John Legend & The Roots - Hard Times (Live)

This collaboration recently released the album'Wake Up', In my opinion its a cool album and definitely worth checking out. However the reason I post this vid is not just because I like the track or the album but because I think this jam is awesome.

John Legend & the Roots Sessions from cliptastic on Vimeo.

Dark funk mini mix

Deeper funk by Blueprint.uk
Little 30 minute mix of the deeper, dark and minimal.
Download link HERE.

S.P.Y: By your side

Atmospheric number from S.P.Y, really nice track and a video of robots with hard drives for heads...

Sick Joker - We Tryin' out Here ft Olin, MM One & NRG

A bit of promo for my housemate, Olin. He features on the track in terms of the first verse and the chorus. Majority of the track is in German but my housemate raps in English.

In the words of rat 'Enjoi'.

Vinny Minton [behind the camera this time]. Same style though. Smooth.

Pre BitterCold - By Vinny Minton from Imperial Productions on Vimeo.

Vinny Minton, for those of you who don't know is an incredible skater, known for his smooth fluid style. However, after 10 years of skating he is now focusing on filming and editing. This is one of his first pieces. Incredible.

Enjoi.

I had some good old buddies their names are whiskey and wine.

Aloe Blacc | I Need A Dollar | A Take Away Show - Part 1 from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

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Stumbled upon this tonight. First introduced to me by Grim not so long ago: Aloe Blacc (American soul singer, rapper and musician). In the video, he performs two songs: first, "hey brother" with the second being "I Need a Dollar" which is perfectly accompanied by finger snaps and growls.

Once again. Enjoi.

Contagious Creativity

INFLUENCERS FULL VERSION from R+I creative on Vimeo.

INFLUENCERS is a short documentary written and directed by Paul Rojanthara and Davis Johnson put together by R+I Creative (a Creative Agency, that differs from the norm due to it's though provoking approach).

"The film attempts to understand the essence of influence, what makes a person influential without taking a statistical or metric approach."

Enjoi.

funkhaus europa - WDR 103,3

As I work for an international firm it is of no surprise that flowing through the office are the sounds of an international radio station. The speech is mainly in German but throughout the day there a number of different presenters representing a number of different countries.

The reason I share this radio station is that I have noticed whilst sitting on my lunch break that they consistently day after day continue to broadcast some truly great music from all over the world. Obviously some tracks may not suit your taste but for one of those rainy days when your just loungin’, give funkhaus europa a try.

You can stream by following the link on the right hand side of this site: http://www.funkhauseuropa.de/

Infectiously Upbeat

Big Week of celebration ahead for all of us so had to put some sort of party tune up.

Don Diablo ft. Dragonette - Animale (Datsik Dubstep Remix) by dondiablo

One for a Sunday morning about the house

Ive only just found out about Synkro this morning and frankly I didn't realise something was missing until I heard this, mesmerizing. Here are a few of his other tracks Inhale, Everybody Knows and Rooted.

A Chilled little Number

Another little beauty from Bonobo, paired with some really interesting time lapse photography. Stick it in HD, get the cans on and get chilled.

Turf Feinz - East Oakland, CA

Great Vid, Great Soundtrack

YAKfilms presents "RIP Rich" featuring NoNoize, Man, BJ & D-real from TURF FEINZ original Turf Dancing from East, Oakland, CA

Filmed & Edited by Yoram Savion

http://www.YAKfilms.com

© YAK 2009

ZZT - ZZafrika

No video for this beast yet, but Ive got a lot of time for it.

ZZT are a combination of two big names on the electro scene Zombie Nation & Tiga, this is their first release. Id Expect to hear this A LOT over the next couple of months. ZZafrika is out on Turbo recordings today.


ZZT - ZZafrika by turborecordings

Amon Tobin: Esther's

Came accross this on Mr Tobin's website and it had to be posted up.
The short film was created by Charles De Meyer an up and coming director, with Amon Tobin doing the sound. Love the gloomy, glitchy visuals, with a different twist.
Check out his website HERE.

Esther's from Amon Tobin HQ on Vimeo.

Check Skek

When told to think of places around the world that provide food crafted from only the finest of ingredients, boasting a range of flavours and providing what could only be labelled as ‘a culinary delight’ you don’t instantly scream Amsterdam...For 90% of my trip to Holland’s cultured capital it provided no reason to why you would.


This could be seen as a bias view as I am basing the majority of this post on the city centre in which ‘coffee-shops’ are rife and restaurants or take-away’s need cater for no one else than a bunch of stoned tourists… however there should be no excuse for serving pizza and baguettes at a premium price that have obviously been sat in the front cabinet for days. But enough of the negative vibes, I write this post not to complain about the dodgy food outlets but instead to praise the 10% of food I experienced that was awesome. One place in particular that should be highlighted was the student retreat ‘Skek’.


For lunch I selected what could be regarded as the boring option of ‘burger and fries’…it proved to be anything but boring. The burger itself was like an apple, made from organic meat, fresh onions and chilli’s, served in wholemeal bread with a sweet corn relish and fresh rocket salad. The chips were home cut, still with elements of there skin still intact.


The meal was great, the place was cool and the staff’ were welcoming, friendly and laid back. Like most of people that travel to Amsterdam as students/graduates I did not have a load of cash but this provided a break from the junk at a relatively low price.


If your in Amsterdam I recommend you check out ‘Skek’

Lasercraft 3D - Nein Mann

Just a taster of the kind of music that is played in Germany. This tune is going off at the moment and is everywhere.

Plus cool video.

A Hunch about Brunch

In England the concept of ‘Brunch’ cannot be seen to have really integrated its way into society, the phrase is rarely used and if so very loosely with no real endeavour… When would I have brunch?  Surely its either breakfast or lunch?

In Germany there is a contrasting view. Brunch is a regular occurrence and/or a social occasion; it is not strange to go out for brunch or even see a separate brunch menu within a restaurant.

Previously being ignorant to the idea of brunch the question arises what really is on a brunch menu? Well I have limited experience but I base the following on word of mouth and today’s experience at Oscars,Zülpicher Platz, Cologne.

This Brunch Menu was presented as an ‘all you can eat buffet’. As expected it included all the common German breakfast cuisine eg. Salami, Gouda cheese, bread…but what was a surprise was the addition of bacon, sausage and egg; an English touch, presented in a much cleaner format than you would expect to see at your local greasy spoon.

So that covered the ‘Br’ but what about the ‘unch’?  This was answered with a mixture of pasta’s, german salads, Sauer Krat and chips. A particular favourite in the salad variety was sweet corn, meat and pepper served in a BBQ sauce; sweet, tangy and satisfying.

But….the bread winner and what really sold brunch for me was the desserts. Oscars stepped up to the plate in this area providing a chocolate fountain, waffle’s and fruit.  Yes…you heard it right... you can grab a variety of items at your own will and cover them in chocolate.

Brunch lasts from around 10am till 2pm. It’s a great laugh, it fills you till dinner and does not limit what is socially acceptable for that time of day. Today cost me €5.90 excluding drinks.

Trust your Brunch…

Spor & Noisia: Falling through

Forthcoming on vision recordings, two of the best producers around combine to create this bassy beast. Due to be released on the 4th of october, promos are out now.
Also check out their pages on myspace for details on future releases and dates to see them live, Links below.

Noisia

Spor

Berlin, is this city too good?

The Nike SB skateboarding team is one of the best right now. With Grim residing in Berlin at the moment, I thought I'd share this video. Great skateboarding in a great city.

The Nextmen - Join.The.Dots

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdxVqSQuSLA

The Nextmen - Join.The.Dots

Join.The.Dots is the duos 4th studio album with its title track providing a great mix of breakbeats and vocals with definite signs of a jungle influence.

The album as a whole is great mix of genre's, with elements of Dance,Bashment all the way through chillout to drum and bass. In my opinion the selection of featuring artists also gives the album a great balance with a personal favorite being that of Johnny Tarr on the track 'Rockets'.

In terms of relating the sound to that of another album I believe it has a distinct 'Ed Solo & School of Thought - Random Acts of Kindness' kinda feel to it, saying this that could be simply down to the fact that Dynamite MC leads the way throughout the album.  

To sum up Join.The.Dots provides an interesting mix of sounds which in my eyes is certainly worth a listen.

01. Join The Dots
02. Round Of Applause Ft. Dynamite MC
03. Whisper Up Ft. Betty Steeles
04. The Lion’s Den Ft. Ms. Dynamite And Andy Cato
05. Love Someone Ft. Kivanc
06. Rockets Ft. Jonny Tarr
07. Stay At Home
08. Facts Ft. Jimmy Screech
09. Red Setter
10. So Many Girls Ft. Dynamite MC
11. Burn Ft. Lindsay West

A course on Porsche.

So currently being in Stuttgart and living with a Porsche employee it would have been rude not to visit the Porsche Museum.

On arrival (in a Porsche) I was primarily taken back by its design; great architecture encompassing a blend of sharp white walls with large paned glass. The interior formed a spiral, taking you on a journey from the initial first shells to some of the latest Porsche concepts.

Throughout the visit I continuously found myself changing what I believed to be my favourite car. One minute I was opting for the stylish, timeless, old school 911s' next the bruised and used Dakar rally car, nevertheless each had there own character still with the scratches and bumps that had been occurred throughout it's lifetime.

I finished the trip in the Porsche shop which leads me too the relevant subject matter of this post. In the corner of the shop was a Porsche jacket. Ok initially you may think oh..dear another Subaru esc racing jacket...but no. The jacket was modest in appearance with a kind of Adidas originals feel to it...put it this way; it warranted a ‘try on’. The fit was great but the price tag not so much; I had to place it back.

I left the shop and the museum with a couple of postcards.

The sort of thing that keeps dairy farmers in business

Well I suppose I’m up third then, I’m coming in big with a cheesecake so beastly it makes Belle go weak at the knees.

The other day I was dared by a lactose intolerant friend to make the richest, creamiest and most over indulgent cheesecake I possibly could. Naturally this sent me on a trail of utter debauchery, scouring high and low in my cook books and on the net, trying desperately to find a unique idea that would tip my cheesecake from the normal run of the mill, all the way to the full decadence fit for a French duke.

In the end I couldn’t find one recipe that would fit the bill, so I took to separate recipes and bodged them together with a few of my own tweaks. Basically it’s a brownie base filled with large chunks of chocolate, with layer upon layer of Mascarpone Cheese and melted chocolate this time filled with Mini Oreos (recipe for homemade Oreos coming soon) and the final layer is whipped cream with icing sugar and yet more melted chocolate. (Sneaky Little Tip: in the ingredients for this I’ve just stated chocolate and left it up to you to decide your preference, but if like me your going for ultimate decadence I’d recommend you get a even split of milk, white and dark chocolate)

Right let’s get on with it, for this beast you will need.

For the brownie

200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped and another 50g of Chocolate for the chunks

200g unsalted butter

250g icing sugar

3 eggs

110g plain flour

For the cheesecake

400g cream cheese

150g icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

200g of Chocolate

2 packs of Mini Oreos

For the cream topping

300ml whipping cream

100g icing sugar

100g Chocolate

1 Pack of Mini Oreos

1. Whack the oven up to 170C

2. Let’s start with the brownie; Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer. Add the eggs one at a time mixing well and scraping any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl after each egg.

3. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (don't let the base of the bowl touch the water).

4. Gradually beat in the flour then turn the mixer up to the max for a little longer until the mixture is smooth. Now Slowly add in the melted chocolate and give it a good mix.

5. Pour the mixture into a fairly large and deep baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and smooth it all. Press in the chocolate chunks making sure you spread them around.

6. Next up is the cheesecake layer; using the mixer again, combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract and whizz it until it’s smooth and thick.

7. Chuck the eggs in one egg at a time, again scraping any unmixed ingredients form the side of the bowl. Be careful not to overdue the mixing as the mixture can split.

8. Spread this mix all over the top of the brownie mixture and again smooth it all over. Throw it in the oven for about 35 minutes

9. Pop it on the side and press in the Oreos. Then leave to cool completely and once it’s down to room temp place it in the fridge overnight.

10. For the top of the tower beat the cream and sugar until firm. Melt the remaining chocolate the same way as before. Turn the chilled cake out onto a board. Spread some of the cream mix all over, followed by a layer of melted chocolate, sporadically chucking in Oreos and chocolate chunks as you go. Repeat this until you run out of ingredients.

…BOOM your done, get a knife and get stuck in.

(Not so) Unorthodox Second Post

I took the duty of second post (brave move I hear you say).

Skateboarding, broken down into 1000 frames per second.

Great skateboarding, great pieces (especially the cap worn @ 4.22 - 4.28).

All topped off with some funk.

Skateboarding filmed with the Phantom Camera from Billabong on Vimeo.

A Brief Welcome Note

Hello,

Welcome to Raps/Caps/Snaps and Baps. A blog showcasing a range of musical, fashionable, photographical and tasty items.

Enjoy.

Dom, Dave, Holder, the Rat and Grim.