Hullaballo Redux-a-roo

Ho ho ho, pimps and hoes! So, I really wanted to do a new Holiday mix for you this year, but the 'asploded nature of my iTunes would make it way too hard... besides, this shit is a stone cold classic that could not be improved upon, ever, even by the powers of Jeebus and Santa combined. Huzzah!

Tonegent presents "The Happy Holiday Hullabaloo"

(Continuous Mix - 72:16 - 99.25Mb @ 192kps)

1) Mr. Mackey - Carol of the Bells
2) Dean Martin - Jingle Bells (Dan The Automator Remix)
3) Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra - O Come All Ye Faithful
4) Count Sidney - Soul Christmas
5) Clarence Carter - Backdoor Santa
6) Rufus Thomas - I'll Be Your Santa, Baby
7) Run-DMC - Christmas In Hollis
8) Kurtis Blow - Christmas Rappin'
9) Mr. Garrison - Merry Fucking Christmas
10) A plus D - Give Da Jew Girl Toys (Sarah Silverman)
11) DJ John - The Christmas Massacre of Charlie Brown
12) Mojochronic - Yuletide Zeppelin
13) Freddie McGregor - Irie Christmas
14) Poncho Sanchez - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
15) Wham! - Last Christmas
16) Members Only - Christmas Eve
17) Stephanie Cooke - It's Xmas
18) Nathan Fake - Silent Night
19) Mel Torme - The Christmas Song (Sonny J Remix)


Enjoy!

Big numbers

Which number is greater... the number of "trip-hop" albums released in the late '90s or the number of hoes in different area codes on the speed dial of Tiger Woods? Well, we can't be sure just yet, but here's what we know...



There were approximately 1,462,985 "trip-hop" albums released that followed the tried and true formula of girl singer + knob twiddler(s), and this is undoubtedly one of them. About 682,254 of these albums touched on Drum & Bass vibes and this is also one of those. I guess the point is there's a lot of this stuff out there, but how much of it holds up now? Certainly not all of it, but this Baxter record still sounds pretty good. The singing girl, Nina Ramsby, also had a pretty good little Indie Rock band called Salt, and although the knob-twiddling guys don't seem to have done much past this project, they did a pretty good job of keeping it not boring (although you'll hear a verrrry noticeable section here that sounds ripped directly from Hoovercheebahead). Now, every one of these types of albums had one track on it where the knob twiddlers got to step forward and show how tough they were when they didn't have to make sissy beats for girls to sing over... here is Baxter's...

Baxter - So Much I've Heard (ysi)

So, going back to our opening questions... Tiger's only at 9 now but give it some more time...



That could only have been better if they'd hired Nate Dogg...

H is for Half-assed

House Music Friday today once again celebrates lack of effort, the true American way...



JT Donaldson is a House guy that's been around for quite some time making House tunes for all the House heads. Here's one of them...

JT Donaldson - News (ysi)

So yeah. Have a great weekend!

Really? No, seriously... really?

So... I see this morning that The Crystal Method has been nominated for a Grammy for "Best Electronic Album". Wow. Fuck the Grammys right in the face...



But you knew that. So moving on, here's an electronic album from 2009 that actually is one of the best I've heard. Lusine is the name. Get to know it. If you need to forget The Crystal Method ever even existed to make the room, go on ahead...

Lusine - Gravity (ysi)

That sure was purdy. Okay, back to re-negotiating Elin's pre-nup...

Black Heat and Sexual Chocolate

... because no one could possibly land on this site whilst looking for, um... shall we say, something else on Google...



With the possible exception of Sexual Chocolate, Black Heat might just be the best name for a Funk band ever. And if you've taken a name that good for your band, you better not suck. If you give your band a good name and you suck, you should have to give that name back. Shitty bands should have shitty names. Like Deerhoof. They did it right! Black Heat, luckily for them, did it right, too...

Black Heat - Check It All Out (ysi)

Also, this song is proof that the economy doesn't just suck now... it always sucks for somebody. And that's okay, because it generally makes for good music. Hello, the Blues! People get too happy and you end up with shit like "Don't Worry, Be Happy" or "The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades"... music which, ironically, makes you want to kill yourself... and since I don't really have anything to tie all this together, ladies and gentlemen... give it up for Sexual Chocolate...



Sexual Chocolate!

The Great State of 808

Hey all. Back again after a slightly longer than expected Thanksgiving hiatus. Blame all the Rohypnol tryptophan I ate...



I guess you could count 808 State as being the act that officially introduced me to House music via their classic "Pacific"... which oddly enough was in the regular rotation at the Industrial dance night I frequented in college, played right along with the likes of Meat Beat Manifesto and MC 900 Ft. Jesus for all the kids in combat boots if you can believe it. So yes, you could definitely count that. (Instead of what's probably the real answer, Madonna's "Vogue"... but who wants to admit that, right?). One of the true great acts of the early rave scene... recognize, fools...

808 State - Nimbus (ysi)

Just like me to talk about one song and give you another. You think I'm gonna zig, but NO! ZAGGIN' ALL THE WAY, BITCHES! "Pacific" does have an awesomely cheesy 1989 video, though...



Seriously, though... that club night would go right from that to Front 242. But it was Syracuse, New York, so you gotta give 'em points just for trying. They'd only recently discovered the phonograph machine at the time...

Blog to the Future

I'm on a goofy schedule this week, supporting our show as it films all the hell the way in Australia... they're 17 hours ahead, so right now it's tomorrow there already. So I'm feeling like I'm working IN THE FUTURE! WE GOTS THE FLYING CARS! EVERYBODY NOW HATES RAYMOND! SOCCER ISN'T GAY ANYMORE BECAUSE YOU GET TO USE LASERS! IT'S CRAZY!



Anyhoo, here's some more Dubstep gear for ya, courtesy of Untold. Actually, I'm not sure what to call this one, as it's kind of on the border of Broken Beat. Is this what they call "Funky"? Because there's something they call "Funky" now...

Untold - Palamino (ysi)

Well, whatever you call it, I kinda like it. And that's as deep a statement as you're gonna get outta me today. It's way past my bedtime...

Truebeats

House Music Friday once again goes slo-mo and lo-fi...



I've already once given you all the insight I have on Mr. Rainer Truby... he's good at music and bad at not being dumb. Well, he's lived up to the first part of that again with this one... supposedly a tribute to Roy Ayers, but I'm not sure what Ayers tracks (if any) are sampled here. Don't matter though... I've been in love with this track since Matthieu Schreyer dropped it a couple weeks ago on KCRW...

Rainer Truby - Ayers Rock (ysi)

The A-side is a pretty nice Stevie re-edit, btw... and have a great weekend, you...

No can do

And now for yet another version of one of the true classics of White Boy (Plus Vaguely Ethnic Guy With Moustache) Soul...



Personally I would have to rank Hall & Oates' "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" right up there will "Billie Jean" as a contender for Best Song of the Whole Freakin' '80s. And I imagine that if this was the kind of blog that was "read" by "people" who "commented", I bet that statement would certainly set off a fierce debate in the comments. But alas, I'm not here to fool myself. Anyhoo, the Swedish producer known as Beatconductor (among about 15 other aliases) has done made a nifty re-edit of the classic, adding some tougher drums and some rhodes and generally rearranging stuff... because that's what re-edits do, ya dig? Better than the original? Heresy! But it's certainly a bit more dancefloor ready...

Beatconductor - I Can't Go For That (ysi)

But hey, you have many choices for your "I Can't Go For That" needs... from De La's "Say No Go" to that sick peaktime House White label by I Have No Idea Who from a few years back to the goofy P.J Pooterhoots version to... you get the idea... Collect 'em all!

It's better than a spring loaded shot to the nuts, at least...

You know who still likes Acid Jazz? Why, Japanese people, of course!



Yeah, it's kind of a dirty word and all but it is happy music generally and the Japanese seem to be a happy bunch. You would be too if you had flying cars and robot hamsters like they do. So you get people like Kenichi Ikeda, aka Root Soul still workin' the A to the J. I can't think of any other genre you could put this in... it's so Brand New Heavies, it hurts. Vocals by the not Japanese but British Vanessa Freeman, whose own solo record is an excellent broken beat affair that you should also go find out about. I can't do everything for you...

Root Soul - It's The Way (ft. Vanessa Freeman (ysi)

Nice one. And here's a little tip: If you ever visit Japan, do not go on a game show, no matter what the prizes are...



It's Super Happy Crush Balls Hour! Banzai!