Motéma debut from NYC -based, Moroccan-born vocalist and co ... Read more

Motéma debut from NYC -based, Moroccan-born vocalist and composerMalika Zarra is rich in rhythm, melody, and culture. The sensual,multilingual, and supremely sophisticated Zarra weaves North African chaâbiand Berber/Gnawa polyrhythms together with New York-style groove jazz intoa luxurious sound that showcases her seductive voice and imaginative lyrics. CNN International featured Zarra on their African Voices program, callingher Morocco s Jazz Jewel. Previous self-released CD, The Ebony Road, sold over 2,000 units andgained international media attention. Minimize

Motéma debut from NYC -based, Moroccan-born vocalist and co ... Read more

Motéma debut from NYC -based, Moroccan-born vocalist and composerMalika Zarra is rich in rhythm, melody, and culture. The sensual,multilingual, and supremely sophisticated Zarra weaves North African chaâbiand Berber/Gnawa polyrhythms together with New York-style groove jazz intoa luxurious sound that showcases her seductive voice and imaginative lyrics. CNN International featured Zarra on their African Voices program, callingher Morocco s Jazz Jewel. Previous self-released CD, The Ebony Road, sold over 2,000 units andgained international media attention. Minimize

The Kabyles, an Algerian Berber people representing one of ... Read more

The Kabyles, an Algerian Berber people representing one of the oldest Northwestern African civilizations, hold poetry and music in high esteem. The music presented here is used in celebration of a marriage feast and the religious holiday Aid-Amezziane. The songs mourn poverty, misfortune and unrequited love, while always maintaining a sense of pride. Instrumentation includes the ajouag (shepherd's flute), cornemuse (similar to the bagpipes), ghaita (a double reed instrument similar to the oboe), t'bel (tambourine) and bendir (frame drum) as well as more recent additions to the instrumental assortment: the violin, guitar and banjo. Minimize

The Kabyles, an Algerian Berber people representing one of ... Read more

The Kabyles, an Algerian Berber people representing one of the oldest Northwestern African civilizations, hold poetry and music in high esteem. The music presented here is used in celebration of a marriage feast and the religious holiday Aid-Amezziane. The songs mourn poverty, misfortune and unrequited love, while always maintaining a sense of pride. Instrumentation includes the ajouag (shepherd's flute), cornemuse (similar to the bagpipes), ghaita (a double reed instrument similar to the oboe), t'bel (tambourine) and bendir (frame drum) as well as more recent additions to the instrumental assortment: the violin, guitar and banjo. Minimize

Orchestral and choral arrangements of rock songs have been ... Read more

Orchestral and choral arrangements of rock songs have been a curious subgenre ever since the mid-'60s when Andrew Loog Oldham arranged The Rolling Stones Songbook for syrupy strings, but The Kinks Choral Collection stands apart from the pack for the simple reason that it's not the project of some associate or admirer, but rather chief Kink Ray Davies. His very presence as arranger and lead vocal means The Kinks Choral Collection isn't nearly as stuffy and middlebrow as so many of these orchestral rock albums; he manages to inject some semblance of rock & roll by pushing the songs forward with guitar, and letting the rhythms swing instead of plod. This looseness is the first big surprise of the album. The second is its unrepentant but quite possibly accidental silliness, how many of the major guitar riffs are transposed for choir, an audacious idea in concept that's simply goofy in practice. These choral chants hamper the hardest rocking songs here -- "You Really Got Me," "All Day and All of the Night," "Victo Minimize

Techno isn't a genre that has birthed many classic albums, ... Read more

Techno isn't a genre that has birthed many classic albums, and the dub techno subgenre even less so, but one indisputable classic is Porter Ricks' debut Biokinetics. Originally issued on the legendary Basic Channel sub-label Chain Reaction in 1996 following a trio of 12"s, Biokinetics was the first of the label's album releases, and still stands as its crowning achievement. The duo was made up of dark ambient pioneer Thomas K"ner and sound engineer Andy Mellwig, and between them they re-framed the techno sound, imbuing the spacious ambience pioneered by label bosses Mark Ernestus and Moritz Von Oswald with a frosty, isolated experimental bent, and combining it with the sort of haunted minimalism of early Plastikman. What separated Biokinetics from other albums at the time was its unwavering narrative -- the exact sound has been interpreted countless times since, but the immersive qualities of this singular record have rarely been touched. Maybe it is down to the silvery underwater concept that ties each track together -- the bubbling pads, sub-aquatic basses and muffled kick drums. But as with any great album, it's hard to exactly put your finger on what makes it a classic. Simply put, Biokinetics is one of the most important records in the genre, and it is Type's pleasure to make it available to the world once again. Features new artwork. Minimize

It's no surprise that the city of Bristol should be a hotbe ... Read more

It's no surprise that the city of Bristol should be a hotbed of activity surrounding the U.K.'s most recent electronic music subgenre, the bass-heavy dubstep. After all, Bristol was also Ground Zero for trip-hop in the '90s, home to Massive Attack, Tricky, and Portishead. This two-CD set compiles many, if not most, of the notable tracks of the past few years, the majority of which combine pumping rhythms (slower than drum'n'bass, faster than hip-hop) with oozing low-end synths and minimal, if any, vocals. A lot of dubstep tries too hard to be scary, with sampled dialogue from horror movies and synths that aspire to be John Carpenter movie soundtracks, but most of what's included here is by artists including Pinch, Appleblim, and Peverelist, as well as Smith & Mighty, whose dancehall-derived work from an earlier generation greatly informs much of what's heard today. The latter's contribution, "B Line B Flo," is much more of a dancehall/drum'n'bass workout than the humming, throbbing instrumentals that make up Minimize

Arguably no subgenre is more clearly defined, almost to the ... Read more

Arguably no subgenre is more clearly defined, almost to the point of cliché, than surf rock, a virtual soundtrack to southern California beach culture that identifies itself within one or two notes of the reverb-soaked guitars of the Ventures and Dick Dale. But surf culture extends far beyond the California coast, and so too does surf music -- Harmless' superb Chairman of the Board: Surf Soundtracks '64 to '74 assembles highlights from the myriad independent surf films produced in the U.S. and Australia in the wake of director Bruce Brown's landmark The Endless Summer, capturing the music's evolution into heavier, more psychedelic sounds attuned to the mystical communion between man and wave. Fascinating, little-heard stuff far removed from "Pipeline" or "Walk, Don't Run" -- highlights include Farm's "Crumple Car," Ticket's "Dream Chant," and Tamam Shud's "Evolution." ~ Jason Ankeny Minimize

Personnel: Obie Flett (vocals); Derek DeRoos (guitar); Dan ... Read more

Personnel: Obie Flett (vocals); Derek DeRoos (guitar); Dan Osborn (drums).Audio Mixer: Samur Khouja.Recording information: Seahorse Sound (02/2010-03/2010).This is brutal death metal. The sonic trademarks of that subgenre are more or less as follows: blasting drums, post-Cannibal Corpse downtuned riffing with plenty of high-pitched squeals as accent marks, mostly inaudible bass that registers as a rumble around the edges of the mix, and totally incomprehensible vocals that sound like they're coming from the drain of a badly malfunctioning toilet. Inherit Disease touch all the bases, but they do it extremely well, lifting themselves out of the herd in the process. Drummer Dan Osborn is particularly noteworthy, as his ringing snare sound and relatively light touch bring him in line with great metal players like Lamb of God's Chris Adler or Napalm Death's Danny Herrera. Guitarist Derek De Roos is capable of great speed and precise articulation, while still maintaining an essential humanity which players of more Minimize

Hassane Idbassaid was born in Tiznit, in the south of Moroc ... Read more

Hassane Idbassaid was born in Tiznit, in the south of Morocco in 1973. His childhood is influenced by Berber music and the sound of the traditional instruments. It s the history of a young man who made his own instrument when he was nine years old, and created his first band at eleven. At 18 years old, he is inspired by a lot of melodies, modern and old ones. Ibdassaid has listened to the music of the entire world, from India to Occident. He loves to mix up old instruments with the new ones. He plays with the greatest names of Berber music and he starts composing his own melodies taking inspiration from Hadj Belaïd, Ahmed Amentague and Saïd Achtouk, whom he pays tributes to in three albums. In 1985, he takes a flight to Paris to join his father. He discovers the lights of this big city, full of clubs, bars, musicians...and adopts this town in his heart. He meets Ammouri M Barek, a Mythic character of the Berber Music , who gives him inspiration. Together they will be touring in several european countries. Idbassaid has released fifteen albums so far, all produced and distributed in Morocco and worldwide (Japan, Europe, USA, and Canada). His new album Chahwa is influenced by Berber music but also modern sound, all titles are original and sung in tamazight (berber language) except one song in French, Paris . Minimize

California's Horse the Band debuted in 2003 with R. Borlax, ... Read more

California's Horse the Band debuted in 2003 with R. Borlax, a noisy but undoubtedly leading light in the burgeoning post-hardcore subgenre of Nintendocore. They returned in 2005 with Mechanical Hand, which was produced by Matt Bayles (Isis, Norma Jean) and released through Combat Records. The band proved much tighter a unit, incorporating skewed melodies and real dynamics into their freaky sonic stew. Besides the nods to recognizable structure, Horse the Band were still mostly enamored of screamo breaks, unpredictable rhythms, locust-like philosophy on the microphone, and blasts of squelch that were unrecognizable but badass. A Natural Death is a new frontier for HTB. Produced by Bob Ezrin's in-house engineer Brian Virtue, the album is already getting heaps of praise in the press as the band gets ready to hit the road. Minimize

Techno isn't a genre that has birthed many classic albums, ... Read more

Techno isn't a genre that has birthed many classic albums, and the dub techno subgenre even less so, but one indisputable classic is Porter Ricks' debut Biokinetics. Originally issued on the legendary Basic Channel sub-label Chain Reaction in 1996 following a trio of 12"s, Biokinetics was the first of the label's album releases, and still stands as its crowning achievement. The duo was made up of dark ambient pioneer Thomas K"ner and sound engineer Andy Mellwig, and between them they re-framed the techno sound, imbuing the spacious ambience pioneered by label bosses Mark Ernestus and Moritz Von Oswald with a frosty, isolated experimental bent, and combining it with the sort of haunted minimalism of early Plastikman. What separated Biokinetics from other albums at the time was its unwavering narrative -- the exact sound has been interpreted countless times since, but the immersive qualities of this singular record have rarely been touched. Maybe it is down to the silvery underwater concept that ties each track together -- the bubbling pads, sub-aquatic basses and muffled kick drums. But as with any great album, it's hard to exactly put your finger on what makes it a classic. Simply put, Biokinetics is one of the most important records in the genre, and it is Type's pleasure to make it available to the world once again. Features new artwork. Minimize

Personnel: Erlend Hjelvik (vocals); Bjarte Lund Rolland, Ma ... Read more

Personnel: Erlend Hjelvik (vocals); Bjarte Lund Rolland, Maciek Ofstad, Vidar Landa (guitar); Kjetil H. Gjermundrod (drums).Audio Mixer: Kurt Ballou.Recording information: GodCity (02/2010-03/2010).Just when you think every possible rock & roll subgenre has already been mixed, matched, and spliced with every other available subgenre beyond any conceivable alternative, along comes a band like Kvelertak to set you straight. The Norwegian sextet's eponymous debut essentially weds punk rock to black metal, taking the straightforward power chords and infectious simplicity of the former and dashing its brains against the petrified forest symbolizing the latter's remorseless attack and harsh vocals (all of them spewing Norwegian lyrics, to boot). The resulting hybrid, as exemplified by thunderous ditties like "Mjod," "Fossegrim," "Offernatt," and "Sultans of Satan," simultaneously encourages listeners to pogo around the room (sh*t-eating grins permanently plastered on their faces) and slaughter a goat to Belial (in Minimize

There's no doubt that King Tubby was the dub master. He sta ... Read more

There's no doubt that King Tubby was the dub master. He started the whole subgenre, and while others took it to places he hadn't imagined, his own take was quite electrifying, most especially his early, most experimental work. Although it's never clarified in the sleeve notes, this seems to be somewhat later (given the fact that the music is played by the Aggrovators and Sly & Robbie), and while some tracks, such as "Do the Dub Skank," sparkle, a lot seem somewhat by-the-numbers, heavy on the echo but a little low on the creativity. For all that it's not his best inventive work, it's still perfectly listenable; it simply doesn't capture and demand attention the way his best work does, jumping out of the speakers the way it did when brand new. At some point someone will put together the definitive King Tubby anthology, and maybe a couple of these tracks will make the cut. Until then, gather what you can -- none of it's bad, just different grades of good. -All Music Guide Minimize

18 huge hits from the biggest names in crunkdom just in tim ... Read more

18 huge hits from the biggest names in crunkdom just in time for the holidays. With Lil Jon, Ying Yang Twins and Pitbull among their artist roster, TVT Records have been the hottest label in this rap subgenre for some time. This is their third and biggest crunk collection to date and the track list really says it all: Usher feat. Lil Jon & Ludacris "Yeah!", Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz feat. Ying Yang Twins, "Get Low", T.I. "Rubber Band Man", Chingy " Right Thurr", Ciara feat. Petey Pablo "Goodies", Trick Daddy feat. Twista & Lil Jon "Let’s Go", Nelly feat. Jazze Pha "Na-Nana-Na", Pastor Troy feat. Ms Jade "Are We Cuttin’", plus Ying Yang Twins, Youngbloodz, Three Six Mafia, Lil’ Flip, Juvenile, Killer Mike, Pitbull, Khia, 8Ball and MJG, etc. Not to mention all the guest shots on those tracks! Get this, crank the stereo and you've got an instant party! Minimize

All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shippin ... Read more

All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed. Minimize