Mexicans with Guns – Nuts and Bongos
Woke this morning to find the new EP from Mexicans With Guns in our inbox, the latest signee to Exponential Records, the label responsible for the excellent AM Architect album, ‘The Road to the Sun,’ which has been a firm favourite of both Mr Trick and I over the last couple of months.
Featuring MCs Cerebral Vortex and Spoek Mathambo, ‘Nuts and Bongos’ is some straight-up, feel good party music that is sure to leave dancefloors upside down, and the lovely people at Exponential have been kind enough to let us share it with you.
The ‘Nuts and Bongos’ EP features the title track alongside 4 remixes from the likes of Ninjasonik and Robot Koch. We’ll let the guys at Exponential explain it to you:
“We are the world…we are the children. Remember that shit? The superstars of the world came together to spread a positive message…love is really all you need. Well, 3 of those children grew up and guess what…they linked up together to form a super group to spread an equally positive message…love might be all you need but what about all the sex, drugs, and club bangers, the stuff you want?
Latest signee to the roster, Mexicans with Guns links up with MC’s Cerebral Vortex and Spoek Mathambo to collaborate on the Nuts and Bongos EP, a guaranteed sure shot for the dancefloors. Each member of this collab has been generating some waves. Mexicans with Guns was selected to URB Magazine’s Next 100, Spoek Mathambo recently released a few hot tracks on the Adult Swim African Swim Compilation, and Cerebral Vortex is a name on the tip of the blogworld tongue. To make things go even harder, the crew enlisted the talents of Ninjasonik, Cobra Krames, Robot Koch of Jahcoozi, and GTO for remixes.
We are the world made the day brighter…this collab seeks to make the night darker and the clubs stankier.”
The EP comes out next week, check the Exponential website to buy directly or for details on where else to find it.
Download ‘Mexicans with Guns – Nuts and Bongos’ (right click and save as)
Deviation special at Fabric ft. Madlib and Jrocc
The last time I saw Madlib live at Fabric (and I think actually the only time I’ve seen Madlib live) was in 2005 and it was possibly one of the best shows I’ve been to, with Madlib doing an impromptu live drumming session at the end of his Jaylib set. Jrocc was there too and he turned the place upside down as you’d expect from one of the world’s finest DJs and a member of the legendary Beat Junkie crew.
So the news that these two are to return to Fabric for a one-off mid week special for Benji B’s now infamous ‘Deviation’ night should be all the information/motivation/excuse you need to get your tickets and be there, or be square as the young hipster kids say.
The date? Wednesday the 13th of May. And to keep the Deviation mood complete, only room 1 (the live room) and the upstairs VIP bar will be open to keep the cosy atmosphere of Deviation’s regular London haunt, the Gramophone.
Get over to the Fabric site now to buy tickets. Stones Throw is the label for Madlib and Jrocc related releases. And BBC 1xtra is the home of Benji B’s excellent and always on point radio show, which has now moved to Sundays from Thursdays. Tune in every week for some of the best underground music around.
Now if Madlib does the drum things again, it’ll be all over. See you there.
Don’t Sleep – The Best of Jazz Fudge mix
Not quite sure how I came across this one but pretty sure it was through the wonders of the twitterverse. Anyways what matters is that I did find it and you need it in your life right now. So stop what you’re doing and go get it now.
Long Distance Dan, a friend of the Rhythm Inc family, and ex-Jazz Fudge member of staff has put together a two part best of mix of the legendary label. If you don’t know about Jazz Fudge then I suggest you educate yourself asap, starting with these mixes and then following on by hunting down as many of their releases as you can. I don’t know many labels whose entire output (or pretty much most of it) has the level of quality that Jazz Fudge did. Founded by DJ Vadim in 1995, the label was a pioneer of the UK hip hop scene in late 90s/early 00s and responsible for some absolute classics and, at the time, mind bending productions many of which are collected in this mix.
And for existing fans of the label this is just a great collection of some of the label’s best releases, which 10 years on still sounds as fresh as it did back then in many ways. Headz may well never have been ready.
UPDATE – The rapidshare links weren’t working so I’ve now upped both parts as a .zip file to our own server. All files are .wma though!
Don’t Sleep – The Best of Jazz Fudge mix pts 1+2 (zip file)
Go peep Long Distance Dan’s blog too while you’re at it.
Mayer Hawthorne – Maybe So, Maybe No [download]
It’s Monday and the blues settles in as the realisation of a long week ahead sinks in. Fear not, for the good people over at Stones Throw have something to help keep the blues at bay and start the week on an uplifting tip.
Their plan is quite simple: putting the title track from the latest single from Mayer Hawthorne, ‘Maybe So, Maybe No,’ out there in the wilderness that is the internet, letting it spread its way and infect earphones/speakers with its sunny vibe and uplifting mood. You can download the track below. As they put it:
“If you’ve somehow missed him till now, Mayer Hawthorne is a young soul singer & musician from Michigan who brings his hip-hop background to the Motown sound. His debut single has garnered him huge props from the likes of Q-Tip, Mark Ronson, Gilles Peterson, Benji B and far too many others to mention. B-side to this new single is the lovely ‘I Wish It Would Rain’”.
Hawthorne’s first single, the rather excellent ‘Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out’, was a firm Rhythm Inc favourite in 08 and this new one is already creeping up in the favourite stakes too.
‘Maybe So, Maybe No’ is out now on digital via Stones Throw’s own shop. Grab the title cut below, and if you like it then go that little extra length and cop the whole single. It is worth it. I believe the vinyl version should be out in the coming month(s).
Download Mayer Hawthorne – Maybe So, Maybe No here! (right click and save as)
Also check the pretty nice super-cheap video for the single’s b-side here:
And if you somehow managed to miss Hawthorne’s debut single, you can find the video on Youtube here.
Prefuse 73 – Preparations Kid’s Choir
Prefuse 73 isn’t really a name that should need introducing round these parts. One of Guillermo Scott Heren’s various musical aliases, Prefuse has been synonymous with forward thinking hip hop and electronic music productions for close to a decade, both on his own Eastern Development label as well as the Warp label, which has been his home for quite a while. I wouldn’t necessarily go with Pitchfork’s description of Prefuse’s work as ‘basicially a walking factory of glitch-rap beats’ not least because the word glitch hyphenated with anything else to describe a musical style makes me want to commit acts of violence, but let’s say that were it not for his work, as well as that of his peer Dabrye, the sound of today’s hip hop underground would be a lot different to what it is. A lot.
2009 sees Mr Herren back in full swing with no less than 4 releases in the course of about 6 weeks, including:
- A new Prefuse 73 album on Warp, ‘Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian’ out April 20th (peep the February Rhythm Inc show for a preview of that)
- A new Savath y Savalas LP on Stones Throw, ‘La Llama’ alongside singer Eva Puyuelo Muns out on May 12th
- A new album from his Diamond Watch Wrists side-project with Zach Hill of Mars Volta, ‘Ice Capped at Both Ends’, out on Warp May 4th
- And a new EP under the Prefuse 73 moniker on June 1st on Warp called ‘The Forest of Oversensitivity’
Now while high output might not necessarily always equate quality, there’s definitely exceptions to the rule and Herren is one of them for me. Each of these releases explores different styles, moods and influences, from a more trademark hip hop and electronic beats sound to the Latin influences of Savath via new, warmer and deeper tangents for the Prefuse EP and apparently acid folk and krautrock on Diamond Watch Wrists.
Personally the new LP ticks all the boxes, taking it back to a shorter, more instantly gratifying sound that was found in the earlier Prefuse albums, and the forthcoming releases are all eagerly anticipated.
To help cull the anticipation a little the lovely people at Warp records have given us a track to give out for free from the EP that will be released in June. Called ‘Preparations Kid’s Choir’ it’s a more ‘classic’ Prefuse sound and yet still holds enough to surprise and keep you wanting more.
Look out for more previews from the LP and other projects in April’s Rhythm Inc show.
