Dj Afro Monk

It’s been awhile since I write a legit post and not just a mix. The new addition to the Afro Monk team, Pierre, is doing a great job. I’m thrilled to have him onboard and having him contribue so much.

WMC is right around the courner and looks like its going to be unforgettable as usual. I can’t believe how involved I am with this one event. The past month I’ve shared e-mails with some of the most respected producers/DJs in the glitch game in my eyes.

My show has almost been on for a month now. I started off strong but now we working out all the kinks. My close friend Munkz has been joining me and dropping some dubstep bombs. I feel like it’s a great combo of glitch/IDM/trip-hop with the last hour having Munkz bring the dirty bass.

Overall things are moving along. I’ll be meeting some of the glitch.fm crew in 2 weeks in DC. I’m flying up to DC for a gig HipGnosis got. Looking forward to meeting him and a few others that will be there.

I’m on a total travel mind set right now. I hope to visit NY and possibily even play at an event there. Also considering a trip to Oregon to visit some close friends from glitch.fm. My birthday is in the summer and most likely going to Vegas for Defcon and hope to somehow find myself on the bill to play out there. Another project I’ve been thinking of doing is throwing an event in Seattle. There is a group of glitch.fm guys up there as well. Let’s not forget Lost in Bass in Boston is always an option in the future.

It’s amazing the people I’ve met since joining the Glitch.fm team. I’ve become close with people all over the world and hope to visit them all in the near future, even the Delicious Crew in New Zealand.

Here are two mixes I’ve done in recent weeks. Both of them were broadcasted on Glitch.fm Live. I’m becoming quite a fan of being able to go on the air.

Afro Monk’s Late Night Trip Hop Hijack

This mix I did when I was feeling all emo and stuff. I’ve never really mixed trip-hop and haven’t mastered the art of beat matching so this can get a bit dodgy at times. This was more for the feel and listening to the songs. Poured out some of my favorite tunes in here. Later on in the mix I switched it up to play a little FL Breaks and into a pre-recorded Miami Bass mix that had there.

Afro Monk & Munkz - Glitch.fm - Liturgy of the Hours

This is the recording of my set on last weeks show. Can’t believe I have a weekly show. I decided to team up with my close friend Munkz for this. Figured I’d bring the glitch and he brings the whomp. We ended up doing a ghetto rig there and turned out his portion of the show sounded like complete crap so just uploading my first hour.

Last Monday I had my debut show on Glitch.fm!!!
I can’t tell you how excited I am to announce this.
I’ve been working real hard the past couple of months and I have a show now!
Every Monday from 11pm-1am EST I’ll be broadcasting on http://glitch.fm.
It’s an honor to have a show and not to mention share a part of my music to listeners.
I still consider myself a rookie and still even have some big mess ups but I’m practicing all the time now and want to be perfect. I’m quite disappointed in this mix but really happy about the feedback I’ve received and know I’ll be a LOT more prepared for next week.

Thank you all who believe in me and support me.
Never did I imagine this would actually happen.

This mix shows off a lot of what I’m really into when it comes to music. Majority is glitch music with some touch of glitch hop, dubstep, and even some trip-hop. I hope to bring this vibe every week and keep tunes fresh every week. I’m most likely not going to allow myself to play the same tune more than twice a month and if I do even do that, the track is just that worthy. Hope you enjoy! Be sure to tune in and feel free to join in the chat located at http://glitch.fm/irc

Here is the link to the mix:
Afro Monk’s Debut Show on Glitch.fm 1/25/2010

I personally think I listen to a lot of music. Might not be lots of different times of music at a given time but feel like I’ve heard more music than the average person. I’ve been thinking about that question you get every so often, “What are your favorite bands/artist/DJs?”.

I’ve decided to put together a list of albums that I feel represent me as an individual and have played a huge part of my own soundtrack. This is my life of MUST HAVE albums. You might even find something you might even like =O

I’ll start off with what is more commonly known by the masses and move down to the more obscure.

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
This album to me is my favorite Pink Floyd album and I consider them one of my favorite bands.

Bueno Vista Social Club - Self Titled
This album will forever mark history and show the world what Cuban music is really about. This is one of those albums that will hold a special place in my heart because I grew up in Miami. The sound of this just makes you think what it must of been like in Cuba before Castro.

The Fugees - The Score
This album is a classic for everybody. It’s one of the first albums I’ve ever enjoy at the start of my musical interest. I can listen to this album in whatever mood I’m in.

Bjork - Post
Bjork is one of my favorite vocalist in music today. Everything about this album is sexy and passionate. I can’t help but put this album on every week or so.

Wyclef Jean - The Carnival
This is one of the first albums I ever bought with my own money. I’ll never forget listening to this album for the first time. I was sitting in the office studying for a history test. Had one of those portable CD players and jammed out hard.

Fiona Apple - Tidal
I’ll never forget this album. It reminds me of summers when my older sister would be in town from college. Fiona’s voice is tantalizing and makes me feel so comfortable yet knowing her overall tone is bitter. I use to fall asleep to this album for years.

The Mars Volta - EVERYTHING.
This is hands down my favorite band. Omar Rodriguez Lopez is the most under rated guitarist in the music business right now. Everything about these guys I totally enjoy. Their music just puts me in this trance like state.

Coheed & Cambria - Second Stage Turbine Blade
I’ll never forget hearing this for the first time and thinking man did I download a bad copy where the vocals are messed up. Nope! Claudio is in his own class as a front man. I admit I didn’t like at first but wow how it soared to the top of my charts after the 2nd listen.

Sigur Ros - ( )
This is pure love. Another album that I use to fall asleep to on a daily basis for a large period of my life. The music is just raw emotion.

Cursive - Burst & Bloom
It’s hard to chose just one album for Cursive. Domestica & The Ugly Organ have been albums as well as Burst and Bloom that just make me feel happy inside. This band one of those bands that I completely found by random chance and said I’ll listen to them till the day I die.

Further Seems Forever - The Moon is Down
I don’t care who you are and what you think of the ‘emo movement’ this album meant a lot to me during high school break ups. I admit it, I’m quite a sensitive guy when you get to know me.

Glassjaw - EVERYTHING!
God this band is just pure rage and passion all in one. I couldn’t get into them at all but I’ll never forget being in the backseat of a car when Ry Ry’s Song came on and everyone was singing and it just clicked. Beyond excited to be flying out to Boston to catch these guys and their new material.

Poison the Well - The Opposite of December
Back when I was young I was just like how I am today. A calm collective focused person. Back then I had an outlet, mosh pits. These guys were that band that you always just want to relive those moments in the pit. They always take me to that place of bliss of just me, the music, and thrashing.

Halou - Wiser
This album means the world to me. This is one of those bands and albums that has never been found by society yet complete definition of Love. This album has such great meaning to me on so many levels. The singer of this band has to be on par with Bjork in my eyes, I’m telling you beautiful. If there is any albums on this list that I say you HAVE to have right now and listen to right away it’s this one and the next one.

Ooah - Of Porcelain
This is the only album on here that actually is electronic music. It probably comes to many as a surprise that there aren’t any dubstep albums on here. To be honest this is the one album that I would want to be on here that has to do with electronic music. This album is a huge inspiration to me. When I saw Glitch Mob in Chicago and shook Ooah’s hand after the Smart Bar set I told him Of Porcelain is a masterpiece and meant it. This possibly is my favorite out of all of the ones listed above right now. I would kill to get a copy of this on Vinyl. It’s a shame that this never got pressed. If I could help in any way getting this pressed I would. I can’t say enough about this album. Thank you Ooah.

I could of easily made this Top 20 albums but decided to keep it real to what I listen to on a regular basis. I did leave out some of my favorite breaks, drum & bass, and dubstep albums but you know what these truly represent me and listen to on regular basis. These are the albums that get to me inside no matter what. I can sit back and play these albums through at any given time.

I’ve had the pleasure of catching Imogen Heap live a couple years ago when she preformed at Studio A. I’ll never forget that night. It was brilliant and could see the passion she has in her own music. Many of you may know her as the signer in the band Frou Frou. She has two solo albums and now adds a third to the list named Ellipse.

Her voice captivates the soul and shows us what a beautiful voice and some solid music projection can do. Whenever I need something to pick me up I find myself putting on one of her albums on. It’s amazing how music and a beautiful voice can do to ones emotions.

Here you can preview her new album and some remixes done by royal sapien. I’m a big fan of the remixes and find that despite the tempo kicked up a notch it does not take away from the vocals at all. Hope you enjoy this as much as I do. It’s always great to kick back with a glass of wine and enjoy some Trip-Hop.

Imogen Heap - Swoon (Royal Sapien Remix) by royalsapien

Imogen Heap - Hallelujah (Royal Sapien Crobar Remix) by royalsapien

Imogen Heap - Little Bird (Royal Sapien Remix) by royalsapien

I’ll never forget that moment where Trip-Hop entered my life. I was dating a woman at the time that had a great impact on me. She was driving and I had the seat back and I immediately asked her what was playing. Portishead.
Ever since that moment I dove deep into the genre. I discovered the beauty that is Bjork, Lamb, and Halou. Trip-Hop encompasses love, passion, emotion, and memories.

One of the most commonly known trip-hop’s album Tricky’s Maxinquaye is being re-released with a bonus disc and remixes. I’m anticipating to hear the new remixes of Hell’s Around the Corner. Ever since I saw the video and heard the song it’s become one of my instant favorites. I had the luxgury of catching Tricky live a couple months ago. I’ll never forget hearing Past Mistake live with him adding lyrics and adding such emotion when repeating “Jesus is coming”.

Bristol boys, Massive Attack, new EP Splitting the Atom is due out October 5th. The EP features vocals from Horace Andy, Martina Topley-Bird, and Elbow’s Guy Garvey. The track Pray for Rain features TV on the Radio’s singer, Tunde Adebimpe. The full length studio album should be out in Feb 2010.

Thom Yorke to release FullingPulledApartbyHorses & The Hollow Earth on limited Vinyl press and mp3 download. These tracks were around the time Eraser was done. Late September release. Be sure to be on top of the Vinyl release, I have a feeling this is going to be an instant classic release. Check out the unofficial video featuring art from the famous graffiti artist Banksy.

Another big release that is due out real soon is from Stripmall Architecture, formerly Halou. The album We Were Flying Kites is available to download and hear for free right now. Check out We Were Flying Kites, promise you’ll be impressed by the vocals.