Jellyfish Recordings


Prop Loft VIDEO from Simply Gold
July 10, 2011, 11:05 pm
Filed under: NEWS, VIDEO | Tags: , ,

A little footage from the Westcoastculture.ca release party that we threw on the 25th from Simply Gold Productions. Like us on Facebook to keep up to date with events like this!



“Philosophize” Video by INDIGO KIDS
July 6, 2011, 1:00 pm
Filed under: VIDEO | Tags: , , , , ,

The newest video from Indigo Kids. Make sure to check out their latest release “The Tarot And The Tree” over in the RELEASES section. 



FREE ALBUM : Indigo Kids “2 of Swords”
June 11, 2011, 7:23 am
Filed under: NEWS, RELEASES | Tags: , , , ,

The crew was originally formed in April 2010 with a wider roster on the ‘Planet Indigo’ album brought together by Vancouver based artists, Axiom and Kapok. The project included production by AstroLogical of Elekwent Folk and Panther & The Supafly, Perception and Moo Crew DJ, That African, MC Sage hailing from Ireland, Panther of Panther & The Supafly, Reflectionz of Ra Focus and of course, Ashleigh Eymann.

Since then, the current trio have taken The Indigo Kids title and have been performing most of the tracks from Planet Indigo over the past year. In the beginning of 2011, the group began recording a double EP: ‘The Tarot and the Tree’: The 2 of Swords’ EP shared by Ashleigh Eymann and Axiom, and the ‘Kapok’ EP. A full length release is scheduled to drop in the Summer of 2011. The Indigo Kids have been busy performing new material around BC, shooting their debut video and finishing their highly-anticipated album.

Together, they are ready to share their new music with everyone.

The permanent Indigo Kids roster is as follows:

Ashleigh Eymann:

Ashleigh’s soulful voice rings with passion and flies with wings into the cosmos. Born in Vancouver, the recently-announced Top 20 artist in The PEAK Performance Project 2011 has spent her entire life sharing an intimate relationship with music. She has been a passionate pianist since she was five-years-old and trained classically with the Royal Conservatory. She is also a self taught guitar player, but her primary instrument has always been her voice. Ashleigh is a long time live and recording vocalist in many styles of music including Hip Hop, R&B, Soul, Classical, Pop and Folk. Her song writing abilities were recognized in the 2010 John Lennon Songwriting competition when three of her works made it to the finals. She has opened for acts such as Dj Vadim, Brother Ali, The Beatnuts and Jurassic 5. In The Indigo Kids, Ashleigh exhibits an exceptional skill for rhyming, contributing fluid verses to the groups new material that are true to the art and element of emceeing, which solidifies her presence in the trio. Since her early years first performing with local songstress Georgia Murray at “Stirfry” Wednesday’s in Victoria, which was the longest running Hip Hop weekly in Canada, and later, in her time with the group The Current (with Ishkan, Just B and DJ MURGE,) Ashleigh has honed her talents for creating a powerful and tangible connection with any given audience. She continues to experiment and cultivate her gift for creating music that douses the flames, soaks in the moon and spreads magic across the stage and through the speakers.

Kapok:

Taionnaih Akubal Hernandez Simper: Toronto born, Vancouver raised, Hip Hop bred, naturally funky fresh in the classiest sense. His influences are wide, ranging from the records his mother would play, the wild sounds of vintage keyboards from his Granfathers basement, and eventually the crux of it all, the copy of Jazzmatazz 2 his graff writing older brother blessed him with as a youngster. Kapok is one of Canada’s most exciting up and coming rap talents incorporating his awareness of his Mayan lineage and artistic upbringing into his work with an urban ferocity. Performing as a part of the group Ra Focus, he has shared the same stage as acts such as Lucky.I.Am.PSC of Living Legends, Zion I, Def 3, Evil and Pigeon John, as well as played the Hip Hop stage at Shambalah 2010. Kapok been involved in events seeking positive change like Hip Hop For Hunger, The Hip Hop for Peace Festival and Drop Beats Not Bombs. His rhymes are a perfect representation of his feelings and perspectives of the world. Having seen enough to know where he sits on a variety of subjects, Kapok remains true to his inspirations, moods, opinions and understanding of song structure based on a natural gift for self expression and a wide range of influences. A soulful Hip Hop delivery is an oft sought style, but not every emcee can truly say they cross that threshold between rhyme reciter and poet without compromising the essence of the art forms original purpose and distinction as a medium. He puts it best: “Music is a way to release and recycle energy that other wise would go to negative use or waste.”

Axiom:

An intricate and thoughtful lyricist, hailing from the depths of BC’s forested coastal islands, Axiom is also the producer of The Indigo Kids new projects. With a flair for the unique and abstract, both distinct and mood driven, his overall sound is always evolving and shows he isn’t afraid to play the mad scientist, as the cover of his last solo project depicts. He samples tightly from records, cassette tapes, and a variety of sources as well as engineering and incorporating live instrument recordings. He has released four albums in the past three years, increasing his role in the full production of a project during this time. During these formable times, Axiom played frequently in a variety of group contexts and performed on the same stage as everyone from Swollen Members, to Zion I, to Josh Martinez, to Moka Only, to DL Incognito. As co-founder of the BC based, global music and culture blog and Web TV Network, Grounded TV, he has hosted for the Hip Hop series The Word TV since it’s inception in 2007. He has interviewed many of Hip Hops most respected artists and conducted dialogues with rappers and artists that helped shape the music landscape we now reside in, as well as local talent that deserves more exposure and will help cement this corner of the earth as a solid contributor to the art form as a whole. In addition to his musical endeavors, Axiom is a lifelong visual artist, creating the artwork and layout for most of his releases as well as show flyers. He is also in the process of scripting and illustrating an original graphic novel as a side project.



Vantastic Vol 3 Video
May 16, 2011, 12:35 am
Filed under: NEWS | Tags: , , , , ,

If you didn’t come out to Vantastic Vol 3 last Thursday then this is what you missed! 

Huge thanks to Matt Bourne for hooking this video up! 



FREE ALBUM DOWNLOAD “Salmagundi” by Headspace
May 10, 2011, 11:34 pm
Filed under: NEWS | Tags: , , , ,

Headspace’s second Jellyfish release, “Salmagundi,” is an album of electronic, hip hop and jazz influenced beat music. With contributions from different instrumentalists from Vancouver and Victoria, this marks an evolution from the primarily sample based music of “The Spiritual” from ’09. Present on this record are Noah Becker and Jon Lee on saxophone, Baxter Hall on bass and Arthur Webb on guitar.

Mastered by Tjomas Speakman


	
	

FREE DOWNLOAD – “Green Slime” from Dpee
April 5, 2011, 1:53 am
Filed under: NEWS | Tags: , ,

Jellyfish Recordings newest recruit Dpee is set to release his instrumental EP “Green Slime” late April/early May and to give you  little taster we have the title track here for free download.  To learn a little more about the Calgary native and hear more music by him check out the the Cascade Records Podcast .

Green Slime will be one of many instrumental album releases coming this spring/summer along with, The Potatohead People, Headspace, and the Another Dimension compilation so stay tuned!

***Direct Download***

Art by Eli Muro



FREE DOWNLOAD : New album “Axiology” from Axiom

**********DOWNLOAD FREE***********

Our first of many album releases of 2011 is Axiom’s “Axiology” which features some of Vancouver and Victoria BC’s finest producers and vocalists. Featured on the album are Ra focus’s Reflections and Kapok, Ashleigh Eymann Claire Mortfee and Inkspill.

A word from Axiom,

“What up beakers, It’s Doc Ax, back with a vengeance. Since summer ’10 (that doesn’t sound right, does it?) I’ve been gathering songs for this project. Then, I messed up big time and lost all my material in one fell swoop. Sigh. So, in order to redeem myself I kicked it up a notch and recorded these little doozies, with a few beats from my highly talented social circle, and for the first time, a few I whipped up myself. I like to think of myself as a super scientific emcee, hence the lab coat and goggles, but it’s the wisdom of the artist and communicator that affects me the most in my day to day life. The words of intelligent and great people float to the surface in an ocean of destructive drivel and meat-headed malarkey. It’s true. I managed to get some pretty intelligent and thoughtful lyricists and vocalists to get on board for this project, I can’t say it’d be the same minus any of the collaborators involved. Hope you enjoy.”






Headspace on Dpee’s Cascade Records Podcast 31
February 15, 2011, 12:06 am
Filed under: NEWS | Tags: , , , ,

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So our Calgary connection , beat maker DPEEE , has put together this podcast for CASCADE RECORDS featuring a gang of tracks including one from Jellyfish producer HEADSPACE. DPEEE will be featured on the upcoming compilation “Another Dimension” due out on Jellyfish Recordings in the near future.

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“TRAVELLING THE OUTER LIMITS” BY DPEEE

To learn a little about DPEE check out this little interview from CASCADE RECORDS.

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CR- Where are you from?

DP- I am from CALGARY ALBERTA CANADA. RPT! OH FOR SURE!

CR- How long have you been making beats?


DP- I guess ive always messed around with it, but ive been beat making for 5 years.

CR- What are some of your favorite drum breaks?


DP- BOOM….BAP….BOOMBAP!

CR- How would you describe your style and creative approach?


DP- “music made in a garbage can.” – Jon Wayne. i agree with this statement.

CR- Can you describe your mix for CR?


DP- its a mix of people ive been connected to through the internet. all amazing beatmakers, and i really enjoyed making this mix and gathering beats from all these guys that i really respect. if i had more time there would be alot more people on this haha! i decided to do a short little beat mix of my own that i made specifically for this.

CR- Future musical projects!?


DP- some projects i can’t talk about and others are just being talked about…like a 9pxdp two, strangebrew, some grommega which is when culp and i get together and just play live music drunk, and if we arent too drunk we’ll remember to record some shit hahahaha. some other collabs that might happen at some point haha!

CR- Favorite drugs?


DP- heroin, crack, lsd, DMT, cocainz, meth, robotussin…you know, non of that pussy shit like beer and weed.

CR- Special shouts?


DP- yea special shout outs to all the people who sent in music for this mix!! to all you music makers that i chat with! and too all of my friends and family. you all know who you are! and to you guys for lettin me hit this mix up it means alot !….oh and i cant forget TWIN GALAXIES!!!!!!!!!!

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TRACKLIST /

1.The Spiritual Remix – HeadSPace
2. I heart U Remix – Broke
3. Fireflies – Ackryte
4. GZA – G.R.A.D.E.
5. Chi Kang Fists – Lord Beatjitzu
6. RED (flashylights) – Nigel One
7. NAM – CULP
8. kitschofficialuntelligence – BMOODY
9. The Knives (whataffirmative remix) – 0120011 (or something)
10. Blah – DTCPU
11. 8bitlTAL Lion – Infinite Potentials
12. Metroid Wax and the Harkonan Sex tapes – Repeat Pattern
13. Pomegranate Limeade FT. Bee – Juj
14. Subliminal Tape Program – Stephen Farris and Broke
15. BINGO! – AL_PD
16. Outerlimits (Exclusive Cascade Mix) – dpeee

Props to

CASCADE RECORDS

DPEE



Interview with Slippery Elm & Astrological
February 5, 2011, 7:58 am
Filed under: NEWS | Tags: , , , , , ,

We somehow managed to get the two busy young musicians known as Slippery Elm and Astrological together to talk about their recently released EP “Milky Ways (And Other Galactic Phenomenon)”.

Interview by Dave Ryan and Eli Muro

Photos by Eli Muro

Jellyfish : How did you two meet and begin to work on music?

Slippery: We met in High School thru mutual friends. A few years later, my interests in ancient Bardic lore & the old Irish seer poets known as the filidh (plural fili) inspired me to start experimenting with the hip-hop verse as a poetic form. The fili  were known for the magical nature of their verse, their abilities to chant spontaneous compositions off the top of the head (which was considered a kind of channeling of energy), their ability to use their poetry & stories to whisk their audiences to other worlds & states of mind, and their importance in early Irish society as remembrancers of the tribe and the voice of the people. Sounds like an emcee to me… Anyways, around the same time, Astro had been making beats in his basement. One evening in Spring 2008 he sent me one of his first beats– ‘Turn the Page’. I wrote a verse and layed it down a few days later… we’ve been making music together ever since.

How does your personal relationship help/affect your creative one?

Slippery: We grew up together and have been thru alot over the years so there is a degree of chemistry between us that just isn’t there when we work with other artists. Also, although our paths & mediums have been fairly different, our philosophies on art are very similar… for example, when we’re deciding what the theme of a track will be, our ideas and the reasons for those ideas are usually always the same, very similar, or inspiring to both of us… and when we’re reflecting on how we can improve a work-in-progress, we often know what the other one is gonna say before he says it. That kinda synchronicity allows us pump out tracks really quickly cus’ we’re not arguing about how we want it to sound. However, collabing with close friends is a slippery slope. People’s art is essentially their soul, so when your putting yourself out there like that your making yourself really vulnerable; there’s lots of oppurtunity for dreams to get crushed & friendships to get ruined. When we work on art we try and put our ego’s and personal lives to the side so no one gets hurt.

What was your approach to putting this album together?


Slippery: Our approach to this album, like all our albums, was really intuitive. We kinda stumble into a concept for a project and let our senses be our guides. One thing that was unique about this album that really bugged us out was this word Nazza. Nazza now means a whole lot of things to me, (in fact it’s the title of my first book of experimental poems)–and is actually an obscure word in Arabic–but when we first stumbled upon it, it was origionally a word that Astro just made up.
Before he makes a loop into a full beat, he saves it on his computer under a random title– usually whatever he’s feeling at the moment. The loops that would be become the beats we used for Milky Ways were made during a two-day beat-making binge. At the end of the two days, he had 5 loops and named each one Nazza ‘something’. There was Nazza Shaka Om, Nazza Rumi Peace, Nazza Razza, Nazza Rugga, and Nazza Seperation of Mind & Body; I don’t know which was which but I do know that Nazza Sep. of Mind & Body became the Black Feather. Anyways, he made each of these loops into a full beat at different times and re-named them. So when he finally sent them to me, I had NO IDEA that he’d made them all in two days, or that they were all origionally labeled Nazza. Then when we were finishing the album, we thought we’d add another track. We searched thru his very extensive archives and couldn’t find a single beat that fit the vibe. He called me up one day tripping: ‘YO! I know why you can’t write to anything else! We used all the Nazza beats!!’ That’s when things got weird. How the fuck did I unconciously pick the 5 beats (out of his hundreds and hundreds) that he made during that 2 day binge and labelled Nazza?! And why couldn’t I write to anything else for that album?!! At that point we really knew we were on some other shit; he was on some certain vibe during the making of those beats, and I was picking up on that vibe cus I couldnt write to anything else.

Talk a little about the title and its meaning.


Slippery: Milky Ways as a title was kind of a combination of my name– Slippery Elm, and his name– AstroLogical, and we thought that it was a good reflection of the vibe of the album. A way can mean a path; with this album we’re taking you on an otherworldly journey. A waycan mean a way of doing something; with this album we’re show casing our galactic, milky-smooth style. And finally, The Milky Way is our galaxy. It is a spiral– the spiral of birth, death, and rebirth. Our album is an auditory offering to the universe, and the cycles of life.

How many musical projects are you working on right now?

AstroLogical: I’m almost finished my sophomore instrumental album “Far Far Away” which will be dropping in January 2011. Noah Becker (www.myspace.com/noahbeckerquartet) and I are working on an album…something like an atmospheric/Sun Ra/world-music fusion. Slippery and I are in a crew called Elekwent Folk (www.reverbnation.com/elekwentfolkmusic) and we’re in the midst of our second full-length entitled “Northern Lights”. Look for that on Prince Po’s Nasty Habits label. Also, I’m a keyboard/guitar/bass player, and strictly producing beats isn’t enough to completely fulfill my musical needs haha. So I make sure I’m always in at least 3 gigging bands; at the moment I write music for and play bass/keyboards in: an ambient-jazz postrock band called Right (www.myspace.com/righttheband); a funk soul hiphop band called Panther & the Supafly Band (www.myspace.com/africansoulsounds); and support Kieran Fanning in his trio along with Duncan Truter.

Tell me about your other creative projects/interests

Slippery: I’m interested in any & every thing that contributes to the protection, healing, and celebration of our planet and all the myriad life she sustains. For me, that interest takes the form of guerilla gardening & permaculture, community organizing, herbal medicine, facilitating rituals, and writing. As for projects, folks can stay tuned for a solo album, the new Elekwent Folk album, releases with Astro, and my first book ‘Nazza’

What Vancouver artists are you most excited about?

AstroLogical: Flash Palace are a local band that really amaze and inspire me…Jonathan Scherk is the lead singer/guitar player, a great sonic manipulator and a good friend of mine; we have plans to create music together once some time frees up.  Another friend of mine/dubstep producer/DJ Sub Antix is really picking up attention right now. My two favourite Vancouver hiphop producers are Moka Only and Mosaic. On another note, there is really a rich musical scene here in Van right now, and it feels like one big family. Its nice…

What are the primary messages you are trying to get across in your music and to who?

Slippery: We hope that our music inspires people to have fun and be happy..ya know? and that people find it empowering and uplifting. We wanna put out unique & interesting grooves that you can dance & wild’ out in the club to, but we also want to make you think. It’s important to us that our songs are thought provoking. We think that being alive is a sublime gift and hope that our music reflects that.

Who are your biggest non-musical influences?

AstroLogical: I’m hugely into film at the moment. David Lynch, Peter Greenaway, Larry Clark, Quay Brothers; their films have a creative energy in them that really inspires me to think outside the box and focus my attention to detail. They are the kind of artists who don’t put up artistic boundaries or barriers; they allow the creative spirit to flow out pure, and work according to these surges of creative energy.

How do you feel about the state of music today? (Vancouver and otherwise)

AstroLogical: We all know that there is so so so much good music being made in the world every single day, but a lot of the people who claim “hiphop is dead”, or “all bands suck nowadays” are the ones who don’t go searching for new music. It’s all out there, it might not be in front of your eyes, but it’s out there. With the extremely saturated sites like Myspace taking over, it is very easy to overlook music; we have too many options. But to get back to your question, music is alive and well, and it always will be, although the more that people question the “state of music today”, the more it will become a question mark. Also, It’s quite hard to tell how the rest of the world views Vancouver, but I feel that we commonly get overlooked when discussing active musical cities.

How do you guys feel about promoting yourselves on the Internet and where and how can people find/contact you?

Slippery: Well, I hate spending time in front of screens so online promoting is a huge pain, but having said that I’m tremendously thankful for the internet & online promotion; I’ve been given tons of opportunities to share my art & ideas, organize, and connect with like-minds that wouldn’t have been available to me otherwise.

Why do you make music?

Astro: Because life would be a desert without music and sound

What are you reading right now?

Slippery:  The Clouded Leopard by Wade Davis. The Clouded Leopard is a book of his essays.

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Make sure to download their album in the RELEASES section if you havent already.

Interview by Dave Ryan and Eli Muro

Photos by Eli muro



Grounded Doc on Headspace
January 8, 2011, 12:34 am
Filed under: NEWS | Tags: , , , ,

Headspace recently shot this short interview/doc , with GROUNDEDTV where he talks about his musical ideas, inspirations and processes. Check it out to learn more about the producer and his methods. A full length album is also on the way from him,which will be available here on Jellyfish Recordings.




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