This one has been out for a minute, but I’ve been returning to it again and again over the last couple months. Kendra Morris is the latest signee to the burgeoning Wax Poetics label and with her soul style she’s a welcome addition. There’s no way to get around comparisons to Amy Winehouse (she even looks a bit like Amy from the Back To Black cover in the way she sits) or Adele, but Morris has potential to move beyond those comparisons and chart her own territory. On the tracks where her voice is most distinctive, such as “Old Photos” or the track above, “If You Didn’t Go,” she really shines and perhaps gives us a glimpse of what is yet to come.
Absolutely crazy show yesterday with my first time (and likely LAST time ever) giving away 6 different pairs of tickets in a two hour period. I feel a little closer to Oprah after having a show like this (you get some tickets, and you get some tickets, and you get some tickets, everybody gets tickets!), all caused by special programming next week and the upcoming fundraiser (which will feature even more tickets). Solid show music wise, with new tracks from Gaslamp Killer, Kid Koala, Lianne La Havas, Corin Tucker, Soul Jazz Orchestra and more. I’d really wanted to play some Tim Maia, but only got a little instrumental interlude of “Rational Culture” because I ran out of time and didn’t bring any other Paul Weller than “Shadow Of The Sun.” Next week I’m doing two hours on one of my favorite bands, celebrating 20 years of making music and touring the US for the first time in a long time, Australia’s Dirty Three and yes I will have tickets for their show in Los Angeles in October.
Playlist: 09-23-2012
{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)
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John Coltrane – After The Rain – His Greatest Years (Impulse)
Johnny Hartman – September Song – Songs From The Heart (Bethelehem)
Lianne La Havas – Age 0 Is Your Love Big Enough (Nonesuch)
Menahan Street Band – Keep Coming Back – The Crossing (Dunham/Daptone)
Orgone – Give It Up – Cali Fever (Ubiquity)
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The xx – Reunion – Coexist (XL)
Mono – The Kidnapper’s Ball – Under The Pipal Tree (Tzadik)
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffitti feat. Dam-Funk – Baby – Mature Themes (4ad)
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The Gaslamp Killer feat. Gonjasufi – Apparitions – Breakthrough (Brainfeeder)
Kid Koala 6 Bit Blues – 12 Bit Blues (Ninja Tune)
Amon Tobin – Slowly – Supermodified (Ninja Tune)
Can – Oscura Primavera – The Lost Tapes (Mute)
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Charles Bradley – I’ll Slip Away – 7” (Light In The Attic)
Soul Jazz Orchestra – Kelen Ati Leen – Solidarity (Strut)
Dirty Three – Alice Wading – She Has No Strings Apollo (Bella Union)
Corin Tucker – Groundhog Day – Kill My Blues (KillRockStars)
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Mike & the Censations – Victim Of Circumstance – Don’t Sell Your Soul (Ubiquity)
Mayer Hawthorne – Maybe So, Maybe No – A Strange Arrangement (Stones Throw)
Billy Stewart – I Do Love You – I Do Love You (Chess)
Myron & E with the Soul Investigators – It’s A Shame – 7” (Timmion)
Etta James – I Worship The Ground You Walk On – The Complete Tell Mama Sessions (Chess)
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Jose James – It’s All Over Your Body – EP (Blue Note)
Tim Maia – Rational Culture – Racional Vol. 1 (Seroma)
Paul Weller – Shadow Of The Sun – Wild Wood (Go Discs!)
Irma Thomas – Wish Someone Would Care – Irma Thomas Sings (Change)
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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)
As Oliver Wang noted when he originally posted a couple of these songs, though many of his albums are easy to find, figuring out when 1970s LPs from Pérez Prado were actually recorded is bloody difficult. It’s hard to even know which Pérez Prado is even leading these bands. Dámaso Pérez Prado and Pantaleón Pérez Prado were both born in Cuba, about 10 years apart. Dámaso is the one we generally think of, famous for stylized grunts and his Mambo recordings of the late 1950s and early 1960s. By the late 1960s and 1970s, both brothers appear to have been leading the band and recording under the Pérez Prado name. For me, it’s all in the grunt. The grunts and shouts on “Black Magnolia,” “Mambo Barroco” and “Sexomania” sound like the elder Prado, so I’ll chalk this album up to him.
While this record was released in 1976 on the Dimsa label, I can’t believe that any of this music was recorded later than 1970. The only other Pérez Prado record I own is Concierto Para Bongo which has at least 4 “Go-Go” songs on it and must have been recorded before 1967. Just based off of the sound of the drums, especially on the Latin Soul Barn Burner “Black Magnolia,” I’m thinking this one was recorded in 1968, but like a lot of Prado records from the 1970s, it’s just not possible to tell. While Prado is a world reknowned artist his catalog isn’t revered enough to have somebody completely nerd-out and document it step by step. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a cache of reel-to-reels somewhere in Mexico City that have all the tracks he recorded in the mid 1960s and early 1970s that got released over time. Maybe some day someone will dig up the full story on Prado’s 1960s/1970s output and clear up all the mysteries, but for now enjoy the sounds.
Been an admirer of Gaslamp Killer’s since his mix of music from the Finders Keepers label. My admiration grew significantly when I heard his production work on Gonjasufi’s amazing album A Sufi & A Killer. Since then, I’ve been trying not to let me expectations get to far ahead of themselves about his full-length album Breakthrough. On his first LP, GLK builds off of all the fantastic things he’s already done and shows great range in the styles and sounds. “Dead Vets” is one of the standout tracks, one of many that feature special guests, in this case Adrian Younge and Michael Raymond Russell (aka MRR of MRR / ADM). As you might expect from the resumes of these three, the sound is heavy and dark. I’m not sure you can get darker and funkier than this (perhaps if David Axelrod had produced it with a reanimated Earl Palmer on drums). Hard thing to exceed my expectations these days, but Breakthrough certainly does.
We still haven’t gotten the new record we were promised at the beginning of the year, but who are we to complain, Mos Def & Talib Kweli are once again performing as Black Star and will be here in the LA area to play at Club Nokia on Saturday, September 22nd! If you’d like to see these living legends courtesy of Melting Pot, as they celebrate the 20th anniversary of the famed Lyricist Lounge, make sure to e-mail me at michael[at]meltingpotblog.com before 12noon on Friday, September 21st!!!
Posted several of my faves last year when we gave away tickets, but there are so many great tracks to choice from this long standing collaboration;
Though it’s not technically a Black Star song, it does (to my knowledge) represent the first collaboration between Mos and Kweli (along with Mr. Man from Scienz Of Life), and remains one of my all-time favorite post-Golden Era tracks (that beat! oh good lord that beat!):
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.
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!
Solid show this week, front loaded with new music, including new Gaslamp Killer (with Adrian Younge & MRR!), JJ Doom, The xx, Menahan Street Band and more. In the second hour we have an interview with Matt Sullivan of Light In The Attic records, one of my favorite reissue labels and a strong contender for label of the year. We discuss how the label started and some of the music from the first 10 years, including a couple of tracks recorded as part of their anniversary celebration (separate post to follow). Gave away a lot of tickets this week and I’ll giving away even more next week due to special programming on Sept. 30th (A Tribute to the Dirty Three) and the upcoming fundraiser, a few will end up here on the blog too, so keep an eye and ear out for it and spread the word.
Playlist: 09-16-2012
{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – 7” (Stax)
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Jorge Negrete – Yo Soy Mexicano – Fiesta Mexicana (Arcano)
Kelan Philip Cohran & the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – Cuernavaca – Kelan Philip Cohran & the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (Honest Jon’s)
Kid Koala – 2 Bit Blues – 12 Bit Blues (Ninja Tune)
Sonnymoon – Every Summer Night – Sonnymoon (Plug Research)
Dirty Three – Ever Since – Cinder (Touch & Go)
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The xx – Our Song – Coexist (XL)
Lianne La Havas – Don’t Wake Me Up – Is Your Love Big Enough (Nonesuch)
Gaslamp Killer feat. Adrian Younge & MRR – Dead Vets – Breakthrough (Brainfeeder)
Kendra Morris – Old Photos – Banshee (Wax Poetics)
Quadron – Pressure – Quadron (Plug Research)
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JJ Doom feat. Beth Gibbons – GMO – Keys To The Kuffs (Lex)
Menahan Street Band – Slight Of Hand – The Crossing (Dapton/Dunham)
Reflection Eternal feat. Mos Def and Mr. Man – Fortified Live – 12” (Rawkus)
Ohio Players – Ecstasy (Matthew Africa Edit) – Ecstasy (djmatthewafrica.com)
The Cactus Channel – Jungle Run – Haptics (Hope Street)
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Interview & Guest DJ set from Matt Sullivan of Light In The Attic Records
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{closing theme} T.L. Barrett & the Youth for Christ Choir – Like A Ship – Like A Ship (Light In The Attic)
Of all the tracks that have been rolling around in my mind since Matthew’s passing, I keep coming back to this stunning and so necessary edit of the Ohio Players’ track “Ecstasy,” posted on his blog back in July. Seriously, I’ve been listening to this in the car, at the gym, in my office between classes, washing dishes, cleaning the house, walking the dog, in the shower, basically everywhere I’ve been in the last week I’ve been listening to “Ecstasy,” either literally through some headphones or just playing it on repeat in my mind. The way he perfectly extends a 2:30 song into 4 minutes of pure aural pleasure continually leaves me speechless. I’ve been promising myself that at some point in the near future I’m gonna get a dub plate of this pressed just so I can play it out on vinyl.
The way the edit comes together reminds me of a conversation we had at KALX back in 2002 when the I Love Serge collection came out. By far the best remix on that album was essentially a re-edit of “Ballade De Melody Nelson” by Howie B. He didn’t add much of anything to it, he just used original elements to take a song that always felt far too short and create a 7 minute epic. With all the bells and whistles attached to the other remixes, Matthew and I really appreciated the simplicity of that style. On this edit, Matthew achieved something very similar, also without adding anything “foreign” into the mix:
“I added no extra drums, no quantizing and not even a mixable intro. As a DJ, all of those things can be nice conveniences, but in my view there are some classics you can only fuck up and “Ecstasy” is one of them. Instead, I just made it a little longer and tried to do so in the least obtrusive way possible.”
The brilliance on display here makes me miss Matthew all the more as well as all of the fantastic edits he would have created. But, as has been the case as I pour over all of this music he left us to remember him by, I’m just thankful that we had him as long as we did…couldn’t never do without you. Rest In Peace, Matthew.
Been coping with the loss of Matthew Africa by spending a lot of time listening to music and sharing stories about him and times shared together. Even before his death I had been thinking of doing a post about Soulvation, a Wednesday night weekly headed up by KALX’s DJ Kitty at Oakland’s Ruby Room on 14th Street Downtown. Round about 2001 I was in my second year of graduate school and first year at KALX Berkeley, the radio station at Cal. Graduate school at Berkeley was a tough experience for me in the early going. While I had some very good friends in the department, I was never really able to shake the feeling like I didn’t truly belong at such a prestigious school. 2001 was the year where everything came together for me, personally and professionally and a big part of that was the sense of belonging I got from going to those Soulvation Wednesday nights.
I can’t remember who originally invited me to come out, or if I just thought about checking out since I knew several KALX DJs spun there. I’ve always been a fan of soul and funk music, but most of the time when I lived in Atlanta, I wasn’t old enough to go to the bars, and later when I was of age, I was never able to find a funk night. Same case in Madison, Wisconsin, for the short year I spent there. Soulvation was the first place where I was able to hear the music that I loved most and able to literally dance away all my frustrations, insecurities and hang-ups and just enjoy life. The Ruby Room was (and still seems to be) a quintessential dive bar. It remains quite possibly the darkest bar I’ve ever been in. It was always filled with smoke, despite California laws to the contrary, which gave it even more of a “We Don’t Give A Fuck” kind of feel. The crowd on those Wednesday nights was mostly on what I’d now call the hipster side of things, but there was always mix of Oakland people and everybody was always cool. The mainstays were almost always DJ Kitty, along with Sean Sullivan and of course Matthew Africa. After playing a couple of rounds of pool at Thalassa in Berkeley I’d bike down to the Ruby shortly after 10pm and settle into a spot near the DJ booth chatting up with Matthew, Sean or Kitty and getting drinks, Rum & Coke or Cuba Libre for me, generally a beer for Matthew. We sit or stand over by the DJ booth, compliment each other song selections, catch up and when our song came on, set the beer down by the decks and hit the floor running. While the bar was long, it didn’t really have a dancefloor to speak of, just a bit of space between the bar and in front of the DJ booth. It couldn’t have been more than a 8 X 8 bit of space, but by 11 it was always packed. Going to those Wednesday nights taught me how to dance really good in a really tight space (a talent that proves most useful at Funky Sole here in LA).
At some point Kitty asked me to spin and I could not have been more overjoyed. While I’d spun at a few spaces before, I’d never spun at a place where people actually danced. I would just pack my sets with tunes that I wanted to dance with and most of the time while I was playing songs I’d also be on the dancefloor, keeping track of the changes so as to make it back in time to cue up and start the next tracks. By far, those Wednesday nights were my best experiences as a DJ and a dancer, due in no small part to Matthew Africa and the other DJs. My fondest memories are spinning at birthday party’s for Kitty (I seem to remember getting her a “Soul Sister” cake like the cover of the Sister Funk compilation) and for Matthew’s 30th birthday along with Joe Quixx. I also distinctly remember Halloween in 2001, when Matthew dressed up in a 1970s “Tony Montoya” white suit with a bag of white powder that he had labeled “Yayo not Anthrax”…such was his sense of humor. The rest is a blur that makes me seriously wish I’d spent a bit less on records back then and instead bought a camera. But memory is an amazing thing and if I close my eyes I can still see (and smell) the Ruby Room in its glory, walking down that long bar to see Kitty and Matthew hanging out by the booth as “I Got The…” or “Hook & Sling” or “Here Come The Girls” was playing on the shittiest speakers in all of the East Bay. Though I can’t remember what we were talking about, I can remember talking to Matthew about something have “Quit Jivin'” come on and see him drop his drink and immediately doing his signature strut, only to return at song’s end and pick up the conversation where we left off. Below are just a few of the songs that were a part of that experience.
Lyn Collins – We Want To Parrty, Parrty, Parrty – People
This one started off my first ever set at the Ruby Room. It’s a fantastic song to segue from one DJ to another because of the intro and equally fantastic because of the funk and party atmosphere of the track. Once I was spinning here in LA at the Short Stop and the dance floor cleared after I started playing this song, much to my dismay…I almost gave up on LA right there on the spot. Definitely made me miss those Wednesday nights at the Ruby even more.
Vera Hamilton – But I Ain’t No More (G.S.T.S.K.D.T.S.) – Epic
One of the truly signature songs of Soulvation, so much so you’d think there was a contract somewhere that stated that this song had to played every single week. I think a lot of DJs won’t play such a “slow” track like this, but this one never fails to get people on the floor. A big part of it has to do with the “G.S.T.S.K.D.T.S.” chant at the heart of the song. Soulvation regulars knew this one by heart and had some distinctive ways of acting out the final time when Hamilton lets you know what each of those letters spell out.
One of my single favorite songs in the world to dance to. Just great interplay between the lyrics and singing and rhythm, lots of little changes that really allow you to improvise and be creative on the dancefloor. While I know Tolbert’s not really singing about Cars, sometimes things get so nonsensical that I think maybe he really is just talking about the sheer fact that you cannot start your motor if you battery is no good.
Sister funk out of Chicago that always got me to put down my drink and head to the dance floor. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure that my right knee has never been the same after I twisted it on an especially hard dip to the right during the “Push & Pull” chorus. Didn’t let that stop me that night and haven’t let it stop me since. It just impossible not to get moving once those punchy horns and drums start up and Gayles starts to run down all her problems with her man and what she thinks the solution will be.
No other song defined Soulvation in quite the same way as “Foxy Girls In Oakland.” There are few “city” songs that can compete with this blues groover from Collins. I have a hard time thinking of any song about a city (and it’s women) that’s better than this. Another sure fire mover, with so many choice lines it’s hard to choose what you favorite is, “Foxy little girls in Oakland, struttin’ like you never never seen before,” or “Pretty leg girls in Oakland, struttin’ down East 14th,” or “All the little guys in Frisco, don’t do nothing all day but think about the girls in Oakland,” or “True bad mommas in the East Bay, shuckin’ and jivin’ it while they talk.” My favorite was always one of the closers, “All these girls killing me, make me happy, make me so happy I could slap my pappi!” Simply nothing compares to being on an Oakland dancefloor when “Foxy Girls In Oakland” comes on. Though I wasn’t there when it happened, I seem to remember that Kitty had tracked down Rodger Collins, now known as Haji Sabrie, so he could see how beloved his song was and the effect it still had 30+ years after being recorded. This song was always the shining star of the night, played almost always at Midnight and eliciting a raucous cheer from the crowd as soon as the opening guitar licks rang out. I’ve never experienced that kind of reaction for a funk song, and likely never will. That was only part of what made Soulvation so special and so sorely missed.
{Bonus Track For The Good Times} Another signature tune, that I’ve never owned on 7-inch, though I don’t think the version that got the most play, with the “Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby” x 2 intro, was ever released on 45, was Mary Jane Hooper’s “I’ve Got Reasons.” Such a fantastic mid-tempo strutter…for me no night was complete without hearing this one.
It’s been almost a week since Matthew left this world, 4 days since I heard the news and still I’m having a hard time believing he’s really gone. Maybe part of the reason for that is that so much of the music I listen to and even HOW I listen to music was influenced in one way or another by Matthew. It is as if he’s always present. It doesn’t take away the pain of loss, but there is some comfort in the fact that I know I’ll likely be spending the rest of my life running into “Matthew Africa Records.” On Sunday’s show I paid tribute to Matthew Africa, playing music that reminded me of him.
In some cases they were songs that he turned me onto (“Fire Eater,” “No. 1 Lady”), others were artists and songs that I know were some of Matthew’s favorites, (I can remember having conversations about Love’s Forever Changes, his love of Damo Suzuki era Can and how It Takes A Nation Of Millions to Hold Us Back from PE was his favorite rap record). I also included excerpts from several of his mixes, especially the all 7 inch mix he just recently completed that might have been his last (separate post on that below). Finally there are a few moments where you hear Matthew’s voice, talking with Oliver Wang (who stopped by and talks with me at length in the first hour about what made Matthew so special) about how he started collecting records and revealing the mystery of how “Africa” became his family’s name as well as attempting to enlighten his mates on the Stay Hatin’ podcast on Jamaican music. There’s also a short snippet from an interview I did with Matthew for my research on DJs in the second hour. I tried to get him to divulge what the most money he’d spent on a record was, but he wouldn’t budge and just as he predicted, we’re all left to wonder.
I wanted to do a tribute that would give at least a small sense of why Matthew was so important to me and so important to many others, to share some stories and music but also to share a little of his personality. I’m thankful that I was able to express to him how grateful I was while he was still here with us, but more than anything I feel truly blessed to have known him and have been his friend.
Playlist: 09-09-2012
{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – 7” (Stax)
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Rusty Bryant – Fire Eater – Fire Eater (Prestige)
Love – You Set The Scene – Forever Changes (Elektra)
Billy Harper – Priestess – In Europe (Soul Note)
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Jimi Hendrix – Crosstown Traffic – Electric Ladyland (Elektra)
Matthew Africa On How He started Collecting Records –Excerpt From An Interview With Oliver Wang
Buddy Miles – Down By The River – Them Changes (Mercury)
Sly & the Family Stone – Can’t Strain My Brain – Small Talk (Epic)
Excerpt from A Tribute To The Mizell Brothers: A Mix By Matthew Africa (blog.djmatthewafrica.com)
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Can – Halleluhwah – Tago Mago (UA)
James Brown – You Mother You – SHo Is Funky Down Here (King)
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Jackson 5 – Walk On – Goin’ Back To Indiana (Motown)
Public Enemy – Caught, Can We Get A Witness – It Takes A Nation OF Millions To Hold Us Back (Def Jam)
Excerpt from Stay Hatin’ #24 (matthewafrica.podomatic.com)
Excerpt from Yay Game: The E-40 Mix by Matthew Africa (blog.djmatthewafrica.com)
Melvin Bliss – Synthetic Substitution – 7” (Sunburst)
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Ohio Players – Ecstasy (Matthew Africa Extended Edit) – Ecstasy (Westbound)
Hunt’s Determination Band – No. 1 Lady – Get Your Act Together (Earwax)
Matthew Africa on the most he paid for a record – Excerpt From An Interview with Michael Barnes
Darling Dears and Funky Heavy Prod. – I Don’t Think I’ll Ever Love Another – 7” (Flower City)
Toni Tornado – Me Libertei – B.R.3 (Odeon)
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Excerpt from Matthew Africa Plays Seven Inches (blog.djmatthewafrica.com)
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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)
Matthew Africa On The Origins Of His Name – Excerpt From An Interview With Oliver Wang
The Trinikas – Remember Me – 7” (Pearce)
{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.)
{I’ll be paying tribute to Matthew Africa on today’s Melting Pot, on KPFK, 90.7 FM in Los Angeles, KPFK.ORG worldwide, from 4-6pm. I’ll be including some of his mixes, a few of the many artists that I know he loved, things he turned me on to personally, things he turned us all on to via his show and blog and sharing some of my memories. Oliver Wang of Soul-Sides.com will also be a guest to remember one of the best DJs and all around human beings we’ve known.}
I’m still in a complete state of shock after learning that my friend Matthew Africa has died in a car accident. I don’t even know where to begin or how to quantify the impact that Matthew had on me as a DJ and Music Lover. I always liked to joke with him that he had ever single record anyone should have. His knowledge and appreciation of music was as deep as any person I’ve ever known. In 1994 or 1995 I got a copy of Jazz Dance Classics Vol. 1 from Luv’n’Haight which Africa helped compile and wrote the liner notes. The collection had an instant effect on me and was one of the prime catalysts for me to really start digging. It changed how I listened to music. When I came to Berkeley and eventually started working at KALX, I came to know Matthew and we became friends. More than a few times our shifts followed each other and almost every week Matthew turned me and all of his listeners onto things we’d never heard. It seems like just a minute ago that we were reminiscing on facebook about times spent DJ-ing together at the Ruby Room in Oakland. Some of my fondest memories as a DJ involve Matthew. It was an honor to spin just before him at his 30th Birthday party, to talk music, politics and culture, which we could do endlessly. I don’t know what else to say except that I can’t believe he’s gone. I’ll likely have a tribute this Sunday on Melting Pot for Matthew. For now, here’s just a few things that remind me of him.
Gary Bartz – Celestial Blues
This is the first track off of the Jazz Dance Classic comp. that Matthew helped compile. At the time he was an employee of Groove Merchant, with was the headquarters of Ubiquity and Luv’n’Haight records. Few songs seem more fiting than this one as a testament to Matthew, who many will remember for his taste in music, but was so much more than just a DJ. He was one of the most intelligent men I’ve ever known.
Rusty Bryant – The Fire Eater
Monster track also on Jazz Dance Classics Vol. 1. It wasn’t my introduction to the world of Jazz-Funk, but almost 20 years later since the first time I heard this, I don’t think my ears have ever recovered. Demolishes all other tracks with those massive drums from Idris Muhammad and the organ solo from Bill Mason is just legendary. As with all the other tracks on this collection, hearing this completely blew me away and started me down the path of digging for much more obscure music than I was up on at the time.
U.S. 69 – I’m On My Way
This is one of many tracks that I got turned on to because of Matthew’s radio show. KALX constantly shifted the DJs around, you had to be approved for your time slot based off of the judgement of a small programming council. Several times we’d follow each other, his show before mine for a time, my show before his. I still remember the first time I heard this one, as I was putting away my music in the KALX library the sitar and the beat from this song hit and I literally ran back to the studio to find out what this amazing bit of music was.
Gal Costa – De Um Role
Another discovery because of Matthew’s radio show, and another track that he once led off his show with and I just had to run back into the studio to find out what it was. Part of me always wished that Gal Costa had recorded a studio version of this song, a cover of Novos Baianos. I’m glad she didn’t, it makes this version, from her live album Fatal A Todo Vapor even more special, especially now.
Pearly Queen – Quit Jivin’
My fondest memories of Matthew center around time spent on Wednesday nights at the Ruby Room in Oakland. DJ Kitty’s “Soulvation” night was one of the first places in the Bay Area where I really felt at home. Hanging out and dancing with my fellow DJs, Kitty, Sean Sullivan, Joe Quixx and Matthew made it all the more special. I don’t know if I ever asked him, but “Quit Jivin'” struck me as one of Matthew’s favorite songs. I say that because anytime anyone played he’d immediately hit the dance floor to do his signature dance. Everytime I hear it I can immediately see Matthew putting down his beer and hitting the floor.
Lee Dorsey – A Lover Was Born
Back in 2001, when DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist followed up their legendary Brain Freeze mix with Product Placement, Matthew was one of the DJs they asked to spin ahead of them that evening. He was on early, but his set was as good as any of the others that night. At the end of the night they brought all of the DJs on stage to play an additional song. Matthew’s choice was “A Lover Was Born” from Lee Dorsey, and if I close my eyes I can still see him on stage, doing his dance just overjoyed to be playing the music he loved.
Dee Edwards – Why Can’t There Be Love
Matthew just recently had posted a mix of music from 45s, kind of prep for special night of dj-ing in the Bay Area. As was always the case, there were many many songs that I’d never heard before and that I’ll obssess over until my days are gone. Dee Edwards’ “Why Can’t There Be Love” is the one that has stayed in my mind and it’s hard to believe that this is the last thing that Matthew turned me onto. You will be sorely missed.
The Heavy were a revelation back when they burst onto the scene in 2007. Led by the gruff falsetto of Kelvin Swaby (who once upon a time did vocals for Alpha) the band mixes together a bit of Hip-Hop production with a hard rock edge. They’ve become darlings of music supervisors and that’s made them into stars, with their songs turning up in commercials and films. “Short Change Hero” is perfectly placed as the theme music to the all-action drama “Strike Back.” They’ve gotten quite a lot of love from Los Angeles from the beginning and will be back in support of their brand spanking new album, “The Glorious Dead,” performing at the El Rey on Friday September 7th. If you’d like to go courtesy of Melting Pot, e-mail me at michael[at]meltingpotblog.com before 12noon on Thursday September 6th!!!
Here’s a little bit of inspiration if you need it, courtesy of the boys from the Land of Noid:
