Rear Window Part 2 Interview With Paradigm Magazine

Here’s part 2 of the Rear Window interview series with Paradigm Magazine.

“DJs had to start pandering to the lowest common denominator, like these soulless vapid … you know like iPods. And it became less about selection, less about taste making, less about personal choice and aesthetic, and more about playing whatever pop record it is. That became the norm and that wasn’t the norm. The sounds keep on changing…it’s up to DJs to either change with it, adapt with it, or stay on top of it, otherwise you’ll just become irrelevant. If you’re a taste maker you kind of have to dictate it and kind of ride the wave wherever it goes.”

Cosmo Baker’s Top Ten List – January 2012

Starting 2012 off with some brand new tunes that are working it for me. In a nutshell, 2012 is hands down going to be the best year ever. And I cannot wait. My dear friend King Britt told me tonight “This is a very important year… Stay true.” We all have no choice, so let’s get lost in the rhythm.

Cosmo Baker’s Top Ten Mix – January 2012 by cosmobaker

Cosmo Baker’s Top Ten Mix – January 2012

1: Willie Hutch “Brothers Gonna Work It Out (Kon Edit)”
2: Barbara Tucker “I Get Lifted (Special ReKwest Sabo Dub)”
3: Craze & Heartbreak “Summer Riddim”
4: Moon Boots “Off My Mind (Original Mix)”
5: Onra “Keep On Loving Me”
6: Parallel Dance Ensemble “Shopping Cart (Maxxi Soundsystem Remix)”
7: Gav Memnos & Dexter Kane “Dirty Cash (Original Mix)”
8: Volta Bureau “Hope (Volta Bureau Dub)”
9: Todd Terje “Ragysh (Original Mix)”
10: Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. “Somebody To Love Me feat. Boy George & Andrew Wyatt (Casper Lacoste Remix)”

BAKERS DOZEN BONUS

11: Jonas Rathsman “Tobago (Original Mix)”
12: Metronomy “Everything Goes My Way” (Ewan Pearson Dub)
13: Disco-nnection “Movin’ On”

Trenton Makes The World Takes

My friend Jesse Serwer of Okay Player’s Large Up asked me to pontificate on some personally formative record that had a particular Jamaican influence and immediately I knew what I was going to speak on. Being from Philly, I was raised on Poor Righteous Teacher, YZ and the whole New Jersey rap-reggae hybrid sound. So I had to throw two personal favorite, and relevant jawns up in the mix.

Cosmo Baker has the distinction of being one of the only DJs we know that pretty much every other DJ rates. Not only does the co-founder of Brooklyn party/remix collective The Rub have impeccable taste, skills and instincts when it comes to playing records, but he’s a veritable font of knowledge about hip-hop, soul, reggae and every other music genre that matters. Fortunately for us and readers of his fine website, he likes sharing that knowledge. Here, the Philadelphia native breaks down Almighty & K.D. Ranks’ “Trenton Where We Live” and “U Can’t Escape The Hypeness” by Blvd. Mosse, two records that highlight the little-known role that nearby Trenton, New Jersey played in the meshing of rap and reggae in the early 1990s. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.

Breakbeat Tuesday – Special Guest Kon

So yo, not only has it been mad long that I’ve had a special guest up in here to do a Breakbeat Tuesday, but it’s actually been mad long since I’ve done one myself. That last half of a year was a monster for sure, but now that 2011 is over and the dust has settled, it’s comforting to get back to normal routines and columns. So for the inaugural edition of Breakbeat Tuesday, I decided to holler at one of my boys and have them do a guest spot. I am really jazzed about this one, cause if there’s anyone that really fits the bill as “Master Digger” is this guy right here – the one and only Kon. Now a lot of people know him as one half of the legendary digging duo Kon & Amir. Some people know him as super disco master DJ. A few people know him as all-around balls to the wall Boston based party rocker. But Kon has been KILLING if for years on all those levels, but really the shit that he kills me with is his original edits. Where he gets these parts, I don’t know. But for my money he’s the best in the business. And thankfully I am like one of an actual handful of people on this planet who gets the chance to actually get their hands on them. And guaranteed every time I play a Kon edit, someone is on me like white on rice about it.

Dude is incredibly talented and versatile in this, and has been busy as much in the studio as out. There’s Kon & The Gang LP in the works for summer 2012, as well as a new house project collab with the Whiskey Baron under the guise ” Nite Time ” out in March on Australian label “Future Classic.”  For now, check his “Sunlight” 12″  here out on Social Disco Clubs’ H.O.T. imprint as well as here for his BG’s multi-rework. For more music you can check the mix he did of his multi reworks for Gilles Peterson (note that this isnt Kon & Amir, thats a mistake) here. There’s also a grea mix he did here for Moscow’s Kult Club, generously featured on fellow Bostonians Soul Claps own blog. But ENOUGH about this guy from me. Let’s hear from the dude himself.

Yoooooo