Archives for posts with tag: Hudson Mohawke

Drake – Nothing Was The Same

2013/10/25 //

I connected strongly with Take Care, and recently I started listening to Nothing Was The Same from start to finish. This album, and Drake in general seem comfortable in their own skin. Its got remarkable atmosphere, a solid range of intensity throughout the tracklist and a confident attitude. The execution of melody, song structure and sonic quality are precise, representing greatness in my eyes.

Drake told XXL, “Take Care was about connecting with my city and connecting with my past and sort of still feeling guilty that I’m not in love with one of these girls that cared about me from back in the day. Now, I’m 26, I’m with my friends, I’m making jobs for people, I’m making memories for people that will last a lifetime. I don’t need to be in love right now. I don’t need these things that I maybe once thought that I needed to feel normal and feel righteous about myself. I think for the first time in an album I’m content—not satisfied—but proud of where I’m at as a person.”

I can feel that Drake believes in himself, and I like the way he encourages his crew and city of Toronto.

Production on the album was handled mainly by Noah “40” Shebib with additional support from Hudson Mohawke, Nineteen85, Jake One, Mike Zombie, Detail, DJ Dahi, Chilly Gonzales, Majid Jordan, Boi-1da, Allen Ritter, Sampha, Jordan Evans, and the man himself, Drake.

My other favorite tracks from NWTS are “Furthest Thing”, “From Time (Feat. Jhene Aiko)”, “Wu-Tang Forever” and “Connect”.

I should take notes from Drake. I like how he has fully embraced his role as an artist. In his mind like with all of us, there are pieces missing, voids to be filled, but the choice of what to focus on is ours. Appreciate where you are, and utilize your position to its fullest potential.

Drake turned 27 yesterday, October 24th 2013.

octobersveryown.com

– Jimi Jaxon

Tags Allen Ritter, Boi-1da, Canada, CBC Q, Chilly Gonzales, Detail, DJ Dahi, Drake, Hip Hop, Hudson Mohawke, Jake One, Jian Ghomeshi, Jordan Evans, Key Wane, Majid Jordan, Mike Zombie, Nineteen85, Noah "40" Shebib, Nothing Was The Same, Octobers Very Own, Rap, Sampha, Soundscapes, Take Care, Toronto, XXL

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Kanye West’s “Yeezus” Shatters The Glass Ceiling

2013/06/19 //

What’s so impressive about the latest from Kanye West to me, along with Daft Punk’s newest, is their ability to take expectations and rip them to shreds. These people do not owe us anything. They have changed the way this world looks and sounds. They have built their careers around following their own gut, and there’s no way that’s about to change. Yeezus and Random Access Memories sound very different, but the mindset is the same; trust yourself.

I knew when I heard Kanye West perform “Black Skinhead” on SNL, this was the track Daft Punk was talking about. In their cover feature for Rolling Stone they said,

“We had a combination of live drums and programmed drums going..And Kanye was rapping over it.”

“Not even rapping, more like screaming in this very primal way..”

“He’s radical in the choices he makes..He doesn’t give a fuck.”

Daft Punk also said via Mixmag, “”When the first 15-second snippet of ‘Get Lucky’ came out, Kanye came to our studio in Paris and we worked on loads of different ideas together. We’re not sure how many tracks we will have on [his new, forthcoming] album yet.” A look at the credits for Yeezus show that Daft Punk contributed to 4 tracks; “On Sight”, “Black Skinhead”, “I Am A God (Feat. God)” and “Send It Up”. Another artist with his fingerprints on Kanye West’s new masterpiece is Hudson Mohawke. He’s credited on “I Am A God (Feat. God)”, “New Slaves” and “Blood On The Leaves”. There are some more intriguing artists who’ve worked on this new record including Gesaffelstein, Brodinski, Frank Ocean and Lunice. But all these wonderful people aside, this is Kanye West’s vision. It is raw, it is angry and it is not afraid.

In an exclusive interview with The New York Times, Kanye West had a few things to say about Yeezus. He describes it as “visceral, tribal” and when asked if he still feels like an outsider fighting his way in he responds, “No, I don’t think I feel like that anymore. I feel like I don’t want to be inside anymore. Like, I uninvited myself.”

He concludes the interview by saying, “I think that’s a responsibility that I have, to push possibilities, to show people: “This is the level that things could be at.” So when you get something that has the name Kanye West on it, it’s supposed to be pushing the furthest possibilities. I will be the leader of a company that ends up being worth billions of dollars, because I got the answers. I understand culture. I am the nucleus.”

Amen.

Kanye West – Twitter

kanyewest.com

– Jimi Jaxon

Tags Brodinski, Daft Punk, Frank Ocean, Gesaffelstein, Hudson Mohawke, Kanye West, Lunice, Mixmag, Rolling Stone, SNL, The New York Times, Ye, Yeezus

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TNGHT

2012/07/25 //

All I can say about this release is..DAMN. Enjoy a more in-depth analysis of the TNGHT EP via Live For The Funk, and head over to Pitchfork for an interview with Hudson Mohawke and Lunice; the duo behind these glorious hip-hop experiments. I’ve included TNGHT’s recent mix for BBC Radio 1Xtra’s “Diplo and Friends”. Warning, this set is not for the timid. It’s drugged up hood shit with more reverse bleep outs than you can shake a stick at.

– Jimi Jaxon

Tags Hudson Mohawke, Live For The Funk, Lunice, Pitchfork, TNGHT, Warp

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Jamie Woon – Mirrorwriting

2012/05/20 //

The above video for “Night Air” by Jamie Woon is a stunning presentation, capturing the essence of the song with ease. This was the first track I heard from Jamie, and as I’ve heard more tracks from his Mirrorwriting album, I’m thoroughly inspired. The soul of this artist feels as deep as the ocean. There was a time when Burial was set to produce this lp, but that didn’t work out. Burial as well as Ramadanman have influenced Jamie Woon, for their production mastery and ability to “..take a moment and make it linger”, as worded by The Guardian for their Woon feature. The song, “Spirits” reminds me of “The Lion King” every time, animals walking around all proud and epic-like. Also, the superb Hudson Mohawke remix of “Lady Luck” pops into my head often, such a rad, creepy rework.