J. Dilla – Queen City Sounds and Art

Mikahl Anthony’s “Space Blue/Deep Ain’t It” is a Poignantly Poetic Meditation on World Weariness and Resilience Set to Cosmic Jazz, Blues and Psychedelic Soul

Mikahl Anthony, photo courtesy the artist

The applause the open Mikahl Anthony’s “Space Blue” give the song the air of an early 70s psychedelic soul/late night jazz lounge feel. Runs of keyboards burst and drift off into the cosmos and the vocals opine about the state of the world and the state of a relationship and the way those developments intersect. The track is two minutes seven seconds but Anthony seems to layer so many musical and thematic ideas into that small space with deft nods simultaneously to Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock and Dilla. It has a deeply introspective mood yet one that seems yearning for meaning and connection and a weariness with the way the world and life often are but aware that often one can’t make changes as quickly and as thoroughly as one would prefer. And thus the final line of the song “I sing the same old blues song” has a playfulness and resonance that hits like a complex truth expressed with a poetic poignant succinctness. Listen to “Space Blue” on Spotify.

Nikodimos’ “Driftwood” is a Dreamlike Journey to Soothe a Devastated Psyche

The melting, drifting rhythm at the beginning of Nikodimos’ “Driftwood” and the way it progresses organically and seemingly intuitively with the off beat emphasized gives the whole song a mysterious and dreamlike quality. Like the ghost of J Dilla stepping in to guide the structure and flow of a more ambient Flying Lotus song. The vocals all sit behind the percussion seemingly commenting on a relationship that one suddenly realizes has never been rooted in a mutually beneficial association but rather in which you can be discarded once your immediate usefulness has passed. The unmooring feeling of that flash of insight that casts you adrift in your heart and mind and free floating in a morass of confused emotion until your find your footing once again. The song captures that feeling so accurately it is vivid and striking in its informal structure and shifting tonal arrangements. Fans of the aforementioned artists and the retrofuturist dub of Gonjasufi will appreciate Nikodimos’ willingness to go off standard musical devices here. Listen to “Driftwood” on Spotify where you can also listen to the rest of the new Nikodimos album What Colour is the End? which released on October 26, 2023 via Berlin-based label XYZ123.

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V V Brown’s “Twisted” is a Neo Soul Song of Resistance to Cultural Appropriation and Commodification

V V Brown taps into a classic neo soul sound for “Twisted,” a thoughtful yet forceful examination of the ways a creative and social culture can be co-opted and exploited for profit without the people who make up the organic, human community of people in which that culture germinates benefiting directly. Brown’s voice sounds like its coming from another time and traveling through a hall of images and memories while a repeating phantom of processed vocals passes her by to a rhythm outside of the standard 4/4 time of pop music, rather, something more behind or ahead of that beat, dragging behind ever so slightly at times like a Dilla production. It altogether keeps you riveted on Brown’s commentary about the commodification of black and other indigenous cultures as something to fetishize and sell back to that community and to people who think that by buying in they’re participants. It’s a process as old as the model of colonialism and its endless trivializing the culture, spirituality, beliefs and art of the colonized so that it can be turned into yet another product. But in Brown’s words and lyrics you hear a spirit of resistance to this pattern and a reclamation of the dignity of the authentic culture as something you are rather than giving it up as something for sale. It’s the kind of creative subversion of the dominant paradigm that has been part of popular musical styles for decades and even centuries. V V Bown, with “Twisted,” just gives it her own brand of soulful cool. Listen to “Twisted” on Spotify and follow V V Brown at the links below.

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J.PERIOD Pays Tribute to Hip-Hop Culture and Legends in the Richly Creative Content of the Song/Video “The Legend of Globetrottin’”

In song and short film for J.PERIOD’s “The Legend of Globetrottin’” is an animated comic book and live action featurette that charmingly relates the tale of one of the greatest basketball matches in history between Masego and J.PERIOD. But it’s more than that, of course. It begins in a record store where crate diggers are looking for solid wax to sample when they think they spot DJ Jazzy Jeff and indeed in puppet form it is the legendary DJ. The song deftly samples sounds of a basketball game and various MCs taking verses in classic hip-hop style telling the story and the jazz samples and unconventional beats like a nod to one of DJ Jazzy Jeff’s collaborators years ago in J. Dilla. This rich fusion of elements, style and presentation really speaks directly to hip-hop culture as a significant creative subculture of American and global culture but in tying it with comics it layers storytelling styles and elements in a way that is highly accessible and experimental at once resonant with what Dmitri Jackson did with his 2018 comic collection Blackwax Boulevard: Five Years, What a Surprise (2012-2017) Watch the video for “The Legend of Globetrottin’” on YouTube and follow J.PERIOD at the links below.

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J.PERIOD on Apple Music

Key Seeyen’s Ambient Jazz Hip-Hop Track “You’re Mine You” is a Beautifully Stylistic Time Travel Experience

Kay Seeyen sounds like the songwriter spent a good deal of quality time watching 40s and 50s cinema and listened to a lot of jazz music of that era as well as classic hip-hop samples as channeled through the lens of J. Dilla. At least on the song “You’re Mine You” there is such an eclectic blend of sounds in the beat that it sounds like you’re getting a cut up tour through time in music to create something that could really only have been made in recent years in this cohesive and smooth a way but demonstrates an appreciation for the compositional skills and ear for melody of another era. The vibe is jazz and classic pop but the style is underground hip-hop and its free associating sonic palette. There’s even a tastefully expressive, echoing guitar riff mid-song that sounds like a nod to dub. Because the song doesn’t sound like it owes allegiance to a narrow aesthetic it actually has an almost orchestral ability to stir emotions by touching those places in your brain where the memory of many good but neglected sounds reside. Listen to “You’re Mine You” on Soundcloud and connect with Kay Seeyen at the links provided.

Kay Seeyen on Twitter

Kay Seeyen on Instagram

Caracol Teams Up With Illa J on “Flooded Field” to Break the Emotional Isolation of a Loved One

Caracol5_cropped — Caracol, photo courtesy the artist

Caracol’s new track “Flooded Field” was written in collaboration with Illa J, the brother of J. Dilla. The song’s structure has well-arranged complexity with downtempo flavor and a reggae cadence with electronic steel drum accents. Its rich synth piano flourishes and splashes of rapidly expanding tonal wash suggest a sound palette drawn from 80s hip-hop production. When Illa J comes in the song exits the ethereal undertones and comes down to earth for a nice passage of vivid imagery to reinforce the message of the lyric “Your heart is a flooded field” and the sense of isolation the narrator of the song feels for the object of her love and a desire to bridge that emotional barrier. It is as though Illa J gives the critical clue to solve the emotional conundrum. The dynamics of the song as it shifts between vocals, moods, rhythmic flavors and an effervescent melody keeps it an interesting and rewarding listen beginning to end. Check out “Flooded Field” on Soundcloud and follow Caracol at the links below.

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