Southpaw Chop – Save The Vinyl mix
February 5, 2010 by Laurent
Filed under Guest Mixes, Podcast
We stay in Japan for our next guest mix, returning to Takeshi Records for the occasion. You might remember the label from a series of free mp3s we posted last year from their Powerful Beacon releases. This time round we’ve got a guest mix from Southpaw Chop, an artist that works with the label and is about to release his ‘Never Stop Sampling’ EP on his own label, Southpaw Chop Music Production.
Southpaw Chop is a long-standing member, as a DJ and producer, of the Tokyo hip hop scene, building his skills and reputation since the turn of the century and working with many of the most famous names on the Tokyo underground such as DJ Krush and rapper Nipps. The EP features the legendary lyricist Large Pro on one cut, alongside a few instrumental tracks, all of which are taken from a forthcoming LP of the same name. The EP drops in late Feb in Japan, and a month later for rest of the world, while the LP follows roughly a month later. Distribution comes from Crosstalk Chicago, which should make finding it outside of Japan fairly easy.
Tracklist for the EP is as follows:
Southpaw Chop – Never Stop Sampling EP
A1. Here we go featuring Large Pro (EP Version)
A2. Here we go – instrumental (EP Version)
A3. Breeze beat
B1. Finger prints on the record
B2. Bring it on back
B3. Yet to be taught
Onto the mix – it’s an hour-long ride into Southpaw Chop’s fascination with vinyl and sampling, taking in some obvious and not so obvious classics, remakes and more. It’s a dense mix that fits the producer’s ethos quite nicely. It’s the kind of mix that will please straight up hip hop fans as well as tick the right boxes for those like me who may have stopped listening to a lot of hip hop but enjoy a good mix when they hear one.
Look out for previews from the EP and album in forthcoming shows and in the meantime enjoy this mix from Southpaw Chop!
Download Southpaw Chop – Save the Vinyl (right click and save as)
Takeshi Records daily downloads – Day 3 ‘Dabrye’
We round off our daily mp3 giveaway from Takeshi Records with a Dabrye remix of Vast Aire and MF Doom.
This track was originally released in December 2008 by Takeshi Records as part of their Powerful Beacon 7″ series, another track from which we showcased in day 2 of our giveaway. The series aims to reintroduce classic hip hop joints by having them refixed by modern beatmakers and producers such as Samon Kawamura and Dabrye among others. Each 7″ release features a vocal and instrumental mix, and the series will be compiled into a CD later in 2009. There are currently 3 releases in the series: a Kaman Leung remix of Doom’s Viktor Vaughn project, Samon’s remix of O.C and Dabrye’s remix of Vast Aire and MF Doom’s ‘Supafriendz’. The series features artwork from Ryo Matsuoka, a Japanese painter who has put together a rather grabbing series of paintings for each 7″ as you can see from the image above.
This Dabrye remix is a rather classic affair, but still hits the spots as Dabrye’s beats often do. Round these parts he’s definitely one of our favourite producers and it’s releases like this that continue to keep him at the top of our list. Some dubby, bugged out hip hop with samples flipped in ways you thought weren’t quite possible. For more on Dabrye peep the myspace and some of his recent releases including a contibution to the Fat City Producer series. We’re still waiting for part 3 of his album series in the meantime!
For now though enjoy the Dabrye’s instrumental mix of Vast Aire and MF Doom ‘Da Supafriendz’, out now on Takeshi records’ Powerful Beacon series. Stream it and/or download it below and stay tuned to Takeshi’s myspace for news on the next releases in the series, which I think includes a 9th Wonder remix of Digable Planets, which could be another one to watch out for if you ask us.
Takeshi Records daily downloads – Day 2 ‘Samon Kawamura’
Day 2 of our Takeshi Records mp3 giveaway, and this time it’s Japanese/German producer Samon Kawamura stepping up with a remix of the classic O.C track ‘Time’s Up’.
This track was originally released in summer 2008 as part of Takeshi Records’ Powerful Beacon series of 7″. The series aims to reintroduce classic hip hop joints by having them refixed by modern beatmakers and producers such as Samon and also Detroit’s Dabrye among others. Each 7″ features a vocal and instrumental mix, and the series will be compiled into a CD later in 2009. There are currently 3 releases in the series: a Kaman Leung remix of Doom’s Viktor Vaughn project, Samon’s remix of O.C and Dabrye’s remix of Vast Aire and MF Doom’s ‘Supafriendz’. The series features artwork from Ryo Matsuoka, a Japanese painter who has put together a rather grabbing series of paintings for each 7″ as you can see from the image above.
You can find more info on Samon Kawamura over at his myspace and I definitely recommend you check his first two albums, released in 07 and 08 on Nesola records. You can hear previews from the album as well as a pretty DJ mix from Samon over on Nesola’s Soundcloud page.
As for the Powerful Beacon series, check Takeshi Records’ myspace where you can still purchase the first three releases and stay updated on the series’ movements. This is definitely a dope initiative helping to join the dots between some classic 90 and early 00s boom bap and the more recent revival of the producer in hip hop and the surge of electronic hip hop productions.
For now though enjoy the instrumental mix of Samon’s remix of O.C. to stream or download below. And stay tuned for Day 3 with Dabrye’s contribution to the Powerful Beacon series.
Download O.C ‘Time’s Up’ (Samon Kawamura remix instrumental) (right click and save as)
Takeshi Records daily downloads – Day 1 ‘Kaman Leung’
We are having a daily mp3 giveaway courtesy of the lovely people at Takeshi Records over the next 3 days.
I first got in touch with Dopement, who runs Takeshi records, sometime in October last year when I stumbled across the label’s soundcloud page and found the Samon Kawamura remix of O.C.’s ‘Time’s Up’ rather nice. We spoke on myspace for a while, but with my move back to the UK in the new year and everything else I kinda lost track of the label until I bumped back into Dopement over on twitter this week. He dropped me a line with tracks from the label’s last few releases and we decided to let 3 of these out for you to enjoy over the next few days as a way to discover the label and also enjoy some rather fresh instrumental hip hop from the likes of Kaman Leung, Samon Kawamura and the rather well known Dabrye.
First up is Kaman Leung, with a track called ‘Await’ taken from the album ‘Lacrimal’ released in the spring of 09 by Takeshi records. I vaguely remembered the man’s name from somewhere but it wasn’t until I checked the press release that I realised where that was. Kaman, a Swedish/Chinese producer, had a track featured on Krush’s legendary ‘Code 4109′ mix back in 99. Since then he’s been busy doing his own thing, and this latest album showcases his own, rather intriguing production style with dubby, melancholic instrumentals that have more than a hint of originality. Below is some words on the man written by Amar Patel from Straight No Chaser:
To date, Kaman Leung, Swedish/Chinese but residing in Oslo, has had minimal output: a track selected for Krush’s ‘Code 4109’ mix from 1999, an acclaimed EP out on Swedish label ‘A PMS Plan’ and a few 12s on his own imprint Lacerated Recordings. His sound is very outer-dimensional and moody, in a Krush state of mind, but slightly more dubwise with gritty and industrial sound glitches beckoning you in. The beats definitely drop but it’s the simplicity and subtlety that warms you from the most austere of places (track three especially). Sure, the likes of Dabrye and Prefuse are doing it like this, and with even more warped tempos, in the ‘06 but Kaman has that all-important word – vibe. There’s been a few years of turmoil in getting this out but it deserves to be heard. Music for beat heads who like to bed in with an unknown being.
We can get down with that last part of the quote, and we hope you will too. Check Kaman Leung’s ‘Await’ below, stream it or download it and stay tuned for Day 2 tomorrow featuring Samon Kawamura’s remix of O.C’s ‘Time’s Up’ and then Day 3 which will feature Dabrye’s remix of Vast Aire and MF Doom’s ‘Supafriendz’.
You can buy Takeshi Records releases via the links on their myspace page and you should also be able to find them in all decent physical and digital shops. And you can also check Takeshi Recs on Samurai FM with a regular show on the station.
Till then 音楽聞いて下さい！
