Edited because I forgot about the big news which is I will be guesting today with my homies on what is one of the best places for music on the planet – EastVillageRadio.com with the one and only Chances With Wolves show. Kenan, Kray and Mikey Palms with every so often surprise guest Ricky Powell, and today featuring special guests Cosmo Baker (that is me) and the legendary Steve Arrington. We’re going to be playing LOVE SONGS, SON. And we are also going to be rapping with Steve about all sorts of cool stuff, including his new project on Stones Throw.
So I’ve been working on this year’s Valentines themed mix and, because I’ve tried a completely different approach to it I wasn’t able to complete it for the 14th (today, eeesh, sorry Vicky!) It should be up soon and I hope it will still be as relevant to this year’s “love” theme – cause it’s relevant to me. This one is like pulling teeth to make it EXACTLY what I want it to be like, the picture in my head that is. With that being said, this is a day for love and for lovers so I couldn’t let it slip by me. You guys know ME by now. So here’s my Valentines Roll from a few years ago, just for posterity’s sake.
I saw a TV commercial the other day and it said something that really struck a chord. Something along the lines of this holiday isn’t about you, it’s about us. I like that, I like that a lot. So hopefully you can enjoy this and listen to it with that certain special someone that warms a every single corner of your heart. And if you can’t be with them, listen to this and think about them. Any way you want to cut it, Here’s to us…
The Friends Of Distinction “Going In Circles”
Aretha Franlkin “Call Me”
Donny Hathaway “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know”
Rick James & Teena Marie “Fire & Desire”
Curtis Mayfield “Sweet Exorcist”
James Brown “That’s My Desire”
Otis Redding “That’s How Strong My Love Is”
Sam Cooke “Bring It On Home To Me”
Irma Thomas “Ruler Of My Heart”
Al Green “Simply Beautiful”
The Isley Brothers “Voyage To Atlantis”
George Harrison “I’d Have You Anytime”
Stevie Wonder “I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)”
Patrice Rushen “Settle For My Love”
Prince “Adore”
Quincy Jones “The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)”
René & Angela “Your Smile”
The Isley Brothers “Fire & Rain”
The Smith Connection “Rainy Days & Mondays”
Darondo “Listen To My Song”
The Beach Boys “Forever”
Rita Wright “I Can’t Give Back The Love I Feel For You”
Black Ivory “Got To Be There”
Brenda Russell “So Good, So Right”
Bonnie Pointer “More And More”
David Bowie “Can You Hear Me”
Earth, Wind & Fire “Can’t Hide Love”
The Rolling Stones “Let It Loose”
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell “If This World Were Mine”
East Of Underground “I Love You”
The Delfonics “Walk Right Up To The Sun”
The New Birth “You Are What I’m All About”
Steely Dan “Any Major Dude”
Bill Withers “Can We Pretend”
Okay here’s my February Top Ten List in full downloadable and jammable form. I know I’m dropping this a little early but whatever, it’s done and I just want to get it out there. And you know, I’m always looking towards the future anyway. So here’s the scoop, here’s 10+ songs that really moved me and made an impact over the past month. I’ve played a lot of these out at gigs, jammed seriously HARD to a bunch of them in the crib or the iPhone, and just basically got it in with these tunes. A cross section of joints, but that’s where I am as a DJ and a music head – I like pretty much everything. So I hope you enjoy this month’s installment. And remember, if you like any of these tunes, support the artist by going out and BUYING their tunes, either in retail stores or online. And if you have a chance to seem them perform live, these artists and DJs, DO IT.
Starting off with Cole Medina, as re-envisioned by The Pinches, it’s pretty much the perfect groove to me, based heavily on The Bee Gee’s “Inside Out” but beefed up for 2011. Next up is B.o.B whom I really like, and the hook to “Beautiful Girls” is awesome, but the music was horrible. Leave it to my man, Bay Area’s DJ B.cause to save the day. Dude is the homie, good dude, great DJ, and extremely talented when it comes to his thoughtful remixes and edits. Best thing is that he’s really good with working with key. Following that is the latest by Musiq Soulchild, produced by Swizz Beatz. Even though I always have to rep Philly, Musiq is always real hit-or-miss with me. But when he hits he hits hard, especially when singing over an old school R&B sample (like this Central Line one.) Fourth on the mix is a Kanye West song that my homeboy DJ Pump did. It really bangs hard. Like. Really. Bangs. Hard. And Pump is a sick-ass DJ.
The fifth song is an incredible re-working of Chic’s “Good Times” done by my homeboy Kon. Kon is a MONSTER when it comes to he reworks and edits, especially since he works straight from the master tapes. This is a sublime reworking of this all time classic. Also, get well soon Nile! We love you man.
Following that is a really great song combining Friendly Fires, Aeroplane, Ludacris & Diddy done by my homeboy from Paris, Arthur King. He’s a really great DJ and has put out some really entertaining work, so you should check him out. After that is my homeboy Skinny Friedman from The Philadephyinz‘ take on Bon Iver’s “Blood Bank.” Yeah, I get a late pass on this. But a few weeks back Smalltown Pete played this edit at the club and I was floored. I then went and looked into Bon Iver, whom I only knew from having been mentioned on Kanye West records. Suffice to say, I devoured the whole back catalog and they’re one of my favorites. This song is so romantic but brooding and moody. And the simple but powerful lyricism from Justin Vernon jusr blows my mind. So thanks to Skinny for putting me up on this tune, and group. After that is the Summer of Love edit of Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhere.” Normally I’m like don’t mess with something that’s perfect, but this is such an effective and TASTEFUL. Big tune. Big big tune. That leads into the new song by my homeboy Vin Sol and his man Charles McCloud. They make a stomper of a house record that starts off really dark then goes into a really ill banger based on the Vernon Burch loop. Really dope.
The penultimate record is by favorite new band from Portland (which seems to be epicenter of all things cool these days,) The Miracles Club. My dude showed me their video on some making fun of “look at these stupid hipsters dancing” but I was like honestly the music is really fantastic. Pure, straight ahead house music. Doesn’t get any better that. And I end the mix with a bonus, one of the greatest of all time, Philly’s own LaBelle. Why, well because they are the greatest, and of course, wild horses couldn’t drag me me away. Thanks and enjoy the mix! – CB
Welcome to the Cosmo Baker Top Ten List Version 2.0! In the past I’ve always had a monthly list of ten records that I wanted to “chart” and share with my folks. These kind of run the line from older stuff that I’ve discovered to brand new stuff that I feel needs to get some shine. It’s usually a mix of different sounds that encapsulate where I’m coming from as a DJ. I profile a lot of music on my site, but these ten records are the “official” joints pretty much.
It used to be that I listed the records and then had them downloadable as individual MP3s. But after being inspired by my homeboy DJ Fashen, I decided that I was going to start to present the Top Ten in a monthly mix that could be downloadable in it’s entirety. Couple different reasons – first of which being that it switches the emphasis and brings me as a DJ into the equation. I don’t plan on making these mixes super involved or anything, just a solid presentation of the songs. The second was that I get a lot of early and exclusive shit and in the format of a mix, I’m actually able to share this with you guys.
So here it is – Cosmo Baker’s Top Ten Mix for January 2011. It starts off with the late great Lady T and then goes into overdrive of just some joints that I’m really feeling, both new and old. Hope you enjoy it!
*Edit: My cousin who is don dada of all this web shit is in Paris right now for the holliday, so when he gets back we’ll sort out a way to bring together the sidebar Top Ten jawn with this. Excelsior!
I’m pleased to present to you the third and final installment in my Love Break series. It’s been a long time since I came out with any mixes and a few months ago I was listening to both the first and second mixes in this series and it just struck that I needed to release one very last statement for this. The first two are probably the most heralded mixes that I’ve ever done. They’re the ones that people holler at me about the most, and the ones that I’ve sold the most of with physical product. You can grab the other 2 joints on CD at my store here. It took me a few years to compile all the music that I thought would work just right for this mix, and for the tone of this mix I decided to take a more bittersweet perspective. But, just like the first two, I put this together with love and care, with minimal mixing and just allowing the songs to breathe and live on their own. So I hope you enjoy it… Click the Soundloud window below to listen and download, and please feel free to share and blog etc.
COSMO BAKER “LOVE BREAK THREE – The Heart’s Final Chapter
Love’s Intro
Ace Spectrum “I Don’t Want To Play Around”
Banks & Hampton “I’m Gonna Have To Tell Her”
Major Harris “I Got Over Love”
New Birth “It’s Been A Long Time”
Eddie Holman “It’s Over”
Black Ivory “(It’s) Time To Say Goodbye”
Marvin Gaye “Anger”
Top Shelf “Let Them Keep On Talking”
Lloyd Price “What Did You Do With My Love”
Jerry Butler “No Money Down”
The Moments “Love On A Two-Way Street”
Steve Parks “Still Thinking Of You”
Solomon Burke “Everlasting Love”
Clay Hunt “(I’m Claimin’) FInders Keepers”
Angela Winbush “Angel”
The Isley Brothers “Ain’t I Been Good To You”
Sweet Blindness “Ain’t No Use”
Billy Stewart “Cross My Heart”
The Delfonics “Trying To Make A Fool Out Of Me”
Freddie Hughes “Sarah Mae”
The Three Degrees “Collage”
Nancy Wilson “I’m In Love”
Patrice Rushen “Where There Is Love”
Joann Garett “It’s No Secret”
Bobby Womack “Woman’s Gotta Have It”
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles “A Legend In It’s Own Time”
Ben Vereen “I’ll Keep A Light In My Window”
Teddy Pendergrass “I’ll Never See Heaven Again”
Diana Ross “One Love In My Lifetime”
Brothers By Choice “Baby, You Really Got me Going”
Mary Wells “Two Lovers History”
Friday February 21 – Disco Verite – Brooklyn, NY 
