Ellen McIlwaine : Toe Hold
taken from the album “Honky Tonk Angel” on Polydor (1972)

Jorge Ben : Oba La Vem Ela
taken from the album “Forca Bruta” on Philips (1970)

Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers : San Juan 2000
taken from the album “Yaina” on Right-On (197?)

Sir Victor Uwaifo & His Titibitis : Sakpaide Special
taken from the album “Jackpot” on Makossa (1981)

It appears as though the digital music takeover, like the warming of our winters, is inevitable. It’s no longer a prospect for us to ponder, it’s our condition. While most of us bought MP3 players and started finding (or creating) music blogs, an army of tiny, efficient, 4MB songs crept it’s way into the comfortable vantage of our lowest common denominator. And now, as DJ after DJ gives in to the alluring convenience of the latest technology, music enthusiasts of every ilk– from the olde-tyme collectors of 78rpm hillbilly blues platters to the latest hipsters trying their luck as electro-clash trend setters– have no option but to surrender. Because whatever type of music it is that makes you crazy (however rare and obscure), there’s a place online where you can find it– probably for free.

When faced with the choice between A) maintaining the integrity of your physical music library at the cost of missing out on thousands of songs that you would surely love, and B) downloading more music than you could possibly listen to in this lifetime, every music-lover I know opts for B. The endless itunes library, set on shuffle, is just too appealing. What are the ramifications? Well, for me at least, it means a whole lot of recording records… Although the process is less than fun, I find some meager reward in the form of creating MP3s that will possibly outlive the records from which they came. When the arctic-melt flood waters reach my doorstep, it’ll be a lot easier to pack my hardrive than my record collection. This does not mean however, that I’m going to stop searching, scouring, looting, and hording while the gettin’s good. There is much still to be discovered in these plastic plates. And there’s a grumpy old man inside me somewhere that thinks I ought to earn my iTunes library with a bit of actual context. hmpf.

Check out funky guitar mistress Ellen McIlwaine here.

Explore the greatness of Jorge Ben by checking here.

Find more about Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers right here.

Dig the truth about Sir Victor by peeping this.

Nephews Of Phela : Mulah 2
taken from the whitelabel 12″

Red Astaire : Move Yo Ass (at +6 speed)
taken from the whitelabel 12″

Elvis meets The Wailers : Crying In The Chapel
taken from the whitelabel 7″

SCANDINAVIA RUUUUUUULES!!!!!! That short little trip was undeniably rad. The people were amazing, the clubs were packed, the clubbers were bouncing, the weather was not nearly as cold as we thought it would be (I see you Al), and I exceeded my longest running stint without sleep by 48 hours– which made for a grand total of about 4 days non-stop! I’m still recovering as I sit here at work and daze fondly back into thoughts of fastfood waffles and afterparties of afterparties with endless hash spliffs that don’t get you high and rolling nordic hillsides crowned with actual wooden windmills! I just pray that the people who readily invited us back keep up their end of the deal. After two days in NYC, I’m ready to return.

We successfully managed to meet Freddie Cruger aka Red Astaire, who’s got a new album coming out shortly. Not only is this man a genuinely good dood, but he was open and encouraging enough to record a track with us in the few hours that we spent together at his studio. It ain’t finished yet, but it’s a start! Let’s collabo some more mang…

And we also finnagled our way onto Tommy Tee’s National Rap Show in Oslo. Freestyling and previewing some of our newly written material on air was a high point as well. So much goodness. It put me in the mood to give back, BIG time. So, here are some surefire jams that have been in my sets as of late. Enjoy em. And party like you’re Henrik, a regular Crate reader in Oslo who showed MAD love at club BLAA– where were you for the last beer of the night?

A quick note on the tunes: all of these superfly remixes are available at the everbumpin’ Turntable Lab. Cop ’em while you can.

PEACE.

Freddie Cruger : Over The Ocean ft. Desmond Foster
taken from the album “Soul Search” on Ubiquity/Raw Fusion (2006)

The Knife : Heartbeats
taken from the album “Deep Cuts” on V2 (2005)

Missy Ft. Ciara : Loosecontrol (Beatards RMX)
taken from our first mixtape “The Smoke Off” available NOW!

Some may be familiar with one of my major projects of the moment: Mixtape Riot! For those that don’t know, allow me to give a quick shpeal. It’s a party hosted by us, The BeATaRdS— 2 DJ’s, 4 turntables, and 1.5 MC’s (which means that while we have a frontman, I contribute the occaisional verse as well). We do live remixes with our own beats, and sprinkle in our original songs as well. Sounds a little confusing, but it’s easier to understand if you’re in the crowd. Well, we’ve been rocking shows in the L.E.S. for close to a year now, and we’re finally starting to hit the road… or airstrip, rather. EUROPE, baby! That’s right. We’re about to take Sweden and Norway by storm. Any of you folks over there, HOLLER, and check the myspace page for venue details. Gothenberg on the 18th, Oslo on the 19th, and Stockholm on the 20th. Plus we’re gonna be on Norway’s national hip hop radio station… Tommy T (I think)?!? Still not completely straight on all the details, but we’re definitely gonna be partying, so COME OUT and say wurd.

And here’s some tunes from up in those northern regions that I been feeling as of late. Gonna try to get into the studio with funkmaster Freddie Cruger while we’re over in Stockholm… got my fingers crossed. If you’re not totally convinced by The Knife’s version of Jose Gonzalez’s “Heartbeats”, then check the music video for the full-fledged experience. And yeah, cop our MIXTAPE! Paypal $5 ($8 Int’l) to captainplanet@bywayof.net with yer address attached.

p.s.- I was kindly informed by a reader that it was actually Jose Gonzalez who did the cover version of “Heartbeats”, originally by The Knife. Sorry.

“Passport” broadcast from 01.01.07 New Year’s Day Hangover Special!

“Passport” broadcast from 12.18.06 Egyptian Jazz, Turkish Breaks…

Every Monday, 8 -9 PM on WNYU 89.1FM
It’s never easy staying on top of this stuff. But better late than never.

Playlist for 01.01.07
Artist (location) — track title — album — (label):
1. Roy Brown (Puerto Rico) — “Mama Yoyo” — Profecia De Urayoan — (Disco Libre)
2. Unknown (China) — “Unknown” — Unknown
3. Jorge Ben (Brazil) — “Oba, La Vem Ela” — Forca Bruta — (Philips)
4. Ok-Oyot System (Kenya/USA) — “Ilando Gima Onge” — Extra Golden — (Thrill Jockey)
5. Orchestre Du Baobab (Senegal) — “Kelen Ati Len” — Kelen Ati Len 7″ — (Soundway)
6. Ricardo Ray & Bobby Cruz (Puerto Rico) — “Donde Esta Mi Negra?” — 1975 — (Vaya)
7. Mario Cavagnaro (Peru) — “Salchicha Con Huevo / Guaguanco Raro” — Cocktail De Exitos — (Sonoradio)
8. Ocho (NYC) — “Hotpants Road” — Tres — (Universal Sound)
9. Sir Victor Uwaifo & His Titibitis (Nigeria) — “Ewere Noyoyo” — Jackpot — (Makossa)
10. Pasteles Verdes (Peru) — “Angelitos Negros” — Recuerdos De Una Noche –(Gema)
11. Selda (Turkey) — “Gine Haber Gelmis” — Selda — (B-Music)

Playlist for 12.18.06
Artist (location) — track title — album — (label):
1. Marku Ribas (Brazil) — “Zamba Ben” — Marku — (Beverly)
2. Mustafa Ozkent (Turkey) — “Dolana” — Genclik Ile Elele — (Finders Keepers)
3. Adiss (Armenia) — “Pajanoum” — Adiss 78 — (Arka)
4. Salah Ragab & The Cairo Jazz Band (Egypt) — “Neveen” — Egyptian Jazz — (Art Yard)
5. Djamel Allam (Algeria) — “Samarkande” — Les Reves Du Vent — (L’Escagot)
6. Toubabou (Canada/W.Africa) — “Yama Nekh” — Le Ble Et Le Mil — (ProgQuebec)
7. Jesus Acosta & The Professionals (Belize) — “Theme From The Godfather” — The Professionals On Tour — (CES)
8. Soulful Dynamics (?) — “Gotomo” — Wildcats — (Decca)
9. Armando Hernandez (Colombia) — “Celos De Amor” — 14 Canonazos Bailables Vol. 21 — (Fuentes)
10. Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers (NYC) — “San Juan 2000” — Yaina — (Right-On)
11. Eba Aka Jerome et le Sanwi Star (Ivory Coast) — “Viliemon” — Trahison — (Papa-Disco)

Ocho : Hot Pants Road
taken from the album “Numero Tres” on UA Latino (1974)

Dave Barker & The Upsetters : Prisoner Of Love
taken from the album “Prisoner Of Love” on Trojan (1970)

Ravi Harris & The Prophets : Gimme Some More/Hot Pants Medley
taken from the album “Funky Sitar Man” on BBE (1997)

James Brown : Give It Up, Turn It Loose (Latin Reconstruction)
taken from a whitelable 12″

Just now emerging from the dizzying vortex of the past 2 weeks– it was family crashing on couches, going broke on presents, eating and drinking too much, partying like mad, and DJ-ing until 9am on New Year’s Day. It was also the death of JB. I’ve already seen a lot of great tributes and heartfelt write-ups about the Godfather. I also spent a good deal of time just watching all the electrifying vintage footage of Soul Brother #1 on youtube.com (this website keeps reminding me, perhaps more than any other single site, that we’ve entered a new era of media). And now, this late in the game, there’s little for me to add. Still, considering all the hours I spent as a young teen bumping James Brown’s music, how he inspired me to make music of my own, how digging his records pulled me into the world of DJing, and even provided the instrumentals for my first freestyles… I owe him RESPECT.

So does much of the world in one way or another. What I wanted to add to the recent outpouring of JB appreciation is a little glimpse at the global reach of his work. The covers and rip-offs are countless. Dudes were jacking his style in Ethiopia, and in Brazil too. So I put together a few tracks that I think demostrate some of the more interesting fusions and mutations of the JB signature sound. From Nuyorican Harlem, to Funky Kingston, all the way to India, JB made waves. I also threw in a recent and mysterious remix that has been a crate staple and continues to work magic on the dancefloor. Definitely the highlight of my DJ gigs this past week was looking out on a seething crowd (there were AFROs bouncing!) getting sweaty and loose with a newly kindled appreciation for hard, popping FUNK. Keep on dancing! Funk will never die!

Ricardo Eddy Martinez : Te Quedas
taken from the album “Expreso Ritmico” on Egrem (197?)

Grupo Los Reyes 73 : Un Lamento Hecho Cancion
taken from the album “Nuevo Cuba 1” on Barclay (1976)

Pearly Queen : Quit Jivin’
taken from the compilation “Diggin’ The Crates for Afro-Cuban Funk” on Empire (2001)

Willy Chirino : Papote’s Theme (Edit)
taken from the album “Chirino 3” on Grand Artists (1976)

With Castro actually out of commission, the island of Cuba is looking at some major changes in the very near future. Perhaps our Caribbean tour will be making legal stops there next year (no more of this going through Mexico and Canada bull). Question is, what’s going to happen to Cuban culture? Seems like 50 years (almost) of rebellion and embargo has come to define how we think about the culture and country. Something tells me that when the option of buying a new Ford becomes available, a lot of those beautiful oldies will finally be put to rest. Will this little bastion of communism go global like China? Will they grow the next 8ft. man and use him to save dolphins?! Sorry, on to the music…

Despite the attempts to shut-off Cuba from the rest of the world, this bunch of dirty funk tracks bears proof that Cubans were indeed reaching out beyond the Island’s shores (and if you know anything about Cuban hip-hop, you know that they’re still reaching out). We all know and appreciate the beautiful mastery of Cuban Son & Guajira, but few have witnessed the devastating effect of mixing Bata drums into breakbeats. I recently found out about a certain upcoming compilation of Cuban funk, and now I’m fiending like a Bush on the hunt for oil.

Do I know anything about any of these groups? Sadly, no. Except maybe Willy Chirino, who was born in Cuba but couldn’t return after he left for education in his youth. Chirino 3 contains a pretty dope, conga-heavy cover of “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love”. The edit that I performed on Papote’s Theme above is due to a 16-bar region of cheesy strings that no one wants to sit through- you won’t even notice it’s gone. The Expreso album was a recent score, and I highly reccomend hunting for it. There are multiple other bangers to be found amidst its grooves. Pearly Queen = raer. Diggin’ compilation = not so raer. Viva la FUNK!