Black Milk - Demo Beats 2012

Black Milk, a producer/rapper as well as drummer/percussionist, who appears on the cover of his landmark album Popular Demand with an MPC tucked under his arm, plays the 'instrument' live and in the studio better than most any human being (Pete Rock's up there too).  Which is part of what makes Demo Beats 2012- a recently dropped teaser of his current output so fascinating.  This future-forward material veers out into some new bracing territory (sounding at times unabashedly similar to even Dilla's Donuts with it's style of constant revolutions of sound) that suggests a much broader sonic palette and production environment.  Where his last full length release Album Of The Year was definitive for how he captured the live sounds of instrumentalists Daru Jones (drums), AB (keys) and bassist Tim Shellabarger (not as much for his personal lyrics of the crushing year he had marked by loss) here we see a man tossing off, literally, a series of tossed off beats (one of 400 produced in the last year he'd rather hold onto for now) that echoes at points his deep crates neo-soul lineage while pointing to something else entirely.

Elzhi releases Elmatic mixtape produced by Will Sessions

Elzhi originally of Slum Village, one of the most slept on so-called 'conscious' rappers of the past decade, has released an homage of sorts to Nas' debut Illmatic.   The Elmatic mixtape was made free for release yesterday and the recording can be found at this link. Production is attributed to Will Sessions, a sprawling soul funk with horns ensemble hailing from Detroit, Michigan. 

Having met and formed through the jazz program at Wayne State University Will Sessions backs or has backed (in addition to original Funk Brother Dennis Coffey) Guilty Simpson, Black Milk, Mayer Hawthorne, Monica Blaire, Phat Kat, & Rickey Calloway.

The most recent lineup of Will Sessions seems to be Sam Beubien (arranger/trumpet/keys), Bryan Arnold (trumpet/keys), Tim Shellabarger (drums), Tom Parks (trumpet), Matt Martinez (photos), Ryan Gimpert (bass) and Eric Kacir (guitar).  It's not clear how the group collaborates in a production environment with for instance Elzhi.  Sam Beaubien (in addition to being a member of The Country is particularly known for his superlative arrangement on Mayer Hawthorne and the Country's breakthrough album A Strange Arrangement.  Both Beaubien and Tim Shellaberger had their hands fully in the mix of Black Milk's trademark Album Of The Year showing an ease and facility collaborating in various genres.

Elzhi's Elmatic features guest spots from fellow Detroit heavyweight Royce Da 5'9, Stokly Williams (of Mint Condition) and the original producer of Illmatic Pete Rock.

The tracklist for Elzhi's Elmatic is:

1. The Genesis
2. Detroit State of Mind (Houseshoes Shout)
3. Halftime
4. Memory Lane
5. The World Is Yours
6. Represent
7. Life’s A Bitch feat. Royce da 5’9 and Stokley Williams of Mint Condition
8. One Love
9. It Ain’t Hard To Tell (Pete Rock Shout)
10. Pete Rock Shout