Pep Love & Jay Biz – Every Day Of The Week ]]>
Terry Huff and Special Delivery’s I Destroyed Your Love is a great cut from his 1976 record The Lonely One. It’s a bit of a Here, My Dear knockoff with its lyrical and melodic straightforwardness but that’s not a bad thing in the slightest, especially when paired with Terry Huff’s powerful falsetto. Just like an R Kelly couplet Pt. 2 is where it’s really at, freed from the main melody and with a good minute of soulful spoken word near the end.
Terry Huff – I Destroyed Your Love, Pt. 1
Terry Huff – I Destroyed Your Love, Pt. 2
A sweet beat for a Sunday morning
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Been on a serious Brazilian kick as of late, seems to be all I want to listen to. Rediscovering old favorites, exploring the extensive catalogs of the greats, and pretty much finding new gems everywhere I look. Here’s a few worth checking for now, with a full fledged post dedicated to my favorite artist from the country (Jorge Ben) to follow.
I don’t know what Tim Maia is saying exactly in Eu Amo Voce but damn does it break my heart. So much emotion in the man’s voice that the meaning of his lyrics ring clear despite the language barrier. A lovely little slice of soul, served South American style – I closed my eyes on the subway to this track today, played it twice in a row and just drifted away. The second track, Padre Cicero, turns down the longing and turns up the psychedelics while still staying true to his signature sound. Love the falsettos and the loose, grimy production – songs just aren’t put down like this anymore for some reason.
There’s something about the high pitched, playfully out of tune sound of the cavaquinho in Toquino’s Tema Prá Silvinha that takes me back to wandering the backstreets of Vila Madalena, taking in the sights and sounds of Brazil for the first time. A short and sweet samba melody that could probably have gone on for 10 more minutes and I would have enjoyed every bit of it.
Orlandivo may sound a bit like a muppet but his self titled album from the late 70’s is still a corny funk gem that I can’t seem to get enough of. It’s a record full of fuzzy keyboards, deep grooves and traditional Bossa that was something of a throwback upon release. Disse-me-disse is some straight up happy time music from the set, dig those flutes and little Rhodes licks that pop in throughout.
Quarteto em Cy is easily my favorite vocal group from Brazil – four lovely ladies that move in and out of unison and complex harmony effortlessly. When paired with great songwriters and musicians they created some of the best songs of the MPB era. Whenever the brief chorus hits in Gostava Tanto De Voce I curl up a little inside in the best possible way – warm blanket pop music with a just a hint of melancholy.
Baby by Os Mutantes is a classic, not much else to say. This mellower version from ‘71 is easily the superior version in my opinion with a smooth Nico-influenced vocal, hot lyrics (in English!) and a punchdrunk sway that fits the tune just right. Os Mutantes may have some brilliant experimental and abrasive stuff under their belt, but this pretty love song has easily become of my favorite tracks from the group over time. Sometimes simpler is better.
Tim Maia – Eu Amo Voce
Tim Maia – Padre Cicero
Toquino – Tema Prá Silvinha
Orlandivo – Disse-me-disse
Quarteto em Cy – Gostava Tanto De Voce
Os Mutantes – Baby
An oldie but goodie from the excellent Art of No State record. Blue eyed electronic soul, heavy on the Rhodes.
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After some promising early tracks and EP’s, Chazwick Budnick’s first full length release Causers Of This finally arrived this past January and it’s grown into one of my go to records over time. Critics and kids lump it into the chillwave subgenre, a title that was thrown around a lot last summer and probably has some sort of backlash attached to it by now. The album reminds me of a mopier and spacier Midnight Vultures at first listen – a fun collection of heavily produced, genre mashing indie funk. Toro Y Moi definitely brings a unique take to the table though, with delicious synthesizer overload and an almost Hip Hop take on production technique that really make his compositions shine.
There’s catchy tracks throughout but I’ve been enjoying some of the slower burns lately like the haunting, Madlib-esque Fax Shadow and the barrage of blips and warbles in Lissoms. I could totally see Toro Y Moi producing beats for A-level rappers at some point, in fact I hope it happens – what is Ghostface doing these days?
Toro Y Moi – Imprint After
Toro Y Moi – Lissoms
Toro Y Moi – Fax Shadow
Toro Y Moi – Talamak
Toro Y Moi – Low Shoulder
Jun Seba, known as Nujabes to the Hip Hop community, died in a car crash on February 26 on the Shuto Expressway outside of Tokyo, Japan. He led a private live and his death was only recently announced to the public at large via his label, Hydeout Productions. He was 36 years old.
I first heard Nujabes’ signature laid back sound while falling in love with Samurai Champloo, the landmark anime series from the mind of Shinichiro Watanabe. It’s a special show in my opinion, one that brilliantly fused striking animation, lasting characters, historical Japanese settings and Hip Hop music to great effect from the gripping opening scenes to the touching finale. It’s still my favorite anime to date by far, and the endlessly replayable soundtrack has a lot to do with that.
The soundtrack itself is a collaboration of four talented Japanese producers and a few vocalists, all contributing worthy tracks and moments to be sure. But for me Nujabes stood tallest amongst his peers – his name was the one behind the most inspired and lasting music of the series, classic beats like Aruarian Dance, The Space Between Two Worlds and Tsurugi No Mai. Aruarian Dance in particular is a desert island track for me, and it was the very first song I posted on the very first Benzi Box streaming playlist when I started this thing some 4 years ago or so. It’s a deceptively simple beat that wraps you up in a warm blanket, equally perfect for blistering snowstorms and lazy Sundays in the summer. For that track alone Nujabes is a god tier producer in my eyes, but thankfully after digging into his other material for Hydeout it was revealed that this guy was a serious talent with plenty to offer Hip Hop aside from a handful of tracks from an anime series.
His best beats tended to be tinted with melancholy – case in point is Lady Brown from the Metaphorical Music LP, where Cise Starr’s funky wordplay is backed by somber, swirling guitars and head nodding drums. Nujabes also made numerous contributions to Hydeout’s First and Second Collections that I’ve posted below. Check the dark and dreamy Steadfast, Still Talking To You which features some impressive chopped up samples and the more upbeat Sky Is Falling featuring the lyrical stylings of Hip Hop legend CL Smooth. He also played the producer role on a number of tracks for Hydeout artists, and the two below showcase both his laid back fun and melancholic tendencies quite nicely.
Hydeout is saying that Jun left behind tracks that will see release at some point in the future, and I’ll do my best to post them once they arrive. As it stands the Hip Hop scene, specifically on a global scale, has lost a great and somewhat mysterious talent whose sparse output and low visibility belies the timeless quality found within his music.
Nujabes – Battlecry (feat. Shing02)
Nujabes – The Space Between Two Worlds
Nujabes – Aruarian Dance
Nujabes – Tsuragi No Mai
Nujabes – Lady Brown (feat. Cise Starr from CYNE)
Nujabes – Still Talking To You
Nujabes – Steadfast
Nujabes – Sky is Falling (feat. CL Smooth)
Funky DL – Don’t Even Try It (feat. Nujabes)
Clammbon – Imaginary Folklore (feat. Nujabes)
Caribou (aka Manitoba, aka Dan Snaith) has always rooted his shifting songwriting and production techniques in the warm psychedellic fuzzies of dance music. Even so it feels almost revelatory to finally hear all of that keyboard grit and hypnotic phrasing taking over on 2010’s Swim, where the house influences become the driving force behind perhaps his best sound to date. The drum sequencing remains tasteful and often minimalist, even when the rest of the soundscape is thizzing out (Kaili). Songs can range from bouncy (Sun) to euphoric (Jamelia) to dark 80’s pop music (Odessa). It’s cohesive, it’s confident, and it’s most certainly worth looking out for when it drops on April 20.
Caribou – Odessa
Caribou – Sun
Caribou – Kaili
Caribou – Jamelia
Much love to those checking benzi box after all these years. Here’s some babymaking music for y’all~
Luke & Q – Give It To You
Minnie Riperton – Inside My Love
Maxwell – Sumthin’ Sumthin’
Don Blackman – Holding You, Loving You
random friday night mixup go
The Cansecos – Raised by Wolves
Flowchart – Ask the Boss
Pharrell – Number One feat. Kanye West
Dâm-Funk – Candy Dancin’ feat. Mark De Clive
Cyne – Boombox Pimp
Hall & Oates – Kiss is on my List
AZ – Ho Happy Jackie
Michael Jackson – Off The Wall
Crystal Castles – Air War
R Kelly – Steppin’ Into Heaven
Phoenix – If I Ever Feel Better
Eddie Kendricks – Girl, You Need a Change of Mind