From the 1/28/04 San Francisco Chronicle:
An abandoned case of record albums brought the bomb squad to Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland Tuesday.
Authorities blocked off Washington Avenue between Eigth and Ninth streets and evacuated the bottom floor of the courthouse to examine the suspicious case.
The case was found behind some shrubs, leaning against the Oakland police station, directly across the street from the courthouse.
Bomb experts detonated the case, only to discover a collection of vinyl LPs. The street was reopened after 30 minutes.
One sheriff's sergeant said the owner of the case probably had stashed it behind the shrubs after failing to get it through the court security screening machine. - Meredith May
Made a couple of minor updates, including putting up track listings for about half the mixes. Hopefully I'll get info up for the rest soon. (It's disconcerting to listen to records one knows one has, yet not have the slightest idea what they are!)
It's always bugged me when mixes aren't supplied with track lists. The concept of 'cover-ups,' or changing/obscuring labels on records certainly has a long tradition in soundsystem culture. Yet despite the ever-growing number of DJs in today's dance scene, I don't see the need as in the ritualized competition of Jamaican soundclashes. Of course some DJs cherish their 'secret weapons' - I remember tales of a famous LA rave DJ who worked in a record store and would not only cover his records, but refuse to sell copies of particularly hot tracks to anyone else!
At the heart of the matter, it seems disrespectful to the artists who actually create the tunes going on these mixes. Yeah, the DJ may recontextualize the originals, but it's not like they're pulling sounds out of the ether. I'll entertain the argument that a turntablist is using the wax more as fodder for intricate collage, akin to timbre and tone, creating something new, unhinted by the source. And there's an unfortunate sentiment in crate-digger culture that tends to hold that breaks are sacred, and not to be revealed to the uninitiated. (or to those who haven't spent days at a time in dusty basements rifling through stacks of Perry Como albums hoping to come across The Mohawks LP). I can understand where that comes from, but don't agree with it. And for a house or techno DJ to put themselves above the artists on the decks? Naw, it just doesn't work. A DJ making self-released promotional mixes is never going to be able to actually pay to license tracks properly, but at least proper recognition might provide some exposure and new fans for the artists represented.
Speaking of crate-digging, I've got to plug my favorite Texas practicioners of the art of the recycled groove - Rehash. Their site is great - details of all of their digging adventures (with label pix and samples!) as well as their own mixes. Their 7" releases are pretty hot, too. Check it out.
Finally got around to linking to a bunch of mixes, spanning the past decade. (over there, on the left, where it says mixes)
Most of these have been up on the JL site before, but there are a couple which haven't, or haven't been available for awhile. Chief among those is Poem, which is 10 years old this year. Looking at that number is a bit of a stunner. Mixed while half-delirious from a 102 degree fever, it remains a perennial favorite of folks. It's more on the ambient/IDM side of things. Good mind-wandering music.
Right after Thanksgiving I did this set on Stanford's KZSU, on the Ghost In The Machine show. Thanks to Gianluca for the invitation to play. It's mostly sleepy downtempo (including a crutch-like reliance on the last six months worth of output from Tru Thoughts ;). Speaking of Tru Thoughts, if you find yourself enjoying this particular mix, you owe yourself a listen to the TM Juke album.
01/04
January's mix is here
To paraphrase my friend Sig, listening to this may evoke a desire to be in a VIP booth, passing the Courvoisier. Ever since Raphael Saadiq's "Instant Vintage" album became the de facto soundtrack for extended New Year's celebrating one year ago, I've been paying more attention to R&B and soul (along with a bunch of other DJs, judging from what I've been hearing at the Top), and that's inspired this mix, along with a couple good friends who recently had birthdays. (shouts to Loax and Oze)
This mix is a bit unique in that it's the first I've done of exclusively vocal tracks, and all share a soul/r&b influence. A couple artists who have been quite inspiring this year are Yam Who and Blackbeard, UK 'pirate soul' remixers who have been doing some stunning reworks of both mainstream (Nas, Raphael Saadiq, Freeway, Pharrell Williams) and underground artists. They deepen the originals, stretching them out and discarding the more commercial elements - Freeway's rap is completely excised on the version of "Alright" here - and in the process recontextualize them, as in Blackbeard's stunning organ-led jazz take on Nas's "Heaven." It's an ethic that's also displayed on the opener, a remix of North Carolina soul artist Calvin Richardson by Darkstarr. One question, though - who the heck is Darkstarr?
The rest of the tracks are more straight ahead versions - 2003 breakout Detroit artists Dwele and Amp Fiddler are represented, with album tracks from their respective debuts (Fiddler also does the vox on the Only Child track), and another new artist, Venus Malone is also here. The Ohio-born Malone, now based in Germany, put out one of my absolute favorite albums of the year (so good I picked it up on CD, too, just so I could listen to it in the car), "Pretty on the Inside." It took awhile to get decent distribution here in the states, but should be around now. Les Nubians pop up with their French cover of Sade's classic, given a bit more motion by Philly's The Roots, and there's another classic tune here in cover form, Omar and Angie Stone's update of the William DeVaughn essential "Be Thankful For What You've Got."
Lyrics in this genre can get a bit trite at times, but many of these tracks seem to have something to say; something to relate to beyond cliched love/loss themes. (although those are there too). Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and if you have any questions about any of these, I'm happy to help out. If you like this stuff, I'd recommend going over to Groove Distribution and picking up the Yam Who double CD, as well as checking his mix out at Batacuda (under 06).
1 Calvin Richardson - More Than A Woman [Darkstarr mix]
2 Dwele - Truth
3 Venus Malone - Eye on the Prize
4 Les Nubians - Tabou [Roots remix]
5 Common - Come Close To Me [Blackbeard rework]
6 Nas feat. Jully - Heaven [Blackbeard rework]
7 Only Child - U Bring Me Vibes [DJ DSL remix]
8 Earth Wind & Fire - Brazillian Rhyme [Bozo Meko edit]
9 Xantone Blacq - Search For The Sun
10 Amp Fiddler - Dreamin'
11 Omar feat. Angie Stone - Be Thankful [Soul Inside mix]
12 Andreus - Mississippi
13 DJ First Rate feat. John Maccallum - One Day
14 Freeway feat. Allen Anthony - Alright [Blackbeard rework]
15 Raphael Saadiq - Sky's The Limit [Yam Who mix]