Will Sessions (2011)

Kind of Like: Nujabes, The Avalanches, Madlib
Genres: Hip-hop, Funk, Soul, Jazz
Preview:


Whether it be MF Doom, Madlib, J Dilla, or any other really cool vinyl records or reissues coming out, Stone's Throw is usually behind it.  I love their catalog, and whenever I find a good contemporary hip-hop record (or classic reissue) in there, I always see their logo in the corner.

People around Detroit may know Will Sessions as the organizers of the now-staple-of-Detroit-night-life: Funk Night.  It started as random meet ups at abandoned warehouses or swanky mansions that were advertised on facebook for the last friday of every month.  Eventually hundreds showed up every night.  It was great because there was no cover, it was BYOB (or anything for that matter) and there was great live funk bands and djs to dance your ass off to.  The police eventually caught on, and they were usually shut down earlier than expected.  If they weren't shut down, you could bet they kept going well into 5 or 6 in the morning.

They still do Funk Night, but it's at a venue.  So, there usually is a cover charge of 5 dollars (not bad), and you have to buy drinks from the bar and no smoking (bad).  Needless to say, they aren't the same as they used to be.

Now that these guys are legit, they are starting to gain a lot of recognition.  Listening to these albums makes me so proud of Detroit hip-hop artists.  In a world full of autotune and mainstream garbage, these beats, nay, compositions are incredibly intelligent.  Here are two releases that I have been listening to on repeat during my mass studying for my exams in all three classes next week (how convenient, college).

The Elmatic Instrumentals are a collection of beats that would put many bands to shame.  The Real Sessions is a collection of live performances by various Detroit hip-hop artists within the Will Sessions movement: Mayer Hawthorne,  Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, and Phat Kat.  The overall feel of Real Sessions is great, you get that feeling of being at the show, but it is still mixed really well.

Oh yeah, and Megaupload just got shut down by the feds.  The good news is that maybe now legislators will recognize they have the power to shut down sites that host pirated music without idiotic/far-reaching acts like SOPA and PIPA.  The bad news is that I have a feeling all the other sites like mediafire and fileserve will be next.

StreamPad: Will Sessions - One Love