The Return of Dr. Evil!

This is definitely a Power Week! It's barely Hump Day and so much has already happened, and is still left to happen this week. The Heat x Celtics series is at its peak; Euro Cup starts on Friday; also on Friday, my little island of Antigua takes on the USA in a World Cup qualifier match. But I'm here to talk music, not sports. Well, Oddisee dropped his 'People Hear What They See'; Anthony Valadez 'Just Visiting' is hot off the press; anticipation of Tall Black Guy's Tempo Dreams Vol 1. builds by the day; The Foreign Exchange tore up Brooklyn and is currently tearing up Boston - wish I was able to make it :-/ Esthero's new single + remixes hit iTunes; Chief handed us this nugget...and, oh, how can I forget that The Flaming Lips had most people dazed and confused with this display. But of everything I've heard so far this week, Evil Needle's new output got me hype. Not just hype, but my favorite hype - a mellow hype.

Evil Needle [from evil-needle.com]

 'The Return of Dr. Evil!' is a 17-track session of pure vibes. If you ever find that you need to just chill, disappear behind some mellow beats (which I often do) then you need to keep this in your medicine chest. Let's face it, sometimes lyrics just distract from the music and hinders the process of creating your own space based on what you hear; or how you interpret what you hear. Anyway, the incredible talent of Needle, who I first heard about while I was in Switzerland back in '08, just keeps working the eardrums track after track. Whether it's a mellow jazzy beat like Jazzolude 04, or a synth-ridden theme like Unleashed, you may not even notice the diversity because they are all so well-blended that each track fits perfectly after any other track and that' what makes this album stand out for me. The diversity is present but the ease with which the entire album flows is just amazing. It's hard for me to pick out a favorite track right now but I'm going to throw out a few samples, and encourage you to head over to bandcamp and check out the entire album. 










As a bonus I'll throw in this Needle remix, done in co-op with Sivey, of a track from the Robert Glasper Experiment, Black Radio album.
Robert Glasper Experiment - Move Love Ft. King ( Needle x @Sivey Remix ) by Evil_Needle

Enjoy!