The Overdue Pt 2

I would have to be completely socially isolated not to notice the ongoing early/mid 90s nostalgia. Yesterday I saw someone wearing actual Cross Colors pants. I didn't realize that they still made those. I am assuming (and hoping) that the summer heat will lead to an obvious delay in Eight Ball jackets coming back.

On that note, I am thoroughly enjoying this Royksopp/Robyn track. I do remember making fun of someone in the mid-90s for their fondness of Robyn, and stand happily corrected.

Royksopp (w/ Robyn) - "The Girl and the Robot"


I am also quite enamoured with the production on this track:
Blaktroniks - "Angel"

The Overdue Pt. 1

Every now and then I completely obsess over De La Soul's "Stakes is High," which, in my mind, is one of the better hip hop songs through the genre's history - "Every word I say should be a hip hop quotable". This cycle stated anew when the Mos Def cover starting circulating the web.

One of the obvious highlights of the track is Dilla's production, and it's reliance on Ahmad Jamal's "Swahililand." Trying to find the best version of "Swahililand," however, is always a fun task. As far as I can tell, Jamal recorded different versions over and over again. It doesn't help matters much that much of Jamal's output is still out of print.

The easiest place to start is one of the many Dilla original source/sample comps:
"Swahililand" (from some online Dilla tribute)


My other favorite version is on the out of print Jamal Plays Jamal, which isn't too hard to find online:

Keswickland

At first I was going to write about the ongoing mindboggle that is known as the principal of Keswick High - or, more accurately, why no officials have come out to speak on the issue or reprimand the school officials - but I'd rather expend that energy on listening to version after version of Ahmad Jamal's "Swahililand," which is what I ended up doing.

There's an endless number of different versions of the song - and that's just out of Jamal's own output - but from what I can tell, the one from the out-of-print Jamal Plays Jamal seems to be IT. Thus:

Ahmad Jamal - "Swahililand"


And, for no real reason, the best cover of any song I have ever heard:

El Michels Affair - "Shimmy Shimmy Ya"