Clashing Egos - Aminjig Nebere (I Trusted You) - Joakim's Afrobot Mix

I've posted this one before but today when I was doing the hoovering, no really I swear I was, I was playing an old mix CD of mine from a while back to ease the pain of doing women's work (put the knives down girls, I'm kidding) and this record stood out a mile. Joakim is one of my favourite producers and he rarely disappoints and this is probably the best thing he has ever done, which is saying something. It isn't the most complicated of records, and the best ones usually aren't, but what it does do is groove and when you're playing house music or anything with a 4/4 beat all you really want is a solid groove and this track has it in abundance. This is one of those any time any place records and one that you should hunt down, especially as the Jean Winner remixes on the flip are pretty darn good in their own right. It might cost you a few sheets but it'll be worth each and every piece of hard-earned.

Clashing Egos - Aminjig Nebere (I Trusted You) - Joakim's Afrobot Mix

The Revenge - Cadillac

This is an edit of Hot Chocolate Heaven Is In The Back Seat of My Cadillac and I think it is by Wolverhampton's finest cut-up expert Mark E but don't hold me to that. I know that the Unabombers have been caning this one and its easy to see why as it's definitely one of those records that gets the blood racing and the fists pumping. I don't really have more to say about it as I'm thoroughly engrossed listening to the The Bears Upstairs on Unity Radio (goes out every Thursday at 10pm UK time) and I think the record speaks enough for itself, that and my brother in arms, Paul Hughes, is on the radio and I miss the fella.

The Revenge - Cadillac

Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - California Soul

Tammi Terrell began recording for Scepter/Wand Records at the age of 15, before touring with the James Brown Revue for a year. In 1965, she married heavyweight boxer Ernie Terrell, the brother of future Supreme Jean Terrell. Terrell's warm, sensuous vocals won her a contract with Motown Records later that year, and in 1966 she enjoyed a series of R&B hits, among them a soulful rendition of This Old Heart Of Mine. In 1967, she was selected to replace Kim Weston as Marvin Gaye's recording partner and this inspired teaming produced Gaye's most successful duets, and the pair issued a stream of hit singles between 1967 and 1969.

As Gaye and Terrell wove around each other's voices, creating an aura of romance and eroticism that led to persistent rumours that they were lovers. From the beginning, their partnership was tinged with unhappiness, Terrell collapsing in Gaye's arms during a performance in 1967. She was diagnosed as suffering from a brain tumour, and despite a series of major operations over the next three years, her health steadily weakened. By 1969, she was unable to perform in public, and on several of the duo's final recordings, their producer, Valerie Simpson, controversially claims to have taken her place. Ironically, one of these tracks, The Onion Song, proved to be the most successful of the Gaye/Terrell singles in the UK. Tammi Terrell died on 16 March 1970, her burial service attracting thousands of mourners, including many of her Motown colleagues.

There are many versions of California Soul but to me this is the definitive version, a song that is sung so beautifully and with so much passion that it almost jumps off the record when you listen to it. Marvin Gaye allegedly only sang to 80% of his abilities and I can only imagine what this would've sounded like had he sung to his full capabilities. It is sad that Tammi died before her time but what she has left us with is a legacy that includes some of the great R&B and soul records of all time and for that we should be eternally grateful. This record makes perfect sense in the sun, which after the random snow flurry we had last week is most certainly here and thank goodness for that.

Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - California Soul

Stan Smith

Stan Smith was an American tennis player who won just about everything the game had to offer but were it not for the iconic shoes that adidas made for him then I wouldn't be writing this - it's all about the shoes. Just as firmly as I believe every record collection should have a copy of Pépé Bradock Life I believe that every respectable shoe collector should have a pair of Stan Smiths tucked away somewhere.

The shoe was introduced as the first all leather tennis shoe and interestingly they were never originally intended for Stan Smith but rather the earliest version of the shoe was produced in cooperation with and endorsed by French tennis player, Robert Haillet - this first version of the shoe had a thick outsole and lacked the adidas trefoil logo on the heel. In the mid-60s, an up and coming tennis phenomenon came to the attention of adidas, and the shoes were renamed in 1971 after Stan Smith who went on to win seven Davis Cups, 39 singles titles and 61 doubles crowns in his distinguished career. His shoes have gone on to sell 30 million pairs and counting and the company has just recently released a limited edition Tournament Edition to presumably coincide with Wimbledon this year. There are two versions out, the green heeled one that I stumped for, which is limited to 1000 pairs worldwide and the even harder to get wallet-bursting off-white edition that has the number of the shoe embossed into the heel, I think they're limited to 300 pieces at most. If I see a pair for a decent price I'll probably buy them, I'm mad like that. They also released a t-shirt that proudly proclaims the wearers love for the shoes and it is a t-shirt that I wear with pride, and one that does get me a very extra nerd points along the way.




You can buy these from any of the adidas Originals stores in the US, and I'm assuming worldwide.

Henrik Schwarz/Amampondo - I Exist Because of You - Henrik Schwarz Live Version

Amampondo are, like myself, from Cape Town and were formed in 1978 in Langa, which is a township just on the outskirts of the city and the original aim was to preserve the rich musical traditions of South Africa in general and the Xhosa people in particular. An ethnomusicologist (wouldn't you like that on your business card?) named Andrew Tracey introduced the group to some fast vanishing Southern African instruments like the Kudu horn, the akadinda, a large wooden xylophone and the chopi xylophone from Mozambique and since then they have gone on to play everywhere from Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday celebrations at Wembley in London to the Atlanta Olympics and just about every country you'd care to mention the world over.


Amampondo tend to play traditional African music, which is of course dominated by the drum and vocal harmonies that make it perfect for someone like Henrik Schwarz to tinker with. For my money Henrik Schwarz has been the freshest thing to hit the music scene in years and on I Exist Because of You the percussive groove augmented by Henrik's expert placing of the vocals in the mix make this quite possibly the best heads down dancing record that has been released in a long time. Far too many records are way too long but this one, which clocks in at just under ten minutes, is far too short for my liking. This is definitely one of those records that once I've finished listening to it I pick up the needle and start again - it has all the elements that I look for in house music and in music in general for that matter and I really hope that by the end of the year we get two or three more records of this quality, which will take some doing, but if we do then it will have been a very good year for music indeed.

Henrik Schwarz/Amampondo - I Exist Because of You - Henrik Schwarz Live Version

Tokyo Black Star - Kagura

So first off the reason why I haven't been posting much over the past few days is that Blogger was blocked on the network that I use, but after a few frantic e-mails all is restored and I'm free to type more random bollocks, there is a loser in all this but I'm just trying to work out who.


Tokyo Black Star is the result of the musical relationship between Alex From Tokyo and Isao Kumano who some of you may remember from a couple of releases on the sadly defunct Japanese label Flower Records. They've been making music together for a while but have really stepped up since 2005 and have released work on Sonar Kollektiv, Deeply Rooted and Innervisions and the releases have been as eclectic as Alex's DJ sets, which truly do run the full gamut of electronic music - he was the one DJ that I really wanted to book for Kumo but by the time the opportunity arised we had already packed it in. Have a look at Alex's playlist here to get an idea of what the little magician plays.

The first time I came across a Tokyo Black Star release was when they re-jigged a Tony Allen release on P-Vine at the turn of the century and they've made everything from deep house to minimal techno but for this release they've entered the world of ambient and from what I gather it'll be on their forthcoming album Muting The Noise. This is definitely one of those records that sucks you in and has that cinematic feel that was so popular when clubs still had chillout rooms back in the mid-90s, except this one is just the right side of the Jean-Michel Jarre rubbish that I put up with when I was taking a break from dancing my socks off at various haunts in Cape Town at the time. This isn't as instant as some of the records that I've posted on here and is probably crying out for a kick drum but for here and now this works for me and then some.

Tokyo Black Star - Kagura

Aretha Franklin - Drinking Again/Trouble In Mind

Aretha Sings The Blues is quite easily one of my favourite records of all-time, it is immaculate from first cut to last and the album is one of the few that I can listen to from start to finish without thinking about some other record to play. Aretha Franklin of course needs no introduction and her voice honed through many years of singing gospel in her father's church is shown off incredibly as she works her way through the 14 tracks on the album. This is her mastering the blues but there is a heavy swing jazz feel to some of the backing tracks on here to go with the slow deep down south gut bucket blues that endear this record so much to me. My wife introduced this album to me at the beginning of our relationship and I knew then and there that she was the woman for me and we've spent many a Sunday reading the papers with this as the perfect accompaniment. This record is bursting with emotion and soul and for my money it is easily one of the ten best records of all-time, and one that every record collection should have. I've chosen two pieces of magic for you to dive in and enjoy. What an album from one of the greatest voices ever.

Aretha Franklin - Drinking Again

Aretha Franklin - Trouble In Mind

Baggy - Space Race vol. 9

Simon Ashton aka Baggy is one third of Cosmic Disco, who did an installment of the One Hundred Project which you can read here, and I've been listening to his Space Race series since its inception and he's just dropped volume 9 for all of us to enjoy. Baggy is the sort of DJ who puts a lot of care and effort into his mixes that push the outer limits of all things cosmic. I'm not really one for putting links to mixes on other sites on here but for my fellow City fan I'll make an exception because of the sheer quality of his efforts, he's definitely one of the best out there.

Tracklisting

Jerry Goldsmith - Flameout [MGM]
Harald Grosskopf - Emphasis [SKY]
Codek - Closer [Island]
Love International - Airport Of Love [Polydor]
Laurie Anderson - Excellent Birds [Warner]
Bill Wyman - Nuclear Reactions [A&M]
Yellow Magic Orchestra - Seoul Music [Alfa]
Danielle Baldelli - Kumba [Baldelli]
Quattro - Mexican Bandito [Bar De Luna]
Yellow Power - Hai Samurai (Pilooski Edit) [Tigersushi]
DJ Enne - Lazize (Main Mix) [Compost]
Tullio De Piscopo - E Fatto E Sorde E (Money Money) [Max Essa Edit] [Strut]
Traesko - Cubacumba [Madison]
Valarenga Blues & Disko Combo - Ballerina
Cristal - La Nuit Pour Nous [Crocos]
Metro Area - Pina [Environ]
K.I.D - Don’t Stop [SAM]

Download the mix here.

Padded Cell - Faces of The Forest

The men behind Padded Cell are Richard Sen of Bronx Dogs fame and Neil Higgins who was a member of the Dirty Beatniks and together they have come up with a sound that straddles that line between electro, jazz, funk, disco and techno for a sound that is uniquely theirs. They have just released their new album Night Must Fall that has more than a slight No Wave feel to it but this track, Faces of The Forest, which was the b-side to Moon Menace a year or so ago, that is to me their strongest work by a mile. It is incredibly energetic and one that could decimate dancefloors given half the chance and a record that could work as well in a Prins Thomas set as a Steve Bug set. I defy you to try to not dance to this.

Padded Cell - Faces of The Forest

Innerzone Orchestra - At Les

Innerzone Orchestra was a side project under the immaculate vision of one of my heroes, Carl Craig, who in my opinion has done as much for music as the likes of Davis, Coltrane and whomever the jazz nerds care to mention to counter the argument. The project has its roots in one of the benchmarks on the drum 'n bass scene Bug In The Bassbin, a record that still sounds incredibly cutting edge and futuristic and from here James Lavelle picked up the record and re-released it on his incredibly influential Mo' Wax label and from here Carl Craig set up a live band to go with the project and who at the core he recruited no less than Francisco Mora who was a member of the great Sun Ra's Arkestra and Craig Taborn who played with the Art Ensemble of Chicago plus in addition to those two incredible musicians the group also included Paul Randolph and Matthew Chicoine who is of course better known as Recloose. An incredible line-up and one that surely should've produced more than one album but the work that was produced, 1999's Programmed, is one of the best and most complete albums of all time, irrespective of genre.

At Les is a bonafide techno classic, a record that frequently comes up in many of the world's best DJs top 10 all-time tunes lists, and one of those records that is as perfect as it is simple. It is all about the piano-line for me and one that perfectly compliments the rest of the sounds and the percussion that pushes the record forward. I've easily listened to this at least a thousand times and I've never grown bored of it. You've probably all heard it before but once more isn't going to hurt.

Innerzone Orchestra - At Les

Undisputed Truth - I Saw You When You Met Her

Undisputed Truth were a 70s Motown band used by the legendary Norman Whitfield as an opportunity to experiment with different recording techniques in order to make his own brand of psychedelic soul. You may know other cuts of theirs such as Ball of Confusion, Smiling Faces Sometimes and Law of The Land all of which are essential but for my money I Saw You When You Met Her is by far away their best work. It is a record that was far ahead of its time and one that will still work in clubs today, an unbelievably good piece of music and one that has been on constant rotation since I stumbled upon it a few months back.

Undisputed Truth - I Saw You When You Met Her

Santogold - Starstruck

Santogold was a member of Philadelphia-based punk band Stiffed and has recently set sail on a solo career that has resulted in her self-titled debut album that is easily one of the freshest things that I have heard in a long time. Unsurprisingly she has been compared to M.I.A. and her goal is quite simply to bring back pop records that have a bit of depth to them instead of the cardboard cut-out product endorsement twaddle that litters the airwaves. I've chosen Starstruck off her album because it reminds me a bit of a Ben Mono record in that it is hard to categorize it as it skirts the lines between hip hop and techno with a bit of cosmic sensibilities thrown in for good measure. It is a record that is fresh as fuck and one that you really shouldn't overlook. The fact that she was brought up on a diet of Fela Kuti records endeared her that much more to me as I'm sure you can imagine given my borderline obsession with the Kalakuta Emperor.

Santogold - Starstruck

Isn't Youtube Great?

This is a campaign video by two students up here at the Idyllwild Arts Academy for possible election for Student Body President and Senior Class President. I think it is hilarious.


I'm a huge fan of stop-animation and this is from the Bolex Brothers' supreme The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb, which is easily in my top 3 films of all-time.


This a documentary by Doug Pray called Surf Wise and I really want to see it.


The older I get the more I get into Fela Kuti, and this documentary isn't helping me decide whether or not to drop $80 on a slightly dubious piece of Fela magic one little bit. No more expensive records, he says...

William DeVaughn - Be Thankful For What You've Got - DJ Day re-edit

William DeVaughn is an R&B and soul singer from the 70s and 80s probably best known for this track, Be Thankful For What You've Got, which he initially released in 1974 or thereabouts and ended up selling well in excess of two million copies, which is understandable when you consider that members of legendary disco band MFSB played on it. The copy of the album of the same name sells for $50/$60 a copy now and there is one at Dusty Groove should the urge take you.

Apparently William, who is a Jehovah's Witness, got a bit preachy towards the mid-to-late 70s and spent a large deal of his shows admonishing his audience, which is sure-fire career suicide and started releasing albums that were fervently religious and his fan base dwindled as a result. The version of Be Thankful For What You've Got that fellow Inland Empire resident, DJ Day, has decided to re-edit is the 1980 version that William DeVaughn did on his comeback album and it is a record dripping with soul on a bed of boogie (pretty shit analogy, granted) and is a record that I can see being played on terraces in the sunshine over the summer. File this one next to your Latimore records and check out DJ Day's remix of Erykah Badu Honey, which you can download over at Northern Comfort - the instrumental is particularly good.

William DeVaughn - Be Thankful For What You've Got - DJ Day re-edit

Fanga feat. Tony Allen - Crache La Douleur

Afrobeat band, Fanga, are from Montpellier in France and they've released a couple of albums in recent years on which Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen lends his funky touch to a couple of cuts, most impressively on Crache La Douleur which is pretty much the best dance record out there at the moment. In the Afrobeat cannon it stands shoulder to shoulder with Fela's Everything Scatter as a record that can really ignite a dancefloor with its incredible horns that Tunde Williams would be proud of and its Yoruba call and response lyrics. Fanga apparently means 'Force' in West African dialect Dioula and as a band they 'denounce the inequality created by the quest for profit and embraces the re-integration of humanity and earth'. They're a band that I would love to see and a group that all of you should get into immediately. Feel the horns.

Fanga feat. Tony Allen - Crache La Douleur

Here they are performing live on French television, which is ace.

The Rosebuds - Get Up Get Out - Justin Vernon of Bon Iver remix

First off, I know that I am posting like a bit of a demon of late but allergies, stress and boredom have all played a role in me having trouble sleeping, ain't insomnia a bitch? Anyway, this is a record for those of you who enjoy a bit of Studio, Coyote or Tiedye, the superb Justin Vernon of Bon Iver remix of The Rosebuds Get Up Get Out. I have never heard of The Rosebuds before and the original version of this is extremely uplifting and I can see it doing well but the remix is absolutely superb stuff, just the sort of record that you want to listen to again and again.

The record has that end of the night anthem vibe about it, especially if you've played a set of smack 'em over the head house or cosmic records and you want something that makes it feel like you've got the sun on your back and sand between your toes. Justin Vernon is of course known for his other nome de plume, Bon Iver, under which he released the superb For Emma, Forever Ago, which is truly an album that you can play from start to finish and there aren't many of those around anymore in our singles/iTunes-driven music consumption culture, and if this is the sort of remix work that he can do then hopefully some A&R bod out there will give him a shot at brightening up the likes of Lindstrom and Aeroplane who are all going a bit too prog plod for me at the moment.


I went through progressive house once in the 1990s and it was enough for me, and when I listen to some records coming out on the cosmic/re-edit scene they aren't exactly sounding a million miles away and it's kind of off-putting in all truth, the same can be said for some of the minimal records out at the moment that sound like the even more boring cousin of some of the darker prog records that came out at the beginning of the century before thankfully DJs got bored and started playing songs again and weren't afraid of a bit of melody instead of some ket-driven mind-numbing loop.

Anyway I'm digressing a bit here, seek out this record and play it on a Sunday morning when the sun is shining, I'm sure it'll make a fine addition to your eggs 'n papers routine.

The Rosebuds - Get Up Get Out - Justin Vernon of Bon Iver remix

Johnny Cupcakes LA Shoppe

While not being particularly fond of the clothing itself, I do respect Johnny Cupcakes for the visual language that he uses on both his apparel and in his store designs. I don't think I'd ever wear any of the clothing myself as I'm probably a bit too old for it but I can see queues around the block when his shoppe opens on Melrose Ave. over the summer. Besides being assured of him doing something with the Dodgers or Lakers logos, which seems to be a rule in streetwear something that I wish would end, we can also be certain that his store will be out of this world. He has a great feel for conceptual ideas and this video is further proof of this. One thing that I do respect about the man is that he takes absolutely no short cuts when pleasing the customer, and a look at his blog and how he packages his items is testimony to this.






Here is the letter/message/transmission/whatever that he posted on his blog to accompany his video. I like this guy.

The first sneak peek of the Johnny Cupcakes LA shoppe. Working closely with a company that builds, fabricates and engineers various things for Disney Land/World, Universal Studios as well as other international artists + architects. They're helping me bring all my crazy ideas to life. This new LA Johnny Cupcakes shoppe will be quite the memorable experience.

My parents and select friends think I'm insane for putting so much time, energy and money into my LA shoppe. I really just want it to be a fun, different, memorable experience. Whether people are or are not into my brand, every time they see a bakery or a cupcake they talk about Johnny Cupcakes. "Oh my - there's this kid who's been opening up bakeries on expensive streets, and he doesn't even sell real food!" - Instantly friends of the upset hungry people, become very curious & have to check out this Johnny Cupcakes thing.

Now how about this; After going into my new LA shoppe and seeing 36 vintage oven doors that move & steam - as well as witnessing a giant 10' foot tall oven that employees walk in and out of... EVERY time those happy and/or unhappy people see an oven in their lifetime, my name/brand will probably come up in conversation. Every human looks at an oven at least two times a day, every day. "Oh my - there's this kid who opens up bakeries on expensive streets & doesn't even sell real food! On top of that, he has a poo poo load of moving/steaming vintage ovens in his store. This kid even has a 10' foot tall oven that employees walk in and out of! I don't get it?!"

Yadda yadda yadda... anyways - I just still have that prankster inside of me. I almost feel like the Willy Wonka of t-shirts. I enjoy making people feel like kids again. And I want everyone to remember me when I pass away. I don't plan on passing away anytime soon, but it would be nice to be some sort of historic wise tale that gets passed down. And if/when I do pass away, it would be nice to go down in an adventurous way - via a great white shark eating me whole.

Most companies try to cut corners to turn a huge profit, and don't think twice about making the customers happy via spending extra time, energy & money on attention to details & experiences. Well I'm ALL for the little (and BIG) details. It is all about the experience, because at the end of the day we're all just humans hustling a product to consumers. Why not make it an unforgettable adventure for both parties?

Anyways, that's my two cents.

Bon Appetit!

It's not great secret that I'll be opening my own shop fairly soon, still waiting for USCIS to play the game though, and I'm hoping that on my meagre budget that I'll be able to do something half as striking as what Johnny is coming up with, ok maybe a quarter.

Steel an' Skin - Afro Punk Reggae (dub)

Steel an' Skin are a group of musicians born in disparate nations such as Ghana, Nigeria, St. Kitts, Trinidad and the U.K., who once performed with Ginger Johnson's Afrikan Drummers, who some of you may remember from the London Is The Place For Me compilations, Steel an' Skin who came together in the 1970s and who began giving concerts and workshops in London schools before expanding nationwide to schools, prisons, psychiatric hospitals and summer festivals including amongst others the world-famous Notting Hill Carnival. Carrying on from Robert Rauschenberg in a sense, Steel 'an Skin combined an admirably brave and open mix of musical forms with an emphasis on community outreach wherever they played.

Afro Punk Reggae (dub) is the standout track for me on the recently re-issued Honest Jon's 12" because of its incredible groove, one that is as disco as anything played at the Loft or the Gallery, and this is a record that stands out above most at the moment. Great record.

Steel an' Skin - Afro Punk Reggae (dub)

Geoff B's Rare Groove Pressure

Geoff Bowling who runs Pass The Feeling On has just dropped a highly enjoyable rare groove mix on his blog that I am sure that some of you may enjoy. The absolute highlight for me is Wanted Dead or Alive by Voices of East Harlem, which is an amazing record and one that has been getting plenty of plays around the house in recent weeks. Some superb selections.

TRACKLISTING

Creative Source – Funky Luvah
Rawsoul Express – The way we live
Sisters Love- Give me your love
Voices of East Harlem – Wanted Dead or Alive
Lee Dorsey – Night People
Brother to Brother – Chance with you
Tommy Stewart – Bump and hustle music
Linda Lewis – Elevate our minds
Benny Golson – I’m always dancing to the music
TS Monk – Can’t keep my hands to myself
Creative Source – Give you my love
Erasmus Hall – Just me ‘n’ you
Leroy Hutson – Love the way you make me feel
Jay Dee – Strange games and funky things
Milton Wright – Keep it up
Willie Hutch – Sho give you love

Download the mix and read Geoff's write-up here.

RIP Robert Rauschenberg

We lost a good one yesterday. Robert Rauschenberg died at the age of 82. One of my lecturers at university dismissed him as nothing more than a Dada Clown, which is a bit harsh. I used to spend a lot of time at Michaelis going through the heaps of books that they had in the library when I was trying to come up with ideas to use in the various projects that I was set during my time there and there was one particular book on Rauschenberg that I would come back to time and time again for a healthy helping of inspiration.


I always liked his work because it had a narrative that would jump out at you before you've had the chance to read about the hows and whys. I am very into work that lets you come up your own viewer agenda rather than reading some twat pontificate on about how his or her works correlates with Foucault (and his fucking pendulum) or Sontag. To me, Rauschenberg's use of found imagery and materials is the very essence of street art, and he was definitely someone who inadvertently had as much of an influence on the work we see in the Lowbrow/Juxtapoz scene today as Jackson Pollock or Andy Warhol. Rauschenberg lived, breathed, ate and shit art - even when paralyzed by a stroke he continued to create and mentor young artists and communities through the Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange, which he saw as a way of bringing cultures together.


Rauschenberg was never afraid of innovation and when he started adding sound to his Combines - which is what he called his reliefs and sculptures - he worked closely with Billy Kulver to form E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology) he revolutionized the way artists hung and showed their work and for that alone he should be applauded. He was also the first American artist to exhibit in China but his most significant contribution to the world of art was his belief that art could chance society and mend its ills. He travelled the world interacting with disparate people and leaving his undeniable mark at every place that his feet touched the ground and for that alone he is one of my heroes.


Godspeed Robert and rest in peace, you'll be sorely missed.