Music supervisor Morgan Rhodes and Oliver Wang from Soul-Sides.com join A Martinez to talk about their favorite recent releases, including music from Azealia Banks, Prhyme, Pace Cadets and more.
Oliver Wang
Artist: Prhyme
Album: "Prhyme"
Song: "Prhyme"
Notes: This is a bit complicated ,but Prhyme is the new duo featuring Detroit rapper, Royce the 5'9" and Brooklyn's legendary producer DJ Premier but on their debut album, Premier is solely creating beats by sampling from the catalog of Los Angeles's Adrian Younge. I don't know if I've ever quite seen a project based around a collaboration like that and certainly, DJ Premier has never produced an album based around a single artist's catalog, so this should be a rather fascinating project to listen to. Plus, it's just another feather in the cap for Younge who's fresh off doing an an entire album with the Souls of Mischief and he's supposed to have three new albums all finishing up around February.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv94swj4sjo
Artist: Scott Bradlee and the Postmodern Jukebox
Songs: "Drunk In Love featuring Cristina Gatti," & "Shake It Off"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtyoC7KuBDY
Notes: I first heard this group a few weeks back when I took my bike into the shop at Flying Pigeon in Glassell Park and it was playing over the cashier's computer. Bradley and this band take pop songs and then remake them via any number of older styles: 1960s Motown, 1920s Flapper, in this case, Vintage Big Band/Swing. And if I'm being totally honest, part of me feels like I'm not supposed to like this because it seems too easy to take a hot pop song and then remake it via a different musical approach but most of me really likes what they do because they execute on the concept really well. Not everything necessarily kills - they do a bluegrass version of Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" that doesn't quite come off - but as I was suggesting, when it works, it works. Like their remake of Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" - a Motown makeover with Von Smith on vocals.
Artist:
Album: "The Awakening"
Song: "Home (Africa) (feat. Cleveland P. Jones)" & "Captain Capcom"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48OxeDSzcIw
Notes: I have to admit that I should have been up on Crawford years ago - he's an Angelino, born and raised, part of a generation of gifted multi-instrumentalist, arranger, composers who were clearly raised on hip-hop but take their musicality in all kinds of directions. Crawford first rose to fame on the strength of J-Dilla tribute mixtapes and incredible remixes of Jackson 5 songs, but over the last two years, he's also released his own original material, including a jazz album from earlier this year, "The Awakening" which had that song "Home" feat. Cleveland P. Jones on the vocals. And he stays prolific on sites like Soundcloud and Bandcamp, releasing new one-off tracks here and there.
Morgan Rhodes
Artist: Azealia Banks
Album: "Broke With Expensive Taste"
Song: "Soda"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtTjzDTpx8o
Notes: If you're a fan of Azealia Banks, you'll love her new album "Broke with Expensive Taste." The combination of clever word play, house and trap beats, and great vocals are what make this project well worth the wait.
Artist:
Album: "VirginiaUpInYa"
Song: "Jellowstone Room featuring Count Bass D"
Notes: Pace Cadets is a trio of musicians whose debut project "VirginiaUpInYa" mashes R&B, jazz and hip hop. Part of the Virginia based collective Jellowstone Records, the group sounds part Goodie Mobb, part Pharcyde and part Roots-esque.
Artist:
Album: "The Other Day"
Song: "Cloud Cruise"
Notes: After gaining global traction via his one of releases, and a particularly popular Sade remix, HW&W Recordings signee Pomo has released a heavily anticipated new project called "The Other Day," a mashup of disco, electronica and funk.