Category Archives: Music

Music reviews, downloads, podcasts, and other music related posts.

Page McConnell on The Art of Improvisation

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mcconnell 200x133 Page McConnell on The Art of ImprovisationFollowing an earlier post, continuing on the theme of the improvisational prowess that is Phish, I noticed  that the Phish.Net blog has revisited  the posting of keyboardist Page McConnell’s college thesis ‘The Art of Improvisation.’ Originally submitted upon completion of his undergraduate studies for Goddard College, the thesis was first presented publicly in 1992 via a fan-maintained ListServ. Marking the 24-Yr Anniversary of it’s submission it has been reposted it to the Phish.Net website.

Click to read the full text, which is not a terribly long read [via Phish.Net]

Economy is a trait I admire in my influences. Bill Evans, probably my most important jazz piano influence, plays an entirely different style than Basie yet he incorporates economy: “He has worked unceasingly to arrive at a clearer, less cluttered jazz conception, one with no false starts, no side issues, no merely showy licks.

If you have no clue what I’m talking about, and are looking for something to do tonight, I would highly suggest putting US$15 towards checking out tonight’s live broadcast of Phish’s performance from New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Spotlight On: Skriptah

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MAM33stepsdown jay Copy 97x200 Spotlight On: SkriptahNow for a post I’ve wanted to do for a while but unfortunately have been a bit busy lately. For our last podcast / artist feature of 2011 we have tapped San Francisco’s ‘Skriptah.’

Skriptah’s sound keys on deep, so-called ‘eyes-down’ or the particularly loathsome term ‘dungeon.’ Perhaps resulting from his oft-cited hearing loss, his productions and selections call for the tracks you feel before you hear.

Skriptah has provided a mix for us, available for streaming or download via Soundcloud below. For the full track-list of the mix and the short Q&A we got with him check beneath the fold

Skriptah [ Soundcloud | Twitter | Facebook ]

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Download: Africa Hitech at The Drake Hotel

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5751418088 6d659d5223 Download: Africa Hitech at The Drake Hotel Very excited to see that last night the crew from Africa Hitech made their recent performance from The Drake Hotel in Toronto available for download. Some of my favorite music from 2011 recorded at one of my favorite places on earth.

I assume most everybody reading this blog is well aware of Africa Hitech, the combination of Mark Pritchard and Steve Spacek pushing the boundaries and bpms ever higher. I would suggest you also get to know The Drake Hotel, which I was fortunate enough to visit and stay in earlier this year. It’s a small spot with about a dozen rooms, incredible drinks and food and obviously a nightclub downstairs (The Underground) that pulls in some cutting edge talent.

Check the performance below posted in two parts, share it with a friend, and plan yourself a visit to The Drake Hotel next time you’re in Toronto!

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Whistla – Dubstep Classics Vol. 1 Mix

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0eeaedfd b8bf 4c21 8550 711d002a63be 200x200 Whistla Dubstep Classics Vol. 1 MixA nice mix uploaded today from Whistla, the man behind Sub.FM, which has been the home to Distal and I hosting Late Nite Tip, for over a year.

At the behest of many, Whistla takes a short respite from the swivel vibe to put together an essential collection of classics of deeper and darker tunes well fitted to the colder weather and shorter days ahead. Full tracklist beneath the fold, but be sure to pick this one up. Really, he plays ‘Plate,’ that’s all you need to know. If I was going to put together a ‘best of’ set, this is pretty close; ‘Plate,’ ‘Nomad,’ ’1st Dynasty’ were all tunes I fell in love with when I first discovered the genre. If you appreciate real dubstep, you will appreciate this. If you are one of these Johnny Come-Lately’s to the dubstep scene, well… here is some culture for you. Know your roots.

Whistla has this one up on Mixcloud recorded strictly off vinyl and recorded in 320, presenting these tunes in the quality the deserve to be heard in. Big up to Whistla and all the Sub.FM DJs and fans supporting a good thing.

Whistla – Dubstep Classics Vol. 1 Mix [via Mixcloud]

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Old Apparatus – Hand To Mouth (Free DL)

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oldapp 200x163 Old Apparatus Hand To Mouth (Free DL)

A free release today from the enigmatic Old Apparatus. It is a bit difficult to expound on Old Apparatus; information is hard to come by, and that should point to the strength of the project.

Download the free single ‘Hand To Mouth (Pay To Play)’ available via Soundcloud and Mediafire, whichever you prefer.

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Splurt Diablo Mix for Sonic Router

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splurt 640 Splurt Diablo Mix for Sonic RouterFor all the claims that grime is dead, it has easily provided some of the most memorable tunes of 2011. The torrent of tracks from Butterz, Terror Danjah, and Teddy are definitely keeping things fresh.

Sonic Router comes correct on its latest mix this time supplied by one of my favorite up comers in the grime scene now Splurt Diablo. The VIP remix of his tune ‘The Return’ always gets a wheel-up request when I’ve played it. Splurt brings all originals here on this mix, a complete tracklist after the bump as standard.

Splurt Diablo – Sonic Router x Uncle Albert Mix

Splurt Diablo [ Facebook | Twitter ]
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Damu – Unity (LDN027) Review + Download

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damu unity 200x200 Damu Unity (LDN027) Review + DownloadSome seriously quality material coming from Blackdown‘s Keysound imprint this year. It’s latest release comes finds a full length from Damu. Spanning across ten tracks, Damu’s Unity exhibits explorations of UK Garage reliant on bright synths and wispy percussion atypical of a lot of recent UKG influenced releases.

An ambitious release reaching around one hour, the album is versatile – not completely being on the side of headphone listening or completely dancefloor centric Unity shows the ability to have crossover appeal without resorting to being a self-referencing caricature.

The highlight for me on the release is undoubtably Ridin The Hype, a collab with vocalist Trim, however Unity will bring appeal to fans of Girl Unit, or the lighter side of Starkey’s most recent output. Available now in all finer shops you can get an album sampler, or preview the albums closing track Don’t Cry In My Bed on Soundcloud.

Damu [ Facebook | Twitter | Download Unity Sampler ]

 

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