uniCYCLE

10 - 15 rotations and I tend to cycle through.  Cycle blew a tire and I end back at one.  Zero to the back, add a spoke, and the Soul keeps on Burning.  Crept up, cramp in, touch the breath another's space.  Inhale 13 songs to fill the lungs.  Extrapolate and sung - the meaning in pulse.  Smoke inside, outside begins to Funk.  Dance, get on down, cycle through and back on one...Podcast #29 uniCYCLE!

uniCYCLE Track Listing:

    1.    (0:00:45) Subtle ENEBY KURS - One of the first tracks released by this group featuring Dose One and Jel from Anticon.  This track was featured on the LEX Records compilation Lexoleum.  Dose and Jel both have worked together for a decade or more, first releasing albums under the group THEM and later Themselves for Anticon.  
    2.    (0:05:52) Plus-Minus FADEOUT - An excellent song exemplifying Ostinato and crescendo.  Chris Deaner, the very well accomplished studio drummer best known with his time with Kelly Clarkson, creates an impeccable Ostinaot rhythm on the kit and subtly builds upon it to push the energy of the song towards its crescendo three-quarters of the way through the song, then decrescendos back to the original Ostinato rhythm.  Without this extremely creative drum part, this song would be incredibly boring and not worth producing.  
    3.    (0:10:54) The Rza feat Talib Kweli, Lil Free, Suga Bang CERTIFIED SAMURAI - From the Afro Samurai soundtrack for the incredible Japanese Animated short-series.  Samuel Jackson voices two parts in this series, and is definitely worth checking out for its wicked animation and fight sequences.  Oh, and Talib and Free rip it up on this track!
    4.    (0:13:40) Massive Attack FUTURE PROOF - From the under-appreciated 100th Window album.  When this album first came out, the critics mauled it, ripped it apart, and ruined its chance at gaining much popularity, even though the wonderfully talented Sinead O'Connor is featured on two tracks.  This is the opening track.
    5.    (0:18:59) Tabla Beat Science TRIANGULAR OBJECTS - A monumental gathering of unique Indian musicians, Talvin Singh, Karsh Kale (from NYC but Indian descendant), join founders Ustad Zakir Hussain and producer/bassist Bill Laswell.  Ustad Sultan Khan on the sarangi also joined for a few tracks to create classical Indian music and electronica fusion.  DJ Disk and percussionist Trilok Gurtu have also been featured.  
    6.    (0:26:53) S.E.V.A. STONEHENGE - The duo comprised of producer Mumbles and Gone Beyond.  Mumbles also produced one of the greatest hip hop albums of all-time (in my mind, of course), A Book of Human Language, by Aceyalone.  Here, the two are sampling world music and exploring the sounds he encountered while traveling abroad in search of meaning in religion, philosophy, and meditation within music.  
    7.    (0:30:47) Nujabes feat Uyama Hiroto WINDSPEAKS - Japanese hip hop producer, Jun Seba, whose alias is an anagram of his first and last name spelled backwards (read, Seba Jun - nuJ abeS).  He often samples the likes of Miles Davis and Pat Methany to bring the jazzy side into his beats, and has collaborated with hip hop groups CYNE, Apani B, CL Smooth as well as Funky DL from the UK.  
    8.    (0:34:53) Talvin Singh SWAY OF THE VERSES - Electronica producer and tabla player born in London.  He is well known in the Asian Underground scene, and fuses classical Indian music with drum n bass.  In the 80s, he worked with acts such as Madonna, the Indigo Girls, David Sylvian, Sun Ra, and Massive Attack.  He has joined forces with the great tablist master, Ustad Zakir Hussain, in the Tabla Beat Science (see above), and his solo debut, OK, won him the Mercury Music Prize in 1999.     
    9.    (0:41:01) Visionary Underground FREEDOM - A drum n bass/breakbeat group from the UK.  They often use raga, hip hop, soul, dub, and Asian-influenced sounds to create their music.  They work with rapper Duane Flames, and have also worked with Sinead O'Conner.  
    10.    (0:45:24) Calhoun PUSH - Will Calhoun is best known from his days with the incredible funk metal band Living Color with Vernon Reid, Corey Glover, and Doug Wimbish.  Today, Mr. Calhoun is a legend in the drumming world, fusing jazz, electronica, and world music.  He has smashed and caressed the drum skins along side the likes of Wayne Shorter, Marcus Miller, B.B. King, Public Enemy, as well as jazz bass legend Jaco Pastorius.
    11.    (0:49:22) Two Lone Swordsmen THE LURCH - Andrew Weatherall and Keith Tenniswood who started together as Sabres of Paradise back in the mid-90s later changed their moniker to Two Lone Swordsmen.  I once had the privilege to see Mr. Weatherall perform in London, and his set was so eclectic and deep, that towards the end of the set, I just stood there and watched him - which can be quite boring in most cases, because he's a DJ, not a instrumentalist, so to say.  I remember speaking with another admirer doing just the same, and he just said, Now there's a legend right there!  This track was yanked From The Double Gone Chapel.  
    12.    (0:52:59) Auf der Maur HEAD UNBOUND - Melisa Auf der Maur, former bassist of the women rock group, Hole, and Smashing Pumpkins, leads her own group of well-known studio musicians in her self-titled LP.  I particularly enjoy this track, because it ties back in with the Plus-Minus track with its build and the ever-prominant Ostinato.  Rock/Studio drummer, Atom Willard, formally of Offspring, demonstrates quality control behind the kit and builds the energy from the ground up.
    13.    (0:56:55) mum THE BALLAD OF THE BROKEN BIRDI - This mum (pronounced, moom) tune is meant to tie  back in with the Subtle opener, in order to bring the uni-cycle to full circle.  This is an electronic group formed in Iceland specializing in glitch beats and soft vocals.  This track if from their 2000 LP, Yesterday Was Dramatic.