Author: djtbird

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Writeup later, here\’s the tracklist including 3 tracks in tribute to the late Jimmy Castor…

Fanfare (Prologue) – Jimmy Castor Bunch
Say Leroy (The Creature From The Black Lagoon Is Your Father) – Jimmy Castor Bunch
Bad Boy No Go a Jail – Mega Banton
Shelter (Spike\’s Mix) – Brand New Heavies
OPEN UP – Chic
Slowtime (Lack Of Afro Remix) – Frootful
No Melody (Truby Trio Treatment) – Turntablerocker
Belgica Esta Picao! (Los Chicos Altos Remix) – DJ Mellow                                                        
Theme from the Black Hole – Parliament                                          
Go To Work (Hot Toddy Remix) – J Boogie?s Dubtronic Science
Somethings Gotta Give – Nick Van Gelder
Singer Of Songs (feat Vaceo – The Vinyl Ears mix) – Irfan Rainy & Rex Leon
Chutney Funk (Trip Mix) – Los Chicos Altos
The Band Played The Boogie – NW1
When? – Jimmy Castor Bunch

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Some of my favorite tracks from last year, including a few that made it just under the wire in December…

Tracklisting

Circles (Richard E & Annabel (lee) Vocal Suite)  – Annabel (lee) & Novo Tempo
Liquid Love – Chris Turner                                     
I Can\’t Wait ft. Cecilia Stalin – Analog Players Society
Get Up (Andy Taylor\’s Pantano Sound System Remake) – DJ Tzinas                   
Tema Do Canibal (BK-One Video Edit) – BK-One
A New York Minute (Barrio Bump Mix) – Nickodemus
Cuban Queen (Sabo\’s Moombahton Edit) – Gonzalez & Gonzalo
Un Canto A Mi Tierra (J-Boogie Remix) – Quantic and his Combo Barbaro
Everybody feat. Evelyn \”Champagne\” King (Kid Who Italo Dub) – Miguel Migs
For The Faint Of Heart – Arithmetics                       
Thunderbolts feat. Djinji Brown (Atjazz Remix) – Ezel
No Sugar (DJ Tool) – Joey Negro & Gramophonedzie [feat. Shea Soul]              
No Sugar (Joey\’s London Bump Mix) – Joey Negro & Gramophonedzie [feat. Shea Soul]              
Be feat. Jonas (Sona Vabos Remix) – Rhian Benson
Fela (Davide Squillace Simple Chaos Remix) – Audiofly
Underground Children – DJ Drue Feat. Roland Clark    Single                                                             
Lights On ft. Ms. Dynamite – Katy B                                             
Gabriel ft.Valentina (Seiji Remix) – Joe Goddard
Dancing – Omar & Zed Bias                                                 
I And I (Kaje Trackheadz Remix) – Agape Featuring Nadia Harris
Heaven (Funkystepz Remix) – Favourite Flava                                                      
Where You Should Be (ft.Sam Frank) (Shy FX Remix) – Skream
Without You (Saba Remix) – Little Jinder                                             

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Not just your standard Christmas/Winter Holiday mix…

Greensleeves – Vince Guaraldi Trio
The Vulture – Labi Siffre
Better Place – Vanessa Simon
Santa Claus Dub – Aggrovators
Blue Monday (Jam & Spoon Andrea Mix) – New Order
I Can\’t Wait ft. Cecilia Stalin – Analog Players Society
Fum Fum Fum – Los Chicos Altos
Memory Band – Minnie Riperton
Galactic Dancehall – Red-I
Winter Wonderland – Cocteau Twins
Confians – Weather Report
All Good (Mangalam Remix) – Girish
Boy In The Window – Tess Henley

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Spaceball – Larry Young\’s Fuel
The Big Beat – Billy Squier     
Congo Man – Ernest Ranglin   
Back To Love (Opaz Club Version) – The Brand New Heavies
Ray Charles (Original) – Chiddy Bang      
GO  (Los Chicos Altos Remix) – Professor Angel Sound
Family Affair (Seegweed edit) – Sly Stone        
Uno Esta –  Bobbi Humphrey    
Impressions – McCoy Tyner      
The Choice Is Yours (Revisited) – Black Sheep       
Kaduna Bass feat. Olivera and MarcoT (Dj Chernobyl Technobrega Remix) – Kosta Kostov
Slowtime (Lack Of Afro Remix) – Frootful                
Solar Flight – Mandre                 
Moon, Turn the Tides…Gently, Gently Away – Jimi Hendrix Experience

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I\’m a little behind in my posts, so I\’m going to give you the tracklist, finish LAST week\’s post and then update this one…

Unpack Your Adjectives – Blossom Dearie
Bringing Up The Guitar – The Dapps & Alfred Ellis
T.S.O.P. (The Sound Of Philadelphia) – M.F.S.B.
Betcha She Don\’t Love You – Evelyn King
Windy Times – Klaus Schulze
Bassment Groove – Aio
Real House – Robbie Fithon & Simon Riley present Sokele
Autocontrol (Original Mix) – GROOVYCOSTA
Low Rises – Ursa Major
Mina! – Zombies For Money
Home At Last – Steely Dan
Sometimes I Cry – Les McCann
Who You Been Giving It Up To – Leon Haywood
Sweet Surrender (Roni Size vocal mix) – Sarah McLachlan
Without You (Saba Remix) – Little Jinder

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A sad \”goodbye\” to MC Heavy D.  Tracklisting below and my usual music write-up a bit later…

It may sound like I\’m starting out a bit \”abstract\” this week, but it\’s really just to give you a bit more of the feel of the track.  I didn\’t really want to play all 20 minutes of \”Bitches Brew\” by Miles Davis but I also didn\’t want to just play the bit with the break without giving a bit of the context of the track.  I still remember being impressed when I first heard \”You Can\’t See What I Can See\” by Heavy D.  The next track, \”Hip Hug-Her\” by Booker T. & The MG\’s is an instrumental soul classic in the vein of their 60s hit \”Green Onions,\” …just a bit cooler.  As a response to the common criticism of hiphop music\’s use of swear words, Heavy D made a great \”posse cut\” with \”Don\’t Curse\” which is based on a looped musical section from \”Hip Hug-Her.\” 
Everybody Dub – Bing Ji Ling   
Monkey Junction – Little Wing
Don\’t Mind If I Do – Bushy
Swahililand – Ahmad Jamal
Stakes Is High – De La Soul
1960 What? (Wicked Jazz Sounds Radio Edit) – Gregory Porter
Casa Loco – Steve Khan        
Elevator Jams – Joshua Heath
Oh You (Radio Version) – Daviddance

 
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Hello again!  Been in kind of a \”classics\” mood, lately.  I\’ve been finding a lot of great music from the past.  \”Please Set Me At Ease\” by Bobbi Humphrey is a tune that I\’d been familiar with because of the Madlib remix from his Shades Of Blue project on Blue Note.  I didn\’t realize I hadn\’t heard the original version until I was surprised by the spoken world vocal that comes in!  Another tune where I\’d known the remix before the original is \”Mustt Mustt (Lost In His Work)\” by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.  The remix of this by Massive Attack is verging on legendary.  Speaking of legends, I decided to feature an underplayed song by one of the icons of the 1960s, Jimi Hendrix.  \”Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland?)\” by The Jimi Hendrix Experience is practically an homage to Curtis Mayfield, although I am sure that Curtis\’ output in the 70s was influenced by Hendrix\’s work.  While we\’re talking about the influence of Jimi Hendrix, \”Mantra (Doors Of Perception Mix)\” by Material sounds quite different than Jimi\’s work, but the manipulation of sound owes a great debt to the pioneering work of Hendrix\’s first few albums, Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold As Love and Electric Ladyland.  The last tune was driven in a large part by the bass guitar, which makes sense as Material is generally comprised of bassist/producer Bill Laswell and whoever he is working with at the time.  The driving bass line made me think of the intro to Flora Purim\’s title track, \”Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly\” which features the prominent work of bassist Alphonso Johnson (Weather Report/George Duke–Billy Cobham Band.)  The hymn \”Amazing Grace\” is adapted for the next track, bassist Marcus Miller\’s \”Your Amazing Grace.\”  \”Knockin\’ Around The Zoo\” by James Taylor & The Original Flying Machine is slightly obscure, but has been sampled numerous times.  Although what you will hear is a cohesive take, the full track includes many false starts, chatting between musicians & engineer and even some funky naked drum grooves.  If you\’re wondering, the James Taylor mentioned is the famous folk/soft rock vocalist.  By the way, if you go to his website (click on his name in the previous sentence) he\’s teaching guitar!  \”Knockin\’ Around The Zoo\” is from the first album he recorded which included Danny Kortchmar, who went on to be an in-demand guitarist and music producer working with artists like Linda Ronstadt, Carole King (appearing on her landmark album, Tapestry) Neil Young & Billy Joel.  Jadell\’s \”Brand New Sound\” is a song I\’ve liked for a number of years and seemed a great followup to \”…Zoo.\”  Next up, \”Memory Band\” by Rotary Connection is another song that\’s relatively obscure, yet shows up as a sample in several tunes.  Erykah Badu adapted \”The American Promise\” by Ramp for the opener on her album New Amerykah Part One (4th World War,) \”Amerykahn Promise.\”  Ramp is mainly known for their classics \”Daylight\” and their cover of Roy Ayer\’s \”Everybody Loves The Sunshine,\” so it\’s nice to play something of theirs that\’s more energetic.  Speaking of energetic, in the early 90s Miami put its stamp on house music with the triumph of Ralph Falc

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Earlier this week a friend of mine posted a video on Facebook of \”throwback\” funk from the 80s, \”Sugar Free\” by Juicy.  Being the kind of person I am (i.e., DJ & music geek–kind of redundant, i know) I posted a video of a similar track, \”Curious\” by Midnight Star and thought it might be cool to make a mix of tunes like that.  In lieu of that mix, the show this week is heavily influenced by older music that I still dig.  Most of it is stuff I used to rock \”back in the day,\” but some of it is actually new to me.  There\’s also a couple of new tracks slipped in there as well (hard to resist!)  Although more upbeat than the two songs on video, \”A Touch Of Jazz (Playin Kinda Ruff Pt 2)\” by Roger definitely fits in with the spirit.  Many of the younger listeners will recognize the sound of Roger (Troutman) from his work on the massive hiphop hit \”California Love\” by Dr. Dre & Tupac Shakur.  In the next few weeks, I will probably slip in some of his work from the groups Zapp and Human Body in which he was prominently featured, along with a few of his fellow Troutman brothers.  \”Mr. Collins, Mr. Collins\” by Albert Collins is a tune that an old friend turned me onto many years ago.  I\’ve never been the biggest blues fan, but some tracks really stick with me and after probably 15 years or so I hunted this one down again.  Usually the stuff I tend to like in blues is fused with other musical styles–in this case funk.  Speaking of fusions, \”Capitao do Asfalto\” by Bahia Black features the work of Carlinhos Brown, one of my favorite \”newer\” Brazilian artists (as opposed to classic artists like Caetano Veloso, Sergio Mendes or even Djavan from the 80s.)  The next tune is from Bristol and is named for the classic Ramp tune that it\’s built around, \”Daylight\” by DJ Krust.  If the name DJ Krust seems familiar, but you can\’t quite place it, it\’s probably because he was part of the Bristol Drum & Bass supergroup Reprazent–the other original members are Roni Size, DJ Die, DJ Suv, Onalee, Clive Deamer, Dynamite MC & Si John.  In this time of economic uncertainty for many, it\’s sad how the lyrics of \”Bourgie Bourgie\” still are relevant.  Originally written and performed by Ashford & Simpson, this version is by The John Davis Orchestra and a few years later it was a hit for Gladys Knight & The Pips.  From disco, we move on to jazz-funk with \”Step N\’ Thru\” by Grover Washington Jr. from Live At The Bijou.  \”Kumatilanye (Los Chicos Altos Remix)\” by Lumbal

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Funny where you find breaks (as in \”sample sources.\”)  The song I wanted to start with this week I was requested not to play until it is available for sale, \”Heavy Right Hand\” by Deep Street Soul on Freestyle Records.  Last minute substitution of \”Wild Man On The Loose\” by Mose Allison (I picked it because it was the same length and similar energy level) hipped me to it being a Herbaliser break! 
Speaking of breaks, I\’d always thought that Funky Four + 1\’s \”That\’s The Joint\” was based on this tune, but it turns out the next tune in the show, \”Rescue Me\” by Taste Of Honey, is the source!  Seems the band famous for \”Boogie Oogie Oogie\” had something else going on as well…  \”Rabba (Nickodemus Remix)\” by Falu comes to us courtesy of NikkiLeaks.  Nickodemus is one of our favorite DJ/Producers and gives out quite a lot of free music from his Soundcloud page.  Another NYC DJ/Producer is Grandmaster Flash, hiphop legend from the old school.  \”Superappin\’ #2\” by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five has influenced so much of what\’s come later, check out Jurassic 5 for evidence.  From his album My Spanish Heart, the next track \”Armando\’s Rhumba\” by Chick Corea is a tribute to his father–who turns out to have been a jazz trumpeter.  Back to the \”sample sources,\” \”Stalag 17\” by Techniques All Stars should sound familiar to you as it is the root groove or \”riddim\” of many classic dancehall tracks such as Sister Nancy\’s \”Bam Bam\” and Tenor Saw\’s \”Ring The Alarm.\”  From dub to dubstep…  Skream is well-known as a dubstep producer, but unlike a lot of the tracks associated with that genre, \”Where You Should Be\” is a proper song–with verses and choruses!  I\’ve played the Shy Fx remix previously, but I wanted to show how with the original version Skream has managed to infuse this club-oriented music with some real emotion–in this case, heartbreak.  Stepping back into the 80s, \”Remote Viewing\” by Tangerine Dream is an example of sound-oriented music before it went all clubby.  Mixing electronic sounds and soul, \”Don\’t You Know\” by Jan Hammer reminds us what he did in the 70s before becoming a \”soundtrack composer\” (he is known by a whole generation as the composer for the hugely popular Miami Vice TV series in the 80s.)  The same album that brought us \”Rockit\” and introduced most folks for the first time to the concept of turntables as an instrument also contains one of my favorite tracks to use synchronization code as a musical element, \”TFS\” by Herbie Hancock.  Switching up from the electronics for a moment, virtuoso guitarist Al Di Meola (former collaborator of Chick Corea in Return To Forever) brings us \”Short Tales Of The Black Forest.\”  Canada often has very interesting music happening, as evidence I present the next song, \”Move Along\” by Sarah Linhares.  It\’s great to hear new vocalists who I think of as highly-skilled as well.  Closing with a mellow classic that also features skilled vocals, \”Feel,\” the title track of one of George Duke\’s 70s albums on German label MPS (Musik Produktion Schwarzwald or in English, Black Forest Music Production.)  There is a Steve Spacek remix of the track that I quite like, but this time the original was more the ticket…