Couch Wisdom

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Sun Ra Arkestra's Marshall Allen Apr 15, 2019

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Marshall Allen is the third man to helm the Sun Ra Arkestra. The alto saxophonist joined the group in 1958 and led its reed section for over 40 years. For this episode, Allen was joined by Danny Ray Thompson, a bassoon player and saxophonist who joined the Arkestra in the mid-’60s, managed Sun Ra for 10 years and handled production of the El Saturn recordings. Together, the pair recall their career with one of music's greatest visionaries, from the rehearsals to his humor and philosophies.

Club and pop music polymath Jam City Apr 08, 2019

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The roster for UK electronic label Night Slugs is stacked with talent, so it’s no small praise to say that British producer, songwriter and DJ Jack Latham, AKA Jam City, is one of the label’s most prominent artists. Though he's lauded for his dynamic solo work, Latham displays even greater versatility in his collaborative projects, like Kelela’s electro-R&B album Take Me Apart. Here, Latham discussed getting his club music education in London, the power of minimalism and the psychology of pop producti

Singular rapper Pusha T Apr 01, 2019

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Born in the Bronx and raised in Virginia Beach, Terrence LeVarr Thornton, AKA Pusha T, is one of the most influential rappers alive. He and his brother No Malice formed rap duo Clipse, whose Neptunes-produced albums are accepted masterworks of street rap. After the brothers parted ways, Thornton signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music, where he's released three studio albums, including 2018's Kanye-produced Daytona. Here, Pusha T discusses rap’s competitive spirit, making Daytona and much more.

Definitive American composer Philip Glass Mar 25, 2019

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Philip Glass' compositions transformed the world of classical music and, eventually, popular music in general. Time spent in Paris set Glass on a course toward the repetitive, dramatic and conceptually rigorous style that has become his trademark. He's behind compositions like Music In Twelve Parts and Einstein On The Beach, and became a popular sensation, a serious composer who wasn’t willfully obscure or too difficult to understand. Here, Glass discussed musical tradition and the art of performance.

Teki Latex on his musical evolution Mar 18, 2019

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Teki Latex is a progressive presence in the French electronic music scene. He got his start as a founding MC in Parisian hip-hop act TTC, along with collaborators including DJ Orgasmic and Para One. He co-founded the influential Institubes label, then continued pushing his genreless vision via Sound Pellegrino. He’s also the selector for the Paris arm of vogue legends House of Ninja. Here, Teki Latex shares his vision for the future of club music and retraced the evolution of his musical tastes and work.

House music legends Masters At Work Mar 11, 2019

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"Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez have spent more than 20 years shepherding dance music down new paths. With remixes being their specialty, their treatment has been given to artists from Madonna, Debbie Gibson and Lisa Stansfield, to Saint Etienne, Michael Jackson, Brand New Heavies and about 800 other artists. They defiantly mix house, hip-hop, funk, disco, Latin, African and jazz into a universal groove. Here, the dancefloor dons discuss their famed remixes and their work as Nuyorican Soul.

Mixpak's Dre Skull Mar 04, 2019

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Raised on the East Coast underground freak-punk scene, Dre Skull perceives urban music culture as a holistic affair. After lacing beats for heavy hitters such as Beenie Man, Popcaan and Pusha T, the mighty Major Lazer asked Dre Skull to co-produce Snoop Dogg’s reggae-fied reincarnation as Snoop Lion. In this episode of Couch Wisdom recorded at the 2013 Red Bull Music Academy in New York, the vybz master talked about how he became one of Jamaica’s most in-demand beatmakers.

Ben UFO on joining the dots as a DJ Feb 25, 2019

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London’s Ben UFO started out on pirate radio station Sub FM in 2007, playing alongside friends, producers and DJs Pangaea and Pearson Sound. After being sent new music every week, the trio started the Hessle Audio label, through which they joined the dots of the UK underground between house, techno, jungle and drum & bass. Ben has graduated to flagship London radio station Rinse FM and a near-constant touring schedule. Here, he touched on the label’s early days and making the weird accessible.

Pop radical Planningtorock Feb 18, 2019

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For Jam Rostron, the multimedia artist who performs as Planningtorock, subversion – in gender, sexuality and politics – has driven their creativity for almost two decades. After the melodramatic pop of their debut album and 2013’s anthem “Patriarchy (Over & Out)” – not to mention writing an opera about Charles Darwin with the Knife – Rostron’s ambitions only grew bolder on their 2018 album Powerhouse. Here, Rostron discusses growing up through music and art, the commodification of queer iden

Piano adventurer Chilly Gonzales Feb 11, 2019

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Pianist, composer and entertainer Chilly Gonzales is no ordinary musician. Originally from Canada, he scored a Grammy for his contribution to Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories and seamlessly switches from working with Boys Noize to Feist to Drake, to his education endeavor the Gonzervatory. Key to Gonzales’ work is a desire to push the boundaries, continuously tackling the highbrow/lowbrow dichotomy. Here, Gonzales opens up about his formative years, his time in Berlin with Peaches, Franz Liszt and mor

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