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)

Here at Needledrop, we now offer podcasts. The first podcast series we are doing is our monthly segment with UK tastemaker, DJ, producer Karen P. There will be more podcasts  to come. Here is the playlist for this month’s Karen P Presents:

1. Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics – Masenqo (Strut.K7)
2.The Invisible – London Girl (Accidental)
3. Jamie Finlay – Don’t Sleep
4. Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics – Esketa Dance (Strut.K7)

On this past week’s Rhythm Lab Radio, we had our monthly segment with UK DJ, producer, and tastemaker Karen P. She presented her top picks for February 2009 which included music from the amazing album from Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics, and the band The Invisible. Plus we had new music from Soil & Pimp Sessions, Brother Ali, DJ Vadim, and the South African band BLK JKS.

Here is the playlist:

Hour 1
Millie Jackson – “I Cried”
Brother Ali – “Good Lord”
Soil & Pimp Sessions – “Satsuriku Rejects”
Kushti – “Taking Hold ft. Alice Russell”
Juice Crew – “Da Orchestra”
DJ Vadim – “Hidden Treasure ft. Sabira Jade & Kwasi Asante”
Quantic & His Combo Barbaro – “Un Canto A Mi Terra”
Kuroma – “In New York, Everything Is Tropical (El Guincho Remix)”
Bullion – “Time For Us All To Love”
Muhsinah – “From Here”
BLK JKS – “Lakeside”
Sarah White – “Fade (J Todd Remix)”

Karen P Presents
Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics – “Masenqo (Strut.K7)”
The Invisible – “London Girl (Accidental)”
Jamie Finlay – “Don’t Sleep”
Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics – “Esketa Dance (Strut.K7)”

Listen to Karen P Presents
[audio:http://www.needledrop.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/rhythmlab_feb09.mp3]

Hour 2
Fuego – “Dejalo Caer”
Dj Furreta – “Minha Mangole”
Unathi – “U R Devine”
DJ Damost – “Wa Ku Kuluka feat. Mr. Dino”
DJ Jesus – “The Thanks”
Bob Sinclair – “The Love Generation”
Dj Furreta – “Ola La Yeah”
Dj Joca – “Djokidos”
Dj Cleo – “Gabz to Mbabane w/Brickz”
Black Runner – “Pump It Up”
Magic System – “Zouglou Dance”
Dj Killer – “Revolucionário”
Murder Cat – “Blam Blam”
Enur – “Calabria Riddim”
Ding Dong – “Go Away”
Goapele – “Closer (Remix)”

As part of 2009’s Red Bull Music Academy programme in London, this special edition of ‘Broad Casting’ features a unique collaboration between Tony Allen & The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble as well as some very special guests….

Broad Casting
Broad Casting is a genre-defying event curated by Karen P. The night is all about combining the energy of great live music in an intimate venue (Cargo), with the worldwide reach of Red Bull Music Academy Radio. All Broad Casting’s live sets are made available to listeners worldwide on www.rbmaradio.com and are subsequently available to listen to On Demand in the Red Bull Music Academy Radio archive. Broad Casting approaches it’s line-ups with an energy, optimism and diversity that is truly original, and has so far yielded unique sets from artists as diverse as, Jimi Tenor and Kabu Kabu, Buraka Som Sistema and Micachu and The Shapes. One of Broad Casting’s unique collaborations – between ethio-jazz legend Mulatu Astatke and Now Again band The Heliocentrics – has gone on to record an incredible album (released on !K7/Strut in Spring 09) and will be touring Europe under the Broad Casting banner.
In 2009 Broad Casting will be a quarterly event built around unique artist-led collaborations kicking off with this month’s pairing of Tony Allen and The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble.
Fela Kuti once said that without Tony Allen, he’d need four drummers at once. Of course, the style we know as afro-beat wouldn’t sound anything like it without him. A true intuitive pioneer, Tony Allen managed to mix the brevity and snap of jazz drumming by the likes of Art Blakey, Max Roach, and Guy Warren, with the deep extended forms of African rhythms from highlife, Yoruba, and Ghana. The musical conversation between Clyde Stubblefield, Jabo Starks and Tony Allen is still being felt today, having influenced practically every new genre of dance music the ‘70s onwards. Still flipping poly-rhythms today, Tony’s involvement with Damon Albarn, and label Honest Jon’s has brought his talent to a mainstream audience via The Good The Bad and The Queen whilst he still continues to write and record his own music, and collaborate with a diverse range of musicians – from rapper Ty to French man of mystery Sebastien Tellier and now of course The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble….
The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is an instrumental group comprised of 8 horn players and a drummer. All 8 of the horn players are sons of jazz musician Kelan Phil Cohran (who played trumpet in Sun Ra’s Arkestra). Originally formed as a band of street performers in Chicago IL, the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble are currently based in New York City where and have played and recorded with artists such as Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Maxwell and of course Phil Cohran. Both Live and on Vinyl, The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble use traditional instruments to make an earth-shaking hybrid form of club music and we are thrilled that they will be performing for us in advance of the spring release of their debut album for Honest Jons. Witnessing these guys pack the tiny Cargo stage with Tony Allen doubling their rhythm section is not an opportunity to be missed!!
Warming up the stage for Tony and The Hypnotics will be another Honest Jons signing, the inimitable Elmore Judd. Formed around producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jesse Hackett, Elmore Judd followed up their critically acclaimed debut album Angel Sound with the inspired fusion of Insect Funk in 2007. Since he first collaborated with Damon Albarn on a musical escapade to Mali, Jesse has returned to Africa on several occasions and you can really hear the influence of the music he has been exposed to in his latest release – the vinyl only Unborn Again EP. Like his music, the Elmore Judd live show is constantly evolving and we can’t wait to see what costumes and instruments will join Jesse on stage for this show!
Not content with one legendary drummer on the premises, our DJ support tonight comes courtesy of Malcolm Catto who is no stranger to Cargo – his band The Heliocentrics having collaborated with Mulatu Astatke for what is already a legendary live Broad Casting show. Having released solo material on Mo Wax back in the day – went on to form The Soul Destroyers and more recently Stones Throw / Now Again signed collective The Heliocentrics. Malcolm’s drums have also been heard on Madlib records and on stage at DJ Shadow’s live shows and will soon be heard on several tracks on the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble album for Honest Jons. Malcolm is very rarely seen behind the turntables but with a record collection as impressive as his CV, we are thrilled that he’ll be sharing some of his rare slabs of vinyl in support of tonight’s incredible live line-up.