The Obligatory Christmas Music Post

Ho Ho Ho, suckas! It is time for me to follow the unwritten blogger's code and throw some holiday music your way. But don't get me wrong, I love Christmas... I love getting presents, and I love giving presents even more, so accept these as my presents to you and you and especially you...



First off, since it is House Music Friday, after all, here's a cut from the pretty darn cool Om Records holiday compilation released a couple years back. Although it was recorded under the Members Only name, you might know this artist better as Kaskade or Late Night Alumni. You got a little "Nutcracker" in there, a little "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", and some nice deep house beats. Sure, like most all Christmas music, it's a novelty tune, but hey, you don't hear much Christmas House, do ya?

Members Only - Christmas Eve (ysi)

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Next, a band I'll bet you never thought you'd see around here...



Yes, it's one-hit wonders Harvey Danger! Do you even remember the hit? Me neither, but this track for one of Los Angeles radio station KROQ's annual morning show Christmas CDs should really be considered a modern day Christmas classic, because who out there can't relate?

Harvey Danger - Sometimes You Have To Work On Christmas (Sometimes) (ysi)

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And finally...



Well, let's just say, if you're not down with "South Park" or are just easily offended in general, you might not want to listen to this one. All the rest of you, revel in the hilarity...

Mr. Garrison of South Park - Merry Fucking Christmas (ysi)

Merry Fuckin' Christmas, indeed all. I hope yours is fantastic and beautiful and all that jazz... I'll be back after New Years to start '08 off with a bang...

Peace!

Love is da shit

Does it seem like there is a lot of music from the Bay Area featured on this blog? Well, that's probably because there is...



... and this time, we're venturing across the Bay Bridge to Oaktown and the debut album from Michael Franti and Spearhead. They used to just be Spearhead, but methinks someone might be on a little ego trip lately because that's how they're billed now. How exactly do you propose that sort of name change to your band without coming off like a total douche, huh? Just askin'. But possible douche-ness aside, Spearhead has been churning out some of the best Hip-Hop/Funk tunes around for over a decade now, and it all started with this record. Not sure if todays' song was ever released as a single, but it's actually my favorite on Home, even above the tunes that got the radio/MTV play... dude is a great lyricist, both political and poignant...

Spearhead - Love Is Da Shit (ysi)

And Spearhead will always get bonus points from me, as many bands have over the years, for playing a memorable set at Coachella... I'm in this video somewhere... I'm the guy in the hat :P



Tomorrow, the obligatory Christmas music post!

This Herbie is no love bug...

Goin' back in the day with an all-time great...



Today the shuffle landed on a track from zee legendary Herbie Hancock, from his second Blue Note album (from 1963, if you're scoring at home). As you can see from the cover art, we're talking all-star lineup, here, folks. All killa, no filla! Now, Herbie has certainly gone the way of the old man lately, crafting forgettable pop albums (I'll take a big ol' pass on the Joni Mitchell tribute, bro), but this'll remind you why he's considered one of the greats. Enjoy...

Herbie Hancock - And What If I Don't (ysi)

And this was just when he was starting out! Then he played with Miles, then he started Headhunters, then he recorded stuff like Sextant that predated Aphex Twin by oh, twenty years, and then he made "Rockit", and so on, and so on...

... and hey, why not...



Wik-Wik-Whaa... Wiki-wiki-whaaa...

Publicize this, Bpitch!

Perfect music for a rainy day here...



So this gal Damero, aka Marit Posch, is/was an employee at Ellen Allien's Bpitch Control label, a publicist, no less... who just happened to have years of classical training in voice and piano. Then she made some tunes and gave 'em to the boss, and Ellen was like, "Dang, this is good! I'm especially impressed with the singing, seeing as you have no mouth and all..." And I gotta say, I agree. That's a hell of a trick, that... I guess it's called talent! Plus, you gotta think that if this whole music thing doesn't work out, she'd be a kick-ass ventriloquist. But that might be a few years down the line, because the debut album, Happy In Grey, is real nice, kind of like a moodier Imogen Heap...

Damero - Okay, Okay (ysi)

You gotta love girls who can make beats, even if they are weird, mouthless freaks... I'll bet Scott Bakula is down...

Scott Bakula is a straight-up pimp

Well, after a great weekend full of food and Christmas decorating, I'm in an oddly good mood for a Monday... even despite the fact that my New York Football Giants probably couldn't beat the team from that "Necessary Roughness" movie (featuring Sinbad, Rob Schneider, and the great Scott Bakula at QB, who right now I would take over Eli Manning - because at least the ladies love Scott Bakula. I once ran into Scott Bakula whilst hiking Runyan Canyon with a couple female friends and let me tell you, they were ready to rock Scott Bakula's world. You think Eli gets any love from the ladies, like ever? Me neither... but I digress)...



So, Pasty British Dudes #127 and #128 teamed up to form Baby Mammoth, the quite prolific duo that were one of the featured acts on the now defunct Pork Recordings, purveyors of quality downtempo tunes. They put out a grip of albums, none of which ever seemed to get proper stateside release, so you either had to plop down like 30 bucks for an import or hope that somehow you'd find a used copy somewhere, which never happened (Fila Brazilia was also the same way). Ah, the days before all the good UK labels got picked up for US distribution... those days sucked. Can you tell I'm just eating up space here because I've got nothin' on these guys? Well, except that they were very, very good at music, and here's a fine example of such...

Baby Mammoth - And I'll See You (ysi)

I couldn't find a copy of this one available for purchase anywhere, so feel free to enjoy this mp3 guilt-free.

You know, Scott Bakula was a heck of a singer, too...



You're welcome, ladies... :P

Something Wicked this way comes!

House Music Friday is taking you back to the heyday of the San Francisco underground...



There are probably no parties in San Francisco lore as legendary as the Wicked parties. Garth, Jeno, Markie and Thomas were (well, actually still are) the names, and deep, dark, funky house was (and still is) the game. Not only did they throw the world famous Full Moon parties, but they would take the show on the road sometimes, and let me tell you, when Wicked came to L.A., everybody would make sure to show up for that one. Of course, the guys would produce music of their own, songs that became bonafide West Coast anthems. One of the biggest was Garth and E.T.I.'s "Twenty Minutes of Disco Glory", a track that got remixed about a billion different ways. So here's one of the better ones, courtesy of Simon of Come-Unity, another long-running party crew. This is the sound of Wicked, not so much "throw your hands in the air", but more of a tripped-out journey, which was how these guys rolled...

DJ Garth & ETI - Twenty Minutes Of Disco Glory (Simon's Come-Unity Mix) (ysi)

I'm gettin' a contact buzz from the memories, yo. Not to be a tosser, but damn, did you miss out if you weren't there, people. The Amazon link is for a Garth mix CD that features this track, because, well, you ain't findin' this record.





Peace out, have a fantastic weekend...

You can smoke and snort and bump and shoot...

... yeah, I think that just about covers your options.



So what's with the drug reference? Well, it's one of the lyrics in today's selection, a rockin' number from the great South African musician Hugh Masekela. And I love the lyrics in this song. It's almost like Hugh wrote it for the Britneys, Lindsays & Parisises of the world, only like 30 or 40 years ago. You don't believe me? Give it a listen...

Hugh Masekela - Head Peepin' (ysi)

Do I lie? Hehe... as a matter of fact, I think someone needs to cover this baby with some updated lyrics. I just gave you your idea for your first #1 hit there, folks. You better run with it... and I want my 10%!

Btw, this record is way out of print... but you know what to do.

One of those guys

But hey, he's cousins with the dude from T. Rex... you know, the dead one...



UK producer Kirk DiGiorgio is one of those guys. You know those guys. The guys that are so prolific that they record under 53 different aliases so you won't get sick of hearing their name so damn much, and you're listening to something and you look at the credits and you're like, "that's him, too? Ah, bite me." As a guy who's lucky to get a half-dozen songs completed in a year, I kinda hate those guys. Anyhoo, As One is probably the Kirkeroo's best-known alias, and the project has tended to be mostly instrumental, mostly electronic, and likes to dabble in the broken beats. That said, here's more of a downtempo track, and a quite uncomplicated one, at that...

As One - Music Is An Open Sky (ysi)

Pretty nice... which is how I'd describe the album. Not amazing, but pretty nice. Worth a gander. See, I don't have to fawn wildly over every single thing. I'll leave that to the Indie Rock bloggers. You know the ones. The ones that, if that silly twat from Of Montreal released a solo album of himself masturbating his cat whilst kazoo-ing to a Casio keyboard bossa nova beat (you know which one I'm talking about), they'd give it 11 stars out of 10. Nope, I keeps it real or something...

Gilles does Japanese Jazz

A man-crush is a strong thing, dear readers...



... which is why today we turn to Gilles Peterson's contribution to the Shibuya Jazz Classics series, which highlights the apparently quite happenin' Japanese Jazz scene of the '70s. I got nothin' on this artist, except that he's a Japanese saxophonist, which I'm pretty sure you could have figured out on your own. But hey, if Gilles picked it, you know it's gotta be good, and this little number, anchored by its sweet bassline and off-beat rhythm, does not disappoint...

Koichi Matsukaze - Under Construction (ysi)

You can pick this sucker up at Dusty Groove, which is an amazing place for all things funky.

And I'll leave you today with this hi-larious article about the 9 most unecessary greatest hits albums of all time. Make sure you check that out. Sayonara!

The Return of Nino

The shuffle starts our week off with a short, but sweet, song...



Ammoncontact is another one of the 2,748 projects of L.A.'s ubiquitous Carlos Nino, this one a team-up with one Mr. Fabain Ammon (check out one of Carlos' other groups, soul-jazz outfit Build An Ark, here). The tunes are real heady, abstract instrumental hip-hop, except on this album they have vocals on almost all tracks, hence the clever album title. Anyhoo, here's your taste, with vocals by, I think, this guy. I think. Feel free to correct me...

Ammoncontact - Ropepe (ft. Najite) (ysi)

You know who loves this record? Gilles. What, you think I could go for much longer without mentioning my man-crush? Silly you.

Sunday Funday!

Hey, everybody... checkin' in on a Sunday, just for fun, with something I've been wanting to post for a little while, my first mash-up!




VS.




Yep, Debbie Harry meets Humpty Hump and they get it on, freaky styley!

Blondie vs. Digital Underground - The Humpty Rapture (ysi)

Drop me a comment if you like it! Peace.

Sweeter Sounds

Hey, hey, it's House Music Friday!



But I'm gonna keep it real short today, due to the fact that I contracted a fuckin' brutal case of food poisoning last night... things I don't even wanna describe flyin' out both ends at the same time... no bueno! So anyways, here's The Rurals, on their own Peng Records, with a nice, deep vocal track...

The Rurals - Window Pain (ysi)

Enjoy and have a great weekend. It's bound to be better than the night I just had... :P

The kid's got game

Today's artist is way too accomplished for his age...



Will Holland, aka Quantic is one of those guys that just makes you sick. He's only about 25 years old, yet has about 8 albums under his belt including the ones with his live band, the Quantic Soul Orchestra. Way to make the rest of us all feel like underachievers, jerk. But you can't player hate for long, because the music is damn good. Today's track is the title joint from his debut album, recorded I believe before he was even of legal drinking age (in the states, anyway.) Kind of like if one of those teeny-bopper pop stars actually had some musical talent...

Quantic - The 5th Exotic (ysi)

Ya just wanna punch him in the face, don't ya? :P

Japambience

Today, proof that the iTunes on shuffle can be very (perhaps maddenlingly, if you're expecting any certain kind of music to pop up on this blog on any given day) eclectic...



Yup, we're going from vintage electric blues to guitar and synth ambience, courtesy of one of the three discs of the most excellent Kyoto Jazz Massive 10th anniversary collection. The RE: KJM disc features reworks of KJM tunes, and this one comes from a group called Aurora. Not the cheesy Euro-dance Aurora who recorded that Duran Duran cover, thankfully, but a Japanese combo consisting of this guy and this guy. And, um... well I don't have too much more to add, so just close your eyes, lean back and enjoy...

Aurora - Nacel Do Sol (ysi)

That's purdy...

This is Tonegent's new blog post. He thinks it sucks ass.

Some funky, electric, psychedelic blues, anyone?



So this album must have the oddest title ever, huh? It's true, blues legend Howlin' Wolf was not too fond of this record at all, even referring to it as the "Dog Shit Album" in interviews. Come on, man, don't hold back... tell us how you really feel! I guess the record label made him do it, and since he was a 60-year-old codger at the time, he wasn't really feelin' the whole plugged-in vibe. I can hear it now... "This electic geetar is too loud! My sciatica's actin' up! It's drafty in here, goddamn it!" Must have been a great time. But you know what, despite all that, it's really pretty awesome. Hot guitar licks, some funky-ass drumming and that powerful voice... the best word I can use to describe it is "raw as fuck"... yes I know that's three words, don't mess with me...

Howlin' Wolf - Evil (ysi)

This sucker is looooooong out of print and has never been reissued on CD either, so once again I have one word... "Google Blog Search"... I said don't mess with me... :P

A return to Habana

You know what sucks? Only having a one-day weekend. Yep, had to work all day Saturday. But I'll try not to let the pent-up bitterness get the best of me...



Ruben Gonzalez was the, I'm gonna say, 352-year-old piano player in the Buena Vista Social Club, and the second member of that group to pop up in the ol' iTunes shuffle. (Go ahead and click here for my extremely informative post on Compay Segundo.) And considering he was actually the guy who greeted Christopher Columbus when he discovered Cuba (see, you learn somethin' around here every now and then :P ), it's pretty amazing that he could still play piano so well. Anyhoo, like just about all of the B.V.S.C. members, he recorded some solo stuff after the original album came out, and it's just fantastic music...

Ruben Gonzalez - Tumbao



And here's one of my favorite clips from the film, featuring the man himself...



Heck, I just hope I'm not wearing a diaper when I'm that old. Cheers, Senor Gonzalez!

Which Norwegians? Oh, those Norwegians...

House Music Friday brings you another favorite from the legendary Club Septo (don't bother Googling it :P )...



I don't imagine that too many folks have heard of Those Norwegians, an act that released the fine Kaminzky Park record on Paper Recordings, but it might ring a bell for a few of you if I mention one of the members of this project was Rune Lindbaek, a guy who's done quite well for himself in the Disco House/Disco re-edit scene that all the kids are wild about these days. But since it was on Paper, you know it's gonna be some good stuff, and this track in particular was on heavy rotation back in the house party days. Seriously jazzy deepness with a guest appearance by a robot that seems to have some kind of number fixation...

Those Norwegians - 39-38-39 (ysi)

But seriously though, 39 what? And then there's only 38? But then later there's 39 again? Other than my amount of surviving brain cells, I'm not really sure what that robot is referring to... oh well, have a great weekend, but try not to kill too many brain cells of your own.

Pasty British dude #126

Music so good you could eat it today, if you could actually eat music... which you can't...



Flight 602 is the latest album from Mr. Andy Turner, aka Aim. He's been turning out really good music for years, and this is no exception. Yummy, warm downtempo treats. Kinda like s'mores, but you can't eat 'em. Well, I guess you could try to eat a CD or record if you wanted to, but I doubt it would taste too good, no matter how much Tapatio you put on it. Mmm... Tapatio... but I digress. That's what I do when I don't have a whole lot of information about an artist. If I didn't digress sometimes, probably 70% of these posts would read something like, "now here's another faceless but most assuredly pasty British dude that makes good music"... and that would probably get kinda boring after awhile, no? Anyhoo, enjoy the sounds of Aim...

Aim - Walking Home Through The Park (ysi)

Dude used to use a lot of rappers on his tracks, but this new album doesn't have so much of that... so hey, there's a tidbit for ya! I know. I'll try harder tomorrow... :P

Ape-prototypes?

So, the shuffle landed on something I haven't listened to in quite some time today...



Considering that its members included Dan the Automator and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien (and Kid Koala) and that Damon Albarn sang a song on the album, it seems that Deltron 3030 was The Gorillaz before The Gorillaz, knowhutimean? The album is just as genius, that's for sure... but then again, look at who's involved (and there are a lot more than I mentioned). Yet this record certainly never achieved anywhere near the crossover success... I guess it was the cartoon thing that pushed the idea to the next level... cartoons are funny and I like the bright colors...

Deltron 3030 - Love Story (ysi)

So supposedly, there will be another Deltron album coming out next year... let's hope that happens!

Mann-teca!

Now, yesterday I mentioned that Galactic's song had a piece of "Manteca" in it... so I figured I'd help you out, if you weren't familiar with that particular tune, because I am here to help, people! Remember when Paris Hilton was in jail and made all these pronouncements that she was going to dedicate herself to helping people when she got out, only to recant on them when she realized that helping people actually required, like, you know... doing stuff? Well, I'm no Paris Hilton! I've never recorded a sex tape... in nightvision, anyway... and I'm going to follow through! But I'm with Paris on one thing... I'm not going to Rwanda, either...



Anyhoo, Manteca is a jazz standard by Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo that has been recorded oh, about a billion times, one of my all time favorites. This version, by flautist Herbie Mann, I was just introduced to by the awesome Jose Rizo on KKJZ's "Jazz on the Latin Side" show. (Do yourself a favor and check that out on the stream some time, both the music and my man Jose are amazing... talk about the perfect drive-home-from-work music!). Now, I'm not necessarily a Jazz flute aficionado, so it's the sick, sick percussion throwdown (at about 2:30) in this arrangement that really does it for me...

Herbie Mann - Manteca (ysi)

See what I mean? Intense! But if you wanna talk Jazz flute and intense, well, there's really only one man you need to know...



Stay classy, blogosphere...

NOLA, the next generation

Okay, I'm hoping you've slept off all that turkey and booze (Americans) or other food and booze (Europeans) or just plain booze (Drunks), because it's time to start another week of blog-tastic love (huh?)...



If you're going to start a funk band, it's a very good idea to be from New Orleans, just ask Galactic. They are from New Orleans, and their funk band is quite successful, proving my theory to be 100% rock-solid. Now, these days they're messing about with the Hip-Hop a bit, and are sometimes grouped into the "jam band" category, one that makes my skin crawl with thoughts of dirty, spinning hippies. I'm not sure the "jam band" thing really applies, but if you have white guys in your band and embrace the funk it seems almost unavoidable... sigh... anyhoo, this record is from a decade ago, before all that, when their sound was pure, unadulterated NOLA funk, naturally the period of theirs that I prefer...

Galactic - Funky Bird (ysi)

Notice how they even threw a bit of "Manteca" in there? Bonus points!

The Funk Phenomena

House Music Friday is here to shake you out of that Tryptophan-induced stupor...



Yeah, yeah, I know... Armand Van Helden = Cheesy as fuck. I know... but he has had his moments. This is probably his best, right here. This track was huge in L.A....

Armand Van Helden - The Funk Phenomena (ysi)

Yep, even a dog has his day... wait, I think I fucked that saying up... never mind. Just pump it loud and have a great weekend!

Remix that fool!

The "King of Latin R'n'B" (it says so on his website!) meets remixing royalty today...



Reminted, the new remix compilation by Fort Knox Five is just chock full of the funky breaks goodness. Which is a good goodness to be chock full of, in my opinion. To wit, here they take a classic from the great singer Joe Bataan, repping Spanish Harlem again here in the blog, and funkify his shit up real nice like...

Joe Bataan - The Fool (Fort Knox Five Remix) (ysi)

I'll be taking tomorrow off to stuff my face, hope you do the same!

Which Lonnie Smith do you speak of?

Today, some great '70s Jazz/Funk and a fabulous album cover...



... but before we get to the track, allow me to clear some things up. This Lonnie Smith... or Dr. Lonnie Smith to you, whitey... is not Lonnie Liston Smith, okay? Yeah, they both have the same name, both played keyboard, both put out their most famous work at the exact same time and in pretty much the same style. But that's really all they have in common. I don't know where the confusion comes from... sheesh! Also, this Lonnie Smith is not the fine slap-hitting/base-stealing outfielder of the '80s...


"I can't even play piano!"

... besides, baseball Lonnie Smith was also a famed cokehead, and we all know that all the best Jazz players prefer the smack. Okay, so now that we have that out of the way, the song! Now, the first 1:30 of this song has some vocals that you might describe as, how can I say this nicely... Chocolate Porn City, perhaps? But after that, it settles in to a great uptempo workout with really nice extended trumpet and sax solos and some wicked percussion... a real groover, check it out...

Lonnie Smith - Afrodesia (ysi)

Dr. Lonnie is still going strong today, rocking a bad-ass turban and a surprisingly pimped out website... he's fly like that. Word.