Monthly Archives: December 2009

Letter Perfect.

Wednesday: December 9, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Video 1 Comment

One of my favorite live records of all time would have to be Al Jarreau’s Look to the Rainbow. Listening to that record gives the feeling that you’re actually there experiencing the music first-hand…but there was something a bit more special about this record, in comparison to any other live records that I have. Here is some footage of Jarreau and his amazing band performing “Letter Perfect” live in 1976. Enjoy…

The Remake.

Tuesday: December 8, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Sidenote 2 Comments

Sometimes when it’s impossible to clear a sample, you do the next best thing, which is get together with some dope musicians, and REMAKE the music. One of the beautiful things about this, is adding your own live spin to it. This particular take on “African Rhythms” by J Dilla is a perfect example of the art of the remake! The original creation is from a funk group out of Washington, D.C. called Oneness of JuJu, and they did the track back in 1975. Enjoy…

JuJu Cover

Original Oneness of JuJu – African Rhythms

Remake J Dilla – African Rhythms

DJ Rashida.

Sunday: December 6, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Video 1 Comment

Here is a brief interview with the Los Angeles-based DJ, DJ Rashida. I don’t watch much mainstream television (where she DJ’s for “America’s best Dance Crew” on MTV), but I got hip to her when she was interviewed for a Michael Jackson Special that aired on the Centric network. When her name appeared on the screen, it said “DJ for Prince” underneath, that’s what sparked the intrigue. Prince is a musical genius! (as we all know), so I figured she had to be dope. And she is. Enjoy…

Check out her site(s):
DJ Rashida
DJ Rashida Blog

Peace.

Flipped v15.0 + Flipped v16.0

Wednesday: December 2, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Flipped 3 Comments

Since I’ve been lazy about posting lately (blame Thanksgiving, don’t blame me lol!), I’m doing a double flipped post, dropping two at once! I think you’ll find them both interesting.

flipped

Flipped v15.0
This one is a rare find, but luckily my ears are good, when I found this sample I knew immediately that I had to share it on the blog. The sample seems simple, but listen to the whole track and you can hear where the producer took bits and pieces and stitched it all together.

Original:

Flipped:

—–

Flipped v16.0
I pulled this from my stash of legendary producer samples, another simple chop…but done so flawlessly! This is one that only this specific producer would flip, he had that knack for knowing what would be hot…while most people just skim right past those parts in the record. I love this…

Original: (sample drops at 1:05)

Flipped:

Enjoy…

%s1 / %s2