{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!!!
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.
Mike James Kirkland was our guest on yesterday’s Melting Pot, as we discussed his career and heard some of the stories behind his music. Kirkland recorded some truly stellar soul music from 1965 to around 1976, as Mike & the Censations, Mike James Kirkland and Bo Kirkland with Ruth Davis. For years his records have been prized possessions by soul collectors and he’s found new audiences through having his music reissued by Ubiquity’s Luv’n'Haight imprint and covered by John Legend and the Roots on their grammy award winning Wake Up in 2010. We talk about his experiences growing up in Mississippi and then moving to Los Angeles, the influence of his family on his music (particularly his brother Robert Kirkland, whose bet that he could make a song better than Motown led to the creation of Mike & the Censations, as well as their first song “Victim of Circumstance”), the importance of creative independence for musicians and some thoughts on his most well-known composition “Hang On In There,” a song which closes out the interview.
Luv’n'Haight has released a fantastic retrospective on Mike James Kirkland appropriately called Don’t Sell Your Soul, in two formats, CD & LP, with reasons to get both. The double LP features all the singles from Mike & the Censations on one record and then features unreleased music on the second record. The double CD features the released music from Mike & the Censations on the first disc and combines both of the solo records on the second disc. “Don’t Sell Your Soul” was a track I’d intended to play during the interview, but ran out of time. Like many of the other tracks from Mike & the Censations, it shows an artist who not only elevated a genre through his artistry and performance, but also in the messages that flow throughout. ”Don’t Sell Your Soul” works both as a cautionary tale, akin to “Take Time To Know Her,” while it also sums up the ethos of Mike James Kirkland, that he expresses so well in this interview. Music like this deserves to be heard and thank goodness for the work of labels like Ubiquity for making sure that this music remains available. Most of all, thanks to Mike James Kirkland for not deciding to sign a contract with the Yankees in the 1960s. What we lost as a potential all-star we more than gained in the music this man has given us.
Can’t express how thankful I am that the Boogaloo Assassins came into our studios here at KPFK. The band performed 6 songs, at the start, “Para Mi,” “Do You Wanna Dance,” and their blistering cover of Dawn Penn’s “No No No” and then after the interview you hear their version of Eddie Palmieri’s “Ay Que Rico” (one of my all-time favorite Boogaloo tracks), “Mi Heva” and the finale is a soul-clap-tastic cover of Joe Bataan’s “Magic Rose”. During the interview I talk with the band about how they found their way to this sound, the benefits and pitfalls of playing a retro style without a scene and their plans for the future, which thankfully and finally include some recordings (on vinyl no less!!!). Only unfortunate thing was that I didn’t have my camera to take some pictures, but perhaps next time. What we do have is an amazing performance from a dynamite band with the best yet to come. Big thanks to the group for coming in and to Stan Misraje for all his production wizardry…Enjoy it to the fullest!!!
…If you’re in LA, the Boogaloo Assassins are performing quite a few shows in the next month. As you can tell from the interview/performance this a band that is built to be heard live, so take advantage of these opportunities to see this amazing band.
The Boogaloo Assassins upcoming performances in the LA area:
November 30th @ La Cita
December 10th @ The Mint
December 18th @ The Copper Door (Santa Ana)
Grace (L) and Hiedi of the Sandwitches Perform At KPFK
It was our great pleasure to welcome the Sandwitches into the KPFK studios a little while ago for a performance and interview. Because of the ongoing fundraiser we weren’t able to broadcast this session until this past Sunday, but it was well worth the wait. As I’ve mentioned here before, there aren’t a lot of bands around that sound quite like the Sandwitches. Grace, Hiedi and Roxy take a little bit of country, some indie-rock, add it to some bluesy soulful sounds and mix it all together in their music.
Roxy of the Sandwitches at KPFK
In the interview we discuss that sound, how they came up with the name the Sandwitches and a little bit on what I find to be the most distinctive quality of the band, the sound of their two vocalists. While a lot of groups harmonize their vocals, it’s rare to have two vocalists, who aren’t twins, play off of each other’s vocals like this, to the point where sometimes it’s hard to tell if there are two different vocalists. In this session, they play four songs, with Grace & Hiedi alternating lead vocals on each track. The first two songs, “The Pearl” and “Benny’s Memory Palace” are featured on their new 7″ on Hardly Art. The third song, “My Heart Does Swell,” is featured on their latest release Mrs. Jones’ Cookies on Empty Cellar records. The final song, “You Only Get What You Want” is a brand new song, previously unreleased and a special treat just for us.
…as an added treat, here’s the performance that Roxie mentions in the interview, an acoustic version of “Summer of Love” recorded in the bathroom of Berkeley’s The Shattuck Down Low, that really shows that distinctive singing style of the group.
{There’s a couple of chances to catch DJ Lengua this week as Mas Exitos invades the Echo for Dub Club Meets Mas Exitos, Wednesday Aug. 31st and Mas Exitos returns to the Verdugo Bar (and every 1st Thursday) this Thursday Sept. 1st!!!}
Pretty Pretty Vinyl...
Fantastic guest set from DJ Lengua of the Mas Exitos crew. For the past several years I’ve been digging on the music that Lengua creates, a mix of classic 1960s/70s Cumbia with latin and funk break beats. He’s now got two albums under his belt on one of my favorite indie labels, Club Unicornio (also home to Roger Mas and Chicano Batman!). For some time he’s been one of the resident DJs for Mas Exitos spinning underground, rare and gritty latin wax. His set for us is perfect for the hazy summer Sunday afternoon it broadcast on, laid back latin rhythms with lots of twangy twangy guitar. Many of the instrumentals, like this multi-colored piece of vinyl from Los Beltons, were actually meant to played at 45 rpm, but at 33 rpms they sound extra nice. Check the breakdown from this show for a bit of an interview which unfortunately got cut too short cause we ran out of time, but I guarantee Lengua will be back in the future to play and discuss more music.
{There are actually a couple of chances to catch DJ Soul Marcosa this week! First at Rendevouz on August 3rd at the Verdugo Bar and also at The Black-Eyed Soul Club on August 5th at Three Clubs!!!}
DJ Soul Marcosa can be found at most all of the best underground spots for music in LA. Since moving here from North Carolina he’s gotten a solid reputation for his wide-ranging tastes and easy going nature. He’s done guest spots at Funky Sole, Black-Eyed Soul Club, SoulSide, Fuzz as well as his own monthly, recently relocated to LA, Masala Beat Club. He also was a partner with me at a weekly we did at La Cita back in 2009. Enjoy raw, fuzzy and funky guest DJ set originally broadcast during July’s all-vinyl end of the month show on Melting Pot and look for Soul Marcosa spinning live all over Los Angeles.
Bobby Byrd – Fight Against Drug Abuse – 7” (King)
Les Problémes – Dodécaphonie – 7” (Vogue)
Roberto Carlos – Voce Nao Serve Pra Mim – Original Soundtrack: Ritmo de Aventura (CBS)
Eyes of Blue – Apache ’69 – 7” (Mercury)
Miki Hirayama – Lonely Girl – 7” (Columbia)
Toni Mathis – Everything You Feel Is Me – 7” (Nectar)
Brainbox – Down Man – 7” (Elektra)
Black Merda – Cynthy-Ruth – 7” (Chess)
Zsuzsa Koncz – Visz A Vonat – Szerelem (Qualiton)
Ajit Singh feat. Asha Bhosle – Main Akeli Raat Jawan – Original Soundtrack: Purana Mandir (CBS)
Pedro & Capricious – Cisco Kid – Kareinaru New Pops No Sekai (Atlantic)
Curiosity Shoppe – Baby I Need You – 7” (Deram)
Rare Earth – Sidewalk Café – Dreams & Answers (Verve)
The Kollektion – Savage Lost – 7” (Heads-Up)
David – Selppin – 7” (Fontanta)
Los Angeles, indie uptempo downtempo upstarts Pollyn were our guests this week on KPFK’s Melting Pot. I first heard Pollyn while I was at KCRW in 2009 when someone sent me their debut. Soon enough most of the other DJs were playing the disc, eventually leading to a stint on KCRW’s flagship program Morning Becomes Eclectic. During our session they performed 3 songs, “How Small We Are,” “Hot Air,” and “Sometimes You Just Know,” the last two of which are from their soon to be released (in September) sophomore album “Living in Patterns.” During the interview we talk about how the band got together, their style/sound and about growing as a group between album’s #1 and #2.
Sorry this took a while longer to get archived but when Corin Tucker and her band originally came into KPFK to record this performance/interview we were in the middle of our fundraiser and things were crazy. I ran an abbreviated version of this interview on Mother’s Day, but wanted to broadcast the full version before posting it here. Corin Tucker is a true icon in my book, through her work with seminal Riot Grrl bands Heavens To Betsy and Sleater-Kinney. She’s got one of the most distinctive and powerful voices in the history of rock and thankfully she’s returned full force after a brief hiatus from music.
As you can hear in the interview, the Corin Tucker Band is definitely a band in the strongest sense of the word. Though Corin’s name is on it, the other members are equally important, including multi-instrumentalist Seth Lorinczi, recently drafed bassist Mike Clark and Sara Lund, one of my favorite all-time drummers for her previous work in Unwound. During the interview we talk about how the band got together, getting back into the swing of things after the hiatus from Sleater-Kinney, dig deeper into some of the themes of the record and even talk a bit about the importance of community/non-commercial radio. The band performed three tracks, “It’s Always Summer,” “1,000 Years” and “Dragon,” all of which are also featured on their KillRockStars album, 1,000 Years. I would have liked to have taken many more pictures but I had to run downtown and missed my opportunity to take some pictures and video of the band playing as I returned mid-performance. Perhaps next time…Enjoy the set!
You don’t expect someone who looks like Zach Galifianakis’ big brother to belt out sweet soul like this, but indeed he does. Quinn Luke is the man behind Bing Ji Ling, and he spent some time at KPFK, performing acoustic versions of tracks from his latest release Shadow To Shine. During the interview we talk a little bit about how he got the nickname Bing Ji Ling, the influence of Rare Groove on the sound of the record and all the various projects he is involved in, including being a member of the Phenomenal Hand Clap Band, Coppa with Cool Chris of Groove Merchant and Incarnations with Bart Davenport and Daniel Collás. We didn’t even get to talk about his collaborations with Tommy Guerrero and Shawn Lee…speaking of which, based on his varied and exceptional pedigree, his multi-instrumental talents, soul stylings and that big-time beard, Quinn is now my odds on favorite to be the person behind the mysterious Clutchy Hopkins…perhaps I’ll ask him about it next time he’s in LA.
MP of KPFK's Breakbeats & Rhymes and Rebels To The Grain with J-Rocc and Some Cold Rock Stuf
It truly was an honor and a privilege to spend a little time with J-Rocc of the World Famous Beat Junkies this past Friday at KPFK. Though he has been as prominently focused on outside of turntablist and Hip-Hop culture, almost anyone who knows anything about DJ culture from the last 20 years would place J-Rocc as one of the top DJs around. He was a co-founder of the Beat Junkies back in 1992, a crew that includes other living legends in Babu, Rhettmatic, Melo D and Shortkut, he was essentially the third member of JayLib along with Madlib and J Dilla (kinda like Billy Preston was essentially the fifth Beatle in 1969 though he never formally joined the group) collaborating heavily with both men. He’s now released his first proper album of original compositions, Some Cold Rock Stuf, on Stones Throw. He talked to us about the new record, the recording process, his thoughts the digital revolution in music, on Serato and its effect on DJ-ing and a few other things. I’m really hoping at some point in the future he’ll be able to come in to spin more, maybe one day we can convince him to do a show at KPFK…Enjoy the set and the interview!
Selections:
Madlib – Untitled Beat
Oh No – Untitled Beat
Ol Dirty Bastard – Shimmy Shimmy Ya
J Dilla – Take Notice
Kanye West – Get Em High
Erykah Badu – The Healer
Bobby Hutcherson – Montara
J.Rocc – Stay Fresh
Sleep Walker – Wind Edit
Georgia Anne Muldrow – How Would You Feel?
Taylor McFerrin – Awake To You
La Sera came into the KPFK studios this past Friday to record a performance and interview at the station, just a few days before leaving the country on tour. La Sera is the latest project from Katy Goodman of Vivian Girls and plays some seriously sweet (or is it bittersweet? or maybe sweetly bittersweet?? or perhaps bittersweetly sweet???) indie-pop.
La Sera performs live at KPFK
The band (here featuring Katy on bass & vocals and Scott Shannon on guitar) performs 4 songs in this session, including two totally brand new tracks, “I’m Alone” and “How Far We’ve Come Now”! The other two tracks, “Sleeptalking” and “Never Come Around” are featured on La Sera’s full length record which will be out in February, fittingly perhaps, just after Valentine’s Day.
Big thanks to Ruben at Hardly Art for setting things up and to Stan Misraje at KPFK for the extra time spent doing the sound and getting everything just right.
Whether as the bassist and leader of the legendary Breakestra or as one of the founding resident DJs of Funky Sole & Root Down, Music Man Miles always has something funky in store for the listener. We had the pleasure of having Miles do a guest DJ set on Melting Pot this Sunday with some of his trademark rare funky as well as some surprising cuts from Latin America and Africa.
You can catch Miles, Clifton and the rest of the Funky Sole crew also at the Echo every Saturday night (with no cover!) for the best deep funk night on the West Coast!
Lionel Robinson – Steppin’ Out
Johhny K – Screwdriver
Ray Frazier – Gonna Get Your Love
John Edwards – If I Don’t Use My Head
Los Masters – Cissy Strut
James Brown – Let A Man Come In & Do The Popcorn
Daktaris – In The Middle
Rwenzoris – Ewara
Claudette Soares – Shirley Sexy
Ocho – Undress My Mind
I had the great pleasure of spending a lot of time with the UK’s Belleruche when they were in Los Angeles for an extended period during their first tour of the USA. This was almost a session that didn’t happen. Our usual producer for performances was not able to be here due to a medical emergency and his stand-in was unable to find some highly necessary cords. In the end, everything worked out (Thank you Tamika Zoghi for the last minute production magic!) just in the nick of time and so you get to hear all 3 songs (“Gold Rush” “Clockwatching” and “Cat in a Dog Suit”, all from 270 Stories) that the band performed live in our studios.
We had a number of conversations during the 3+ hours the band was at the station, about the differences between “winter” in the UK vs. what we perceive as uncharacteristically cold weather in LA (“time to breakout the shorts” was pretty much how Ricky from the group described his impression of our “blisteringly cold” weather in LA) to recommendations (in terms of venues and record stores) in the Bay Area, which the band hopes to visit in the near future. The interview covers how the band got together and their thoughts on how to characterize their sound and a certain freedom that comes from not having a label easily placed on you.
Though the band made their way to KEXP and NPR’s World Cafe, it’s nice to know that the first place they stopped by was our very humble space at KPFK. There’s a very good chance they’ll be swinging back through the States in March around the time of SXSW and hopefully they’ll be able to spend more time in LA. For the time being you have the tracks from this session in addition to their latest album on Tru Thoughts, 270 Stories.
Had the distinct pleasure of spending a fair amount of time with Robin Hannibal and Coco of Denmark’s Quadron just before Halloween. I actually picked up Robin & Coco and drove them to KPFK for the interview, so we spent a long time discussing a number of topics, only some of which makes it into this interview. At slightly over one hour all together, I decided to split up the interview over two weeks on Melting Pot, but it’s here as the full session.
Quadron sign copies of their CD for KPFK listeners
We cover a number of topics, from the origins of the band, a bit of their influences, the state of soul music in Denmark and here in the States and a really interesting discussion of issues of race, which finally solved the puzzle behind the band’s name. The songs here are different versions of tracks that can mostly be found elsewhere, stripped down versions performed in the KPFK studios, via keyboards and laptop and that exceptional voice from Coco. Included are VERY different versions of “Simili Life” and “Pressure” from the album and a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Baby Be Mine.”
I’m really happy that the group has found a number of kindred spirits here in the Los Angeles area, it will be very interesting to see how being in LA will affect the group’s sound on the next record. This one is definitely a group to watch here in coming years and this is one of the most special sessions I’ve been a part of since I got started in radio. Big big thanks to Andrew Lojero for setting things up and Stan Misraje for doing the sound and most importantly to Robin & Coco for sharing their music with us on Melting Pot.
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