Yes, its been a minute since I updated and I’m soooo very sorry. At least it was with good reason-busy working!

After SFNY, did a few more gigs, including Venus vs. Mars, the 3-Day weekend delight brought to you by DJ Parler where 4 DJs-2 Male and 2 Female-rock all night. We kicked off the first one Presiden’t Day weekend and kept rockin until the club kicked us out so we knew we had something good going. We brought it back Memorial Day weekend to equal success. Definitely honored to spin alongside Parler, DJ Stimulus, and DJ Chela.

Then it was my birthday and I got to spend it with some great friends and relatives. So blessed!

Managed to FINALLY catch Dam Funk perform in NYC at Bowery Ballroom. Monk One and Waajeed kept the funk rolling with great pre-performance sets. Chin-Chin opened up for Dam (not really a fan of their stuff), and then Dam hit the stage with his band, Master Blaster. While I enjoyed the show, it felt a bit static. I’ll blame this on Dam not having a bass player on hand. They pre-programmed the bass and it was definitely funky and I hummed along all night, I feel not having someone doing the bass live didn’t leave much room for improvising and really jamming out like I felt they could.

Photo courtesy of Paper Magazine)

Then, this past weekend DJ Stimulus invited me to guest at his monthly residency at Deity in Brooklyn. One thing about Brooklyn crowds-they love their dancehall. I was happy to oblige. I haven’t spun that much reggae in a minute but I got to do all the classics I grew up listening to.

It got pretty hotbox in there after the reggae came on but it was cool to see a little bashment vibe. I hope to do it again real soon!

Can’t leave you without some goodies so here they come!

First is a (relatively) new Beenie Man joint. Gotta love the Whitney Houston interpolation.
Beenie Man-Skettel Shadow

The next is a new Dam Funk track he posted for download a week or two ago for just 24 hours Here’s your second chance (note: I didn’t get a chance to fix the tags on this!)
Dam Funk-Unreleased Joint

NYC is arguably the best place to be when its warm. All humidity and the odor of garbage in the heat aside, its GREAT here. Great restaurants and bars with outdoor seating, walks and bike rides, Shakespeare in the Park, live FREE shows with all your new favorite acts-we’ve got it all! The vibe and spirit in the city is just immeasurable in the summer and its always good to start it off right.

And that we did, thanks to a few great guys from San Francisco.

(Clockwise From Top Left: King Most, Moi, DJ Moma, Rameen, Freddy, Marky, Dee, Monk-One. Photo by Human)

SFNY was greater than I had ever expected. The weather was fantastic and we had over EIGHT hours of non stop dope music from a great group of folks that I’m honored to be peered-up with. Monk-One and mOma are 2 NY DJs I’ve admired for some time and to be able to rock with them was a blessing. Marky can get a party started. Freddy spins ONLY vinyl (!!!) and has a bicoastal flavor for dance music. He was rockin some hip-house that had me on the floor. King Most has these crazy edits and mixes and I did what I absolutely hate when people do-I just stood and watched him work instead of enjoy myself. I soon snapped myself out of that though b/c I love to dance and the tunes were hard to resist for very long.

Here are some more shots of the day.

After DJ Auto and Marky warmed up the crowd, I kept it simmering with my set.

When the sun set, we all just took turns back on the wheels because the crowd just would not stop!

If you love hip hop, funk, soul, boogie. house, afro beat, latin jazz, reggae, 80s pop and were there that day, you got your fill. This was the best way to kick off the summer. Even the Village Voice got up on it. I only hope the rest of it is full of as many good vibes, music, and people as there were on Sunday.

I want to give special shouts to Leonard, JP, and The Mighty G-Man who co-hosts The Underground Railroad in NYC (this show is one major reason why I’m as big a hip hop head as I am)  who also helped keep the crowd moving by MC-ing alongside our illustrious host, Dee.

Though it wasn’t played that day, this song I’m leaving you all with would have fit right in and is currently my newest obsession. Dee sent me this via King Most. Its a remix of Ryan Leslie’s “You’re Not My Girl” by DJ Big Jacks. I have no idea who he is other than he is from Canada and is obviously magical. I played this song and all of a sudden I was wearing a dress with shoulder pads, my hair was teased, and I had on tights with rhinestones on them and I nearly shimmied myself into a seizure b/c of his blend of Leslie’s vocals with Sherrick’s “Just Call”. I did find these two websites on his Facebook (no stalker-o) so let’s all get familiar. Catch up is probably more like it.

Ryan Leslie-You’re Not My Girl (DJ Big Jacks Call Me Mix)

I’m super excited about my next gig this Sunday.

3 NY DJs

3 San Fran DJs

1 amazing rooftop in Manhattan

1 lovely sunny Sunday

Massive Selector is back again to do their second installment of SFNY, a party bridging 2 of my favorite cities in the world.  Its going to be a day of great folks, amazing music, and good vibes all around. You have to RSVP for more details

You can also check out a quick mix and interview I did with the homie Dee for the party here. There are also mixes by the other DJs spinning the event and theyre all dope: Monk One, King Most, MoMa (whose Good Spot party on Mondays is KILLER) as well as Marky and Freddy. Can’t wait to rock with them all! Hope to see you there .

After my post and giving the album more spins,  I had to say I still wasn’t as amped about Quadron as my BFF Dee or DJ Brainchild, who is pretty much the reason why our circle was put on to them.I was definitely far more warmed up than I was after I posted about them and kept the album, also titled Quadron, on my iPod for a few more weeks, but I wasn’t head over heels. However, something has occurred since that post that has made me really eat my words.

I’ve seen Quadron perform live.

Quadron has been signed stateside to Plug Research (who also have such awesome artists on their label like Bilal, Shafiq Husayn, and Om’Mas Keith) and are now starting to make their way around the country to meet their growing fan base. They performed in LA recently and did a very small, intimate show at the Cornerstone/Suite 903 offices. I have no sort of pull so Dee, being the tastemaker that he is, let me tag along on his invite.

All that was set up in the room was a mic, midi keys and controller, and a laptop. They did a 3-song set of Pressure, Simili Life, and Slippin. I have to say that Coco’s singing is the truth. Sometimes in an intimate setting like that people are very conscious of their sound and not in a good way-either they hold back or ham it up. There’s something about being very present in a space but yet you are able to express what you need to without giving it all away and not being reserved. Coco definitely was able to balance and had the group in attendance bound. Robin Hannibal on keys/production/co-writing just brings it all together. Speaking of Robin Hannibal, why the hell didn’t I put 2 and 2 together and realize that I was already familiar with him musically from Owusu and Hannibal???? Seriously, if you haven’t heard Living With Owusu and Hannibal stop reading this and get yourself to iTunes or Amazon and buy it. Its just got everything-broken beat, Beach Boys covers, sexy soulful strut music, futuristic funk, all that. I’d do it no justice trying to describe it any further. Listen for yourself. However, this little fun fact was not what turned me over to them. Their performance did that. I know a lot of folks in the “audience” were familiar with them but a lot were not, yet they managed to captivate every single one there, including myself, with just 3 songs and 15 minutes.

So why didn’t I like their album on the first go-around? I don’t know! Living with Owusu and Hannibal immediately clicked for me and Quadron just didn’t-not that the two are entirely comparable-they are not at all. I’m just going to chalk it up to not wanting to hear something so deep and moody at the time  which makes sense why I dug  “Jeans” which is more upbeat and why I stupidly threw out that Little Dragon comparison. (Which also explains why I dug Machine Dreams more than Little Dragon since that album is also far more upbeat). I’m in far more somber moods nowadays so Quadron is fitting right in . Jokes. However its playing off well with Living With Owusu and Hannibal, which I’ve put back on my iPod and I’ve been playing the two albums all morning quite happily.

I can’t wait until June 24th. You’ll soon know why.

In the past several days, I had the opportunity to check out 2 great performances in this dear city of mine: Me’Shell Ndegeocello and LCD Soundsystem.

First up: Me’Shell Ndegeocello, Friday April 6th at Joe’s Pub

(No show pic . Sorry. She doesn’t allow photography at her shows!)

Me’Shell did a 3 night stint at Joe’s Pub where the first two nights were dedicated to performing select songs from her now 10+ (!) year old album Bitter. The final night, Saturday, was a night of Gil-Scott Heron covers. I wish I could have experienced both types of shows, but my budget wasn’t cooperating.

If you’ve heard her song “Fool of Me” (featured in Love and Basketball), it isn’t hard to figure out what Bitter is all about. Its a depressing assed album straight up and down. A beautifully moody and somber work that can bring down the happiest of the happy. This album came out at a pretty good time for me: young love, doing well in school, great life. I played this album repeatedly when I got it, to the point I had to confide in my good friend about how down I was feeling without knowing why. His solution? Take Bitter out of my CD player, which I did. Problem solved. I feel this album embodies La Douleur Exquise (loving someone who is unattainable). I’ve been down that road, many, many, many times. Le sigh.

Joe’s Pub was a great venue for this kind of performance. Very dark, very intimate (though the wait service did kill the mood at certain points). Me’Shell played bass for most of the songs while she had another guitarist and drummer back her up. She immediately starts it off with “Fool of Me”. Pretty much by the time she said “I feel so dumb/What kind of fool am I?” I got that horrible pre-cry feeling welling up in my chest. I managed to keep it at bay for a few songs but by the time she did “Wasted Time” (she didn’t perform the songs in album order), it was a wrap. Tears streaming in silence of course. Can’t be acting out in public.

I loved how silent the crowd was. Normally you’d have somene trying to sing along like they lived it but it was as if everyone was transfixed, caught in the moment and feeling Me’Shell was expressing through those songs. I saw a couple cuddling which I really didn’t understand ( if heartache gets you in that amorous mood, go ahead lovers!). She did everything off the album except “Adam”, “Eve” (which are instrumentals anyway), “May This Be Love”, and my personal favorite, “Sincerity”. It is probably a good thing that she didn’t do this one for my tear ducts’ sake.

She livened things up a bit at the end by doing 2 songs off her new album (which is really great and you should hurry up and buy!), Devil’s Halo. She did very funky, very rockin versions of “Lola” and “Mass Transit”.

As an encore, she was given a special request from Joe’s Pub staff, which she obliged. She did a personal favoriite of mine, “Outside Your Door” off Plantation Lullabies (sound familiar? its because Brian McKnight jacked it!). I think it was a good ending to the show, bringing us almost full circle back to that terribly pleasurable feeling of wanting someone that does’t know you exist, but to that point where you’re still hopeful that you’ll catch their eye, not that dark place after you realize ain’t no way in hell you’ll be with them that Bitter covers. Ah, unrequited love.

___

Have I thoroughly depressed you? I hope not. Its time to snap out of it, which I properly did Monday, April 12th at the LCD Soundsystem show at Webster Hall.

(photo courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan who have a ton of great shots and a review of the show)

I’m not 100% up on LCD, apart from “Tribulations” (which I love) and “Daft Punk is Playing at My House”, I wasn’t familiar with the first album. I got into their second album, Sound of Silver, because of the Loosie Remix of “New York, I Love You” featuring Spec Boogie (which I can’t seem to locate right now. I’ll upload it later) . I know there have been a grip of single releases and b-sides between albums that I don’t know much about but overall I love their sound. Fun Electronic Dance Rock with funny smart lyrics provided by lead singer James Murphy. I like how LCD Soundsystem has had a sound that a lot of the kids are into today for several years now. They’re more relevant now than ever given the kind of music that is popular now, so its very good that after 3 years, they have a new album dropping called This is Happening, and have started to perform again.

They did their first show in a long time this past Thursday at Music Hall of Williamsburg. I heard the sold-out show was pretty great, though they were definitely a little rusty (and apparently, very drunk). They decided at the last minute to put on another show as a practice for their upcoming Coachella performance, my brother bought tickets, and I gladly allowed myself to be dragged along.

I thought the show was great.   They did a good mix of new songs off the album, as well as some album cuts and between-album cuts. They are definitely still working out the kinks which James Murphy puttered around stage trying to fix. They started “Tribulations” and it wasn’t recognizable at first but a quick fix by Murphy and it was all to the good. The energy overall of the band was really fresh and enthusiastic and the crowd fed off that and returned a great response. The floor was literally shaking at a few points in the night. The last song of the main show was really a blast-Murphy called for his lighing guy to get real “rave-y” with the lights and we got treated to a lazer show of sorts. Someone started tossing some glow in the dark ball around the crowd and it was a nice feverish ending. They came back and encored with “Daft Punk” and “New York,  I Love You”.

Their album drops May 18th and they should be back in NY in the next several weeks doing more shows. I hear they’re playing Terminal 5. They definitely worked out a lot of the kinks Monday night and by the time they get back from Coachella, I’m sure their show will truly be amazing.

You can dowload some new songs of their album here. The album is also streaming here.

Oh! I almost forgot! Opening for LCD was a group called Fall On Your Sword. Apparently they are part band, part “media composers” who work on various film and commercial projects, but also perform live. I walked into the venue while they closed out a song that flipped the theme song to Days of Our Lives and was thoroughly confused by it all. Then this song came on with the accompanying video and my brain flew out of my head. What in the what???

The first time I ever regret missing an opening act.

Taking it back to one of my favorite musical periods: the 80s!

First up, new music by electro-MC (ugh. sorry for that.) Pase Rock.

PASE ROCK “NIGHTS” from PASE ROCK on Vimeo.

“Nights” is a rework of Billy Ocean’s “Nights (Feel Like Getting Down)”. I really do think any covers of 80s songs need to be electro in order to have a remote chance of not sucking. This one is great. I really can’t hate on someone who describes their sound as schizophrenic party sex. There are also 2 remixes-one by Nadastrom and the other by DJ Spider. Nadastrom’s mix ensures maximum fist pumpage. I can’t say its my steez but it works. DJ Spider’s is the opposite-definitely more laid back and I spot a little mix in of GQ’s “Disco Night” which I really love. Pase’s original version falls nicely between the 2 remixes sound-wise. You can download all three here.

Next up, Dam-Funk.

Dam-Funk is singlehandedly holding down funk for our generation. Originally starting off collecting and DJing funk records in LA, he now produces his own joints and they are all bangin. One of my biggest musical regrets from 2009 through now is that I have yet to hear him spin a DJ set or perform-and he performed with a live band in NYC for 2 nights just a few weeks ago! I’m losing! He’s winning! He even rocks a perm better than I did!

Dam-Funk hooked up with classic shoe brand Doc Martens for their 50th anniversary to do a cover of Human League’s “Things that Dreams are Made Of”. The video is a trip. You can also download the track here.

No, this isn’t what you think! Any DEA trolling online, be gone!

I’ve got quite a few groups that have created some of my favorite songs, but for whatever reason, hit a bit of arrested development: they didn’t drop ny full length albums, they didn’t get much of a push label wise, or I’m just the only idiot who actually thought their stuff was great.  I decided to post up a few of these every now and again.

First group up: Jack Herrera*

(Will.I.Am is the second guy to the right, and wasn’t in the group)

Now, Jack Herrera was comprised of 3 guys, including R&B singer Jon B operating under an alias. The other 2 gentlemen of the group,Silky Deluxe and DominiQuinn, actually were the leads on this project musically (and vocally) and played in Jon B’s band on tour.

I don’t know when the band formed but around 2000 or so, they had a full album, Retro Futuristo ready to go. I heard a few tracks “Jack Shuffle” and “High Off You” and I was hooked. A few pals of mine were also highly anticipating the release of and then….nothing.

Not a damn thing. We heard the album got shelved. And we were sad .

Until a few years later, when we got our hands on it through secret sources. I must say, it is a damn crime that this album did not come out. It is great all the way through. Very true to the album name-modern, forward, with a retro feel. Chill stuff to cool out to, a few up beat tracks, and some sexy ones too of course . Black Thought and Will.I.Am also make some guest appearances.

In doing some quick research, it appears I’m not the only one who wishes this album had come out and that we got to hear more. Check this last.fm page!

I also found their “website” doing a little googling. Ahhh angelfire .

Of course I can’t leave you without a taste so here’s one gem. I kinda want to be selfish and not share my most favorite song. It is part of my ever-growing mixtape d’amour. Boom chicka wow wow.

So here’s my second favorite song: City Lights. As chill as this song is, it always gets me in a mood to hit the streets. That song is a great reminder of how great it is to live in NYC and take in all the sounds and sights every single day.

Jack Herrera-City Lights (click to download)

Honestly, I really do hope they decide to put out some of the other stuff they’ve recorded. iTunes! Bandcamp! The people want to hear more Jack Herrera!

*Please forgive me if this information isn’t accurate. Given that they didn’t really release an album officially there wasn’t much info to be found!

So this past Thursday, it was announced via Giant Step’s humongous mailing list that Erykah Badu would be doing a “secret” show on Saturday night. I’ve never seen her live before and the price was right so I snatched up a pair before they quickly sold out.

The show was held at Good Units, which is a new venue in the sub-basement of the Hudson Hotel. Apparently it used to be a former YMCA. I was expecting something smaller but its a great sized venue. and set up nicely to do smallish, intimate shows and pretty good sized parties.

Doors were at 9 and the show seems to have started soon after. There were a lot of opening acts who did full-on sets. Couple that with  what seemed to be Erykah Badu’s hesitance to get up on stage before 2am, and you’ve got a looooong night.

So let’s start with the first act: MNDR

(I kinda forgot I had a camera so I didn’t start shooting until after her performance. The shots aren’t that great anyway)

I only caught the tail end of her set but I listened to some of her stuff on her myspace page prior to the show. Electro-pop that isn’t annoying. She’s got a good thing going.

Next up: The Tony Castles

Indie rock trio where one of the guitarists (dude to the left) did double duty as keyboardist. Honestly, the sound at this point up until Ms. Badu’s set sucked and I can’t offer an opinion more than I think they were more bad than good, but probably not horrible.

Then: Spank Rock

I’ll be fully up front: while I dig B-more stuff, I can’t say I’m a huge fan. He’s definitely fun and the beats are cool but unless its a raging electro-bash, I just don’t think it fits well on stage at a ticketed show that isn’t 100% geared towards coke binges and grinding on someone’s crotch in sweaty ecstasy. It was a nice way to try and get the crowd hyped for the headliner but between the cruddy sound and some folks plain not feeling the tunes (while there were a lot of ladies in the crowd, not all of them wanted to shake it until Spank Rock’s dick turned racist), I think his performance fell flat. I must commend him on managing to recreate the very same look sported by De’voreaux White, also known as Argyle, the limo driver, in the very first Die Hard.

After quite a long break to hang some huge homemade lighted ankh and a switch from the “DJ” spinning old soul 45s the whole damn night to a cat who played some 90s hip hop to re-heat the crowd waiting several hours for the main event, Ms. Badu finally came on stage, and for those who decided to hang in there, made the annoyance at the wait subside. Thankfully, her own sound guy took over the board because she sounded great.

I can’t say what a typical Badu show is like but the show was seamless! She did songs off every album in their entirety with lots of creativity and improvisation and just blended right into the next joint. It was great. She did pretty straight versions of “The Healer” , “On and On”, “…&On” and did a cool  of “Appletree” that mixed in elements from George Kranz’ “Din Da Da” and Afrika Bambaataa & SoulSonic Force’s “Planet Rock”.  She did another group of songs from Baduizm, Worldwide Underground, and New Amerykah Part I then launched into a version of Outkast’s “Liberation” that really knocked my socks off. She finished off the night with “Window Seat”. Or rather, I finished my night hearing her do “Window Seat” because everyone I was with was either extremely tired or hungry or both and wanted to get the hell out. So we bounced.

I’m super excited for her latest album, New Amerykah Part II: Return of the Ankh, to drop tomorrow. I’m really digging some of the tracks that have leaked so far.  I’m feeling one in particular I don’t think is making the final cut, features Bilal (note: Bilal and Erykah need to work together more often) and Lil Wayne. I dig the funk being channelled on this.

Erykah Badu-Jump Up in the Air and Stay There (feat. Bilal and Lil Wayne)

died on March 9th.

Definitely one of my top 5 favorite MCs ever.

I still have a tape of whatever mix show I first heard ‘Party and Bullsh!t’ on at my parents’ house.  I thought I was a bit of a badass around that time so hearing “I was a terror since the public school era” got me hooked.

Then it was that version of “Me and My B!tch”   that didn’t make the actual commercial release because of sample issues (they sampled Minnie Riperton’s “Take A Little Trip”) that I had on tape somewhere as well.  I couldn’t roll with beating chicks for talking slick but it was a banger (admittedly I dont’ like the version that made the album). Those were the first two songs that introduced me to Biggie Smalls a.k.a Notorious B.I.G.,  arguably the most celebrated of all Brooklyn MCs.

I can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said. Funny, insightful, amazing word play and story telling coupled with great production from such greats as Easy Mo Bee, DJ Premier, Lord Finesse, and Clark Kent makes for an impressive catalog depsite his short time on earth. He left us with some bangers that continue to get booties shaking in the club, heads nodding in the whip, and reminding up and coming MCs what they should be striving for.

13 years and your influence and memory still lives on. Rest In Power, B.I.G.

For those of us who actually live in Bed Stuy and are HUGE Biggie fans but won’t be allowed into Diddy’s party at The Lab tonight, I’ll leave you with my favorite track.

Biggie Smalls-Party and Bullshit

So far 2010 has been pretty good music-wise. Next week, Gorillaz drops another album, Plastic Beach.

Gorillaz is a virtual concept band that originally had musicians playing the different “members” of the band and also included additional collaboration with other artists like Del the Funkee Homosapien. Damon Albern from Blur is the main songwriter and lends most of the lead vocals to the songs. The first album, Gorillaz, was pretty well received as an artsy blend of many genres from hip hop to rock to reggae and punk. Albern and Dan the Automator produced most of the album.

The second album, Demon Days, came out in 2005 won a grammy or two. That album was pretty dope. Danger Mouse took Dan the Automator’s place on a lot of the production and there were a lot more guest spots on it from artists such as Neneh Cherry, Roots Manuva, and a couple of choirs. “Dirty Harry”, featuring Imani/Bootie Brown from The Pharcyde was my absolute favorite jam. I remember it fondly because it was one of the songs I played pretty often when I first started DJing and someone would always ask me who did the track.

Plastic Beach seems pretty promising, with guest spots from the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Bobby Womack, Little Dragon, De La Soul, and others. Damon Albern did all of the production this time and from what I’ve heard so far, it doesn’t look like Danger Mouse will be missed on this one.

Here are a few tracks that have leaked so far:

Stylo (featuring Bobby Womack and Mos Def)
I love this track. I love the electronic/new wave sound to it and its got Bobby Womack on it! I was a bit dubious when I saw who the track featured before actually listening but its great. The video is also out and Bruce Willis is in it. (embedding is disabled! sorry!)

Stylo-Chiddy Bang Remix (courtesy of Above the Fold)
I figured I’d throw this one in for good measure, though I don’t really like it. Removing the best parts of the song to put your own verses in is kind of wack. I don’t know too much about Chiddy Bang other than that they dropped a mixtape late last year.I didn’t like that much either except for “Get Up In the Morning”, in which they flip Desmond Dekker’s “The Israelites”.

Superfast Jellyfish  (featuring De La Soul and Gruff Rhys)
This song is weirdly dope. It was confusing at first until I read a little bit about the concept behind the album and the name Plastic Beach. This song also has that same pep you get from hearing this classic  (which was sampled for this classic ). I dig it.

March 9th is just around the corner so don’t forget to buy it!

* * * * * *

I also want to send well wishes to Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal, who experienced a cardiac episode over the weekend which required some pretty complicated surgery. Rumors of his death were spreading so I’m very glad to hear that the surgery went well and he is expected to recover though he is still very much in serious condition. Its tough picking a favorite Gangstarr joint, so I’ll leave you with this one.