Author: djtbird

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This week\’s show is a bit special, it\’s a tribute. Hopefully by now you\’ve been made aware that Gil Scott-Heron, poet, musician, vocalist (both sung & spoken word) has died. Rather than merely writing about how influential he was (and continues to be) this show will demonstrate it with the music.
I start off with two versions of the piece he is most famous for \”The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.\” The first version is from his first album, Small Talk at 125th & Lenox where he is accompanied only by percussion and then I mix into the more famous version with full band from his Greatest Hits collection. Following that are a cover version by poet Dana Bryant from 1992\’s Giant Steps Volume One and a song that heavily references \”

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I have to admit I\’m a huge fan of 70s soul and most things that draw on that sound. As evidence I present our opener \”Out of the Sky\” by Van Hunt followed by soulful disco classic \”Nights Over Egypt\” by The Jones Girls. A lot of my friends who are music heads have a great love of 60s soul, but from the 60s i really prefer jazz & latin stuff like the next track \”Witch Hunt\” by Wayne Shorter and throwback track \”El Bantu\” by Ray Lugo & Boogaloo Destroyers. It really amazes me how close they are getting to recreating the fun of classic boogaloo these days–that Ray Lugo is off his new Freestyle Records release Mi Watusi. My production partner, Maxey Blaze turned me onto the next producer because of a Fela Kuti re-edit he\’d done. I practically flipped out when I heard Joystick Jay\’s work on the next track, \”Sau Paulo High Society (Joystick Jay Re-Edit)\” by Almir Ricardi. What was originally an 80s boogie/disco track became something that bumped enough to mix out of deep house without losing any energy! I\’ve been a fan of DJ Cam since the 90s when he was first becoming a name in the acid-jazz/downtempo scene. His newest work features a remix by talented producer Blackjoy who I know because of his huge house track \”Untitled\” which was remixed by heavies like Kerri Chandler & Solid Groove. I hope you enjoy the soulful track \”Swim (Blackjoy Remix)\” by DJ Cam feat Chris James. Speaking of soul, there are few who do it better than UK master, Omar. His northerly neighbor Zed Bias (Omar is from London, Zed\’s from Manchester) takes Omar\’s club smash from a few years ago and flips it all new-style with \”It\’s So (Zed Bias Remix.)\” \”My Boots\” by Seb Marx is another one of those great tracks that wound up in my email. The Gush Records label contacted me and I really dug the track they sent. I\’d liked the original of the next tune, but while looking for music for a wedding I discovered \”Nothing But Love (Remode)\” by Axwell. I didn\’t play it at the wedding, but thought it would work for the show

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I love getting music sent to me! This week we start out with the simply beautiful
\”Circles (Richard E & Annabel (lee) Vocal Suite)\” by Annabel (lee) & Novo Tempo. This is the kind of stuff that I\’m not even aware I\’m looking for until it shows up. Get comfortable and dig this one

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Wes Montgomery\’s version of the classic\”Tequila\” gets us off to a bouncy start. I\’ve always loved his latin take on the tune, kind of like a

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Moon In Pisces – Players Association

Baltimore – Nina Simone

Demolition City (Dread City Mix) – Sly & Robbie

Champion Sound – Yes King

Space Is The Place – Space Boys

Dejomey Blue (Catalyst Remix) – Francisco Aguabella

Yankaw (Bassino Dub Mix) – Nahawa Doumbia

Zimbawe – Canijos Sin Fronteras

The Jackal – Ronny Jordan feat. Dana Bryant

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This week\’s selection features tunes I picked up while traveling. I was most recently in Los Angeles and Switzerland before that.

In a nod to my hometown of LA, I start off with \”Mya Ydana,\” a Tranquility Bass b-side to their wildly popular \”Cantamilla\”–which found its way onto the 4th volume of the respected Rebirth Of Cool series. Last time I heard about him, Tranquility Bass\’ Mike Kandel was living in Washington state, but the group began in Los Angeles as a partnership with producer and DJ Tom Chasteen who is responsible for the legendary Dub Club in LA\’s Echo Park. Next up is the latin number \”Deja\” by Sidestepper from Palm Beats Vol. 1 a great compilation of music from Palm Pictures and related labels (e.g. Quango–another LA contribution to music.) \”Stars & Rockets\” by Spiritual South is from one of my favorite compilation series, Rewind! on Ubiquity Records. The idea is that it is a series of cover songs, sometimes well-known artists, sometimes well-known tunes–sometimes, neither! In my world of electonic music, Spiritual South is a name because of the tracks and remixes made by Mark Robertson and his former partner Danny J Lewis (aka \”Enzyme Black.\”) Turns out that Mark went further than most of his cohorts who love latin music and incorporate it into their productions–he formally studied latin percussion! \”Distance To The Ground\” by Detour takes me back to my early days playing the music then known as \”acid-jazz.\” This track is from the compilation Down To Earth on Planet Earth Recordings, an antecedent of the aforementioned Quango Records. The compilation was (co-)executive produced by Jason Bentley (KCRW) in \’94, a year before he began the night Bossa:Nova with Bruno Guez (founder of Quango) which started out as an event in the footsteps of LA acid-jazz club-night legends Brass & Umoja. The biggest groups in acid-jazz were English, generally speaking, but there was a scene that developed in France as well which helped MC Solaar and his producers, La Funk Mob–who now go by their house moniker, Cassius. \”Pardonne\” by Revel comes from the French scene which also produced the smash \”Non, Non, Non\” (a cover of Dawn Penn\’s \”No, No, No [You Don\’t Love Me Anymore.]\”) I was turned onto Nomo by a Ubiquity label employee, \”You like afrobeat? These guys are from Detroit and they mix in electronic elements, too…\” SOLD! \”Waiting\” is from their album Invisible Cities. Another sale from the same guy was the album with \”Get Off Your Seats\”–Tommy Stewart\’s self-titled album that also contains the rare-groove classic \”Bump & Hustle Music.\” Speaking of classics, how about \”What\’d I Say?\” I was gifted a Ray Charles CD by a family member and I was excited that it contained the full version of this song, one that gets split very often into pt.1 and/or pt. 2 Going back to the Rewind! Series, \”Take It All In And Check It All Out\” is Joseph Malik covering one of my favorite soul artists, Bill Withers. Next up a UK acid-jazz group goes garage with \”Come To Me\” by Outside. From their album Out Of The Dark, Matt Cooper, Andreas Allen and frequent collaborator Cleveland Watkiss (aka \”Origin\”) bring sweet vocal harmonies to a style where vocals are often treated non-musically. I follow it up with a UK Garage classic that I used to play on my 2-Step gigs, \”Summer Of Love\” by Lonyo. I was able to find a compilation of UK Garage, The Sound Of Ayia Napa, that was not DJ-mixed (99% of them are, unfortunately.) I close out with afro-electronic, \”Sida (Spider Mix)\” by Ibrahim Hamma Dicko. This is from a great compilation called Frikyiwa Collection 1 that I have as issued by Six Degrees Records, but is originally from F Communications (best known as Laurent Garnier\’s label.) It is a great collection of remixed African music!

Next time expect more music from my travels and a few non-throwback tracks as well!

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This show starts off with Nostalgia 77\’s \”Skin & Bones\” – a new tune with a bit of a \”throwback\” feel. Sounds like something that could have been on Blue Note alongside Lonnie Smith or Big John Patton. Next up is music from the 70s, David Sancious\’ musical remembrance of the US Civil War with \”March of the Conditioned Souls/War of the Souls.\” He does an interesting thing with weaving a minor key reference to \”Dixie\”–a song associated with the Confederate States. \”Angels & Angles\” is from Late Night Alumni, a group featuring producer Kaskade. A moody piece with a reference to Beethoven\’s \”Moonlight Sonata,\” it\’s neat how it has a dual lead vocal (male/female)–something that I don\’t think is done nearly enough these days. \”Brown Paper Bag (Roni Size Full Vocal Remix)\” is a classic drum & bass track that I had the pleasure of seeing performed live when Roni Size/Reprazent did their USA tour for New Forms with the major players in the Full Cycle camp (Roni Size, DJ Krust, DJ Die & SUV) on their own computer, Die & SUV on turntables and percussion respectively, MC Dynamite, Onalee on vocals AND a live rhythm section of double bass & drumset! Last show had the J-Boogie remix of \”Creature\” by Jeff Vylonis and this show features the Ernesto and Slac remix. Again, nice laid-back stuff from Chillin\’ Music. DJ Vadim (remixed by Killa Kela) is up next with Sarah Jones on the mic and a critique of hiphop\’s troubled relationship with women. In a bit of irony, \”Your Revolution\” managed to be banned by the FCC for \”indecency.\” I\’m happy to report that there was a legal case contesting the ban that succeeded in its goal of lifting the radio ban of the track. \”Ma-Do-Nar (Remix)\” is another track from the new album by Los Chicharrons, Roots Of Life. The group uploaded a 30 minute mix to Soundcloud.com that\’s really worth checking out, Los Chicharrons Afro DJ mix (Jan 11.) Maddslinky\’s \”Ruled By Your Motions\” follows with the warm bass that he\’s known for under his various aliases (e.g., Zed Bias.) Next up, a true classic, the title cut from Lee Morgan\’s Cornbread. The name of the track clues you into the tasty soul-jazz cut you\’re in for. Abstract Truth\’s \”Get Another Plan\” is next with a remix from Flytronix that goes from downtempo to the D&B sound he\’s generally known for. We close up with Dorothy Ashby\’s \”Come Live With Me\” from her legendary rare-groove album Afro Harping, something that should be in everyone\’s collection.

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This week is a fun one, lots of new stuff and a few \”rave classics.\” While it\’s definitely exciting to get new music, there\’s a different thrill to re-discovering old music–kind of like running into a friend you haven\’t seen in years. From the appropriately named Chillin\’ Music, we start off with their artist Jeff Vylonis. Jeff\’s beautiful track \”Creature\” has 3 variants, the original, Ernesto & Slac\’s Remix plus J-Boogie\’s Remix, which I selected for this show. All of the versions are great! Catskills Records\’ Husky Rescue seems to be doing quite well and the new track \”Fast Lane\” shows why–it\’s a really good song. Check out this \”official\” video (I use quotes because it seems to cut off half-way through the song.) Like the preceding number, it has some great remixes along with the original. Black Grass\’ Refix gets the nod this week, but expect to hear the awesome dubstep take by 2-Bit Thugs soon! I\’m not sure if the next track is even signed yet, but thanks to my friend Will Sumsuch, you get to hear The Self-Help Group\’s \”Tillie\’s Dream (Sumsuch Remix)\” hot off the presses! He tells me that Tim Bongos (legendary Brighton percussionist) is in the group, but really Will did the remix because he dug the lyrics. Up next, Quantic\’s \”Un Canto A Mi Tierra (J-Boogie Remix.)\” Whatever J-Boogie has been doing lately has been working for me, this is the 2nd remix by him in this show. By the way, if you\’re in North America check to see if Quantic will be playing near you soon! He\’s got a tour happening and along with making great music he\’s, no slouch at spinning good tunes. Last year I went to the holiday party of fashion juggernauts Desigual and met Ramon Santana of Los Chicharrons. They have a new album on Tim \”Love\” Lee\’s Tummy Touch label called Roots Of Life. They do Afro-Latin influenced dance music and \”Timbuktu\” is the first of several tunes I will be playing from the album. Keeping it Afro & Latin, Dirty Dubsters\’ \”Down In Africa (Danny Massure Remix)\” follows up in the Afro vibe while we go samba-style with Farrapo & Yanez ft Botecoeletro \”Oliveto (Thykier Remix.)\” The full EP for \”Oliveto\” is available April 8th and features the original and remixes, including one from Los Chicos Altos! Luis Beyra\’s \”Aceite Agua (Soy una Guagua) Remix\” turns up the energy a bit and gets us ready for our \”rave mini-set.\” The next three tracks are definitely classics of the rave scene and still manage to sound good, Altern 8\’s \”Evapor8 (Inciner8 mix,)\” Human Resource\’s \”The Complete Dominator (Beltram mix)\” and SL2\’s \”On A Ragga Tip.\” I\’m sure that at least one of these was influential on
Shy Fx, who pays tribute to this time with anthem \”Raver (Original.)\” We close up a bit like we began, on the mellow tip with Bobby C Sound TV\’s \”Rendezvous Avec Moi.\” This artist on Cold Busted gives us a \”stone groove\” as the late Barry White might say…

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Straight outta Brighton comes a new track, \”Simmer Down,\” released on Valentine\’s Day, 14th February on 7