Alice Russell Notes: Santa's helpers

Santa's helpers
A quick update from Alice Russell.....

Christmas time, 'tis here. 2010 is on the horizon. Me and the lovely band of merry men enjoying spiced cider n cheese overload...Oh, and watching Bad Santa to get in the festive mood....The band have now been dispatched to the North Pole to help with last minute present making and to check the list of who has been naughty or nice! I'm cooking up mince pies for their return (as it's hungry work).

Exciting plans for 2010!

Time for some new music making in 2010 methinks ..I'm wanting to crack on with my new album so watch, or listen, rather, to this space. The band and I are getting in the studio in January to see what we come up with together! It should be interesting with all our love of musical tastes in the band, ranging from Zappa (most def), Major Lazor, Ozric Tenticals, Steve Gadd, Talking Heads and many more.

More shows to be announced for the new year, including a special grand piano and strings show at Union Chapel in London around April. Keep checking alicerussell.com for regular updates.

For now, catching up with friends and family and a goblett of fine wine is in order.

Big big love and massive thankyou to you all for supporting me and the band doing what we love doing!

Here's to you all and here's to 2010...see you next year!!!!!

xxxxx -Read the full Post-

Ancient Astronauts- Christmas Mix:

We've been singing the praises of Germany's excellent Switchstance label ever since we met founder Tom Strauch at the MIDEM convention may years ago. Looks like the rest of the planet is starting to catch on, as Tom's band, Ancient Astronauts latest release has been licensed by Thievery Corporation's ESL label. The group also did a fantastic remix for our recently released Vieux Farka Touré remix project. In the spirit of a funky holiday season, here's a rocking reggae & jungle DJ mix guaranteed to "roast your chestnuts" just right-


Download - Ancient Astronauts - Christmas Mix -Read the full Post-

Best of 2009 DJ UMB

This mix and list comes courteous of DJ UMB (Editor Generation Bass)


BEST OF 2009 - DANCE ORIENTED STUFF-

SO SORRY IF I MISSED ANYBODY

1. BEST DJ MIX

"Concordia" (officially known as the Bobby Friction BBC Mix) by Bandish Projekt


2. BEST ALBUMS "OFFICIAL RELEASES" (No particular order)

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II

Sclachthofbronx - SCHLACHTHOFBRONX
schlachthofbronx album by schlachthofbronx

Addiquit - ADDIQUIT
ADDIQUIT by ADDIQUIT

Moderat - MODERAT


Bassnectar - COZZA FRENZY
Cozza Frenzy (Original) by Bassnectar

King Coya - CUMBIA DE VILLA DONDE

Bandish Projekt - CORREKT
SENSE DISTORTION by bandishprojekt

Celt Islam - DERVISH
Mevlana by Celt Islam feat Dawoud Kringle by Celt Islam

Liquid Stranger - THE INTERGALACTIC SLAPSTICK
Lotus by liquid stranger

Liquid Stranger - Soundboy Killa
Soundboy Killa by liquid stranger

3. BEST ALBUMS "FREE RELEASES" (No particular order)

Phil Retrospector - INTROVERSION

Villa Diamante - EMPACHO DIGITAL

Sonido Del Principe - LA NARANJA MECANICA

DJ UMB - Stoned Cumbia
01 STONED CUMBIA (August 2009) by djumb

Caballo & the Mothafu Kings - GLOBAL PROPOGANDA

La Misión (Caballo & The Mothafu Kings mix) original by [dunkelbunt] by caballo t

Filthy Kicks - DIRTY LITTLE SECRET

Colatron - TENEBRISM

BEST OVERALL TRACK 2009:

DIGI DESIGN - JOKER


BEST DANCE-ORIENTED TRACKS:
"African Chant" - Top Billin' rmx

"Horario De Verano" - Sonido Del Principe

"Lollibon" - Daleduro v Madison (mashed by Simon Iddol)

"Sane Eba" - Zakee Kuduro

Didi 1 & Kwaab- Bandish Project


El Tigeraso - Maluca

El Tigeraso

MALUCA | MySpace Music Videos

Sylvia - Sa' Bat Machines
Sylvia by Sa Bat' Machines



BEST NEW ARTISTS 2009:

Led Zeppelin - They're new to me every year.lol



Joker


Barbarix



Sonido Del Principe

Sa' Bat Machines

Zakee Kuduro

Cheasleauen

Deaf Bass Twins


Engine Earz


Ku Bo -Read the full Post-

DJ Vinnie Esparza's Friday Five

...and I want a pony and a soft serve machine and...Happy holidays! It's your Friday Five!




Oui, S'il Vous Plait.




Lovely Italian soundtrack music. Sooooo nice!





One of Quantic's best remixes. Love how this slowly builds.




Funk Africano.




Groovy, man. Just Groovy.


Check www.djvinnie.net for the latest news and gig info on yours truly.


-Read the full Post-

KCRW Top 10 of 2009

Here's a link to KCRW DJ's top ten list for the year.

Congrats to Céu's Vagarosa for making DJ Jeremy Sole's list!


Big ups to KCRW for keeping up amazing programming in this age of Clear Channel playlists! -Read the full Post-

Fort Knox Five - Live DJ set on Four Decks

Fort Knox Five: "Live on 4 decks at the Belly Up Aspen" by fortknoxfive

Fort Knox Five has a new release called The New Gold Standard 2 out now, luckily for all of us they recorded a 4-turntable dj set in Aspen, CO last month and you can download it from the link above! Thanks for keeping it funky guys! -Read the full Post-

Best of 2009: Derek Beres (EarthRise SoundSystem/ Journalist/ Yoga Guru)

Best of 2009: Derek Beres (EarthRise SoundSystem/ Journalist/ Yoga
Guru)


1. Tinariwen—Imidiwan: Companions (World Village)
2. Fat Freddy’s Drop—Dr. Boondigga & The Big BW (The Drop)
3. The Spy From Cairo—Secretly Famous (Wonderwheel)
4. Vanessa Da Mata—Sim (Sony)
5. Norah Jones—The Fall (Blue Note)
6. Vieux Farka Touré—Fondo (Six Degrees)
7. Béla Fleck—Throw Down Your Heart: Tale From The Acoustic Planet,
Vol. 3 - Africa Sessions (Rounder)
8. Bebel Gilberto—All In One (Verve)
9. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou—Volume Two: Echos Hypnotiques
(Analog Africa)
10. Tumbélé: Biguine, Afro & Latin Sounds From the French Caribbean,
1963-74 (Soundways) -Read the full Post-

Best of 2009 by Brendon Moeller

Best of 2009: Brendon Moeller (Beat Pharmacy/ Echologist/ Steadfast
Records)

singles:

1. floating points - vacuum EP
2. STL - from a distance
3. wbeeza - he so crazy
4. tensnake - in the end (I want you to cry)
5. mike dehnert - umalut2 first version
6. king midas sound - cool out
7. instra_mental - leave it all behind
8. DJ sprinkles - the occasional feel-good
9. black jazz consortium - what's up with love
10. appleblim & ramadanman - sous le sable

albums:

1. moritz von oswald trio - vertical ascent
2. iron & wine - around the well
3. nick cave & warren ellis - white lunar
4. mocky - saskamodie
5. john daly - sea & sky
6. deer hunter - microcastle
7. atlas sound - logos
8. intrusion - the seduction of silence
9. fluxion - constant limber
10. cluster - qua
-------------------- -Read the full Post-

Karsh Kale: My Favorite Personal Projects/Albums of the Decade

Karsh Kale: My Favorite Personal Projects/Albums of the Decade


1) Liberation
2) Breathing Under Water
3) Broken English
4) Hello Hello - Midival Punditz
5) Give Peace A Chance - Yoko Ono (KK Remix)
6) Tabla Beat Science - Tala Matrix
7) Asian Massive
8) Vieux Farka Toure -( KK Remix)
9) Awake - Janaka Selktah (KK Remix)
10) Realize

Favorite Live Projects

1) Realize Live
2) Live w the Midival Punditz
3) Tabla Beat Science w Zakir Hussain
4) Breathing Under Water w Anoushka Shankar
5) Material w Bill Laswell
6) Timeline
7) Madman of God w Sussan Deyhim
8) Live w Ustad Shujat Khan and Vijay Iyer
9) Sound Tribe Sector Nine
10) Live w Gigi

Favorite Albums of the Decade

1) Hail to the Thief - Radiohead
2) Up - Peter Gabriel
3) Air Drawn Dagger - Sasha
4) In Rainbows - Radiohead
5) All That You Cant Leave Behind - U2
6) Battle Of Los Angeles - Rage Against the Machine
7) Live in Paris - Seal
8) Takk - Sigur Ross
9) Remeber Shakti - Shakti
10)The Blueprint - Jay Z

Favorite Concerts of the Decade

1) The Police - 2008 - Madison Square Garden
2) Radiohead - 2002 - Madison Square Garden
3) Peter Gabriel - 2003 - Madison Square Garden
4) The Roots - 2001 - Central Park -Summerstage
5) Shakti - 2006 - Carnegie Hall
6) Daft Punk - 2007 - Coney Island NY
7) Manu Chow - 2000 - Central Park -Summerstage
8) Ravi Shankar - 2006 - Disney Theatre LA
9) Busta Rhymes - 2001 - Paramount Theatre
10) Herbie Hancock - 2000 - Montrieux Jazz Festival -Read the full Post-

End of Year/Decade Listmania 2009:

Yes, it is incredibly, "that time of year" when we take stock of the year's (and the decade's) greatest moments in music, film, books etc. Once again, in the next few weeks we will be getting "Best Of" lists from a variety of our friends both in and out of the music biz and once again, I will kick things off with my own picks. Feel free to chime in with what rocked your world this year.
My Best of 2009
Bob Duskis- Co-Founder Six Degrees Records

Best" Bass-Centric" Album which seamlessly mixes Dub, Dubstep, Psy Dub and Global Textures:
Liquid Stranger- Intergalactic Slapstick- Interchill Records

LIQUID STRANGER RICKSHAW MIX (BBC) by Liquid Strangler

Try as I may, I cannot think of another global/electronica record that I have enjoyed more this year than Liquid Stranger's Intergalactic Slapstick. Martin Staaf has taken all of the crunchy, "bass in your face" power that I love about Dubstep and liberally mixed in elements that many of his contemporaries routinely leave out. (you know, little things like melody, nuance, texture and dynamics). I think this is a landmark release that stretches genres in wonderfully "ear opening" ways while still remaining accessible. If you've been wanting to "dip your toes" into the dubstep waters, look no further for the perfect entry point.


The Bon Iver Award for Best Singer Songwriter of the Year:
J. Tillman- Year in the Kingdom-


Don't let the fact that J. Tillman is the drummer for the now hugely popular Fleet Foxes, fool you. While I like the Foxes, I infinitely prefer Tillman's darker and more intimate songs to his band's relentlessly sunny harmonies. This is gorgeous music for people who like their singer songwriter's music to be both "haunting" and "haunted"


Most Enjoyable Movies of the Year: Tie between Pirate Radio & Fantastic Mr. Fox
Notice that I don't say "Best" movies of the year. Neither one of these films is a groundbreaking work of genius- but both of them had me grinning from ear to ear throughout their entire running time. (Nowadays, that's a rare & beautiful gift). Mr. Fox was breezy, charming and perfectly enjoyable for my entire family (another incredible rarity) and Pirate Radio reminded me why I fell in love with radio as a kid and how much radio helped me to fall in love with music for life.


Best Book About Demons (Both Personal & Literal):
Graham Joyce- How to Make Friends With Demons-
Originally published in the UK as Confessions of a Master Forger, under the alias W. Heaney, Graham Joyce's latest is now out in the U.S. under a new title and under the author's real name. This tale of a book forger who can see the actual "personal demons" that have attached themselves to many of us, is a beautifully written examination of suffering & redemption and the often agonizingly difficult task of "getting on with life" despite the sins of the past. Although this sounds heavy, it is in fact often incredibly funny and acerbic and a pleasure to read throughout. You can't go wrong with anything by this wonderfully gifted author.




Best "Flipped Out" Band that has amazingly broken into the mainstream: Animal Collective-
I'm not quite sure what it means when a group as beautifully bizarre as Animal Collective is showing up on the Billboard Pop Charts but I'm pretty sure that it's a good thing. Both the full length, Merriweather Post Pavilion and the new, Fall Be Kind EP were fantastic slices of hallucinogenic dream pop that conjure up images of the Beach Boys on some South American, shamanic drug ritual. It will be interesting to see what sneaks through the crack in the door that Animal Collective have pried open in the months to come.

http://www.sacurrent.com/sb/72025/arts_friendswdemons_CMYK.jpg -Read the full Post-

DJ Vinnie Esparza's Friday Five

Friday is here! Hello weekend! Now if we could just do something about this cold weather...




Warm thoughts during these chilly months. Perhaps the loveliest version of this song ever recorded.




Top shelf 80s boogie.




Remembering John Lennon this week. Fantastic cover of one of his songs.




The pinnacle of psych perfection. From Spain, early 70s.




I can't get enough of this song. Pure Jamaican rock steady magic.


Check out www.djvinnie.net for the latest info and news on yours truly. Have a great week!

-Read the full Post-

Starfire Blog: DJ'ng the Virgin Galactic Spaceship party

Today's post comes from the blog of David Starfire -

I was very excited to receive a message from a production company about an extraordinary DJ gig in the Mojave Desert for the Virgin Galactic SpaceShip Two (SS2) unveiling at the Mojave Air and Spaceport. For those of you that don’t know about Virgin Galactic, it’s a division of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group (like Virgin Airlines) and is dedicated to be the world’s first commercial space travel service. Yes you can travel to space for a mere $200,000, in a couple of years after test runs and the actual ship was there at the event for everyone to see for the first time.

The gig seemed almost too good to be true and had to keep some secrecy about it because of security reasons with V.I.P.s including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Richardson and various elite from around the world including and 300 people that have paid $20,000 down payment on their future space flight. The DJ gig was from 8pm-12am and had to be prepared to play for any type of crowd and ultimately had to create a cool vibe. I took lots of time to prepare a special set of taking the guests on a musical ride of a lifetime, as if I was creating a DJ set for a space flight to the moon. I knew that that I was in good company when I heard that the #4 DJ’s in the world Above & Beyond were spinning before me, which meant I had step it up. The set up of the party was something like 2001 space oddity meets burning man meets the W hotel bar. In the party area were 2 giant plastic inflatable dome structures, an outside section that had an ice bar hosted by Absolut and the Swedish Ice Hotel bar with a woman making ice sculptures. There was a clear plastic tent for press where Richard Branson talked about his SpaceShip Two (also named VSS Enterprise) and his company as well as the people that helped him to create it. After the press conference the ship rolled out on the tarmac and came through the fog and snow like a ufo approaching. The celebrity crowd surrounds the ship to get a glimpse of their future ride to space. Soon afterward the party kicked off with Above & Beyond rocking the decks with some nice house music. The VIP crowd seemed to be in their late 30’s-40’s and all had cocktails in hand and were feeling very special indeed. The rain and snow had stopped, but the wind was picking up and they decided to close one of the domes down and move everyone into one dome. The domes were rated at 40 miles per hour, but was picking up fast and was about 30 degrees and getting colder. The party crowd seemed content and cozy with their Puma Virgin Galactic jackets that were handed out to them. It kinda looked like everyone were in uniforms and you couldn’t tell the production crew from the jet set. Above & Beyond had finished their set and I started to spin and started off with the song “Sitarfire” from my upcoming album Bollyhood Bass (Six Degrees records) that will be out January 12th. I was on for a bit when all of a sudden I hear, “Attention, there’s a tremendous storm approaching and everyone must evacuate immediately!” and there went the rest of my DJ set. I started grabbing my gear and was placing it out of the dome when a large man came up to me and said, “You gotta get outta here, this domes gonna go any second!”. I ran out to the car and had experienced wind that I hadn’t experienced since I was in a tornado in Oklahoma, or when I was in a hurricane in Puerto Rico (really!). I was hoping the winds died down but just kept picking up to 70 mph and the party was definitely over. Went to my hotel room and the power was out, so drove back to Los Angeles and was an experience that I will never forget.

great news article and pics here

www.virgingalactic.com
www.davidstarfire.com
www.sixdegreesrecords.com -Read the full Post-

Chief Boima

Chief Boima - African by the Bay EP

Chief Boima, Bay-Area dj/producer, scribe for GhettoBassquake, and purveyor of all hybrids of post-Global beats delivers a free EP courtesey of Dutty Artz. Imagine Lil Wayne mixed with Techno in the Ivory Coast and your getting close to what this sounds like. -Read the full Post-

Vieux Farka Toure- Other Roads: Fondo Remixed

FREE DOWNLOAD - Vieux Farka Touré - Cherie Le (Sabbo remix)


Next Tuesday sees the release of our Vieux Farka Touré remix project, Other Roads: Fondo Remixed. I really enjoyed putting this collection together and I feel like the diverse cast of remixers really brought their "A Game" in respect to the beautiful source material from Vieux's original versions. From atmospheric psy-dub to dance-floor bangers to minimal tech treatments, the various mixes cover a lot of stylistic ground on this collection and I am particularly proud of the variety and creativity throughout the release. To whet your appetite today, we are offering a free download of Israeli producer Sabbo's scorching take on the track "Cherie Le". Be sure to check out the full release of Other Roads next week and if you like his mix, definitely delve into Sabbo's latest Soulico project which is well worth your attention. -Read the full Post-

DJ Vinnie Esparza's Friday Five

Friday brings five new goodies for your listening and viewing pleasure!




Perhaps the funkiest and most relaxed piece of "library" music ever recorded. Like butter.




New Edan! Never disappoints!




It's hard NOT to love this song.




Lee Perry at the controls! 1976




This song is kinda awesome. Starts off kinda loungy and a bit cheesy, and then kicks in to high gear towards the end. Wicked!!


Check out my site for all the latest new, gigs and info! www.djvinnie.net
-Read the full Post-

Sub Swara - Koli Stance (David Starfire Remix)

The new David Starfire full length lp, Bollyhood Bass is coming out on January 12th, the much anticipated album features collaborations with Freq Nasty, The Ragga Twins, iCatching and many more. In the meantime David has been busy remixing some amazing tracks like 'Koli Stance' by Sub Swara off their Coup d'Yah Remixes Volume 3 EP, who were kind enough to share this track with us today. David took it to some tribal dubstep areas, for all the low-end lovers! If you dig it you can embed the widget wherever you like by clicking "share" button. If you like the track, you can check out and buy the Coup d'Yah Remixes Volume 3 EP here. More information on David Starfire can be found here.

-Read the full Post-

Tea - Dreams

FREE DOWNLOAD - Tea - 'Ibiza' from the album Dreams

A few months ago I received through the magic of E mail, the latest album from a duo who call themselves Tea. Mixing soul, house and jazz with African flavors, Tea is the brainchild of guitarist Franck Balloffet, from Lyon, France, and Southern California drummer/keyboardist Phil Bunch. Franck & Phil first met as members of Los Angeles’ premier African band, Bateke Beat, which featured multi-instrumentalist Fidel Bateke, formerly of Fela Kuti’s ensemble from Nigeria. The group's second record, Dreams, rises to the challenge of fusing lots of different influences while maintaining a distinct personality all its own. The entire record is so lovely and soulful that it is almost balearic at times, (Legendary keyboardist Brian Auger even guests on the album!). I must say that I find the project's overt melodicism quite refreshing in these days of distorted drums, acid synths and massive, squelchy bass (not that there's anything wrong with that- but sometimes a guy needs a little melody in his global fusions) The duo have generously allowed us to share a track with you today, so if you like what you hear, be sure to explore further -Read the full Post-

Stateless, Dec 4th.

Stateless is back! On Dec. 4th Jef Stott and our good friend The Worker are performing at Underground SF (424 Haight St, San Fransico, CA). This one of a kind event should not be missed. For a sample of what's going down on Dec. 4th take a listen to some of these complimentary tracks.

Jef Stott- Lamaset (Miami Mix)

For more info on Stateless visit: http://www.myspace.com/sfstateless





-Read the full Post-