I was turned onto G-Side from my man Doug via DJ Matthew Africa. The duo of Yung Clova and ST 2 Lettaz have been doing their thing for a few years now to put Huntsville, Alabama on the Hip-Hop map, and they deliver on their latest album The Huntsville Project. The sound is fresh, the beats are from space and the rhymes drip with sticky, southern drawl like sauce from the bone. It’s a strictly independent venture over at Slow Motion Soundz which makes G-Side even easier to get behind.
T.H.P. was released in November 2009 as a free download. Grab it here. Free shit, people!
G-Side – Bandz feat. DJ Cunta
G-Side – Paradise (produced by Mick Vegas)
G-Side – Who’s Hood? Ft Yelawolf (produced by Block Beattaz)
A selection from DJ Max Clazziquai tonight for your enjoyment, named after and heavily featuring the South Korean outfit known as Clazziquai Project.
Electronics has grown to become one of my favorite tracks in the entire series. Watch it played Technika-style here and tell me that doesn’t look like fun. Hard to Start is a cutesy little chiptune that’s always a pleasant play/listen. No Way is typical of DJ Max’s guilty pleasure R&B – it’s a little corny and cringe worthy but still undeniably funky and catchy. The extended version breathes a bit more than the condensed track and it’s the better listen in my opinion. Color is another lean gem from Clazziquai, Touch My Body is another funky facepalm that I can’t help but move around to. Still nothing compared to the truly embarrassing bubblegum K-Pop I’ve got planned for later in the week. Gamer shame ftw!
CLAZZIQUAI – Electronics
015B – Hard to Start
015B – No Way (Extended Version)
CLAZZIQUAI – Color
Cool’s Hot Box – Touch my Body
Ok, I’ll admit it. The reason I started posting again was to have a venue to put all of these ridiculously catchy DJ Max songs that have been bustling through my head over the past few weeks. Now I’ve been a fan of DJ Max for a while but lately it’s been making a resurgence as I work my way through Black Square and Clazziquai. Also have a serious jones to play more Technika at some point as well.
DJ Max is a series of bemani style rhythm games for the PSP by Korean developer Pentavision, known for their original soundtracks, sense of style and astounding difficulty during high level play. Learning the game is like learning an instrument in a way as the falling note charts blend rhythm, vocal and instrumental lines seemingly at random, creating a chaotic mix that can be incredibly rewarding when performed well. Different modes are available for different skill sets, which helps ease in new players to the gameplay mechanics. But the first thing a newcomer would probably notice is damn, this game is mad Japanese.
And then I would respond in a nerdy voice that actually the developer is Korean, but there’s no question about it – this game is unabashedly full of eastern style artwork and animation, flashy lights, lazy English translation and music that would be a fitting bookend to any number of popular anime programs. Yet the music is what keeps me coming back – wildly creative at times, all over the map stylistically, a ton of fun to play. From electropop to happycore, modern R&B to soulful drum n’ bass, DJ Max has a little something for everyone. And with 5 portable releases (only one officially for the U.S.) plus Technika, there is plenty of it to go around at this point.
Pentavision calls upon a stable of artists and producers for their games (3rd Coast, Croove, and ND Lee are some of the more prolific ones) and the tracks are often heavily produced for the sake of better gameplay. Thematically everything fits together nicely despite the wide range of influences, because when it comes down to it the overall sound is that of a very good, very quirky videogame soundtrack. Today’s group of tunes are pulled from the DJ Max Technika soundtrack but they all first appeared in Black Square. More to come over the week, why not
Humming Urban Stereo – Honeymoon
ND Lee – Y
bermei.inazawa – Melody
Urbatronic Chopsticks – Play the FUTURE
Makou – Voyage
3 months and change since my last half hearted post. Even I’m impressed/disappointed. The amount of spam currently awaiting moderation for this site fascinates me, there’s over 12,000 unread messages in total. Dealing with nothing but comments from pharma bots was a major factor towards losing interest in keeping benzi box moving along – if I could sustain a readership with those kind of numbers my post frequency would probably approach something more resembling a torrent of musical delights instead of the stale drip its become.
That’s all the excuses I can muster – time to ease back into my quiet corner of the internet once again with some creaky northern soul from the vault. Little Girl Lost charms me with with off key schmaltz and a muddy warped out sound usually reserved for a well loved cassette. Promised Land mixes early rock and roll with gospel resulting in a cold but focused 2 minute gem with nary a second wasted. And then Mamma Didn’t Lie sounds like a hit on the R&B charts to my ears, a jaunty little romp penned by Curtis Mayfield and performed by an early lineup Martha & the Vandellas. The more well known recording was done by Jan Bradley, who saw her version take off on a national level just as this one faltered into obscurity. I personally prefer Bernadine Boswell Smith’s raw lead on the track to Jan’s, even if Curtis’ genius is present in both.
The Shepards – Little Girl Lost
Buddy Lamp – Promised Land
The Fascinations – Mamma Didn’t Lie
posted on
October 28, 2009 at 1:04 am, filed under
music and tagged
80's,
hip hop.
Been listening to Dâm-Funk on repeat for most of the day. Can’t wait for that guy to finish Toeachizown, it’s gonna be epic. Here’s how it starts up, first 3 tracks from Vol.1: LAtrik below.
Dâm-Funk – Toeachizown
Dâm-Funk – Mirrors
Dâm-Funk – On & On
stones throw
myspace
Not a huge fan of the band but this poppy little English number was running circles through my sleep deprived head on the subway ride home today.
Field Music – A House Is Not A Home
This Souls of Mischief track had to be kept off their second album, No Man’s Land because Bob James wouldn’t approve the sample. Bob James is an asshole!
Bob James – Angela
Souls of Michief – Cabfare
