Having spent so much of 2022 in a fairly deep depressive state, that kept me from doing virtually anything other than teaching my classes, it likely would have made a lot of sense to focus on “Depression” as a mood for May, given that the month IS mental health awareness month.  At some point I’ll do a show like that (though I’ll balance it with another emotion that relates to what it feels like when you come out of a depressive episode…maybe in 2023), this month wasn’t the month.  And so, I was thankful for a bit of inspiration one day while I was in bed doomscrolling, and that inspiration came from outer space, specifically from NASA.  Turns out that the first Friday of each May is International Space Day, and this year NASA celebrated by presenting the latest of its “sonifications,” where they make sounds connected to specific aspects of space.  This year was special, because for the first time (at least that appeared to be the case) it wasn’t just NASA creating sounds, but actually using sound waves created in space to create sounds that we could hear.  Of the two they shared, it was the second one that really provided the spark for this show.  NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory put together this sonification by melding together data from Chandra, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Milimeter Array in Chile.  What you hear is the actual sound produced when some type of material fell into the Black hole in the Messier 87 Galaxy and produced a massive jet (known as a “Galactic Jet”).

While the image and the sound are beautiful, they are also incredibly terrifying when you think of them.  Some thing passed through that black hole to produce that jet and that sound wave (people often think that Space is a vacuum, but in fact where there are pockets of Space gas, that gas will carry sound, which is how the radio waves from Messier87 made it to Earth), so it’s almost like we’re hearing some kind of cosmic swan song.  And what’s really wild is we’re not supposed to actually hear it!  The sound produced in that moment is one that human ears cannot hear.  NASA had to scale the sounds up 57-58 octaves for us to hear it, or, another way of thinking of it, the sounds are 144-288 quadrillion times higher than they were originally!!! That shit is just fucking nuts.  But the result is 30 seconds of ethereal, cosmic, spacey sound, something that would have been perfectly placed on the legendary “Music From The Hearts Of Space” radio program, that I used to listen to as a kid and had a hand in shaping how I hear music of this like.

And then, to top it all off, we got word that space synth pioneer Vangelis passed away on May 17th, and that just sealed the deal that this month’s mood would be “Spacey.”  As I mention on the show, I’ve been buying a lot of spacey, synthy records over the last couple years, often playing them in my home with the echo effect on and just vibing.  With all of those things coming together, it just made perfect sense to spend the hour on some spacey synthy sounds and that’s what I did.  It also felt right to just do the whole show as a single mix, instead of breaking it up into separate sets.  I dug the vibe, and hope you do too.  We’ll see where we go with things for June.  As much as this world appears to be on fire, in multiple ways, Space sounds like a really good place to be…but for Pride month, perhaps I’ll focus on queer love and the possibilities for something better existing down here on the ground…Until then, enjoy the show.

Moods In Free Time: 029 – Spacey

Playlist – Moods In Free Time 029: Spacey
{opening theme} The Visitors – The Juggler – In My Youth (Muse)

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NASA – Sounds From The Black Hole At The Center Of The Messier 87 Galaxy
– Single (Self-released)
Vangelis – Theme From Cosmos – The Music Of Cosmos (RCA)
Nightcrawlers – Tanzwut – Nightcrawlers (Synkronos)
Gert Thrue – Sound Paint Pictures Of Cosmic Love – Sound Paint Pictures Of Cosmic Love (Stuk)
Automatic Man – I.T.D. (Interstellar Tracking Devices) – Automatic Man (Island)
Orange Power – Stargates – Sound Giants (Sonoton)
Renato Mendes – A Noite Do Meu Bem – Electronicus (RGE)
Space Art – Odyssey – Trip In The Center Head (If Records)
Vicente Rojas y Orquesta Egrem – Hermanados En La Hazana – Intercosmos: Vuelo Espacial Conjunto (Egrem)

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{closing theme} Tony Williams – Wild Life – Believe It (Columbia)

You wouldn’t know it by how few times I’ve posted on here in the past year (solely due to what I can only describe as a “pandemic-exacerbated-PTSD-related Depressive funk”) but I’ve been buying as much if not more vinyl this whole time. I’m hoping that I finally shook off that funk and will be posting more regularly from here on out and sharing more of this music that’s just been piling up in my casita.

This month’s show is connected to some of those new additions, but is specifically focused on the grip of new (well, they’re all old dusties, but they’re new to me) Brasilian vinyl I’ve gotten at the Artform Studio and the Mr. Bongo & Craig Moerer Rappcats pop-ups. As I mention in the show, “Alegria,” the portuguese word for “Joy” was chosen as the mood, not only because tracking down great records makes me all kinds of happy, but also because when I find new Brasilian records that I haven’t heard or haven’t owned before I do a little shoulder shimmy and a specific part of Toni Tornado’s “Uma Vida,” where the chorus sings “Alegria!” plays in my head. I hope these songs bring you as much joy as they bring me.

Moods In Free Time: 028 – Alegria

The idea to do a tribute show to Carol Kaye popped into my late in 2021 when I noticed that this March’s show would be on her birthday. Too often we pay tribute to legendary artists only when they’ve passed away, and I wanted instead to pay tribute to a true living legend while she still walked amongst us. With such an enormous catalog of songs, paying proper tribute to Kaye’s work in only an hour was a daunting task, and something that I researched and worked on for most of 2022 leading up to the show. There were a couple of times where I had to confirm with other DJs/Collectors/Music heads whether or not she was in fact playing on an album, or if another bass player was essentially playing in her style (as is the case on David Axelrod’s Earthrot). Ultimately these were the tracks that I thought best showcased what makes Carol Kaye one of the recorded and most sampled bassists of all time. In terms of a mood for the month in honor of her, nothing else seemed to fit the majesty of her exceptional sound and depth and breadth of her recordings than “magnificence.” Very proud of how this one came together, and very thankful to pay tribute to the magnificence of Carol Kaye on her 86th birthday.

Moods In Free Time: 027 – Magnificence

Every February, everyone is focused on love because of Valentine’s Day. I thought about focusing the show on one of the many moods associated with love, but to be perfectly frank, I spent most of February just being damn horny. Part of the inspiration from this show was held over from the 90s nostalgia I had back in January and having Tribe Called Quest’s “Electric Relaxation,” on repeat and marveling at just how sex focused that song was. A lot of people seem to miss that entirely, perhaps because that “Mystic Brew” inspired beat overpowers you, but the song is about nothing but Tip and Fife talking about how much they love having sex with the particular partners they’re currently “romancing.” Hip-Hop often is painted as being unique in how frank and directly sexual many of it’s songs are, but raunchy songs ain’t nothing new. In fact, we take it all the way back to the 18th century with the one and only Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his delightful ode to Analingus, translated below from the original German:

Lick my arse nicely,
lick it nice and clean,
nice and clean, lick my arse.
That’s a greasy desire,
nicely buttered,
like the licking of roast meat, my daily activity.
Three will lick more than two,
come on, just try it,
and lick, lick, lick.
Everybody lick their arse for themselves.

Now, THAT is a greasy desire, indeed! And so, instead of being all lovey dovey, I chose “Lascivious,” and focused on some of the raunchiest, dirtiest (and aside from Tribe which starts the show, non-Hip-Hop) music I’ve ever come across. Back when I was on terrestrial radio I would have had to censor most every lyric in these songs, but being on online radio is a different beast, and thus you get to hear all of these songs in all their lascivious glory. I hope these songs bring a smile to you, make you blush and maybe got you thinking some lascivious thoughts of your own.

Moods In Free Time: 026 – Lascivious

Started the year off with a bit of nostalgia for the 1990s, and a warm and fuzzy feeling for the period of time where I came up as a DJ. As I mention in the show, the inspiration for this show, and the choice for the mood “Kama Muta” (which I made a bit of a slip at the start saying “Kama Suta” which is a little close to the Kama sutra and tells you a bit of where my mind was at the time, Ha!), a sanskrit word which directly translates as “moved by love,” but has been applied to that warm and fuzzy feeling that comes from a cherished memory, was from growing up in Atlanta and listening to Album 88 and the Weekend Wrecking Crew. On Sundays during their legendary show, “Rhythm & Vibes,” they would do a “Sample Clearance,” where they’d play the sample to a Rap song, and then see if the audience could guess which track flipped it. All the 1990s nostalgia I was feeling at the start of the year reminded me of how much that show and its DJs shaped my ears and had me digging for samples from Golden era Hip-Hop songs, which was a major influence on my musical tastes all the way to the present day. Over two sets in this show, I do a sort of re-creation of “Sample Clearance,” that Randall and them used to do on Album 88 back in the day (most of the crew is actually still together and still on the radio, just now on WREK). Hope you dig it as much as I dug digging up these breaks back in the day.

Moods In Free Time: 024 – Kama Muta

Playlist – Moods In Free Time 025: Kama Muta
{opening theme} The Visitors – The Juggler – In My Youth (Muse)

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Bohannon – Singing A Song For My Mother – Stop & Go (Dakar)
Ed O.G. & Da Bulldogs – I Got To Have It – Life Of A Kid In The Ghetto (PWL America/Polygram/Mercury)
Lonnie Smith – Spinning Wheel – Drives (Blue Note)
A Tribe Called Quest – Can I Kick It? – People’s Instinctive Travels In The Paths Of Rhythm (Jive)
Ronnie Foster – Mystic Brew – Two Headed Freap (Blue Note)

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James Brown – Can Mind – Sho Is Funky Down Here (King)
Brand Nubian – All For One – One For All (Elektra)
The Crusaders – A Message From The Inner City – 2nd Crusade (Blue Thumb)
Queen Latifah – U.N.I.T.Y. – Black Reign (Motown)
Tom Scott with The California Dreamers – Today – The Honeysuckle Breeze (Impulse)
Pete Rock & CL Smooth – They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.) – Mecca & The Soul Brother (Elektra)

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{closing theme) Tony Williams – Wild Life – Believe It! (Columbia)

As I mention at the start of the show for this month, I had a number of mixed emotions going into this final show of 2021. I considered doing something similar to last year’s show, when the toll of Covid deaths with Musicians was truly staggering. We had a number of losses this year, particularly near the end of the year, but I didn’t want to close the year with that same kind of sentiment. I’d also thought about doing a show around “Desperation,” but that will come at a later date. Instead, I decided to focus on “Peaceful,” being a bit aspirational, given the continuing state of affairs, but also reflective of the mood I most like to embody at the close of a year.

Also, as I additionally mentioned in the show, whenever I want to enter a more peaceful mood, my go to artists/songs almost always tend to be not only from Jazz as a genre, but specifically that sub-genre we describe as “Spiritual Jazz.” There is a single way of defining “Spiritual Jazz,” in some ways it’s a catch all term for songs that not only are directly concerned with spiritual matters, but music that evokes a specific feeling. One of my many rituals whenever I’m either feeling lost, or on the flipside, when I’m feeling grateful after the close of a trying period of time, is to play Pharoah Sanders’ “The Healing Song.” Pharoah has a number of songs that could have found their way into a show themed around “Peaceful,” but “The Healing Song,” has a unique quality to it, most especially in the chorus of voices that sing throughout it. Few other sounds, combined with that magnificent, soaring, tone from Sanders’ saxophone, fill me with such a overarching sense of hope and peace than the ones heard in this song, and so that became the obvious starting point for this month’s Moods. From there, I attempted to add in as many other songs as I could fit into the two sets/one hour format we currently have that fit a similar mood.

For me, peacefulness isn’t just about serene or calming music, there are more than a few moments in these songs that are filled with a bit of fire, but it’s about the overall feeling that comes through listening to these pieces in their totality, as individual songs and as a show. I hope these sounds put you in a peaceful mood as we close the door on this tumultuous year, and look forward to new beginnings in 2022…Peace and Bright Moments to you all.

Moods In Free Time: 024 – Peaceful

Playlist – Moods In Free Time 024: Peaceful
{opening theme} The Visitors – The Juggler – In My Youth (Muse)

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Pharoah Sanders – The Healing Song – Live At The East (Impulse)
Don Cherry & The Organic Music Society – Hope – Organic Music (Caprice)

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Ensemble Al-Salaam – Peace – The Sorjourner (Strata East)
Andrew Hill – Illusion – One For One (Blue Note)
Charlie Haden & Alice Coltrane – For Turiya – Closeness (Horizon)

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{closing theme} Tony Williams – Wild Life – Believe It (Columbia)

In many cases when I start sorting out what mood or emotion I’ll focus on for this show, I may start with a song, sometimes a few songs, and then build around it. This month’s show coincided with a much needed break, which meant I had a little more time than usual to ponder and think about possible show ideas. There were a number of false starts, which may become shows in the future (particularly around some darker moods like Desperation and Depression), but nothing was coming to me that I could build a show around. While I initially gave myself some flexibility, where the show could focus on a specific mood for just a song or a set, I’ve actually enjoyed the challenge of creating an entire show around a particular mood/emotion. As I was beginning to get frustrated about the inability to pull the trigger on a specific mood, I realized that some of the issue was that I had gotten an almost unhealthy amount of vinyl in the last two months. Grips of records from Artform Studio, Permanent Records, Gimme Gimme, and Rappcats pop-ups from Cool Chris of Groove Merchant and DJ Shadow created a situation where there was a lot of vinyl lying around my apartment that I hadn’t even really heard at all.

From that realization the catalyst for focusing on “Neophilia,” the love for what is new or novel, was born. At first, I was just thinking that I would focus on “new” vinyl to my collection, but as I was going through these particular stacks I realized that there about 20 or so records that I hadn’t even heard at all, including some that were still sealed. Not only had I not heard the records, but in virtually every case they came from bands that I didn’t know previously. I then rather suddenly had the wild idea that it would be a good idea to actually do the show without listening to any of the records, but to start with one of the sealed records and just see if I could piece together a solid show. As a chronic planner (I often say ‘even my plans have plans,’) this was definitely not something I had ever done in my life before. After damn near 30 years in radio, it’s exceedingly rare to have a completely new experience. I’m thankful for the novelty of this show, but as I say at the end of the show, there ain’t no way I will ever do a show like this again! Having been through the experience of trying to get songs together in the moment and with the show recording was one of the most exciting, but also anxiety inducing experiences I think I’ve ever had as a DJ. I can’t entirely recommend it, but it was a cool challenge nonetheless. Hope y’all enjoy the results.

Moods In Free Time 023: Neophilia

Playlist – Moods In Free Time 023: Neophilia
{opening theme} The Visitors – The Juggler – In My Youth (Muse)

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The Glitterhouse – Tinkerbell’s Mind – Color Blind (Dynovoice)
Influence – Overture/I Admire – Influence (ABC)
Southwest FOB – Downtown Woman/Nadine – Smell Of Incense (Hip)
Fat – Country Girl – Fat (RCA)
Atlee – Swamp Rhythm – Flying Ahead (ABC)

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Endle St. Cloud – This Is Love – Thank You All Very Much (International Artists)
David Tukhmanov w/ Contemporary – From Sapho – On A Wave Of My Memory (Melodiya)
Acqua – Song From A Picture – Fragile (Numero Uno)
Oko – Samsam – Raskorak (MarCouMar)
Teddy Lasry – La Femme Qui Venait D’Ailleurs – La Femme Qui Venait D’Ailleurs (Sonimage)
Woz aka Paul Woznicki – 2nd Attempt – Woz (Ulterior)

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{Closing Theme} Tony Williams – Wild Life – Believe It! (Columbia)