#Neo slums 2.0

[arcadebroke]

[a-mellowtea]

Sarah’s Soundtrack Corner | RWBY Volume 8

Today: Episode 1 // Divide 22/11/2020: Episode 2 // Refuge

Hello everyone!

This year, I’ve decided to do something new. Rather than waiting for the Volume to end or the soundtrack to drop to talk about RWBY’s music, I’m starting this little side project: cataloguing and somewhat analyzing the show’s score and songs as they’re released.

This is also a way for me to keep myself engaged in something other than academics (’cause quarantine be gettin’ to me), as well as pointing out some details folks might overlook: there’s always a lot to talk about with the music, and it plays a pivotal role in the series.

A mini-disclaimer beforehand: I am in no way well-versed in music theory. I can’t really tell you how things are composed so much as how they more generally sound, and what the intentions behind certain choices might have been.

So, without further ado, let’s begin!

The first cue of the Volume, coming in gently against the slow fade-in from black of a young Cinder scrubbing the floor, is on piano and sparse strings. I’m hesitant to label this as anything in particular with any degree of confidence, but the progression of notes makes me believe it could be an abstract variation on Cinder’s core “theme” - specifically, the haunting choir we tend to hear around her. It would make sense: bridging the visuals with something just familiar enough to catch the ear, but also distinct.

There’s a brief pause as Cinder and Neo approach the storm, with only a small bit of ambient, tense strings; then it’s into a development of the new melody we got accompanying Salem’s arrival in Volume 7 under the usual first-episode credits. This section has a wonderful female choral element added: I’m actually half-convinced that it’s a specific “theme” for Monstra (the whale Grimm; apparently that’s her official name), rather than Salem herself. The bass percussion makes the cue feel almost literally alive, giving it a slow, steady heartbeat.

The piece crescendos as Neo catches sight of Salem, then fades away into more tense strings when Cinder kneels. A small quote of what I believe is “One Thing” kicks in when Cinder takes Neo’s credit for stealing the Relic of Knowledge.

The next quote is equally small, coming and going in the span of about 5 seconds between the 03:25 and 03:30 timestamps, and references the strings from “Party Crashers”/the Volume 7 Mantle massacre. 

I can’t quite peg the following string melody - under Cinder’s declaration that she’ll return to Atlas and take the Maiden’s power from Penny - as anything specific, though it sounds similar to the opening piano.

What I’ll tentatively label as Monstra’s “theme” takes over again as Salem communicates with her, and the cue ends on a tense crescendo along with the scene.

On our heroes’ end, this is quite the episode for abstract little melodies, because I can’t seem to nail down what plays under Oscar’s respite in the slums either. What I do recognize, however, is a small section of Mantle’s melody at around 05:42, continuing until 05:52 where it’s briefly interrupted by a vague handful of notes from the Grimm “theme”.

Everything in Mantle is quite bleak, including the instrumentation: it’s soft and somber, even the gentler moments. Oscar’s melody kicks in at 07:06 on slow strings after Weiss asks how he ended up in the crater, which transitions into a despairing little quote of Penny’s established “theme” from Volume 7. This “theme” is of particular note this time around - Alex Abraham (composer) switched up the sound of her melody to a more subdued, lost quality, and it’s quite something whenever it pops up.

“Bad Luck Charm” makes a brief appearance at 07:30, and it’s interesting to me just how darkly the quote drifts off - the final note sounds almost distorted, lending it not only an air of uncertainty, but also danger (totally not hinting at things to come - no way).

Mantle’s theme makes a reappearance at 09:03, following a lead-in on strings as Yang argues that they need to help the people. The “theme” for Amity follows at 9:18 when Pietro begins talking about the titular colisseum, then drifts into Ironwood’s once he’s brought up, and then into one of the “Atlas tension” motifs from Volume 7. The orchestration of this entire section is notably quiet; almost not there, and all with a sense of unease. As the idea for the plan begins to come together, the Atlas Military “theme” (introduced at the end of Volume 6) plays, but fades out largely unresolved with Pietro’s uncertainty about it.

Once the small argument begins in earnest and the group divides, what sounds like a gentle quote of the as-yet untitled opening plays, easing into simple strings once Jaune interjects.

A sneeze-and-you’ll-miss-it soft interruption of Penny’s melody plays again, almost lost in the strings, then a third time when she volunteers to go with Ruby’s group.

And now for the fun part.

I’m not horrendously biased, I swear.

The tense silence of this scene once Penny’s Scroll begins to ring is perfect; as are the dark, sparse, ambient strings and the fourth instance of Penny’s “theme” - played on piano, with an almost music-box-like quality. The juxtaposition is horribly fitting for the moment - James is playing on Penny’s role as a guardian, her desire to protect people, her uncertainty about a situation in which she has had very little control, and that’s all beautifully reinforced in the music.

Speaking of juxtaposition.

Upstairs, we get a gorgeous rendition of “Hero” on brass; played slow, full and in earnest, with a small bit of Winter’s melody thrown in the middle once the camera briefly shifts focus to her. The way this section is orchestrated piques my interest as well - it’s not dark, it’s not particularly somber. It’s gentle. It still has that, for lack of a better term, heroic quality to it.

And that becomes such a twisted thing by the end of the scene.

Before that, however, there’s an instance of the Grimm “theme” clearly at 14:56, and it continues to be a personal favorite. 

Another intriguing little reference hits at about 15:12, when the Council members show up - if you have an ear for it, you might pick up on it as coming from the scene in the office from Volume 7 Chapter 11 “Gravity”, complete with Ironwood’s “theme” at 15:33 (this cue might actually be directly taken from “Are You With Me?”) and to say it’s appropriate for a moment where James slips even further would be putting it mildly.

Closing out the episode proper is a freaky new melody for the Grimm hound that I can honestly say I cannot wait to hear more of.

Overall, the score for the premiere isn’t quite as bombastic as the last two years, but that’s fitting - it’s largely understated, with lots of tension and somber takes on the leitmotifs that crop up. This is actually one of the things about the episode that left me feeling like it was more of a firm and simple continuation from last year than the start of a brand new chapter, and that’s certainly not bad.

And now you stand alone, opening!

I don’t think it needs saying that every RWBY OP will split the fandom to some degree, and this one has a very different style. It doesn’t have a name yet - I personally labelled it as “The End” on YouTube, unfortunately confusing a few people - which is odd, but Jeff professed that he just couldn’t settle on one yet.

The standard guitar and heavy percussion are present, kicking off in the usual instrument-focused intro, and are mixed with layers of different instruments, synth and backing vocals throughout the song once Casey’s vocals start. Speaking of, our leading lady delivers with her usual grace, and her matured voice lends a lot to the tone of the song (the growl on “Some roses will never bloom” is amazing). Almost every line on the verse and pre-chorus has an echo behind it - either as an effect or as part of the backing - giving it a forlorn yet powerful quality.

In the lyrics department, it reminds me quite a bit of the second opening - “Time To Say Goodbye” - save with a darker undertone. I’d be hardpressed to believe that the line “We said goodbye / To all the things we loved” isn’t, in fact, a direct reference to “Now it’s time to say goodbye / To the things we loved and the innocence of youth”. In a Volume where a lot of people were clamboring for a “When It Falls 2.0″ - yours truly included - this was a surprise, but a welcome one.

Second opening is the best opening. That is a hill I will die on.

Come to think of it, this might become a trend. If I remember correctly, several lyrics in “Trust Love” harkened back to “This Will Be The Day”; what springs to mind immediately is the contrast of “When the day you waited for won’t come” with “This will be the day we waited for”, and “Always hoping that a lightning bolt / Is going to save you from this gravity” with “We are lightning / Straying from the thunder”.

If this is the case and Volume 8 goes as I believe it will - setting up for another Volume in Atlas where the huge fight happens as everyone struggles to hold the line until help arrives - then we could be due for some “When It Falls” references then.

I’ve heard some say that this opening sounds a little too crowded, that it doesn’t hit quite as hard as they expected/compared to “When It Falls”, that the darker tone relies on the lyrics rather than anything in the instrumentation, and those are valid critiques. Personally, this one’s an ear-worm - I love the sound of it; Jeff made a lot of interesting choices - but the melody itself isn’t as discernable as previous years and is going to take a while to grow on me.

I’m not going to rank these or anything because that feels a little arbitrary, but I really enjoyed what we got this first Chapter. Knowing the team, they find ways to step it up every year, so I’m seriously looking forward to what’s in store.

Until next week!

[entergamingxp]

Syd Mead’s artistic legacy lives on through video games • Eurogamer.net

Having played a critical role in the production of 1982’s Blade Runner, illustrator Syd Mead was asked what title he’d like to appear as in the film’s end credits. “Visual Futurist” was his reply. Now there’s a job role you’d enjoy explaining to people at parties. Mead was a modern-day farseer, using his skills as an industrial designer and concept artist to build the worlds of tomorrow. What’s more, his visualisations have had an immeasurable impact on video games and the many artists working within the industry.

It’s often said that games draw from an awfully narrow set of cultural and artistic touchstones. Never mind seven basic plots, there are only really two: sad man fights robots and space marines shoot aliens. Blade Runner, Aliens, Blade Runner again. Syd Mead, who died just a few weeks ago on the cusp of the new year, aged 86, is the artist behind the dominating aesthetic of an entire industry. His energy, spirit, DNA, spread out across games like ashes thrown to the wind.

Syd Mead. 1933 – 2019.

In the 80s, Mead helped develop his fair share of theme parks and laser tag arenas, even a few casinos (pleasure hubs with as many flashing lights as any cyberpunk alley). It was always going to be natural for Mead to make the jump to games. He worked on a fair few: Cyber Speedway for the Sega Saturn was one of his earliest, making use of his famed vehicle-design skills. But he also returned to work on the lightcycles in Tron 2.0, designed the spaceships in Wing Commander 5, and even worked with Westwood Studios’ on their Blade Runner game. Much of this work was early concepting, sketching out hover cars and so on. Other times it was consultation. Most recently, Mead consulted on Aliens: Colonial Marines, fleshing out what he’d started all those years ago on the James Cameron film. In some respects, we’re unfortunate. An artist so talented, and willing to work in our space, who never found his ‘big’ game. But I don’t think it matters – there are so many indebted to him, shot through with his style, infected with his imagery.

Where to start with such an immense artistic legacy? Syd Mead always started with a car. His background was in industrial design, working for Ford Motor Company and later, US Steel. Mead was hired to make automobiles look desirable, to make the corporate cool. I can’t help but think of CD Project Red’s upcoming 2077, and how critical the car has been to its marketing. A lounging sportscar is the 20th Century’s addition to the romanticist image of the figure, back to the viewer, looking out to a wide horizon. There’s something fetishistic about 2077’s automobile – 80s stylishness crashing against Mead’s careful retrofitting – but it also seems necessary. The Night City needs a car the same way NeoTokyo needs its motorcycle.

Cyberpunk 2077.

Mead’s pin-up cars were sleek and cutting-edge, but aspirations always extended further. It was an era of techno-optimism, and Mead was just as apt at envisioning scenery as he was coupes. If the cars could hover and fly, then so too must the distant cities and spires silhouetted against the alien world’s setting suns. In fact, what was originally created to support the vehicles Mead designed, often overshadowed them.

Image from Syd Mead’s US Steel Series. Image credit Syd Mead.

Mead was originally hired to design just the vehicles for Blade Runner, but the automobile – his speciality – was an opportunity. It was how he opened portals to other times and places. While sketching out the film’s iconic “spinners”, Mead began to think bigger. A car was only as exciting as the surroundings mirrored in its polished surface. Only as cool as the landscape it cruised by. So important was “the flowing cascade of reflection”. “The chrome ignites with a hundred blue-white suns,” Mead once said. A rough sketch wasn’t enough. He needed a dark, rain-slicked street for the headlamps to illuminate. In the Polish cyberpunk game Observer, you begin your investigation in the cockpit of one such police car, the windscreen protection from the polluted downpour, the dashboard lit up like Times Square. It’s a prototypical Mead image.

Blade Runner 2019 Spinner interior view. Image credit Syd Mead.

With Blade Runner, Syd Mead transformed cold technical drawings into snapshots of urban night-life. A cold cityscape suddenly came to life, evoking the lonely realism of an Edward Hopper painting. The flashes of future Los Angeles we were gifted are striking: neo-noir with a Gothic tinge, abandoned apartments, streets draped with cables and wiring. Balanced against this was the bustle of the market stalls and shopfronts with their neon signs and cryptic symbols beaming out into the darkness, although only ever to make the shadows more dramatic. It’s quite a thing to invent the entire aesthetic of cyberpunk almost by accident. An entire genre brought to life because the taxi cabs looked a bit dull just sketched there on their own.

Film director Dennis Villeneuve once described Mead’s work as being “nostalgic”, which is a strange term to describe something futuristic. But the future is never just that, is it? As an actual point in time it’s fundamentally inscrutable. Instead, Mead traded in visions, and if, when looking at his depictions, we have “the strange sensation” of having been there, of having “strolled through” before, it’s because in a way we have. I’m reminded of a quote attributed to the grandfather of cyberpunk, William Gibson (who worked with Mead on the Johnny Mnemonic film): “the future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.” We live among high-tech pockets, elements advanced ahead of their time, glimpses of things to come. This is the raw material with which futurists extrapolate.

Blade Runner city. Image credit Syd Mead.

Syd Mead’s material may have been the two years he spent in Okinawa, Japan. Or his visits to Hong Kong. Cybeprunk as a genre has long had an odd fascination with parts of Asia. Dawning globalisation combining with a kind of “Yellow Peril” and anxieties around “Tiger Economies”. The original Deus Ex game was partially set in Hong Kong, and the later Human Revolution in Hengsha. But even with this orientalism supposedly stripped, like in Mankind Divided’s Prague, the original influence is pervasive. Its Golem City is familiar. A salvaged sprawl of slum-living, criss-crossed with wires and ventilation shafts and crowded with lights, busy flea markets, exotic signage, more lights.

Blade Runner 2019 city design 04. Image credit Syd Mead.

While much of Mead’s imagery is ubiquitous in games – cyberpunk sprawl, alien-infested spaceship, even ringworlds – his work has also influenced a whole generation of game artists in a more indirect way. He’s inspired numerous video game world-builders, including Viktor Antonov, the architect of both Half-Life 2’s City 17 and the Dishonored series’ Dunwall. Antonov shares a background in industrial design, and much of his work also begins with vehicles – the Combine APC or the Dunwall Rail Car a jumping off point to explore larger fictional metropolises. With constant, solid, technical reference, naturally. Sci-fi is always speculative, but like Mead, Antonov was specifically hired to make made-up places seem plausible and feel authentic.

Concept art for Dishonored’s rail cars, designed by Viktor Antonov.

Much of Mead’s work was dark and industrial. Think of Aliens’ USS Sulaco, which Mead meticulously designed, inside and out. “Bristling with antennae,” as director James Cameron requested, the military vessel was a far cry from other sci-fi spaceships. Instead of improbably elegant or needlessly greebled like Star Trek and Star Wars, the Sulaco was highly engineered and purposeful. Inside, the tangle of pipes and mesh of grills and hatches – now a staple of the sci-fi interior – gave the impression of spatial depth. What skulked behind those walls? In games we see in that same dead space, lurking Necromorphs, or a sleuth of demons poised to jump out from behind hidden panels.

Mead is famous for his gritty dystopias, but Dennis Villeneuve suspects his universes are actually “fuelled by the strength of the optimism of the 50s”, when, at least in the West, war was behind us and capitalism entered into a new golden age off the back of technological and scientific innovations. Jet engines, computers, and the Apollo space programme. It was out of this background that Mead’s visions sprung – not so much the future as a collective dream, now evidently unrealised. A lost future. No wonder looking at some of his artworks feels like going back home.

Image from Syd Mead’s US Steel Series. Image credit Syd Mead.

Mead knew how to paint utopias too. His style – colourful, vivid, light, clean, precise – channelled the speed and positivity of the supersonic age. The game series that probably most explicitly draws from him is Mass Effect. BioWare’s art director Derek Watts has talked about how, in their search for a visual identity, the team looked at Mead’s early, utopian, work, with its distinct geometric curves and exciting optimism. Like the aircrafts that whoosh across Mead’s blue skies, jet-trails in their wake, Mass Effect is filled with gentle curves and projections that sell the speed, propulsion and positivity of its world.

Mass Effect Citadel.

The Mako rover, the costumes and visors, the hazy clubs with their dancing holograms, the Citadel and its ring-like structure that recall those early US Steel illustrations. That sense of wonder as you land on a planet – light-years from any earthly dystopia. Instead, we get optimism radiating from distant skyscrapers set against pastel skies.

“Their sensuality and beauty offer such a magnificent contrast with the brutality of our reality,” Villeneuve says on Mead’s early work. The director believes we’re in desperate need of utopias now. It’s hard to disagree with this assessment, although I think what’s so special about Mead’s work is the range – his ability to paint in vastly different shades. It’s no wonder we see so many flashes of Mead’s brilliant influence in games. Every time we land on a new planet, or stare up at a sublime skybox or a looming megastructure. When we zoom by in a rocketship, a bike, a car. It’s hard to shake the visions of someone whose job is to see into the future.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/01/syd-meads-artistic-legacy-lives-on-through-video-games-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=syd-meads-artistic-legacy-lives-on-through-video-games-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

[airadam]

Episode 117 : Rockin' Steady

"...and though the flag been tattered and beaten..."

- General Steele

The short month of the year puts a little pressure on the recording schedule, but the show is here on time for you as always. Once again, we feature the sounds of J Dilla, Big Pun, and Big L, alongside plenty of other great stuff - and we keep the same speed going all the way through the mix!

Shows coming up;

Sadat X & El Da Sensei @ Joshua Brooks, March 20th

GZA @ Gorilla, Manchester, April 9th

Twitter : @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

EPMD ft. KRS-ONE : Run It

We start the episode with an all-NYC, all-uppercase collaboration from the "We Mean Business" LP, the seventh in EPMD's industrially-titled discography. A nod to LL on the hook, stick-up business over an Erick Sermon beat (of course), with KRS playing clean-up man flawlessly. Favourite part of the verse - real 'G's do indeed want to stay at home and read the paper.

Jay Dee : Another Batch - 11

One of a bunch of late-90s Dilla beats that got leaked onto the internet back in the day, this one smacks along with a bassline that comes through like a funky duck! I don't know if anyone ever rhymed on this, but I can imagine someone like De La doing great things with it.

Chuck D ft. Jahi : BOT

I don't know if it was intentional, but this track seems to call back to two tracks from the legendary "...Nation of Millions..." album; "She Watch Channel Zero?" ("she looking at the screen more than talking to me") and also "Night of the Living Baseheads" ("battery on low, look like fiends with a Jones"). Chuck D might have been one of the very first in Hip-Hop to catch onto the Internet, but the elder statesman sees the BS it's brought us as well! He combines here with the lead MC in the group known as "PE 2.0" to get it all off his chest, and he's got plenty more to say on the new "Celebration Of Ignorance" album.

Black Thought : 9th vs. Thought

No-one can accuse Black Thought of not being a team player, with it taking until 2018 before we saw a solo release from him, the "Streams of Thought Vol.1" EP. 9th Wonder was the producer for the project, and on this track he gets headline billing. Fans of top-flight lyricism are in for a treat here, as the MC of choice for many MCs shows his skill level in a major way.

Boot Camp Clik : World Wide

Serious track from the Brooklyn stalwarts, uniting on 2006's "The Last Stand". I absolutely love General Steele's opening verse, from which this month's epigram is taken, and then it's followed with the late, great Sean P just thugging it all the way out on the second verse! They go out of the immediate crew for production, tapping up Large Professor for a head-nodding beat that easily could have made for a fire single. Not the best-known tune maybe, but a tune that is big by nature!

Big L : Don't Front (Freestyle)

Short and powerful like a shot of rum, this is a concise taste of Big L's legendary freestyle aggression over a smooth 90s beat from Diamond's "You Can't Front". 

Slum Village : Go Ladies (Instrumental)

One of my favourite Dilla beats easily, as heard on the "Fantastic, Vol.2" album, flipping a well-known 80s soul sample and somehow making it even better than you could have imagined. It's only when you listen back to what else was coming out around that time you can hear how much of a shock to the system a laid-back groove like this was.

Donnie : Cloud 9 (Spinna Mix)

If you enjoy soulful music, Donnie's 2002 debut "The Colored Section" should definitely be in your collection. "Cloud 9" was one of the standouts, and DJ Spinna puts some extra bump into it on this remix, which is on a nice 12" release. His bass style is so distinctive, and with so much of the beat being in the lower frequency range, it leaves plenty of room for Donnie's masterful vocals!

Foreign Exchange : Hustle, Hustle

There are plenty of great tracks on "Connected", the debut Foreign Exchange album, and I was sure I'd already played this - glad to find out I hadn't, as it was the perfect fit for this slot! Nicolay's beat is smooth on that kind of early-2000s, neo-soulish vibe, and then you have lyrical treats coming from every angle. Quartermaine and C.A.L.I.B.E.R spit bars about trying to get ahead in the world, and Phonte comes in beautifully on the hook, in a fairly early demonstration of his singing talent. I don't blame you if you find yourself humming this one on the way to work.

Kev Brown : Hold Fast

One of the great bassline masters in Hip-Hop, Kev Brown certainly put Landover (MD) on the map with his top-quality "I Do What I Do" album. He's just as solid on the mic, and takes the reins alone on this track from the second half of the LP. Scratches are credited to DJ PMD, who is not Parrish Smith, but in fact Peter Rosenberg (who hails from the same area) under his original DJ name!

Jermaine Dupri ft. Snoop Dogg, Warren G, and R.O.C : Protectors of 1472

Unless there's some other, non-publicised significance to the number 1472, the "Life In 1472" album has one of the most contrived titles of all time! I don't actually have the album, but this DJ Premier-produced cut is on a compilation of his rarer/lesser-known cuts. I cut this one fairly short, as I think you get the best of it in a compact dose - the last verse is by far the longest, but Snoop towards the front is the clear headliner.

J Dilla : Won't Do (Instrumental)

Classic Dilla from towards the end, based around the "Footsteps In The Dark" drums, with fragments of the vocal yelling out for help along the way. The vocal version is on "The Shining" LP, but for this instrumental, you may need to pick up the 7" boxset of the album (or the MP3 version), which contains instrumentals for every track!

Sadat X ft. Timmy Hunter : Neva

The three-bar loop makes mixing a bit tricky, but I really wanted to play this one! Sadat looks back over his life and career, and celebrates his own effort and self-belief - justifiably so. Diamond D provides the beat, as he does all the way through the "Sum Of A Man" album. It's been a long road since that first LP with Brand Nubian, but Sadat is still travelling it, and for that we should be thankful :)

Dabrye ft. Jay Dee and Phat Kat : Game Over

That beat will definitely do things on a big sound system. Sparse, menacing, insistent. Ann Arbor's Dabrye takes no prisoners on the production, and then pulls in his fellow Michiganders Jay Dee and Phat Kat, who just spit raw Detroit flames in the space the beat leaves! The 2006 "Two/Three" album is one for anyone who likes the more angular, awkward, and aggressive style of production.

Clear Soul Forces : Continue?

I've been saving the combination of this and "Game Over" for ages :) CSF's 2013 "Gold PP7s" is an essential album for anyone who thinks they don't make MCs like they used to - it should give you faith for the future! I can't even keep up with all the gaming, comic, and anime references that they just firehose you with, but the spirit is undeniable. Ilajide's videogame-styled beat bumps hard, and overall this is just one of those tracks I can't see any reason for anyone not to love!

C2C ft. Tigerstyle, Netik, Rafik, Vajra, Kentaro : Le Banquet

Here we have an all-star lineup of scratch DJs, liquefying their crossfaders one after another as the featured instrumentalists on this track from the "Tetra" album. If you listen closely, there are actually some quotes from "Game Over" in the mix - they sound like vocoded re-records, but they could well be heavily-manipulated samples...

J Dilla : Dillatronic 09

One more Dilla instrumental as we come towards the end, this time taken from the "Dillatronic" collection of beats, a posthumous collection of 41 pieces - many very short - from the MPC of the man himself.

Noreaga ft. Nature, Big Pun, Cam'ron, Jadakiss, and Styles P : Banned From TV

Late 90s thug styles, and the kind of triumphant sound that either had to start or finish the episode. Nature was the original guest on here, but while almost everyone else was invited on, Big Pun bullied his way onto the track! While everybody comes off, the true gems on this tune are towards the front - Nature's memorable opening line, and Pun's devastating verse. The Swizz Beatz production is a perfect snapshot of the keyboard-based beats of the era - the "horns" should be corny, but somehow they work in context, and the kick/basstone combo bangs! Classic Berra-ism from Nore on the last verse too - if it's with tomato juice, then it can't be Hennessy straight...

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

Check out this episode!

[scratchtheblock]

New Post has been published on SCRATCHTHEBLOCK

New Post has been published on http://scratchtheblock.com/scratchtheblock-presents-eye-for-a-eye-music-for-hip-hop-lovers/

SCRATCHTHEBLOCK PRESENTS: EYE FOR A EYE (MUSIC FOR HIP-HOP LOVERS)

As great great great hip-hop addicted , we selected for you dope hip-hop pieces.

According to our editorial policy, we spread hot joints from renowned hip-hop artists but we also give the proper space to undeground/indipendent performers that surely deserve your attention!

So , allow us to introduce to you Eye For A Eye – Music For Hip-Hop Lovers.

LIGHTHEADED – SURPRISE CYPHER II

To introduce the first piece of this selection we gonna do a step back in the 2005 when a hip-hop trio dropped via Los Angeles label Tres Records the stunning EP Timeless under the moniker Lightheaded.

The group consists of rappers Braille, Othello and producer Ohmega Watts . 

Together they combined their passion for the “Golden Age” hip-hop with a massive dose a flavorful soul and jazzy sonorities.

We selected the extra-soulful cut called Surprise Cypher II arranged by Ohmega Watts which used a sample of the immortal J.Dilla.

DIAMOND DISTRICT – AIN’T OVER

After launching the debut album entitled In The Ruff in 2009 , Diamond District gave to the world anotha proof of their musical chemistry with da sophomore project called March On Washington released three years ago via Mello Music Group.

Washington representatives yU, Uptown X.O and Oddisee make us go crazy with a project that sounds solid from start to finish and the impressive track called Ain’t Over it’s  a pure form of brilliance blending the sample of Marvin Gaye and Isaac Hayes. 

Two months later Mello Music Group released an exclusive version of March On Washington focused on stunning revisitations handled by great masterminds such as Apollo Brown, Diamond D, Nottz and Large Professor among others.

Recently Oddisee launched his new album called The Iceberg

OMNISCENCE – RAW FACTOR 2.0 (PRODUCED BY DEBONAIR P)

He comes straight from  North Carolina and his bars are raw and hot like fire! We’re talking about Yul Hanner better known by the stage name Omniscence which dropped in 2012 the supa-dupa-track called Raw Factor 2.0 .

The superlative cut  was sumptuously produced by australian DJ/producer Debonair P and ….damn….it’s something epic that you should include in your own hip-hop music collection.

  HDBEENDOPE – FAKE THE FUNK (PRODUCED BY WIL MADDEN)

Three years ago New Jersey producer Wil Madden released Sal’s Famous .

Inspired by Spike Lee movie Do The Right Thing , Mr. Madden cooked a serious of outstanding beats unveiling a particular penchant for the hip-hop old-school and for the luminaries such as Pete Rock,DJ Premier,J.Dilla,Nujabes.

The beat called Sal’s Famous finds its storyteller through the microphone of Brooklyn rapper HDBeenDope , which takes advantage of Wil Madden beat to record the boom-bap piece Fake The Funk , included on his work The Greay(t) Area dropped in 2015

MELLOW MAN ACE FEAT. DRES AND MIKEY D  – I LIVE FOR THE FUNK (PRODUCED BY CAZAL ORGANISM)

Los Angeles label Ultra Slump Records recruited two years ago veteran rapper Mellow Man Ace to unleash the project called The Lost Decade. 

Packed with some of the most interesting acts of the hip-hop scene such as Slimkid3 (Pharcyde),Jarobi (A Tribe Called Quest) , Mndsgn , the album gave us a hot piece entitled I Live For The Funk.

The effervescent charisma of Mellow Man Ace meets for the occasion Andre Titus aka Dres (Blacksheep) and  MC Mikey D (Main Source) to spit solid bars over the beats wisely cooked by Mellow Man Ace son Cazal Organism , which uses the sample of Biggie Small Machine Gun Funk .

CUNNINLYNGUISTS  FEAT. PHONTE AND WITCHDOCTOR – YELLOW LINES

Dirty Acres is the fourth album by underground hip-hop group CunninLynguists , released in 2007 and probably (in our humble opinion) the magnum opus from their impressive discography!!

When we think about southern hip-hop flava ,names such as Outkast,Big K.R.I.T,Geto Boys,Bun B,Goodie Mob,Curren$y,Paul Wall spring to mind!

But wait…we can’t forget Kno, Deacon the Villain and Natti …yessir!

These three gentleman , known as CunninLynguists continue to wave the flag of true and genuine hip-hop music flexing brilliant skills in terms of beats, tempos, instrumentation, song moods and lyrical depth. We selected the mellow piece entitled Yellow Lines featuring one of our favorite rapper Phonte Coleman and Witchdoctor. Two months ago , CunninLyinguists released a new EP  called The Rose

BAMBOO BROS – STAY HIGH

Put together the sharp rhymes of Jorge Alvarez aka Kurious and the hard-hitting beats masterfully produced by New York City multi-talented artist Dave Dar…and here is the sound of Bamboo Bros.

In 2011 Bamboo Bros dropped the compelling American Jibaro that received positive reviews from influential media such as Okayplayer and HipHopDx.

We want to serve you up what we consider as the centerpiece of the entire opus: Stay High.

Catchy,feel-good vibes,head-nodding rhythms , Stay High is definitely a summer anthem!

MC EIHT – STREIHT UP MENACE

In 1993 directors Allen and Albert Hughes debuted with the drama film Menace II Society. 

The official soundtrack was really dope with jams from Boogie Down Production,Pete Rock, Brand Nubian,DJ Quik,Too Short and Mc Eiht!

Oh yes, Mc Eiht gave to the rap history a piece that today echoes in the heart of every true hip-hop lovers!

We’re talking about the milestone Streiht Up Menace co-produced by Mc Eight himself 

CAMP LO – SUGAR STREETS (PRODUCED BY SKI BEATZ)

Bronx duo Camp Lo earned their stripes in 1997 dropping a classic hip-hop album entitled Uptown Saturday Night entirely produced by DJ Clark Kent protegé David Willis aka Ski Beatz.

Ski is definitely an authority and with his top-notch productions he had a relevant role to push hip-hop music to high standard of quality in particular from 1995 to the present day working along side Bahamadia, Jay-Z,Lil Kim,Fat Joe,Big Pun and the list goes on and on!

But wait..raise your hand if you have nodded your head listening to Luchini or Coolie High!

Well, recently Camp Lo launched via Persia Records da project called On The Way Uptown , a series of demos designed to be the foundation for the group’s debut album.

Scratchtheblock.com celebrates the legacy of Camp Lo spinning the hot track called Sugar Streets produced by hip-hop mogul Ski Beatz which used the sample of da iconic Feel Like Making Love by Bob James.

SAD FEAT. SLUM VILLAGE AND DJEMEIA – NOTHING LEFT TO SAY (MELODIESINFONIE REMIX)

The most interesting aspect of hip-hop music is the capability to merge together different cultures,different way to live life! We think is always cool and stimulating to see artists from different places collaborating to create something good through a fruitful connection of musical perspective and approach. Internet changed the rules of the game,giving to artists the keys to break the territorial boundaries and even though United States remains the cradle of hip-hop culture par excellence , we can assert european producers and rappers as well singers are doing incredible things (sometimes bringing back the 90s flow). Norwegian rapper Ivan Ave collaborated with San Diego incredible producer MNDSGN, german beatmaker FloFilz enlisted one of the most respected emcee of L.A underground hip-hop scene,Blu , german producers JR&PH7 recruited Phonte Coleman,danish producer Kriswontwo worked alongside Georgia Anne Muldrow,Oh No and MED , Ol’Burger Beats teamed up with J.Dilla’s brother Illa J , super producer RZA produced a great song for swedish songstress Snoh Alegra and the list of international collaborations goes on & on. Now we’d like to recommend to our fans the interesting work produced by bernese hip-hop producer SAD featuring Slum Village entitled Slow . The compelling work was released via Mouthwatering Records and it was followed by a remix project with treatment remixes from Ruck’n’Wiz , Shuko and Melodiesinfonie. The bright beatmaker Melodiesinfonie recalibrates the track called Nothing Left To Say featuring neo-soul singer Djemeia , adding his remarkable signature supa-mellow touch!

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