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Spoek Mathambo makes us wish that teleporter technology existed, so we could beam him over to Brooklyn to make more music (and/or jokes about the warden’s daughter… or the warden herself?), then beam him back to whatever levels of reality he happens to be living on which give him access to images like this and time to make smart, funny commentary about them on his blog.

Also, this November/December Spoek with be touring Europe & South Africa with Schlachthofbronx!! We can’t spell their name (and probably can’t pronouce it either) but we love them all. As Mr Mathambo the Hungry Ghost sez:

We are living through a maaaaaad time!!The global village has over the years given birth to many strange and curious fruit…this fruit is sweet and tastey for your feet and butt!

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I’ve got 4 interesting gigs this week. All-out parties on Wednesday and Saturday, a free artist’s talk / Q&A /demystifying-what-i-do-mini-set on Friday, and my duo for guitar & turntables with Andy Moor on Thursday. I’m psyched to meet Chattanooga!

details:

Wed. Sept 9: Madison WI @ the Annex. event info + interview ‘on cumbia and Stephen King‘

Thurs. Sept 10: Chicago IL. Duo with Andy Moor at The Wire’s Adventures in Modern Music festival, Empty Bottle. Lucky Dragons will also be performing!

Fri. Sept 11 + Sat. Sept 12: Chattanooga TN. On Friday, a free artist talk/Q&A/turntablism demo early. Club gig on Saturday. The talk with be live streaming and maybe twittering here. Friday talk facebook page, Saturday party facebookery.

WorldTown flyer

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cross-posted to Mudd Up!

my10

Notable instruments: Oberheim DMX, Drum machine, Electronic keyboard, Sequencer

 

10 years ago I was driving through Boston listening to one of the reggae mix shows on WERS (i think). A riddim came on which nearly made me stop the car. It was Steely & Clevie’s Street Sweeper. A strident minimal percussion pattern, little fragments of guitar washing in & out. A string flourish there, a whistle sound here, a vocal snippet. I’d been following dancehall for awhile and was used to surprises, but Street Sweeper floored me. As a DJ, producer, and listener.

wycliffe-steely-johnson

[Wycliffe ‘Steely’ Johnson]

It was possibility and emphatic silence as much as it was a song. To clarify: Steely and Clevie built the Street Sweeper riddim, which a few dozen vocalists transformed into songs, riffing on the beat’s undeniable power to deliver some top-notch chatting. Here’s a youtube medley of the popular versions:

Wycliffe ‘Steely’ Johnson passed away in New York City & the world is poorer without him. Street Sweeper cracked things open for me; they had countless other hits but it was these moments of skullcrushing genius economy that made this riddim one of my all-time favorite pieces of music.

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“In 1993, at the height of apartheid in South Africa, the incarceration of black males was 870 per 100,000. In 2004 in the U.S., for every 100,000 people we are sending 4,919 black males to prison. And the majority of those are for nonviolent drug offenses. But we’d rather send people to prison than give them information and treatment.”

Great article on the benefits of full legalization & the drug-prison-cop industry over at Esquire.

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I could be mistaken, but I think Jahdan youtubery jukebox-ad was built by a Romanian fan. Not much to see, just a sweet example of how the internet works.

Pentru cine nu stie Jahdan Blakkamoore o arde foarte complex, in alta ordine de idei a colaborat cu DJ Premier, Afu-Ra, Dead Prez pe partea de hip hop, cu Noble Society (in care a fost si este membru), Diplo & Switch (Major Lazer) pe partea asta reggae, dancehall, roots, dubstep etc.

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Checking in (from backstage at a capital-J jazz festival in the Austrian Alps) to say — cop La Yegros now and brace yourself for heat to come, because we’re putting the finishing touches on an EP from Rita Indiana y Los Misterios.

what to expect? As she sez: “musica tercermundista con drummachines mal manejados, sintetizadores hechos en casa, bent toys y mucho mambo.”

F%#k translations, let’s dance!

here captured live in sultry mode, best use of gardening metaphors:

watch this one for ‘revelations’:

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Back in 2003 I wrote an essay for The Wire’s ‘Epiphanies’ section. The piece detailed my high-school encounter with a bootleg cassette compilation of Japanese noise stitched together by RRRecords. It was published in their April issue (coverboys: Autechre). Here’s an except:

The RRR cassette was polarising, but it was also personal and fragile; and I had the sense that if I didn’t listen closely, it might pass unnoticed. I knew nothing about these groups, but it was obvious that an individual with photocopier access and a dual cassette deck could make a substantial difference in their world. This scene had a tangible scale. It stood within grasp, which suggested that I could actively participate in music – any music, especially the weird stuff – rather than remain a well-informed consumer.

…and here’s a PDF of the entire article.

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wayneandwax gates

[‘wheatpaste mugshot’ from Wayne & Wax’s flickr]

riffing on Lamin’s last post, I feel compelled to quote the most salient, on-point appraisal of the Skipgate affair I’ve seen. From Adam Serwer:

Gates isn’t being invited to the White House because he’s black and Ivy League. Gates is being invited to the White House because Sgt. James Crowley has become the latest totem of burgeoning white resentment against the president, which happens to be a matter so urgent that Obama felt obligated to make a dramatic gesture of reconciliation — lest racial resentment swallow his presidency. . . This is an example of white privilege — and how even a country that elects a black man president still demands that he assuage feelings of white resentment when they grow strong enough. Totems of black resentment, which Gates is not, get called racists and race hustlers. They do not get invited to the White House.

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this one should be fun… i can vouch that Matt & I have a bunch of new remixes and exclusive tunes to run, Gex & Lamin always bring it, and Zuzuka is meant to be a firecracker.

Dutty (and cheap-$5 early) tropikkkal fun on the edge of Brooklyn, sound enhanced by Grimm’s reggae bassbins.

let the CIA know yr coming by hitting Facebook.

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i saw a hummingbird floating with its super-fast wings in the flowers outside of Matt Shadetek’s apartment building last October. Zuzuka Poderosa is from Brazil, and she is powerful.

nyt8 zzka

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DJ TOTAL FREEDOM & NGUZUNGUZU host a weekly party in LA called Wildness. It transforms Tuesday nights into fun dancing mayhem. I played a few months back and suddenly I heard 808 kicks that weren’t in the track. I look up – Total Freedom is banging a drum machine… and

1. it wasn’t annoying!! i can’t imagine ANY other scenario where someone uninvited starts drumming on top of my DJing, but somehow this was alright & even kinda cool.

&

2. it’s hard to create a space of freedom, even in the club world, so it was great to drop in on their scene.

But we don’t have a car OR live in LA. So it’s good that TF & NG are in New York City for Kingdom‘s birthday party this Friday @ Glasslands, also with Maluca. Exciting! Listen to my radio show tonite for tix giveaways! While we wait, here’s a mix they did for the occasion:

[audio:https://duttyartz.com/mp3/Wildness_ClubVortexMixtape.mp3]

Total Freedom & Nguzunguzu – Wildness: Club Vortex mixtape

tracklist = ???? = live mixing on vinyl + parts on ableton + parts on CDJs + live sound effects, vocals, instruments over the whole thing = something like what to expect on Friday?!

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FRI JUL 10
CLUB VORTEX ft. MALUCA (mad decent) LIVE!
DJs KINGDOM (fools gold)
TOTAL FREEDOM (wildness / mustache, l.a.)
NGUZUNGUZU (wildness, l.a.)