Thank you to everyone involved, and to my family.
I love y'all.
-Q

Executively Produced by FULF and McQUAID
Mixed and Mastered by McQUAID

Intro (Prod. NO-FVCE)
The Wind Behind Me (Prod. NO-FVCE)
Beechwood (Prod. Dawg9000)
Group Therapy (Prod. Argov)
White Nose (Prod. NO-FVCE/bk)
Groceries ft. Antoine Sand (Prod. Shovl)
So Player (Prod. Kei$ha)
Inner City Nightmares (Prod. jimmy stubbs/Kei$ha)
Balancing Act ft. RLO (Prod. bk)
Hirata Estate (Prod. ntvrme)
From Above (Prod. McQUAID)
Matchpoint (Prod. Achille)
MO CUISHLE ft. amir bilal (Prod. ntvrme)
Smoov (Prod. FULF)
Creases (Prod. KYPAT*)
Cierra (Prod. jimmy stubbs)
Trips (Prod. Argov)

The Wind Behind Me

Margaret Atwood began writing poetry in high school, and the most thrilling moment of her writing career was the publication of her first poem: ‘I mean, all the other things that have happened since then were a thrill, but that was the biggest.’ She has gone on to publish 19 collections of poetry, as well as 14 novels – including 'The Handmaid’s Tale', 'The Blind Assassin' and 'MaddAddam', published last summer. Organised and methodical in writing fiction, she writes poetry ‘in a state of free float’, very often in hotel rooms or on planes. Her poems tend to begin with a cluster of words, around which they form – she has compared the process to ‘dipping a thread into a supersaturated solution to induce crystal formation’ – and sometimes they result in novels. In a conversation with Peter Kemp, Chief Fiction Reviewer of the Sunday Times, Atwood talks about how she believes that poetry and fiction use different parts of the brain, explains how poems can open doors into rooms which novels then enter and explore, and reads from her work.

We are grateful to the Canadian High Commission in the UK for hosting this event at Canada House. We are grateful to the TLS for supporting this event.

Margaret Atwood reads her poetry

Flora

Trick Tree

Background, context, and poem text: http://www.brainpickings.org/2015/05/28/keeping-quiet-sylvia-boorstein-reads-pablo-neruda

Excerpted from https://soundcloud.com/onbeing/what-we-nurture-with-sylvia

MORE / POEM TEXT

Sylvia Boorstein reads "Keeping Quiet" by Pablo Neruda

This is a new concept I'm trying out; A poem within a poem. I think it offers an interesting dynamic. Hope you like it. 
Instrumental: "We're All Leaving" -Arcade Fire (From the "Her" Soundtrack)
Lyrics: 
In my dreams i lose the concept of time, its something that i don't really mind because its gonna take me a while to find out everything about you that i can, from the gentle touch of your hands to your toes in the sand of this beach devoid of reality, these brief moments that you've given me have brought me to the brink of insanity, but i simply don't care; your hair swaying with the wind, our beating hearts making up the only sound in between whispers that carry secrets too heavy to be heard aloud. 

You see, in my dreams every touch is gentle and warm, every kiss is filled with bliss, and every word that you say plays back in my head like the most beautiful song; and i struggle to hold on to the memories of the days where we laughed and played under the soft white bed sheets, the sweet smell of your perfume as you entered the room, those times where we would lay beside each other and smile as we stared at the moon, wondering if it was looking back at us and smiling too. 
In my dreams, forever never seems quite long enough. 
So if this is all the time we have, just don't wake me up. 
But in case you truly cant stay, ill leave you with a final poem:

"find me beneath the porcelain stars, amongst fragments of memories that define who we are,
touch me like a snowflake grazes a cheek, feel me like warm sand sinking under your feet,
And like lights that adorn the edges of streets, we touch the hearts of others as they pass through;
People will come in to our lives and eventually they'll leave, but what always remains...is how they changed you."
- Written and performed by Igor Oro

<a href="https://theartistunion.com/tracks/0a33ff" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Download for free on The Artist Union</a>

"In My Dreams" - A Spoken Word Poem

3x12" of 'and their refinement of the decline' back in print for the first time in many years as of 8/14

stars of the lid 'december hunting for vegetarian fuckface'

When it comes to life, it's all about perspective. 

Written and performed by Igor Oro
Music Sample credit: "Do What You Are Doing", by Dexter Britain

LYRICS
One day I asked a blind man if he knew what colors were. He said, "Well, I've never seen them, but in my mind the colour yellow...feels like the warm rays of sunshine. The color green, I imagine, is what covers the soft carpet of grass in an empty meadow; the colour red must be the screech of sirens and horns, and I could have sworn that I felt the calm of blue in the waters of the Atlantic"

"You see, my friend", he added, "I may not have the gift of sight, but I am thankful to be spared the blackness that engulfs the world at night. Although I cannot distinguish dark from light, I can still tell wrong from right; I can hear hidden tones in music that most people cannot, I can dream of beauty from just the scent of a rose, I can feel the crisp droplets of rain on my skin, and unlike others, I can actually see the wind."

"Never feel bad for a blind man," he said finally; "for you see the world for what it is..while I see it for what it could be." 

<a href="https://theartistunion.com/tracks/58ca38" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Download for free on The Artist Union</a>

"Thoughts of a Blind Man" - Inspirational Spoken Word Poetry

COP IT HERE

Jamie Isaac - Know U Like Me (Edgar The Beatmaker Remix)

Background, context, and transcribed text: https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/04/13/james-baldwin-the-artists-struggle-for-integrity/

Recording by Pacifica Radio Archives.

CONTEXT / TEXT

James Baldwin: The Artist's Struggle for Integrity (full lecture)

from the album 'cinderland' available 3/10

Cinderland

high plains 'cinderland'

Release info:

Palto Flats & WRWTFWW Records are excited to announce the forthcoming highly-anticipated reissue of Japanese percussionist Midori Takada's sought after and timeless ambient / minimal album "Through The Looking Glass", originally released in 1983 by RCA Japan. 

The fully licensed reissue will be available in March as a single 33rpm LP and a limited 45rpm DLP, both cut directly from the original studio reels (AAA). 
It will be also availalble for the first time in CD format.

Midori will be touring Europe in April to support the album reissue, with plans for additional touring in other territories.

Dates:

4/4 Copenhagen DK Jazzhouse
http://www.jazzhouse.dk/jazzklub/midori-takada-jp

6/4 Glasgow UK Counterflows Festival
https://counterflows.com/midori-takada/

7/4 Amsterdam NL World Minimal Music Festival
https://www.muziekgebouw.nl/agenda/Concerten/5309/The_Master_Musicians_of_Jajouka_led_by_Bachir_Attar_Midori_Takada/World_Roots/

9/4 Gent BE Full Moon Healing Festival
http://www.vooruit.be

11/4 London UK Cafe Oto
https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/midori-takada/

Bio:

Midori Takada is a composer, multi percussionist, and theater artist renowned in Japanese vanguard circles. She will tour Europe this spring.

Midori released two solo albums: "Through The Looking Glass" and "Tree Of Life," and wrote music for Tadashi Suzuki's theater plays. Her hypnotic, minimalist music is based in the concept of coherence between sound and the human body. She performs solo on marimba and other percussion instruments.

She debuted on the scene of Berlin Philharmonic, performing with the RIAS Symphonie-Orchester Berlin just after graduation from Tokyo University of the Arts in 1974. She continued her career with solo concerts in Japan and abroad.

In the 1980s Midori began to explore the traditional music of Asia and Africa. Her fascination resulted in joint projects with Kakraba Lobi from Ghana, Lamine Konte from Senegal, Farafina Band from Burkina Faso, and Korean musicians: zither player Chi Seong-Ja, flute player Won-Il, and saxophone player Kang Tae-Hwan. She also led Mkwaju Ensemble's innovative percussion project and still performs with free-jazz band Ton-Klami with saxophone player Kang Tae-Hwan and jazz pianist Masahiko Satoh.

In the past 20 years, Midori Takada spent more time in theaters than in concert halls – composing and performing for live music for theater. She has worked with Tadashi Suzuki and his Suzuki Company of Toga on their adaptations of "Electra" and "King Lear."

Takada's compositions have a remarkable way of affecting the imagination. Her minimalist, contemplative music is filled with the concept of infinity and reminds of a moon voyage, falling stars, a journey into the ocean, or a walk in the garden. The trans melodies, initially simple, begin to loop and splinter, their rhythm breaking and thickening, slowly drawing the listener into another reality.

Every live performance Midori Takada gives is unique and prepared especially for that occasion.

Through The Looking Glass

Own a copy

2 Midori Takada - Crossing (Reel-2-Reel to Digital conversion)

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Joy

JADASEA ~ DEEP END ++ PROD EDGARTHEBEATMAKER

Introducing Haraket, a 5 piece from South London who are set to release their debut 12" / digital single on Melodic Recordings this Spring. The band emerged from the creative chaos of school and college bands in and around Peckham that have already given the world King Krule. This is the first in a series of releases with Melodica Recordings. 

Haraket fuse wall-of-sound dynamics with often delicate source material, moody electronics, programmed beats and effected vocal lines. Think a post dubstep version of early Underworld or A Certain Ratio reinvented by the new digital century. 'Taint' / 'Attgo' showcases the young band's keen ear for contrast, sensuous tonal material and high drama, something that is reflected ten-fold in their live shows. To accompany the two original tracks the band have commissioned three remixes from the likes of Djrum,  BBC 'Sound Of 2013' nominee King Krule with Jamie Isaac, and Mokadem.

'Taint' is a slow-building, intricate guitar track built around the vocal tones of Abigail Hardiman, sounding mostly live for the first part before subtle electronics begin to permeate the surface. The arrangement is crisp, nodding to the clean percussive tones of Foals, before an all-out cymbal smashing crescendo ensues and the sultry tones are thrown into waves of cacophonous delays.

'Attgo' shows the band's brooding melancholic side, with all source material heavily augmented with digital processes and effects. The vocals of Ogul-can Genc are short and barely recognisable, acting like breathy musical punctuation.  The off kilter synth lines and percussion throughout hint at the cavernous dread of early 2005 dubstep, pairing it with banks of crushed guitars and live drums.

Djrum follows on from his accomplished work on 2nd Drop records with a captivating take on 'Taint',  morphing it into something of a polar opposite. It's moody and dark, sounding like the soundtrack of a film Noir with Hardiman's vocals appearing in a new, smoky light.

Local boy and man of the moment King Krule teams up with Jamie Isaac to roll things right down for a dubby downtempo
refix. By leaving out the guitars, introducing some strings and reeling out the dub FX, they've created a perfect little sun-drenched oddity. 

For digital buyers only, we have a remix from London-based artist Mokadem. Her twlight house hybrid is the perfect dancefloor antidote. Bold bass, smart effects and a super tight arrangement make this version absolutely killer.

James Baldwin: The Artist's Struggle for Integrity (full lecture)

brainpicker

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