Kiefer’s new album sees the L.A. based
artist return to his roots – playing keys and making beats. It’s Ok, B U
combines the hallmarks of Kiefer’s sound – masterful piano playing,
mesmeric beats, and vibrant melodies – with serious emotional heft. In
addition to being a celebrated solo artist, Kiefer is a Grammy-winning
producer who has worked with the likes of Drake and Anderson .Paak.
Tracklist: 1. I Could Cry 2. Panic 3. My Disorder 4. Dreamer 5. High 6. Falling 7. I Wish I Wasn't Me 8. Head Trip (feat. Luke Titus) 9. Hips 10. Doomed 11. August Again 12. I was Foolish, I Guess 13. Glowing (feat. Pera Krstajic) 14. Forgetting U 15. It's Ok, B U 16. I Mean That
*Bonus (Kiefer - Dreamer - Live from Stones Throw Studios)
*Bonus (Kiefer - August Again - Live from Stones Throw Studios)
John Carroll Kirby's new album Blowout was written on a recent
stay in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. Between 5am wake-up calls from
oropendola birds and psychedelic sunsets, he wrote Blowout, inspired by
the local people, music and nature. Though its songs are joyful, that
joyfulness is tinged with melancholy. Kirby says, “Blowout is about
enjoying yourself even though life is tough, before the candle blows
out.”
Tracklist: 1. Oropendola 2. Mates 3. The Takedown 4. Hotel Jonny Chingas 5. Vertigo 6. So So So 7. Sun Go Down 8. Gecko Sound 9. Flying Cat 10. Mates (Dub) 11. So So So (Dub) 12. Hotel Jonny Chingas (Dub)
*Bonus (John Carroll Kirby - Oropendola - Live from Stones Throw Studios)
In 2021, Eddie Chacon and John Carroll Kirby decamped to Ibiza for two
weeks. There, they rented the island’s only Fender Rhodes from one of
the local rave crews. John posted it against the plaster walls and
concrete floors of their temporary home, which was set into a green
hillside overlooking a beach called Siesta. As they worked on Sundown,
Pharoah Sanders’s “Greeting to Saud” was a daily listen. Instead of
emulating its sound, Eddie absorbed its deeper lesson – that simplicity
wins out over virtuosity every time.
They wrote the first half of Sundown during that Ibiza stay and finished
it at 64 Sound Studios in Los Angeles, where they both live. Joining
Eddie on vocals and John on production and keys were Logan Hone (flutes
and saxophones) Elizabeth Lea (trombone), Will Logan (drums) and David
Leach (percussion). “It feels like we’re building our dream house,” says
Eddie. “With Pleasure, Joy, and Happiness, we poured the foundation and
now we’re expanding into new rooms.”
The two artists have worked together before, on Eddie Chacon’s 2020
album, Pleasure, Joy and Happiness. It was in 2019, when he met John
Carroll Kirby – a prolific artist in his own right who’s collaborated
with Steve Lacy, Frank Ocean, Solange, and many more – that Chacon
considered a return to releasing music.
Pleasure, Joy and Happiness was meant to bring closure to a music
career that began when Eddie was a teenager playing in Bay Area garage
bands, and peaked in the 1990s when, as one half of the duo Charles
& Eddie, he topped charts internationally with “Would I Lie To You”,
before deserting the business. Eddie didn’t expect much from Pleasure’s
release, and was amazed to find it resonated widely, gaining him a
whole new fanbase and reinvigorating his career.
Eddie says that only at his age – 59 – could he have the life experience
and quiet confidence to make Sundown. That this new record exists at
all is a surprise to its creator. As Eddie says, “Sundown is the
follow-up I never thought I would get to make.”
Tracklist: 1. Step By Step 2. Far Away 3. Comes and Goes (feat. Logan Hone) 4. Sundown 5. Holy Hell 6. Haunted Memories 7. Same Old Song 8. The Morning Sun
1983 to 1988 anthology from the West Coast electro hip-hop pioneer.
Los Angeles native Egyptian Lover (Greg Broussard) is
recognized as a pioneer of West Coast hip-hop, helping bring electro rap to
the masses in the early '80s and influencing DJs and MCs the world over
in his wake. The first West Coast rapper/producer to achieve international
success, Egyptian Lover paved the way for early West Coast hip hop
pioneers like Dr. Dre and the World Class Wrecking Crew, N.W.A., Ice
T, Rodney O & Joe Cooley, King Tee & DJ Pooh among others.
Growing up listening to Kraftwerk, Prince, Rick
James and Zapp, Egyptian Lover got his start compiling mixes of his
favorite records, including his own instrumental beats created on his
Roland TR 808 drum machine. The club-ready cassette tape mixes started
selling in the thousands. Following in the footsteps of The Sugarhill Gang,
Broussard began rapping over his beats to give the party people what they
wanted. The neighborhood responded, transforming him into a local
celebrity.
With his star status rising higher, Egyptian Lover joined Uncle Jamm's
Army and moved 10,000 person crowds at the L.A. Sports Arena with his
impressive knack for scratching, performing turntable tricks and MCing.
In
the mid '80s, L.A. was becoming the electro rap capital
and Egyptian Lover was at the forefront of this new West Coast rap sound,
not only with his unique producer/DJ/MC aptitude, but also as label owner
of Egyptian Empire Records. Selling hundreds of thousands of his 12"
singles ("Egypt/Egypt", "Dial-A-Freak", "Girls", "Freak-A-Holic") to DJs and
fans around the world. Egyptian Lover invented the innovative sound of
combining up-tempo, synth-heavy electro beats with rap vocals.
Since 1983, Egyptian Lover has remained true to his sound by recording
on analog equipment, which helps create his signature
sound. Egyptian Lover's influence cannot be overstated – not only did he
change the face of West Coast hip hop, but also greatly influenced
electronic, techno, R&B and pop music to this day.
Tracklist: 1. Egyptian Lover Theme
2. Spray It Super AJ
3. Dial-A-Freak
4. Yes, Yes, Yes
5. Egypt, Egypt
6. What Is A DJ If He Can't Scratch
7. And My Beat Goes Boom
8. Girls
9. I Cry (Night After Night)
10. Ultimate Scratch
11. My House (On the Nile)
12. Electric Encounter
13. Computer Love
14. Voices
15. Computer Power
16. Dance (Dub Mix)
17. You're So Fine
18. Kinky Nation
19. Freak-A-Holic
20. The Alezby Inn
21. Sexy Style
22. I Need A Freak
