2)Ethiopiques: Incredibly beautiful series of Ethiopian and Eritrean music, mostly from the 1960's and 1970's. Not your average pop radio fare, but absolutely stunning music unlike anything else out there (other than the original releases compiled here...). We've heard, however, that Kanye West has sampled a song from Ethiopiques Vol 10 for the forthcoming Common single "The Game."
3)NYC DJ and producer Prince Language recently released an amazing edit of a song titled "Yo Son" on his hard-to-find vinyl only Editions Disco label of a song by Libyan singer Ahmed Fakroun. A cursory google search turns up countless message board dialogues such as this one featuring music nerds like EMERGE freaking out over this middle eastern proto-rap disco jam. The soundtrack for Summer 2007 is here. Check out the mp3 here
4)Many dance music veterans claim the mantle "legendary" after years of djing in relative obscurity. However DJ Harvey, an ex-pat British musician based in LA, and Thomas Bullock, an ex-pat British musician bouncing between NY and LA both rightly deserve the title. Harvey was an early resident at Ministry of Soun and many of his early to mid 90s remixes and edits, especially those released on the furiously hard-to-find Black Cock Records are the stuff of eBay mythology, selling for upwards of $300 a pop. Thomas was among the earliest figures in San Francisco's now storied rave scene, helping to found the Tonka Soundsystem and helping found the Bay Area's legendary Wicked Crew while releasing countless classics under the name The Mammal. Currently he's also one half of the ultra-cool Rub N Tug DJ and remix team. So it's quite exciting for those in the know to hear that the much rumored collaboration between these two called Map Of Africa has finally come out. An album of 70's flavored rock with touches of Balearic vibes and some disco, the album is sure to be an instant collectible amongst the cognoscenti and will surely soundtrack at least a few EMERGE bbqs this summer.
5)DFA/Dave Denis ultra limited tee shirt: White-hot NYC label DFA have teamed up with underground clothier to the hip Dave Denis to bring an ultra-premium, ultra-limited collaborative tee shirt to select shops around the world. Sold in the US via the fine folks at I Heart, they are literally flying off the shelves. Check the killer image below:
