Boise Digs

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Digging @ The Record Exchange

Over the weekend I took my first digging excursion in Idaho, stopping by at the Record Exchange in Boise to see what kind of goodies I could find. Upon entering the store I was greeted with a coffee bar/hangout spot leading into the record shop. I was on severely limited time so I immediately breezed past the CDs to hit up the vinyl section. I noticed off the bat that everything was neatly organized into 4 double-sided rows. The quantity was decent, and the quality seemed to be pretty good as well. There was a sizable Jazz section which I began to dig in, copping some Quincy Jones, Deodato, and Chick Corea. On the other side one row over there was an equally impressive Soul and R&B section which I unfortunately didn't have enough time to scope out, however I was able to get a pretty good feel of the place. Sections included World music (heavy African, European, and South American records), Soundtracks, New Age, and a rock section which was about the same size as the Jazz and Soul/R&B sections. I discovered overfill crates beneath the main records which is where I scored a lot of gems at: Word to the wise. I didn't have enough time to snap any pictures so keep in mind that the sections currently appear differently. Overall I can recommend this spot. The atmosphere is chill and there's a lot of stuff to check out, including an emphasis placed upon Indy music. In the future I want to come back here and spend more time feeling this place out, but initial impressions are good!

Chucklez - Singles, Unreleased, & Features

Ambient Abstractions artist and half of The Sideshow Chucklez recently dropped a mixtape featuring numerous collabs and singles w/ Malakai Beats and guest spots from the Ambient crew. I highly recommend checking this out, as a standalone album this mixtape serves as an awesome introduction to the musical genius that is Chucklez.

JDirty - Wash Your Hands feat. Mac Lethal and Muck Sticky prod. Malakai Beats

A little over a month ago (an indication I need to update this blog more regularly) the good homie JDirty released a bomb new album entitled Employees Must Wash Hands Before Returning To Work, featuring special guest emcees Mac Lethal, Muck Stucky, Axe Murder Boyz, Hypnautic, Innerstate Ike Super Smash Bros, EZ & Adj., & Big Trox. The music video for the track "Wash Your Hands," produced by Malakai Beats & feat. Mac Lethal and Muck Sticky was released a short while later. The entire album is clean (no pun intended) and I would definitely recommend copping it either digitally or in physical form from the ScrubHopShop.com website. The story behind the beat is interesting: Dirty hit me up about collabing at a time when everything happening w/ Ambient Abstractions releases coming out was in full gear so I really had to dig through the archives to find something which would work for the song as all my current material was more or less tapped. I knew it had to allow the artists to shine while also having a certain vibe, so I found this beat I made years ago and added some extra elements to it to bring in a certain amount of spontaneity. It went through a few incarnations before I sent Dirty the final track and the rest is history. JDirty is one is the dopest independent artists doing it today and an awesome cat to work with. I would undeniably recommend getting up on his previous releases.