myspace.com/thefuturecop

When it comes to music, people like to pretend our world fits neatly into black and white, hip-hop and r&b, rock and rap. But is it possible that one artist can bring the rock, the soul and the pop music lover together in one blissful Technicolor orgy? If anyone can, it’s Bay Area musician Chris Marsol. On his bold debut album, “Butterflies, Lipstick and Handgrenades” (Clear Label/Hiero Imperium), Marsol fuses together rock, soul, pop and electro, resulting in a record where no two tracks sound the same. Arranged and produced by Marsol, “Butterflies, Lipstick and Handgrenades,” drops March 30, 2010.

Marsol and his band made this record the old-fashioned way: they got together at FM studios in Berkeley, CA.

“It was a 24 hour recording session split up into two days,” explains Marsol. “Before the session, we rehearsed over a period of months to solidify the arrangements. Then we all tracked our parts simultaneously, in one huge recording room so the music had an organic sound. We recorded it exactly the way we play it live at shows.”

How did this rock artist end up on one of the Bay’s most esteemed hip-hop labels? “In 2007 my business partner gave Hiero’s owner Tajai (of Souls of Mischief) some of my music. Unknown to us, Tajai had been listening to it while on tour. When he got back, a meeting was set up and we decided to work together.”

“I want my label to represent quality music in general, not just underground rap,” explains Tajai of why he signed Marsol. “Chris has talent and energy that the world needs to see.”

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, home of Haight-Ashbury, Marsol is the product of the hippie movement, Psychedelic Rock, the Black Panthers. Admittedly, he wasn’t around during the revolution, but the spirit of art, freedom, and progressive thinking still illuminates the Bay Area — and Marsol’s music.

“As a child, I didn’t discriminate between genres of music,” notes Marsol, who includes Pink Floyd, Cream, Stevie Wonder, Nirvana, Genesis, Stone Temple Pilots, D’Angelo, Radiohead, and Hall and Oates among his favorite artists. “I only distinguished between what I liked and what I didn’t like.”

At 6, Chris was singing in his church choir and stealing the spotlight, dancing at his family reunions. By 11, he was locking himself in the bathroom, writing and recording his first songs with a Radio Shack tape recorder. At age 17 he taught himself how to play the piano and eventually taught himself the guitar.

When asked about the meaning of the album title, Marsol shrugs, “There’s no meaning until you create one.”

Johnny Hates Jazz – “Shattered Dreams:”

DJ Spinna
The Boogie Back – Post Disco Club Jams
Label: BBE
Release Date: November 24, 2009

myspace.com/djspinnafrombrooklyn
For Fans Of: Kurtis Blow, Michael Jackson, Mtume, Parliament, War

Boogie Music is the dance music genre that was wedged between 70’s disco music and the electronica explosion of the 90’s. Some call it Post Disco, some call it Electro Funk, but the characteristics that define Boogie Music (funk, soul and R&B) would form the building blocks of proper house music. This is the kind of music that was coming out of the inner city clubs of the time and there’s a whole lot of culture and emotion built into these songs. Hell, Michael Jackson’s classic Off The Wall is a boogie record!

A child of the 80′s DJ Spinna (aka Vincent Williams) lived through the boogie heydays. With a global resurgence in vintage club music, Italo disco, alt dance and dance rock, Spinna felt it was his duty to pay homage to the original artists who inspired so many of today’s hottest DJs and musical acts. The jams on this compilation rocked the airwaves in Brooklyn back in the day and now it’s ripe from a brand new crop of music lovers across the world.

This package really satisfies all tastes and moods. Disc One is DJ Spinna’s ready made block party DJ Mix for getting it all going right. These crispy, funky tracks are lined up side-by-side for a vibe that takes you straight to the streets, circa 1982. A second disc is prime meat for all you crate diggers and features 12 unmixed classics; many of which are unavailable on CD, Vinyl or even digitally!

One again DJ Spinna delivers a product that’s not just 4/4 beats or empty tracks. Rather, through all his many releases over the years he’s proven to be the authority on providing real music for real people. DJ Spinna is one of a few active DJs today whose versatility and all round knowledge covers so much ground. From Rock to Jazz, Reggae to Hip-Hop, soundtracks to House, Soul, Funk, Disco or Techno this man has the knowledge and can rock parties as good as any leading lights in any of the aforementioned scenes.

BBE releases DJ Spinna Presents The Boogie Back – Post Disco Club Jams on November 24, 2009

CD 01 – Mixed by DJ Spinna

01 South Bronx – The Bottom Line
02 Foxy – Tena’s Song
03 T.J Swan – And You Know That (Dub)
04 Chemise – She Can’t Love You (Original 12” Mix)
05 Mtume – o You Wanna Be A Star
06 Final Edition – Betcha Can’t Love Just One (Can’t keep Running Away)
07 Masurrati and Huey Harris – Super Duper Lovin, Don’t Stop
08 Community People -Education Wrap (Dj Spinna Edit)
09 War – The World Is A Ghetto (Special US Disco Mix)
10 Ronnie Dyson – All Over Your Face (Special J&M Mix)
11 Stargaze – You Can’t Have It
12 Jan Leslie Holmes – I’m Your Superman – (Dj Spinna ReFREAK)
13 Slyck – Love It (Or Beat The Bush)
14 Modern Romance -Salsa Rhapsody
15 Melody Stewart – Get Down, Get Down
16 Captain Rapp – Bad Times (I Can’t Stand It) (Part 2)

CD 2 – Unmixed, Compiled by DJ Spinna

01 South Bronx – The Bottom Line
02 Foxy – Tena’s Song
03 T.J Swan – And You Know That (Dub)
04 Chemise – She Can’t Love You (Original 12” Mix)
05 Mtume – So You Wanna Be A Star
06 Final Edition – Betcha Can’t Love Just One (Can’t Keep Running Away)
07 War -The World Is A Ghetto (Special US Disco Mix)
08 Ronnie Dyson – All Over Your Face
09 Stargaze – You Can’t Have It
10 Jan Leslie Holmes – I’m Your Superman
11 Modern Romance -Salsa Rhapsody
12 Melody Stewart – Get Down, Get Down

“I am FEELING the album man! It’s fresh and original and sounds like nothing else out there which is always a plus in my book!”
-Cozmo D – Newcleus

“THE RECORD IS HOT” – GrandWizzard Theodore

Vinyl Life’s self-titled debut reflects New York City’s heyday of breakdancing music, Latin freestyle, and up-tempo breakbeats, celebrating a time when rappers danced and electro was something you heard emanating from boom boxes and public transit, not from public radio.

Read Dennis Romero’s fantastic article on Vinyl Life in this week’s Village Voice

Vinyl Life’s Butcha, Phaze Future and Richie Roxx grew up in New York City and religiously read the Village Voice on a weekly basis to learn about the best concerts and most interesting new music. So, to actually be featured in The Voice – the country’s longest running weekly alternative paper – for their work is truly something special. Dennis Romero nails it by telling a story of three real guys who met under a mutual admiration for electro, hip-hop, house and techno – but crafted only with vintage analog gear. The authentic 80’s influence comes through the music and you can feel what NYC was back in the day through Vinyl Life.

Not content with limiting their release to CD and digital, Vinyl Life also printed up Vinyl copies and commissioned limited edition hand-painted cassettes. This all adds to the authenticity of the music and adds some extra value to the fans without much expense falling on Vinyl Life’s shoulders.

We all grew up listening to cassette mixtapes bought off the streets,” Butcha says. “It was a no-brainer to create vinyl and cassettes because these mediums were crucial to the overall experience of the time. Plus, kids today only know about music from MP3’s and CDs. We can’t have that.

Vinyl Life’s live show is also like nothing currently on the market. A recent show at NYC’s Santos Party House featured improvisational versions of the album tracks and even a cover of Joey Beltram’s classic “Energy Flash” (Check out Deneka Peniston’s awesome photos here). Whether it’s as a full live act or a DJ set (or both), Vinyl Life is fully capable of providing the music for an entire evening. No two shows are alike.

As both a treat for the fans and a way to help spread the music, Vinyl Life is offering its debut album as a pay-what-you-want download ($1 minimum) from their Bandcamp page. All donations are greatly appreciated in order to keep moving this art forward!

VINYL LIFE
Vinyl Life

Tape Theory Records
Vinyl LP / Cassette / CD / Digital: out now
vinyllife.com/
myspace.com/vinyllife
myspace.com/tapetheorymusic

Get your Cassette online today.

LP is now available from Insound, Downtown 304, Other Music, Juno UK, and the Tape Theory store. Coming soon – HHV in Berlin & more!
If you’d like to download the album, it is available from:
Tape Theory (donate what you want)

Beatport
& Juno Download.

Vinyl Life vs Kraftwerk – “Good Life (It’s More Fun To Compute)”

Download.

Vinyl Life 60 Min “Jack The Hype” DJ Mix featuring tracks from Fast Eddie, Joey Beltram, Josh Wink, Zombie Nation, Armando, Fake Blood, Giorgio Moroder and More! (Complete tracklisting below)

Okay, so a good friend forwarded along this link yesterday and we just had to post about it for two reasons: most things from the 80′s, if not all, kick ass now. Also, this 1983 Motown Records music video release by Lionel Richie is kinda creepy.

So the story’s not so complicated, but let’s get it straight. Lionel Richie is a high school music teacher and he falls in love with his blind student. Okay, so you might be thinking, “Yeah, well The Police had that ‘Don’t Stand So Close to Me,’ song [watch video here] that was also about a high school teacher crushing on his student.” Sure, that’s creepy too, but this girl is blind! Richie is following her around the school, hovering when she doesn’t seem to know he’s there. The blindness just amplifies the creep factor.

But anyway, check out the video.

So we’re really feeling this HudMo mix. Lots of styles and interesting twists on tracks that we know and love, but we like them even more with nice editing all over the place. Chop chop. Music reborn and getting the pitch/tempo up is a must.

Favorite part of the mix right now is from 19:00 in to 24:39. There are definitely lots of gems throughout.

Enjoy if you haven’t already heard!

Download.

Tracks within:
Keaver – Cleff Recherd (cdr)
Clark Ft Soulja Boy – Autumnal Crank (Warp/Interscope)
Machine Drum – Don’t Wait (Normrex)
le N?ko – Loas En Je Laisse (cdr)
Chingy Ft Keri Hilson – Let Me Love You (Capitol)
Seiji – Chiggy Time (Sonar Kollektiv)
Sleepless Crew – Cold Rock (subplate )
Gaby y Carlos – Hot Heavy Heat (Dimlite Mix)
Taz – Strike First HudMo mix (Ramp)
V.C. – Hurme (cdr)
Timbaland – Give It To Me Rmx ft JayZ (Mosely Music)
Samiyam – Box (cdr)
debruit – Puccek (cdr)
SwizzBeats – Money In The Bank HudMo rmx (cdr)
Onra – Shhhhh (cdr)
Olivier Daysoul – Brain (cdr)
Teebs – Thai Bells (cdr)
Sleepless Crew – Vudootronics (cdr)
Nicole Scherzinger – Whatever You Like Inst. (Interscope)
Flying Lotus – Camel (cdr)
Rustie – Japanese Telecom Remix (cdr)
Claudia Fonti – iii (cdr)
Claudia Fonti – four (cdr)
Twista – 2 Times (Atlantic)
Cassie – Sometimes (Badboy)
Mike Slott – Good Morning (cdr)
Hudson Mo – Root Hands (cdr)

Ever wondered how Evil Nine met? It’s a little-known fact that they both appeared on the front cover of a Soviet-era workout record. It was at that photoshoot that they bonded over their love of synths. To celebrate it being 20 years since that fateful meeting, we are giving away a vintage electronic DJ mix.

“Root of All Evil (Vol. 1 – Pulse):”

Units – High Pressure Days
Gary Numan – Films
Payback Interlude
The Splash Band – Halloween II
November Group – Shake It Off
ANNA – Systems Breaking Down (Dub)
Dark Star Interlude
Hypnosis – Oxygene
A. Rodionov – Modern Pentathlon (Suite 5)
Art Of Noise – Moments In Love
Doctors Cat – Feel The Drive (Instrumental)
Tasmanian Fahrenheit Interlude
Mark Lindsay – Shogun Assassin
Units – Digital Stimulation

Part 1, LAtrik, available now!

Dam-Funk is currently putting finishing touches on his debut album Toeachizown which will be released this Fall as 5/LP set – two and a half hours of music – with CD version to follow.

Toeachizown is a modern funk album, created in five distinct parts: LAtrik, Fly, Life, Hood, Sky. Stones Throw will be releasing a few of these volumes digitally prior to the vinyl & CD release in Fall. LAtrik is available now exclusively at stonesthrow.com.

From Dam-Funk himself: “LAtrik is more of my ‘electric style’ (hence the title of this volume) which is influenced by, yet never bitin’, such great artist as Juan Atkins (Cybotron) & Prince to name just a few. It also highlights the more Modern sounds of L.A. based Funk right now with instrumentals like ‘Toeachizown’ & vocal tracks like ‘Mirrors’ which, I feel are distinctly my sound, humbly speaking. I hope U dig it, as this was made 4 U! Stay tuned 4 Volumes: 2. 3, 4, & 5. – D-F”

IN THE STORE [click.]:
Toeachizown Vol. 1: LAtrik
$6.93, Album, 40 min., 320 kbps

MP3:
“Toeachizown”
Free, Song, 128 kbps
Stream:

(Save Target as) Download.

CHECK OUT THE NY TIMES LOVE…[click]

The Animal Collective remix…[click]

Upcoming Dam-Funk tour dates:

Jul 14 – San Diego CA @ Voyeur, with A-Trak
Jul 23 – Glasgow, Scotland @ Stereo
Jul 24 – Manchester UK @ The Roadhouse
Jul 29 – Los Angeles CA @ The Airliner

Aug 4 – Fullerton CA @ The Continental Room
Aug 6 – San Diego CA @ El Dorado Bar
Aug 7 – Los Angeles CA @ Hyperion Tavern
Aug 14 – Brookyn NYC @ Prospect Park, with Animal Collective
Aug 15 – Brookyn NYC @ Prospect Park, with Animal Collective

Sep 18 – Tokyo JP @ JZ Brat, with Benji B
Sep 19 – Osaka JP @ Sound Channel, with Benji B
Sep 20 – Kanazawa JP @ Manier, with Benji B
Sep 21 – Morioka City JP @ Sun Dance, with Benji B
Sep 22 – Sendai City JP @ ADD, with Benji B
Sept 25 – Seoul, S. Korea Club @ Vera
Sept 26 – Shanghai, China @ The Shelter

Oct 2009 – Europe Tour

LAZERBITCH is not your ordinary outfit. Before they became what they are today, LAZERBITCH’s Libby Picken worked together with some respected names in electronic music such as John B (and we think he’s great, by the way), Paul Oakenfold, Donald Glaude, and T-1000. Picken also worked with drum and bass producers Tech Itch, Kraken and DJ Dara.

Having good taste in music and having the privilege of working with top producers as a foundation will certainly help to form a better final product. Not only is LAZERBITCH cranking out catchy tracks, but the subtle edits on Picken’s voice give the group the modern twist it needs to be set apart from being  just another 80′s influenced band or run-of-the-mill synth pop group. LAZERBITCH will keep you guessing on their style from one track to the next.

So, take some cool synth pop sounds, 80′s influence, solid electronic instrumentals then add Picken’s charming and melodic voice, and you’re getting closer to the LAZERBITCH sound. The group doesn’t stop at that, though. We hear some punk sound in “High School Shootout,” and then if you visit the LAZERBITCH Myspace page and give a listen to the “Pussylips” track, you’ll see they also have an electro/hip-hop feel as well.

Big up to LAZERBITCH and we’re looking forward to future releases.

Download.

Here’s one of the most diverse mixes we’ve heard in a while. This whole mix is just about good music, and although it doesn’t include tracks from a handful of artists we would’ve liked to see in it, it’s still damn good. Besides, we don’t live in a perfect world anyway.

Even though hipsters get tied down with all kinds of stereotypes, at the end of the day, the most important thing to any hipster should be the music. No doubt, fashion and all the other things associated with being a hipster are fun and interesting: it’s still all about the music. Sure, that’s a trite thing to say, but there are definitely people out there who just get lost in trends and letting their desire to be cool and fit-in shape their behavior. It shouldn’t be about being cool, it should be about what you like and things that you enjoy.

1. Buff1 – What Does Hipster Mean? (exclusive)
2. Intro
3. Jessica Tonder and Proton – The Bee Rmx
4. Mickey Factz – Light
5. 6th Sense & Wildabeast (Both Nice) – Arcade Fly
6. Sir-Mix-A-Lot – Posses on Broadway
7. Black Moon – How Many MC’s (Cool Kids G-Fix)
8. Eazy E (NWA) – Boyz in the Hood
9. Beastie Boys – Paul Revere
10. Black Milk – Stupid
11. Masta Ace – Born To Roll
12. Rahsaan – Sneaker Store Terrorist
13. Pacific Division – Taste
14. O.C. – Times Up G-Fix
15. Cool Kids – Dreams
16. Cepia – Ithaca
17. J Dilla ft. Ayah – Like This G-Fix (exclusive)
18. Heralds of Change – Work That
19. C.R.A.C. (Ta’Raach & Blu) – Love Don’t
20. The Grouch ft. MURS – The Bay to LA
21. N.E.R.D. ft. Kanye West & Pusha T – Everyone Nose (Remix)
22. Devin The Dude – I-HI
23. Outkast – Spread
24. J*Davey – Mr. Mister
25. DJ Assault – Let Me Bang G-Fix
26. Kid Cudi ft. Pitbull – Day N Nite Rmx
27. Born With It ft. B.o.B – Stack My Paper Up
28. Hollyweerd – Weerdo
29. Kenna – Say Goodbye To Love G-Fix
30. Common ft. Pharrell – Universal Mind Control
31. Cybotron – Clear (Interlude)
32. J Dilla – Trucks
33. August Darnell – Friendly Children (Todd Terje Edit)
34. Mickey Factz – Up High
35. Santogold – L.E.S Artistes
36. Yelle – Les Femmes
37. Ghostface Killah – Cherchez La Ghost (DJ Illo Rmx)
38. Prince – When Doves Cry (A Ghost In Detroit Mix)
BONUS MIX
39. Cool Breeze – Cre-A-Tine G-Fix
40. John Legend ft. Andre 3000 – Green Light
41. Drake – City Is Mine
42. Now On – Unwind
43. Outro
44. Buff1 – For You (M Phazes Remix)

Patrick Wolf – “Who Will (Buffetlibre Remix):”

Download.

Release Date: June 2, 2009

Produced by: Buffetlibre
Mastered by: Sidechains
Artwork: Roboto
Acknowledgements: Radiocontrol

Coming soon: Patrick Wolf – Who Will (Buffetlibre Radio Edit) , Patrick Wolf – Who Will (Buffetlibre Dub Version)

Bon appetit,

Marc & Miguel
buffetlibredjs.net

Alfonso Ribeiro breaks it down with his 1985 Alfonso’s Breakin’ & Poppin’ Book.  Ribeiro’s dancing on this MTV commercial rivals his dancing skills on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air:

Click here to download.

Here is the track-listing.

Just in case you were wondering, the track is by Jimmy Castor Bunch, and is entitled “It’s Just Begun.”

The coolest part about this track, which you may or may not remember, is the fact that he got Michael Jackson to sing on the chorus. Plus, Jackson fit into the track really nicely. Of course, that’s just complimenting Michael Jackson’s ability as a musician, which is pretty trite by this point in time. However, we recently noticed that the track is featured in Geico commercials, which reminded us of the fact that we were revisiting this song way back in March 2007, so we were ahead of the curve on that one. That tends to be the case though. For instance, when Jaguar featured a track in 2006 by artist Prefuse 73 (a post with highlights forthcoming) from the Prefuse record “Surrounded By Silence,” we had first heard and actively listened to in early 2005. So, Jaguar can suck it.

“Somebody’s Watching Me:”

Prefuse 73 – “Bad Memory Interlude Part One:”