Back 2 Basics Part 2

Greetings from Berlin. I'm on tour thru December so I may be a bit sporatic with the blog but I'll definitely try to keep it up to date. Time to drop some heat for your listening pleasure. This is a deep house mix I recorded a couple days before flying over here. And when I say deep, I mean very deep. I don't remember the exact track listing. (Probably should have written that down when I had access to my records at home but oh well.) Anyway, this mix features old and new gems from the likes of Osunlade, Kerri Chandler, Alix Alvarez, Barbara Tucker, Wamdue Project, Blaze, Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire, and many more. All vinyl, all mixed live. No edits, no bullshit. Back 2 Basics. Part 2.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE

Like We Always Do At This Time...

The Kanye West album is good. Really, really good. In fact, I would go so far as to say it's one of the best, most cohesive Hip Hop albums I have heard in a long time. Since my boy Mike AKA BONEZ (props!) hooked me up with the ill-virtual-back-ass-of-Canal-Street internet leak yesterday I have listened to the whole record start to finish at least 3 or 4 times. It is a joint meant to be experienced as a whole, and it is enjoyable start to finish. There might be a track or two that doesn't quite stand up to the best of the rest, but everything is fully bumpable. The songwriting is fully realized, and the guest appearances (Mos Def, Coldplay's Chris Martin, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Dwele, DJ Premier) are interesting without being overwhelming or distracting. As far as comparisons go, the first thing that comes to mind is Dr. Dre's "Chronic 2001,"--another record that really sticks together and stands up as a whole. Kanye's production is slick as ice with soulful grooves interlaced with grand synths and string sections. His lyrics are honest and straight to the point. This album should go down as an instant classic. And without further ado, your boy White Label gots the exclusive hookup fa yo ass. I'm not gonna post the whole album, I'll leave that to you and google, [newb], but of course I gotta drop a couple exclusives CUZ THAT'S HOW WE DO THINGS. FALL BACK!!!

DOWNLOAD KANYE WEST FEAT. T-PAIN--THE GOOD LIFE

DOWNLOAD KANYE WEST FEAT. DWELE--FLASHING LIGHTS

DOWNLOAD KANYE WEST FEAT. DJ PREMIER--EVERYTHING I AM

DOWNLOAD KANYE WEST FEAT. CHRIS MARTIN--HOMECOMING

PS--If you are new to this site, please bookmark and check back on the regular for all kinds of hot shit. Also, feel free to leave comments!

"Live From HeadQcourterz," Rest In Peace

This sucks... apparently the RIAA has cracked down on DJ Premier's podcast for broadcasting copywrited material. Please. The RIAA has its head so far up its own ass it can't see the light that is Primo. His show on Sirius is all about exposing new artists and breaking new shit. The bit rate of the podcast isn't amazing and it's not like he's giving away individual mp3's. He's simply archiving his own radio show. Apparently there was beef with Sirius as well. It all comes down to the $$$. Anyway, it's a real shame for those of us who don't have satellite radio and enjoyed rockin that DJ Premier show on our iPods all week long. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the RIAA and Hot 97 (Emmis Communications) don't shut down Peter Rosenberg's podcast. His show is on so damn late that half his listeners probably check it out on the web after the fact. Shouts to Premier, Big Shug, and Primo's Advocate, the dude who was apparently running the podcast site. Here's the official word:

IMPORTANT SITE NEWS (ALL FANS & SUPPORTERS PLEASE READ!!!)

The Good Life

For all you underprvileged kids out there without HBO, here's a clip of Kanye's cameo on last night's episode of Entourage.

The closing credits feature a teaser of "The Good Life," the upcoming 3rd single off of "Graduation." No doubt we'll be hearing a lot of this tune over the next few months, featuring R&B collabo-king T-Pain.

On another note, my boys THE BAD NEWS just dropped a mixtape featuring a joint also called "The Good Life," produced by YOURS TRULY.

NOTE: NickName of Bad News fame brought this to my attention yesterday...I thought that the Kanye and Bad News joints by the same title were a matter of pure coincidence. Nick, however, was salty over the fact that the Bad News performed this song when they opened up for Lupe Fiasco last May. Could Lupe have put his boy Kanye onto this lyrical concept to make his next zillion-selling hit? Who knows...unfortunately there's no way to say. You be the judge.

DOWNLOAD THE BAD NEWS--THE GOOD LIFE

"It's 98.7... Kiss... Club Classics"

Fresh from the decks to your ears, I've got some tasty treats for you today. These two gems come from one of the finest compilations in my collection: "98.7 Kiss FM Presents Shep Pettibone's Mastermixes," circa 1982 on Prelude Records. The back of the 12" jacket reads:

Dear Kiss Listener:

Mastermixes helped make Kiss-FM New York's MORE MUSIC LEADER and your response to them over the past 12 months has been overwhelming.

Everyday, we hear from more and more of you requesting copies for your own record collections. Now, for the first time, we're making them available to you as a way of saying thanks for your support.

Kiss-FM and Prelude Records are proud to present a collection of the best mastermixes, produced exclusively for Kiss-FM by Shep Pettibone, including some you've never heard before! You've asked for them and now you've got them in one fantastic package-enjoy!

For the latest in commercial-free mastermixes and much, much more, keep listening to 98.7 Kiss-FM--NOBODY GIVES MORE MUSIC!

Good Listening,
THE KISS JOCKS

For those of you who don't know, Kiss has been holding it down for decades as a mainstream FM radio pioneer of underground dance and urban music. Over the years, its on-air staff has included the likes of Kool DJ Red Alert, Chuck Chillout, The Latin Rascals, Isaac Hayes, Grandmaster Flash, and Timmy Regisford. Guest DJ's such as Kerri Chandler and Lil' Louie Vega have graced the airwaves, while Darryl James and Ruben Toro are still doin' their thing with the Midnight Mix and Kiss Club Classics, respectively, to this very day. Say what you will about commercial radio, but New Yorkers are certainly blessed with the finest selection of underground heavyweights mixing the late-night soundtrack of the weekend.

As for the tracks from the Mastermix compilation, the first is Canadian vocalist France Joli's classic, "Gonna Get Over You." The bassline, breaks, and dreamy piano solo are simply untouchable. It may be common practice today, but Shep Pettibone was one of the first dudes to include multiple remixes of the same tune on one single. He mastered the art of tape splicing, and the creation of flange and dub effects, as heard on his mastermix of "Gonna Get Over You." What starts out as a normal vocal track gets flipped into a dub for the last few minutes of the record. It almost sounds to me as if Pettibone simply made a recording of himself DJing with two copies of the original vinyl. At some points it seems as if you can hear two records phasing with each other playing in unison, and beats doubling up and echoing in others--CHUNKY! How exactly this mix was produced back in the days before Protools, I don't know, but I do know that it's awesome.

The second joint is called "Come Let Me Love You," by Jeanette "Lady" Day. As I took a closer look at the 12", I noticed an *asterisk* next to the title. Turns out that means this one wasn't mixed by Pettibone, but by the legendary Francois Kevorkian! Damn...vintage Francois K from 1982 and it still sounds so fresh. The whistles and drum breaks on this track are crazy and obviously I'm not the only one who thinks so. The astute listener should recognize some cowbell samples from "Hey Ladies" by the Beastie Boys, off of their 1989 masterpiece, Paul's Boutique.

Anyway, enjoy these jams and pay homage to classic NY radio at its best.

DOWNLOAD FRANCE JOLI--"GONNA GET OVER YOU" (SHEP PETTIBONE MIX)

DOWNLOAD JEANETTE "LADY" DAY--"COME LET ME LOVE YOU" (FRANCOIS K MIX)

Block Party Classics MiniMix

In honor of the extremely hot weather here in Brooklyn, let's take it back to the block. BBQ's, local DJ's, fire hydrant-sprinklers, slip-n-slide. All that shit. Here's a collection of 12 summer-time jams packed into 9 minutes of mixing. PS, I've switched over to zShare for file hosting since it lets the listener preview an mp3 in streaming Quicktime before downloading. Enjoy.

TRACKLISTING:

1. BDP--You Must Learn Live From Caucus Mountain Remix
2. Sweet G--Games People Play
3. Barkays--Night Crusin'
4. Legend--Whip Your Hips
5. Armand Van Helden feat. Common--Full Moon
6. Queen--Another One Bites the Dust
7. Sugar Hill Gang--Hot Hot Summer Day
8. Sweet G--Rap Your Heart Out
9. Jay-Z--So Ghetto
10. Chubb Rock, Jeru the Damaja, O.C.--Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers
11. Nas--Nas Is Like
12. Snoop Dogg--Next Episode Exclusive White Label Blend

DOWNLOAD

Diggin...Part 1

Peep this incredible jazzy summertime jam by Q-Tip from his 1999 album, "Amplified." This track is produced by none other than the late great J Dilla. The video isn't amazing but man, what a record. "Let's Ride" features a tiny snippet of the ubiquitous "UFO" break by ESG and subtle drum sampling from "The Humpty Dump" by The Vibrettes (video below).




The guitar lick comes from the Joe Pass version of John Coltrane's classic tune from 1960, "Giant Steps." I don't have the mp3, but you can listen to the track in its entirety RIGHT HERE ON RHAPSODY
The sample used in "Let's Ride" is right around the 3 minute mark. Enjoy.

Hip Hop Went Pop

On the heels of posting up the Coolie High video below I thought of this t-shirt I came across at the Reed Space the other day. It's already a bit of a cliché to bitch and moan about why most commercial Hip Hop sucks these days and why a record like Coolie High would never come out in 2007. So...I'm not gonna even go down that road and we'll just let this clever t-shirt (by Nightvision) speak for itself. It seems to be sold out in online retail outlets so get your ass down to the Lower East Side and cop one.

Heavy 90's!!

This Camp Lo classic is helping me get through an incredibly boring and early morning of jury duty selection in Brooklyn. Enjoy. "Let me see ya istols in the air--word life."

Big Brother Is Watching You

Whatup New York. Get ready for license plate readers and 3,000 new surveillance cameras...and that's just below Canal Street. Apparently 71% of surveyed Americans support this measure. Here's an idea of who does and who doesn't:

"Seniors are most apt to support the increased use of these cameras, with under-30s, least so; Republicans more than Democrats; women more than men; higher educated people more than the less educated; and whites more than African-Americans."

FULL ARTICLE

Kanyeezy You Did It Again

"Zach Galifianakis (top) and Will Oldham (ghost riding the whip)."

From New York Magazine:
"For his new clip for the single "Can't Tell Me Nothing," Kanye West tapped the talents of famed lip-syncer Zach Galifianakis, along with those of noted choreographer Will Oldham (a.k.a. Bonnie "Prince" Billy), to create what will surely go down in history as the greatest rap video ever to be filmed on a farm in rural North Carolina."

Props to Matt K for putting me onto this ridiculous video parody of the Kanye West joint, "Can't Tell Me Nothing." ENJOY HERE.

White Label Radio

A couple years ago I had the ill college radio mix show on Tufts University's WMFO up in the Boston area. I used to always open with an instrumental loop of THIS TRACK RIGHT HERE so I thought it was only fitting to throw it up on the first day of my blog's existence.

Here's a vintage episode of "In the Mix With DJ White Label." Totally unplanned, unscripted, uncensored college radio rawness. DOWNLOAD

The Siiiiimpsoonnnnnss....

Definitely catch me at the Simpsons Movie opening tonight at midnight. To be honest I'm pretty nervous about this movie. You know it's gonna either be shit or an all-time classic. Keeping my fingers crossed...

CUSTOMIZED BART FIGURES

Doom Dunk

My brother put me on to these this morning. Good luck getting your hands on them. Props to HYPEBEAST

"Delivery Service and Trow Tuck Company"

Peep this NORE video that basically gives you a 4 minute summary of the visually appealing but ultimately-too-drawn-out documentary "Cocaine Cowboys." The Jan Hammer sample used for this beat is a recurring musical motif throughout the film and makes a dope loop. HERE'S WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING ABOUT "COCAINE COWBOYS." Be on the lookout for Part 2.

Liftoff

WARNING, WARNING, WHITE LABEL IS IN THE BUILDING. (Actually I guess I'm outside the building in that photo...whatever.) Yes indeed, welcome ladies and gentlemen to the white label audio blog. Not much to say so I'm just gonna show you how thorough we keep it around here with a brand new mix of classic records called "Back 2 Basics." That's right, vinyl records. In the words of Funkmaster Flex, "the CDJ and the Serrato are on vacation tonight." Without further ado, here comes the brand new flava in ya ear with the most detailed tracklisting I could manage.

1. Third World--Now That We Found Love (1978, Island)
2. Patrice Rushen--Haven't You Heard (1979, Elektra)
3. Hardrive ("Little" Louie Vega)--Deep Inside The Dub (1993, Strictly Rhythm)
4. Georgie Porgie--All Because of Me The Sub-Urban Mix (1993, Vibe Music)
5. Rock Master Scott & The Dynamic Three--The Roof Is On Fire (1984, Reality Records)
6. M.A.R.R.S.--Pump Up The Volume (1987, 4AD)
7. Shock--Weekend Zound of Two Re-Mix (1995, Strictly Rhythm)
8. Secret Secret--We Came to Jack (1988, BCM Records)
9. Nomad--(I Wanna Give You) Devotion The Joey Negro Mix (1991, Rumour Records)
10. Ten City--Devotion UK Mix (1989, Atlantic)
11. Fingers, Inc.--Mystery (????, Impossible)
12. Jovonn--Need, Want, Got 2 Have (1992, Emotive Records)
13. Black Rascals feat. Cassio Ware--So In Love Shelter Dub (1993, Polar Records)
14. Lou2--Freaky The "Bar Heads" Mix (1995, Strictly Rhythm)
15. Blaze--Whatcha Gonna Do (1986, Quark Records)
16. The Evasions--All Wrapped Up (1981, SAM Records)
17. Adeva--Respect No Respect Dub (1988, Chrysalis Records)
18. Nuyorican Soul--The Nervous Track (1993, Nervous Records)

DOWNLOAD