End of Jerk Slow / Move Fast [Beginning of Drop Magazine]

As you may have noticed, activity of Jerk Slow / Move Fast has dwindled severely over the past couple months... however this is not because we have sworn off the internet, we have just undertaken a bigger, better, sexier project; Drop Magazine.

So be sure the check out the new site at:

dropmagazine.ca/blog

and

the new Facebook fan page at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Drop-Magazine/130665116947405

Oh and be sure to update your blog rolls and suggest friends to the new fan page!

Below I have copy and pasted the about us section for Drop to give you a better understanding of the new direction:

After realizing both the overwhelming commitment of a print magazine and the lack of original content that is inherent with a blog, we decided to combine the two into one website.

Although the online magazine is still under construction, we plan to use this aspect as a means of building on interviews and showcasing original content within a magazine layout. This online magazine venture will also grant us a bit more of a license to reblog more time sensitive events / releases on the blog half, since we will have another outlet for bigger, more timeless features in the magazine.

The blog will be updated on a more frequent basis and will feature both our posts and the best posts from other blogs we have relationships with. Although the content /themes will be similar to our old website (Jerk Slow / Move Fast), the speed and frequency of posts will be cranked to 11. Another new feature to make note of is the categories listed on the top of the website, this allows you to group posts within a specific theme (such as art, music, fashion, design, etc.).

Another novel feature of the site is “Bonus Video and Pictures”, although the link for the page is small it’s volume will be anything but. The page will be used as a Tumblr account within the site and as a folder for unused photos and videos from previous blog posts / magazine articles. So be sure to check out this page periodically for some great, rapid fire, content that wasn’t substantial enough to write about.

For now the site can by accessed from dropmagazine.ca/blog , but stay tuned for developments on a dropmagazine.ca splash page that will have direct links for the blog, the magazine and the bonus videos and pictures page. Also be sure to check us out on Facebook and Soundcloud!

***Thanks for all your support and interest during the Jerk Slow / Move Fast era!

Rude Boi Returns

It was mid summer 2009. Days when living in 2 bedroom apartment with my 3 unemployed friends was the most ingenious thing in my life, eating lunch in the park was not an option, there was always, i mean always a beer within reach, and daily ripping of our sleeves was as refined as we got. Big Word on the street was Guelph's traditional blues tavern had gotten eccentric before going out of business and decided to throw an electro night on Wednesdays. Although this place was the definition of dingy, I always gave it street cred for it's bathroom tiled walls in the DJ booth.

This time, they really did beyond aesthetic reasons. The smile on my face upon walking into the flawless grime of electro-house-afro-bass was colossal. Jamie Thompson is his name a.k.a Screwloose Letrek, and you could tell from first listen that this was not a game to him. Unfortunately, weeks after he left the country only to return a month ago, gracing me with his latest mix. Make Guelph Make babies's 'fierce basslines, sharp beats and rudeboy riddims' is a clear cut reflection of his wide array of music and brilliance on turntables; fundamentals for a master DJ. Ready for the weekend? Download here! and make sure to check out his Facebook group.

With World Music Conference taking place last weekend and now that SXSW is in full swing, there is no denying that festival season has begun. The next landmark on this road, which is sure to lead us to an incredible line up of summer festivals such as Decadence and Coachella, is Digital Future. For Saturday's electronic extravaganza, Embrace has put together a stable of thoroughbred international DJ's. Although Calvin Harris is very exciting as a headliner; due to previously disastrous nights I can't wait to finally see Annie Mac and Fake Blood.... I have a feeling that everything is going to work out better this time.

For more info check out the Facebook Event Page.
Tickets Available at Ticketmaster, All Ticketmaster outlets, Rotate This, Soundscapes & Play De Record.

Raaaaaaaandy vs. Justin Bieber

So after coming to terms with a whole new level of re-blogging (taking a fellow Jerk Slow / Move Fast blogger's facebook post and turning it into a blog).... I present you with perhaps the biggest song stealing controversy since Aziz Ansari's cousin Darwish thought Kanye West stole from Ne-Yo to create Flashing Lights.

Gorillaz Are Back

Plactic Beach, the Gorillaz new album, is finally here. The Virtual band gracefully introduced a pop sound to the album all while discussing issues like consumerism and eco-friendliness. Even after 2 hit albums, they managed to create something fresh, melodic, smooth and full of talent. The Album includes Lou Reed, Little Dragon, Bobby Womack and the National Orchestra Of Arabic Music; Giving us great spring music.

Not only has the Gorillaz' music evolved since 1998, but so did our fav characters: 2D, Noodle, Murdoc Niccals and Russel Hobes. They are more mature and even more BADASS! (believe it or not)
Check'em out and Bruce Willis in Stylo the first single.
A must Hear: Rhinestone Eyes

Beam Me Up

Nicki Minaj - Beam Me Up Scotty Mixtape

Rumor is that Nicki Minaj turned down appearing on the cover of XXL magazine for their "Freshman Cass of 2010" issue because she was somewhat insulted that 2010 was going to be defined as her "freshman year", like she just joined the game or something and was getting her big break to be on the cover.

That's patronizing to Minaj, and also to all of us who enjoyed her jackin' "Beam Me Up Scotty!" mixtape, and to everyone who on first listen knew very well that this girl was going to run tings.

Now it's 2010 and she's sharing the cover of The Fader with Yeasayer, a choice I much prefer to standing in a crowd with a bunch of dudes like Nipsy Hustle and... I don't even know, Wiz Khalifa? Feel happy knowing that 2010 will likely have better anthems from Minaj than a song that has a line that actually goes "Diddy Boppin / Let's get it poppin"... Geeez.

Ata Kak

Some fierce voguing excellence from Awesome Tapes From Africa.

This is what your parents were doing while you were a baby, y'know.

Also, let's take a second to break down how forward thinking a lot of the fashion choices in this thang are. Take the woman at 0:45 for example - I very rarely see people pull off coordination and look so damn clean while doing it. Same goes for the juking gentleman following her.

Everyone who's into throwing on so many different colours that they look like the hangover shit of a unicorn, please reform your style accordingly.

Still can't say that I'm feeling the dress shirt & jean jacket combination that comes later on though. No thanks guys.

(Cough, keep in mind that you're reading "fashion advice" from an often sub-par dressed white dude from the burbs...)

Snap! It's....

Beck "Lawrence from Euphoria" ft Wilco& Fiest
(Skip Spence Cover)

Jam session to witness, in person, before death...

Fatboy Slim & David Byrne "Dancing Together"
ft. Sharon Jones

David Byrne has, once again, updated his colorful website with new streaming music off his latest collaborative project with Fatboy Slim, a concept album about the life of the first Lady of the Phillipines, Imelda Marcos.

On this latest track, the duo recruited vocal powerhouse Sharon Jones to portray Lady Marcos in the telling of the story when “Imelda takes her first trip abroad as first lady and has a great time. She hangs out with celebrities, socialites, and old East Coast money,” as Byrne puts it.

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings "I Learned The Hard Way"

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings will be releasing a new album, I Learned the Hard Way, on April 6th and they are giving away the album’s title track for your listening pleasure.

Like most of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings’ increasingly impressive and consistent body of work, “I Learned The Hard Way” finds a unique and special way to combine huge horns and Sharon Jones’ massive voice with one of R&B and soul’s most discussed topics, without making it sound redundant. Click Here to listen/download.

Quadron "Pressure"

There’s something… something to be said about the sense of recognition and knowing you sometimes experience when listening to a song for the first time. While rock critics and music bloggers laud and yearn for the unknown, the innovative and cutting edge, the sense of instant relate-ability and reliability is often taken for granted, or worse yet, mistaken for convention and derivation. Just wanted to plant that little seed in your brain before introducing you to this sweet, sweet winter gem.

With bass lines reminiscent of those reinforcing tracks sung by a Knowles sister and a voice delicate enough to draw Lykke Li comparisons and commanding enough to draw Chrisette Michele comparisons, Denmark’s Quadron fell from the sky sounding like an eclectic mix of the songstresses that allow me to sleep soundly at night. Their self-titled debut album was released to iTunes on January 26th. The album will be out March 23rd everywhere else. Here's the video to my favorite song off their album so far:

Band Of Skulls

Band of Skulls - I Know What I Am from Shangri-La Music on Vimeo.

Who: Band of Skulls, a British trio whose shit-kicking, bare-bones brand of gritty rock & roll earned them a spot on the Twilight movie, New Moon.

Sounds Like: White Stripes fans will dig Band of Skulls’ swampy, heavily blues-influenced jams, especially the psychedelic stomp of “Light of the Morning” and the hard-charging “I Know What I Am.” But these guys aren’t just blues-rock formalists: they occasionally veer into complex prog-rock territory on tracks like the sprawling, appropriately-titled “Impossible.” “That song was definitely a breakthrough for us,” says singer-guitarist Russell Marsden. “We realized we can make a wider, more epic version of our sound. [Drummer] Matt [Hayward] came up with the guitar hook, this lovely and complex finger-picking pattern. But I just dumbed it down.”

Vital Stats:

• Singer-bassist Emma Richardson is a obsessive record collector — she’s amassed thousands of albums over the years. “I have a big old wall full of them,” she says. “Even thought it’s not in any order, I know where everything is.” Favorite album? Tom Waits 2004 LP Real Gone. “I listen to it at least once a week,” she says. “It kicks ass.”

• Band of Skulls cut their debut, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey, at Radiohead’s old studio in Oxfordshire, which was a huge thrill for the band — even if Radiohead only use it as a storage space nowadays. “They just keep their awards and gold records there,” says Marsden. “But it was still inspiring for us to be around the stuff of our favorite band from Britain.”

• Band of Skulls were shocked to hear that Twilight producers wanted to include the track “Friends” on the soundtrack to the movie, alongside heavy-hitters like Death Cab for Cutie, Thom Yorke and the Killers. And not because it would offer them huge exposure — the song that’s included is a rough-hewn cut they didn’t intend to send out. “When we sent out this CD, it had this extra song on it from our sessions, which we were unaware of,” says Marsden. “And they came back to use and asked for that track and we were like, ‘How the hell did they have it?’”

Band of Skulls - "Cold Fame" (Live at The Troubadour in Los Angeles 12-11-09) from WorldofConcerts on Vimeo.

Words by Kevin O'Donnell
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