Pat Van Dyke, Melinda Camille, DJ MentPlus & Friends "RE: Crate" Bob James' Jazz-Fusion Classic "Nautilus" & The Bee Gees' "Love You Inside & Out" (RE: Crates 001 45)

"After the release of Technicolor HI-FI, the fellas from Open Crates approached me about recording some music to launch a series of 7-inch vinyl releases that would feature remixes, re-works, and edits of existing music... essentially, a series of "bootlegs" or "white labels." I'd been anxious to take a stab at recording re-interpretations of songs that had influenced me over the years, so I was keen to make it happen," self-described drummer, producer, and band leader Pat Van Dyke (PVD) wrote within a recently emailed statement. PVD has once again teamed up with his "It's Alright" collaborators Melinda Camille & David Stolarz, as well as bassist Josh David, DJ MentPlus, and horn players Bryan Beninghove, Ted Chubb & Peter Lin to collectively unveil Open Crates' premier edition of their RE: Crates 45 series. "A few months passed and we had a show at Brooklyn Museum performing music from the Modern Vintage LP that I had released earlier that year with John Robinson. Shabaam Sahdeeq, El Da Sensei, and Homeboy Sandman were in the building, so we let the three veteran emcees loose on the Bob James classic "Nautilus." Steve [Selector] from Open Crates was in the audience and immediately after the show, asked about recording it for the series. A song like "Nautilus" that is so ingrained in the DNA of Hip-Hop—while also a defining recording from the Jazz Fusion years of CTI Records—seemed like a perfect fit to launch the RE: Crates series," PVD enthusiastically continued. Nothing is confirmed, but I would seriously LOVE to hear an RE: Crates 001 "Nautilus" Remix complete with Homeboy Sandman, El Da Sensei, and Shabaam Sahdeeq and I can confirm that I put a bug in Open Crates & PVD's ears to get it rollin'!

While Who Sampled lists the top five most popular Hip-Hop tracks sampling Bob James' 1974 Jazz-Fusion composition "Nautilus" (out of a whopping 280 songs) as Slick Rick's "Children's Story," Ghostface Killah's Raekwon & Cappadonna-assisted "Daytona 500," Eric B. & Rakim's "Follow The Leader," Main Source's Nas-backed "Live at The Barbeque," and Run-DMC's "Beats to The Rhyme;" RE: Crates 001's B-side, a Melinda Camille-helmed cover of The Bee Gees' "Love You Inside Out" only has 18 samples submitted to Who Sampled including tracks released by the likes of Hip-Hop & R&B heavyweights Jay-Z & R. Kelly, Snoop Dogg, The Game, Brian McKnight, and Foxy Brown. Columbia.edu additionally notes that The Bee Gees recorded a special prank version of "Love You Inside Out" for their manager, Robert Stigwood "with the alternate line "backwards and forwards with my c**k hanging out" (instead of "with my heart hanging out") just to see if he was paying attention. He was..." Pat Van Dyke further details that "Melinda Camille and I were already in the studio recording new music (coming soon), so it seemed like the right move to cut an instrumental version, as well as the vocal version with Melinda that ended up landing the B-side spot on the record. Veteran beat-maker, DJ, producer, and [Open Crates] Crew; DJ MentPlus was the final piece of the puzzle, providing the cuts for both tracks. Expect more releases in the RE: Crates series very soon!" Pat Van Dyke's Bob James & The Bee Gees re-interpreting RE: Crates 001 7-inch is currently available for purchase from his PVDMusic Bandcamp page for an incredibly cheap $10 USD or more, as well as $5 digital download, released on Jersey City-based Open Crates Records.

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of...

Jet Planes, Islands, Tigers On a Gold Leash: Lorde - "Royals" (The Weeknd Remixo)

I think it's pretty safe to say that The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) comfortably teeters the fine line between glitched-out smooth New Age R&B and hard-hitting Hip-Hop ; while the same could arguably be said for 16-year-old New Zealand new-comer, Lorde . Her break-out single "Royals" 1/2 jokingly shouts out semi-common bravado-worthy shit like: diamonds, "gold teeth, Grey Goose ... Cadillacs, Cristal, Maybach ... jet planes, islands, [and] tigers on a gold leash." But now, the Lorde/Weeknd connection has been further solidified, as Tesfaye recently managed to conjure up and release his own "Royals" remix. My beautiful girlfriend said earlier, and I paraphrase, that it "makes her wanna dance lol and she could [likely] hear this remix in a future movie!" Following the wide-spread release of her first 2 EP's (Love Club & Tennis Court) , Universal Republic plans to unleash Lorde 's proper debut album, Pure Heroine between ...

Pop Artist & Surfer Chronicle Intriguing Ex-Pornstar In "SASHA GREY."

Seemingly made to co-exist as thought-provoking companion pieces... "LINDSAY LOHAN" directors Richard Phillips & Taylor Steele are back with their most recent Art Presentation, "SASHA GREY." The 90-second short film was shot in early May @ John Lautner Chemosphere House in Los Angeles, CA. Both striking flicks will be shown on a giant floating video screen [ "Commercial Break" ] @ Garage Center for Contemporary Culture in Venice, Italy (June 1-5). "Adult acting chops" aside, Sasha (23) seems very intelligent, captivating, free-spirited, business savvy, well-mannered, charming... and dare I say, "average." And I really think that's exactly what Phillips/Steele were trying to convey throughout the course of the piece; Grey's beauty, public draw, sheer likeability, and honesty will surely take her very far in future endeavors... Solidifying her [updated] image as a true "Pop Culture Figure." * Featured soundtra...

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