John Tripp Creative

Category: MUSIC NEWS

  • UK Soul Legend Omar and UK Bass don Zed Bias (aka Maddslinky) Collaborate

    An infectious summer anthem, “Dancing” is a collaboration between UK soul legend Omar and UK bass music don Zed Bias (aka Maddslinky), due out on Tru Thoughts as a digital single on 27th June, plus an upfront limited 12” on 9th May for tastemakers and vinyl junkies.

    Morphing the talents of two heavyweights in their respective musical spheres “Dancing” manages to be both a catchy, radio-friendly modern soul song and a completely killer club cut. The staccato steel drum hook kicks in like nothing else, grabs you by the lapels and shakes you to your feet.

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  • Maya Azucena Releases “Cry Love”

    Album Release Performance at Highline Ballroom as Part of the Blue Note Jazz Festival

    Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Maya Azucena releases her newest album, Cry Love, on iTunes on June 24th with a special headline performance at New York City’s Highline Ballroom that evening and official, physical release slated for September 13th. Attendees will be able to purchase the physical copy before it hits stores exclusively at her New York release event.
    Her impressive versatility unfolds over ten original compositions plus a dramatic interpretation of “Little Ghetto Boy.”  Released on her new imprint label, Azucena Songs, and distributed by Half Note Records, Cry Love represents a powerful journey that distills the universal themes of love, survival, and hope into 50 unforgettable minutes.

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  • Parisian Outerstellar Hiphop Producers Union Land on Fat Beats

    Union consists of two Parisian producers whose otherworldly approach to analog-driven, melodically abstract, sample free hip-hop inspired Fat Beats Records to extend a label invitation immediately. When a mysterious, monolithic, glossy black package arrived at FBHQ with nothing more than a cryptic note and an unlabeled CD inside, the staff wasn’t sure if Stanley Kubrick had risen from the dead to make mixtapes or if their lives were about to be transformed forever. Luckily it was the latter, and today the legendary label is poised to unleash Union’s debut album Analogtronicson an unsuspecting Earth in the Fall of 2011.

    Union was born when OJ, a Dilla-obsessed beat junkie with an unhealthy obsession for science fiction, met Gold, a jazzhead whose vast collection of vintage keyboards and synths left little room in his flat for trifling vanities like clothing and kitchen appliances. Though both shared a parallel vision for the music of tomorrow, they each occupied opposite corners of Paris’ electro underground when their worlds collided in 2009. OJ, upon catching a flash of Gold’s keyboard prowess at a Belleville loft party, approached the funky technician immediately in hopes of applying his melodic touch to a nearly finished beat tape. Gold loved what he heard, and thus two unique creative energies become one distinct Union.

    In preparation for the Autumn release of Analogtronics, Fat Beats Records is leaving no promotional stone unturned and no marketing avenue unexplored. A series of free downloads, bi-monthly music videos, and micro-press vinyl singles will accompany the launch of a brand new interactive website to herald the unprecedented arrival of Union. Let it be known: the future of hip-hop is here.

    Links

    Union Facebook 

    Union Soundcoud

  • Giant Step Summer Events NYC: Thievery Corporation, Summer Stage, Seun Kuti & More

    click images for more info.

    Thievery Corporation w/ Raphael Saadiq, Dam-Funk and Master Blazter on Friday, June 24th at Williamsburg Waterfront, BK NYLee Fields and the Expressions, Fitz and the Tantrums, KING, and DJ Rich Medina on Saturday, June 25th at SummerStage Central Park NY NY

    Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 on Tour July 13-30

     

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  • Jazz-Funk Legends the Headhunters Release “Platinum”

    3 free songs at end of article
    The Headhunters, founded in 1973, were a legendary jazz-funk fusion band immortalized from their recordings and tours with Herbie Hancock. Widely revered throughout the hip-hop community, they collaborated with a number of esteemed rappers for “Platinum.”

    Owl Studios is proud to release the bawdy, soulful new CD ‘Platinum’, by The Headhunters. The upcoming album features special appearances by Snoop Dogg, George Clinton, Killah Priest,  and others, as the pioneering band lays down the grooves that let their guest vocalists/rappers shine. The amalgam of rhythm, melody and spoken word represents, in the words of Headhunters percussionist Bill Summers, a “true fusion of Hip Hop, Jazz, Rap, Salsa, Rock, New Orleans, African rhythm and its classical forms.”

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  • Junior Boys Release “It’s All True”

    Free song at end of article

    Junior Boys. Photo illustration by John C. Tripp.

    It’s All True is the name of the bold new album from Junior Boys, released on 14th June around the world (save the UK where it was released on 20th June). The epic 9-minute album track “Banana Ripple”  with remixes by The Field and legendary disco mixer Tom Moulton was also released on 12″ and digitally.

    Ask most musicians about the inspiration behind their latest magnum opus and, at best, you’ll get some barely thought out guff about wanting to emulate the Beatles/Kraftwerk/Miles Davis/insert any other exalted artist within the canon of popular music. At worst you’ll be confronted with shoulder-shrugging indifference: “Just listen to the music, man.”

    Ask Junior Boys’ Jeremy Greenspan about what motivated the making of his and partner Matt Didemus’ fourth album, It’s All True, however, and you’re soon basking in a multitude of cultural, geographic and gastronomic touchstones: namely Orson Welles, Howard Hughes, China, in particular Shanghai, Japan (the band, not the country) Banana Ripple ice cream, Carl Craig and analogue synths, but mostly Orson Welles.

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  • Superhuman Happiness Release “Needles & Pins” 7-inch, Appear on Red Hot + Rio 2

    Brooklyn-based Superhuman Happiness has just released a new digital single/7-inch for the song “Needles & Pins.” Superhuman Happiness was founded by tenor saxophonist Stuart Bogie — who’s appeared recently on albums by Gomez, Sam Roberts and Lykke Li and who is a member of Iron & Wine and Antibalas.

    In addition to this new track and an EP in the works, Superhuman Happiness collaborated with Cults on the song “Um Canto de Afoxe para o Bloco do Ile,” which will be on the forthcoming Red Hot + Rio 2 compilation.

    Listen

  • Portishead DJ Andy Smith Releases “Document 4” Mixtape Exclusively on Mixcloud.

    DJ Andy Smith releases his Document 4 mixtape exclusively on Mixcloud. Once slated for release by Universal Records, Document 4 is the last chapter of the Portishead DJ’s stunning Document mixtape series, blending the very best soul, funk, and hip hop as only he can. After a long time gathering dust on his hard-drive Andy’s made it available for everybody to listen to for free at Mixcloud.
    Here’s what Andy has to say about it: “Document 4 was delivered to Universal Records in 2008 but never released. All plans were in place for a double pack of Document 1 with Document 4 to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the first Document mix CD, but I think they were more interested in shifting Amy Winehouse CDs at the end of the day so it was shelved. I’m pretty sure this will be the last Document mix as I can’t put new and old music together as there just isn’t enough new stuff that passes the ‘Andy Smith’ filter nowadays… Enjoy the last Document mix for free. Thanks for your support since 1998 and for all who saw me as a DJ in my own right rather than ‘that DJ from Portishead’!”
    And remember, Mixcloud is now available on the iPhone, meaning you can listen to Document 4 and thousands of other radio shows on-the-go!
    Links:
     

  • Helado Negro Turns Dance Music Inside Out on “Canta Lechuza”

    Helado Negro translates as “black ice cream” and Canta Lechuza means “sing owl.” Rightly so—like the wise ol’ owl, like Davey Crockett and the Jersey Devil, Canta Lechuza is a thing born of woodsy zones.

    In November of last year Roberto left Brooklyn for a month-long artist residence in rural Connecticut. From his piny retreat, Roberto awoke each morning to the dead-quiet of the forest. He got up, showered, put on a kettle, fixed a cup of black tea, then sat in the woods, om-ing out into the almighty (and very scenic) Void. Staring straight ahead, he centered himself for the recording hours to come. When the tea was gone he went back inside to get warm and began the workday. It was no stress, no pressure; a great cosmic calm presiding. He was in a benevolent place where nothing moved, where all was quiet and subtle. The result is Canta Lechuza—a majestically pretty electronic pop record; easygoing and beautifully mellow, but each piece danceable, each part a dance party.

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  • American and Cuban Jazz Meet on “Ninety Miles” Documentary

    Stefon Harris, David Sanchez & Christian Scott will perform at their album release party at S.O.B.’s in NYC on June 21.

    Opening Tuesday, June 21 – S.O.B.’s, NYC – Win Tickets

    Hear ‘Ninety Miles’ In Its Entirety

    All distance is relative, especially where geopolitical borders and ideologies are involved. We speak one language, they speak another. We follow our system, they follow theirs. When we focus on the differences, a relatively short stretch of land or water starts to look like a yawning chasm. But when we look at each other as individuals and focus on the similarities, that “chasm” is actually a very short distance. Less than a hundred miles.

    Musicians – especially jazz musicians, whose craft is in many ways an improvised form of communication – understand this principle inherently, perhaps better than any politician or diplomat could ever hope to. Vibraphonist Stefon Harris, saxophonist David Sánchez and trumpeter Christian Scott cross that divide in Ninety Miles.

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