Bytemarks
Getting your acid jazz fix from the Web
By Burt Lum
It pleases me to no end when the tiniest drop of information leads you into an ocean of possibilities. The specific details might be different for each individual but the process is the same. The Internet offers many doorways to discovery.
It starts for me while driving around town, listening to KTUH-FM. As the only source of new, eclectic, exciting music in Hawai'i, you need to be attentive when trying to locate that cool beat you just heard. On this one listening, the only thing I remember hearing were the words "mushroom jazz". The next stop for me was a Google search (www.google.com) for the term "mushroom jazz".
What comes back is a link to a review in Inkblot Magazine (www.inkblotmagazine.com) on DJ Mark Farina and his series of compilations called "Mushroom Jazz," from a hip genre of music called acid jazz. Most music labels tend not to do justice to the rich diversity and sound of the music. Nevertheless, labels are useful when describing the scene that coalesces around the music. Acid jazz has roots in jazz of course, but is also influenced by hip-hop, house, trance and soul. From the "Mushroom Jazz review" I found links to other recommended CDs, such as drum and bass recordings by Aphrodite. Next stop is Amazon.com and into my shopping cart.
Like any good one-click wonder, I am onto this acid jazz thing. My next stop is the Acid Jazz server at www.cmd.uu.se/AcidJazz. You can spend days here, but first check out the selections listed on the home page. The Interactive DJ at www.interactivedj.co.uk has archived pre-recorded live sessions in the Radioactive section.
After you are done with the Helsinki and Manitoba sessions, go back to the Acid Jazz server and click on Soul247.com. Here you will find a live, all-day, every-day, neo-soul, acid jazz webcast. They are streaming direct from London without missing a single beat. Best to bookmark the Acid Jazz server so you don't drown in this ocean of sound. ;-)
Burt Lum, cyber-citizen and self-anointed tour guide to the Internet frontier, is one click away at burt@brouhaha.net.
