Sony Ericson headphones animation

I'm lovin' this animation for Sony Ericson headphones by Swedish animator Kristofer Strom. The sound design and music are so very nice.

Chinza Dopeness

Chinza Dopeness is a Japanese rapper who just released his first album: 100% Rap. He's got a nice video-based website to promote it. But first, check out these dope videos!

Incredibox

Check out this delightful flash beatbox remixer thingamabob!

Total surface area required to fuel the world with solar power

We don't have an energy problem - we have a conversion problem.

Many people don't know that I'm an avid environmentalist and proponent of sustainable choices. So it's nice to see that there are smart people well on the way to solving our conversion problem. I get really inspired when I see stuff like this.

CDR

Last friday we went to the CDR night at Trouw, a relatively new restaurant/club in Amsterdam by the creators of the excellent-but-no-longer-existing Eleven. They have a big dance floor and a restaurant on the main floor of this reclaimed industrial building, and a second dance floor in the basement , but we didn't have a reservation, so we didn't get to try their street food themed menu.

We headed straight to the basement (because that's where all the bass went) for the monthly CDR night hosted by Juha from Viral Radio. CDR is a new club night concept they brought over from the UK where indie producers can bring in their own tracks on CDR and the Viral radio DJs will play them. I read about it in Time Out Amsterdam, and jumped at the opportunity.

The night had it's good and bad points. Time Out made it sound like a bustling club night, but the reality was a room populated by about ten DJ/producers and their girlfriends. We sat on wooden benches while the DJ played our tracks. I think the low turnout was partially due to the horrid weather and the very early 20:30 start time, but there is definitely room for improvement.

On the other hand, the quality of the music that people brought was consistently good, and it was great to hear my tracks played on a professional club sound system. The tracks tended towards dubstep, but there were also some house, hip-hop, and electronica tracks to spice things up. Viral Radio is a dubstep night, so they had the bass cranked up nicely. I brought two tracks, Ghost and Spaghetti Western Style, and I am proud to report that even on a night full of bass-heavy sounds, my tracks were the only ones that made the air conditioning system rattle!

Ghost

Spaghetti Western Style


Even though this first CDR outing was a bit of a bust, I'll be going back again. I think they should make it less of a "producers only" night, and really sell it as a way to hear fresh new sounds from up and coming producers. One day, I like to see it filled with a crowd of eager young listeners that are there to dance and enjoy the music.

The old Fumbata blog

BTW, if you want to check out older Fumbata blog posts, head over to blogs.myspace.com/fumbata. I know, I know, Myspace. But, I've still got a couple interesting things over there, including a review of North Sea Jazz 2007, and a lovely Jack Johnson/G Love show in Den Haag.

There are also a bunch on Fumbata album announcements there, but it's better to skip the middle man and just go straight to Fumbata.com for that.

Reco: General Elektriks

I've been a fan of General Elektriks since I heard a track on 88.5 back in Atlanta. Funky, soulful, hip-hop electronica with lots of nice vintage keyboards (GE is a french keyboardist who tours with a bunch of hip-hop groups).

I recently stopped by http://www.general-elektriks.com and discovered that he has a new album coming out. Better yet, there are free MC collaboration tracks on the website under the heading "a pocketful of MC's". Very nice stuff featuring Mr. Lif, Pigeon John, and his old friend Lateef! Be sure to check out "requiem for a neo-con": it's got the funkiest keyboards I've heard since Propellerheads.

While I'm on the General Elektriks tangent, head over to http://www.solesides.com/ , the unofficial home of Quannum Records (GE's US label). They've got a ton of free tracks and podcasts to download, including the new Lyrics Born/Lateef tha Truth Speaker collab. I can't say I'm a fan of LB's new 80's funk style, but it's still a good track, and maybe it will grow on me.

Welcome

This blog is a place where I post new Fumbata announcements, music reviews and recommendations, and various other rants and musings. The posts will be few and far between, but I'll try to make them good!

Yours truly,
Fumbata