nick catchdubs & mr. ducker's "radio friendly unit shifter" mix

the homie mr. ducker collaborated with nick catchdubs on a great '90s-themed mix that was just released by streetwear label mishka. it's called radio friendly unit shifter and it's a round-up of alt-rock hits by bands ranging from cibo matto to sonic youth. i helped out on the project by mining my digi-crates for some of the songs the guys used in the set. (i haven't seen the cd yet, but word is i'm thanked in the liner notes alongside matt pinfield and daria morgendorffer - sweet.) a limited number of physical promos were given out to retailers last week at magic. the download version is available for free to everyone else. grab it!

bonus: here's a '90s fave they didn't use for the mix. maybe it'll end up on volume 2?

luscious jackson - "daughters of the kaos"

mmc's "we blame you" ep is out now

our real good amigos in meanest man contest have a new digital ep called we blame you out now on gold robot records. it's an odds-and-ends collection featuring a new song; remixes by débruit, mochipet (with scratches by dj lion), and multi-panel (winner of the "they do" remix contest); and a cover from roman ruins (which he made by spiffing up his "they do" remix and swapping the original acapella out with his own vocals - cool!). the ep's kick-ass cover art was designed by hunter mack, who runs gold robot. you can see more of hunter's work on his site.

here's the track list:

1. we wouldn't want it any other way (débruit remix)
2. throwing away broken electronics (mochipet remix f/ dj lion)
3. you're right. it's ballin'.
4. they do (multi-panel remix)
5. they do (roman ruins version)

there were lots of other great "they do" remix contest entries. we'll do a post soon with some of our favorites.

but right now, let's check out one of the tracks from we blame you, shall we?

meanest man contest - "throwing away broken electronics" (mochipet remix f/ dj lion)

from the inbox: persian/german trance-rap with FILTHY english interludes

here at sneakmove, we get a lot of new music sent to us by publicists. most of it is very bland, but once in a while we get a track that can only be described as u-fucking-nique. pr reps: y'all need to keep it interesting and send us more wild shit like this!

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From: ahoora mazda
Date: Tue, Aug 19, 2008 at 1:29 AM
Subject: (song of year) the best new rap song of ali tanha(alone) feat tricky-m
To: sneakmove

hi im ziba karson one of the fan of your site
this is the best rap song of rap-trance style's
ali tanha feat tricky-m this song have 3 part
enlish german and persian so ali tanha sing enlish and persian
and tricky-m sing german rap. this song wanna candid for geramy award
and so may be it be the song of year plz insert it in your site
p.s.
thank alot:ziba karson
the name of song:beauty





ali tanha feat. tricky-m - "beauty"

thou art infinite; infinite art thou

into infinity is an art and music exhibition i've been working on over the past few months with the good people at dublab via my job at creative commons. the project is based on the idea of creative reuse and is made up of 12-inch circular artworks and eight-second audio loops. we launched into infinity's online component a couple of weeks ago and are now planning a number of physical installations.



the exhibition includes pieces by kofie, dntel, odd nosdam, flying lotus, omid, lucky dragons, and a bunch of other great artists and musicians. all of the works are published under a creative commons by-nc copyright license, which lets people download, share, and remix them for noncommercial purposes. we'll add new submissions regularly, and we'll eventually invite the public to submit their remixes of the pieces for possible inclusion in the exhibition.

i've currently got two loops in the mix. you can listen to my loops by visiting the artist index and clicking "eriksolo mmc." the site's programmed to pair a random audio loop with a random visual piece every time you navigate to the next display. play around with it for a bit and you'll come up with all sorts of cool combinations.

=====



abstract rude has not contributed any artwork or loops to into infinity (if you read this, abbey, holler at us and submit something!), but he did do a track with abstract tribe unique several years back called "blast off into infinity," and it would make a great theme song for the project, so i shall post it here.

abstract tribe unique - blast off into infinity

and inside that bong is a baby bong!

i've posted about the hawd gankstuh rappuhs mc's wid ghatz before. there's not a lot of info about the group out there, but i've pieced together that it was made up of three guys who went to risd in the mid-'90s. they hooked up with wordsound to put out a few records, then capped their discography with an album on load.

the first hawd gankstuh rappuhs album, 2 hype 2 wype is awesomely bizarre (an amazon user review puts it pretty well: "some people say that it sounds like the beasties retaded cuzins, a battle between 3 flava flavs, or nwa meets the butthole serfers, or the beatnuts after they got pushed off a subway platform in front of a moving train."). the second one, wake up and smell the piss, isn't quite as good, but still has some great moments.



my favorite track on wake up … is "the bong (get in the)," which parodies cypress hill's laser-like focus on rapping about marijuana. (did you know that b-real smokes pot? it's true, he does! in fact, it makes him very stoned.)

these days, devin flynn, aka guy albino, is in the band pixeltan and is an animator who has worked on wonder showzen and the aqua teen hunger force movie. there's an interview with him from earlier this year up on the vice blog. he also has his own series, y'all so stupid (the title refers to this obscure (but great) dallas austin-related hip-hop group). the show is disgusting and weird in much the same way that the hawd gankstuh rappuhs music is. RAD!

here's my favorite episode:



from what i understand, seth cooper, aka flybot van damn, makes some of the music for y'all so stupid. cooper also helms an experimental electronic music project called libythth. his new album, upside down helicoptor is available to purchase directly from the phthalo label.

hawd gankstuh rappuhs mc's wid ghatz - "the bong (get in the)"

ain't no other kind of music in the world that makes me feel quite as chill

growing up, i had a few friends whose moms were very strict christians and wouldn't let them listen to rap music because it is dirty and corrupting. then dc talk came around in the early '90s and offered respectable beats and rhymes that even the blessed virgin mary could get loose to. thank goodness! too bad the group's songs sucked.



there are many cornball rap tracks in the dc talk discography, but 1991's "i luv rap music" epitomizes why the group was never able to connect with real hip-hop audiences (despite being HUGE stars on the christian music scene). the song is a hamfisted rip-off of a variety of popular secular tracks of the era, with lyrics that are delivered in a way that recalls a junior high principal reaching out to students on their level to communicate the virtuous joys of recycling … via rap!

the group's lead vocalist, toby mckeehan, had clearly been listening to a lot of fresh prince around the time this song was recorded (check out the part where he does a squeaky, silly impersonation of his mom - it's a move jacked straight from the "parents just don't understand"/"fresh prince of bel-air theme" playbook). meanwhile, the intro is clearly intended to invoke the same sort of apocalyptic superseriousness that leads off several public enemy songs. in his deepest and most earnest rap voice, mckeehan hilariously bellows "some people out there givin' rap a bad name!". suffice it to say, he is no professor griff, and this song is no "bring the noise."

dc talk - "i luv rap music"

lips are in motion

i was going through some records i have tucked away in a closet and found the 45 for debbie harry's "french kissin'," which was also released as "french kissin' in the usa." i bought the record when it came out in 1986 because i'd heard the song on the radio and the drum sounds at the very beginning reminded me of the beastie boys' "paul revere." (i even made a very clumsy pause tape-like mix that included bits of both tracks - if that sucker turns up in further closet searchin', i'll mosdef post audio from it here).



i forgot how great this song is. i searched hype machine, and it looks like no one's posted it before, which surprises me because (a) it's from the '80s, (b) it's by debbie harry, (c) it's got the word "french" in it.

debbie harry - "french kissin'" (aka "french kissin' in the usa")

stinkin' rich (aka buck 65) - "who you frontin' for?"

it's fun to explore a musician's early work, especially when the stuff they created in their formative years is drastically different than their current output.

buck 65, whose career has been through a variety of stages, used to go by the name stinkin' rich. in 1994, he released a 7inch with a song called "who you frontin' for?," which provides a great example of how much an artist's work can change over time. it's very much influenced by the upbeat, headnod hip-hop of the era. buck's delivery seems a little off and his voice is sorta squeaky (not b-real squeaky, but there's a definite beastie boys influence in there somewhere). it's not an amazing track, but it's a fun listen and shows buck beginning to figure out where he wanted to go with his music. check it out.

stinkin' rich (aka buck 65) - "who you frontin' for?" (1994)

buck 65 has a new album out called situation. you can support him (and sneakmove) by buying it on cd.

song of the day: "why" by carly simon

carly simon's "why" was produced by chic's nile rodgers and bernard edwards for the soundtrack to a movie called "soup for one." the film bombed, which should be no surprise: you know your romantic comedy's a stinker when saul rubinek is your leading man. anyway, the song was a big hit in europe, but not so much in the US. it should have been a worldwide smash, though, as far as i'm concerned. it's a perfect hybrid of sad ballad and weird disco-reggae. sorry, that description makes the song sound awful, but it's actually really really great.

song of the day: "you're a lady" by peter skellern

peter skellern's "you're a lady" is one of those symphonic MOR love songs that i'm a total sucker for. it was a hit in the UK in 1972. it's really pretty.

doesn't he look all prim, proper, and polite in his promo pic? i love it.

song of the day: "somebody stole my thunder" by georgie fame

"somebody stole my thunder" (1970) by georgie fame

fuzzy mod stomper.

song of the day: "hello it's me" by todd rundgren

"hello it's me" by todd rundgren
(1972; philadelphia, pennsylvania, usa)

masterful melodic pop.

from something/anything?

song of the day: "metti una sera a cena" by milva

"metti una sera a cena" by milva
(1972; ???, italy)

beautiful, diva-fied treatment of this essential ennio morricone composition, produced and arranged by morricone himself.

from dedicato a milva da ennio morricone

song of the day: "the 15th" by wire

"the 15th" by wire
(1979; london, england)

effects-heavy guitar-and-synth early post-punk awesomeness!

from 154

song of the day: "free salute" by little barrie

"free salute" by little barrie
(2005; london, england)

edwyn collins-produced rockin' soul stomper.

from we are little barrie

song of the day: "clouds across the moon" by the rah band

"clouds across the moon" by the rah band
(1985; ???, uk)

very cheesy and awesome post-disco ballad set in the future about a woman on earth trying to call her husband on mars (by way of an intergalactic operator) to tell him she misses him.

from the very best of … the rah band

song of the day: "frontline" by yaggfu front

"frontline" by yaggfu front
(1994; raleigh, north carolina, usa)

jazzy golden age hip-hop track about the stuff guys will say to impress women.

from action packed adventure!

song of the day: "so so sick" by unrest

"so so sick" by unrest
(1993; washington, dc, usa)

jangly pop from teenbeat records founder mark robinson and his influential indie rock band.

from b.p.m. 1991-1994

song of the day: "the tide is high" by the paragons

"the tide is high" by the paragons
(1965; kingston, jamaica)

the original version of the blondie hit was this soulful rocksteady recording.

from tide is high - anthology 1962 to 1979

song of the day: "eli's coming" by laura nyro

"eli's coming" by laura nyro
(1968; new york, new york, usa)

epic, jazzy pop-rock song about an irresistable lothario.

from eli and the 13th confession

song of the day: "voyages" by michel polnareff

"voyages" by michel polnareff
(1971; paris, france)

instrumental psych-pop that was sampled by both substance abuse and the shortwave set.

from polnareff's

song of the day: "hollywood divorce" by outkast f/ lil' wayne & snoop dogg

"hollywood divorce" by outkast f/ lil' wayne & snoop dogg

strangely overlooked outkast track with creeping synth and great lyrics.
(2006; atlanta, georgia, usa)

from idlewild

song of the day: "ebony glass" by nancy priddy

"ebony glass" by nancy priddy

eerie phil ramone-produced psychedelic folk by christina applegate's mom.
(new york, new york, usa; 1968)

from you've come this way before

song of the day: "let's get ready to crumble" by the russian futurists

"let's get ready to crumble" by the russian futurists

melodic electronic one-man-band indie pop.
(toronto, ontario, canada; 2002)

from let's get ready to crumble

song of the day: "after laughter (comes tears)" by wendy rene

"after laughter (comes tears)" by wendy rene

heavy memphis soul song from 1964 sampled by the rza.

from shaolin soul

song of the day: "i can see it now" by the walker brothers

"i can see it now" by the walker brothers

lovely 1966 soft pop track written and sung by scott walker.

from portrait

song of the day: "miami life" by ras kass

"miami life" by ras kass

this is an underground hip-hop track from 1996 by a severely underrated rapper.

from soul on ice.

song of the day: "an oak tree" by get cape. wear cape. fly

"an oak tree" by get cape. wear cape. fly

this is a poppy, jazzy indie rock track from 2006 with a great melody and clever, cutting lyrics.

from chronicles of a bohemian teenager

song of the day: "expecting to fly" by buffalo springfield

"expecting to fly" by buffalo springfield

this late '60s symphonic pop ballad features neil young at his melancholy best.

from buffalo springfield again

song of the day: "amplifier" by the db's

"amplifier" by the db's

excellent early '80s power pop out of new york (by way of north carolina).

song of the day: "beautiful food" by edan

"beautiful food" by edan

this is a hilariously absurd track off of edan's 2001 ep sprain your tapedeck, where he basically just runs down a list of food items, rappy-style.

song of the day: "stem" by shiina ringo

"stem" by shiina ringo

this is a really great melodic, symphonic japanese pop song from 2003 that is sorta reminiscent of bjork when she's in strings-mode.

song of the day: "you can do magic" by america

this is an early '80s lite rock gem that you probably heard a lot on the radio when you were a lot younger. listen again -- it's really good! it was written and produced by russ ballard, who was the frontman for argent and who wrote their hit "god gave rock and roll to you."