Spaced Invaders

I saw this on Turntable Lab’s blog a couple of days ago. DJ Funktual talks about the history and rise of Hip Hop’s national anthem. I have always wanted to know the story behind The Incredible Bongo Band and how they came up with Apache. It’s a great watch! Check out Funktual’s other videos here. Definitely worth the watch.

DJ Birdflu took the liberty of hooking up a cassette tape deck in the Charleston Fashion Week “Style Lounge” and recording a portion of his set that set the tone for the rest of fashion week. (For those young readers of the blog who have not seen a cassette tape here’s what one is.) I was very excited that Birdflu asked me to put this up on the Stone Groove Podcast. He did an awesome set for the whole time he was in the style lounge. Anyway, I did not do anything to the audio except take it straight from the tape to .mp3. So you will hear some tape crackle and noise, but that just adds to the authenticity of a real vinyl DJ like Birdflu.

Birdflu - Rockin Alpaca Socks in the Style Lounge (Straight to Tape) by spacedinvaders

Track List:

1. Presto - Beautiful Thing
2. RjD2 - Here’s What’s Left
3. Afu Ra - Whirlwind Thru Cities Instrumental
4. Lords of the Underground - Tick Tock (Rumblin Remix) Instrumental
5. KRS-One - MCs Act Like They Don’t Know
6. People Under the Stairs - Acid Raindrops Instrumental
7. Redman and Method Man - How High Acapella
8. Nas - The World Is Yours (Q-Tip Mix)
9. The Pharcyde - Drop (Beatminerz Remix) Instrumental
10. A Tribe Called Quest - Check the Rhime Instrumental
11. Blacksheep - Without a Doubt (Salaam’s Mix)
12. Common - Ressurection Instrumental

DJ Sonar drops some chill head nod jams in this installment of the Stone Groove Podcast. Click on the picture above to get it from iTunes. Or listen to it from our SoundCloud below.

The Stone Groove - DJ Sonar - Just Some Chill Head Nod by spacedinvaders

Track Listing:

1. Gabor Szabo - San Franciscan Nights
2. People Under The Stairs - San Francisco Knights
3. Slum Village - The Look of Love
4. Stephen Marley - You’re Gonna Leave
5. RJD2 - Work
6. Mr. Scruff - So Long
7. Kushti - Breaking Rocks
8. Gangstarr - My Advice 2 U
9. Slick Rick - All Alone (No One To Be With)
10. A Tribe Called Quest - Get A Hold
11. Common - I Used to Love H.E.R.
12. Waajeed - Right Here (Remix)
13. Slum Village - Fan-Tas-tic pt.1
14. Jazz Not Jazz - Jungle Funk
15. Universal Joint - Sharkbite
16. Large Professor - IJUSWANNACHILL

I was talking with Birdflu the other day about the latest People Under The Stairs Album “Carried Away.” We got to talking about the limited edition 7″ of the track “Beer” with samples from the Billy Dee Williams Colt 45 commercial in the 80’s. This commercial is so damn smooth! Listen to that background music! I tell you what that is one serious can! Billie Dee has to crack that can three times and every time listen to that sound. No wonder why Billie Dee got all the women. Hit the jump for the Colt 45 Commercial and the People Under The Stairs track.

People Under The Stairs - Beer (Colt 45 Remix)

I don’t have too much time to write a super long post about this, but it’s definitely one of the most sought after albums by beat diggers. Oddly, you really don’t hear any steel drums on the opening track entitled “Down By The River” until close to the end. Most of the songs on this album are straight covers, but the cover for Kool & The Gang’s “Funky Stuff” the steel drums can be heard prominently and give that cover a great, very danceable vibe.

This Steel band is a twelve-piece seventies party band, consisting of Surinames and Trinidadian musicians.
Since Surinam was still part of The Netherlands in those days, the name of the band abroad was The Original Trinidad Steel Band and released two albums as such (Beautiful Caribbean and Caribbean Steel & Show on Hansa, with Frank Farian as their producer), apart from their three Dutch albums. Their most interesting Dutch album is Funky Limbo (EMI, 1978), which was produced by Ernie Anches. Anches was also involved with various other funky Surinam acts, such as Oscar Harris, The Twinkle Stars and Thunderstorm. The preceding album Dance Dance Dance (EMI, 1976) made DRSSB a lot more rare, because it contained their international hit single ‘January February’. This brought them a very busy touring schedule. Today the band is still active and consists of quite a few sons of the original members like Sticko who is the son of Dolf (Mr Satisfied) the founder of this Band.

Read (if you speak Dutch) the story and discography of the band here.

The Dutch Rhythm Steel & Show Band on My Space

Tracks
A1 Down By The River 5.09 (Vocals - Armand Colla)
A2 Theme From Shaft 2.41
A3 Snowfire 3.47  (Vocals - Gustaaf Milzink)
A4 Stoned Out Of My Mind 2.39
A5 Softly 2.57
A6 Hey Joe 3.19
B1 Feelin’ Alright 7.31
B2 Serenta 2.03
B3 Funky Stuff 3.22  (Vocals - Armand Colla , Bernito E. Riley)
B4 Where Is The Love 2.39 (Vocals - Gustaaf Milzink)

I did not have the opportunity to finish this last night, due to spending an extended period of time at a local Japanese steak house. But if it were still Friday, then this gem is what I would publish. Usually, I just like to review one song, but this album is a must for any crate digger, funk head, or any person just starting to dive into vinyl. This compilation features funk and soul during the 70’s from the sun-drenched ghettos of  Rio de Janeiro. This music shares some of the same qualities and struggles as their soul brothers in Harlem. You can hear the distinct sounds that influenced the Black Rio movement from labels such as Motown, Stax, and even the Godfather himself, James Brown helped shaped this blend of “soul brasileiro.” The drum rhythms have that distinct Brazilian flavor and Manito’s “Na Baixa do Sapateiro” the opening break left goosebumps and the hairs on my arms standing. I had to actually rewind the track to make sure I actually heard what I heard. Take a listen to the opening break:

Pretty damn nice wasn’t it? Anyway here is the complete tracklisting of the album. And yes there is a version of Rapper’s Delight on this album.

Tracklisting:
1 Gang Do Tagarela - Melo da Tagarela (Rapper´s Delight) (4:10)
2 Copa 7 - Copa 7 No Samba (2:53)
3 Grupo Arembepe - Iaia (3:04)
4 Uniao Black - Black Rio (2:46)
5 Miguel de Deus - Cinco Anos (4:56)
6 Jorge Ben - Comanche (2:58)
7 Trio Mocotó - Nago (3:40)
8 Banda Black Rio - Gafiera Universal (3:06)
9 Toni Tornado - Podes Crer, Amizade (2:30)
10 Eklipse Soul - Psicose (2:11)
11 Manito - Na Baixa Da Sapateiro (3:28)
12 Orlandivo - Onde Anda O Meu Amor (3:46)
13 Dom Salvador e Aboliçao - Som, Sangue E Raca (2:46)
14 Antonio Carlos E Jocafi - Kabaluere (2:22)
15 Orquestra E Coro - Kriola (2:27)
16 Gerson King Combo - Uma Chance (5:25)

This is a super funk, hype track that gets the crowd moving every time. Tried and true. You also heard this in the recent Busta Rhymes club banger, Don’t Touch Me. Listen and compare. Enjoy your Friday people

The Diplomats - I Can Give You Love

Busta Rhymes - Don’t Touch Me

I’m glad that there are still artists out there that are sampling the classics!