Tune: Cee Knowledge & Cosmisc Funk Orchestra - Bandits

best shit i've heard from cee know in a while. this is smooth.

tune

N.O.I.A. - Stranger In A Strange Land (Club Mix) 1983

Tune

Tune: Animal Collective - New Town Burnout (Shabazz Palaces Remix)

The pay-off comes 5 minutes in.

tune of the week

ish bloggin at gorilla vs bear!

this is fantabulous... a selection of his faves circa '94. nuff said.

ISHMÆL BUTLER OF SHABAZZ PALACES/DIGABLE PLANETS TAKEOVER OF GORILLA VS BEAR

tune

dxt remixing a bootsy cover of jimi in laswell's refracted light. yes...

"dxt - if 666 was '96" (from the compilation lp altered beats: assassin knowledges of the remanipulated. axiom records, 1996)

video & tune: flying lotus "until the quiet comes"

directed by the mysterious kahlil joseph, who also did two videos for shabazz palaces. i see why ish and this man get along: both have a non-linear, impressionistic or collage approach to their respective artforms. the interview above gives a fascinating point of view from ish that this is how life is actually perceived. i would add that that's how we 'should' be experiencing life but the modern world has many of us filing away all the fresh gleaming experiences and perceptions of our days into 'dusty categories' so we are no longer 'alive' to the present moment, and are living these shadow lives in our minds. i've found that reconnecting with my creativity has meant recognising this fact and using cunning (rather than willpower) to turn the situation around. anyway! here it is:

tune: hemisphere ~ paradis

(2012, beats in space records) one of the best music videos i've seen since "are you... can you... were you... (felt)"

Miles

Apologies for the prolonged silence, palace people. I packed up my life into storage and moved my family to the states for the summer and maybe longer. Recently I've been deepening my relationship with the music and autobiography of Miles Davis. Since Ish said "Miles, that's my idol" and Ish is my idol, the conclusions of my findings don't surprise me: If you want to understand Ishmael's music on any meaningful level, then you have to swim in the sea of not only the Last Poets, but also Miles. I'm ready to dive in. Miles Davis is cool as fuck...!



Syncretically, as so often happens, during this period a new interview with Palaceer Lazaro surfaced in which he mentions On The Corner as something epochal in his evolution. Check it out:

"Shabazz Palaces: Never mind the past or the future" by Adam Hicks for Freq Magazine

When Digable Planets emerged in the early '90s, many people’s definitions of hip hop were shattered. Sure, the Native Tongues movement was already beginning to be noticed worldwide, but this was decidedly different. The same people who labeled De La Souls “hip hop hippies” likely called Digable hip hop beatniks, but, in both cases, the labels would be much too vast of a generalization. The common description of their music was reminiscent of poetry and smoky jazz lounges, but their fingers were on the pulse of something much bigger.

Much like Digable Planets changed the landscape of hip hop’s golden era, former frontman Ishmael Butler recently re-emerged to challenge our view of contemporary rap. Now known as Palaceer Lazaro, he leads the Seattle-based outfit, Shabazz Palaces. Achieving what the vast majority of golden-era rappers have fallen short of, Shabazz Palaces remain relevant and belong to the cutting-edge community of modern artists, such as Flying Lotus and El-P. Their glitchy beats and cryptic lyrics may be the basis for some people’s descriptions. But after briefly chatting with Butler, it is clear that the band likely hopes no two people describe their music the same. Or describe it at all for that matter.


Freq: Ishmael, from Digable Planets, to Cherrywine, to Shabazz Palaces, you can always be described as cosmically in tune, or at least seem that way. Can you sum this up into words?

Ishmael Butler: All of these ideas are given to me.

Freq: What are some of your influences inside and outside of hip hop music?
IB: Inside and outside hip hop, O am influenced by the hidden motions in the rhythms, the felt things and Buki Akib and then Kerry James Marshall and Blackthoven.

Freq: Would it be safe to say your music delves deep into both the past and future?
IB: It is unsafe to say things for certain, but say this: at our best we are delving into the moment with the past and future never minded.

Freq: Do you feel that hip hop music has any voids that you are filling?
IB: No hip hop is always and all ways filling voids in me.

Freq: If there are a couple quintessential jazz albums that our readers should check out to help the uninitiated listener understand your music better, what are they and why?
IB: Well, not to understand my music — my music is to be liked, not really understood. I don't claim to understand it, but these records will help you understand the world and some you as well: On the Corner, by Miles Davis and Make it Last Forever, by Keith Sweat.

Freq: Why is it important for people to have an open mind towards music?
IB: It’s not important, but it is very fun and exciting.

Freq: You guys have a very creative live set. How did it evolve into being?
IB: We were trying to get girls' attention.

Freq: Why is it important for hip hop artists to bring such creativity to shows?
IB: It’s not. It’s just fun as fuck.

Freq: Are there any other contemporary artists that you would recommend your
fans check out?
IB: Lil B, and THEE Satisfaction.

Freq: Why is it important to challenge your listeners?
IB: It’s not, it’s important to try hard to refresh your instinct when you do IT.

Catch Shabazz Palaces at Hi-Fi Club on June 21st and Olympic Oval on June 23rd

tune! elias rahbabi's levantine psychedelia (1974)

psych-e-delic and fat

some funky funky beats from lebanon circa 1974. elias rahbani!

tune: lovebug starski's "say what you wanna say"

1986. would love to know who produced. still ahead of its time. what greater compliment or adjective can i use to describe this revolutionary music other than...
hip hop

news ~ new remix ahoy

yet another cool band i've been introduced to via palaceer lazaro. s.c.u.m are young 'wall of sound' rockers from SE london... the single of amber hands comes with a shabazz palaces remix. haven't been this excited about a remix since the FOE one. ish's choice of tunes to remix is fascinating, and i can't imagine how this is going to sound given the attentions of shabazz. FOE's cold hard rock at least had a strong beat to begin with but the marriage of this ambient, droney wall of sound texture with the demented cosmic synth logic of sp (and will there also be vocals?) promises to be beyond anything we've ever heard before. the original is below, and the remix will be released on may 7th, that is just over 2 weeks time

THEESatisfaction: Queens (Video)

Directed by Dream Hampton

TheeSat are coming, bringing a refreshing femininity to hip hop culture. This video is intriguing: intimate yet distant, awkward yet smoothly confident, sexy yet respectful. Their album, Awe NaturalE, is sweet and features Palaceer Lazaro rapping on 2 cuts.

New Tendai Solo project

CHIMURENGA RENAISSANCE

Tendai aka Baba Maraire has been busy in between tours working on this project based on Zimbabwean resistance to British Imperialism, which was led by the deluded psychopath Cecil Rhodes. Check out this hot track, and prepare to be impressed by Maraire's flow and a beat I can hear blowing up from new world to old:



You can go to the Chimurenga Rennaissance website and read more about the whole thing, as well as pick up a copy of Tendai's solo LP of traditional Zimbabwean Shona music Wona Baba Maraira. It's pretty disgraceful that Rhodes' name has escaped much of the disgrace that is his due. Partly that's due to all the cash he left people. I'm going to write a bit about that later but for now I've been either looking at a screen or drawing all day and i've starting to get dizzy so good night one and all and I leave you with the video for the project made by Charles Mudede, called rhodZi!

tune - todd terje

snooze 4 love. this be the shit:

Tour Bus Notes

sp affiliate larry mizell jr gives us the scoop from the shabazz palaces bus plus some classic music

Roadtrip Funk

tunes: sensational's new 1

JAZZY SENSATIONAL JUST PASS ME by SENSATIONAL

the palaceer's best of 2011

sorry that this new blogger interface is messing up and won't let the space bar do it's thing. one of the bestest things ever is when someone gets ish to do something like this cos you're guaranteed to be introduced to myriad delights of unknown secret gardens. i like this new music blog mileau where artists do this journalist stuff cos if it's a good artist they show the journos how its done and don't take it too seriously. half of the subpop list seems to be personal stuff. the list is from subpop and also a couple of tracks from gorilla vs bear and there was a third list but i lost it, all i remember was his favourite album was the new chico mann so i've also included something from that. also the bit of writing for his number one (alien in berlin kebab shop) was one of the most hilarious things i've ever read. i need to read more stuff like that that just cracks me up... any tips for funny writers/novels/short stories? the closest i've read to that style would be tom robbins but he's a bit wooden... i'm looking for something absurd but also totally unpredictable and stupid. advice please. bye. ======= Ishmael Butler of Shabazz Palaces 1.belaynesh 2.all american/Weekend 3.kola boof 4.toyin odutola all her work 5.lob stop sta (feat Coco o.) 6.nov 5 7.black bean burger zippy’s 8.the view from saul’s rooftop 9.the mavs 10.the alien i saw working in a kebab shop in berlin. he looked like a slightly melting arab gary shandling. i knew something was funny watching him move something in the way it poured the tahini. then a weird incandescent light was poured out of his ears sort of like honey. a leak of sorts.he peeped me noticing it saw the confused horror explode through my expression and moved in a time folding way, like a film jumping. it looked shocked like a young boy discovered stealing quarters from his moms purse to play galaga at the corner store. i backed away into the door and almost broke through it but then it said something that sounded like “xeeulis” or something and i felt comfort like never before. we spoke for about an hour but everything it said i immediately forgot. except this, that kanye west was the greatest artist of any kind in the history of man. weekend ~ all-american (for less than a quid, including a charity donation) i'm sure you'll have as much fun as i did finding out who/what kola boof is... boom clap bachelors - Løb Stop Stå (i never knew danish could sound so nice) and from gvb: trouble ~ bussin' (now there's a gunbeat literally) jonny nelson ~ put em in a bodybag (love the fun, energy, and the karate kid reference) pissed off that this list, i think it was on pitchfork was taken down, but all i remember was this album was on it: chico mann - go to that place from analog drift lp on wax poetics records

tunes - thee satisfaction "kinks"

tunes: charles bradley

2011? yes. buy it! support this greatness.

Charles Bradley - The World (is Going Up in Flames) Official Video



Charles Bradley - Golden Rule (Live)