Acieeeeeeed!

Music from one of my all-time favorite wackos today...



So an artist puts out an album or a single and its' cool, but if someone puts out a "series", it becomes a must-have for me. Must be some kinda Virgo thing. Anyhoo, Mr. Richard D. James, aka Aphex Twin, aka AFX aka about 25 other aliases put out the Analord series a little while back... 11 12"ers of old school analogue acid... and it's the best work he's done in years if you ask me... Sure, he's a total nutbag, but you can't fuck with a dude who owns a tank and a submarine...

AFX - SteppingFilter 101

There's a CD version of a selection of the tracks called Chosen Lords, but that's for suckas. Get the whole collection.

And there is simply no way I can post about Aphex Twin without posting this...



Word.

A rainy day in Scotland

Gettin' cinematic on yer ass...



Composer Craig Armstrong is a pretty cool dude... probably the first you heard of him was from his work with Massive Attack, doing orchestrations on Blue Lines, but he has since really made a name for himself as a film composer, scoring such flicks as Moulin Rouge and Ray, and winning Golden Globes and Grammys and shit. This track, off his first solo album definitely shows that cinematic is how this dude rolls...

Craig Armstrong - Glasgow

You almost feel like you're there, huh? Or maybe not. Never been myself. So... um... nevermind...

Hello Summer! (Part 4)

I told you we weren't done yet... I gotta say I'm pretty amazed at how well the Hello Summer! mixes have gone over. Parts 1-3 have been downloaded over 1100 times now, which really blows my mind. The interweb tubes are all clogged up with my stuffs! But that's not why I do it... I do it for the love, people! Anyhoo, here's the latest. A couple of the songs are kinda cliche, I know, but screw it... they're freakin' good...

Tonegent presents "Cali Funk Shine"

(Continous DJ Mix - 72:16 - 99.3 mb @ 192 kps)

1) Roy Ayers - Everybody Loves The Sunshine
2) Marlena Shaw - California Soul
3) Latin Breed - I Turn You On
4) Mandrill - Fence Walk
5) Bernard Purdie - Soul Drums
6) The Cabildos - Cross Fire
7) Roy Porter - Party Time
8) Oliver Sain - California Sunset
9) Black Heat - The Jungle
10) James Reese & The Progressions - Let's Go (It's Summertime)
11) Sisters Love - Give Me Your Love
12) Harlem River Drive - Seeds Of Life
13) Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers - Bustin' Loose
14) Lonnie Liston Smith - Expansions
15) The Blackbyrds - Rock Creek Park
16) Larry Willis - Out Of The Coast
17) Kool & The Gang - Summer Madness


Feel it!

Two that got soul

First day at a new job today, so I gotta get this in quick. Let's just say if all R&B music was this good, R&B music wouldn't suck so much. Wow, you should have to pay for insight like that... :P

For the ladies...

Shaun Escoffery - Days Like This

... and for the fellas...

Amel Larrieux - Get Up

Extra goodies coming this weekend... stay tuned!

Time for Trane-ing Camp!

Get it? "Trane"-ing camp. Because his name ends with Trane, like train, get it... like, I bet nobody ever thought of that before, huh? I kill me!!!



Anyhoo, it's about time we got some John Coltrane going around here. You may not have heard of him, but he's very good at playing the saxophone, or as Homer Simpson more properly put it, the sax-amaphone. This one's pretty interesting, 'cuz it don't seem that Trane played with an orchestra this big (17 pieces) very often, so it's a cool sound. And of course, it's an all-star orchestra, with the likes of McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, Elvin Jones, Eric Dolphy and a grip of others...

John Coltrane - The Damned Don't Cry

Not quite as bleak as the title suggests, eh? Good stuff... and here's some YouTubes lovin' for ya...



Can't beat that. Word.

Where'd all the weed go?

Oh, Tricky smoked it...



Yes, the man who could single-handedly cause a marijuana shortage on the Eastern Seaboard during a two-week club tour blows in with a track today from his absolutely essential and classic first album, "Maxinquaye". Say what you will about what he's done since... it's been very hit and miss... but you can't fuck with this one. Pure genious filtered through enough ganja smoke to choke a hundred Rastas. Seriously, listen to the dude's voice sometime. On this one though, we get to hear the voice of Martina Topley-Bird, which is much nicer...

Tricky - Ponderosa

Seriously, though, this is a spy photo of Tricky's tour van...





No joke!

Words from the R

Classic hip-hop, call Dr. Dre and Ed Lover!



Very short on time today, so I'll just say, if you don't know Eric B. & Rakim, you don't know hip-hop, foo! :P

Eric B. & Rakim - Casualties Of War

See, that's how I keep it real... and... um... stuff...

Let's just get right into it, shall we?

I'm not going to ease you into the week... Monday already slaps you upside the head like you said something nasty about it's momma anyway, so what's the point?



The Fabric label, run by the London superclub, sure is prolific... but I guess you can throw down to license all the tracks you want when you charge $30+ a head for admission. Between the Fabric Series and the Fabriclive Series, we must be up close to 70 freakin' volumes from every good DJ under the sun. And I really haven't heard a bad one yet - but choice DJs tend to play choice tracks, eh? On their turn, the Stanton Warriors throw down the breaks biznezz in very lovely fashion, and this track, their remix of German artist Wahoo, gets top prize from me... especially with the lyrics exhorting the geeky punters nodding their heads around the edge of the dance floor to wake the hell up and get and get a girl to dance with, for Pete's sake!!

Wahoo - Make 'Em Shake It (Stanton Warriors Mix)

Wahoo have their first full-length out soon... that should be a good one.

A big ol' pile of Compost

A track that seemingly never makes it's way far out of my bag today...



From the mighty Compost Records 100th release comes a super slick breakbeat number from Fauna Flash, whom you may have heard of and Wei Chi, whom you may have not. But no matter. As a DJ, this is one of my "go to" tracks... as in go to that track because I'm getting all indecisive and I've got like 30 seconds to make up my damn mind before I trainwreck... because it just goes good mixed with anything. Kinda like vodka... mmmmmm, vodka.

Fauna Flash vs. Wei Chi - Don't Know 2001

If you like that, I highly recommend that you stop arsing about here and get you way over to Compost's site and check out their download section. About a dozen MP3's available, quality stuff from their latest releases... if you're a music whore like me, you don't wanna miss out on that...

It's not so hard out here for a pimp...

... not when you're good, anyway...



So this Darondo dude seems like an interesting story. If you read between the lines of his bio over at Ubiquity, you can pretty easily figure out that this guy was "Hustle & Flow" for real... a pimp who between his time slappin' hoes was laying down tracks, but just for shits and giggles. He never really struck it big as more than a Bay Area act, which was just fine with him 'cuz a brother was rollin' on the '70s equivalent of dubs anyways from his main business. But then who comes along? Gilles Peterson, of course. Picks one of his tracks for a comp, Ubiquity puts out a re-issue album of like, all 9 songs he ever recorded and now he's back and hipper than hip. Of course, all this happened because the tracks were really freakin' good as it turns out...

Darondo - Let My People Go

Fuck Terrence Howard, eh? :P

Hope for a generation

And here is one of my favorite bands of the last couple years, courtesy the best DJ selecta in the world...



Fat Freddy's Drop are a reggae/dub band from New Zealand, of all places, made up mostly (I believe) of mostly native Maori dudes, and led by singer Joe Dukie, whose vocals have appeared on a bunch of cool tracks by other folks as well. Seeing their full-length, "Based On A True Story" won the Worldwide Winners Album of the Year a couple years back, it's no surprise that this track comes courtesy of one of Gilles' many compilations for Trust The DJ (always good advice by the way... in that respect, we're like doctors and stuff... so, girls, you know it's totally cool if we see you naked :P ). Tried to but had no luck on details for this version though, which I say because it is almost completely different than the album song of the same name. I think it may be live, but no matter... because it's fantastic...

Fat Freddy's Drop - Hope

Kiwis feel da jah vibe too!

Mr. Smith and his huge organ

Epic jazz/funk track for you today...



A stunning live take from the master of the Hammond B3 organ, the man, the myth, Mr. Jimmy Smith. How about that for a rhyme?! I don't have a whole lot to say about it, other than get ready for 12 minutes of hot funk full of blistering solos. Time to get down...

Jimmy Smith - Root Down (And Get It)

So good it hurts!

Time for a classic!

Okay, so I promised you this one last week, and I am a blogger of my word.



Street Corner Symphony's "No Running, No Bombing, No Petting" is simply one of the greatest one-off deep house albums ever released, and a copy of it is practically impossible to find unless you're willing to shell out the huge bucks. But if you got the bucks, it's well worth it. Simply amazing disco house madness. Reminds me of a friend who used to rent this house in the suburbs, and once a month, he'd clear out his living room, put black drapes over all the windows, and we'd bump house music out of cabinets way to big for the room until 8 A.M... good times! And this track here was one of the staples at "Club Septo"...

Street Corner Symphony - Symphonic Tonic

TUNE!!!!!!!!!!!

Lavaggio

How about a little ambient soundscape for a Sunday afternoon?

Tonegent - Lavaggio

As always I would appreciate any feedback from anyone who likes it! And if you're into this kind of music, be sure to check out the record label Spekk. Really good stuff...

Peace.

Weekly theme week: The Big Finish!

De La Soul - A Rollerskating Jam Called Saturdays

Weekly theme week: TGIF!

Bloody good thing Mercury's finally out of retrograde... and that's all I'm gonna say about that.



Streetlife Originals was a production alias of one Bryan Robson (who also put out a few great house records as Solaris Heights), who put out this full length on the once mighty but now unfortunately defunct Paper Recordings. And this is probably my all time favorite release by the label... it's kind of like a run through every style Gilles Peterson spins, all on one record! This track will give you a little taste. It's a mellow broken-beat style number that served as the album's opener...

Streetlife Originals - Friday At Ronnie's

Now, good luck trying to find this CD... but here's something neato. Despite the fact that they went out of business, Paper still runs an online store where they are offering their entire back catalogue in digital form. If you are at all into house music, you need to check that out, because all the stuff is ace.

Have a great weekend... weekly theme week ends tomorrow... thank goodness :P

Weekly theme week: Porn mustache alert!

Yikes!



What exactly was the tenor of the time in which someone thought this album cover was a good idea? I wasn't alive yet, so I guess I will never understand. Luckily, though, the music is far less scary. Today we visit oft-sampled composer and scary looking motherfucker David Axelrod, who is definitely the king of funky yet orchestral, soundtracky type musica. This is an amazing track, sampled by UNKLE for the equally amazing "Rabbit In Your Headlights"... and many others.

David Axelrod - Holy Thursday

Definitely a guy you need to know about, and obviously be quite afraid of...

And since I mentioned it, and since it has one of the best videos ever, here's your YouTubes lovin' for the day...



Powerfull stuff, that. Peace.

More of the week of weekly theme week!

Well, I didn't have any songs with "Humpday" in the title, so this will have to do...



The all time bass bumpa, Mr. Charles Mingus makes an appearance on the ol' bloggeroo today a) because of my increasing obsession with jazz and b) because he has a song with "Wednesday" in the title... how convenient! This is a brilliant song, too, a rollicking blues workout with voices in the background that really make the feel of the song live up to the title...

Charles Mingus - Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting

I said testify!!!

And now, here's the weird thing. As I was looking around on the official Mingus website (linked above), I found this! This is real! And incredibly bizarre! Click the pic if you don't believe me...

A true genius in more ways than one, apparently!

It's Weekly Theme Week Week!

I will start today by saying my "Tuesday" choices were very thin... but...



... I'll take some David Bowie any day! You simply can't deny that the man is a straight-up genius... but still, I'm not quite on the same level of Bowie worship as some people I know. And this song here from his first-ever album is a bit... well... let's say whimsical. But not bad, and it fits the theme of the week, so without further ado...

David Bowie - Love You Til Tuesday

And how about a sorta creepy video from the same era?



Yep... but he turned out okay, at least. :P

Weekly theme week continues!

I may have been drunk when I started it, but hey, I started my lame-ass theme week, and I'm gonna keep it goin'!



So here we have another super-talented producer/team/act/whatever that has seemingly fallen off the face of the earth. But before he/they/whomever did, there were two very good albums dropped on Tim "Love" Lee's ace Tummy Touch label. Rock out...

Organic Audio - Organic Monday

I'm gonna go get drunk again now :P

Weekly theme week begins!

Okay, so... I'm out on my bike ride today and I'm thinkin', "Hmmm... the letting the shuffle of my iTunes pick the day's song is kinda cool and all, but I'm getting a little bit over it... maybe I should come up with a theme for the week or something, just to mix it up." And then, apparently, my next thought was "Hmmm... what's the gayest idea I can come up with for a theme?" And well, you'll figure it out, I'm sure...



Weekender, were (are? dunno, they have no active website...) a Manchester producing crew, who with "Kneel Before Zod" put out maybe the most perfect Deep House artist album that has ever been produced (the 2 other top candidates I can think of would be Inland Knights' "Creative Spaces" and the Street Corner Symphony record... which I promise I'll hook you up with some lovin' from soon). I mean, this thing is just so funky yet lush with the production that it's hard to imagine how some pasty buncha chain smoking blokes could even birth it in their litttle lager-addled brains... but they did, and who cares how?! Just say "Thank you, kind sirs!" Here's the opener from the record, an incredible tune, and it just keeps going from there... and I'm pretty sure the theme for this week will become quite apparent...

Weekender - Sunday Session

Ha, told ya about the theme... GAY! But don't worry, I promise not to be painfully obvious with my track selections. As a matter of fact, I have a very nice week of music lined up for ya... come on, ya must know ya can trust me by now ;)

But you know I'll rock the YouTubes on this one...



And don't forget to vote for Zod in 2008! It's time for a change!

Quick but deadly today

Ending the week with a heavyweight tune!



British broken beat faves Da Lata are actually a team up of the dude from Smoke City, DJ Patrick Forge, and a rotating cast of buddies. They've put out 2 full lengths and a number of remixes, all really good stuff. This title track from their last album is on a seriously hot Afrobeat tip... dig it...

Da Lata - Serious (ft. Mamani Keita)

"Serious" is a few years old now... so hopefully the guys will have some more new goodness for us before long.

Peace and have a great weekend...

Ready or not, here I blog!

Okay, so a bit of comedy yesterday... let's get back to the serious tunes...

... hold on while I furrow my brow...

... ah, serious doesn't really work for me. Anyhoo...



Compilations like this one are crate-digging for cheaters... and I am SO okay with that! Because I loves me to find some sample sources... they make my DJ sets seem quite clever. So here is not the most obscure one in the world, but still a great one, from Philly Soul legends The Delfonics. It's kinda more famous for a cover version than a sample, but hey, don't sue me... I didn't produce the compilation...

The Delfonics - Ready Or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide From Love)

Now of course that was covered by the Fugees, but I'm not gonna be THAT obvious... instead, here's the awesome Drum & Bass remix of the Fugees' cover, courtesy of Aphrodite, who put out some of the best hip-hop/d&b remixes there were, back when that kind of thing was all the rage...

Fugees - Ready Or Not (Aphrodite Dubplate VIP Mix)

Good luck trying to find that vinyl! I'm not even sure it was ever more than a white label... and yes, you're welcome :)

America, Fuck Yeah!

World Exclusive!!!!

Okay, so I know how the other blogs pride themselves when they get exclusive tracks. "The band themselves just sent me this from their forthcoming split EP and OMG it the AWESOMEST SONG EVARRR!!!!"... and then follows hours of vigorous masturbation to the glowing comments of the adoring indie kids. And hey, I want some of that! So here is a WORLD EXCLUSIVE TRACK, found ONLY HERE on the Tonegents blog! I'm TOTALLY in with the artist man, they're my BFF and shit! So without further ado, the brand new -- unsoiled by human ears -- world exclusive (did i mention it was WORLD EXCLUSIVE?!?!?!) first ever listen to the new song by...

(drumrollllllllll....)

ME!!!!

Tonegent - Respirasol

Ah, c'mon... don't act all disappointed! It's kinda good, I think! I just finished it yesterday... call it ambient breaks, I guess...

Let me know how you like it... all comments will be greatly appreciated!

Peace.

More dating bloggers

There's not much I can add to expound upon the meaning of this track, so I'll just let the lyrics tell you what you need to know ;)



"No More Dating DJs"

music by Nick Holder - spoken word by Jemini

no more dating djs, mcs, producers, hiphop critics, radio hosts, etc..
wanted: a girl to date a dj
must have strong arms for heavy lifting
includes crates,
and my ego.. hm
looks not important to me
you will never look as good as the girls on my
bootlegs
whitelables
and cd covers
but please try not to look uglier than any of my dj buddies' girlfriends.
i really hate that.
DONT TOUCH MY EQUIPMENT.
i like music, long walks on any street that sells used records, music, being a hater, music, and i do like music.
must be able to watch several hours of DMC world championship video footage.
P.S. if youve never heard of dj rectangle, please do not apply.

im done with dating rappers, mcs, djs...
im lookin for nice Roger's cable guy who thinks a Technic is a way to make love to me!
i was in love with your potential.
i thought your hands were speaking to me.
remember when we met and you were on that Jungle Brothers back-to-Africa-trip?
you got me to throw away my rope chain, even took the chemicals out my hair, you said you were my man, and we would be a strong black unit for change.
...but yo' mama's basement was too small to house the revolution.

grown ass man... but why move out and get a job?
you said you about to make some cheddah off all this rappin and producin'... wait till you play me the "new shhiiat"...?
you said the sexiest thing about me, besides my fat ass, was the way i made you think.
and me, and my fat ass, was tickled pink.
but now it seems like mic chords are the only thing you tickle.
im tired of eating invisible scratch pickles.
i stopped buying your mixed tapes the day you said girls cant dj cuz their inner ear is smaller and it throws off their mixes.
f**k a guest list!
after three years, im more than just a guest.
but i guess you just aint know...
i stopped analyzing your lyrics when you stopped listening to my radio show.
and dont eva get it twisted - im tellin you!
the worst groupies have dicks.
every guy i know can tell a story about a hoe and some rap star,
"i aint hatin, its the truth dawg! i witnessed it! i swear!"
now you're a man -
at least for the groupie, she's about to get sex.
you already passed your tape to the rapper,
he's about to beat the face now,
...why are you still there?

and these groupie hoes, with their five minute hugs,
i dont watch no face, but these girls take pleasure in provoking me.
and i cant say s**t, i've got to retaliate in silence, cuz the laniard from your backstage pass keeps on choking me.
and no. i dont want to hang out with the other dj girlfriends.
they're adapters!
automatic after-performance clappers!
Preperation H for swollen ego asshole rappers!
they adapt to any climate
givin daps at any time it seems appropriate.
you take these girls for joke - skin [..?..] like the two'v yall gon live happy eva after
they study dinosaurs - we call em dinowhores!
why?
cuz that's what you call the girls who flock to the clubs on a saturday night to do what you can to catch a Toronto Raptor. she's an adapter!

you can take your yellow page
and dubplate makin body tricks,
but personally, i'll pass.
used to give a f**k bout turntablism, but now, you can basically galloping scratch.. my ass!!!
i KNOW i sound aplified!
you can tell your friends its just hate.
remember when you broke my face plate?
nigga, the BEST mixer you eva had was a Gemini!

and if i hear one more dj cuttin the hell out've Peter Piper - THATS YO ASSSS!!
not-bad-meanin-bad-but-bad-meanin-good-not-bad-meanin-bad-not-bad, not bad not bad..... but sometimes we just want to hear the tuuuuuuuuuuune bitches!!
and its not the dj, its me for thinkin he's listenin to what he play, and the messages he's puttin in the universe.
but when really i think about it, whatchyoo say aint who you are.
i mean, Luther still singin bout girls...
and i mean, Al Green was just a love machine who sang love and happiness, while offstage he brutally dislocated his wife's shoulder and fractured both her wrists... she probably plays his 45's gingerly with broken arms, listening to him sing tender love songs, and thinks, "who the HELL is this?!"

so ladies, the fault also lies in us
if we mistake talent for tenderness
a beat is not a love song.
a guestlist is not a love letter.

but until im sure ive learned the difference...
i just wont date djs, mcs, producers, hiphop critics, radio hosts, etc...

Nick Holder - No More Dating DJs (ft. Jemini)

Yeah, I'm feelin' a bit lazy today... I'm on holiday... so ha!

Hello, Summer! (Part 3)

We may just keep saying "Hello" to Summer until it's over... 'cuz then maybe we can talk it into stickin' around for a while longer... (Did that make sense? I mean, it sounded cool, but grammatically... does that work? I'd figure it out but I've had some ganja to get in the feeling for this one...)

Tonegent presents "Jah Music Fi Jah People"

(Continuous DJ Mix - 66:44 - 91.7 mb @ 192 kps)

1) King Stitt - Dance Beat
2) Desmond Dekker - Israelites
3) Sister Nancy - Bam Bam
4) Althea & Donna - Up Town Top Ranking
5) Dawn Penn - No No No
6) Studio One Rockers - Truth And Rights
7) John Holt - Police N Helicopter
8) Peter Tosh - Legalize It
9) Cultural Roots - Age Of Creation
10) Mad Professor - Operation Trident
11) Augustus Pablo & King Tubby - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown
12) Horance Andy - Must Be Jah
13) Big Youth - Dread Is Best
14) Linval Thompson - Dread Are The Contoller
15) Toots & The Maytals - Funky Kingston
16) Derrick Laro & Trinity - Don't Stop Till You Get Enough
17) One Blood - Be Thankful For What You Got

Hooray Beer!