…Hello  Who is things how is life? it’s midummer over here (in Stockholm, Sweden) Nice,nice….wish I had time to go to Sonar (a huge festival in Spain) this year. I’m a little slow today and it feels totally right to spend the day doing stuff that I’ve been saying for aaaaaaages that I should do (talking about chilled-out stuff E g Kev Brown has this beat commentary-thing going on that he posts on his blog. He walks through how he made a certain beat, his thoughts andsometime he drifts away into some other stuff . I can’t remember if I heard this one already that I’m linking to right here, but let’s Sunday-chill toghter on this one ‘Commentary VOL II’ 

Loooooove.hugs and kisses

//K

www: kisseyasplund.com

blog: somewhatstrangelife.blogspot.com

twitter: /kisseyasplund

Right now I’m in Stockholm streaming Billy Ocean over spotify and enjoying the pleasant feeling that it’s toooooo much rain outside…I simply just don’t have to feel guilty about staying in .

…and somehow when it’s like this, even thou I’m a futuristic-beat-lover, I just feel like going commercial-retro. I used to work in a clothing store …this cheesy print-it yourself company…like a AA but for ; Scandinavia women-  plus 50- that liked viscose ANYWAY me and the girls that used to work there either played latin-style music on the floor (because that would somehow up sales…I guess the women got dreamy and started to reminisce to their Spanish vacations) Or we played this cd with Chaka Kahn …and I remember how much I ADORED ‘I love you, I live you‘. I would always make me so happy, the dull felt totally ok…it is without a doubt approved also as a feelgood song for rain Sundays like this…

… ok if I can come with one feelgood recommendation for today that is of the new kind. I would say go for Lucinda Slim & The lonestars;

…. ‘All this time’

loove,hugs and kisses

//Kissey

www: Kisseyasplund.com

Twitter: /kisseyasplund

blog: Somewhatstrangelife.blogspot.com

I will miss this year’s Soundset 09 in Minneapolis which kind of sucks.  However, I was just blessed with this free mixtape featuring some of the artists performing at this year’s event. Enjoy.

Download

Tracklisting

Soundset 09? Intro
The Truth – Jake One f. Freeway & Brother Ali
Guarantees – Atmosphere
A Day In The Life – Handsome Boy Modeling School f. RZA, The Mars Volta & AG
State Of Emergency – Toki Wright
Ace Cowboy – Aceyalone f. The Soul Of John Black
Cave In – Cunninlynguists f. Cee-Lo Green
Star Destroyer – Eyedea & Abilities
Trap Door – Jake One f. MF Doom
Ballskin – DOOM
Hollywood Driveby – Immortal Technique f. Psycorealm & Sick Symphonies
Clickety Clack – Sage Francis
Low Light Low Life – P.O.S.
Don’t Sleep – One Be Lo
Live Freestyles On The Mix Chronicles – Brother Ali
Game Over (Go Big Or Go Home Boy) – Doomtree
Smithereens – El-P
Passin Me By – The Pharcyde

Rhythm Lab Radio and Needledrop.net is proud to welcome the 5th Annual Live At the BBQ at MOCT in Milwaukee this Sunday, May 24th, 2009.   Do not miss the 8 DJs, great drink specials and Milwaukee’s best food from Bubb’s Texas Style BBQ.

In case you missed last’s weeks Rhythm Lab Radio, our friend Karen P blessed us with another great segment. She presented her favorite sessions from her live event called Broad Casting.

Broad Casting is about combining the energy of great live music performed in an intimate small club venue, with the infinite possibilities and worldwide reach of the current broadcast landscape.

Working closely with Red Bull Music Academy Radio, Broad Casting approaches it’s line-ups with an energy, optimism and freedom that is truly original; juxtaposing artists and genres in a way that is unparalleled in current UK club culture.

Bringing together artists as diverse as Buraka Som Sistema, Jimi Tenor and Micachu and The Shapes, Broad Casting also inspires and facilitates unique collaborations such as Tony Allen with the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and the now legendary pairing of Mulatu Astatke with The Heliocentrics.

Here is her favorites from Broad Casting:

Little Dragon – ‘Recommendation’ (Live @ Broad Casting, January 2008)
Mulatu & The Heliocentrics feat. Finn Peters, James Arden & Byron Wallen – ‘Yegelle Tezeta’ (Live @ Broad Casting April 2008)
Tony Allen & Hypnotic Brass Ensembel – ‘Sankofa’ and ‘Marcus Garvey’
James Pants with Gary Davis – ‘You’re The One – Stones Throw

On this past weekend’s show we had a special segment from our friend, DJ, producer, and tastemaker Karen P from London. She has been putting on an amazing live series called Broad Casting. The Broad Casting event juxtaposes artists and genres in ways you would never think would work. Artists such as Buraka Som Sistema to Tony Allen to Hypnotic Brass Ensemble to Jimi Tenor to Mulatu Astatke have performed. In her segment Karen P Presents, Karen picks her favorite sessions from Broad Casting which includes Little Dragon, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, and more. Tracklisting to follow.

Hour 1
The Five One – “District of Colossus”
DJ Neighbor & Piper Davis – “Rhinestone Cowgirl”
Martyn – “Little Things”
Kissey Asplund – “Silverlake”
Amp Live – “Gary is a Robot feat. Micro Jaxson and Trackademics”
Esser – “I Love You”
Ancient Astronauts – “All Of The Things You Do feat. Tippa Irie”
N.A.S.A. – “A Volta ft. Sizzla, Amanda Blank”
Mos Def – “Casa Bey”
Bill Withers – “Who is He(J Matts Chocolate & Ice Edit)”

Karen P Presents (Broadcasting Special)
Little Dragon – ‘Recommendation’ (Live @ Broad Casting, January 2008)
Mulatu & The Heliocentrics feat. Finn Peters, James Arden & Byron Wallen – ‘Yegelle Tezeta’ (Live @ Broad Casting April 2008)
Tony Allen & Hypnotic Brass Ensembel – ‘Sankofa’ and ‘Marcus Garvey’
James Pants with Gary Davis – ‘You’re The One – Stones Throw

Hour 2
Johnny Pacheco/Hector Casanova – “El Rey” (Fania)
Willie Bobo – “Soul Foo Young” (Now – Again Records)
Evelyn “Champagne” King – “Make Up Your Mind” (RCA)
Varela – “Make Ya Move – Underground Mix” (Acid Jazz)
Orlando Julius And His Afro Sounders – “Mura Sise” (Sound Way)
Joe Bataan – “Rap – O Clap – O” (SalSoul)
Willie Colon & Ruben Blades – “Plastico” (Fania)
Marvin Gaye – “Your The Man Part 1″
Bucky Leo & Black Egypt – “Precious Mother” (Strut)
Natural Blaze – “Revolution Poem” (Life Line Records)
WAR – “Flying Machine – The Chase” (BBE)

It has been over 5 years since the Rhymesayers duo Eyedea & Abilities graced us with a full length release.  The album E&A was released back in 1994. Since then, Eyedea has done different side projects, and Abilities now lives in Milwaukee.  I got wind of a fortcoming record from Milwaukee’s DJ Deadbeat and Kid Millions.  They both told me the music on E&A’s record entitled “By The Throat” was amazing.  Abilities beats were on another level.  Well, as of today, Rhymesayers announced the release date for E&A’s “By The Throat” (July 21) and dropped a track for free download. The track is called “The Story” and it is on some other level.  Check it out for yourself.

Eyedea & Abilities – “The Story” (Download)
[See post to listen to audio]

Minneapolis and St. Paul has become a city that has become a major player in Hip Hop within less than 10 years. In some cases, even bigger than Chicago partly due to the label Rhymesayers home of Atmosphere, POS, Brother Ali, and others. Also the support of the venues, bloggers, and even commercial media to some extent has helped put the Twin Cities on the map.

On Sunday, May 24th, the Twin Cities influence on Hip Hop will come to fruition once again with Soundset ‘09. Probably one of the biggest Hip Hop festival of the year (even bigger than Rock The Bells). This time they move the event from the ‘tiny’ confines of the Metrodome parking lot to the ‘pastoral’ Canterbury Park in Shakopee. The line-up features a who’s who of indie hip hop including Atmosphere, Pharcyde(all original members), Eyedea & Ablilities, Prince Paul, MF Doom, Brother Ali, P.O.S.,  Aceyalone, Freeway & Jake One, and more. Tickets are only $30 in advance for a couple of more days.

There is even a car show and contest!!

What is it with soft drinks and alcoholic beverages getting involve with releasing music and putting on tours.  You Mountain Dew has Green Label Sound, Red Bull has Red Bull Music Academy, Southern Comfort had the SoCo Music Experience and now Bacardi is getting into the act. Well I guess if the major labels can’t step up their game, someone else will. Recently Bacardi created B-Live Share and release music from Groove Armada. Bacardi hosted parties at this year’s WMC, and now has create a tour featuring some amazing artists including Major Lazer, Q-Tip, Santigold, MSTRKRFT, Matt & Kim, and more. The tour is called B-Live Tour 2009. The tour kicks off on May 30th in Phoenix

– Saturday, May 30        Phoenix, AZ (DJ Jazzy Jeff, Steve Porter)
– Wednesday, June 3       Denver, CO (DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ AM)
– Thursday, June 11       Milwaukee, WI (Q-Tip, Auto Erotique)
– Friday, June 12         Chicago, IL (Q-Tip, Z-Trip)
– Wednesday, June 17      New York, NY (DJ A-Trak, DJ AM, Auto Erotique)
– Thursday, June 18       Boston, MA (Major Lazer, A-Trak, Matt & Kim, Steve Porter)
– Friday, June 19         Philadelphia, PA (Major Lazer, A-Trak, Drop The Lime)
– Saturday, June 20     Washington, DC (Major Lazer, Matt & Kim)
– Thursday, June 25       Louisville, KY (MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip)
– Friday, June 26         Cleveland, OH (MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip)
– Saturday, June 27       Columbus, OH (Ghostland Observatory, Z-Trip)
– Friday, July 3          Atlanta, GA (MSTRKRFT, A-Trak, Matt & Kim)
– Saturday, July 4        Orlando, FL (A-Trak, Jazzy Jeff, Matt & Kim)
– Wednesday, July 8       New Orleans, LA (DJ AM, Jazzy Jeff, Matt & Kim)

I don’t know how I miss this, but I did.  From the land of my old stomping grounds, Wale, Tabi Bonney, The Five One is a band out of the DMV(DC, Maryland, Virgina).  The Five One consists of 4 members represented by colors: Red, Blue, Green and Gold, and they actually wear their colors so not to be confusing.

“By personifying Colors they are expressing themselves not only with the art they create but as art itself, which represents a lack of emphasis on individual identity, and an emphasis on creating music that strives to speak for everyone.”

In the beginning in 2009, The Five One set out to release a remix/cover every week on Thursday. The project is called 5109: The Remix Album. They have remixed everyone to Lykke Li, White Stripe, Kanye West, Kenna, Bob Marley and more. So far they have 18 remixes which are available for free download. Personally, I am really digging the Vampire Weekend remix entitled District of Colossus. Check out the video below and help yourself to some free music.

District of Colossus from Deuce Day World on Vimeo.

Whether you have a Blackberry or an iPhone, you must admit their have been a lot of creative apps for the iPhone. From app that allows you compose songs to even Diplo’s label Mad Decent effects app, the iPhone is becoming a swiss army knife of information. Apple iPhone sales in 2008 grew 245% which means more developers are going to create even more applications.  What I like about the iPhone is the iPhone SDK which allows anyone from an hobbyist to a corporation to create an app.

One segment for application creation that really intrigues me is the Art/Design segment.  From apps that allow you to create art to museum apps,  the iPhone could help bring more art especially underground art and independent galleries to the masses. One application that has caught my eye was created by Adidas.  They have claimed to have created the first mobile urban art guide.  The current guide is for the city of Berlin and they are planning other cities, but you can see the potential of something like this.

The Urban Art Guide can localize artworks and get guided there, learn more about them, leave a comment and rate the artworks. Let yourself guide through urban districst in selected tours. Take your own pictures and send them to the Urban Art Guide. Browse through all artworks in the gallery.   Check it out for yourself, it’s free.

I came across this over at the blog Kiss My Black Ads (great inspirational blog BTW). Since I was a kid looking at my dad’s albums, I was always impressed by the artwork and design of the album especially from the 60’s and 70’s.  Of all the album’s artwork I was impressed by, on group’s album always stood out to me and it was the iconic band Funkadelic later Parliment Funkadelic.  I didn’t realize who was the artist behind the amazing album art until now.

Pedro Bell is the name of the amazing artist behind the artwork of Funkadelic, P-Funk and George Clinton. The urban fashion store Surpreme release this video on Pedro Bell. Check it out and get a little insight behind the mind of the image of a music icon.

I’m a big fan of fan made music videos. Some of them are really good, and better than the original video.  This fan made video was for the song Robocop off of Kanye West’s 808 and Heartbreaks. The video was created by Myk Dawg.  It looks like he chopped up an old 8 bit video game. On the contrary, It is a completely original and made from scratch.  I can see Kanye West actually doing something like this.  You can check it out below via Youtube or you can download a better quality from Myk Dawg’s site.  Note: Myk Dawg also have other videos in a similar style on his site.

Check out his video for DJ Shadow’s “This Time”

DJ Shadow – This Time from Myk Dawg on Vimeo.

It was only time before we see a game similar to Guitar Hero made for DJing.  Now, being a DJ, I’m not sure how I feel about this.  It could be a good thing or it could be a very bad thing.

According to the game’s creator Activision press release, “The company’s groundbreaking DJ Hero expands Guitar Hero’s signature social gaming to all-new consumers with the addition ofdiverse music genres including hip-hop, R&B, Motown, electronica and dance.  Introducing an all-new innovative turntable controller, DJ Hero transforms players into DJs who rule the club scene by creating original mixes of popular songs and music from the world’s most exciting artists and DJs.”

They are already have the site djhero.com where you can sign up to be notified when it launches.  I’m not sure how the controller(pictured above) will work.  It is rumored it might worked like Japanese arcade Beatmania shown below(via College News).

One good thing I could see is that game maker could approach labels like Stones Throw, Mad Decent, Kitsune, Rhymesayers to get their music in the game.  On the other hand, they may push remixes of Jonas Brothers, and American Idol songs.

2009 is shaping out to be a great year for music.  Amp Live of Zion I and the amazing Rainy Dayz Radiohead remix project is set to release a new project of electro hop on his label Child’s Play a parent of Om Records.  Amp Live is setting himself as the next Danger Mouse.  He is becoming  one of the producers that can take hip hop to the next level.

Turntable Lab is offering a pre-release of Amp Live’s new music. They are releasing the first single “Gary Is A Robot” which features fellow Bay artist Trackademics and Micro Jaxson.  The song sounds like where Daft Punk left off. You can grab the release now from Turntable Lab.

Amp Live – “Gary is A Robot feat. Trackdemics and Micro Jaxson
[See post to listen to audio]