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LISTEN: Andrew Sinclair – “Night Drift”

Chris Mills — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:31:35 +0000

Those who enjoy the music of LTJ Bukem and/or Burial will definitely enjoy this latest tune from one of Think 2Wice‘s latest recruits, Andrew Sinclair. We don’t know a vast amount about Sinclair, but he has recently landed DJ gigs with the likes of Brent Tactic and other Think 2Wice affiliates, which is always a good look because after all, he who turns down DJ gigs in Westport is much like a hitter who passes at a hanging curveball. Be on the lookout for more from Andrew Sinclair and keep tabs on his soundcloud.

Looking For Somewhere To Dance in Westport on Saturday? We Got You Covered.

Chris Mills — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:49:34 +0000

Between Hy-Tekk Productions, Lotus Camp, Think 2Wice and the independent drawing power of KC house music legend, Pat Nice, we’ve got three super solid options for you to break a leg to this Saturday in Westport. The Union, Gusto Lounge and the Riot Room are partaking in what might as well be a mini club crawl, though we’re not sure if all parties intended for it. Take your sweat with you from bar to bar (they’re all within ~~walking~~ dancing distance of each other).

Moombahton Massive w/ Nadastrom @ Granada [5.25.12]

Chris Mills — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:25:59 +0000

Roll up in your bass-ship and don’t forget your bass face at The Granada in Lawrence, KS on May 25th for what will be the wildest event showcasing the molten dance genre known as moombahton in our area in 2012. Dave Nada and Matt Nordstrom, together known as Nadastrom, didn’t invent the shit (er, maybe one of them did), but arrive assured that moombahton music will be in good hands with them. Not to mention Sabo, who already smashed Luna last summer, will be rocking the newly remodeled theater as well, in addition to KC guys, Brent Tactic, DJ B-Stee and DJ Archi. A party like this at The Union in Westport would probably kick the snot out of any dancing options you have planned for any weekend in KC, but with Moombahton Massive cracking off in quite a bigger room such as The Granada out in Lawrence, this should be a great event if you’re into DJs and new dance music sounds.

RSVP HERE.

SUPERB! Bass Party w/ Brent Tactic, Steez Harvey, NMEZEE & Flashdance Gordon @ Gusto [02.25.12]

Chris Mills — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:52:18 +0000

Words can’t really describe how happy I am to see Westport more open to obscure dance music than it’s probably ever been. Come see, listen and dance for yourself on Saturday night up at the new Gusto Stadium (504 Westport Road) with a handful of KC’s chief party rockers.

RSVP HERE.

D/L: Spinstyles – “Swang” /// Ben Tactic – “Elementary Lover”

Chris Mills — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 23:53:24 +0000

KC-based DJ/producer, Spinstyles and KC-Portland transplant, Ben Tactic (Brent Tactic’s partner in crime at Think 2Wice,) recently caught my ear while going through my soundcloud dashboard (I’m getting better at it). Spinstyles took a vocal from what I believe to be Houston rap icon, Trae’s “Swang”, and flipped it into a less menacing but equally-cruisable composition. Check out the linked first mention of Spin’s name here to hit his blog where he hosts his own music and show updates around the world.

Ben Tactic’s track, which we believe was just featured on Genration Bass’ “Moombahluv Vol. 3″ earlier this week, stays true to the moombahton grooves that the Think 2Wice camp has been pushing anywhere, anytime. Break a leg…

COSMO BAKER LIVE @ RIOT ROOM (JAN. 20th) + EXCLUSIVE Q&A

Chris Mills — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:20:40 +0000

Philly-based DJ and producer, Cosmo Baker, is a real student of music and a true master when it comes to rocking parties. Having collaborated with the likes of King Britt, ?uestlove of The Roots and tons more, Baker’s buzz stretches beyond his origin of Philadelphia to further reaches of the globe. While rocking as part of The Rub DJ crew alongside DJ Ayers and DJ Eleven, their joint ragers (started in 2003) built a legendary foundation on the East Coast. Cosmo Baker holds rank as one of the top dogs in the DJ business, spinning everything from hip hop to funk, house to disco and electro wrapped up in a true-to-the-artform style of mixing, turntablism and anticipation for what can work. As reported HERE, one nine year-old in Hawaii even included one of Cosmo’s CDs in a time capsule back in 2007, citing that “I think that’s what a lot of kids like now…I want to see what kids will like in the future…” We’re not sure which of Cosmo’s CDs were given up, but we are sure that whoever opens that time capsule years from now will have some serious funk on their hands. On Friday, January 20th Cosmo is set to unleash his aforementioned funk on the Riot Room in Westport KCMO (4048 Broadway), which you should RSVP TO RIGHT HERE (and get your presale tickets for a measly $5 HERE).

Below you’ll find a quick but very interesting Q&A we recently did with Cosmo in anticipation for what is guaranteed to be a wild night at Riot on Friday the 20th. Here, he talks about his recent gig in Dubai, his long-standing friendship with ?uestlove, Philly’s “big brother/little brother dynamic” with NYC, and what is sure be to another busy year for him.

Demencha: I saw on your website, cosmobaker.com, that you traveled to the Middle-East recently. What country were you in and what took you there?

Cosmo Baker: Yes man, I went to Dubai. It was really an amazing experience, and the city – and country – are pretty wild. Dubai is like Las Vegas in the sense that it’s incredibly opulent and there’s nothing that’s too extreme – aside from the over the top drugs and sexuality that’s so prevalent in Vegas. But there’s also the old world which is just as potent, and really amazing. And people over there party like crazy, which is why they brought me over there. I ended up doing one show but that ended up turning into a bigger project altogether that I’m involved with and am very excited about. With that being said, I’ll be spending a lot of time in the region in the near future. I was also supposed to hit Beirut, Istanbul and Tel Aviv on the past trip but things got shifted and I didn’t want to spend the holidays by myself 6000 miles away from my family. But sooner than you think, I’ll be back there doing the damn thing.

CM: What was the most fun DJ gig you had last year? No festivals, please.

Cosmo Baker: Hah! But one of my favorite gigs was when I played Flow Festival in Helsinki this summer, over there with so many people I adore… But other than that, I don’t know. There were so many good shows this year. I think maybe the first one that came to mind was The Do-Over in Portland in July. So much fun, such energy, crazy vibes flying all over the place. Do-Over is such an amazing party, so I think I’ll stick with my choice.

CM: Tell us about your friendship with ?questlove from The Roots. How far back do you guys go?

Cosmo Baker: Well he’s a few years older than me but we go back to the early or mid 90s. As a youngster everyone used to hang out on South Street in Philly, and when they were still in high school they used to sit out on the corner of Passyunk and South playing tunes. They were called The Square Roots then, and it was Ahmir, Tariq, the bassist was Josh Abrams and the keyboard player was Scott Storch. Yes – THAT Scott Storch. Anyway, there was this “hip-hop” store around there called The Lay-Up and it was the first place in Philly that brought in a lot of the designers like PNB, 555 Soul, Ecko and lines like that, as well as being the place that imported a lot of the hot mix tapes from New York. This was around 1993 or 1994. Now the thing was that The Lay-Up became the place to hang, the epicenter and gathering place of the hip- hop community of Philly at the time. I actually ended up eventually managing the place, but before that we would hang and watch videos and listen to mix tapes, bomb black books and all that
good shit. They had turntables in the back so I used to come down and DJ and often Ahmir would come in as well after playing on the street corner for hours on end. We just hit it off on a musical level, and were friends ever since. It always marveled me on how innate his talent for DJing was, but eventually I realized that this thing called talent kind of superseded application and genre. If you’ve got it you’ve got it.

CM: How rich is Philly’s music scene? And since you’ve lived in both of the following places, is there a kind of second-city-itis that Philadelphians hold themselves to when looking at New York?

Cosmo Baker: Incredibly rich and incredibly soulful, which is something that kind of comes from the tough living atmosphere of such a working class city. And the sustainability of being able to be an artist is something that Philly definitely offers, although sometimes to detriment because the comfortability the city offers doesn’t always light a fire under the ass of people to strive for bigger and better things. But straight up there was always a big brother / little brother dynamic between Philly and New York, with Philly always trying to play catch-up. That’s one of the reasons why the Philly DJ culture excelled in the way it did. It saw it’s lane and it ran with it.

CM: Give us one youtube link to a good example of Philly soul, and tell us why it rules.

Cosmo Baker: Well first of all, TSOP. Second, the REAL NATIONAL ANTHEM. Third, The
PHILADELPHIA FUCKING PHILLIES.

CM: I’d like to think that most DJs are basically required to do genre-jumping, at least to a degree, in these days and times. Would you agree with that? And what are the most poignant sounds over the years that have landed you where you are today as an internationally-respected DJ?

Cosmo Baker: You have to remember that with the true essence and structure of DJing in the sense of nightclub DJs, – from the hip-hop jocks to the DJs in the nightclubs that spun at the original places like The Loft, The Gallery, Paradise Garage… They all were well versed in crossing genres when they played. It’s a more modern thing to have such specialty niche-locked DJs. Personally I just find it boring and restrictive and unchallenging. And as for what sounds have landed me where I am, that’s a little bit tougher to answer because with me it’s more an amalgamation of everything before. The whole being more than just the sum of its parts. But I’ve always listened to a lot of jazz and the concept of that free flowing improvisation in jazz has definitely effected my DJing both in the sound of things but in the application of the craft.

CM: What specific styles of music are getting your crowds off the wall when you gig, now in 2012?

Cosmo Baker: The majority of stuff that I play these days is dance music and disco classics and a lot of them are my own edits and shit like that. The idea of bridging the gap and going from A to B to me has always been kind of this undercurrent. But I still play rap music when I can cause of course I love it and so do people. But a lot of rap and contemporary R&B is such tepid pop music these days. Don’t get me wrong – I love pop music, but it doesn’t excite me as much as other things.

CM: What do you have on deck for this new year? Releases, shows, other projects, etc.?

Cosmo Baker: Boy, let’s just say that this is going to be a very big year for me. Let’s just hope I can make it to the finish line – which will be December 21st of this year, if those pesky Mayans are correct…

The Union’s 1 Year Anniversary, w/ Norrit, Steez Harvey, LC, & More [12.9.11]

Chris Mills — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:35:38 +0000

(photo courtesy of Brooke Northern)

While the work week rears its ugly head once again tomorrow, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. The Union’s 1 year anniversary party this Friday should serve as the shining event that you can look forward to, blinding you of whatever it is you do Monday through Friday, 9-5. Just remember to bring a willingness to get down, as The Union’s rambunctious crowd has maintained a rep for partying harder than any other venue in Westport over the past 12 months. Sweat out the problems and troubles of the looming week this Friday with the stellar DJ names noted in the flyer above.

DJ B-Stee & DJ Archi – Promo Tracks [Think 2Wice]

Chris Mills — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:06:44 +0000

DJ B-Stee and DJ Archi just dropped a new 2-track soundclouder yesterday through the KC-rooted, Think 2Wice label. (You may remember a post we recently wrote about B-Stee doing the cuts on a new Slaughterhouse leak). On this promo pack, the KC-based B-Stee and Archi are already hearing some rather sparkling feedback from the bloglands. They collaborated on both tracks, with “Broadway” standing as our favorite of the two. Have a listen at the soundcloud embedding below, then DOWNLOAD HERE.

B-Stee + Archi Promo Tracks by Think 2wice

KC’s DJ B-Stee Cuts The Chorus For New Slaughterhouse Track

Chris Mills — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 18:19:50 +0000

The Jersey/KC transplant, DJ B-Stee and his hip hop production clan, Klasix, have produced the latest track leaked by the rap mega-group, Slaughterhouse, who are signed to Eminem’s Shady Records. B-Stee specifically lends his “scratch nerd” skills on this one, cutting up a Biggie sample (“Untouchable”?) for the chorus. CLICK HERE for an example of the wide array of styles that B-Stee can and has tackled in the past. We’d love to make some kind of clever metaphor or simile for B-Stee’s sharp DJ cuts + “Slaughterhouse” + prime cuts + meat + Kansas City bar-b-que, but aren’t quite sure how to put it together just yet. You get the idea, though. We’ll let the track speak for itself…

Slaughterhouse – “The Illest” (prod. Klasix)
STREAM/DOWNLOAD HERE

Check the summer 2010 issue of Demencha, featuring DJ B-Stee rocking the cover story:

Open publication – Free publishing – More scene

New Moombahton: Spinstyles, DJ Archi & DJ B-Stee [Think 2Wice]

Chris Mills — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 18:30:54 +0000

pictured: DJ Archi

The KC-based Think 2Wice label just put out these soundclouders earlier this week, featuring some brand new moombah flames from the likes of DJ Archi & DJ B-Stee and Spinstyles (all KC heads and very capable producers and remixers). Spin’s jam borrows from OutKast, while Archi and B-Stee cooked up a rather infectious groove that we “Can’t Stop” listening to. Stream these below and if you like what you hear, download the zip file HERE.

Moombahton Is Here (KC) by Think 2wice