About This Site

Each month I select 20 songs (10 songs twice a month) that I am either hooked on or am curious about. Most of the music I select are rock, hip-hop, R&B and pop songs.

My song selection comes from 20-30 CDs I get from various sources each month, as well as recommendations from iTunes and Amazon. I also check out the charts in US, UK and Japan.

February 12, 2009

Cradle Orchestra - Only One /ft. Need Not Worry

Album:
Velvet Ballads

Cradle Orchestra is a Japanese jazz/classical band that plays live instrumental music for hip-hop artists. The group consist of DJ, bass, violin, flute and piano. On their latest album, Velvet Ballads (only available in Japan so far), they enlist guest rappers including Black Thought (of The Roots), CL Smooth and Talib Kweli, just to name a few. This track features Rhode Island underground rapper, Need Not Worry. His flowing delivery and beautiful melody from Cradle Orchestra make this a unique song.

2 comments:

Tako said...

I just saw their album at the store, started listening to some of their tracks and was really blown away by how unique they sounded. Typically, when you try and mix jazz/classical elements into Hip-Hop tracks, they usually end up sounding rather soft and mellow. But in their case, they are able to retain the edge of the Hip-Hop sound as well as incorporating the elegance and the melodicness that their jazz/classical elements have to provide.

They did a free gig last week at the HMV store in Shibuya, which I ended up missing because of work but I do hope to catch them live one of these days.

Unknown said...

I concur, that is a unique mix and adds a whole new layer to Hip-Hop. also, beautiful cover!