Cook's classics

Stones Throw just announced they're releasing an album of music by Tony Cook, who was responsible for my favorite track from BBE's American Boogie Down compilation and this proto-house classic:


Tony Cook: "On the Floor (Rock-It)" (Full Moon, 1984)

I knew Cook had produced a handful of dance records in the 1980s but had no idea he had also been a drummer with James Brown during the late 1970s and 1980s. Apparently Stones Throw has access to multi-tracks with lots of unreleased mixes and songs. Hopefully, some of them are stronger than the lead single.

Alright

I wrote about DJ Burn One & All Star a/k/a Starlito not that long ago, but then I got obsessed with this song:



Starlito: "Alright" (Bleu, 2010)

"Alright" is featured on Starlito's newest release, Renaissance Gangster, which you can buy here. I did. I recommend you do, too.

All 11 songs were produced by DJ Burn One and though not every beat fits Starlito as perfectly as "Alright", many come close. I love how Starlito's flow has evolved into a style of rapping so low-key and conversational it's almost not rapping, much like late-period Mac Dre.

Related stuff:

Kalefa Sanneh's 2008 NYT piece on Starlito's stalled career is poignant for at least two reasons.

Kid Slizzard on the complete saga of Triggerman vs. Bugs Can Can.

Lou Bond just wants a little Toyota or something.

Meanwhile...

Casual's one of my favorite Oakland rappers. He hasn't put out an album since 2005, but lately he's stayed busy with YouTube videos.

His recent clips are all lo-fi flip-cam things. In some, he raps. In some, he studies Egyptology. In a couple, he does both.

Although my eyes and ears kinda glaze over when he gets into a lot of the Kemetic stuff, I find it charming somehow-- I guess I'm interested in the fact that he's interested in the stuff. It's cool to see a gifted rapper who's on some totally different shit from every other rapper out.

Here's a sampling of some of my favorites.

Rapping over Three 6 Mafia's "Ridin' Spinners":



With weights, guns and subtitled commentary:



Nothing but a song, but I really like the song, "N.A.G.A.S.":



You can grab this and a few other recent songs in a zip file of songs that Casual tweeted last week.

Rocking kufis, rapping about the Town, filming the cops filming him:



Rapping over crazy 8-bit beats:



Driving, punchlines:



Ancient Egyptian vocab:



Favorite line: "But I don't really know how to say that, though."

Watching all the clips inspired me to rip Casual's cassette-only Meanwhile... album. This is one of my favorite songs from that. I'm guessing on the title.



Casual: "It Don't Matter" (Hiero Imperium, 1997)

2 Busy Saying Yeah - Why you gotta keep bringing up old hits?

In this episode I play and talk about some of my favorite songs that got reissued in 2009. The bulk of it is soul and funk, although there's also disco, psych, gospel, rap and weird foreign hybrids of many of the aforementioned styles.

Most of the selections are from releases that are legitimately licensed and carefully assembled, with proper mastering, handsome packaging and thoughtful annotations. I have a lot of respect for those who take the time and effort to do it right. I hope you support them so that they can continue the work that they do.

2 Busy Saying Yeah 16: Why You Gotta Keep Bringing Up Old...

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1. Man: “And In the Beginning” Revelation
2. Little Francisco Greaves: “Moving-Grooving” V/A - Panamá! 3: Calypso Panameño, Guajira Jazz & Cúmbia Típica on the Isthmus 1960-75
3. The Blue Rhythm Combo: “Take the Funky Feeling” V/A - Tropical Funk Experience
4. Kukumbas: “Respect” V/A - Psych Funk 101
5. Chocolate Snow: “Inflation” V/A - Eccentric Soul: Smart's Palace
6. Lyman Woodard Organization: “On Your Mind” Saturday Night Special
7. Nite-Liters: “Valdez In the Country” A-Nal-Y-Sis
8. Demon Fuzz: “Disillusioned” Afreaka!
9. The Pretty Things: “You Might Even Say” Philippe Debarge
10. P.E. Hewitt Jazz Ensemble: “Bada Que Bash” V/A - Spiritual Jazz - Esoteric, Modal + Deep Jazz From the Underground 1968-77
11. Lizzy Mercier Descloux: “Hard-Boiled Babe” V/A - Ze 30 - Ze Records Story 1979-2009
12. Gichy Dan's Beachwood No. 9: “On a Day Like Today” (Todd Terje's Friendly Children Edit) V/A - ZEVolution: ZE Records Re-Edited
13. Chemise: “She Can't Love You” V/A - DJ Spinna Presents the Boogie Back: Post Disco Club Jams
14. Cubie Burke: “Down For Double” [JM After-Session M&M Mix] V/A - John Morales - The M&M Mixes
15. Herman's Rocket: “Hanged in the Universe” V/A - Jean-Pierre Massiera - Psychoses Discoïd (1976-1981)
16. Chorus Reverendus: “Dans Son Euphorie” V/A - Wizzz! Psychorama Français 1966-70
17. Apostles of Music: “Wade In the Water” V/A - Local Customs: Downriver Revival
18. The Metros: “Since I Found My Baby” Sweetest One
19. Willie Hutch: “A Love That's Worth Havin'” Soul Portrait
20. Ronnie McNeir: “In Summertime” Ronnie McNeir
21. Andrew Brown: “You Made Me Suffer” V/A - Light: On the South Side
22. Sugar Pie DeSanto: “Use What You Got” V/A - Go Go Power • The Complete Chess Singles 1961-1966
23. The Daughters of Eve: “Help Me Boy” V/A - 2131 South Michigan Avenue: 60s Garage & Psychedelia From U.S.A. & Destination Records
24. Brigitte Fontaine: “Il Pleut“ V/A - Dirty French Psychedelics
25. 24-Carat Black: “I Want to Make Up” Gone: The Promises of Yesterday
26. Sensational Saints: “How Great Thou Art” V/A - Forge Your Own Chains
27. Amazing Farmer Singers of Chicago: “I Got a Telephone In My Bosom” V/A - Fire In My Bones: Raw Rare + Otherworldly African-American Gospel (1944-2007)
28. The Relatives: “Don't Let Me Fall” Don't Let Me Fall
29. John Heartsman & Circles: “Up From Down” Music of My Heart
30. Azambuja & CIA: “Tema De Azambuja” V/A - Black Rio 2: Original Samba Soul 1968-1981
31. Tafo: “Karye Pyar” feat. Nahid Akhtar V/A - The Sound of Wonder!
32. The Animated Egg: “Sock It My Way” Guitar Freakout
33. Natural Elements: “Tri-Boro” 1999
34. Sport "G" & Mastermind: “Live” V/A - Random Rap
35. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou: “Koutoulié” The Vodoun Effect - Funk & Sato From Benin's Obscure Labels 1972-1975

Chairman wow

I don't generally spend much time listening to other DJs' mixes or radio shows because they cut into the time I have to seek out new music. When I make exceptions, they're for stuff friends have done or mixes which I think can turn me on to something I want to know.

Chairman Mao's monthly radio shows for Spine Magazine, the Spine Blowing Decisions series, are both. In case his reputation doesn't precede him, Mao is a longtime NYC DJ and rap writer whose knowledge is as deep as his taste is good. His shows focus on obscure soul, funk and disco and usually have a theme or style (e.g., disco raps, Halloween music, tortured ballads). They always include at least a handful of things I wish I knew or had forgotten about and am delighted to be reminded of. His dry, occasional voiceovers are a nice touch, too.

This week I finally got around to listening to Mao's December show and it really knocked me out. The episode centers on late 70s/early 80s sounds: disco, modern soul, boogie, funk and the selections are uniformly great. There were songs I hadn't heard in too long, songs I'd never heard before but instantly wanted to hear again and even some songs I'd been saving to build mixes of my own around (damn you, Mao!). It's the best collection of soul sounds I've listened to in a long time.

There's no track listing per se, but Mao scatters some clues throughout the mix and also his blog features scans of some of the songs he included, like the following:


(One track that's not pictured is the Gospel Soul Revivals' awesome Slave knockoff, "If Jesus Came Today". The track is featured on the Numero Group's new and wonderful Good God! Born Again Funk, which came out Tuesday and which I can't recommend highly enough.)

But uh, back to the lecture at hand. Spine Magazine doesn't host older shows and the episode of Spine Blowing Decisions is no longer available from Spine's site, so with Mao's permission, I've uploaded the show:


Chairman Mao: "Spine Blowing Decisions 18" (2009)

(Spine dudes, if this is a problem, get at me and the links will be gone.)

Win your love

Billy Jones: "Win Your Love" (Blue Elephant, 1974)

Billy Jones was an American singer who lived and recorded in the Netherlands, first as a member of Oscar Harris & the Twinkle Stars and later solo. I pulled out his Birds of the Sea album intending to rip one track and ended up getting sucked into the whole thing-- it's really good front to back. There's some more info about Jones and other artists from the Netherlands's surprisingly fertile soul scene here.

So ruff, so tuff

I just got around to listening all the way through the homie DJ B.Cause's tribute to Roger Troutman, Playin' Kinda Ruff: The Troutman Legacy and it's a really enjoyable listen.


Although I know and love most of Roger and Zapp's hits, for whatever reason I never listened to much beyond the first 2-3 LPs. Josh's mix draws together all of the much-played, much-sampled classics, some of the rap songs that stem from them and a whole lot of other stuff you probably haven't heard, from pre-fame recordings with the Human Body to oddball collaborations from the 90s. Josh is an incredibly skilled DJ and knows his way around a multi-track, so he's able to make all kinds of transitions that I would never attempt sound smooth and natural.

There's a full track listing and instructions for ordering physical copies of the CD at Josh's blog. You can also download the mix for free here.

Speaking of Roger, a recent Soulstrut post reminded me of this, which is one of my favorite performances by him:



Vontel: "4 My Homiez" feat. Roger Troutman (Fo' Life, 1998)

Vontel's an Arizona rapper. The album this is drawn from was partly produced by Battlecat, but this track was produced by Dre LeSean and Robert "The Professor" Anderson. Troutman's ad-libs are gorgeous.