@Peace Melbourne from ADCreative on Vimeo.

Check out their new album Girl Songs:

http://at-peace.bandcamp.com

First off here is another incredible DC creation. Killer cinematography and some simply mind blowing stunts:

Second we have the worst first ever backflip in a car. Extreme sports just continues to get crazier by the day.

Third we have another mind blowing stunt this time on a snowmobile:

And finally we have the always entertaining Eddie Huang showing us how to eat and fuck in Miami:

His first album Cold Fact was released in 1970 on the Sussex music label, which was responsible for Motown Records and a huge range of highly successful artists. A haunting, yet moving voice resounds throughout the album and the lyrical content is pure poetry. With lead singles like “Sugar Man” and “I Wonder” it really is a wonder that Rodriguez was not thrust into the realms of super-stardom. He released a second album in 1971 called Coming From Reality which again fell on deaf American ears. To this very day he remains a demolition worker in the downtown area of Detroit Michigan.

The silver lining to the story of Rodriguez is that through an unknown social phenomenon his music somehow reached South Africa where it spiraled out of control. His album Cold Fact was the sound track to the demolition of the apartheid in South Africa and he was more popular and widespread than Elvis Presley. No one in South Africa knew anything about Rodriguez or whether he was even alive, until 1997 when a music journalist finally managed to track down the producer who worked on the album Cold Fact. From there he was put in touch with Rodriguez and managed to organise a whirlwind tour of South Africa in 1998 where Rodriguez played to sold out stadiums up and down the country.

His music in truly amazing and the documentary “Searching For Sugar Man” is one of the best films we have seen in a long time. Sixto is one of the most humble, warm, and at peace individuals you will ever come across and the doco is a must watch for any music enthusiast.

We couldn’t believe we had slept on this EP, so we instantly went out and bought it. You can do the same:

www.RiaHall.com

Ria Hall EPK from Ria Hall on Vimeo.

Photos by Andy Day

The day kicked off with Maisey Rika filling the room with her amazing singer songwriter presence. With a very distinct kiwi flavour to the music, all that was needed to carry the performance was a single acoustic guitar. Towards the second half of the act Tama Waipara (who happened to be my brother guitar tutor many moons ago) stepped up on stage to relieve Maisey of guitar duties and also add some male vocals to the mix. For the finalé Ria Hall stepped up to perform with both Maisey and Tama. Having Ria onstage was merely a prelude of what was too come.

Never Rap Again

(New Zealand)
http://itunes.apple.com/nz/album/never-rap-again/id525601151?i=525601160

Australia

http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/never-rap-again/id525601151?i=525601160

Rest of World

http://eddienumbers.bandcamp.com/track/never-rap-again

J.Period is one of the brightest and most musically astute DJ’s you will ever come across. Every mixtape is a piece of audio theatre with stories deeply intertwined waiting for the listener to unravel them. He’s worked with the likes of The Roots, John Legend, Lauryn Hill, Pharoahe Monch, Q-Tip, K’Naan and many more. Here’s what he had to say to us:

CP: Take me back to your house as a child, what do you remember hearing growing up?

Honestly, I heard all types of music, Simon & Garfunkel, Crosby Stills and Nash, to Rolling Stones, Beatles. And my sister, you know, she was into things like Fishbone and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, so I really got a wide range of influences but from the moment I heard Hip Hop it was a wrap.

CP: How many mixtapes would you say you produce per year?

It depends on the year. The projects I do are pretty involved. This year was a pretty slow year, as I’ve been working on different kinds of production projects, but I like to do two or three per year if not more depending on what comes up.

CP: Why is it you gravitate to mixtapes rather than traditional albums?

I think it’s the freedom you get with a mixtape. Its unrivalled. I was kicking it out here with a DJ called Nino Brown who was telling me he’s put out a bunch of album type mixtapes which just wouldn’t be possible in the States. So for me its about the creative freedom of being able to take just the best bits and pieces of everything and put it together. That’s really the essence of hip hop. At the moment what we’re really working on is creating one of these mixtapes and putting it out as a commercial album release.

CP: I saw Mary J wanted to release your mixtape as a commercial album but it got squashed by the record companies.

Yea Mary was on the side of putting that out but the record company couldn’t make the clearances happen (it was going to total over $1.7 million). You know, in The States clearances are a really big concern, so going forward that’s really something we’re trying to work on.

CP: You seem to try to tell stories with your mixtapes rather than just bang tunes together. Can you run us through how you approach a new mixtape?

I think for me a mixtape should be something you can put in and play start to finish. As people can get individual songs with downloads and what not, people don’t make proper albums anymore. So for me it’s all about crafting a story and keeping you entertained from start to finish.

CP: How important is it for you having access to friends with such encyclopedic music knowledge and collections like Questlove?

I’ve been really fortunate in the fact that a lot of people I respect have a lot of respect for what I do, and now give me access to a lot of things people don’t have. Whether it’s doing a Michael Jackson mixtape with DJ Spinna and his crazy MJ collection, or doing something with John Legend and The Roots where Questlove hands me over all the studio session files of the John Legend & The Roots album. It definitely means a lot and allows me to create something even more unique.

CP:How did the idea for Manifesto Live Mixtape develop?

That came out of me wanting to bring what I do in the studio onto a live stage. When we had the opportunity to do that show with Black Thought, I realised he’s one MC who can pretty much cover all those bases. So when it came to that show it was about me feeding him a variety of different styles of beats so that he’s the voice telling that story on stage. It worked out really well and has pretty much put me in a position where I’m DJ’ing whenever Black Thought does a live show. I’m his DJ. So that’s been a lot of fun.

CP: That must be a damn cool feeling being the DJ for probably the best MC in the world.

Absolutely!

CP: The first time I discovered you, was on the Game Rebellion – Searching for Rick Rueben mixtape. How was it dealing with their Heavy Rock compared to your normal Hip Hop.

I really try to do something different everytime. With that one, Game Rebellions manager just played me some of their stuff, and I thought it was a really interesting approach to Hip Hop and Rock, and combining it, and I thought I could do something really cool with it. So I took all these versions of their songs and chopped them up into remixes. It’s similar to the way I met K’Naan before he had The World Cup song and everyone knew about him. He approached me with this mixtape idea and it was just so interesting I couldn’t turn it down.

CP: As you may know NZ is the birth place of Serato. What do you feel inventions like these have done for the music industry and the dj’s creativity and expression?

I think there’s two sides to that coin. What Serato does is it makes it easier for people who are skilled DJ’s to become even better, but it also makes it easier for people that have no idea what they’re doing to act like they know what they’re doing.

So on the creative side of things it’s really been phenomenal. I was messing with the new Rane 62 mixer yesterday where all the capabilities are right infront of you on that mixer. So from a creative standpoint I think its great and it’s a tool that I’ll be continuing to use, to bring what I do on the mixtapes, live to the stage.

At the end of the day it comes down to what music you select, you know? What is the music that you are playing

CP: Do you think DJ’s naturally transfer into good producers?

Not necessarily. I think if you are a good DJ you pay attention, you get familiar with what makes good music, and I think it’s a natural progression going from mixing peoples music, to wanting to effect it and make something new out of it. Whether that’s with cutting and scratching or mixing or production, it doesn’t matter.

CP: In a bio I read, it described you as “equal parts tastemaker, sound selector and viral marketing powerhouse”. What role do you think marketing plays in the success of a DJ’s career? Do you recommend spending your time perfecting your craft or developing a solid marketing campaign?

I think marketing is essential. With things like Facebook and twitter, good things spread. One of the things that’s been essential for me, is the fact that not everyone knows who I am, but the people who know what I do, respect what I do. And that’s the result of my partnership with different companies and my ability to get the work out.  In this day and age, you have the potential to reach so many people, and you need to know how to do it. I’m still improving my game. I came to Facebook, instagram, and twitter pretty late. Its important to be able to spread the word, buts what’s more important is the quality of what you produce, and that it helps spread on its own.

CP: Well, thank you so much for giving us a fraction of your time. Your clearly a musical historian and an immensely talented DJ and we can’t wait to see your show here in Auckland this Saturday.
Cheers man. Peace!

Make sure you head along and check out J.Period this Saturday at Coherent, 268 K’Rd, Auckland.

As a vocalist Esther made a name for herself in the kiwi funk/soul/hip hop scene performing with a number of artists and bands including Homebrew, Sola Rosa, Isaac Aesili, Tama Waipara, and Lewis McCallum. Esther fronted the 9 piece Motown revue, ‘Motor City Family Funk’, and jazz/blues fourpiece ‘The Dedwoods’. Esther’s first solo single is in the final stages of production at The Bunker in New York.

As an actor Esther cut her dramatic teeth in the world of theatre and musical theatre with ATC and Silo, before landing the core cast role of Olivia in the kiwi TV comedy/drama GO GIRLS. In 2011 she also appeared in ‘Underbelly New Zealand, Land of the Long Green Cloud’.

Check out her work!

http://soundcloud.com/esther-stephens
http://estherstephens.bandcamp.com/
http://www.youtube.com/estherstephens
https://twitter.com/EstherStephens_
http://www.facebook.com/ESTHERxSTEPHENS

Huge thanks to Toby Hyman for the photos:

Journey through New Zealand on the Canon 5Dmk3 from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.