Ride On. . .

Orlando Julius & His Afro Sounders- James Brown Ride On
from Orlando's Afro Ideas 1962-72 (Ekosound, 2003)

Dom Salvador e Abolição- Som, Sangue e Raça
from Som, Sangue e Raça (CBS, 1971)

Slum Village- I Don't Know
from Fantastic Vol.2 (Goodvibe, 200)

Without you, most of this wouldn't be around. Thank you. Ride on. . .

Night before Xmas. . .

Vince Guaraldi Trio- My Little Drum
From A Charlie Brown Christmas (Fantasy, 1988)

Vince Guaraldi Trio- Skating
From A Charlie Brown Christmas (Fantasy, 1988)

Maria y Luis- Saludo-Aguinaldo
From Merry Christmas from Sesame Street (Children's Television Workshop, 1975)


This is probably the jazziest Christmas album out there. Sure, Kenny G can hold it down on 101.9 FM on Christmas eve, but the Vince Guaraldi Trio is the real deal. Not only did they give the world that classic Charlie Brown Theme, but their take on the Brazilian film Orfeo Negro (Black Orpheus) soundtrack is a killer as well. Oh yea, this jazzy trio keeps it hip and cool and will make even the stuffiest family get down and tap their toes after a few rounds of some spiked egg nog.

And for nostalgia's sake I'm throwing in one from the Sesame Street Gang. This one is in true Sesame Street style; a Puerto Rican paranda classic called "Saludo." Brings me back to the days of street parties, piraguas, bomb y plena, and tropical Christmas Trees. And besides, who doesn't love a little xmas cheer from a crew of talking animal puppets? Exactly. This one is from the heart. . .Merry Christmas, Felice Navida, and all that other good holiday stuff.

Mos Wack?

Mos Def- Sun, Moon, Stars
From Tru3 Magic (Geffen, 2007)


It's no secret, I have always been something of a hip-hop purist. Some call it hating, I just call it high expectations. It's not that I don't like crunk, hyphy, and all that other good stuff. It has it's place and it's always good for shaking asses. But with all the bling and shit we get from rap these days, it's hard not to wish form some fresh shit.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all about innovation, change, and something different. But I feel that if you're not improving on something then you're only fucking it up. . .and some artist these days have been trading in bling for lyrical integrity. So when you hear that your favorite lyricist is dropping a new one. . .it's hard not to have high hopes. No. . .this isn't going to turn into a Mos Def bashing entry. . .because Mos is my dude and I think is music is always on point (even when it hard to get what he's doing). To be honest though, I was expecting straight fire from his upcoming release and was a little disappointed when I heard his new album.

Far from his more experimental New Danger, the upcoming album brings Mos back to more traditional beats from some of the industry's best; some of superstars and others stars. But not even Kanye could bring energy to Mos' lack luster lyrics. It's hit or miss with this album where some tracks will start off promising but fall off half way while others manage to capture some heat and bang to the finish. And while I tend to hold the bar high, I can see where Mos is coming from. Seems like the making of this album was a little tough (it was set back a few times) and sometimes bumps in the road are reflected in the end product. There are a few gems on this album. . .which gives me a little hope. Maybe the next one will be tight. Until then, we'll have to settle for what we get and just rock the good tracks on repeat.

Haiku. . .

Nas-Who Killed it?
Nas-Hip Hop is Dead

I got this haiku from someone special the other day while I was at work. Don't really know what it means, but it seemed to fit next to these two tracks in a weird way.

Nas has been consistently Nas from the start. He always seems to come at you mediocre; full of potential , but never really bringing you his best. Well, I have to say. . . this one was done proper. Not the most amazing album of the year, but a damn good one. I even dare say better than Jay-Z's (in his defense he's "retired"). Check the haiku and listen to Nas tell his story. We're Back.


hip hop could be dead
a shrug --o well, music lives
wild through your fingers

Darondo says. . .

. . .we back in the game, playa.

So after a very brief hiatus, I've finally got my shit together and can post up again. But before we get back to the musical goodness, we need to go over a few changes.

In the past I've left music up for grabs. In fact you could go to any post and pull a file down right now. Well, unfortunately that has to end. Not because I don't want people to have the music, but because I only have so much space on my new server and I refuse to give hipcast any more of my money. So, the way it will work now is that after every 10 posts, the old links will come down to make room for the new ones. I'm going to leave them up for a few more days. So get them now before they're pulled off.

I'm hoping that this new server space will give me a little more room to play here. So consider this one in many new changes to show up on this space. Always trying to make it bigger and better.

-mgnt.

at work. . .

So the recent tech problems have prompted me to make moves to make some improvements on this blog. It also means that some features on this blog, primarily the audio, make go inactive for a while. Please hang tight as we work on make this bigger and better. Hope to be up and running again soon. . .

-Mgnt.

Yes Mon. . .

5 year unde the belt. Issue 20 out. New young gunna on the team. We blowing up. . .

Come see what it's about.

We are experiencing. . .

technical difficulties. I went to throw up a post today. . .it was going to be ill. New Nas track, fresh for the masses. Truns out my recent update to blogger beta wasn't such a good look after all. Screwed up my audio posting compatibility. Soooo...while I get that all sorted out, you all are going to have to be patient with me. I promise to bring some hot fiya when I'm back to 100%. For now. . .use this time to check out the brilliant individuals doing similar things featured in the blog roll. I personally recommend O-Dub, as his blog was the model on which this fine machine was built on.

Also, I'm throwing in a little something I've just discovered, but some of you may have already been on to it. It's a turntablist technique called the Turntablist Transcription Methodology (ttm). Sounds geeked out. . .and it is. But it's a really well thought out, comprehensive, and well made web site on cutting it up on the tables and doing it proper. I myself will admit that I cannot cut for shit. I may be able to blend and mix, but in a DJ battle. . .my ass will get chewed up. So I'm going to study up and all you aspiring turntablist should do so as well. Click it here and get started now. I'm going to throw this link up in the blog roll under a new heading on the blog roll. Look out for it. Until next post. . .wish me luck and hopefully we'll be up and running soon.

Aye, Aye, Saudade. . .

Os Novos Baianos-Preta Pretinha

There are very few cities in this world that rival my home town, New York City. Not London, not Accra, not Seoul, not San Juan, not even the romantic Paris have the charm, charisma, style, and attitude that comes with living in the big apple. You know how it is. . .New York to the heart, but got love for all. . .

But there is one city south of the equator that stole my heart away. São Paulo, a city that will confuse you into loving it. No one will ever tell you that the city is pretty. In fact, it might be one of the ugliest; most buildings are gray and look like something out of blade runner. But there is a mysterious magical charm to the city. These days I've been missing it a lot. The food, the great music, and most importantly the great people.

A good friend of mine who's living out in São Paulo recently sent me some pictures to make me jealous and to coxe me into coming back to visit the city (as if I needed a reason to go back to Brasil). . .in fact pictures are her business. She's a professional photographer and a damn good one. Autumn is the first friend I made while in São Paulo. She has one of the coolest jobs in the city (and maybe the world) and she's fucking amazing at what she does. Autumn you live the life. The picture up with this post is one of many in her collection. I chose it because it has an amazing shot of the Paulista skyline, but there also happens to be some eye candy in the shot. I forgot to mention, eye candy is Autumn's specialty. Check out what Autumn does here.

And now for the track. Os Novos Baianos are actually from Bahia, not São Paulo. They came out with several LP's, but the Acabou Chorare is without a doubt their most solid. It is an excellent fusion of traditional rhythms from northern Brasil (samba, forro, maracatu, ect.) with a little hint of psych rock. They pioneered the sound that groups like Naçao Zumbi have now made extremely popular. This track was one of my favorites when I was living the "good life" in Vila Mariana. Whenever I hear the song it reminds me of my friends and family in Brasil. This one is for all you.

"Aye, Aye, Saudade. . .não veng a mi matar."

In the press???

So I'm at work doing my thing and my boy Mike gets this in his google alert. Looks like this small little blog is gaining some momentum. Now I have to step up my game and do some proper spell checks and grammar edits.

hip-hop reinvented

Analog Social Club Raw Track


Analog Social Club J fresco Re-Edit


Since I've been back home I've noticed a lot conscious hip-hop heads have been debating over whether we've seen the death. I'm not sure where I stand on that issue. . .in some ways I can agree. Very few hip-hop artist are creating work that says something new or different. Even artist like Mos Def and Common, who normally innovate and raise the bar, are coming real weak. hip-hop might have died with J Dilla.

But when you come across something like this, it gives you hope and makes you think that hip-hop still has some new places to go. Chances are, you haven't heard of these kats. It's a small and quiet movement, but don't be fooled, it's a powerful one. The Analog Social Club i a small group of audio masterminds that carve out well crafted compositions from "carefully selected samples." Consider this your invitation to the club.

Hell Awaits. . .

No music this time. . .just a little update on the sidebar status. Always expanding the global network, I've set links to a few enlightened brothers worth shouting out.

While in the UK I met the super chill, DJ Andy Williams. This past November I had a chance to visit him and rock out along side him and DJ Miles Cleret at Salon Dome (that's Dome with an accent on the "e". . .couldn't figure out how to get the accent on this computer). I had no idea how musically intense Andy was until he got on and rocked it right. Andy might be the sickest DJ in Montreal, flipping it in many musical styles with smooth and seamless blends. He holds it down daily, weekly, and monthly on the 1's and 2's-his most regular gig is live from CKUT, Montreal on "The Goods" radio show.

Nicholas Petrus graciously gave me a place to rest my head when I was lost in Central Sao Paulo city. Over the three month period that I was there I witnessed his evolution from artist to graphic freedom fighter. He's recently set up a blog and has been posting up some of his stuff here. Check it.

As for the blog art posted up with this blog. It's a shot I took while at the Powerhouse Books opening of the Powerhouse Stadium in DUMBO, New York. Jamel Shabazz and Joe Conzo were holding a little panel on some of the works they've done for Powerhouse. I'm pretty sure this is one of Shabazz's shots, but don't quote me. I found it to be funny as hell. . .hope you all enjoy it too.