Just some amazing covers of Roy Ayers Ubiquity’s “Everybody Loves The Sunshine” by D’Angelo & Swarvy for the hell of it. 

D’Angelo “Everybody Loves The Sunshine”

Swarvy “EverybodyLovesTheSunshine [ft. Versis & Melanie Charles]” (buy here).

“I CUT MY PLUG OFF SO NOW I’M BRICK SEARCHIN’ / PLUG TOLD ME TO PULL UP IN A WHITE SUBURBAN / HOPPED OUT THAT WHIP NOW IM PLUG SEARCHIN’ / AS I LOOKED TO MY LEFT A TALL WHITE PERSON …”

This is what modern-day teen angst sounds like.  if you’re hating on this, I don’t think your in your right mind honestly. 

Merry Christmas, here’s the hardest rap song you’ve never heard. I was snooping through J-Zone’s likes on SoundCloud I ran across this gem of a free mix Just Out Of Dallas full of rare Dallas rap. It begins with “Ain’t No More Gangstas”, a rare slappin’ Syl Johnson-sampling song that calls out all of those who constantly front. 

Listen:

From John Coltrane’s Transition (recorded in ‘65, posthumously released in ‘70).

Happy belated, I continue to enjoy learning about your journey of a career. This one hits me in the feels everytime, a tear is at the ready to appear I promise you … 

(Photo: via)

“I’m not going to produce something for other people. This is who I am. My first EP is called ‘Eu Sei Quem Sou’ (I Know Who I Am). It came up when I knew who I was and what I was doing and what my goal was”. - DJ Marfox

Listen below:

The first time I heard this it took my breath away - relentless. untamed & free. I love learning about thriving movements involving young people like myself such as the kuduro movement out of Lisbon, Portugal – it keeps me going. His assurance of knowing himself musicially makes DJ Marfox definitely someone to admire. From now on, I’m following the movement closely. 

Here’s a great interview he did with RBTV:

… a lot of crazy things (have been) going on – from Ahmad Jamal’s album Extensions (1965).

Sidenote: Vernell Fournier’s drum solo beginning @ 4:52 is A-1. 

Once again, I’ve been away for a minute. I have a little freetime at the moment so I thought it would be nice to update this space. I decided to start something new, Relevant Song Titles (name subject to change) and will possibly publish later on this week a post with a few songs I’m feeling right now. Major thanks to everyone that has supported this blog – seasoned & new alike. 

Listen below: 

"If God had a disco, the DJ would be playing California gospel-soul group The Supreme Jubilees." - Light In The Attic Records

FYI: This post was initally written many months ago, pardon my laziness. Thanks for those who have shown appreciation for this blog even when I was procastinating big time.

Nicholas Payton & Butcher Brown “Eight”, Outtakes From Numbers

The way how Corey hits those fat snares in the beginning — oh man … 

Sorry to those who have been messaging me about the status of the blog. My hiatus game is REALLY strong this year. Here’s something that I’ve been meaning to share for a while — an outtake of the song "Eight", by Nicholas Payton featuring the great guys out out Richmond, VA Butcher Brown (DJ Harrison - keys/bass, Corey Fonville - drums, Keith Askey - guitar, Andrew Randazzo - bass ). The final version can be found on Payton’s latest album Numbers. 

Butcher Brown will be releasing their new album, All Purpose Music, this week on Oct. 21st. You can hear a few songs from that release and pre-order the album here.

missing baby!

Marcellus Pittman “Illa 5 Ella”, from Erase The Pain (2010)

It’s been a long summer, I did a lot of branching out & I’m soaking in all the things my mind is now allowing me to enjoy. For those who know what’s up, I salute you — please bear with me though. I admit I was a little hesitant to listen to music of a high BPM. (I find that weird, I can sure get down to some footwork.) I’m taking this little by little getting my research up, checking out the essentials, hearing the veterans speak & keeping up the upcoming talent (<— the hi-hats on this are like heaven, WOW). I’m learning as I go & I’m loving every minute of it. I don’t know what it was that was mentally blocking me to give techno a chance for almost 21 years, pretty sure it was the whole “rave” lifestyle that I thought was associated with it. Oh, silly, silly me. But, what has made me want to know more about it are the minds behind the sounds, especially those who’ve made an impact in the Detroit scene.

 “Jazz spawned house music, jazz spawned hip hop, jazz spawned funk and they all reflect back into that” - Theo Parrish

That little shame/excuse of the paragraph you just read is my way of encouraging some of you all who are currently having trouble adapting to music of a new genre to stick it out. Think of each genre as a person you’ve just met. What do you do you to get to know more about that person. Ask questions, take a walk in his/her shoes, learn about their origins and why act/walk/talk the way they do. Go out & explore my friends. 

Kankick “Herb Executive”

This has been providing me joy for the past two weeks I must say — along with the instrumental as well. Everything that I heard that’s available for streaming on YouTube from Kankick's Cal I Foreigner EP (recorded in ‘98, released in ‘03) has been nothing but heat, and it’ll be much sweeter if could get my hands on the real thing and experience it in full.

You can do your homework on Kankick (if needed — he’s important, like appearing on Madlib's first record & being a vital piece of the West Coast scene important) & support his many releases on his Bandcamp. 

Delroy Edwards “Whats Yo Hood Like”

Delroy Edwards is honestly the reason why I decided to post ANYTHING on here recently. He’s basically the spark I sorta needed to find the strength within me to share. It’s not that I don’t like sharing anymore — blah, blah, blah. Enough about my problems. My latest internet hiatus is over because I felt it was necessary to put out there that his the most exciting thing I listened to in a long while.  He’s simply the truth: from his techno-based stuff to his experimental so techno-based stuff. He has this new screw tape Slowed Down Funk Vol. 1 where “Whats Yo Hood Like” stems from. The song reminds me of that Tommy — a decent blend of ruggedness with a gentle melody.   

You can check out other favorites of mine, "Untitled 8", from his minimal-sounding Teenage Tape and the loosie "Maxwell" from his SoundCloud: