21 Ten Eyck St. was my first Brooklyn address. I can hardly believe it’s been so long now (8.5 years). The place was a massive, newly renovated duplex with a HUGE shared yard and a community garden next door. I also find it hard to believe how hooked up I was! A lot has changed on that street, and in Brooklyn. Same day I moved in, local cops approached me and gave me a breakdown of the dealers on the block (“keep your eyes on the guy in the wheelchair”). Now this monstrosity is a block alway, sticking it’s tongue out at the still-pretty-gully projects that you can see on the right side of the photo. More important than the space itself though, was that I lived with 3 other guys, all of them nasty musicians. We collectively built the space into extra bedrooms to fit us, went through 9-11 together, and had many epic nights of bad cooking and underage drinking (mostly Mustang tallboys as I recall). These guys always inspired me back then, probably one of the reasons I decided to follow the music path over the painter/multi-media-installationist one, and it’s still very inspiring to see what they’re up to now.

Sam Barsh, keyboardist extraordinaire and sometimes exhibitionist, has a bunch of different groups and projects that he’s involved with, but a recent release of his called The Years has some tracks that especially need to be heard. Roomie #2 was Max aka “Traxxx” who went to high school with me- we started making music together at age 15. He’s also always bouncing between bands, but as one of the 2 drummers for Francis & The Lights, he’s showing off his exceptionally funky touch. Expect big things from these guys soon since they are opening up for Drake on tour (crazy, I know). Roomie #3 was Chris Bear, who just might be the origin of the band name Grizzly Bear. These guys have been huge for a long time already, doing stadiums on the regular, performing with symphonies, and I believe opening for Radiohead. BUT I remember seeing them play to crowds of 10 in grimey Brooklyn lofts under the name Teenage Jesus when we lived together and for a little while after that.

Finally, since I’ve been in NY for a while now and have made a lot of new friends along the way, I figured I’d include a couple recent tracks by friends that I hung out with this week- Maggie Horn (vocalist on Telephoned) and Ibe (remixer/producer/cool guy). Because that’s how it is here in the city, and it might be the lure that keeps me living here for a long time to come.

The Years :       Lets Stay In Love
this song features Sam’s soulful lil bro Sy on vocals. peep the rest of the album here

Francis & The Lights :       LIME

Grizzly Bear :       Cheerleader

La Roux :       Bulletproof (Ibe Remix)

Telephoned :       Rockin' That Thang
get her whole club killin EP here and the mixtape here

My homie and fellow funk freak, DJ Tantric, just passed his latest mixtape my way and it’s a good one! If you like vintage electro, freestyle, vocoders, the 80’s and, most importantly, doing the robot dance- then this one’s for you. Some staples and classics in here, but also new discoveries for me, including the Photocall track in the beginning of the mix. I’ve done a few shows alongside Tantric and his crew of funkateers Planet Rump and I heartily endorse them and the massive amounts of glitter spandex they wear. Tantric opens up the mix with a little bit of his own vocoder madness, if you like what you hear, then find yourself at one of his parties in the near future.

In Tantric‘s words: “This mix is inspired by the work of 1980’s Renaissance man and American hero, Macgyver.”

TRACKLIST
Intro
Silver Clouds – Photocall
Al Naafiysh (The Soul) – Hashim
Clear – Cybotron
Body Mechanic (Original Vocal Version) – Quadrant Six
Every Sunday – Crazy Gang
Rendez Vous At Rimini – Alden Tyrell
Electric Kingdom – Twilight 22
Situation Hot – Arabian Prince
Freaky DJ – The Egyptian Lover
Diamond Girl – Nice & Wild
Give Me Back My Heart – Corina
Leave It All Behind – Tolga
There’s A Party Going On – Yvonne
What Goes Around Comes Around – Giggles
Reckless With Your Love – Azari & III

Here in NYC the temperature is dropping like panties at a Pretty Ricky concert. All week I’ve been under the influence of influenza, but I’m definitely on the upswing now. HUGE thanks to all of you who have been downloading the Music = Medicine mixtape and spreading the word to your friends. I’ve gotten so many good emails from appreciative listeners- it reminds me why I put so much work into this website. I’ve currently received over $4,300 in donation receipts and Partners In Health has told me they plan to feature the mix on their website next week! I love thinking about all those Haitian oldies warming up rooms from Norway to New Zealand. Today I’m sharing more slices of summery sound- some afrobeat, a little dub, y una cumbia caliente. On my way to the bath house later today I’ll be needing the extra warmth while waiting on the frigid train platform.

Superpowers :       American Exceptionalism
from the album Trance For Nation – featuring my homie Claude Gomis on vocals (son of legendary Baobab singer Rudy Gomis)

Horace Andy & Ashley Beedle :       Watch We (Souljazz Orchestra Remix)
The Souljazz Orchestra :       Mamaya
get familiar with Souljazz

Miike Snow :       Animal (Mark Ronson Remix)
Damn, Ronson does it again

Cumbiagra :       Al Calor De La Cumbia
local Brooklyn cumbia cats that hold it down weekly at Bembe where I DJ

Here’s a mix of great old school haitian records pulled from my crates. If you aren’t familiar with Kompa or other classic Hatian sounds, nows the perfect time to get schooled. There’s some great tunes on here that you probably won’t find anywhere else. Donate at least $5 to Partners In Health and forward me the confirmation email that you get and I’ll give you a link to download the whole mix (broken into separate tracks for your listening enjoyment). Forward your donation receipt to this address: charlie@mixtaperiot.com

PEACE

Back in NYC, back to work. Hittin the new year at full speed, with a fresh sunbaked gusto, thanks to Guatemala. I’ve locked myself up in the studio this week with my Beatards buddies. We finished up a couple remixes and now we’re blitzing through a bunch of songs for our upcoming album. In all honesty, I’m not even listening to much other music right now, but since I care for the well-being of this blog and love sharing- here are some new (to me at least) remixes that I will be playing a lot as soon as I take my next break. In the meanwhile, I’m enjoying them vicariously through you. And peep the related links to download more remix/re-edit heat from these producers.

Also, the video above featuring touch-screen turntables comes courtesy of this site. Random but cool.

Willie Colon & Hector Lavoe :       La Banda (Whiskey Barons Edit)
peep the Flavorheard site for more goods from these guys

Bobby Reed :       Time Is Right For Love (Prince of Ballard Remix)
jacked from Soul-Sides.com, but you can see more from the Prince at his Armed Snobbery blog

Hollyweerd :       Weerdo (Astronote Rmx)
more from Astronote on his myspace

Jadan Blackkamoore :       The General (Ticklah Remix)
my man Victor aka Ticklah back with more reggae FIYA!

Patti Jo :       Make Me Believe In You (Loud Minority Edit)
how do you make a perfect song better? MORE COWBELL! Respect to the Loud Minority DJs from Vienna

Been on hiatus for a damn good reason. Young brother Murphy and I are living it up in paradise. The picture above was taken yesterday in Semuc Champey, Guatemala. I honestly don’t think I could picture a more perfect place (even after seeing AVATAR– which any self respecting person should view while under the influence of psilocybin). We’re back in lake Atitlan now after exploring some caves, jumping off enormous waterfalls, and climbing a 10,000ft. volcano. The rest of the trip I plan on doing as little as possible while listening to this stack of bootleg CDs I picked up at the mercado. If I get up the gusto, I may try to post a best of 2009, but then again I may be preoccupied playing futbol with local heads at the little field in town. Todays picks come from an ambiguously labeled CD which gives no artist credits and improperly lists some song titles, so if anyone out there can help identify these cumbias it would be much appreciated. There’s supposed to be a 3-day rave on a nearby volcano starting tomorrow, so if I don’t post before 2010, enjoy yourselves!

Unknown Artist :       Cumbia

Unkown Artist #2 :       Cumbia Arabe

Luz Roja de San Marcos :       El Gallo Mojado