Laid Back: Bankstaz’ Paradise @ Musique Non Stop

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Bankstaz’ Paradise Posted: 03 Feb 2014 12:57 AM PST Miguel Gil Tertre aka Strand is a Spanish musician & producer based in Brussels and regular LDBK collaborator. During 4 days at the start of 2013, Strand was given a second residency at the Red Bull Studio in Madrid. The first residency in the summer of 2012 resulted in the ”Cajas sin ahorros” 7inch  released by Lovemonk. This time round he had two ideas in mind: paying homage to G-funk and Gangsta Rap (drawing a parallel between the gangstaz and bankstaz of the current Spanish economic crisis) and working with a soul-afrobeat horn section which was conveniently named The Financial Horns. The project would also include his made-up band, The Banksters composed of Javier Diez-Ena from jazz-surf outfit Dead Capo, Mario Zamora from out-rockers Lüger and engineer / producer extraordinaire Oswaldo Terrones. LDBK: ”Gangstaz’ Paradise” is already the second project that your release with the Banksters. Why do you decided to devote two projects to discuss the economic crisis? Strand: Well, I would speak about the economic concerns for large parts of the society, rather than the crisis as such. Already in Slam Funk! (2012) there were some tracks about social problems. On previous records I touched upon migration from North Africa to the South of Spain (Aldjaber – 2006) and war (Paz – 2003, at the time of the Irak invasion).

Laid Back: The new LDBK is here! @ Musique Non Stop

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1. The new LDBK is here!
2. Marc Moulin Tribute
3. Rumors of Royalty
4. adidas unites all originals
5. Gear Change
6. LDBK poster remix
7. Oli-B x Rose Studio
8. Silence Radio
9. Meet Tchad Unpoe
10. Strand – SLAM FUNK!
11. 74 Miles Away at ELBjazz festival
12. David Widart

The new LDBK is here! Posted: 07 Jan 2014 07:27 AM PST At the end of June, I felt like I wasn’t having fun with Laid Back anymore and started wondering what to do: put an end to the project or adapt it in one way or the other… A couple of days later, as I was working at Digital Park, I shared my thoughts with designer Ali Nassiri. He was surprised when I told him I was considering re-branding Laid Back. He knew that refreshing the website had been on my mind for a long time but getting rid of the logo, that, was a whole different ball game. I'd have to convince him first… and as I did, this helped me clarify my ideas. Another step in an ever-evolving project. I started Laid Back some 11 years ago without any kind of strategy. Along the way, many people helped shape it, each bringing their own skills and vision to the project. That’s how, almost by accident, Laure came up with the Afro logo. What a great visual! Stickers, stencils, remixes, t-shirts, posters … It spread and stuck all over the place and far beyond. But I felt that the visual had become too powerful, hiding the projects it was supposed to support and limiting us to the “hip hop / street art” niche. I still love hip hop, still love street art and every project we have worked on but I’d like to broaden the scope and bring the people behind the music to the forefront – no matter what genre, or discipline. I believe that behind every favourite song there is an untold story and that every great story needs the perfect soundtrack. This is what the new logo represents: sound waves and books, music and stories. This is what you can expect from LDBK. And so what now, you say? Obviously LDBK won’t radically change but I hope this new identity will allow us to explore new fields and embark on exciting new projects. If you are looking for a soundtrack, we have gathered our “radio-inspired” activities in the music section with a linear stream, the hotlists (a monthly selection of new tracks added to the stream), guest mixes, and our current favourite tracks. You'll also find a telex style feed with the latest news that we've been interested in, things that caught our attention on various social networks as well as an experimental TV section featuring our favourite youtube videos. But the real deal is to be involved in projects and share original stories with you. Coming up we'll be featuring the work of Stephane Missier, Gautier Houba, Mop Mop & Strand. In the meantime, if you head to the stories section, you can re-discover some of our best stories from the last 5 years. Hope you’ll enjoy this new approach! Do let me know if you think there are stories we should cover and what you think of our new identity. And a few words of thanks.

Laid Back @ Musique Non Stop

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1. Little Miss Sunshiine presents Jazzman
2. The Bronx Riviera
3. Focus on… Oli-B
4. Back from IRF
5. Ntale’s Groove Remix EP
6. Belgian Popcorn
7. 74 Miles Away… as live as it gets
8. What’s up with the LDBK compilation?

Little Miss Sunshiine presents Jazzman Posted: 13 Aug 2011 06:59 AM PDT Over the past 10 months I have had the pleasure to work with Gerald Short, also known as Jazzman Gerald, so it only seemed fit to introduce him and the label he runs, Jazzman Records, to you all. I am aware of the fact that some readers and listeners have raised the concern that my views about him are biased, after all, he is the reason that I am able to earn my daily bread. But I can assure you that my views are completely genuine, and contrary to what some might assume, one of the reasons why I got my job in the first place was because I don’t suck up to him and I tell him my honest view about everything, even if that means that we sometimes end up disagreeing on certain things.