how ?

Wanna know how a vinyl record is made ?

fightclubbin'.

In case you wouldn't be convinced, when A-Trak deejays at a party, it'll most certainly go crazy. Girls on top. 

Rocé.

I previously talked about Rocé, which is an obvious pick for anybody willing to get some knowledge about French rap. 

So, here's some more about him, with a mix broadcasted in the "Conçu Pour Durer" radio show. 

Just so you know, Rocé celebrates this year the 10th anniversary of his first album, the now classic "Top Départ". The album, which went out of stock quite fast in 2002, has been reissued by Disque Primeur.

And to remind the good old times, here's for you the incedible track "On S'Habitue", produced by the late DJ Mehdi, and the groundbreaking "Changer Le Monde", that inspired so many fellow rappers.

Rocé is currently preparing his new album. Should be very very good.

Record Store Day.

This will be old news to most vinyl lovers : on April 21th, it'll be "Record Store Day". 

As usual, a bunch of exclusive limited releases will be available in the crates on this special day, covering all genres and all generation.

Beside the international event, French record dealers put together their own version, with the "Disquaire Day". Yes, the name sucks : the simple fact of translating (only part of) the name is a shame. It's called "cultural exception". 

Whatever... at least, the French website is a good way of getting an accurate list of record stores in France, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium. Believe it or not, it's really hard to get a complete list of record shops in Paris, for instance. So this website fills in a need. 

Anyway, I think such an event is a good opportunity to increase people's awareness about independant record dealers. But most of the time, it disappears behind the release of limited issues. If it's not taken as an opportunity to offer significant discounts, then the target is missed...

a lil' bit of this, a lil' bit of that.

I left for a while, but while away from the blogging world, I stumble upon a few good things over the web. Here are those gems in no particular order : 

- Odd Future giving a one-shot video shooting to everybody, showcasing a West Coast style rapping Frankie Ocean, a show stealing Earl, back for good, and even the joker Jasper : here's the video of "Oldie", aka OF doing it Wu-Tang style.  

- a 20 minute-long live video of "Purple Rain", because a normal version clearly ain't enough. Prince was a little weak on the guitar 30 years ago... or not.  

- Prince again, doing it all on the Arsenio Hall TV show in 1991. "Cream" and "Purple Rain" in the same pack. Life is good. In this case, it's awesome. 

- in the "sample flips" series of EgoTripLand, the legendary Easy Mo Bee plays it a bit egocentric. But the truth needed to be told, so I guess the dude is right. 

- meanwhile, the excentric but waaaaay underrated J-Zone breaks it down vintage underground style. Deep. 

- Odd Future again, these guys are everywhere these days. Pitchfork reported their latest NYC concert. It looked raw. 

- the one and only Mr. Mass released a unique mix of the late DJ Mehdi from the "Stones Throw vs. Ed Banger" show of 2009. 

- Strawberry Rain is about to release another dope compilation of Indonesian psych music, following the "Har Beat" of AKA. This time, it's "The Lizard Years" by Benny Soebardja. Stay tuned, it's a possible banger. 

- speaking of psych music, the boss of Now-Again, Egon, tells everything you need to know about the reissue of Kourosh Yaghmaei's works through a Wax Poetics podcast. There are other stuff in there too. 

- Thibault de Longeville is a French hip hop activist, turned director ; Hennessy sponsored one of his movies, "The Art Of Blending".

- the Vevo channel of Nas is stunning : most recently, the videos of his SXSW show hit the fan, and guess what ? The lil' homie did the whole "Illmatic" album on stage. In front of a dead crowd. I guess "Illmatic" is old. But classic. Damn youngsters.

- being one of the latest signatures of Stones Throw, Jonwayne provides the world with projects, both free and for sale. Here's the "This Is False" mixtape. 

- Prince again, through ?uestlove's lens, who states that the kid from Minneapolis is def hip hop. Real as it feels.

- Mo' Kolours explained his typical formula to Brainer Magazine. His 1st EP is unfindable, his 2nd EP just saw the surface of the Earth, and the beatmaker just announced a 3rd EP. 

- an interesting beat tape : "The Dusty Planets" by Scruffnuk Dust.

- Now-Again, again. They released "Obsession" by Indian band Atomic Forest. But The Quietus interviewed the band founder, Madhukar Das. An important read and a dive into Indian psych music. 

That's it for today.

soleil rare 22 - open mics.

Live performances only. 

Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put A Spell On You. 

Screamin' Jay was a beast. A true performer. He lived a crazy life, being a talented boxer, then killing people during the WWII, then making macabre hits and retiring in France on his copyrights. 

As a musician, he didn't care about genres, and that's why he got support from the garage rock band The Fuzztones for his 1984 live recording. 

His performance here is theatrical, as much as a sonic fury. Typical Hawkins. 

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Like A Rolling Stone.

A lover of Bob Dylan's work, Jimi Hendrix had to give his own interpretation of the ultimate hit "Like A Rolling Stone". And here you go with a folk song turned into a rock anthem. As always with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, the guitar-bass-drums combo is excellent. . 

Recorded in 1967, the live in Monterey (re)introduced Jimi to the US, as he had left for the UK a few years earlier. All in all, it's all Jimi, roaring guitar, a missed verse ; he made the song his, and it doesn't make you want to hear Dylan's original. 

Amy Winehouse - Rehab. 

This is a bootleg of a 2007 concert in Berlin, by a not-so-drunk Amy Winehouse. At first, Amy sounds lazy, really lazy, cutting all words, spoiling the fun. Then, she finally sounds warmed up, probably thanks to the good performance of her backing band.

This is glimpse of Amy : talented, but wasted. 

Otis Redding - These Arms Of Mine. 

I think the artwork of this "Live On The Sunset Strip" does not do any justice to Otis' timeless talent. Recorded just two years after his groundbreaking debut on Stax, "Pain In My Heart", this live album is a must-have. "These Arms Of Mine" was Otis' business card in the game, as it was his first single (and what a single !) for Stax, in 1964.

The 1966 live interpretation is as impressive as it gets when it comes to Mr. Redding, his warm voice and undeniable charisma doing all the job.

D'Angelo - Shit, Damn, Motherfucker. 

D is back. But this is old. This is from the "Live At The Jazz Café", a truly incredible live album and performance by D'Angelo. 

Put together 14 years ago, in 1998, but recorded in 1995, this album stands for me as one of the best live recordings ever. Period. The sound quality is flawless, D'Angelo sounds at the peek of his sexyness/talent/charisma/aura and the musicians are as supportive as it's possible to be. 

And I just didn't mention that this is one of my favorite songs out of "Brown Sugar". 

Bob Marley - Exodus. 

  

Out of the countless Marley & The Wailers live recordings available, this version of "Exodus" comes from "Babylon By Bus". 

You get a more than 7'-long taste of a powerful Bob Marley. It even gets psych at the end. Without a doubt, the Wailers are there, the I Three as well. The overall feel is great. Feel good. 

Suprême NTM - La Fièvre. 

Suprême NTM arguably holds the top spot of French rap, with Marseille's favorites IAM. But on stage, they killed any competition, thanks to the energy displayed by Kool Shen and Joey Starr. 

"La Fièvre" is one of their most recognizable hits. Published on their 1998 live effort "Du Monde De Demain A Pose Ton Gun", the song was recorded in 1995, at the peek of their rawness. 

The cream of French rap.

Nirvana -Lithium. 

I don't think this one is from "The Last American Concert" live bootleg recording. The recording is kinda clean, and Kurt sounds alright. 

Nirvana all day. The older I get, the more I like Nirvana. Is this a problem ? 

James Brown - It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World. 

The year was 1968, and James Brown was playing with his audience as it was pleasing him. It applies to this concert at the legendary Apollo, and it surely applies to this song, as a usually shaking James makes room for a sensual and emotional Mr. Brown. 

This is down tempo soul music with violins, folks. Which means, this is beautiful. 

Michel Polnareff - Qui A Tué Grand'Maman ? 

A long time US resident, Michel Polnareff blessed Los Angeles in 1995 with a rare live performance. Playing his old hits, Polnareff honorably performed in front of an acquired audience. 

On "Qui A Tué Grand'Maman ?", one of my favorite songs by Polnareff, you gotta love the American accent of the chorists and this signature loud bright piano. Then blows Polnareff's spectral voice and the magic of his prime is back.          

Dope mix.

Kenny Dope blessed the world with two mixes of funk, jazz and hip hop. It's all 45's and, needless to say, dope. 

So, here's the Saturday basement mix and the March '12 mix. 

The bonus thing is Kenny made the tracklists available. Love the effort. 

back in the days.

Back in the days, your parents and grand-parents had real record stores, not that iTunes bullshit. And the reference was His Master's Voice, bka HMV. 

Pictures of the Oxford Street (London) store hit the fan last year. Although taken a few decades agao, they display a strange feeling of an hypothetical future, à la "2001 : Space Odyssey". 

Ultra nostalgia ? Yeah. 

next for the boy Onra.

Onra got the attention of a few beat lovers when he released "Tribute" with Quetzal. He then took the solo way and gained fame worldwide. He now tours the world all the time, doing DJ and MPC sets. 

Despite all this, the boy seems unhappy. He wants to move, physically and artistically. Onra plans to live in Canada, or NYC, or New-Zealand... 

For French-speaking readers, he confessed his projects on Café Babel.

He forgot to mention one thing though : Onra just joined the Fool's Gold roster. Yeah, Fool's Gold, A-trak's home label. That explains his new interest in acts like Action Bronson. And he's prepping an EP. Stay tuned.

Edit : while you're at it, hit Flume's Soundcloud and get a taste at his remix of Onra's "The Anthem". Label says : Asian crunk. True dat.


Edit 2 : Mr. Mass shot a quick footage of Onra mastering his forthcoming EP with the help of friend Blanka. 

King Britt breaks it down...

Dope, dope, dope interview of the legendary King Britt, by the excellent Dust&Grooves website. 

The Philly DJ and producer breaks it down to its deepest influences. With an impressive discography under his belt, King Britt has tons of stories to tell. And when asked the right questions, you get some interesting answers. 

It's good to read some knowledge...

at the surface.

For all y'all lovers of this black music, a few interesting things recently hit the surface of the web. 

Starting with the picture on the left, this is the latest EP by Byron The Aquarius, titled "Bernard Walters EP Vol. 1". Byron is known for his duo album with Onra, as The Big Payback. Expect soul samples, a mellow mood, and solid beatmaking. Feel free to browse Byron's previous projects on his Bandcamp page.

Then a hell of a good news, with the come back of Cody ChesnuTT. And guess what, the guy comes back funky as ever. Judge by yourself with the first available song of his upcoming album, "Landing On A Hundred", which is called "Under The Spell Of The Handout".  

And the cherry, the new track by the Odd Future posse :