Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele: DiS Favourite 50

Supreme Clientele was all about bucking trends. It came hot on the heels of some distinctly limp wristed Wu-Tang solo efforts, as anyone who can remember Method Man’s Tical 2000: Judgment Day, GZA’s Beneath the Surface, Raekwon’s Immobilarity, or U God’s Golden Arms Redemption will recall. But while the RZA’s alchemical input on those releases was minimal, perhaps offering a reason for his most famous charges seeming out of sorts, he also only surfaced sporadically on this second sole effort from Dennis Coles (aka Ghostface Killah, aka Tony Starks, aka Iron Man). On paper, the recruitment of Juju from the Beatnuts, former Tupac acolyte Choo the Specializt, and Wu-Tang backroom engineer Carlos Bess (among others) in the production chair(s) didn’t exactly bode well in light of the RZA-shy solo Wu efforts that had come before.

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ATP Founder Barry Hogan: Interview

The summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains may no longer attract the hordes of vacationing New Yorkers who were drawn to the Borscht Belt in the early to mid-1900s, but one man has found a unique use for the still-functioning Kutshers Country Club in Monticello. Barry Hogan founded the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival after he witnessed Scottish indie rockers Belle & Sebastian successfully bring together an impressive pool of musical talent to play at a Pontin’s holiday camp in the south of England in 1999. Fans stayed in chalets, artists played on indoor stages, no corporate sponsorship was allowed, and the bands mingled with fans due to the distinct lack of snooty VIP areas. The ATP organization has subsequently expanded, but those basic tenets have always remained.

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Andreya Triana - Lost Where I Belong: Review

The steady build up to the release of this debut album from soulful South East London singer Andreya Triana positioned her as an artist with impeccable credentials. An appearance with Flying Lotus on ‘Tea Leaf Dancers’ - from the Reset EP in 2007 - was the first inkling of a major talent emerging. Then, Triana hooked up with downtempo chill-out producer Simon Green, aka Bonobo, to contribute to his Black Sands album. Together, Bonobo and Triana sliced up a vast soporific landscape in which to work, where they could serenely slide into a comatose state while concocting quiet moments of 3am musical euphoria. All that’s missing from this further collaboration between the pair, titled Lost Where I Belong, is a husky voiced DJ to whisk us into the witching hour in-between each song.

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Twin Sister Interview

Living in the city can be a blessing and a curse for any new band. On the plus side, there’s easy access to the press, venues, labels and like-minded artists. But spiraling rents and being shackled to a day job can easily sap creative urges. Twin Sister is a five-piece band made up of members who have shuttled back and forth between their hometowns in Long Island and adopted residences in Brooklyn during the group’s two-year lifespan. A few months ago, four members of the band lived in Brooklyn and one in Long Island, but now the inverse is true, with only keyboard player Dev Gupta remaining in the city.

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K-X-P - K-X-P: Review

To say that Timo Kaukolampi and his krautian Finnish group K-X-P have kept some impressive company during their nascent spurt of activity would be putting it mildly. Kaukolampi formally played in feted bands Op:l Bastards and Larry and the Lefthanded, and has garnered acclaim in more recent times for being the producer of Norwegian popstress Annie. When he started K-X-P, Kaukolampi quickly caught the attention of the folks behind Optimo in Glasgow, who have remixed ‘18 Hours (Of Love)’ from this album and were due to give the band a slot at one of the final nights of the club before that pesky Icelandic volcano intervened. Needless to say, this self-titled debut from the group has been highly anticipated in certain circles.

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