Los Angeles based trio King were our guests for an incredible interview/performance at KPFK. In the spring of 2011 the group self-released three tracks as well as a music video for their song “The Story” and caused a legitimate sensation, gaining major league cheerleaders in Phonte Coleman of Little Brother/Foreign Exchange, Questlove of the Roots, Erykah Badu and even Prince. Since then, they’ve been honing their craft, collaborating with Robert Glasper on the Grammy award winning Black Radio and working on their proper debut release, which we might just see here in 2013. In our interview we talked about the origins of the group, which features twins Paris and Amber Strother as well as their friend Anita Bias. We also discussed how they conceive of their own special brand of “Soul” music, how they’ve dealt with the acclaim this early in their career and a little bit about lies ahead for King.

The group played all four of the songs that they’ve released, “Supernatural,” “Hey,” “In The Meantime” and “The Story” for us during the session. Anita sings lead on “Hey” while Amber sings lead vocals on the rest of the tracks. All of the music was provided by Paris on her Nord keyboard (you might think there had to be a bass player present, but no, it’s just Paris’ skillful left hand).With the sound stripped down a bit, it highlights not only Paris’ talents as a player,but even more the special vocal harmonies that mark the trio’s signature style. Though they’ve only released a handful of songs, King is a group where the age-old adage, “the sky is the limit” truly fits. As amazing as they’ve sounded so far, there is so much more to come from this talented bunch. I’m just thankful that we were able to bring them in so we could all bear witness to their deservedly rising star. Big thanks to Mark Maxwell for his work on the sound, to Lori Lousararian and Sofia Gold for help setting things up and especially massive thanks to Paris, Amber & Anita for spending time with us at KPFK.

King on KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 04-26-2013

If you haven’t seen it before, here’s the video for “The Story,” the song that started it all for King:

It was truly an honor to interview Shuggie Otis this past Saturday at KPFK. In the early 1970s, Otis recorded three very different, but all equally fantastic, solo records before seemingly disappearing until a reissue of Inspiration Information by David Byrne’s Luaka Bop records brought him back into the public eye. Though I had known about Shuggie’s music prior to hearing that reissue, like a whole lot of people hearing that set was a revelation. Inspiration Information is the rare legendary record that actually deserves every single piece of acclaim it has gotten and then some. Recently Sony Legacy has reissued “Inspiration” along with close to 20 previously unreleased tracks that Shuggie recorded from the 1970s up until 2000. Shuggie has stepped back out into the public eye again and this time around it seems he’s here to stay. In our interview we talk a little about the influence of growing up as the son of Johnny Otis, some of his favorite guitar players, the stories behind some of his classic songs, including “Strawberry Letter 23,” “Inspiration Information” and “Island Letter.” We also discuss how Shuggie’s apparent absence from music was never really an absence (something KPFK and KPFA listeners already knew) and how he’s excited for the next chapter of his career to begin. Big thanks to Andrew Cahn & Eric Molk for helping to set up the interview and of course to Shuggie Otis himself for blessing us with all of this beautiful music. Enjoy!

Shuggie Otis Interview On KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 04-27-2013

Here’s an short documentary on the Inspiration Information/Wings Of Love project that features Shuggie talking about multiple tracks from the album, getting into even more depth than we were able to in our interview. Hopefully this is just the first step towards the full-length documentary that Shuggie so richly deserves:

Such a pleasure to sit in with Nicole Wray and Terri Walker, who together form Lady. Though the two women have had solo careers for a fair amount of time, the music they make together is undeniably fantastic.

Their new self-titled album on Truth & Soul records is a perfect mix of soul, old and new, and is one of my favorites of 2013, as well as a fave of Oliver Wang of Soul-Sides.com who sits in with me for a tag-team style interview of the group.

Nicole & Terri, along with Vincent John on Guitar, perform three songs, “Hold On,” “Money” and “Get Ready” while also talking to us about how they formed this dynamic duo, the recording and writing process for the album, some insight into a couple of our favorite tracks from the album and their plans for the future. Looking forward to even better things from these talented ladies in the future, but for now, enjoy this session! Big thanks to Julie Underwood for setting things up, Stan Misraje for doing the sound, Clifton James Weaver III for lending us his guitar amp and to Oliver Wang for being my tag-team partner on the interview.

Lady on KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 04-17-2013

It was truly an honor to have the legendary Kenny Dope stop into KPFK for a quick chat and a long guest DJ session. Kenny Dope is truly a DJ’s DJ, a master at blending and mixing together disparate and diverse styles and sounds and seamlessly shifting from genre to genre and mood to mood. Over the years he’s done production work under his own name as well as collaborating with a host of talented people, perhaps most notably with Louie Vega in Masters At Work and Nuyorican Soul. For my money, Kenny Dope is the best remixer in the game (my two of my top 5 all-time remixes belong to him, the Jackson 5 “It’s Great To Be Here” you hear at the end of the interview below and his reworking of Sharon Jones “Keep On Looking”) and definitely one of the best Djs around. We didn’t get a chance to talk about too much, since he had a plane to catch and we wanted to reserve the majority of time for his Guest DJ set. The loss of a fuller conversation is definitely outweighed by the gain of an amazing 59+ minute mix, complete with a tracklist provided below! With luck we’ll be able to spend more time with Kenny Dope in the future on Melting Pot, but until then…enjoy this to the fullest and the spread the word far and wide!

Kenny Dope Interview on KPFK’s Melting Pot: 4-14-2013
Guest DJ Set from Kenny Dope on KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 4-14-2013

Tracklist:
Blackrock – Yeah Yeah
Rasheed Chappell – 123 feat. Dj scratch
Destruments – Freedom
Page One – Thank Goodness Gotta Good Woman
Dionne Warwick – You’re Gonna Need Me
The Dells – I Can Sing
Mr. Chop – Deep Gully
The Soul Lifters – Hot Funky & Sweaty (Kenny Dope Edit)
Dibiase – Fly Me To The Moon
The Magictones – I’ve Changed
The Jimi Entley Sound – Charlie’s Theme
Marvin Gaye – Time (Kenny Dope Mix)
Johnny Guitar Watson – Superman Lover (Lord Finesse Revised)
Das Efx – Real Hip Hop (DJ Premier Remix)
Kenny Dope – Get On Down
The U.B.’s – Synthetic Substitition
Chopp Master Flopp – Peetie Swei Revised
The Menahan Street Band – Make The Road By Walking (Kenny Dope Edit)
Brand Nubian – All For One (Accapella)
James Brown – Funky President
Chopp Master Flopp – Daisy Crazy
Emotions – Blind Alley (Stripped)
Leela James –Let Me Tell You (Bass Dub)
Lil Louis – Fable (Director’s Cut Classic Signature Mix)
Barbara Tucker – I Get Lifted (Duck Beats)
Elements of Life feat. Lisa Fischer & Cindy Mizelle – Into My Life
Kenny Dope feat. Josh Milan – Be Your Freak (Kenny Dope O’gutta Mix)
Earth people – Dance (Dub)
Intrallazzi – Pik Nik (Cube Guys Mix)
IKE – Docs Edit
Mike Dunn presents The MD X-spress – God Made Me Funky
Elements of Life – One Dream

Just in time for Mardi Gras, it was our distinct pleasure to welcome the Hot 8 Brass band into the KPFK Studios last week as they kicked off a US/Canada tour in LA. Hot 8 Brass is one of a handful of New Orleans brass bands to break out from the Crescent City and bring their sound to an international audience, particularly through their recent releases via Tru Thoughts, including last year’s The Life & Times Of The Hot 8 Brass Band.  During their time at our studios, the band performed three songs, two from their latest release “Steaming Blues” and “Bingo Bango” as well as an older track, “Rock With The Hot 8.”  We talked with them about the new record, competition between brass bands in NOLA and the continuing effects of Hurrican Katrina on the city and its people.  If Hot 8 is coming to your town, believe me you do NOT want to miss this band.  Big thanks to Jaz at Tru Thoughts for setting things up and Stan Misraje for his usual sonic wizardry.  Enjoy this to the fullest!

Hot 8 Brass Band on KPFK's Melting Pot: Recorded 2-04-2013

{Just got word that Spinna will be back in LA on December 7th, at the Echoplex along with DJ Scratch and J-Rocc for a 1990s party called Flavors!!!}

Can’t express what an honor it was to have the legendary DJ Spinna in our studios this past Saturday (just before making his debut at Funky Sole), for an interview and guest DJ set. During the interview we talk a little about the impact of Hurricane Sandy on his hometown of Brooklyn, NYC, his start as a DJ and discuss at length his ideas about the effect Serato has had on DJ-ing. I literally could have talked to him about any of these subjects and more for much longer, but that might have taken time away from the guest DJ set that he blessed us with. Essentially Spinna just took over the second hour of Melting Pot with a 57 minute set, mixed live in one take, all on original vinyl, about 99% of which were 45s.

Some of the tracks that were featured in this set were Lonnie Smith “Move Your Hand,” Funkadelic “Loose Booty,” Temptations “I Need You,” Bronx River Parkway “La Valla,” Nico Gomez “Baila Chibiquiban,” James Brown “Licking Stick,” Jean Jacques Perrey “ETA,” Beginning of the End “Super Woman,” The Mighty Showstoppers “Shaft In Africa,” Mongo Santamaria “Cold Sweat,” Dandelion Wine “Hot Dog” and Shuggie Otis’ “Inspiration Information.” If you recognize others, let me know in the comments since I’ll be (and probably you too) obsessing over many of these for years to come! Enjoy the set and if DJ Spinna touches down anywhere near you, do yourself a favor and make sure to see the man live…you will not regret it.

DJ Spinna Interview on KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 11-10-12
Guest DJ Set from DJ Spinna on KPFK’s Melting Pot

Los Angeles’ very own DJ Frane was our guest this past Sunday on Melting Pot at the nicely decorated studios of KPFK. Wide ranging set as Frane makes excellent use of the 40+ minutes he had, expertly mixed and selected, with some real surprises (Cookie Monster gets funky?!!?!? WTF?!?!?) and some seriously heavy super cuts (Nite-Liters doing the theme from Buck & the Preacher…so very necessary). Check the breakdown of the show for the interview we also did which included a little bit of Frane’s own music, but here’s his stellar set archived in case you missed it the first time around.

Guest DJ Set from DJ Frane on KPFK’s Melting Pot

Had the pleasure of interviewing Matt Sullivan of Light In The Attic records this past Saturday at KPFK. Light In The Attic is one of a handful of labels that I’m always excited to see what they’re releasing and they very rarely ever let me down. 2012 has been a particularly good year for the label as it celebrates 10 years of putting out music. During the interview Matt and I chat about how the label got started and he shares a few stories connected to some of his favorite recent releases, playing music from LITA releases, including Donnie & Joe Emerson, Lee Hazlewood, Shin Joong Hyun, Rodriguez and TL Barrett.

There are also a couple of tracks produced specifically for the 10 year anniversary, with contemporary artists covering classic tracks from the Light In The Attic catalog, with Iggy Pop and the Zig Zags covering Betty Davis’ “If I’m In Luck I Might Get Pickd Up Tonight” and the EXCLUSIVE premiere of Charles Bradley & the Menahan Street Band covering Rodriguez’ “I’ll Slip Away”!!! Though this is one of our longer interviews on Melting Pot, I honestly felt like we’d only scratched the surface (I never even asked him how he decided on the name “Light In The Attic”), so don’t be surprised in Mr. Sullivan swings back by for another interview and proper (on vinyl no less) Guest DJ set.

Matt Sullivan Interview on KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 09-15-2012

As part of their 10th anniversary, Light In The Attic is having two shows to celebrate.  First on September 28th in Los Angeles, where Sullivan is now based, and on October 12th in Seattle, where the label got it’s start. Seems that LA’s show is sold out but there might be tickets for Seattle still available. Rodriguez will be headlining both shows, in LA we’ll get Korean guitarist Shin Joong Hyun and Seattle gets the special treat of Donnie & Joe Emerson!

Matthew Africa Plays 7 Inches

{I never asked Matthew to do a guest post or come on to Melting Pot for a guest DJ set. I very much wanted him to, but figured at some point he’d be in LA for a spell and he’d come on down. Now that will never happen. So instead, I’m going to share this mix, perhaps the last one Matthew worked on, so that he can be the first guest poster here on Melting Pot. The mix brings up a lot of good memories for me, as Matthew mentions below, connected to Wednesday nights at the Ruby Room in Oakland. The Ruby was my regular haunt for a couple years before I just got too busy with PhD research and falling in love with my wife. Strangely enough, the mix was posted on our wedding anniversary and my reaction to it ended up being one my final communications with Matthew, via facebook (the final one being his compliments on my choices of first songs when we moved into our new house, “Like A Ship” from TL Barrett and “A Love Supreme” from John Coltrane).

Aside from the memories, this is just a fantastic mix, all on original vinyl, some very deep tunes you don’t hear often, flashes of rather deft mixing style from Matthew and an interesting choice at the very close. The mix ends with a very scratchy version of Otis Brown’s “Who’s Gonna Take Me Home,” and Matthew chose to let the record end and just let it spin in the dead wax for much longer than you’d expect. I don’t know why he did it, if it was on purpose, or if it was just a moment of pure chance. But given all that’s happened it just about brought me to tears hearing that sound at the end of this mix. There’s something so deeply personal about it, maybe because I can just see Matthew, after having completed a full take on this mix, going to get a drink and just nonchalantly stopping the record. I’m so glad he left that there, so glad that he shared all this music with us and blessed to have known him as a friend.}

Originally Posted on “I Wish You Would” August 14, 2012

This Friday (August 17th, 2012) I’m playing at the 45 Sessions, an all-45 monthly hosted by some friends from the Oakland Faders crew, DJ Platurn, E Da Boss & DJ Enki. (Also playing with us, the homie stromie Joe Quixx!)

These days I really never play 45 sets except when I’m out in NYC and drop in on friends who do vinyl parties like Mr. Finewine or JBX. The last time I remember doing that on the west coast was for an all-45 45th birthday party for my friend DJ Stef (an idea I may be biting sooner than I wish).

As a warm-up for the 45 Sessions, I made a little mix, pulling out about 100 records and sort of going from there. It’s mostly 70s era funk and soul– lots of classics, some recent favorites, some oddities. Hopefully there’s some “oh shit, it’s great to hear that”, some “wait, what the hell is that?” and maybe an “ooh, he’s got that?” or “wait, that’s on 45?!?” or two.

1. New Birth – You Are What I’m All About
2. The Blowflys – Funky
3. Van Grack and Company – NT
4. Ronnie Keaton & the Ocean-Liners – Going Down for the Last Time
5. The Notations – Super People
6. The Trinikas – Remember Me
7. The Quickest Way Out – Tick Tock Baby (It’s a Quarter to Love)
8. Dee Edwards – Why Can’t There Be Love
9. Matata – I Want You
10. House Guest Rated X – What So Never the Dance Pt. 1
11. Myra Barnes – Super Good Pt. 1
12. C. Fortune & J. Brinson – The Hipster
13. Tony Alvon & the Bel-Airs – Boom Boom Boom
14. Leroy & the Drivers – Sad Chicken
15. Nancy Sinatra – Bang Bang
16. Betty Chung – Bang Bang
17. Heart – Give Me a Happy Day
18. Dionne Warwick – You’re Gonna Need Me
19. The Sisters Love – Now Is the Time
20. Popcorn Wylie – Funky Rubber Band
21. Apple & the 3 Oranges – Free & Easy Pt. 1
22. Hank Ballard – I’m a Junkie for My Baby’s Love
23. Robert Jay – Alcohol Pt. 1
24. Sugar Billy Garner – I Got Some
25. Junior & the Classics – Kill the Pain
26. The Fabulous Souls – Take Me
27. Sir Guy & the Speller Bros. Band – Let Home Cross Your Mind
28. 6 Pak feat. Larry Berney – There Was a Time
29. Harvey Scales & the Seven Sounds – The Yolk
30. Dynamic Corvettes – Funky Music Is the Thing Pt. 2
31. The Jackson Sisters – I Believe in Miracles
32. Chuck Colbert & Viewpoint – Stay
33. The Isley Brothers – Keep On Doin’
34. Graham Central Station – The Jam
35. Bobby Franklin’s Insanity – Bring It On Down To Me Pt. 1
36. The Soul Company – Hump the Bump Pt. 1
37. Creations Unlimited – Chrystal Illusion
38. Joey Irving – Don’t Throw Our Love Away
39. Pearly Queen – Quit Jive’in
40. Marvin Gaye – ‘T’ Plays It Cool
41. Billy Young – Suffering With a Hangover Pt. 1
42. Lenny Williams – Feelin’ Blue
43. MFQ – Every Minute of Every Day
44. Nolan Porter – If I Could Only Be Sure
45. The New Establishment – Ridin’ High
46. Otis Brown – Who’s Gonna Take Me Home

This mix started off as a practice run playing 45s and then got more involved when I realized how shitty at it I’d become. It’s a lot less like riding a bicycle than I’d hoped.

I used to play 45s all the time. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Wednesday nights I would often grab a box of them and head down to my friend DJ Kitty’s funk party to play a set on what is to this day maybe the shittiest sound system I’ve ever played. (The Ruby Room’s system was pretty awful to begin with but after some noise complaints from a neighbor the management disabled the mixer by gluing caps over the volume and bass knobs.)

But it was good practice. I remember being invited by DJ Shadow to open for him and Cut Chemist when they did their Product Placement show back in 2001– which was a super-big deal to me– and putting together an hour-long routine in a day or so and nailing it on the first take. That didn’t happen this time. When I rolled the tape I found that I blew almost every mix and it took a lot of work to tighten things up.

Playing 45s is tough. The main thing is that a lot of the music I played doesn’t lend itself to mixing. Arrangements are dense and arbitrary (an unfrustrated person would say “creative” or “inspired”) and tempos wander all over the place, so mixing is tricky.

Then there are all the technical issues Serato has freed me from remembering how to deal with: that there are no cue points, that speeding up or slowing down a record too quickly can mess up the pitch, that records often skip when you’re cueing or cutting them and that you can easily destroy a record through normal use. This is particularly true of records that happen to be pressed not from vinyl but from styrene, a substance that often seems to cue burn at a mere glance. (Case in point, the Leroy & the Drivers 45 heard in the mix: that persistent shhhh sound and loss of high end is textbook styrene. Ugh.)

About the title of this mix: all of the records I played were 7″s, but not all were 45s– a handful were made to play at 33 rpm, so I named it accordingly. For those who care about this sort of thing, I didn’t use any reissues.

Oh lastly, if (to borrow a phrase from the Martorialist) you’re one of those poncey bastards who’ll only listen to a mix if it’s on Soundcloud then we can do that, too:

(Oh wait, I spoke too soon. Soundcloud tells me that my cover image is infringing someone’s copyright (?!) and that therefore they won’t host it. Ugh. Dispute filed.)

Been a fan from afar of the work of DJ Boss Harmony, particularly through his many and varied nights DJ-ing in Los Angeles.  Currently he spins at Dub Club at the Echoplex on Wednesdays, Dr. Who at the Virgil on Thursdays, Punky Reggae at La Cita on Fridays, and also Saturdays at the Del Monte Speakeasy in Venice.  This past Sunday we had the pleasure of haivng Boss Harmz spin on our all vinyl end of the month edition Melting Pot. For his guest DJ set he took us on a tour (all on 45s no less) of each of signature nights, beginning with Dub Club with Lynval Thompson, U-Roy and Junior Soul then to Punky Reggae with choice post-punk from the Slits, PIL, and the Fall and closing things out were some out sounds to represent Dr. Who, including a French Pscyhe track from Pierre Henry that I’ll be obsessing over for the next 7 months at least.  Enjoy the sounds and check for the man and his records at the above venues.

Guest DJ Set from Boss Harmony on KPFK’s Melting Pot

Our first return guests on Melting Pot were LA’s very own Chicano Batman. The first time they came in, they played all acoustic.  This time around the band played fully plugged in with new member, guitarist Carlos Arévalo. In the session they play slightly different versions of all four songs from their brand new EP Joven Navegante, plus one from their first album, the song “Itotiani,” which was specifically requested by my wife.

During the interview we talk about how Carlos joined the group, the differences between recording their first and second release, their recent kickstarter campaign to get Joven Navegante pressed on vinyl and upcoming shows for the band. This has really seemed like the summer of Chicano Batman, with brand new music and a ton of chances to see them live in the LA area, it really was a pleasure to have them return to Melting Pot. Big thanks to Stan Misraje for the sound and Jorge Avila at Qvole for setting things up. Enjoy the sounds!

Chicano Batman on KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 7-16-2012

As we mentioned in the interview, there are a lot of chances to catch Chicano Batman live in LA in the coming months. Stay tuned to their homepage for updates on more shows:

July 28 – KCRW’s Chinatown Summer Nights w/ Anthony Valadez and Jeremy Sole
July 29 – The Mayan w/ Ondatropica, Buyepongo and Very Be Careful
August 2 – KPCC’s Between The Beats @ The Crawford Family Forum
August 9 – Made In LA @ the Hammer Museum w/ Anthony Valadez
August 10 – Amoeba Hollywood In-Store
August 30 – Bootleg Theater w/ The Boogaloo Assassins and Anthony Valadez

It was my distinct pleasure to welcome Josh Haden and Spain to our studios at KPFK for an interview and performance last week. As I mentioned in the interview I can still remember the first time I heard Spain’s music, when the music director at Album 88 played, “Ray Of Light” from their debut release Blue Moods Of Spain back in 1995. They’ve been one of my most cherised favorite bands since then. Back in 2009 I was overjoyed to hear that Josh had put the band back together and they’d released some new music. On my one and only time as a guest host on Morning Becomes Eclectic I played a track from the new Spain and was surprised to later get a thank you message from Josh. He’s kept in touch making sure that I had new music and when he offerred to bring the band in for a performance, there’s was absolutely no way I was going to say no.

The band plays four songs, two from the brand new release The Soul Of Spain, “Sevenfold” and “Without A Sound,” and the interview closes with renditions of two songs from that debut release, “Untitled #1,” and perhaps Josh’s most famous composition “Spiritual.” During the interview we talk about why it took so long, over 10 years, for the world to hear a new record from Spain and spend a bit of time discussing Josh’s frustrations with the music industry, how the new group got together and plans for the future of Spain. Big thanks to Stan Misraje for working his magic on the sound to get everything just right. I sincerely hope you enjoy this as much as I did, this was definitely one of my favorite moments in my entire radio career.

Spain on KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 04-16-2012

Pat Thomas Interview on KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 04-04-2012

Our guest this past Sunday was author/producer Pat Thomas, who stopped in to discuss his latest work, Listen, Whitey!: The Sights & Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975  and the musical companion to the book, released by Light In The Attic records.  As someone who grew up listening to many of the leaders associated with the Black Power movement, including Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, Stokely Carmichael/Kwame Ture and Eldridge Cleaver I became aware of music associated with the music as my musical tastes began to converge with my political and cultural tastes in college.  In the past there have been a few collections that cover music of the Civil Rights Movement, but few that have covered music directly/indirectly associated with the often more militant Black Power movement.  “Listen, Whitey” more than fills that gap  (I’ll be reviewing the CD later in the week).

Thomas compiles information on a wide variety of musical releases, some well-known, some very obscure, associated with this turbulent, passionate and still controversial period of American History.  Our interview covers how he came into the project, some insight on several of the most interesting tracks from the collection, including the Lumpen, a group formed by rank and file members of the Black Panther Party and Bob Dylan’s all but lost acoustic version of “George Jackson” dedicated to the Soledad Brother George Jackson and recorded shortly after his murder.   We also discuss the reception of the book, the legacy of this music and this time for contemporary musicians and audiences and plans for subsequent volumes.  In addition to tracks from the Lumpen and Bob Dylan, we also played tracks from Elaine Brown and Amiri Baraka during the course of the interview.

{If you’re in LA, you CANNOT miss the upcoming show Homage at Exchange LA on Feb. 23rd featuring Adrian Younge & Venice Dawn with William Hart of the Delfonics, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble with Phil Cohran, Theo Parrish and DJ Spinna!!!}

Multi-instrumentalist, DJ, producer, film editor, Salon and Record Store proprietor and all around renaissance man Adrian Younge was our guest this week for a DJ set and interview we recorded at KPFK. Adrian is perhaps best known for the soundtrack to the Blaxploitation Revival film Black Dynamite, at least until the release of his latest project, Venice Dawn and their fantastic LP Something About April. He rolled into KPFK with a full crate of vinyl and spun a set that went into a number of unexpected places. During the interview we talked about his approach as a DJ and musician, the curious musical creation “The Selene,” the process and concept behind the new record and upcoming projects from the soon to be released collaboration with William Hart of the Delfonics to the highly anticipated Black Dynamite cartoon on Adult Swim and the possibility of Black Dynamite 2!!!

Guest DJ Set from Adrian Younge on KPFK’s Melting Pot
Adrian Younge Interview on KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 02-01-2012

Selections:

Adrian Younge & Venice Dawn – Two Hearts Combine
Bobby Caldwell – Open Your Eyes
Bernard Wright – Haboglabotribin’
David Sancious – Prelude #3
Lobo – Running Deer
Iron Butterfly – Her Favorite Style
Lonnie Liston Smith – Space Lady
George Benson – Ain’t No Sunshine
New Birth – Honeybee
The Checkmates – Aquarius
Shaft Cover Band – Bumby’s Lament
Adrian Younge – Black Dynamite/Jimmy’s Dead
Nancy Wilson – Ain’t No Sunshine
Los Angeles Negros – Tanto Adios
Giorgio Carnini – Ninna Nanna
Nancy Sinatra – Bang Bang
Adrian Younge & Venice Dawn – Something About April

Barry Adamson was our guest during what was an exceedingly rare visit to Los Angeles (perhaps his first as a solo artist).  I’ve been a fan of Adamson’s music since the mid 1990s when I first discovered his work with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and later his own solo work.  In addition to being a founding member of the Bad Seeds, he was also a member of post-punk/new wave legends Magazine and has worked with David Lynch and Oliver Stone on soundtracks for their films.  Last year Adamson himself became a filmmaker, releasing the short film Therapist, a process that eventually led to his new record I Will Set You Free, coming out in February on his label Central Control.

Adamson performs three songs, “People” from 2008′s Back To The Cat, and two tracks from his new record I Will Set You Free, “The Power of Suggestion” and “The Sun and the Sea,” all on acoustic guitar. Being a long time fan of Adamson I truly was shocked and surprised by hearing Adamson perform his songs in this way. In my mind/ears his music has always had such a dark and often ominous tone, but while the mood is considerably brighter with the use of acoustic guitar, it amazing to me how this simple change magnifies what a fantastic songwriter Adamson is, as well as highlighting his best instrument, that incredible voice. Much more that I could have discussed with Mr. Adamson, but we didn’t have a lot of time, hopefully the next time he’s in LA we can have more time to discuss his career and music.

Barry Adamson on KPFK’s Melting Pot: Recorded 01-16-2012