Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, 2011

As the title might suggest, this documentary is about A Tribe Called Quest, often referred to as the most influential and groundbreaking musical groups in hip-hop history. The film is directed by Michael Rapaport who followed the band through their reunion tour in 2008, almost 10 years after the band’s sudden break up. Some of the participating interviewees are Common, Ludacris, Beastie Boys, and Pharrell.

Where to watch: YouTube rental, Google Play rental

FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, 2019

For anyone who has yet to see it, this is the story behind Fire festival, luxury music festival that turned into a national disaster. Over an hour-and-a-half the audience gets to see the inner workings of this festival trainwreck and it is entertaining and sad to watch all at the same time.

Where to watch: Netflix

Madonna and the Breakfast Club, 2019

The early story of Madonna, before the fame during her struggling year trying to make it in the big apple with her band the Breakfast Club. In many ways this film is a celebration of Madonna’s ambition but also a showcase of the people who had made an impact on her becoming a musician.

Where to watch: Hulu, Amazon Prime, YouTube rental

New York 77 the Coolest Year in Hell, 2007

This was a big year for New York for a variety of reasons from an economic downturn, to a massive city blackout, and a series killer on the loose. It was also the year South Bronx embraced hip hop, Lower East side embraced thrashing guitar punk at CBGB, and disco was still in full swing. The film features interviews with music legends like Afrika Bambaataa, Chris Stein (Blondie), Grandmaster Caz, DJ Disco Wiz, and many more.

Where to watch: free on YouTube

ReMastered: Who Shot the Sheriff, A Bob Marley Story, 2018

The violent political suppression of the roots reggae movement in Jamaica told through an investigation into Jamaican politics and the CIA’s involvement in the mysterious shooting of Bob Marley.

Where to watch: Netflix

Searching for Sugar Man, 2012

An amazing story of an artist no one knew about called Rodriguez, who lived a humble, subtle life not knowing that he had a near cult following in South Africa. Rodriguez is eventually found well and alive by two fans who then proceed to untangle the story of his life and lack of attribution.

Where to watch: Netflix (US), YouTube rental, Google Play rental, Amazon rental

Scratch, 2001

This doc is all about turntablism, looking at the history from the South Bronx in the 1970 to San Francisco today (aka at the time filmed). A wealth of DJs and industry experts pitch into the story, reflecting on how they got into scratching and how it all begun. Among the many featured performers are Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, DJ Babu, Jazzy Jay, Grandmaster Flash, Madlib, and many, many more.

Where to watch: free on YouTube

Shut Up and Play the Hits, 2012

Documentary about the LCD Soundsystem’s last ever show at Madison Square Gardens. To quote IMDb, this film is “an intimate portrait of James Murphy as he navigates the lead-up to the show, the day after, and the personal and professional ramifications of his decision.”

Where to watch: Hulu, YouTube rental, Google Play rental

Rebel Music, MTV Series, 2013 –

A series of stories about Younge artists using music and art to ignite revolutionary actions around the world. Each episode focuses on an artists within a country, facing oppression, injustices, crime and other socio-political issues that fuel their creativity.  The stories featured are from indigenous people in Canada, Egypt, Mali, Israel/Palestine, Afghanistan, Mexico, and India.

Where to watch: Some full episodes are available free on YouTube

27 Gone Too Soon, 2017

Documentary that investigates the deaths of musical celebrities all of whom died at the age of 27. Throughout the film audiences get to see unseen footage and interviews with medical professionals, critics, and other insiders from the lives of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain.

Where to watch: Netflix

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With just two streets to wander about, it’s not a flurry-fuck for visitors to know where things are. In fact, compared to the arbitrary spread of stages in the giant grounds that most festivals are on, this is a welcome turn of events. It’s also a great way for people familiar with Williamsburg to become especially intimate with these two popular streets, and the unique world of each of BEMF’s eight venues. This area used to be all warehouses, and each of the venues has kept (and exploited) their exposed brick foundations.

The musical offerings are wide. The promoters aim to have something to please everyone—retired raver, hipster on the lookout for unique ways to fiddle with music, scene kids—and they definitely succeeded. For festivalgoers, the trick to enjoying BEMF seems to be finding the venue that carries your kind of music. More experimental house and trance could be found at Villain and Glasslands. Party boy (and girl) music was at Verboten and Music Hall of Williamsburg. Kinfolk and Cameo Gallery held more “chill out” music.

The audience is distinct at each venue as well. Glasslands seemed to be home to the burn-outs. Verboten welcomed the pushy dance kids. Cameo and Villain encouraged retired ravers, current professionals with J Crew shoes and 350 dollar skirts; at Cameo, they drank neat scotch and Villain, they had PBRs. Music Hall of Williamsburg had kids asking adults to buy them alcohol (and during an interview with Chris Malinchak, this is exactly what happened). Some places had 70 per cent men, others had close to 90 per cent men.

Each venue is its own separate world, and the chance to step into whichever one you please is the real treat of BEMF.

Villain. If you want innovation (which tends to make the most exciting music) Villain had your back. Usual early acts are politely ignored, but Deru 1979 (stage name of Benjamin Wynn; joined by Effix) was a welcome exception. With a BA in Music Technology, Wynn is one of the more learned DJs at BEMF. He combined classical, hip-hop, electronic and world music to capture the audience with visuals and audio. The two DJs played in the middle of two screens. They played slow action shots of NYC that interacted with music waves, the kind you’d see in physics class. The scenes interacted with themselves and the music, creating an impressive visual display that was all too rare at BEMF. It’s a shame more people didn’t turn out (though it was early for the raver world—he went on at 8 PM). But the 30 or so people who made it were completely mesmerised.

Saturday night’s highlight was Lee Bannon. The Sacramento DJ’s debut album, Alternate/Endings was a beautiful house base punctuated with thoughtful elements of trance. At times, the percussive elements were mind-blowing. Saturday night it held some of the best music and the best-looking yuppies you can imagine, all armed with a PBR and designer leather boots. Bannon’s only downside to the live performance is that he basically ignored the audience, rarely looking up and never changing tempos to accommodate the few brave dancers who burst into the middle on occasion. This self-reservation is common to a lot of DJs, but when you’re performing, and people pay 20-25 dollars, it seems like you should put on a show—to quench the bar chatter if for no other reason.

Output. Whereas Villain, with its small stature, greatly exceeded expectations, Output, one of Brooklyn’s top dance clubs, was a big disappointment. NYC DJ, Cranks, performed in the Panther Room. It’s a pity this solid musician had little opportunity for a worthwhile audience. Some 10-15 people sat along the room’s perimeter, in the shadows, nodding their head. The walls of Output are not the friendliest. It’s the only venue that doesn’t allow photos (a mantra various signs chant as you walk through the building), and a four-dollar coat check is required; water is five dollars. The cover to see this local musician is 20 dollars. To call this ridiculously overpriced is generous. For some reason this was the same price to see more established acts like Todd Edwards and Route 94, acts that probably deserved a less sleazy venue.

Verboten. Along with Deru 1979, The Renegades of Rhythm (Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow) were one of the few to complement their impressive performance with a greater dizzying display of graphics. Queen, James Brown, Lipps Inc were all smashed together into a happy-go-lucky mix. Hip-hop was, of course, a cornerstone, with plenty of shout-outs to Afrika Bambaataa. “She’s still going strong!” DJ Shadow said of a 1987 percussion machine featured throughout the act.

The only downside to their performance was the venue. With a popular event like this, sliding in was basically impossible to see either DJ. It’s ironic that BEMF gave some of their most accomplished musicians so little space to for the audience to enjoy their music. It was somewhat a mystery that the venue charged $55 to see “The Renegades of Rhythm” when they played at Irving Plaza days before for $35. True to New York’s seedier side, the venue seemed to want to make more money than keep its patrons safe or happy.

Cameo Gallery. If you can grab a spot, the Boiler Room Production is everything it’s cracked up to be.  Whereas Glasslands and Villain were high mountains, Cameo was heaven. DJ Scotto controlled the lighting and contributed a memorable set before Love & Logic came on at 1 AM. DJ Frankie Bones brought an energetic set complemented by a beautiful light design.

The audience had the posh hipsters expected at a Boiler Room broadcast. But it also had its share of ravers who refused to retire or dance calmly. One came for the name, and one came for the music; it was lively to see the dichotomous groups squished together under one roof.

Surprisingly, the next night, Cameo was drained of all energy. DJ Dave P had great chill-out music, but it didn’t justify a live performance. The music transitioned without him as he spent a good midnight opening up a vodka bottle. Cameo was beautiful while it lasted.

Glasslands has a history of ADHD crowds. 70 per cent of the audience didn’t face the stage, instead talking about God knows what. Two tall men at the front of the stage spent the entire concert acting like bouncers as they cast their eyes across the audience. Pinch (Rob Ellis) was just as oblivious toward the audience as they were to him. He leaned over his three sets of turntables, grazing them like a fascinated archaeologist brushing away dust on the way to his find.

Music Hall of Williamsburg. BEMF’s largest venue understandably held some of the bigger acts. Galantis played Friday night, and with their ever-fun music, delivered to the people what they paid for.

Shift k3Y and Billon were basically interchangeable: Under the legal drinking age, DJs with a dependency on their MacBooks and still in the shadow of Daft Punk. Though generic, they did their job at increasing heartbeats before one of the night’s headliners, pop artist Little Boots. By the time an agonizing set up was complete, 30 minutes had passed since her scheduled time, and neither the setup nor the extended wait could justify the performance. Though her songs are as well written and catchy as those she’s often compared to (Ladyhawk, Robyn) she is not as strong a vocalist live. That, and a festival where lyrics aren’t expected to exist, made the performance lacklustre.

By ways of conclusion. While more DJs should engage with the audience to justify a live performance, most don’t (with the exception of Gaslamp Killer, Galantis, and Cut Chemist/DJ Shadow). Unless they have some visual show, most of the time you are getting a ticket to a curated club night.

If you plan to see three or more acts, festival passes proved to be the way to go. Tickets to individual events were anywhere from 20 to 55 dollars. Unless you’re a trust fund baby, it isn’t worth seeing most of these DJs live for that much money; unless you get a pass.

BEMF is a great way to become part of the city. This string of former warehouses forms a sort of dance district. The venues, all small to medium-sized, are perfect for electronic music.  More people will undoubtedly hop on board in the coming years.

Image, Boiler Room set,  courtesy of Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival

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As a groundbreaking DJ and MC, Bambaataa inspired both Shadow and Chemist in a radical way, so to win those tickets we’d like you to share with us a quick story about a song or an artist who inspired you in one way or another.

The hard details:

Prize: 2 tickets to the September 23rd DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist Renegades of Rhythm show at the House of Blues [total value $95.20 US + applicable taxes].

How to win:  Tell us what song or artist had a major influence on you by tweeting at @QuipMag using hashtag #RenegadesQuip or by commenting on the post below. Make sure to also follow @QuipMag on Twitter.

We will pick one random winner from all the submissions and contact them via Twitter or email shortly after the contest closes.

Other important stuff: Contest starts Friday, September 19th, 2014 at 10am and ends on Sunday, September 21st, 2014 at 10pm EST. Winners will need to be able to show photo ID. One entry per person. The contest is open to all residents of the US. Must be 19 years of age or older at the time of entry. The contest is not open to the member of Quip Magazine or it’s affiliates.

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With a full blessing from the man himself, Shadow and Chemist dug through Bambaataa’s Master of Records Archive collecting a library of originals to use during the live show. Many of the chosen records were beat up, scratched up, most are older than half of the audience and were chosen specifically on appearance which, according to Davis and MacFadden, served as a testament of a good mix: “It was pretty clear what he played a lot and what he didn’t. The sure-shots were covered with tape and the jackets were beautifully tattered; that made it easier after a while to pull records.”

“See,” says Shadow before going into the first mix, “this one has a hole in it,” holding up a record with a solid opening in it.

Masterfully mixed on six turntables, Bambaataa’s beats immediately came to life accompanied by stunning images of New York, record covers, and shots from live street shows.

Having just watched New York 77 and Scratch (yet another time) the weekend prior, my excitement was bursting out of Chuck Taylor’s like it’s Christmas. Most of the room seemed to be on the same page, if not for the legacy than without a doubt for DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist who, in their matching “Sure” and “Shot” t-shirts, seemed both nervous and thrilled to kick start the Renegades of Rhythm Tour in Toronto’s Kool Haus.

The crowd was divided into quiet nodders and straight up break dancers. A small opening broke out some time after the second track and a group of b-boys began throwing it down real time. This carefully organized mini-battle went on throughout nearly the entire show. People seemed to be torn between where to look – the DJs, the dancers, the wicked video? There was soul and salsa, there was hip hop and rap, there was calypso and even some dub. There was definitely a bit of nostalgia and a ton of love from the sweaty faces on stage to the sweaty faces across the room – no one was out for a smoke throughout the set.

So whether you love the classics, a good DJ, or a good show Renegades of Rhythm is a must see.

The post “Renegades of Rhythm” is here to remind you what hip hop’s all about appeared first on Quip Magazine.

DJ Shadow, originally known as Josh Davis from San Jose, California, is universally acclaimed for changing and defining the instrumental, electronic and “trip hop” genres.

He first hit the scene in 1996 with his debut album Endtroducing. It was made completely from samples and rare clips fused together and was almost indefinable, genre-wise. Following the massive success of his debut, DJ Shadow went on to create nine other solo albums and several other successful pieces with respected artists such as Cut Chemist and UNKLE.

Reconstructed is a blend of past and present. Its melodic, electronic waves, soulful vocals, and other worldly vibes take the listener on a transcendent journey into the deep subconscious. DJ Shadow is renowned for being exceptionally unique and expanding musical limits. It’s enough to creep in and pleasantly explode anyone’s mind. The album also has two previously unreleased tracks. ‘Listen’ features vocals from the very talented Terry Reid. His voice is smooth and surging with emotion, with creative melodic mixes weaving through the background. ‘Won’t you be,’ the other newly introduced track, is a smooth sadness mixed with jazzy beats, creating a feeling of melancholy, which seems to hang throughout the entire album. Each song is unique and never ceases to surprise, with new unexpected sounds and instruments leaping out at every turn.

“Organ Donor,” which is an extended, re-edited version of the original, from the album Endtroducing, is an upbeat song with organ instrumentals that will get your body moving. Its catchy and fast pace modernizes the classic instrument, taking the organ from the 17th century symphony and repositioning it rightfully in the present day night club scene.

The way he so creatively blends many different genres may be why he has been critically acclaimed all across the world. “You can’t go home again” from the 2002 album The Private Press, has a reggae, modern, island feel and ‘”I’ve been trying” from the 2011 album The Less You Know The Better, has the southern twang of Johnny Cash and the catchy, classic melody of the Tragically Hip, with Celtic flutes injecting between lyrics.

DJ Shadow seems to take pieces of music from each culture and remix them into a new super genre. “Blood on the Motorway,” originally from The Private Press, is a heavy, hypnotic excursion into the deepest parts of the mind. It builds to an epic, unexpected climatic place of exploding feelings.

The whole album has a way of touching every humanistic emotion, all at the same time. It’s no wonder DJ Shadow has been regarded, in his most recent press release, as “one of the most influential and consistently innovative artists to emerge from music in the last 20 years.”

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