Cut of the Week 01/13/11

While staring out of my window, the frosted-over scenery can be pretty depressing. So, in order to liven up these dark days of January I make a concerted effort to go off hunting for live shows in NYC on the glorious world wide web. Luckily, I had just received an email from a friend that just clued me in to an upcoming show at Music Hall of Williamsburg where Blockhead and Emancipator will be performing on January 28th. Tickets bought.

Now, I've featured Blockhead here on Music Hound before on the Episode #24: Loungin'. However, Emanicpator, a Portland, Orgeon native, I've known primarily for his gorgeous remixes of some Sage Francis tracks. While, Emanicpator can be categorized as a downtempo, hip hop instrumentalist, he is certainly a different animal worth getting to know better. Wanting to familiarize myself more with his body of work, I came across an interesting remix mash-up of Icelandic legends Sigur Ros and Queensbridge's own Mobb Deep. On paper, it seems completely incongruous, however, Emancipator carefully crafts a fusion of Sigur Ros' magnificent sonic soundscapes and Mobb Deep's gritty, stream-of-consciousness rhymes. It works beautifully.

If you like this, I suggest you check out Emancipator's other albums, specifically his 2006 release (and very timely for winter) Soon It Will Be Cold Enough, which employs strings, pianos, ethereal vocal samples, and elements of jazz and drum n' bass to create wonderfully lush mood music.

Or, come to the show on January 28th! Only $15.

Enjoy.