Curiosity #CKTK

Many older people in Russia remember seeing and hearing strange vinyl type discs when they were young. The discs had partial images of skeletons on them, were called 'Bones' or 'Ribs' and originated in the Cold War years of the Soviet Union. In an era when the recording industry was ruthlessly controlled by the State, music-mad bootleggers had found an incredible alternative means of making illegal copies of forbidden recordings - they repurposed used X Ray plates obtained from local hospitals. The X-Ray Audio Project is telling this amazing story of forbidden music, cold war culture, bootleg technology and human endeavour with an online archive, a book, an award winning documentary, live events and a travelling exhibition. The project is supported by Arts Council England and has received a large amount of PRESS and media coverage.

Back in October I went to see a Q&A with Amp Fiddler at Amsterdam Dance Event. He talked about introducing J Dilla to the MPC, and played some OG files he received from Dilla decades ago: deconstructing Dilla beats for the—shamelessly small—crowd of 30-ish people. And by way of the iconic Slum Village tracks “Players”, “The Look Of Love” & “Fall In Love”, Amp gave a Dilla for dummies crash course on why his beats sound so musical, warm and full of soul. This new video by Vox made me think of that lecture: J Dilla Beats 101. The video is a 10-minute introduction on how J Dilla humanized the MPC3000. It’s a basic yet good watch on how he didn’t quantize his beats, insights on sampling Gap Mangione, Giorgio Moroder & The Escorts, and extending samples, using track examples such as “E=MC2”, “Fall In Love”, “Lazer Gunne Funke” & The Pharcyde’s “Runnin'”. As drum machine pioneer Roger Linn puts it in the original MPC3000 manual: “(…) In this light,...

[Ed note – We are aware that there are playback issues with the audio when this is watched on a mobile device. We encourage you to watch this on your desktop computer, laptop or with headphones.] “Three things in Jamaica: Rasta, ganja and reggae music.” Late last year we accompanied Vivien Goldman on a trip to Jamaica to track down the remaining vestiges of the island’s failing record industry. As the documentary reveals, iconic record shops like Randy’s and Rockers International are now ghosts of their former selves, whilst Jamaica’s last pressing plant has been covered in dust for years (though a new deal should finally see the factory kick start operations again.) Through conversations with local legends like Earl “Chinna” Smith, Vivien pieces together a personal story of how a culture so rooted in records has found itself in helpless decline. “Jamaica had so many studios, outstanding studios, pressing plants, small producers and big producers, who were a...

Joseph Amos Milburn, Jr. (1 de Abril, 1927 – 3 de Enero, 1980) fue un cantante y pianista americano de rhythm and blues, popular durante los 1940s y 1950s. Nació y murió en Houston, Texas. El cantante y pianista tejano de boogie-woogie fue un importante intérprete de música blues durante los años inmediatamente anteriores a la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Milburn fue uno de los primeros intérpretes en cambiar de sofisticados arreglos de jazz a un más fuerte jump blues. Comenzó enfatizando el rtimo y cualidades técnicas de la voz para hacerlo luego con la instrumentación. Sus energéticas canciones, sobre temática de "ponerse a tono", fue admirado por sus colegas músicos, como Little Willie Littlefield, Floyd Dixon y su primer discípulo, Fats Domino. Tuvo éxito comercial durante once años e influenció a muchos intérpretes. Fast Domino acredita a Milburn insistentemente como una de sus máximas inlfuencias a nivel musical.

UPPER EGYPT SERIES vive en las fronteras de diferentes culturas, con una manifiesta tendencia a contaminar deliberadamente las referencias. La sucia enciclopedia, son seis hojas arrancadas de cada libro. Los artefactos subterráneos y distintivos, frenéticos y reputados, con un estilo único e independiente, polvorosos de agujero de bala que cumplen con la etimología de nuestro propio Consortium. Es esa clase de ritmo, de voces, de ideas, de mentes imparables. Allí surge la vida de entre las piedras y se curten las gentes sin esa torpeza. El lugar donde se concentran los mágicos segundos.

On December 9, 1964, saxophonist John Coltrane led a quartet that featured pianist McCoy Tyner, drummer Elvin Jones and bassist Jimmy Garrison into Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, where countless jazz recording sessions were held in the 1950s and ’60s. For photographer Chuck Stewart, Van Gelder’s was a short drive from his home in Teaneck. That day nearly 50 years ago the band recorded a Coltrane composition titled  A Love Supreme,  a profound expression of his spiritual awakening divided into four movements—“Acknowledgement,” “Resolution,” “Pursuance,” “Psalm.” For its soaring ambition, flawless execution and raw power, it was hailed as a groundbreaking piece of music when it was released in February 1965, and it has endured as a seminal part of the jazz canon. The work and its composer will be highlighted anew this April during  Jazz Appreciation Month , an annual event launched in 2001 by the National Museum of American History, whose...

From 1968 to 1975, gangs ruled New York City. Beyond the idealistic hopes of the civil rights movement lay a unfocused rage. Neither law enforcement nor social agency could end the escalating bloodshed. Peace came only through the most unlikely and courageous of events that would change the world for generations to come by giving birth to hip-hop culture. Rubble Kings chronicles life during this era of gang rule, tells the story of how a few extraordinary, forgotten people did the impossible, and how their actions impacted New York City and the world over. Shan Nicholson is an award winning filmmaker, DJ, music producer, and counter/pop culture storyteller. His work is unabashedly inspired by being a product of New York City’s culturally rich period of the 1980’s, which continues to influence the world over. Nicholson’s feature-length documentary, Rubble Kings, the story of New York City gang culture in the 1970’s and its influence on the birth of hip hop, is poised for nation...

Utilizing vinyl borrowed exclusively from Afrika Bambaataa's historic and genre-defining record collection, DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist's acclaimed Renegades Of Rhythm set touches down in Oakland, California in this professionally-documented film experience. You're there in the audience as the two DJ's unravel the evolution of Hip-Hop music and culture, using the same artifacts that helped create it. "Not just any records- the MASTER OF RECORDS' records."

This short film provides an exclusive look at the making of the most eagerly anticipated release in world music. This collaboration of the finest musicians from Cuba and Mali features Eliades Ochoa, Bassekou Kouyate, Djelimady Tounkara, and Toumani Diabate, and sees the realisation of the project that inadvertently became the Buena Vista Social Club. Members: Eliades Ochoa - acoustic guitar & vocals Djelimady Tounkara - electric guitar Bassekou Kouyaté - ngoni Toumani Diabaté - kora Kasse Mady Diabaté - vocals Lassana Diabaté - balafon Baba/Yacouba Sissoko - tama Jose A. Martinez - double bass Osnel Odit - acoustic guitar Jorge Maturell - congas and bongos Eglis Ochoa - maracas Lennis Lara - trumpet Alain A. Dragonit - trumpet Home Town: Mali / Cuba ELIADES OCHOA guitar and vocals (born Songo la Maya, Cuba 1946) With his trademark cowboy hat and penchant for wearing black, Eliades Ochoa has been dubbed 'Cuba's Johnny Cash'. There's more than a ...

Located alongside the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals, Alabama has helped create some of the most important and resonant songs of all time. Overcoming crushing poverty and staggering tragedies, Rick Hall brought black and white together to create music for the generations. He is responsible for creating the “Muscle Shoals sound” and The Swampers, the house band at FAME Studios that eventually left to start its own successful studio known as Muscle Shoals Sound. Gregg Allman and others bear witness to Muscle Shoals’ magnetism, mystery and why it remains influential today. A documentary that celebrates Rick Hall, the founder of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and the signature sound he developed in songs such as "I'll Take You There", "Brown Sugar", and "When a Man Loves a Woman".  

You Need To Hear This is proud to present 'Fantastic Man' a documentary investigating Nigerian musician William Onyeabor, a man shrouded in mystery and myth. Directed by Jake Sumner (Alldayeveryday) the film tells the story of a label's attempt to track William down, speaking to fans such as Damon Albarn, Caribou and Femi Kuti and travelling to Nigeria to meet those who've worked with him in a bid to uncover the truth about his story. http://williamonyeabor.com/ http://www.alldayeveryday.com/ http://youneedtohearthis.com Follow 'You Need To Hear This' on Twitter: https://twitter.com/YNTHT_UK #YouNeedToHearThis Click here to buy the album: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/wor... http://luakabop.com/onyeabor/ **

As he enters his 50s, Mills’ release schedule remains regular, though his later years have seen him increasingly fixated with the delicacies of the cosmos – his new album,  The Jungle Planet , is inspired by the dreams of Charles Darwin and the idea of “the planet of planets”. It’s not been the easiest eighteen months for Mills: he  retired his eclectic alter-ego The Wizard  after 2012′s Detroit Electronic Music Festival, claiming that modern crowds didn’t understand it, and earlier this year he went viral after an Italian fan  threw sunglasses at him  during a live set. As he explained to FACT’s Tom Lea on the eve of his  London appearance this weekend , however, when you’re used to club shootings and gang fights, it’s water off a duck’s back. So  The Jungle Planet  is the latest instalment in your Sleeper Wakes series… The Jungle Planet  is the fifth chapter in the Sleeper Wakes series. It tells of a story a...

A dazzling display of the musical world of the Roma, juxtaposed to the real world they live in. This rich feature documentary celebrates the luscious music of top international Gypsy performers and interweaves stirring real life tales of their home life and social background. Shot by documentary icon Albert Maysles, the film takes place on location in Spain, Macedonia, Romania and India, as well as in Europe and in the USA during the Gypsy Caravan concert tour created by World Music Institute. Starring musicians from FANFARE CIOCARLIA, TARAF DE HAIDOUKS, MAHARAJA, ANTONIO EL PIPA & ESMA REDZEPOVA. Film directed and produced by Jasmine Dellal whose recent feature, AMERICAN GYPSY, won international acclaim for its portrait of an American Romani family battling a decade of drama.

Presented by Jamie Foxx, Thunder Soul follows the extraordinary alumni from Houston's storied Kashmere High School Stage Band, who return home after 35 years to play a tribute concert for the 92-year-old "Prof," their beloved band leader who broke the color barrier and transformed the school's struggling jazz band into a world-class funk powerhouse in the early 1970s. -- (C) Official Site  

From Mambo to Hip Hop: A South Bronx Tale is an hour-long documentary that tells the story about the creative life of the South Bronx. Beginning with the Puerto Rican migration and the adoption of Cuban rhythms to create the New York Salsa sound and continuing with the fires that destroyed the neighborhood but not the creative spirit of its people; the film chronicles the rise of Hip-Hop from the ashes. A charismatic reflection on the power of a neighborhood’s music, the film effortlessly chronicles the evolution from Mambo to Hip-Hop; which has taken the world’s pop culture by storm.  The documentary, directed by Henry Chalfant features interviews with numerous famed musicians and dancers that showcases the history and diversity of Hip-Hop’s reach.

New York City, 1977 - It was a time when the city had fallen into decay, with too few jobs, money, police, schools, and social services. There was a city wide blackout with major looting, a serial killer on the loose, and the Bronx was burning. And yet out of the chaos emerged one of the most creative times any city has ever encountered. Executive Produced by Academy Award Nominee Nanette Burstein ("The Kid Stays in the Picture"), "NY77: The Coolest Year In Hell" is a two-hour documentary that tells the story of one astonishing year in New York City history. Premiering Saturday, August 11 at 9PM*, the documentary is told chronologically and weaves together the stories of the emergence of hip hop, punk and disco, graffiti art, and sexual liberation. In the background are the major political events and social issues of the day -- crime, urban decay, financial woes, the infamous blackout, drugs, Son of Sam, the bitter mayoral election and the overa...

Sound City is a 2013 documentary film by Dave Grohl, at his directorial debut, about the history of Los Angeles recording studio Sound City Studios. Sound City Studios was located in the San Fernando Valley, amidst rows of dilapidated warehouses. The little-known recording studio housed a unique recording console and a reputation for recording drums. Artists such as Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, Rick Springfield, Tom Petty, Kyuss, Slipknot and Nirvana recorded groundbreaking music at the studio. The film tells the story of the studio from its early days until its closing in 2011. It then follows Dave Grohl's purchase of the studio's custom analog console, which he moved to his personal studio, Studio 606. Famous musicians who recorded at Sound City reunite at Studio 606 to make an album of "all-new all-original songs, each one composed and recorded exclusively for the film within its own 24-hour session on that console.

THEO PARRISH feature, taken from Slices Issue 1-12.

Paxahau Event Productions and Management Company Overview The Paxahau project was conceived and inspired from the underground electronic music scene in Detroit and a constant curiosity into the heightened awareness triggered through sound. Description Paxahau has grown into globally recognized events, one of the internets largest electronic music resources and friendships reaching far across the world. This adventure has been fueled by you, the audience, the global electronic network. We will continue to work hard in our attempts to share the soundtrack of this adventure with our events, our archives, our labels and our broadcast programming. Thank you for helping the Paxahau project come this far, and we look forward to a long future together.