"MoneyMoney" Video - Still Preview

A lil teaser from the upcoming Video for "MoneyMoney" off the Biblio EP.
CLICK on the pic above for a better peak.

Look out for the Video (by PistolTrixx Productions) coming in early 2010.

The 5&1/4 Records Team - 2009

A 2009 5&1/4 Records Group Shot.

Click on the photo for a better looksee.
From L to R: Vangel, Uncle Fester, Fresh Kils, ProF, Rob Wicks
Missing in Action: Dorc, Danimal, & TDB
Photo By: Anna Lisa Sang

Ira Lee (My Favourite Songs By Me)

‘My favorite songs by me‘ is the awesome new lp by your friend Ira Lee. What immediately seperates this lp from the hundred and fifty others I come across everyday is the phenomenal Polaroid cover art. The cd is a meaty 16 tracks of distinctive song writing and truly original concepts. It’s rare that a ’rapper’ is able to shape shift so effectively from sing song delivery, to straight on first person storytelling. Aside from it’s startling creativity, and diverse and interesting production values, ‘my favorite songs by me’ manages to maintain a level of sincerity absent in modern music. Featuring production by Factor, Scott Da Ros, Mattr, Funken, & more, Ira lee is truly a wonderful discovery. Available Dec.1 2009 from Endemik Music (internationally) and iraleeiswack.com

Check out this oldie but goodie...Die.

The Extremities New Single - "Lost Souls"

5&1/4 Records Presents:

The new single, "Lost Souls" by the Extremities (Fresh Kils & Uncle Fester) feat. Tim Crofts & Anthony Rinaldi.

"Lost Souls", a soul-drenched, timeless instrumental romp, is the first offering off the upcoming Extremities EP coming in early 2010. Riding off the success of their last release, The New Tonic, a CBC jazz remix project, the Extremities have been hard at work on stage and in the studio brewing unique blends of dusty production & live instrumentation. We think you’ll agree; the future is bright for this accomplished Canadian duo.

GET THE FREE DOWNLOAD HERE

Learn more about the Extremities here:

myspace.com/theextremitiesmusic

myspace.com/514records
twitter.com/TheExtremities

Check a short clip of the Extremities at the BeatLounge earlier this year.

Sleeping Giant Gallery + Wes Loates

Sleeping Giant is an art gallery located @ 789 Dundas Street West in the downtown Toronto core; a ways from the chi-chi art district. Real deal art & music go down here. Run by Creative Director & owner Josh Glover, the gallery operates with a DIY mentality infused with a devout support and belief in the artists they exhibit and represent.

Wes Loates is a visual artist & contributor to the Sleeping Giant movement. At 31, he is a simian that rolls on a four wheeled wooden toy... paints on the lost and found or scribbles forbidden dialect and thought crimes upon the skin's of trees. Check out some of his works below, and visit the gallery to explore more.

MoneyMoney Video Shoot + Summer 09'

Some static shots from the "MoneyMoney" Video Shoot.

A big thanks to PistolTrixx and the whole crew for making this happen.

***
Some shots from housesitting in the Danforth summer 09'.

Lil'Jean & Savilion.

5&1/4 sightings.

Bloggertronix Mix Vol.5

Check out the new mixtape from Bloggertronix featuring songs by: Themselves, RQM, Vangel, Two Fingers, Maluca, Robot Koch & more.

"Bass Hard Heavy Electro glitch hiphop world cumbia boom"

Solid Steel Podcasts (Ninja Tune)

Ninja Tune & Serato Presents

A Solid Steel Podcast by:
Boom Monk Ben & 2econd Class Citizen

This week's (Nov.6th) Solid Steel Podcast is mixed by dj's Boom Monk Ben & 2econd Class Citizen, mixed in 4 parts; available for stream and DOWNLOAD below.

The mix features artists such as: Diplo, Rusko, 2econd Class Citizen (Equinox), Buddy Peace (Stange Famous), Jel (Anticon), The Slew (NinjaTune), Dj Scientist (Equinox), Ceschi (Fake Four), Blockhead (NinjaTune), Vangel (5&1/4/Equinox), Dj Signify and more.

Plastic Milk SF Feature

Plastic Milk SF (Featured Article) by JM

Toronto-based producer Vangel creates music that will make you want to get your zen on in one track and your dance on in the next. The eclectic producer first made his mark in Canada’s hip-hop scene where his work was described as “beats so gloriously fucked, they make EL-P sound like a more accesible Moby” (Now Magazine). His variety-pack musical leanings shine through in his work where the songs serves as a melting pot of musical genres: jazz, hip-hop, folk..the list goes on. While he grew up playing in his grade school’s band and strings ensemble, attending summer music camp and rehearsing with his city’s symphony orchestra, he realized that playing music wasn’t for him. “I hated playing. I wanted to put it together”. Lucky for us, Vangel is a master at musical collages and “putting it together.”

His days of searching through flea markets for interesting vinyl lead to DJing which eventually resulted in his passion for beats. “I wanted to make beats so bad. I had so many ideas I wanted to try out. I bought a computer, quit my job, and moved home”. For the past four years, Vangel has released a string of instrumental EPs that have won over critics and music-lovers. His work has resulted in comparisons to DJ Shadow and Mr Scruff. Listen to “Eat Your FootLoose” below and enjoy the beautiful soundscapes created by a man whose ear for instrumentation unifies the musical genres and keeps things interesting.-JM

Links and Listen:

MySpace

Download-“Eat Your FootLoose (Live Mix)”-Vangel

Read the article on PMSF here:
http://plastic-milk.com/2009/10/28/vangel-mp3/

Field of Fur, Dirty Inputs & Vangel

Turntable Radio OCT.09 Podcast

Check out the new Turntable Radio Podcast for OCT. 09 by Laurent. It features a few collabo tunes of mine featuring Dj Unkut and ProF from 5&1/4 Records.

You can stream or DOWNLOAD the whole show for FREE here.

Biblio + Live + Personal Character REVIEW

Taken from: Ano Jisho Blog

"Vangel is the kind of person that i just don't meet often enough. he's good at what he does, knows the technical aspects of how he does what he does, knows and knows about the other people that are doing similar things and is just a super nice guy. he was good enough to let me hitch a ride on his mixer in between sets and the rest of the time we talked shop.

I like his approach because he sounds like he has a lot more fun making music than most musicians i've known over the years. vangel's e.p. biblio is available on itunes, emusic, finetunes.net and as a limited edition 5&1/4 inch floppy from 5&1/4 records. the album was pieced together from private and public library collections and recorded with top session musicians. it's a jazz record which you probably wouldn't guess at first if you've heard some of vangel's other work. his live set for ethan's show was more of an improvised breaks and glitch performance.

My favourite tag line for the biblio ep is "cheesy yet serious, like hipster scarves". i'd contest this because i don't think the album is cheesy at all. there might be a hint of st. germaine (and let's be honest, st. germaine gets pretty cheesy at times) here and there but this album has it's own voice. there are samples but i'm happy to say that i dont recognize any of them or they've been replayed to fit the composition. i'm not the foremost authority on jazz but i've listened to too many sample heavy records, sample libraries and everything else to not hear familiar loops on a regular basis. this leads me to a second regular occurrence and that's telegraphing.

Have you ever listened to a song and new what was coming next? i'm sure it's happened at least once and probably more often for some of you but it's kind of disappointing when you can do it at all. some musicians write their songs specifically so the listener can sing a long and has all of their expectations met neatly with no surprises. i can't say i enjoy that often. i like hearing things that don't make sense. i want to know how someone made that noise or what they used to sequence everything. i want them to drop the beat out from under us or change the tempo or blast us with noise or something and biblio did that. it was a fun ride that i just didn't see coming for the majority of the album.

Survey says: go buy this thing now! ok preview it first if you don't trust my word, which you should, then go buy this now."

CLICK BELOW TO BUY.

Takaba Records Showcase @ Nuit Blanche

click on the flyer for a better look.

Oct 15th - Vangel w/ Prof and Pursuit Grooves

Come join myself, ProF, & Pursuit Grooves @ The Boat (Knsngtn Mrkt) on OCT.15th. $5 before 10pm ($8 after) + ID

ProF Single "Blue Bunny Stampede" (feat.Vangel)

ProF "BLUE BUNNY STAMPEDE" feat. Vangel

It's an extremely beautiful day on the planet far away. After inhaling too the sound of dancing bubbles, the exhale is simply fantastic... the mind soul and body are tickled by a stampede of joyful Blue Bunnies.

ProF: Superorganism EP "Trippy, Melancholic sounds and scratches manipulated with an MPC, mixer and FX machines laid out in what’s becoming ProF’s signature “off-time” style. These aren’t just beats, they’re landscapes built with sounds." BRING BACK THE BOOMBOX

Vangel: Biblio EP "A great jazz/electronic hybrid; a very accomplished affair, blurring the lines between disparate genres and sound sources" Cyclic Defrost Magazine
..........
A taste of what happens when two of Toronto Canada's most forward thinking beat constructors come together. Everything we love musically intermingled.

Get the FREE DWNLD here: http://prof.bandcamp.com/

Freedom CC and Ethan Riley Exhibit

I'm playing a lil' show on Thurs, Sept.17 (10pm)
@ Freedom Clothing Collective (939 Bloor Street West).
The event is a solo exhibition featuring works by the cartoonist Ethan Rilly.

	Freedom Clothing is a Community Organization located in Toronto's west end. Developed by 4 local designers, they carry one-of-a-kind hand-made clothing, accessories, bags, boots, vintage, re-made vintage and clothing made with recycled eco-materials. They like to focus on sustainable, local designers and products.

2nd Class Citizen FREE Mega Mix (by Phonatic)

An amazing 2nd Class Citizen Megamix by phonatic is now available. The 10 minute mix contains tracks from the upcoming album “A World Without” as well as tracks from his EPs “Wyred Folk” and “One By One”, all blended, cut, remixed, and put together in a new style.

Rap Shows (Toronto) - PPF House & Pop n Chips

Equinox Records & Fake Four Tour 09

Equinox Records and Fake Four Inc. present

2Mex, Ceschi, DJ Scientist & Playpad Circus -
Europe Tour 2009

In October 2009 the Berlin based record label Equinox Records will proceed the successful story of its first European Tour in 2007. This time, the legendary 2Mex (of the Visionaries) and Ceschi will be the headliners. Furthermore, Playpad Circus and DJ Scientist - two more great artists - are completing the tour line-up respectively.

learn more here

Iller.cc

The kind folks at Iller Clothing Company posted some generous words on Biblio. "the EP really has an Endtroducing feel to it." Check it out below.

Iller Clothing Company is much more than your basic urban clothing line. Founded by Dj Indica Jones and Dj Money V, Iller.cc is an multi-tier organization based in USA/UK that is involved with everything grassroots in hip hop and turntablism: shows, mixtapes, exclusive tracks, promo, and of course dope designs for t-shirts and clothing alike. Who wears Iller? Chuck D, Juice, Rob Swift, Z-Trip, 2tall, Kid Koala...and now you. Learn more HERE.