I've been overwhelmed by a tidal wave of music recently. Here are 4 of my favorite songs from the past week. Unfortunately all this new music has been digital :( someday when I'm really ballin' I'll buy these on vinyl. That's about $1200+ worth of wax right there IF you can actually find copies for sale. I know the Magnum LP has been reissued and songs off the Copa 7 LP appear on compilations. Good luck on finding clean copies of the Ofege albums..they had 4 albums between 1974-78 and they're all exxxxxpensive!
Everybody Feels The Same by Ofege from "The Last Of The Origins" LP EMI Nigeria 1974
Natural Juices by Magnum from "Fully Loaded" LP Phoenix 1974
This was playing in my iTunes earlier and I was really into the selection & the mixes so I checked to see who it was. Turns out that it was me! This part of a live session from a few years ago at that party Lil Dave & I did for a while. On this mix is some latiny funk, soul, & afro-beat. In case it matters to you, this happened to be all vinyl. Be sure to download the other live session from this party that I posted a while back. Go to the downloads section or click >> HERE <<
I've been listening to my iTunes a lot of shuffle lately to try to rediscover stuff in my own collection. I've got a pretty large and very diverse collection so it's pretty fun. Here's a few of the 'new' rediscoveries. That Dimenzio post from a couple weeks ago is also technically part of this.
First up is by avant garde '80s funk rockers The Flying Lizards. This group is amazing! They also do a cover of 'Money' by Don Covay which is one of my favorite 7"s to play in the most random places & times. Some of you hip-hop heads will recognize this song even if you've never actually heard it.
The Flying Lizards "Her Story"
Next is a song I never really paid attention to by one of the greatest groups of all time to come out of the African funk & afro-beat movement. They but out a few really good albums that are very expensive when found in good condition...actually even in poor, nearly unplayable, condition these albums still aren't cheap. This is from their compilation on Strut records and is long out-of-print.
Blo "Preacher Man"
Here's a track from a serious jazz group with a silly name on Gilles Peterson's label, Brownswood. They also have the creepiest album cover in this post so let's give it up for Soil & "PIMP" Sessions.
This song produced by Domu with Pete Simpson on vocals is just beautiful. Excellent composition, lyrics and harmony. The latin swing combined with the cadence of the vocals work well together to carry the song without losing your attention. The house remixes are worth checking out too.
Domu presents Pete Simpson "Won't Give Up (album version)"
WHOA! This is a monster tune! I'd expect nothing less from an early eighties Hungarian jazz/fusion group named Dimenzió. Unfortunately, I do not own this record and have not heard the rest of the album yet. From what I could learn this album, Pepita, is the only album they released. Someone should really buy this record for me! This is the kind of music that vinyl was made for.
True story: About a month ago I was in the zone doing some design work and the mix playing really caught my attention. I look at my iTunes and it turns out it's one of my own mixes! Back when people actually bought and sold mix CDs I sold a bunch of these. Now in this new age of piracy and free music I want you to have it. Actually, I'll be posting all of my older mixes up here for free downloads soon..for now you can listen to some of them in the player on the main page.
Make sure to click on that big 'download' button to get more free mixes from me- The Record Player
You can also download this mix from the Sundae party's website >>HERE<<
Nope! Not the version you're thinking of by Michael McDonald (of the Doobie Brothers). This is from a wedding reception for Alex and Sarah, who know a thing or two about music....they got Antibalas with Blinky Griptite to play at their wedding!!!
I've been wanting to post this for a while now but it's better late than never! Just go buy the new album by Platinum Pied Pipers, 'Abundance'. It's rare in modern music for an entire album to be thorough from start to finish and really hold my attention. Abundance does just that. It's a beautiful amalgamation of r&b, funk, latin and house. The range of emotions captured in the lyrics help to quantify the diversity in the styles of music represented here. Focusing on the talents of lesser known artists solidifies the passion in the songs. From the uptempo single 'On A Cloud' to the more laid back 'Pigeon Hole' and to the club tracks like 'American Pimp' and 'Rocket Science' this album keeps you hooked in for the duration. The only disappointing part is when it ends, in which case you'll likely press play again or flip the record over.
Buy it direct from Ubiquity. While you're at it, buy their first album too if you don't have it yet (which you should).
Chances are you've heard at least something either produced or remixed by Quantic at some point in the last 8 years even if you have no idea who he is. This is because the man behind Quantic, WIll Holland, is nothing short of a musical prodigy in the modern sense of the word. He is one of the most prolific people in modern music and covers a wide range of styles from raw funk, house, trip-hop, broken beat, reggae, hip-hop, latin, jazz and afro beat. Since 2001 he has released over 20 albums and singles, has done dozens of remixes and still finds time to DJ and even did a rare funk compilation a few years back. To put it bluntly, he is nothing short of amazing and has been a major force in the underground music scene since releasing his first album 'The 5th Exotic' on Tru Thoughts.
Everybody Feels The Same by Ofege from "The Last Of The Origins" LP EMI Nigeria 1974
