Free Noize: Delhi 2 Dublin

Vancouver is one of my favorite cities. When I lived in Seattle, I would often make the drive over there in order to partake of the beautiful, natural landscapes, the great food and most of all, the super nice people. Vancouver is also a real music city with some fantastic local bands, DJs and clubs. When it comes to their "Global Grooves" scene, the Beats Without Borders parties are THE place to be. For many years this crew hosted our regular "Six Degrees Nights" in their fair city and they continue to feature artists like Jef Stott, Gaudi and Cheb i Sabbah.

One of the Beats Without Borders crew Tarun, dropped off his Delhi 2 Dublin musical project on a trip to San Francisco a while ago. While the idea of fusing South Asian Bhangra styles with Celtic music may initially raise an eyebrow or two, in reality the mash up results in a deliriously fun, cross cultural party that is fresh, unique and very dance-able.

I'm very excited to hear their forthcoming remix project but in the meantime, the group has slipped us a free track from the original CD to whet your appetite and rock your world.

Bio:

Delhi 2 Dublin is a 5-piece mashup of electronica and global music styles. Fusing tabla, fiddle, dhol, punjabi vocals, electric sitar, and electronic beats ranging from reggae to drum and bass, the crew takes listeners on a wild ride through global sounds and synchronicities. They've played some of the biggest festivals in Canada, including opening Canada Day on Parliament Hill for 40,000 people in 2007. Recently, they've toured California twice, and will soon be taking their sound to Eastern Canada, the UK and India. Their debut album reached #3 on the Canadian world music charts and has received airplay all over the world. International, dem say we international...
Delhi 2 Dublin will be releasing a full-length remix album on November 1st, 2008, with tracks by David Starfire, Adham Shaikh, Swami, Eccodek, and many more.

"Delhi 2 Dublin is the perfect mix of bhangra(ic)-celtic synchronicity, it only happens once and you are hearing it" - Cheb i Sabbah

For the FREE download of "Apples" click here

Links:
promo vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN-7dpAzNPg
website: http://www.delhi2dublin.com
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Delhi-2-Dublin/9711795199 -Read the full Post-

Musical Notes by Bob Duskis: The Oldest Guy in the Club

A few months ago I was in line to get into one of San Francisco's hottest new clubs, Temple. Seeing that the group in front of me was being asked to show their IDs, I started fumbling in my pocket to get my own driver's license.
When the bouncer who was carding people saw me, he quickly waved me in saying in an amused tone

"Don't worry about it, you're good."

The implication was clearly- "you're so old, there's absolutely no reason you need to show me YOUR ID"

I tried my best to shrug off the indignity and proceeded into the crowded club, nursing my slightly injured pride. After about an hour of being jostled by throngs of 20 something dancers and being enveloped by incredibly loud, bass heavy music, my buddy Frank (one of a very few "Dad" friends that are close to my age who will brave the SF nightlife with me) turned to me and said

"How much longer do you think you'll be able to do this?"

It was then that I surveyed the room and came to the stomach dropping yet inescapable conclusion that I was without a doubt... the oldest guy in the club.

After that night, at other clubs or concerts, I started to consistently check out the crowd, hoping beyond hope to find a few other geriatric revelers like myself. With the exception of Six Degrees related events attended by my business partner Pat Berry (who, THANK GOD is older than me!), it was the same story. Nine times out of ten- I'm...the oldest guy in the club.

Last week I celebrated my 49th birthday (feel free to send lavish gifts). As I stand poised at the threshold of the gaping maw that is my 50's, I have to adjust to the fact that I am a relatively old person in what is traditionally a young person's game. Being older in the music business is a slightly surreal experience. I clearly remember the president of a major record company once telling me that he doesn't trust any A&R person over 25. This executive (who by the way was way into his 60's) felt strongly that only young people had the ability to have their fingers on the pulse of popular culture. Obviously this is much more pronounced in the youth obsessed world's of pop and hip-hop music but the stigma of age follows all of us who are in any facet of the music biz.

Some of this simply boils down to a question of stamina. I know of very few people in my age bracket who still go to live concerts on a regular basis, let alone dance clubs where the main act frequently doesn't even come on before 1am -and when they do the music is served up at pummeling volumes. When I try to rope my friends into going out with me the excuses are predictable. It's too late, it's too crowded, it's too loud, it's too smokey, blah, blah, blah... All of these are of course true but if you like to see DJs in clubs, they simply come with the turf. I can't say the smoke, the crowds and the late hours don't drive me nuts, I'm just willing to put up with them to get to the music. As far as the loud volumes go, one of my favorite things about going to a club is hearing great, well produced music being played REALLY loudly through a good sound system. There's simply no substitute for the way electronic music sounds in a club. It is true that I can no longer stand up for hours at a time the way I used to (damned sciatica!) but if I can find a spot to sit my old bones in every once in a while, I'm still good to go.

The more pointed issue surrounding growing old in the music business is the assumption that age translates to "out of touch". That record exec that I mentioned earlier felt strongly that once you had kissed your twenties goodbye the likelihood of you finding "the next big thing" was zilch. There is no doubt that the older we get, the more entrenched we get in our tastes and the less we feel comfortable in pushing boundaries but this is not something that is incurable. Experience and perspective come with age and short selling those two virtues has resulted in record companies sinking huge amounts of money into a lot of music that is vacuous, disposable and sometimes downright offensive.

Going back to my friend Frank's question of "how long can I keep doing this" I have to give a definitive answer of "I have no friggin' idea". I do know however that as long as I'm still having fun and I'm excited by the new music that keeps popping up (and as long as I can occasionally find a chair to sit down in), I'll be out there rocking with the young folks.

Maybe some of you older music fans want to consider joining me more often. That way when I check the crowds at night, I'm not always...the oldest guy in the club -Read the full Post-

Zuco 103 - After the Carnaval

It's hard for me to believe, but we have been working with Zuco 103 since the year 2000. This amazing Amsterdam based trio are one of the pioneers of a sound that has been dubbed "Brazil-electro", mixing up everything that is good and fun about Brazilian music with dance, electronic and even rock influences. All of their releases are great and well worth you checking out- but their latest, After the Carnaval finds them in particularly fine, spontaneous and relaxed form, moving a bit away from the "sample" based sounds of prior records and into more of a warm and organic vibe. It's the kind of record that can only be made by a group that has reached a point in their career where they are confident in that elusive, effortless chemistry that only the best bands possess.

It is a beautiful thing to work with a group long enough to see them come to this point in the creative life cycle of their work. Enjoy-



album out October 7th, 2008
For FREE download of "Nunca Mais" click here

Zuco 103 video: Nunca Mais

-Read the full Post-

Free Noize: Dub Gabriel- Anarchy & Alchemy

Dub Gabriel is one of the unsung pioneers of global fusion. He has been mixing up sounds from the middle east and Jamaica with dub and hip hop since the mid 90's on his many releases on the Wordsound and Baraka Foundation labels and through his legendary Brooklyn Massive club nights. For many years he was one of the nexus points for a thriving underground Brooklyn scene that produced a lot of very influential, genre defying music. I have long admired and enjoyed his work and was excited when he moved over here to the Bay Area. Gabe has just released a new album called Anarchy & Alchemy on his own "Destroy All Concepts" label and I think it is one of the strongest things he has ever done. Effortlessly covering a wide range of styles, from pounding dance-hall dub to Michael Stipe singing a cover of a classic tune from the band Suicide, Anarchy & Alchemy is the work of an artist that has always stayed on the cutting edge of the music scene. Check out the free track that Gabe has been gracious enough to let us share and dig deeper into the full release to experience its full scope and power.


DUB GABRIEL IS BACK! AFTER HIS CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED 2005 ALBUM BASS JIHAD WHICH RECEIVED STELLER REVIEWS IN SUCH PUBLICATIONS AS BILLBOARD, XLR8R, WIRE, PASTE AND COUNTLESS OTHERS AND CHARTED IN THE TOP 10 CMJ NEW WORLD RADIO CHARTS.

THIS TIME HE BRINGS TOGETHER AN ALL-STAR CAST WHICH INCLUDES LEGENDARY ARTISTS SUCH AS MICHAEL STIPE (REM), SAMI YAFFA (NEW YORK DOLLS) AND SOME OF THE HOTTEST ARTISTS IN ELECTRONIC MUSIC TODAY SUCH AS YO MAJESTY (DOMINO RECORDS), MARK PISTEL (MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO), DR. ISRAEL, JUAKALI, JAH DAN & MANY OTHERS.

RECORDED OVER THE SPAN OF 2 YEARS IN NEW YORK, BERLIN, PARIS, AMSTERDAM, RIO AND SAN FRANCISCO,..

ANARCHY & ALCHEMY HAS ALREADY GENERATED A MASSIVE BUZZ WITH SUCH PUBLICATIONS AS NEW YORK MAGAZINE & PITCHFORK WRITING ABOUT THE ALBUM WITHOUT ANY SOLICITATION TO PRESS AND BEFORE THE ALBUM WAS SLATED TO COME OUT.





"THE CROSS CULTURAL FUSION IS A PHILOSOPHICAL MASTERPIECE"-XLR8R

"A TOP PRODUCER IN THE ELECTRONICA SCENE" -ALL MUSIC GUIDE

"ENOUGH BASS POWERED PROPULSION HERE TO KEEP MOST DUBHEADS AMUSED FOR HOURS" -WIRE

"HIS TRACKS BRING TO MIND MOMENTS OF THIEVERY CORPORATION, BILL LASWELL & BRIAN ENO, BUT OVERLAYS THESE INFLUENCES WITH
GABRIELS DISTINCTIVE FLAIR" -BILLBOARD


For the FREE download of "The Paper (feat Jah Dan)" click here



Available at I-Tunes, Emusic, and your local record shop

http://www.myspace.com/dubgabriel -Read the full Post-

David Starfire listening suggestions

David Starfire had a busy summer- touring both clubs and on the festival circuit. He was kind enough to take some time out to pass along some suggestions of artists that have been exciting him of late. Look for David's massive remix of Jef Stott's track "Faqir" coming out as a "Digital 12" on 10/7

David Starfire Listening Recommendations:

"I’ve been listening to some really cool music these days that I'd love you to check out as well! I’m really getting into the Vibesquad “Bass Love”. It's filled with tons of cool tracks with heavy bass and unique sounds to keep you interested throughout the whole CD. Vibesquad is this guy Aaron from Colorado who happens to be a friend of mine. We have played a few times at the same festivals and I've always really liked his music- I'm glad that he put out a full CD recently. Some of my favorite tracks are “Human Doings” and “Cloddhopper”…

I’m also listening to Tipper’s new CD called “Wobble Factor”. His production is amazing and his sounds are otherworldly. He has a certain over all vibe on the CD but he uses a variety of tempos and some live sounds to keep it interesting. If you have a chance to catch him live you will be immersed in a sonic wash of bliss! My favorite song on the CD is “Snot Rocket” (I swear that is the name of the song!) - it's a heavy bass rocker.

I’m a long time fan of Cheb I Sabbah. In fact, he is one of the reasons of why I produce South Asian influenced music. I am really digging his new CD “Devotion” and I think it’s brilliant. The songs are beautiful South Asian devotional songs augmented with his flair for modern production mixed with traditional instrumentation. The CD flows well and is great for road trips and dinner parties. I really respect him for what he has created. The song “Kinna Sohna” is one of my favorites. We performed together at the Beloved Festival along with Gaudi and Jef Stott.

Speaking of Jef Stott, his new CD “Saracen” is wonderful. I love the tracks “Faqir” (which I remixed!) and “Medina Stepper”. Jef's great live and is a fun guy to hang with.

I was blown away at the Beloved festival by all of the amazing artists including a band that Jef is producing called Eliyahu & The Qadim Ensemble. Their sound was absolutely incredible, focusing on male/female harmonies that were so beautiful as they sang songs in Arabic, Jewish-Yemenite, Indian, Iranian, Moroccan and Turkish.

Other artists at the festival that I enjoyed included Jaya Lakshmi (Kirtan music), Fanna fi Allah (traditional Sufi music) and Isis Moon (whose lead singer was absolutely awesome and asked if she could sing a few songs during my set causing everyone’s jaw to drop when she got on the mic.) She sings Santo Daime spiritual songs in Portuguese and her presence really took my set to another level. I also had Lynx on the mic, Jamie Janover, Sasha Butterfly Rose and Anahata guesting during my set- for a full live ensemble experience. It was so much fun! They are all wonderful artists in their own right and worth checking out.

Happy listening- "

For FREE download of "Indian Fever" from David Starfire click here -Read the full Post-

Brazil's hottest new producer: Beto Villares

As you probably know, we here at Six Degrees have a long history with being associated with great Brazilian music. From Bebel Gilberto to CeU to Sonantes to Zuco 103 to Bossacucanova -we have worked with some of the finest in the genre. Because of this, I have to be honest and say that it's easy to sometimes get jaded and feel like "we've heard it all" when it comes to music from that part of the world. It was a wonderful surprise then to discover the talents of Beto Villares.

We first became aware of Beto through his impeccable production work on CeU's to self titled debut. One listen to that album lets you know that the guy has a fresh sonic approach as well as a wonderfully unique sense of arranging. It is Beto's eponymous first solo release that is the real revelation however. It is on this album that his skills as a producer/artist and soundtrack composer all "gel" into one singularly unique musical voice. Like many of his contemporaries, Beto is fascinated by melding together the rich regional sounds of his native Brazil with electronica and hip hop. However, his ear for quirky sonic details and unusual instrumentation coupled with his song craft and his aforementioned arranging smarts, really set his music apart from the glut of "Braziltronica" that has flooded the market in the wake of the success of Bebel Gilberto's Tanto Tempo.

Check out the free download we are offering here but be aware that this barely scratches the surface of the many musical delights contained in his fascinating solo debut. Between his busy production schedule, his burgeoning career as a film composer and his work as a solo artist, Beto Villares is definitely a major talent to watch on the global music scene.

For FREE download of "Rio Da Bossa Nova" click here


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Free Noize: Radiohiro

I first became aware of Matt aka Radiohiro when he and DJ Warp were helping to put on our original Six Degrees sponsored nights in Chicago. I then began to hear artists like Karsh Kale slipping some of his "slamming" tracks into their DJ sets. When Matt finally visited San Francisco and dropped off a few CDs worth of his original compositions and his incredible "white label" bhangra remixes, I knew this guy was someone to watch and promptly commissioned him to do a remix of Karsh Kale's track "Manifest". As you can see from his bio- the guy has quite an interesting background as well. (I had no idea he was the drummer with one of my favorite groups, Mike Kandel's Tranqulity Bass .

A Radiohiro track NEVER fails to send a dance-floor into an ecstatic frenzy and we're happy to offer one of his latest tunes for your listening and moshing pleasure.

Radiohiro has been bringing the sounds of the subcontinent straight to you via deep bass and tabla induced breakbeats for years. A lifelong music producer and DJ, Radiohiro is rewriting the sounds of London's "Asian Underground" movement. His sound can be best described as bass induced breakbeats/electronica with lush Hindustani, Punjabi and East Indian bollywood mixtures seamlessly worked in .

A trained drummer since the age of 4, Radiohiro was exposed to East Indian music thru his Jazz training, while listening to John McLaughlin's 'Shakti' records which featured Master Violinist, L. Shankar and the masters of Indian percussion, including Zakir Hussain. After that he was sold on the deep integrity and rhythmic complexities of East Indian Hindustani music forms and looked for ways to expose this style to a Western audience. One way was to build a pirate FM radio station and produce a show featuring Asian Underground, Bhangra, Bollywood and Drum 'n' Bass, which he did for 6 years. Using voice samples of his hypercool friend from Tokyo, Hiro, as the radio announcer between songs, he titled his show, Radiohiro. As the show gained notoriety from 1996 until it's demise in 2002, he decided to take on the name Radiohiro, for public appearances as well.

Performing, DJing, remixing, and promoting global music has landed Radiohiro, and his co-conspirator DJ Warp, rave reviews in media portals such as Time Magazine, XLR8R, Time Out, The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Reader, Rhapsody Music, NPR, CLTV, Flavorpill, Bhopadum, and New City. As club promoters, Radiohiro and DJ Warp, aka BOMBAY BEATBOX have hosted and debuted like-minded artists such as Bill Laswell's Tabla Beat Science, Talvin Singh, Karsh Kale, DJ Rehka, MIDIval Punditz, Cheb I Sabbah, Janaka Selekta, State of Bengal, Bassnectar, Luke Vibert, Born Into Brothels Ensemble, Mercene Dede, Atari Teenage Riot, David Starfire, Dzihan & Kamien, as well as many others.

As a 'world music' events promoter and producer, he has worked and/or recorded several major Indian Hindustani Classical guru out there today, including masters Zakir Hussain, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Jasraj, Sultan Khan, Masters Of Percussion, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ajoy Chakrabarthy, Shayid Parvez, Kushal Das, Kaushiki Desikan, Vishwan Mohan Bhott, Rajan and Sajan Mishra, Ulhas Kashalkar and many others .

Radiohiro has performed at just about every music venue in Chicago and was recently asked to be the very first DJ, along with DJ Warp, to perform at one of Chicago's most prestigious venues, the Chicago Symphony Center, where they converted a packed house to the future sounds of the international dance music. Radiohiro was also the drummer for the founder of Trip Hop Music, Tranquility Bass (Astralwerks/EMI/MoWax/MTVamp), and has been performing his own music at the Burningman festival for the past 11 years.

Radiohiro, as a concept, is also a conglomerate of musicians that work together. As a person, one cannot take credit for everything that is heard, therefore Radiohiro is also seen as a umbrella for a host of artists that contribute.

As an emerging artist, Radiohiro, as a producer, has recently created music with Karsh Kale for the highly respected world music label, Six Degrees Records. Radiohiro has also worked with great music masters including Quincy Jones, written music for corporates such as Microsoft, and is currently doing sound design for A&E Cable Networks and PBS. Radiohiro has also finished his first film score collaboration for the independent film, Leg Before Wicket, a true story about India and Pakistan's partition/conflict.

His latest music is getting rotation on several FM radio stations in America, Germany, South Asia, Manchester - UK, BBC's Radio ONE (Friction and Nihal) and BBC's Asian Music Network (Friction, Pathaan's Musical Rickshaw, and Nerm's Electro East, DJ Kayper). Radiohiro's track, Diabollycal was selected as the number one pick for three weeks in a row in March '08, on BBC's Asian Network.

Along with DJ Warp, they are key players in Karsh Kale's Kollektiv, an international consortium of Asian music producers and collaborators. Radiohiro tracks can be downloaded for free at www.radiohiro.com, and his work with Karsh Kale is available at www.sixdegreesrecords.com and www.itunes.com and most other digital outlets.

(Karsh Kale's - Newborn Star from the LP, Broken English. And the Karsh Kale "Manifest" remixes - Radiohiro remix). Look for a complete new set of Asian Massive tracks from Radiohiro in Spring 2008, including remixes from Bassnectar and Karsh Kale, among others.

Over the years prior to this incarnation, Radiohiro has either worked with or shared the stage with this vast array of artists and record companies including: Matmos, Atari Teenage Riot, Rage Aginst The Machine, George Brooks, Larry Coryell, Bill Laswell, Steve Gorn, Hal Russell and the NRG Ensemble, Blue Note Records, Verve Records, Astralwerks records, Stereolab, Sony Records, MCA Records, Ozzfest Radio, ArtistDirect.com, Alligator Records, Garbage, Fiona Apple, Primus, Barenaked Ladies, Jamiroquai, Sean Lennon, Alice In Chains, Incubus, Train, Ben Folds Five, Underworld, Cibo Matto, Len, Jeff Buckley, The Fugees, System Of A Down, Lollapalooza, White Zombie, L7, Tupac Shakur, 24-7 Spies, New Line Cinema, Rolling Stone.com, Babes In Toyland, GBH, Discharge, Killing Joke, Toxic Reasons, and Public Image Ltd

Get the FREE download here

(Download Instructions
On a PC: right click, select "Save This Link As..." and choose the destination for the file on your computer.
On a Mac: option-click on the link. File will download to your desktop.)


Radiohiro thinks Burningman rocks (still) http://www.burningmanchicago.org

e-mail Radiohiro or Join Mailing List: radiohiroarmy@radiohiro.com

Get more free music downloads at www.radiohiro.com -Read the full Post-