Random Good Music For Today #3

Currently repeating these songs on my iTunes

Daft Punk - Get Lucky (with Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers) - Remixes & Remakes

Wait, this is not about the original song which is super awesome, this post is also covering some nice remixes and remakes of this song. Let's start with this one, the Brutal Metal Hardcore version of the song.

and this fucking rehearsal version

okay enough, here's some decent remakes and remixes of the song

Luxury Rap

You know there are several rap tracks that mention some of the world's finest designer or brands, such as Jay Z's verse on "Run This Town" that got "Maison Martin Margiela" on it, and when Jay Z mentioned "Tom Ford" on Justin Timberlake's 20/20 Experience single, "Suit & Tie". Well recently, british illustrator, Luke Skinner, made some sketch on this thing. Here's another look below.

Source : Acclaim-Mag.

Jinbo a.k.a. SFreak

Aside from all K-Pop shit out there, there are still some nice Korean indie artists to check out, and one example is this man, Jinbo a.k.a. SFreak. Jinbo or his real name, Joo Hyun Hahn goes with a less popular genre in his country, Electro Soul and R&B, and i think he's done it pretty well. Check out his latest music, a project with Digipedi, "Fantasy" (which features a hot one in the video), below.

Digipedi x Jinbo - Fantasy

Also check out his other music, below (click on the title)

JINBOsuperfreak - Yes and No

JINBOsuperfreak - Late Night Interlude - Listen Girl

JINBOsuperfreak - If I Follow My Heart (JINBO addit.)

live @ 문화콘서트 난장 20110625 Jinbo - One Night Stay / In My Room
(This one reminds you a lil' bit of J.Dilla isn't it?)

Bobby Womack

Bobby Womack & Damon Albarn perform "Please Forgive My Heart" live

Bobby Womack & Damon Albarn perform "The Bravest Man In The Universe" live

Bobby Womack with Damon Albarn & Lana Del Rey perform "The Bravest Man In The Universe" & "Dayglo Reflection" LIVE

Maxwell

You know that feel when someone ask you "yo man, what kind of music do you listen to?" and you don't know what to say since you heard like almost everything? I posted everything here from Boyz II Men to Mew, from Alekesam to The Whitest Boy Alive, from A Tribe Called Quest to Bon Iver, from Chet Baker to Mos Def, from The Strokes to Michael Jackson. Today, let's talk about Maxwell.

Everybody knows who Maxwell is. He's one of the musician back in the early 90s that helped "Neo Soul" to grow as a sub-genre of soul movement alongside names like Raphael Saadiq, Erykah Badu & D'Angelo. Without them, there will be no Musiq Soulchild, no Bilal, no Maliq & D'Essentials, no nothing. Memorable quote from him from an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he said, "It bothers me how women are treated in pop songs. I'm doing my best to pay some long-overdue respect to African-American women.", and yet he's still keeping his words to now.

Born a New Yorker, no surprise that he'd wear a Supreme

I still remember back in around '97 when i was still in school around 5th or 6th grade, my sister's friend came to my house bringing his mixtape that contains one of Maxwell's, Whenever Wherever Whatever, and i instantly hooked up to that track. But it's up to the album, "Now" (2001), that i really gotten to get into Maxwell and his music. I started to buy his other albums like Urban Hang Suite and the MTV Unplugged and really enjoying it at the moment. I remember listening to Sumthin' Sumthin', 'Til the Cops Come Knockin', Fortunate, and Lifetime over and over again.

In 2002, he finished his tours and decided to take a break from music. He surprisingly made a comeback in 2009 (with no 'fro) after a 7-year hiatus with his new album, BLACKsummers'night, and literally brought neo-soul to another level. His music has nominated and won him lots of awards including BET, Soul Train, and Billboard Music, but his 2009 comeback grant him 6 nominations in 2010's grammy awards, and won Best R&B album and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.

He's always surrounded by great musicians, but last year in VH1 Storytellers, Maxwell and the band (notice that Robert Glasper on the piano) once again bringin' his songs to the higher level. Just like he did back in the 90's at MTV Unplugged, he got intimate with the crowds for this 2011 VH1 Storytellers. Check the video below and learn how some of his music was created.

Check out his other music below

A Tribe Called Quest

First post in November. Let's start this month with A Tribe Called Quest. If you checked on this blog frequently, then you should know that i'm a fan of a good hip hop. Talking about Hip Hop, you can't not talk about A Tribe Called Quest. A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group formed in 1985, consists of Q-Tip, Phife Dawg a.k.a. Phife Diggy, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White. They are known as one of the most influential and groundbreaking hip-hop group ever known and being associated with acts like Pete Rock, The Roots, Jungle Brothers, Native Tongues Posse, De La Soul, Jay Dee a.k.a. J.Dilla, Mos Def, Busta Rhymes, D'Angelo, Beastie Boys, L.O.N.S., and respectively gave inspiration for names like Pharrell Williams, Common, Consequence (Q-Tip's cousin) and Kanye West. Their touch of classic Jazz music, bumpin' Hip-hop beats and well Rap lyrics are things that make their music so good.

A Tribe Called Quest has released 5 albums, started with People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990), followed by The Low End Theory (1991), Midnight Marauders (1993), Beats, Rhymes and Life (1996) and The Love Movement (1998). They also released some compilations, remixes and rarities album, including Revised Quest for the Seasoned Traveller (1992), The Anthology (1999), Hits, Rarities & Remixes (2003) and The Lost Tribes (2006). 

Earlier this year, i got my Beats, Rhymes and Life : The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest DVD at Colette, Paris. And even though I always a fan of the group, I never knew that there were so much stories behind their legendary success. The documentary film was directed by Michael Rapaport (yeah you might known him from several TV shows like Friends, Prison Break and Accidentally on Purpose). You might tell how he's a fan of Hip Hop cause he appeared on some Hip Hop videos by Talib Kweli, Jay Z, or J.Dilla & Madlib.

Being in the music industry for more than 20 years, ATCQ have had their ups and downs. Their albums has reached platinum and they have been nominated for several Grammy Award Nominations, and regarded as iconic pioneers of alternative hip hop music. In 2005, A Tribe Called Quest received a Special Achievement Award at the Billboard R&B Hip Hop Awards and also formally honored at the 4th VH1 Hip Hop Honors. Aside from their awards and huge success, the group has dealt with lots of trouble. Jarobi left the group and rejoined in 1991, Phife Dawg suffers from diabetes and stuffs, Q-Tip's fight with his childhood friend, Phife, and Ali had to see the group reached the bottom when ATCQ suddenly break-up in 1998, and shocked the hell out of their fans, friends and families.

They went their separate ways, and each of 'em got busy with their own projects. Ali with projects like Tony! Toni! Tone! with Raphael Saadiq, and then continued with the Lucy Pearl project with D'Angelo. Phife went solo and released track produced by Jay Dee and Pete Rock. The most successful from them three is Q-Tip. He released gold certified album, Amplified (1999), and continued with Kamaal The Abstract, and The Renaissance (2008). Tip has worked with the names of Norah Jones, Kanye West, R.E.M., the Black Eyed Peas, Mark Ronson, and DJ Statik Selektah (which seemed to produce some of ATCQ's track on 2012 album).

After years of separation, the group finally reunited for the first time in 2004 for a show, and fully reunited in 2006, performed several sold-out concerts in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Interesting stuff said by Phife, it was :

"Man, We were only 18-19 when we first got started. When we broke up, we were still like 28. Now we are 35-36, It would be real different being in the studio, it would be real interesting to see where Q-Tip is. It would all be on a much higher level. But we are all into such different stuff from way back then. We would need at least a solid month to work on something. Trying to get all of us together for that much time.. I don't see that happening."

But, as they actually owed Jive Records one more in their six album contract, it seems that the year 2012 is the year when they finally releasing their final album. Is this "Abstract Revelations" is their final album? The album is filled with a bunch of tracks from their own and their friends where they are featured on it. When will the real 6th album's gonna be released? Check out A Tribe Called Quest's tracks below

 

Q-Tip performed medley of Tribe's tracks when promoting his album back in 2008. Nice performance even without Phife, but the crowd looked dead to me. Thank god there's a girl who actually loves ATCQ.

ATCQ hanging with Consequence and The Roots crew, doing a freestyle back in the mid 1990's.

A Grand Tribute to A Tribe Called Quest by Common, Pharrell Williams, Lupe Fiasco and Busta Rhymes.

A full album preview of Abstract Revelations (2012)

Mew, where are you guys?

Still one of my greatest band on earth. But anyone of you realize? it's been years since Mew's latest album, "No More Stories / Are Told Today / I'm Sorry / They Washed Away // No More Stories / The World Is Grey / I'm Tired / Let's Wash Away". Yes it's in the year of 2009. For real guys, what are you doing? I think all of the fans are just like me, still patiently waiting for the new album. Earlier this year, the band confirmed that they are preparing a new album via their twitter. But apparently Jonas is doing a side-project with Pharrell Williams & Guy Berryman, called [apara:tjik]. Come on Jonas, stop joking around and get serious on the new album, and come here once again to Jakarta, just like you guys did back in 2009. (Seriously, i still remember that night like it was yesterday, one of the best concert i've been to even though it was a part of a music festival, even my girlfriend enjoyed it very much. I think Mew's the only band she do like).

To remind us all of how great this band is, here are several videos of Mew.

^Awesome drum recording session^

Jaden Smith. Fresh Prince's Kid. Not Bad.

Time flies. Fresh Prince's kid is a teenager now. I still remember him as a kid on Pursuit of Happiness movie and as that Karate Kid who featured on a Justin Beiber's song. But hey, his dad is the Fresh Prince of Bel Air for god sake, he actually got some nice track of his own now. Check 'em out.

Sebastien Tellier (Chansons du 5ème étage)

Alekesam

First time I heard Alekesam was around a year ago when one of their nicest track, "It's Not You, It's Here" was featured as a background music on the season 8 of HBO's Entourage when Ari Gold was having a dinner with a girl. Instantly hooked ever since. After a while, some of their songs are still pretty good to listen to. Check 'em out below. 

Robert Glasper Experiment - "Recovered" The Remix E.P.

Following the success of his latest "Black Radio" album (which has some crazy guest lists from Erykah Badu, Bilal, Musiq Soulchild, Yasiin Bey, Lalah Hathaway to Mint Condition's Stokley Williams), Robert Glasper will be releasing the Robert Glasper Experiment "Recovered" The Remix E.P. very soon. The album will feature some remixes and unrelease track from Black Radio album. For your info, this is not just some cheesy remix album, the list of the remixers includes Robert Glasper himself, alongside the names like Questlove and The Roots, 9th Wonder, and Pete Rock. Some of the tracks are up on Robert Glasper's soundcloud channel. Which i embed below. Check 'em out!

Enjoy!

Talib Kweli - To The Music (Produced by 9th Wonder)

Brilliant. 'Nuff Said. 

On Oxen - I am Oak

This singer from Netherlands is good. Share this video.

New Navy - Breathe (Telepopmusik Cover)

Source : LaGaSta

Kanye West - Homecoming (Urban Noize Remix)

Bloc Party - Octopus

Ah yes, only 4 posts in the month of June. And it's almost mid-July already. Let me return with this new visual from Bloc Party's new single "Octopus" from their upcoming album, "Four".

Boyz II Men

Been a fan since the 90s, and still am. Safe to say that they are the best R&B vocal group ever since the late 80s and i haven't heard any group who are comparable to them. After being around for more than 20 years and even though they are not in their prime age anymore, their 3 or 4 part vocal harmony is still one of the best out there. Been worked with the names like Babyface, Brian McKnight, Mariah Carey, and even Justin Beiber, their old songs like "I'll Make Love To You" & "End of the Road" are timeless classics. *Posted before on this blog somewhere, but this is a great performance of Motown Classics with Levert Brothers (R.I.P.).

"In the 1990s, Boyz II Men gained international celebrity behind unprecedented success on the pop charts. The group's first single to reach Number 1, 1992's "End of the Road", a phenomenal hit, reached the top of charts across the globe. "End of the Road" would set a new record for longevity, staying at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 13 weeks, breaking a decades-old record held by Elvis Presley. Boyz II Men would exceed even that record later in the decade with hits "I'll Make Love to You" and "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey), which each set new records for the longest period of time a single remained at number 1. As of 2012, "One Sweet Day" still holds the all-time record with 16 weeks at the top of the Hot 100. In short, Boyz II Men ranks at the top of the list three times -- at the number one, three, and four spots -- for the longest running Number 1 singles in Billboard history. Furthermore, when "On Bended Knee" took the number 1 spot away from "I'll Make Love To You," Boyz II Men became only the third artist ever (after The Beatles and Elvis) to replace themselves at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Boyz II Men are among a select group of artists that have held at the number one spot for at least 50 weeks cumulatively, placing them just fourth on that list behind Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Mariah Carey. These achievements were enough to earn Boyz II Men recognition as Billboard Magazine′s most successful musical group of the 1990s."

*A bit off pitch but still dope yo *Amazing vocal skills from Wanya and B. McKnight *Is Nate rockin' a pair of Jordan Concord?

Random Good Music for Today #2

Wilco - Whole Love (2011)

Currently repeating this song again and again on my way to work every morning, "Whole Love" by Wilco.