The Sounds of VTech

“Your entire community is gone…

You can’t go home, it doesn’t exist anymore”

-Jay Electronica

In the weeks after Hurricane Katrina, Coleman and B+ were invited to New Orleans to screen Brasilintime and to make photos by the folks from Common Ground. Documenting the damages and the obstacles people were faced with to rebuild what was lost. In five days they had made enough images to have a benefit show at Self Help Graphics in LA.

Three years later on Halloween Weekend of 2009, VTech invited Mochilla back to New Orleans again - to attend the Voodoo Festival and to meet with Jay Electronica - New Orleans favorite representative – well, besides the Saints!

This video was shot that weekend. Though Jay proved to be quite elusive during our stay, we managed to get him over to his beloved Magnolia Projects in the Third Ward. His memories of growing up there and what it means to be there now stand as a striking reminder to all those of us lucky enough to escape these kinds of unnatural disasters.

It has taken us a second to bring you this video but the events that have occurred over the past few weeks mean that the message hasn’t lost any of its potency.

Take a minute to remember…

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The Sounds of VTech / jay_elec_3rdward_v5b

Earlier this year, DJ Babu started shooting short stop motion films from his iPhone and began setting them to music from his new LP “The Beat Tape Vol. 2.” The first short film, only a minute long, shot from Babu’s POV, were a way for you to spend a day “walking in his shoes.” Though short in time, the response he received was incredible. So what do the laws of supply and demand say when there’s demand?? Make more…   Since then DJ Babu started releasing a new short film every week through his YouTube channel, and is now up to #10. His latest film “EuroTrip” is substantially longer than his first video (6:18 min) and the buzz continues to grow. And with 39 tracks on “The Beat Tape Vol. 2″ I’m sure there are many shorts yet to come.

So to celebrate the launch of his new LP, the second volume in his instrumental LP series and an ode to the beat tapes he grew up listening to, and his short films, Babu has decided to avoid the cliché DJ/nightclub event and has rented out the only silent film theater in Los Angeles and have a screening. The event is from 9pm to 12am. With catering, open bar, free popcorn and soda, and giftbags.(That’s what I call a proper release party!!) The screening starts at 10pm and Mr. Choc and Babu will be on hand to handle hosting duties as well as taking questions from the audience.

Space is limited so pick up your tickets at Fat Beats today.

When a producer goes into the lab to produce songs for various artists, more often than not, there are dozens of songs that never see the light of day. With “Disrupt Chronicles, Electric Chair Mix,” Oh No gives us a taste of what we’ve been missing. With literally hundreds of songs that have never been heard, he’s opened the doors to some raw and rough hip hop tracks to “shock” you.

Featuring Erick Sermon, Redman, Talib Kweli, Skyzoo, Crooked I, Rapper Big Pooh, Taje, Dem Damb Jacksons, lmno and ld, Pok Dog, Jarren Benton, DJ Doubledose and Oh No himself..   once you hit play, you’ll feel the currents take over as they shock your senses with “a hundred thousand watts of electric funk!”

Don’t be shy. This won’t hurt a bit.

Click to download: Electric Chair: Ohno

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Last Saturday was a big night for music. At the Garage in Highbury and Islington, many gathered to celebrate and enjoy the wicked performances from this year’s Worldwide Awards 2010. The line-up boasted names such as Robert Glasper (who has worked with Bilal, Mos Def, Common, Talib Kweli, Q-Tip, Slum Village, J Dilla, Jay-Z,, and many more.), Sbtrkt & Sampha, Theophilus London, and more.

It was an evening for celebrating as the WWA announced some very familiar names as winners. We’ve had the privilege to work with three winners of this year’s WWA through special shows, screenings, and our unforgettable Timeless Concert Series.

Congrats to Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentric: Inspiration Information Vol.3, Quantic and his Combo Barbaro: Tradition in Translation, and last but not least, Carlos Nino and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson: Suite for Ma Dukes.

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The Sounds of VTech / Suite For Ma Dukes: Take Notice

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The Sounds of VTech / Memoria de Justinho by Quantic and his Combo Barbaro

List of Winners:

Track of the Year 2010
1. Joy Orbison – Hyph Mngo [Hot Flush]
2. Floating Points – Vacuum Boogie [Eglo]
3. Zed Bias feat. Tawiah – Further Away [CDR]
4. Shafiq Husayn feat. Fatima – Lil’ Girl [Plug Research]
5. Darkstar – Aidy’s Girl Is A Computer [Hyperdub]

Album of the Year 2010
1. Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics – Inspiration Information Vol. 3 [Strut]
2. Martyn – Great Lengths [3024]
3. Lee Fields – My World [Truth & Soul]
4. Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro – Tradition in Transition [Tru Thoughts]
5. Mos Def – The Ecstatic [Downtown]

Jazz Album of the Year 2010
1. Robert Glasper – Double Booked [Blue Note]
2. Matthew Halsall – Colour Yes [Gondwana]
3. Miguel Atwood Ferguson & Carlos Niño – Suite For Ma Dukes [Mochilla]

4. Harry Whitaker – Thoughts (Past and Present) [Smalls Records]

5. Build An Ark – LOVE Part 1 [Kindred Spirits]

Maida Vale Session of the Year 2010
Floating Points Ensemble

John Peel Play More Jazz Award 2010
Four Tet

Lifetime Achievement Award 2010
Gil Scott-Heron

Orchestra Rehearsal for the Great American Composers performance this Saturday

Last year when B+ (Mochilla) told me that a symphony orchestra from Cedar Falls, Iowa was planning on performing J.Dilla alongside Duke Ellington, William Grant Still, and George Gershwin to celebrate Black History Month and African-American achievement in orchestral music, I thought he was pulling my leg. But sure enough, as soon as I Googled “Cedar Falls Orchestra J.Dilla,” the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra popped up and put my disbelief to rest.

When you hear about these “creative blips” happening in the world, it makes me smile. It reminds me that people are listening, and those who can, try to the best of their ability to find a way to share. This is what this show represents to me, sharing something new that would have been overlooked by so many who have not been given a chance to judge for themselves. It’s an opportunity for the music lovers of Cedar Falls to understand and appreciate hip-hop in a whole new light, and who knows, J.Dilla might have a few more fans before the night is through.

But I still had to know more on why Dilla’s music was chosen to be performed together with such an iconic group of composers. I emailed the music director at Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, Jason Weinberger to find out how he first came to discover the music of Dilla.

“I’ve been listening to Dilla since the beginning, before I even knew who he really was. I think I first became more directly aware of his story and persona through his work in the 90s with A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and Pharcyde, and from there my interest just grew with each new project. If I had to pick my absolute favorite Dilla records I’d probably go with Donuts and Jaylib, though I could easily spend days on end listening to his beats from the Slum Village Fantastic albums and Common’s Like Water for Chocolate. J.Rocc’s Thank You Jay Dee mixes are always close at hand too.”

When did you first discovered Suite for Ma Dukes?

“I heard Suite for Ma Dukes when it first came out a year ago, and my first thought was that I needed to find a way to perform Miguel’s stunning reinventions of Dilla’s music. I’m always looking for ways to open up the traditional orchestra experience to new things anyway, so this seemed very natural. I looked around for Miguel on the web, found him on Facebook, and sent him a message to see if we could talk about getting these pieces in front of one of the orchestras with which I work. A few months later we met up in LA (where I’m from and where my family still lives) and connected over Dilla, Flying Lotus and Lutoslawski. The rest is history.”

And about this upcoming Saturday…

“I think one of the most special things about this weekend’s performance at the WCFSO - aside from experiencing the sheer beauty of Miguel’s orchestrations - will be the opportunity to appreciate Dilla’s achievements alongside those of other prominent African American composers who preceded him. To me it seems totally organic to hear Dilla alongside Duke Ellington and William Grant Still, and I think it’s a great way for audiences who may not be familiar with his work to get to know him.”

Progressive in his approach to music, Jason Weinberger and the WCFSO will bring Dilla to life on Saturday, February 6th in what will be an amazing evening. If you’re in the area or within driving distance, I encourage you to go. Experience Miguel Atwood-Ferguson’s beautiful crafted orchestrations and let the music pervade your senses. As much as Suite for Ma Dukes was a can’t miss for music lovers in Los Angeles, this event should be viewed the same way.

It’s music, it’s magic, and dare I say it, it will be timeless. Enjoy.

For tickets and information, click here: WCF Symphony

photos by: Noah Henscheid