# 00027

amsterdam, nl, august 2009

# 00026 - trouvaille 003

okay.. there are numerous ways to start this off.. how the city of Detroit is this seemingly endless pool of musical talent (and it is).. how this tough city in the Midwest is and apparently has always been sustaining so many great musicians, regardless of what kind of music.. and so forth.. but, to tell you the truth, i’ve never been there.. thus, i can’t really tell you anything about it.. so, 'nuff blabla and let's cut right to the chase:

U N I T E D     S T A T E S     O F     M I N D

or short: USM, “is a collective of diverse, yet like-minded individuals who have come together to advance today’s stagnant hip-hop culture. The collective consists of five emcees (Asylum 7, Metasyons, W. Draztik, 5-Ill, & D. Allie) and two dj’s/producers (Crate Digga & Sleepy Biggs)“..

obviously, they’ve been around for some time now and since they make a lot of their releases available online for free, it’s easy to check them out.. but, being caught up in this fast-paced world, let’s focus on two more or less recent releases and one soon to be launched project..

although there have been several releases beneath the collective’s banner – an album (memorably entitled kill the bullsh!t) and several samplers (vol. 1, 2, 3 & 4) – their recent ones have mostly been composed by ‘reduced formations’..

one of them is w. draztik & sleepy biggs' smokers cough

coming along with the record, they’ve released (so far) three enticing videos..

w. draztik & sleepy biggs – smokers intro

w. draztik & sleepy biggs – the rest did it for checks

w. draztik & sleepy biggs – ringmaster

another collaboration would be progress report.. this time usm’s d. allie reached outside of the collective to partner up with eddie logix, “producer/mc/audio engineer [&] 1/3 of MidCoast Most”.. they released an album of the same name earlier this year..

again, there are some enhancing visuals..

progress report – wake up

progress report feat. mayaeni – i’m yours

at last, a look into the near future:

metasyons is about to release his next project in august (on the 12^th), the unemployment lp, produced by crate digga.. as an hors d’oeuvre and to get the anticipation going, the visuals to blackman..

metasyons – blackman

# 00025

amsterdam, nl, august 2009

# 00024 - trouvaille 002

so far, this platform has been made of photographs and some meager words, taken and uttered by me, yours truly.. but eventually, even i have to keep up with the times.. so, despite my turtle-ish approach regarding innovation – meaning being not only annoyingly languorous but also irrationally skeptical about anything new, bright and shiny with – by any chance – more than four knobs on it – , I’m venturing head-on into something that might well be the next big thing: the video..

on a different note and although (or maybe because) i’m considering myself a demonstrative record collector and concert goer, i’ve kind of made a point of not rendering any sort of review or criticism on here.. as hippie as this might sound, this platform serves exclusively to behold phenomena that interest or entertain me in a pleasant way.. having said this, everything posted here is a benevolent suggestion to pass time.. no more, no less..

so without further ado, i’ll humbly present to you the first handful of videos..

the first of the two segments, an ongoing series on ‘sampling’ and ‘remixing’, entitled "everything is a remix", created by kirby ferguson, points out how there really isn’t anything new under the sun, besides the rejuvenating force of creativity (which - as you will learn at the latest in part 3 - is not so highty-tighty either).. so far, three mini-films have been published and the fourth is on its way.. for further information you might want to visit the site of this series..

kirby ferguson - everything is a remix part I

kirby ferguson - everything is a remix part II




kirby ferguson - everything is a remix part III

(yet another proof for his expertise; introduced to me by D.. props, man.. bbh)

as a complement and to tie these crafty films to the realm of urban(esque) culture, let’s close with an appealing film, "the process. (a beatmaking film)" by hypoetical (adriel almirol), on the process of beatmaking (d'uh?!)..

hypoetical - the process. (a beatmaking film)

(stumbled upon on sampling changed our life.. check it out!)

# 00023

st. gallen, ch, december 2009

# 00022

straight outta sittertobel,

live from the open air st. gallen..

st. gallen, ch, july 2011