1. Foreign Exchange with Darien Brockington and Others
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Wednesday, January 28,2009
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Foreign Exchange with Darien Brockington and Others
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Jan. 31 • Mixx Ultra Lounge
By Mildred C. Fallen
. . . . . .
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Because of the Internet’s omnipotent networking potential,
in 2004 North Carolina-based MC Phonte established a
creative kinship swapping tracks via Instant Messenger
with Holland-based producer Nicolay. They became
Foreign Exchange, an eclectic side project separate from
Phonte’s work with Hip Hop group Little Brother and
Nicolay’s signature Drum and Bass mixes. Though their
debut, Connected, manifested online, Phonte’s sinuous
rhymes conjoined with Nicolay’s dusky down-tempo Twitter Updates
grooves so naturally that the time-zone difference was
Milk Money, a Cincinnati-based
undetectable.
●
literary magazine, celebrates
the release of its fourth issue at
Foreign Exchange’s 2008 follow-up, Leave It All Feralmade Gallery - http://tinyurl.
com/c ... about 5 hours ago
Behind, has Connected’s chemistry, and although
● Passion Pit (read up on them
Nicolay now lives in North Carolina, they continue to swap before they play tonight) - http://
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2. Foreign Exchange with Darien Brockington and Others
meet over the ‘Net. The difference this time — Phonte tinyurl.com/cofyuz 1 day ago
Your inside source for the
doesn’t rap. Singing in mid-range and falsetto, he and longtime recording alum Darien Brockington do three-part harmonies with female
●
Sundance Film Festival - http://
vocalists Musinah and Yazarah that invoke sensuality into Nicolay’s shadowy minor-chord arrangements. tinyurl.com/aj7qu8 2 days ago
“The music went into a direction where singing was just a more natural thing to do,” Nicolay explained late last year upon the album’s follow me on Twitter
release.
Blink or forget to read the liner notes and you’ll almost miss that they cover Stevie Wonder’s “If She Breaks Your Heart” (one of Phonte’s
favorite songs) from the soundtrack to Jungle Fever, which Nicolay spit-polishes like new, stripping it of its outmoded New Jack Swing
drum tracking. The bouncy, Bilal-ish “Something to Behold” features newcomer Musinah, an abstruse voice to the masses but one that
Phonte listened to on MySpace for hours before inviting her to appear on the first single “Daykeeper” and again on “House of Cards.” Be on
the lookout for more of her work.
The album’s direction shows Phonte’s growth as a songwriter and Foreign Exchange’s emphasis on theme, which gives head-nodders a
chance to become active listeners. For one, there’s an elliptical way the “It” in the title leaves you hanging. Guesses for what’s left behind
are Phonte’s Hip Hop career, laggard mindsets and failed relationships, but any guess is a fair one because Nicolay and Phonte purposely
left “it” up to interpretation.
Buy tickets, check out performance times and find nearby bars and restaurants here.
● Currently
3.5/5
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Stars.
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