Push | Move

Having passed out whilst writing this post last night, yesterdays Sunday beats have become the soundtrack to your Monday lunchtime. It might be late, but at least now you can terrorise fellow employees by turning these beats up to the red and waiting for them to take that first tentative bite of sausage roll before hitting play. This weekend saw The Doctor’s Orders Brighton host their annual J Dilla tribute event to a capacity crowd at Jam. Once again, The Doctor’s came through with the winning combination of a wide selection of talent, a party atmosphere and some great performances – Ruff Snippits deserves a special shout for his one tune a minute Dilla samples set. Given the occasion, it would seem fitting to post up a couple of the heaviest hitters from the night (any excuse really), so first up we have Push from M.E.D’s 2005 album, Push Comes to Shove. One of the main reasons I enjoy Dilla tribute nights is to hear these tunes played very loud through a substantial sound system. Do what you can with the 2 watt jobs on your laptop.

And to keep things moving in a similarly rowdy fashion, we have Move by Oh No. Here, Dilla samples Mike Hankinson’s take on the Bach classic, Fugue in D Minor, to spectacular effect. One of the ultimate hip hop screwface beats.

There were a bunch of flyers for the next Doctor’s Orders event floating around Jam on the night. They had been keeping quiet about this one…

If J-Live’s last Brighton appearance is anything to go by then this gig should be pretty spectacular. The gig was delayed by a crucial football match and when he came on at Komedia, it was to no more than 40 to 50 people huddled around the stage. Not to be detered, J-Live proceeded to produce one of the best live performances I have ever seen, juggling and MCing simultaneously. Click here for more details and to buy tickets, and follow The Doctor’s Orders on Twitter for the latest. And just in case anyone has forgotten how long J-Live has been in the business of producing classic hip hop music – DJ Spinna’s ’96 Dome Cracker remix of Braggin’ Writes.

Kalifornia

After picking a fight with the weekend and losing horribly, High-Rise is staying dusty and low key with a remix of Kalifornia by Canadian MC, Saukrates. The original samples D’Angelo, but the remix exchanges these  smooth RnB stylings for something a little more melancholy – it seems to put a new spin on the lyrics, the whole thing becomes more fragile and introspective. If anything, the poor quality of the recording adds to the effect.

A Flower Called Nowhere

There has been a Stereolab renaissance taking place up at High-Rise towers over the past week, headed up by A Flower Called Nowhere, a track off their 1997 album Dots & Loops. The man responsible for the sudden shift to Space-Age Bachelor Pad Music is none other than Beat Junky J Rocc, who dropped this followed by a new version of Guilty Simpson’s Trendsetters on his recent takeover of Benji B’s Radio 1 show. I have lost count of the amount of times I have rewound this three-minute long section.

The frequency of posts may suffer a little over the next couple of weeks as I settle into my new job, but there is the possibility of a new project on the horizon as well as a renewed effort to get High-Rise out to more people. Stay tuned.

The Glow of Love

Regulars to High-Rise should recognise this particular track. This Sunday calls for some Luther Vandross era Change and a track that helped introduce the RnB don to the mainstream back in the early 1980s. The Glow of Love is about as suave as is humanly achievable through the medium of music and features an epic bassline that clearly caught the ear of a certain High-Rise favourite. As well as having managed to sell over 25 million albums to widespread critical acclaim, Vandross is responsible for one of finest culinary inventions I have ever had the pleasure of consuming; the mighty Luther Burger.

Soporific State

This weekend called for an early hours house & techno resurrection that may or may not have been part of a Bushmills fuelled all nighter. The offices of High-Rise are nursing broken bodies so a Sunday quadruple threat is in order.

After a disappointing performance from Aphex Twin at Bestival 2008 we retired, crestfallen, to the tents only to hear Pacific State floating across the campsite. I will never forgive myself for missing them.

This record sounds incredibly raw to me, like someone taking pleasure in the fact that the synthesiser doesn’t really resemble any instrument that has come before. LFO are playing both Bloc and Bestival this year.

Fans of A Tribe Called Quest might recognise this Freddie Hubbard sample from The Love. For me, this is one of those occasions where the jury is out on who flipped it better; Pepe Bradock (aka Trankilou) or J Dilla.

To finish, some sleazy French sax from Laurent Garnier. He is also making an appearance at Bloc with L.B.S. (a ‘four hour free wheelin’ rave jam’) which should be pretty epic, especially if their set features a similar live solo to honour the passing of the late great Gerry Rafferty. I’m going to bed.

The West Coast, back for all you suckas

My choice for this week is Mix Chopin‘s completely ridiculous remix of Dre & Snoop’s The Next Episode. The 19 year old Canadian producer can usually be found composing house music (a revivalist of French Filter house to be exact) but has turned his hand to remixing this classic in spectacular fashion. It sounds like the West Coast O.G.s have been drafted in to score a 70’s cop show.

Whoopty whoop, whaaaaat!?

Alone Again

Kev Brown has been a regular in my playlist over the last couple of weeks, and Alone Again is my favourite track off his 2005 album, I Do What I Do. It combines Hip Hop and RnB with Kev Brown’s unique production and lyrical style. His is a sound that really stands out to me as fresh and original over the last few years and music of this high quality is rare, have a listen.

Sadistic

This was supposed to be a solitary Sunday song post but Kool Keith got the better of me and we have triple the pleasure as a result. I first heard Godfather Don as part of The Cenobites, his collaborative effort with Keith on the Fondle ‘Em label (a favourite at High-Rise). I have posted a couple of choice cuts off The Cenobites LP as well as the Don’s tribute to depraved homicide and this week’s Sunday beat, Sadistic. It is well worth looking up some of the names he mentions on Wikipedia for some comforting bedtime reading; John Wayne Gacy or Albert Fish for instance. Sadistic also appeared in TOM YUM’s Underground Hip Hop Mix so get to know that if you haven’t already.

Maaad Props

It was a close run thing today as Mad Props from Da Youngstas went head to head with the Norwich City goal celebration tune, ready to be deployed in honour of their performance. Thankfully, the former won on this occasion as mad props must be bestowed upon the Canaries, who managed to triumph in the Old Farm Derby today. The very first football match I went to as a youth was Norwich away to Ipswich where we lost horribly, so it is always especially good when City manage to do the business against them. 4-1!

Buckshot Lefonque & Salaam Remi

Having just managed to calm myself down after the conclusion of the 2010 F1 season (well done Vettel, commiserations Alonso), I thought Salaam Remi deserved some coverage this Sunday. I first knowingly heard his production on the Greg Nice classic, Set It Off, and went on a search to find some more stuff by him. While I am not a huge fan of the Buckshot Lefonque original, Remi’s remix of No Pain No Gain is quite special.