It's good to be the king...

Let that post title stand as your warning that you're not gonna find a lot of original comedy material in this one...



Apparently Prince Jammy is one of the guys who invented dancehall... so despite the fact that that eventually led to Sean Paul (man, that reference is obscure already, no?), I guess we can thank him for that. Heck, he's even been promoted to King Jammy now. Gets his own Piss Boy and everything...

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Yeah, that's all I got today... a big ol' Costco-sized vat of jack shit. But this is some nice old Dub...

Prince Jammy - Old Country Dub (ysi)

And hey, here's a cool old video! Watch the man work the old school board while his ridiculously stoned homies just try to remain standing...



Things might get a little hectic 'round my way the next couple of days... so I'll see ya sometime between now and Friday...

SPOILER ALERT! Sheena = A Man.

It's a good thing I don't have any hipster cred, because it's posts like this which would just lose it for me anyway... not that I care...



You know what I never noticed until today? I never noticed how the cover of Tone Loc's magnum opus Loc'ed After Dark was a direct homage to Donald Byrd's iconic art for A New Perspective. And you thought Tone Loc wasn't down? Stop yer hatin', you haterz. Also, check out probably the best jam he ever did, flippin' a smooth Stevie sample over some lyrics that are far from the family-friendly vibe of his big hits... which we won't mention by name, lest the hating begin anew...

Tone Loc - Cheeba Cheeba (ysi)

Admit it... that's a pretty good jam, isn't it? I SAID ADMIT IT! Or keep on with yer hatin', whichever you prefer...

Wait, it's THAT guy? Lame.

Today's episode of House Music Friday is bringing it down a notch from the jackin' jams I've posted the last few times...



If you're telling me there's an artist called Blackjoy, I'm wanting that to be a 300 pound ebony mama, not a skinny little French dude... but guess what? Blackjoy is a skinny little French dude. It's not shocking, just disappointing. Luckily the Disco House & Funk steez he brings are exactly the opposite. Dis some good shit. Vocals on this one by Sandra Nkake, whom I hadn't heard of before but it looks like she has a nice following in Europe and I'm diggin' her sound...

Blackjoy - Monilola (ft. Sandra Nkake) (ysi)

Have a good weekend, kids...

A paella of sound...

... because, you know, it's got a bunch of different stuff in it, like paella. And is from Spain, also like paella and yep, that's the best I got for ya today. Read this and weep...



Got a weird-ass record for you today. Pedro Ruy-Blas is a musician/actor/presumed ham aficionado from Spain, about whom there's not a whole lot of info out there in English, so my mono-lingual ass can't help you out a whole lot with the deets. But I assume if you read this blog on anything resembling a regular basis you're used to that by now. Anyhoo, a LOT of musical ideas packed into 3 minutes here... Jazz/Flamenco/Funk/WTF... you kinda want this thing to be twice as long so all these different tangents could be explored more fully, BUT YOU'RE GETTING THREE MINUTES AND LIKING IT, FUCKO! I'm really enjoying the work "fucko" lately, btw... try it yourself, it's fun to say!

Pedro Ruy-Blas - La Ausencia (ysi)

Pretty wild, eh? And the whole records like that, only with more of the wacky scatting. It is also quite very out of print, so feel free to grab it through assorted nefarious means if you're so inclined. Adios...

In which I inexplicably discuss Gordon Lightfoot far too much...

... and that's what we call a SPOILER ALERT!



I'm usually rather suspicious when a band's name is too, shall we say, obviously trying to tell you something... when a group are calling themselves the "Funk" this or the "Jazz" that. It usually reeks of cheesiness... you don't have to tell us you're funky, WE'LL BE THE JUDGE OF THAT, FUCKOS! But of course, there are exceptions, so have no fear of The Souljazz Orchestra for they bring the realz. Actually, they're more Afrobeat than Soul Jazz, although this latest record ups the Jazz ante by being their first fully acoustic set. Also, bonus points for being from Ottawa, Ontario... I grew up near there. And Ottawa is no Toronto or Montreal anything cool like that... I thought it was all Gordon Lightfoot and Barenaked Ladies up there, but I stand corrected. Not that there's anything wrong with some Gordon Freakin' Lightfoot, yo!

The Souljazz Orchestra - Serenity (ysi)

Actually I take that back. There is some wrong to be found... "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" creeped me the fuck out as a kid... not as much as the absolutely horrifying spoken word bit in the middle of "Knights In White Satin", but pretty damn close... that "Sundown" jawn isn't too bad, though. For more of my thoughts on Gordon Lightfoot, tune in to... nothing. I have no more thoughts on Gordon Lightfoot...

Music to just wanna crawl back in bed to

After a 40th birthday celebration involving shots of tequila, this here is about as hard as I can rock it today...



So, turns out there are actually two different Ambient artists out there who go by the name Gas. Did you know that? I did not know that. One of the Gasses is the dude who runs Kompakt Records. This is not him. This is a guy named Mat Jarvis and this is the only record he put out under the Gas alias. He's got a few of those, as is the fashion of the day. But yeah, this Gas is a pretty highly sought-after and highly fucking good record. And it's making my head not hurt, which is kinda awesome in it's own right...

Gas - Microscopic (ysi)

If that tune sounds vaguely familiar (which I doubt), it may be because you've seen this video before. It has, as they say, made the rounds. It, also, is kinda awesome...



Okay, made it through. I'm going to put this album on and go to bed...

Not exactly max effort...

House Music Friday brings you House music on Friday... because it is so fucking on-the-nose like that...



Do I use that joke too often? Maybe. Do I post dee-ricious House jammy jams by Kinky Movement too often? Not a chance...

Kinky Movement - Freak Trip (ysi)

So yep, that was a low effort post. KILLER tune, though. Have a great weekend...

Coming to you live from Margarita Thursday!

... because that's what we do at my job. I like my job...



Nathan Haines is a Kiwi saxamaphone player whose music is kinda half Jazz/half Electronic, but it's not as bad as that sounds. You think of Jazz players messing around in the dance music idiom and usually you think weak sauce, but Mr. Haines is definitely sans fromage. Hell, dude even did Drum & Bass records for Metalheadz as Sci-Clone... which is no joke, slow poke. Here he teams up with the excellent UK MC Ty (don't sleep) on a track that sounds like something from Guru's Jazzmatazz but with a bit more edge...

Nathan Haines - Pick It Up (ft. Ty) (ysi)

Actually, we also do Bagel Thursday at my job, too. So I guess Margarita/Bagel Thursday is the best Jewish/Mexican collaboration since, um... I have no fucking idea...

Happy Birthday to me, starring Ozzy

Today I turn 40, and for my full thoughts on that, you can check out my Twitter thing... 'cuz that's not what you're here for. You're here for this...



I picked Black Sabbath to post today, on my 40th birthday because A) this record is from 1970, the year I was spawned, and I am so fucking on-the-nose like that and B) because I actually worked on The Osbournes and think of Ozzy as a the crazy uncle I wish I had... but I only actually ever met him once. It was at the 1st season wrap party, which I was DJing. I started off the music with "Sweet Leaf" which led to one of my favorite Hollywood moments ever... when OZZY MADE THE DEVIL SIGN TO ME. I am so awesome...

Black Sabbath - N.I.B. (ysi)

And here's a treat... I've found the episode I story edited (TV term - a story editor is the reality show version of a writer... you watch the tapes, find the story and lay it out like a script) on the YouTubes. Soak in this TV gold, people. SOAK IT IN!





Okay, I'm gonna go get shitfaced. 'Til next time...

I am about to be really fucking old.

On this, the last day of my thirties, at least the shuffle had the common decency to land on a record that's older than me...



We are enacting the Honorary "Fuck Gorilla Vs. Bear" One Year Rule again today (the one where I try to only post an artist once per calendar year) and welcome trumpeter Donald Byrd back 'round for another go. And once again we go back to the early years... 1961 to be exact... for another sweet little ditty from "before they was funky". Dig it...

Donald Byrd - You're Next (ysi)

So yep, turning 40 tomorrow. Don't be surprised if I post some Lawrence Welk jawns. Seriously, I have no idea what could happen...

When Galactus was broke, did he eat cosmic slop?

How's that for an obscure geek joke? So... did my boss nail it hosting the VMAs last night or what? Chelsea certainly made that show worth watching, as you sure as HELL weren't tuning in for the awful music. And if anyone disagrees with that, I have a Costco-size bag of dicks for them to eat... I'm looking in your direction Perez Hilton...



I shouldn't have to tell you anything about Funkadelic. I really shouldn't. You don't know a thing about Funk if you are unaware of the activities of Sir George Clinton and his merry band of funkateers. You should have your Funk pass taken away and be forced into a padded cell with Kenny G blaring at 1000 decibels until you claw your own ears out. Sorry if that sounds harsh... well, actually no. I'm not sorry. It's your punishment, so take it like a curly-haired, soprano sax in the side of the mouth playing man...

Funkadelic - Nappy Dugout (ysi)

By the way, if you don't know what a "nappy dugout" is... um, Google it. It's not a place where baseball players sleep, I'll tell you that! Boing! And then just look at this gang of madmen. How can you not be down?



That was a trick question. You can't not be down. You can be afraid. You can be verrrrry afraid. But still down...

Knights of the Kids' Table

It's time for House Music Friday to pay it's once yearly visit to the Round Table of funk...



... which of course is the table around which gather the Inland Knights. Okay, so there's only two guys in Inland Knights, so I guess it's a pretty small table. Whatevs. Here's one from the massive 3-disc Drop Music retrospective that came out a couple years back. Just played this one out and it went over quite well, mind you...

Inland Knights - It's On Tonight (ysi)

Those guys just keep churnin' 'em out. And they're not stingy with the mixes either. Here's their latest, available for download at their Soundcloud page. You better grab this sucka...

Ik's world cup mix 2010 by Inland Knights

I could post a different track by these guys every Friday and you'd never get sick of it, but this will be all... 'til next year! In the meantime have a great weekend...

I'm totally not making this one up.

There have now been 900+ iterations of this ongoing debacle, but this is a first...



It's nearly freaking impossible in these days of the Interwebz to come up with a record I can't even find cover art for, but I done did it. Today's track comes off a compilation put out by the people behind the deep, deep underground Black Diamond parties of San Francisico. Hence the lovely shot above. It was a two disc set, put out on a real label even... Three Sixty Records... but the label's own website doesn't even acknowledge this puppy's existence. But here's the Discogs page. Considering that in addition to today's track by the relatively well-known Tim "Love" Lee you got Hardkiss boys and DJ Harvey on there, I can't figure out why almost all evidence of this disc ever being real has disappeared and there's not one copy available for purchase anywhere... so if you love this track and wanna hear the rest, um... tough shit, I guess... I sold my copy after I digitized my collection...

Tim "Love" Lee - Zilla (ysi)

I mean, I suppose if someone was really interested I could hook you up with the full deal... holla at ya boy...

Funky Fast Blog

Super duper busy the last couple of days... I bet you're all havin' the shakes by now, so let us not dilly-dally...



I've got another top-quality reissue label to tip you on today, and that would be Jazzman Records out of the UK. They bring nothing but the Funk and Soul Jazz heat... after all, their motto is "We Dig Deeper"... and they ain't lyin', as they keep unearthing nuggets like this...

The Outlaw Gang - Funky Fast Bump (ysi)

If you want any info on this band, you'll have to see if it's in the liner notes of the CD... I hear they're quite extensive. Unlike this blog post, which is over...

Menage A Musique

Considering the way this week started out, I guess it's only fitting that House Music Friday brings you the third members of the Trinity of Awesome (trademark pending)...



... that threesome, of course, being Orbital, The Chemical Brothers and (oh shit, it's a brand new record from) Underworld. I shouldn't need to say anything about Karl & Rick, but I will mention that they did something different on Barking in that they got a little help from their friends, having collaborators on all of the tracks for the first time. On this one it was Mark Knight & D Ramirez of Toolroom Records, which is a name to know if you like your House on the bigger side. Still sounds like Underworld, though, i.e. HELLZ YEAH!

Underworld - Between Stars (ysi)

And with that, I send you off to your weekend. Have a good one... except for all you dirty hippies at Burning Man. Seriously, do you even realize what you smell like right now?

Post #902 or "I can't think of a good title for Post #902"

I don't really have much in the way of a witty intro today either, so let's just get on with it...



Rob Swift was an original member of the legendary scratch crew The X-Ecutioners. I'm not sure why he's still not with them, so let's just say that there was a falling out involving a giant pile of cocaine and a horny octopus and let our imaginations run wild. Also, I remember him having some good parts in the Turntablist documentary Scratch, which if you haven't seen... seriously, what the hell's wrong with you? You haven't seen Scratch? Netflix that shit. I'll wait...

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Sorry you had to bump Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? down in your queue, but trust me, you'll thank me later (it really drags in the third act). Anyhoo, if there's anyone qualified to make an anthem for turntablists, it's this guy... even if this jam is a little laid back for an "anthem", it displays mad skillz... and Pharaohe Monch, who we love...

Rob Swift - Turtablist Anthem (ft. Pharoahe Monch & Kia Jeffries) (ysi)

And here's a random display of said mad skillz in video form...



Just for the record, I cannot do that...

Don't go havin' expectations...

... for after that gigantic multi-media extravaganzapalooza yesterday, we now return to our shoddy regular posting habits...



Goblin were/are an Italian Prog Rock band mostly famous for making weird, creepy music for some of Dario Argento's weird, creepy horror films. And when they weren't doing that, they were making weird, creepy music that was not connected to films, but was just weird and creepy for the sake of it. And once in a while they'd get a little funky, even. To wit...

Goblin - Snip Snap (ysi)

Sorry about the ugly-ass Goear player, but my other shits ran over the bandwidth. But am I gonna pay for more? HELLZ NO! Anyhoo, Goblin also got a bit of a revival when Justice sampled them up for the song... um... I dunno, one of the Justice songs. What the hell ever happened to those guys, anyway? And... that's your post. Good day...