Brooke Shields and H.R. (Bad Brains)

The Gaslamp Killer - The Mayan (live set)

When I started this blog 2 years ago, out of a renewed interest in music in general, particularly a renewed appreciation for certain types of - largely Detroit- Hip Hop (the production opus of J Dilla, Black Milk, a young honk named Danny Brown) as well as a handful of Electronic Dance Music producers and DJ's who fascinated me.  The Gaslamp Killer was exactly that cat.  His infectious mixes of everything from Jimi Hendrix to Dilla, to psychedelic pastiches of the Turkish Pop his grandfather cultivated a deep and abiding love in, spoke to types of devotional and psychedelic music I've always been drawn to.  I scoured the internet looking for the best performances of him live, such as this one which I called The Best Backyard Party Ever for obvious reasons.  Another particularly brilliant set in a unique setting I came across was at the Natural History Museum First Fridays (06.05.09). 

William Benjamin Bensussen is a Turkish American (he is in fact the son of a Turkish-Lebanese-Jewish father and Lithnuanian-Jewish mother) visionary who came to prominence in the DJ club culture of San Diego.  The questionable club district was dubbed The Gaslamp District and so arose a counterpoint to that glib surface side of club culture.  In 2005 he relocated to LA and co-founded an experimental party series (Low End Theory) with Daddy Kev and DJ Nobody in the area of Lincoln Heights.  In the eclectic LA beat scene he played frequently alongside Daedalus, Samiyam and Flying Lotus; all of whom he collaborates with on his brand new Breakthrough LP (on Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label).  In the interim he seems to have done everything from playing over-inspired sets for under-enthused hip hop fans waiting for headliner MF Doom to take the stage (or someone wearing his mask) to producing the bulk of Gonjasufi's A Sufi And A Killer.

With Electronic Dance Music having become hyper-popular and lionized some very questionable button-pushing barbarians at the gate will The Gaslamp Killer prove to be the refreshing antidote for DJ culture gone wrong?  Or gone right?  Despite his prodigious skills as a producer the Killer is best heard as a DJ such as here in his set the other day at The Mayan in LA. Listen early in his set for his debut of Nissim with Amir Yhagmai (who predictably for LA is a member of a musical duo Jogger with Alan Thicke's son Jonathan) plucking a virtuous line on yiali tambur and guitar.  The track also features Daedalus on bass as the three tried to extend and breakdown a Turkish record the Killer found one day. 

AlunaGeorge - Your Drums, Your Love

 

 



Danny Brown Bruiser Brigade EP (free download)

In 2010 a man named Danny Brown, with fewer connections to Detroit Hip Hop then people would like to imagine,  with a few choice collaborations under his belt (including with Dilla and Black Milk) released The Hybrid.  It took a few years for the adenoid squawk of his voice to gain popularity outside of very limited circles that began with a core following of backpack enthusiasts, radiating out to strip club bartenders, and so on.  But a hybrid of what?  It seemed fairly clear that it was a hybrid of electronic music, of the abandoned building and huge speaker cabinet variety, and hip hop.  On last year's XXX which garnered top honours from everyone from Spin to Pitchfork as one of if not the best Hip Hop album of the year, it was certainly a jagged little antidote to the greasy chutzpah of Drake and his protege The Weaknd.  Danny deserves all of the attention, modelling his prodigious output on Lil B's similar grind and MF Doom's meticulous plotted-out-on-paper assaults, over a very local style of Detroit Ghettotech inspired beats, all with as he will admit a 'hood grade 2 vocabulary'. 

 



The zeitgeist for Danny was right in 2012 his 'crackhead made good' over slick disjointed beats just seemed like a winning formula. In fairness despite missing his front tooth (from a 'nasty bike accident') Danny did indeed sell a good amount of crack (hear Greatest Rapper Ever from The Hybrid) but was not a crack user, he freely admits serious abuse of the prescription drug Adderal (hear Adderal Admiral off XXX, or a more thoughtful take on Prescription Rx from The Hybrid) as well as Molly- a popular name for MDMA that is pure as the driven snow and likely acquired by a reliable source).  Danny's been talking up Bruiser Brigade,  well, since the song Bruiser Brigade appeared on XXX, as his twisted version of something like G Unit or whatever DMX called his crew.  It sounds a bit more like Danny Brown's Tuesday Night Nintendo Club as DB is notorious for not leaving the house and having his small circle of friends and 'collaborators' over to his place.  Bruiser Brigade is: Danny Brown, Chip$ (currently incarcerated), MC Dopehead (Danny's cousin) and their gangly white producer SKYWLKRwho produced the majority of XXX's beats and with whom Danny seems most comfortable if not most challenged by. 

Danny's found the label home he set out to get at A Trak's Fool's Gold imprint.  The Bruiser Brigade EP is available for free download through their offshoot Scion A/V.

Keith Richards - Are You Still A Music Fan?

 

October - Helio Sequence (download)

 

October is the lead single off of Negotiations, the fifth full-length album written, recorded, and produced by The Helio Sequence (released Sept. ll, 2012).

Thank You Jay Dee, Act 2 (tracklist, mixed J. Rocc)

 

 

Thank You, Jay Dee Act 2

00:00 J.Rocc Intro
01:02 Jaylib - The Official
04:04 sample mix
04:41 Slum Village - Fall In Love
07:16 Slum Village - Fall In Love (Remix)
08:48 The Pharcyde - Runnin'
10:50 A Tribe Called Quest - 1nce Again
12:13 De La Soul ft. Truth Enola and Mos Def - Stakes Is High (Remix)
16:13 Common - Dooinit
17:45 Frank N Dank - Pause
19:55 Dabrye ft. J Dilla and Phat Kat - Game Over
23:28 Jaylib - LA To Detroit (Instrumental)
24:20 Dilla Beat
25:36 Dilla Beat
26:20 J Dilla - Busta
27:04 J Dilla - U And Ur Smile
27:47 Dilla Beat
28:45 Dilla Beat
29:33 Dilla Beat
30:41 A.G. ft. Aloe Blacc - Hip Hop Quotable
32:00 MED - Push
33:04 Oh No ft. J Dilla and Roc C - Move Pt. 2
38:10 Four Tet ft. J Dilla and Guilty Simpson - As Serious As Your Life (Jay Dee Remix)
43:15 Brother Jack McDuff - Oblighetto (J Dilla Remix)
46:35 J Dilla ft. Dwele - Think Twice
48:13 J Dilla - Rico Suave Bossa Nova
49:30 Dilla Beat
50:42 Common - Funky For You
54:29 De La Soul - Verbal Clap
56:11 J Dilla - Stepson Of The Clapper
57:16 J Dilla - Fuck The Police
60:08 Slum Village - Get Dis Money (Remix)
61:28 Slum Village - Get Dis Money
62:12 A Tribe Called Quest - Find A Way
62:36 A Tribe Called Quest - Get A Hold
62:56 Slum Village - Raise It Up (Instrumental)
63:28 Busta Rhymes - Genesis
64:31 Busta Rhymes - Woo-Hah!! (Got You All In Check) (Jay Dee Bounce Remix)
65:05 Busta Rhymes - Enjoy Da Ride
65:21 Busta Rhymes - So Hardcore
66:00 Busta Rhymes ft. Q-Tip - You Can't Hold The Torch
67:17 Jaylib ft. Yesterdays New Quintet - Turn It Up
67:50 Common - E=MC2 (Instrumental)
68:24 Common ft. J Dilla - Heat
70:57 Dilla Beat
71:31 J Dilla ft. Frank N Dank - Ma Dukes
73:40 Dilla Beat
74:18 Jaylib - Blaze Up (better known as No $ No Toke)
75:10 Dilla Beat Outro

Thank You Jay Dee, Act 1 (tracklist, mixed by J.Rocc)

Thank You Jay Dee, Act 1 (soundcloud)

Act 1 Tracklist:

1. Macy Gray - 'I Try (Remix)'
2. Pharcyde - 'She Said (Remix)'
3. De La Soul - 'Peer Pressure (Remix)'

4. Cam & Cam - 'Love Junkee (Remix)'
5. J Dilla - 'Crushin'
6. Busta Rhymes - 'It Ain't Safe No More'
7. Busta Rhymes - 'Enjoy The Ride'
8. Slum Village Interlude
9. D'Angelo - 'Me & Those Dreamin' Eyes Of Mine (Remix)'
10. Modd - 'Secrets Of The Sand (Remix)'
11. Q-Tip - 'Do It, See It, Be It'
12. Common - 'Nag Champa'
13. Toshi Kubota - 'Nothing But Your Love (Remix)'
14. Busta Rhymes - 'Turn Me Up Some'
15. J Dilla - 'Let's Take A Ride'
16. Slum Village - 'Untitled'
17. Janet Jackson - 'Got Til Its Gone'
18. Lucy Pearl - 'Without You (Remix)'
19. Slum Village - 'Players'
20. J Dilla - 'Reckless Driving'
21. De La Soul - 'Stakes Is High'
22. Pharcyde - 'Runnin'
23. Slum Village - 'Fall In Love'
24. Slum Village - 'We Be Dem'
25. Common - 'Dooinit'
26. A Tribe Called Quest - 'Find A Way'
27. Phife Dawg - 'Bend Ova'
28. QD - 'Supa Shit'
29. Jaylib - 'The Red (O.G. Version)'
30. Dilla Outro