Pounds Smoke DZA
Two Packs

Powerful.

Directors of Photography is the fifth studio album by American hip hop group Dilated Peoples. The album was released in 2014 by Rhymesayers Entertainment.The album features guest appearances from Vince Staples, Aloe Blacc, Catero, Gangrene, Sick Jacken, Krondon, Fashawn, Rapsody, Domo Genesis, Vinnie Paz and Action Bronson.“The all-star production team, led by Evidence and Babu, includes Alchemist, DJ Premier and 9th Wonder, among others. The beats are predominantly dark, but in a good way. In his interview with DX, Babu alludes to this possibly being the final Dilated album, so the tone certainly reflects the notion. As a result, the verses hit a little harder, while also being a little bit sharper in general. And Babu’s scratches add a valuable layer to the experience, establishing a steady rhythm overall; the head-bobbing is contagious and continuous. Finding 100% sample-based Hip Hop albums in 2014 is almost a rarity, but Directors of Photography is the exception. There are no fancy effects or contemporary trends, like synths or EDM beats, which makes the album truer to its roots than most other recent veteran releases. There really isn’t a bad beat to be found.” - HipHopDX

Véritable travail d’orfèvre, “The Broken Symphony” est un pur bijou. Entre rap, trip-hop et electro, Degiheugi est cette fois-ci accompagné du rappeur Ghostown, de la chanteuse Nawelle et du talentueux bidouilleur L’omelette, déjà présent sur son précédent opus Only after the show.
 “The Broken Symphony” s’écoute une fois, puis deux et puis ça devient quasi obsessionnel. Les inspirations sont nombreuses, provenant autant du funk, du jazz que de la musique classique ou des musiques de films (Morricone…). On est submergé par des atmosphères hypnotiques, des océans de couleurs et des sentiments bien réels. Des flots d’histoires qui sollicitent incessamment l’imaginaire tant la richesse musicale et la qualité de la production sont soignées. (© Julien/Tranzistor)

“We already passed one millennium, in fact, we passed the apocalypse: we are living in End Time, all right, but in the last daze. It’s after the end of the world. Don’t you know that yet?” - considered Sun Ra a few decades ago. We are clearly living in a borrowed time. In a time plunged in darkness and ignorance when we need at least a little light and love… and that can come with the cosmic music of Sun Ra, which is deconstructed by EABS on their third album. In October 2019, after more than 33 years, the archive record from the first landing of Sun Ra Arkestra in Poland was released to the public. On this occasion, EABS has prepared a special concert related to this release. Moments later, during the lockdown, a deep reflection on the philosophy of the newcomer from Saturn influenced the recording session and the final shape of the album ‘Discipline of Sun Ra’. Then there were quite serious changes in the selection of songs and even more ambitious attempts at recreation jazz originals, pushing some compositions not only towards hip-hop (in the spirit of inspired by Gil Scott-Heron or David Axelrod), but also genres such as juke or house.The creative process of the album revolved around two Sun Ra’s ideas - deconstruction and discipline. “He sent members of the Arkestra out to research individual players in Henderson group in the order to get the feeling right when playing their parts. Sun Ra told them they weren’t copying those pieces, they were re-creating them, and with the proper information they could know the spirit behind the original." That’s how Herman Sonny Blount treated the music of the swing legend, Fletcher Henderson. EABS approached the composition of Sun Ra in exactly the same way. An equally important element with recording was a regime associated with the discipline and precision that the pianist from Saturn fought for, using a series of exercises-compositions entitled ‘Discipline’ previously used by Arkestra. They were strictly designed for exercises with the minimum amount of material, the most common built on the brass section parts, with a cyclical melody unfolding from fragments so each person played their lines meticulously, without any deviation. This is what the title of the album ‘Discipline of Sun Ra’ refers to.Sun Ra was aiming to record timeless music that could still be alive in a 1000 years, and with no hesitation, he managed to do it. The music from distant planets is infinite. “By infinity, Mr.Ra means creating jazz of the future, but also covering the past”- the same idea is carried by polish musicians. On the ‘Slavic Spirits’ album, EABS was inspired by the ancient past. As we now know, discovering Sun Ra’s concept wasn’t coincidental. He also believed and shared the philosophy of coming through the darkness to see the sun and enlightenment. In case there’s no hope for living on our planet, we need to look for metaphorical escapism. That’s where the idea of building a cosmic ship under ‘Polish Space Program’ was born.The album ‘Discipline of Sun Ra’ will be released on Astigmatic Records on CD and LP in two variations, a basic or limited white vinyl with a B2 poster. It will also be available on all streaming platforms. The premiere is set for 30th October 2020.