Isaac Aesili’s debut solo album Eye See is a rich tapestry of sound with R&B at its heart, and lashings of soul, reggae and funk woven within. Experimental and futuristic in some parts, warm and soulful in others, the album, an extension of its author, is a tribute to diversity.
The concept behind Eye See was born of Isaac’s desire to offer today’s youth a counter voice to the glorification and idealisation of gangster culture, so often promoted by commercial R&B. Destructive lyrics endorsing kids to fail school and encouraging promiscuity, drugs, violence and degradation of women, saw Isaac grow increasingly disillusioned with the genre of music he had loved since he was a teenager. He resolved to record an R&B album that used contemporary production styles, with references to commercial R&B so that it would still appeal to youth, but he would transpose the negative messages with hopeful, positive themes.
Eye See is an inspired album of intelligent, conscious music, an investigation of our world from the perspective of the youth. The opening eponymous track, a song that explores the state of the world today, features Isaac’s nephews and nieces each reciting a line. It is for them and their generation that Isaac created Eye See.
Get the CD here or the limited 12" album sampler here from Conch
UPDATE 16th Sept: Hyperdub EP 5.1 now available hereOctober 2009 heralds the release of ‘5’, a double CD marking Hyperdub’s five years of life as a record label. Honouring past, present and future in equal measure, ‘5’ is comprised of one disc of prior highlights, and one of freshly-composed material contributed by Hyperdub artists and close friends.A series of five 12-inch EPs featuring a selection of the new tunes will be issued, one per week, leading up to the release of ‘5’. The initial pressing quantity of these EPs will be dictated by preorder demand, and none will be repressed, nor will they be made avail-able digitally, before the complete CD collection is on sale.
This 12-inch series is being pressed up on pre-order demand so please contact us at info@conch.co.nz to pre-order and avoid missing out.
Below are the track-listing of the 5 12-inch releases.‘Hyperdub 5.1 EP - 12" (HDB023)
Kode9 & The Spaceape ft. ChaCha - ‘Time Patrol’
Black Chow – ‘Purple Smoke’
Flying Lotus – ‘Disco Balls’Hyperdub 5.2 EP - 12" (HDB024)
Joker & Ginz – ‘Stash’
Zomby – ‘Tarantula’
Samiyam – ‘Roller Skates’Hyperdub 5.3 EP - 12" (HDB025)
Quarta330 – ‘Bleeps From Outer Space’
LV – ‘Turn Away’Hyperdub 5.4 EP - 12" (HDB026)
Martyn – ‘Mega Drive Generation’
LD – ‘Shake It’Hyperdub 5.5 EP - 12" (HDB027)
Mala – ‘Level Nine’
Cooly G – ‘Weekend Fly’Check out what Benji B's Deviation Blog for more info and sound clips
More Info:Kode9 MySpaceHyperdub Website
UPDATE: Clonious - Between The Dots Available Now On CD / 2LP at Conch
Upcoming: The Clonious - Between The Dots 2LP / CD (Ubiquity)
- Released October 2009 - Check Tracks Below -
Style: Downtempo Beats / Hip Hop
Somewhere between the past and the distant future, sparked by dusty old jazz records and beat generation hip hop, at the sonic cross-roads of Detroit and Vienna, lies a series of sound stories steeping in the head of 23 year old beat navigator Paul Movahedi, also known as The Clonious.
The Adroit Adventures EP, released on Ubiquity in June, was the first set of tales to exit his studio and hit limited edition wax. It was immediately picked up by the likes of Mary Anne Hobbs (who aired a Clonious mixtape the week of it’s release) and Benji B on BBC Radio. DJs from Helskinki to Tokyo to New York also gave thumbs up to his unique blend of bouncy cosmic vibes and glitchy shoegazer funk. On Between The Dots his debut album, Movehadi continues his development of sounds that are at once new and classic, soulful and striking, organic and electronic.
“If a regular hip-hop head and the biggest IDM nerd both find a track on the album that they like, it would make me happy,†says Movahedi. “The album is the sum of what I like. These tracks are little adventures that just want to say hello,†he jokes.
While “Fogged Spacesuit,†the ideal tune for astronauts on a spacewalk, and the outerworldly soul of “One At A Time,†(featuring DC-based vocalist Muhsinah, and remixed for the album) swell and bump, tracks like “Emora“ are more angular and to the point, building around a focussed theme. Keeping the beats edgy, Movahedi lets the jazz and improv fly between the dots on “If Joe Had The Power,“ and even more on the short “Agenda“ and “Hang On.“ There’s a Herbert-like warmth to the cut n’paste style of the more uptempo “Bugs N’Fools“ and “Leaving Belief“ should please the ears of Jazzanova and Atjazz fans with their floor friendly beats.
“I don’t really care how people explain my music. You will most definitely find references to others, and that’s cool with me,†says Movahedi. “You can’t invent the wheel a second time. It’s about your mix of influences, and with every record I have ever listened to I inhaled a piece of the world. Searching in the past always felt like looking in the future for me. The past and the future have the unknown in common - and I hope I also captured “the jazz†that make this music timeless,†says Movahedi.
Other guests on the album include Dorian Concept and Cid Rim, with whom Movahedi frequently collaborates. Los Angeles-based Georgia Anne Muldrow and partner Dudley Perkins round out the collabs, injecting some of their own brand of West Coast fonk.
Beat generation artists are smashing the boundaries and connections between electronic music and hip hop worldwide, making something new with every release. “I hope to achieve that fine balance between a superficial forcefulness and a striking deepness. I come from a musical background that is heavily influenced by the jazz era of the late 1950s and 1960s. But a big part of my sound is sampling. Everything I record or produce eventually ends up in a sampler. As I see it the art of sampling comes close to a cloning process. So add my love for sampling with my love for old jazz records and the name The Clonious makes sense...I guess!†he adds.
FOR FANS OF: FLYING LOTUS, SA-RA, DILLA, RADIO CITIZEN, PREFUSE 73, BOARDS OF CANADA, HUDSON MOHAWKE
Dam-Funk's debut album "Toeachizown" will be released this Fall (Spring for us In NZ) as a 5/LP set - two and a half hours of music - with CD version to follow.
Toeachizown is a modern funk album, created in five distinct parts: LAtrik, Fly, Life, Hood, Sky. Stones Throw will be releasing a few of these volumes digitally prior to the vinyl & CD release in Spring.
From Dam-Funk himself: “LAtrik (the 1st volume in the series) is more of my 'electric style' (hence the title of this volume) which is influenced by, yet never bitin', such great artist as Juan Atkins (Cybotron) & Prince to name just a few. It also highlights the more Modern sounds of L.A. based Funk right now with instrumentals like ‘Toeachizown’ & vocal tracks like ‘Mirrors’ which, I feel are distinctly my sound, humbly speaking. I hope U dig it, as this was made 4 U! Stay tuned 4 Volumes: 2. 3, 4, & 5. - D-Fâ€To be informed when Toeachizown is in at Conch, contact us at info@conch.co.nz to reserve a copy
Interview with Dam-Funk by On-Point TVFor more info:
Pitchfork on Dam-Funk Stonesthrow Records
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