Air Raid

5 years ago, Alpha Pup Records released Glitch Mob member edIT's second album, "Certified Air Raid Material." Around that time, I had the opportunity to chat with both edIT and Ooah (also of the Glitch Mob) about their recent releases, inspirations, and the Live performances that they'd become known for.

Some things have changed in the past 5 years, but these guys are still doing their thing...and well, I might add.

Here is the full edIT + Ooah interview, as it aired back in 2007. Big shout to Alpha Pup Records, and of course edIT and Ooah for the time.

edIT + Ooah on Pitch Control - October 28, 2007/XM Buy: edIT - "Certified Air Raid Material"
Buy: Ooah - "Hacksaw / Tubstomper"

Stay in the loop with The Glitch Mob at www.theglitchmob.com.

Joey knows beats

So I was driving the other night and popped in my CD copy of "Reverse Discourse" from my man Joe Beats...it had been a while. A long while in fact. But, without fail, as track 1 got underway, and seemlessly blended into track 2, I quickly recalled why I fell in love with these sounds in the first place.

I won't pontificate too too much here, but just believe me when I say it, that Joe is truly one of THE BEST true school hip-hop producers of our time. Further, he's got the mindset of a DJ and most of his solo albums play as a continuous mix...which makes sense since much of his work is of the instrumental variety.

I had the chance to catch up with Joe back in 2008 when he rolled through DC on tour, and we sat down for an interview that aired on my show "Pitch Control" on XM. We talked about a lot of things, but more than anything, just our mutual love of hip-hop, and DJs and stuff.

Below is a link to the interview as it aired. I will listen to this over & over again..it was one of those instances where meeting an artist in person re-affirmed what I thought I already knew about them: this cat lives hip-hop.

Joe Beats on Pitch Control (04-27-08)"I take it more as a positive bitterness, if that makes any sense..cuz this guy was such a pioneer on every level. Back in the day, people pretended not to hear the beat from Mecca & The Soul Brother, cuz it was too complicated, it was too deep, and they weren't ready for it. Mr. Long and Large Professor would go 3 or 4 loops deep, whereas Pete Rock was going 6, 7, 8 loops deep to make a beat...he was that ahead of the game." (Joe Beats, 2008)

Much to my delight, Joe's got a new album with MC, Blak Lungz. Check it out at http://www.joebeats.blogspot.com.

(P.S. they're the same cats who did this...)

Spirits High

Meant to share this a loooong while ago...but here it is, the message and the music still hold true:

One of the groups that I became aware of by hosting Pitch Control each week quickly became a favorite of mine and I wanted to take a moment to share a little bit from them..out of Utrecht, Holland: C-Mon & Kypski. These guys are on some other isht. Hip-hop, electronic, bollywood, you name it, there are so many different styles and sounds present in what they do. And believe me when I say it, these cats can rock a party. From what I understand, they are quite popular in their native Holland, and their US fanbase is certainly growing.

The guys have a record out now (2010) called "We Are Square" and they'll be in the US (NY, Boston, PA) in the coming months. Check their site for details and keep in touch with them via Twitter.

If you're not familiar with their music and you wanna check these cats out, of course you could go to their sites (and I encourage you to do so,) but what purpose would I be serving if all I did was point you elsewhere?? Right...so, peep what I've got for ya here...a little exclusive bit from Pitch Control back when it used to air on XM 80 The Move (RIP.)

C-Mon & Kypski on Pitch Control (January 20, 2007)


1. XM80 The Move  (this is how it should be done!!! Big ups to Drew)
2. C-Mon & Kypski - Spirits High feat. Benjamin Herman
3. C-Mon & Kypski - Under the Influence mix snippet

Indeed...

A couple few years ago (it was Thanksgiving time...so just a little over 2 years ago actually) my homie Gavin asked me to put together a mix for his show on XM where we were both working at the time...me hosting Pitch Control and he hosting In-DEED. Good times for sure.

Anyway, since I was digging deep for music all the time for my weekly show, I definitely had some tricks up my sleeve and I opted to put together a live mini-mix to demonstrate a little bit of what my show was all about, but as well, to put my own personal DJing touch on it since my role on Pitch Control was moreso selector than actual DJing DJ. Soooo, with my recently-purchased Serato setup, I pressed record and set it off like this...



Wondermike - In-DEED mix
1. Netik - Synthesiz
2. GB - The Black Monolith feat. Ricci Rucker
3. Lorn - Another Mistake
4. Justin Timberlake
5. 2tall & Lamont
6. DJ Alibi - Guns of Kabul

It took me a few times thru to record it straight live, but I like the way it turned out. And who else is rocking Lorn next to Justin Timberlake like that too by the way?!?!? But let me know what you think...maybe I'm a little high on myself.

Do check out some of these cats' respective catalogs. I picked each of these tunes for a reason...Netik is a sick DJ...GB has a beautiful sound...Lorn is crazy with his (though I haven't heard anything lately from him?)...2tall is certainly a favorite of longstanding...and my dude Alibi is yet another talent from north of the border who is if nothing else consistent (but I'll add, also a great talent.)

P.S. one of the staple programs of satellite radio, and some friends of mine, Subsoniq were just recently pulled from the airwaves after 7-8 years of running things in terms of progressive and dope Hip-Hop music. Check them out and speak up to the powers that be...the world needs radio like Subsoniq!!

Cut Chemist on Pitch Control

I had a lot of fun hosting Pitch Control on XM for the few years or so that I got to do it, and one of the best things about the whole deal was getting to meet some of my favorite DJs, producers, etc. It's been more than a year since I stopped hosting the show, but I wanted to share some of the highlights from the archives since this stuff is fairly timeless (at least, in my opinion!) One experience that was real dope was when Cut Chemist came thru town on tour to support his debut solo record 'The Audience's Listening' a couple years back. Going into our meeting, most of what I knew of Cut was through his work with J5, but as a DJ, I was up to speed on some of the other stuff he's done as well. All that aside, I can't begin to say how cool of a cat he is and how enjoyable it was to speak with a dude who loves music as much as he does. We spoke for more than an hour, but for broadcast I had to trim it down a bit, and below is what resulted...



Pitch Control with Cut Chemist (from 01-27-08)
"Intro / Timbaland on dust…the dopest duo ever…"
Cut Chemist - Storm feat. Lif and Edan
"Virtuoso in rhythm instruments…everything's extreme, the bad and the good…"
Cut Chemist - The Garden
"I hated it, anything but that…so organic but mathematical at the same time"
Ozomatli - Eva
"Big ups to B+ man…"
Keepintime - Live suite
"Still some of the most talented people I've worked with..."
Jurassic 5 - Jayou
"He was equally influenced by Lesson 6…"
Cut Chemist - Spat
Kid Koala - Stompin' at le Sevoi
"An exhilarating feeling…Private Press was so him, and this is good too"
DJ Shadow - This Time (I'm Gonna Try It My Way)
DJ Shadow - Building Steam with A Grain of Salt
"I haven't felt this positive about music I don't think since the 80's"
Gorillaz - Dirty Harry
"Outro / It only gets weirder from here…"

(more setlists and Pitch Control ish at www.myspace.com/pitchcontrol)

Shout out to the homie Cut Chemist for being such a great guest, not to mention such an inspiration and amazing talent. Peace man!

Also, gotta shout out the dude Nocturnal Ron, whose instrumental albums I always used to raid for music beds for Pitch Control!!! Whattup Ron!

Honored by my lateness

Apparently a lot of folks came down hard on Kanye after the MTV business the other weekend. Look, I don't think Kanye should've done what he did, but people need to understand it for what it is...a cat being disruptive and speaking his mind. He was out of place for interrupting Taylor Swift in that manner, but I'm not going to fault Kanye for saying what he said. Whatever ignorant/racist messages surfaced after this once-influential music video award broadcast, folks need to understand that just like in anything, bad news travels fast...negative comments always get the most press. So let's not get too carried away with all this.




People want Kanye to scale it back, tone it down, whatever...ok. If he does have problems (coping, addiction, whatever,) hopefully he's got family and friends close to him so that he can get whatever care he may be in need of. I've said it before and I'll say it again...Kanye is an entertainer...dude brought hip-hop performances back in recent years (see his SNL appearances.) Is he a primadonna at times? I don't doubt it. So long as he's promoting music and art in a positive/progressive manner, I don't really have an issue with him speaking his mind. Of course, it would be nice if he did it in a way that didn't rock the boat and cause such commotion, but that unfortunately isn't always the case.

While it's possible this MTV deal was a sign of what's to come and where he's at, I do think he can return to form and get it together. After all, in terms of mass appeal, he's one of the few cats worth keeping an ear/eye to.

All this got me to thinking about some of the reasons why I'm a fan of Kanye in the first place. A couple years ago during some down time in their touring schedule, I had the opportunity to chat with his (now former) DJ, A-Trak. We spoke about a number of topics, but one focal point was the time he'd spent with Kanye on the road and in the studio. As a DJ myself, these two joining forces was incredible not just because of the amazing talent they both possess, but the creativity that would result was just about unparalleled in terms of hip-hop. Needless to say, their output has been some of the dopest stuff of recent years.

To showcase a small bit of what I'm talking about, I wanted to share this with you here. Below is an excerpt from my conversation with A-Trak where we spoke in particular about some of the more memorable moments with Kanye on tour in the Late Registration/Orchestration era:



A-Trak - INT + Heard 'Em Say (LiVE @ Abbey Road)