Burial is a dubset producer from the United Kingdon, London to be more precise. There’s really not much I can say about this geezer, mainly because he remained anonymous until August 2008 (most people thought he was Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim), before that only five people really knew he made music, but oh how he makes music.

His debut self-titled album met a lot of critical acclaim with many ranking it in their top albums of 2006. It’s a dark, eye opening plunge into the underworld of London which millions can relate to. It’s a very unique album, described by many as like taking the night bus around London. However in my opinion Untrue takes it a step further, with more hypnotic/ghostly samples and beautifully crafted drum patterns. Once you start this album, you will not stop listening till it’s over, it’s just that good. I really wish I knew more about this guy and the way he makes his music. This album is an emotional marvel, you can shut yourself away from the world and take in every tiny sound that appears in the 50 minutes of this masterpiece.

First time listening to this is a true experience. Amazon had been bugging me to buy this album for a long time, constantly recommending it to me, and I finally caved into the pressure and bought it. I wish I could go back and listen to it for the first time again, and be blown away by the epic production, the echoing vocal samples, there is an established sense of semi-consciousness and loneliness that you can’t help but sympathise with throughout, and it just makes you want more.

Favourite tracks: EVERY SINGLE MINUTE OF IT.

I look forward to his ever delayed next release DJ Kicks which I will be sure to review as soon as I hear it.

I don’t really know much about Yppah. He’s from Houston, Texas, He’s a member of a group called The Truth, and he’s signed to Ninja Tune Records. You are beautiful at all times was his debut album and so far there hasn’t been a second one.

Phew. After all that information I’m sure you’d like to rest your head for a while so I’ll let the music do the talking.

While you’re listening I’ll tell you little about the album. Released in 2006, it’s a prime example of an organized mess. While listening to You are beautiful at all times it’s not hard to see how easily all this experimentalism and beauty could’ve been destroyed. It takes a lot of skill to create something that’s so excellent when it’s the easiest thing to cock it all up. Can’t wait for his second album, if he’s making one.

Give Yppah a chance, you’ll love him.

Favorite songs: It’s not the same, Ending with you, Again with the subtitles

 Ahh finally. I havent posted anything in here for a while so let me share with you this: Some true old-school Boot Camp Clik. Smif-n-Wessun is the name of the group behind this oh so insane album. How come no one makes music like this anymore?

The members Tek and Steele made their way to the hip-hop scene in 1993 on fellow bot camp members Black Moon’s album “Enta Da Stage”, and this is their debut album. With production by Da Beatminerz this album has the dirty, dark sound we can find on other boot camp classics like O.G.C’s Da Storm and Heltah Skeltah’s Nocturnal.

Dah Shinin’ has been honored as one of the best East Coast album of all time and was one of the reasons for BCC’s succes in the 90’s. Tek and Steele (not Smif and Wessun) knows the art of back to back rapping and with their mix of Hardcore and funny lyrics (check Wipa Ya Mouf) they go out as one of the best MC’s of New York, in my book atleast. They are also some of the few rappers who master the Jamaican/Creole accent, which only makes them even better.

Not much more to say about this album except that if you want to know what real hip hop sounds like, you should buy this album. (yes, I know the “real hip-hop” thing is unoriginal), 

Also check out “Da Album” by Smif-n-Wessun. Tommy Tee (Norway give it up) has produced some tracks on it.

Favorite Tracks:  Wrekonize, Wipe Ya Mouf, K.I.M., Bucktown, Stand Strong

Ps: listen to sound bwoy burreil while concentrating, and you can hear the baseline talking to you.

Fritz the cat and Heavy traffic were two Ralph Bakshi’s animated adult movies in the early 70s. Fritz the cat was the first animated movie to recieve an x-rating, like so many times mentioned in Wikipedia, and it’s based on a comic series of the same name by R. Crumb. Heavy Traffic is about some jew cartoonist who lives in a crappy neighborhood. I haven’t seen it so I can’t really say anything else than what’s in the imdb plot synopsis for the film.

The soudtrack(s) consist mostly of funky jazz, but some blues songs are also included, plus some russian sounding jewish song (the synagogue - if you know what it is, please leave a comment). Bo Didley, Billie Holiday and The Isley brothers all make an apeearance, and throughout the album there’s a feeling like this is like a best of collection of blues and jazz of the 60s (even though most of the songs are original compositions). Who hasn’t heard black talk by Charles Earland, and still calls him/herself a jazz fanatic? Nobody, that’s who. Unfortunately there are a couple of duds lost in the crowd that are standing in the way of making this one of the bigger classics of jazz, but if you can look past those couple of tracks then you’ll definately get more than your money’s worth…

Favorite tracks: Black talk, Duke’s theme, Mamblues, Scarborough street fair

The year is 1972, Brazil is under military dictatorship. Strict rules are imposed on the creativity of the music released in the country….yet somehow, some way, Arthur Verocai comes along and puts out an awe inspiring album that would not be out of place in todays market. Born in 1945 in Rio de Janeiro, Arthur Cortes Verocai learnt to play the guitar and piano from some Brazilian guys. Despite one of his songs being included on Leny Andrade’s album “We Are There” in 1966, Arthur was producing music for television shows until 1969, when he embarked on his professional musical career “I always wanted to compose soundtracks in great style, as in the cinema, but this wasn’t possible with television work”. 

The album is entirely produced by Arthur, but was unfortunately forgotten about almost as soon as it was released, it really deserves wider recognition. I can’t think of an easy way to describe it, so I wont try just yet, I’ll let Arthur have a go first, “I created rhythmic cells in the acoustic guitar with the harmonic lines. I added bass and the non-conventional drums and the percussion with very smooth orchestration in blocks, plus the delicate touch of the strings”, and I think he was only talking about one song there.

This album is a journey to put it at the least. It begins with some soul/funk, then it throws some more soul in your face, and then all of a sudden your hit with the funkiest track on the album, “Presente Grego”. Apparently influeced by American funk/jazz at the time, it really is incredibly funky, yet with a twist of Brazilian groove that makes you want to get on a plane to Rio and do some funky shit. Anyway, back to the journey, after the funk, you get some more soul, combined with what I can only describe as soulful groove, and the album finishes off with a blast of jazzy salsa funk with the song “Karina”. An explosion of trumpets, saxophones, Brazlian rhythm and some outstanding drumming. One of the artists invited to perform on “Karina” was Edson Maciel, however he needed frequent breaks to be “inspired” by Cachaça. 

Despite being such a great album, it was never really taken too seriously by Arthur or the artists involved with it, and I think that’s what makes it so easy to listen to and appreciate. When music is created in that relaxed environment you can create whatever FEELS right to you (as demonstrated by so many successful jazz artists). “I used to listen to Blood Sweat and Tears, Chicago, Stan Kenton, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Web, Frank Zappa, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans and Miles Davis, Milton Nascimento, Bossa Nova, among others. In Brazil we had many musical influences, and by that time there wasn’t a hegemonic one in the market. In this way my album reflected a search and musical experimentation. I was in an adventurous mood on this album and that led me to explore new melodic, harmonic and rhythmic paths”. 

Just a heads up, the vocals on this album are performed entirely in Portuguese, not that I’m complaining about it, it really adds to the feel and ambition of the album for me. Oh and also I don’t think you can find this on iTunes, I dunno, just have a look around.

Favourite tracks: Pelas Sombras, Silvia, Presente Grego, Dedicado a Ela, Karina

I have a weakness among others; writing about jazz albums. It’s hard, because theyre all fairly original (Saku seems to do it pretty well, note to self: delegate writing about jazz to Saku in the future). But some still appeal more to me than others and this is the first guitar jazz album i have honestly enjoyed. Soothing as can be, Jim Hall is to the guitar as Miles Davis is to the trumpet, but the addition of piano and sax etc. (this is a sextet) makes it not blues. *Writer’s block*. Uhm, oh yea, Jim Hall was born in 1930 in Buffalo, NY. Concierto was recorded in New Jersey at the Van Gelder studios, april 16 and 23 1975. It is probably his most recognized work. The cover is bomb and the jazz is the coolest you can get without going fusion. Thanks Wilhelm for this recommendation, didn’t know you were a jazz head.

Favorite pieces: I really don’t believe in enjoying jazz albums in any other form than their whole, but I especially liked ‘Concierto de Aranjuez’.

Yes, there are jazz people in Alabama. No, there aren’t jazz kids in Alabama, what a stupid question. People in my school wouldn’t know good music if it rang their doorbell at three AM, shot you in the foot and cockslapped you across the face while you were down, you’re like ‘Hey what the hell did you do that for?!’ and theyre like ‘WHO CAAAARES?!’ and youre like ‘I care, you shot me in the foot, bastard’. And he’s like ‘Jesus, I’m sorry, we cool?’. And you’re like ‘Fuck no, you know how much this hurt?’ Good music are such douchebags.
I lost my train of write…

As Finnish music swiftly takes over SofaKing Diligent why don’t we take some time out to appreciate a really good hip hop album. More importantly, one you will probably not have heard of. Kenn Starr (I think that’s his real name) comes from Virginia, USA, and after his debut album Starr Status was released he recieved critical acclaim from several large hip hop magazines, including The Source. JIVE magazine even said “There shouldn’t be any argument over Kenn Starr’s status as one of the best MCs in the game.” That’s pretty cool.

If I were to compare Starr Status to an album you may already know, I would most probably use The College Dropout. Now don’t shoot me down yet, I am aware that The College Dropout is considered one of the best hip hop albums of all time, but Starr Status has a very similar feel/vibe to it. The soulful beats, some INCREDIBLY well produced beats, the witty lyrics, the inflated ego, and the fact its his debut album. Let’s just hope that Ken Starr doesn’t go on to use auto-tuner EVER!. 

If you’re worried about not knowing anyone on the album never fear, yes there’s Kev Brown, Wayna, Supastition, Brockington, Median, M-Phazes, Oddisee, Sean Born, Chronkite and Asheru, now no offense to them, but I’ve never heard of any of them before, and I know what you’re thinking right now, he hasn’t reassured me about me not knowing people, however, there’s a feature by an amazingly talented person called Talib Kweli. He put the effort in to deliver a dope verse on the last track “If”, and you should have the courtesy to get this album (legally would be nice) and listen to a future great before he tries to appeal to myspace people.

Favourite tracks: Mr Nice Guy, Middle Fingaz, Back At It Again, If.

please don’t tl;dr
Two finnish albums in a row? It happened.

This time I’m telling you about Don Johnson Big Band (Like I promsed in my ‘Let’s talk about Herbie Hancock‘). Despite it’s name DJBB has nothing to do with Miami Vice and consists of only four regular members and a couple of visitors during live performances. And his nicely leads us to the moment when I finally started liking them.

I was a wee lad (12 is young, alright?) and I still played football (Soccer) and we were in a tournament. We won ticets to a football game Brazil vs Portugal (there was some amateur adult tournament also in Finland - they weren’t the world cup players) and at the stadium a song started to play. It was One MC, one delay, from their 2003 album breaking daylight. I had never heard of it before but my friends were all very excited. I thought it was alright. Not a huge step towards me liking them, but now I had heard of them and I had an opinion if I liked them or not.

Then a couple years forward. I had just heard that Kanye West was coming to Finland. Oh my GOD! Me and my friend rushed to get the tickets. Friday, 21st of July, 2006 became the day that changed my life. When I say Herbie Hancock changed my taste in music, I mean Herbie Hancock and Pori Jazz 2006 changed my taste in music. At 2pm the gates open and we’re let in to the Kirjurinluoto Arena where “Kanye and buncha other guy’s will be playing.” Carla Bley Big Band is on first. Okay, when’s Kanye coming on? Then Raul Midon. Okay, when’s kanye coming on? Then Don Johnson big band. So far it had been a rainy day but the vocalist, Tommy Lindgren, promised that they’ll make the clouds go away with their music. And goshdarnit, that’s exactly what they did.

There’s six men on stage plus Emma Salokoski from Quintessence (how convenient - I’m going to write about them later) giving us all they can. Clock is about 7:30 pm right now and the sun is slowly starting to set. Tommy says “This has been a great evening… but… we all know you didn’t come here to see us…” and then they perform One MC, one delay and leave the stage. I would say that DJBB is the wors warm-up act you can get, because they make anyone performing after them look like shit. Kanye’s performace was good but far away from being memorable, where DJBB’s crazy rhythms and smooth melodies were just stuck in my head. I bought this particular album from the Pori Jazz giftshop and listened to it the entire long ride home. It always makes me a little bit teary when reminice the moments of that cool summer night. Truly the best day of my life.

When compared to DJBB’s previous albums this one is more solid and easier to listen to. The previous two were more angry, dark and culturally aware, pure hip hop albums with a dash of jazz, where Don Johnson Big Band is still culturally aware and angry but at the same time it’s beatifully melodic and it feels like every note is played with a huge passion. And the vocals. Oh my god. I’m not really that interested in lyrics. The vocalist can sing about anything from toothpaste to weather, as long as it doesn’t sound completely retarded. In Big Band the topics vary from personal love songs to religion to graffiti, and for the first time ever I actually pay attention to the lyrics and the way Tommy Lindgren performs them is just perfect. I have no idea how you define a ‘good flow‘ but I would imagine that this could be described as good flow.

As you can see; everything about this album makes me happy. It could make you happy too (Click the cover). And please, go see them live if you’re able to. You won’t regret it.

“Absolutely sublime from start to finish and I will jam forks into my eyes if I ever use those words to describe anything else ever again”

-Ben Croshaw

Favorite tracks: Cocoa Cacao, Private Intentions, Jack, Island Girl, Last Things.

This is a bitch one if you want to buy it. iTunes doesn’t have it, allMusic doesn’t have a single retailer listed and Amazon only has an import cd available. I’m not even shure if there is a western cd print of this album ever relesed. So if you are stubborn and only want albums made for us westies you’ll have to ’settle’ for an LP.

Gabor Szabo (1936 - 1982) was a hungarian crossover jazz guitarist. One of the best, if you ask me. He had a great balance of jazz, pop and Hungarian folk music, giving him a sound like noone else’s. He also played Beatles’ songs. How cool is THAT?

Unfortunately nowadays Szabo is pretty much gone and forgotten (lack of any kind of home page and the size of his wikipedia page tell a sad tale) so there’s a 90% chance that you haven’t heard of him. This is where I come in. His most famous composition is a song called Gypsy Queen, better known as Black Magic Woman performed by Santana, from his 1966 album Spell Binder… and that’s pretty much it. He isn’t a jazz classic like Miles Davis or Thelonious Monk. His best known song is performed by someone else and he was one of the founding fathers of Skye records (don’t ask me, I’ve never heard of it before either). If I understood my source correctly Skye released albums during five years, from 1968 to 1972. A benchmark that wouldn’t make anyone famous…

When I look for a good album I want it to give me an experience that I can reminice over when I later rediscover the album from my cd rack. Mizrab is just that. Look at the cover (just look, the text isn’t going anywhere). That is what I think of when I listen to this album. A dark room and my lava lamp that colours everything red. I’m not depressed, nor am I happy. I feel like beaten down, but there’s something added to it. It’s not really something I can explain, you just have to experience it yourself, if you’ll ever be alble to. Overall this is a nice *I can’t think of a single word that would properly describe it* album that any Crossover Jazz/Jazz Fusion fan should get their hands on to. Unfortunately that has been made hard as possible by Whoever owns rights today.

Favorite songs: Mizrab, Thirteen, Summer breeze

I also recommend checking out Prefuse 73’s Mizrab remix from the album Impulse! - revolutionary jazz reworked. Totally insane material.

The year was 1997, I sit up listening to Tim Westwood’s show on BBC Radio 1 late at night. I thinks to himself how stupid Timothy Westwood sounds, then a captivating song comes on and amazes me, I appreciate Westwood for playing this music and wonder what Mr. Westwood will make of himself in the future, anyway, from what I remember that was the first time I ever heard Block Rockin’ Beats. At the time I was only 9, but it sparked my enjoyment of The Chemicals Brothers and their funky electronic sound.

Despite the name of the group Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons are not brothers. However they are English, which makes them twenty times better than they already were. Aswell as producing awesome tracks they have also got the help of awesome artists such as Q-Tip and Noel Gallagher. Brotherhood plunges you back in time and brings back memories some of their greatest hits and two new tracks, Keep My Composure and Midnight Madness. You don’t have to be a Chemical Brothers fan to appreciate the greatness that is Brotherhood, and this album wont take long to make you a fan, just press play and absorb some high quality songs (preferably at maximum volume, its the best way to listen to any music).

I have to give an extra special mention to Star Guitar, it’s one of my all time favourite songs and the video is a masterpiece (if you’ve never seen it before you’re in for a treat). This song gives me the motivation to do pretty much anything, but then again so do tracks like Block Rockin’ Beats and Let Forever Be.

Favourite Songs: Galvanize, Hey Boy Hey Girl, Block Rockin’ Beats, Star Guitar, Let Forever Be, Midnight Madness

For anyone who likes The Chemical Brothers I would also suggest you check out some of these artists (I know they may seem VERY obvious, but not everyone will know who they are): Fatboy Slim, The Prodigy, Underworld, Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx, Massive Attack, Faithless & loads more I cant be bothered to name.