their debut album, How To Be A Lady Vol. 1 ($5 at Amazon digital!)

Summer of love ’09 = amazing heat & humidity

Friend = Tropical Chinese Traditional R&B, London

Kreayshawn‘s demo reel Summer 2009

& here’s the future! Lil B’s new video “Like A Martian,” also directed by Kreayshawn.

This is definitely dumbest track I’ve heard from Lil B this year -mind you, I can only listen to his material in tiny doses so I’ve heard less than one tenth of his output this year. Andrew Noz/Cocaine Blunts has the time and patience/attention for this. Grab the mp3/audio dope here if you dare.

Audio and video are not completely in sync, but who cares, really? Especially, when the sound, visual, and message are so soulful and sexy (and she’s trying not to spell it out, but she can’t help herself…) “Milk and Honey” is deliberately sweet, seductive, and celebratory.  I find the experimentation and lightheartedness here much more interesting. Props to Bedrock for the beat.  I haven’t heard or seen much from Goapele since her 2000/1 song “Closer” - positive, dreamy, a bit wistful now.

On a general note -  neo soul and alt contemporary R&B has been anemic, stale since 2001 (after D’Angelo’s Voodoo and Erykah Badu’s Mama Gun, what else is there?)  I’ve stayed away for the most part, but very now and then, there are impressive, surprisingly great albums and songs like Erykah Badu’s “The Healer” from her 2008 offering New Amerykah Part One (4th World War). For 2009, Sa-Ra’s album Nuclear Evolution: The Age of Love is amazing and has been very enjoyable.

vimeo spotted @ TSS

GET SICK NOW! it’s everywhere… & spreading!

3 mixes in 3 weeks! Tally!