scissorkick

I’m not going to wax poetic about how I long for the days when rap was primarily a party-rocking language of positive expression. Honestly, after years of balanced exposure to rappers as divergent as C-Murder and De La Soul, I could care less if an MC vocally champions my decision to continue with a Masters degree or manipulates me into rolling an entire eighth into a single, hallowed-out Dutch Masters. But when it comes to the kids, I have to put my foot (and my blunt) down and say that I too believe that they are the future and that they should be taught well and ultimately lead the way. And who better to show the kids all the beauty they possess inside than the always-reliable beat junkie DJ Vadim, who along with talented vocalists Yarah Bravo and Blu Rum 13 form Ninja Tune’s newest power trio, One Self. You can read the rest of this rant in the next issue of RE:UP. Subscribe to it. It's a great mag! Resources

Posted by Steve at 6/30/2005 12:53:00 PM | Permalink | Comments   

I'm happy to announce that scissorkick will be available via podcast. I've set up the RSS feed located in the side navigation bar to now broadcast via podcast, so you can easily download tracks to your MP3 player or iTunes every day. I'm pretty sure its set up correctly but if you encounter any problems, please send me an email. I am also planning to summarize each month's post as a DJ mix that will posted for a limited time during the last week of each month. Since July is awash with weddings and moving and all that, expect the frist monthly mix at the end of August. I hope to spend a good amount of time on each one, smoothing out transitions and making them flow so that you have a nice digital record of postings for posterity (and hopefully any parties you throw.) As always, any feedback is more than welcome. Look out for some new music later today.

Posted by Steve at 6/29/2005 10:32:00 AM | Permalink | Comments   

So, after a much needed vacation, we are back with a stack of brand new Summer tracks that will further blur the genre lines that are often misleading misnomers anyway. Just go with your gut. All of the posted artists and labels have been updated, our Summer site skin has been revealed and there are now 10 Scissor Picks for you to go out and purchase. We stand by each one of them and almost all have a track for preview here on the site. In addition to the ocassionaly special postings like Scissorkick Exclusives, New Promos and From the Crate I've added a new, biweekly posting deemed Old Reliable. These posts will focus on older (but no necessarily old) tracks that have fallen by the wayside yet still sound as fresh and intriguing as they ever have. Given that trends in music come and go so quickly, its important to try and remember those tracks that have a little bit more of a timeless quality. Songs from our recent past (2 to 5 years) that get tragically shelved way before their expiration date. So, instead of just jumping right into all the new, unreleased post -- look out for Ghosty, Stromba, Skopic, Polycubist vs. Dubliner, Clue to Kalo, ID and Sleeper, Jugoe, Mouse on Mars Live, etc. -- I'm gonna use the first Old Reliable post for a great Midwest Product track, "Swamp," recently added to the impressive roster of artists tapped for Hummer commercials. Sure, it hurts a little bit to hear your favorite artists in an advertisement for an urban status symbol for guys with small pricks but what are you gonna do. The band surely needs the cash to keep putting out great music. It's still a great track, perhaps one of the best combinations of future dub and meditative rock in a long while; an instrumental that seems to get better with every listen. Plaintive, challenging and just enough kinetic energy to keep heads nodding.

Midwest Product :: "Swamp"

Posted by Steve at 6/28/2005 11:42:00 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Loyal readers, there comes a time in every man's life when he just needs to take his lady and get the fuck out of Dodge. So, tomorrow we hop on a jet to Aruba in search of that missing girl and to uncover the conspiracy that is slowly unfolding. Bad jokes aside, we will just be enjoying a a much needed week of R&R getting roasted like Ray Winston in Sexy Beast. Until we return, please feel free to peruse the site and grab old tracks. There's plenty of them still up. Have a good week. I am sure to return to a stack of new music that I will post for certain. And don't forget about our new monthly, Digging Deeper, coming up next Thursday at our new home, The Leopard Lounge. You can get info at the Bastard Jazz Web site.

Posted by Steve at 6/15/2005 10:09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Finally got my vinyl capture sorted out, so expect a lot of rare nuggets from the crates to occassionally surface within the week's postings. Today I finally get to post some tracks from Fug, the Nuphonic Records cinematic live project that often gets overlooked by fans of Cinematic Orchestra, Air and Massive Attack. Yet their only full-length LP, Ready For Us is arguably one of the touchstones of the live cinematic breaks movement that really took a foothold in the UK in the late-90s. Utilizing guitars, bass, drums, keys, strings, horns and the occassional vocalist, Fug threw down one of the finest and most underrated records of 2001, lost among Nuphonic's roster of House producers. Actually just a trio (with help from some talented musicians for hire) -- Matt Klose (drums), Tom Baily (keyboards) and Bob Sadler (Engineer) -- Fug was formed from the ashes of Waxploitation, "an electronic three-piece outfit who were part of the movement to bridge the gap between dance music, electronica and live instrumentation." They released a couple of the Tummy Touch label's first 12" back in '96 and '97. But that stuff doesn't compare to Ready For Us, a necessary part to any collection of moody, UK-style live downtempo. This is emotive stuff, instantly morphing the world around your headphone-wrapped head into a grainy, celluloid noir cityscape. I can't recommend it more highly and am glad to finally be able to provide a little taste. Keyboardist Tom Baily can be heard these days in Neon Heights on the Glasgow Underground imprint. Resources

Posted by Steve at 6/10/2005 09:19:00 AM | Permalink | Comments   

It's shaping up to be a fantastic week at scissorkick, as we drop this incredible nugget of live downtempo courtesy of Simon Green, known to many of you out there as Bonobo, one of Ninja Tune's most revered producers. Available directly from Ninja Tunes, this 6-song EP features 4 classics - "Noctuary," "Dismantling Frank," "The Plug," and "Nothing Owed," reconstructed with live bass, drums, sax, keys, cello, guitars and electronics. The facelift breathes a new life into each moment, adding that classic UK live feel (one that Ninja Tune has fostered for over a decade) to tracks already considered some of Green's finest. Fans should get this IMMEDIATELY by clicking here.
The EP also includes an over-the-top percussive reconfiguration of "Pick Up" by Four Tet and a brand new Bonobo track, "Recurring," mixed during the live sessions that is easily one of his best (and at a quickened tempo that belies the rest of this EP). A gorgeous midtempo, cinematic nugget. Note Scissorkick is mentioned in an article on the Live 8 in today's Audiofile column at Salon.com. Check out the piece, although I think you may need to sign up for a day pass to read it. Much thanks goes out to Audiofile's Thomas Bartlett for doing such a great job with Audiofile, an always dependable blog with a wide spectrum of legal MP3 downloads. And of course for looking our way. Click this link to access the Salon article. Resources

Posted by Steve at 6/07/2005 10:33:00 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Wow. I think the USPS just delivered one of the first serious contenders for scissorkick's Best of 2005. You may have heard of David Edwards, aka Minotaur Shock, back when the silly Folktronica craze was making its rounds in the music media. And although you will be able to discern a heavy dose of contemporaries like Boards of Canada, Four Tet, Boom Bip and Caribou in his music, Edwards differentiates himself from those talented songwriters by unflinchingly embracing melody. These are songs, simply and seemingly effortlessly created, that don't simply just loop interesting beat fragments, but instead contain an engaging narrative found routinely in successful pop music. His sound palette is enormous and the bravery by which he utilizes his sense of melody (seriously watch out for the Van Halen keyboards; seriously) is admirable and quite frankly refreshing, given the lack of truly amazing electronic albums in the past year or so. Look, take out the D in IDM, roll it up and smoke it. This is simply intelligent music. "Mistaken Tourist" is taken from his upcoming full-length LP, Maritime on 4AD. Look out for it in the coming months and pick of the "Vigo Bay" EP by clicking below. Resources

Posted by Steve at 6/06/2005 03:27:00 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Nice little nugget of IDM from the Berlin-based duo of Barbara Morgenstern & Robert Lippock. I had thought I lost this album until "Please Wake Me for Meals" shuffled its way to the top of my iPod playlist and surprised me with its nice mix of structure and melody. Solid electronic breaks, great keyboard sensibility make this an absolute mid-tempo headphone winner and surely one of Morgenstern's best releases in years. I would suggest fans of Lali Puna and the related pick this record up but be forewarned that it is much more upbeat than your typically morose German electronic pop record. Especially the track "Sommer" which will be on a scissorkick Spring/Summer mix coming very soon. Resources

Posted by Steve at 6/02/2005 11:37:00 AM | Permalink | Comments