This time I didn’t make a fresh mix for you kids. Instead, tonight we’re going to hit you with the perfect mix to usher in the summertime. Psychemagik is a duo out of England (aka The Cosmic Forest), and they combine a psychedelic, Balearic vibe with 70s-flavored funk and rare grooves. Continue reading
Oh, rap brouhahas. Don’t we love them? Well, not if they end in mayhem and destruction, but when they’re full of weird irony, strange competitors, and downright ludicrous taunts — they can be sort of fun, yes? In a “Why is this happening?” kind of way. Continue reading
I put together a few electro-house bangers for you kids. This mix is full of track from one of my absolute favorite producers/remixers/deejays — Mord Fustang. He’s a young Estonian producer who has taken the deep bass lines and synth madness from dubstep and put them to work in house tracks. The results are absolutely fooking bananas (he was recently named up-and-comer of the year on Beatport). Untz.
Hip-Hop’s elder statesman, Jay-Z, and his protégé, Kanye West, have returned to the musical equivalent of the visual motion image, and released their video for “No Church in the Wild.” Is it something of a throwback, conjuring the rage against the machine that was once brought forth by rap impresarios like Public Enemy, or is it a mish-mash of things that’s trying too hard to be both prophetic and timely? Continue reading
Maybe this is in poor taste, but then maybe not–the holiday isn’t actually until tomorrow. What do Americans do on this long holiday weekend, the unofficial beginning of summer? They barbecue and drink too much. And, I’m hoping, dance a little too. Continue reading
Last night, musicians and other performers purporting to be musicians gathered together in Las Vegas to celebrate themselves. Per usual with a music-related event, the fashion was all over the place because they are artistes who express themselves as much through their clothing as they do with their music. Show us your favorite looks as well as the red carpet roadkill. Mrs. Miley Cyrus, after the jump. Continue reading
I usually hate novelty rap – especially ones where the joke revolves around awkward white people – so I wasn’t expecting to like this thing, but I really do.
It would appear that pop songstress, Rihanna, is the most recent victim of high profile slut-shaming. Continue reading
This time around we’re gonna change it up. Instead of dance music I put together a mix of grimey-ass down South dope boy rap. I know it’s Mother’s Day tomorrow but I don’t recommend playing this for her when you take her out for brunch (unless your mom is Trina). Continue reading
I can’t tell you the first time I heard her voice- all silk and honey and orange blossom water- gently emanate from my parent’s record player. It was always there in the background, caressing the air around us as my mother rolled grapeleaves, or had sweet mint tea with company, or chatted on the phone with my aunts as I played on the carpet. It was just part of the atmosphere of my home. It’s quiet Sunday afternoons after church. It’s holidays and the smell of roast lamb or turkey- my mom and my aunt Sona dancing dabke in the kitchen together as they cooked. It’s their fond memories of a childhood in Jerusalem and vacations visiting cousins in Boorj Hammoud (the Armenian quarter of Beirut). And this is something they share with so many people of the Middle East, Christian, Sunni, Shi’ite, Druze… Everyone loves Fairuz. Continue reading