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Preparing for Landing

Some day 2, some day 3 – in the middle of tracking guitars right about now!

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In-flight

Tracking drums and bass. Rehearsing.

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Ready For Takeoff

Setting up at Gigantic.

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Alexa Cabellon at the Glasslands Tonight! Cinco De Mayo Party!

I will be playing with Alexa Cabellon tonight at Glasslands for a Cinco De Mayo throw down. We’re up at 8:00pm, so get there early – cover’s only $5 bucks! Alexa will be backed by Kendrick Lo (yours truly!), Thomas White & Ian Chang. Going to be an awesome night of music!

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Hifana + Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo + Kicks = Sweet Nike Spot

I saw Hifana, I think, back in 2006 at a New York x Tokyo Hip-Hop NYC Summerstage event. This Japanese breakbeat duo put together one of the coolest live shows I’ve ever seen, attaching all of their gear to animations and video clips on so many screens that the power went out and Summerstage went black for a good 10 minutes while they had to get everything up and running again. The visual audio experience was so intense  I copped their debut album Fresh Push Breakin’ shortly after the show but nothing can compare to seeing them kick it live.

Cool to see them here working with Wieden+Kennedy for an awesome Nike Free spot called “Music Shoe” that features some… well… music + sneakers. This reminds me of just how creative and interesting these guys are. Ah, memories!

Hifana has a third album coming out soon – I suggest you check them out! (thanks to Gao Di for finding this ad!)

Wieden+Kennedy | Hifana

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White Hinterland – Moon Jam

Gao Di discovered White Hinterland on hype machine a little while back and the album, Kairos, came out last month and it is one of the cooler things I’ve listened to in a long while.  Casey Dienel is a great songwriter with an unbelievable voice. She has amazing control and can do some things that you don’t hear so often in this kind of music. The album is super cohesive and flows perfectly. The production is also really cool. Silky smooth. Listen to one of my favorite tracks, ‘Moon Jam,’ below.

LISTEN:

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Jaga Jazzist’s A Livingroom Hush – Throwback to ‘01

I forgot just how amazing Norwegian experimental jazz band Jaga Jazzist is. This band kills it. Hard. I got A Livingroom Hush back when it came out in 2001 and I always find myself coming back to this album. Jaga Jazzist has released two albums since, and it seems they moved on to a more ‘acoustic instrumental feel, but back in 2001 they had the most ridiculous blend of acoustic and electric instruments.

Tip of the hat has to go to this unbelievable jam, ‘Animal Chin.’ Pretty crazy video. Revel in all its glory.

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10:32’s Vanitas on Ghostly International is So Good

Here’s another release on Ghostly International that I’m in love with. 10:32’s Vanitas is a short EP but each song is so slick. 10:32 is a project from Australian producer Tim Koch. ‘Jitter Heart’ is really pretty, featuring a nice mix of nylon acoustic and layers of electronic sounds that create a really warm texture. Calming video, too! Feels to me like what a meeting between Cornelius and Nujabes might sound like. Another favorite from the EP is ‘Blue Little’ which features a darker hip-hop kind of sound. Go get this EP now.

10:32 on MySpace | Vanitas at the Ghostly Store

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Lusine – A Certain Distance / Seattle-based Electronic House

I only just really got into Ghostly International’s Lusine (Jeff McIlwain), but his ambient-electronic-house music is awesome. Originally from Texas, Seattle-based Jeff McIlwain attended CalArts where he studied 20th century electronic music and sound design for music and film.

A Certain Distance dropped last year but I just got a hold of it and Lusine’s sound is thick and thumping with an album that flows perfectly. This kind of stuff puts me in a trance. Some favorite tracks are ‘Thick of It,’ ‘Tin Hat,’ ‘Every Disguise’ and ‘Twilight.’ Listen to a track below.

LISTEN:

Lusine on MySpace | Buy A Certain Distance

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Ghostly International’s Music for Creatives Increases Productivity

Here is a free indie electronica mix from Ghostly International called Ghostly Essentials: Music For Creatives released in conjunction with Behance’s The 99% Conference. This mix features textural/ambient electronic music from multiple artists on the Ghostly label and is great for boosting your productivity. Artists on the mix are Aeroc, The Sight Below, Kiln, Syntaks, Christopher Willits, Cepia, Tycho and Lusine.

From Ghostly’s site: “Music for Creatives is built to inspire deep dives into the dark waters of creative flow.”

LISTEN to a track:

Download the 40 minute mix for free at Ghostly International (via Matthew Waldman @nooka)

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Chiddy Bang – Opposite of Adults Video

Check out soon-to-be-breakout hip-hop duo Chiddy Bang’s awesome video for their fun track ‘Opposite of Adults’ from their The Swelly Express mixtape. The single is set to be getting a proper release. The song itself is great and features a great beat that samples MGMT’s ‘Kids.’ The direction of this video is also really hip – very fresh. Check ‘em out.

This young group (read: Drexel freshmen) are bound for success. Looking forward to more! Thanks to Yue for the heads up on this one.

Chiddy Bang ‘Opposite of Adults’ from LOOSEWORLD on Vimeo.

Here is a video we shot a couple weeks ago for Chiddy Bang, a group on the rise. These dudes are young and about to kill the game. Not to mention the directors Ben and Duncan (of Waverly Films) are the shit. Making this video was mad fun …. Check out the Making of @:looseworld.com/blog/2010/02/15/behind-the-scenes-opposite-of-adults/

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Starkey, Anneka, Reso – Building the Beat for Mary Anne Hobbs

Just came across this (after having recently heard of Starkey) and I think it’s pretty amazing. Philly producer Starkey is put to the challenge of creating a track in two hours for Mary Anne Hobbs in a Radio 1 special called “Building the Beat.” With the assistance of vocalist Anneka, percussionist Reso, and some samples, Starkey had to write/record/produce the entire track within the time constraints. The track is pretty cool but I moreso think it’s amazing that they came out with a bumpin’ song within the limitations.

Download Moment’s of Mine from BBC Radio: Building the Beat – Starkey

Also, just for added awesomeness, here is Slugabed’s awesome remix of Starkey’s single featuring Anneka, ‘Stars.’

LISTEN:

Starkey’s sophomore release Ear Drums and Black Holes comes out April 19th, 2010.

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Starkey – Stars with Anneka is sweet

So, I really don’t know much about Starkey, but he’s surprisingly from Philadelphia. His Stars EP has a cool dubstep-club-electronic sound. “Stars” features some awesome vocals from Anneka (from the UK) that soar beautifully over Starkey’s beat to create a song that is reminiscent of the collaboration between Ellen Allien & Apparat and Cloud with Joanna Wahlsten. This track is awesome so give it a listen below.

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The EP also features some cool remixes from Slugabed, Few Nolder, Raffertie & Ital Tek, but the original is still my favorite.

http://www.starkey-music.com/

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NEW MUSIC – We’re Making Noise

Here’s some new music from yours truly! Okay, not really… This song isn’t that new (in fact, almost two years old), but I hadn’t gotten around to plopping it anywhere. What follows is a really simple Kendrick Lo poppy electronic jam to get your feet moving. It only occurred to me, listening to it now, that the lyrics towards the end get a little criss-crossy and confusing. That being said, I think it’s a fun one. Enjoy!

LISTEN:

Kendrick Lo - We're Making Noise

http://myspace.com/kendricklo

Side notes on the makeshift “album art.” The two-year-old original is pictured on the right here and is butt-ugly. A much needed refresh was created with the beautiful typeface Chunk made available at the League of Moveable Type by its creator Meredith Mandel and an awesome paper texture created by Daniel Bashie Larsen, check him out at Bashcorpo.

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Gorillaz’ Plastic Beach is Plastic Pop Awesome

Thanks to NPR I have been listening to Gorillaz’ new album, Plastic Beach, non-stop. On my first listen I went the whole thing through and I’m finding myself doing that again and again. Like Gorillaz past two albums, this one is pretty different with a lot of awesome new collaborations but still strung together quite nicely with Damon Albarn.

Collaborations include: Snoop Dogg, Little Dragon, Lou Reed, Mos Def, Bobby Womack, Gruff Rhys, Mark E. Smith, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Kano, Bashy, De La Soul, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, sinfonia ViVA, and the Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music.

I like the album as a whole but if I had to pick some favorites I’d say: “Empire Ants” which features Little Dragon. Yukimi Nagano’s voice is amazing here and sounds really great with Albarn’s. “Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach” because Snoop Dogg is awesome. “Superfast Jellyfish” because that chorus is ridiculously infectious. Also have to mention On “Melancholy Hill”, this track is great and features no collaborations, just Albarn’s voice and production.

Best line in Superfast Jellyfish: “Shower my habits while you dine like rabbits with the crunchy, crunchy  carrots (oh, that’s chicken!)”

Although the first Gorillaz album is still probably my favorite, this album is definitely some pop  awesomeness. I love that Gorillaz always manages to pop out sweet albums that feature very different sounds. Looking forward to hearing them bonus tracks. I’m hoping this release will bring some new Kidrobot Gorillaz toys. I am such a nerd.

I assume we can expect the next album in 2015?

LISTEN:

Stream the entire album on NPR