Chewing Pine

Guilty Simpson x Oh No – “What To Do” (Video)

Dr. Oh No gits on the Guilty Simpson remix…what’s that sample, though?

Breakestra: A Jouyful Noise

Uh…this is it. There’re Daptone bands as well as the Truth and Soul stable, but the Breakestra out does those folks…the end.

BLOGLOAD: Dusk Till Dawn

Madlib and Stones Throw x Gilles Peterson

The folks over at Stones Throw just posted some work Madlib set down for Gilles Peterson’s show on BBC Radio 1. There’s some Prince Jazzbo in there as per usual, but it doesn’t make it any less funky…

BLOGLOAD: Stones Throw Podcast

Damu x Same Beat Project

If Damu the Fudgemunk isn’t on your radar yet, he will be soon…More beats from Stones Throw…

BLOGLOAD: Same Beat EP

Karl Hector x the Malcouns

This doesn’t sound new or old…it’s just funky.

Karl Hector and the Malcouns have been described as “Afrodelic Kraut Funk from the minds behind the Poets of Rhythm and the Whitefield Brothers.” Headed by the mysterious Karl Hector – erstwhile leader of the Funk Pilots project – and aided by Poets of Rhythm/Whitefield Brothers guitarist Jan Whitefield alongside Thomas Myland and Zdenko Curlija (founders of the Malcouns), the band take a trip through heavy psychedelic Afro Funk, taking in melodies from Ethiopia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Their album Sahara Swing came out on Stones Throw/Now Again last year…

BLOGLOAD: Sahara Swing

Oh No – Exodus into Unheard Rhythms (Stones Throw, 2006)

During the ‘90s when Lootpack was around, Wildchild christened Madlib’s younger brother “Oh No the Mischievous Rebel.” Now, he’s simply Oh No and has put out Exodus into Unheard Rhythms, his second full length release on Stones Throw Records. Stones Throw easily sits atop the pile of indie rap labels. And interestingly enough, Madlib has seen fit to reissue some rare discs as well.

Oh No’s release, although forward thinking in concept (he uses only the music created by Canadian Galt MacDermot of Hair fame), the album boasts a number of moments where a different path could have been taken.

The beats are unrelentingly pleasant throughout. The raps, however, aren’t always as exceptional. The inclusion of AG and the Cali Agents does make sense considering the locale of both label and rappers (AG recently recording his own discs on the left coast). But the album would be better served if more rappers in the vein of Posdnuos, who guests on “Smile a Lil Bit,” made appearances.

Wordsworth, another East Coaster, reminisces while displaying his deft talent on a track entitled “Know Better,” during which he recounts his years of mischief. Towards the end of Exodus, “Basement Interlude” appears and immediately signals why this album is not all that it could be. If one judged simply this track, it would be quite evident that Oh No possesses the ability to create beats that are entrancing. He just doesn’t harness that power. Instead Oh No allows a number of average raps (not rappers) drag down what could have been an incredible, instrumental album.

Tracklisting:
01 – Intro
02 – Beware
03 – Black
04 – Get Yours
05 – Interlude
06 – To Be an MC
07 – To Be an MC Reprise
08 – Keep Tryin’
09 – Know Better
10 – Second Chance
11 – Low Coastin’
12 – Hank
13 – No Aire
14 – Cut Session
15 – Smile a Lil Bit
16 – Keep it Lit
17 – Callin’ in T for Some Food
18 – T. Biggums
19 – In This
20 – Lights Out
21 – Basement Interlude
22 – Coffee Cold

Madvillainy 2 – The Madlib Remix (Stones Throw, 2008)

Anything positive one reads about Madlib (née Otis Jackson, Jr.) is true. The samples he secures for each release are assuredly vital as well as previously unearthed. His prowess seems to have become mythical – perhaps that’s too much, but it’s difficult to find genuine criticism of the man and his work. The Madlib Remix may catch some flack, but its purpose is to hold listeners over until Doom re-surfaces with a slate of nuanced and hilarious rhymes to match Madlib’s samples for the proper follow up to Madvillainy (2004). The Remixes though reapply Doom’s raps from that first offering to new Madlib musical constructions. As in the past, it works. Of course, since the lyrical content is familiar, the music that Doom’s voice was previously set to could be missed if not for the always substantial beats from his partner.

Considering that this isn’t actually a new release, one may assume that no new statement (assuming that there was an old one) is to be made here. And maybe there’s not, but lyrically there’re considerations of the past, present and future – which is kinda funny considering listeners have been waiting for a future release predicated on previous work.