Politik

And now a raunchy groove to get your motion in a commotion! Haha, laugh that last one off. But it’s true. Thank Blog I ain’t a critic and I can use eashfa to show mainly, mostly love to artists who deserve it.

The Politik are Bembe Segue (all you Brasil fiends out there know her for sure) and producer Mark de Clive-Lowe. The sound is broken beat canvas, soul and jazz oil painting. The songs that I’m digging are High Priestess, with a laid-back sunny vibe reminiscent of Azymuth, Moonlight featuring BLU and Black Sun. 

The record boasts a plethora of beat makers and rhyme sayers – Wajeed, Daz I-Kue (Bugz in The Attic), Jason Yarde and respectively BLU, replife, plus one of my personal favourites, Bahamadia. Such a diverse range within the creation process might have got the musical message shattered. Common ground was found to build upon, detonated, then reassembled. And the result is so fresh it might take some ears getting used to. 

There’s a mixtape for you to download and preview the album (released 31.07.2007)

Joan can be my lighter

Each day I listen to music I’ve never heard before, and every day I get less easier to impress. It’s hard to discern what good music is when it doesn’t fall into the immediate “love” or “hate” categories. I could probably throw away half of my CDs and never think of them again (though if I did, you know I’d be that disheveled looking lass on top of Bucharest’s garbage dump stinkers pulling her hair out cos she can’t find her beloved Kooks album).

I do love some songs, and I don’t have to obsessively play them so they show up on my last.fm to know that. They stick with that unseen part of my iceberg. So, today, I was struck by an artist and I’m still rubbing my eyes like you would when you come out of the cinema and you have to get used to the light. But I’m coming out of the cinema skipping and jumping along main streets, that’s how good Joan As Police Woman are. Joan Wasser is the one under the limelight, a bit of an indie icon – amongst many other projects, her day job for a while consisted of playing violin with Antony and The Johnsons. Her bandmates are Rainy Orteca and Ben Perowsky (bass and drums respectively), also respected indie peers.
“I began singing to myself, very quietly to myself so no one could hear. It’s shocking to hear your own voice. It’s also shocking to learn you have no idea what you want to say.”
Joan talks like that. Imagine how she sings. I can’t profess my love for her voice enough. She’s got Cat Power’s charisma and vocal depth and Annette Peacock’s soul, confiscating all the atmosphere your speakers will or won’t cover.

Joan As Police Woman – Eternal Flame mp3

tracks for streaming at BBC Collective

Buy at You Make Music

Shake your love on this: J Davey baby

The possibilites were not endless two days ago. Today they stop at 4, which is good for me right now. Four’s a good number in the music world for up-and-comping artists. Less than four cuts is too little showcasing, more is too much for a free ride.

I was surprised to hear good music from unreliable intentions the other day. And I was prepared to hunt it down. However Filip came to the rescue, ripping and rolling along the way. Look, J Davey mp3s:

J Davey – Dirty Love mp3

J Davey – Divisions Of Joy demo mp3

J Davey – Mr mister mp3

J Davey – No More mp3

(erm, you don’t have to ask me why they’re 96kbits/sec, do you..)

J Davey are Jack Davey (that’s the chick) and Brook D’Leau, they make music to do your head in as you try to label it. Influences are so wide as to include new wave and rock, jazz fusion and hip hop. Jack’s voice is an emphatic underscore roar – while it has been compared to the likes of Erykah Badu, I find Jack to grip less tightly to the strength of her voice and thus not superimpose herself over the music itself. I love Erykah, but she’s more traditional in her approach to soul so the comparison is probably not valid anyway.
There is no J Davey song that isn’t danceable. While indie rock has let me down this summer, too few choices for sunshine-chasing mornings there, J Davey is escapism for the night.
Five years in the making, they’re about to break loose.

Photo collage aided with pics from SunZeph, b-real.

The Revolution will not be televised

I found a podcast and then I lost it. Yep, I mean it's still there, actually it's here (link), notwithstanding I can't find it on odeo and I can't remember where I got it from. This is first-rate funk and soul but I really need a tracklisting, I can't figure out who half these people are, some ring a bell… and I am now showing off my lack of knowledge. For shame.

One should listen to this amazing mix nonetheless.

Update, read all about it: I kept missing the five seconds where the radio DJ says this is DJ 3D, and on hiphopmusic.com some readers left tracklists. Also..

Quincy Jones – Summer In The City mp3

Brass Construction – The Message (Inspiration) mp3

Freddie Scott – (You) Got What I Need mp3