The Atlantic Home

Be back soon with a more substantial update, including a long post on music criticism. For now...

Looking at/Watching:
+These incredible images of QSL cards over at Cantab

+"Tough as old boots" - a tour through the Alden shoe factory

+A guy brushing his teeth during last weekend's (unjust) Chelsea-Manchester United match

+An animated short about Dock Ellis tripping balls and tossing a no-no

+Engrossing tour of producer RJD2's

Listening to:
+The legendary Andrew Weatherall's "London Belongs to Me" audio tour

+Funkineven and Mr. Wonderful's Cosmix! outer-space-boogie/fusion/disco mix

+Even outer space: Dam Funk!

+Spooky Fever Dream Field Recording micromix over at Bradford Cox's (Deerhunter/Atlas Sound) blog

+Funky16Corners anniversary Beatles mix

+Everything all at once: a live mix from Optimo

Reading:
+Suite 2046 asks: is Bored to Death simply Stuff White People Like in televised form?

+Respect game, 2012: a primer on famous not-quite-apocalypses

+Are too many students going to college?

+Related, in a weird way: the intriguing case of Latavious Williams...

+A preview of Luc Sante's incredible new book, Folk Photography

• "You remind me of a haunted house I was once in...": Chairman Mao's Halloween-themed episode of "Spine Blowing Decisions."
• As Johnny from Good Records points out: "among all of the well-sorted funk, afrobeat, disco, and boogie mixes and compilations out there, nobody had really touched the most popular form of music in West Africa: Highlife." Problem solved.
• Funky16Corners has a placeholder funky Halloween mix from 2007 up, with promises of a new '09 edition on Friday.
• Via GvsB: Fever Ray's appropriately moody Halloween podcast. And GvsB's own Halloween mixtape.
  

• Not Halloween related but scary good: Matthew Africa's 12x12 rap mix for Southern Hospitality.

Photo Credit: Flickr User John Althouse

Been on the road all week. Thanks to everyone who came out to the talk on Tuesday night in Santa Cruz. Also: Santa Cruz makes so much more sense to me after reading Thomas Pynchon's oft-maligned Vineland, which really captures the occasional darkness and dystopia of California. It also features one of my favorite Pynchon lines about the "California pizza concept at its most misguided."

+Over at Arthur, Dave Reeves' last (latest?) installment on the anatomy of Defend Brooklyn hipsterism.

+Absorbing segment of Fresh Air, wherein Terry Gross confirms most of the prevailing stereotypes about NPR during her interview of Tracy Morgan.

+Wayne Marshall with the decibel levels of various things we might hear out there in the real world, some because they are merely the sound of modern life (lightbulbs humming) and others because they are the sound of a cannon trying to disperse a crowd. Related: is it still music if it's used for torture? (All this and more is discussed in Steve Goodman's upcoming Sonic Warfare, btw...)

MIXES

+Splitting the difference between Animal Collective, Burial and Dilla, Phaseone offers the White Collar Crime mix

+I appreciate that Gucci Mane's latest mixtape series is named after and inspired by the Cold War

+New Balance-wearing purists rejoice: the latest Southern Hospitality mix is all A Tribe called Quest

+Ian recommends, Jeff Chang likely approves: a T.R.O.Y. hip-hop mix featuring only songs that have "can't stop" or "won't stop" in their title

+Oliver's guest post of Latin (Funk, Soul, covers) over at Super Sonido

+Will C unearths a facemelting 1990/91 (?) UK rap documentary

+Via Lamaraba: an Eddie Ruscha cosmic jazz, funk, disco mix over at the always mighty Lovefingers

Via reader J Brown: a "Tasty Afro Mix" up at Soul Strut. Speaking of "tasty," Wayne Marshall's "Masala Mix And another J: J. Rocc offers up Beat Junkie Radio Vol. 5. Debut installment of Stretch Armstrong and Eli Escobar's new E.V. radio show, Delancey Music Service, here. And two more from longtime favorites DJ Chorizo Funk and Recloose (an all-soundtracks special).

DFA and D*I*R*T*Y-approved "Southeast London's resident bird fanciers" Cage and Aviary with a new dance mix

Quality mid-tempo, mid-afternoon funk workout by Larry of Funky 16 Corners, over at the Hook and Sling blog

Recloose's blog is amazing. Last two sets of his radio show are especially good (especially the YouTube links).

Rest in Peace, Mr. Magic, and Old School HipHop Tapes pays tribute the only way they know how: by sharing radio rips. Fantastic images over at Unkut and Will C's blog.

+@ Alainfinkielkrautrock, disco-house heaven: Tim Sweeney megamixes the Balihu records back catalogue

+For the classicists: live DJ Chorizo Funk mix of Dilla, Tribe, Cymande, James Brown, Dam Funk, fellow travelers.

+Listen the pain away: A pensive, beautiful, elegiac mix from J. Rocc. "It's been a tough one this year. There's not really more that I can say than that. I made a mix of some music I like to listen to help take some of the pain away."

+UK (?) rap site Southern Hospitality with their latest sixty-minute-underrecognized-current-jams "No Fear for the Future" mix

Mao puts together a fantastic Roc Raida tribute mix over at Spine

Sweet Kid Inquisitive soul mix, "Heavy Days 2"

LAGOS DISCO INFERNO

Severely underrated DJ Anonymous over at Matthew Africa's blog with a guest "mellow soul" podcast

Some rare Roc Raida and a great Archie Whitewater edit over at Monk-One's blog

Via Mao: a killer soulful disco mix by Matthew Africa. (Brief Encounter's "Human" is perfect 70s soul.)

* * *



More later today. But for now, check out this message from Cosmo about tonight's all-star benefit at Santo's for world-renowned DJ/record collector/Bostonian/all-around good fellow Kon. Weirdly topical given the President's speech last night. (Check out Kon's blog for updates on his condition--and the occasional MP3--as well.)

Our good friend Kon (from Kon & Amir) has been sick and in the hospital for the past several weeks. Kon is an amazing guy with an incredible connection to music, being a world renowned crate digger as well as one of the best DJs in the country. But as you could probably guess, most DJs are independent contractors who do not have access to affordable health insurance. If you're lucky, you end up paying an arm and a leg for proper coverage, but for the most part you just don't have it. I learned the hard way 10 years ago when I was in a car accident and had to spend several months in the hospital. I didn't have coverage at the time, and my bills were several hundred thousands dollars. I was out of work, could not spin for a long time, so I had no benefits or coverage to take care of me. Thankfully through my dear friends and the community of Philadelphia, a benefit was thrown that raised enough money for me to get back on my feet. Hopefully we can do the same for our friend Kon here...

- Thursday, September 10th, 2009
Giant Step & DJ Spinna Present
Journey: A Benefit for Kon
Acclaimed DJ, legendary digger and our good friend Kon (of Kon & Amir fame) has been hospitalized lately which has left his pockets flat, not fat. We want to try and help him out while he's down out of the game, so please come out and support him a this benefit. Spinning on the set are
DJ SPINNA
RICH MEDINA
ELI ESCOBAR
COSMO BAKER
DJ SCRATCH
& AMIR
$10 suggested donation / 2 for 1 drinks from 10 PM - 12 AM
100% OF PROCEEDS GO TO KON
@ Santos Party House - 100 Lafayette St. - New York, NY

After the jump, a righteous email from Jared about DJ Emskee's uplifting I Trade the World mixtape, recorded right after 9/11. (There's a link to the original tape at the bottom of J's email--a teaser for their gig this Friday night. Highly recommended.)

I remember DJing at Plant Bar* with some friends a few days after 9/11. My friend Joseph** was hosting the night, and he pretty much discouraged us from playing anything too topical or depressing. Then again: what could that possibly mean? It was still too soon: the moment defied articulate description, even assuming the special, obscure language of a DJ set. How could we have channeled our feelings? Were we supposed to feel...patriotic? Had the chickens come home to roost, whatever that meant? Were we feeling defiant? And if so, against who or what? All we really knew, as one of my friends half-joked, was that firefighters citywide were getting laid.

The mood that night was delirious, glassy-eyed, surreal. Of course crisis overdetermined everything, from gleeful funk tunes (too gleeful) to the Rolling Stones (too escapist, too nostalgic) to Ice Cube (too prophetic). At one point: sleigh-bells and piano, pained chanting-yodeling, then a blast of liberated horns. Eric was playing Pharoah Sanders' "Hum Allah" (or "Prince of Peace"--the same thing), a song addressed to higher authorities that ached for a beautiful, impossible peace. The song opened into a moment of blissful panic. Somebody asked him to take it off, but I can't remember if he did or not.



* -- Nice memories of Plant Bar over on the Acute Records blog.

** -- Click the link. JP's work for VBS.TV has been fantastic--especially that Charlie LeDuff piece.***

*** -- Especially this line: "TV without us is simply puppies and gunshots."
Read More

In honor of Theo Parrish's appearance at Sunday Best this weekend, a few live sets over at RBMA (scroll down to "More from...").

As the first song asks: QUE PASAAAAAAARRRGGGHHH? Cool all-over-the-place Latin mix at Soul Strut.

As Sam from Allez-Allez puts it: Love is Strange.

Iron Leg is hosting a "Super Duper Folk Rock Psychedelic Fuzz Dance Party"

Some soul and funk gems for these last days of summer over at Funky 16 Corners.

From Matos: pretty intriguing mix by Brackles. "Jittery" and "all over the place" about describes it.

At this point, I'm really just pasting house links from Orlov's blog and Twitter feed. His latest pick--a mix from the half-Cologne, half-Berlin Dirt Crew--is class.

At Get Down (via Soul-Sides): a DJ Muro mix of classic Isaac Hayes samples.

While we're on the subject of Soul-Sides: they have links to two nice mini-mixes. One is from London's Horse Meat Disco crew and the other highlights the Black Rio 2: Samba Soul comp of Brazilian soul and funk.

Been moving/unpacking all week so I haven't had time to update. In the meantime, here are some older gems:



-Boogie is the new disco: some brilliant leftfield, lo-fi moments on Kid Inquisitive/Soul Persuasion's "Dirt in the Keytar" mix (stay for the Cojo)

-Oh guitar, how we have neglected you this century. Over at Endless Mixtape, a tribute to the six million things you can do with six strings

-Greg Wilson's "Essential Mix" (linked here a couple months back) has been the soundtrack of my summer. Here's "No Sell Out," a mix of 82/83 electro funk he did for A Guy Called Gerald. (And here's the story of Greg's massive influence on Gerald and other kids coming of age in Manchester in the early 1980s.)

Last minute addition to the line-up: JBX's "thanks for waiting" mix over at DJ Love on the Run's blog

Been struggling with moving boxes and packing tape all week. Back soon. For now:

An extra spring in your step : classy disco boogie set over at Soul Strut

Via Orlov : as expected, Rhythm + Sound have a pretty massive collection of dub 45s

Nobody can save you like they can: Aaron Anderson and Brad Hales' lauded Detroit soul and funk set from Bumpshop a few months ago

"We still do it real old school:" JBX playing 70s soul on WNYU's "Downtown Affair"

Thanks to P i  o  t r: Maayan Nidam's captivating set of gliding strings, clackety cowbells, jazz-funk bass-lines and renegade synths over at Resident Advisor

And thanks to Matos for alerting me to this intensely out-there set from nsi. from a couple weeks back. As he described it:

I write for Resident Advisor and listen to the podcasts every week--or I leave them for a couple and then catch up. That's what I'm doing now with the nsi. from last week. It's a 49-minute live set, it's the kind of thing pop fans will find horribly self-indulgent, it hits my experimental and spooky and dry psychedelia buttons perfectly, it has an absolute sense of place, and it's one of my favorite recordings of the year.

* * *
And if you want to see something cool:

You were not going to meet many girls at Bumpshop--and that was kind of the point. The party was too loud for idle chatter, and from the "No Requests" sign to the warm claustrophobia of a busy night, this party was strictly for the believers, that momentary glory of loping down those stairs and hearing those records. The world's finest soul, funk, Latin 45s, some worth thousands of dollars and others mere pocket change, all originals and no reissues, as this was the kind of crowd that would notice such things. Three-minute dispatches from a distant past: one glorious afternoon in the garage in 1972, reefer and a borrowed keyboard; neighborhood sensations who ruled the school but never made it out of Oakland; ladies and gentlemen that poured their hopes and fears onto a strip of magnetic tape, only to find that the engineer had set the levels wrong. Oh well, it sounds better with that hiss. We'll fix it next time.

The Bumpshop crew of DJs Mao, JBX, Finewine and Dave Griffiths closed a fantastic four and a half year run in the early hours of Sunday, running through personal favorites and party anthems and even taking requests. The guest that night: Young Chris, a true soul afficionado renown for his disturbingly resonant hand-claps. "I think I've only missed a couple of these parties," he shouted in my ear after finishing his set, somewhere after 2 am. An hour later, as the party was winding down and the residents traded off every few minutes, JBX broke Bumpshop's strict genre rule, dropping the Ultramagnetic MCs' thoroughly modern "Bait." From behind the booth, where the "No Requests" sign had been changed to read "No Reissues," he shrugged and smiled. Had to do it. Time to go home.

* * *

I've linked to Mao and JBX's mixes in the past--here's the "Downtown Soulsville" podcast for Finewine over at WFMU

Mega late pass: what goes on after a record store (in this case, A-1 in the East Village) closes for the night. Sick sick sick, all-over-the-place mix. (stream)

EDAN is back with the radio/variety show that plays in his mind (via Mao) (dl)

Bumper crop over at Beats in Space--especially enjoyed the Magal mix (stream or dl)

Pretty amusing mix of hip-hop tracks featuring sampled "moaning" over at T.R.O.Y. (stream or dl)

Jared (Big City/Bumpshop) on WNYU's "Downtown Affair" with a ridiculous 70s soul mix

Africa by way of Chicago by way of the future, House all the same: Portable vs. Bodycode (they're both the same dude) podcast

And via Piotr: Asaf's excellent boogie, disco and synth bombs over at 100 Limousines (New World's "We're Gonna Make It" = the jam)

Speaking of Jared, New World and good music... New Yorkers: last-ever (?) Bumpshop party this Saturday. It's going to be great.

***
Okay, a couple more MJ-related bits...

Via Ed: soft-spoken Jackson brotherly banter (...does Tito say 'archery?')

And someone finally put this up:

Via Matos: Woebot's really nice c. 94 ambient jungle mix

Fresh daily Boogie over at Beat Electric

Great live past/present/future of disco set from Rub N Tug

Topical: O-Dub's excellent mix of MJ/J5's "underappreciated" moments

NOT A MIX BUT STILL DYPE:
Chairman Mao's stirring blog post about MJ and the tribute he and Just Blaze put together last Saturday night...

And a hypnotic, one-take MJ tribute from Dwele:

+ Gang of Four, techno and everything in-between: Darshan from Metro Area and Tim Sweeney on Sweeney's Beats in Space show

+ Hypnotic thumb piano, primitive synth drones, Minor Threat dirges, "heartfelt lyrics" and the astounding Group Doueh: explore the weird world of Banjo or Freakout over at Allez-Allez's blog

+ Not quite a mix, but still: Scott Saul with a moving, MP3-assisted essay on Vinicius de Moraes over at Soul-Sides' summer annex