It’s high time to put the first half of 2008 behind us. As I was out last week, it’s good to return to give you most of the singles and EP’s from the year so far that I recommend for you to check out and support. It’s the second part of the Halfway Rewind Special, and it turns out that not all that I wanted to get into the show could be accomodated, even if the show stretched once again to three hours.

I hope you enjoy this week’s show. Next week comes a whole lot of fresh new music, so stay tuned.

Song - Artist - Title - Label
The Mighty - Vincent - EP - Music For Collapsing People
Mr. Sneak - Scott - Sweep EP - Bagpak
Ra-Monk - Eval Manigot - Monk Swing EP - Public Transit
Reckonerz (featuring Charli2Na) - AmpLive - Rainydayz: Radiohead Remixed EP - AmpLive
American Dreamin’ - Black Spade - EP - Om Hip Hop
Electric Chair (featuring Elmore Judd) - TM Juke - EP - Tru Thoughts
Giant Pickle - Mr. Scruff - Donkey Ride EP - Ninja Tuna
Get Caught - Cutty Lark - Do Right
Break It Til It’s Broken - Ed Meme and the Forms - EP - Straightup
All Night Prescriptions (Late Night Call) - Art Bleek - Urban Watcher EP - Loungin’
Super Rock Body Shock - Eye Beta Rock - EP - 4Lux
You Do This To Me - Summary - Nasty Depths EP - Bagpak
All Over - re:jazz - Live at Motion Blue Yokohama - Infracom
Brisk (Omegaman Remix) - Onur Engin - EP - Straightup
This Journey (Ghana ‘74) - The Boogoos - EP - Perfect Toy
Kept On Runnin’ (Domu Remix) - Ashley Thomas - Remixes EP - Counterpoint
I Wanna Be With You (featuring Sarah White) - Arch_Typ - Muddy Rhythms EP - Bagpak
Hit The Bit (Loose Cannon Remix) - Ben Mono - Remixes EP - Compost
Creating Waves - Ben Mono and Kemo - Higher Level EP - Sick Trumpet
Tides (Ripperton Remix) - Beanfield - EP - Compost
Dead End (D’Julz Remix) - Bangana featuring Clarisse Muvemba - EP - Heya Hifi
The Track - Fabrice Lig - Purple Raw Vol. 1 EP - Versatile
Ecosystem - Soul Designer - Evolutionism EP 2 - Third Ear
Kiss You Everywhere (Alex Attias Dark Dub) - Laverne - EP - Past Due
You Can Do What You Want (Graham Sahara Remix) - Christos Kedras - EP - Lovemonk
Brazil - C.O.N.E. and Colonel Red - Electric Theory Vol. 1 EP - Bagpak
Under Water featuring Xan Blacq (Simbad Remix) - Soul Vigilantes - EP - Lovemonk
Living Beat (Patchworks Remix) - Mop Mop - Kiss of Kali EP - Infracom
Inside and Out (MaryMary Edit) - Feist - MaryMary
Bantu - Dub Traffik Control - Bastard Boots 4 EP - Bastard Boots
Ciudad del Swing - Quantic Presents Flowering Inferno - Tru Thoughts
Friendly Flowers (Simon S Special Blend) - Jhelisa vs. Dudley Perkins - Soulclap
END BROADCAST

Other Recommends
Connexao EP - Sabrina Malheiros - Far Out
The Ringer EP - Four Tet - Domino
Brain EP - OliverDaySoul - 4Lux
Let It Ride EP - Unforscene - Tru Thoughts
La Renfree EP - Scott - Doppelschall
Leave That ‘Ol Devil Alone/Broken and Battered - Drawbar - Counterpoint
Land/One For Joe - Jazz Chronicles - Futuristica Music
Everyman - The Captain - Resense
The Rising EP - Natural Self - Tru Thoughts

Back atcha next week with Part Two of the 2008 Halfway Rewind Special, focusing on the singles and EP’s. It’ll be another three-hour shindig, so get ready!

See you then…peace.

UPDATE 22 June 2008: Some corrections were made on the playlist. Thanks to Rocky Rococo for pointing out my error in one of the tracks from “Disco Not Disco.” The James White and the Blacks track was incorrect; the correct track was from Isotope. Some other minor corrections were made, as well.

This week presents one of my favorite shows of the year. It’s the half way mark of 2008, and it’s time to look back and pick out those albums presented on the show that I recommend to you, the selective and picky music consumer. There’s an overload of music in the world these days, thanks in large part to the advent of digital downloads, legal and otherwise.

If you’re like many a music fan, you’ve been sick and tired of being spoonfed crappy music. I do my best to be one of the filters, bringing you music that I feel holds up over time. Mind you, it’s only a tiny spectrum of great music in the world, but one can only focus on so much in a two-hour span each week. It’s best if shows are self-contained in a niche. In the case of Urban Landscapes, it’s jazzy and soulful club culture. But not just any kind of soul, and not just any kind of jazz. You know this, you recognize this, and you’re feeling the goods.

Being overwhelmed and missing out is never a good thing. So time to catch you up on the music that can potentially slip between the cracks. It’s the Halfway Rewind Special, presented to you in two parts. The first week–this week’s show–focuses on the albums, while next week’s show (the second part) wil hone in on the singles and EP’s.

One of the most important criteria I look at when picking albums is that I need to listen to the whole album. It can be challenging at times when music stacks up in the queue. Somehow, though, it gets done. To that end, there are a few albums I’ve played on the show recently that have not been released yet that are not part of the list. It could be that an album hasn’t been listened to in its entirety yet; you could end up finding them on the year-end show.

Also, I tend to miss an album or two that I forget to bring to play for the special. There are two albums of note, and I will tack them on at the bottom of the playlist so that you can look them up and check them out.

Enjoy this week’s three-hour edition of the show; I’ll catch you again next week.

The Urban Landcapes Radioshow 11.20
Thursday June 19, 2008
The Halfway Rewind Special
Part One: The Albums
Three-Hour Broadcast

Song - Artist - Title - Label
Pillow Talk - Quiet Village - Silent Movies - !K7
Mean Spirit - The Stance Brothers - Kind Soul - Ricky Tick
Momentum - Simbad - Here Comes Treble - TrebleO
Crazy Bout Ya - Milez Benjamin - Feel Glorious - Tru Thoughts
It’s Not A Game - Daru & Reggie B. - Future Music - 4Lux
Too Much To Ask For (featuring ABD Al Malik) - Outlines - Our Lives Are Too Short - Sonar Kollektiv
Song For Wolfie - Clutchy Hopkins - Walking Backwards - Ubiquity
Free (Version) - Jet Tricks - Remote Control - Jet Tricks
Gosto de Ser Como Sou - Claudia & Brazilian Octopus - Nicola Conte Presents Viagem - Far Out
Era Bom - The Ipanemas - Call of the Gods - Far Out
Don’t You Believe Me? - Ricotti & Alberquerque - A Night At The Jazz Rooms - Mr. Bongo
(Sometimes) Believe In Yourself - Roy Ayers - Maiden Voyage - Compost
Lay Lady Lay - The Dynamics - Version Excursions - Favorite/Groove Attack
Hot No No - The Lions - Jungle Struttin’ - Ubiquity
Humankind (Grant Phabao Remix) - Alice Russell - Shapes 08:01 - Tru Thoughts
Black Is The Night - DJ Vadim featuring Katherin Deboer - Best Seven Selections 2 - Sonar Kollektiv
No Memory of Time (featuring Joe Dukie) - Eva Be - Moving Without Traveling - Sonar Kollektiv
Robinson - Protassov - Shalina Music - Switchstance
Pretty Things - Kylie Auldist - Just Say - Tru Thoughts
Grilos - Marcos Valle - The Best of Marcos Valle: Carioca Soul - Far Out
Flags and Words - 2 Banks of 4 - Junkyard Gods - Sonar Kollektiv
Shibuya Crossing - LTC - A Different View- Ricky Tick
Red - Jose James - The Dreamer - Brownswood
The Grass Harp - The Nostalgia 77 Octet - Nostalgia 77: One Offs, Remixes & B-Sides - Tru Thoughts
I Like It Like That (Aaron Jerome Remix) - Pete Rodriguez - I Like It Like That: Fania Remixed - Mr. Bongo
Hotchacha - Danny Massure - What It Is - Spring Strut
Put It On - Atjazz featuring Ernesto - Full Circle - Mantis
Like A Child (Carl Craig Remix) - Junior Boys - Carl Craig Sessions - !K7
Squirmy Sign Language - Ben Benjamin - Ghostly Swim - Ghostly/Adult Swim
Crunch Cake - Isotope - Disco Not Disco - Strut
Go Ballistic featuring Zulu - Ghislain Poirier - No Ground Under - Ninja Tune
Freak-A-Zoid Robotz (Rmxxology Theme) - Bobby Evans- Rmxxology - Delicious Vinyl
The Upgrade - J-Live featuring Oddisee and Posdanus - Then What Happened - BBE
ATLiens (Circle Research Remix) - Outkast - Circle Research: The Lost Remixes - Do Right
Beyond The Time Vortex - DJ Frane - Journey to the Planet of Birds - DJ Frane
You’re Not All That (featuring Jennifer Darling) - The Herbaliser - Same As It Never Was - !K7
Sweat Band - Seiji - DJ Tools Vol. 1: Seiji - Sonar Kollektiv
END BROADCAST

Other Albums That I Recommend
Replife - The Unclosed Mind - Futuristica Music
Paul Woolford Presents Bobby Peru - The Truth - 2020 Vision

It’s back to two-hour mode this week, and lots of new goodies alongside a few old faves, and even some old faves getting the remix treatment. Good? I hope for you it is.

Got the dates for the mid-year Halfway Rewind Special, an annual deal where i get to play tunes from some of the dope talent presented on the show during the first six months of 2008. Maybe there’s music you might have missed along the way, or you just want to find out how cool the music was when you listened for the very first time. Whatever tickles your fancy, it’s coming up quick. Here are the dates:

• June 19 - Part One: The Albums
• June 26 - Part Two: The Singles and EP’s

I hope you’ll be able to join me, live or via the downloads/podcasts.

Be sure to check out the web site when you have a moment. New content includes a Snapshots interview with Brownswood Recordings crooner Jose James, posted earlier this week. Keep your eyes peeled for more exclusive Snapshot interviews coming soon, plus more content from me and my contributors.

Enjoy the show, and have a fine weekend!

The Urban Landcapes Radioshow 11.19
Thursday June 12, 2008

Song - Artist - Title - Label
I No Poet Can Be - Bajka - EP 12″ - Jazzman
Jammin’ With Mr. Hoagland (Nicola Conte’s For Friends and Relatives Version) - The Five Corners Quintet - EP 12″ - Ricky Tick
Easy Does It - LTC - A Different View - Ricky Tick
Petite Planete - Emanative - EP - Futuristica Music promo
Everybody Loves The Sunshine (9th Wonder Remix) - Roy Ayers - Verve Remixed 4 - Verve Forecast
Freedumbs featuring Swamburger and Alexandrah (Dr. Delay Remix) - All Good Funk Alliance - Weakness of the Trade EP - Funk Weapons promo
Runnin’ (Philippians Remix) - Pharcyde - Rmxxology - Delicious Vinyl
Sittin’ On Chrome (Mr. Flash’s Sittin on Cr02 Remix) - Masta Ace - Rmxxology - Delicious Vinyl
Round The Way - NOMO - Ghost Rock - Ubiquity
There Was A Time (Kenny Dope Remix) - James Brown - Verve Remixed 4 - Verve Forecast
Bang Bang (Brazilian Soul Crew Afro Mix) - Amera Light and Gadget Ninja - 99 Carats promo
Dangerous (Diesler’s Club Mix) - Unforscene featuring Phil King - Tru Thoughts
Organik - Attias - EP - Rush Hour promo
Cold World (Telemark Remix) - Aromabar - EP - Infracom promo
Dirty Rhodes Trip - Barna Soundmachine - Porno Groove Vol. 1 EP - Somosunekipo promo
Power Of A City (Vinyl Mix) - Soul Designer - Evolutionism EP - Third Ear promo
No Parking In B-More - Rockmaster Rus B - Baffin Island Beat Brigade promo
Miss 17 (AEB’s Champion Soul Remix) - Yellowtail featuring Selma I - EP - Bagpak promo
Cleva (Captain Planet Remix) - Erykah Badu - Bastard Boots #5 EP - Bastard Boots
Miss 17 (OK_Ma Remix) - Yellowtail featuring Selma I - EP - Bagpak promo
Miss 17 (OK_Ma Remix Instrumental) - Yellowtail featuring Selma I - EP - Bagpak promo
360 Degrees featuring Blacktroniks - Just Banks - Under The Influence - Etage Noir promo
END BROADCAST

It’s a pleasure to find that everything old is new again. Jazz is as strong as ever, showing no signs of backing down and staying underground. But like colors of the rainbow, there are different shades of jazz. There are the jazz vocalists of today who are keeping the flames alive, with Cecilia Stalin, Elizabeth Shepherd, and Bajka just to name a few.

Among this new generation of jazz vocalists is Jose James. With his roots steep in hip-hop, the music has had him discover the sound of jazz. Developing his vocal skills over time, he eventually landed in the prestigious jazz program at The New School in New York. He’s since moved on to learn and work with other jazz talents, and was eventually discovered by BBC Radio 1’s Gilles Peterson. Signing on to Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings label, the response from James’ music being played on Peterson’s Worldwide radio show was massive. In January 2008, James’ full-length debut album The Dreamer was released to global critical acclaim.

Even before the album’s release, James has been keeping extremely busy. When not performing on his home turf, he’s been keeping a frantic traveling schedule that’s taken him around the globe, all the while finding time to collaborate with other heavy-hitters in the underground music scene.

Jose James was generous enough to take some time out for some conversation. It took awhile for us to get it right, but the time is now. I’m pleased to present to you some blurbs with one of the most talked-about jazz vocalists in quite some time…

Velanche: You were originally a hip-hop head. What steered you into the jazz world?

Jose James: Just hearing it in samples probably first - all that great 90’s hip-hop like A Tribe Called Kwest, Digable Planets, The Pharcyde… all that - but then I just started listening to real jazz on the radio and boom I was into it.

V: Explain your experiences at the New School in New York, and why you’ve decided to leave it to venture on your own.

Jose James: The New School Jazz program has a great lineup of educators - Junior Mance,
Chico Hamilton (one of the school’s founders), Charles Tolliver, Bernard “Pretty” Purdy. I had private lessons with Janet Lawson. But the price factor is huge, [plus] between owning a home and] getting a jazz degree, it’s an easy choice - but it’s still the spot to meet and collaborate with the finest international pool of student jazz musicians and vocalists in the world. When it was time to make a record, it was an easy decision to do music full time.

V: What’s the story behind your being found by Gilles Peterson, then subsequently getting signed onto his Brownswood Recordings label?

Jose James: I was in London doing a vocal jazz competition and had just produced an EP in NY, so I was making the rounds and passing it off. One copy got to Gilles, who was working @ Cargo, and he contacted me about my track “The Dreamer” for Brownswood Bubblers Vol. 1; I was down. We had some conversations about my Coltrane stuff [and] he wanted to make an album - the rest is history.

V: The Dreamer is quite the jazz album. Can you share your experiences of making the album, the pre-release hype it generated, and your feelings once it was released to the public?

Jose James: This album is literally 2 years of my life - the passion and learning [and] expression of my experience. I think it has all the wisdom I’ve earned in it and it was literally my world. I said if I never make another album, let me make this one correctly with no compromise, and that’s what it is. Gilles and I really went deep on it; it’s pure music and just real. We just hoped people would understand it and the response has been tremendous!

Of course, there were funny things along the way; I had recorded all this Coltrane stuff which is up on my “b-sides” page on Myspace and we ended up not securing the rights to use the songs from the estate. So I had to write new work which was a blessing in disguise and some deep stuff on the album: “Desire,” “Winterwind” and “Velvet.”

I’m blessed that worldwide, the music is helping people through their everyday - it’s a “life album” as in music you can live with in your life that will grow with you.

V: You’ve been performing in your hometown of New York, but you’ve also ventured and performed overseas. What’s been the audience reaction, and what it is that you take away with each city that you visit?

Jose James: Every city and show has a different vibe. I think overseas, it’s a little more special because it’s more rare and people feel that whereas I live in NY and hit at least once a month. But music is universal, and you really see that - no matter where we are people respond to emotion, rhythm and sound in the same way; we’re all the same. I love to connect, and to feel I have friends all over the world, and that I belong to the world.

V: Videos of you and your performances have been circulating over YouTube. Does it feel any different when you get people’s reaction online than it does when you’re receiving accolades in person?

Jose James: Not really, as we’re in the digital world now and it’s a blessing to connect to people so far away through technology. I enjoy meeting people live too, but it’s all connected.

V: One of your upcoming projects is with members of the Japanese jazz group Soil and Pimp. Can you explain what that project is about?

Jose James: It’s actually with the trio project within that group called J.A.M. They asked me to collaborate on a track “Jazzy Joint,” which turned out real cool; it’s only available in [Japan], currently. I had the chance to hit with them in Tokyo and it was dope! They are some of the finest new generation jazz musicians in Japan.

V: What are your future projects that people should be looking forward to?

Jose James: New tracks with Nicola Conte, Jazzanova, Flying Lotus, Bassment Jaxx and Ben Westbeech. Word.

Jose James’ album The Dreamer is out now on Brownswood Recordings. Find more information and music on his Myspace site.

UPDATE - 11 June 2008: The peeps at Belgium’s On-Point has done a video interview with Jose James during his visit there. You’ve read it here, now see its take on JJ.