Here Come the Lords

Lords of the Underground: "Chief Rocka" Music Video
From Here Come The Lords [Capitol, 1993]

Time's a little tight right now so I'm going to let Can I Bring My Gat do most of the talking. A supplement to bse's post on the LOTUG, here's the music video to "Chief Rocka," one of many standout cuts on their 1993 debut.

Note: Because of the size of music videos, they will be taken off the site sooner than audio files to conserve bandwith. Don't sleep.

Ohio Players in Ecstasy

Ohio Players: "Ecstasy" and "(I Wanna Know) Do You Feel It"
From: Ecstasy (Westbound, 1973)

It always seems strange to me how little coverage there is of The Ohio Players in blogland so consider this my first step in changing that for the better. What originally caught my eye with these funk fiends was their brilliantly over the top album covers for their westbound recordings, a mixture of overt sexuality and bizarre s&m featuring a rather scary bald woman. It's really worth a post of it's own but you can find a selection of their fold out covers here.

Formed at the very end of the 50's as the Ohio Untouchables before reforming as the Ohio Players in 1968, the group really hit form at the start of the seventies releasing at least one album a year throughout the decade and maintaining an amazingly high standard throughout. If you see any of their seventies albums in the shops pick them up as they're pretty much a guarantee of quality.

Anyway, onto today's music, two songs from the band's 1973 album Ecstasy. The first of their albums I was introduced to, it still holds a fond place in my heart being of consistently excellent quality throughout (excluding the rather limp Silly Billy).

The first song is the title track itself, a wickedly funky little number. From the moment the bass riff starts proceedings it's a tune that dares you to attempt not to nod your head along to it. I love the raw passion of the vocals and the piano that tinkles over the top of the groove. Great backing vocals as well on this one. Having done a quick check this song appears to be pretty much free from sampling which astonishes me as it's bassline alone is crying out for use in some g-funk production.

The second track, (I Wanna Know) Do You Feel It, starts as a more downtempo number, a slow groove for gettin' it on if you like. Lovely vocal harmonies again and my old friend the hammond organ is used to excellent effect in the breakdown three minutes in. The change of tempo to upbeat gets me everytime as the players lay down the funk for the last minute and a half of the track.

Well there you have it, if you like what you hear let me know and I'll continue my campaign to get The Ohio Players music back on more people's playlists...........

De La Extras pt. 2

Prince Paul feat. De La Soul: More Than You Know
From A Prince Among Thieves (Tommy Boy, 1999)
Nightmares on Wax feat. De La Soul: Keep On Rockin'
From The Sound of N.O.W 12" (Matador/Warp, 2000)
De La Soul: I Gotta Believe
From Parappa 7" (Tommy Boy, 2001)

Couple more De La tracks from the period between Stakes (which, for what it's worth, is one of my favorite records from them; Dinninit and The Breaks are my summer evening soundtrack) and The Grind Date for you to revisit.

One of my favorite things De La do on the early records is pick a certain rhythmic pattern, and fit their lyrics to that template. They kinda moved away from that style later on, but it's back in effect on this track ("I/ enjoy the gettin away from day/ to day stress so I need to leave/ soon"). They also flip their patented verselong metaphors (crackdealer as travel agent, addiction as a girlfriend) and pull it off in a pretty fresh way. Plus, they're playing fucking crackheads, which is definitely rad. This track has it all: Pos and Dave rapping with Breez from Juggaknotts, Prince Paul on the vintage beat, and it's from a damn rap opera. What more do you want?

Nightmares on Wax is a British dude whose music fits in nicely with the Ninjatune set. Usually on these types of albums, it's the cuts with emcees on them that tend to slow the record down, but this one's a highlight (shit, De La even made that one Propellerheads track worth listening to). Nice slow b-boy style break, bouncy rhymes. Nightmares on Wax's DJ Kicks mix on K records is also worth checking.

Ok, so if you thought rhyming about Joe's Apartment was unexpected, on this last one they're rhyming about a video game, specifically Parappa the Rapper. Now, I'm not familiar with this game, so maybe I don't get it, but it's kind of surprising to me that emcees of such a high caliber would roll with such a cartoony and dumbed down version of their livelihood. I mean, I don't hear Q-Bert doing demos for Superstar Scratchmaster or whatever (though he does trade cuts with the dude from Linkn Park on that new Handsome Boy record). Whatever though, the track sounds alright, and I'm glad the guys don't give a shit. Trick Daddy better do a cut with Sugarbear or something though, or it's going to be De La who truly rep for the kids.

Lost Classics

Black Moon: "Who Got Da Props (Music Video)"
From Enta Da Stage [Nervous, 1993]

I can't imagine many hip hop purists out there without Black Moon's 1993 debut Enta Da Stage in their crates. The trio comprised of Buckshot, 5 Ft. Accelerator, and DJ Evil D out of Brooklyn, New York released this single in '92 before dropping their highly regarded debut. Unfortunately, like so many hip hop groups, label woes and personality conflicts dismantled the trio before they could release a proper follow-up. They did manage to regroup a few years later and release the dissapointing Warzone in '99.

Anyways, I just came up on a grip of classic hip hop videos, "Who Got Da Props" being one of them and I can't imagine many of you have seen it before. Not a huge concept behind this one besides a lot of head bobbing and hand gesturing behind an urban backdrop, which seemed to be a popular formula back then. It still puts a smile on my face though.

I'll be posting more classic hip hop videos in the future so keep checking back.

Left Coast Classics, Revisited

Dr. Dre: Nuthin' But a G Thang (Club mix)
From Nuthin' But a G Thang 12" (Interscope, 1992)
Snoop Dogg: Gin and Juice (Laid Back mix)
From Gin and Juice 12" (Interscope, 1993)

There's really nothing I can say about these songs that hasn't been said before: everyone and their little sister can sing along word for word, pop production masterpieces, genre-defining, blah blah blah – but did you hear the remix?

"Nuthin' But a G Thang" lets Dre and Snoop rip shit up over the beat that would later be used for "Bitches Ain't Shit," while "Gin and Juice" gets a minor readjustment, retaining the same instrumentation and overall vibe as the original. Needless to say, neither of these reworkings is remotely fucking with the OGs, but it's still fun to make the comparison.

Heavy Beats in the Woodland of Weir

Little Boy Blues "Seed of Love"
From In The Woodland of Weir [Fontana, 1968]

The days of producers pulling old funk and jazz records for sample material are over; for the most part anyways. Sure they'll continue to loop and chop the fuck out of "Apache" or "Nautilus," but let's face it, that gets boring fast.

Enter the wonderful world of psych rock, a resource that many producers are finding relatively untapped, proving that there is definite heat a lurking under the wailing vocals and fuzzy guitars of the genre. Motown67 from Soulstrut played this for me a few weeks ago, a track called "Seed of Love" by Little Boy Blues which was sampled by Just Blaze for Jay-Z's The Black Album. The piano riff on this one is just nasty, while the keys, horns, drums, guitars, and vocals all fall nicely into place. This is the type of record every producer wishes they found first, and that everyone is after once somebody does.

Keep your eyes open for this one cause the album as a whole is rock solid.

Since posting this it was brought to my attention that another track on this album, "Dream Weaver," was sampled by Diamond D on Xzibit's "Bird's Eye View" way back in 1996. No surprise that Diamond of all people was up on this first, but I'm surprised he didn't hear any potential on "Seed of Love." Oh well, it just goes to show that it was in a producer's hands long ago, but it took eight years for it to hit the mainstream.

Gigolo, Huh, Sukka?

Neneh Cherry: "So Here I Come" and "Manchild"
From: Raw Like Sushi (Virgin Records, 1989)

It's blog confession time, when Neneh Cherry's debut album came out I developed a major childhood crush on the lady. Maybe it was the music, maybe it was the attitude, maybe it was that she was the closest thing we'd ever had to a great UK rapper at the time, maybe it was seeing her perform Buffalo Stance on Top Of The Pops while 7 months pregnant without a care in the world, who knows? Whatever the reason I'm pleased to see my adolescent tastes weren't all absolutely shit as this album that I played to death on my old record player when it came out still stands up to scrutiny today. While less willfully obscure than most of the music I post I still believe this is well worthy of a reappraisal.

Part of the "Wild Bunch" crew, which also consisted of Massive Attack and Tricky, the album was definitely helped by the production work of Massive Attack's DJ Mushroom and the legendary Bomb The Bass. In my personal opinion nothing Cherry has done in the subsequent 16 years has really touched the brilliance of her debut album with it's combination of hip hop, electronica and r'n'b vibes as she quickly chose to go down a less vibrant, safer route in her later albums. You can read more about the lady here.

The first song I have for you today is Here I Come. From the moment the looped guitar riff comes in you know it's going to be a great rap record but what really sells it is the bass line that raises its head about 50 seconds in. I love the raw energy of this track and the fact that it's Neneh rapping about her childhood. Check out the breakdown about 2 minutes in as well with DJ Mushroom throwing in a whole multitude of classic samples. I'm a firm believer that if you dropped this in a club today it would still tear up the crowd.

The second track is the classic Manchild, cowritten by Massive Attack's Robert "3D" Delnaja. I always loved the old school break beat with those quality synthetic strings layered over the top. Although it contains a few short bursts of rap this is really more about Neneh's singing voice and she does a great job with it, especially considering the quite unusual subject matter of the song. Check out the scratched "huhs" and the fluttery keyboard chords as well, absolute classic.

De La Extras pt. 1

Handsome Boy Modeling School (feat. De La Soul): "If it Wasn't For You"
From White People (Atlantic, 2004)
De La Soul: "Sweet Dreams"
From More Supa Sweet Stakes, Baby (Tommy Boy, 1996)
De La Soul: "Speed Limit"
From Stimulated Vol. 1 (Stimulated/Loud, 2001)

It's great to hear positive buzz about De La Soul again. For a while I really thought Stakes is High would be their last solid effort in the LP format. But even though I wasn't really feeling the Art Official series too much, the brothers Plug sprinkled the faithful with some worthwhile oddities and side tracks over the last several years. Here's the first of two sets of cuts you may or may not have caught.

First up one of the most recent, from latest Handsome Boy Modeling School record. Sort of a rap Letters to Things and People, we've got Pos and Dave addressing some of the particulars that made them the supa emcees they are today. Kind of a nice answer to the question "What would De La Soul sound like if they were still working with Prince Paul?"

The next track brings up another question; "What the fuck is De La doing rapping about Joe's Apartment?" Actually, if you ignore the subject matter of the first verse, this is a dope little song. More evidence to the fact that these guys really didn't give a shit about what you thought, and just did what would be good for a laugh. Or I guess you could take the stance that they were aiming to pocket a quick buck, but judging from the song, and the fact that they included it on their own record apart from the movie soundtrack, I'm going with the former.

Another collaboration which reaches back to the Three Feet High era posse, "Speed Limit" hooks De La back up with Dante "The Scrub" Ross for a contribution to his Stimulated Vol. 1 comp. This one's on some summer shit. Despite the fact that it's called "Speed Limit," it always make me think of rolling around hella slow with the windows down, sipping on a big gulp or something. Tracks like this were made for the late afternoon. HOT!

More De La bizness in a couple, keep it locked.

All That Scratchin' Is Making Me Itch

Q-Bert: Live Performance
From somewhere in the UK at some time

There was a point in time when I really wanted to go out and be a scratch DJ. I guess it was around '99 when I was primarily a hip hop head. I was going to college, gettin' into records and the whole urban culture thing. I didn't even consider myself a DJ back then (nor do I now really), but then I heard about this dude that called himself Q-Bert. I mean, I think I knew about him earlier from the Skratchpiklz and all, but I think it was around this time that Wave Twisters came out and I was actively checking for his music in addition to a bunch of other DJs. I was heavy into the ftp/napster/PtoP file transfer stuff when I eventually came across this video of a demonstration he did somewhere in the UK I'm assuming. That was the shit that did it. Up until that point I didn't even realize some of the things he did were possible on turntables, and just watching him struck me with the drive and determination to study the art of scratching. Soon after that, however, I not only realized that I sucked, but that I didn't have the time nor the patience to devote to such a tedious skill. Regardless, I still watch this vid from time to time as a little time capsule of my life, as well as a reminder that Q-Bert is one of the best scratch DJs in the world. This was a while ago too, and dude's only improved with age. Wicka wicka.

I Was Sneaking Down a Long Lonesome Road

Spirit: "The Other Song"
From Son of Spirit [Mercury, 1975]

I think a lot of people are thanking Diplo and Tripledouble for dropping the insanely dope AEIOU Two last year, an eclectic journey through beats and breaks that sheds light on what makes this whole digging thing worthwhile. Although every track they used is heat, one of them in particular stands out and has lead to a number of heads hitting up message boards frantically searching for the song's identity. I was surprised to find out it was a track by Spirit, a rock band from the Bay Area that experimented with psychedlia, jazz, funk, and blues to create a unique sound for themselves during the early 70's. After lead singer Jay Ferguson left the band, members Randy California and Ed Cassidy perservered and released Son of Spirit under Spirit's name, but unfortunately this release was shunned into obscurity due in large part to the band's new genetic makeup. The track Diplo and Tripledouble used is called "The Other Song", an incredible mix of psych, blues, jazz, and funk. The slow pacing and hypnotic guitar playing allows for some especially eerie vocals, eventually evolving into a more upbeat jazz number before falling back again. While I can't really recommend the album as a whole, this track alone is so worth the purchase. Essential.

I Am The Fun Blame Monster

Menomena: "E. Is Stable" and "Oahu"
From I Am The Fun Blame Monster [Muuuhahaha!, 2003]

I think the thing that upsets me the most about this whole music thing, or at least frustrates me the most, is the time commitment that's involved. I mean I've got about 300 records sitting next to my turntables that I have yet to listen to, and with a steady stream constantly coming in, that pile doesn't seem to have diminished over the last year. That makes it almost impossible to keep up with all the new music that's coming out, and even though my interest in the latest Def Jux or indie rock record have waned considerably, I think I still realize how much amazing music is passing me by.

This fact became all too clear to me when I listened to Menomena's first album entitled I Am The Fun Blame Monster. I remember reading the review on Pitchfork months ago, thinking that they sounded like something I would dig and proceeding to etch them somewhere deep in my music memory bank. Well a couple weeks ago I came across their album on soulseek and proceeded to download it (which is of course wrong and is an activity I don't condone). I listened it on the way to school the next day and was simply mesmorized by what I was hearing, so impressed in fact that I made a special trip to Amoeba Records that night to pick it up. The $32 price tag for a vinyl copy, although quite high for a new release, didn't phase me as I was determined to get this piece of music on wax. At home I realized what justified such an expense after it took me three minutes to figure out how to get the record out of the sleeve. It unfolds like a typical gatefold cover would, although neither end yields a record. Instead their is a center piece that, when applied with enough brain power, unfolds kind of like one of those cootie catcher things you used to make in elementary school, with the surrounding area of the "catcher" made to look like the gaping mouth of a monster, and out of this mouth comes the record. Very cool concept indeed, but so annoying that it prompted me to slip it in a plain white sleeve and file the cover away so I never have to deal with it again.

Nevertheless, this seems to be the type of creativity that embodies Menomena, a three-piece outfit from Portland, Oregon who's frontman Brent Knopf decided to write a special computer program called Deeler that would allow his band to "improvise short ideas and use them as the building blocks for broad, loop-based compositions which they then learn to play live."

Mmmkay, whatever. I'm not sure if I quite get it, but the music is unbelievably lush and deep, borrowing sounds from hip hop, glitch, and indie rock and sort of throwing it into this musical soup. For a better idea of what their influences are, Dusted Magazine did a nice feature on their current likings that do manage to make subtle appearances in their music.

I must say, I had a hell of a time deciding what songs to present here since almost all of them are worthy, but naturally I seem to be drawn to the drum heavy tracks, one of these being "E. Is Stable." I just love the way the individual components come together, from the guitar slides, clumsy bass line, soft piano keys, aggressive drums, and punctuated vocals.

"Oahu" is probably my favorite track on the album. For whatever reason thoughts of Boards of Canada, Tortoise, Coldplay, and Savath and Savalas have all gone through my head while listening to this track, but really it sounds nothing like any of them and that's why I think so many people are going nuts over these guys. I won't go into the details of this one, just do yourself a favor and download it, turn your speakers up high, lay down, close your eyes, and let your mind wander. So lovely.

Much more information can be found on their website(god forbid they have any fans in Japan). Really though, their website is on some serious early 90's look what I can do with webpages shit. Arduous to get through, but there's some worthwhile information there including rare and unreleased tracks, weird pictures, and random tid bits. I must emphasize again the abominable design skills which I'm sure is supposed to symbolize some kind of irony.

Stick to making music guys.

Mickey & The Soul Generation

Mickey And The Soul Generation: "We Got To Make A Change and "Give Everybody Some"
From: Iron Leg

So, after all that fuss I kicked up over having no time to post anymore, here I am just a couple of days later posting again and with a couple of absolute funk stormers, and not only that, I think this may be their first time on a music blog, though don't quote me on that.

DJ Shadow has named these boys his "favorite funk band" and while I would always take a self confessed fanboy's praise of an obscure band with a pinch of salt they do ooze funk from every single pore.

I've searched long and wide to find you any sort of background details on the group and have come up with absolutely ziltch. I can tell you that they were from Texas and were most prolific in the early 70's, registering one hit record with the classic Iron Leg. Apart from that you'll have to fill in the gaps yourself and if you do, please let me know as I'm dying to find out more.

The tracks I've selected for you are both on Jazzman 45 records and are both killers. The first track, We Got To Make A Change, starts with a superb wah wah guitar riff before coming in with the ultimate in funky organ grooves. Now if it has just continued in this vein for 3 minutes I would have been quite happy but they add a horn section to the mix which ups the funk level even higher. By the time the breakdown comes with vocals thrown in this is about as great a headnodding track as you can get. I would love to find out if there's a 10 minute mix of this somewhere.

The second track I have for you, Give Everybody Some, is more of a standard jam with the organ work once again supplying the perfect riff to their funky noodlings. However the track suddenly goes into stellar level when the organ breaks out of the riff 3 minutes in and the keyboardist goes crazy for all he's worth. Once again they really could have kept on going for at least another five minutes. Fantastic.

...And She Wants to Sit in the Back Row

David Bromberg: "Beware, Brother Beware"
From Reckless Abandon (Fantasy, 1977)

File under dollar bin funk on a record you might not think to cop.

David Bromberg was an East Village folk hippie guitarist who came up jamming with Bob Dylan and the Dead. A former musicology student, he eventually formed a band to execute his many musical whims. His solo records are eclectic to the point of being confusing, ranging from folk and bluegrass to Broadway style rock, to the occasional Irish jig. Right.

After moving to SF and hopping on Fantasy records, Bromberg released Reckless Abandon with a band made up of country, rock, and blues session musicians (including Bon Jovi's current bassist). Most of the record is standard Bromberg fare, but the cut to catch is "Beware, Brother Beware," a cover of a blues rant made popular by Louis Jordan.

In a speaking voice that is so "70's hip white cat" it hurts, Bromberg relates the pitfalls of easy women over a groove that is damn funky for some dudes who went on to play with Kenny G. The song is hilarious, and David ends up getting dragged off stage by a group of enthusiastic women, whose intentions apparently are to marry.

Drop this on your next mixtape to add some humor, a bit of obscurity, and evidence that you're not a raregroove snob. Folks'll ask what it is, I guarantee it.

Timz N [Hood] Chek

Hood: "The Lost You"
From Outside Closer (Domino, 2005)

Hood sound kinda like The Notwist: unforced interlacing of rock and electronics, understated vocals, Anticon collaborations. In their 10-plus years of existence, they've released a bunch of their material in unconventional formats (EP, 7", 10", split single), but it turns out they're not so bad at making old-fashioned albums, either. I picked up Hood's latest, Outside Closer, the other day, and I've been listening to it pretty steadily ever since. "The Lost You" is the album's centerpiece, both sequentially and emotionally. At first, the chopped beatwork sounds like a Prefuse 73 outtake, but within a minute the song takes a turn for the anthemic and never looks back. I imagine indie kids (even the ones who are too cool to dance) wilding out to this at some after-hours loft party, holding on to their cigarettes and their dreams.

Pete Treats

Couple announcements before I get into this post. First I'd like to welcome Junior coming over from the now defunct Evigan Funk. Known for is always insightful funk and hip hop knowledge, we definitely look forward to his future contributions.

Additionally, I'd like to point out some ebay auctions I've got going to help fund life. Just a bunch of random hip hop, breaks, funk, and soundtracks to fill your shelves.

Alright, now to the musica.



Tom Scott "Today"
From Honeysuckle Breeze (Impulse, 1967)

9th Creation "Bubble Gum"
From Bubble Gum (Rite Track, 1975)

Pete Rock is simply a hip hop icon, most revered for the groundbreaking moves he made in the production realm. This post will not examine the actual work he's produced, but rather the uncovered gems he used to create those pieces.

Perhaps it's predictable, but I gotta start out with the monster he used for "TROY," easily in the top ten hip hop tracks of all time, and certainly a blueprint for hip hop production. I can only imagine how Pete's eyes must have lit up when he heard Tom Scott's infectious saxaphone riff on "Today." The main breakdown doesn't come until about halfway through the track, and the road to that point is fluffy late 60's pop music provided by the California Dreamers. But despite the album as a whole being pretty mediocre, the sample source alone has driven this piece upwards of $100. Thank god Pete found it first cause just the thought of "TROY" without it makes me a little depressed. I could loop that shit for days.

Next Up is The 9th Creation's "Bubble Gum" which Pete used for "Soul Brother #1." A clear standout on this album as well, it has a nice ethereal jazz+funk rhythm to it backed by a bouncy bass line. Vocal chatter praising the finer things in life [bubble gum] rolls through the background. Another fine find by Pete Rock contributing to the greatness of Mecca and the Soul Brother.

More Pete Treats to come. Stay tuned.

Come Into Knowledge With Ramp

RAMP: "I Just Love You" and "Look Into The Sky"
From: Come Into Knowledge (Blue Thumb, 1977)

Well for my first post at my new home I thought I better start with an undisputed funk great - Roy Ayers Music Productions. A collective which lasted the grand total of one album, Come Into Knowledge, they still left an undeniable legacy behind them due to the subsequent rediscovery of the album by the beat junkie brigade.

While boasting that distinctive blissed out sound of Roy that I've already admitted to being a big fan off in the past, the collective really displays something different from his normal sound with the addition of the two vocalists, Sharon Matthews and Sibel Thrasher. Before writing this post I did my homework and found out both Soulsides and Moistworks covered RAMP in December but I think I'm safe as I'm putting up two of the lesser known tracks from the album, lesser known but just as good as the more famous Daylight and Everybody Loves The Sunshine. You can read a full biography of Roy Ayers here.

The first song, I Just Love You, features an irresistible slow groove over which Matthews and Thrasher harmonize. Add in subtle strings and a beautiful bridge and the song is almost complete. What really makes it brilliant though is the offsetting of the harmonies with the lead vocals about 1 and a half minutes in. Blissed out soul/funk at it's finest.

The second song, Look Into The Sky, once again superbly blends the harmonies of the singers with the music to create a tune where every part works towards the whole. Particular big fan of the trumpets and synthesizer sounds which can only really be described as some kind of whizzing noise. While deceptively simple on first listen, subsequent plays reveal that what seems like a simple groove actually has a much more complex sound running underneath.

Like the album as a whole, both tracks seem almost designed to be listened to through headphones, lying in a park, on a sunny summer's day. Better than any so called "chill out" album on the market.

You can get a copy of the album Do it now.

Speak About the Rucker

Mos Def: "Sunshine" (Ricci Rucker Remix)
From: As yet unreleased

Scratch music don and outspoken web personality Ricci Rucker has the knack for bringing out the crazy in people. Take a trip to his board and there's a bunch of talk about what is and isn't art, what is conceptually superior, and subjectivity vs. objectivity, etc.

All of which takes away from the fact that dude really is extremely talented, and has a solid base of work to back it up. Each time you want to join the haters and get into some semantic argument, he drops something like this that shows he really does walk what he talks.

This Mos Def remix of the Kanye track off of The New Danger finds Ricci doing a consummate version of the straight forward hip hop he has a (not entirely deserved) reputation for maligning, and the shit holds up. The 45 RPM vocal samples (which he says are a dig, or a comment on the often imitated style) don't even register at first as a dip into the Kanye vocabulary, unlike so many other biters out there.

This is the sort of Sunday afternoon hip hop cut of that there aren't enough of right now, despite frequent attempts. Not the most predictable move from one of the boundary pushers of the scratch musician movement, but a nice example of his skill, taste, and restraint.

Group Therapy

Group Home: "Livin' Proof" and "Suspended in Time"
From Livin' Proof (Payday, 1995)

Group Home wasn't the best group... My beats made them sound good. - DJ Premier

Word.

"Livin' Proof" was the title track for a reason. Through the shadows of some mythic New York, the beat marches forward with concrete kicks and steel snares, tempered by a short but infectious flicker of melody. "Suspended in Time" has less of an immediate impact, but it's a grower. Check the background bird chirps (à la "Nas is Like") and the souled-out vocals on the chorus.

Random trivia fact: Primo cut up the same 12" (A and B side) for the hooks of both songs, and chose Inspectah Deck quotes both times. Hmmm...

Thanks Ray

Ray Charles: "Georgia On My Mind (Live)"
From Ray Original Soundtrack (Rhino, 2004)

I'll admit I know very little about the man or his music, but I managed to watch Ray the night before the Oscars, and like any great biographical piece, it sheds light not only on the life of Ray Charles, but the character that personified his passion for music. Just listen to a live version of "Georgia On My Mind" and hopefully you can hear the heart and soul he puts into his words, and why he's considered one of the greatest songwriters of our time.

Thanks Ray.

DJs With Mohawks

Tuner Control: Radiohead "Fake Plastic Trees"/Interpol "NYC."
From Air Raid Vol. 2 (Unbeknownst, 2004)

I used to make mad rock mixtapes in high school, like the old push pause type mixes from my CD player to my tape deck. There was something so satisfying about making them, from choosing an album title, selecting the perfect mix of tracks, and then passing them off to my friends, I guess there's no surprise that I eventually took a liking to DJing and buying records.

I feel like I've been waiting for a mix like Tuner Control's Air Raid Vol. 2 for years, and excuse me if there are a ton out there. I'm sure there are, but this is the first one that's been brought to my attention, and damn is it exquisite. I'm not sure about the exact details behind this project; whether it's a dude or a group of dudes or what. What I do know is that they use DJ fundamentals like mixing and blending to put together a solid, cohesive mix that spans punk, metal, rock, and indie. You got The Misfits, Operation Ivy, Fugazi, Pantera, Violent Femmes, The Strokes, Le Tigre. What? The track list is crazy, although there are some parts where it's confusing what exactly their intentions were, like layering breaks over songs or Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise" over Motley Crue's "Live Wire," which is cool, but these moments are so few and far between that it seems like they would have been better left out.

Oh well. Still a great listen and some great mixing like Sonic Youth's "Bull in the Heather" into Smashing Pumpkins' "1979" or Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees" (the Tuner Control Dub Mix is awesome) into Interpol's "NYC." Fine fine stuff, and judjing from the title I assume there's a volume 1. Wouldn't mind getting my hands on that one.