Aurgasm

The duo of Ukrainian guys 5′nizza (pronounced pyatnitsa) experiments with layers of vocals and an acoustic guitar like no-one else. Harmonizing the most unexpected, humming, rappin’ and improvising, they bring a smile to your face. Using human voice they create the best quality break-beat rhythms, instrumentation of drums and trumpets. 5′nizza throws together reggae-like sounds, rock influences, bossa nova melodies, random energetic ska, enjoyable hip hop and the greatest fun from Eastern European underground.

I often wonder what the record label of the future looks like. Artists now can now create, record, promote and distribute their music for little or no cost. Thank you, Internet. Though I’ll admit, record labels have done a phenomenal job at curating similar talent; when you find an artist on Warp, Ninja Tune, or Stones Throw that you like, you can find other nuggets amongst their roster. Merck Records has been the same way, and it sadly closing its doors after years of delivering some amazing IDM and future beats.

I don’t want to be too self-congratulatory, but I have heard that David Byrne reads Aurgasm and Nic Harcourt (of KCRW) frequents mp3 blogs. But it’s really unknown what use mp3 blogs have been, or will be, to the music industry at large. Let’s assume for a moment that producers follow mp3 blogs as much as they crate dig in their search of the next great sample. Follow me down this path, will you…

uk pop ← new orleans jazz
If you didn’t already hear, Lily Allen is ‘the next big thing’. Music geeks have been pushing her, wanting her songs will blow up in the US mainstream for a while. She’s definitely got the appeal potential: crisp and fun production underneath her own gritty urban storytelling. Her track “Knock ‘Em Out” was released as a B-side, but is now getting as much attention as her released singles.
Lily Allen – Knock ‘Em Out from Alright, Still (2006)
If you’ve been with Aurgasm for a while, that opening that forms the basis for the track might sound a little familiar. In December 2004 I shared a track by New Orleans pianist Professor Longhair. Take a listen:
Professor Longhair – Big Chief (1964)

cuban mambo → chicago hip hop

Around the same time, a little more south, a Cuban vocalist by the name of La Lupe was gaining notoriety for her energetic live show and, quite franky, her near-insanity. Before joining Tito Puente’s tour, her fan-base included Pablo Picasso, Jean-Paul Sartre and novelist Ernest Hemingway, who called her act, “the art of frenzy.” Last October, I dubbed her song “Fever” as an mp3 gem in The Link List.
La Lupe – Fever (1961)
Chicago’s Rhymefest is best known for penning Kanye’s Grammy-winning single “Jesus Walks”, but you’ll hear that La Lupe track repurposed in this new single off his LP.
Rhymefest – Fever from Blue Collar (2006)

I hear you asking. “How precisely does a group of four Parisian DJs snag the DMC World Team Champion title?” (You’re asking that, right?) Well, let me let you in on a secret. It has to do with eight turntables, half as many mixers, and four Frenchmen that know how to cut, copy, paste, and manipulate songs into healthy grooves. The impressive thing here is that Nam Nam’s music is enjoyable by itself, yet similar to DJ Kentaro and C-Mon & Kypski, their performace and video techniques add the extra piece that establishs their obvious dynasty in the realm of team DJs. Peep the languid track below and then drop into the video of “˜Absesses’.

I imagine it’s pretty hard to remix songs that are as oft-played and over-sampled as much of the Sugarhill catalogue– and when I saw Still The Joint: Sugarhill Remixed in my local music emporium a few summers ago, I was a little dubious. But hey, it was the right price, so I picked it up and let it grow on me. Roots Manuva’s remix of ‘The Message’ by Grandmaster Flash, particularly, has been a regular fixture on my headphones ever since, with its shadowy horns and tight, controlled bass. Even better, though, is the way other tracks slink out of my iPod’s shuffle mode and take me by surprise, like the strut-worthy Two Lone Swordsmen remix of The Sequence’s ‘Funk You Up’.