Download: Dam Funx x Clae “Beautiful Music 4 Beautiful People”

L.A. RECORD current cover subject Dam-Funk (who was also in the L.A. Times over the weekend!) recently made this mixtape for Clae from all vinyl—including a new track by Low End/Brainfeeder alum Mono/Poly! Listen and download above and find out more about Dam and Clae here!

Download: “Happy Birthday, Flying Lotus!” Jam Session

L.A. visionary Flying Lotus just had a birthday, and in the true spirit of birthdays, ArtDontSleep delivers a gift in his honor to the world: the “Happy Birthday Flying Lotus!” jam session featuring Lotus, Exile, Shafiq Husayn, Computer Jay and many more. Download or listen above and more info below! (Also if you didn’t hear—Daddy Kev confirms that mixing on the new Lotus LP has already commenced!)

Flying Lotus’s birthday recently passed. In celebration of another year and many more to come, ArtDontSleep put together another heavy impromptu jam session in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles.

This 30 minute take from the jam session features some heavy hitter producers and musicians, including Flying Lotus himself, Exile, Shafiq Husayn (SA-RA), Stephen Thundercat Bruner (Erykah Badu, SA-RA, etc), Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (Suite for Ma Dukes) Computer Jay, and many others.

From all these musicians to you, enjoy the joint entitled “Happy Birthday, Flying Lotus.”

Credits:
ArtDontsSeep presents: Echo Park Jam Sessions

Track Title: “Happy Birthday, Flying Lotus”

Featuring:
Flying Lotus
Exile
Shafiq husayn
Stephen Thundercat Bruner
Miguel Atwood-Ferguson
Computer Jay
Isaac Smith
Jim Lang
Alla Koi
Andres Renteria
Matthew David

Recorded by: Benjamin Tierney and Jim Lang
Recorded at: Knob World

Mixed by: Jose Jurado

Download: Friends of Friends in ’09 Podcast

1. Ernest Gonzales “Dancing in the Snow” Been Meaning to Tell You out in October!
2. Daedelus “C’est Super” Friends of Friends Volume 1 OUT NOW
3. Daedelus “C’est Super” (Michna Remix) Friends of Friends Remixed out 7/28
4. Jogger “Nice Tights” (Nosaj Thing Remix) Friends of Friends Remixed out 7/28
5. Jogger “Nice Tights” Friends of Friends Volume 1 OUT NOW
6. Larytta “You Got Nothing” Friends of Friends Volume 2 out in August
7. Ernest Gonzales “Self-Awakening” (Take aka Sweatson Klank cover) Been Meaning to Tell You out in October!
8. Daedelus “LA Nocturn” Friends of Friends Volume 1 OUT NOW
9. Ernest Gonzales “Self-Awakening” Been Meaning to Tell You out in October!

L.A. impresario Lazy Brow started the Friends of Friends label this spring with the intent of letting one musician pick another friend to make a split release with, and then inviting in another visual artist to make a compact little package of goodwill. For the debut release, L.A.’s Daedelus tapped actual longtime friends Jogger (who back Daedelus and Laura Darlington in the Long Lost) to share the record—which happens to be their first official release. They also included dublab-friendly L.A. art duo Kozyndan, who have done fantastic illustration for (of course) Daedelus as well as Weezer and the Postal Service. The release show for Friends of Friends’ debut record—available as a t-shirt, an idea recently echoed by Mos Def—will be tonight at the Echoplex with a pre-party at Turntable Lab. This interview by Chris Ziegler.

How and why did Daedelus get to be the very first ‘friend of friends’? What makes him so well-suited to the label’s first release?
Lazy Brow: He’s one of the nicest guys in the world and without a doubt one of my favorite friends in music. When I brought up the idea of starting a label, he was the first one to push me. Without him, I’d still be twiddling my thumbs.
You’ve called him a ‘hero’ as well as a friend—what’s a particularly heroic moment in your relationship with Daedelus?
The sheer honesty he seems to run with. He works all the time and always keeps a happy vibe. It’s infectious—I wish I could leave people saying how nice a guy I am like he does!!
Your first artists are Kozyndan—what made you pick them as well? And what suits them to work with Daedelus?
Daedelus and Jogger actually invited KnD. I wanted the musicians i was working with to really believe in the art so I had them bring on their homies.
When was the last time the five of you were in a room together that wasn’t to make this release? What was happening? Where did the night end up?
I’m not sure we’ve all been in the same room? Kinda the beauty of the project is how it’s grown and expanded from a simple idea to a reality. Thursday night at the release party will probably be the first time—so come find out what happens then!
You mentioned that these are all L.A. people—why was staying local so important for a first release?
It’s just about working with close folks and being able to support the release. Funny though—the next one is a bunch of folks from Switzerland so it’ll be the complete opposite situation.
What do you think of Mos Def picking up on the t-shirt-is-the-album idea? Do you think this is where digital music is going?
I always knew people were going to have to adopt new release models. Just conceding to ‘music being free’ is just kinda lazy to me. It’s time for everyone to THINK about the people they want to buy their shit. If you do and really consider the things they may want and not what you want to give, then we really have the chance at re-valuing music and its consumption.
Who will be the next set of friends? And the next?
Larytta is the Swiss duo i referred to earlier. They invited their friend Bauchamp to do the other half of the music and Tatiana Rihs to do the art. Their Difficult Fun record was on top of my list last year so I was really really happy when they agreed to do FoF Volume 2. Everything’s been turned in so look out for it in August!
At what point will you have totally lost control of this project? And how will you feel about that?
I’m not worried about it at all, really!
Who is the ultimate friend you’d like to include? Like the other end of this long set of links—where would you like FoF to end up?
Hopefully it’s a never ending project! To me FoF is really just an expression of new ideas. The whole model we used for this first release will go away whether it be the way people are invited or the T-shirts. We’ll be changing this ish up to keep it interesting! Now when it comes to the ultimate friend, there is a HUGE list because I’m a music fan in general. To name a few: Erlend Oye, Fourtet, Matias Aguayo, Tunng, Mount Kimbie, Morgan Geist/Metro Area, Panda Bear, Studio, In Flagranti, Department of Eagles—too much good stuff out there!

DAEDELUS WITH PEANUT BUTTER WOLF, JOGGER AND MEXICANS WITH GUNS PLUS DJs LAZYBROW, D. FISH AND SODAPOP ON THUR., JUNE 25, AT THE ECHOPLEX, 1154 GLENDALE BLVD., ECHO PARK. 8 PM / $8-$10 / 18+. FOFMUSIC.NET. PRE-PARTY WITH MEXICANS WITH GUNS AND DJ RIGHTEOUS TRASH ON THUR., JUNE 25, AT TURNTABLE LAB, 424 1/2 N. FAIRFAX AVE., LOS ANGELES. 5:30 PM / FREE / ALL AGES. TTLAB.COM.

Jens Lekman “Me On The Beach” (Nagisa Ni Te cover)
The 6ths “Falling Out Of Love With You”
Jorge Ben “Oba, La Vem Ela”
The Shins “Turn On Me”
Harmonia “Dino”
Bill Fay “Down To The Bridge”
The Zombies “Care of Cell 44″
The Trees Community “The Parable of the Mustard Seed”
Cody ChestnuTT “Look Good In Leather”

Where do you all live now?
Right now all of us live together in a house in Eagle Rock with Matt’s girlfriend and a large golden doodle named Paddington. Paddington was recently caught on the couch watching TV by himself. He’s a crazy dog!
What was the first show you ever played as a band? Where was it and when?
We played a show at a place called the 12 Bar Club in London. The set-up there was really strange because there was this terrace with seats that sort of hung right onto the middle of the stage. So while we were performing, we basically had to stare right at the front of this terrace while people watched the show from above and below. I also wore this black suit that was a bit over the top for such an intimate venue.
What’s the weirdest show you ever played?
I think the weirdest show we played would have to be our second show ever. After our first show, one of Ben’s friends at his university in London told him that she was putting on a variety show at the school and that we should play. When we got there we realized it was put on by the Indian Student Union and all of the acts were doing these Bollywood sketches and songs. It took place in this rather large auditorium and at the time we had a very folk-oriented set up. One of the highlights of the show was a Michael Jackson impersonator followed by an Indian love duet. We were somehow sandwiched in between these acts but people seemed to like it!
Who was the first person you ever sold a record to?
I’m not sure who the first person to buy an album of ours was, but I do remember the first show with our high school band where we sold CDs. It was at a coffee shop in Santa Monica and we sold these really dreadful CD-Rs for $10 apiece to unsuspecting friends and family. The music and sound quality was so bad that we probably should have been paying them to take them instead of the other way around. That first CD-R still exists somewhere today … I would pay good money to have it incinerated.
If you could cover one L.A. band’s song, whose would it be and why?
Probably something by Bodies Of Water. They’re a great band and it would give us an excuse to make something really epic and grand. We haven’t done that in a while.
What was the last song everyone in the band listened to together?
“Maple Leaves” by Jens Lekman.
What is the best album that everyone in the band owns?
Yankeehotelfoxtrot.
What would you buy if we gave you $13 and why?
A small $6 watch to help me keep better track of time, a 25 cent temporary tattoo for fashion purposes, a $1 box of paperclips, $2 worth of donuts, a $3 album at Don’s Music, and 75 cents for a pack of Gobstoppers, which I haven’t eaten in years.
What’s the best record any of you scored for $1?
The Replacements’ Tim, though the copy was $1 because it had been scorched in a fire. The vinyl was still pretty smoky and the jacket had been partially burned off, but other than that it played great. I also found a similarly damaged copy of Hootenanny and Pleased To Meet Me that day. Apparently the dude whose house was burned down was a big Replacements fan … big enough to flee the house with a copy of Let It Be in his arms, which was frustratingly omitted from the collection of singed albums.

PRINCETON EACH MONDAY IN JULY AT THE SILVERLAKE LOUNGE, 2906 SUNSET BLVD., SILVERLAKE. 9 PM / FREE / 21+. FOLDSILVERLAKE.COM. VISIT PRINCETON AT MYSPACE.COM/PRINCETONMUSIC OR PRINCETON-BAND.COM.