Category: WebRadio Show

Stream or Download

All sorts of fun stuff this week following the \”Something Else Intro.\” A couple of movie soundtrack cuts \”This City Never Sleeps\” by Eurythmics (9 1/2 Weeks) and \”The Human Fly\” by Lalo Schifrin (Enter The Dragon.) Lalo Schifrin scored the whole film and according to the liner notes managed to simulate a few traditional Chinese instruments through clever combinations of western instruments since the film budget wouldn\’t allow for the \”real\” instruments. Low budgets were the fate of some classic 70s films that yielded great soundtracks (e.g., Superfly) Maybe he learned a few tricks while playing in Dizzy Gillespie\’s band–Diz became quite interested in \”world\” music many years after his bebop heyday. Speaking of world music, \”Arroz Com Feijao\” by Saravah Soul and \”Tumbala (Da Lata Remix)\” by Novalima both come out of the Afro-Latin tradition that fascinated Mr. Gillespie so much. However, both of these tracks have a little \”something else\” added to them–Saravah Soul spice it up with a pinch of funk and Novalima gets the afro-house touch on the Da Lata remix. \”Luxury (Cottonbelly Remix)\” by Maxwell is an interesting track. To begin with, Maxwell was part of the 90s soul revival that introduced artists like Erykah Badu, D\’Angelo and Omar. Generally, he collaborates with Stuart Matthewman, player of keyboards and woodwinds for jazzy pop/soul groups Sade & Sweetback. Stuart has yet another career as electronic producer and remixer Cottonbelly–who does the soulful, electronic re-groove on this track. \”A Charmed Life\” by J-Live is an underground hiphop mc\’s story of how he got to where he is. He has some clever uses of metaphor as would befit a former English teacher (he taught in Brooklyn, NYC.) The French downtempo producer Kid Loco was also a 90s phenom. Around the mid-90s DJ Cam and a lot of great French acid-jazz & hiphop was popular Kid Loco made his mark with the album A Grand Love Story. Today we hear the title track. Carlos Guaico has been part of several great LA music groups I\’ve known about: Mesh of Mind, The Black Eyed Peas, The Breakestra and The Rebirth. \”Love Issue (Radio Edit)\” by The Rebirth is something Carlos told me about on their Reverb Nation site–sign up and go get it! As indicated in the title of this episode, the next track is by a legend–Stanley Clarke. Along with Jaco Pastorius, Larry Graham and Louis Johnson (featured on the track) Mr. Clarke helped elevate the bass guitar from being \”just\” the low-end to being a lead instrument. \”Play The Bass 10

Stream or Download

IMPORTANT NOTE: Last week I said that Cookin\’ On 3 Burners is a trio version of The Bamboos. This is INCORRECT! The only common member between the groups is guitarist Lance Ferguson. Drummer Ivan \”Choi\” Khatchoyan is busy with other projects as well and organist Jake Mason\’s info can be found here .

As always, the \”Something Else! Intro\” starts off the show before our first \”proper tune,\” Missy Elliot\’s bhangra-beat hit \”Get Ur Freak On (Amended Version.)\” This tune was part of a musical direction that mainstream urban music took for a while that I particularly enjoyed in the early 00s. Along with hip-hop, dancehall reggae also adopted this sound as evidenced by songs using the \”Coolie Riddim\” such as \”Pull Up\” by Mr. Vegas or official remixes like \”Dude (Punjabi Hit Squad Remix)\” by Beenie Man. By the way, Punjabi Hit Squad have a great show on BBC Radio called \”Desi Beats.\” While we\’re speaking about the UK, the next track \”So You Want Morre? feat. Roots Manuva (refix)\” by Ty is an English counterpart to the Missy Elliot track. \”Rumba Infierno\” by La Troba Kung F

Stream or Download

Pretty diverse show this week…

The Something Else! Intro sets up rare-groove classic \”The Bump\” by George Freeman. The next three songs I had the pleasure of hearing live by the artists last week during a wonderful week of music in Barcelona, La Merc

Stream or Download

As usual, we start off with the Something Else! Intro leading us into the opener which could be a theme song of sorts for where I live (or at least it feels that way sometimes) \”Fiesta Religion\” by Alex Cuba. Alex\’s new album is called Agua Del Pozo and what I\’ve heard from it has been an interesting mix of afro-latin tracks along with with soul & rock grooves. \”Brown Paper Bag\” by Me & You is another track from the Tru Thoughts Covers album I introduced last week. The folktronic-reggae feel suits a number originally performed by the Bristol UK drum & bass crew Roni Size & Reprazent. It\’s safe to say just about everything dance or electronic music-oriented from 1985-present coming from Bristol is influenced by dub reggae. Massive Attack, Portishead and Full Cycle (Roni Size\’s Label) all give respect to Smith & Mighty, essentially the godfathers of modern Bristol music. Last Friday I went out in Barcelona to a spot I like a lot, Marula Cafe, to hear some great djs. Fred Spider was playing prime time with a friend, Uri, and the guy on before them was from Fundaci

Stream or Download

The \”Something Else! Intro\” marks the familiar beginning to a journey to unfamiliar places… \”Why Don\’t You Take Us\” by Sky King is a hiphop break found on Strange Breaks & Mr Thing compiled by the former Scratch Pervert from the UK. Here\’s what he does when not compiling or producing (there\’s a few naughty words so sorry, it\’s not safe for work or very young ears):

\”Do What\” by The Jivers feat. Anqui is a track I was turned onto by the artists themselves–my friends Fred Spider & Don Pascal of Barcelona. It is featured on the new Jazz & Milk Breaks 3. Given the true jazziness of it I had to follow it with a great version of my favorite track by Eminem (actually, just about the only one I can bear): \”My Name Is\” by Nostalgia 77 feat. The Fiction Band. This comes from a great compilation of cover songs Tru Thoughts Covers featuring artists on that label such as The Bamboos, Quantic & Alice Russell who have all gotten love on my show before. The range of artists covered is quite broad–Jeff Buckley, Frank Sinatra, Lilly Allen and even Roni Size/Reprazent! The next song I was first introduced to by my friend and rare-groove mentor Dj Elonzo, \”It Can Never Be the Same\” by Tower Of Power. I\’ve always been a fan of theirs but when I came across some pre-Warner Brothers albums by them (what most of us know by TOP) I had to look for this tune… \”After The Fire (Alternate Version)\” by Kabuki feat Cleveland Watkiss is something I used to have on vinyl, but found it again on a great dub/downtempo collection Dem Roots (Compiled By Sonar Kollektiv). As I was saying earlier today, if you want me to check out a tune, get Cleveland Watkiss on it… \”Yalopa\” by Julien Jabre is a classy house tune from Phil Asher\’s Jazz In The House 10. You all know I <3 href=\"http://serenityinsound.blogspot.com/2009/08/totin-nuevo-rumbera-jose-marquez-remix.html\">Jose Marquez Remix)\” by Totin. While we\’re dishing out love to LA, might as well throw some toward Rhythm Roots All-Stars\’ \”JJD (Afrodesiac Soundsystem Remix.)\” All who remember the Sunday nights at Santa Monica\’s Temple Bar (RIP) know what these guys can do. Keeping the Afro vibe alive, Tony Allen\’s \”Afropusherman\” with his project Psyco On Da Bus with Doctor L and other talented musicians reminds you why Tony is considered a legend. Red Hot + Riot was issued as part of the Red Hot AIDS/HIV benefit albums and was also a tribute to the late Fela Kuti (Tony Allen\’s most famous associate.) Although some tracks were not, most tracks were either covers of Fela songs such as \”Intro/Water Get No Enemy\” by D\’Angelo, Femi Kuti, & Macy Gray (Featuring Roy Hargrove, Nile Rodgers, The Soultronics & Positive Force.) I close out with a lovely African track that also spreads some west coast love… \”Baro\” by Ahmed Fofana is released for mass-consumption on \”fair trade\” African music label Akwaaba, headed up by my friend Benjamin LeBrave.

Enjoy and expect more fun stuff next week!

Stream or Download

The ever-present Something Else! Intro leads us into the audio journey for this week. Most of the tracks are things I came across on my London trip. Many are things I used to own on vinyl and have found in digital form and a few are completely new to me. \”Depois Que O Ile Passar\” by Virginia Rodrigues is a lovely Brazilian number that one of my co-workers Saturday night at El Cafe De La Plata asked me to \”rewind!\” Ok, that\’s not really true, she just asked me to play it again… \”Slip Into Something More Comfortable\” by Kinobe has a great mix of lounge and groove elements that few people can pull off without sounding cheesy. I have always thought that the Brand New Heavies sounded a lot like Average White Band (that\’s not a dig, I love AWB.) I\’ll get back to this later, but for now enjoy \”Shelter,\” the title track from Brand New Heavies\’ album featuring Siedah Garrett (lyricist for Michael Jackson\’s \”Man In The Mirror\” and co-vocalist on Dennis Edwards\’ \”Don\’t Look Any Further.\”) \”Bring It On\” by Dual Control, \”Hide and Seek\” by Urban Species and \”Straight Playas\” by Fmob are all 90s English classics that I used to have on vinyl and you might have heard if you went to any of the nights I was playing in the mid 90s to 00s: Jazzid Up!, Mondays at The Room Hollywood, Internationalist, Way Out West or even Something Else! at The Brig in Venice Beach. I love buying music 2nd-hand (especially in England!) Getting back to the BNH/AWB comparisons the next track by Average White Band, \”McEwan\’s Export\” (named for a great ale originally from Edinburgh,) shows the Scottish band\’s instrumental proficiency along with their well-known groove capacity and would not be out of place in a Brand New Heavies set. \”Think About Me feat Michelle Escoffery (Joey Negro Club Mix)\” by Artful Dodger is another London find (at the Oxfam shop!) that leads well into a track remixed by LA\’s soulful-house dj and producer Jose Marquez \”Corillo de los Trangalanga (Jose Marquez Remix)\” by Tego Calderon. It\’s a free download from Jose\’s blog Serenity In Sound. He\’s got a few other tunes he\’s remixed as well, so check them out! We close out with \”Red Clay\” by Freddie Hubbard (RIP) one of the foundational jazz-funk tracks that has influenced the likes of Freestyle Fellowship, Jose James, Angie Stone and countless others.

Enjoy!

Stream or Download
I just got back a few days ago from a great trip to London during the world-famous Notting Hill Carnival! It is a great way to celebrate the end of summer with all the great food, festivities and most of all… …MUSIC!! I got a chance to hear the Good Times sound system featuring the legendary Norman Jay MBE (inventor of term \”rare groove,\” discoverer of Gilles Peterson and, along with his brother Joey, the FIRST sound system @ Notting Hill Carnival to play something OTHER than reggae!) He\’s so dope the QUEEN had to give it up (MBE = Member of the British Empire — he\’s not a knight, but he\’s received official recognition for his contribution!)

The Something Else! Intro starts us off on our own \”musical carnival\” leading into \”Change\” by Daniel Merriweather featuring Wale. My first exposure to Daniel came with his guest vocals on the Mark Ronson cover of \”Stop Me\” (Morrissey, ex-Smiths vocalist/lyricist) so I thought maybe he was English–turns out he\’s an Ozzie! \”The Jersey Devil\”by Tony D references a (sub-urban?) legend about a creature who roams about New Jersey terrifying unsuspecting people. \”Maracana Madness (Jon Carter\’s Brazilian Dollar Man Mix)\” by E-Klectic is one of my favorite carnival-style remixes with great percussion and body-checking bass. \”Space Lady\” by Lonnie Liston Smith is another one of those atmospheric jazz-funk tunes from the 70s I tend to be a sucker for. \”Jersey Devil,\” \”Space Lady\” & \”Baseball Fury\” by Rae & Christian are all from CDs I got while in London — \”Space Lady\” is from Mellow Mellow 2: The Feeling Keeps On Coming and the other two are from Grand Central Recordings\’ Central Heating vols. 2 & 1 respectively. \”You Can\’t Hide From Yourself\” by Teddy Pendergrass is a dance classic and also leans toward the music I was playing at my Inspiral Lounge gig in Camden–what I like to call \”disco breaks.\” Some of you might remember that I often refer to music that has been sampled as \”breaks\” (a hiphop term) and much of that music is drawn from jazz, funk and soul. There is also quite a bit of it that comes from disco! I got a really good response when I segued into this music from the jazz-funk I was booked to play (a lot of the disco I was playing was jazzy, so it wasn\’t that much of a stretch.) \”Space Funk\” by Manzel, \”Life On Mars\” by Dexter Wansel, \”Groovin\’ You\” by Harvey Mason and \”All Night Thing\” by Invisible Man Band are for the people who were at the gig and might be listening to this show. As you can hear, this disco isn\’t the gaudy-glasses, fake-afro-wig stuff — it\’s good music aimed for the dancefloor. \”Love Is the Message (Danny Krivit Re-Edit)\” by MFSB/The Salsoul Orchestra is a great way to end a set like this — musical continuity along with a great message that\’s not preachy.

I hope this set is as enjoyable for you as the music I heard in the UK. I am sure that the next few weeks will be influenced by my trip, so prepare for more good stuff. I think next week might have a bit more \”bass\” — you have to see the speakers for the dj setups at Notting Hill, they are INSANE! I will post carnival photos for those of you not on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/djtbird) — watch this space.

Stream or Download

The Something Else! Intro leads us into the evergreen \”B-Movie\” by Gil Scott-Heron. It\’s really sad how this song STILL has so many relevant points. I don\’t know how many times I\’ve referenced it in the last week talking about current events and attitudes. \”Only Love Can Break Your Heart (A Mix of Two Halves)\” by Saint Etienne is a Neil Young cover remixed by NYC producers Masters At Work. Saint Etienne is one of the groups from 90s who are wonderfully confusing, they have elements of folk, dance music, pop and cited dub producer Keith Hudson as an influence. It is followed by \”Soon (Andrew Weatherall Mix)\” by My Bloody Valentine, another 90s track with the kitchen-sink approach to influences. My Bloody Valentine is one of the poster children for \”shoegaze\” music and Andrew Weatherall is a big name in remix production, tending to make disparate elements work alongside each other in his productions. \”Between The Thighs\” by Weather Report represents a music genre that I feel is unfairly maligned, \”jazz-fusion.\” Admittedly, there was much music under that banner that doesn\’t hold water any longer, but a fair amount of it is still quite valid. Weather Report was one of the groups that helped move jazz forward in the 1970s and even into the 1980s with their musicianship and melodies that people could connect with such as their \”hit\” \”Birdland.\” One of my favorite producers in the \”broken-beat\” scene is Daz-I-Kue who pays tribute to music he loves via the Bloodfire label. \”Roots (Uptown)\” by Bloodfire vs Lamont Dozier updates the soul-disco classic \”Back To My Roots.\” By the way, Lamont Dozier was part of the classic songwriting team Holland-Dozier-Holland of Motown hits such as \”How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)\” for Marvin Gaye, The Supremes\’ \”Baby Love\”, \”Stop! In the Name of Love\”, and \”You Keep Me Hangin\’ On.\” \”Divided/United\” by Rasmus Faber is a bargain-bin find, but I think you know I already liked his sound, soulful deep house. While we\’re in the deep house bag, the next track is a partnership of two of the best known San Francisco practicioners, Miguel Migs (aka Petal Pusher) on the remix and Kaskade on writing duties — \”Safe (Miguel Migs Petal Pusher Mix) by Kaskade. \”Twilight Reverie\” by Truth Mechanic was sent to me years ago by the producer (great guy, Jason Brancasio aka Dj Enredo) and I\’ve always liked it. At the time Jason gave it to me I wasn\’t playing as much of that sound as I am now. I close out the show with something appropriate for the weather here in Catalunya (and most places in the northern hemisphere) — \”Summertime\” by Miles Davis & Gil Evans. A nice breezy tune to \”cool out\” to.

I\’m in London next Thursday, so I might take a break on the show until the following week. I promise to have much new music for you!

Stream or Download Hopefully the weather hasn\’t been getting you down lately, whether hot & humid or gray & rainy… This week\’s show is a bit of a \”mood piece.\” Not moody in that \”brooding\” sort of way, more pensive and maybe a bit nostalgic. I found a poem by Nikki Giovanni called \”When Gamble & Huff Ruled\” from a collection called In Philadelphia (Gamble & Huff\’s hometown) that put me in a 70s soul/disco mood. The funny thing is that the first few tunes aren\’t Philly tunes at all, although there is definitely some influence from the style of Gamble & Huff\’s Philadelphia International Records, they are West Coast joints: Jay Dee\’s \”Strange Funky Games and Things\” and The Love Unlimited Orchestra\’s \”Midnight Groove,\” both produced by Barry White (born in Galveston, TX raised in South Central LA.) From that I segue into a hiphop track courtesy of one of my favorite UK MCs, Ty. It\’s not Ty\’s track, just something he blessed fans with to keep us happy till his next production drops. \”Rhymes Equal Actual Life\” by MCM feat C-LONE is a non-poser number. While I have heard some inspired music done by people whose lives were very different than their microphone persona, I have to say I prefer to hear about what\’s really going on in their lives. NYC\’s Nickodemus & Zeb put their spin on Omar Faruk Tekbilek\’s \”Whirling\” from the collection Rare Elements Vol. 2 as featured last show. An acid-jazz classic \”Make Way for the Originals\” by Izit (later re-formed into d&b act London Elektricity) from Fat City\’s Mystic Brew For-Play brings us back to terra-firma and sets us up for some soulful house from Tortured Soul as remixed by Dimitri from Paris \”Another Lover (Dimitri From Paris 80s Throwback Remix.)\” This is followed by two more house tracks from my London trip: Hipnotic\’s (aka Ben Mitchell) cover of the John Coltrane classic \”Naima (Ian O\’Brien Mix)\” and (Ben) Mitchell & (Russ) Dewbury\’s \”Rapping With The Gods (Eric Kupper Dubsax Club Mix)\” which I extend and use as a bed for the Nikki Giovanni poem mentioned at the beginning of the post \”When Gamble & Huff Ruled.\” Kind of completing a circle, no? Tonight I\’m going to play at one of the local discos and they are celebrating their 40th anniversary this whole month, the manager asked me to play a bit more \”throwback style\” (my words, not her\’s.) This is how I\’m feeling about that:

Stream or Download

I went to London last weekend. I had a gig, hung out with friends old and new and… …went shopping! No double-decker/Big Ben/Buckingham Palace trinkets for me, I went straight for the tunes… I\’d heard about Music & Goods Exchange and shopped at the one in Camden before. This time however I also made it down to the one in Notting Hill (near the Notting Hill Gate tube station)–SCORE!!! Although it\’s not any bigger than the Camden branch (possibly even smaller, actually) I did a lot better in the \”Electronic/Dance\” section. This week\’s show is chock full of gems uncovered from this excursion.

We start out with something by a group who doesn\’t get many spins from me, U2. I like a lot of their music, but it often doesn\’t fit into what I do musically. They seem like they have been very open to people remixing their music since the early 90s, which is rare among stadium rock bands. I still remember being excited about getting the Paul Oakenfold remix of \”Even Better Than the Real Thing\” back in the day. \”I\’ll Go Crazy (Redanka Sparks Of Light Dub)\” doesn\’t give me the same rush, but I think it is a lovely piece of music. Most people who know Joe Claussell\’s work might think of him as mystical (or at least mysterious) but his treatment of Omar Faruk Tekbilek\’s \”Sufi (Joe Claussell\’s Mystical Version)\” might make you see God/Allah/Spiritual-Being-of-your-choice. This is from a collection of Omar\’s music put out this year as a 2nd volume to Five Points\’ remix compilation from a few years ago called Rare Elements that featured works by Ustad Sultan Khan. DJ Shadow\’s classic \”What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1 – Blue Sky Revisit)\” from Entroducing gently brings us back to Earth. \”The Spectacle (Mr Scruff Remix)\” by Yam Yam is from Fat City\’s fourth issue of the wonderful series Mystic Brew – Four Play. Normally one might not expect to hear a track by Pharrell Williams if I\’m in control of the music, but one has to let the music speak louder than the names and \”Frontin\’ (Yam Who Remix)\” makes that easy to do. Truth be told, \”Frontin\’\” was probably Pharrell\’s best song for himself and I always dug it. He and Chad Hugo as The Neptunes/N.E.R.D. have penned/produced a list of hits & classics as long as my arm going back to 1992\’s \”Rump Shaker\” featuring a verse written for their then-boss, Teddy Riley. Usually when people talk about the Manchester music scene the references are to Factory Records, The Hacienda and such. While I like \”Fool\’s Gold\” by the Stone Roses as much as the next guy, I much prefer what was coming out of Madchester in the 90s and after–Grand Central, Mr. Scruff, etc. The head of Grand Central Records was DJ Mark Rae and his group Rae + Christian spent a lot of time in my record box. The second album for the group, Sleepwalking, had a companion remix album called Nocturnal Activity that brings us the track \”Vai Viver A Vida (Tom And Joyce 80\’s Funk Remix)\” which takes the energy up another notch and sets us up for Kyoto Jazz Massive\’s Remix of \”Kudu\” by Eddie Henderson for Blue Note Revisited. Wrapping up the set are another 90s classic \”Only Love Can Break Your Heart (A Mix of Two Halves)\” Masters at Work\’s dubby retouch of Saint Etienne\’s electronic Neil Young cover (yes, the song was written by Mr. Rust-Never-Sleeps) and another Jamaican influenced track \”Peckings\” by The Ballistic Brothers on a ska/rocksteady tip…
With the exception of the U2 at the top, all of this music was purchased on the London trip. Don\’t you love it when I travel?