Jazz fan Natalie Weiner launched a blog called The 1959 Project with day-to-day looks at the genre’s most famous year. When researching for my final year dissertation, Ted Gioia’s The History of Jazz was a valuable tome and it helped (I got a First for the dissertation). Jazz history is fascinating and enriching when you travel …
A Reddit user compiled 92 of the most sampled tracks in music history thanks to WhoSampled’s extensive database.
In our next edition of The Etymology of Sampling, we will be looking at the word “loop”. The term has many meanings outside of sampling and music but we’ll see where we can go with it. The history behind “loop” is one of mystery. It derives from the late 14th century meaning “a fold or …
It’s the most famous drum break in the history of recorded sound and like most old samples, none of the musicians involved have received a single penny for their efforts. Until now. “Amen Brother” was a composition performed by 60s soul band The Winstons and, more specifically, the “Amen break” performed by Gregory Cylvester “G. …
The upcoming National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. has a new exhibit courtesy of J Dilla’s custom Moog synth and MPC3000.
Legendary photographer Brian Cross aka B+ drops a little video preview of his new book, Ghostnotes.
Upon Frankie Knuckles sad passing, this week’s Throwback Thursday is dedicated to the genre he fathered in documentary series Pump Up the Volume: The History of House Music.
Video remix producer Eclectic Method patches together “a brief history of sampling” in his latest remix video. Depending on how you look at it, there are similarities between quantum physics and sampling. Drum breaks can be seen as the building blocks of the sampling universe, it continues to expand with new innovations and discoveries in …
Joe Mansfield’s book Beat Box: A Drum Machine Obsession is a must have for any drum machine connoisseurs. Are you on the lookout for a new book to adorn your coffee table? Well, drum machine geek Joe Mansfield has written a 200-page photo book (photos by Gary Land) dedicated to some of the most influential machines …
We interviewed hip hop duo Latyrx. A sixteen year gap between albums isn’t that common within the realms of hip hop but for Latyrx, the timing was perfect to drop their sophomore offering, The Second Album. We caught up with Lateef and discussed what the reasons for the “hiatus” and what we should expect from …
To mark the 40th anniversary of the famous 1520 Sedgwick Avenue house party back in 1973, BBC documentary “Beat This: A Hip-Hop History” is the focus of our Throwback Thursday feature this week. First off, we have to wish hip-hop music a happy 40th birthday! Although hip-hop culture and its music had been growing before that …
In an interview with Clash Music, Jaguar Skills shares his views on sampling and knowledge of hip hop.
Another mix from sheepish.org, this time about the history of sampling.
Wanna know how Marley Marl made LL Cool J’s Mama Said Knock You Out. Just watch. Mama Said Knock You Out was LL Cool J’s comeback track after the poor performance of Walking with a Panther in the charts and many of his hip hop peers saying he’d gone soft and too “commercial”. Mama Said …