One of our favorite producers of 2012, Motor City Drum Ensemble, has delivered some good news in that he'll be releasing an EP of all-new music via his label, MCDE, on January 30, 2013!
Take a look at the album cover:
The tracklisting is:
A1. Send A Prayer Pt.1
A2. Send A Prayer Pt.2
B1. The Stranger
B2. SP11
This has us really excited and also hopeful that he may finally come to Los Angeles for a gig!
In the meantime, here's his excellent Resident Advisor Podcast that still sounds so fresh:
Special Thanks: Motor City Drum Ensemble, Proper House music, Classic Christmas jams, SF Giants keeping Angel Pagan even if they had to give him 1 more year than they should have, sunshine returning to LA and warm gingerbread cookies
Special Thanks to: Good friends who are battling disease - Stay Strong L's! Greasymag.com, Unfortunate events in Kansas City, RIP Jordan Belcher, RIP MCA, RIP Austin Peralta, , RIP the Notorious B.I.G., R.I.P. Tupac Shakur, R.I.P. Big L, the gift of music, the gift of sound, Cameras, thanks to a tribe called quest, the Beastie Boys, to de la soul and to The Roots, thanks to KRS ONE, Gangstarr, all the Hip Hop backpackers, every spray can ever made, the invention of the turntable, Michael Jordan, every time that paint drips, MF Doom, skateboards, Dr. Dre's "The Chronic", tape decks with record
buttons, Sony walkmans Miles Davis' trumpet, Bob Marley's heart, The
Fugees, breaking curfews, drinking your first 40, seeing The Matrix for the first time in the movie theater, the first time you saw graffiti, the first time you did graffiti, the first time you saw someone play a guitar live, the first time you realized you are going to die, realizing you are a mere dot in the big picture of the world, realizing you mean something to this world.
Massive Attack have long been considered electronic dance music pioneers and one of our favorite groups. They recently re-released a special remastered version of their seminal debut album, "Blue Lines" earlier this month, and now, after the sad passing of legendary folk/soul singer, Terry Callier, founding Massive Attack member, 3D has put together this very special free mixtape stemming from their recording sessions in 2005. The results were the standout track, "Live With Me" from Massive Attack's greatest hits album, "Collection" and some additional collaborations on Callier's last album, "Hidden Conversations."
Fans will love hearing how 3D took some of the studio outtakes, stripped them down and spliced in some very candid moments with Callier in the studio. You can hear just how warm his voice still sounded.
Take a listen to the Windmill Sessions below:
Here's the video for the much different version of "Live With Me" that was featured on Massive Attack's excellent "Collection" album:
Special Thanks: Terry Callier who will never be forgotten, Massive Attack, Rainy Day Music, Blue Lines Remastered album sounding better than ever, Big laughs at the Ad-Rock Variety show at Largo, Random Movement podcasts and quinoa.
Welcome to the first edition of Upperhands: The Lomo Creations.
I have spent the past 7 years discovering all there is to know about film photography.
My main vessels and tools that have helped guide me through this stage in my life
are cameras made by Lomography.
Lomography is a camera company that specializes in re-inventing, re-mixing and re-stating the standards of the past world of film / analogue photography.
Join Upperhands as we look at the past and present of analogue photography.
Below are images I shot in the Summer of 2010.
While skateboarding through Downtown Los Angeles, I happened upon the American Apparel
Warehouse on Alameda Avenue. It was there that I recognized a local street artist ADZE's work drawn on a truck. Using my Holga GCFN, I shot some multiple exposures of the graffiti crossed over an advertisement, one shot with a yellow flash, another using a red and blue flash.
Two of my favorite shots of all time.
Special Thanks to: Becoming semi-addicted to my new iPhone, Heineken and Green Tea Boba drinks, butternut squash soup, rice, Earth OG, Los Angeles finally getting some rain.
The super cool Boiler Room TV live sessions have featured some impressive artists like Scuba, Motor City Drum Ensemble and Bonobo, but it was this recent New York City takeover that boasted a special ?uestlove 60 minute tribute set to the late hip-hop legend, J Dilla that is perhaps the series' shining moment to date. Featuring The Roots recreating classic J Dilla productions, this exceptional live session is not to be missed....best of all it's been recorded so we can all enjoy it again and again!
Special Thanks: Boiler Room TV for making this happen, ?uestlove and The Roots for throwing it down proper for over 20 years, the exceptional debut album from Planas, the Colin Kaepernick era beginning in SF, Little Giants and rainy LA nights.
Every once and a while I am amazed that I slept on a talented artist for such a long time.
Such memorable slept on artists in my life:
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
The Pharcyde - LabcabinCalifornia
Burial - Street Halo
and now...
Jneiro Jarel.
Jneiro Jarel - Timeless Mix CD Vol 1
Heavily producing and composing real hip - hop since 2002, Jneiro Jarel has been quite an underground gem in an earth full of wack production.
Jneiro Jarel was born in Brooklyn, New York where he gained knowledge and connections to the hip hop scene, starting his own record label, Orienj Records, and gaining recognition for the release of 2 albums in 2004. "Timeless Vol 1 and Three Piece Puzzle" were his two works that best exemplify his attention to true hip hop.
Relying immensely on the idea that MPCs + Old jazz and soul samples = amazing hip hop,
Jneiro Jarel has easily taken me back to the good old days.
In his first mix / album, "Timeless : Mic CD Vol.1", Jneiro embarks on a mission to keep it true to the forefathers like Jay Dee and The Roots, while introducing himself
to the world and Upperhands as more than just a hip hop artist.
I don't say this often about music, but:
This album changed my life.
I have an affinity for finding an album and become mildly obsessed with them,
playing the album sometimes 2 or 3 times a day for a week.
Jneiro Jarel's 2004 Mix did this to me.
Obsession song #1 :
Breathin'
Other notable obsession albums in my past:
The Pharcyde- "Labcabincalifornia"
DMX - "Its Dark and Hell is Hot"
Beastie Boys - "Paul's Boutique"
Jazz Liberatorz - "Clin D'Oiel"
Jneiro Jarel performing live with a little help from the AKAI MPC 32
Jneiro Jarel - "Three Piece Puzzle"
Fast forward to 2007 and Jneiro Jarel decides that he is tired of one alias, so he starts a new moniker and beat style known as "Dr. Who Dat?" and "Shape of Broad Minds". Featured in some of the Adult Swim commercial pieces of 2006 to 2008, Jneiro Jarel made his way back into the fold
with cutting edge hip hop beats that branched out into using the electronic sound and sampling style.
The Dr. Who Dat? project is a strictly instrumental series, whereas the Shape of Broad Minds series features emcee's like Count Bass D, MF Doom and John Robinson rhyming over the smooth and intelligently composed Jneiro Jarel beats.
Dr. Who Dat? - "Beat Journey"
Jneiro Jarel sporting the Miles Davis style. Not just a Hip Hop producer/ Emcee
Shape of Broad Minds "Craft of the Lost Art"
Let us fast forward now to how it all started for my fascination with the artist that is Jneiro Jarel.
About 3 months ago I was elated with the prospect of a new album from one of my favorite artists of all time: MF Doom.
MF Doom is by far one of the most noted hip hop artists of all time and has been hard at work putting amazing work together for the past 10 years. It is safe to say that whenever MF Doom releases an album or decides to work with some relatively unknown producer, it's going to be fire!
Enter JJ DOOM.
Pulling together all of Jneiro Jarel's past beat making accomplishments and artistry,
the album "JJ Doom: Key To the Cuffs", is a testament to all hip hop heads and backpackers out there
that not only is MF Doom still strong in the game, but Jneiro Jarel has no plans on leaving hip hop.
JJ DOOM : "Key to the Kuffs"
Jneiro Jarel and "The Man in the Mask" MF DOOM on a rooftop in NYC
JJ DOOM, "Gov'Nor" video
Shot almost exclusively in an empty production warehouse, this video has brought music video making into a whole new frontier. Using a primitive split screen method, the director joins multiple shots and views together to create one seamless frame.
I really appreciate this video because it also gives us a deeper view into MF Doom.
For the first time, we the viewers and followers of Doom's career get a closer look at the man in the mask and even get a closer look at the design of his mask.
Now equipped with plastic eye pieces, Doom's mask resembles something I would have used in a
metal sculpture class to cut metal, but in this case brings all of the mystique and creativity of Doom to the forefront.
Thank you Jneiro Jarel for all that you have done to change my life and the way I listen to music.
Special Thanks to: Coffee, Jneiro Jarel, MF Doom's mask, rainy days in Los Angeles.
This mix is out there for free, but you'll never see that on this site unless the artist allows it.
I'm pretty sure you can find the mix for free if you google it though.
Special Thanks to: Phil Jackson drama, Second Terms for US Presidents, Giving new episodes of "The Office" a chance for the first time because I am crushed that Michael Scott isn't on the show anymore, Having the worst fantasy basketball team, Still using a dumb phone, space heaters, Tim Tebow single - handed ruining of the 2012 New York Jets.
