So the Mayer Hawthorne day here in San Luis Obispo was a good one. It started with him performing a DJ set in the Wax Museum of Boo Boo Records during the late afternoon, and man does he know how to use the TT’s. For an hour, he had his audience spellbound and watching in amazement. And he was very appreciative of the vinyl surrounding him there, too, as well as the audience that showed up.

Then that night was the live show. Had my phone been working, I would have taken a few photos during the sound check. It was tight, and really good to watch the band and the sound guy tweak things until everyone was happy.

At showtime, MC Buff 1 opened up alongside turntablist 14K, and the audience was very receptive. Afterwards, 14K threw down plenty of chilled beats during the intermission, which lead into the band itself.

All dressed up in light brown suits, with Mayer Hawthorne being the exception in a dark suit and looking like a bit like Clark Kent, he and his band The County had the audience in their hands for just barely over an hour. The show was too quick, but it seemed that everyone had a great time, but were very tired by the time the band was done. All-in-all, it was a great show.

I did a little DJ set before the event began. After overcoming some equipment glitches, it was an all-vinyl affair that was very chilled and relaxed. Somehow, I got the sound guy’s attention. He mentioned several times that night that he really liked the music, and I’m very cool with that.

Big thanks to Numbskull for booking the bands, and also big ups to Korie and the crew at Downtown Brew for lending support during the days leading up to the show. Also shots to Malik at Boo Boo Records, as well as C-Murph for the TT’s I borrowed from him that night. Hopefully, we will be fortunate to have more acts like these here.

Meanwhile, it’s time to present to you a new show; lots of goodies and surprises that I’m very happy to share with you. As we here in the Northern Hemisphere are heading into a little weather change (though you wouldn’t notice by the heat here in California this week), brace yourselves for plenty of musical goodness to round out 2009, which will lead up to the last two shows of the year to look back at the best music that rocked my world this year.

Back at ya next week; peace.

Song – Artist – Title – Label
It’s Full of Blinding Light – Audion – EP – Spectral Sound promo
Happy House (Matthew Dear vs. Audion Remix) – The Juan Maclean – DFA
Hurt (with Matthew Dear) – Seth Troxler – Panic, Stop, Repeat! EP – Spectral Sound promo
Blackmagic (DOP Remix) – Jose James – EP – Brownswood promo
Hope…Unity…Vision – Basic Soul Unit – EP – New Kanada promo
Asterix – Bangana – EP – Nordic Trax
Schooldayz (Dub) – Roland Appel – Black Label #55 EP – Compost promo
Direction (Mr. V’s No Direction Mix) – DaSoul & Fabry Diglio featuring Nadine Navarre – EP – Sole Channel promo
Strange Lines (Dub) – Bangana – EP – Slip N’ Slide
Reversed (Opolopo Remix) – Blacktop featuring Amalia – Exchange Bureau Music promo
Deeper Love (featuring Stephanie Renee) – Opolopo – Beyond Jipangu – Swedish Brandy
Scorchio – NDV – Southbridge EP – Botanika promo
Ragga Samba – The Magic Drum Orchestra – In The Studio – Lion Head promo
Drop It (Like a Funky Muppet) – The Magic Drum Orchestra – In The Studio – Lion Head promo
Joyful (12-inch Edit) – Breakestra – ‘Posed to Be EP – Strut
Nirvana (Mark de Clive-Lowe Remix) – Shafiq Husayn – Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka EP – Plug Research
Sweaty (Josip Klobucar Remix) – Philta and Roman Rauch featuring Anya Stuart – promo
Direct Me to a Remedy (Sleeve Remix) – All Good Funk Alliance featuring Swampburger and Alexandrah – EP – Funk Weapons
My Story (featuring Deborah Jordan) – Sun Circle – EP – Futuristica promo
Reflejo De Luna – Alacran – Bar Bubbles – Holophon
END BROADCAST

San Francisco’s Om Records has recently celebrated its 15th anniversary with, among other things, a two-CD collection of musical goodies with a variety of different styles, but very much geared for the nightclubs. One of the standout tracks is getting its own release.

Roskow Kretschmann from the Jazzanova team (Sonar Kollektiv, Raw Fusion) puts on his Sygaire hat for this stormer, collaborating with producer Phillipe Wohlleben (Melting Pot, Raw Fusion) for this boogie stormer, with Capitol A doing his lyrical waxing to round things out for quite the dancefloor bomb! There are several different versions for your pleasure.

The single is out now; cop it!

TRACKLISTING:

1. The Latest (Extended Boogie Version)
2. The Latest (Electro Version)
3. The Latest (Boogie Version)

Welcome to this week’s show, where the pickings are varied and the music is flowing.

Okay, so it happens just about every week. You know that, and so you expect the unexpected. As usual, there’s good new music to be had. So dig in and savor the flava!

Back atcha next week. Peace.

Song – Artist – Title – Label
Do Your Dance – Rose Royce – In Full Bloom – Whitfield
A Free Soul – DJ Simon S. – Soulclap promo
Searchin’ – Roxanne featuring U-Key – Bagpak Select Cuts Vol. 2 – Bagpak promo
Zorbanissimo – Azaxx – EP – Tru Thoughts promo
Ritmo Del Futuro – Una Mas Trio – Ritmo Del Futuro – Agogo promo
Kwame’s Blues (fame Game) – Kwame – Clairaudience
Feeling High – Sao Benitez – The Best of Mr. Bongo – Mr. Bongo
V.L.A.M. – Kind and Kinky Zoo – EP – Straightup promo
Hustlin’ – Soopasoul – EP – Jalapeno
The Ghost of Aveiro – Platinum Pied Pipers – Abundance – Ubiquity
Outta Love (4 Hero Remix) – Reel People – Tokyo Fashion District – Prominence
I Do (Domu’s Discotech Instrumental) – Opolopo featuring Amalia – EP – Swedish Brandy promo
I Do (Domu’s Discotech Mix) – Opolopo featuring Amalia – EP – Swedish Brandy promo
Ilike – Shahrokh Sound of K – Dripping Point – Compost
Does It (Peter Munch Remix) – Computer Paul featuring Michelle Amador – Bagpak Select Cuts Vol. 2 – Bagpak promo
Zippo – Will Saul and Mike Monday – EP – Buzzin’ Fly promo
Motor Cortex (Minimow & Solo Remix) – Lorenz Rhode – EP – Exploited
Can’t Explain (Titonton’s 7 Hours on a Saturday Mix) – Double Identity – Dub For the Dancefloor – Voltage Music
All Think (Kode 9’s Alpha Dub Remix) – Deep Alpha – Dub For the Dancefloor – Voltage Music
Sugar Cubes In Zero Gravity – ABF – 5 Signs: Left Handed Acquisitions EP 12″ – Anodyne Electric Co.
Memphis Rain – Cordovan – Chop Soul Salad EP – Cordovan Music
END BROADCAST

As always, peace and respect to my man Velanche. It’s been a while since I posted anything on the Urban Landscapes site, so glad to see it constantly moving forward week after week. I thought you guys might wanna hear my latest show of vinyl madness. Show number 60 is available now to download on to your iPod/mp3 player, just go to my site and follow instructions.

I know that Velanche will dig the sounds on No.60, you’ll hear R-A-R-E jazz, funk and soul vinyl stretching across the globe from South Africa, France, USA, India, Israel, UK, Japan… and a few S-E-C-R-E-T tracks too… It’s a tight show, enjoy

PEACE “V”, you take care…Raggy

UPDATE – 29 October 2008: Alex from Soundcloud wanted me to let peeps know that Soundcloud is now available to the public. This is a correction from what I’ve originally written that new users needed an invite.

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The music industry, under the model it’s been using for many decades, is fighting for its survival amidst a wave of defections from consumers tired of feeling treated like children.

A new model has yet to reign, but a number of them are out there vying for the attention of not only the consumer, but for independent artists and labels as well. Digital media is allowing anyone to create music and put it out there for the world to listen. Still, the artist will only be known to maybe a few of their friends unless they know a way to get them noticed to a wider audience.

Tunecore is a relatively new service that helps the independent artist out in a big; the service is a virtual “middleman” between the artist and the online music stores. Whereas an artist has to visit each online store to get his or her music ready to be sold, Tunecore will get the music onto multiple online stores at once. There’s a lot more to Tunecore besides being a one-stop digital distribution center, including assistance with artist promotion, among other things. The MP3 Insider, a CNET podcast about digital players and music, has done a special episode interviewing Jeff Price, the founder of Tunecore. He explains how the service works in a way that’s easy to grasp. People in independent music, as well as aspiring musicians, should have a listen to an informative and enlightening discussion with host Donald Bell.

Another online service that’s making waves is Soundcloud, which has launched its site this month after a private beta period. It’s hard to believe that many of the artists played on the radio show are also members of Soundcloud (some of them are even part of the company). It’s an online community and service where artists can post their tunes online for others to listen to. If you’re tired of using YouSendIt, Mediafire, or similar services that have restrictions and limits, Soundcloud allows tunes to be uploaded with no size limits and can be as permanent as you want it to be. The free service allows five song uploads a month, while three tiers of Pro plans offer anywhere from 15-50 tunes/month.

You can visit one of the members to listen to available tunes and leave comments.

View the video to learn below more about Soundcloud. Membership is now available. As for Tunecore, there is no video. But feel free to browse through its “tour” page.

So check out these services; hope they become useful for you!

When I was in Miami in March 2007, I had the pleasure to meet a true goddess in Monica Pineda, who goes by the moniker of DJ Moni. She is part of the lovely DJ crew based in NYC known as Ubiquita. She’s been getting her own thing going during the last few years, with her profile elevated through her association with both Giant Step and Gilles Peterson among others. She’s been touring her skillz globally, and has put out a compilation for Scion A/V.

Along with creative partner Mike Vargas, Moni has started Friends We Love, a video series showcasing creative luminaries great and small, as they share their love and passion of their respective works of art and culture through their words.

Here are a sampling of what Friends We Love showcases…

The first one profiles DJ/tastemaker extraordinaire Gilles Peterson chatting about his obsession with football (that’s soccer for us stateside peeps).

The next is of Brand New Heavies vocalist N’Dea Davenport about a serious medical condition affecting women.

Finally, here’s the very first Friends We Love video featuring DJ Bobbito.