Highfive - Vanilla

         

 Soul Beats.

            Highfive is a wonderful banger that blesses Vanilla's "High Life". The track is some rich warm dream. It is a song I'd play when the sun is at its lowest. The Earth is enriched with an orange glow as the last of our life support kisses the horizon. Dusk. The track fits that time of day perfectly. I feel so high listening to it. Between the warm rhythms and the soulful vocals I'm inspired. With a warm environment and sound everything in life feels better.
            The production has a lot of dope shit pieced together. The damn chords are just fabulous. What seems like a guitar plays under those beautiful notes. Being a hip-hop beat, the percussion is boom bap and made for the bobbing of my head. Even as I type I sit here with the track on repeat, drumming kick and snare with my fingers. The vocals are wonderfully sampled. He uses that lovely chopping to scatter the bits across the piece. While sing singing is more difficult it is so much fun to just spit out those few audible words to the beat.
            At one point the track reaches a break. The drums are muted and we are teased as the loop repeats and then it finally breaks down at the very end. About all you can hear are the hi hats along with the main melody. Then oooh my god the way the track is broken down is so ill.

I can picture so much trough this one instrumental, all themed around that dusky time of day that let's the land glow:

• The drives through the mountains come to mind. Lakes, rivers, fields are wizzed by as I cruise to this beat. 
• I can imagine sitting atop a rooftop in an urban area. The day is over and I can relax. The whole world is bustling down below and I, I am happy and at ease.
• The thoughts of goals and dreams being realized. Envisioning some big success story coming together this is the track that would play. An extreme happiness that is dug up as one realized their goals are about to be realized. As I said, the track glows and inspires me; it grants me such thoughts as a success story in my head.

Thanks Vanilla, Highfive has been a favorite for awhile now. Happy to support you and your endeavours. This track accompanies many a day dream, no matter how foolish or realistic.

So Nice (Sambe De Verano) - Astrud Gilberto

           Picked up a bunch of CDs at a shop down in the Cape. The funny part is that store was Barnes n' Noble. However, I found a ton of classics for like five dollars. The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Astrud Gilberto, The Spinners, Marvin Gaye, and Barry White. Also I stopped in at Newbury Comics, which is a store I'm liking less and less. All I picked up there was Nat King Cole, couldn't find much else, delightful nonetheless!
           This lovely woman is what I listened to first when I returned home (the trouble with buying CDs while away on vacation). And considering the stores I go to never carry much of what I am looking for; I am often in the minority; I am stuck buying "greatest hits". However, I still have 20 beautiful tracks from Ms. Gilberto. I am loving it, and it has already accompanied many quiet evenings and romantic drives.
           So Nice....her voice is. Bossa nova is receiving a warm welcome in my library. This tune is very light and romantic. Gilberto wants what many desire, someone to accompany us in life. And I am just in love with her voice and all these jazzy tunes. The whole CD feels like I am enjoying a beach stay at my Summer home. Luxury paints the whole vibe for me. These works are elegant and high class.
And as the song progresses there are often breaks. You can enjoy what feels like an instrumental then be pleasantly reminded Gilberto is still here. In and out with voice and instrument is incredibly effective. I know that is rather vague and so much music does that, but these songs really do flow well.

I am very glad I picked this up. So many lovely songs for multiple occasions.

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Gleichmäßig deckender Spritzbewurf - 2 Zimmer Gefüge

             I ordered an LP from Germany, that came in the mail maybe a week or so ago. I have absolutely fallen in love with it. As I mentioned in my last post I have been loving international hip-hop acts, and the German artists I stumbled upon are turning out superb. "Aus Dem 2 Zimmer Gefüge" is the group's official album release. Only available on vinyl I knew I had to get my hands on it, as I couldn't be without the songs. The only way I could listen was from an album snippet on Youtube. On my listen I was blown away. It is a phenomenon I have noticed that songs can be at first frowned at and it isn't till I actually have them in my library I love it. It is as if I suddenly pay more attention than if streaming a song on the web somewhere.
              This track is actually one that I was really excited to hear the full version of. Through the snippet they played dEnkmaschine's verse, who is becoming a voice I am recognizing through their music. I think that familiarity is important, especially in a foreign language. I can always get excited knowing who is rapping and growing anticipation seeing his name on a track.
             First however, the beat. The music is probably as fun as it gets on the LP, and being just before the outro I signal it as a strong close. A piano that is light, goofy, and catchy. The beat is of course classic boom bap boombap hip-hop. Scratching used to wonderful wonderful wonderful effect!!! It is immediately something to sing along with. And that sax is tucked in their very smoothly. And oooh the scratches on that first break. Motherfuckaaa ha ha, damn that is just the best!

Okay, beat is dope, established that. The raps? Once again faced by a language barrier I provide a vague appreciation of the verses.

             Now so far I haven't learned all the names of these guys, as they are not all listed in each track. They all flow so beautifully though. dEnk's verse is something that grabs me quickly. The man after is a bit more mellow, or so it feels. Yet again the voice is just butter over the track, they all perform to that level. The third verse has some fascinating snippets of English, "beachboy image...crossover powers over slow beat" something like that. The scratching after the 4th verse is cool too. "the pressure". That fifth verse is great. He slows it down, adds some real flavor, coughing in his lines is just great effect! The sixth verse ties it down and proves that they successfully flow and transition so damn smoothly between verses.

The final scratches are hilarious though. All about pimpin'. Ha, man what a track.

Hope you love this as much as American hip-hop.

Order the LP Here and show your support. 

dasNaturelle - Flofilz feat. dEnkmaschine derBenman & Joe Space

            Hip-hop. Jazzy hip-hop with killer flows. German hip-hop with those qualities. Wow. I have been exposed to a lot of new languages over a year now. And I was proud to accept German hip-hop into my library back in January. The connection? I found Flofilz from his hit remix "Gitdown", dope as well, and played "Amarenabecher" on his page, and bam I was blown away! It is one thing to find raps in foreign languages, but finding that dope underground sounds is so rare. Otherwise I wouldn't be so impressed. I could always google "russian hip-hop" and I would come up with all sorts of weak crap; the same follows for anything really. A particular taste isn't quickly satisfied; the fun and reward in digging is found here. With that said, these gentlemen were a piece of that excellence in the foreign category of my library.
           After already closely following Flofilz I was on the lookout for any beats, remixes, albums or anything with his name on it. He and Pawcut released "Duplex". Flofilz handling the first 11 tracks and Pawcut the remaining 10. It has its ups and downs but the album is a solid release. I didn't enjoy any of the productions featuring english-rapping emcees, strange coincidence. The beats were jazzy and dark and great for late night lampin'. I was impressed with how immersive some of the beats got, a perfect use of vocal sampling that really locked you in.
           So of about the few remaining tracks that were rap based, and in German, this one was fabulous. dasNaturelle. This track get you right into the action. After 6 seconds we are right in and wow. After a little gibberish in the beginning, ha who am I kidding? It is all gibberish to me; gibberish I vibe to and love. dEnkmaschine holds the first verse and is amazing. It always seems foreign performers know English to some extent. I love those two lines with, "...ain't that a bitch...claufs nein kicht" and haha don't take my word for the spelling on that at all. His flow is incredible and his verse is an illmatic start.
           The breaks in between are so so sick. Not only is there not enough scratching in hip-hop these days, but the noises they use on this track are incredible. The vocals are something nature relates I feel. And they do such a good job scratching with them, it is an easy little sing along. "Flowers!!" and after the second verse "wonderful wonderful wonderful".
            The second verse is performed by derBenman. He has ridiculous energy in his verse and I love it so much! Definitely has the most power in this song.
           Up third is Joe Space. Another sweet verse. And at the end of his verse "negro" I love that. I wish I could say more about the verses; they are indescribable in both senses. I am blown away and can't fully explain the vibe, and I certainly can't understand the words. What I can understand is how sick the final segment of scratching is. They took the bird chirping and oh my GOD. So fucking ill the result is haha. Oooh man.

Buy the damn project.
Duplex

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ALBUM REVIEW: Head Change - MKSB

          A new tape just out last week from MKSB. Delightfully consistent with his work, Head Change is a great follow up to the Cool 2 Chill beat tape. Matt dishes out a lot of delicious sounds, and the tape holds a lot of variety. With this variety provided there are lots of talents showcased. The beats range from: relaxed and jazzy samples, beautiful vocal flips with tons of soul, and a ton of wonderful synths to add an electric feel. The percussion? All the boom nap you want is there, just with Cool 2 Chill there remains plenty of head nodding. With all this said, I'll get into plenty of specifics with some favorites; this will prove difficult as the consistency of this tape in incredible!
          Some more mellow vibes off the tape to begin... Ups and Downs is the prime beat.

Ups and Downs - This one rollssss, such a clean sound. The keys give it a dusty flavor and the tune of them is so warm. The beat is old school too, and I love the boom bap of the older days. The drums are something to. Really nod your head to an infectious boom bap.

Blue - Holding a simple rhythm, Blue is a perfect night track. While also having a strong beat, the snippets of guitar give me a low light feeling. Really fits a dim room, what I consider perfect for lampin'. I can only imagine what I'd be like to go on a drive with this song.

Majestic - This track is absolutely lovely. The track starts out with some lovely soul. The wub wub that travels across my headphones is hypnotic. My mind starts to daydream and everything is softer. Matt throws in plenty of other great elements as well! That sampled "oahah ooh" is so soulful and calming. Vocals are a wonderful treat to any beat, and this one goes in perfectly with the trance already built by the watery rhythm. The piano added later in the song is another fantastic light element. Majestic is a fabulous track.

I Wonder - Another lovely melody. The piano and percussion come together to put my mind on an easy trip down memory lane. I imagine warm sunsets, beautiful summer days, ease of living, and love. My heart is warmed by this track. Reminiscing gets easier and easier as I discover these light songs to serve as the background to my days of thinking.

         I'd like to now cover some of the more soulful tracks, a lot of great vocal sampling on Matt's part. It is that mood music that moves me.

Intro - Well to start the tape off well, we are given this jam first. This one is an absolutely gorgeous tune. Percussion that bangs, a sweet sunny guitar tune, and plenty of "oohs" and "aahhs". You can sing right along to it, and the vibe given off is so fresh. A beautiful start.

Things In Common - A slower track than the intro, this one is just butter. Altering the vocals we get that sweet chipmunk style, which I have always loved. The loop is addicting and I just get touched each time the voice reaches the word "common". The music itself is nice and light.

Somebody Loves You - Definitely heard this tune elsewhere, and I love Matt's take on it. The feeling is dusty, the beat knocks, and the sample is so light. Giving that watery sound to the sample is a great effect! Another nice little sing-a-along.

Push - Right off the bat you can tell this track packs some serious soul. While the vocals are obviously touching, the chords are fantastic. The strings in the back sound so perfect. I of course enjoy the cut off of the drums where one can really enjoy the vocals. That is just a beautiful part, you can tell the words are really being given some more power as they are dragged out. Fantastic!

Never Too Late - This is where one of Matt's tunes shines, the synths of his that is. A great addition to the track, and the loop is so simple and awesome. A clear tune to sing off key too ha ha.

There are many other tracks that I love, and that I recommend you explore! Be sure to check out his older projects, I know he really appreciates it!
Even just last night I got a friend into his music, and know I think I have him hooked on instrumental hip-hop. It is a cool feeling to consider myself a provider of dope sounds.

The album is up on his bandcamp, go purchase! It is only $6 for 21 fantastic beats!
Head Change Beat Tape