Location: Philadelphia, PA
Websites: http://www.myspace.com/thelivingsample
Bio: Fresh lyrics blast over illin hip-hop tracks played live w/ real musicians! Fantastic jazz keyboard accompanies deft DJ work and phat bass lines. It is hard to decipher on their recordings that the driving beats are played by an actual drummer as opposed to a drum machine. The group makes excellent use of their instrumentation and all the tools at their disposal. Twisting synth lines and sampling create new soundscapes for the MC's to traverse. All of their jams are addictive in the best possible sense of the word. I saw these guys jammin at Time (an absinthe bar in Philly) in a trio format and they crushed it with improvisatory multifaceted grooves. Just keyboards, bass and drums was thick enough, but when you add the rest of the group on top of that already simmering roux you get a very powerful gumbo.
The Living Sample has been together since 2007 and has been a staple in the Philadelphia music scene ever since. With styles ranging from electronica, drum n bass, jazz, techno, hip hop and funk this band proficiently pounds your ear drums with hearty vibrations. The Living Sample is a testament to Freakjams, as real music does exist out there. But it is not easy to find on TV or the Radio anymore. Hell MTV used to mean Music Television. But as the radio dies and Sirius satellite radio becomes the same as the crap you hear on regular radio, these Cro-Magnon forms of hearing music are thank god fast becoming obsolete. Thus Freakjams. Here to show the true freaks where its at. The Living Sample, a breath of fresh air in a stagnant cesspool of horrid noise that is radio and MTV.
