Friday Flashback: Wildcookie

We're only taking you back a couple of years this time around with the collaborative effort between Swedish producer Freddie Cruger a.k.a. Red Astaire and vocalist Anthony Mills. "Heroine" is the first single taken from their Cookie Dough album released via Tru Thoughts in 2011, which talks about how the drug has "helped" artists produced some great music while addicted. The duo still has it available as a free download, so get on it. ENJOY!

VOICE: Carts b4 Horses (a.k.a. Rob) [Official Music Video]

The challenge; create a music video from concept to execution in a mere 48 hours, as part of The 48 Hour Music Video Project, New Orleans. The result is the newest music video from VOICE called "Carts b4 Horses (a.k.a. Rob)" that fuses Afro-Beat and Hip-Hop, making a superb blend that's sure to heat dancefloors. Track production was done by DJ Grazzhoppa. Peep the video, subscribe to her Youtube channel and get the lyrics to this tune in the description of the video. Big shouts to Go 'Head Music for a job well done. ENJOY!

AbJo: The Art of Refixing: The Reprise

Producer AbJo from the Soulection family has released a nifty remix project that gives his unique spin on Sango, Lauryn Hill, Q-Tip, Ta-Ku and several of his own works. Get it at "name your price", but keep in mind that artists put time and money to create these works. ENJOY!

Ohm Studio: Online Collborative DAW

One week ago today Ohm Force released the first ever online collaborative music workstation called Ohm Studio. Having gone through three years of beta testing, this innovative DAW boasts the capabilities of having producers and musicians from different parts of the world to collaborate and edit remotely and in real time, as well as chat live to talk about and give cues for the project that's being worked on.

Using cloud technology, if one collaborator is not online at the time, the other collaborator(s) can save the project and leave virtual sticky notes to let others know where to play and to leave other info for the project. Ohm Studio has much of the same features as other DAW's, such as MIDI/audio recording and editing, as well as VST plugin support.

You can also integrate the Ohm Force Collection:

Ohmicide: Melohman (multi-band distortion)
OhmBoyz (multi-tap delay)
Quad Frohmage (filter bank)
Predatohm (multi-band distortion)
Mobilohm (phaser)
Hematohm (frequency shifter)
Frohmage (filter)
Ohmygod! (comb filter)
Minimonsta: Melohman (synth, by GForce)
Oddity (synth, by GForce)

Visit www.ohmstudio.com to create an account to access the online server. Once you have an account, you can send requests to join projects created by other people or start your own. Please visit their website for additional information and to download.

Radius Etc: Save Me (Remix)

Here's a delightful ditty from Chicago based producer Radius. To put it in his own words:

"2013 update of the 2010 remix I did for The Opus. I never exported an instrumental version, so I went back, minimally tweaked & updated a couple things. Enjoy!"

Busta Rhymes x Kriswontwo: WOOHAH! (Got You All In Check) [Remix]

This has got to be one of the best Busta Rhymes remixes that i've ever heard. My homie Kriswontwo sent me an email to give me a heads up and I was blown away by the thump in my headphones. Check the hypeness for yourself. Just be careful not to turn over any furniture. HA!

Ephemerals: Nothin' Is Easy

There's nothing like raw soul music. London based soul collective Ephemerals are a collaboration of artists from various bands in the metropolitan area who have come together to release their debut Nothin' Is Easy album. If you're a fan of funky soul with a twist of the present, this is an album for you. You can hear plenty of James Brown and Kool & The Gang influences with the instrumentation. Visit their Bandcamp page to get this at "name your price" and show love.

Hior Chronik: Still Foggy (Cosmonaut Grechko Version)

I'm on my "Johnny come lately" thing again, but we should be clear that good music has no expiration date. 21 year old Russian producer Victor Klyuchnikov, a.k.a. Cosmonaut Grechko dropped his version of Hior Chronik's "Still Foggy" earlier this year and I see it has created quite a buzz. Both of these guys have some real talent and I look forward to gaining more insight and to get an ear full of more music from them. Get this one at a "name your price" basis and also check out the Sole' Fixtape Vol.7 that features this one in the mix.

Alina Baraz & Galimatias: Make You Feel

Days ago, I asked on Facebook for people to suggest music and/or artists that I'm not familiar with. One of my many friends by the name of David hipped me to Cleveland singer Alina Baraz and her collaboration with Berlin based producer Galimatias for a seductive tune titled "Make You Feel". They had to have sprinkled some mojo over this while they were producing it, because it will have you doing as the title says. Now go ahead and reduce some space by getting this complimentary download. Enjoy!

Friday Flashback: Lucky Dube

To continue honoring his excellency Nelson Mandela, we visit the sounds of South African world music and reggae artist Lucky Dube (August 3, 1964 – October 18, 2007), with the title cut off his House of Exile (1991) album that pays tribute to Mandela.

Honoring Nelson Mandela

NELSON MANDELA
(July 18, 1918 - December 5, 2013)
Earlier today the world lost another one of its biggest humanitarians of the 20th and 21 centuries. His excellency Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, being the first black South African to hold the office after being elected in the first ever multiracial election in the history of the country. Years before his presidency, Mandela served 27 years in prison as a result of being an anti-apartied revolutionary in his native land. After his release, Mandela's activism earned him more than 250 honors, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Soviet Order of Lenin.

Several tributes through music, movies, art and books have already been done in honor of Mandela, long before his transition into the ancestral realm. One tribute comes from South African singer-songwriter Nomfusi Gotyana, with a tune called "Iqalapha: Nelson Mandela Song" she performs live with her then band The Lucky Charms.

Pieter T: Miss December

Since the day I caught on to the New Zealand music scene, i've been hooked. With their special chemistry for doing Soul and R&B tunes, I keep many of their artists in heavy rotation. Recently, I got hipped to Pieter T and this updated rendition of "Miss December" that was produced by Australian track master Nehzvil. This version doesn't appear on Pieter's Completion, but hopefully there will be a way for us to purchase this single in the near future.

Mecca:83: Translations

Here's a nifty two track release just dropped a few days ago by Mecca:83. It's available at a "name your price" rate, but as usual, don't hesitate to donate. Enjoy!

Le Flah featuring Khaderbai [Dec.7th]

Days ago I received an impressive press release from the Le Flah crew who throws a monthly beat showcase in Zurich, Switzerland that started in Septmber and has already featured beatsmiths Sterneis, Melodiesinfonie and the Tru Comers! thus far. For the month of December, they will feature the hot sounds of Khaderbai. The following is an excerpt from their press kit that describes the event...

Le Flah celebrates the beat in music, on every month's first Saturday. In the rather familiar atmosphere of the Piccolo Giardino in Zurich, beatmakers play their favorite creations for a enthuastic audience, released or unreleased pieces, neatly finished compositions or works in progress, on MPCs, SP1200s, laptops or turntables: headnodding guaranteed! Responsible for swinging hips and stomping feet is the SMK-DJ-Duo (SLM & Khaderbai): WHOOP WHOOP!

The beat playing in the video is "Gymnobéatie #2" that's available to stream or download on his Soundcloud and Bandcamp pages. Check out the promo video, then go get that goodness. Enjoy!