S. Villa, as you can see, in its original lineup. As a collective, T3, Baatin and Jay Dee [known now as J Dilla, of course], dropped two albums [and an EP]. The second of those albums, Fantastic, Vol. 2, dropped in 2000, and featured a single entitled "Raise It Up", which can be heard here:
Of course, most people probably don't realize that "Raise It Up" is sample based. Dilla happened to hear the loop on a bootleg tape, figured it was some no-name techno producer, and jacked the loop, figuring the producer would never find out.
The joint sampled was "Extra Dry" by Thomas Bangalter, dropped in 1998:
Just so happens that Bangalter did find out; he and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, making up the French house group Daft Punk, happened to be huge fans of Slum Village at the time. Upon hearing "Raise It Up", Daft Punk reached out to the Detroit trio, not to demand royalties, but instead to collaborate on a song together.
The collabo effort, today's Rare Gem, is from Daft Punk's 2003 remix album, Daft Club. I bring thee "Aerodynamic (Slum Village Remix)". Click the pic above. {EDIT: I'm referring to the pic directly above, with helmets. Sorry to throw you off, gam.} Enjoy.
Not the first pack they've dropped. Bearbrick also put out a set last year, included with 3000 of Daft Punk's Alive 2007 album. I own that album. Bears? No. Jealous. Extremely.
*ahem* Allow me to flash my Passive Editorialist card for a sec...
Behold, Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter/rapper/producer T-Pain. Entering the mainstream back in '05, Teddy Penderazz[down] has made quite a name for himself, both with his own hit singles and by penning/producing joints for Lil Mama, Chris Brown, Britney Spears, and others. His almost religious use of the Auto-Tune, once hated on by critics aplenty, is now being heavily bitten by rappers and singers alike [e.g. Kanyeezy and Kells, respectively], and contunues to be hated on by critics aplenty. In many [not quite most] circles, he's compared to the late great Roger Troutman.
I'd beg to differ, albeit only from a technological standpoint. While the sounds are indeed similar, and were indeed used ritualistically to make hits, the devices are not the same at all. T-Pain uses Auto-Tune, which is a computer application included with certain music production software. Roger Troutman used a talk box, which is a physical [as in tangible; touch it, feel it, grab it, rabbit] effects device supplemented by an other instrument, e.g. organ or guitar. A talk box is similar to a vocoder, but...not quite.
This would be the part where you'd ask "Well gee, Murph, how am I supposed to know the difference between a talk box and Auto-Tune?" Don't fret, housepets, as I'm here to learn you something good. I will now bring to thee examples of both devices, explaining the differences thereafter. In fact, if you're a true audiophile, you might notice the difference yourself.
OK, so here's an obvious example of Auto-Tune:
The aforementioned T-Pain - "I'm Sprung" [Listen for about a minute.]
OK, now an example of a talk box:
Zapp & Roger - "I Wanna Be Your Man"
Hear the difference? No? Let's try again:
Daft Punk - "One More Time" [Auto-Tune]
Daft Punk - "Harder Better Faster Stronger" [Talk box; skip to the exact middle of the video]
Still not hearing it? OK, one more chance:
Cher - "Believe" [First commericial song to use Auto-Tune; and no, I am NOT a fan]
Stevie Wonder - "Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear" [Talk box]
OK, so what's the difference? Well, for starters, with Auto-Tune, you can still actually hear the singer's voice, whereas the talk box effect is thicker, sounding completely digitalized. Also, the talk box has a smoother transition between notes, while Auto-Tuned vocals have very audible "clicks" as the singer alters pitch.
As always, I've prepared Beloved Bone-us Items for all. The first is Snoop's video for "Sensual Seduction" [or "Sexual Eruption" depending on where you hear it]. Take note that Snoop is holding a keytar with attached talk box tube, but his voice is actually under the Auto-Tune effect. Miseducation, FTL.
The next Bone-us is T-Pain's "Studio Luv", feat. Lil Wayne. This one is interesting because he actually uses Auto-Tune AND the talk box [heard at the beginning]:
[damned YouTube slideshows...]
And the last, a pretty cool Geico commercial you may have seen, with guitarist Peter Frampton:
*whew* That was a long one. But I suppose all editorials are. Hope you enjoyed.
But I digress. Yes, Rare Gems will be the segment in which we drop [wait for it...] gems that are of rare commodity. Old or new [most likely the former], joints featured here will be obscure and/or unreleased material, serving no purpose other than to educate the masses and flesh out otherwise light-weighted iTunes collections [*ahem* 138 GB, but no one likes a showboat, so...]. I'm not promising that all of the gems will be priceless, but who doesn't enjoy a nice cubic zirconium once in a while? Let's go on...
So...for some reason, people think that Timbaland and Pharrell are rivals. Not true at all.
Way back when [circa early 90's], T&P had formed a collective with Magoo called SBI [that's S.urrounded B.y I.diots]. Though no material from that era has been released, there are more recent collaborations between the three that have been made public. The first I bring to thee is an unreleased joint that didn't quite make it on Pharrell's solo debut. Produced by Skateboard, with Timbaland & Magoo, it's entitled "Big White Spaceship". *ahem* I dare not say what it's about. Bon appetitty.
Timbaland also produced a joint for SBI, originally meant to be on his and Magoo's Under Construction II. Unfortunately, like "Big White Spaceship", this song also didn't make the cut. It's called "Vulnerable", and while I have a feeling most people will end up like "Spaceship" better, it's still a decent cut, and offers us the opportunity to hear Timbaland's falsetto. What? Come on, don't make that face. Give it a chance.
And, as [almost] always, the Beloved Bone-us item, a reward for your much appreciated readership. I bring you a remix of Daft Punk's "Harder Better Faster Stronger", by Coin Operated Boy. Today's Beloved Bone-us is provided c/o Stoney Roads. It's more electrified than the original, but...it's worth a listen. Enjoy.
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