the dope report

Let’s face it – the Brits in the last 20 years have been at the forefront of innovation when it comes to new musical styles. After the US birthed house and techno (Chicago and Detroit respectively) the British took that mantle and created a plethora of genres that continues unabated to this day. You’ve had trip hop, idm, drum n bass, broken- beat , 2 step, garage and now the dubstep craze that has been infecting dancefloors worldwide.

For those who don’t know what dubstep is, imagine what happens when you mix the hauntology of techno, the stutter step rhythms of drum n bass, add effects to wobbly dub basslines and lace that with low slung breaks. The sound brings to mind post-apocalyptic landscapes that bubble from the outgrowth of urban malaise.

[Kode 9 Mix]

[Kode 9 Myspace]

[RBMA Radio]

[Hyperdub Records]

Andy Votel is the kind of character that is spoken about in hushed tones by record collectors, producers and the music literati. He started off like many beat denizens in the 90’s who shared a love of hip-hop but quickly became more interested as to the source of the samples that were being used by these producers. He cut his teeth in the production circles of Manchester, djing, and making beats that caught the notice of many his contemporaries.

Cut Chemist is the DJ-producer par excellence who cut his teeth playing in underground LA hip hop circles in the 90’s, produced Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli’s best records, managed to get on the ground floor and simultaneously transcend the turntablism movement. Known as a sonic sculptor, beat digger and all around forward-thinking entity, his mixes with DJ Shadow along with his production and remix work has firmly cemented his place in hip hop history.

Dam-Funk is the man behind the current boogie craze that has been infecting the music message boards, blogs, magazines, but most importantly the clubs. It seems like you can’t go to any hip club or event and not hear some boogie or modern soul being spun by some new upstart DJ. So what makes this boogie sound so damn infectious? Well, who doesn’t like Prince? Or P Funk? Many could chalk up Dam’s success to the 80’s nostalgia trip which many in the music industry seem to have been riding for at least the last few years, but that is a narrow view which omits all the details. Although his DJ sets are an authentic portrait of a certain time in the early 80’s where Slave, Prince and other lesser known artists dominated black airwaves, the music he makes is another animal indeed.

Dam’s personal productions are hard slabs of synth heavy grooves that recall LA sunsets, smoking joints by the Pacific Ocean, and late night drives into the oblivion of the Los Angeles maze. He is a keyboardist by trade and you can hear it in these tracks as he bends notes, arpeggiates chords and rides the space funk train over beats that would make Roger and Zapp proud. Dam Funk is an innovator and an adept promoter of his music, how else could this boogie sound have gotten so much press in so little time? Well, he has been lovingly collecting this music for many years and his legendary nights at the Funkmosphere in Los Angeles are a testament to that. It’s not surprising Madlib and Co. signed him to Stones Throw; it has been a nice addition to their already impressive roster. He put together this mix for BBC’s Mary Anne Hobbs, all original productions of his own and it is a treat. Get familiar.

[Dam Funk Mix for the BBC courtesy of Stones Throw]

Kon and Amir are the kind of legendary record collectors that get spoken about in hushed tones by producers and the musical cognoscenti. Their On Track mixtapes are infamous for exposing OG hip-hop samples and ruffling the feathers of many producers who wanted to keep that information under wraps. You could listen to just one side of those mixtapes and you would be witness to original samples that have been used by the biggest in the hip-hop industry. Dr. Dre, Pete Rock, Primo, Rza, Eric B; you name a classic hip-hop tune and they have the original record it got sampled off of. Ironically, most of the records that many find rare to this day were old heirlooms courtesy of a family steeped in black and latin music. Ebay digging was never part of their game.

Live they are something to behold as they seamlessly blend funk, jazz, soul, hip-hop, latin, and the newest craze on the scene, modern soul and boogie into a fine musical mash. Don’t sleep on this roller coaster ride of funky sounds courtesy of RBMA Radio

[Kon and Amir Mix]

DJ Harvey is the don of cosmic music in the modern world. He pioneered alot of what people these days are calling cosmic beardo = dance music for dudes with beards and large record collections. To mix records from two completely alien planets is now common parlance in the DJ world, but Harvey has been doing this since the mid 80’s. He’s been known to clear and electrify dance floors all within the same night. Herbie Hancock into Zeppelin ? Sure. Afrika Bambaata into Can ? Why not ? 70’s trucker rock into hip-hop ? Let’s do it. Anything goes in the world of cosmic.

Without further ado, we treat you to a mix the man did for one of our favorite places on the net for music RBMA Radio.

[DJ Harvey Mix]