|
Half-jazzed:
the best of both worlds, with expressive instrumentation laid on rock
steady beats
As the
first track attests, this mix was meant to draw heavily from the jazz
catalog and this is the terrain explored for the first half of the show --
from the straight-up jazz stylings of the Afternoons in Stereo
beauty that opens the show through a few more tunes that feature house
beats suggestive of the jazz piano approach of Kevin Yost
by the halfway
point, we're drawn unapologetically into the lounge/house groove, a vibe
that carries through to the end
but keep alert for the quirkier late
players, two joints from the 2004/2005 heyday of Scandinavian EDM,
Husky Rescue's "Summertime Cowboy" and "Spring to Kingdom Come" from
Flunk
also from the north lands, you'll hear one from Plej,
as well as tracks from Ananda Project, Pimp Daddy Nash, Groove
Messengers, Moca, Big Bud, Alex Cortiz and Karl Moestl's "Love
is my Religion", given the full-on Kraak & Smaak Remix treatment --
kraak and smaak, indeed -- that's the baddest rhythm section in recent
memory.
The show
closes out with a little viral number courtesy of The Gregory Brothers
on their youtube channel -- I don't know about you, but as much as I want
to laugh at the Double Rainbow Dude, this tune really just makes me
totally happy.
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As always,
you can
catch this set (or the entire BeatConscious rotation, if you're so
inclined) via
the
BeatConscious stream on mmRadio:
click on the HiFi
button on the radio panel to hear it.
One more
thing ... if you check the links panel on the left, you'll see some new
additions at the bottom ... links out to BeatConscious shows on
MixCloud
(check the funky little black cloud pic for a persistent link), the newest
in on-demand streaming (an alternative to waiting for a new or a favorite
set to come up on the rotation schedule at mmRadio.) For news and
opinions on music or anything else life has to offer, there are links to the
FLYblog
and to FLY
on Twitter. I know, I know ... you thought maybe I was above
that stuff, and so did I. Life is full of little upsets like that
.... But here's the thing: If, as I often say, I'm just here
to spread the love of music and alert you to new and worthy additions to
your musical connections, then we have to admit most of that alert-style
communicating is the province of blogs and especially Twitter. Don't
worry, if you follow or subscribe, I won't take a lot of your time ... I
don't spend all day adding to the overall noise levels with every bit of
ephemera that passes thru my mind -- just an alert when a new show is
available for your consideration, or there is some music-related event
worth celebrating. If you're actually interested in the ephemera,
then by all means, check out
FLYpaper.
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This first
mix for July suggests how it is to be underwater on your emotional
mortgage
do you bail out or do you stay invested?
Sequencing
a set is like using a
Ouija
board
you keep being drawn along on the connections until eventually
you realize you've tapped out a message from the subconscious
you may
start out with a handful of happy tunes but not end up in a happy place --
who can say what's coming and what direction life's turns will take? It's
only when we look back that we see the pattern
it's only when we're
contemplating handing back the keys that we may finally be able to
calculate the value.
This
pattern (and all its value) is built from tracks provided by Cantoma,
Samantha James, Pollyn, Eva Be, Swayzak (sounding a great deal like
vintage Underworld to my ears), Chateau Flight, Baby Mammoth,
Telepopmusik, Depeche Mode in a Soundhog remix and a wistful
closer from Bonobo
wistfulness being a key emotion when you're
walking away from a dream. And title honors go to a track from
Tennis Hero which suggested the set title:
Love's Alone Tonight.
The
buzz is on
Previous Features:
Once
again, I've remade the original deep-space ambient mixes that started out life
in the late 90s as mixtapes before they were digitized in MixMeister in
2004. After hearing some choice ambient mixes on MixCloud (respect
to Low Light and Quiet Music for Loud Times), I was inspired to revisit
my own compilations, looking for opportunities to improve them.
While one of the two (The
Stars My Destination) was merely recompiled using the superior audio handing available in the latest version of
Studio, the mix originally titled Tranceported: Space got a
complete resequencing and makes its reappearance now under the title
Space 2010 Harmonic
Assembly.
This is
the chill moment you'll be craving now that summer is upon us full force
... a mix that asks you to simply let go
and then transports you, at
various speeds and and in various styles from the austere aural luxuries
of Aphex Twin and Michael Brook to the authoritative
soundscape of Future Sound of London and the unsettling cinematics
of Terre Thaemlitz.
But the
most astonishing and affecting track here is still "Moonwalk" from
Daniel Kobialka's 1982 release Dream Passage. While
the work of Aphex Twin (particularly the opening track "Blue Calx")
unquestionably represents the defining sound of deep space ambient, this
lesser-known work by classical violinist Kobialka meets that standard and
then moves beyond, making a trip that could be dark, cold and sterile into an
incandescent, emotionally-charged journey.
Find both
these sets on demand at
MixCloud or visit
mmRadio for the complete BeatConscious stream
... be sure to leave a comment, no matter where you catch the music.
Temps in
the 90s, not a lick of rain ... must be time to throw together some hot
weather dance tracks, bumpin' in at about 125 BPM average ... quick and
breezy like a great beach book, with moments of impressively serious funk
from Kraak & Smaak and Billy Paul Williams, and some deeper
tracks, too: the Do Right remix of Hird's "I Love You My Hope"
being one: "I believe in love, loves believes in me, though it tribulates
and my heart tests my sanity...."
You'll
also hear strong contenders from Paul & Price, Future Prophecies,
Marathon Man, Morecuts and a couple more obscure but worthy artists
... complete track list for
The Quickie
available here.
Special thanks to the promo gurus at Giant Step for some fine new
music, including a couple of Fred Falke remixes of Sia's
"Clap Your Hands" and Robyn's "Dancing on My Own" and to Buckaroo
at Eighth Dimension for Hawke and the hippie remix of Ishi's
"Shake Your Dandelion" ... can I get you to shake yours, too?
Life is
what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. -- John
Lennon
Perhaps you have days like this
feeling vaguely fretful but not afraid
just unconnected
drifting from one thing to the next but never quite
settling
waiting, poised despite your appearance of inattention, eager
for the next thing: the next song, the next person, the next story to
attract and hold you
to give you a reason to respond, a reason to stay
.
Other Plans
is what you'll listen to while you wait for
the gold in the pan of life to settle out and make you rich again.
Among the artists to amuse you while you wait are: Count Basic,
Govinda, TM Juke, Fingathing, Bitter:Sweet, Admon, Afterlife, Jianda &
Patchen and very new things from Telepath, Boris Blenn (big up
to 8D promo) and Shift.
May's show
is called The
Gamble. Come on, you know it -- life's a gamble: You
gamble every day that you'll still be here tomorrow
that the job you
have won't disappear, that the drive to work won't end up with your blood
on the highway, that the love you chose won't let you down, that the kid
you're raising won't turn out to be an axe murderer
You'd better have a
strong stomach for the odds, because in truth, you can't easily choose
not to play
you'll need steady nerves and, of course, your
poker face.
I'm not a
gaga fan, but this DIY cover version from indie artist Molly Lewis
(tip courtesy of William Gibson on Twitter) is pretty awesome --
check
out her performance on youtube. In addition to Molly, this show
features Big Muff, Simply Jamm, an UNKLE remix of Slam's
"Narco Tourist", Ikon, Gary B, Charles Webster, new music from
Vitamin D's Hard Times release, an absolutely
cold-hearted killer from Belleruche, a remix of KC & the
Sunshine Band's iconic 70s track "I'm Your Boogie Man" (courtesy of
Afternoons in Stereo, back in the day), and of course, Sade --
one from the back catalog this time. The show closes out with a rework of
Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing"
when this one starts sounding old,
it'll be time to bury me  .
My gamble?
I'm betting on my Muse
One more
show for April ... since I'm celebrating the month
that marks 20 years that I've been in FLA
This time, we have
radio at 128 BPM
Spring Breaks
420.2010 ... taking its inspiration from an unexpectedly captivating
remix of the new Kelis track "Acapella", fresh from the Promo Team
at Giant Step
there's house -- funky house, jazzy house, deep
house -- and yes, even a whisper of breaks
mostly there's just more
energy than you usually hear on BeatConscious. This set starts a
bit far out on the conceptual tip with a headphones-friendly transition
from the first track to the next, but swiftly settles into a procession of
standard beat-matched transitions, with a couple of drops just to lively
up yourselves. Artists include the
Eurythmics, Kraak & Smaak, Afternoons
in Stereo, the Eurogliders, Parov Stelar, Stockholm Cyclo, Banzai
Republic, Nina Simone remixed by Felix da Housecat, and the relentless
Gui Borato track from the City of God remixes that
closes out the mix. And, of course, another track from Sade
just
like I said I would.
The
Sade track in this show, "Slave Song", is from the
Lovers Rock album
I promised you one Sade track in every
BeatConscious show this year, and so far we are seven for seven and
there is cream still to choose from
This month
marks 20 years that I've been in FLA
thinking about that anniversary
also makes me think about the evolution of my musical preferences and
influences since I first touched down here. One of the most important
changes was the drift into electronic music, a move that may have depended
specifically on my being in FLA
that story is told in
The History of My World. One of
the pivotal moments in this evolution was my introduction to DJ Shadow
for the connection to both DJ culture/sampling and the sensibilities of
trip hop.
DJ
Shadow's early work commenced (according to his
Wiki page)
with 'genre-bending works of art merging elements of funk, rock, hip hop,
ambient, jazz, soul' and rare groove from the used-records bin. He is
often cited as a leading creator of US trip hop, and his first full-length
work, Endtroducing
, released in late 1996, was named one of
TIME magazine's "ALL TIME 100 best albums" in November of that year, and
has been influencing the downtempo enthusiasts it created ever since. The
1998 release Preemptive Strike (which contains samples from
music as well as the movies THX 1138, Johnny Got His Gun and Brainstorm)
included 4 versions of the track "What Does Your Soul Look Like" (which
originally appeared on Endtroducing) and version 2 of that song kicks off
this mix. My own subtle commentary on the general direction of the world
over the last 20 years can be summarized by the police siren overlays I've
added to this epic track on April's show,
(In this life)
It All Comes Back 2 U.
As a peak
example of the sampler's art, "Soul
" is one of those tracks that provides
a jumping-off point to any direction you choose
I picked a jazzy
direction and you'll hear how the sound fits so easily with both the jazz
of its own time frame (Bugge Wesseltoft's 1997 New Conception
of Jazz being one) and the same genre years later (the Verve
Remixes.) Look for tracks from Outside, Bliss, Tryad, Alex Cortiz,
Marcel, Billie Holiday/Dzihan & Kamien, Planet Lounge and Subatomic
Sound System feat. Rhiannon. Speaking of awesome 'bring back' tracks,
Subatomic comes correct with a re-work of the 1979 Police
track "Walking
on the Moon".
The
Sade track in this show, "Skin", is from the newest release,
Soldier of Love
I promised you one Sade track in every
BeatConscious show this year, and so far we are seven for seven and
there is cream still to choose from
Welcome to FLYChill'd, ladies and gentlemen
please give your attention
to the in-flight digital attendant which will provide you with
complete details as today's trip unfolds (available exclusively for the
streams hosted by mmRadio -- see the link below.)
We'll be starting our flight at top speed (120 BPM), courtesy of the
latest release from Afternoons in Stereo,
which Promises plenty of thrust to
get us comfortably airborne. Once aloft and at cruising speed, you'll
appreciate the experienced piloting skills of your captain as we smoothly
navigate the skies around Projections,
Luxury Grooves, Shrift, Govinda and Kush.
There may be a bit of mid-flight turbulence as we approach
Duptribe, but
the Moon and the Sky are tranquil
around Sade, and clear skies in the
vicinity of Ancient Astronauts keep
the Stars in view. Once we come
within range of Minus 8's
Elysian Fields, you may adjust your
seat backs to the most comfortable reclining position and prepare to enjoy
the type of
SOFT LANDING
that the FLYChill'd reputation rests on. For your
Protection, please wait until the
Massive Attack has finished before
deplaning.
Thank you for choosing FLYChill'd, industry leader in providing relaxing
and refreshing trips worldwide. Remember, your comfort and pleasure are
always the prime considerations for FLYChill'd crew members including, on
this trip, Scott Hardkiss, Dean & Britta
and RJD2. Please take a moment to
fill out the comment cards you'll find in the seat-back pockets -- the
captain welcomes your feedback.
Whoooooooooooosh.
First
thing: Big up to Giant Step, whose DJ service provided a number of
the new releases on this Ides of March set,
The Devil I Know,
including a raw essential good god
almighty opener from the 2010 return of Gil Scott-Heron, the
man who, according to his wiki page, virtually created hip-hop:
"The music
of Scott-Heron's work during the 1970s influenced and helped engender
later African-American music genres such as
hip hop and
neo soul. He has been described by music writers as "the
godfather of rap" and "the black
Bob Dylan". On his influence, a music writer later noted that
"Scott-Heron's unique proto-rap style influenced a generation of hip-hop
artists."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Scott_Heron
So, OK,
we're riding with the devil and Gil Scott-Heron, and I couldn't tell you
which one is scarier
but it always comes back to the blues, doesn't it?
This opener is about as dark as it comes
back to the blues where the
blues is black and blue. And so the mood of this set takes shape with a
few more dark tunes from Smith & Mighty, Alexkid, DJ Brace and a
moodily beautiful song from the new Sade album before starting to
pick up some highlights in the form of tracks from Jazzanova, Ursula
1000, Terranova, Laura Izibor, Adani & Wolf and The Dining Rooms.
Ancient Astronauts provides a new track for the mix while
Massive Attack also represents with a 2010 release featuring Horace
Andy, and there is new music from KUSH as well: just a taste
from their latest, Streams of Consciousness Vol. 2, which
we'll be hearing more of this year.
Floating
Between Us is a selection of
mostly independently-released music
including brand-new music from
Sharon Musgrave, The Warheads, and also
including Saru's
late-2009 release, The
Pearl, as well as some earlier tracks from
Kush, Tryad, Solus
and
the Alpha Rhythm.
Major label support, via Giant Step's DJ promo service brought
Si*S้'s "This Love" remix by The Crystal Pharaoh.
In keeping with my sense of this year being made special by the
return of
Sade,
I've included a track from one of their earliest releases, 1988's
Stronger than Pride
-- my intention is to have a Sade track in every set this year, including
more from the new release,
Soldier of Love. You'll also hear from
Maxwell,
De-Phazz, Cassius, Slow Train Soul, Muki
and others. The vibe on this set moves between earthy nu-soul and
somewhat more cerebral music -- hearing how sweetly those two different
styles can interact is definitely part of the interest with this set.
Ah, but is it a Valentines Day mix?
Well, Sade, Si*S้, The Warheads and Muki give the proceedings a romantic
cast, but overall it's probably nothing the girlfriend would take in lieu
of flowers, chocolate or jewelry
best break out the Benjamins or find
some other, more personal way to express your feelings
you know
what she likes.
As for my Muse ... well, I'm not sure I know what you like but
guessing is keeping me busy and inspired
so thanks to you for that
pleasure this Valentine's Day.
For links
to all the independent artists mentioned above, check out
the feedback thread on beatmixing.com ... while you're there, you can
catch the set which has been added to
the
BeatConscious stream on mmRadio for your listening pleasure.
This is how a mix like
Bass Desires
gets started -- just by having a favorite tune pop into your head
in
this case, Van Morrison's Sweet Thing from the 1968 album
Astral Weeks, featuring the extraordinary bass work of
Richard Davis
The sliding bass note that kicks off Sweet Thing
means all of music to me: the synchronized perfection of timing and tone
that became a core constituent of my appreciation and expectations of
music over time
this was the album that made me realize how each element
can be independently apprehended within the whole
and then the sheer
dazzling beauty of the recitative rolling through the song like a jet of
ink coursing thru clear water
So I
looked to follow this song with more music that made me feel the same way,
or that was played with the same impressive technical facility, sustaining
the vibe with tracks much newer in spirit and execution
and so this set
offers an eclectic assemblage in which you'll find tunes from
Bullitnuts, J Boogie, LTJ Bukem, Comfort Fit, Soulstice, Ruisort's
tango-inflected version of the Beatles' And I Love Her, a
Jazzelicious remix of Sarah Vaughn's Lover Man, original
triphop from Massive Attack, broken beats from Jon Kennedy
and more tracks that aim to maintain the b-line complexity, building
towards a nu-jazz conclusion full of solid musicianship and vocals. The
sweet soul persuasion of Maxwell's Everwanting keeps this
mix grounded in the sensual
setting us up to end in a blaze of
saxophonic glory and the commanding beauty in the voice of Fontella
Bass.
A sweet
thing, indeed, and newly added to
the
BeatConscious stream on mmRadio for your listening pleasure.
So, between continued delight at the return of Sade and a little
nudge or two from my Muse, I'm back again with
FreeDubFlow,
the latest upload to mmRadio.
FreeDubFlow is a trip -- starting you out in one place and
delivering you somewhere else entirely -- but it's also a manifesto on the
uses of chill, the offer of a pleasant place to wait out the more chaotic
traffic of club music
it's a caressing wave of pure downtempo that
begins to darken with Naomi's
Syndicate
and then expands spatially via the Tricky Cris
and Deadbeats dub tracks that follow.
By the
time we get to dZihan & Kamien's Smile, and then to the
Riccardo Eberspacher track that follows, the more melodic part of the
set has started to be evident, and that soaring sensation takes over.
This lush flow will eventually be resolved with Tony Rich's
earthier track, Leavin', itself setting the stage for the bluesy
mood of the closing track. But we're not there yet
first, there's
Sade.
The song
Flow from her 2000 release
Lovers Rock is a minor masterpiece, as I now understand (though I
missed that when the track was new to me, admittedly)
and since I'm
currently celebrating my Queen's return with the Soldier of Love
release, it was a joy to be reminded of this older track. From there, we
slip into one of Tosca's F@ckDub variations
another deeply
funky track turning up the heat on what started out as a classic chilled
set, pointing us toward the steel-guitar-driven conclusion of the
Dionne Farris track that closes out the mix.
So what's
in it for you? Hmmm ... well, I'm simply here to remind you about
the joys of just hangin' out, lettin' go of all that high-performance,
top-achiever, multi-tasking stuff ... switching off some of that
constantly-on equipment you've got, seeing if you can't switch on some of
that other equipment instead -- the stuff that may have been off for
longer than you intended ... see how it is if you just turn out the lights
and leave the music playing ... just for a little while.
One more fine holiday weekend coming up ... I've extended mine just a
bit to include New Year's Eve ... and why not, since it's not only the end
of the Aughts, but time for that rarest of things, a blue moon, as
well.
I'll use that extra free time to begin walking back the
BeatConscious show, retiring the Christmas tunes for another year and
returning us to our regular schedule ... I plan to include a few of the
most recently submitted sets from 2009 along with some new productions to
kick off 2010 in style ... I can't tell you what the other crew members
have planned (they're working right on down to the deadline ... to the
extent that we deal in deadlines at BeatConscious, which is another
subject altogether) but if you've been keeping up with this page, you know
I have the new Sade release, Soldier of Love, leading off my
first mix for 2010: the aptly-titled Souljah Girl.
So join us ... or rather, let us join you ... together --
BeatConscious, the moon and you -- we'll make this party special.
Image courtesy of
sydneyobservatory.com.au
As for that new mix,
Souljah
Girl: Well, first of all,
mad props to the folks at Giant Step for providing the newest
release from my Queen ... Sade opens the year for downtempo
and other music fans with the new track Solider of Love --
military snares, razor-wire
guitar riffs and a wartime bass line: Sade is representing for everyone
prepared to fight for love in this life,
the expression of determination in her vocals standing strong like the
Chinese guy standing in front of the Tiananmen Square tanks
You'll also hear essential tracks from Walkner-Moestl, The Warheads,
Monte LaRue, Rithma, Universal Funk, Kaya and The Tao of Groove,
among others. I've even salvaged a older track from independent artist "K"
whose digitalEvolution project may have been one of the most
exciting finds of the aughts for me
a significant talent.
The set closes out with Alice Russsell's track Humankind,
another energetic pitch for connection and love. Listen, people,
BeatConscious is just trying to bring a little balance to all the
war-hate-and-depression talk that closed out 2009
if we don't represent,
who will?
Merry Christmas to you ... the Christmas
show is in full swing on the
BeatConscious
stream over at mmRadio and I hope you'll have the chance to
join us there today or any time over this holiday weekend, as your
celebration commences and continues. The complete playlist has over
a dozen Xmas sets on it, not only mine but also assemblages from Mr.
Chucho, Buster, DJ Mojito, cjaxx, Magic Moon, and new for this year, a
fine jazzy soul / R&B set from MixMaster Lodown ... in all, the
music ranges from 14th century plainsong and chant to remixed classics of
the current century and original Christmas tunes composed by pop and
classical music artists ... even a couple of Christmas stories and poems
set to music are included: The Illuminated Grinchmas
and A Child's Christmas in Wales read by its author,
Dylan Thomas: It's fair to say, there's something for every
taste.
I've opened one present already ... that little gift I
decided to give myself yesterday:
Not that you come here for movie tips, but my
recommendation is most definitely: Catch this one. If you've ever
seen those first lame attempts at 3D, this film will amaze you simply by
demonstrating how that technology has finally matured ... but even if you
don't have that experience to compare Avatar with, the film is
still a visual feast, and a lot like opening package after
beautifully-wrapped package for 2+ hours straight. Rocked my world
for real ...
Next up: Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes ... now
this is a great movie Christmas!
After a brief hiatus, BeatConscious is back online ... and
let me say, brief is one of those very relative terms ... I know it
was something under 3 weeks, not much in the cosmic scheme of things, but
to my impatient soul, an age. But like everything else that must and
will come to an end, so did the troubles, and here we are ...
During that time offline, the music was not neglected, nor
did I miss the fact that Christmas is bearing down on us like ... well,
like Christmas does every year -- seeming so far away for so long, it's
like something you see in that rear-view mirror with the inscription
reminding you it's really closer than it appears. And lo! a
mix resulted from that downtime, one you can buzz on over to
beatmixing.com's mmRadio to hear (unless you know where to look for the
presents under the tree ... I'll say no more.
)
Sweets & Treats, the Christmas set for 2009 pulls from a
smaller selection of albums than usual, primarily last year's Sarah
McLachlan Winter Songs and a YoYo Ma collection
featuring well-knowns like Chris Botti and YouTube sensation
Jake Shimabukuro; there are also tracks from the Starbucks offering
for 2008 The Hotel Caf้ presents Winter Songs.
Sweets -- well, to my ear, there's an overall sweetness to
the collection this year, lots of women's voices -- not just Sarah, but
new (to me) artists like Brandi Carlile, Meiko and the duo Sara
Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson, all from the Starbucks album, and all
doing Christmas originals rather than remakes. There's also lots of
classical and jazz rhythms instead of the usual EDM beats laid over
classic Christmas tunes
The "treats" are a couple of older tracks,
notably from Bright Eyes, Morphine and the Jan Garbarek /
Hilliard Ensemble track that always drives my desire to hear Christmas
music.
And this time there's also a strong winter theme driving a number
of the tracks
just a little tip of the hat to the folks up north, where
the motto these days seems to be: Snow early, snow often.
As for the fast-approaching New Year, I've got just one
word for you: Sade. Yep, the Queen returns ... stay
tuned!
Picture this: Your local
planetarium has what is frequently referred to as Stoner Night
come
see the sky show set to music! Usually, you know, the soundtrack
was Pink Floyd but sometimes they stretched out, reflecting the recent
musical discoveries of the planetarium staff
So the night we went,
they had just discovered the MoodSwings Orchestra album
Moodfood, which definitely put them out there ahead of me and
introduced me to the classic track Rainsong featuring the vocals of
Linda Muriel, produced by Chrissie Hynde.
Now picture this: mousing along online, you come across Hypenet and
follow one of the links to the new Sia Bonus CD track, Bring It
To Me, an energy ramp as well as a memorable hook, from an artist who
is apparently really really big somewhere, at least within a particular
online community of music lovers that you'll never meet except by way of
their music blogs
and it turns out that the track just rocks your world
kinda like the MoodSwings Orchestra did in '93.
Mood Modding,
as this set is called, is built around my planetarium moment interfacing
with my Hypenet moment
you'll hear music from Sia, Moodswings Orch.,
Karl Moestl, Jon Kennedy, Paul + Price, Frank Borell, Fortunato &
Montresor, Bliss and more
the intention is that you'll have your own
'planetarium moment' here at BeatConscious and take away news of a
fresh favorite for your Top Ten list
simultaneously getting that mood
modification you've been looking for all day.
Speaking of your top 10
list, I've added to the Mix
Manifesto page with some thoughts on your musical preferences and
mine ... how we get 'em to begin with and how they change over time -- or
not. And for technicians, I've added a new transition type to that
discussion on the same page.
Possibly
you remember it from your passage thru the 90's -- the phrase Chill Out
or Die? The chill out rooms of parties past took on the task of
lowering your racing heartbeat and temperature and pulling you back from the
brink
the best audio for that purpose was generally deep-space chilled
ambient, and that may be what most folks think of if they think of ambient
at all. The two ambient mixes I made for BeatConscious back in
2004 were in that deep-space mode, filled with the sensations of
cart-wheeling wing tip over tail fin, out into the black reaches of the
universe ...
But
there's also the lush style of ambient, for when chilling is by choice
rather than part of an emergency rescue mission, a form of ambient
grooves most likely to be heard in the spa retreat or the candle-decked
love nest
With this warmer chill in mind, I've gathered together a
little Brian Eno, some Jonn Serrie, Anna Schaad, Bliss, Moby,
Koru, Makyo and Olafur Arnalds
all spacey and drifty one
minute, surging rhythm the next. The first track is a leisurely (12+
mins) laid-back rubdown
sent to wring you out, settle you down and get
you ready
leaving you
there-but-not-there, so your mind can roam unimpeded
just for
now, just for an hour or so.
Notes
wouldn't be complete without a shout out to Sonny's Angel for the
Vangelis hook-up
you'll hear a tidbit of Roy's valedictory speech
from Blade Runner as part of the track "Tears in Rain". And
while I'm giving shout-outs, I should note that I came across the stunning
neo-classical music of Olafur Arnalds as the soundtrack to a Vimeo
clip that was posted on the Daily Dish earlier this summer
gratitude, likewise, to PRI's To the Best of Our Knowledge
for revealing Anna Schaad's "Mermaid" to my wondering ears.
Your
Floatation Device awaits you
... grab ahold and drift with me ...
So what'll
it be, my house or your house? OK, my house this time
even though
rooting through my house tracks isn't usually where I find myself these
days ... A friend (the same friend, in fact, that introduced me to House
music) once scoffed at the idea of listening to House music as radio -- if
you weren't dancing your ass off, high, hot and sweaty, with music loud
enough to kill plant life, then House shouldn't be playing. As I started
thinking about what I do as radio, I moved away from House toward
downtempo.
But I just
fell in love with my house tracks all over again, thanks to the Giant
Step DJ promo service -- they came through with the new Scott
Hardkiss joint "Come On, Come On" featuring vocals by Lisa Shaw
there was no way to try and force that into a downtempo box, and so I
found myself diggin' down, looking for house-inflected supporting tracks
and oh, they just jumped into my hand: Paloma, Groove Armada,
Bitter:Sweet remixed by Tom Middleton, a Stanton Warriors
gutter funk remix of The Beginerz' monumentally raw groove
"Reckless Girl", followed by a mash-up of my queen Tracey Thorn
singing "Wrong" vs. Sandy Rivera's "Come Into My Room (Soul Vision
"The Take It Back" Mix)" courtesy of Ben Watt's first Lazy
Dog double-disc
released in 2000, this is the oldest tune on the
set and still one of my favorite house tracks ever ...
There's
more booty movers from lesser-knowns to round out this hour of
Reckless Funk,
including some fiery funk from the Tiny Trendies (the who? Yep,
that's what I said, too -- but you can look 'em up on
Discogs.) And after the anthemic lift of "Come On Come On", a
Younger Brother guitar track that resolves the whole hour of energy
into a wash of emotion
(Thanks to Monkey Do for putting me on to
this group
)
A very
danceable set, naturally
Now, those of you who've been attending the
BeatConscious College of Musical Knowledge for long enough will be
familiar with the concept that dancing is sex deferred
and it's
also an advertisement for "how I do"
no matter whether your ad tells of
endurance and rhythmic reliability, muscular strength or tactile
sensitivity, prowess or innocence, wild abandon or tight control --
dancing is all about how you do, or actually, how you
will do what you do, later on. So
it's very telling when people prefer music that signals aggression rather
than sexual intention ... what's that about? Well, as you should know
by now, I don't answer the questions, I just ask 'em
Someday I'll do a
survey and maybe I'll find out if these other folks have the goods despite
all that beat down music they listen to
In the
meantime, feel free to spend an hour high, hot and sweaty, dancing to a
rare BeatConscious House music set ... and showing off whatever
you've got goin' on.
So it's
1957-58: As Martin Denny's "Quiet Village" plays on the "hi-fi", a
little sprite dances around the living room, charming her parents and
grandparents with her best-guesstimate Bali Hai moves
That was my first downtempo moment, a fact that wouldn't actually become
evident for about 40 years
"Quiet Village" now seems equal parts campy
and thrilling, but it made the suburbs daring for a while ... Back then,
American style was very bland and buttoned-down, so no doubt people were
ready for a change, and, too, as men came back from military service
overseas, their experience of the greater world created an opening in the zeitgeist for the tiki lounge
exotica purveyed in food and drink at Trader Vic's, in movies like
South Pacific, and on disc by Martin Denny
. Here's a bit of
background from Amazon.com, where I found the track:
In 1956, while appearing at steel and shipping magnate Henry Kaiser's
Shell Bar -- a club inside the open-air Oahu resort Hawaiian Village,
complete with a small pond adjacent to the stage -- the combo realized
that the croaking of nearby bullfrogs blended perfectly with their
tropical musical approach. On a lark, percussionist Augie Col๓n also began imitating bird calls on-stage,
much to the delight of the audience. Denny soon began incorporating South
Pacific and Far East instruments into his arrangements as well, and by the
time he recorded his Liberty Records debut, 1957's Exotica, his singular
sound was firmly in place.
The release of Exotica proved perfectly timed -- as the '50s drew to a
close, tiki culture was all the rage in mainland America, with Hawaiian
shirts a fashion trend and tiki torches a staple of backyard parties.
Moreover, the evolution from mono to stereo recording and playback had
taken root, and with its bird whistles, jungle calls, and far-flung
instruments, the many distinctive components of Denny's sound were ideal
for channel separation. Originally composed by Les Baxter, the
instrumental "Quiet Village" was a massive success.
What we
didn't know back then was how persistent this island-life motif would
prove to be for modern listeners. Chief among the practitioners of
world music- influenced downtempo, Thievery Corporation adopts for
a few of its tunes all the original exotic touches such as the "native
drums" (might be tablas, might be bongos, might be something a bit more
bass-heavy and driving) along with those bird and monkey calls, and
marries them with sophisticated modern electronica -- complex beats,
b-lines and great vocals. Sensing a theme (the origins of downtempo and
how it grew up) and finding a huge variety in the musical stylings on
offer, I wound up with a rich spread of
Exotica Redux,
including work by: Funky Lowlives, Farid, Praful, Zap Mama, The
Warheads, Brazilian Girls, Carl Craig remixing Cesaria Evora, Anna
Schaad and more. Yep, the Anna Schaad is mostly just because I
can, and because I can hear a little tabla in there, too.
So pull on your surfer shorts or your grass skirt and lei, and join us at
the
BeatConscious tiki hut for drinks and dancing ... it's your
chance to get away without leaving home.
A second show uploaded for
September? What is this unusual spate of activity, you might wonder
... I might wonder also, except that I already know it's down to my Muse
... Here's something about the concept of The Muse, though:
Remembering that it's really just an address we send things to, just an idea and not
something that should be transposed into real life in the form and shape
of an actual person
I want to speak to my Muse and dedicate these things
I do to my Muse, but do I really want my Muse talking back to me? Not so
much, actually.... So, while I'm energized and pleased with the results
over the past couple of months,
there's also recognition of the need to keep the genie in the bottle ....
And that's why Mr. Spock's Advice (the intro to the new set
Wanting ... but not
having) is so completely spot-on that it merits the mix-set
title honors. Here, let me quote it for you: After a time you may find that having
is not so pleasing a thing after all as
wanting ... it is not logical, but it is often true.
Actually,
I was originally thinking of calling this set PopFLY, since the inclusion of
the Chris Brown track "Forever" brings it as close to pop music as
my mixes usually get
"Forever" is included because I saw the same
YouTube J/K wedding entrance clip that everyone else did, only difference being,
I didn't already know the tune they used, so it struck me the way, then, that it
struck everyone else when they heard it for the first time
And then
again, I was thinking about calling this set Advertisements for
Myself (keeping one eye out for legal representatives of the
Mailer estate) just because that Nightmares on Wax tune "Know My
Name" seems like such a worthy anthem for yours truly
which is why it
will probably continue to pop up on BeatConscious mixes over the years
But then I
got hold of the dialog drop from Mr. Spock that opens the set, and there
was no way that was gonna miss getting title honors
it covers so
much possible territory, it's so suggestive
yep, there's a whole lot of
wanting but not having in most lives, when you start thinking about
it. In fact, Cantoma, whose track "Rain"
showed up recently in another BC set, claims the closing position here
precisely because that melody is one of the most wordlessly evocative expressions of
wanting but not
having that I've heard recently.
For now,
however, if you're wanting to hear DJ Krush and Zap Mama,
Hardkandy, Alex Cortiz, DJ Cam, Sven Van Hees, TM Juke, Erykah Badu
and The Roots, Radio Citizen and Laura Izibor -- well, you can be having all that during the
hour you spend with the BeatConscious stream on mmRadio. We'd love
to have you join us....
Looks like I'm going to fall
back on
my beatmixing.com feedback thread once again for posting my comments
about the latest mix here ... there's a bit more material (including
links) at the original post, so feel free to visit the thread ... it's
also dead easy to tune in using the radio controls on the beatmixing.com
page.
I don't make a habit of
casting the male/female dance of life in terms of war or sport metaphors
sexual conquest or the more common references to scoring
but, that said, if you score while listening to this BeatConscious
babymaker, Where
I Am Instead, we definitely want to hear from you
The set comes rolling in loaded with smooth snuggly vibes from A Forest
Mighty Black, Afterlife, Tosca, Lemongrass, B-Tribe, Kabanjak, Cantoma
and Hefner, to name a few
As usual, the crates rendered up some surprises that were overlooked when
they were new but are sounding just right for today's set
this includes
the title track from Naked Music-NYC's 1998 release What's On
Your Mind? as well as 2005 releases from Parov Stelar and
Sven van Hees. I also found a little gem called "Past Noon" by
The Moves on the 2007 OM Music release Chilled.
And speaking of discoveries, I must highly recommend Andromeda Island
whose "Green Garden" is featured in this set.
And finally, one last Hefner tune, this time from 2000's
Residue album ("finally" maybe
after all, there's still
"Fiendish")
the one I'm using here, "An Evening with Hefner", is such a
mysterious track, all speaking in tongues paired with classic DT
broken beats
it's like, if you just knew what they were saying, you'd
have the answer to everything
a common misconception and, sadly, not
confined to song lyrics
but that's another story entirely.
In the meantime, settle in and snuggle up
BeatConscious is ready to
assist your moves ... as always, your money cheerfully refunded if you're
not completely satisfied....
Forgive my cadging the
following write-up from
the feedback post for the BeatConscious show on beatmixing.com, but
time is pressing on today....
Since part of the
BeatConscious manifesto is ensuring that excellent tunage doesn't just
disappear without a trace, there's many a show that gets inspired or built
around one of these classics
think of the Jeff Buckley tunes that
drive the BOOK:ENDED mix from July.
The current show (which takes its name --
Rain & Stars
-- from two of the musical rescues) is studded with more such gems,
starting out with a song I think of as being absolute August in the
southland, John Hiatt's 1988 release "Feels Like Rain". This sexy
slowburner is distinguished equally by the guitar work and the vocals,
including killer harmonies on the chorus
Aaron Neville covered this
song, with somewhat more ethereal results, in the mid-90's.
Another of the "saves" is a track from folk-singer Eliza Gilkyson
this one came off a LEAK music magazine CD (back in the 90's, when those
were physical constructions that arrived in the mail instead of being digitally
delivered as podcasts)
"Stars" is one of those seemingly minor tunes
that ends up living in your head forever (if your head is anything like
mine
.) Highly recommended for spirited singing-along in the car
The musical rescue impulse extends to a couple more Hefner tracks
from the 2002 release Reworks
I'm hopelessly addicted to Hefner,
basically because it's some wicked good stuff
note how the airy
innocence of the vocals plays off against the ominous sub-bass and
broken-beat drumming -- this is the sound that drew me to downtempo in the
beginning, and Hefner is one of the iconic releases from the heady period
of the early aughts when the genre was golden and so much excellent music
was being released.
And finally, I've brought back not only the tunes but a favorite
transition as well
the Roxy Music into FC Kahuna blend
that first appeared in the 2004 show
Ever Since the Day
Released in 1980 on the album Flesh & Blood, the
Roxy track "Oh Yeah" is the oldest on the set and yet still manages to
sound freshly minted
and the same could be said for another selection
from the same time period as that Roxy Music track, "Qu'ran" from David
Byrne & Brian Eno's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.
So that's the armature supporting a set which is further furnished with
small gems from current artists like KUSH, All India Radio, Zero 7,
Adani & Wolf, Marcel and others. A relatively themeless mix,
perhaps, but trust the flow to carry you along
just be glad to be here.
TimeFrame: Completed this mix
yesterday, the fifth anniversary of the day Hurricane Charley blew
through my part of Florida and took down 30% of the town. August is
usually a dub-down month
stormy skies, palm fronds lashed by the winds,
everything seeming very provisional and likely to revert back to island
primitive at a moments notice. But not this year this year were living
on borrowed time, harking back to the days before the storm damage from
Andrew and Charley brought us face to face with the true meaning of
castles build on sand
.
In that same nostalgia vibe comes Hefners "Level Green" from 2002
somehow this track has taken on iconic properties for me it captures
some of the essence of downtempo, as well as a moment in time, and so I
like to bring it back every couple of years. I note once again that it has
not yet lost its allure.
At the other end of the set, another of the foundation tunes of downtempo
couldn't turn around in 2001 without bumping into the Digby Jones
classic "Pina Colada (Jazz Mix)", complete with the sound of waves lapping
the sandy shore
Strong nostalgia governs one more selection on this August set, what I
think of as Dobie Grays other track. If you know this guy at
all, its because of his 1973 hit Drift Away a hugely popular soft
rock tune and a tribute to the power of rock itself to transmute reality
into a dream of comfort and pleasure. Like most people, you know this
iconic track from the radio or because you bought the single; I bought the
album and found a second fine number on it: "The Time I Love You The
Most". Great soul singing, lyrics and hooks.
The rest of the selections seek to maintain that same funky soul vibe with
tracks from J Boogie, Kabanjak, Fugees, Groove Matter, Bonobo, Erykah
Badu and Remy Shand, as well as a Groove Armada tune
from their 2003 release, Love Box -- Hands of Time is a
righteous updater of the soul-slinger style so well represented by Dobie
Gray 30 years earlier
hey, its like whiskey, folks: it just gets better
as it ages. Add to those a few contrasting tracks, more in the
Hefner mode, from Imogen Heap, Beady Belle and Ohm-G, and
youve got a sweet hours worth of messages waiting for you courtesy of
the BeatConscious show on
mmRadio ... Listen for the set entitled Time Frame.
As
I wrote a little earlier this year,
the BeatMixing.com community lost one of our number this year, and hearing
about it (after the fact, as will often happen when people know each other
mostly through an online connection) galvanized nearly 30 of us into
creating a tribute to Sonny, this young friend of ours ... a musical
tribute, of course, because that's what we understand best ... and because
it was his particular love, we crafted our tribute out of trance
music, even those of us who regularly spend our time in other musical
genres. After a little more than about 3 months from start to
finish, everyone in our group had contributed a 20 minute set to be
combined into a larger effort (8 hours total) that is currently airing on
the beatmixing.com stations of mmRadio ... this weekend all stations will
play the tribute throughout the course of their regular rotation, and then
it will continue to air on the Translucent station after the weekend.
You can catch
it there anytime you like, and you can
read the tribute commentary also. I'd just like to quote this
one thought contributed by Lisa, Sonny's real-life angel:
Sonny & I were once watching
an interview with one of the astronauts from the space shuttle, and in
this interview he was describing his experiences while he was orbiting the
planet. And he was saying how beautiful Earth looks from above, but he
said that, much to his surprise, he found that he was having a hard time
telling the countries apart from each other. He said, "The reason for that
was that the lines that are in the maps are not in the ground." We thought
It makes a great point: these lines *really* don't exist. They're made up
completely, and they perpetuate this illusion that somehow we're all
different from each other. The world would be a much better place if
someday we stopped pretending that these lines exist and we concentrated
on our similarities rather than our differences. This is one of the main
reasons why Sonny loved this community so much: people from around the
world sharing their passion for music and the art of mixing. I'm sure that
Sonny loves this community even more now.
I also want to give
particular props to Kevin, who (along with Lisa) shouldered the
work of organizing the tribute and assembling the mini-mixes into a
coherent whole, and to DJ Alan, who provided the drops that
identify each participant as their segment plays. These folks made
the idea become the reality ... much respect.
The
downpour continues ... the July (mostly) Indie Music set has been
uploaded to mmRadio and you can find it if you look for a little
item called
BOOK:ENDED. This set took off when I found
a YouTube clip of kd lang singing the Leonard Cohen song
Hallelujah ... live performance, amazing like most of her work ... but
really, it just made me want to hear the Jeff Buckley version of
that tune again so I put that on the player and, yes it's true: Jeff
Buckley owns that song, from the first exhalation of breath to that
extraordinary note he holds at the end. I definitely felt like it
was time to bring that song back ... and thus this new BeatConscious
show that closes with Hallelujah and also includes Buckley's
song Last Goodbye (both from the 1994 album Grace)
... those two tracks, opening and closing the set, came to be the idea
behind the title BOOK:ENDED.... though, as always,
there are other notions in there as well.
Remember when mix-tapes were ABOUT something? They could be about a
new romance or a break-up, about a road trip or a head trip, a birthday or
a funeral or a protest ... but mix-tapes were about some aspect of your
life, and they were full of songs distinguished by the social/emotional
context that all the important music of your life usually includes, the
electrical charge a song carries from all the contextual emotions that it
evokes ... Yes, I'm a big fan of Nick Hornby's book/film High
Fidelity ... In any case, those mix-tapes we used to make were
attempts to create a tribute to a time in life when something of
significance overtook us and left such an impression that there was no
choice but to model it in song
So, too, with this radio show/mix-tape, BOOK:ENDED
clearly
about something even if you don't need to know what that something
is in order to enjoy the music and the flow
but if it speaks to you,
please feel free to play it with your own circumstances in mind.
(You can read the rest of
the write-up in the feedback thread at
beatmixing.com in the BeatConscious section of the forum. You'll
also find a link to the Declaration of Independents thread with
information on the other indie artists in the mix.)
Oh. It had to happen,
I guess ... you can now follow me on Twitter if you choose ...
don't worry, I won't take too much of your time ... look for MadameFLY
... and remember: case-sensitive ...
Now,
about that indie music mix mentioned in the last post ... I called this
one Caught in a
Downpour referencing the flood of music that's rained down
recently -- artists have been impressively busy this spring. The
independents theme is earned mostly by contributions from KUSH, All
India Radio and The Warheads; joined, as usual, by lots of
tunes from emusic.com -- a site which I have grown accustomed to thinking
of as a repository of mostly independent artists (change is coming there,
though.) One track from a more major-label presence, Laura Izibor's
From My Heart to Yours (DJ Premier mix) really rocks this set --
thanks to the Giant Step folks for that hook-up.
Another indie effort is the K-Salaam & Beatnick remix of Marvin
Gaye's Let's Get It On ... these NYC producers had a busy
spring, releasing an album's worth of remixes. That classic Marvin
Gaye track keeps company on the Downpour set with two more (original) classics, just because
they're worth hearing over and over: Roll Um Easy from
Little Feat and Fred Neil's Little Bit of Rain. If
you missed these the first time around, now's your chance to catch up....
And speaking of classics ...
RIP Michael ... a brief
appreciation on FLYpaper, courtesy of YouTube.
As
I work on pulling a few things together for the annual Declaration of
Independents (independent music) blow-out that I like to schedule for
sometime around July 4th (yes yes, full-out hokey ... so sue me
), I
realize now is also the time for a shout-out to the fine and generous
people (musicians, label owners and other music promoters) who add me to
their promo list each year. Because of their willingness to create
that partnership, the end result of what I do is immeasurably richer ...
Certainly the BeatConscious show has been the better for having music from
All India Radio, The Warheads, Worldwide Groove Corporation, Andie
Hahn, Fila Brazilia/The Cutler and more from 23Records,
Vice Lounge, Monta, Citrona and Greg Long among many downtempo
mailing list members making music, Julian Brody, BN Loco and the
other Modus Vivendi artists, Afternoons in Stereo, Dr.
Echo, the guys of Torso, Gary B, Subatomic Sound System people,
the beautiful minds behind KUSH, Alex and the crew at
Aardvark, James Foster, Sterling Angel and more from the
many pages of myspace and the many participants of the
RadioDirectX network ...
Well clearly, to complete
that list would take a
page ... and today, I'm enlarging it by one -- the
Giant Step
family of artists, one that includes quite an impressive roster of
musicians as you'll see when you click that link and visit the Giant Step
site. I'm busily acquiring tidbits from the current releases on
offer and you can expect future BeatConscious shows to come decked out
in these gems....
Now, in true yin/yang
fashion, we need to touch on the downside after all that happy stuff ...
and it's pertinent, because a fair number of artists and labels have picked
up on BeatConscious due to finding the show on the Live365
network ... so it's a drag to have
to say I'm putting my renewal on hold for a while so I can see how the
money / job thing shakes out this summer (and, to be honest, because I
also had to commit big bucks to re-roof my lanai and make some other
home repairs) ... One school of thought is that if you can make it thru
this summer, you have a fighting chance ... of course, there's another
school that says this is just the rehearsal, but I'm pretending they're
not talking to me yet. Anyhow, my L365 show is going to be operating
on a VIP-only basis for the next few months ... if you have VIP'd me in
the past and let me go, or if you have never VIP'd me before and suffered
thru the commercials, etc., then this would be a good time to consider
BeatConscious as one of your VIP picks ... For those who can't get
to it just now, I understand, and I hope to be back and available to all
listeners by the fall. In the meantime, of course, there is still
the BeatConscious show on
mmRadio where, for the same low low price (still
zero) you get not only MadameFLY grooves but a raft of other DJs as well
(some of whom are a great deal more talented than me, I don't mind telling you.)
Highly recommended and always up to date -- drop by and listen for
yourself.
Against
all expectation, a new set joined the stream in May, inspiration thanks to fresh
tunes from The Warheads (their most recent effort is the
Vrykolakas Brides set) and also due to the fact that this winter I started
watching the HBO series The Wire on DVD, each episode
of which closes with a perfect little downtempo joint by Blake Leyh
titled The Fall ... hey, you take it where you find it. Also
need to give a shout-out to my old friend, Afternoons in Stereo ...
I happened to be listening again to the "Best of 2005" set he compiled for
his Urban Modernists radio show which included a great Yonderboi
track from that year, Eyes for You ... and that one promptly went
onto the set-list as well.
At
any rate, short but sweet,
Down to The Wire
appeared on mmRadio by mid-month, and then the decks were cleared
for another, quite different inspiration ... we learned that one of the
community members, a Canadian who went by the nom du musique DJ
Spaceman, had lost his battle with cancer ... Sonny was a
sweet-natured man, a beautiful spirit whose talent, enthusiasm and
helpfulness to others enlightened and inspired those who knew him.
The community is now working to create a memorial to that spirit, in the
form of group project that will complete the last PowerSpin tag-team that
Sonny was working on before his death this spring ... I'm working on my
own contribution to the project, fittingly for this Memorial Day weekend.
I'll be hoping to hold my own with the trance heavyweights ... I do have a
few gems from back in the day which I'm delighted to offer to the effort.
You'll be able to hear the finished tribute on the Translucent station of mmRadio ...
check here for further information.
As
noted on FLYpaper, Uncle Mo
is layin' low just now, made skittish by one thing or another ... not to
fear, that doesn't dry up the music, not as long as there are great mixes
from days past that need to be reworked in Studio 7 to take advantage of
the greatly improved sound handling... This month, it's
FreeFall from
August 2005 that's gotten the treatment ... as well as
a new CD cover (the
original was pretty generic, the new one much more evocative ... follow
that link and see for yourself.) But no changes to the selecting or
the sequencing ... I find this set to be pretty perfect just as it was
originally conceived. It's up and playing now on mmRadio, if you'd
like to come by and check it out. If you've never heard Tanita
Tikaram's I Might Be Crying or Laurie Anderson's
Freefall, the two tracks that close out the set, then you owe it to
yourself to check this one out.
Had
my heart's desire ... the chance to get together for a brief catch-up
visit with one of the key characters in my musical development ... the
full story is on
FLYpaper.
Of course, now I'm a bit
behind on the next show for BeatConscious ... but bear with me, I've got
great new music to comb through and I'll be finding the perfect flow for
your next musical moment this spring.
If your Oscar money was on
Slumdog Millionaire, then that was easy money ... the little
picture that could swept the Awards, thus giving me the opportunity and
incentive to upload another Asian Underground set to the
BeatConscious show on
mmRadio ... this time I chose to rework one that had not previously
been given the MixMeister treatment ... a set I called
A Visit with My Guru.
This set originally explored what I thought was a tight correspondence
between Asian Underground and late 90's drum'n'bass ... in fact, some of
the tracks were pretty intense for a BeatConscious show and so they were
among the ones that were eliminated in the rework process and replaced by
newer tunes ... leading off the set, for example, is the Funk'n'Gandhi
track from the album of the same name by The Warheads ... also new
to that set-list was a Massive Attack remix of the classic Mustt
Mustt from Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn. But the core of the set
remained the same and with its current appearance on BeatConscious, more
folks like you will have the opportunity to hear a staggeringly great
booty shaker from Nitin Sawhney called Streets ... don't
miss it!
Every minute I spent working
on updating My Guru for 2009 was a minute I didn't think about the global
financial crisis ... I hope listening to it will transport you away from
your worries also
In other news, some of you
may remember the story about my
introduction to electronic music in the mid-90's courtesy of
Tranceporter's DJing at the Key West restaurant Dim Sum ... and you
may also have read here in the news update about us reconnecting not so
long ago (such is the power of the internet ...) Well, I hope we'll
be able to have a visit during this year's WMC in Miami, scheduled for the
last week of this month ... I'm intending to buzz over for a very quick
visit to catch up with Donald and window-shop a bit with a girlfriend ...
more about all that later.
Oscarฎ
night is coming up fast ... haven't seen most of the contenders, only the
one that I was interested in: Slumdog Millionaire ... as I
noted on the beatmixing.com forum: I've seen four of Danny Boyle's
films now -- Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, Sunshine and now this one. I've
liked them all but this one just rocked. This will be the first year I pay
much attention to the Oscars in quite some time.... Makes me want to
dust off some of the old bhangra sets and remix them in in Studio 7
... and so, of course, I did, starting with a complete rework of the set
In a Scented Garden ... this was originally compiled in
2000, from CDs probably (this was pre-MixMeister) and ran about 74 minutes
with this
line-up. I remade it in 2004, basically just recompiling it in
MixMeister. This time, however, much new music was available and I
put a lot of thought into resequencing for better flow ...
you can
see the new set-list here for the rework entitled One Night in a
Scented Garden. I've even updated the cover art -- if you
check out the Covers page, the original is the very first image at the top
of the page, and
the new one is here.
There were five of these
sets when I first made them in 2000 and I think enough good material
exists now (including, of course, the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire)
to rework most of them, which I expect to do throughout the rest of 2009.
If you enjoyed the movie, and your enjoyment translates into an interest
in the music, please drop by the BeatConscious stream on mmRadio (you can
use the "hear me on beatmixing.com" image-link in the panel at the left
side of your screen to get there....) And by all means, let me know
what you think.
And may the best film win!
Must
say, couldn't be happier at the prospect of the next couple of days ...
the opportunity for hanging out with Tepmix during his brief visit here in
sunny Florida -- it's chilly to us, but comparatively balmy for him.
And equally exciting, the inauguration of the new
President. Make no mistake, I expect 2009 is gonna be a tough, tough
year ... no doubt the first of several ... but at least we're leaving the
nightmare behind and beginning the business of repairing what's been
broken. Like most people, I'd rather push up my sleeves and get to
work, not just sit and stare helplessly at the mess.
To inaugurate that effort in
my own way, I'm uploading a new set to the BeatConscious show ...
actually I've been spending the morning with the business of giving this
mix a title, so you're here, looking over my shoulder while the mental
process takes place ... My original thought was, yeah the economy is
wrecked, but it's not like it's the first time -- we've been here before
... you only have to think back to some of the songs from tough times
past:
"Money's Too Tight to Mention" (Simply Red), for example.
Well, of course, that's how a set gets started ... although I
couldn't find a workable version of Blind Alfred Reed's classic
"How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?", I did find a wickedly
appropriate opener from
Fila Brazillia
called "Whose Money" ... and for those of you who never heard the 1980
masterpiece, "Money Changes Everything" by Atlanta's
The Brains,
well, now's the time to get caught up .... join us for
Too Tight
(The Money Funk) on mmRadio's BeatConscious show (look for the
"hear me on beatmixing.com" button, one of the choices under
ONLINE AUDIO on the left-side panel.)
It's a cautionary tale for these dark days when people are
overwhelmed with second thoughts on just about everything they took for
granted over the past couple of decades.... (a sentence, BTW, that employs
all the other possible set titles I considered and then rejected
).
I've made an
archive of the oldest contents of this section ... feel free to
visit and dip in, should you have the time and inclination....
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