Contrast Magazine

Another decade has come and gone, and I, for one, am feeling very blessed to have made it this far. Being diagnosed at an early age with Count Choculitis, my future seemed rather bleak from the start (not to mention delicious and marshmallowy). Anyhow, I figure what better way to express my thanks than to pay homage to the gender that makes life possible/remarkable in the first place. Sure, I’m not the first asshole to make an all-girls-name mix, but I’ll be double-dog-damned if I didn’t just create the best one ever in the history of girls with names. Don’t be jealous.

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips
Roxanne - The Police
Slivia - Miike Snow
Jane Says - Jane’s Addiction
Mona Lee - The Sweet Serenades
Angie - Rolling Stones
Sherry - The 4 Seasons
Hallie - Mobius Band
Michelle - The Beatles
Charlotte Sometimes - The Cure
Donna - Ritchie Valens
Rhiannon - Fleetwood Mac
Mary - Scissor Sisters
Ashley - The Dodos
Elenore - The Turtles
Sara Smile - Hall & Oates
Maureen - Sade
Makeda - Les Nubians
Anna - Taken By Trees
For Emma - Bon Iver
Lily - The Smashing Pumpkins
Clementine- Elliott Smith
Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor - Eels

^ ^ “save link as” if you likey ^ ^

Regrettably, I couldn’t track down the following mp3’s: Makeba - Aceyalone, Renee - The Lost Boys, Maria - Rage Against the Machine, Jane - Ben Folds, Selfish Jean - Travis (no relation).

I’ve been on a pretty enthusiastic 90’s hip hop binge of late, and for you skeptics who need that ticket validated, just ask the head-nod induced pinched nerve in my neck. Part of what I loved about bumping that “ol’ golden era” was digging for the primary sample stolen used to become the backbone for a given track, thus paying homage to its originators, and impressing the hell out of mom’s and pop’s to boot. See, if I could name one positive about being Perry-and-Price-like in age, it’d be the ability to recall those fleeting memories of hearing the contents of my parents vinyl collection floating through the walls, back when I was just Omega6yearsold. Its as if I’m retracing the steps to their prime, if just one sample at a time. Wow, that rhymed!…And so did that! Ha, ok enough with the dumb. Below is a small collection of vintage tunes, mainly from the late 60’s and 70’s, that unwittingly blossomed into some of the cult monsters of today’s TRUE hip hop music, for better or for worse. Think of it as a sample of some samples. Nothing too obscure in the bunch. You’ll know it when you hear it. Enjoy:

Ann Peebles – I Can’t Stand The Rain

Wendy Rene - After Laughter Comes Tears

Aretha Franklin - One Step Ahead

Isley Brothers - Between The Sheets

The Blackbyrds - Mysterious Vibes

Michael Jackson - I Can’t Help It

Donald Byrd - Wind Parade

Sylvia Striplin - You Can’t Turn Me Away

Barry White - Playing Your Game

The Isley Brothers - Footsteps in the

The Charmels - As Long As I’ve Got

Meet Tokimonsta, the latest addition to the always-illin’ Brainfeeder camp (Flying Lotus, Daedalus, etc). Born Jennifer Lee and raised in Torrance, CA, she’s a classically trained clarinetist and pianist who taught herself to play the drums and guitar at an early age. Sitting down to her many remixes and original beats, one is able to discern subtle hints of traditional Korean percussion throughout, as well as impossible to avoid nods to the likes of Dilla, Flylo, Shadow and other masters. Even with the inevitable comparison or two, she seems to (much like another favorite of mine, Greetings From Tuskan) be able to cook up a sound that no other may lay claim to. Expect big things from the Monsta in the coming months.

I suppose “Counting Crows” would have worked as well. Anyhow, Jarbas Agnelli in his own words:

“Reading a newspaper, I saw a picture of birds on the electric wires. I cut out the photo and decided to make a song, using the exact location of the birds as notes (no Photoshop edit). I knew it wasn’t the most original idea in the universe. I was just curious to hear what melody the birds were creating.”

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

…Beautiful.

Been noticing a lot of commonality going on between the occupants of my “mixed media” desktop file of late. Figure I’d start yet another blog-theme (gimmick) that sounds fun and interesting at first, but will likely vanish into obscurity after a week or so of neglect on my part (think A to Z music list. RIP)

***Click Here For Mystery Animal Music***

***Click Here For More Mystery Animal Music***

^ With the type of blood/sweat/tear curdling Dubstep joints my boys from Organized Grime bust out at any every given show, the above title may seem like an oxymoron. It’s comforting to know that I DO indeed have a cushier side (not counting the mound under my beer-lly button) and can vibe out to mellow-ish Dubstep from time to time. I hereby invite you to kick your slippers off, dim the Energy Stars, and inhale some combustibles to the following G-rated Dubsteezy (BTW, I mean “G” in the “saggy-pants, swaggy-stance” sense of the letter).

Bright Eyes - No One Would Riot For Less (Re-step)