I hear cassettes are coming back in style, at least in a retro way… although I told a friend I was coming out with a new mix and was going to put it out on cassette, and he said he didn’t know if he’d even be able to play it. Well, either way, He couldn’t play it like this guy—in fact, I can’t even play records like this!… Read more...
This is the pile of 45′s I came across at a random sale the other day. Great pile of Southern Soul, although some are scratchy as hell. Looks like I have some enjoyable listening to catch up on!
So far, lots of Joe Tex, including these two, and quite a bit of Johnny Taylor. Good stuff, that’s for sure. My next step is to clean and listen to them all, put them in sleeves (they didn’t come with… Read more...
The Heptones, one of my all time favorite reggae groups, recently lost one of their founding members when Barry Llewellyn died the other day.
Starting their recording careers like so many artists at Studio One in Kingston, they were one of Jamaica’s many popular vocal trios. They recorded at Studio One for legendary producer Coxsone Dodd from 1966 until the early 70′s, with lead singer Leroy Sibbles doing double duty as the regular session bassist. In that role, he played iconic reggae basslines like the “full up” riddim (you know, the one from “Pass the Kutchie/Dutchie“) and the “Three Piece Suit” riddim.
As the Jamaican sound slowed from rocksteady… Read more...
Happy New Year!
2011 was a great year for me and my family, hope it was for you and yours as well. The turn in the year also marks the one year anniversary of this blog—hopefully you’ve enjoyed the year here as well. Mixtape Mondays has been a popular feature, and I hope to be able to bring you many more in the future, as well as lots more remixes, 45 Fridays, and new music! I’m also working on a few longer features as well, so hopefully I can get those done over the last few days of vacation.
For now, we’ll have lots of “best of” list of songs… Read more...
I‘ve never been shy about my love for the wonderful soul music the Stax/Volt label released through out its lifetime, and I’ve been planning a tribute mix for the label for years. Of course, someone beat me to it… but for a change I’m not mad at all!… Read more...
My babies: three copies of Tramp by Otis & Carla
When I first realized that music expressed my world way better than words, I was listening to recordings on the Stax/Volt label. Otis Redding is my favorite artist, and this particular song is so iconic—I think it expresses the Stax sound: the raw funk, the big personalities, the great voices, the Southern common sense. I loved it from my first listen, and you did too. Here’s one of the best 45s I have on that label, and the songs that it inspired. And if you like the Stax label, we may have some real treats here for you soon!… Read more...
Now that the dub mix is posted, I can catch up on some new music and I’m excited about Mistah F.A.B.’s new one as well as Undun from the Roots. I was surprised running across this though—looks like the legendary KRS-1 will be dropping an album soon as well! Check it out!
Especially fun that it’s produced by Mad Lion, who has always been down with BPD and was featured on my most recent edition of the Fire series of mixtapes… Read more...
Those of you who know me well (or even just read my last post), know that I love dub music. Although many of the most famous reggae tracks ever are associated with great vocalists, there is no doubt that drum and bass is the foundation and enduring truth of reggae music. This is my tribute to dub.… Read more...
As many of you know, I am a big fan of Roots Reggae Dub music. Not dubstep or any digital offshoots, but the original spacey, big bass tunes of live musicians being tweaked by a crazed genius in a smoke filled studio. A great way to explore the instrumentation of reggae, a great genre to inspire meditation and wonder. I’ll write more about the genre later, but wanted to give everyone a little teaser of a mix CD I plan to be releasing within the next few weeks. Read more and download the tracks below!… Read more...
I’ve mentioned before that Oakland gives me an opportunity to surround myself with some really great DJs. This week we feature Matthew Africa, a soul encyclopedia who is also frequently the answer to the question “who is your favorite DJ’s favorite DJ?”… Read more...
follow: RSS