The Shambhala Journals - #1 in which I admit I'm wrong about some key things.

Anyone who’s talked to me for an extended period of time about sports knows that I hate the Seattle Seahawks. I’ll take every opportunity I can to bash them into the ground. But really, I don’t actually hate the Seahawks. I actually just love hating things my good friends claim are great. It’s fun to antagonize people you love. Really, why else do you have friends other than to let out some of the nastiness that gets bent up inside you? There’s nothing malicious about it, just some fun.

My relationship with electronic music has developed in much the same way as one of my best friends in the whole wide world has constantly tried to get me into the genre. It’s fun to resist, fun to push back. It came to the point where my friend was playing me remixes of classics like the Beatles, Marvin Gaye and such just because he knew he’d be able to get a reaction out of me and I was more than willing to oblige with the obligatory, “This is fucking stupid! Why fuck with classics?! Just let me listen to the motherfucking song!” But really, I was wrong. The whole time, I was wrong.

I’m a Hip-Hop guy. It’s been the main staple of my listening diet since I was 9 or 10 years old and got my hands on 36 Chambers and Black Sunday. So, really, just with that information alone my stance on remixes in electronic music is completely stupid. Hip-Hop was, and mostly remains, built on sampling. This is nothing more than a new generation of music obsessives (Something I can wholly identify with) paying tribute to the things that inspired them on their artistic path. It’s really no different than my roommate and I sitting in our living room playing Tom Petty songs on our guitar, except that they’ve created something new that harkens back to something already established as great.

Like executing a good cover song there’s an art to sampling correctly, to breathe your own unique vision into something already in existence and find that delicate balance of paying tribute and not just dick-riding. And the man who helped me see this, once and for all, was Wick-It the Instigator. By far the baddest motherfucker I saw at Shambhala, Wick-It has quickly become my entry into the world of DJs and electronic music. I’m still learning, no doubt, but I think with Wick-It I’ve found the accelerator to the learning process. The curve doesn’t seem as steep as it once did…

This mix has been on nearly verbatim since I arrived back from my journey to the Salmo Ranch where Shambhala takes place each year and if you have the same problems with electronic music that I have had this might help. (Being mangled beyond belief in the forest dancing with old and new friends to it on a giant soundsystem might also help with this as well.)

Full Length Mix: 1. Wick-it the Instigator - Feel Lit 2. LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out (Wick-it 2013 Revamp) (unreleased) 3. DJ Khaled - All I Do Is Win (Wick-it Remix) 4. Lil Jon - Put Your Hood Up (Wick-it Remix) (unreleased) 5. Reservoir Dawgs feat.

My sincere apologies to you, dear electronic music fans. I was wrong. Very, very wrong about the music you’ve been trying to push on me for years now. I’m still always going to be a live instrument guy at heart, but I think there’s more common ground for us to dance on than I previously believed.

Shad teams up with Skratch Bastid and Saukrates(!) to continue dominating Canadian Hip-Hop.

The joy I get knowing that Shad, the most consistently awesome rapper working in Canada today, has teamed up with hella cool dude Skratch Bastid cannot be overstated. Though I'm a fan of awesome beats, no doubt, I don't know shit about the art of DJing but the moment I heard the Bastid split the difference between Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" and Dead Prez' "Hip-Hop" I knew he was a pretty fucking stellar DJ. I don't remember much about the rest of that night (Except that K'naan destroyed and played the still-good version of "Wavin' Flag") but that moment always stood with me. So when he and Shad teamed up for The Spring Up EP I thought it was a one-time thing. Boy am I glad I was wrong.

"Stylin'," the first single from Shad's upcoming joint, Flying Colours, is another damned fine slice of intelligent, graceful Hip-Hop. The duo even got Canada's reigning musical Swiss Army Knife, Saukrates, for some chill vocals on the hook. If this is any indication of what's to come Flying Colours  is set to be another winner. As if there was any doubt. Check the fresh new video out and see for yourself. Don't worry, if the smile on your face gets so big it starts to hurt or your head bobs so hard you think it's going to fall off, just hit the 'pause' button and take a couple deep breaths...

Ghana's own, Blitz the Ambassador drops a new track and, obviously, I dig it.

Hey kids. One of my main inspirations these days has been Blitz the Ambassador. Both his albums, Stereotype and Native Sun , have been in the regular rotation for over a year. His rhythms and beats are inventive and, importantly, organic, as Blitz commands an actual band of musicians to give him his grooves. His rhymes are intelligent, important, and endlessly agile. If you haven't listened to Blitz before, you need to.

Blitz's new track "African in New York" more than lives up to the winning formula he's already established. Bold storytelling with Recognize those samples in there? You should. And if you don't, get learned. Seriously. (Your hints: Eddie Murphy and Hova)

Keep an eye out for Blitz's upcoming The Warm Up EP , which is apparently due out next month. Also, props to Okayafrica for keeping me up to date on this one! Respect.

 (Addendum to this post: I've been trying to get an interview with Blitz for over a year now. We've come so close twice, but haven't been able to pull it off. Hopefully I can make it happen one day. I really do love this brother's music.)

www.twitter.com/blitzambassador www.facebook.com/blitzambassador 'African In New York' chronicles the colorful immigrant life in NYC from an African perspective. From the Bootleggers on Canal street to the Dollar cab drivers to the Restaurants Uptown, everybody gets a shout out over this banging Blitz production complete with live guitars and signature horns.

Blitz blowing the lid off of the Victoria Ska Fest. Photo by me! 

I come out of a long slumber.

Hey friends.  It's been too long since I've been posting all my real talk and dope-ass interviews here. But really, I've been quite busy. So this is just a quick little update to let you know what I've been up to.

Last weekend was the Phillip's Backyard Weekender here in Victoria and I was there doing coverage for Exclaim!. If you weren't there you should read up on the shows there, highlighted by De La Soul completely destroying. But I shouldn't be surprised, it's how they do.

Night 1 with Cat Empire, the Dirty Heads and the Expendables. 

Night 2 with De La Soul, Buck 65 and SonReal 

The week before that was the Victoria Ska Festival  , which remains, hands down, the best week of music here in Victoria each year. It's just a ton of fun, which is always great because I don't really like ska music. Well, ska revival music. But the lineup is always diverse and lots of fun. The organizers are also great people who just love music. Sure, there's money involved, but it's a whole lot more love. I've worked pretty closely with the Ska Society over the last couple of years doing interviews in the run-up to the festival and reviews during the festival. This year was no different. Here is a roundup of ALL my Ska Fest-related pieces that have kept me away from you lovely people.

Interview piece with Logan Bell from Katchafire. 

Interview piece with Dub FX. 

Interview piece with Kris Wood of Blackberry Wood. 

My Ska-Fest listening primer. 

Days 1 and 2 of Ska Fest with Sierra Leone Refugee All-Stars, Blackberry Wood and the Revivers. 

Days 2 and 3 of Ska Fest with Blitz the Ambassador, Tanya Stephens, Dope Soda and David Hillyard's Rocksteady 7.

Much respect to Yasiin Bey. Headliner at the 14th annual Victoria Ska Fest. Photo by me.

The final day of Ska Fest with Yasiin Bey (Formerly Mos Def) and Dub FX. Also, why I love Ska Fest so much.

And just a couple of weeks before that was the Victoria Jazz Fest, always a stellar time. I only did one interview leading up to it, but it was a real doozy. I also did media coverage for my home publication, the Martlet.

Interview piece with soulman Lee Fields. 

Review of Five Alarm Funk's set at Centennial Square. 

Review of Vieux Farka Touré at Sugar Nightclub. 

Review of David Gray Infinity Quartet feat. Macy Gray.  

I've also done up a couple of reviews for LyfStyl Music. Big ups to them for giving me another place to talk music. There's never enough space.

My review of Kanye West's Yeezus .  (In retrospect I would like to re-rate this record at like a 6.5 or maybe 7.)

Review of the Uncluded's Hokey Fright .

Same props and respect for the Coastal Spectator. The place I got my first paid article published. I've been doing some reviews around town for them as well. Much respect, Andrea and Lynne. 

 Review of Eddie Spaghetti's sweet new record, The Value of Nothing .

 Review of Victoria all-girl rock band White Hot Jet's debut performance.

Review of Blackberry Wood at Logan's Pub.  

So there it is. When it's all laid out in front of me it's actually kind of amazing how much I've been doing lately. But it's not enough. I love writing and I love being forced to do it.  There's more on the way, as always, so stay tuned. And as always, if you know of some awesome music that needs my attention, please leave a comment or drop me a line.  

Much respect,

Rags

Lee Fields at Victoria Jazz Fest. Taken by Kim Jay with my camera.