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mog network

Friday, February 20, 2004

Grey Tuesday is coming

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

A web campaign has been launched in protest of EMI's recent cease & desist order against producer Danger Mouse's 'The Grey Album' which remixed Jay-Z's 'The Black Album' using music sampled from The Beatles' 'White Album.'

The website Greytuesday.org calls for fans to fight the music industry's "copyright cartel" and urges websites to allow users to download 'The Grey Album' on February 24th.

"No genre is more effected by this copyright cartel than Hip-Hop," said organizer Nicholas Reville. "People assume producers moved away from sampling, but they can't afford it due to the labels."

Posted at 03:20 AM
Filed under — Music Notes

Wednesday, February 18, 2004

He might not know jack about photography, but he still had the biggest hit of the century

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

For some reason "lay it on a flat surface like a Polaroid picture" just doesn't sound as cool.

Posted at 04:57 AM
Filed under — Music Notes

Sunday, February 15, 2004

Rest In Peace Big L

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

Today marks the fifth anniversary of rapper Big L's death. The influential Harlem emcee was shot nine times in the face and chest. Since his untimely death his flamboyant style has been co-opted and bastardized by a whole host of folks.

Take some time out today to listen to one of his dope tracks like "Devil's Son," "Put It On," "MVP" or "Ebonics" in honor of the memory of this ill wordsmith.

Posted at 07:01 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

Found in the $2 bin...

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

Maze featuring Frankie Beverly 'Maze'
Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes featuring Theodore Pendergrass 'To Be True'
The Chi-Lites 'A Letter To Myself'
The Temptations 'A Song For You'
Ramsey Lewis 'Wade In The Water'
Sheila E. 'The Glamorous Life'
The Floaters 'Magic'
Enoch Light Presents: 'Patterns In Sound'
Ramsey Lewis 'Salongo'
The O'Jays 'Message In The Music'

And from the $1 bin at the Salvation Army thrift store came 'Trouble In Paradise,' a rare L.P. on Fresh Fruit Records by the decidedly un-hetero duo of Romanovsky & Phillips. It contains their splash-hit "What Kind Of Self Respecting Faggot Am I" ... no joke people!

It's weird, the last time I hit up that Salvation Army I came up on another homosexual themed record, 'I Know You Know' by lesbian folk-singer Meg Christian which features a song called "Ode To A Gym Teacher" which is about exactly what you probably think it is.

What is it about that particular spot that makes it the repository for rare bastions of vinyl gayness?

I dunno, but regardless I love shopping for records. It's something I haven't been doing as much as I used to and after the last couple months of relatively frequent digging ( that's diggin' in the crates, or looking for records for all of you "non's" out there ) I feel like I need to keep hitting the shops on the regular and copping fresh joints. It's good for my production. It's good for the radio show. But most of all it's good for my soul.

I just wish I had more cash.

Posted at 03:38 AM
Filed under — Music Notes

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

No "grey area" when it comes to sampling The Beatles

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

Underground producer Dangermouse's 'The Grey Album' project which took accapellas of Jay-Z's 'The Black Album' and remixed them using beats he made entirely out of samples from The Beatles 'The White Album' has been garnering quite a bit of praise and illiciting a whole lot of attention lately.

Unfortunately that attention includes a cease & desist order from EMI Records, the company that controls The Beatles catalog of sound recordings.

If you haven't peeped it yet don't worry though, it's widely available on peer-to-peer file sharing networks.

So go download it, cause it really is pretty dope.

Posted at 07:44 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

Monday, February 09, 2004

I'm thinking he'd secretly enjoy a private performance of "Your Body's A Wonderland"

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

After producing hits for the likes of Jay-Z, Scarface, Alicia Keys, Ludacris and Twista you'd think beatmaker Kanye West could have anything he wished for in the whole wide world.

And you'd probably be right.

Well, if his only wish wasn't for the friendship of guitar playin' whiteboy John Mayer that is.

What the fuck?

Posted at 10:28 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

Tuesday, February 03, 2004

I gotta earn that "thank you"

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

If you listen to The Urban Alternative Show regularly, have bought one of our mix c.d.'s, or just read the music reviews on this site then you should be familiar with a group called The Strange Fruit Project.

Or, you might also remember them from that Winterfresh Gum commercial they were involved with from a while back too.

Anyway, we've been big supporters of their jazz & soul inflected brand of hip-hop since they sent us their "Luv Is" 12'' way back when and when they dropped the "All The Way" 12'' this past summer we were completely blown away. We just couldn't wait for more material from these cats.

Well, we're happy to let yall know that they've just dropped their second full length c.d. 'Soul Travellin',' featuring 18 tracks of warm, soulful, Texas bred hip-hop. The music is butter smooth, as expected, and the packaging is tight to boot... not to mention the fact that they shouted out yours truly in the liner notes... so go check for their shit now, it's supposed to be in stores this month and is already available on the web.

So don't forget to peep www.strangefruitproject.com for more info.

Posted at 11:51 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

The homie Saknofa has informed me...

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

...that his label Beyond Space Entertainment has set an official release date of February 10th 2004 for his debut album 'The Rosetta Stone.'

Featuring 17 tracks with beats from a whole host of fools -- including Kno of Cunninlynguists, DJ Emm Are, Manic Depressive, Fangface and none other than your's truly El Keter -- and words from his White Collar Criminals/Silversmiths counterpart JON?DOE the Deezious One this joint is jam-packed with kosher rap material.

And I'm not just saying that because I helped out with production or because Sankofa is one of my more entertaining AIM buddies, but because the snippet sampler I heard was just incredible and I've been anticipating this guy's official "arrival" since I first encountered him posting rhymes at Fresh Finesse and Davey D's back in 96 or so.

So remember the name Sankofa and please keep your ear out for 'The Rosetta Stone' in the coming weeks.

Posted at 09:22 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

Fresh off the internet message board rumor mill...

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

...is news that the Beastie Boys are putting the final touches on the highly anticipated follow up to 1998's 'Hello Nasty.'

In an interview with the BBC, group member Mike D said the album would be a straight Hip-Hop album.

"We've been working for a little while in a secret location," Mike D said. "But there's light at the end of the tunnel and we're mixing now so it's almost complete."

The secret recording location is somewhere in New York and the group made a conscious decision to record the entire new album in the city.

"We missed a lot about New York because its just a great place to make a record," Mike D. added. "Everything is just up in your face the whole time. I mean we just go up in the studio for however many hours a day, but just getting to the studio you've still gotta deal with people - it's not like L.A."

Word is that the album could be released as early as June.

Posted at 09:16 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

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