suhaila's dance

me'shell, originally uploaded by thebeathunters.

MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO PRESENTS
THE SPIRIT MUSIC JAMIA: DANCE OF THE INFIDEL
Verve, 2005
well, i must confess i'm a little disappointed by the poor feedback we got on the last posts, especially after the mike brecker sessions that seemed to please many of you.
don't get me wrong: i'm not desperate about contact or communication but i thought the great pieces of music shared here deserved some love or reactionzzzzzzzz&zeeeeeeeeees - oops, this is one of my cats walking on the keyboard here! is it a sign that i should stop complaining? whatever... are y'all so busy tracking music online? is it the perverse effect of rss that feeds your musical HD cravings without stopping by the blogspot itself?
anyway... spring is here and to prove you i have no hard feelings i'll share some piece of a new opus by MESHELL SUHAILA BASHIR-SHAKUR, formerly known as MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO.
"DANCE OF THE INFIDEL" strangely got an early exclusive french release one month ago and is only scheduled for the states for june, 21st. it's a beautiful mostly instrumental recording (well, the track "aquarium" features sabina on vocals&piano) where meshell deals with her deepest jazz and improvisational feelings, inviting the cream of contemporary music to:
"listen and hear
how musicians can take a seed and create,
grow,
build,
communicate with each other,
paint,
fly,
fall,
return,
then depart again on the unknown journey."
oliver lake, don byron, michael cain, kenny garrett, wallace roney, brandon ross, matthew garrison, jack dejohnette, mino cinelu, cassandra wilson, lalah hattaway... here's a few of this luminous line-up... i can tell you it's a pure gem and that's why i won't spoil too much of it here either: it's one of these rare records you must get ABSOLUTELY !
you can have a taste of the tracks here and place an early order for the digipack version:
DANCE OF THE INFIDEL
MORE MESHELL INFO

it's a beautiful day

citiesoffoam, originally uploaded by thebeathunters.

CITIES OF FOAM
A GREAT DAY FOR THE RACE
dorado, 2005
track of the day: OUT OF REACH
part of the fun in musicbloggin' is to get spontaneous info from bands and enjoy the privilege of discovering their music firsthand (ok, probably next to the dozens other spots they probably contacted too...). as blogging is much about sharing, contacting me implies that if by any chance the music meets my kicks, i could spread the good word to my limited but faithful audience. that's usually how i know if the post went global or suffered basic target practice: UFOS of noisy pop, hardcore acts or postpunk logorrhea had been landing here with less than zero chances to be echoed.
for submitters who stand in the muddy waters of crossover genres between abstract hip hop, electronijazzica or more funkafied influences, i first feel like warning them that i mainly post "music from the past" and that the confidentiality of my crowd (compared to much more notorious blogs) won't probably reach their lower expectations by exposure standards.

anyway, last week i had the chance to be contacted by UK band CITIES OF FOAM and their music felt like i could break my own rules and show some support, even if it's a tiny drop in this virtual blogocean. actually, before i even hear them sounds, the fact that they were signed by the Dorado label aroused my curiosity.
for those who missed some action in the 90's, DORADO was one of the most exciting independant labels (along with Talkin'Loud) that blossomed out of the "acid jazz" scene, pushing upfront artists like JHELISA ANDERSON (niece of souldiva VICKI ANDERSON, cousin of CARLEEN), D*NOTE or OUTSIDE who contributed to put live jazz and soul back in the clubs or on stage. anticipating the evolution of home studio culture towards electronica and house formats, Dorado then launched sublabel FILTER MUSIC, which promoted acts like djQ, the Amalgamation of Soundz or Kid Loops.

CITIES OF FOAM are Sam Menter and Todd Wills, a Bristol studio band who took the time to polish songwriting and arrangment skills until Dorado's manager Oliver Buckwell noticed their music on a self-promoted website and loved it enough to reactivate the label's pressing plants. and all for the best as the album and first single "A great day for the race" shortly received heavy support from the likes of Patrick Forge, Gilles Peterson, Mr.Scruff or Daddy G...
COF's adventure seems to epitomize the realities and possibilities of online music, as Sam Menter explains: "the web is integral to what we're doing...the designer for the CD found us through our website and asked if he could design our sleeve.We found our deal through the web. We're selling through the web. We're building up a list of people who like our sound through the web and so it goes on..."
Cities of Foam 's new single "Out of reach" feat. Nia Lynn on vocals is currently "iTunes single of the week". check samples of the album on their WEBSITE or on Dorado's, then pay a visit to your fave wax dealer or BUY ONLINE

the great lazy post

WTby DR, originally uploaded by thebeathunters.

WAX TAYLOR
TALES OF THE FORGOTTEN MELODIES
naive, 2005
ok, it's a lazy post but it's worth it. this wonderful album just hit the racks here and makes my day/week: it sounds like an instant classic...think dj shadow, rjd2, blockhead, herbaliser or handsome boy modelling school and you're right on tracks.
an exciting trailer and plenty of info, sounds, etc are available
HERE
do yourself a favor and BUY IT
be back soon...

slim, it's time to wake up!

rare moods, originally uploaded by thebeathunters.

RARE MOODS:PEACE IN DA NEIGHBORHOOD
comet records, 2004
SILK/GONE
NUMBERS/GONE
sorry about lack of post recently but we've been swamped in both work and snow.
good thing about it is that good music got played continuously and especially THIS GREAT NEW ALBUM by one of my favorite musician/producer: LIAM FARRELL a.k.a DOCTOR L.
i wonder if many of you out there worldwide are familiar with the good doctor's work, as most info and shopping seems to be french-based.
living in paris, france, farrell first got recognition in production work for various french hip hop crews (assassin) or rock bands( wampas, FFF) until his first opus "EXPLORING THE INSIDE WORLD" dropped in 1998 and cause immediate buzz. as far as stupid marketing tags go "digital soul" is kinda accurate for his sound, as abstract beats, funk, soul, soundtrack reminiscence, electro and free-jazz are influences beautifully twisted and distorted in liam's music, that he once described himself as " free style hip hop spiritual instrumental music".
RARE MOODS is a new entity created with MANU BOUBLI, a sound system with turntables and sound effects, samples, live recordings used as cut-up elements reorganized through computer work, though the duo recently played two live gigs in shangai and hong kong with extra keyboards and flute players. more Doctor L. music to come...
former Doctor L.'s collaborations include TONY ALLEN on the very good PSYCO ON DA BUS and BLACK VOICES albums
more on DOCTOR L.