Like many of you all out there, Monday is not my favorite day of the week. However, there are those times when Mondays are pretty damn awesome…like when you get fresh new Music delivered to your desk first thing in the morning!
I finally got my copy of Tall Black Guy‘s Tempo Dreams Volume 1 in the mail today and couldn’t wait to get home to fire up the turntable (yes, vinyl!). TBG’s latest project is a compilation LP which consists of tracks from some of his favorites producers. The lineup includes BusCrates 16-Bit Ensemble, Detroit’s own Doc Illingsworth, Apple Jac, Ta-Ku and several others. Oh, and of course there’s a banger on there by the man himself.
Check out the video trailer below then head on over to Bastard Jazz and order a copy!
DJ / Producer Eric Lau was recently asked to do a mix…but not just any ol’ ordinary mix. The mix had to contain songs that fit the theme of his‘Last Night On Earth’. He took on the challenge and put together a compilation that contains Music he fell in love with as a child with some more recent joints by the late, great J. Dilla. Check out the playlist of songs that Eric would bump as he leaves Mother Earth. Oh yeah, download it for free while you still have the chance!
DJ / Producer Applejac has been doing his thing in the Music world for quite some time. Hailing from Decatur, GA, he started DJing at the age of 10! A serious Music lover, the talented DJ is known for his wide-ranging styles, spinning everything from Afrobeat, classic Hip Hop, Funk, Soulful House and many other genres.
With his latest release “Playin Favorites” you can get a taste of his incredible production skills. Inside you’ll find some smooth spoken word from Baldhead Queen (love the lyrics Nina!) some straight-up funk from Reggie B. and…well, have a listen for yourself. This one has grooves to get your head nodding as well as some laid back joints to help you unwind and get your mind right.
Discovering new Music is always good but discovering new Music out of Detroit really gets me fired up! Hey, what else would you expect from this Detroit cat?
Liquid Copper is 21 tracks of goodness by Detroit producer Eddie Logix. This is the first instrumental release by the Hip-Hop producer who has produced Music for many Detroit MCs. It’s real good…and it’s free! Enjoy.
Instrumentals Vol.3 by Concept is part of the “Instrumentals” series released in 2010 (be sure to check out the first two in the series as well). This collection of 9 songs will take you back in time a bit with its funk and soul inspired grooves. As I listened to each track I could hear elements of the great artists that were sketched on the cover. Oh yeah, the cover art is incredible! Enjoy.
Dreams. We all have them…right? I hope you do! Moving to Japan was one of my dreams, that actually came true (I still find it hard to believe some times).
One of my other dreams: Making & Playing Music.
My Musical weapon of choice: Bass Guitar.
(Yes that is my baby “Kofi Brown” at time of this page.)
Towards the end of Summer 2010, my good friend (and co-worker) Daisaku and I decided to start a band. At first it was just he and I in the studio but we soon discovered that there is only so much fun you can have and only so much Music you can make with 1 Guitar and 1 Bass. About two months later Daisaku asked his friend Kaz if he would like to be our drummer. Kaz said yes and has become my rhythm section brother. We really needed a keyboard / piano player, so we decided to search the Twitterverse (aka Twitter). After a few responses from people that were either already pros (we are not) or just didn’t have what we were looking for, we thought, “Ok, this is not going to be so easy.” You know, sometimes you just have to be patient. We soon found our pianoman: Masaru.
As a group, the 4 of us have only been playing together since February 1 of this year although it seems like we’ve known each other for many years because of the amount of fun we have. Studio time followed by cheap food and even cheaper beer (no we’re not cheap!) before catching the next to the last train (yes we are responsible!) is a weekly ritual I always look forward to. My Musical brothers are really talented and I really feel honored to be able to play with them.
On Sunday March 6, 2011, we invited a small group of people to come and get a taste of “our” Music. I said “our” because 99% of our stuff is original. This was our first time playing live as a band, my guitarist’s first time in about 10 years and my first time ever. Yes, I was nervous as f***!
Anyway, here’s a little piece from our first live performance.
I hope you enjoy it.
