Abeti : Gogo
taken from her self-titled album on Pierre Cardin (1973)

Miriam Makeba : Quit It
taken from the album “A Promise” on Disques Esperance (1974)

Captain Planet : Lully Bye Inst.
just one of them old beats I made…

I have to give credit where it’s due: I first learned about the illustrious Abeti from a mixtape given to me by young Murphy’s Law. THAT BASTARD! I thought upon reaching the Abeti track, just 10 minutes into side A (nestled nicely between some heavy latin stylings from Los Virtuosos and the trance inducing afro vibes of Malombo– bet you wish you had a copy of that mix!). How can lil’ brody who only just started coppin’ vinyl already be one upping me?! But yesterday, I evened the score once again by finding a copy for myself in a cheapie bin. Hailing from Zaire (now the Congo), Abeti was known throughout the seventies as “le nightingale du Zaïre” – I might have dubbed her the “le Janis Joplin du Zaire” instead. Soul, rock, funk and indiginous styles intermingle all throughout the album with Abeti’s powerful vocal chords soaring over twangy guitar riffs and heavy bass. Why no one has reissued it is a mystery to me.

We all know Miriam, but sometimes we forget about just how amazing she is. Quit It has been brought back into my world recently through several songs that use the silky wah-wah guitar intro that pretty much embodies a chill downtempo headnod. I first sampled this cut almost two years ago, then I heard it used by Afu-Ra on his latest album (did anyone listen to that?) and I got frustrated- it’s never fun to find out that someone else uses your sample first. And then a recent trip over to Aurgasm left me with the song “Bluebird” by One Self in my itunes heavy rotation playlist. Produced by the ever funky DJ Vadim, they do the sample much more justice (sorry Afu). So, now I really can’t do anything with this old beat of mine. If anyone out there is a singer and would like to freak a vocal version, holler at me, otherwise, I figure I’d just throw it out there into the blogosphere as a final goodbye- yes, I know the string sample is a bit off key, but for some reason I kinda like it. A Promise also features the super sick “Mama Ndiyalila” groove as well as the bouncy afro funk cut “Samba” which has been comped a couple times. Joe Sample and other members of The Crusaders are on here as well as string arrangements by one David Axelrod. So quit it.

Edikanfo : Nka Bom
taken from the album “The Pace Setters” on Editions EG (1981)

Black Soul : Africa Africa
taken from their self-titled album on Beam Junction (1977)

Sorry to all of you who missed the extreme jump-off last wed., soooo righteous. Sky Hy definitely freaked the funk out, I’m looking forward to more from that dude. Big up to the other performers too, and the sponsors, and all the pretty faces I saw (ugly ones too). Looks like it will definitely happen again, so stay tuned…

As spring slowly comes into being around me, with cherry blossoms and sunsets at 7:30, I figured it might make sense to drop some fast paced joints in an attempt at speeding the whole process a bit. If it is possible for mother nature to get hype and shake a little faster, then Afro-disco is the thang that will make it happen. Organic pounding drums meet synths and soaring horns. Gotta love that phaser action on the high hats too.

Edikanfo came out of the thriving scene in 70’s Ghana. Faisal Helwani, who produced this record alongside Brian Eno (yup, totally random, he was on a trip and just kinda ended up in the studio), also produced for Fela and Hugh Masekela among other notables. What little I know about this group and the making of this record I learned by reading this book, check it.

As for Black Soul, I can’t say much other than that they originate from Dakar, Senegal and were making moves in the French scene at the time of this recording. Try doing a google search with “Black Soul” and see how much luck you have. It’s always funny to see the one smiling long-haired white dude in the group, reminds me of the Lafayette Afro-Rock Band. This whole record sizzles at about the same tempo and ferocity, moog and disco breaks abound, which makes sense since this is a “TOM MOULTON MIX”. What little I know about that dude I learned reading this book, check it.

Also, I updated the blogroll finally! There’s some new sites I’ve been finding out about… see for yourselves.

Jaime Foxx ft. Ludacris : Unpredictable (Captain Planet Remix)
Crate exclusive… you know.

Me and my boy DJ O (Beatards / Sway) have been planning this event for a minute now- it takes some serious effort to pull off a night with 4 turntables and 2 serato’s (yeah, that’s right, I’m hoppin’ on that digital hover-wagon) doing all LIVE remixes with 100% ORIGINAL BEATS. We make lots and lots of beats all the time, and this is where we get to put them to the test. The above track is one of the myriad concoctions that came together during our hazy-brained experiment sessions. A bunch of live acts that you want to see too, showcasing all kinds of sickness- it’s like the STD segment of Sex Ed, but fun, and with everybody dancing.

So if you’re in NYC this upcoming Wednesday night, then come out, show your face, and give us the thumbs up by wiggling it to a booty beat we probably made last night. It will be many bonfires of hotness.

The Beatards and Via Present:
MXTR6! MIXTAPE RIOT 6

Wednesday, April 5, 2006
@ SOHO:323
323 West Broadway (b/w Canal & Grand)
21+ // $5
Free beer from 10 – 11

The monthly scandalous notorious shocking dumb large girl meets boy boy meets girl party til dawn event, with on-site remixing by DJ O & Captain Planet. Live performances by Sky Hy, Lisa E, Louie Bricks & Nest, and Loot.

Grady Tate : And I Love Her, Work Song and All Around The World
taken from the album “Windmills Of My Mind” on Skye (1968)

In a bit of a different bag today, this is some of that sophisticated soul. I always knew to look for a Grady Tate drumming credit on the back of CTI records and whatnot, but I had no idea about the man’s musical story. Someone by the name of Kristian St. Claire has already written the review that belongs here, so I’ll just tell you to head over there for more info. Really beautiful arrangement by Gary McFarland on the Beatles cover- if, like me, you get impatient with anything that doesn’t start right off with a fat back open break, please push yourself on this one. It gets better, and better, and BETTER. (It’s Pretty Purdy behind the kit if that makes the wait sound a bit more rewarding to you). And when the humming drops at the close of the track, I’m pretty sure you’ll be sold on this tune as well. This is McFarland’s own start-up label, the same one that put out the ridiculously ill Armando Peraza record that I blogged a while back. Sadly, the man passed in ’71 and the label was no more…

Gnarls Barkley (Cee-Lo & Dangermouse) : Smiley Faces and Crazy
taken from the upcoming album St. Elsewhere on Downtown/Atlantic (2006)

Cee-Lo : I’ll Be Around and All Day Love Affair
taken from the album Cee-Lo Green… Is The Soul Machine on Arista (2004)

Cee-Lo : Gettin’ Grown
taken from the album Cee-Lo Green And His Perfect Imperfections on Arista (2002)

First off, I was really really really having a good good good time watching this movie. I think I would be happy just watching Questlove drum for 2 hours straight, but seeing all these cats together was just outta control. It was so good that it almost made me not be mad at myself for missing the concert in person- where was I?

Perhaps the only person missing was my man CEE fuckin’ LO to the mutherfuckin’ GREEN! If you haven’t been travelling through the Siberian backcountry for the past 5 years, then you’ve heard his music. You very well might have all these songs in your iPod already, but on the off chance that somehow you have missed the absolutely brilliant career of one of our greatest contemporary soul music geniuses (yup, I ain’t afraid to say it!) then you will be thanking me for this revelation.

From Goodie Mob to Dungeon Family to solo steez to countless sideprojects (“Sugar” by Trick Daddy or “Don’t Cha” by Tori Alamaze if you need to be reminded), this man has never ceased to deliver TOP quality music while still managing to actually make it sucessfully (at least somewhat) in the industry. “All Day Love Affair” can bring me to tears, no joke. Plus, dude writes mad songs that make it to the Billboard charts without most of us ever knowing it. To me, that’s genius.

As much respect as I had for the Cee, I really didn’t think I could be as blown away as I was when I first heard “Crazy” a while back. But there’s just nothing else like it. Not sure how or when Cee-Lo first hooked up with Dangermouse to form Gnarls Barkley, but the match seems to fit just right. Simple, haunting, raw, organic… the man has a voice worthy of delivering the gospel. Then just this week I got my hands on “Smiley Faces”, holy crapoli. I’m really feeling tunes at this tempo right now, it’s that ole’ tyme side to side sway shizzz. Makes you clap your hands and bounce and bob yer freaking head and shake your hair and just WILE OUT! I’ve heard some other songs of theirs on the internet (including a really interesting cover of Violent Femmes’ “Gone Daddy Gone”), check it out for yourself. You know I don’t usually post music that is easily available for download from any file sharing network, but this is an exception, this needs to be everywhere. This needs to be what gets played non-stop on the top 40. This needs to go triple platinum. Sadly, it’s very unlikely that it will. Thank you Cee-Lo. and Dangermouse too.

Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 : Mais Que Nada
taken from his self-titled album on A&R (1966)

Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’77 : Promesa De Un Pescador
taken from the album “Primal Roots” on A&R (1972)

Sergio Mendes (ft. Q-Tip & Will.I.Am) : The Frog
taken from the album “Timeless” on Concord (2006)

I gotta admit, I was really getting my hopes up about this Sergio project. Sure, the guy has had plenty of leanings towards the ever expanding empire of cheesy-dom, but I still have much respect for Will.I.Am (I can hear you folks jeering in the bleechers, but come on now, listen to how he flipped Jorge Ben’s “Comanche” back in ’98 and tell me that ain’t siiick) and I just kept hearing about more and more artists getting on the album (Erykah, John Legend, Pharoahe Monch, Marcelo D2, and even STEVIE for cryin out loud!), so I was honestly expecting some hotness. Well, “Timeless” doesn’t quite make the grade in my opinion. It’s comes across kind of like a lighter version of the Red Hot + Riot album, but not as badass (Sergio just doesn’t compete with Fela), not as diverse (I would have loved to hear Bugz freak some of this material), and it’s just not as much “Brazilian” as it is “Hip Hop”. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, Hip Hop is good, we love Hip Hop, but I wish Sergio could have exploited his uniqueness a lot more. The sad thing is, whenever he does step up to solo, I usually wince and wish he hadn’t… I don’t want to get old like that.

This old school version of “Mais Que Nada” highlights the type of swinging, groovy, pop originality that I had hoped to see more of. When Sergio’s first A&R album (produced by highly herbie Herb Alpert) dropped in the U.S., it shook. It still shakes. That track is timeless. He continued swinging through the 60’s, fusing latin sounds with British and American pop and soul. There were a lot of cool, jazzy, swingin tunes that came out of it. The early seventies saw Sergio getting a bit funkier. “Promesa” has that nasty drum break (used by none other than Madlib on one of his many side projects) but it also has those elements of Afro-Brazilian music that make it so unique.

This new album ain’t bad, aside from a couple forgettable tracks and some very cheesy soloing, but it doesn’t have anything to really get me excited – so that’s dissappointing. “The Frog” is very playable, same with “Yes, Yes, Y’all” and a few others, but it’s basically just a hip hop track (is Sergio anywhere on this?) with a catchy Brazilian hook. I want to hear Quantic do a track on this album, and Ursula 1000, and Dangermouse could have really flipped one of these songs… oh well.