Mon Rivera : Lluvia Con Nieve &
Bobby Valentin : Coco Seco
taken from the compilation Fania DJ Series: Gilles Peterson on Fania (2007)

Nonato E Seu Conjunto : Tereco &
Freesom Orquestra : Rush
taken from the compilation Ultimate Brazilian Breaks & Beats #2 on Adventures In Paradise (2007)

I realize this is a late notice, but so was my spur of the minute decision to come out to L.A. to visit young Murphy. It was no coincidence that my trip happens to overlap with another Boogaloo session at The Shortstop, but rather divine intervention, I merely heeded the call. So if you’re like me and desperately need to shake loose some stodge, and are in the L.A. area, then come through and show some love and say hello. We’ll be spinning songs like these ones above, as well as tons of other musical firecrackers, amongst a moving crowd of dancers and friendly folk (look out for O-Dub!). Both brothers side by side behind the turntables = MAYHEM.

Just one note about the songs: I’ve been meaning to post this Mon Rivera cut for like 2 years now as it’s one of the select few songs that I manage to play without fail every single week, and never seem to tire of. LISTEN TO THOSE TROMBONES!!!

Muddy Waters : I Just Wanna Make Love To You & Mannish Boy
taken from the album “Electric Mud” on Cadet (1968)

Howlin’ Wolf : Spoonful, Smokestack Lightning & Evil
taken from the album “The Howlin’ Wolf Album” on Cadet (1968)

Wynder K Frog : Into The Fire & Howl In Wolf’s Clothing
taken from the album “Into The Fire” on United Artists (1970)

It makes little sense to me, how after years of tirelessly searching the used bins at hundreds of music stores, religiously reading the record reviews in all types of periodicals, and more recently, scouring the vast savannas of the blogosphere for great sounds, somehow, I still have managed to miss some of the most fundamental things. Enter Muddy and Wolf.

I found these 3 records together at the same small local shop that I picked up those Super Blues & Bo Diddley LPs at a while back, and I have a hunch that they all came from the same collection. While I shamefully recognized back then that I had blindly slept on the funky rawness of the Super Blues trio (Diddley, Muddy & Wolf), I now feel like a total imbecile for not realizing the depth of these cats greatness. Shredding and pounding this hard back in ’68, these dudes almost make Hendrix seem less badass – almost. Now Wynder K Frog may not stand up to the monumental gangster that these guys represent, but at least he had the decent sense back then to recognize a good thing when it was going on and try to join the party. Some might recognize his tribute to Wolf, “A Howl In Wolf’s Clothing” (which is pretty clearly ripped from “Smokestack”), as the basis for a Handsome Boy Modelling School cut. Also nice to hear a raucous 30-second cowbell drumbreak at the top of side-A.

AND ANOTHER EXCITING NOTE: Ix Pics is back up and running! Yeah for Jefe being not lazy anymore! There’s some beautiful shots from his recent trip to Jamaica and Cuba among other. Check it out

Cortijo Y Su Bonche : Sorongo & Tiempo De Amor
taken from the album “Sorongo” on TICO (1968)

Cortijo Y Su Bonche : Agua Que Va A Caer & Ublabadu
taken from the album “Ahi Na Ma! Put It There!” on TICO (196?)

Cortijo Y Su Bonche : Pa’ Los Caserios & Pa Guayama
taken from the album “Pa’ Los Caserios” on Actuality (197?)

Sorry for lack of posts. Between the 102 degree fever that had me stuck in bed and doing several shows last week (being groggy on stage is where it’s at), I was short on quality record listening time.

Rafael Cortijo is a legendary figure in Puerto Rican music, being one of the first to bring the Bomba and Plena rhythms out of the slums and into the ears of the vast record buying public – in PR and elsewhere. He’s perhaps most famous for his early recordings with vocalist Ismael Rivera and his later more straight ahead salsa records, but for a brief stint while Rivera was in jail on drug charges, Cortijo put together this highly original group “El Bonche”. Before “salsa” was a widely recognized term (or musical concept), Cortijo used El Bonche to mix various Latin styles in new ways. Little bit of boogaloo, little bit of bomba, whole lot of descarga. These are the only three records I’ve seen with “El Bonche”, and they lead the way up to Cortijo’s one-of-a-kind foray into funk which was captured on 1974’s “Maquina Del Tiempo” LP (also highly recommended). While these songs lack the wah-wah and fuzz guitar prevalent on that album, they make up for it with their highly danceable swing and playful, catchy hooks (see: “Ublabadu”). You can credit Cortijo’s daughter, Fe, with the uncommon addition of female vocals – not sure why more Latin groups didn’t do this at the time, it sounds pretty cool on cuts like “Tiempo De Amor” and “Pa’ Los Caserios”.

The man’s output was such that I could easily do several more posts covering different periods of his carreer and have no difficulty coming up with hot tracks, but for now at least, that’s all you get.

Erykah Badu : Honey (Capt. Planet Remix)
exclusive freshness

Red Astaire : Love To Angie (Remix of Angie Stone’s “Wish I Didn’t Miss You”)
taken from the album “Nuggets For The Needy” on Homegrown

The Doors : Break On Through (Bossarocker Remix)
taken from the whitelable 12″ available here

Gang Starr ft. Nice & Smooth : DWYCK (Little Kids Remix)
taken from the whitelable 12″ available here

Pretty much fell in love instantly with the new Erykah single (and accompanying video), so when I got my hands on the acapella, I went to work right away. It’s no secret that I have a serious talkbox fetish, and as you can hear, this has been manifesting itself overwhelmingly in my work lately. But who’s complaining? All vocoder and instrumentation by yours truly.

I’m also posting some of my crate staple whitelables that never fail to stir a crowd in motion. In the era of iPod DJs and Serato tricknology, I find that it’s just as much about how you present a song as it is about the actual song itself that you’re playing. Tasteful, creative remixes like these bring a whole new life to tracks that otherwise might be a little too played out or were never really dancer friendly to begin with.

Starting with my homie Red Astaire’s masterpiece (this has become one of my signature tunes that I’ve played perhaps every single gig since first copping it from him a year ago), Angie Stone gives a little something back to the B-Boys and B-Girls. My theory is, this track will 100% GUARANTEE that someone in the house will start uprocking- test it for yourself! Also, be a champ and pick up the whole album, which is jampacked with other remix hotness (funky Latin reworkings of hip hop classics, a bossa version of D’Angelo, and another 12″ favorite of mine “Tito”), and get your money’s worth on an album for once. Murphy posted the reggae remix to this one a while back, and while that one certainly has it’s appeal, this one’s better suited for the dancefloor methinks.

The Bossarocker Remix first cracked my head open when I was getting loose to one of Gilles Peterson’s notoriously glorious DJ sets at the packed and sweaty Canal Room here in NYC. By the time the second “is everybody in?” dropped, people all around me were buggin’ out. Been out for a while now, but this is another one of those 12″s that I just haven’t been able to take out of my crate (since I jacked it from young Murphy! haha – you can have it back now). Get a copy for yourself (with a funky B-side rework of “Fever”) right here.

Another bossa remix that easily works into the same set is this Little Kids version of DWYCK. Who are the Little Kids? I don’t know, but I’m waiting to hear something else from them. This one is a perfect mid-tempo bridge that can help you cross over from a hip hop set into some Latin or Brazilian- or just bounce while stuck in traffic. COP IT HERE.

Keronchong Salina : Bubuj Bulan & Modjang Priangan< taken from the album “Vol. 2” on Philips (197?)