Posted on 06/19/2009
Everyone has a summer jam(s), songs that bookmark each summer reminding you of the weather, the good people you know and the very best of times. Last year Chrisette Michele provided the vocals on one of my favorite summer joints of all time, “Rising Up” by The Roots. While I championed her first album Here I Am, telling everyone within listening distance to check it out, it was her performance...

Posted on 06/19/2009
Ubiquity Records’ longstanding reputation as a “could never be questioned” entity, due in part to many stellar releases from a diverse pool of artists such as Sa-Ra, Clutchy Hopkins, and Breakestra to name a few, is still in tact. With such a strong roster, Bay Area multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Nino Moschella has managed to add serious weight and a steady funk groove to the list with his latest release Boom Shadow. Nino...

Posted on 06/19/2009
Popular British club record-spinner DJ Cliffy has selected some choice cuts from the deep funk and samba of 70s Brazil for his second compilation Black Rio 2, a further delving into the impressive mixture of American and local styles played by the youth at parties, that underwent a marginalisation following the rule of General Emilio Garrastazu Medici.

Posted on 06/19/2009
Car-riding music. That’s what Day 1ne’s new LP Super Fresh is. But not the stereotypical, deafening trunk wattage that hip-hop heads of today know and love. This is more like, Pete Rock and CL Smooth, car-riding music. What I would imagine California, Day 1ne’s home, to be like in the June, car-riding music. And it’s right on time for the summer.

Posted on 06/19/2009
The one benefit many heralded recording artists share, regardless of their genre, is that their fans are typically forgiving of their long layoffs. In Hip Hop however, five years is a near eternity. 2004 marks the year in which we last heard from Detroit superstar MC Marshall Mathers – commonly known as Eminem and Slim Shady – with his album Encore. Eminem marks his return to the mainstream with Relapse,...

Posted on 06/19/2009
Music is much like fashion, in that it tends to ebb and flow with constant revisiting of colors, sounds and styles of prior decades. The contemporary indie folk movement, spiced with a tinge of ambient rock and chamber music, has created a sort of spooky mountain music. Think Radiohead performing at Woodstock. A part of the same flannel that Grizzly Bear, Bon Iver, and Fleet Foxes were cut from,...