It’s just that I’ve been busy lately. Real busy. In fact, I’m busier than I’ve been in years, and although that doesn’t go without it’s cost in sleep and sanity, this is what I do, and what my life is right now. I know some people out there know where I’m coming from. But I have no choice but to stay active. We do whatever we have to do to survive, like sharks that must continue to swim forward, always swim forward, or they cease to be able to draw life from the black depths of the sea.
I was recently asked to be a featured speaker at the Maysles Institute as part of the ongoing Ego Trip film series. Now you have to understand how much of an honor it is to have been even been considered to be involved with this, at such a prestigious and esteemed institution. I’m beyond humbled in fact, just to think that people actually want to hear what the kid has to say (other than the masturbatory ramblings that can be found on this site,) not to mention a place of such merit. I actually don’t know too much about cinema, but I do know quite a bit about Philadelphia, hip-hop and the coupling of the two. However I’ll know in a day or so if I will actually be able to partake in this honor, for last minute trips have been handed to me, sending me to of all places, Downtown LA and Portland. So I might just have to go to those places. Or not…
But TONIGHT, tonight I will be here in Money Making Manhattan doing what I do best – playing freaky songs that nobody really cares about except for me! Tonight marks the second installment of my good friends Sammy Bananas and Maggie Horn’s (collectively know as Telephoned) new monthly Switchboard. Billed as a “night of musical transposition” Sammy and Maggie – who are known for their unique covers of modern day pop songs – ask their artists to “telephone” their sounds in a way that completely reinterpret it. So I have some pretty cool things in the works for tonight, things that I believe in and that may be outside my lane a bit, but I’m confident that the translation will be made. Alongside me will be Telephoned and The Suzan, fresh off their tour with Chromeo.
Now, let’s talk about cover versions for a second. It’s been discussed ad-nauseum in books and blogs, the significance of taking compositions and re-imagining them in a different voice. In fact, I speak about it some in an interview on the front page of one of my favorite places in the world’s site, The Ace Hotel. So perhaps I’ll let that be a reflection of my thoughts and cut to the chase and get to talking about a record on this Breakbeat Tuesday.
Rare Earth was one of the biggest splinter acts on Motown. Signed in 1969, this funky white-boy rock band was at the forefront of Berry Gordy’s endeavor to start cultivating white groups to go after a whole new market. Posed with the question of what to name his brand new imprint, the group jokingly suggested to the Motown execs that it be named after them, which they surprisingly went ahead and did. The Rare Earth label went on to release a grip of albums but a whole number of artists, all of which sounded the same pretty much. White-boy blues rock doing their best interpretations of soul music – Rare Earth notwithstanding. Now I’ll be the first to admit that I’m actually not that much of a fan of theirs, myself kind of subscribing the the Gil Scott-Heron perspective of them.
Along comes the late, great Norman Whitfield, one of the songwriters and producers of the song. Originally penned in 1967 for The Temptations who, courtesy of The Funk Brothers, released it as a swinging soul number, the funky guitar licks and lush horn arrangement cannot mask the fact that this is a DARK DARK record. The song in itself is definitely a monster move towards a foreboding sound that Whitfield would soon be acclaimed for, and 3 years later when Whitfield got his hands on this innocuous white-boy group, he decided to take that sound into motherfucking overdrive.
This 10+ minute epic recording goes hard, and dark, into the soul of the man who is losing his woman. The madness and desperation of knowing that something so special is slipping quickly away. It’s fading, fading away and he’s clawing and scratching his way to try to keep it there. And Whitfield so masterfully illustrates this in his hardbody production encompassing the soul of Motown and the burgeoning psychedelic influence in soul music. This song is impassioned desperation on tape. And funky as fuck. Championed by everyone from David Mancuso to DJ Harvey to Eric B. & Rakim to Diplo, these guys really caught lightning in a bottle with this recording. And I don’t know why I picked this one today for Breakbeat Tuesday. Anyway, this song popped into my head this morning, and it’s a good thing cause I’m all about covers and remakes tonight! From the sound of it, it must really suck to be these poor fuckers, but let’s just hope that there was a happy ending for the composer. Nevertheless, knowing this record is an absolute MUST. I hope you dig…
Back up in this motherfucker with another one, it’s the brand new Top Ten Mix for March. Again, here’s a selection of records that really moved me this month, from all across the board. Now let me shout out my dude Mikey Palms who for the longest time was trying to get me to do a mix series called “Baker’s Dozen.” There were so many great songs that I came across this month that I decided to extend the bonus round out with 3, so we have a true Baker’s Dozen with 13 songs in total. So let me rap a little about these tunes. I once told a friend that I was resolved to “say less with more” but to hell with it, I’m a verbose motherfucker so let’s go…
The first song is a remix of Kanye West “Monster” featuring Nicki Minaj who, honestly is the only person I want to hear on that track. The song was adventurously re imagined by a new group Teachers that you will be hearing a lot more about very soon. Next up is the new Holy Ghost! record that sounds like they’ve been listening to a lot of Jan Hammer. I’m not mad at that. Third is Pools, which is the brainchild of my dear friends Thee Mike B & DJ Morse Code. Last year I spent a lot of time in LA, and a good amount of that time was spent at pools. This pretty much sounds exactly what it was like. Fourth is the new Steve Arrington produced by Dam Funk. Nuff said. After that is the brand new Beth Ditto off her self titled solo EP. This is new territory for her, and it fits like a glove in my opinion. I had to give a nod to the Moombahton movement and include my homie DJ Apt One with “Bells And Whistles” which is based around a very healthy Sergio Mendes sample.
If you know me, you know I LOVE brass band music. The seventh song on the mix is from the UK’s Hackney Collier Band. They do it really right with their version of the Toto classic. Following that is a remix of Headman by Finland’s own Hannulelauri. Such a groovy tune, I first heard it on a mix by The Magician AKA Stephen Fasano, formerly of Aeroplane. The ninth song is a little older but I just got hip to it. Simian Mobile Disco as envisioned by one of my favorites, Maurice Fulton. Rounding out the ten is one of my favorite songs right now, Adele “Rolling In The Deep” – with a dancefloor workout by Brooklyn’s own Cousin Cole.
The Baker’s Dozen bonus starts with a unique take on the Sex Pistols “Pretty Vacant” by Drop Out Orchestra, propelling this punk anthem into a groovy downtown disco dancer. The last two records come straight out of Los Angeles. We’ll start with the groovy dance number by my friends Posso, who absolutely kill it live as well (as I witnessed in New York several weeks ago.) Finally, finally, finally… OFWGKTA. You all heard the name, you all know the steez. But out of the camp comes Frank Ocean, with one of the best releases I’ve heard in a long time. This is 21st Century soul music at it’s finest. So I hope you all enjoy this mix. Download it, share it, rock out to it. Thanks a million, as always.
1: Kanye West “Monster feat. Nicki Minaj” (Teachers Exclusive Nicki Minaj Monster Remix)
2: Holy Ghost! “Do It Again”
3: Pools “The End Of Summer”
4: Steve Arrington “I Be Trippin’ feat. Dam Funk”
5: Beth Ditto “Do You Need Someone” (Original Mix)
6: DJ Apt One “Bells And Whistles”
7: The Hackney Colliery Band “Africa”
8: Headman “Voices” (Hannulelauri Dub)
9: Simian Mobile Disco “Cruel Intentions” (Maurice Fulton Remix)
10: Adele “Rolling In The Deep” (Cousin Cole Remix)
BAKER’S DOZEN BONUS
11: Sex Pistols “Pretty Vacant” (Drop Out Orchestra Rework)
12: Posso “Your Life – Don’t Konk Out” (Edit)
13: Frank Ocean “Swim Good”
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
Here’s the recording of my live set from Happy Ending Fridays at Fortune Sound in Vancouver. It’s a pretty fun mix if I do say so myself! The guys at Fortune have a great thing going, and the premise of their Happy Ending party is kind this free-flowing thing musically. Basically all over the map from dance music, rap music, classics and shit like that. So this mix is really all sorts of crazy shit and fun party music. I love live mixes, but I always think that they never quite do justice in capturing the energy and essence of the live experience. Like man, “This sounds good, but boy you should have BEEN there…” Well, since I’m going to be back there in April, hopefully you will be. And special thanks to DJ Marvel from The Freshest crew for holding me down on this one as well. Okay, enjoy!
Thursday November 21 – MF DOOM Book Release – Philly, PA 
Rare Earth was one of the biggest splinter acts on Motown. Signed in 1969, this funky white-boy rock band was at the forefront of Berry Gordy’s endeavor to start cultivating white groups to go after a whole new market. Posed with the question of what to name his brand new imprint, the group jokingly suggested to the Motown execs that it be named after them, which they surprisingly went ahead and did. The Rare Earth label went on to release a grip of albums but a whole number of artists, all of which sounded the same pretty much. White-boy blues rock doing their best interpretations of soul music – Rare Earth notwithstanding. Now I’ll be the first to admit that I’m actually not that much of a fan of theirs, myself kind of subscribing the the Gil Scott-Heron perspective of them.
Along comes the late, great Norman Whitfield, one of the songwriters and producers of the song. Originally penned in 1967 for The Temptations who, courtesy of The Funk Brothers, released it as a swinging soul number, the funky guitar licks and lush horn arrangement cannot mask the fact that this is a DARK DARK record. The song in itself is definitely a monster move towards a foreboding sound that Whitfield would soon be acclaimed for, and 3 years later when Whitfield got his hands on this innocuous white-boy group, he decided to take that sound into motherfucking overdrive.
