popround / free mixtape collective » hip hop

J Period Dancehall Soundclash Vol 2 Part 2 boyee

harry covert — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:52:33 +0000

Well, one day we’ll be back in the sizzling hot sun of summer – stoop parties, hoards at every ice cream parlor, hanging out in parks with boom boxes blaring a boisterous roughneck soundtrack. Well, here in SF we’re still not quite there yet, but let’s start getting in the mood.

I originally posted part 1 of this J Period Dancehall Soundclash mix last year, and due to demand am offering up part 2 here. There’s no let-up in intensity, and we find ourselves once more engulfed in a heady concoction of dancehall, reggaeton, ragga, hip-hop and a spattering of jump-up pop classics.

Here’s the track names:

Lil Jon Interlude
The Workout
Yeah Remix
Elephant Message Remix
Elephant Message
Galang Girl
Get Busy/Egyptian Interlude
Sweet To The Belly
Milkshake Remix
Jook Gal
Move Your Body
Pull Up
Tamale
Killing A Sound Boy
Sound Bwoie Buriell
Look Into My Eyes
Shake That Thing
Enemies Remix
Paid Not Played
Paid Not Played Exclusive
No No No
Oh Yeah
Bad Boys
Wine Up
Champion Lover
69
The Chronic
Like A Rock Remix
Neva Scared Remix
Neva Scared Remix
Outtro

Listen to part one of this mixtape

Jesus Christ, Har Mar Superstar

harry covert — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:00:19 +0000

I’ve had this category called ‘all over the place’ on this blog for a while… finally I’ve found the perfect subject matter. Last night at Benders for the opening of Noisepop, our man Har Mar was not just ‘all over the place’, but quite simply all in our face (one of our friends narrowly missed a teabagging). This indie court jester/rock hobbit has a stage act nonpareil.

To be honest, I’ve sampled his recorded music before and have never been that enthused. For the same reason I’ve passed up tickets to his show in the past. But the music really isn’t the point. It’s a prop along with the spandex cloak, the African tunic and, erm, his underpants. Not one to blush at pretentious ideas like artistic integrity, there’s even a spell of ‘yelling at the soundman’ drama, where HMS makes it clear the music player dishing out the backing track (including vocals from the likes of Beth Ditto and Karen O) is his fourth band member. The other two floppy-haired fellas being a bassist and drummer, both play it relatively straight as Har Mar pounces and preens through his dance/funk R&B, undressing at will.

Finally, the crowd has what it wants – HMS sporting little more than the garb that brought him into the world. And there, within his ‘barefaced cheek’ lies the crux of my enjoyment: Har Mar exults and adores us humans at our basest, most sordid, most ironic. Like a 40-year old accountant fantasizing about winning gold at the 100 meter sprint and getting it on with a supermodel. Har Mar just brings this fantasy to the stage as an urban yank version of the laughing Buddha. One that gets the last laugh.

More on Har Mar Superstar

A selection of hits from the sleek Har Mar Superstar website (I guess we’re still awaiting his release of a clothing line):

Surprisingly downbeat whilst being interviewed in a launderette:

Dirty Laundry Presents: Har Mar Superstar from Dirty Laundry on Vimeo.

You’ll find a collection of his ‘works’ on YouTube and he’s not too prouo to Tweet.

Best of the blogs for 2009

kiterae — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:00:01 +0000

Here it is – getting on the 2009 teary nostalgia tip like a bunch of other Poprounders (thug wife, doc and yari, who covered the whole noughties).

Most of these tracks have been hacked off the blogs I monitor. Definitely veering on the side of taught electronic production, and me like all the other bloggers is a sucker for the crafty remix so there’s more than a few featured here.

Chelonis R Jones – Rehabilitation (Excerpt)
Kleerup – Until We Bleed (With Lykke Li)
Can you feel it – Barack Obama mix
Vancouver – Felix Cartal
I Remember (Caspa Remix) – Deadmau5
Mr Oizo – Gay Dentists
M.I.A. – Death to the throne
WTF (DJ Wool remix) – Tittsworth
Bot (Original Mix) – Deadmau5
Black Music (One Kitten vs Chris T-T Remix) – Chris T-T
Jack got Macked – Julio Bashmore
Tanya Stephens – “It’s a Pity” (Lulu Rouge Bootleg)
Bigmouth Strikes Again (David Starfire remix) – The Smiths

If you’re interested in more like this, check out this listing of mp3 downloads from time to time.

What’s in store for 2010? Looks like dubstep is fragmenting yet still enjoying a share of the hype/limelight. Personally, can’t wait to get to SXSW in Austin!

Best of 2009

thug wife — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:27:16 +0000

you know the year has flown by when you have to check the song to make sure it’s the right year…saying that it’s been a great year for good music not to mention decade (ooh that might mean another compilation to follow!!). SXSW 09 really set the tone for the year so much that we have to go this year as well!

White Feather – Wolfmother
Farewell to the Fairground – White Lies
The Reeling – Passion Pit
Rabbit Heart [Raise It Up] – Florence And The Machine
This Tornado Loves You – Neko Case
1901 – Phoenix
Too Many Dicks [On The Dancefloor] – Flight Of The Conchords
Fast Fuse – Kasabian
Must Be The Ganja – Eminem
Love And Let Love – Gossip
Panic Switch – Silversun Pickups
Lady Don’t Fall Backwards – Peter Doherty
We Are The Hunters – The D’Urbervilles
Ankles – CHRIS T.T.
Daniel – Bat For Lashes
My Girls – Animal Collective
Voices In My Head – K’naan
Concrete Walls – Fever Ray
Further Complications – Jarvis Cocker
Life on Earth – Tiny Vipers

Justin Bua interview show

harry covert — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 02:09:37 +0000

I really don’t spend enough time keeping up with the colorful world of US street culture. When it comes down to it, I’m nowhere near as hip as ex-US president Bill Clinton. According to Justin Bua in this article for Vancouver student radio station CJSF, the erstwhile US pres has a bunch of Bua’s seminal artwork gracing various walls in his house.

For those of you that don’t know, Bua is a street artist who creates cartoonish portraits documenting the various cultural icons to be found in the lower stratas of the US social fabric, such as ‘The DJ’, featured here.

Check out this interview with the man himself interspersed with fitting old school hip hop classics from the likes of Afrika Bambaataa and Eric B and Rakim.

This interview is courtesy of the wonderful Winnie Cooper blog.

Rakim: return to the golden age

harry covert — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:25:32 +0000

In terms of rappers that have been around the block, there are few that have traveled further than Rakim. From the early days with Eric B, The R established himself as one of the true legends behind the mic.

Blentwell feature a great showcase from Elmattic tracing the history of this boy with the golden tonsils from Queens. There’s something in this laidback delivery that you rarely see in current hip hop but at the time was popularized by Rakim and the likes of Guru from Gangstarr.

The other thing about Rakim is that just about everybody remixed him (his biggest hit in the UK being ‘Paid in Full’ remixed by none other than a very young Norman Cook) and there are a bunch of those remixes featured here. Some of my faves are the ones where the vocals are cut back to grunts and shouts over a percussive workout.

New findings from the old skool

harry covert — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:42:29 +0000

This mix owes some gratitude to Tim Everest. Frozen, wandering down Haight, promising myself I won’t hand over any more money to those Amoeba bastards (a previous altercation with a snobby buyer – don’t ask), I’m quite happy to pass a cursory glance, toss up my head and walk on. But oh no, Tim. You had to make the case for entering into the mighty Amoeba Records emporium and taking a ‘look around’.

Half an hour later and my wallet is $30 lighters and I’ve got some obscure hip hop from labels I never bumped into as a kid. B-Boy Records is probably the standout. This fine establishment is most notable for having brought Boogie Down Productions to the world, but other standouts include the J.V.C Force.

A second thank-you goes out to David Grimes for turning the ripe old age of thirty. Still fresh-faced and probably a mere Morrisey-loving imp in Arizona when a lot of this stuff came out, somehow I felt this mix might be appropriate. C’mon surely even the miserable Mancunian had a soft spot for Brooklyn’s finest spitting rhymes over the drum and bass (well, apart from the bigotted homophobic rantings the genre lapses into from time to time). So Dave: happy birthday and erm, here’s an old school hip hop mix…

Here Come The Drums – Keenan Webster & Balafo
Conflict (Remix) – Masta Ace, Guru
Doin’ Damage (Original Version) – J.V.C. F.O.R.C.E.
Conquer Mentally (Large Pro remix) (Large Pro Remix feat. Sadat X, O.C., & Large Professor) – Presto
Part of Greatness (feat. CL Smooth) – Presto
Kiterae Premier Track 08 – Notorious B.I.G
Work That Pole – The Beatnuts
Any Type Of Way – Big Daddy Kane
Hip Hop Worth Dying For – Main Flow Feat. Talib Kweli
Ready or Not (Jungle Mix) – Fugees Dj Hype Remix
Word Association – 7L & Esoteric
KRS One – BDP – My Philosophy
Let’s Jam – DJ Matte
The Bridge Is Over (The Bladerunners Edit) – Boogie Down Productions

BTW, I didn’t even know that I had a Notorious track on here until Thug Wife chirped in and schooled me.

Dancehall Soundclash from J.Period

harry covert — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 05:58:40 +0000

A bit of a departure this week from the normal fare of house music and its variants. On a recent visit to the mighty Amoeba Records on Haight Street in SF, I picked up a mix by J. Period.Checking out his bio, this guy has played with everyone from Lauren Hill and Q-Tip to more recent collaborations with the ace Somalian MC K’Naan (featured on this Thug Wife mix).

There’s some serious mixing here as Mr Period manages to jam over 60 tracks onto one CD. Spanning dancehall and the bootier realm of hip hop, I guess if I had to sum up this mix in one word, then that would be: ’sizzling’. So, crack open a Red Stripe and let this one rip…

Track names:

Move Intro
Anything Goes
You Bring It
Give It To Me
Can You Do The Work?
Bad Man Chi Chi
Give Dem Di Shabba
Badness
Gal You Lead
Gal You Lead Remix
She’s Hot
Hey Sexy Lady
Top Shotter
The Struggle
Roll Out
New Millenium
Millenium 2
Millenium 3
Row Like A Boat
Grindin Remix
Dude Grindin
Dude
Ay Ay Ay Remix
Puerto Rico Interlude
Ay Que Bueno Reggaeton Remix
Dat Sexy Body
Say Woee
Jack It Up
Deport Them
Like Glue
Nuttin Nuh Go So
Get Low Remix

Part 2 of this mix

Better days ahead

kiterae — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:30:09 +0000

So said Jimi Polo all the way back in 1989 over the top of one of dance music’s most memorable piano riffs. But then house music in those days was all about gay black kids coming up with funky piano snippets on their Utopian search. Oh, how far we’ve come.

So, here it is, my latest mixtape, after much procrastinating (in part brought on by an interest in listening to the mixtapes of others over on the Harry Covert channel. As always, there are a smattering of offerings lifted from other music blogs, but I’ve also been dipping back into past tracks – some from Beatport, others from Netlabels.

I Remember (Caspa Remix) – Deadmau5
Dreamy ethereal house gets a dubstep retrofit courtesy of Caspa

The LSD User – Stagga
Deeeeep bass workout

Pon Da Floor (Vinnie, Donnie & Sjakie remake) – Major Lazer
Mindless football chanting from Diplo and Switch under the Major Lazer guise

Acid Machine – Mike Mind
All these years have passed and I’m still a sucker for acid squelching and burps

Sweeter Than (Original Mix) – Audiofly
Audiofly tech workout with a liberal dose of funk

Better Days – Jimi Polo
“There’s gonna be…”. Here’s hoping it all worked out well for Jimi Polo in the end

Jack got Macked – Julio Bashmore
What a beauty. laidback groove overlaid with delicate piano riff and that falsetto ‘jack’ statement

Aundy – Claude VonStroke
Claude Von Stroke continues on that blissful vibe

All Of My Heart – ABC
dug up some old vinyl i’d burnt and lo and behold I’m singing in the shower

Say U Will (Cajual Records) (Original Mix) – Cajmere, Dajae
serious slab of trademark chicago house

Foonky – René Breitbarth
another fine riff. credit the electric guitar this time round

Egypt Egypt – Egyptian Lover
i’m afraid this takes me back to breakdancing round my bedroom to the bemusement of my poor ailing mum

Let It Roll – Doug Lazy
there will forever be a place in my heart for hip house. and doug lazy was one of the finest purveyors. “i’m like the porche and not the yugo” – a piece of motor history right there

Dusty Dream (Dub) – Snowcone
italo house rip-off (although fair do’s, wasn’t most italo house ripped off?)

A Volta (feat. Sizzla, Amanda Blank & Lovefoxxx) (Database remix) – N.A.S.A
A maximal workout that keeps references to the original to a minimum

Bless You (Trentemøller Remix) – Lulu Rouge
A perfect pairing in the world of deeeep house music

Gazebo (Joe and Will Ask? rmx) – Fairmont
Masterful 4×4 glitch updated

The Messiah – Le Castle Vania + Computer Club
Screaming for attention

Bigmouth Strikes Again (David Starfire remix) – The Smiths
I’ve been dying to get this into a mix for a while now

SOLO: the atmospheric mashup is here (Fabriclive mix)

harry covert — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:25:46 +0000

My first exposure to mashup culture goes back to the early heady days of rap when the ganstas and daisy agers achieved notoriety by borrowing freely from old funk and pop classics to create the dance-punk propaganda that I guess now gets labeled ‘Golden Age Hip Hop’. The likes of George Clinton took offense to these collages (which, perhaps intentionally, opened me and many of my generation up to the P-Funk classics of the technicolored-haired one) and laid bare the whole discussion over appropriation of culture. Was it unimaginative stealing or the creation of a new paradigm of music-making through sampling?

Enter the internet and the battleground is prepped anew for debate over the crop of mashups that followed the emergence of mp3 file sharing. And the battle continues with new artists picking up and redeining the gauntlet: the latest being Girl Talk. For an excellent discussion on this, check out RIP: A Remix Manifesto, a multimedia soapbox praise of Girl Talk’s adroit cultural appropriation. The argument being that the originals are so transmogrified that this technique is arch creation, but the music industry and legislature are struggling to keep up.

There are the politics, and they generally seem to impose some shape on the music. The collages become intricate, throwing out new references thick and fast.

Enter SOLO, the UK tech-house maestro who clearly sidesteps this approach and deals more subtly with his historical references. In this Fabriclive mix, those references are far-ranging: funky slabs of James Brown, opulent 1920’s era bohemian dance and, believe it or not, the Flash Gorden soundtrack all pepper this storming mix of house music straddling both sides of the Atlantic. Tiny samples flutter in as staccato snippets before giving way to full unedited blasts from the past. And like being woken from a rambling reverie, suddenly the tribal beats edge back in: creating an appearance of more vigor.

We’re talking more atmosphere than politics here, with an upfront party vibe maintained throughout. I found myself having to explain to my loved one why I was pogoing around the lounge like an elephant on a yoga ball.

SOLO leaves the pontificating for his Myspace page, quoting the mighty Rick Rubin:

“FEAR IS MAKING THE RECORD COMPANIES LESS ARROGANT..THEY’RE MORE OPEN TO IDEAS…”

A change soon come?

Tracklisting courtesy of Palms Out Sounds