Ceremony

Ceremony No. 1

Before the 13' closed out I got the chance to check out the latest from Raashan Ahmad Ceremony.  It currently sits at no. 1 of my favorite current listens.  Each record is just as great as the next.  Got familiar with the audio through an exchange online with a cpklla (Yahoo Messenger alias) who put me on to Crown City Rockers through a track called "Side Step" about a decade ago or so... I didn't realize it, but the Mission record I discovered at the KRUX 91.5 fm archives (and later lost) also featured the MC (Raashan Ahmad) who would eventually top my all times list as favorite MCs, next to Black Thought, Grimm, stic.man, etc.  If you missed Ceremony like I almost did, don't postpone any longer, check it out!

Hoping to prepare a year in review mixtape for 2013... so much music, so little time. 

Damu the Fudgemunk

Damu the Fudgemunk

One for the charts... always checking in on the latest from Damu.  First introduced to his work through my late big Homie DJ S.A. through a classic record by Y Society Travel At Your Own Pace.  As a big fan growing up of producers like Pete Rock, Large Pro, Q-Tip, Premier, Organized Noize, etc. Damu's sound is a standard on its own... a discography worth studying til' the next project.  Spur Momento Trailer For Extended Play set the tone for my drive out to New Mexico to visit the Olde Post.  This record is for the beats audience out there and anybody that can appreciate an instrumental masterpiece.

Good Morning Vietnam

Good Morning Vietnam Pt. 1 & 2

MF Grimm & Drasar Monumental

The only way I was able to get to the audio for the GMV2 audios was through wax.  The Good Morning Vietnam debut was available for download as an entire single track on eMusic, which is what I been listenin' to on the way to work for a good while now.  On vinyl it included all the records tracked along with the instrumentals.  I learned of the Golden Triangle release setting up a Twitter handle for the HHA page.  I couldn't find the record on eMusic where I found the download for the first so I ordered the vinyl and digitized the songs through what I call an audio scribe (transcription) process from wax to mp3 file.  Took shots of both LP covers with a camera (as seen above) to tag the mp3 files.  

Soon as I bought my first set of Numarks about 13 years ago, the sole purpose at the time was to collect beats since most of the instrumentals I wanted were being sold on wax (wasn't as familiar with downloading yet as this was around the time I got my first personal computer).  RZA & the Liquid Swords, the Unseen record by Madlib (Quasimoto), most Dilla records, Five Deez, Fat Jon, J Rawls, Pete Rock, Primo, Diamond D, tha Liks and E-Swift tracks were all available as instrumental from sites like Turntable Lab, Sandbox, UGHH, Dusty Groove, etc.  My first vinyl purchase was in Albuquerque, an Originators EP and Ras Kass's Anything Goes/Jack Frost 12'.  Without much regard for trying to learn how to use my set to mix, scratch, or blend, I first started looking for software to digitize the wax into the new CPU I got... I had no clue what I was doing, but as is the love for beats, I ended up figuring it out.  After trial and error, asking radio shack, friends, etc. and discovering the AIPL Singulator free software program, I figured out what I needed to do, from the RCA cables, adapters, the CPUs soundcard, etc.  Later on I'd switch to Adobe Audition's software to complete the process at a much better quality of sound, which for me includes keeping everything you'd typically hear listening to a record off the plate... on the mixer I increase the bass level.  That's how I like to hear it and how I want it transcribed into digital form.  Clear, heavy, and with the fire burning sound from the needle rotation. 

First listen for 2014 is gonna be MF Grimm and Drasar Monumental's Good Morning Vietnam 2, The Golden Triangle. Good Morning Vietnam Pt. 1, in my opinion, was the best album I'd heard from what I remember checking out in 2012.  A short, flawless record... twenty minutes sounding like a lifetime.    

Rashid Hadee

Rashid Hadee

During the time I heard of Neblina Records through a promotional K-Hill record that was sent to KRUX was when I got introduced to the duo Chapter 13 and the production of Rashid Hadee.  I don't remember being able to access much after the Chapter 13 Nevermore Asylum album and a compilation record but reconnected to Rashid Hadee's independent on MySpace with the It Ain't Hard to Tell project and the dope Dedication album... and then most recently on the Bandcamp page I was able to link back to more of his recent music (see the Bandcamp link on the right side of the blog page).  For the new year, Hadee released his Year in Music 2013 which you could download now by naming your own price at his Bandcamp site.  

Any of his projects is a good place to start if you've never heard of Hadee.  Of just about everything I've heard coming out of Chicago, including what the world got introduced to through MC's like Common, Kanye, Lupe, etc, over the course of time, I got Hadee up there as my favorite artist from Chicago, both as an MC and most definitely as one of my all time favorite producers.  I recently checked out the CNS Mixtape Volume 3, which you can also name your own price for download.  Checkin' out the YIM2013 soon.