Last Man On Campus mixtape

I've got a mixtape online titled Last Man On Campus. You can download it here. It was originally a mix I did a while back on the radio show Oskoorland, Radio Campus ULB (hosted by French and Défi J). I recorded it afterwards for your listening pleasure.

Tracklisting:
01. Intro (Bucktown Trailer)
02. Smif-n-Wessun - Bucktown
03. Common - Maintaining
04. Colors Break
05. A Tribe Called Quest - Oh My God
06. Peanut Butter Wolf - I Love H.E.R.
07. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - This Land Is Your Land
08. Bernard Purdie - Cold Sweat
09. Cannonball Adderley - Phases
10. Stanley Clarke - Power
11. Coldcut - Timber
12. Michael Jackson - Get On The Floor
13. Madlib - Mystic Bounce
14. Rozer Break
15. Various Panthers - Freedom
16. OC - Time's Up
17. Défi J - Un Ange Saigne
18. Various Panthers - The Points
19. DJ Static - ITF 1997
20. Outro (LMS Shout Outs)

Go and check it out!

Latest goodness

Like I said in the previous post: Don't you love it when life is good? The last few weeks have been filled with dope parties. First up was the incredible Cheeba Cheeba party at Café Bota with Vic 'n Lloyd, Funky Bompa and Shimmy Timmy. The played an amazing set with classic breaks, funk, soul, nusoul, latin and hip-hop. The music itself was "upgraded" by J to the C singing over instrumental tracks. Plus, there wasn't an incredible throng of people. There was just enough crowd. The same people that had come in around 11, stayed until 5 in the morning ("where ya gonna be ...").

The week after I've been to the Mirano club to see Cerrone live. Me and Reck were completely out of place there. You had the fancy chicks, some models, fancy schmancy dudes ... and us. Wierd night out. Dope tho, since Cerrone absolutely rocked (supernature a.o.). There was also a cocktease hitting (or annoying, you pick) on a friend of ours. Finally we ended up in a bar in downtown Brussels where the Funky Bompa was playing some dope ish.

Last week was the exposition of Kool Koor, "the 11th letter", with grafitti based art. Besides the art Smimooz and Défi J were doing a set, plus there was free beer. What more can you want?

The day after Reck and me went to Radio Campus to chill in the studio with the guys from Souterrain (Défi J, Rayer, Rafeek Trafikante, Simon Le Saint). They were doing an interview of Mantrax, a musician/composer from Brussels living now in New Jersey. He's been working on a new album, which in all probability will be the fucking bomb. It all went well until someone lit up a blunt. And then everybody was so fucked up it became a live sitcom. The conversations/interview was ... well ... about nothing from that point on, but oh so hilarious. This was followed by an excellent nineties hip hop set by Le Saint and a dope soul, funk, hip hop set by Défi J.

Dope ass week

These last few weeks have been dope, and will continue to be dope for the week to come. Starting with Monday 4th, when I attended the defense of a PhD (Permanent Head Damage some say) of a friend of mine, who can call herself Doctor in Neurolinguistics now. This was followed by the obligatory drunken bout.

Fast forward to Saturday. The illest brothers of Landen Jay & Ray (Raydius 360) organized the event "Hip Hop op een Hoger Nivo" ("Hip Hop on a Higher Level). The concept was to throw a 4 elements barbecue. According to the planning the first people would be arriving at 11 in the morning. Starting from 12 beat makers would be making a beat each, to which MC's would rhyme later on. At six the b-boy crew Rafaga de Viento (Leuven) would be doing a showcase, and afterwards a party was planned. In between somewhere everybody could eat some BBQ, while grafitti artists did their thing. The problem with all of that is that you're dealing with Hip Hop headz. Me and my man Reck arrived at 2 in the afternoon. There were about 5 people there plus Ray. Everybody only started arriving after 4 o'clock. Jay got there at 5. The beat makers got to work only at that moment. The delays were tremendous, but perhaps that was a good thing. Everybody was relaxed and nobody was in a hurry. Reck, i-Sa, Raydius 360, Sir-5 and SolarNRG presented their beats, Rafaga did their show, and dope ass records were spun. Late in the evening Jay did some freestyles with Kool Koor. We thought the evening would be over about midnight and we were actually ready to leave then. But, the atmosphere was too nice, the Landen crew is excellent company, so we weren't able to take off before 4 o' clock in the morning.

After a short work week, I went to Club Med, Vittel. This was an incentive from my company, because we made our objectives last year. I've never been to anything like that. And I probably never will. Club Med is excellent for sports, and that's about it. The food is not bad, but not excellent either. There's always a lot though. The animations in the evening suck ass. But apart from that I had an excellent stay there, chilling with the colleagues. I did some archery, played golf (which is actually nice to do) and drank free booze.

We got back from Vittel saturday evening. My plan was to go out for some drinks and be back at a reasonable hour. Until Reck told me Madlib and J-Rocc were dj'ing in Antwerp (The Petrol). The Landen crew would be there as well. So, we got in the car and were off to Antwerp. That evening was pretty amazing. Before the main event our local dj Lefto (De Hop, StuBru) was on the ones and twos. He kept that shit locked down. Swerving from nineties classics to underground new school stuff. His set was amazing. In between a Canadian group (singer and dj) did their thing. I wasn't really into it, but they rocked out, so props to them. Later on J-Rocc did a few dope routines before he started spinning with Madlib. I have to admit that I wasn't always feeling them, with their electro sounding beats at times. Round about four we decided to bounce. We didn't get any further than the entrance, where we chilled till 5 with Jay, Ray and Kool Koor. By the time we got back to Brussels, the street lights were turning off and natural light was coming up. Oh what a night ...

And this weekend, we got Cheeba Cheeba coming up and the Branford Marsalis Quartet. Don't you just love when life is good?

Moments for Miel

Last Friday I went to a tribute to Miel Vanattenhoven with my dad, Hammy and my man Reck. Miel Vanattenhoven was one, if not thé, leading forces behind the Jazz scene in Belgium. He has run Jazz Middelheim up until his untimely death not so long ago. During his lifetime he has helped many musicians in Belgium and he has introduced many others to each other.

In honor of his work, the Flagey organized a tribute concert with a.o. Freddy Thielemans, Fred Van Hove, The Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Toots Thielemans and a few members of Grazzhoppa's DJ Bigband.

We arrived a bit late, so we missed the first concerts. Fortunately we were in time to see the divine Toots Thielemans play. For those of you who don't know who Toots is: shame on you if you're a Jazz fan!, if you're not check his website. He played with the Brussels Jazz Orchestra once more. They started off with arrangemants by Maria Schneider, an excellent contemporary composer. They played more laid back orchestral arrangements. After the first tracks, Toots joined them to play his (Dat Mistige Rooie Beest, Bluesette, ...) and other's (Summertime, Wonderful world, ...). As usual the man was ûber dope. Especially when he was talking about how Jazz is like a virus (Grafitti headz know what I mean).

After the concerts a jam between the DJ Bigband members and Toots and other members of the bands that played took place. This was interesting to see, although it didn't really go anywhere. It was clear that neither the DJ's nor the musicians were used to playing together, especially when switching styles (turntablism vs. jazz).

At any rate it was a lovely evening and I think Miel would have approved.

Comin' to u live!!!!

There are some hip-hop shows comin' up. Next week we got Capone-n-Noreaga coming to Brussels at the VK (Vaartkapoen). They should have come to Belgium about ten years ago (at the time of the excellent War Report album), but that got cancelled. Prob'ly because Capone happened to be in parole violation right about then (again). But they're playin' now! And at the VK in Molenbeek. For those of you who don't know: that means not too many RnB chicks/dudes and hardcore beats all the way.

However I'm especially looking forward to the 24th of February. Check the rhyme - tour is coming to Gent, with none other than: Paris (The devile made me do it, Guerilla Funk), Lords of the Underground (Chief Rocka, Tic Toc), Alkaholiks (oo oooo!) and ... Jeru the Damaja! What a killer fucking line-up. So in the words of the Liks: One million beers to drink, choose one.

Grazzhoppa's DJ Bigband: Around the world in 80 beats

DJ Grazzhoppa is back with his Bigband. The latest incarnation contains 11 DJ's, a horn section and two singers. On the 19th the new show was presented at the KVS (the Royal Flemish Theatre) in Brussels. At first I was a bit apprehensive, because the previous show wasn't all that. Every track they did had a build-up, layer per layer, and then just stopped instead of going somewhere. They weren't really songs, but more a basic backbone to what might become an actual song. This time around though the songs were there. I was actually impressed. There were some classic "let's drop a beat and a scratch" moments, but the interplay between the dj's, the horns and the singers worked remarkably well. The previous to last song, called Anywhere but here, even gave me goose bumps, it was that amazing. They still need to get rid of some sloppy execution here and there, but with touring I'm sure that will disappear. In short, if they're in your area, go and see that shit! In the meantime, go to their homepage for some music and videos.

"around the world in 80 beats" live snippets from grazzhoppa on Vimeo.

Gza presents Liquid Swords

Last night's concert was more than I hoped for. Gza played his seminal album Liquid Swords at the AB. Hardcore beats from the early Wu-Tang period. The best record he has ever made. It's a bit strange to hear every track from a record live, but even if you know what the next track will be it still remains too good when it drops. After he did all those songs, he followed up with some new stuff, but also with some of the old like clan in da front, crash your crew, Triumph and even ODB's Shimmy shimmy ya. As a support the amazing Killah Priest was there. Unfortunately the latter didn't do Tai chi, but ya can't have it all I guess.

This is the third time I've seen Gza, and each time he sucked ass. Too drunk to stand up straight, he didn't finish any of his sentences while rapping over a DAT tape. Luckily Dreddy Krueger was there to make the shows acceptable. This time however, he was sober, and spot on. The best Gza show to date, with nothing (or as good as) but dope ass beats. The only let down, was the fact he refused to do an encore. Killah Priest did something which resembled half a song and then just stopped. What can you do? Rappers are mostly amateurs when it comes to being professional musicians. I'm very happy with the Liquid Swords experience, and I hope other hip-hoppers will do follow his lead. Imagine Nas doing Illmatic, KRS doing Return of the boom bap or his self titled album, Gang Starr doing Step in the arena, Jeru doing The sun rises in the East, Black Moon doing Enta da stage, ... One can only hope.

Here's a video from a show two days earlier:

Five Peace Band

Last tuesday Chick Corea and John McLaughlin were incredible. The are now on tour in Europe with the Five Peace Band, which is made up of three (as McLaughlin put it, in excellent French) heavy-weights in the world of Jazz: Kenny Garrett on sax, Christian McBride on bass and the incredible Vinnie Colaiuta on drums.

Chick Corea started his career with the likes of Herbie Mann and Stan Getz, before replacing Herbie Hancock as Miles Davis' pianist (appearing amongst others on Bitches Brew). After leaving Davis he formed the fusion band Return to Forever, with Stanley Clarke, Bill Conners and Lenny White. After the break up in the late 70ies he played in a variety of settings before forming the Elektric Band in the mid 80ies, which included the amazing drummer Dave Weckl. In the 21st century he's still releasing strong (solo) records, which are jazz and fusion oriented.

John McLaughlin is another virtuoso who featured on the classic Bitches Brew record. He was the leader of the Mahvishnu Orchestra and was a member of the incredible Lifetime, both classic examples of the fusion era.

The show was an absolute tour de force. At times soft, at times hard as fuck. But with a craftsmanship to be reckoned with. The songs were a mixture of some new and some old tracks, blended with a lot of improvisation. What more can you ask? Admittedly there were two or three minor moments where it was probably more fun for the musicians than for the listeners. But these moments didn't last too long. Herbie Hancock was also there. He was invited at the end of the show to play an improv track which was absolutely amazing. They may be getting a bit older, but these guys have not lost their energy. Absolutely amazing.

Skoda Jazz

After Belga and Audi, Skoda has taken on the role of music promotor with the Skoda Jazz festival (22 september -13 december 2008). A number of dope artists have already done their thing (Herbaliser, Seun Kuti, Omara Portuondo, Jeff Neve, Amon Tobin, Horace Andy), but there is more greatness to come. My pick for the next few weeks:

• Nov 4: Chick Corea & John McLaughlin: Five Peace Band: what can I say? These guys played on Miles Davis' Bitches Brew record, followed by succesful groups (Return to Forever, Mahavisnu Orchestra) and solo careers. (Koningin Elisabeth zaal, Antwerp)
• Nov 4: Pierre Anckaert Trio: excellent Belgian jazz (Garage 29, Brussels)
• 5 Nov: Herbie Hancock Sextet: no introduction necessary, remember Headhunters, Maiden Voyage and Rockit to name but a few (Koningin Elisabeth zaal, Antwerp)
• Nov 14: John Scofield & the Piety Street Band (+Philip Catherine): bebop guitarist extraordinaire, earned his stripes with the likes of Miles Davis, Bill Frissel, Bill Lasswell, Chet Baker, Charles Mingus, Pat Metheny, Joe Lovano, etc. (Motives for Jazz Festival, Genk)
• Nov 16: Guru's Jazzmatazz ft. MC Solaar: Legendary MC of Gangstarr, the first to extensively experiment with the mix of jazz and hip-hop together with France's first MC to get worldwide recognition. He's coming with DJ Doo Wop and some musicians. Nuff said (Arenburgschouwburg, Antwerp)
• Nov 23: Chucho Valdés: founder of Irakere, he brings a blend of Afro-Cuban rhythms, jazz, funk, rock and whatever strikes his fancy (Bozar, Brussels)

Toots the Jazz Master

Congratulations to Toots Thielemans (86), Belgium's (Europe's?) finest jazz musician. He received a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) award. He is now an official Jazz Master (the first European to receive the award). And well deserved it is. Noone who has seen him live, remains untouched by this giant's virtuosity and emotion-laden technique.

Jazz Middelheim (Antwerp) 2008

Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme

Freestyle: the Art of Rhyme is a documentary about that real shit. Watch and enjoy.

Forbidden Ensemble: Porno soundtracks

Three known Flemish artists are the musicians behind the Forbidden Ensemble. They have composed a soundtrack to seventies porn movies in true retro style, with excellent titles like We Have to Take Some Measurements First, Sonny darling I'm having a shower and I want to have the master bedroom decorated first. And best of all, the entire album can be downloaded for free. Go to their website and have a listen. You will not be disappointed. In their own words: "This music sounds like a combination of Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof and the Emanuelle sequels of adult movies. Feisty and furious with a sugarcoat of sensuality. This is the first volume of their ventures, played on real instruments and treated to have the authentic sleazy sound of the 70's."

Check out the promo video:

P*rno Soundtracks Volume 1 - Sonny Darling, I'm Having a Shower Now from PornoSoundtracks.com on Vimeo.

Gent Jazz 19 August 2008

I thought that I wouldn't be able to see any of the great live shows in Belgium this summer. Until further notice I'm working on my master thesis. And it still needs quite some work. But, Friday my dad asked me if I wanted to go to Gent Jazz. And since all work and no play makes me go crazy, I (reluctantly) agreed. And I'm glad I did. We missed the first band, Brazzaville, but that couldn't dampen the spirit.

When we arrived, Marcus Miller was in the middle of the song Jean-Pierre, which is one of my favorite Miles Davis tracks. Let's take a step back first. I saw Miller live the first (and up until now the only) time about ten years ago in Maastricht. He played before the incredible Buckshot LeFonque (legendary fusion project of Branford Marsalis and DJ Premier). I was there for the latter, but when Miller got on stage he just blew me away. Smooth and soft when he needs to be, but most of all what an energy and power! Immediately afterwards I bought the album Tales. So, I was very happy with the opportunity to see the man once more. He has worked with several great musicians, such as Earl Klugh, Grover Washington Jr. and Bob James. After them he teamed up with Miles Davis for several years and recorder a number of albums with him. I didn't know he wrote Tutu, which was the last song he played. As you might expect everything he played was with virtuosity. Kudos also to the 20 year old saxophone player he had with him. He also had a DJ Logic with him, although I fail to see the logic in bringing that DJ (get it? oh I crack myself up sometimes, ahum ...). You've got these very talented musicians doing incredible things ... and a sucka dj who did nothing more than some stabs, slow-ass chirps and fades. Besides that I really enjoyed the funky blend Miller is so good at.

I had heard of the Neville Brothers, I knew a couple of songs (not by name), but I didn't really know their music. Boy, was I in for a surprise! Funky as hell, mixing up everything in a way only people from New Orleans can. They played a rumba version of Ain't no sunshine, a funk version of It don't mean a thing, a soul version of The bayou to name but a few. A beautiful mix of original material and covers in all styles they could think of. On a side note, I was very surprised to see the physical appearance that accompanied the lead singer. The guy is massive, big muscular arms with tattoos on both of them, balhead with a tattoo of a bird on his face; and then this fragile, sensitive voice. Anyway, the Neville Brothers rock!

Words can only say that much, here's some music:

Marcus Miller

The Neville Brothers

Festivals in Belgium

The festival season is approaching once more. Here are my picks for 2008:

Couleur Café: 27-29 June at the Tour & Taxis site in Brussels.
* Friday
- MC Solaar
- Orishas
- Erykah Badu
* Saturday
- Omar Perry
- Juan Formell y Los Van Van
* Sunday
- Baloji
- Psy 4 de la Rime
- Massilia Sound System
- le Peuple de l'Herbe

Gent Jazz: 10-13 and 17-20 July in Gent
*Thursday 10/07
- Herbie Hancock
* Sunday 13/07
- Bert Joris Quintet
- Saxophone Summit (Michael Brecker, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman)
- Wayne Shorter Quartet
* Thurday 17/07
- Buscemi Big Band
- Herbaliser
- Erykah Badu
* Friday 18/07
- Roberto Fonseca
- Omara Portuondo
- Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club
* Saturday 19/07
- Brazzaville
- Marcus Miller feat. DJ Logic
- The Neville Brothers

Cactus Festival: 11-13 July in Brugge
* Friday
- Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
- Brooklyn Funk Essentials
* Saturday
- Saul Williams
- Cinematic Orchestra
- Arno
* Sunday
- Bootsy Collins & the Hardest Working Band

Les Ardentes: 10-14 July in Liège
* Thursday
- Cypress Hill
- Laurent Garnier
* Sunday
- Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators (also on 12/07 in KortrijkCongee)

Dour: 17 - 20 July (near Mons)
* Thursday
- Birdy Nam Nam
- Birdy HardERS (Birdy Nam Nam vs Party HardERS) & Special Guest Busy P.
* Friday
- Ice Cube
- Wu-Tang Clan
- Roni Size/ Reprazent
- Richie Hawtin
- Flat Earth Society Meets Jimi Tenor
- The Bug could be good
* Saturday
- The Herbaliser
- DJ Krush
- Mr Scruff
- Black Moon
- Lefto
* Sunday
- DJ Q-Bert
- Beat Torrent (perhaps)
- Akro (with live band)
- Svinkels (perhaps)

Feest in't Park: 22-24 August in Oudenaarde.
* Friday
- DJ Food & DK
- Discobar Galaxie
- le Peuple de l'Herbe
- Jerboa 'Au Cinema'
* Saturday
- Hooverphonic
- The Roots
- Red D & Lady Linn
* Saturday
- Beenieman
- Arno
- George Clinton with Parliament/Funkadelic



Grotere kaart weergeven

Baloji's Hotel Impala

Starflam's Baloji has dropped his first solo album a while back, called Hôtel Impala (volume 1). Since buying it a week or two ago I've been listening to it over and over again. To anybody who likes Hip Hop, cop that shit! Overall the beats are good, the rhymes are tight, what more do you want? The sound is not like that nineties ish we like, but it sure as hell isn't like that protools synth crap we've been hearing for the last couple of years either. If anything, Hôtel Impala sounds personal and committed. For a more detailed overview of the album, here's an interview with the man himself.

Tout ceci ne vous rendra pas le Congo

De l'autre côté de la mère

Interview (with English subs)

Baby loves Hip Hop

"Hall of fame hip-hop producer Prince Paul teams up with some of rap music’s most celebrated mcs to create a prehistoric, preschool musical masterpiece. Part book on tape (narrated by Grammy winning poet Ursula Rucker), part Broadway show (The story was just optioned by Pablo Piccasso!) the cd takes kids (and parents) on a musical journey that tells the story of 5 best dino friends that come together to teach key life lessons and have fun."

The Dino 5 consists of DJ Stegosaurus (Prince Paul), MC T-Rex (Chali 2Na of Jurassic 5), Tracy Triceratops (Ladybug of Digable Planets), Teo Pterodactyl (Scratch of the Roots), and Billy Brontosaurus (Wordsworth of eMC).

Nice one. 'Cos I'm sure Babies love Hip Hop too.

Hip Hop Collabos

Remember the great collabos from back in the days?

Stop The Violence Movement: Self-Destruction



Crooklyn Dodgers



Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers



Panther Soundtrack: Freedom



Panther Soundtrack: Tha points

Natalia Meets En Vogue feat. Shaggy

Yesterday (January 13) my family, Hammy and I went to see the new Meets show of Natalia in Antwerp. For those of you who don't know who she is: Natalie Druyts is a Belgian pop singer (with some soulish qualities) who got known after becoming the first runner-up of the Belgian Pop Idol of 2003. In the meantime she has acquired a solid live reputation thanks to her professional attitude and magnificent voice. Two years ago she organized Natalia Meets The Pointer Sisters at Het Sportpaleis in Antwerp (one of the largest venues in Belgium. The show was a huge success. And now she was back with a series of six concerts with the ladies of En Vogue and the Jamaican player Shaggy.

I think about 15 000 people where there. The show was quite amazing. She had an excellent band, including Sugarfoot on drums (touring drummer for Michael Jackson, Elton John, Cameo, Madonna, George Michael, ...) with her and she can hold her own on a stage. The show was a mix of Natalia and En Vogue songs. Natalia set it off with some of her own songs. Then came En Vogue with some of their biggest hits. From then on both groups alternated and sang together their respective tracks. Especially for the occasion they have recorded a song together called Glamorous.

The only disappointment was Shaggy. Musically that is. The man didn't do all that much. And what he did was more show than anything else. I mean, he's got one flow and that's it. They made him sing at the end. Unfortunately singing is not something he can actually do. Let's just say that he could open the off lock with his off key. He did his hits, badly at first but after the break it got a little bit better. He brought a friend with him who can sing ... to cover his lack of skills I guess. On the other hand, I don't think that that was his function. Five strong women accompanied by a macho player makes for a good show. So, in my humble opinion, Shaggy was there as Jester in the court of these Queens. He was funny. When he first came on he was wearing a soldier's costume of the American Civil War era of (if I saw correctly) the Confederate Army. I don't know how many people in Belgium got the joke though. And during the song "It wasn't me" he said: "When you're caught red-handed, you look the woman in the eye dead serious. And you say: I did not have sexual relations with that woman." Funny man.

Personally I like smaller venues more, because of the personal atmosphere. For a show like this, that's quite impossible of course. I've had a very good time and since I'm in the middle of an exam period (one coming up this wednesday) Natalia came as a welcome distraction. If you ever see Natalia come to a place near you, go check it out. In the meantime, here's some illegal footage (thank you internet):

Show them to me

There is really only one thing I can say about this:

BXL Represent

Don't know who these guys are, or what those motorbikes have to do with it (or guns for that matter), but still: Bruxelles représente!