After a three-year hiatus, Chicago’s premier instrumental hip-hop duo, The Opus, is back with another hypnotic and overcast album. With their boom-bap rhythms and ethereal melodies, the compositions of Mr. Echoes and The Isle of Weight are hard enough to evoke head-nods but calm enough to inspire deep contemplation. And a number of remixes, including their eerie take on Sonic Sum’s “Films,” don’t interrupt the flow of this release a bit. While not a huge step forward from previous efforts, Blending Destiny is a worthy continuation of the atmospheric sound this duo has been delivering since the turn of the century.
TTC: Antics Roadshow
It’s right up there with “all black people have rhythm” and “Asians can’t drive”: “The French,” goes the old, familiar stereotype, “take themselves too seriously.” What a crock. These are the people who gave the world Molière, La Cage Aux Folles, and Daft Punk; they worship slapstick legend Jerry Lewis, for God’s sake. Yet for some reason we cling to our image of the French as laughably solemn intellectuals, sipping café au lait and reading Camus.
For a long time, the same stereotype got applied to French hip-hop, but not without reason. Its ambassadors were stone-faced artistes like DJ Cam and MC Solaar–groundbreakers to be sure, and deadly serious about their craft. French beats and raps–at least the ones getting heard by the rest of the world–prompted too much chin-scratching, not enough ass-shaking. Where was Jerry Lewis when you needed him?
Enter Tido Berman, Teki Latex, and Cuizinier, better known as TTC, three Parisian MCs who have injected a much-needed dose of verbal slapstick into Francophone hip-hop. Aided by their longtime DJ Orgasmic and producers Para One and Tacteel, the members of TTC have established themselves as France’s leading party rappers at home and abroad. And on their third album, 3615 TTC, the collective proves they still don’t take themselves seriously. You don’t need to understand French to pick up on the whacked-out sense of humor behind tracks like “Strip Pour Moi,” which has something in it about artichokes, or “Frotte Ton Cul Par Terre,” which starts out like a dirty French version of the “Hokey Pokey” before going into a double-time electro workout worthy of Sir Mix-A-Lot.
It’s all part of TTC’s ongoing quest to create “pure pop music that stays in your head all day… that really sounds effortless.” So says Teki Latex, the group’s most fluent English speaker and thus, their semi-official spokesman to the American press. “Our previous album, Bâtards Sensibles (Big Dada), already had the same kind of pop ambition,” he explains, “but it was still too complex, too overproduced… The hardest thing on earth is to create the simplest songs.”
Even at its simplest, 3615 runs circles around most American hip-hop, although sing-along anthems like “Paris Paris” are indeed much poppier and more accessible than anything on the manic, mind-blowing Bâtards Sensibles. But longtime TTC fans needn’t worry–they haven’t gone mainstream by a longshot. The beats–produced by Para One, Tacteel, Orgasmic, Tido, and Modeselektor–still squiggle and lurch, peppered with stuttering drum machines and unexpected bass drops, while the three MCs tongue-twist the French language into such distorted, funhouse shapes that it’s hard to imagine anyone catching all the references, whether they’re from South Central or Neuilly-sur-Seine. “My French isn’t great,” admits Will Ashon of Big Dada, the group’s label, but when he heard their first single, “the three voices contrasted so well and had so much character I instantly wanted to sign them. It was only later that I found out just how dirty the lyrics were. Then I liked [them] even more.”
France has the second largest hip-hop scene in the world after the United States, a fact Teki attributes, only half-kidding, to French television of the ’80s. “When you’re a kid from that generation in France, you have no choice but to be into hip-hop,” he insists. “We grew up watching The Fresh Prince, Eddie Murphy, The Goonies… The easiest way to artistically recreate the charisma, the swagger, the aesthetic associated with those characters that you identified with during your whole childhood, is hip-hop.”
With a teenaged Will Smith and ’80s-era Murphy, whose greatest contribution to pop music was “Boogie in Your Butt,” as cultural touchstones, it’s no wonder the guys in TTC bring a keen sense of humor to their work. You sometimes get the sense that these guys don’t take anything seriously. Ask Teki what he’d be doing if he wasn’t a rapper and he deadpans, “I’d be a gigolo, a cook, or a magician… or I’d be Tom from MySpace.” Still, TTC’s dedication to their music is anything but frivolous. “Seriously,” Teki is quick to add, “I don’t see myself working in any other environment than music.”
That attitude–taking your music seriously, but not yourself–puts TTC somewhat at odds with mainstream French hip-hop, which Teki admits is mostly “really awful stuff.” “It’s exactly the same as in the U.S., except that trends in U.S. hip-hop reach our continent three or four years later. So basically the mainstream French hip-hop heads are finding out about crunk and southern styles of hip-hop [from] last summer… but it’s all good.”
On the flip side, Teki doesn’t like TTC being lumped in with the more experimental, highbrow side of things, either. When I ask if the group has ever worked with acts like leftfield DJ crew Birdy Nam Nam, he says, “We’re friends with Birdy Nam Nam, but I wouldn’t consider our music as a part of this ‘experimental/underground’ scene in France.” Instead, he lists artists involved with his own dance music label’nstitubes, and other French labels like Ed Banger Records, home to hot acts like Justice and Uffie. “It’s a huge movement that’s really growing right now in Paris, influenced at the same time by hip-hop, dance, pop, and just basically party music. We’re glad to be a part of that.”
So what’s next for these sensible bastards? First, a European tour, then a U.S. invasion. Let’s hope Homeland Security gives all the guys their visas, because a TTC concert is a notoriously riotous blast of Gallic mayhem. Asked how they prepare for their onstage onslaught, Teki says something about taking “all kinds of funny medicines” and drinking “a bottle of champagne each”–which, to anyone who’s been to a TTC show, actually sounds plausible.
Then there’s the solo and side projects, which are legion: 12″s on Institubes from Tacteel and Para One, Tido’s avant-funk producer joints like “Get Down” and “Pimp Under Glass,” new mixtapes from Cuiziner and DJ Orgasmic (“The handsomest DJ ever!” declares Institubes’ MySpace page). Most recently, and most ambitiously, Teki has released a solo album called Party de Plaisir, a self-proclaimed “sweeping panorama of club music from the ’70s through to the present” that’s filled with big, giddy disco and dance-pop beats, with nary a trace of hip-hop. Teki even sings a few songs in English. “To me, singing pop songs in English is okay,” he says, “but you have to rap in your native language… You have to be a genius at playing with words, the sound of words, and vocabulary if you want your rap to sound effortless. I’ve been rapping in French for more than 10 years and I feel that if I started rapping in English now, it would take me another 10 years to get to the level I have reached in French rap.”
National Geographic Releases Digital-Only Compilation
Long before world music became synonymous with Teva sandals, yoga, and the occasional yin-yang tattoo, National Geographic subscribers and bassheads sought dense Brazilian beats, manic Latin percussion, and the occasional psych-sitar just for good measure. National Geographic Digital Media is bringing world music enthusiasm back with 13 tracks of remixed glory from around the planet.
Instead of reissuing a bunch of traditional rhythms that may rekindle programs from the National Geographic television network, NGDM is releasing contemporary world music that reflects cultural music on an evolutionary platform.
Featuring fresh sounds ranging from Mali blues, to Senor Coconut taking on reggaeton, to Tel Aviv’s forways into surf rock, GeoRemixed aims to educate, in addition to reintroducing the same eclectic music as it shifts and grows.
Projects like GeoRemixed are only part of WorldMusic.NationalGeographic.com, which features tons of music videos, podcasts, and educational content for classrooms and clubs alike. Whether compilations like these will eliminate Teva sandals and the phrase “right on” from people’s vocabulary remains to be seen, but in the meantime, get into it.
GeoRemixed: Big Beats for a Small Planet is available now at worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com.
Tracklisting:
1. Slavic Soul Party–Teknochek (Remix)
2. XPlastaz–Cheza (Kid Sundance Remix)
3. Bole2Harlem–Minnale (Original Remix)
4. Vieux Farka Toure–Ma Hine Cocore (3rd Bass Remix)
5.Shantel vs Jewish Monkeys–Bucovina (Koshernostra Remix)
6.Agua Pa’ La Gente–Raza Hoodia (Tweety Gonzalez Remix)
7. OMFO–Kozakhs Hi Fi (Remix)
8. Shukar Collective–Bar Boot (Junkyard Remix)
9. Fanfare Savale–Cantecul Mirelui (Shukar Collective Remix)
10. Senior Coconut–Behind the Mask (Raggaeton Remix)
11. Pacha massive–Don’t Let Go Stay v2 (Remix)
12. Pato–Keep It Real (Remix)
13. LF & Laylo–Marcha Soldado (Remix)
Madlib and Peanut Butter Wolf Become Tour Guides
Deaf Dumb & Blind Recordings, along with Time Out magazine, never want us getting lost when taking a trip to SoCal. Nor do Madlib and Peanut Butter Wolf. With that in mind, the label and magazine continue their series The Other Side, with the fifth and latest installment featuring the two Stones Throw artists leading viewers through the best sights and sounds of Los Angeles.
The basic idea for the series: well-known artists, synonymous with their own cities, present a mix CD alongside a city guide DVD. Fischerspooner (New York), Black Strobe (Paris), Damian Lazarus (London), and Ellen Allien (Berlin) are all past participants.
For The Other Side of Los Angeles, Madlib creates an audio guide to the city in full-on mix format, featuring tracks from Burning Spear drummer Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace, psych blues rockers Outlaw Blues Band, and the legendary Sun Ra, making for an intimate sound portrait of the LA underground.
The DVD is far from a corny “Cribs-like” tour through each neighborhood’s venues and graff spots. Rather, Peanut Butter Wolf travels into the heart and soul of a city that’s commonly said to have neither. Whether it’s the eclectic Hollywood venue Cinespace (the indie-everything night spot), The Coffee Table (a quaint coffee shop that the Stones Throw posse frequents) or the chic, hip luxury of the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica, boredom seems impossible in the city of angels–at least if you’re Peanut Butter Wolf.
The Other Side of Los Angeles is out May 8, 2007 on Deaf Dumb & Blind.
Tracklisting
1. The Lightment Plus One “Energy Control Center”
2. Cybertron “Clear”
3. Dabrye “Game Over” feat. Jay Dee and Phat Kat
4. Steve Grossman “Inmate Man
5. Prince Jazzbo “Blood Dunza”
6. Sun Ra Arkestra “Nuclear War”
7. Quasimoto “Greenery”
8. Outlaw Blues Band “Deep Gully”
9. Madlib “Infinity”
10. Leroy “Horesemouth” Wallace “Herb Vendor”
11. Rhythm Machine “Freakish Love”
12. Mark Murphy “Sly”
13. Harris & Orr “Spread Love”
14. MED “What It Do” feat. Poke
15. Beat Konducta “Smog Theme”
16. Jaylib “Survival Test”
17. Freestyle Fellowship “Park Bench People”
Steve Bug Releases New DJ Mix
German techno innovator Stefan Brügesch (a.k.a. Steve Bug) delivers a dancefloor-worthy mix to Belgian club Fuse’s DJ mix series Fuse Presents this spring.
Brügesch–an innovator in the minimal techno scene as well as head of Poker Flat Recordings–keeps this installment dark, though not specifically geared towards techno purists who like to stand in dimly lit rooms nodding their heads. Rather, this edition of Fuse Presents will appeal to a wider crowd of dance-music lovers, with classics like the Chicago house-style “Problem #13” by Johnny Dangerous and several electro numbers.
Fuse Presents Steve Bug is out April 17, 2007 on Music Man.
Tracklisting
1. Plasmik “Eight to Nine”
2. Pier Bucci “Hay Consuelo (Samim Remix)”
3. Namito “Joujou (Martin Ladsky Remix)”
4. Johnny Dangerous “Problem #13 (Beat That Bitch)
5. Seph “Dash (Hearthrob’s Acid for Bongo Interpretation)”
6. Guido Schneider “Halo”
7. Efdemin “Iohn & Brot”
8. Mikael Stravöstrand “No Turning Back” feat. Big Bully
9. Steve Bug “Wet”
10. Guido Schneider “Transmissions (Bets ‘N’ Bluffs Edit)” feat. Florian Schirmacher
11. Foremost Poets “Reasons to be Dismal? (Beyondsight Version)”
12. Square One “Vesuvius (Justin Martin’s ‘I Hope it Doesn’t Blow’ Mix)
13. MyMy “Moneybowl
14. Bangana “Skrik (Dub)”
15. Move D “Anne Will (Vincenzo Remix)”
16. Rhythim is Rhythim “The Dance (Living Room Mix)”
Tentative Growth
Video: Mark Templeton “Tentative Growth”
Ezekiel Honig’s Anticipate imprint has just set a new standard for murky minimalism in the form of Mark Templeton. “Tentative Growth” visually showcases the Canadian sound artist’s knack for improvisation and acoustic instrumentation as fuzzy textures and melodies hum to the beat of Templeton’s vision. Go grab your metalhead brother– he might have a moment of ambient clarity.
See Mark Templeton’s “Tentative Growth” now, at XLR8R’sVideo Section.
Antibalas Embarks On Power-Tour
After releasing their debut full-length for the Anti- imprint, Afrobeat warriors Antibalas (which means “bulletproof” in Spanish) are trekking across the U.S. in support of their newest darling, Security. Released earlier this month, the John McEntire-produced album has already gained some extreme praise from the press. The band’s live show is likely to produce similar results.
While the joyful trumpets and funky percussion rhythms of Antibalas are somewhat unusual on the Anti- roster–at least when pitted against Nick Cave, spazz-grinders The Locust, and ambient-era Eno collaborator Daniel Lanois–the band has earned its place in indie history through a series of ever-evolving records for Ninja Tune, Daptone, and other labels.
Having already shared the stage with other eclectic outfits like TV on the Radio, Gomez, and Medeski Martin and Wood, Antibalas is set to take the spotlight once again. Not only has the band averaged more than 100 shows per year, they’ve also been featured on a slew of international compilations for both major and independent labels, garnering a massive following eager to take part in the post-Fela Kuti experience.
Security is out now on Anti-.
Tour Dates
03/21 San Francisco, CA: Great American Music Hall
03/22 Los Angeles, CA: The Troubadour
03/28 New Haven, CT: Toad’s Place
03/29 Burlington, VT: Higher Ground
03/30 Portland, ME: Space
03/31 Cambridge, MA: Middle East Underground
04/04 Washington, DC: 9:30 Club
04/05 Charlottesville, VA: Starr Hill
04/06 Virginia Beach, VA: Jewish Mother
04/07 Asheville, NC: Orange Peel
04/10 Athens, GA: Georgia Theatre
04/11 Atlanta, GA: The Variety Arts
04/12 Knoxville, TN: Sundown in the City
04/13 Nashville, TN: Mercy Lounge
04/14 Louisville, KY: Headliners
04/15 Bloomington, IN: the Bluebird
04/17 Urbana, IL: Canopy Club
04/18 St. Louis, MO: Blueberry Hill
04/19 Columbia, MO Blue Note
04/20 Lincoln, NE: Knickerbockers
04/21 Lawrence, KS: Grenada Theatre
04/22 Omaha, NE: Waiting Room
04/23 Iowa City, IA: The Picadour
04/24 Minneapolis, MN: First Avenue
04/25 Madison, WI: Majestic Theatre
04/26 Milwaukee, WI: Pabst Theatre
04/27 Chicago, IL: Park West
04/28 Ann Arbor, MI: Blind Pig
04/29 Newport, KY: Southgate House
05/01 Columbus, OH: Wexner Center
05/02 Cleveland, OH: Beachland Ballroom
The Rhythmagic Orchestra African Mailman
A Latin-jazz dance version of a Nina Simone track is what the world needs now. It sounds like it was made in Cuba but was actually recorded in a dark and small basement studio in East London. Only 500 vinyl copies pressed worldwide, so be quick on this.
ZAMAN 8 and Hafez Modir “Sani”
San Francisco-based world/electronic duo ZAMAN 8 draws on Persian and Indian classical traditions, jazz improvisation, African rhythms, and modern dance grooves to create music that’s eclectic, likable, and built to last. The duo finds an apt home for its music on Six Degrees’ Emerging Artists compilation series.
