smoovtunes

Loan me your funky mind and I shall Tumble it.

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I’m back as a Tumblr

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Kaya the #kat now runs this Tumblr.

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I caught the Ruff Pack last night at Rockwood Music Hall, and hooolyyy guac... they blew the lid off.  Defining the music as "hip hop" only captures one piece of the big picture.  The live experience boils down to three incredibly talented musicians (and hip hop heads) with telepathic chemistry: Matthias 'Matt Pedals' Löscher (guitar), Stephan Kondert (bass), and Daru Jones (drums).  These three minds operate as one, playing in-the-pocket one moment, and then shifting rhythmic gears on the dime.  Every unpredictable change led to an even groovier place than the last.  You could really swear it was telepathy.  It was no wonder that the audience was filled with NYC's illest working musicians, producers, and composers (read: cats).  They are that good. In this video, the Ruff Pack performs "Not In My Town," an appropriately menacing and funky anthem for Halloween.  This song is a perfect example of the creepy musical telepathy discussed above.  During the last 1/3 of the tune, Mathias also turns his guitar into a church organ.

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Watch country trio Puss n Boots (Norah Jones, Sasha Dobson, and Catherine Popper) rock "Don't Know What it Means" on Lambkini exclusive!  Recorded live at Studio G in Brooklyn.

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I'm very excited to share some original music!  This is an original called "Pura Vide Girl" - performed with Sanah Kadoura, Ryan Berg, and Michael-Louis Smith at Silvana in NYC last night.  Dig.

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Little Dragon: Nabuma Rubberband

Like many Pitchfork reviews, this one best enjoyed read aloud in "Mean Girls" voice.  You're saying that Little Dragon stole ideas from "Twenty Foreplay" by Janet Jackson when they wrote "Mirrors" (as if that would be a bad thing).  Are we listening to the same album?  What "intermittent thuds" are you hearing on that song?  The song is in 4/4.  You mean the thuds that fall on the 2 and 4 beats? (That's as non-intermittent as music gets).  Or the slow drum build-up Little Dragon obviously wrote while watching the Phil Collins "Gorilla Drummer" Cadbury ad?  DAMN YOU PHIL COLLINS!!  Seriously though, can you please launch iTunes and double check that you're currently playing Little Dragon's Nabuma Rubberband and not Janet's Design of a Decade 1986/1996? Let's skip down a bit further: "It's niiccce to naaa that Luttle Druggunn can still pull aahf the same rhythmic variashuns... even if it doesn't ALwess go smoothLUHH." Pitch, please.  No, really... please share some examples of things that didn't go over smoothly on this album:

 "Just when they settle into a groove on the ominous, glittering 'Only One', the song whiplashes to a close with an industrial beat..." -- let's stop you right there.  That.  Sounds.  Fucking.  Awesome. Just skipping down your review -- I call this reading technique "Pitchforking," because it's inspired by how you skip through songs in an effort to crank out so many shitty album reviews.  Here we go -- "Nabuma Rubberband's slow jams are perfectly sexy, but they lack originality. Even after repeated listens, the album's velvety sequence of 'Pretty Girls', 'Underbart', and 'Cat Rider' fail to leave a lasting impression."  So what did you not like about those songs?  Apparently you didn't feel the need to qualify your shit... just name drop and move on so your editor knows you at least saw the track list.  Walk away and whistle, Harley.  And by the way, since when is "Underbart" a slow jam?  The song's about 125 bpm.  To give you a reference point, Skrillex's "Bangarang" is about 112 bpm.  Can't wait to read your next review for Ezoo.  "This just in: teens caught necking to Skrillex slow jams." 120 bpm is really just another way of playing 60 bpm in cut time - so I guess you have a point, Harley. RE: "Underbart." How did you not appreciate the hint of latin drumming in the first chorus, around 1:10?  I guess you'd just retort that Yukimi Nagano must have been walking around her kitschy studio listening to Tito Puente when she stole that idea.

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Drummer Sanah Kadoura and talented friends play the Flat in Williamsburg (308 Hooper St) Monday nights at 9pm. Come hang out in an intimate living room with the most talented young jazz players in NYC - $3 for great music and no crowds. Can't be beat.

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Live 8pm TONIGHT at Rockwood Music Hall NYC - Jacob Jeffries Band.  Watch the incredible talented piano-driven rock group Jacob Jeffries Band in this Lambkini exclusive studio recording.  Tickets here.

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WARPAINT

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Been a while since I've posted.  That's because I've been running a little wild lately.  Thank you all for supporting Smoovtunes - bringing you... just good music.

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I didn't think new song "Breathing Underwater" by Hiatus Kaiyote could get any better until I heard this acoustic version by Nai Palm.  Band version, embellished by Simon (keys), Perrin (drums), and Bender (bass) here.

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I bet you haven't heard anything like "Cornerstone" by UK singer/songwriter Benjamin Clementine.  Dude's got serious soul, and a unique voice.

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A really ridiculously slick J Dilla medley performed by Binkbeats. 

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Honey, it ain't fair what you do.  I'm Smoovtunes and I still love you.

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Prince. Just... Prince.

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This funky track reminds me how much I love the Foreign Exchange.

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Bille Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones just released Foreverly, an homage to 1958 album Songs Our Daddy Taught Us by country pioneers Everly Brothers. This magical cover album, appropriately recorded at Magic Shop NYC, will treat Puss n' Boots fans itching to experience Norah's country-croonin' side. Billie Joe transcends his punk persona to deliver a strong, soulful vocal performance never heard before on any Green Day albums. Case in point: "Barbara Allen." What makes the album great is not only their individual contributions, but also their chemistry.  I remember observing a recording session, when Norah finished a take and radioed to the producer: "Can I do one more take?" Poking fun at her perfectionism, Billy Joe responded, "Why?!" The artists' attention to detail extended beyond the technical; for inspiration, a portrait of Don and Phil Everly hung in the studio, smiling warmly at the whole band. The album takes the listener on a journey through poignant breakups ("Long Time Gone,") and intimacy ("Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet?") The second to last song "Kentucky" exemplifies those warm vibes Norah and Billie Joe emoted making this album. As Billie Joe describes in the commentary available on Spotify, the arrangement departs from the original straight-forward country feel and sounds more like a "Latin beat," from "Kentucky, Venezuela," he jokes. My favorite part occurs at 1:57, when Norah takes a spacey vocal solo colored by fluttery pianos and slide guitars. If any album's worth buying this Christmas for repeat listens, this is the one. For a great interview, and to make sense of this unexpected musical formula (Norah Jones + Billie Joe = OMG), check out this great interview & story on NPR.