Doug used to be the greatest cartoon on television, period. Then Disney started putting their own version out and it was complete garbage. Luckily, on this fine Christmas-Eve, Carlitta Durand teams up with Vaughn Garcia to bring back the essence of the fine Nickelodeon series. Don’t have time to listen, so I am going purely off the strength of Carlitta’s name and her worth with the likes of Little Brother and The Foreign Exchange. Give it a spin when you get a chance… Merry Christmas!

Download: Carlitta Durand & Vaughn Garcia – The Doug & Patty EP

There are few musicians in hip-hop that actually get me excited. Zo! is one of those musicians. Catching me completely by surprise this evening, Zo! dropped this wonderful EP of covers, featuring FE homies like Yahzarah, Carlitta Durand, Phonte, Sy Smith and Darien Brockington. This serves as a perfect teaser to hold us over until the summer when Zo drops his LP, SunStorm. Give it a spin and share some thoughts after the skip!

Download: Zo! – …just visiting too

Hit the skip for the tracklisting…

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As long as The Foreign Exchange is performing, no one can ever even think about showmanship being dead. The eight-piece band that took the stage of B.B. King’s Blues Club & Grille on Oct. 23 moved the crowd in a way that few acts are capable. And it all started at 1 a.m. As such, you would think a show starting that late would lend itself to a somewhat less-than-energetic audience. But that was simply not the case – I mean, this is New York City we’re talking about.

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Album Review: Nicolay – City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Potholes

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We’re almost there. Sept. 15 is swiftly approaching and that’s when all of us will be graced by more of that smooth and organic music from Nicolay and Phonte, who shares songwriting credits on many of the tracks. Also featured on several tracks on here is songstress Carlitta Durand, who you may know for her gorgeous vocals on past Little Brother hooks. And from what we have heard from her and her boys so far on City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya, this album is likely to be just as fantastic as we all hope. Also, for those of you who cannot wait, we have here a sampler of seven tracks featured on the album. Hit the jump to see just which tracks you’re hearing and a bonus picture of the CD.

Right click and save as to download: Nicolay – City Lights Vol. 2 [Sampler]

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In the past six years Nicolay and Phonte have definitely put their stamp on black alternative music. I first heard Nicolay back in 2002 on Little Brother’s – ‘Whatever You Say’ (12″) on a track called “Light It Up”. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the weekly rundown where we (soulsupreme and Marty) provide you with our top ten headlines for the week that was.

1. R.I.P. Baatin of Slum Village. The details surrounding his death are still unclear since we received the news yesterday. We just lost another founding member of Slum Village. It’s also sad because Slum Village were set reunite for the a new LP dropping in September. Our condolences go out to his family at this time.
2. Jay-Z replaces The Beastie Boys at the All Points West music festival. He covered the Beasties classic “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” then sequenced into “Brooklyn (We Go Hard)”. The video footage is dope.
3. Drake injured during concert fall. An episode of Degrassi or real life? He really does have a bad knee…lol Read the rest of this entry »

It feels like we were just announcing Nicolay’s newest project, City Lights Vol. 2 : Shibuya, a day or two ago. And now, we have the first leak off the album. Featuring the gorgeous vocals of Carlitta Durand, “Lose Your Way” is another breezy and soulful joint crafted by this talented Dutch producer. We are certainly in luck if the rest of the album even sounds half as good as this track. But knowing Nic and Phonte, who helped create Vol. 2, this is only the tip of iceberg. Hit the jump for the full artwork.

Download: Nicolay – “Lose Your Way” feat. Carlitta Durand

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Here is the latest leak that Nicolay is handing out on his blog called “Purple Flip”, and it features a gang of fantastic musicians. Not only is this a star-studded line-up of artists, but their chemistry is silky smooth. It would be nice to see more music come out of this camp in the future, and it is especially interesting to see Ahmir add his two-cents to the already magical Foreign Exchange mix. Check it out and let us know what you think about this joint…

Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson- Drums, Samples
Nicolay- Fender Rhodes, acoustic piano
Zo!- Korg synth, additional rhodes
Phonte and Carlitta Durand- Vocals

Download: The Foreign Exchange – “Purple Flip”