Last week the label Illegal Art did the world a great favor and released a nicely packaged comprehensive retrospective of the best of hip-hop cut-n-paste pioneer Steinski -- something that has never been easily available before, and not all nicely presented together like this.

But this great collection beautifully showcases the legendary producer who, both along with studio partner Double Dee and as a solo artist, directly influenced so many artists, including most notably DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist and Coldcut. 

Steinski: What Does It All Mean? 1983-2006 Retrospective is something that belongs in every music collection.  The 2 CD set comes with a nice booklet and liner notes by Hua Hsu that include Steve "Steinski" Stein's comments on each of CD 1's fourteen tracks. Included are the three legendary "Lessons" with Doug DiFranco (Double Dee) -- the first one originating as an 1983 entry in a Tommy Boy Records remix contest -- plus the artist's most important solo outings and remixes including the JFK assassination-themed "The Motorcade Sped On," recorded under the name Steinski & The Mass Media that came as a track on a free 7" EP compilation given away with UK mag NME in 1987.

The second CD is the artist's relatively recent Nothing To Fear mix made for BBC London's Solid Steel radio show a few years ago, with song titles for all 28 tracks in the CD booklet.

Another recent victim of visa problems entering the US to perform, UK based and Sri Lankan singer/rapper and designer M.I.A. has apparently overcome her American immigration issues this time around and will be performing all scheduled shows including a highly recommended free instore at Amoeba Music, Berkeley (2455 Telegraph Ave.) this Saturday at 2pm!

Yes, the scheduled Saturday afternoon show with the artist often associated with Diplo is due to kick off at 2PM but, as regulars to Amoeba Berkeley already know, space is somewhat limited when it comes to in-stores at the East Bay location so get there early if you want to secure a good vantage point - especially for this artist who will most likely attract a large turnout.

Expected during the performance, which will be followed by a meet-and-greet/signing session with the artist who just celebrated her 30th birthday last week, will be her performing tracks from her last album (the critically acclaimed 2005 Arular which launched her unique blend of hip-hop, ragga, grime, and baile-funk Stateside) and her soon-to-drop new album "Kala" (due out August 21st)  featuring the song Boyz. (check out the colorful, mutli-cultural music video for this new single below -scroll down past "Continue reading") 

Good word has it that if you buy either the vinyl 12" or CD version of the new M.I.A. single at Amoeba Berkeley on Saturday that you will  receive a certificate good for two bucks off the ablum "Kala" when it drops in August plus a limited edition bandanna designed by the musician/designer herself (while supplies last). For full details/restrictions, click here. 

If you are a regular at Amoeba Music you may have already seen the silk screened poster art of Forest Stearns who has done several pieces specifically for Amoeba events.  Or maybe you've been lucky to catch Forest doing his art live at one of the interactive music-and-art Amoeba instores he has been a part of over the past year.

These include one with DJ Shadow (San Francisco Ameoba instore) and two with Cut Chemist (San Francisco and Hollywood Amoebas).  He has also done live interactive art with hip-hoppers such as Z-Man and at other events such as Reggae On The River.

Additionally the NorCal artist, who is just about to move to San Francisco, designed the poster for the Noisettes instore show at Amoeba San Francisco which reportedly everyone loved including Universal who Forest says want to take and flesh out to make an animation based on the illustration.  I recently caught up with the aritst to chop it up about life and art, and art and life. For more information visit his website: draweverywheredotcom.


AMOEBLOG: What inspires you to make art?

FOREST STEARNS: Art is what I do. It is a way to be myself. It is exciting and thought provoking, it creates a dialogue and has a lot of history to build from.


AMOEBLOG: And what keeps you doing art on the shitty days?

FOREST STEARNS: The shitty days are cool. I can sleep in then have some tea then by that point I can do some art and the day turns out pretty nice. The shitty days are when you work for someone else and hate it. I work for myself and work with others on projects that I get to choose. I am an optimist, so shitty days can usually be squashed by either looking at the art of others or getting down with some art of my own.