s w e e t b e a t s
march.28.2001 - #527
=============================================================================
artist : Greyboy
album : Mastered The Art (Unmastered)
year : 2001
label : Ubiquity
genre : Lo-Fi
catalogue : URCD075
url : www.ubiquityrecords.com
quality : CD 192k HQ True Stereo
=============================================================================
01.Mastered The Art 03:55
02.Hold It Down 04:00
03.Unknowmylife 04:10
04.Polyphonix 04:04
05.Dealin' With The Archives 04:30
06.Marrakesh 02:27
07.Instantly 03:10
08.Ghetto Boogie 03:47
09.Smokescreen 05:35
10.Logan's Run 04:45
11.Bath Music 04:24
12.Mastered The Art (Nicola Conte Remix) 07:07
12 tracks | 51:54 mins | 71,4 MB
=============================================================================
Ubiquity Records' longest-running artist presents his third album,
Mastered The Art. With a slick collection of soundtrack-inspired
instrumentals and fat hip-hop tracks producer and DJ Greyboy is
back, bang-up-to-date with sounds that will please his long-time
fans and turn a lot of new heads.
Mastered The Art is less jazz-based and slightly more experimental
than the previous two Greyboy albums, Freestylin' and Land of The
Lost. It's still the kind of laid-back affair you might expect from
a Southern Californian beat-head, but with the Greyboy twist. There
is a heavy Italian feel to the instrumentals--as acoustic guitars
and strings hug the fat beats and catchy bass lines. In fact this
heavy dose of Italiana led us to ask high flying Italian producer
Nicola Conte to remix the title track--a big bossa remix featured
on limited 10" and as a bonus cut on the album. Chase-scene
suspense tracks like "Logan's Run" and "Instantly" or the
mysterious sound of "Marrakech" give Mastered The Art a
soundtrack-like quality. These are nicely balanced by bouncing
hip-hop party tracks like "Hold it Down" and "Ghetto Boogie".
Andreas Stevens, aka Greyboy, born 1970, and residing in San Diego,
has gone full circle. He was the first artist to sign to Ubiquity,
and his first full-length album is still the label's all-time best
seller. Not bad for a record that cost less than $4000 to make, and
sold on an advertising budget of $0! He was a man in the right
place at the right time. While the acid jazz phenomenon was brewing
in Europe in the early 1990s, Greyboy became the first American
producer to mix beats with jazz. His chunky beat-making
sensibilities earned him praise from the European crowd, and his
tracks were heard by crowds checking out DJs like UK-based Gilles
Peterson, Marcus Wyatt (LA), and DJ Smash (NYC). "When I first
started making beats, I was making hip-hop. Since I couldn't find
MC's to work with, I decided to try the jazz thing and lace my
tracks with live instruments instead. That's where Karl Denson and
the Greyboy Allstars came into the picture", explains Greyboy.
Michael McFadin, founder of Ubiquity records recalls the story of
how Greyboy came to sign for Ubiquity, "It's been nearly a decade
since my wife Jody and I received our first phone call from Andreas
Stevens [Greyboy] at our record store, The Groove Merchant. He was
searching for breaks and rare grooves that he couldn't seem to find
down in San Diego. Back then he had some notoriety as a DJ in
Southern California and he had recorded an underground house 12"
that had sold 5000+ copies. He had grown up on hip-hop but had
caught the bug for collectible rare groove. We started getting
weekly calls, and he started getting weekly shipments. This was
about the time we had started our label and Grey mentioned that he
thought he could produce music for the label and started sending
rough mixes. With some feedback from us, he began searching for
live musicians and incorporating them into his music. Enter Karl
Denson and Marc Antoine (both of whom have gone on to have their
own successful careers). "Unwind Your Mind" was the first completed
track; and, more than any other cut, it carried the sales of the
Home Cookin' compilation."
Once hailed as a leader of the American acid jazz sound, Stevens
went into hiding as a producer as the scene took a turn for the
worse. He started a hip-hop label called P-Jays with world famous
skateboarder Rob Dyrdek. "I have done soundtracks for skateboard
flicks and have been friends with a lot of people in the industry,
because it's mostly centered around San Diego;" explains Stevens,
"and for some reason skateboarders are notorious for liking hip-hop
and jazz type beats."
After two P-Jays compilations, many 12" releases, and working with
artists like AG (of Showbiz and AG), Stevens decided it was time to
re-light the Greyboy fire and set to work on Mastered The Art.
Maturing as a producer and longing to push the Greyboy sound
forward, Stevens sketched outlines of tracks. "I only use samples
from vinyl to create my tracks, and for the last few years I have
been using a lot of easy listening and obscure instrumentals for
textures that have a worldly sound, as opposed to the predominantly
jazz sounds that I had on my older records."
Stevens teamed up with CuBop vibraphonist Dave Pike, Greyboy
Allstars alumnus Elgin Park, and MC Mainflo from Mood to bring his
ideas to life. "I think each song has its moments, and I really owe
that to my collaborations with Elgin Park and Main Flo. Dave Pike
is one of the coolest artists that I have ever worked with, and
Elgin is just out of his mind. He has so many good ideas and knows
how to play so many different instruments," says Stevens.
"I would say that my approach was the same--to make tracks that I
like and expand on them with live instruments--only this time I had
MC's to work with as well. My production skills have grown, and I
wanted to show that--including more scratching than I have done on
any of my other releases," he adds.
Stevens' favorite producers include James Brown, Q-Bert, DJ
Premier, Mobb Deep, and the Beatnuts; and while Mastered The Art
dives into new territory for him, his influences remain the same:
"any recording from the late '60s to the late '70s that has that
fat sound...you know, the kind you can't really reproduce!"
An average day for Stevens means waking up at 7:30am (he can't
sleep!) and either making beats, trying to find records for
inspiration, or a new piece of furniture for his house. "I bought a
house that was designed in 1960 by a modern architect and soon
after discovered the world of mid-century modern design; now it is
my main thing next to music," he says. For the furniture freaks
reading this, his prize possessions are a coffee table designed by
Alexander Girard and swag leg desk and kangaroo chair by George
Nelson. He also drives a metallic gold 1970 Ford Torino GT
(pictured on the cover of the album), with sound "powered" by an
8-track collection. "Right now I have Henry Mancini cop show themes
loaded; but I have about 50 selections that I choose from,
including all 3 Cymande releases, Grant Green Final Comedown, and a
bunch of other funky ones."
Stevens is an avid DJ and will be supporting this album with dates
in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, and New York on an
initial tour in the weeks following release of the album. Dates
will follow soon.
Note: This is the "Unmastered" album. Straight from CDR.
Retail version should hit the stores 05/08/01.
BUY THE ALBUM!
=============================================================================
s w e e t b e a t s
we're all about rob dyrdeks time machine
-------------------------------------------------
greetings to klangwerk, mgc, sour, dh, impg & sfe
=============================================================================