A Decade of Mochilla (Parts One and Two)

these two exclusive downloads are sneak-peak gems from Mochilla to you in celebration of the 10 years of Mochilla double CD coming out in 2011* Both are mixed by Eric Coleman of Mochilla. Right click on the link [save link as..], download, enjoy and TURN IT UP!!

♥wyldeflower*

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VTech Presents: A Decade of Mochilla (Part One)
***Download: A Decade of Mochilla (Part One)

VTech is proud to present, A Decade of Mochilla, an epic mixtape, spanning Mochilla’s 10 Years Mixed into one mixtape and shared with you in two parts. This is Part One…

Mochilla is really more than ten years old. It was 1998 when Coleman and I explained to our Mexican producer on the set of the Control Machete video for Ileso that we would only shoot with the equipment that fit in our backpack. It was a Jansport (for clarity!). He replied… “Oh ok, you guys are the Mochila guys, Mochileros”. Of course we loved the word mochilla (the Spanish for backpack) but apparently didn’t know how to spell it thus the two Ls!

In 2001 we released our first project commercially under that name. Keepintime was a photo-essay that under the tutelage of Adam Glickman at Tokion became a short film. He initially thought of it as a piece to put on that new thing – the internet. But when it ended up being 12 minutes long we decided it was too long so we made a VHS to sell – we pressed up a thousand and they flew out the door.

Keepintime: Talking Drums and Whispering Vinyl became a Film Festival favorite and then the calls started. In the ten years since then Mochilla has grown. We have an office now and a micro staff of dedicated, talented people. We have travelled the world, made films about all kinds of music, crossed all kinds of boundaries, worked with people from 5 to 95 years of age and we are having a lot of fun the process. Along the way we have made an archive of photos, videos and audio. It is filled with glorious performances, tough breaks, ambitious harmonies and a lot of soul.

Early in 2011 we will be releasing a two CD Mix of these performances – one live and one live in studio.

As a seasonal gift to our friends at VTech we have decided to sneak you this first 20 minutes of the first volume. This is truly only a sneak peak in to the vast musical vaults of Mochilla. Coleman has sat thru many hours of music, digging in and around multi-tracks of kicks, snares and scratches. It is almost unfair to try to encapsulate all of this wonderful music into 2 CDs, but he did. Next week we will have another 20 minutes from the second CD, the studio sessions.

There’s a lot of memories here. A lot of magic.

Download, enjoy and you know – turn it up!

B+
December 2010

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VTech Presents: Mochilla: 10 Year Anniversary Part 2 (The Studio Sessions)
***Download: Mochilla: 10 Year Anniversary Part 2 (The Studio Sessions)

The response to the first part of this mix has been incredible. Thank you for all the support and retweeting, reposting. Mochilla loves the love. Part two here today for download is stepping the game up and to quote Coleman “I wanted this mix to slap everyone in the face and get them to pay attention.” It is purely rhetorical of course, our version of a slap in the face is the caress of bossa nova, the thump of cumbia or the heart stopping wind sucking gaps of great syncopation. This mix has all of that.

Remember of course these are 20 minute teasers for the full mixes coming in 2011.

Just a quick note on the photo that we used on the cover – I snapped this one at the great “La Marcha” way back in 2001. It was taken in the Zocalo in Mexico City and Maldita Vecindad were performing in solidarity with the EZLN. The kid on his friends shoulders with the El Che shirt embodies all that we wanted Mochilla to be way back in 01 – engaged, excited, energetic and happy. Our brother and design guru Keith Tamashiro flipped it into our first logo and Stephen Serato has reflipped it into our 10 year mix cover.

This will warm your ears, brighten your heart and remind you of the strength of good music, download, hit play and you know – turn it up…

Thanks for all your support and happy holidays,

B+

for TRACK LIST please visit http://music.vtechphones.com

*follow Mochilla on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mochilla

Video: Bilal – Is This Love

http://music.vtechphones.com:

On August 30th, 2010, a very special rendition of Bob Marley’s “Is This Love” was recorded in Los Angeles.

It was a very special day. Perfect weather, a studio reminiscent of  a studio in Capitol Records during the 60’s, a great cast of musicians… the stars aligned and this video was made.

Plug Research approached Bilal and Miguel separately with the idea of doing cover songs. Since they’re both friends and admire one another’s work, (Bilal performed at Timeless: Suite for MaDukes), it was a easy match.

It was Bilal’s idea to work on “Is This Love.” Miguel booked the talented cast of musicians, many he had worked with before, and wrote the basic charts. Bilal made sure to get the sound he was looking for.

A couple of songs were recorded during this session… So if you’re interested to hear how Bilal’s renditions of Soft Cells “Tainted Love” turned out, or even Portisheads “Strangers”… well you’ll just have to check back. But for now, enjoy Bilal’s rendition of Bob Marley’s “Is This Love.”

Airtight’s Revenge on Plug Research is Bilal’s first album in 9 years. Make sure to get a copy of it by clicking HERE.

Band:
Bilal (vocals)
Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (musical director, violin)
Om’Mas Keith (piano)
Dennis Hamm (rhodes)
Brandon Coleman (organ)
Marcel Camargo (guitar)
Gabe Noel (bass)
Gene Coye (drums)
Allakoi Peete (percussion)

Executive Producer: Tom Bacon
Produced By: Plug Research
Shot by: Greg Ponstingl and Denny Kim
Edited by Greg Ponstingl
Recorded by Benjamin Tierney
Mixed by: Benjamin Tierney & Miguel Atwood-Ferguson

Thursday [8/12] Hit&RunCrew presents: SOUNDCRASH, Los Angeles.

S O U N D C R A S H ! ! !

ink.screens.beats.bass.love~

http://thehitandrun.com

TIMELESS : Verocai Screenings (w/Q&A) & LIVE Performance Dates*

Nightlife: SONGS IN THE KEY OF “D”

2/12/10 – VTechMusic & BEATJUNKIES present: Nightlife: SONGS IN THE KEY OF “D” w/SLUM VILLAGE [Dilla Tribute]

click HERE for more info*

Echoplex
1822 Sunset Blvd.
Echo Park, located below Club Echo | btwn Park & Montana | enter thru alley
Los Angeles, CA 90026
http://www.attheecho.com
view Mapquest
view Yahoo Maps

2010 comes 9 days early to L.A! – 12/22/09*

presale tickets: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=796505

presale tickets: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=796505

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Madlib +more!

VTech and Mochilla present:
Friday November 6th, 2009

Live Performances by:
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble

DJ Sets from:
Madlib
Coleman
B+

The Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles Ca 90026

$15 presale :: $20 at the door
Presale tickets available online at: http://www.ticketweb.com
21 + wiser | 9pm-2am

*for more information please visit: http://music.vtechphones.com

Dig Deeper…

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble are a family, literally. They are the heirs to the great musical tradition of Chicago. Their father Phil Cohran trained them from aged three to play hard, fast and together. They boast a fan base as wide and eclectic as Barack Obama, David Byrne, Q-Tip, Jay-Z, Erykah Badu, Jools Holland and thousands more. Now with the news that they along with Mos Def and drummer extraordinaire Tony Allen will form the new Gorillaz outfit, you realize that this is no ordinary collective.

The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (HBE), a band comprised of eight brothers, all sons of Sun Ra trumpeter and songwriter Phil Cohran, have been playing since they were three years of age and have inherited a lineage deeper than most bands will ever attain. Raised on the south side of Chicago, their musical heritage is rooted in their genes. They have brothers and sisters that are professional musicians, their mothers are singers and their father, Phil Cohran, a legendary visionary and teacher has music experiences from the 1940s in St. Louis to his seminal role with Sun Ra in Chicago in the 1950s.

As Sun Ra moved to the east coast in 1960, Cohran stayed behind in Chicago to be with his family. As his children grew, Cohran worked as a musical activist and educator, which led to the establishment of the Sun Ark in a warehouse behind their family home. At night while the children slept, they would hear their father rehearsing with his band the ‘Circle of Sound.’ At six in the morning, they were awoken to practice music for several hours before going to school. From an early age they were a central part of their father’s Youth Ensemble. At night they listened to NWA and Public Enemy, and Ice Cube and Eazy-E were their heroes.

By the end of the nineties, with everyone out of school, they concentrated on their music full time. With a mix of their jazz roots and their hip-hop sensibility, they made a living for themselves on the streets of Chicago. While performing on a subway platform, they stumbled upon their name when a man who watched them for hours, missing train after train, proclaimed that he has been “hypnotized” by their music. With their composer skills aiding them to create a sound wholly their own, the group moved to New York City where they played with Mos Def and Erykah Badu.

From a chance encounter in November of 2005, and support from numerous artists, the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble has released an album brimming with musical magic. Recorded on the back of the Africa Express trip to Lagos last October, during a three-day stop-over in London, with the drummer’s stool shared by Malcolm Catto from the The Heliocentrics, Sola Akingbola from Jamiroquai, and the one and only Tony Allen, and other musical luminaries Flea and Paul Simenon, this album is all that is cracked up to be and more.

In May 2009, Blur and Gorillaz’s frontman Damon Alburn’s Honest Jon label dropped the Hypnotic’s first official full length studio album to accolades the music world over. With the sound, form, and structure in their musicianship and songwriting, the HBE have the ability to put on live shows that would put veteran bands to shame.

Video: Hypnotic Underground: http://vimeo.com/3010228
Video: Mercury (War) http://vimeo.com/1418890
The New Yorker: Hypnotic Brass Ensemble Documentary:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/sashafrerejones/2009/06/hypnotized.html

Miguel Atwood-Ferguson
Born into a highly intellectual and creative family that exposed him to everything from classical to Motown to Jazz, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson has been dedicated to music literally his entire life. At age four while on a visit to a Suzuki Program Institute his brother was attending, Miguel was introduced to the violin and immediately developed an affinity towards it. He began composing at 12 and after high school studied classical viola performance at USC.

Taking an unusual route for a string player, Miguel has been adamant about pursuing deeply involving and creative roles in the music making process such as composing, writing and producing original pieces. He has recorded with a vast array of legendary musicians from Ray Charles to Billy Higgins; he has performed with Stevie Wonder and at the Grammy’s, on MTV and BET.

In 2008 he took on the daunting task of adapting the late J Dilla’s music to the orchestral format and made his debut as a conductor at the Timeless: A Suite For Ma Dukes concert where he directed an orchestra performing his Dilla-inspired compositions. One of the most unique qualities about Miguel is his inherent need to challenge himself and master new terrains, he has various different groups he performs with and one day he hopes to build his own orchestra.

Madlib

Madlib is one of the most ambitious and engaging figures in modern hip-hop history. An enthusiastic crate-digger and multi-instrumentalist with a deep reverence for jazz and soul, Madlib has an expansive style and deft touch for composition that makes him one of hip hop’s most sought-after producers.

He began his career with hip-hop trio Lootpack, who debuted on Tha Alkoholiks’ 1993 album 21 & Over; but, it is through his decade-long relationship with Stones Throw Records that he diversified his musical output. Often shying away from the limelight, many of his releases have been under various aliases.

In 2000, he released The Unseen under the guise of his alter-ego, Quasimoto. He followed up a year later with Yesterdays New Quintet, a project that infused his exploration of jazz with electronic style and hip-hop substance.

Since 2003, Madlib has put out several releases reflecting his growing versatility: Shades of Blue, a jazz remix project for Blue Note; Champion Sound with J Dilla under the name Jaylib; and Madvillainy, his partnership with MF Doom. In 2008, he released Sujinho under the name Jackson Conti—a collaboration based around Brazilian percussionist Ivan “Mamão” Conti on Mochilla.

*for more information please visit: http://music.vtechphones.com
visit the event on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=200724042032