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apparently, this is the start of a series that artist shaun boothe is behind. he's real nice with the videos, from what i hear. the above should give you some idea of what we're in for. shaun plans to cover 12 artists in 12 months. i'm down. how about you?
in addition to writing for impose magazine, i have recently become part of the writing staff for the relaunched reviewyou.com site. check the writers page - i'm the smarmy-looking brother, second writer from the top...
hooray hooray...after a summer with no shows for motion radio, i finally posted a new episode of us and us and it feels good. i am committed to making that show a monthly thing. that was my original intention, but i admittedly fell off during the summer. the space at motion radio (and its larger entity, phuture frequency) feels right. there are some great people there releasing some amazing dj sets, from drum and bass to house, breaks, dubstep, soul and funk, a little bit of jazz...just phenomenal music. and i am proud to be a part of it.
but enough of my talking about it - go check the tracklisting and hear the show for yourself...
as of today, nine years married, 16 years together. we are officially old fogies. and i thank GOD that we've made it this far. some serious challenges and screw-ups along the way (and more trials to come, i'm sure), but we've made it through together. come what may, we'll go through it together.
i can honestly say that my life would be hella boring without beth in it. this is what it's all about...
i've written several music reviews for impose magazine over the summer, but hadn't gotten around to mentioning them in this space yet and i really ought to. so that gives me an excuse to keep up my blogging habit, even if it's only a quick blurb once a day here and there.
first up is the collaboration between madlib and ivan conti of azymuth, its release perfectly timed for summer consumption. this album is so deep on the latin jazz tip that madlib should be considered much more than a beat konducta. read on...
well, since there is so much music out there, blends sessions are necessary here at camp lo-fi. the songs for this continuous mix have been building up for the past few months and i tend to find and receive more hip-hop tunes than anything else. d. huston gets things started off in a big way with "drugs outside," bringing along big pooh, black milk, and dj romes along for the ride over a hard-hitting beat courtesy of oddisee. camp lo joins the metermaids on a joint i got emailed my way and u.k. crew the planets rock with prince po on "trees." where the hell was i four years ago when this dropped? this song is serious right here. vast aire comes through with the action-packed joint. thought brother was born in harlem, but turns out he's a mount vernon cat. never knew that.
dutchmassive's "get it on" makes for a nice follow-up. really like how he worked brenda russell's "in the thick of it" into the production for this song. shabaam sahdeeq's "survival sounds" is a good one as well, but the "remember adam got the apple from a lady" line bugs me. men have been blaming their problems on women since day one. truth is adam was there the whole time the serpent was talkin' up that apple to eve (check the third chapter of genesis if you think i'm lyin'). wouldn't common sense tell adam to speak up, say "hold up, baby, you might not wanna do that"? say "don't you see all these other trees in this garden?" say SUMTHIN', ADAM!!! adam didn't say a word. just let his lady eat the apple and bit into it himself to boot. some will call it splitting biblical hairs, i call it a careful reading of the scripture.
i think damn near everyone of my podcasting cronies have played a cut from the shanghai restoration project, so i wouldn't blame you for calling me a latecomer to this party. they seem to be a favorite within the podosphere amongst producers and listeners alike and i can certainly see why. when my wife and i got sansa clip mp3 players back in february, one of the songs already on the player was by shanghai, so it caused me to finally look into them a little more. apes on tapes represent the one netlabel inclusion on this session, but what a selection. prefuse 73 fans may find a creative commons equivalent here. bringing us to the halfway point is god's gift, down with madlib and kankick and 'em. oh no really came through with a hot remix treatment of "incisions."
the second half of the mix starts off with a pair of rough ones. kaimbr and roddy rod represent for the rawkus 50 and socal's own presto brings the neck-snapping ruckus with lowd on the mic. after that, we get a little chill and hip-shaking with airpushers, a pair of producers responsible for writing some of black eyed peas's biggest hits. from there, we hop over to massachusetts for a track from radix. i was quite happy to see these guys pop up in ioda promonet. then a special treat from now-again/stones throw: the heliocentrics with mf doom and percee p trading verses. then we get into some sister love. from the wonderfully playful mind of georgia anne muldrow comes "reallytho," recorded under her pattie blingh pseudonym. and check out the sheelaroc crew gettin' busy on "back to the basix" by confucius, a producer outta new zealand (another cut from 2003). and maya azucena just comes off like a warrior priestess on "rebel," so much so that even a verse by immortal technique sounds rather tame in comparison to her.
in acknowledgement that i don't play enough reggae and dub on this show (and i can't even remember the last time i played drum and bass - that's got to change...), our closer for this episode is a great cover of dennis brown's "revolution" by e-dee, another one of those cuts that i found on promonet and have been holding onto forever. hope you dug this one - stay tuned for more blends sessions in the near future...
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you can contact me via twitter, facebook, email, or the voice mail line at 206-339-8732.
id drop courtesy of fave nite. theme music produced by cy tru.
other key info:
macedonia's playlist on blip.fm
breakdown fm with davey d
live footage of metermaids and camp lo on youtube
1. d. huston - "drugs outside (with rapper big pooh and black milk)" {iTunes Music Store | More On This Album}
2. metermaids - "turn it up (feat. camp lo)" {CDBaby}
3. the planets - "trees (feat. prince po)" {iTunes Music Store | More On This Album}
4. vast aire - "t.v. land" {itunes music store}
5. dutchmassive - "get it on (feat. muneshine and fresh daily)"
6. shabaam sahdeeq - "survival sounds" {hiphopsite.com}
7. the shanghai restoration project - "touchdown (feat. natural fact of unconscious logic)" {iTunes Music Store | More On This Album}
8. apes on tapes - "light dry but creamy" {free download available here}
9. god's gift - "incisions (oh no remix)" {iTunes Music Store | More On This Album}
10. kaimbr - "breakem off (feat. roddy rod)" {iTunes Music Store | More On This Album}
11. presto - "on (feat. lowd)" {iTunes Music Store | More On This Album}
12. airpushers - "push that air (feat. golden)" {iTunes Music Store (Preferred Link) | More On This Album}
13. radix - "the staple" {iTunes Music Store | More On This Album}
14. the heliocentrics - "distant star (feat. mf doom and percee p)" {stones throw store}
15. pattie blingh and the akebulan five - "reallytho" {iTunes Music Store | More On This Album}
16. confucius - "back to the basix" {iTunes Music Store | More On This Album}
17. maya azucena - "rebel (feat. immortal technique, ness, and hasan salaam)"
18. e-dee - "revolution (feat. irie love)" {iTunes Music Store | More On This Album}
iodapromonet free downloads:
The Planets
"Trees" (mp3)
from "The Epic"
(Dyna Mic Records)
More On This Album
Airpushers "Push That Air" (mp3)
from "Themes for the Ordinarily Strange"
(Sarathan Records) More On This Album
Technorati tags: Blog, Podcasts, Podcasting, Music, Hip-Hop/a>, Electronic, Soul, Radio, mp3
[this one was written just before the one-year anniversary of 9/11 and originally published in the ON THE VERGE v3.0 email monthly newsletter in september of 2002. the 10th anniversary is only three years from now. rather strange to think about... - macedonia.]
With the one-year anniversary of September 11th right around the corner, everyday conversations have become more solemn and reflective. A friend’s voice over the telephone lines paraphrases a point a preacher recently brought up: “everyone talks about the tragedies of September 11th…who thanks GOD that there was a September 12th, 13th, and 14th?” I hold fast to the belief that few (if any) talk about September 12th because most want to get back to September 10th. The 10th represents “back to normal,” but the whole concept of “normal” doesn’t mean what it used to, which makes the 10th even more elusive, almost mystic. That day has taken on a romantic, nostalgic quality. I contend that America has done all it can to get back to September 10th…even if it meant suffering from convenient amnesia along the way.
In the month that followed September 11th, everyday brought astonishing acts of kindness alongside the rampant verbal assaults and paranoia. For every unkind word against Arabs and Afghanistan, there were stories of healing, sharing, and consoling. I kept wondering how would America get back to normal without forgetting the lessons in compassion learned after that tragic day. Quite frankly, we wouldn’t. All that mattered was a return to normalcy, no matter how far-fetched that concept seemed, no matter whom you had to push out of the way during rush hour. While it's a good thing to be able to move on, I can't help thinking that it feels like the scab over the wound. Either we're really focused or our attention span is frighteningly short.
That month-long outpouring of love was nothing short of a miracle and miracles weren’t meant to be eternal. Miracles come and go. In light of that understanding, I started to focus on finding the good within bad situations. One week after September 11th, Beth and I will celebrate our 3rd year anniversary. And not only three years of marriage, but also ten years of being together. We’ve been wearing silly grins for the past month just thinking about it. Beyond that, I’ve had some amazing experiences partying with friends. The vibe’s been so thick that it felt like family, nothing but smiles as heads nod, fists pump, and kids dance and make connections with each other. On occasion, this vibe has even been achieved with perfect strangers, our hands in the air, dancing unashamed. Whether I’m catching up with friends I haven’t seen in months, sharing laughs with family members, or just sitting around at home listening to music, I’ve been savoring these moments of joy for all they’re worth. I figure it’s either that or let all of my concerns get the best of me.
And the concerns have been piling up as of late. For one thing, way too many of my friends are out of work. The collapse of one business after another does nothing to help the multitude in the same boat. Seems like every other day brings a news story about another abducted child. President Bush seems hellbent on going to war with Iraq. And whatever allies the United States once had now appear to be backing away in disgust whenever we're brought up in conversation.
I hereby initiate...PROJECT HAPPY.
Our mission: Search for happy, find the happy, catch the happy, secure the happy, and only let happy out to share with like-minded others for collective uplifting purposes. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Perhaps I need to take on the attitude of a consultant that recently left my job. A sweet woman who got married a few months ago, she is due with a baby girl in January. She is also originally from Israel and is moving back there with her husband. When asked if she harbors any fears about moving back to such a volatile area, she responded (in her typically upbeat manner):
"It's a beautiful place when it's not being bombed."
I'm sure there's a response for that, but for the life of me I couldn't come up with one. All I could think to say was, "I'm really gonna miss you."
Surely someone out there would confuse my optimism for insanity. But what are my options? Sit around and mope? Take on a spirit of defeat? Join the growing ranks of the "God Can't Do Jack" society? That's not me. I have my moments, but that's not who I am. So I deal with the day as best I can and prepare for the next. Keep my headphones on, remember to laugh, kiss my wife, and focus on the good, how matter how seemingly insignificant.
The mere fact that I take so much for granted lets me know that life is good. Waking up in the morning is a glimpse of heaven. Blue skies are a glimpse of heaven. Sunshine on my face is a glimpse of heaven. Beats that move me to tears...i'll let you finish it. You don't have to agree with me - just think about it. Keep your head up, stay positive, and pray that September 11, 2002 isn't too much of a media circus. If you need me, you know where to find me.
{jason randall smith}