The Incredible Bongo Band - Sample This Movie - Can-Base Studios

A few years ago I was having a conversation with a local record store owner here in Vancouver; Rob (from Neptune Records)  mentioned that there was a local TV/Film producer who was doing some research for a documentary style film of a band.
When he mentioned "The Incredible Bongo Band" name, my eyes lit up like a freaking Christmas Tree.
Dan Forrer (the film Producer/Director) was at that record store a few weeks earlier asking Rob if he had any information about the band that could potentially be used for his research.

Months went by and I'd heard that the producer had taken his Canadian film crew to New York, where he'd made contact with several legendary Hip-Hop figures. Among these people was Grandmaster Caz from the Cold Crush Brothers, who appeared in the 1983 classic Wild Style movie.
Grandmaster Caz who continues to be a huge part of the Hip-Hop community, and runs a one of a kind guided Hip-Hop tour company called "Hush Hip Hop Tours" in the Big Apple.
I actually had the pleasure to meet him in person a few years ago, when my wife and I were visiting Manhattan; we did a four hour tour in a Limo bus, where he took us to visit multiple historical sites related to the birth of Hip-Hop culture. It was very entertaining, very educational, and we had a yummy Soul-Food meal in the Bronx at the end of the tour.  I highly recommend it to anyone visiting New York, and wishes to learn more about the history of Hip Hop, and told by one of the legendary pioneering figures of its own culture.

(Back to the movie) Not a lot of information was available on the net regarding this project; I only knew that the documentary would be based on the song "Apache".
Time went by, and finally in October 2010 a blog popped up with some insights about this "Apache" project.
In 2011 the movie was in final post production, but the movie had a different title: "Sample This".

Finally in October 2012 the movie premiere took place in Austin, Texas., during the Austin Film Festival.
Here's the official "Sample This" site, or take a look at their "Facebook" page. No other release dates are available at this time.

As some of you may know, the original "Incredible Bongo Band - Apache" album was recorded here in Vancouver at the legendary "Can-Base Studios" , also known as the "Mushroom Studios", but for the last 7 years under the name Hippowest. The studio has changed ownership and names over the years since it was built back in 1966.
Sad news of the permanent closure of this recording facility emerged a few months a go. So, I decided to pay the studio a visit after watching a news segment on TV. 

When I got there I saw a wall full of picture frames inside one of the studio lounges; among those picture frames there was one that I automatically recognized from far...this one:

Lounge:

The building is located at 1234 west 6th avenue, seen here:

The studio doors were permanently closed on March 20th, 2013. Although Hippowest will continue to operate at a different location; this building may have seen the last recording session inside this location.
Some images of this studio are featured in the film.

* (UPDATE: September 9th, 2013)  Here's my latest entry for Discogs regarding this Documentary!

* (UPDATE: October 31st, 2013)  At last!!!! Sample this will be playing ONE night only in our beautiful city, and home of the original Bongo Band recording session.
Check out the Vancity Theater on November 18th, 2013 @ 8:30pm as part of the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF)
Here's the link; please note that you must become a member in order to attend this movie. $12 dollars buys you a membership + ticket for that evening. http://www.viff.org/theatre/films/fc7987-sample-this

* (UPDATE: December 26th, 2013) A fun night; thanks to Dan Forrer, Kat Hendrikse, and Nardwuar :)
At the Vancouver movie premiere (November 18th, 2013).
Kat Hendrikse is a drummer who was part of the original recording session back in 1973, and is also a highly credited artist who has a ton of credits under his belt as a recording session drummer with multiple bands, and lives here in Vancouver, BC.
Nardwaur (the human serviette) is a Canadian celebrity interviewer and musician from Vancouver, BC.

                                      From left to right: Nardwuar, Gina, Alex (me) & Kat Hendrikse

                    An original foil cover Bongo Band album; autographed by Dan Forrer and Kat Hendrikse

                                                       Dan Forrer (film producer & director)

Finally...the DVD release; it can be obtained from Amazon.com

I've uploaded the release on the Discogs database; see: SampleThis -The Birth Of Hip Hop

IN STEINSKI WE TRUST

Is Steve Stein this ruthless sample gangster who shows no mercy for any recorded material that he can get his hands on, and has no respect for copyright rules?

Or, is he just a man on a mission of self-expression, who strongly believes in freedom of speech, and it's not afraid of sharing his thoughts?

Or, both?

I was recently  listening  to an older Cut-Up documentary style made out of hundreds of samples, and put together by Dj Food ; which included a brief interview with Steinski.
This is what the man had to say for himself:

Interviewer: " You respect copyright? "

Steinski: " Well..I respect it in theory, I obviously don't respect it in fact. "

Interviewer: " How do you justify that then? "

Steinski: " I don't, this is what I do Man, God put me on Earth to make these records you know?; so the rest it's just commentary, I'm gonna make the records. I don't even think about it too much to tell you the truth "

I've been a fan of Steinski's work since the early 90's, and I've been collecting his music ever since.
It all started during a day trip to the city of Toronto, Canada. I flew over from Montreal, and I was there for one simple reason...finding  records.
I decided to treat my self for a day, so I bought a return plane ticket  for my birthday.  I arrived in Toronto very early in the morning, and none of the local record stores were open at that time, so I
went to hang out around down-town to get a quick breakfast before moving on with my plan. I found a phone booth on the street near this coffee shop that I was at; I picked up the yellow pages book, and ripped off one of the pages that contained a list of all the local vinyl record stores in that area.

Soon after my fourth or fifth stop at a record store I found this "Promo Only" 12" record under the Tommy Boy label, and it was by this duo called Double Dee & Steinski.
I dropped the 12" on a record player that played out to the main sound-system of the record store.
At first, I was confused by the amount of different vocals and beats playing simultaneously, but I  was  fascinated with what I was hearing.
 A perfectly blended collage of all kinds of sounds and multiple styles of music were playing harmoniously topped with some fat breaks provided by the Godfather of Soul (R.I.P).
I automatically fell in love with this fascinating record that I'd just found...but before I could take this record off the turntable in order to go pay for it, there was this guy who asked me "where did you find that?", so I gave him my honest reply and said: "inside a milk crate, under the record bins".
This guy then offered to buy the record off me for 3 times the price listed for this record (I think it was listed for $12 dollars). At first I thought "Uhhmm...that's a really nice offer", but I simply said "sorry, but I can't sell it!"... since I didn't know If I was ever going to find another copy of it elsewhere...and it was clearly marked "for promotional use only".
My day came to an end in Toronto, and I had rush back to the airport in order to be able to catch the last flight back to Montreal.

So here I am on my birthday, 20 years after that day, listening to some of my favorite records, and remembering about that trip to Toronto when I was first accidentally exposed  to the sounds of
Steinski.

His music style hasn't changed too much over the years, but his sound has surely evolved over the last decades.
He has done countless of great collaborations with other great artists alike over the years; his radio broadcasts at WFMU are nothing but the work of a true artist who is not shy to explore and experiment.
Steinski's music continues to influence, and inspire new generations in what has been nearly 3 decades of his career.
Whether it's his music, or his point of view in politics that are openly demonstrated on his website. This is a man whose passion is greatly reflected in his music, and lets not forget that he's a freaking walking encyclopedia of music.

If anyone out there is as fascinated as I am about the art of sampling, here is a link to an interesting DVD about sample based music.

Here are the original copies, plus their test pressings; starting with the "Lessons" on the Tommy Boy label, plus Double Dee & Steinski's private pressing of the "Mastermixes", and finally "The Motorcade Sped On" under the Tommy Boy label as well.