Last week’s 10th anniversary celebration for the radioshow in Los Angeles was a success. Even though it was pouring and windy for most of the day, the evening was far milder weather-wise and the turnout was a pleasant surprise. I’m pleased to everyone who both attended and participated. Big ups to Abstract Butta Fingaz for his hardworking energy to help put the event together, and thanks also to the DJ’s and the band Forward Motion.

After the fun that was the 10th anniversary edition of the radioshow last week, this week’s show is all about starting to catch up on the new music that’s accumulated during the last 4-6 weeks. There’s a wide variety of goodies, so take it all in and enjoy the show!

Song - Artist - Title - Label
Sound & Blues - Bigga Bush - BiggaBush
Fluglin’ At Dave’s - The Lions - Jungle Struttin’ - Ubiquity promo
Pointless Dreams - Ben Mi Duck - Here Comes Treble EP - Treble-O promo
Pangea featuring Deborah Jordan - Replife - The Unclosed Mind - Futuristica Music promo
I Want Your Love - James Mason - Maiden Voyage - Compost
Let Me In - Benny Sings - Benny…At Home - Sonar Kollektiv
Stranded By Your Love (Cool Calm Pate - Sweet Nothing Mix) - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Daptone Records Remixed - Scion
Monk Swing - Karma & Lotus - EP - Public Transit
City Watching (featuring Abdominal) - Ghislain Poirier - No Ground Under - Ninja Tune
Ladies & Gentleman (featuring Ambitieux and DJ Netik) - Ghislain Poirier - No Ground Under - Ninja Tune
Nao Posso Te Levar A Serio - Savarah Soul - Tru Thoughts promo
Nocturnal Jam - BE - CD-R
You Are Number One - De Varne - EP - Past Due promo
Just A Groove (SDC Remix) - Glenn Adams Affair - Barna vs. Porto EP - OCSID promo
Merging - TJ Kong and Nuno Dos Santos ft Robert Owens - EP - Compost promo
Hyper Space (Dub) - DJ Pippi & Willie Graff - EP - Drumpoet Community
Speaking Terms - Sui Generis - Remarkable EP - Rush Hour
Bop Bop (Ashley’s Boogie Mix) - Ashley Thomas - Kept On Runnin’ Remixes EP - Counterpoint promo
The Bottle - Yosaku & DJ Day - test
Quiet Dawn (Bonobo Remix) - Nostalgia 77 - Tru Thoughts promo
END BROADCAST

 

 Show 11.02 [117:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Got this a few days ago, but nearly forgotten about this.

You’ve probably heard of keyboard maestro/producer Mark de Clive-Lowe. You might have also heard of revered vocalist Bembe Segue.

You may know them by their joint project called The Politik. You might have even known that an album from The Politik dropped last year.

Now comes a new competition. Not only is The Politik putting the vibes out for producers aspiring and pro to take a stab at remixing goods from its album, but there’s a separate competition to create new album artwork.

All of this will culminate to become the new Politik remix album, to be released sometime this year.

Time to let them have their say…

Bembe Segue and Mark de Clive-Lowe welcome you to The Politik Remix Album + Artwork Competition.

We had a lot of fun making the album in London and Vancouver and now it’s everyone’s chance to have a go at flipping it. We’ve uploaded remix parts for the entire album plus the original raw artwork.. share this link and info with everyone who might be interested… labels and crew people, pass this email onto your artists and networks.

This competition is open to anyone and everyone who’d like to have a go at remixing one (or more) songs from The Politik’s debut album. The winning remixes will be compiled into the official remix album The Politik Remixed to be released on both physical and digital formats. The second part of the competition is an artwork remix competition for the cover art of the official release. Download the original artwork by Joshua Mays and have a go at reworking it in the spirit of the Remix.

All entries must be received by April 14, 2008.

For more information, download links for all the files and the submission info click:

http://studio.mashibeats.com/ThePolitikRemixComp.html

Listen to the original album at http://thepolitik.imeem.com.

Best of luck to the participants; looking forward to hearing the winners!

There’s a terrific jazz musician whom I’ve first heard on Raggy’s Off Limits show. Her name is Nanette Natal, and she’s from New York. Her voice and words are forces of nature, and her tunes quite timely. I hope to have her CD that she plans to send along to me so that I can play music from her most recent album on my show soon.

Meanwhile, check out her recent video to “Colors.” Enjoy, and thanks to Nanette for letting me know about it.

Website: Nanette Natal

This is Part Two of the Urban Landscapes 10th Anniversary broadcast, broken into two parts due to the show’s time length.

Urban Landscapes Radioshow 11.01
Thursday January 3, 2008
The 10th Anniversary Special

Part Two
Song - Artist - Title - Label
Loveless featuring Ursula Rucker - 4 Hero - Two Pages - Talkin’ Loud/Mercury
Newforms - Roni Size & Reprazent - Newforms - Talkin’ Loud/Mercury
Rodney Yates - David Holmes - Let’s Get Killed - 1500/Sony
Black Steel - Tricky - Maxinquaye - Island
Suddenly - Herbert - Bodily Functions - !K7
Rising - 2 Banks of Four - Three Street Worlds - Red Egyptian
Smile - Eddy Meets Yannah - Just Like… - Compost
Release Your Mind - re:jazz - re:jazz - Infracom
In The Bath - Lemon Jelly - lemonjelly.ky - XL
Tromboline - Umod - Enter The Umod - Sonar Kollektiv
Eve - Spacek - Curvatia - Island
Lady Sings - Break Reform - Fractures - Abstract Blue
Sunshine Lazy - Zero dB - Bongos, Bleeps & Basslines - Ninja Tune
END BROADCAST

 

 Show 11.01 - The 10th Anniversary Special (2 of 2) [90:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Happy New Year to all…

2008 is here. Time for another busy year of music galore, and Urban Landscapes will continue to help usher the quality music along.

This week, the show is 10 years old. It’s really hard to believe how fast the time has gone by, but here we are. To that end, thanks to Bay Area DJ/selector Rocky Rococo he’s given me some good ideas for how I should approach this show-wise. In the end, there’s just way too much goodness to share, so consider the first show of the year to be the start of several specials that I’ll present to you during this anniversary year. The show is by no means the end-all show on all of my recommended albums that I consider worth adding to your collection if you don’t have them already; in fact, expect another albums show later this year.

The albums don’t include compilations or remix albums (with one notable exception); expect to hear a separate show or two to cover those. Also coming up: singles/EP’s and individual tunes.

All-in-all, it was a fun show to put together. Finding the albums was easier than I expected. So easy, in fact, that the end run for the show ended up being over the original three hours that I’ve expected. So in light of this, the show is going to be split into two parts for those of you wanting to download it. For those of you subscribed to the podcast, make sure that you download Part One and Part Two of show 11.01.

I hope you enjoy the show as much as I enjoy presenting it. It’s one of the very few times that I have a chance to go way back and pick those favorites from yesteryear, so you’re in for a rare treat.

Have a great week; will catch you on the other side. Peace.

Urban Landscapes Radioshow 11.01
Thursday January 3, 2008
The 10th Anniversary Special

Part One
Song - Artist - Title - Label
Yma - Boozoo Bajou - Satta - Stereo Deluxe
Diabolis - Cinematic Orchestra - Motion - Ninja Tune
A Zed and Two L’s - Fila Brazilia - Maim That Tune - Pork
Prayin’ (For A Jeepbeat) - Nightmares On Wax - Smoker’s Delight - Warp
Going Under (K&D…) - Rockers Hi-Fi - The K&D Sessions - !K7
Five Man Army - Massive Attack - Blue Lines - Virgin
Give It Away - Zero 7 - Simple Things - Quango/Ultimate Dilemma
L.O.V.E. and You & I - Jazzanova - In Between - JCR/Compost
Waltz For Koop - Koop - Waltz For Koop - Quango/Compost
Nattergalen - The Bobby Hughes Combination - Nhu Golden Era - Stereo Deluxe
Circular Motion - Nuspirit Helsinki - Nuspirit Helsinki - Guidance
3ree (A Means To Be) - Attica Blues - Attica Blues - Mo’ Wax
Futuristica - Joseph Malik - Diverse - Compost
Bota Foga - John Beltran - Sun Gypsy - Ubiquity
Transcend Me featuring Melissa Browne - Afronaught - Shapin’ Fluid - R&S
Ain’t Changin’ featuring Justin Chapman - Recloose - Cardiology - !K7
The Future Ain’t The Same As It Used 2 B - Neon Phusion - The Future Ain’t The Same As It Used 2 B - Laws of Motion
Cloud City - Domu - Up & Down - Archive
END OF PART ONE

Look for Part Two in a separate post.

 

 Show 11.01 - The 10th Anniversary Special (1 of 2) [118:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When I read in the online edition of the Los Angeles Times a few days ago that the biggest storm system since 2005 was about to enter California, I was a bit concerned about whether or not the weather was going to keep me from attending the party for my radioshow. I thought, “How the hell are things gonna be if I don’t show up for my own party?” In the end, I was more concerned about getting through the drive than I was about my resolve to get there.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only person with similar resolve.

For that, it made me all the more impressed by people who traveled near and far to attend the Urban Landscapes 10th Anniversary Party at the Mountain Bar in Chinatown L.A. Having left San Luis Obispo at 4pm. Friday afternoon, it wasn’t long before darkness settled in. The rain had made itself present throughout most of the day, and during the drive it was raining in sheets. The wind also did its thing, seemingly pushing itself against my car. I had to drive steady, and needed to kill the music so that I could focus on the 200-mile drive to L.A. I had to change plans a bit, but I made it to the venue at around 8:30pm–a half-hour before the event’s scheduled start time.

That’s my story. Others have had their stories of driving in the weather too. One person drove down from Santa Cruz (near the Bay Area) just to meet me and attend the event; several KCPR DJ’s came through to join us, quite a number of them arriving directly from San Luis Obispo (that deserves major props); a couple of DJ friends arrived from San Luis Obispo too, but not before, one of them mentioned, passing at least three overturned vehicles on the way down. For all of those who braved the drive, I wholeheartedly salute and respect both your resolve and your presence.

I also must give respect to the party’s performers for coming through: the band Forward Motion; the DJ’s…Foniks, Mawkus (showin’ off his new found hip-hop skillz), Don Guapo (soulful house forever), Plan 9, and our headliner Jeremy Sole (a very down-to-earth person for someone who’s earned major respect in L.A.).

Big ups to producer Yosaku for attending as well. He’s a really cool person to chat with, and I’ll drop some music from him on the next show.

I want to extend my thanks to everyone else…from the people who took time out of their Friday night to brave the weather and join us, to the cool staff of the Mountain Bar who helped us out when the need arises.

Finally, I need to give major respect to the man who’s worked tirelessly to make the event happen: the resident DJ/planning of the Voodoo Lounge DJ Abstract Butta Fingas. The event wouldn’t have been possible without both the diligence and tenacity to bring everything and everyone together.

And in case you’re wondering, I passed on spinning that night. We’ve started a half-hour late, and hip-hop had already kicked in. My slower tempoed records wouldn’t have stood a chance at that juncture, and I was cool with that. For those of you that were hoping to see me in action, my apologies. You’ll have your chance in due time, y’all.

Expect a few more events to celebrate the show’s 10th anniversary in the near future. Details coming soon.

Happy New Year, everyone!