That's The Way To California

Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions album was released by Atlantic Records in 1997. It features some studio sessions and a live performance recorded for the British Broadcasting Corporation. The album was packaged as a double CD with disc 1 containing material recorded during three different BBC sessions in 1969 and disc 2 containing a concert performance at the Paris Theatre in London on April 1, 1971 (18 days prior to birth of yours truly, coincidentally).

Disc 2 has got the winners. These Led Zeppelin acoustic performances are magic AND they're played back to back.

"Going To California"
"That's The Way"

Street Records 2007

Known for breaking in and introducing some of Hip-Hop's most amazing acts through his Loud Records imprint in the early 90's, Steve Rifkind's got some good things happening in 2007.

The most reassuring point of the interview is that Ghostface's absence from Wu-Tang's next album 8 Diagrams is unlikely. We'll have to see about that.

The Gulliest

"...self appointed judge with power vested,
to hand down sentences from bus stop benches.
He's relentless with his it's just in his spirit
You don't want to read about it fool,
You want to feel it!"

-Brother Ali: "Pedigree"

"...move, pop, shake, drop, go, dumb, get drunk..."

-Prodigy: "Raining Guns and Shanks"

"...it's because of me she's walkin' crooked and her throat hurts"

-Big L: "Who You Slidin' Wit?"

Poetry For The Ages

No, I'm very happy. One of the funniest things I've seen all year, courtesy of the good folks at Oh Word!.

Cam's shots at 50 Cent were pretty amusing at first but things have gotten excessive and annoying. He's gone overboard which is why I enjoyed this so much. At this point, I need things like this more than petty shit like this.

Current Affairs

Who's gonna win?

Encore: "Love & Hate (The Mellow Drama) [The Nextmen Remix]"

Brand Nubian: "Love vs Hate"

Bummer

Some of the best Hip-Hop production I have ever heard was on Cannibal Ox's Cold Vein, with equally compelling narratives from the duo of Vast Aire and Vordul. That's why (although El-P's production is fantastic but still an acquired taste) most of his post-Cold Vein material hasn't quite measured up. Even El-P's solo debut Fantastic Damage was subpar in comparison. It was really disappointing to read the tail end of this interview I picked up at Can I Bring My Gat? where El-P dismisses a possible, long-awaited return from the Cannibal Ox. Truthfully, I haven't heard an album as thorough as Cannibal Ox's debut in, I don't know how long.

Cannibal Ox: "Vein" (The Cold Vein - Def Jux, 2001)
El-P: "Deep Space 9mm" (Fantastic Damage - Def Jux, 2002)

I Did...Sort of

...and so can you. Wah-tahh!!!

(Credit, again: AngryAsianMan)

The Legendary Mr. Chuck

It's from last year but Chuck D. never gives bad interviews. And he's never uninteresting.

Cosmic Slop

J-Dilla's Rough Draft dropped today. Before (or after) you cop it, check out these interviews, courtesy of Stones Throw.

Speaking of interviews, J. Sands of the Lone Catalysts continues to stay on the grind. (Coincidentally, he dropped a freebie Dilla tribute album Mrs. Sands: A Love Story on the internet this year. 10 songs deep. J. Sands freaking it over Dilla's work = Ill.)

O-Dub chimes in on the Amy Winehouse phenomenon. Interesting stuff.

Yes, yes, yes...Red Gone Wild drops on March 27. I've read a few Redman interviews the last couple of months but this one's got all the nooks and crannies...

The Magic Number

- Gene Harris on piano, Andrew Simpkins on bass and Bill Dowdy* on drums.

You can get a good run down on the group's history here if you're interested. Live At The Lighthouse is probably one of my favorites from the trio. This album wasn't recorded during one performance but represents a mix of several performances at the famed Lighthouse venue in Los Angeles recorded in a stretch of one summer.

"Sunny" is self-explanatory. If this tune doesn't make you feel good, you probably can't feel at all.

The 3 Sounds: "Sunny" (Live At The Lighthouse - Blue Note, 1967)

*By 1967, Bill Dowdy had left the trio and was replaced by Donald Bailey who played with the group throughout the Lighthouse performances.

Random:

I'm a big fan this Beirut - and now - this Beirut.

3 Ft. High & Rising

Nostalgia overload! Indeed.

After taking a look at MTV's list of the top 10 Hip-Hop groups of all time you have to wonder. They've got Outkast ranked #4 but I can't really even see them in the top 10. What's worse is the fact that they've got Salt 'n' Pepa at #8, The Fugees (who've only released two official albums in their short-lived career as a group) at #9 and UGK(????) at #10. And no De La Soul or The Roots. (Both groups, by the way, haven't disbanded and continue to record great music.)

That shit is baffling...

A New York State Of Mind

(A McCrank's Juke collabo.)

Listening to this on Sunday, the day they filled the brackets for the NCAAs. Syracuse got their bubble popped, but it really doesn't even seem to matter. Davis and Coltrane breezing lazy, waxing Blackbird and Walking. Creeping into summer, these songs on the box remind me of 15th street, riding bikes, and warm beerfest. Are you feeling it?

Miles Davis and John Coltrane - Live in New York
01. Bye, Bye, Blackbird
02. Four
03. It Never Entered My Mind
04. Walkin
05. Milestones
06. So What

Slow & Easy

This is one of those songs that, whenever I play it, I just want to crawl inside and become immersed in it's coolness. 2 minutes in and I feel as if I'm holding sway above the flux.

The Third Cup isn't as spectacular as The Next 100 Years which was recorded a year later. As a matter of fact, the latter is a complete contrast in style. But the title cut on Fisher's debut is a beautiful thing.

Eddie Fisher: "The Third Cup" (The Third Cup - Cadet, 1969)

Shimmy, Shimmy Ya

(A McCrank's Juke collabo. Feel this...Nuh!!)

Ol' Dirty Bastard - Free To Be Dirty: Live 2005

Nothing like the real thing baby...That's right Ol Dirty & The Bastard, for ya all. This album was recorded with the Brooklyn Zu in Toad's Place (2004). Russell Tyrone Jones, alias ODB drops his crazed, slurred, off-beat, half-sung half-rapped delivery on songs like: "Baby, Baby C'mon" and "Cold Blooded". "Free To Be Dirty: Live 2005" is nothing like some of the other more obscure albums, but it kinda messes you up.

Jack this into your iPod and take a drag on Ol' Dirty Bastard, circa 2005...

Perspective

Traffic was thick this evening and I was once again saved by the random shuffle of my Itunes. These two came back to back as my exhausted, cluttered and convoluted mind was beginning to unravel. Therapeudic, indeed.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: "The Lee Shore"
Grant Green: "Cease The Bombing"

"(We Just Think We're Better)"

"...And we will never conform. Ever."

Lady Soul

I've got many Aretha Franklin favorites but these two treats have become the most endearing to me over the years.

"Oh No Not My Baby" is an uptempo groover. I'm digging all the elements here - the drum kicks are serious, the string arrangements, the rhythmic guitar strums, the horn jabs and Aretha's urging vocals and interplay with her background singers. A killer production all around.

The thing that strikes me the most about "Crazy He Calls Me" is the cozy intimacy of Aretha's performance. She sustains it from beginning to end. When she proclaims "I say I'll move the mountains, and I'll move the mountains, if he wants them out of the way", I'm certain she will.

Disarming.

"Oh No Not My Baby" (Spirit In The Dark, 1970)
"Crazy He Calls Me" (Aretha Franklin: Soul '69, 1969)

Return Of The Funk Doc

Word is Redman's Red Gone Wild will finally see a release date of March 27, 2007. That's right, this fuckin' year! Although I wouldn't necessarily put my pink slip on it (after all, this is Hip-Hop and he is still on Def Jam), I'm almost sure enough to hold my breath. While I'm not sure why this album has been pushed back for so long (remember, Malpractice dropped in 2001), it's been way too long between official releases and it's about time his elastic flows finally get a push into the radio airwaves. He hasn't remained idle as dedicated fans probably have his various Gilla House Mixtapes, including his latest pre-Red Gone Wild installment Live From The Bricks.

Truth be told, I can't wait.

I don't feel it necessary to break down his lyrical virtuosity and effortless delivery. I'm not even sure he has a technique that he's even aware of because his stream of words and syllables seem to take on a life of their own. His own description is best, "My words prac-tic-ly geronimo! off the disc!!".

Let it marinate. I guarantee you'll enjoy every unrestrained flurry...

"The Saga Continues" (J-Zone Remix)
"Lick A Shot"

Dilla Day

I can't give you a favorite J-Dilla production cause there's just too many. These two Dilla creations are impeccable. "Love" is off of his second posthumous album The Shining released on BBE shortly after Donuts, Dilla's incredible instrumental record. It's a song that just takes off from jump and lifts you off your feet with it's soaring strings and soulful chorus, "We must be in loooovve". I think Monch should have stuck with what he does best but he chose to take a gospel route with the sing-songy hooks. But the track really isn't about his inclusion. It's all Dilla baby.

"Dollar" comes from Steve Spacek's Space Shift released in 2005. It's got similar characteristics as "Love" although it doesn't possess the same burst of energy. "Let the dollar circulate!" over that horn break is tremendous and I love how the track turns more subdued with the low-key bassline as Spacek's hollow vocals plays contrast. It's almost like Marvin Gaye kicking vintage vocals over a J-Dilla remix - Modern Contemporary Urban Hip-Hop Intergalactic Classic Soul if you will...

J-Dilla feat. Pharoah Monch: "Love"
Steve Spacek: "Dollar"

ZZZZZ

I slept and completely forgot that one of the best who ever did it had a birthday on February 7. Hold tight while I scramble for some J-Dilla goodies...