Company Flow To Record Again?

Has anyone else heard about El-p, Mr. Len and Bigg Jus recording again? Link

New York-based hip-hop label Definitive Jux has acquired the masters of Company Flow's 1997 album "Funcrusher Plus," originally released on Rawkus. With its minimalist atmosopherics and left-wing politics, the group -- founded by producer El-P, Bigg Jus and DJ Mr. Len -- is considered one of the more defining acts for underground hip-hop.Def Jux is in the process of readying a 10th anniversary reissue of "Funcrusher," complete with a bonus DVD of Company Flow's final show. If all goes as planned, the album should be out by the end of 2006, but Def Jux COO Ameachi Uziogwe tells Billboard.com the act may record some new material for the release, making early 2007 may a more likely target date.

Shavo Odadjian + GZA To Do An Album

This interview with System Of A Down's bassist, Shavo Odadjian, pretty much confirms the rumours regarding the album with the GZA. Lets hope it pans out. Link

What have you done with them? I did three songs on the new record. We have future projects. I'm working with the GZA to do a record. We're going to put a record together. I'll bring in Meth (Method Man) and RZA. It's an album. It's a story that GZA is writing, and I'm writing all the music to it. Each song's going to be a chapter. We're working on it separately. But right now--when this tour ends--I'm going to go and we're going to work in the studio. How did you meet the Wu-Tang Clan? I've been a huge fan ever since I can remember, when RZA used to be Prince Rakeem. What happened was we got offered to be on this compilation for Loud Records. They asked us to either pick a Mobb Deep song or a Wu-Tang song. I really wanted to do it, and the band was just, "We don't do rap." I said, "I know we don't but we can do it System style. Let's do a Wu-Tang song. It would be cool to do for me." We decided to do "Shame on a Nigga," which, with four white-looking dudes, we did it and I was kind of leery of yelling the word "Nigga." I was friends with Method Man because we toured together and we became friends after the tour. I was at a Method show, I saw RZA there, and I said this is what we did. He said, "Well, I've heard it." He said it's good. I said, "Can you be on it please?" He said "It's good the way it is, but I will if you want me to." A week later, we go in the studio, and I met all of them. We did the "Shame" song, and I guess I got some [phone] numbers. We've been contacting each other ever since. Right before this tour started, they were in L.A., RZA called me and said, "I'm in L.A. come hang out and we're doing a new record." I went the first day and they were like, "Do you want to play on this thing?" I went home, got a bass for the next day. I went in again and we recorded until 7 a.m. And, man, RZA was really cool. We jammed, really. Then GZA asked if I wanted to do a record and I said, "Hell, yeah." If you asked me a year ago or two years ago, who would be my dream lyricist to work with, I'd say probably GZA because I'd say he's amazing. He's not just a rapper. When everybody's hanging out smoking weed, he's reading the dictionary. They don't call him the genius for no reason. I'm looking forward to it.

[Audio] Jack Kerouac Readings

Escrito En El Agua, the mp3 blog that sh*ts all over the RIAA, put up a Kerouac post a few days ago. Follow the links to reach a directory of audio with different people reading his pieces but make sure to also follow the second link which includes audio of Kerouac himself. Link, official site

MF GRIMM Declares War

MF GRIMM declares war. Not sure when this track was put up but does it matter? Dope. DOWNLOAD MF GRIMM - STREET GENERAL via free tacoma

Extensive Interview With ESP DISK Founder Bernard Stollman

Extensive new interview with ESP founder, Bernard Stollman. If you're into Jazz and want to read about the development of the now famous label and its historic roster, check it out. Link

Reanimator Is The Motherf*ckin' Man, Buy His Beats While You Can Still Afford Them

Good looks to Diggin' Music for shouting us out recently and, more importantly, giving some shine to Reanimator's wonderful record - Music To Slit Wrists By. As discussed in the post the record was originally available in very limited quantities sometime circa 2003. We landed a copy after orchestrating a successful manhunt to catch the omnipresent yet eternally elusive Reanimator. Once we listened to the record, and after renewing our prescriptions for Prozac, we decided other people should be exposed to the beautiful, subtle yet energetic misery we had experienced. So we pressed it up. Diggin' Music has posted two tracks from the album so go check those to get a taste for what you've been missing. You can also check Sage Francis'A Healthy Distrust album (on Epitaph) to hear a few tracks produced by Reanimator. Now, here's the really good and unbelievabe news. In order to fund his mission to [omitted for purposes of your own protection] Reanimator has put up 55 tracks (that's not a typo) for sale. Some have already been bought and are no longer available so get crackin'. Literally, go sell crack to buy these beats 'cause once more people figure out where Reanimator's been hiding, his beats will no longer be affordable for common working class type folks. Link to beats

Vincent Gallo Sells His Sperm And Other Goodies

He is one funny motherf*cker. He's been making headlines recently for putting up his sperm for sale on his website. Check out this other item he posted, Chris Squire's LP on 8 track. Link

Autographed by Vincent Gallo $200.00* Only One Available. This is Chris Squire's solo masterpiece LP "Fish Out Of Water" on 8 Track format (extremely rare). Vincent Gallo has been a huge Yes fan since he was a young kid, and Yes bassist Chris Squire has always been one of his idols. At the age of 13, Vincent began a highly sexual affair with a 19 year old Buffalo slut who had her own car. Unfortunately, the slut's car's only music source was an 8 Track tape player. Though Vincent, already huge, and already a huge record collector, was famous in Buffalo for making mixed tapes, they were all mixed on cassette and could not be played in the slut's car. During these crude sexual encounters Gallo was starved for music, something to distract him from her alcoholic breath. So Gallo went out and purchased a copy of his idol Chris Squire's new and latest solo recording "Fish out of Water" on 8 Track. With the over-aged drunken slut, Gallo performed every possible sexual act. Since he only owned a single 8 Track (the one being offered), technically these bizarre sexual encounters were all performed to this actual 8 Track. With some forensic work I'm sure some traces can be found of Gallo's sexual DNA. Though Gallo still loves to do it in a car, all of his high performance and luxury vehicles now have CD players. Thus, this rare chance and remarkable offering of Chris Squire's "Fish out of Water" on 8 Track tape. Autographed by Vincent Gallo. Hold Out Your Hand You By My Side Silently Falling (Part 1) Total Time: 10:27 Silently Falling (Part 2) Total Time: 10:15 Lucky Seven Safe (Canon Song (Part 1) Total Time: 10:53 SAFE (Canon Song) (Part 2) Total Time: 10:53 Domestic Shipping and Handling is $3.00 *International shipping charges and California Sales Tax billed separately.

New Waxpoetics Site

New Waxpoetics website looks sweet. They also made the popular Axelrod interview available, check it out. Link, previously: Waxpoetics Issue 14 + New Site Coming Soon

American Countercultural Hegemony: Parisians Are Down With Us?

Someone posted an op-ed piece from nytimes on our forum. In it the author voices his opinion about how the "hypermacho" gangsta-rap image being served by MTV networks and similar distribution channels is being embraced by troubled youth around the globe, but only to their detriment. Most notably he describes the "hip-hop" attitude and swagger that the rioters in Paris seem to be projecting.

American ghetto life, at least as portrayed in rap videos, now defines for the young, poor and disaffected what it means to be oppressed. Gangsta resistance is the most compelling model for how to rebel against that oppression. If you want to stand up and fight The Man, the Notorious B.I.G. shows the way. This is a reminder that for all the talk about American cultural hegemony, American countercultural hegemony has always been more powerful. America's rebellious countercultural heroes exert more influence around the world than the clean establishment images from Disney and McDonald's. This is our final insult to the anti-Americans; we define how to be anti-American, and the foreigners who attack us are reduced to borrowing our own clichés.

"Cordless" - Warner's All Digi Label

Interesting article on, supposedly, the first all digital music label being backed by a major. Warner Music, led by Edgar Bronfman Jr., is trying to figure out how to adapt and survive to its new environment. Of interest to all you heads of indies, besides an intimation into how vulnerable these major labels feel, is the opportunity to admire your accomplishments. You are usurping their power.You are making my wish come true by bringing them down to their knees. Link

Cordless Recordings is a bet that relatively inexpensive Internet distribution and marketing may give labels a cost-effective way to nurture bands over time, instead of spending as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars to record and market a first album. It's also an experiment with patience. The idea is to release short three-song clusters online every few months over the course of nearly two years, allowing musicians to grow artistically and build an audience, an approach that differs radically from betting everything on a single 12-song album.

Video Interview With Grandmaster Caz

Documentary filmmaker Lynn Lane recently posted a video interview with Grandmaster Caz that will be used for the upcoming issue of Skillz Dvd magazine. Link (www.CoalRiverPictures.com for more info)

The Kid's Block: Steve Rifkind And Trackmasters Play With Puppets

Just read an interesting news release about an educational program under development by Steve Rifkind, The Trackmasters and Jordan Zimmerman, an advertising mogul from Florida. It's basically a puppet show for kids but instead of the normal folk or rock music in the background, Tone and Poke will be supplying the beats. Actually, much props to Tone and Poke because it seems they were the real creative force behind the show and they also "conduct" the puppets, which I assume means they'll be directing or maybe even pulling the strings? Plus, how often do you hear about positive hip-hop content creation directed towards children? And seriously, if this gets the right backing (i.e. money for marketing), besides being an interesting approach to child entertainment it could potentially be a serious money maker. Link

Documentary: 80 Blocks From Tiffanys

New t-shirt by start up company Mighty Healthy reminds us The Warriors was just a movie. If you want the real deal, go watch the documentary filmed in the eighties seventies, 80 Blocks From Tiffanys (Damn it, now I have to buy the dvd). Link, nytimes mini review

Mighty Healthy point out that nothing about The Warriors is real. The gangs are fake, the names are made up, the geographical locations of the gangs is totally fabricated, the actors are just that-actors. The entire flick essentially has nothing to do with NYC gang history. You want to keep it real? Try the 1979 documentary “80 Blocks from Tiffany’s.” Real interviews with real gang members from the South, South Bronx. Made by Gary Weiss of SNL, the film mainly deals with the Savage Nomads and the Savage Skulls gangs.

Public Enemy Sons Record Labels And Distributors

Please read this short but wonderfully informative and balanced article on Public Enemy. Most significantly to us, the author describes the way PE is able to usurp the power of record labels and distributors by never selling it's publishing rights. I wish this was more in depth. Link (via boingboing)

Public Enemy remains defiantly cutting edge, not just in its music but, equally importantly, in its approach to distributing its songs to fans. Ever a proponent of self-determination, the group has done more than any band to bypass the big labels and make music as it sees fit. In the late 1990s, when fellow rapper Dr. Dre sued Napster for making his songs available for free, Public Enemy's Chuck D defended the renegade file-sharing service, arguing that the internet gives artists an unprecedented ability to subvert corporate control and connect directly with their fans. As a jab to PolyGram, Public Enemy's distributor at the time, the group released There's a Poison Goin' On over the internet and on zip drives, until the band was finally released from its contract. Emboldened by the success, they went on to form their own record label. They created Rapstation to showcase new hip-hop talent. And they built PublicEnemy.com into a highly trafficked website, where among other things, they make a cappella versions of their songs available and encourage fans to make remixes. Even more remarkable is the way Public Enemy has structured its distribution deals. Whereas many bands sell publishing rights to their record labels in exchange for an advance, Public Enemy grants its distributors a limited license. After a specified period, the rights revert back to the group. Add to the mix Chuck D's weekly talk show on the Air America radio network, his own channel on AOL Radio and the band's regular tours of Asia, Europe and the United States, and Public Enemy becomes a prime example of the success that follows from a properly executed do-it-yourself strategy. "You're damn right I have more control now," Chuck D told me in a phone interview the other day. "These times are better than any times I've ever been involved in in getting what I think out to the public."

The Symbionese Liberation Album (Third Sight)

Legendary turntablist D-Styles and master MC Roughneck Jihad have come together again to fracture your confidence with the Symbionese Liberation Album. The planned US release is for early 2006, but they're already on their way to Japan to kick off the tour. If you're in Tokyo on Friday make sure to hit up Japan's largest record store, DMR, for an instore appearance. And if you follow the links make sure to check for that anti-happy song, the intro is funny as hell and the beat is bananas....don't talk about my mama like that! greatestworldfamous.com download.com/thirdsight myspace.com/thirdsight