Amie Street Interviews The Presidents of the United States of America
October 17th, 2007
Another Netweight Heavyweight: Rameses!
August 1st, 2007
A firefighter by trade, Pharoah Davis (aka Rameses) was named after 1960's Jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and continues in the same tradition of musical exploration pushed by his namesake. On
The Love
, which is set over the
backdrop of a soul/funk sax loop and soul-sister chorus. Without a
doubt, the surprise of the EP is Rameses singing on the chorus of
Time
. Add a squelchy bass line ala Maseo (De la
Soul), dirty congas, lo-fi handclaps and it's some musical heat
just in time for the peak of summer. Honestly, he lands closer to
Timberlake than Biz Markee!
Netweight Records Presents: The Solution
July 7th, 2007
The Solution: a collaboration between MC Amad Jamal and producer Brisk One brings back conscious hip-hop that doesn't take itself too seriously to generate some ass shakin'. Hitting the sparsely treaded middle ground between conscious/boring as hell and blatantly blinged out brainless drivel, the name of this project might just be a hint at what they're aiming for.
Believe That feat. Dilated Peoples
Confronting any act trying to come with cookie cutter formulas
for marketing executives,
B.I.T.*.H. (Back In The House)
(
Need a little education on why most of the radio stations in
your hood play the same ol' same ol' ? Check the collab between
Netweight Records label-mate Enee One and the original
hip-hop prophet, KRS-One to get up to speed
Radio (No Matter What You Do) feat. KRS-ONE
(
Slept On, 6/5/2007
June 5th, 2007
Here's a selection of the essential Joints you've been missing. So act like you know and cop these songs before your mom gets on Amie Street and RECs 'em.
BASA: lock
Jamiroquai in a room with Dzihan and Kamien and feed a steady diet
of martini's for dinner and mimosa's for breakfast.
Starlight
Touche
Jed &
Lucia: with a soft sound like a light breeze blowing
through a forest sanctuary, this duo aims to wrap your soul in a
warm blanket of simple melodies, acoustic guitars, and electronic
textures.
Can't Cage a Bird
Off the Ground
Zaki: when are
you going to finish your album and take over the world? Listen to
the lyrics and the flow...
Grow (Original)
Daylight (Radio Mix)
Yes & No
Turn Me Around
Beatmakin
Troopa: jazzy instrumental hip hop from the cold
shores of Iceland.
Mommy, Where is My
Afrodisiac Sound
System: serious party rockin' hip hop... Break out the
ADIDAS!
Revolution feat. Raashan Ahmad
Its So Nice feat. Raashan Ahmad
The Sugarman
3: probably one of the illest Funk outfits on the site
right now. Possibly one of the illest funk outfits in the world
right now. Definitely needs to be in your music collection right
now.
Down To It
Promised Land (Featuring Naomi Davis)
Until next time, your musical guide Musipal ;)
An Amiestreet fairytale
May 27th, 2007
On Amie Street it all starts with a good song or maybe a few
good songs... In any case, Emma Burgess has never been
on our front page before but with a few REC's she's become one of
the most popular artists on the site! One could suppose that some
luck is involved, but her album Swim is nothing less than a
phenomenal debut packed with inventive songwriting wrapped up in
catchy melodies and a pop-perfect candy shell.
Big Break
My One Song For You
The perfection of every single song on this album begs the question: who's the writing team behind this girl... The answer: No One. Emma's been humming to herself since she had a treehouse in Massachusetts, playing her guitar since a car accident confined her to a wheelchair for months, writing songs ever since the days were dark enough to need an outlet. Now, she's in L.A. and there's already a bit of a buzz, but she's still the one writing the songs.
Basamatic
April 23rd, 2007
While it's hard to easily define or categorize the Basa sound, their groove is somehow instantly familiar...
There's almost a sense of Deja-vu with the loungey Sunday drive
space-jazz that these cats lay down. Fascinating though easily
convoluted spaces between pop, jazz, electro, and soul are
effortlessly navigated by Eric Corbett and Nappy D with
consistently classic and classification defying results. Full of
simple clear melodies and songwriting that comes from a tradition
as old as Motown, this is definitely music informed by the past,
but there's no lack of innovation to be found in the genius EP:
Edit. Tired
themes, like love being all you need, sound fresh once again
through Basa's take on
Starlight
(
Touche
(
Cloud_09
(The New Jive!
April 2nd, 2007
Helios Jive, a duo from Los Angeles, are constantly exploring the outer limits of exactly how electronic, jazz and world influences can well... Jive together. Besides constantly learning how to play new instruments, finishing an ambitiously innovative album, and putting together scores for film and dance performances, they're also integrating visual and dance elements into their live show and generally making other electronic acts ashamed of checking their email on stage. Digeridoo's, eastern percussion, saxophones, keys, and samba-soul singers, all make their way into a typical Helios set and the consistent result is a whole room of people bumpin' and jivin', twisitin' and shakin', and getting on the good foot, if you know what I mean. It's no surprise that the venerable L.A. music awards named these guys the best jazz act of 2006. Soooo... If you're inclined to catch some bargain Amie Street flavor in ya ear here's some suggestions:
The Last Ride
(
Heliosentric
(
NuJive
(
Beautiful Soul
January 22nd, 2007
Even without a label-home to speak of yet, it's obvious that Zaki Ibrahim will be making some noise this year. Already touring and sharing the stage with acts like Bedouin Soundclash and Bahamadia, this 22 year old songstress exhibits a vocal and lyrical maturity that feels at home in the company of Jill Scott or Erykah Badu. Enter Canadian-based production team Headnodz, consisting of Kaje Levi and Nick Holder to compliment the honey-voiced Zaki and the results are some timeless nu-soul sounds for the open-minded groove-seeker.
Grow (Original)
(
Daylight (Radio Mix)
(Welcome to Syberspace
January 2nd, 2007
The Philadelphia Weekly describes Sy's
music as "engaging, space-age soul for the hip, unassuming
hedonist." Any way you play it Sy
Smith is on some otha-ish. Try to categorize it as nu-soul,
futurejazz, R&B... It doesn't really matter much, Sy's going to
keep doing what she's doing and our ears are all the better for it.
She says it herself over the thick electro-funk of super producer
Nicolay on
Aquarius Rising
: "From Hip-hop to be-bop to funk to
fusion/from high life to reggae to rock n'roll/I stay cool under
pressure when others might pop/I cherish tradition yet unorthodox."
The Ali Shaheed (Tribe Called Quest) produced
Fa Sho
shows off the experimental bent of this tripped out diva as she
effortlessly switches off between a straight-ahead hiphop beat and
a jazz swing every 16-bars or so.
Aquarius Rising
: "From Hip-hop to be-bop to funk to
fusion/from high life to reggae to rock n'roll/I stay cool under
pressure when others might pop/I cherish tradition yet unorthodox."
The Ali Shaheed (Tribe Called Quest) produced
Fa Sho
shows off the experimental bent of this tripped out diva as she
effortlessly switches off between a straight-ahead hiphop beat and
a jazz swing every 16-bars or so.
Sporting a chameleon-like vocal ability as she moves from track
to track, Sy finds a unique way to work with each song. Case in
point: The killer
Drop That
which gets interpreted two
ass-shakin ways on this album via the MGA rework!
Drop That (Bonus) (Modern Groove Assembly Rmx.)
There's certainly more praise to be found including the recent announcement that Sy is BET J's Female Underground Artist of 2006 but even more interesting is that this is already Sy's second full album though only the first to be released by a label. (The 1st was shelved by the label she recorded it for!) Already well on the way to completing a third, consider yourself lucky to watch the rise of a talent more akin to an elemental force than the sweet, personable, and fascinating personality Sy shows to the world.
