Pearsall's Tunes

Been pretty quiet on the blogging front recently (as I explained before) so now I return like a benevolent god, bringing with me a large quantity of legally grey musical treats.

This post was going to be longer, but Blogger keeps eating parts of the post when I flip between the preview screen and the normal screen. I am not amused. Oh well, more bits tomorrow.

International beat selection:

Cidinho & Doca - Cidade de Deus - This is from a compilation called 'Rio Baile Funk: Favela Booty Beats' that came out on an Austrian label last year. I've featured some tracks in this style before, and they're all pretty much the same, which doesn't really detract from the fun. A massive dose of 80's electro flavor, some shouting in Portuguese, and some bongo drums. Simple but effective.

Vybz Kartel & Marlene - Goodas - Vybz Kartel is my favorite Jamaican dancehall mc, and this is him and some chick over the Bionic Ras Riddim, which is one of the most awesome/hilarious things I've ever heard. Having spent years deep in the hard house/nu-nrg scene it is so so so strange to hear hoovers (that's the term for the sound they used for the main riff) used in a black context. The hoover is the ur-rave riff, the soundtrack over the years to millions of pop-pupilled melanin-deficient jaw-grinding sessions when laid over rampant kick drums. Hearing it in a dancehall context is wild and exciting, and they've used it brilliantly. Cool stuff.

Saian Supa Crew - Darkness - The Saian Supa Crew are one of the biggest rap crews in France, and this is my favorite cut off an album called 'KLR' that I picked up in Geneva a couple years ago. They have amazing flow, and they work really well as a crew.

Lil' Black Lion - Pun Pouf Gyal Yuh Stinka - I've put up a fair amount of reggaeton recently, so I'm giving it a pass for tonight. Here, instead, is something from an album I downloaded of French-language dancehall. Not sure whether this is from France itself or from the French West Indies. Nothing particularly special about this I guess, but it's dancehall! In French! Crazy times!

Breakbeaty type stuff:

DJ Ron - Crackman - Classic jungle. For Robert from LoveEcstasyCrime.

Lee Coombs & Meat Katie - 2 Men on a Trip (Lee's Tripped Out Mix) - Nu skool breakz is one of those dance music scenes that exists mostly outside the critical (or shall we say 'Dissensian', heh) continuum. Neither artily ultra-stylish nor agressively lumpen prole, it just keeps on keeping on. This track is off the mix cd that the Plump DJ's did for the Fabric Live mix cd series. It's pretty minimal stuff, with a pretty simple break, some sound effects, and an understated piano vamp for a main riff.

Success & Effect - Roll It Up/Let's Do It (Carl Cox RMX) - Before he became superstar techno dj extraordinaire Carl Cox was a lord of the early 90's hardcore rave scene. This track is classic breakbeat ardkore: frantic breaks, manic stabs. This track is off a compilation I picked up a couple years ago called 'Rave Anthems Vol.1' that was put out by the New York dance label Smile. If you can find it, it's a really good selection of cuts from the original UK rave sound.

On Sunday the New York Times had a story on the Houston rap sound, including the wildly distinctive 'screwed n' chopped' style, where Houston dj's slow down the beats to a sludgy crawl, and chop them up, repeating lyrics and stuttering the beats. Anyways, Marc Bassnation from Dissensus wanted to hear some samples, so here's some screwed n' chopped bits. I've put up the Keith Sweat tune before, but it's so good I've upped it again for those who missed it the first time. That and the Christina Aguilera tune are off a recently released screwed rnb compilation called 'Fuck Action 40'. The Christina Aguilera tune is amazing, it sounds frankly astonishing after OG Ron C has worked his magic on it. The other tune is from an old DJ Screw mix cd called 'As the World Turns Slow'. DJ Screw (read the article!) was the originator of all that Houston business, and this track is a pretty good example of the deep space sound of Houston's street scene. If Cadillac made an interstellar craft, this stuff would be the soundtrack.

Christina Aguilera - Beautiful

Keith Sweat - How Deep Is Your Love?

DJ Screw feat. Guerilla Maab - Grippin' Grain

More stuff tomorrow night.