Spent the past week in the woods on the farm where I was born. Daily activities consisted of picking wild berries, swimming in ponds, jumping into waterfalls, foraging greens from the garden, bending downward dogs, scraping honeycomb from the hive, gathering eggs from the chickens, and taking plenty of time to star gaze. Sounds like an unlikely place for a dance party, but if you know my family and friends then you can picture the nightly boogie fest that goes down whenever I’m around. Hopefully today’s selections will help you get a lil taste of that paradise.

Change :       A Lover's Holiday &       Paradise
heavy rotation selections from the legendary Larry Levan

I Level :       Give Me (12
nice lil boogie gem that you may recall from a certain Tribe of yore

Capital Cities :       Kangaroo Court
this has definitely grown on me. Lookin forward to hearing more from these local LA guys.

Breakbot ft. Irfane :       One Out Of Two (Oliver Remix)
the new Breakbot single gets a very Quincy Jones-esqe treatment here and I ain’t mad about it.

Kraak & Smaak :       This Feeling
another monster from this crew. This whole mix/record is a great listen. Seems so long ago when I was opening for these guys on their first US tour

Miguel Migs ft. Evelyn “Champagne” King :       Everybody
yes, it’s that Evelyn. Props to Mr. Migs for pulling together a very interesting cast on this recent release and digging back into his disco roots.

Gorillaz ft. Little Dragon :       Empire Ants (Miami Horror Remix)
totally missed this one when it came out. Friends don’t let friends sleep on songs this good.

Jazzanova ft. Phonte :       Look What You're Doin' To Me (MCDE Remix)
another one I slept on far too long. Interesting to see all the different projects Phonte has gotten involved with. Still love this record.

Tom Noble :       Dancing Hard (Al Kent Remix)
you’re gonna wanna get out your roller skates if you haven’t already.

Cassian :       Fuck Song
it is exactly what it claims to be. Nice horn sample from Tom Brown that was driving me mad before a friend helped me place it.

Foals :       Miami (Jono Ma & Franklin Furter Remix)
ok already, I know I’m slow sometimes, but this needs to be shared too. Check the band in case you’re slow like me.

Catching up on all kinds of good music right now while taking a much appreciated vacation in the country. I guess this blog is becoming slightly poopular because the number of promos I get sent daily just keeps increasing exponentially and I’ve even been sent offers to cover music on here for $$$! WTF?!? I still remember when I was worried about getting shut down for posting copyright protected material, guess those days are long gone. I think I’m also always late enough on posting new songs (one week is a year in the hipster blogosphere) that they’ve given up by the time I get to it. Either way, I’ll keep doing what I do, sharing whatever I’m feelin at the moment, and today it happens to be this…

Coastal Cities :       Relief
punky funky indie pop rock done proper, from these young bloods out of the UK

Miike Snow :       Pretender &       Bavarian #1 (Say You Will)
I don’t care if you Europeans call this “power pop”, I still love it. Over here in The States pop singers are afraid of breakbeats. I don’t know why, but that needs to change because I can’t stand to hear another electro-house, deadmau5-rip-off with added auto-tune vocals hijack the airwaves. I’m not in love with the whole album, but I still consider this good music.

Frank Ocean :       Lost &       Sweet Life
Somebody went and made an amazing album (for 2.99?!?).  Thank you Frank, for being an extremely brave and painfully real artist.

Reptar :       Thank You Gliese 370 b &       Isoprene Bath
got tipped off on this group from regular reader Dangerscouse and am very thankful for that. Like Vampire Weekend with more vintage synths and cowbell.

Twin Sister :       Bad Street
don’t remember how I found this band or this song, but it fits.

Fujiya & Miyagi :       Collarbone &       OK
this was a radio discovery. These guys have quite a few albums, all pretty mellow and vibey. Dare I say, “Whisper Funk”?

St. Vincent :       Cruel
I’m usually really hesitant to share stuff that I feel is being overly-hyped, but this song is truly deserving. Rest of the album is pretty crazy too.

Yacht :       Psychic City (Classixx Remix)
ok, really really late on this, but maybe some of you missed it too.

Thought :       The Hardest Thing
once again, no idea how this ended up in my itunes. Standout track for me from this album.

Poolside :       Next To You &       Slow Down
this album is pretty much the epitome of summer days in Southern California. I feel like these guys are to LA what Holy Ghost is to NY. Where the Ghost boys go black & white, Poolside is all pastels. Both groups however, love their disco and vintage synths.

Blogging to you live & direct from hot-as-balls NYC! Damn it feels good to be home (one of multiple homes I now claim). Been an absolutely craaaaazy week with all the LAMC shows and parties, plus catching up with homies and soaking up as much of the city as I can while I’m here. Yesterday I was privileged to have another quintessential Brooklyn Summer experience: dancing in pouring rain, with lightning above me, while Afrika Bambaata, DJ Spun & Tim Sweeney threw down records at the new Dekalb Market. Gottdam I love this city! Later tonite I’m catching Louie Vega on the rooftop of the Standard hotel… and of course there’s like 5 other ridiculous events going on at the same time as well.

Today I’m also happy to announce the release of this top-notch compilation of global bass from my good friends Mash It Up! in Cologne in collaboration with the truly global label Urban World. I’ve got a new exclusive song on here (below), so of course I gotta promote it, but don’t sleep on other heaters from Uproot Andy, Sabo, Matanza, and DJ Melo among many others. The whole comp is a free download, so do yourself a favor and GET IT HERE.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the long player above that undoubtedly contains multiple dub masterpieces, however I do have plenty of other heavyweight material for you this week which should leave you with no room to complain. I’m celebrating another return to NYC this week for the massive LAMC festival. There’s a million artists I’m hoping to catch, but this show in particular, at one of my all-time favorite venues, ranks high on the list. I’m opening tomorrow night at Bowery Electric for my badass homies Outernational who recently released this politically charged video for the title track off their debut album. Friday night I’ll be back in Brooklyn with the Bastard Jazz family at Trophy Bar for a night of funky eclectic dance music and pickle back shots. Saturday I’ll be at my 2nd home, Bembe, with a great line-up of DJs and a live set from another MTR favorite- Xenia Rubinos. So if you’re in NYC, there’s no excuses, pick a night and show up!

La Pesada :       Cumbia Y Tambo
Concept Neuf :       The Path (Sofrito Edit)
both taken from the top-notch new compilation International Soundclash on Strut Records.

Cos-Ber-Zam :       Ne Noya (Daphni Edit)
another deep trippy re-work from Caribou’s alter-ego

Cumbia Cosmonaut :       Tribal Amazonico
nice electro 3ball style banger from this Aussie duo 

Los 4 :       No La Recuerdo
I realize this is bachata-pop, but I can’t help but love it. The beat reminds me of early Timbaland. I can easily picture a very crunk remix of this.

Pernett :       Cumbia Computer (Zeb Remix)
another nice release from the Wonderwheel familia, this time blending Andean flutes with some Jamaican dancehall skank.

Sonia :       Aqui En Mi Nube
slightly random selection, but it’s the Latin Alt conference, and this Spanish Stones cover just seemed to fit.

Soreng Santi :       Iron Man
on the topic of covers… this one from Indonesia is not to be overlooked.

Courtney John :       Love Is
new, old-sounding goodness from one of my favorite contemporary Jamaicans.

Richie Phoe :       Bumpy's Lament
nice dubby cover of an Isaac Hayes classic by UK DJ/producer Richie Phoe, from his new album Echo Outernational 

Ijahman Levi :       Closer To You
I had been looking for this LP for 10 years! I finally found it in Amsterdam of all places. After hearing this heartbreaker, maybe you’ll be on the search now…

The rebellious birth of my nation is truly something to be thankful for, and grounds for at least a smidgin of national pride. I mean, who doesn’t love a good tea party? Oh wait, certain American crazies went and fucked that up too. However, if there’s one thing we can all agree on as the true strength and character of this big fat country, it’s the gumbo that was already cooking when the founding fathers (and mothers) were fighting for independence. Every other country in the world has a population here, and probably an amazing restaurant or two (or two million, thank you China).  Best believe Thomas Jefferson loved some curry goat. After all the dirty dealings and clandestine violence that this country has been involved in (and continues to perpetrate), my search to find anything redeeming in my homeland has generally focussed on the healthy plethora of counter-cultures that plot and scheme and throw parties in the parking lots behind the McDonald’s. So this year as the USA turns 236 (just a couple years senior to ole “Hanako” the koi), I’m once again celebrating fireworks with a soundtrack that includes not a single American pop song.

Makala :       Friendly Fire (Smakalites Original Version)
produced by my Basque rumba-punk-surfer brother Makala. Check his album here.

 Ondatropica :       Punkero Sonidero
what an insane project, but then again, I expect no less from Will Quantic.

Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars :       Gbara Case
this whole album (produced by my dude Ticklah) is top notch.

Paco Mendoza :       Fosforito (Vadim Mix) &       Adicto
I kicked it with Paco in Berlin last month and couldn’t believe I hadn’t already heard his music. Not only is he an extremely rad individual, but he’s got a massive catalogue of tunes- I’m hoping for a collabo soon…

The Funk Ark :       Green Trees &       Rancho
not re-inventing the wheel, but putting those firestones to work on bumpy tropical terrain.

The Soul Session :       Hamjam (Pushin Wood Remix)
heavy organ and some nice little psychedelic touches on a solid cumbia 2-step, I’m not mad at this at all.

Congo Sanchez :       Oleada Calor
dubby downtempo afrobeat that sounds like it was made during a heatwave. Check out more.

Sono Rhizmo :       Soledad
another nice bootleg remix from the good folks at Resense.

El Rego :       Zon Dede &       E Nan Mian Nuku
heavy rootical sounds from an OG.

Alhaji K. Frimpong :       Hwehwe Mu
surprised I haven’t shared this one before. One of my all-time favorite West African songs (and the sample source for an afro-house classic).

Time to start soaking it up. Find a pool, a grill, a cold beer, a rooftop and of course a little crew of friends, and spend a Summer day the right way. This sun-soaked latest installment for BrooklynRadio.com should also help you complete the picture. If you’re in the LA area, then come through to this party I’m throwing on Saturday night to help get things started off on the good-foot.

Also, as I mention in the podcast, my Chico Mann Remix is now available as a free download, so treat your playlist to an early Chanukah present.

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