Quotes such as “Possibly my favourite album on earth. Brilliant tracks.. true examples of what instrumental hip hop is all about,” are common even today for an album that was released nearly ten years ago. So before we get into Keepintime - A Live Recording It’s time for a little history.

Irish born photographer, filmmaker and writer Brian Cross (aka B+) is obsessed with the raw material of hip hop: ‘the break’. He moved to Los Angeles in the 1990s. Taking a lead from DJ Shadow, he decided to have an event that involved four of LA’s most illustrious drummers who had contributed to the history of ‘the break’. The four were Roy Porter, Earl Palmer, Paul Humphrey and James Gadson. Between them, they had played with everyone from Charlie Parker to James Brown, John Coltrane to Marvin Gaye, Frank Zappa to David Axelrod, Frank Sinatra to Beck.

Tokion magazine backed B+’s plans but sadly, by the time it went ahead Roy Porter had died. However, when it did happen DJ Shadow, the Beat Junkies and Cut Chemist were on hand to jam with Humphrey and Gadson. Cross’s short, Keepintime: Talking Drums Whispering Vinyl toured the world with DJ Shadow and was highly acclaimed.

So it is only now, that we can turn to A Live Recording. Such was the buzz B+ had created, his next plan was for a live show in LA where DJs and producers including Madlib and NuMark (Jurassic 5) would jam live and create music with these two great drummers. Keepintime: Talking Drums Whispering Vinyl (The Original Film) and Keepintime - A Live Recording’ (The Show) are included on DVD. I hope to interview B+ about the project next week so keep tuning in.

But this is still not even half the story!

B+ had plans for a CD Keepintime - A Live Recording where the multi-track parts from the live show were sent to some of the world’s finest producers (including some Fly favourites), to create something special. In fact, to steal the spoken sample from the first mix by Charlie Dark, “This is special, what’s happening tonight is special.” It certainly is and sets a ridiculously high standard for the rest of the CD. In fact, the Charlie Dark (Blacktronica/Attica Blues) track is my favourite.

But there’s no let up in quality with the next two tracks. West coast beat maestros, Ammoncontact take to ‘Infinity of Rhythm’ with the benefit of some funky jazz Rhodes and the extraordinary jazz vocalisations of Dwight Trible. And to continue the master class, DJ Shadow’s ‘Bring Madlib Up’ just shows what he can do with a bit of tape (based on a part of the live show where due to a misplaced knob twiddle on the sound desk, someone on stage says “I can’t hear Madlib. Bring Madlib Up”). It doesn’t sound much but it’s a great track (getting a very good reaction).

‘A Peek In Time’ via Cut Chemist goes 100mph Latin flava whilst the very busy King Britt, who’s recently been at the Big Chill, played a mix Gilles Peterson’s show and has been interviewed about his CD project on Fly. His contribution to this project is another stormer, ‘Kings On The Mix’ hits at the percussive heart of the project and uses the MC’s clip “this project is about love.”

Similarly, the next track from “up and coming” producer Eric Coleman is very percussive and he’s also going to be on the European tour (more of which later on).

Like the Ammoncontact mix, Oh.No and J.Rocc use a mini-opus framework and they need a little more earwax time.

DJ Shadow’s other track is called ‘Roy’s Theme’ which was previously released on a very limited edition 12” last year (c/w ‘Keepintime’ Charlie Dark’s mix) on US label Mochilla. It’s on a ‘boom boom bip’ tip with some scratchin’ going on and is in the same lines as DJ Nuts’ ‘From SP On My 303’ (which is arguably self-explanatory from its title). So by way of comparison (and is something that levitates this album into the highest of hip hopness) is the likes of Psyche-head’s Nobody’s contribution. ‘Song For Sophia / You Can Know Her’ featuring Mia Doi Todd and is a type of West Coast female Ivor Culter folktronica.

Just to prove how broadminded the project is, ‘Talking Drums - Whispering Vinyl’ is 60’s soul-funk up-date via Brighton’s Quantic Soul Orchestra’s big band approach; check the drums. To further prove the point, the CD concludes with a Daedelus’ contribution. Who knows what to expect when Daedelus gets stuck into a project and he doesn’t disappoint with an Orchestral boogie scratch hop number. You’re going to love this and the news just gets better, not only are there film viewings and live gigs (see below for details), there’s also talk of a Brazilian version called Brasilintime (it might be suggesting a few of our own Latin beat mixers to have ago with those tapes).As you might have gathered, this is another ‘must have’ as I really think this project has the makings of a landmark release. I don’t see any hip hop mid-life crisis here at all. It’s a massive B-person party. Let’s make some noise. See you at Cargo. Peace and Love.

Gig Details - “All in all an unmissable evening of rhythm ‘n’ beats, a one-off celebration. Hot as hot can be…”

Reviewed: Various - Keepintime - A Live Recording Cat. No. ZENCD111 (Ninja Tune) Release Date: 22nd August, 2005

19th, 2005 - Edinburgh, Scotland at the Bongo Club
Quantic (DJ) DJ Food (DJ) Daedelus (Live) B+ (DJ) Livesciences (Live)
Keepintime Film Showing and Director Q & A at Cameo 1, Edinburgh,
17:15-18:30!

24th, 2005 - Geneva, Switzerland - Keepintime at L’Usine
Daedelus (Live) B+ (DJ) Eric Coleman (DJ)

25th, 2005 - Dublin, Ireland - Keepintime at The Sugar Club
Quantic (DJ) Daedelus (Live) B+ (DJ)

26th, 2005 - London, England - Keepintime at Cargo
J Rocc (DJ) Daedelus (Live) Charlie Dark (DJ) DJ Food and DK (DJ) B+ (DJ)
with Director’s Q and A. BBQ and Ice Cream for the early birds 6pm - 3am

27th, 2005 - Paris, France - Keepintime at Le Triptyque
Matt Black (COLDCUT DJ) Daedelus (Live) B+ (DJ) Eric Coleman (DJ) and
Keepintime Film Screening

28th, 2005 - Brighton, England - Keepintime at Alley Cats
Daedelus (Live) B+ (DJ) Eric Coleman (DJ) + Keepintime Film Screening

Links:
More information on the LIVE dates and Keepintime at www.ninjatune.net/live, Ninja Tune www.ninjatune.net
Gilles Peterson : Tracklisting 07/08/05, Live From The Big Chill 2005 - KING BRITT MIX
Straight No Chaser - Winter 2004, Undercurrents page 6 ‘B+ Keepintime’ www.straightnochaser.co.uk

Tracklist

CD:
1. Keep In Time Theme produced by Charlie Dark
2. Infinity Of Rhythm Mix produced by Ammoncontact
3. Bring Madlib Up produced by DJ Shadow
4. A Peek In Time produced by Cut Chemist
5. Kings On The Mix produced by King Britt
6. Paulista Remix produced Eric Coleman
7. A Remix In 3 Parts produced by Oh No
8. Talking Drums Whispering Vinyl produced by Quantic Soul Orchestra
9. Roy’s Theme produced by DJ Shadow
10. Dirty Fingered B Boy Edit produced by J Rocc
11. Song For Sophia/You Can Know Her
produced by Nobody (featuring Mia Doi Todd)
12. From SP On My 303 produced by Dj Nuts
13. All Lights On Stage that Night produced by Daedelus

DVD (120 minutes):
Keepintime: Talking Drums Whispering Vinyl (The Original Film) / Keepintime: A Live Recording (The Show) / Trailers for the film and its forthcoming sequel “BRASILINTIME” / Remixes and Premix: Two short
films inspired by “KEEPINTIME” / “Midnight In A Perfect World” by DJ Shadow (video) / Extensive commentaries and discographies

Vinyl Cat. NO. ZEN111
Side A
Keep In Time Theme produced by Charlie Dark
Infinity Of Rhythm Mix produced by Ammoncontact
Roy’s Theme produced by Dj Shadow

Side B
Bring Madlib Up produced by DJ Shadow
A Peek In Time produced by Cut Chemist
Paulista Remix produced Eric Coleman

Side C
Kings On The Mix produced by King Britt
A Remix In 3 Parts produced by O.H.N.O.

Side D
Talking Drums Whispering Vinyl produced by Quantic Soul Orchestra
Dirty Fingered B Boy Edit produced by J Rocc
Song For Sophia/You Can Know Her produced by Nobody (featuring Mia Doi Todd)