Nalden did a little feature on me and asked to submit my current favorite 10 songs so you can listen to them in that neat audioplayer of his. When I grow up I want a site like that (respect to Momkai), just check out that wallpaper download engine. I thought it’d be nice to do a cross-feature on here explaining my choices and give a little more information on the tracks & artists.
01. HEAVy – I Know My Way
First Sessions – Kindred Spirits (Release: February 2009)
Ever since the release of the HEAVy EP on Kindred Spirits in 2004, I’ve been endorsing this group consisting of Casey Benjamin & Nicky Guiland. The ongoing endorsement resulted into a good friendship with both, which in it’s turn resulted in a “Deluge Endorses HEAVy” name change on MySpace which I’m at this point never going to get rid of anymore. Anyway, after the HEAVy EP and the JAzzmonEY$$ LP (BBE, 2007) they are set to release an album full of recordings pre-dating both of these projects and fittingly titled “First Sessions”. Nicky gave me a very rough demo version of “I Know My Way” a long time ago which I came to love very much, so naturally the clean and final version became my favorite off “First Sessions”.
02. I.N.T. – Beat 08
4Hero…Mixing – Sonar Kollektiv, 2007
If there’s one producer who is an inspiration to me it’s my good friend I.N.T. of La Melodia. Throughout the years I’ve heard just about everything this man has done (we share a studio/office space), but this beat is definitely one that stands out… as is it’s story. A few years ago I.N.T. let me hear this beat for the first time when it was just an early draft. Eventually he started working on the Frank-N-Dank EP on Dopeness Galore Records and this was one of the beats he sent off for them to use. Fast forward a year or so, they ended up not using this beat and it got in the hands of Andrew Meza of BTS Radio who then passed it on to Dego from 4Hero. While in NYC I walked in on him spinning this beat at a party which was completely unexpected as neither me nor I.N.T. knew how he got it. Fast forward another year or so, Dego demanded this beat would be on their “4Hero…Mixing” album and the rest is history.
03. Ragen Fykes – Helium
Unreleased, 2008
Me and Ragen have been friends for a few years without knowing of each other we both make music. One day Ragen told me she’s a singer too and it turned out that I own every project she was featured on. A while ago she started working on a project with producer/MC Ohmega Watts and Helium is one of the results of this collaboration. I’m fiending for more of this project, as I totally love Helium. So much so that a Sterile Action Figures remix is in the works at the moment.
04. The Bees – Punchbag
Sunshine Hit Me – We Love You, 2001
The Bees of A Band Of Bees are an English band who sadly have slipped past a lot of people’s radars. Their sound is a mixture between modern day influences (they quote J. Dilla as a big influence) and older stuff like 60′s rock which they put together in a very vintage sounding sweet sound. Punchbag is a track off their 2001 album “Sunshine Hit Me” which also features the fantastic “Sky Holds The Sun”. If you don’t know them yet, please go check them out.
05. Afra Behn – Black Angels (featuring Pfire)
The Vibemachine – Unsigned, 2007
I first heard of Afra Behn through Jneiro Jarel‘s “Three Piece Puzzle” LP. A little while after the release of that I came across his track “Black Angels” which was on the B-Side of a 12″ that I really can’t remember the name of. A year or so later I was talking to my friend Pfire and it turned out that she was actually the featured vocalist on it, and she sent me the track along with some other tracks of her (which are all equally as great). I figured a lot of people have never heard this song and that’s a shame as it’s one of my favorite tracks out of my music collection. If you like it, definitely check out Afra Behn’s “The Vibemachine” and check out Pfire’s music here.
06. Soulquarians – The Salma Hayek Show
Unreleased, 2002
Being an active member of the Okayplayer community I follow ?uestlove’s blog closely. One day last year he decided to put some unreleased outtakes from Common’s “Electric Circus” online and this one has always been my favorite. And what better way to speak about this than in ?uest’s own words:
ill say the main players for the entire album are James Poyser (keys and synths), J Dilla (drums, keys, synth, programming, bass), Pino Pallidino (bass, guitar) and Me on drums and percussion occasionally jeff lee johnson would come and bless us with his guitar playing.
James Poyser (a diehard Thrust and Sunlight student—go brush up on your Herbie 70s material youngins) was DYING for a reason to break out his dust filled Vocoder. i remember the day we did this we also had just cut EC’s “Between You And Me And Liberation”, and “Heaven Somewhere”. i think a magazine was lying around cause all James was saying in his microphone was “hey dont you wanna? hey salma heyek?”—we were all cracking up while recording this one. Dilla was on Sleigh Bells, and Pino was on bass. i remember Com telling me we needed some fast energetic shit that would make him jump around onstage. So the “Selma” song was born.
07. Nikki Jean – Sunshine
Unreleased, 2007
I got to know Nikki Jean through a mutual friend of ours and became a big fan of her now defunct band Nouveau Riche. Apart from Nouveau Riche, Nikki Jean has been making a name for herself with her very active Youtube blog and solo career (being featured on Lupe Fiasco’s album and on the “Glow In The Dark” tour alongside Kanye West, N.E.R.D. and Rihanna). “Sunshine” is one of the hidden gems that Nikki Jean recorded solo. I’ve had it for a while and have no idea what she’s going to do with it but it’s a lovely song.
08. Dyno – Fuh Real (featuring Naboobia)
Unreleased, 2008
Dyno is a producer from Ghent, Belgium whose work I’ve known for quite a while through Lefto. Past June Appletree Records had a stage at the Ijazz festival in Amsterdam and resident Appletree DJ SP was spinning this track. Backstage me and I.N.T. were going crazy over who this was and where it came from. Later that night SP revealed to us it was Dyno. After that I contacted Dyno about the track and we played it on Future Vintage several times. It’s one hell of a track.
09. Idle Warship – Screamin’ (featuring MC Chris)
White Label, Blacksmith, 2008
Back in the late 90′s I was a big Talib Kweli/Reflection Eternal/Black Star fan. Talib’s solo career has never really interested me apart from a song or a featuring here and there. So naturally when I heard Talib formed a new group with Res and Graph Nobel under the name Idle Warship I wasn’t immediately interested. When I heard “Screamin’” however I got VERY excited. This stuff is great!
10. Hollyweerd – Have You Ever Made Love To A Weirdo
Edible Phat, Unsigned, 2008
My friend DJ Brainchild of Gordon Gartrelle radio put me onto Hollyweerd earlier this year. “Have You Ever Made Love To A Weerdo” being the first track I had ever heard of them, it still remains my favorite. Hollyweerd reminds me a lot of Outkast in their prime, and their “Edible Phat” mixtape is full of great songs you might have not heard of yet. Check it out on their Myspace, it’s a FREE download anyway.
