Lil House Gangstaz – Execution Style E.P. EP review
Lil House Gangstaz – Execution Style E.P. is a unique house music EP where the sounds of electronic music, jazz, and funk are blended in together. Funky and jazzy are 2 words to describe this Lil' House Gangstaz vinyl EP. Execution Style is a jazzy house EP which house heads will surely enjoy purchasing and listening to this release as this EP was released on Nite Grooves. Now Nite Grooves was the label known for its jazzy house offerings. This EP is one of those jazzy house offerings from the Nite Grooves label. Perfect for a picnic or pool party.
Bass Nation is an ode to bass music hence the heavy bass all over the place. Lil House Gangstaz decided to pay homage, tribute, and respect to bass music in the song Bass Nation. Lil House Gangstaz are know for their amazing production and samples.
Two Steps To Heaven is jazzy house cut with an eccentric bongo percussion backing. Bongos represent the tribal house element in this song. The sound is cool and very calming. The sound is so calming that you’ll feel as if you’re already in heaven. Lil House Gangstaz play a mean keyboard on this song which makes this song funky for a jazzy house cut. Garage meet jazz house with fusion of tribal house on the song Two Steps To Heaven.
Use What We Got is one of the lesser known songs from Lil House Gangstaz. This song did not get as much play as their other songs did in NYC. Garage meets jazz on this song.
4/5****!!
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OLN – Oporto Deep Cuts EP EP review
The OLN – Oporto Deep Cuts EP is some of the best house music from Portugal. The EP has some deep house cuts with a tribal house sound. Reboot 144 and Places Of Pleasure are the highlights as both songs have exotica. Oporto Deep Cuts is perfect enough to be played at classy gatherings. This EP was released as a digital download in 2017 by Kaos Music Group. This EP was released in the formats of .AIFF, .flac, and MP3.
Reboot 144 (Original Mix) uses a processed funky electric synths and kicks. Those processed funky electric synths are not bass notes or bass lines. Treble has been reduced significantly. Reboot 144 (Original Mix) is an example of perfect deep house. The entire song is an electronic soundscape.
Reboot 144 (Acid Error Mix) is an acid house remix of Reboot 144 (Original Mix). A shaker has been added to the instrumentation along with a small set of bongos along with other Afrocentric percussion. This version of Reboot 144 is more Afrocentric. Instruments used in this song were bongos, congas, marimba, tambourine, clavs, and a glockenspiel. OLN made a wonderful decision on adding more instrumentation to the music layers.
The beats on Places Of Pleasure (Original Mix) are driven by kicks, toms, cymbals, and those well known claps. An electric organ is used all over the place on this song. Places Of Pleasure has such a raw organic feel that you hardly ever find in electronic music these days.
*Kaos Music Group is Kaos Records.
*The EP was originally released in .AIFF and MP3 format.
4/5****!
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Andrew Bird - Echolocations: River album review
Andrew Bird’s Echolocations: River album is good for relaxation and meditation. Relaxation is good for introspection. Plus you get to hear some of nature and the great outdoors. Sounds from animals can be heard on this album. Bird calls can be heard all over the album. The affirmation of nature is appealing. The Green Heron is one of the deep nature tracks that are soothing but not too dark. You can hear the sounds of nature, which in this case are a waterfall and a stream, on Black-Crowned Night-Heron. A violin plays loudly which kind of in a way ruins the mood of solitude. Lazuli Bunting is one of the more quieter songs with a softer toucher.
3/5***
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Lil House Gangstaz – Extra Large: The Album album review
Lil House Gangstaz – Extra Large: The Album is a hard house album that has a tribal sound. Funky and jazzy are 2 words to describe this album. Lil House Gangstaz are know for their amazing production, instrumentation, and samples. House heads will surely enjoy purchasing and listening to this release as this album was released on Nite Grooves. Now Nite Grooves was the label known for its jazzy house offerings. This album is one of those jazzy house offerings from the Nite Grooves label. Perfect for a picnic, pool party, road trip, or a small gathering.
Bass Nation is an ode to bass music hence the heavy bass all over the place. Lil House Gangstaz decided to pay homage, tribute, and respect to bass music in the song Bass Nation. Lil House Gangstaz are know for their amazing production and samples.
Two Steps To Heaven is jazzy house cut with an eccentric bongo percussion backing. Bongos represent the tribal house element in this song. The sound is cool and very calming. The sound is so calming that you’ll feel as if you’re already in heaven. Lil House Gangstaz play a mean keyboard on this song which makes this song funky for a jazzy house cut. Garage meet jazz house with fusion of tribal house on the song Two Steps To Heaven.
So Sweet The Way has an upbeat dance step vibe with a disco type of sound. The song is perfect for the dance floor. A jazzy piano follows the dance groove. Jazz house meets dance on So Sweet The Way.
Never Stop uses a thick layer of drums and bass. The song also uses a repetitive vocal sample which is looped all over the place as expected in house music. Lil House Gangstaz are known for using repetitive vocal samples in their songs. The grooves, drums, and synths are totally infectious.
4/5****!!
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Lil J - All About J album review
Lil J - All About J is a perfect kid friendly pop rap album which children and parents alike are surely to enjoy. That goes for anyone else. The topics range from having fun, partying, dating girls, relationships, to dealing with parenthood. His whole album has a fun atmospheric vibe that is not too serious, brash, or hedonistic despite his raps being volatile and wry.
Lil J - All About J is a pop rap album people forgot all about. Yet his name was big in 2002. For those who don’t remember, Lil J had a major buzz during the early part of the 2000s. People forgot about this dude. He was part of the slew of Lil’s that exploded onto the music scene in the early 2000s during the kiddie rapper era who got lost in the mix of the music business. He became an actor by starring in several movies when his career as a pop rapper didn’t pan out and that is how he got lost and overlooked. Jermaine Dupri trying to mold him into another Lil Bow Wow didn’t help either. That is why his career as a rapper did not last very long.
Lil J sounded like a 12 year old than a 16 year old at the time he was rapping on this album. He did not sound anything like a 16 year old. He sounded like Lil Bow Wow throughout this whole album as he copied his style.
The Born Ready Intro was produced by LT Hutton. Lil J wrote the lyrics of course. The intro is reminiscent of the start of a basketball with all the fans cheering for Lil J. People are clapping. Cheerleaders can heard in the background shouting his name if you listen closely.
Lil J tells us that he was born ready. He has the drive and determination to take him where he wants to go as a rapper and actor. And he has the drive and determination where he needs to go. He has Hollywood Records, LT Hutton and Jermaine Dupri backing him up behind the scenes.
It's The Weekend was the song that catapulted Lil J into stardom and helped him gain celebrity status back in 2001. The funky guitar, hazy carefree vibe, hook, and chorus are what is memorable about this song. The song was as hot as the Fourth of July from 2001 to 2003.
Jermaine Dupri of So So Def produced the song and Kandi sung the hook and chorus. Hollywood Records paid Jermaine for to produce the song. Jermaine Dupri had Kandi write the lyrics to the hook and chorus. Jermaine Dupri tried to mold Lil J into another Lil Bow Wow which didn’t help in the long run because by 2003 he had disappeared and pursued an acting career by starring in several movies. That only worked for less than 2 years.
Some of you might even remember when Nickelodeon would play the music video for It's The Weekend during commercials or between TV shows during the early part of the 2000s. The song was included on the 2002 Clockstoppers soundtrack. The music video was also played on BET’s 106 & Park.
What’s interesting about this song is the fact that this particular song was the first to use the phrase “To the windows, to the walls” before Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz did on their song Get Low in 2002. Ironically nobody had noticed this save for a few people.
The song It’s The Weekend is about partying and having fun. That is the whole song in a nutshell.
It's the weekend. Lil J heard the party is packed from the front to the back. He says, “We are gonna tear the roof off and make the floor collapse.” He jumped out the Porsche and slid right in Club 112. Gave security dap. Security knows who Lil J is so he doesn’t need to show them any identification (ID). Lil J is either on the dance floor or the VIP section of the club. It’s a dance party so he’s going to be dancing with everyone else. He is sippin' on virgin daiquiris and virgin margaritas. He stacks that cheese at Club 112.
Let your hair down. Lets have some fun. It's the weekend and the party just begun.
The club is packed to the windows and to the walls. See my girls and all my dogs. We won't leave till the windows are foggy. It's the weekend. What you doin’? Get out the house. I wanna see you movin’. Gotta get your money right cuz it's on tonight. Yeah it's the weekend baby!
You should see the way Lil J is gaming on these dames. Chicks get whipped with appeal on how Lil J grips the wheel. So fast get whiplash when the wheels peel. Lil J is so ghetto but the broads still love him.
J never falls off his game. He is never rusty. J makes the girls stop and stare with the way the chains swing back and forth like a rocking chair. It's hot in here! Like Nelly. Let's pop a bottle in here. From 80 to Club Centuries to the good bar. Everybody knows Lil J the hottest star who is a Hollywood star.
L.E.S. and LT Hutton produced the song I Didn’t Know together. The song has Chinese vibe due to the zither that is used. The song I Didn’t Know is about how Lil J met this sleazy girl who he wants to date but can’t to due to his busy schedule as a rapper and actor. Him getting to deep inside a relationship is what got him in trouble with this girl. How was he supposed to know? He’s like a maverick. Check it.
The first night he laid eyes on her, his first reaction was whoa. The baddest chick he’d ever seen backstage at a show. She noticed him as she got his 3rd page in a row. He is not trying to answer but he is aware and self-conscious enough to realize he can always get that dancer. He told her he is just looking for a chance to kick it with her. He wanted to have a conversation with and have them exchange their phone numbers with each other.
He wanted her to be the one that would and could say, “I missed you, J.” She smiled at that and said, “I gotta go” He wishes she would stay. They must have talked for 2 hours that night. They discussed everything from his tour to if the world could be pure. He was about to take her in the silver azure. When she touched him, it felt like all his ills had been cured. This is kind of love his parents warned him about. Lil J is trying to run from this as he is too young for this.
He didn't know where love was taken him as this was all so new to him. He didn't know that love could hurt, so bad feel, or feel so good. He didn't know. How was he supposed to know that he would meet that one? It’s not supposed to be like this.
Now every time he looks at her it’s like the very first time. Butterflies like before he spits his very first rhyme. Lil J is a player. He is not supposed to feel these things. If J reveals those things to his boys, they’ll let him have it. It’s getting drastic like a kid with advanced mathematics.
So confused and don't know what to do. He hides his feelings from his crew. He can't control the way he feels. Is it wrong? This too could be a thing that in time shall pass. His heart is burning but all that comes from fire is ash. He hopes the feeling lasts forever.
Now it’s February and they are in South Beach together. His tour is coming near. Lil J is going on tour overseas. He’ll be out about 16 weeks or so.
The inevitable is near. What she said froze his thoughts. She said, “It would be best if we didn't talk.” She couldn't take the heartbreak any deeper than that. She wanted him to tour freely and they shall see when he gets back. She gave Lil J the freedom he needed.
He ain't met a girl competing with that. Instead of always tryna save her place mami gave him space. So as he saw the tear trickle down her angel face, he couldn't take the pain from her. J turned and walked away from her.
He didn't know. How was he supposed to know that he would meet that one? It’s not supposed to be like this.
Lil J Took My Girl is a wistful song of heartbreak and betrayal. The premise of this song is about how Lil J took someone else’s girl and she starts dating him. All he wants to do is get her sprung. He is a player after all.
Now some you when you were kids may have interpreted “I can’t believe that Lil J took my girl” as “I can’t believe that Lil J made me hurl”. I know I did as a kid. The vibe is similar to I Didn’t Know but is not quite the same. The vibe is mournful, sad, and quite airy due to the instrumentation that is used.
5/5*****!
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The Prunes - Tracks From The Darkside album review
The Prunes - Tracks From The Darkside is a coagulation of trip hop, instrumental hip hop, and acid jazz in one recording. It’s instrumental hip hop in downtempo form. The entire album is basally jazz hop. 90s music is the best. The sound is visceral.
All of the music was produced and mixed by The Prunes, Asia Love, Nimbus, and DJ Smash. The Prunes are Danish hip-hop production team consisting of Simon Bonde, Christian Buksti and Peder Pedersen. The masters of dark style return. They are The Prunes!
Not What You Think is a mournful piano driven jazz hop instrumental that will remind you of city life. The song is short but dope. You could go on a late night for a walk on a cold winter night with this beat playing. That’s how dope this song is.
Blaalyn Express is a jazzy trip hop take on Brooklyn Express. The song is driven by one xylophone backed by some hard hitting beats. Oxmo Puccino used this beat in one of his songs. Blaalyn Express also proves to be great graffiti bombing music.
Dsb Style is dark brooding jazzy hip hop instrumental backed by mean bass lines and chords. Underneath all the mean bass lines and chords are heavy thick beats. Dsb Style was featured on the compilation album Fat Jazzy Grooves Volume 16 in 1996.
Mute uses a diluted modified jazzy saxophone sample over heavy upright bass. The song is short but dope.
5/5*****!
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Ziet - Ò – The Sheltering Sky single review
Ziet - Ò – The Sheltering Sky is some of the best progressive trance from Italy with the upbeat electric synths, infectious beats, and orchestra violins. One can say the essence of progressive trance is truly amazing especially when produced by Joy Kitikonti and Farfa if anything. Joy Kitikonti and Farfa made history and memories together with this record with songs such as The Sheltering Sky and Heart Glory. Joy Kitikonti and Farfa are masters of the console and studio.
The atmospheric song The Sheltering Sky is backed by loud upbeat electric synths and an orchestrated ensemble of violins which are melodic. The melodic theme comes a remix of Ryuichi Sakamoto - Opera from which is where the violins come from. The sound is certainly progressive and very much upbeat. Joy Kitikonti and Farfa mastered this song perfectly. Heart Glory (Elegant Wave) is a good progressive trance tune which is a remix of Ryuichi Sakamoto - Opera. Joy Kitikonti and Farfa are masters of the console and studio especially with this song. The sample sounds similar to an Ennio Morricone orchestra composition.
5/5*****!!
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Curtis Mayfield - Superfly album review
Curtis Mayfield - Superfly is the soundtrack album that defined the 1970s with its funkiness and Chicago soul. This album helped put soul into the mainstream in a way. The album also gave film music a new meaning. The lettering on the front cover is what also made the album so iconic and a timeless classic of a masterpiece. His knack for storytelling leaves much to be desired for the listener(s). Curtis Mayfield was a musical genius for his time.
Think is the song which calms down the whole mood for this soundtrack album. The song is backed by a single electric guitar and a drum kit. An acoustic vibe was this song has. Think is one of the lesser known songs off the album.
What makes the song Freddie’s Dead so iconic and a classic is the fact the song was part of an original score for a film and its mischievous spy music vibe. The small violin ensemble helps give away that mischievous spy music vibe. He seemed to use not many in-house producers for Freddie’s Dead though.
Wild Child is one of the lesser known songs off the album that should’ve been as popular as Superfly, Pusher Man, and Freddie’s Dead but for some reason wasn’t. The beginning of the sounds similar to a Vaudeville song or Tin Pan type of song from the 1920s. Also the instrument at sounds very much similar to an organ or hurdy-gurdy from the 20th century or 19th century. You will definitely think, “This song does not sound like it was recorded in the 70s.” Instrumentation is what sets this song apart from all the others.
5/5*****!!
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The Future Soul Orchestra – Up And Above EP EP review
Electronic meets orchestra on the release The Future Soul Orchestra – Up And Above EP. Think electronic orchestra. The EP was released on the House 909 which produces some of the best quality house music. This release is no exception. All of the songs on this House 909 are exceptional and phenomenal. There is not a song worth skipping.
Life’s Journey has significantly reduced bass and treble. What stands out about this song are the warped auto-wah filters used for effect. The synths are certainly hypnotic and intoxicating. Life’s Journey contains samples of Martin Circus - Disco Circus.
Movin’ On is a funk driven electronic song from Future Soul Orchestra that is laced with strings, heavy pultruding bass lines, and Latin samba based beats similar to rumba. Think funk meets electronic music with a dance groove. The song certainly has a retro sound that many will definitely enjoy.
Love Of God is similar to a Larry Heard song due to the synths and grooves. The synths are quite upbeat and soulful with a live sound.
5/5*****!!
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House Of 909 – Moodswings EP review
House Of 909 – Moodswings is a relaxing melodic deep house EP that will either put you in a trance or make you want to dance. The spacious synths, loud shakers, and thick beats make a melodic symphony on the EP. Music from this EP is perfect to play at a nightclub or on the dance floor.
Last Dance is a perfect deep house song that either put you in a trance or make you want to dance. The ethnic shakers, thick beats, and spacious synths are what makes the song so relaxing and melodic. Shakers, synths, tambourine, and beats what a make a melodic symphony and ensemble in this song. The synths are truly beautiful in such an spacey atmospheric background. Now the shakers have as much of a loud presence as the synths and beats do. You can hear shakers at the beginning of this song which stand out of course.
Players uses much lighter beats and percussion than the other songs on the EP. More bells seem to used on this song for some reason. Turn down your volume and listen closely. Then you can hear those bells.
City Of Light (Musique Tropique Remix) is a bit more upbeat than Last Dance and has some funky electronic bass lines overlapping spacious electronic synths. The song is definitely perfect for the dance floor and a nightclub.
5/5*****!!
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House Of 909 - Deep Distraction EP review
Deep Distraction is one of the lesser know EP from House Of 909 that did not receive as much press coverage or reviews as their other releases have. The reason for that is because a couple of the songs are low quality in sound and production. The thin beats are what really killed this EP. After all people want beats loud enough to hear them. This EP caters to a deep house sound in an uptempo manner.
The Main Event utilizes some thin crispy beats over dance cymbals. Cymbals practically overlap electric synths in this song in a rhythmic way. The buildup begins at 1:48. The Main Event is a great rave house track with stellar production from House Of 909. Honestly this song is the only best song on the entire EP.
Funked Up is one of the lesser know House of 909 songs which is not as favorable due to the low quality in sound and production. The sound is very low quality. The beats are extremely thin and synths overlap those beats. Now the upside is that this particular song does incorporate some funky bass lines.
2/5**
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