March 14th

: 4:57PM // 3 notes

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I began following Noah McBeth’s blog ‘rookiethecook.tumblr.com’ after stumbling upon a post of his in which he linked Bong Penera’s “Sa Dako Pa Roon”.  After clicking the ‘follow’ button some time in mid-December, I forgot all about his blog until a month later when he posted his newly released song “Sunset Blvd.” with instrumental by Rookie and vocals by Chyron (the featured song above).  After listening to the song and checking his Soundcloud, it was obvious the Nujabes (R.I.P.) and Jazz/Hip-Hop/Soul influence.  With this being my ‘cup of tea’, I decided to hit him up over Tumblr’s ‘Ask’ system to ask him a few questions.


So Rookie, where are you from?

I was born and raised in Heidelberg, Germany although my mother’s from Brooklyn, NY and I’ve been traveling back and fourth throughout my life.

The big question, what are your biggest influences?

I am influenced by all the impressions around me. Other artists, travel, relationships, art…musically I continue to be inspired by artists such as Quantic, Pete Rock, the late Nujabes, Samon Kawamura, Quincy Jones, Bob James, DangerMouse, ATCQ…the list goes on and on. I love Lounge, Jazz, Funk, Bossanova, Deep-House, Rock, Blues, Soul, Psychedelic, Classical, Trip-Hop and of course Hip-Hop.

What soft/hardware do you typically use to make your music?

I try not to limit myself with my production you know? I use Steinberg’s Cubase, FL Studio, Garageband and AbletonLive for my personal recordings, but have worked with other artists using ProTools or Logic. Usually I also try to incorporate as much real instrumentation as possible while keeping it simple.

Do you play any instruments, or do you make all of your music electronically?

I began classical piano training when I was 6 and continued with the guitar and production when I was about 16. Every so often I record some Kalimba over some stuff, but I’m not sure if I would consider myself a Kalimba player. In the future I want to get more into sax and playing the drums myself since I like to have control over my recordings.

Why the name Rookie?

I chose the name Rookie because I wanted my name to reflect how we all stay beginners to some degree. Also if you take the term “amateur” apart you’ll notice that the root comes from amare “to love”, ama-teur, “the one who loves his craft” as opposed to a person who does it only for the money (I wasn’t gonna call myself “The Amateur” though, “Rookie” sounds kinda cool, too I might add!) I also believe that we can only grow if we leave room for it. There is always more to learn, we all remain rookies.

Are you in school, possibly for anything music or art related?

After doing some work on musicals in Germany and freelance production in NYC, I moved to Miami to study Music Business/Creative Production, which is where I’m currently at.

Are you the ‘artist’ in your group, or do you have many friends who are into art or music also?

Most of my peers are artists of some sort. May it be musical, tattooing, fine art, bboys, writers…It’s a good crowd and they keep me motivated.

So who would you consider to be your favorite artists?

My favorite artist would have to be Will Holland, better known as “Quantic”. I love all his music, great sound quality, imaginative, fresh, raw, smooth, simple, but never boring. Really a tough act to follow and a true inspiration indeed, check him out if you haven’t done so already! Pete Rock, Nujabes, Osunlade, Bill Withers, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, J-Dilla, Radiohead, Pink Floyd…So much great music out there!

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Great guy and honest music, show him some love.

$upport him by following his blog: Rookiethecook.tumblr.com

By checking in often to his Soundcloud: Soundcloud.com/rookiethecook

Liking his Facebook page: Facebook.com/RookieTheCook

Or by $ubscribing to his Youtube channel: Youtube.com/user/Rookiemusiq

December 25th

: 12:36AM // 13 notes

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Nathan Broaddus, also known as Evenings, released this EP ‘North Dorm’ in 2010.  This is track 4 off the EP and is entitled ‘Friend [Lover]’.  Not much else to be said, just the music itself to listen to; perfect for a lazy Christmas (Winter) day.

December 20th

: 2:48AM // 73 notes

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The Internet released their debut LP today: December 20th 2011.  Syd Tha Kyd and Matt Martians of Odd Future (WGKTADGAF) formed the soulful project with Syd on vocals and Matt doing instrumentation.  This is the 10th track on the album Purple Naked Ladies entitled Web Of Me.  Cop this album.

November 29th

: 12:53PM // 5 notes

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Scuba is the man behind Hotflush Recordings. They have a lot of quality releases. “Before” is the sixth track from his second album, Triangulation.

Sam Geer also directed an excellent video for the track that sums up its visual cues quite well: Night.

September 9th

: 12:21AM // 1 note

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P. Elam, also known as Fieldhead of Vancouver, BC, has made electronic music since 2008 which, best stated by Last.fm “delights in tape hiss, geography, bleak landscapes and decaying analogue loops.”  In many ways his music seems as if it’s slowly being covered by dust in a brightly lit attic somewhere for someone to accidentally stumble upon.

This is the track entitled ‘Of October’ by Fieldhead, off of his 2009 Album ‘They Shook Hands For Hours’

June 10th

: 2:49AM // 3 notes

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This track is entitled Cascade Cliffs (Looking Down) by Mombi, a dark folk artist who harnesses the effect of soundscapes and sound-textures in his music.  The album this is taken from is best described by the label on which it was released: Own Records— “The Wounded Beat is an album of dark, moody folk set to a subtle backdrop of ethereal atmospherics. Each track paints a different shade of beautiful melancholy through soft, weighty vocals, layered guitars, keys and hazy electronics. Songwriting duo Kael Smith and Matt Herron spent nearly 3 years sculpting hours of material into 8 cohesive songs that flow seamlessly, and are devoid of any fat or excess. Recorded and mixed by Keith Kenniff of Helios, Goldmund etc., The Wounded Beat is a warm and intimate listen, with the perfect amount of optimism lurking amidst its lonely sounds.”

Enjoy.

June 7th

: 12:44PM // 1 note

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IJO (pronounced ee-yo) is a Lithuanian electronic artist living in the UK. Not keen on being creatively restrained, his music touches on a wide variety of sounds including drill & bass, ambient, avant garde and jazz.

“…my music is based on my mood. I am really unstable - I like creating ambient music and I like to create chaos. I don’t like to be restrained to just one musical direction because I want to be versatile in music. It has to be interesting and emotional.”


This track is called “Saddex”. It was created with an Akai S1000, Soundcraft EFX12, and mixed down to cassette. The video is taken from the film “Tidal Wave”.



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May 23rd

: 12:25AM // 1 note

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From Discogs: Crisopa is Santi Lizón, a musician of classic initial formation and composer of soundtracks, settled down in Madrid, Spain.

This is the third track from his EP, Medicamentosa, entitled “Tetris Triste”.

April 24th

: 5:37AM

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Aureole is a Japanese Electronic/Post-Rock band formed in 2007 composed of six members [Daichi Mori (Vocals, Guitar, & Programing), Saiko Yano (Flute, Synthesizer, & Theremin), Ryota Okazaki (Bass, & Contrabass), Keiji Nakamura (Guitar & Steel Guitar), Takumi Nakazawa (Drums), and Kaori Sato (Vibraphone & Glockenspiel)].  They very obviously draw sound from the Japanese electronic music ‘scene’, but also add a very interesting quality with the live instrumentation— something one just has to listen to for themselves.  This song is called Reign off of their album Nostaldom released in late 2009.

April 13th

: 3:52PM // 5 notes

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Jun Seba is one of those people who has such a distinct sound because of the emotion emitted from his music.  Aside from being a DJ and making music, he was the owner of Hyde Out Productions and Tribe, a record store in Japan.  He played a multitude of instruments, including piano and flute, and knew how to add just the right sound to his music.  He has collaborated with various artists and lyricists including (but not limted to): Cise Star, Shing02, Akin, Apani B, Fat Jon the Ample Soul Physician, DSK, Specifics, Haruka Nakamura, Uyama Hiroto, Five Deez, Clammbon, Pase Rock, Force of Nature, Tsuchie, and others.

My first encounter with Jun Seba’s music was through Samurai Champloo’s Soundtrack, which he had helped produce.  His music was unlike anything I had heard before, because it blended my favorite parts of the hip-hop style with my favorite genres at the time: Jazz and Funk.  His music is something that has influenced me both emotionally and creatively, and he will live with his music in my soul as well as those of the thousands of people he’s reached.

This is his edit of Homeward Journey by Uyama Hiroto

R.I.P.  Nujabes