scissorkick

Just got this absolutely fantastic remix compilation in the mail and was so impressed by both the roster of remixers and the end products of their individual endeavors that I had to post two distinctly different tracks. For those of you who haven't been exposed to The Free Design, a quick synopsis of their history would be this: soft-rock pioneers in the style of The Beach Boys or The Association who for some inexplicable reason were brushed under the mainstream carpet, never achieving the Billboard success they surely would have otherwise obtained if success were rated by musical ingenuity. After the re-release a while back of their 1967 debut Kites are Fun the band finally got some richly deserved praise, albeit nearly 3 decades later, and have been ressurected by fans long enough to warrant a new compilation of remixes and redesigns. The Now Sound Redesigned however is not your typical rehashing of classic material (see the Verve and Blue Note remix series). Almost every track on this record is a winner with not only a handful of potential DJ tracks, but also plenty of creative reconfigurations by artists whose sounds owe alot to The Free Design's layered, psychedelic easy listening vibe. Artists like Stereloab, The High Llamas, Koushik, Belle & Sebastian and Nobody are all heavily indebted to the band and give a little back with superb remixes. But the record transcends the usual crop of comps with its balance of rock and downtempo artists, with Madlib and PB Wolf rubbing shoulders with Styrofoam, Super Furry Animals, Kid Koala and Caribou. Both tracks posted today represent the spectrum and quality of the remixes on this record, one of the best of its kind in years. And it's great to hear the familiar voice of Velocity Girl's Sarah Shannon again perfectly teamed up with Styrofoam's Arne Van Petegem, the new king of rainy day electronica. Time to break out the old Sub Pop gems and reminisce a bit. Enjoy. Both of these tracks are fantastic. Resources

Posted by Steve at 5/26/2005 01:59:00 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Some more dance floor jazz fusion from the ever reliable Tru Thoughts camp in Brighton. Our pal Jonathan Radford, aka Diesler, drops his new full length LP in a little bit and in the meantime we've decided to post "City of God," a heavy percussive midtempo number that rides a nice afro-carribean vibe straight into the approaching Summer. We had the good fortune of sharing a bill with Diesler in London not too long ago and fans of his live sets should find the record perfectly in tune with his aesthetic, blending substantial latin and jazz elements with smartly designed breaks and more tambourines than you'd find at a Moroccan bazaar. The full-length, Diggin It Something Rotten is yet another solid offering from Tru Thoughts in the tradition of Quantic, TM Juke and others. Resources

Posted by Steve at 5/24/2005 12:15:00 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Look, when your mission is to post new music, you sometimes end up overlapping with other blogs. For instance, I am sure that another blog somewhere has posted a track from the new LP from Nobody, And Everything Else... but I have not seen "The Coast Is Clear (For Fireworks)" which I think is just a fantastic downtempo track. Simple, effortless and infinitely listenable. This is California coastal Spring, or how I imagine it from my Brooklyn apartment overlooking an expressway. In an effort to avoid a potential Abbott and Costello routine (Who did you post? Nobody. No, which artist did you post? Nobody!) I will uncover the man behind the confusing pseudonym, one Elvin Estella, who has carved a bit of a niche for himself as a producer focused on fusing psychedlic soft rock (The Free Design, Sagittarius, etc.) with well-crafted breaks. But most of you already know this. Just preaching to the choir as usual. Enjoy the Friday offering. Amen. Quick Note: If you EVER get the chance to see Mice Parade live, do it. Still buzzing from their killer show last night in Brooklyn. Adam Pierce, Doug Scharin and the rest of the crew (with Krisitn from Mum) were totally on point, mixing and matching styles with virtuoso playing unlike any act on the planet save Jaga Jazzist. The dude with the Daytona Beach t-shirt on the electric nylon string guitar. Dude was sick. Seriously. If you see them and aren't moved, I will send you the money spent on the ticket. Resources

Posted by Steve at 5/20/2005 10:51:00 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Saturday night, DRM and I get the opportunity to spin before and after sets by Brooklyn's stellar live dub outfit Dub Nomads. If you are in the local NYC area on Saturday, definitely try and swing by the BPM performance space which surely houses one of the best (if not the best) PA systems in any "non-club" environment. The parties are always a blast, unpretentious and lively, with a real sort of no-rules appeal. Dub Nomads always bring their A-game delivering some of the deepest dub from across the breakbeat spectrum, mixing keys, horns, guitars, drums and electronics to rousing effect. They are definitely one of the most underrated acts in the city and the beacon for the new Brooklyn dub renaissance. If you need any further info, please get in touch with me at steve@scissorkick.com. In the meantime, check out this track, titled Dub #4, sent over by Mari of the Dub Nomads. It's a layered, crawling dub that drips through your headphones in half-time and its sure to give you a small taste of what to expect this weekend. Resources

Posted by Steve at 5/19/2005 09:00:00 PM | Permalink   

The crew at the fledgling Modus Vivendi Music imprint sent this one over to me a little while back and it seems like it would be a great follow-up to yesterday's Deadbeat post. Less minimal and electronicially stoic but still deep and dubby, the Eyesight Project represents the more worldly side of dub, it being an intentionally inclusive project combining likeminded musicians from different genres collaborating together. I had the good fortune later on to learn that our friend Steve Branson aka Saru has recently done a remix for the project. "Imagination" becomes immediately familiar as soon as the Jah Faith-provided, Carole King "Fire an Rain" vocals drop in, soon to be replaced by a few bars from the chorus of The Temptations 1971 hit "Just My Imagination" (hence the title of the track). It's less of a remix than a sort of vocal improvisation that beefens up the thick melange of leisurely paced world beats and electronics. Nice stuff and certainly a label to look out for in the future. Resources

Posted by Steve at 5/18/2005 09:00:00 AM | Permalink   

Time for an active renaissance people. This is an official call to action to resuscitate your deep, electronic dub records and to help reopen the small window that was early-to-mid 90s macro dub, a favorite and often overlooked splinter of traditional dub. Electronic, ambient dub in that era and beyond (often cross-pollinating with Brooklyn's illbient movement) was spearheaded by labels like ROIR, The Agriculture and Wordsound and manipulated bass frequencies so low they could have been used as weapons. Artists like Dr. Israel, Byzar and Spectre laid the foundation for Pole, often considered one of the champions of the genre as it evolved into the late 90s and beyond where it nows lays in the capable hands of Montreal's Deadbeat who moved things into the modern age with 2002's fantastic Wild Life Documentaries, its follow-up Something Borrowed, Something Blue and the forthcoming New World Observer. "Abu Ghraib" is unquestionably the climax of the record, not only indicative of its scathing political commentary, but also of Deadbeat's blueprint of slowly building minimalism into a maze-like psychedlic structure in which the exit seems to get further away as the track progresses. Heavy stuff once again, a reminder of the powerful nature of this music and a call to arms for the apathetic. Resources

Posted by Steve at 5/17/2005 10:53:00 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Now, I know a few other blogs beat me to the punch on this, but as the Spring slowly fades into Summer I can't think of a better record to recommend to scissorkick readers than the newest EP from Howard Hello. Kenseth Thibideau is essentially the mastermind of this mostly instrumental project, one that fits perfectly on the Temporary Residence imprint. Thibideau, who also released records with Tarantel and Rumah Sakit for TR, currently plays keys in Pinback, and while I am a fan of all three of his other endeavors, none resonate as personally for me as Howard Hello. The newest EP continues the Fahey-via-Stereolab blueprint, looping acoustic and electric guitars lavishly over each other for a clean, layered ambience. Yet what I find most effective about the new EP (and the old stuff) is simply the optimism conveyed by each track. This is happy, uplifting music that develops slowly and in a building linear form that adds unpredictability and continually raises the emotive threshold. The mix of organic and electronic elements is seamless and simply another argument that instrumentation need not be delineated by such categories. Sure, I'm often guilty of it, but this is one more reason for music to simply be music. Resources

Posted by Steve at 5/16/2005 11:24:00 AM | Permalink   

Alright, big news on the Bastard Jazz front as we welcome one of our favorite producers to town for his first NYC appearance. Dr. Rubberfunk has made a huge Bigfoot-sized imprint on the international funk and breaks scene, releasing a fantastic full-length LP, The First Cut and a handful of essential singles and remixes that are some of the most reliable tracks in my crate along with mainstays like Dynamo Productions, Ed Royal + Enne, All Good Funk Alliance and Fort Knox 5. We want to make the good doctor's first city gig as amazing as possible, so please drop by the Leopard Lounge, where we have had a good streak of memorable parties. Let's make this the best of the lot and a big thanks to Dr. Rubberfunk for the much needed prescription.

Dr. Rubberfunk :: "Come On and Get Some More Info Thursday, May 12th. Bastard Jazz presents: Dr. Rubberfunk (GPS/Funkydown, London) - First US Appearance! One of our favorite producers of funk fueled bangers and cut'n'paste breaknology has finally crossed the pond. Championed by the likes of Coldcut, Mr.Scruff, Ashley Beedle, Quantic, etc.. Rubberfunk's original tracks have been tearing up clubs worldwide while his BBC mix show is highly regarded throughout the UK. Join us for his first US appearance in the intimate setting of the Leopard Lounge. w/ selectors Jugoe (Bastard Jazz, Ohio) DRM + Sema4 (Bastard Jazz, Brooklyn) Located Upstairs @ SinSin/The Leopard Lounge - 248 e. 5th St, NY NY 10p - 4am FREE! www.bastardjazz.com

Posted by Steve at 5/10/2005 12:48:00 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Thanks for your patience. This has been quite a week -- been sick, massive amounts of work, girl troubles -- but things strangely turned around right when the new Herbaliser showed up in the mailbox. Now, while some of you cooler-than-thou fairweather fans have traded your downtempo crates for every grime 12" out there, some of us older heads love us a nostalgic look back at Ninjas finest in-house band. Fuck, if you rock Buffalo NY, you deserve all the praise in the world and that's just what Jake Wherry and Ollie Teeba did back in the day (not to be confused with Ollie & Jerry of "There's No Stopping Us" fame). They put on a hell of a show every time they hit the stage and their newest is a bit of the old, the new and just about everything in between (Jean Grae is back and in fine form as well. And Roots Manuva too. What, what?). "Gadget Funk" is a huge, slab of gently-massaged Kobe funk, with a dripping side of hot-buttered, fattened electrofuzz grizzle. Dance floors? Unsafe. Headphones? Need a better pair. Nice to see the old men can still do the do with the best of 'em. Look out for what will surely be Ninja's crowning jewel of 2005. Learn more about the Herbaliser HERE Buy Herbaliser records HERE

The Herbaliser :: "Gadget Funk"

Posted by Steve at 5/04/2005 06:58:00 PM | Permalink | Comments