DnB vs. Church

This is kind of disrespectful, but still worth a look - someone mashed up video of a Baptist Church with audio from a DnB rave, and it really works. No offense intended to any baptists, and I gotta say... your church services are off the chain!

Black Friggin Sabbath

In the name of all that is awesome and metal.

Mudfoot 1998 Jump-Up Jungle Mix MP3

Here's another classic mix from back in the day... this is from when I was living in NYC and spinning lots of jumpup and hiphop flavored jungle/dnb. I think it's about 45 minutes long, with tracks from Joker, Splash, Congo Natty and more. Enjoy and keep the jungle alive!

Mudfoot - Return of the Dragon

Mudfoot Original Jungle Mixtape MP3

Here's an MP3 of my first jungle/dnb mixtape, which I put out in San Francisco in 1997. Mixed live on two turntables with rare jungle 12"s including tracks from Congo Natty, True Playaz, Joker, Metalheadz, Beeswax, Pimp, Dope Dragon and many other great labels. It even starts out with a classic Lee "Scratch" Perry cut. Actually this is just the first side. Let me know what you think - if I get enough responses I'll post the second side as well.

Mudfoot Meets the Dragon - Side 1 MP3

Muff Wiggler's Man Cave

This is inspiring to me... I've been working on documenting my own man cave / music studio for a feature on this blog, but this electro-musician has a way cooler setup than me. The highlight is the huge modular analog synth, but I especially relate to the struggle of cramming a ton of music gear into a tiny space (basement?) and trying to arrange it in such a way that you can make music without constantly having to re-arrange and re-connect things. I've been dealing with the same stuff and it's a pain when you just want to make tunes. Plus, Muff Wiggler makes really cool tunes, so he deserves a good ergonomic setup. You gotta just love the vibe in there, check out the oscilloscope!

Muff Wiggler's Studio Tour (Neatorama)

Record Wave Makes Me Both Happy and Sad

This makes me happy because it's cool - I love vinyl records, and I also surf, so this is the kind of image I like to have in the memory banks. But it also makes me sad, because the fact that records have become a disposable commodity suitable as raw material for sculpture is depressing. The switch from analog to digital music stripped us consumers of our right to 'own' our music collections, made us criminals for sharing music with friends, and made our physical music media subject to "brick wall degradation" (that's when your CD goes from 100% fine to completely unlistenable with a single scratch, unlike records which can still be enjoyed at nearly 100% of their original quality despite years of abuse.

I doubt anyone will see this sculpture and cry for the music that was destroyed to make it, but I remember a time when I felt remorse for destroying old records. I was working at the public library in high school, and I was asked to take some boxes out to the dumpster. One box was full of old classical records that had been donated to the library, but not needed. Being a high school intern in a very low-stress job, I often found ways to make these dumpster trips as long as possible. On this occasion, I did it by climbing up on top of the dumpster and smashing each of the old, acetate records one by one. Afterwards I felt a pang of remorse - I imagined some old classical music lover weeping that a rare collection of records had been destroyed in such a fashion. I don't know if these records were really worth anything - they were 78rpm, outdated even in the 1980s, and this was before ebay. But I still regret it.

Now I see works like this and the record-mashing sculpture of Christian Marclay, and I appreciate and enjoy them. But it does make me a little sad that the rock records of my youth are going the way of the old Victrola. Luckily I know I can live out my life enjoying records, because if those classical 78s made it to the 1980s, my Foghat records still have plenty of life left in 'em.

Sound Wave - The Vinyl Strikes Back (Gizmodo)

Dubstep Protest Song: "CCTV"

Add to the list of artists protesting the British big-brotherly CCTV program LV and Dandelion, a dubstep producer and reggae vocalist recording on Kode 9's Hyperdub Records. This is the duo's second release on the label, and it's even better than the first - a subsonic bounce through dubber's paradise with a not-so-paranoid message that resonates like rusty springs in a Roland Space Echo reverb unit. Currently in heavy heavy rotation on my turntable. A sampling of the lyrics:

So give a smile to the camera you see
You're on CCTV
They can see you, they can see me
So give a wave to the authority

Label head Kode 9 is one of the most prolific and innovative producers in the dubstep genre, which is known for its innovation, so I highly recommend checking out this release and anything else from the label or from Kode 9 himself. You can hear some of the track on the Hyperdub myspace page - the 12" and mp3 are available anywhere fine dubstep is sold.

LV feat. Dandelion: "CCTV" on the Hyperdub myspace page

Kode 9 on myspace

Reggae Legend David Rodigan

Discovering David "Ram Jam" Rodigan was like a revelation for me - I had heard his voice in countless samples on jungle records, but I never imagined that voice belonged to a white guy. Turns out that "Father Rodigan" was a major force in the rise of reggae music in the UK, and is widely regarded as one of the best reggae DJs in the world. As a DJ for the BBC in the 70s, he traveled to Jamaica to cover the music scene and bring new sounds to the UK, including Bob Marley, Tenor Saw, and countless other greats. He was an ambassador for the music, and artists provided him with 'special' dubplates for his show that often included his name in the vocals. Over the years, he started DJing in soundclashes - a reggae concert where two sound system crews compete for the best audience response. With his arsenal of dubplates he conquered many sound systems, and his style of toasting over the records became legendary. Take a look at the video below to get a little taste - this guy is 100% the real deal, and still going strong.

David Rodigan (Wikipedia)

Rodigans Radio (Myspace)

Popcorn - The Most Covered Song of All Time

While I was on my way to work this morning, I heard "Popcorn" on the radio - the bubbly Moog-infused instrumental that was a quirky hit back in the 70s. It reminded me of a site dedicated to the song, which is arguably the most covered song of all time. Maybe it's the perky moog melody, or the funky moog bassline, or maybe it's the super funky beat that kicks in once the song gets going... but something about popcorn makes you want to get your groove on. Interestingly enough, the song was written in the late 60s by a Jewish synth pioneer, Gershon Kingsley, who also released an album of modern Jewish music for the Moog called God Is a Moog. Kingsley was obviously the original nerd funkster - just check out this picture of him, compared with the picture below of Giorgio Moroder, the non-nerdy synth pioneer responsible for Donna Summer's "I Feel Love".

It's almost the same picture, but somehow Moroder looks like a porn star while Kingsley looks like the Dunkin Donuts guy! You can hear the Popcorn song in all its percolated glory at the official site below.

Popcorn Song

And now... a Murphy's Law Moment

For those of you who don't know, Murphy's Law is the best live band ever. Rising above the oh-so-serious NY Hardcore scene with wacky lyrics and on-stage hijinks including kegs and bongs, here they are in 1989 performing "Cavity Creeps". Yeah, those Cavity Creeps. Just look at how into it the crowd is... I'll post more soon with some stories from the times I saw them live.

Music for one apartment and six drummers

This is a great short film about 6 percussionists who play the hell out of a small apartment while the owners are away. The music is great and so is the filmmaking.

DJ Mudfoot Video Mix #1 - Classic Jungle April 2008

For all the ragga jungle and dubstep heads out there, I'm going to start posting some of the video DJ mixes I've been putting on Youtube in the last year. These were made in my garage studio, and I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from listeners in the US and the UK. So excuse the unoriginal content, but it's actually my own stuff - I've just never blogged it before. If you like it, let me know because I can always make more.

Barack Obama Reggae Song by Cocoa Tea

Yes Rasta - show your support and skank for change in the USA! Pretty catchy.

Game and Watch Music Video

This music video made me smile - the music is very 8-bit, and the video superimposes LCD graphics like the classic Nintendo "Game and Watch" games on outdoor scenes. Not sure if these are the actual graphics from games or just done in that style, but either way they kick ass. I never owned any of those games, but I remember playing them a lot - I must have mooched off friends.

Silophone, the Ultimate Reverb

This public art project turns a defunct grain silo near Montreal into a giant echo chamber, and anyone can upload an audio file to be automatically played through the chamber and re-recorded for you to download. Use it for processing your Garageband tracks or any other kind of audio production. Or make your own ringtone that sounds like it's coming from the depths of hell. Only the internet could have given us something this cool... now when are they going to do this with the echo chamber at Abbey Road Studios?

Silophone

Funk and Soul Wants to Be Free

Baby Grandpa is an awesome music blog - excuse me, "vault." Not only do they write great reviews of classic, out-of-print funk/soul/R&B albums, but they also link to full downloads. Keep it on the DL.

Baby Grandpa

Atari Video Music Trip-Out Machine

Atari made a bachelor-pad music visualizer in the 70s that you could hook up to your TV in order to induce a seizure in your date and take advantage of her while the sounds of Journey blazed over your 8-track stereo. Check out the video, visit the Atari Museum for a full description and then pull out your wallet, because there's one for sale on Craigslist in Los Angeles.

DJ Rig from the Ancient School

Sighted recently on ebay - if you know what Serato is and it really pisses you off, you might want to pick up a set of turntables like this one.

The Dub (Sea?) Scrolls

Anyone who has any interest in making or just understanding dub music should check out this great site, which explains the various machines and techniques behind dub reggae.

The Dub Scrolls

Scraper Bikes - The Latest Trend from Oakland, CA

From the place that brought you hyphy and ghost-riding, now comes the bike version of "donks", the Scraper Bike. These are small frames with big wheels, decorated with loud colors and junk food wrappers. WTF? Looks pretty cool though, and they even have their own rap video.

Sesame Street Pinball Psych-Out

I think this clip is the reason I ended up playing guitar in a funk band after college - and probably had something to do with a lot of other bad behavior. The music is just too funky, and I don't know what they thought they were doing to kids with the psychedelic graphics. Yo Gabba Gabba's got nothing on this.

Depressing Classic Rock MIDI Songs

There's some seriously depressing classic rock out there - just ask Dan Fogelberg. But what happens when you combine depressing songs with General MIDI, the most depressing music format known to man? I don't know but you're about to find out if you're brave enough to click the link below. Don't forget a Kleenex.

Depressing Classic Rock MIDI

Mr. Fastfinger Speed Guitar Tutorial

You need guitar lessons, grasshopper - head over to Mr. Fastfinger and learn "the way of the exploding solo". This site has some amazing flash animation and seriously mind-blowing guitar lessons. Why didn't they have this when I was a kid in the 80s? We had to fight over the school library's copy of "Guitar Player" magazine.

Mr. Fastfinger

McCain gets BarackRoll'd

Jesus Is My Friend

Oh man this is good. Why can't today's Christian Rock be more like this? I especially love how they have a grand piano but the keyboard player is rocking the Casiotone. And how about that headless Steinberger bass? Serious 80s action here. Skank out for the Lord!

Japanese Punk Butts

This one's an oldie but a goodie. Did you know that Japanese punks have taken butt fashion to previously unimagined levels of awesomeness?

Japanese Punk Butts

Guess Who?

I'll give you a hint: he's known for a certain project.