317 electro

SMOOTHER THAN PEANUT BUTTER

There is something to be said for real instruments. The smooth bass licks, guitar riffs and banging drum lines cannot be beat by their electronic counter part. I know I might catch some flak for this statement, but my conviction remains concrete. In all modern music, the process of production and the reassessment on the behalf of the sound engineer seem to leave out that sense of imperfection and in my opinion the true authenticity of music. No means of listening to music has the same appeal as that of a live show. Crowd reaction, atmosphere, artistic variations all contribute to the appeal of not only a live show but also the music itself. New recording equipment and professionals might make the music sound “better” but you in essence you can lose the imperfections of not only in voice but also instruments, which in my opinion is the beauty of music. The spontaneity the occurs during the creating and recording processes. My arguments can continue in the way people listen to music as well. The hills and valleys of vinyl records have been replaced by the ones and zeros of digital music. While the sound quality is often arguable, I prefer the sense of nostalgia and authenticity found the black grooves of a record vs. the click of a mouse. While I am guilty of hypocrisies as I am an advent digital user I thought I would make a point here and profess my opinion and love of vinyl and physical instruments. Anyways I just needed a medium to project my opinion and well, here it is for those that actually read my often problematic entries.

This break was hiding in my collection. It is a little intense at first, with a hard congo line but some string rhythm breaks in after a while and just destroys it! This track has got some serious funk to it. I would be surprised after a couple of listens if you do not start dancing a little yourself. Don’t know too much about the African Music Machine, beside their dope name and this dope track but I will be looking into more of their stuff and hopefully some bangers will be discovered. I am a little weary about the way in which the track ends and leads me to believe that my copy is cut short but other than that, bukka! what a beauty. Breaks have been a mysterious pleasure of mine, I don’t know too much about them and I am not sure how the genre really came about besides their use in break dancing, but when I come across one JIMMENY, look out. Please enjoy this bad boy, I know I have!

African Music Machine – Disco Congo

When I was back in the great city of Toronto on Christmas break I had found myself on a bit of dig in the trendiest area of town I could find, the Queen and Spadina junction. I am just going to spread the word on a couple of Record and CD shops in the area to give em some love and respect and hopefully some ideas if you find yourself in Toronto. Firstly, the classic scene shop Rotate This. Although the staff can often be snotty and pretentious they have a great selection of Records and CDs both new and used, great shop if you know what you are looking for or simply are digging. Penguin Records on the other hand has a great selection of jazz records with the odd overlooked deal; Penguin also has a dope selection of new “indie” records to choose from. Penguin moved recently to a new location which I often get lost finding so bare with me. Anyways the point of this paragraph was the mention Cosmos Records a great soul/funk/blues shop with two locations of equal value. The guy that works at the Queen location knows what he is doing and had some serious knowledge. I had picked up on impulse a record he had mentioned to me, The Ramsey Lewis Trio – Upendo Nipamoja. Very reasonably priced, and worth every penny spent. The art work looks like a hastily bought birthday card from your Aunt and Uncle on their way to your party. So I was a little weary of my purchase until I got home and heard what was on the record. The track I have made available is smoother than peanut butter, enough said.

Ramsey Lewis Trio – Slippin' into Darkness

Got a little something else that you might enjoy if you dig on Ramsey Lewis, a little more upbeat in a way, but is smooth as hell.

Melvin Van Peebles – Sweetback’s Theme

This track is a bit of a mystery to me as well. A track by an artist (or a group I am unsure) by the name of the Baltimore Beat Connection. This remix of Paul Simon’s 50 Ways to Lose Your Lover is killer. BBC employs the classic drum line from the original track that overtime has become infamous over its time and a sped up rendition of Simon’s vocal track. Take a listen for yourselves and hopefully I can gather some more information about this bad boy. Please if anyone has any other tracks including the Baltimore Beat Connection let me know, send them my way, inform me, and do something ha! I simply cannot seem to find anything. Here is the sole track I have come in contact with so please enjoy.

Baltimore Beat Connection - 50 Ways

Cheers,
Qwantum