Beathearts top selections 2012 - TheStrom

2012 was a good year. A very good year. Going through our posts and playlists over the past year it was easy to identify great tunes. But it was equally hard to single out an all through solid album - a future classic. There were many good efforts from the likes of Frank Ocean, Actress, Robert Glasper and others but very few of them ended up on repeat for us. At least in their entireties. For that reason I decided to put forward the top selections of 2012 in three sections:

* Top 5 artists of year (instead of releases) that impressed me the most in 2012
* Best tunes of the year (Spotify link)
* Top 3 expectations for 2013

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ARTISTS OF THE YEAR

1.Prince (!?)
You say what?! I haven't quite been able to figure out why but it's been a crazy year for Prince. Prince Roger Nelson of the 80s that is. For an artist that hasn't released a single track (that we know of) Prince has been huge 2012. It might have started already last year with the return of Prince live in session at festivals around the world. Then Jam & Lewis and the Time reunited as the Original 7even and released the Condensate album. That sparked a "Nu-Prince-Movement" that's been pulsating all year:

*Wax Poetic put out a Prince special edition including no less than two mixtapes of peak performances from the man.
*All year we've been flooded with Prince edits and covers from the likes of Dâm-Funk, Frank Ocean et al.
*Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip has been tearin' the roof off with his DJ sessions when dropping the 1984 obscure Morris Day & Prince jam session Cloreen Bacon Skin.

If that doesn't convince you there's a new biography entitled Prince by Matt Thorne and the other week there was a TWO (!) day seminar at the London Institute of Contemporary Art analyzing the Prince's work.

All we can say is that his importance for most of the new music we listen to today cannot be overrated. One of the greatest tributes that's been on heavy rotation for us was the Wax Poetics mixtape vol.2:

Download: Wax Poetics - Prince mixtape part 2

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2.Tall Black Guy

Without a doubt one of the artist that we have spun the most this year. His edits, compilations and original tracks have been off the hook. His Tempo Dreams compilation for Bastard Jazz set a new standard for beatmakers to live up to.

Our stand out track of the year from TBG was his totally unexpected remake of James Brown's I feel good. You've gotta have guts to take on a classic tune and flip it into something completely different. We've said it before but it's like a part 2 of Waajeed's Tron track. Absolutely genius!

Download: Tall Black Guy - What's good

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3.Buscrates 16-bit Ensemble
What can we say. Orlando Buscrates Marshall has had an amazing year. As a producer for Kiara, as a group member in East Liberty Quartet, as a remixer as well as a solo artist he has blown us away all year. If Dâm-Funk is the king of boogie - Buscrates is most definitely next in line to take the reign.

*Best release: Buscrates - Funktropolis EP

*Best remake: Vesta Williams - Don't blow a good thing (Buscrates re-edit)

*Best production: Kiara Reves - Shine on

Buscrates was also the first artist in our Beat Generation Interview Series. 
Download: Buscrates - Phoenix rising (Beathearts Beat Generation exclusive)

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4.Miles Bonny
Ever since we got Miles Bonny's seminal track Still Miles with DJ Day back in 2009 he's been on our radar. Numerous EPs, collaborations and albums later his sense of quality is second to none.

Miles toured heavily this year with Brenk Sinatra (as S3) in Germany and Poland going back to his Polish roots.

Miles been putting out amazing releases all year and all you regulars might recall that S3's album Supa Soul Sh*t was our album of the month in November.



Download: S3 - Don't stop

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5.Frank Ocean
No matter what you think about the hype there's no denying Mr. Ocean's huge influence on the soundtrack to the world 2012.

From the first underground mixtapes and bootlegs to TV-commerials and inflight entertainment he's taken the world by storm. With incredible productions and solid harmonies in my ears his sound is the 2012 equivalent to Gamble & Huff in the 70ies. Channel Orange was one of very few solid albums of 2012 and we have high hopes of what's to come in 2013.

Download: Frank Ocean - Sweet

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TUNES OF THE YEAR
Like I said we've been absolutely overwhelmed with great tunes all year. Below I've compiled a few of my favourite tracks to brighten the daily subway ride. If you've got Spotify there's a playlist link below. If not we've compiled all available download links.

Spotify playlist: Beathearts top selections 2012

Download: Joey Badass - Waves 
Download: S3 - Don't stop
Listen: Mala - Cuba Electronica
Download: Vesta Williams - Don't blow a good thing (Buscrates edit)
Yuna ft Pharell & Dizzee Rascal - Live your life (Not officially released - hunt it down!)
Listen: Wiley - Scar
Listen: Actress - Rainy dub
Listen: Yasiin Bey - Niggas in poorest
Listen: Tall Black Guy - What's good (JB flip)
Listen: Nas - The don
Download: Donaeo - When angels sing (TEED remix)
Download: Alexis Davis - The lift
Listen: Buscrates & Kiara Ravae - Shine on
Listen: Martino - Reasons (Sigg Buggz remix)
Download: Jeremih - Keep it moving
Listen: Ikiz & Melo - Over and over
DJ Spin & DJ Rashad - Let me baby
Download: Souls of Mischeif - 93 til infinity (Hannes Fisher remix)
Robert Glasper ft Ledisi - Gonna be alright
Listen: Daphni - Jiaolong
Listen: Frank Ocean - Super Rich Kids
Listen: Electric Street Orchestra ft Mad Mike Banks - Scorpio
Listen: Naderi - Stormy weather

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EXPECTATIONS FOR 2013:

1.The return of Waajeed

Waajeed will be huge in 2013. On a recent BBC Radio 1 show Waajeed revealed four projects that will see the light of day next year: Jeedeci, Electric Street Orchestra, Tiny Hearts and new label Dirt Tech Reck. If you missed out get a preview of the tracks below.




2.Enter T-E-E-D

We've had T-E-E-D a.k.a. Orlando Higginbottom on our radar all year and he was responsible for one of best remixes of the year reconstructing Donaeo's When Angels sing. His mixtapes and remixes have popped up everywhere we turned and we have very high expectations for what's to come in 2013. Check his essential mix from BBC below:

>T-E-E-D - BBC essential mix


3.Maya Jane Coles

Starting off as a producer and only recently jumped on the 1's and 2's, Maya still put together one of the best mixtapes of the year for DJ-kicks. (Listen on Spotify). It's sublime blend of minimal, experimental but oh so funky deep house tracks. With the quality of her mixes and own releases expectations are through the roof for her upcoming album. Rumors say it will feature Miss Kittin among others and have vocals on all tracks. Watch this space!

Download: Maya Jane Coles - BBC essential mix

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Last but not least we want to thank you all for an amazing year. We can't thank you enough for all the amazing feedback and input we've got from you all since the start. Followers, artists, labels, journalists, DJs and partners.

If you want to get in touch with new music, ideas, feedback and questions don't hesistate to hit us up right here, on Twitter @beatheartsblog or e-mail: beatheartsblog(a)gmail.com.

One,

Thestrom & Antwan

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Martin Parks - Concluding Passages of a Revolution

Roman Lee Norfleet and Jacque Hammond again join forces under the Martin Parks moniker. They finish the year in style with a short but brilliant new EP entitled Concluding passages of a revolution.

Roman was recently featured in our Beat Generation Series and continues to surprise us by developing their sound into new realms. Especially Green surprised us with it's early 90s Massive Attack/Portishead influences.

The duo recently moved to L.A. and we're very much looking forward to see how/if their new hometown will influence their music making.


Download: Martin Parks - Concluding passages of a revolution

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Mecca:83 - Nightshift ft Buscrates & Dj Ivan6

Yup! Yup! Mecca:83 and Buscrates closing an amazing year with another banger. As all regulars know we do what we can to promote their geniuses, but to us it's unbelievable how these cats don't get more attention.

Evan 'Mecca:83' Jones has been one of our most solid providers of instrumental beats the last couple of years. Always on point. Always introducing surprising elements into his music. Even though he puts out different styles he somehow always manage to create a vibe that makes your head nod.

Orlando 'Buscrates 16-bit ensemble' Marshall is one of the most versatile producers we've featured in our Beat Generation Series. He has put out amazing remixes, re-edits and mixtapes as well as produced boom-bap hip-hop and futuristic soul music.

On this track they once again join forces to bring us Nightshift. A new aquaintence is DJ Ivan6 who we believe features on cuts (?). Anyway, don't sleep on this track. Free download below.


Download: Mecca83 ft Buscrates & DJ Ivan6 - Nightshift

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Dâm-Funk - The Crown

Another gem that's been cooking in our inbox while we were away. Here's The Crown. Apparently put together by Damon all way back in 1996 (!). Amazing he already hade that deep sound back then. Without a doubt one of my top 5 Dâm-Funk track of all times. Such a banger! And a free download courtesy of the nice people over at Stones Throw. Enjoy.

Download: Dâm-Funk - The Crown (1996)

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Zerolex Sorg Fakear - Free Split EP

Back from a few weeks of in the sun with an inbox flooded with goodies. One of the first things that popped out was this low-key French funk affair from Zerolex, Sorg and Fakear.

Released a week back as a split release between the three producers this EP is a real gem. With low-key melodies blended with that deep electronic funk we've come to expect from the Caen crew these tunes grow on you.

Our takeaway track is Chicago from Zerolex. Get the whole EP below for free.

Download: Zerolex Sorg Fakear - Free Split EP

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Electric Street Orchestra/Waajeed - Hood tech

Still stunned by all the new projects dropped by Waajeed on Benji-B's show a few weeks back. Get it here. Electric Street Orchestra (Waajeed's experimental alias), Jeedeci (a Jodeci reconstruction project) and a new group called Tiny Hearts. All three projects to be released on his new Dirt Tech Reck label.

He recently put out one of the tunes from the label for download over att Soundcloud. In his word it's the genre defining tune Hood Tech. Wait for the drop at 1.39. Promising indeed...

Download: Jeedo - Hood Tech

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Beathearts rewind #50: Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde (1992)

I celebration of our 50th rewind we pull up a very special album. 20 years ago today, to me, one of the greatest rap albums of all time was released. The Pharcyde came out of nowhere and absolutely blew my mind.

The group recorded their first demo in 1991, which contained the songs Passin' Me By, Ya Mama and Officer. They then brought the demo to Delicious Vinyl who signed them to the label that same summer. Their first feature was on Brand New Heavies's album Heavy Rhyme Experience Vol. 1, on the song Soul Flower. The group, along with producer J-Swift, then recorded their classic album Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, which was released in Nov 24th 1992. And we can't believe it's already 20 years.

Listening through the album again we broke down what made the album such a classic to three elements:

1.The storytelling
I've always been a sucker for storytelling rappers and to me The Pharcyde took it to a new level. Their crazy blend of topics, insults and humour was (and still is!) very refreshing from the dominating often one way gangsta rap.

2.The beats/skits
I don't really feel I need to underline the genius of all the singles from this album. But a couple of years back I was lucky enough to find the instrumental version of this album and it's such a masterpiece. Tracks like Passing me by, Ya mama and 4 better or 4 worse takes the album to another level and tells a whole other story as instrumental versions. For once even the skits actually made the album better and gave it a laid back live session feel. I remember dying for a longer version of the 4 better of 4 worse interlude. Can't help wondering what ever happend to J-Swift?

To sum up some of the groups dopest moments Wax Poetics just put out an amazing mixtape. Get it below:

Download: WaxPoetics Bizarre Ride 20th anniversary mixtape

3.The artwork
One of few things I miss from the good ol' days is the cover art. Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde had such a compelling touch to it and totally set the tone for the album. It looked like it sounded. It stood out. It was crazy. It had attitude. It was original. It had surprises (the fold-out). It had detailed credits (that all crates diggers appreciated). It's just one of those albums that I'm still proud to have laying around.

So FatLip, J-Swift, SlimKid3, Imani, BootieBrown and Fuct (the graphic designer) - we salute you for putting out a certified hall of fame album!

As a 20 year celebration Delicious Vinyl has put out a limited edition version of the album and the singles. It might still be available over at Turntablelabs.

As a bonus, checkout the clips and the artwork below:

The videos

The Pharcyde - Passin me by

The Pharcyde - Ya Mama

The cover art

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Karizma - The Loft Studio Mixtape

Been bumping this mixtape from Karizma all weekend and thought it was about time to share it with you. Put together for Mixmag by Kris to promote a night in London with DJ Spen, it's another one of those great blends that makes you feel on top of the world walking home from a late night event. Watch out for the smooth remix from Moscow producer Dima Studitsky and of course Karizma's dope remake of Bebe Winans Thank you.

TIP: Every now and then Karizma drops these unreleased edits and remixes only available for a couple of hours. Blink and you'll miss it or follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KAYTRONIK

Download: Karizma - The MixMag Mixtape

Tracklist:

Musiq soulchild-Until (k2 refix)
Welcome to our world(Dima Studitsky remix)
Akabu-Scattering stars(Ogris Debris remix)
The Jacksons-Blame it on the boogie(k2 redit)
Karizma-Nuffin else
Karizma-Ya dig
Karizma-Thepower(DJ spinna acid row remix)
Fred everything-Circles one
Quincy Jones-Superwoman (k2refix)
Bebe Winans-Thank you (Karizma's 2012 remix)

Rainer Trüby - Welcome to our world (Dima Studitsky remix)

Bebe Winans - Thank you (Karizma remake 2012)

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αtμ - Sept Nights

Was listening to Full Crate & FS Green's new mixtape and stopped in my tracks on the second track. It was Sept Nights by αtμ which is an absolutely stunning interpretation of Erykah Badu's Tyrone. Haven't been able to find out much about this guy except that his name is Atupele Ndisale and he's a beat maker from Ivory Coast now studying at the university of Michigan. We'll most definitely keep our eyes out for more music from Atu.

He also has a new EP out entitled...eh...♥(V). We especially enjoyed Silly Games which is a dope interpretation of a classic D'Angelo track. Check it below!

Download: αtμ -♥(V)


αtμ - Sept Nights

And of course props to Full Crate & FS Green for putting us onto this new artist. Get their October mixtape below

Download: Full Crate & FS Green - Mixing October 2012


Full Crate & FS Green - Mixing October 2012
+ The Internet - Give It Time
+ αtμ - Sept Nights
+ Nas - Owe Me Ft. Ginuwine (Sango Edit)
+ Sweater Beats - The Limit
+ Cashmere Cat - Paws
+ Insightful - Allah
+ Robert Glasper - Twice Ft. Solange Knowles & The Roots (?uestlove's Twice Baked Remix)
+ Mister Lies - Cleam
+ Duck House - Flaw
+ Freddie Joachim - Golden Temple Ft. Mar
+ Michael Jackson - Butterflies (Nelson D Mix)
+ Satin Jackets - Aaliyah's boat
+ Janet Jackson - If (Kaytranada Rmx)
+ Utrecht - APC
+ Sky Ferreira - Everything Is Embarrasing
+ Ruddyp - Cater 2 U (Carling Ruse Remix)
+ Rihanna - You Da One (J.u.D. Remix)
+ Mr_Carmack - The Next Morning

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Beat Generation Series #6: 10.4 Rog (US)

In our quest to discover new soulful underground music we come across many up and coming producers from all around the world. We thought is was about time to put the spotlight on a few of them that we think are about to blow up. We call it The Beat Generation Series.

BEAT GENERATION SERIES #6: 10.4 ROG (US)

If you're a regular this isn't the first time you hear of 10.4 Rog. Seattle based, Roger Habon, is one of those under the radar beatmakers that always seem to stick to our Spotify playlists. Jumping into the international spotlight a couple of years ago with next shit remixes of Bahamadia, Erykah Badu and Quadron he has since put out strong productions for rapper Good Sin and Seattle crew Th3rdz. When we finally got the chance to go behind the scenes with 10.4 Rog we jumped on it.

Name: Roger Habon
Age: 26
Origin: Renton, Washington by way of Michigan

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1. How did you come up with the 10.4 Rog alias? 

10.4 Rog is a DJ name I came up with while a friend of mine and I took a road trip to LA in 2008.  We were about to get a residency in the city and were joking about aliases to put on fliers.  I wrote that one down and decided to keep it when I DJ'd.  I don't DJ anymore really, but I had a few edits and remixes that I put together and play during some of my sets.  I tagged those files like that (i.e. "10.4 rog version/edit/remix/etc.") and long after I stopped DJing nights and was just producing solid, I kept it on my work as a credit.

2. Beatmakers and drummers are great sources of inspiration for us. People like Karriem Riggins, Chris Dave, Madlib, Questlove, Kenny Dope and of course Dilla's music was a major reason for us to start writing about soulful underground music. Are you a drummer as well? 

Funny you ask this question.  I think I fell in love with the drums when I was in grade school.  There was a concert in the gym, and the drummer was this old guy and he was going off.  I couldn't take my eyes off what he was doing, and ignored everything else.  Soon after that, there was this instance where we had a class auction with fake money, and I used all my money to get this old tin can with a plastic top.  It was like an old candy tin.  I looked at that thing like it was a drum and played it like one right after I won the bid for it. Then I played snare in the school band the next year and then got a set my third year in high school. I played on and off in college and in a couple bands, but I never really developed as a drummer, particularly as a live performer.  But the drumset was always a thing I used to work out ideas with over the years.  Every one of those people you mentioned I look up to because of the obsessive emphasis on rhythm in their production.

Download: 10.4 Rog - We'll be friends (Taken from experimental beat project Scraps)

3. We first discovered you through your stunning remixes of Bahamadia and Erykah Badu. Was that how you got started releasing music?

I started releasing remixes, yes, but the first one to get attention from press and blogs was by a Seattle group called Helladope in 2009, which operates under the Cloud Nice collective, of which I am now an affiliate.  The song is called "Just So You Know," and I literally tweeted that remix to Tay Sean of Helladope on a Sunday, he liked it enough to put it on the Cloud Nice site on a Monday, and by mid-week it was in the Seattle Times music blog.

I was really fortunate and lucky to get a reaction to my music so quickly, but it's been the way to do it for years now.  For the next year or so leading up to the release of "Late" w/ The Good Sin, I would remix whatever I could, local songs, older songs (I'm partial to 1996), a couple newer things for contests and such, just as way to practice, and to try and improve on my production, which then had a long way to go, and to this day has a very, very long way. That period bore the result of the Bahamadia and Erykah songs.

Bahamadia - Uknowhowwedo (10.4 Rog lunchtable remix)

Download: Erykah Badu - Honey (10.4 quiet storm remix)

  4. What does the creative process behind a new 10.4 Rog track/remix look like? 

It's mostly intuitive. As a matter of philosophy I try to leave the vocals untouched and work around it, adding whatever idea comes first.  I tend to work on the drums first, but it can go any way.  The one constant is the vocal track. That's the foundation and any other element is a step upwards.

Download: Th3rdz - Therapy (produced by 10.4 Rog)

5. Who were your musical heroes when growing up?

I grew up on my brothers' and cousin's tapes, CDs, and records. I was heavily into the Pharcyde from the first grade on. I remember they used to have tape singles for EPMD, Tribe, Public Enemy, Ice-T, Black Sheep. My eldest brother was really into RnB too. I took a mixtape of his that started off with Debarge's "Time Will Reveal",  "All This Love", and the Bee Gee's "How Deep is Your Love" and had a bunch of other ballads and love songs with very intricate arrangements and musical ideas.

I used to ride on the schoolbus and listen to all this stuff on a walkman, until it wasn't very popular to listen to music on tape anymore. In high school, I went into this brief, arrogant, and highly misguided phase of only listening to underground hiphop that to this day I regret terribly. It probably set me back a year and a half. Soon after I just tried to acquaint myself with every genre of modern music: classic rock, jazz, funk, disco, afrobeat, etc.

The Pharcyde - Passing me by (1992)

6. What are your inspirations today? Could you drop three albums or tunes that have recently blown your mind?

Recently I'm into Thundercat, the rappers and producers of Top Dawg Entertainment, and a bit of 80s new wave music.

Thundercat - Is it love 

7. Any dream collaborations?

That's a tough call. I don't think collaborate is the right word in the way I'm reading it. I'm looking at this question like who would I dream of learning from. I would love be in front of a piano and learn from Herbie Hancock. I would love to be in a mixing session with DJ Quik or Dr. Dre. I could die a happy man if I were to take lessons with Chris Dave, or just watch Battlecat put something together, or Wayne Shorter. If Bernard Edwards were still alive, or James Jamerson, I would absorb as much as I could. Jesus. There are too many people.

8. One of our favorite productions of yours is the Good Sin's first album "Late". We were blown away by the minimal, dubbed-out, analogue beats, almost monasterial kind of vibe and still listen to that "Bad about you" track. Could you tell us how that project came about? How did you come up with that unique sound?

I'm very glad you liked that project. Good Sin and I spent the better part of a few months discussing a framework for those songs and gave ourselves terms to commit to: "stripped," "laid-back," "smooth," "loose", and so on.

Good Sin told me some of the things he was aiming to write about, and taking note of that, I sent him back ideas, then he wrote and recorded, and we went back and forth. Those songs, in terms of track count, were incredibly spare. I think the highest number of tracks on a single song - excluding the vocals - had to be in the area of around 11.

"Bad About You" was an exception to this process, in that it was the one beat I had that I made before Good Sin and I talked about the project.  In fact, he wasn't supposed to hear it. Somehow he got hold of it and took it to the studio and him and the engineer Parker came up with the hook, the one that's song on my bassline. Not long after that Good Sin had two verses, he got Rob Harris to add another layer with his vocals on the tail-end, and that was about it.

 
The Good Sin x 10.4 Rog - Bad about you


Download: The Good Sin x 10.4 Rog - All for you

9. What is your dearest piece of equipment?

My dearest piece of equipment is one I don't even own.  It comes to me by way of a number of donors and lenders: and that is the 88-key piano that I use as a MIDI-controller.  I get all my ideas out on that, especially when I'm not hooked up to a DAW or to plugins.

10. The last couple of years crews like The Robert Glasper Experiment, BadBadNotGood, El Michel's Affair and Will sessions have literally blown up with their live sessions. Is there a 10.4 Rog live experience? 

Haha! I really wish I could commit time and energy to this, but not at this point.  I will say I was a DJ from 2006 to about 2010, before my laptop crashed and I lent out my equipment.

11. Which other up and coming producer do think deserves more attention?

There are literally too many to name.  I may be biased, but I'll say Tay Sean.  He's been a huge influence the last three years.

12. To sum things up can we expect from the 10.4 Rog studios in 2012?

I can't promise that you'll hear anything of substance very soon, but I'll never close the door on music.

That's it for this edition of the Beat Generation Series. Keep it locked and be sure that we'll keep you updated when more amazing music from 10.4 will drop! As a final treat check this Good Sin track "Celebrate" that just dropped produced by Roger of course:

Download: The Good Sin - Celebrate (produced by 10.4 Rog)

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Bandcamp:
http://104rog.bandcamp.com/
http://thegoodsin.bandcamp.com/album/late

Soundcloud:
http://soundcloud.com/104rog

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Mad Mats - The Mixtapes

Today we revisit Swedish DJ-legend Mad Mats. As his recent jazz mixtape is flying around the blog community at the moment so we thought it was appropriate to join the praise and highlight his contribution to the global underground soulful music in general.

This 1985 national breakdancing champ (!) has been a DJ since the mid 80s and responsible for many of the best clubbing experiences in the country (e.g. Fusion, Raw Fusion, Unhous). He's also the founder of quality labels such as Raw Fusion, Local Talk, Basic Fingers and of course the mythical G.A.M.M. label (Godkänd Av Mad Mats i.e. Approved By Mad Mats) pushing artist like Red Astaire, Yam Who, Simbad, Phil Asher, Melo and many others.

He's one of those rare DJ's with serious skills and an excellent taste of music. Never bound by genres you can always count on Mats to rock the show no matter if it's hiphop, deephouse, jazz or techno. Still think I'm vague? I guess you could say he's like the Swedish reincarnation of Gilles Peterson or Benji-B and we know we're not stepping on any toes because both has played in his clubs on several occations.

Ok, enough talk. Get three of his kick-ass mixtapes below. All available tracklists are on Soundcloud. Mad Mats we salute you!

Download: Mad Mats - Mix for Best Works Berlin


Download: Mad Mats - A jazz mixtape for El Junco


Download: Mad Mats - House mix for 2:35:1


Download: Mad Mats - Live session from Raw Fusion

Mad Mats on Soundcloud
Raw Fusion recordings
Mad Mats Blog

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Premier of Waajeed's Dirt Tech Reck on BBC Radio 1 with Benji B

This thursday Detroit mastermind Waajeed stopped by Radio 1 and Benji B's studio with a lot of new and exclusive stuff. A fantastic show that we've been looping for two days now. Amazing music from Jeedo's three (!) new projects that's going to be released on his new label Dirt Tech Reck. The first is Electric Street Orchestra, which is Waajeed new production project which features some cool guests on vocals and guest-production that's been in the works for some time now. The second is called Jeedeci, Jeedo's ode to r'n'b and Jodeci with a raw Detroit touch on it. In Jeedo's words "are meant to fornicate to...". Haha! And finally the Tiny Hearts band which is together with LA musicians Tim Kvasnosky and Deanne "Dede" Reynolds. There's a lot of funny stories and of course ill beats all the way through the show! Music on the show features collaborations with "Mad" Mike Banks of Underground Resistance, Theo Parrish, Dede, Andrés and more.

We especially dig the tracks 'Natives' and 'Deconstruct' as well as the Jeedeci project! Straight up fire!

The show is available for stream and free download right now on Waajeed's soundcloud so get it while it's available! Don't sleep on this!



Tracklist:

Jeedo — The Doo Wops
Bling47
Waajeed — Tron
Bling47
Jeedo — Make It Boom
Dirt Tech Reck
Waajeed — The Event
Bling47
Electric Street Orchestra — Scorpio
Dirty Tech Reck
Electric Street Orchestra — MFA (feat. Theo Parrish, Andres & Duminie)
Dirt Tech Reck
Electric Street Orchestra — The Natives
Dirt Tech Reck
Jeedo — I Will See You
Bling47
Electric Street Orchestra — Reconstruct
Dirt Tech Reck
Jeedeci — Cry 4 U Melody
Dirt Tech Reck
Jeedeci — Cry 4 U
Dirt Tech Reck
Jeedeci — Freekin U
Dirt Tech Reck
Jeedeci — Love U 4 Life
Dirt Tech Reck
Jeedo — Poppa Smurf (Instrumental)
Dirt Tech Reck
Tiny Hearts — Dark Eyes
Dirt Tech Reck
Tiny Hearts — Centrefold
Dirt Tech Reck
Waajeed — The Odds
Bling47
Tiny Hearts — Monsters
Dirt Tech Reck
Jeedo — Hood Tech
Dirt Tech Reck
Jeedo — BUCK!
Dirt Tech Reck
Jeedo — Mirrors (Refix)
Dirt Tech Reck
Jeedo — Trainers
Dirt Tech Reck
Jeedo — Need You Bad
Dirt Tech Reck
Jeedo — Blax On Blacks
Dirt Tech Reck

Jeedeci - Love U 4 life (Dirt Tech Reck 2013)

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The Beat Generation Series #5: Roman Lee Norfleet (US)

In our quest to discover new soulful underground music we come across many up and coming producers from all around the world. We thought is was about time to put the spotlight on a few of them that we think are about to blow up. We call it The Beat Generation Series.

THE BEAT GENERATION SERIES: ROMAN LEE NORFLEET (US)

Roman Lee Norfleet is a producer, songwriter, beatmaker and graphic designer. Born and raised in the Chicago area now about to move out to L.A. As a duo with Jaque Hammond he has put out several projects under the Martin Parks moniker. What first caught our attention was his unique organic sound and bad ass cover art that left us craving for more.

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Name: Roman Lee Norfleet
Age: 23
Origin: 815, Illinois (Greater Chicago)

You’re a soloartist, producer and a duo together with Jaque Hammond under the name Martin Parks. Is there a difference of musical direction depending of which constellation you work in?

I would say my music is more RAW, more gritty, however I do plan on bringing some of that rawness to some future MP projects. When I make a beat for MP, I imagine us on the song throughout the whole process, but when I make a beat for me, it personal to ME.

Tell us the story behind the name Martin Parks and what it means to you?

Martin Parks is an idea, its a movement. Anyone could be apart of Martin Parks in a sense. MARTIN comes from Dr. King Jr. and PARKS stems from Rosa Parks, two revolutionaries who weren't afraid to fight for freedom. They didn't just sit back and let the cruel world pass them by, they didn't just accept all the hate, they made CHANGE. Thats what we want to do with our music. Now I'm not saying I'm out here rapin' King's speeches or elaborating on all his beliefs on a song. I still do me. I rap from where I know and personal experience. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks are just two of the many world changers we chose to represent the idea of our movement.

We first discovered you when up-and-coming vocalist Rob Milton sent us his first EP. How did you hook up with him? 

I actually met Rob through Jacque. They once sang in the Virginia State Choir.

[Rob Milton gave us more details back in January when The Love Today EP dropped:]

I met Jacque in my sophomore year of college. Then she moved away and came back a year later with Roman and started pushing the Martin Parks movement. I wrote a piece on them for Examiner.com over the summer. A little while later, I got a call about helping Jacque with her solo project, which releases sometime this month. Anyway, from there we put together my EP before I graduated this past December. 


Download: Rob Milton - The Love Today EP

How did you get started as a producer?

By wanting to be a rapper haha! No one in my town that I knew of made beats that had that raw soul. I was looking for and the few I knew in Chicago were trying to charge me a arm and a head. I was on unemployment with no ends haha!

If it weren't for my father who believed in my first dream of being a graphic designer and photographer I would have never found (Apple's) Garage Band! He spent the last he had saved for me on a MacBookPro and after I dropped out of college I promised myself I wouldn't let that money go to waste. I've been working to retire my old man every since.

What does the creative process behind a new Roman Lee/MartinParks track/remix look like? 

It looks very creative….haha! I'm working on quitting smoking fam!!! But after I cook up some beats I call Jacque in the studio and we TURN IT UP! Our ideas ALWAYS seem to mesh perfectly!

Who were your musical heroes when growing up?

Well I wasn't really allowed to listen to any secular music growing up. The only music I could turn to was smooth jazz and gospel. One of my favorite gospel tunes is Stand by John P. Kee.

John P. Kee - Stand (1996)

I was in high school then. father was a preacher and my mom was very God fearing as well, however their work schedules forced me to spend majority of my days in the projects at my sisters house, and that was all hiphop! Later down the line I discovered artist like Common, Lupe, and Kanye from hanging out in Chicago so much. And THEN I heard Waves from Dillas Donuts album... That was one of the first songs that really made me do my Dilla research. That moment I knew what I was put here for!


J Dilla - Waves (2006)

You’ve got such a unique organic sound. One of the first track we heard that got us hooked was Inspiration off Thankful For Sound (TFS). Could you tell us how that project came about? How did you come up with that sound?

Before we made TFS we had hella people trying to tell us what type of music we should make and what type of sound we should have. I feel that TFS went the total opposite direction of what people wanted and what we had previously released. I believe that TFS helped us discover OUR sound or at least a portion of it. We wanted to bring the soul and samples of hip hop without it being so plain. A lot of those beats on that project I made a year before we released it. It took us almost a year to release it after scrapping to other ideas!


Download: Martin Parks - Thankful for sound

What are your inspirations today? Could you drop three albums or tunes that have recently blown your mind? Any up-and-coming producers?

To be honest most of the music I listen to daily doesn't go past 98', I'm just not 100% feeling hiphop as a whole right now.

1. Georgia Anne Muldrow - Seeds.
2. Robert Glasper - Black Radio.
3. Kim Burell - The Love Album.

Georgia Anne Muldrow - Seeds (2012)

Robert Glasper - Dillalude #2 (2012)

Kim Burell - The Love Album (2011)

Any dream collaborations?

Don't really have any DREAM collabs, but I would def hop on a track with DOOM!

Another release that stunned us was the current project The Green Whale. Could you tell us how that album came about?

I wanted to bring back that raw imagination and creation I had when I was a child. I often created my own books which consisted of stapled loose leaf paper, and monsters I drew myself. Sometimes I would write story's in my books and sometimes I would just make monster catalogs. Blue whales are my favorite animal, they help us humans realize how small we are and a blue whale compared to the universe is even smaller and in this ego driven world we live in, we need that reality. but I wanted to create my own species of whales that reflected my character and with the help of Amanda Berglund I was able to create the first green whale, Nug. The entire project walks through life lessons and stories from the year 2009 to 2012. I did a lot of growing and creating during this time especially being out on my own. The Green Whale is a musical version of those loose leaf stapled books I used to create, each song being its own character, page and story.



Our takeaway tracks off The Green Whale are Perfect and Recognize (A5 mix). Could you tell us the story behind those two tracks? 

Perfect and Recognize were meant to reach out to anyone whose ever struggled with self identity, insecurity and just feeling alone and lost in the world. I've dealt with all those insecurites and sometimes may still struggle but I've found ways make it through! So it's only right to reach out to my fellow man, help uplift and to be able to identify.


Download: Roman Lee Norfleet - The Green Whale

What is your dearest piece of equipment and why?

My record player! It's where all my vinyl come to life!

The last couple of years crews like The Robert Glasper Experiment, BadBadNotGood, El Michel's Affair and Will sessions have literally blown up with their live sessions. Is there a Martin Parks live experience? 

We do shows here and there, but right now we're trying to push ourselves to our creative limits and really master our craft. We're moving to LA this month so you'll see more of us!

To sum things up, what can we expect from the Roman Lee/Martin Parks studios in 2012?

We just finished and 3 song EP with DJ/Producer 5ifth Element from Chicago. We've also making a big change to Martin Parks. [The new EP is entitled] Concluding Passages of a Revolution so look out for that.

As a final lil' nugget here's a Beathearts exclusive. It's the instrumental for LTII taken from Rob Milton's Love Today EP produced by Roman.


Download: Rob Milton - LTII (Instrumental)

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That's it for this edition of the Beat Generation Series. We're really looking forward to Roman's upcoming projects and are sure you'll hear from him soon again!

http://martinparks.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/RLNorfleet

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Jeremih Ft Marcus Fench – Keep It Moving

I'm such a sucker for new tunes revisiting 90's hiphop classics. Latest example is Jeremih's mixtape Late Night. On the track Keep it moving goes back to A Tribe Called Quest's Electric Relaxation (1994) who in turn used Ronnie Foster's classic Mystic Brew (1972). Great interpretation - get it below!


Download: Jeremih - Keep it moving
Download: Jeremih - Late night mixtape

            

             ATCQ - Electric Relaxation (1994)                   Ronnie Foster - Mystic Brew (1972) 

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Mark de Clive-Lowe - Get Started ft Omar (Full Crate Remix)

We just can't get enough of Mark de Clive-Lowe this week can we? Here's Dutch producer Full Crate's dubby deep house version of Get started featuring Omar to get the weekend started. Free download courtesy of the good people over at Tru Thoughts. Get it while you can.

If you want more of the Full Crate sounds head over to 22Tracks.com where he and FS Green pull our their favourite tracks each month.


Download: Mark de Clive-Lowe - Get started (Full Crate remix)

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Billy Cobham - Heather (Variations)

Billy Cobham - Heather (1974)

Woke up this morning with this great rework from German producer Hannes Fischer in our RSS-flow. He has taken on Souls of Mischief's classic 93 'til infinity and reconstructed it into something completely different. It still has the vibe from Billy Cobham's original Heather (1974) but now reconstructed as a slow building minimal track.

Apparently Souls of Mischief are putting together a documentary about the album coming up early next year to celebrate celebrate it's 20th (!) anniversary. Check the preview here.

Heather is taken from jazzdrummer Billy Cobham's third album Crosswinds released in 1974. It's no surprise that, like so many other classics, it was recorded at Electric Lady studios in New York. Cobham is still live and kickin' and has an upcoming mini-tour of the US and the Netherlands. Go check him out!

Heads up to the MIMS-crew for putting us onto Hannes Fischer's version.

Download: Souls of Mischief - 93 'til infinity (Hannes Fischer rework)

Souls of Mischief - 93 'til infinity (1993)

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Lewis Taylor – Bittersweet (Mr Leigh's A Dash Of Sugar Edit)

What a great week! Here's another dope re-edit. It's Lewis Taylor's track Bittersweet (1996) cut up by a Mr Leigh based in Melbourne. It also features on Gilles Peterson's new mixtape for TimeOutNewYork (unfortunately no download). Check them both below.


Download: Lewis Taylor - Bittersweet (Mr Leigh's a dash of sugar edit)

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Mark de Clive-Lowe presents Church vol.5

Another great edition of Mark de Clive-Lowe's Church mixtapes was just released. This time it's Nia Andrews on the 1's and 2's. It also happened to be the pre-ceremonial-lounge playlist at their recent wedding (!). Awsome couple. Awsome soundtrack. All the best from the Beathearts crew!

Download: Church Vol.5

Tracklist:

1.Unknown
2.Astral Traveling By Pharoah Sanders
3.Unknown
4.Island LatterBuy By Shuggie Otis
5.Unknown
6.Heaven Must Be Like This (album version) by Ohio Players
7.Unknown
8.A La NitBuy by Savath & Savalas
9.Inside My Love by Minnie Riperton
10.Intimate Friends by Eddie Kendricks
11.Holding You Loving You by Don Blackman
12.Africa by D Angelo

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KENDRICK LAMAR - GOOD KID, M.A.A.D. CITY – THE SAMPLES COLLECTION

With Kendrick Lamar's new album blowing up Babylon Cartel‘s Gianni Lee and Mike Blud put together this compilation of the tunes behind the tunes. I.e. they've collected some of the smoothest sample sources off the album into this slick compilation. We especially enjoyed the fact that they used a track from Beathearts favourites Boom Clap Bachelors.

Get it while it's still available:

Download: GOOD KID, M.A.A.D. CITY – The samples collection


Tracklisting:
1.Prologue
2. Dreamscape Interlude (Prod. By Gianni Lee)
3. Boom Clap Bachelors – Tiden Flyer (Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe)
4. Suspekt – Helt Alene (Art Of Peer Pressure)
5. Beach House – Silver Soul (Money Trees)
6. Janet Jackson – Anytime, Anyplace (Poetic Justice)
7. Kanye West – We Major (M.A.A.D City)
8. Ohio Players – Funky Worm (M.A.A.D City)
9. Grant Green – Maybe Tomorrow (Sing About Me, Dying Of Thirst)
10. Formula IV – Whats This World Coming To (Compton)
11. Kool And The Gang – Summer Madness (Compton)
12. Twin Sister – Meet The Frownies (The Recipe)

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Album of the month: S3 - Supa Soul Sh*t

Ever since we got Miles Bonny's seminal track Still Miles with DJ Day back in 2009 he's been on our radar. Numerous EPs, collaborations and albums later his sense of quality is second to none.

For his latest album Supa Soul Sh*t he's teamed up with Austrian beatmaestro Branko Jordanovic a.k.a. Brenk Sinatra under the S3 moniker.

The album is 21 tracks thick and has potential to become a future classic. The smooth production and soulful skits somehow reminds me of Slum Village's Fantastic Vol.1. It has been in the making for three years with Brenk on the breaks and Miles on vocals and his signature flugelhorn (as in the photo above).

Of course there are tracks that stick out like 10 minutes and Rain don't stop me now but Supa Soul Sh*t is something as rare as an album that works as an album as opposed to just a collection of tracks.

Tracklist:

1. S3 Intro 00:10
2. Seein Doe 02:30
3. Chakal 04:49
4. Get This Money 03:44
5. Bro Skit 01:10
6. Don´t Stop 03:57
7. Deeper Skit 00:56
8. Sprinkle 04:27
9. Chronic Break 01:13
10. Dr. Strange 03:50
11. All I Know 04:20
12. Make Her Smile 00:50
13. 10 Minutes 03:37
14. Hanged Skit 01:30
15. Let It Rain 03:46
16. Rain Don't Stop Me Now 03:27
17. Lystics 03:43
18. Really 02:01
19. Stars Shine 04:04
20. Time Out Skit 02:53
21. Movin On 05:20

S3 is currently on tour in Germany and Poland going back to Miles Polish roots. Miles grandfather was born in Poland, deported to Siberia and later fled to the US where he changed name from Bonikowski to Bonny (hence Miles Bonny).

S3's Supa Soul Sh*t is available for digital download right now via Bandcamp. The vinyl release is dropping on October 26th via Melting Pot Music.


Download: S3 - Rain don't stop me now


Download: S3 - Don't stop

Want more? Get digging in Miles Bonny back catalogue on Bandcamp

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Hiatus Kaiyote - Tawk Takeout

Melbourne based collective Hiatus Kaiyote are on a roll and getting hype from across the board. From Gilles Peterson naming their debut Tawk Tomahawk Album of the week to Erykah Badu's recent tweet that sums it all up nicely: "OK. I'm done. In love."

To top that off, legendary magazine WaxPoetics just dropped a remix album as a special feature. With next shit remixes from artists like Mark de Clive-Lowe, Shafiq Husayn, Anthony Valadez and the omnipresent Miles Bonny. As if that wasn't enough it's a free download. Get it while it's available!

Download: Hiatus Kaiyote - Tawk Takeout

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Beathearts Rewind #49: Luther Vandross & Aretha Franklin - Jump to it (1981)

Was listening to this old interview with the late Luther Vandross yesterday and found out that he actually produced Aretha Franklin's classic albums Jump to it (1982) and Get it right (1983). Maybe you already knew but Luther's productions skills was at least news to me.

Apparently the story was this:

Luther was discovered by accident during David Bowie's recording session of Young Americans at Sigma Sound studios in Philadelphia. Luther felt the song needed a better hook and started humming along. Bowie overheard it and hired him on the spot.

A few years later, Vandross was established background singer for Roberta Flack and others. He had been saving up money for a studio demo. He convinced producers, background singers and musicians to help him for free. On a Sunday early 1981 he got in the Media Sound Studio and recorded his first demo Never too much/Sugar & spice. The day after he asked Roberta if she wanted a first listen. She was amazed, lovingly fired him (!) and helped him get a record deal.

In a Rolling Stone interview later that year he was asked about his future plans and answered that he "would wrestle [wrestling champion] Bruno Sammartino for a chance to produce Aretha Franklin". During a Saturday Night Live session Vandross and bass player Marcus Miller wrote Jump to it on a piano standing in a hallway. They sent her the demo and the rest is history.

Many thanks to legend Mats Nileskär for the great story.


Aretha Franklin - Jump to it (1982) - Prince Klassed re-edit

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Mark de Clive-Lowe - Remix:Live

With the amazing amount of music that hit us each week, every now and then a clip or a tune hits us that just makes us sit back in awe. If you're a regular you know we huge fans of Mark de Clive-Lowe. We had the honor of interviewing him earlier this year - if you missed that check it here: The Beathearts Mark de Clive-Lowe sitdown.

On top if being an amazingly productive recording artist, producer and remixer he's got an extensive live tour schedule on top of his Church residencies in L.A. and New York. One of the many live projects he's got going is the Remix:Live set-up where remixes some of his favourite tunes live using Native Instruments Maschine, two Korg KP3 Kaoss Pads, a USB controller keyboard and a Roland Juno G. The result is nothing but stunning. Check the clip above of the man remixing Elements of Life classic track Brand New Day and you'll know what we mean.

You want more? Here's a free DL of another track Mark has remixed live:

Download: Sy Smith - Nights feel like getting down (MdCL Remix:Live)

Listen to the complete set right here:

Mark de Clive-Lowe - Remix:Live (South Africa - Sept 2012)

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Friday Night Slowjams

Friday night and we kick back to new material from Flying Lotus, St. Joe Louis and Ty (of the excellent Ty & Kory mixtape fame). We've had these two tracks on rotation for some time and both of them are growers.

First off is the upcoming single, Night blooming jasmine, from St. Joe Louis and Flying Lotus project Lotus Reloaded Redux. Somewhat reminiscent of Dudley Perkins finest moments this tune will have you humming "Flowers ain't gon work" for sure.

Download: Flying Lotus & Joe St. Louis - Night blooming jasmine

Second track is our take-away track from Ty's latest drop Beach House. Most of the release is produced by D.R.U.G.$. but this track Time was put togehter by D-Mile and Ty himself. Smooth late night listening in the vein of Frank Ocean. Check it.


Download: Ty - Time ft Joe Moses

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