I’m pleased to introduce (to those of you who didn’t already know) to the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. This 9-piece Chicago ensemble is a veritable “band of brothers” as 8 of the 9 members are sons of Phil Cohran the legendary jazz trumpeter. The 8 brothers all play horns and are joined by Gabriel “Manuels” Wallace on drums. These guys are tight and have played with some of the best musicians of our times. Enjoy these tracks below. And buy their album from iTunes: Hypnotic Brass Ensemble

War - Hynotic Brass Ensemble ft Jay-Z, Freeway and Beanie Sigel - Nick Catchdubs Mashup - This is a mash of HBE’s track War and the song “What We Do” from Freeway’s album “Philadelpia Freeway”. via

Welcome to the World of Plastic Beach - Gorillaz ft Snoop Dogg and the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - via

Sweepstakes - Gorillaz ft Mos Def and the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - via

Ain’t nobody making music to not be heard and the easiest way to be heard is to be on the radio, but you should never compromise who you are, your values or your morals. ~Talib Kweli

Stay the Course - DJ Shadow ft Talib Kweli & Posdnuos - Jammer from the Bay Area’s proud son, Shadow’s, upcoming album- The Less You Know, Is Better.

Hypnotize - Notorious B.I.G. - Cockney Nutjob’s Ghetto Funk Remix - Jammer remix of the Biggie track.via

Slow Country(strictly Rubbadub) - Gorillaz vs Spacemonkeyz - I love the Gorillaz. This is some of their old school sound blended with some Spacemonkeyz dub.. jah boy. via

That’s right. As if the Northeast hasn’t been hit hard enough this winter, here comes more snow. Shweet. Though I typically don’t care for “so how’s the weather” banter, I feel my ranting about the brutal cold might make those of you not living on the East Coast appreciative for your surroundings, and those of you here with me can commiserate. Onto the heat…

Empire Ants - Gorillaz ft Little Dragon (Miami Horror Remix) - This is a jam of a song, remixed into a jam of a remix. Miami Horror keep a lot of the original elements to the song and just make it sound really cool and urban and night time-ish. I picture a vanilla-scented, smoke filled, Miami lounge, filled with beautiful co-eds. Chillin…

Creeper Shit - Groundislava - This California band that I discovered at HandsomeClothing, makes 8-bit sounds shine. Jammer.

Little Bit - Lykke Li - Aether Remix - This song has been remixed so much, but i just came across this one and it’s pretty cool.

Ahh what a glorious day in the Bean. It’s finally nice out. Thank Jah.

Today we have a couple jammers for ya. First up is the mp3 to that Gorillaz cover of the XX that I posted on Sunday. It’s great. Damon Albarn is a musical genius. No two ways about it. The dude is such a talented producer/songwriter/musician/etc. Nuff respect.

Crystalized - Gorillaz - the xx cover

Secondly, is the inspiration behind the above image. A jammer by Raphael Saadiq. I’m so thankful we have people like Raphael and Aloe Blacc doing their thing. They make great music, are incredibly talented and are not image driven brands. Love it. Here’s Raphael’s track Be Here remixed by Kofi Obafemi.

Be Here - Raphael Saadiq - Kofi Obafemi remix

Finally, and I realize I’m spoiling y’all with this. :) But here’s a bonus 3rd track for the day. It’s Ingrid Michaelson covering Radiohead’s Creep. Beautiful.

Creep - Ingrid Michaelson - Radiohead cover

Still riding a post-Florence show high. She is amazing. An amazing voice, performance, charm, cuteness, everything. Simply exquisite show. Flo played nearly all of my favorite songs and completely tore down the House of Blues. She also did an acoustic performance for a lucky crowd at Woodward at the Ames Hotel.

Anywho, here’s a couple cool tracks. The first one is the Gorillaz jammer, Doncamatic, remixed a la dubstep by joker (pic above). Download the song here: Doncamatic Remix

Doncamatic - Gorillaz (Joker Dubstep Remix)

Next up, is a classic GEMski. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell On You”, remixed by Jeremy Sole. I love the classic track and all the cover’s remixes that have done of it. This one’s got some Halloween sounds and is pretty good for a spooky playlist. Enjoy friends. Why can’t it be Halloween everyday?!

I Put A Spell On You - Jeremy Sole’s Zombie Stomp Remix - Download

Yet another Gorillaz post, as promised. This one is to go over the cultural significance of Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz. Check the video i posted and listen to Damon’s words in the beginning. In a time of rampant anti-arabic sentiment, it’s amazing to hear and experience this. Damon took a few moments last night to discuss his trip to Syria and went into detail about his relationship with the National Orchestra who he’d met on said trip. This video features a Syrian man “rapping” in Arabic over the part where Del’s verse normally sits. It’s friggin sweet. Only thing that would have been better is if he was Lebanese, nothing against Syrians, but the Lebanese are always getting shafted and I want them to get the shine they deserve. :)

Another piece of cultural significance, is that Damon was joined on stage by The Clash legends, Mick Johnson and Paul Simonon who make appearances on Plastic Beach. Woooooo! A night to remember for sure! Go see live music people!

The Gorillaz were unbelievable last night. Epic sound, epic visuals, epic cameo’s (De La Soul, Little Dragon, BOBBY WOMACK) and an all around amazing show. Enjoy this dubstep version of Rhinestone Eyes off of their new album, Plastic Beach.

De La Soul rocked the place. Little Dragon who is Swedish/Japanese tore the house down. Actually Little Dragon is a band, but only the singer was present, or introduced, anyhow. The incomparable, Bobby Womack, brought us “Across 110th Street” with his soulful voice and swagger. That dude is a legend. A night of legendary music. I’m sure i’ll post something later today with the actual footage so stay tuned. One odd point to the night was that the place was still relatively empty when NERD went on and it looked like Pharrell was a bit bummed at first. Then towards the end he stepped it up as people filed in. All in all, the night scores high in my live show rankings. Nicely done, gents.

Tonight is in fact the Gorillaz/NERD show, which is sure to be awesome. I’m very pumped for this show and have been bumping their shit non-stop today to get my head in the right place. Can’t wait to be pre-gaming at my apartment with friends. Anyhow, i hope this day is treating you all well. Boston is rainy and cold a sure fire indication that the dark, dreaded winter is around the corner. yikes…

Here are some remixes of the Gorillaz for those of you that aren’t fortunate enough to be going tonight, and those who are (no discrimination here).

Stylo - remix by Alex Metric - This is pretty good, I think I like Chiddy’s better, but totally different.

Daft Punk vs Gorillaz mashup 19-2000 Funk - This one’s pretty good as well. Definite dance party rocker.