Beat Authority playlist: 5/29/09

Here it is, bam! Have a great weekend!

Bring That Beat Back

Today on the Beat Authority, I'll bring back an occasional series I've neglected for far too long. It's called "Break It Down", where we play a hip hop song along with its original sample. In this case, it's an opportunity to do two favorite things: listen to The J.B.'s, and listen to Public Enemy.

The J.B.'s "The Grunt, Pts.1&2" from 1970 is sampled no fewer than three times on Public Enemy's landmark It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. What I didn't know, until now, is that the song is sampled 33 times across the hip hop world, according to Rap Sample FAQ.

What I love about the way PE samples this song is, out of context, the sampled horns sound more like sirens, whistles, or other industrial noises. It's that production touch that made Nation of Millions sound like it was from out of this world in 1988, 21 years ago.

Y'all wanna hear that beat, right?

For your listening pleasure

A couple recently discovered links I think you'll like...

NPR has a new jazz blog, for some reason, a pretty rare thing. Nice licks of writing, great links to music and video, including archived Village Vanguard shows, and a fine name - A Blog Supreme.

The music blog, Thirty Thirsty, posts a new half-hour mix - deeply rooted in the groove - every week. The best part about it is the stream is fast and clean (my turtle-slow satellite internet at home handled it no problem) and the fidelity is great. Right now I'm listening to Power To The People - Geraldo Pino & The Heartbeats [1974]. The mix also unearths this gem of a cover from hard-hittin' papa, Ray Barretto...

Beat Authority playlist: 5/22/09

Have a fab weekend! Listen to the on-demand stream! Download Advance Patrol and Vieux Farka Toure!

La gente på Malmö

The city I live in is Malmö, in the far south of Sweden (but north of just about anywhere else). One of its claims to fame is that it's Sweden's most ethnically diverse city. There's a pretty big latino population in Malmö, mostly from Brazil and Chile. Malmö's Chileans mostly emigrated here in the '70s and '80s – the Pinochet years – thanks to Sweden's progressive asylum policies.

Now the second generation of Chileans are growing into adulthood and making their mark. Some of the best known in Malmö are the band Advance Patrol, a hip-hop group that has always rapped in both Swedish and Spanish. They relased a new album named El Futuro this week and it has them trending much more toward reggaeton and singing almost exclusively in Spanish.



You can download their album – free. Check it out. It's the sound of Malmö, spring 2009.

Phresh Philly, pt. 2

Awhile ago, Delaney Flush blogged about Billy Paul, a key ingredient in the Philly soul sound of the 1960s and '70s.

Check out today's Fresh Air, which features the two producers and label owners, Kenny gamble and Leon Huff, who crafted that sound.

Y'all want that beat, right?

Damn.


Julia Dales Amazing Beat Box Girl High Quality High Definition - Funny home videos are a click away

Beat Authority playlist: 5/15/09

Sorry about the lack of posts this week...been kinda crazy. Here's today's playlist. And remember, you can listen to last week's show - RIGHT NOW! - by clicking on the Beat Authority on-demand stream over on the right. Have a great weekend!

Beat Authority playlist: 5/8/09

Thanks to Chris from Swimming in Speakers. Listen to the stream on Monday to hear my interview with Chris.

Drop a rhyme for Moms

NPR Music put together a great "top five hip hop tributes to Moms" for Mothers Day. Love it. Feliz dia de la Madre!

Flutebox!

Alert music fan Renee from Alamosa (represent!), Colorado sent on this great - and long - UK beatboxing clip.

Three thoughts: 1) Those Brits really love them some drum 'n' bass. 2) Who gets to wipe all the spit from the mics when they're done? 3) Flute-box rules!

Free MP3s from Charlotte, VT!

Cumbancha records, our world music label in the 'hood, is offering 8 free mp3s from their catalog if you give them your name and address. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Guest DJ Friday (today): Swimming in Speakers

In this blog's brief lifetime, the most commented on entry was when I "discovered" Saranac Lake-based band, Swimming in Speakers (Chris had already recorded his EP down the hall from me with our engineer, Joel Hurd, as a part of NCPR's Heard Up North project - man, am I deef).

Chris and Meadow are beloved.

Well, Chris is fresh off a trip to Buenos Aires, and I'm thrilled to announce he'll be guest DJ-ing in the first hour of the Beat Authority tomorrow. So tune in! And you can send in your shout-outs to SiS by e-mailing me at david-at-ncpr-dot-org.

Free MP3: Vieux Farka Toure

VFT, the son of late legendary Malian guitarist Ali Farka Toure, will be out with his second album this summer. Six Degrees records is giving out a free MP3 of the first single. Get it now...

First five jazz records?

A fun exercise going on over at NPR's music site. What were the first five jazz albums you bought/acquired? It's a quirky, yet informative, list because few of us go about getting albums strategically - there's whim, recommendations, and chance involved, too. Scrolling through the comments section gives you a great way to narrow down the dizzying (pun intended, 'cause he's on there a lot) choices of must-have jazz records.

Here's my list:

1. Miles Davis, 'Round Midnight
2. John Coltrane, Live at the Village Vanguard
3. Eric Dolphy, Out To Lunch!
4. Charlie Parker, Confirmation: The Best of the Verve Years
5. Duke Ellington, Money Jungle

What's Yours?