Category: WebRadio Show

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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

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We start off with our first of a few Afro-influenced tracks, \”Kibo\” courtesy of new signing to Freestyle label, Shaolin Afronauts. I personally am quite pleased to see the resurgence of groups with music directly based on African sounds. Going back in time a bit, the next track is by a group responsible for TV show themes (e.g., \”S.W.A.T.\”, \”Barretta\’s Theme [Keep Your Eye On The Sparrow]\”) but this one is a cover of a movie theme, Rhythm Heritage\’s \”3 Days of the Condor\”–the original is by Dave Grusin, who scored the film. Their cover is a little bit funkier than the original. Speaking of cover versions, turns out that Eddie Russ\’ \”See The Light\” is a cover of Earth Wind & Fire! It\’s not his only cover as he has a version of \”Don\’t Ask My Neighbors\” the Emotions song which was originally produced by and featured members of, you guessed it–Earth Wind & Fire. Once again we return to the sound of \”The Motherland,\” Africa with Ariya Astrobeat Arkestra\’s \”Sankofa (ft Testament of Homecut.)\” Although many of us tend to associate this sound with western Africa\’s Nigeria, it is also quite prominent in Ghana as well–as indicated by Testament\’s verses. Although \”On My Knees For You\” by Red is \’latin\’ sounding, the rhythms are the evolution of music brought over from Africa during the colonization of the Americas. This track and the preceding one are from a great free sampler Two Syllables Vol. 5 Keeping latin, we check in with Stereo 77 and the track \”Sin Pena\” from the forthcoming compilation Latin Flavored Fire on the Spring Strut label. As mentioned on my last blog entry, (as a member of Los Chicos Altos) I will have the honor of Djing with Al Lindrum (aka Love Avalanche) at the next Urban World Social Club Barcelona. The next track is by Al Lindrum & His Magic Hat, is called \”Hide & Seek\” and is available from Urban World Records. LA folks who are into underground hiphop should know the name DJ Drez. He has worked with numerous names in that world such as Living Legends, Bahamadia and Aceyalone. DJ Drez and Trae Sevn on \”Saturn Movment feat. Steve White\” incorporate more \”world music\” influences (jamaican dancehall, bhangra) and jazz elements. The next track takes some of those elements and takes them up a notch… Phuture Motion\’s \”Tu No Sabes Nada (Andy H Remix)\” has the \”bogle beat\” & big bass of dancehall pumped up West London-style (think Bugz In The Attic) with bi-lingual lyrics (English/Spanish!) Another track from Two Syllables… While we\’re in the neighborhood of something with a London sound, Late Night Alumni\’s \”It\’s Not Happening (Original Mix)\” has the sound & groove of some classic UK garage that one might have heard at a classic London event like Twice as Nice–fat bass, pumping beat. Hansi\’s \”Brazilian Groove\” goes a bit summery house, heating things up again from the compilation Latin Flavored Fire. We wrap up with another Urban World Records track that has a slightly different Brazilian vibe–baile funk. Mo Fire bat \”clean up\” with \”Baile Do Mau Mau (Savages y Suefo Shuffle.)\”

Do NOT miss your next opportunity to hear this music at a great party! Los Chicos Altos (T-Bird & Maxey Blaze) + Al Lindrum (aka Love Avalanche) on deck; Urban World Social Club Barcelona Saturday, February 12 @ Bodega Del Onze: C/ Blai 8, Poble Sec, Barcelona 08004

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Something Else! Intro starting us off before a trip to \”East India\” courtesy of David Sancious from his Forest of Feelings solo debut from ages ago. I say \”solo\” because David\’s first big credit is as keyboardist for Bruce Springsteen\’s E-Street Band. Turns out (according to Wikipedia) that E Street is where David\’s mother lived and allowed the band to practice. From \”eastern vibe\” to laid-back soul courtesy of Minnie Riperton on her \”Feelin\’ That The Feeling\’s Good\” from Adventures In Paradise. French artists DJ LBR & Cut Killer take us on a trip back to the 90s with \”Keep It Real!

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Something Else! Intro starts our first show of the year leading into a nod to recent worldwide festivities, \”New Year\’s Countdown\” courtesy of Beatport.com. Shy FX (featuring Donae\’o) does a bit of a surprise, as the jungle/drum & bass master goes roots reggae for the remix of his own tune \”Raver (Shy\’s Guinness Punch Mix.)\” You download the whole EP for free from his online label Digital Soundboy, which is also responsible for a great track from last year that appears later in the set. Local favorites here in Catalunya, La Troba Kung Fu, are up next with their tribute to the capital, \”Barcelona.\” If you listen closely, at the beginning of the track there is the sound of a metro taking off from a stop and a moment later the little melody that precedes the announcement of each stop–kind of clever, no? Meanwhile back in Philly, King Britt presents Sylk 130 gives us \”Incident On A Couch Pt2 Feat James Poyser – Re-Member\’s Only\” from the great compilation Saturn Never Sleeps Sampler #2. Like its namesake, the music tends to be a bit \”out there,\” yet beautiful, like the planet with its famous rings. I\’ve featured the music of Maddslinky (aka Zed Bias) before and this new track that features vocalist Tawiah, \”Further Away (Radio Edit Full Vocal)\” is something else I think you\’ll enjoy. Great vocals by Tawiah and good track as always from Maddslinky. Don\’t hesitate to check out more of his work with one of our favorite labels, Tru Thoughts. Next up, I love the way that Plan B\’s \”Prayin\’ (Breakage Remix)\” perfectly captures the tension in the lyrics and still manages to \”bump.\” Sex-O-Sonique\’s classic \”I Thought It Was You (Salt City Orchestra\’s \”Herbie Rides Again\” Remix)\” is a dancefloor friendly revamp of a Herbie Hancock track where he \”sings\” with the aid of a vocoder–a device used to give vocal properties to his keyboard. Speaking of classic, Spring Strut artist XIV gives us \”Return To The Classics,\” an acid-jazz track with some nice breaks, samples and trumpet melodies. By the way, expect a release on Spring Strut soon featuring Los Chicos Altos (Maxey Blaze and yours truly.) One of our remixes is up next, Appietus featuring 4X4 \”Miss Doctor (Los Chicos Altos Mix)\” an artist from another label we like, Akwaaba. If you dig African music, on their site there is a mix of music from their catalog by reknown Dj Zhao.
Speaking of stuff we like, \”Whisky\” is one of the new offerings from favored producer Seiji! Bass music at its finest and offerred for free on his website. He has a few two-track singles available for purchase for the nice price of 1 GBP each (nice currency conversion website here.) Keeping it bass-heavy, Digital Soundboy artist Donae\’o brings us his \”Riot Music (Shy FX Radio Mix.)\” Definitely check out the video below, great editing job! Back in the 90s, the following song became an anthem for fans of jungle/drum & bass and is appropriately titled \”Junglist.\” This artist has been part of this scene since the early days of the music, Rebel Mc Feat Peter Bouncer \”Junglist (Original Mix)\” — maybe warn the neighbors, this is SERIOUS bass… Closing is a personal favorite, but it\’s a bit \”raw\” as stated in the intro (not for the easily offended.) Redman is from Newark, NJ and he embraces the (dubious) reputation of his home known as \”Brick City.\” He\’s not a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, but he\’s associated with them for the most part because he often makes music with Method Man and they even did a film together called How High. The plus is that this track was made/remixed by another favorite artist of mine, Roni Size of Reprazent/Full Cycle/Dope Dragon fame. Enjoy Redman\’s \”I Got A Secret (Remix.)\”

More new music soon!

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Something Else! Intro
Isley Brothers – \”Harvest for the World\”
Kabanjak – \”Rhythm\”
Walter Murphy – \”Mostly Mozart\”
DJ Moog – \”Flavour (Danny Massure Remix)\”
Yolanda Wynns – \”I Know You, I Live You\”
Gilles Peterson\’s Havana Cultura Band – \”Rezando (feat. Roberto Fonseca) [Michel Cleis Remix]\”
Alister Johnson – \”Static\” feat.Voice
Earth Wind & Fire – \”Runnin\’\”
Fugi – \”Mary Don\’t Take Me on No Bad Trip\”
Natalie Cole – \”Sophisticated Lady\”
Shut Up & Dance – \”So What You Smoking?\”
Submotion Orchestra – \”Finest Hour (Planas Remix)\”

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The ubiquitous Something Else! Intro leads into a mellow classic by Herbie Hancock, \”Tell Me A Bedtime Story\” from his late 60s release, Fat Albert Rotunda. Jumping from jazz to jazzy hiphop, next up is L.A. hiphop group The Nonce\’s \”Keep It On.\” Another classic group associated with Los Angeles, although they originally hail from Oklahoma, The Gap Band and their not-quite-slow jam \”Outstanding (12\” Mix.)\” Keeping it local, the next track is by another Los Angeles transplant, Justo Almario, who has played with Mongo Santamaria, Charles Mingus and Roy Ayers, producer for the uptempo funky \”Sho\’ You Right.\” Dipping back in the hiphop bag, Showbiz & AG bring us \”Soul Clap\”–a dancefloor monster. Completely flipping the script, we go gospel next with Walter Hawkins And Selah and \”Where Will You Run.\” From Verve\’s Jazz Remixed compilation comes Space Jazz Dub Men\’s take on a Duke Ellington classic (with a twist from Incognito) \”It Don\’t Mean A Thing (Incognito Remix.)\” Although they don\’t seem to be credited, those vocals sound like Carmen McCrae to me. The next track is by a relatively new jazz vocalist, Sara Mitra. I\’m really enjoying her album April Song and the title track shows you why–fresh sound, yet firmly jazz. Next up is a group I\’ve dug for a long time but calling them \”jazz\” can start debates with some folks. Another title track, this time from Weather Report, \”Mysterious Traveller.\” Great playing, interesting sounds and a definite feeling of \”otherworldliness.\” Keeping it mysterious, Ninja Tune artist 9 Lazy 9 with a classic remix \”Electric Lazyland (Journeyman\’s Electric Lazyman.)\” Electronic music, but groovy and still quite \”moody.\” The wrap-up track of this set is by old favorites, The Easy Star All-Stars. From their remix album Dubber Side of the Moon, comes \”Money (The Alchemist Remix)\” their tweak of the Pink Floyd classic.

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The \”Something Else! Intro\” leads us right into the soulful cut by organist Caeser Frazier, the self-referential \”Hail Caesar!\” As you probably know, we like our jazz with a mixer of funk…
Patrice Rushen\’s \”Hang It Up\” is the inverse–a funk tune with large dollops of jazz! We try to be egalitarian (or at least fair) with our seeking out soul music and reggae is definitely no stranger to soulful sounds. The Black Seeds from New Zealand have a remix album out, Specials and \”Make A Move (Downtown Brown Remix feat. MC\’s Mighty Asterix & Switch)\” is one of my favorite cuts I\’ve heard off it. It leads well into Easy Star All-Stars\’ \”Step It Pon The Rastaman Scene (Border Crossing Remix)\” from their remix album as well Dubber Side of the Moon. The next cut is a remake of an Evelyn \”Champagne\” King track. The artist is Jennifer Lara on \”I\’m In Love (Jugoe\’s Re-Work)\” — a Dj-friendly, lovely reggae version of an 80s soul classic. Moving on to the 90s, DJ Krush\’s \”Big City Lover (Remix)\” a big acid-jazz favorite brings us to Janet Jackson\’s \”Got It Till It\’s Gone (Mellow Mix)\” feat Q-Tip. Oddly, I didn\’t know about this version until quite recently. The next tune sounds very much like something The Roots would do, but instead we have NYC\’s Jungle Brothers on their track \”Brain.\” Taking a small trip \”across the pond\” we head to the UK for Aim\’s \”Ain\’t Got Time To Waste (Instrumental w/Vibes).\” Simon Shaheen makes the proceedings a bit more \”exotic\” with his take on \”Al Hinna\” a piece by Egyptian composer Mohamed Abdel Wahab. Sunburst Band follow up with \”Journey To The Sun (Reprise,)\” a slightly more upbeat track setting us up for our closers. Boogie fans will know Dayton\’s \”The Sound of Music\” and \”Glide\” by Pleasure. Dayton was part of the Ohio funk dynasty that includes The Ohio Players, Zapp & Roger Troutman (all from Dayton) and Bootsy\’s Rubber Band (Bootsy is from Cincinatti.) Pleasure, in contrast was a west-coast band from Portland, Oregon who\’s first albums were produced by Wayne Henderson of The Crusaders and later albums featured keyboardist Jeff Lorber. Marlon \”The Magician\” McClain (guitar) and Nathaniel Phillips (bass) now have a group with Lorber called Shades Of Soul.