What's going on everyone. I can't believe a year has passed since I began this podcast. My first podcast was a spotlight on my favorite jazz vocalist,
Michael Franks and for my first anniversary I was going to feature a spotlight on Michael Manring but as 2008 came to a close four artists kept coming in my mind and I couldn't shake them so this spotlight will be on
Todd Kelley, Muhsinah, The Foreign Exchange(Phonte and Nicolay)To be honest it comes full circle on one person, Todd Kelley. I say this because when Fave told me about this gifted producer back in 2007 I reached out to him when hearing some of his Background Flow mixes and two things stood out about Todd...he's willing to share great music and giving me the 411 on great producers and second, his gift for putting great beats together. It really hit me when hearing "The Chance of Rain" featuring the vocalist of
T.J. Brown. When I heard that beautiful track my jaw hit the floor and that song received heavy rotation on my iPod. So not only is the brother talented in blending instrumental mixes but can put together some of the best beats for vocalist to share their gift (two of my favorite tracks are by
Fave collaboration with Todd Kelly).
Another cool thing about Todd is the fact that he introduced me to the sounds and beats of Nicolay. When hearing one of Todd's Background Flow mixes I heard a track that I kept going back to time and time again and when asking who was that artist, Todd told me Nicolay (the track is "Hey") thus began my quest of finding music by this talented producer/DJ. From there I discovered Foreign Exchange, Phonte, Muhsinah and all of this in a weird way circled back to Todd.
When hearing the track "Daykeeper" I have to admit I fell in love with the voice of Muhsinah. The blend of Phonte and Muhsinah vocals and the music by Nicolay put me in a place where when hearing Seal first LP. I know this is in the genre of Hip Hop but I beg to differ because for me this entire LP could be dropped in the genre of Lounge, Chill Out, Downtempo because of the way the tracks flow whether you are hearing the vocals or the instrumentals. When hearing this entire LP (thanks again to you know who, Todd) it has made me seek out the first Foreign Exchange LP and the City Lights LP by Nicolay.
When hearing Muhsinah's voice it's haunting, surreal, serene. Her voice draws you in, even if you do not want to be captivated but before you know it you are there. One thing I love about Muhsinah is that you really can't pin down her vocal style and that's a great thing because that leaves her vocal in the music genre wide open and she will not be pigeon-holed. It also helps that she a musician, arranger, producer.
The beautiful thing about this show is that no matter how I would have put the track arrangement each song would have blended smoothly one behind the other which again lets you know the gift of these for musicians/producers/vocalists.
Kick back, relax and let the sounds of these incredible tracks kick off your 2009 the right/smooth/relaxing way.
Music is taken from...Todd Kelley's"Water...Under the Bridge"
"Music...For Elevators and Escalators"
"Big La Vs Todd:The Collaborations"
Muhsinah's "
The Oscillations: Sine"
Foreign Exchange"
Leave It All Behind"
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Tracks/Artists
- Feel Fine - Big La vs. Todd
- Daykeeper feat. Muhsinah - Foreign Exchange
- Take Off The Blues(Instrumental) - Foreign Exchange
- A.M. - Muhsinah
- Construction - Muhsinah
- Goodbye(2008 Mix) - Big La vs. Todd
- House Of Cards feat. Muhsinah - Foreign Exchange
- Gogh - Muhsinah
- (Still) By Your Side - Big La vs. Todd
- Something To Behold(Instrumental) - Foreign Exchange
- Wonders - Muhsinah
- Must Keep Going feat. Doyle Robinson - Big La vs. Todd
- Millions - Muhsinah
- I Love You - Fave(Big La Remix)
- Leave It All Behind - Foreign Exchange
- Moment Of Truths(The Morning After) - Big La vs. Todd
- Something To Behold(vocal track) feat. Muhsinah & Darien Brockington - Foreign Exchange
- All Or Nothing/Coming Home To You(Instrumental) - Foreign Exchange
- Never Be The Same - Big La vs. Todd
Todd Kelley Official Websiteshttp://toddkelley.net/http://flowink.com/Muhsinah's Official Websiteshttp://www.myspace.com/muhsinahhttp://www.muhsinah.com/Foreign Exchange Official Websiteshttp://www.theforeignexchangemusic.com/http://www.myspace.com/theforeignexchangefollow me via twitter:
www.twitter.com/myloveformusicemail me:
dktechlabs@gmail.com/
darrenkeithwyatt@gmail.com
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