Caffiends

Shit guys, things have been a bit mad over the past few days with technical glitches and a mighty busy schedule… doing nothing. Anyway, here’s a catch up of stuff that I’ve missed and will round off into one post.

Firstly, I give my sympathies to the family of Brittany Murphy who passed away yesterday from what seems to be a heart attack. 32 years is not an age to die at, at all. Very talented and unique actress.

So let’s get going with some tunes! First up here is a track by a hip hop five-piece who I really can’t call one of my favourites. Hailing from Japan, they’ve copped huge names in the urban scene on their tracks for the past few years now and this track makes no difference with them landing a feature from the biggest name in rap right now – Jay-Z. Guessed who they are yet? It’s the Teriyaki Boyz! The track’s “Living the Life” and comes from the Delicious Japanese CD and DVD boxset. It’s more RnB as opposed to rap with the dreamy synths and piano keys. This isn’t one I rate highly, and Jay-Z’s feature is not exactly fulfilled – sounds like he wasn’t offered that much for the feature.

Teriyaki Boyz – Living the Life ft. Jay-Z

Next up is another hip hop chooon from rhyme meister Mos Def who’s been creating some eddy currents around his name in recent weeks. This joint here is a simple, little, lazy production. Not intended to be serious. He’s just being playful. Chopping, jabbing, fusing. We have seen quite a change in Mos Def’s attitudes towards his performance in the last year – with the emphasis being less on his actual lyrics and more on the actual overall feel of the track. I preferred him really giving us epic verses but I’m liking this one. It’s nice. It’s something that hip hop could do with more often and isn’t exactly difficult to do. Big names dropping little experiments from the studio. They don’t have to go hard all the time. Do we have too high expectations of them now?! Anyway, the track’s called “24 Hour Karate School” and is produced by Ski Beatz. Nice.

Mos Def – 24 Hour Karate School

Veering away from hip hop now but staying strictly urban for this track (which I have been very late on posting). No point giving it a wordy intro as I’m sure you’ve copped it already. It’s the epic garage effort by UK artist Solo. He’s remixed Wiley‘s “Never Be Your Woman” which is due out next Feb – so this won’t be gracing your Christmas stockings I’m afraid. It’s got some sick synths, funky beats and garage treats. Will definitely be a big tune in the New Year!

Wiley – Never Be Your Woman (Solo ‘Loves Garage’ Remix)

Now let’s hit electro. And here I deliver a collaboration that promises big things. Three of the biggest names in the scene have brought their talents into one five minute effort. The culprits are Crookers, Soulwax and Mixhell. The result: “We Love Animals”. I’m surprised there was no Miike Snow influence here, because that really would have been joyful. Now, in this track you can really identify all of the individual collaborators’ styles. It’s quite a mash and it blends well though has no real structure there. I have to say, actually, I’m a little disappointed with the track considering all those that were involved but that’s not to say it is bad. I do like it. I just think there was a lot more potential for something incredible.

Crookers – We Love Animals ft. Soulwax & Mixhell

And whilst sticking to the electro curve with a detour into the rave scene, we have the latest dropping from Hostage. Dropping? You ask. Yes. This track is THE SHIT. I’m not usually a fan of Hostage tracks when they’re on their own but I love them when they’re in sets. However, this track ticks all the right boxes for me and really is my favourite Hostage track yet. Some funky beats in this one, where he seems to have let off with the bass. When this drops in the club, it will be sure to catch everyone’s attention. I give you “Achtung!”.

Hostage – Achtung!

Hope you like them goodies.