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Starting as always with the \”Something Else Intro\” we immediately head off into a couple of vintage tracks, first Tangerine Dream\’s title track from their 80s album Exit. This track was re-worked for the soundtrack to Risky Business, becoming \”No Future (Get Off The Babysitter.)\” Push Button Objects\’ \”Lockligger\” follows with a bit of \”glitch hop\” from the 90s. I originally purchased this on a 12\” single from the label Schematic, who were championing one of the \”alternative\” sounds coming out of Florida, the more well-known counterparts being DJ Icey\’s breakbeat scene and of course, Miami Bass. DJ Vadim was originally known for making music that my friends and I derisively called \”slug hop,\” because it was painfully slow and kind of weird. Apparently the last few years he\’s changed up a bit and become a bit more accessible and danceable. \”Yea Man They Listening\” is the latest evidence that artists are subject to change… Easy Star All-Stars are a favorite with me and I can\’t seem to get enough of \”Money (Alchemist Mix)\” from Dubber Side of the Moon. Giant Step is a great source of music for me and Freedom Hill\’s \”Kisses Louder\” is one where I have to give credit where it is due. I love tunes that really nail a mood, even if that mood isn\’t easy to explain–you\’ll understand when you hear it. Up next another favorite artist, Quincy Jones. I\’ve been hearing Mr. Jones\’ music since I was very young and have always admired his work. \”Soul Bossa Nostra\” feat. Ludacris, Naturally 7, & Rudy Currence is actually a remake of one of Quincy\’s own classics, \”Soul Bossa Nova\”–also now known as the theme from the Austin Powers movies. I must admit that as someone who wasn\’t a fan of that film series I was actually quite annoyed that \”Soul Bossa Nova\” became so closely identified with it and I felt I had to stop playing the tune because of the association. This remake not only allows me to play a song I really dug, but updates it in a way that isn\’t cheesy… The Roots get much play on my show and for me \”Adrenaline\” is already in line to become a new Philly classic track. Keeping it hiphop for a minute, Manchester\’s Grand Central Recordings turned me on to great music like Aim\’s \”True To Hip Hop (Instrumental.)\” Moving a bit in a southern direction, Brighton has been figuring larger in my current favorite UK cities for music, with Tru Thoughts and associates showing up in my playlists. Sara Mitra isn\’t on Tru Thoughts, but the same person who hips me to new music on that label sent me this wonderful EP that includes \”The Old Country.\” It\’s vocal jazz that is both fresh and straightforward at the same time. No electronics or sonic tweaking here–just good music.
Heading back to the classic realm, next up is MC Solaar with \”Noveau Western,\” a favorite 90s track from France featuring a Serge Gainsbourg sample (\”Bonnie & Clyde.\”) If you don\’t already know, Los Chicos Altos is a project I do with my friend Maxey Blaze. I occasionally will feature some of our work on the show and \”Zamba Malat

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Back again, starting off with the \”Something Else! Intro\” before going into a re-rub of an old favorite for many, \”(Another) Message to Rudy (Fort Knox Five Edit)\” by legendary English 80s ska-revival group The Specials! Fort Knox Five are producers from the same Washington DC music scene as Thievery Corporation and they have worked together numerous times. We follow with another English (by birth) act is singer/dancer/fashion designer Wunmi. She has been associated with high profile acts including Masters At Work, Truby Trio and Soul II Soul (she danced in the \”Back To Life\” video.) The title of her 2006 album A.L.A. (Africans Living Abroad) refers to her Nigerian heritage and ex-patriate lifestyle. Giant Step was kind enough to send me the following remix, \”ALA (Don-Ray\’s Cairo Remix)\” by Wunmi. Many of you know that I am a big fan of the music of Herbie Hancock. The next song is by one of his long-time sidemen, Bennie Maupin and is a re-interpretation of \”Water Torture\” which he wrote for Herbie\’s album Crossings. This version is from an album called Slow Traffic To The Right and features Patrice Rushen playing clavinet, electric and acoustic piano. \”Birdland\” by Def Tex is a great acid-jazz track I came upon years ago on vinyl thanks to DJ Mark Maxwell. Heading into a bit more of a latin bag, \”Todo Tiene Su Final\” by Willie Colon & Hector Lavoe keeps the energy up before going full disco with Joey Negro and The Sunburst Band\’s \”Journey To The Sun.\” Staying with the house music tempo, \”Do It Your Way\” by Mood II Swing leads into \”Forever\” by James Talk and Ridney (recognize those vocals from anywhere?) Another Giant Step track from my inbox is \”New Civilisation\” by Curv. It blends well from the preceding house track, has nice percussion and perfectly sets up a two-fer closer: \”Drum Song\” & \”Dreams\” by Earth Wind & Fire. \”Drum Song\” is one I\’d sought out years ago after hearing it on the radio, but I could never properly identify it. After picking up an early-ish album by EWF, Open Our Eyes, I discoverd the name of the track I\’d been searching for! The newer version of the album has bonus tracks, one of which is our closer, \”Dreams.\” Appropriately titled and a nice way to end a set until next time!

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Something Else! Intro leads us into the first of several pairs of genre-related tracks… Canadian bassist Roberto Occhipinti has an interesting past: comes from a musical family (brother and cousin to two guitarists, Michael & David,) he is classically trained, has worked with several orchestras, studied with Dave Young (acclaimed jazz bassist,) worked in latin jazz with saxophonist Jane Bunnett

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Something Else! Intro leads us into the first of many new pieces of music that has graced my mailbox, Canada\’s Juno award winner (sort of like a grammy) Dubmatix\’s \”Struggle (feat. Dennis Alcapone.)\” He\’s got a new album in stores now, System Shakedown, with all sorts of great guests and the big bass that we love so much. Next up is lovely soul number \”Destiny,\” another \”mailbox track\” by L.A. vocalist Erik Rico & Marc Mac (of 4hero.) If the phrase \”Duck Sauce\” means anything to you other than food, you might recognize the next groove, Final Edition\’s \”I Can Do It (Any Way You Want It.)\” It is the source material for Armand Van Helden and A-Trak\’s dance floor monster, \”Anyway.\” A few more joints in the disco-funk realm are \”Full Tilt Boogie\” by Uncle Louie and Disco Tex & the Sex-O-Lettes\’ \”Hot Lava.\” Turns out Disco Tex is Kenny Nolan, writer of 70s smash hit \”Lady Marmelade.\” Going latin for a couple, Grupo Arambere\’s \”Iaia (Butti 49 Fuego Fusion Mix)\” holds down the Brazilian while Nacional Records\’ act Choc Quib Town kicks it Colombian-style with \”De Donde Vengo Yo\” translated, \”Where I\’m Coming From.\” I think many of you know that I make music as well as DJ\’ing, but if you didn\’t, my track \”Technolude\” should remedy that. One of the other benefits of being both a music-maker and radio DJ is that I can follow my own tunes with tracks by people like Outkast\’s Big Boi! I\’ve featured \”Shutterbug\” before but this electro-house remix (Jack Beats \’Clean\’ Mix)\” is new for me and leads well into a few other things I wanted to close out with, Richard Vission & Static Revenger starring Luciana\’s \”I Like That (Dave Aude Dub Remix)\” and tech-house track \”Firecracker (Nic Fanciulli Remix)\” by Yousef. The Dave Aude Dub is amazing. There are some other remixes of \”I Like That\” that showed up in my mailbox as well and will get played, but this one is head and shoulders above the others. Nic Fanciulli\’s Remix of \”Firecracker\” is a great closer for a set that featured a lot of funky, disco vibes.
You can find funk in the machine if you free your mind. …and your a** will follow.

In the last several weeks I\’ve been pretty busy with things other than the show: traveling to the UK twice in 4 weeks, playing new locations in the Barcelona area and working on new material with my production partner Maxey Blaze as \”Los Chicos Altos.\” You will be seeing a lot of that name in the near future, keep your eyes peeled. The station\’s season just started up again and I\’m happy to be getting back to putting together shows and writing about the music I\’m sharing with you!

As always our journey begins with the \”Something Else! Intro\” before we head off to this week\’s opener, \”Great Dub In The Sky\” by Easy Star All Stars. If you\’re not familiar with them, this group is known for doing reggae/dub versions of classic rock albums like OK Computer by Radiohead (their version is called Radiodread,) Sgt. Pepper\’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles (Easy Star\’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band) and the one this track is drawn from, Dub Side of the Moon (tribute to Pink Floyd\’s Dark Side of the Moon.) All of them are recommended for both lovers of dub/reggae and classic rock. While dipping my toe in the groovy vs. rock bag, \”Wouldn\’t Want to Be Like You\” by Alan Parsons Project seemed appropriate for the next cut–especially since Alan Parsons worked on Dark Side of the Moon and received a grammy nomination for his engineering on that album. \”Mangotee\” by Lonnie Liston Smith keeps the groove going, even if in a slightly more jazz direction. \”Sticks and Stoned\” by Common Ground, a collective of electronic producers including Tim \”Love\” Lee, Jadell, Waiwan, Raw Deal and Dj Wool (producer of this track) leads us into \”Suite for Beaver Pt. 1\” by L.A.\’s own People Under The Stairs–a tale of a night out… Return of Forever (Swell Session Remix) by High Contrast is from a recently re-acquired compilation Out Patients 3 from one of my favorite labels from the late 90s & early 00s–Hospital. The smooth, musical production is obviously the hook here. Speaking of smooth, one of my favorite vocalists of all time works with one of my favorite producers from the 2-step/UK garage scene, Zed Bias. \”Special feat. Omar (Simbad 4×4 Remix)\” is under the Maddslinky alias for Mr. Bias and remixed by one of broken-beat\’s name producers, Simbad. \”At Peace With Woman\” by The Jones Girls is a song that was obviously influential on the broken-beat crowd, given that they were devotees of \”boogie\” and classic vocals. Great message on the track as well. Nice vocals as well on the Brazilian track \”A Sereia (The Mermaid)\” by Democustico leading into the instrumental bossa version of Horace Silver\’s \”The Jody Grind\” by Quintetto X. Another recent re-acquisition is \”Life of Fortune & Fame (Runaways Remix)\” by Doctor L. I found this in London on a 10\” single (the 12\” has different versions) during Notting Hill Carnival weekend. The show closes out with \”Raise (Long Mix)\” by Greg Osby feat CL Smooth (Pete Rock\’s long-time MC partner) as remixed by Ali Shaheed Muhammed (of A Tribe Called Quest.) Greg Osby is generally known for working in the avant-garde jazz world, but a number of years ago he decided to do a hiphop album. I think a few things on the album worked but this was really the best done track.

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Something Else! Intro leads off this week\’s show as always. The mix of classic and new music has a name at the top that should be slightly familiar to regular listeners of the show, Bob James. Mr. James is a bit of a legend to \”crate digging\” folk like myself, especially fans of sample-based music and the sources it draws from. \”Blue Lick\” is a popular track with hiphop producers, listen all the way thru and you should hear at least 3 familiar samples… On the new end of things, Plug Research dropped 3 new tracks on me and this is one of them, the abstract, yet quite listenable \”Never Freeze\” by Quadron. Another classic artist is vocalist Randy Crawford, most known for singing on The Crusaders\’ \”Street Life.\” This time, Ms. Crawford is doing a downtempo take on George Benson\’s hit \”Give Me The Night\” and the \”Chill Night Mix\” gives it a slight Massive Attack feel. Natural Self\’s \”Midnight Sun\” comes courtesy of Tru-Thoughts and this week I feature Los Angeles DJ Jeremy Sole\’s \”Sans Drums Mix\” which also features trumpeter Todd Simon, who\’s played with Breakestra, Connie & the Keystones and Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra. Keeping LA in the mix, producer Exile\’s track \”It\’s Coming\” gets remixed by Rhettmatic of the World Famous Beat Junkies. Next, rare-groove classic by Leon Ware, \”Why I Came To California.\” Switching coasts for a moment, De La Soul, New Yorkers from Long Island, bring us \”Thru Ya City\” feat. DV Alias Khrist, a nice mix of soul & hiphop. The next song should sound quite familiar as The Valentine Brothers\’ \”Money\’s Too Tight To Mention\” provided the blueprint for the later smash hit by Simply Red. Another new one from
Vikter Duplaix, \”Electric Love (Vikter\’s House Rmx.)\” There are other mixes that will get love on later shows… We close out with three more classics from three different eras. Studio 2 got a lot of play from me during my UK garage days because of \”Travelling Man (Banana Republic Shift Control Dub.)\” You all know how I\’m a sucker for soulful jazzy dance music… I played a private party last weekend and one of the songs that was requested by the hosts was Inner City\’s \”Good Life\” — one of the foundational Detroit techno hits! I\’ve always preferred the Steve \”Silk\” Hurley Remix, although the others from the same time are great as well. A name that\’s been in my ears since I was a small child is Quincy Jones. I\’m a big fan and for longer than I\’ve been alive he\’s been making great music, going back playing trumpet and arranging with Lionel Hampton back in the 50s! \”Walkin\’\” is Quincy\’s take on a song made known by another famous trumpeter, Miles Davis. While mellow, there is still hints of the avant-garde in this version, echoing the envelope pushing that his fellow trumpeter Miles was exploring more fully at the time this was released, 1970–almost 20 years after Miles Davis had recorded the same song.

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After the ubiquitous \”Something Else! Intro,\” we launch into \”jazz mode\” with seasonally appropriate \”Beach Bar\” by Boris Blenn. In summer, beach bars (aka chiringuitos here) are all the rage in Spain. One very famous xiringuito (alternate spelling) is Cafe Del Mar in Ibiza. \”Average Fruit\” by Quadron is a nice vocal track that wouldn\’t be out of place on a Cafe Del Mar compilation but you can find it here. James Dewitt Yancey, bka as Jay Dee, J Dilla or even just Dilla left indelible fingerprints on the sound of current music, not just hiphop. The list of people he\’s worked with is longer than most artists\’ list of influences. The info sheet I got from label Organik with the next track, \”Castlevania\” by SirOJ refers to him as one of \”…rising post J Dilla era producers\” and the track itself as \”…homage to one of our favorite Nintendo video games.\” Classic video game + fat beats = dopeness, in my book. \”Enuff feat. Lateef the Truth Speaker & Q-Tip\” by DJ Shadow is a track that is probably better appreciated now than when it came out a few years ago. Shadow lives in the San Francisco Bay area and an underground style that gained a lot of popularity there in the hiphop community was \”hyphy\” (combines the words \”hype\” + \”fly.\”) Some people I knew who were fans of this sound didn\’t like DJ Shadow\’s album The Outsider which incorporates hyphy into his music, but I think this track works well as just a party track. \”Just Bring It Out (Andy Smith & Scott Hendy Remix)\” by Wolfgang Dauner from Jazz Club: Jazz Remixed brings it back to the old days of party djs cutting it up on turntables featuring Mr. Boca 45 (Scott Hendy) and Portishead\’s Dj, Andy Smith. Speaking of \”old days,\” a common practice dating back to the early days of records was to cover current hits. \”Tour De France\” by 10 Speed is a fun take on Kraftwerk\’s 80s classic. The version I play is an edit from a breakdancing compilation, but you can find the full-length version (along with Kraftwerk\’s original) at the I-Tunes store. \”Treat \’Em Right\” by Chubb Rock is another party favorite and has a good message to boot! As we all know, especially in financial situations like the present, \”It\’s Nice To Have Money.\” DJ Smash provides a jazzy house groove to go along with an amusing vocal sample in this acid-jazz classic. Visiting the Classics is the name of the compilation that includes \”Involvation\” by Jeff Bennett. I like a few of the tracks, but usually when I see the word \”classics\” I expect to recognize either artists or track names on a few cuts–no such luck, here. In contrast, \”It Don\’t Mean A Thing\” is the classic Duke Ellington song, but in this case performed by Space Jazz Dub Men and remixed by Incognito. This track and the next are both from Jazz Club: Jazz Remixed, like the Wolfgang Dauner track earlier. \”Feel (Spacek Remix)\” by George Duke betrays a bit of Dilla influence as might be expected by someone who worked with him (Jay Dee produced Steve Spacek\’s \”Dollar.\”) Closing out, \”Plastic Idols\” by Jean-Luc Ponty gives us some \”cyber jazz\” in its original version–i.e., not remixed–from Ponty\’s Fables an album from 1985.
Jazzyness this week, who knows what\’s up for next week?

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I mentioned in the blog entry about the show before this one that there were several tunes that you would hear other mixes of or different songs from the same collection soon–this is the week for that. \”Something Else! Intro\” leads into \”The Language of the Flame\” another track from Georgia Anne Muldrew\’s (as \”Jyoti\”) new album Ocotea. Fat Freddy\’s Drop is no stranger to this show and this week I feature \”Big BW (Butterfish Black Remix.)\” Everyone has heard a cover or remix of Bob Marley\’s music, so it\’s not a particularly new idea. SevDee has done an album\’s worth of Marley remixes and some of them are quite good–like \”Wait In Vain\” (artist billed as Bob Marley & The SevWailers.) Switching gears slightly, A wonderful surprise showed up in the musical blogosphere, \”Learnin\’ To Fly\” by Dj Day feat. Miles Bonny & Nate McKoy. The best part is the person who uploaded it was Dj Day, the artist! Although he says he\’s stepping away from this sound, I hope he either: 1. has a change of heart or 2. blows us away with \”the next thing\” so we\’ll be glad he decided to move on… Next up is \”Conclusion\” by Dj Spinna, the closing track from his Heavy Beats Vol. 1. There\’s a few MCs on the collection, but most of my favorite tracks are instrumentals. \”Ego Trip By Nikki Giovanni\” is Blackalicious\’ tribute to the poet and educator who first came to fame in the 70s. \”Release Da Freak feat. Colonel Red (Simbad Remix)\” is another Pablo Sanchez track and this one is a bit more clubby than the previous show\’s \”Sunstar feat. Kissey Asplund.\” \”Back Home\” doubles up on the Colonel Red vocal features, this time courtesy of artist Chocolate Puma. \”Clap Your Hands (Prince Vince Remix)\” is actually my favorite version of the Sia track, but Diplo\’s was the first I was familiar with. Another version of \”Next Best Thing\” by Nikki & Rich this week, this time it\’s the Trent Mazur Remix which leads well into \”Rockstar 101 (Dave Aude Remix)\” by Rihanna. Downshifting for the closer, we also switch up to a more mediterranean sound, \”Taqasim on the Beat\” by Simon Shaheen–legendary middle-eastern string virtuoso.
More new stuff coming up in the next show along with the usual classics or obscurities…

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Putting together this week\’s show reminded me why I like my usual format so much. I attempted to give you a show that was purely new music (as in recently released.) While I can really play whatever I choose, I still prefer it to hold together thematically. Given that, I mostly accomplished my objective, but I had to put in a few \”oldies\” to make the set work.

As always, we start with the \”Something Else! Intro\” before diving into Jyoti\’s \”The Black Mother.\” Jyoti is a new alias for Georgia Anne Muldrew who is expanding into jazzy instrumental music. I\’ll be honest with you, generally I\’m not a big fan of Ms. Muldrew\’s work, but this is lovely. We follow some jazz with jazzy hiphop by The Funk League. \”The Boogie Down Bombers Feat. Diamond D & Sadat X (Main Mix)\” is classic-sounding in my book. It\’s a great return to the musical vibes of the 90s in hiphop before the ascendancy of \”thug-hop\” and the over-use of stoner-funk grooves. Speaking of a return to classic 90s music, Sandra St. Victor was a member of the UK\’s Family Stand which helped pioneer the \”nu-soul\” sound that brought us superstars like Erykah Badu & D\’Angelo. \”Cosmos\” is a more uptempo track than tends to be associated with that genre, but she brings just as much emotion and vocal power to it. Pablo Sanchez is an artist I was made aware of courtesy of Nickodemus and Pablo\’s \”Sunstar feat. Kissey Asplund\” shows that Nicko wasn\’t leading me astray. It\’s a slice of nice, latin-tinged broken-beat just the way I like it with a pleasant vocal. The next track is by Scott Hardkiss, part of the legendary Hardkiss Brothers (Gavin & Robbie are the other two.) \”Beat Freak (Fort Knox Remint)\” keeps it dancefloor-appealing. While we\’re already in \”bump mode\” I follow up with \”Bo Diddley-Itis (Ursula 1000 Rework)\” by Bo Diddley vs Ursula 1000, a breakbeat re-rub of a track by the 50s rock & roll legend. Sia, the featured vocalist from Zero 7\’s first album Simple Things has stayed busy putting out her own music and the most recent single is \”Clap Your Hands.\” This week I\’m featuring the Diplo Mix, but there\’s a few others that are quite good as well and you should expect to hear some of them in the following weeks. Months ago I got my first promo single by Nikki & Rich and assumed their album was out already. \”Next Best Thing (Steve Aoki Remix)\” is yet another single from the still forthcoming album. Once again, there are some other remixes I received that are quite good and I will be putting them on in the coming weeks. Mellowing out a bit, Caltrop\’s \”Good To See You (Original Mix)\” from this year is uptempo, yet pretty as electronic dance can get. Digging in the crates (you were warned) an electronic classic is up next from Jean-Michel Jarre, son of film composer Maurice Jarre, \”Oxygene (Part II.)\” Jarre and contemporaries Tangerine Dream and Vangelis were masters of texture and ambience. Although Most of J-M Jarre\’s titles weren\’t that inventive (mostly consisting of the album title + part 1, 2, etc.) the music tended to envelope one in sound atmosphere. Eventually Tangerine Dream & Vangelis ended up scoring films a few popular films (Risky Business and Blade Runner, respectively.) Although quite simple in structure, Bossa Tres\’ \”Imprevisto\” immediately captured my attention on first listening–there is a real \”vibe\”to it. Keeping it a bit latin, another track by Canadian-Cuban Alex Cuba is \”Directo\” notching it down from a Brazilian jam session to a mojitos-on-the-beach feeling. The show closes with another re-edit, \”Family Tree (Norman Cook Disco Edit)\” by Family Tree featuring Sharon Brown. The prominent conga drums tie it in with the preceding tracks and the ending is appropriate for the final track of a set.