Dub Out Your Christmas with this Free Holiday Download from Fort Knox Five

With the holidays here, there's been a lot of crappy Christmas music everywhere. But our friends Fort Knox 5 have put together one of their famous remixes, this time in the form of a deep dub reggae reworking of some classic Christmas cuts. Hello Charlie Brown!

Go get your download on right here and be sure to put this on your holiday playlist:



Special Thanks: Friday pizza parties, MC EVeryman celebrating 30 years on this planet, dope Submotion Orchestra remixes, blueberry muffins, upcoming m83 film scores, The New York Knicks and Tycho coming back to the Troubadour in January 2013

Free Download: Gangstarr "Code of the Streets (The Apple Scruffs Edit)"

Sometimes you just need to go back to the classics...

This dope edit of the Gangstarr track "Code of the Streets" by The Apple Scruff hits all the right notes and is a prime example of a group operating at the peak of their creative powers.

Special Thanks: Gangstarr, RIP Guru, the late MC's first 2 volumes in the acclaimed 'Jazzmataz' series, Planas, Scribbler podcasts, friends who have excellent taste in tunes and give a damn

Total Science Offer Free Download of their Remix of dRamatic and dbAudio's Drum & Bass Jam "Far Away (Feat. Grimm)"

The hits just keep coming this week! Another of Upperhands' favorite drum & bass dons, Total Science, have just made their slamming remix of dRamatic and dbAudio's song "Far Away (Feat. Grimm)" available for FREE download via their SoundCloud page.

Full on rolling liquid funk, this is an absolute must for all the true d&B headz out there!



Special Thanks: Total Science, Free downloads, Jackson Market, liquid drum & bass, Major Lazer, organic black tea, midweek getdown sessions with friends and the anticipated debut of Little Giants

Flying Lotus is out of his mind. In a good way: The Captain Murphy Mixtape - FREE DL

As if Flying Lotus wasn't already creatively out of his mind, he has yet again baffled me 

on what planet he resides from, because it's not Earth. 

Laying down a "Madlib Medicine Show-esque" mix album is no easy job, 

but Flying Lotus nails it and goes a little bit deeper than Madlib: 

An accompanying video for the entire album.

"Captain Murphy" still masked on some MF Doom ish.

Flying Lotus from under the covered veil.

Nice gold cape.

Under the moniker Captain Murphy, Flying Lotus finally reveals to the world that 

he's been rapping all along. Featured as Captain Murphy on some of his previous releases,

Flying Lotus has the flow of Guilty Simpson, matched with the boasting of 

Beanie Siegel. Guaranteed to make you nod your head til your fitted hat 

falls off are the dirty dusty old breaks that Flying Lotus remixes. 

Anyone who knows hip hop on a higher level will recognize some of the 

classics samples that have blessed songs like De La Soul's, "Pony Ride" track,

 that re-works "High on Sunshine" by the Commodores.

Guaranteed to flip the script is the video that accompanies the mixtape. 

I don't want to give the whole thing away, so I will keep this breif.

You remember in the 90's when that bald dude created a cult, got a whole grip of 

people to believe that the world was coming to an end, then finally convinced them to  

taste the death drink?

The theme of the accompanying video to Captain Murphy contains multiple clips from the video

the cult leader made and distributed to the press upon his death. 

Or was it his final enlightenment?

To stream the video and mix together from Flying Lotus' site, Captain Murphy XXX

To donwload the  Instrumental mix in .mp3 form to your iTunes,  Strictlybeats.blogspot

For every other form you're going to have to get it yourself, 

it's out there, but you didn't hear it from me.

Special Thanks to: The Art of Flight Snowboarding series on Netflix, Flying Lotus, addictions to computers.

New Music Tuesdays: LTJ Bukem Classic Drum & Bass Track "Return to Atlantis" Gets Remixed by DJ Marky & S.P.Y

Hold up! Wow, one of the biggest tracks in drum & bass history, "Return to Atlantis," the 1993 classic by LTJ Bukem has just been given a fresh re-rub from none other than DJ Marky and S.P.Y! Keeping plenty of the original intact but beefing up the drums for 2013...this one is a sure-fire dancefloor filler!



Out now via the recently re-launched Good Looking Records!

Now Mr. Bukem, would you kindly please come back to Los Angeles?

Special Thanks: Drum & Bass legends, LTJ Bukem, DJ Marky, S.P.Y, the debut of Little Giants, The Prodigy's 'The Fat of the Land" album turning 15, My SF Giants for overpaying CF Angel Pagan for the sake of team chemistry and breakfast for dinner.

New Music Tuesdays: Motor City Drum Ensemble Prepares to Release New EP in January 2013

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

New Music Monday: Random Movement Podcast #39

 

Random Movement Live @ RESPECT, Los Angeles 2011

Random Movement

Liquid Drum and Bass Producer and DJ

Hails from Ohio.

 Encompasses all that is fresh in Drum and Bass music with monthly 

Podcasts that exhibit conscious Drum and Bass on the forefront of production 

and mixing quality. 

Featuring new tracks from Dj Marky and S.P.Y., A-Sides, Pennygiles and 

one of Upperhand's favorite producers, MSDOS. 

One hour and 15 minutes of bone, brain and muscle liquifying beats for your mental.

Rock.

 Random Movement Podcast #39

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.

Music Mondays: Massive Attack's 3D Puts Together Very Special Free Mixtape To Honor The Late Singer Terry Callier

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.

KICKS #5 - Patrick Ewing 33 His

Patrick Ewing #33 Hi (Re Release)

Retail Price: Approx. $150.00

Ten Things I remember and love about Patrick Ewing:

10. Unfortunately playing in the Eastern Conference during the Jordan era and 

always losing to the Bulls.

9. Unfortunately the 2 years Jordan took off, losing to the Houston Rockets

in the closest chance the New York Knicks would have to win a championship in 20 years

8. Controversial Drat Lottery of 1986... the Knicks envelope was cold from what I hear.

7. Getting beat in the 1982 and 1985 NCAA championships by Michael Jordan's UNC Tar Heels,

then one of the biggest upsets in NCAA history to Villanova in 1985.

6. Being a part of one of the roughest basketball teams in history 

(John Starks, Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason)

5. Patrick Ewing's knee pads

4. Scolding John Starks in the NBA Playoffs against the Indiana Pacers for 

letting Reggie Miller get under his skin.

3. Jalen Rose's awesome story about stealing Patrick Ewing's portable television from the airport

2. Patrick Ewing sweating all over the court during free throws.

1. His innate ability to go into beast mode!

Lomography Creations #1

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.