Holy Cow! It’s been a week since my last post and a week since our fundraising special. All apologies but I’ve been massively busy, with all my classes at CSU-Long Beach and this semester teaching a new class at UCLA Extension. I’ll get on track this week with posts, and next week we’ll be back on the air on KPFK raising funds on the final day of this fall Pledge Drive!

Melting Pot on KPFK #61: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #61: Second Hour

Playlist: 10-16-2011
{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Ocote Soul Sounds – Speak Truth To Power – Taurus (ESL)
Quantic Soul Orcehstra feat. Spanky Wilson – I’m Thankful – Best of Quantic (Tru Thoughts)
Charles “Packy” Axton – Out of Control – Late Late Party 1965-1967 (Light In The Attic)
DJ Shadow – Run For Your Life – The Less You Know, The Better (Verve)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Phonte feat. Evidence and Big K.R.I.T. – The Life Of Kings – Charity Starts At Home (Foreign Exchange Music)
Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg – Le Chanson De Slogan – Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg (1969) (Light In The Attic)
Tinariwen – Aden Osamnat – Tassili (Anti)
Boogaloo Assassins – No No No – Recorded Live At KPFK (KPFK Archives)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Jimi Hendrix Experience – Fire/Lover Man/Sunshine Of Your Love – Winterland Box Set (Sony Legacy)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Mike & the Censations – Victim of Circumstance – Don’t Sell Your Soul (Ubiquity/Luv‘N’Haight)
Mike & the Censations – Don’t Sell Your Soul – Don’t Sell Your Soul (Ubiquity/Luv‘N’Haight)
Mike James Kirkland – You’re Gonna Share Your Love – Don’t Sell Your Soul (Ubiquity/Luv‘N’Haight)
Mike James Kirkland – Hang On In There – Don’t Sell Your Soul (Ubiquity/Luv‘N’Haight)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Wanda Jackson – Like A Baby – The Party Ain’t Over (Third Man)
Best Coast – Summer Mood – Crazy For You (Mexican Summer)
The Neville Bros. feat. Aaron Neville – Tell It Like It Is – The Big Easy: Original Soundtrack (Island)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced? – Winterland Box Set (Sony Legacy)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)

It’s fundraiser time once again at KPFK and Melting Pot is going to be doing it’s part this weekend, Sunday October 23rd!!! It’s likely we’ll only be on for one week this fundraiser, so if you’re a fan of the show and can support the station that puts us on the air please support independent community radio!!!

This is probably the most excited I’ve been ahead of a fundraiser because the music I have for you guys is so spectacular. First off, we have an amazing 4 pack (really 5 pack) of CDs available at $125 to new KPFK subscribers, including the following:

Phonte – Charity Starts At Home
Ocote Soul Sounds – Taurus
Charles “Packy” Axton – Late Late Party 1965-1967
Michael James Kirkland – Don’t Sell Your Soul (2CD)

During my two hours only, I’ll also have a special limited (only 10 available) bonus 4 pack of CDs that you’ll be able to get as an add-on if you pledge $100 or more. You could transform the 4 pack into an 8 pack for the exact same price (and getting these 8 CDs for $125 is LESS than it would cost to buy them!) Included in the bonus pack are the following CDs:

DJ Shadow – The Less You Know, The Better
Dum Dum Girls – Only In Dreams
AM & Shawn Lee – Celestial Electric
Quantic – The Best Of Quantic (2CD)

We’ll have some amazing tickets to incredible shows as well, as add-on’s for pledges of $100 or more:

Tinariwen @ the Luckman Fine Arts Complex October 29th
Jane Birkin @ the Luckman Fine Arts Complex December 3rd
Aaron Neville @ the Luckman Fine Arts Complex December 17th
Wanda Jackson + Best Coast @ Club Nokia December 31st/New Year’s Eve

Finally, every person who donates on my show will be entered into a sweepstakes to win a copy of the recently released Jimi Hendrix Experience – Winterland 4 CD Boxset!!!

This is the Experience at the height of their powers, in 1968, recorded live in san Francisco and the set is amazing. Back in the 1980s they issued just a one-disc version of these concerts, but this includes almost 5 hours of material + a rare interview with Jimi Hendrix and a beautiful 36 page booklet. If you give $1 or $1,000 you’ll have a chance at winning this amazing box set, but you’ll have to donate during Melting Pot this Sunday from 4-6pm West Coast Time…tune in, tell a friend, spread the word and help support Melting Pot and radio powered by the people, KPFK Los Angeles!!!

This Sunday, in addition to an hour of regular programming that featured new music from Real Estate, DJ Shadow, Cooly G, Phonte, Evidence, Dum Dum Girls and more, I paid tribute to one of my absolute favorite albums and artists of all-time, 1991’s Laughing Stock by Mark Hollis and Talk Talk.  I cannot express fully how thankful I am to have a show where I can pay tribute to one of the most amazing pieces of music I’ve ever known.  When I was at KCRW in 2008 I was able to pay tribute to this album’s predecessor Spirit of Eden, by playing a track on each day of my weekly online show.  I’d always wished that I’d played the whole album start to finish.  KPFK is probably one of only a handful of stations that I would have been able to do a tribute like this because of the great freedom we have as programmers and so I am overjoyed to share this entire album with listeners of Melting Pot and also an edited version of a rare interview with Mark Hollis in 1991.  Contrary to my expectations, he is very open about the process behind the album, clearly excited about the recording and most unexpectedly he namechecks multiple artists, Arthur Lee & Love’s Forever Changes, Roland Kirk, Can’s Tago Mago, John Coltrane and Duke Ellington’s “In A Sentimental Mood” and Bob Dylan’s New Morning, that would all rank as some of my favorite all time music.  Listening to this album at KPFK, on probably the loudest speakers I’ve ever been able to use, brought a number of aural surprises that after 13+ years listening to this album (I’ve literally heard it hundreds upon hundreds of times), I’d highly suggest listening to the album as loud as you can, on the best headphones you can find.

If you want to learn more, here are a couple of links to articles that talk in depth about this fascinating album…

After The Flood: Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock 20 Years On by Wyndham Wallace

Tape Op article with producer Phill Brown, discussing the production of Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock

If you’ve never heard this album before this show, I sincerely hope you enjoyed this.  If you’re already familiar with this album, I hope that you heard something new in hearing it this way and found all new reasons to fall in love with it again.  No matter what I do hope you listened to this magnificent work of beauty.  Thank you Mark Hollis and Talk Talk for all the work you put into recording this album.

Melting Pot on KPFK #60: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #60: Second Hour

Playlist: 10-16-2011
{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – 7” (Stax)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

DJ Shadow – Stay The Course – The Less You Know The Better (Verve)
Kamal Ahmed feat. Noor Jerhan – Jawani Meri Bijili – Life Is Dance (Finders Keepers)
Cooly G. feat. Karizma – It’s Serious – 12” (Hyperdub)
Phenomenal Hand Clap Band – Following – Form & Control (Tummy Touch)
Evidence feat. Aloe Blacc – The Liner Notes – Cats & Dogs (Rhymesayers)
Jean-Claude Vannier – La Girafe Au Ballon – Electro Rapide (Finders Keepers)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

El Rego – Achuta – El Rego (Daptone)
Dum Dum Girls – Heartbeat – Only In Dreams (Sub Pop)
Real Estate – Municipality – Days (Domino)
Mike & the Censations – Split Personality – Don’t Sell Your Soul (Ubiquity)
People Under The Stairs – Selfish Destruction – Highlighter (Piecelock 70)
Charles Packy Axton – Stone Fox – Late Late Party (Light In The Attic)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Astrobal – Malaise En Malaise – Poetry & Science Fiction (Plug Research)
Shabazz Palaces – Endeavors For Never – Black Up (Sub Pop)
Icebird – Wander – The Abandoned Lullaby (RJ’s Electrical Connections)
Arthur Verocai – Caboclo (Mario C. & Joey A. Remix) – Timeless Remixed EP (Mochilla)
Phonte feat. Pharoah Monche – We Go Off – Charity Starts At Home (Foreign Exchange)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Mark Hollis – Mark Hollis Talks About Laughing Stock (Verve)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Talk Talk – Laughing Stock (Verve/Polydor/BaDaBing)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)

Short show (we were pre-empted for a FIERY talk from Tavis Smiley and Cornel West!), but I tried to pack in as much as I could with only one hour…great new music from Real Estate, Dum Dum Girls, DJ Shadow and nice reissues from El Rego, Bappi Lahiri and Don Gere’s Werewolves on Wheels. Dig On It!

Melting Pot on KPFK #59

{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – 7” (Stax)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Booker Little – Victory & Sorrow – Victory & Sorrow (Bethlehem)
Mike & The Censations – Victim Of Circumstance – Don’t Sell Your Soul (Ubiquity)
Phonte feat. Evidence and Big KRIT – The Life Of Kings – Charity Starts At Home (Foreign Exchange)
El Rego – Kpon Fi La – El Rego (Daptone)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Real Estate – It’s Real – Days (Domino)
DJ Shadow – Enemy Lines – The Less You Know The Better (Verve)
Astrobal – Trains – Poetry & Science Fiction (Plug Research)
Bappi Lahiri – Meri Jaan – Bollywood Bloodbath (Finders Keepers)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Charles “Packy” Axton – Bullseye – Late Late Party 1965-1967 (Light In The Attic)
Dum Dum Girls – Always Looking – Only In Dreams (Sub Pop)
Jean Claude-Vaniier – Au Desespoir Des Singes – Roses Rouge Sang (B-Music)
9th Wonder feat. Khrysis – Make It Big – The Wonder Years (Self-Released)
Don Gere – Werewolves On Wheels (Main Theme) – Werewolves on Wheels (B-Music)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)

Sorry about how long this has taken (and the general lack of posts), but I’ve been swamped with work, teaching classes at CSU-Long Beach and now UCLA Extension.  Here’s the delayed audio from this past Sunday’s show, which I’d originally hoped would include a guest (or two), but unfortunately Quantic was unable to make it after DJ-ing at the legendary underground party The Lift the night before and having an in-store on Sunday.  So, I had to come up with a whole hour of programming, on the fly!  Allowed me to play a couple of long songs, including one of the greatest drum break tunes of all time, Niagara’s “Sangandongo”.  New music from Phonte, Dum DUm Girls, Real Estate and J-Live.  This coming week I’ll be pushing back the tribute to Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock to the 16th, because we’ll be broadcasting special programming from none other than Tavis Smiley and Cornel West at 5pm!!

Melting Pot on KPFK #58: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #58: Second Hour

{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

The Lumpen – Free Bobby Now – 7” (Seize The Time)
Rob – Boogie On – The First Album/Funky Rob Way (Analog Africa)
Katalyst – Ready To Drop feat. Kween G – Deep Impressions (BBE)
The Martinis – Key Chain – Late Late Party 1965-1967 (Light In The Attic)
J-Live – The Authentic – SPTA (Triple Threat Productions)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Quantic Soul Orchestra – Super 8 – Best of Quantic (Tru Thoughts)
Niagara – Sangandongo – Niagara (United Artists)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Phonte – The Good Fight – Charity Begins At Home (Foreign Exchange)
Mike & the Censations – Don’t Sell Your Soul – Don’t Sell Your Soul (Ubiquity)
Googoosh – Digeh Geryeh Delo Va Nemikoneh – Googoosh (Finders Keepers)
Real Estate – Green Aisles – Days (Domino)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Dum Dum Girls – Coming Down – Only In Dreams (Sub Pop)
Harvey Hall – All In Your Eyes – Boddie Recording Co. Cleveland Ohio (Numero)
Atlas Sound – Terra Incognita – Parallax (4ad)
Pollyn – Same Old Thing – Living In Patterns (Self-released)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

DJ Shadow – Run For Your Life – The Less You Know, The Better (Verve)
The Butterfield Blues Band – East West – East West (Elektra)
Comet Gain – An Arcade From The Warm Rain That Falls – Howl Of The Lonely Crowd (What’s Your Rupture)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Robin Hannibal – Amends – Bobby EP (Plug Research)
Incarnations – Let Love Find You – With All Due Respect (LoveMonk)
Gil Scott Heron – Delta Man (Where I’m Comin’ From) – Bridges (Arista)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)