Anyone who reads this blog for the music posts will know I am big fan of Kenny Dope, especially the series of mixes he did through the first half of the last decade. “Breakbeats,” “Hiphop Forever,” and “Roller Boogie 80’s” are all some of my most favorite mixes ever. Now Kenny’s got himself a Soundcloud account, he’s been uploading some great stuff. Soul Trippin’ is a perfect throwback mix, bubbling with all kind of rare funk and soul gems.
Brilliantly odd instrumental hip hop album here from Onra, compiled and constructed around vintage Vietnamese pop records picked up in flea markets on a trip to the far east. 32 short tracks make up “Chinoiseries”, each of them clocking in at the 1 or 2 minute mark and delivering a tight selection of beats that somehow bring to mind J Dilla, Rza, Madlib, Moondog, MF Doom and the Sublime Frequencies label rolled into one beautifully incoherent package.
Onra – “What Up Duyet?”
Having a ravenous appetite for the “Radio Transmission” style beloved of the aforementioned Sublime Frequencies crew, we might be perfectly primed for this sort of thing, but while the dusty exotica, folk and plastic pop of the source material here could so easily have ended up sounding like the sterile plunderphonic coffee table beats that typified so much instrumental hip hop in the late 90’s, Onra manages to harness the mystifying magic of the original material and juxtapose it with a production style that’s still adequately rough around the edges.
Onra – “The Anthem”
And the source material itself is still bathed in the sublime hiss and crackle of hoary vinyl, retaining the unknown wonders of each of the nameless gems that play a central part through each and every track on this excellent album. Like small, perfectly flawed vignettes, each of the tracks here offers a quirky and mesmerising window into the far east of another era. A real treat for crate diggers and found sound hounds out there, wherever you may be.
Along with the Volume Cutter, I built up this Soma Rush over the weekend. The frame, while used, had only a few paint chips under all the stickers I had to remove from it. The Soma Rush is an excellent fixed-gear / track frameset made from top quality Tange chro-mo steel, with a few concessions to street riding, like a rear brake bridge and water bottle mounts. Soma is a well-known and respected manufacturer, and the Rush is a cut above typical “entry-level” fixed frames from IRO, Origin8, Mercier, and Bianchi. It is a size 57cm, check out the frame geometry and dimensions here.
I paired it with a lovely Soma Hellyer track crankset and chainring, and it’s rolling on hand-laced Miche Pr1mato wheelset. It’s sporting a brand new saddle, seatpost, chain, pedals, and tires. The red anodized Nitto track bars look great against the brand new bar tape as well. This is one classy ride! More pictures after the jump…
This is a Volume Cutter, a popular frame for “trick track” with clearance for bar spins and welded gussets on the top tube and down tube that help strengthen it. Size 59cm, frame dimensions can be found here. I stripped and re-painted the frame, including a brand new chrome fork. This is the first time I’ve made a careful, detailed effort to do a cool paint job and it worked out really well.
I added a hand-laced Surly wheelset with Mavic Open Pro / DT Swiss rims, and a lot of brand new parts: track crankset, tires, pedals, seatpost, chain, saddle, bars, and brake lever. The stem is a Thomson look-alike, and the brake is a sweet vintage Campagnolo Victory caliper. More pictures after the jump…
In an act of great musicianship, the legendary Roots-crew pay respect to the late and great J Dilla offering their renditions of the producer’s greatest hits. The featured mixtape belongs easily to the most sublime tributes to J Dilla I have seen to date. Enjoy in this highest form of appreciation.
I’ve been a big fan of J-Star’s DJ mixes for a couple of years. The Herbalist series of mixes are all reggae songs about smoking weed. So, if you’re into that, J-Star brings the hottness! The songs are a mix of modern tracks and classic anthems, quite a few of which can be found on volumes 1-3 of the great “Big Blunts” series of compilations on the Tommy Boy label.
You can stream or download J-Star’s Herbalist mixes from the Soundcloud widgets below. Hint – click the “down arrow” to download the mix. Also check out J-Star’s Soundcloud account for more great mixes as well his own remixes of reggae classics.
Anodyne is the latest Catnap mix, in the same vein as the Meow Mix series but drawing from the electro and techno side of things. There’s some classic selections, like Rhythim Is Rhythim’s “Nude Photo” (1987) and A Guy Called Gerald‘s anthem “Voodoo Ray” (1988). I finally worked Siriusmo‘s amazing track “Discosau” into a mix, as well as Dexter‘s sexy electro tune “D-Funked” and Boy Robot‘s poignant “My Heart’s Still Beating”. Another favorite of mine in the mix is “Move Your Mind” by Kevin Yost, which reminds me a lot of “Halcyon+on” by Orbital.
Like its name sake, Anodyne starts out with some intense and glitchy selections before settling into a funky groove that later unfolds into lush, dreamlike techno soundscapes. It will fix what ails you, or at least soothe the pain.
