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MIX NOTES

Lots of people at Saturday’s Just Right party in The Bronx asked me for a recording afterwards. Chris and I tried to record it, but we were having issues with the cables shorting the mixer, so we left it alone. My man Monty even tested his record setup at home before bringing it to the party, but alas, it was not meant to be. After getting so many requests, I did my best to recreate it in the crib, with about an extra hour’s worth of songs I had intended to play if time allowed. Some I just forgot about, which always happens in a live setting. Tecate and jello shots being handed to you randomly out of the darkness(!) will have that effect. A bunch of these edits and acapellas I made just for this party, as is my steez. Fans of my mixes will no doubt recognize a lot of these songs as joints I’ve been playing for years, but there is some new stuff peppered in there, I swear. Thanks again to Redness, Jaguar Jay, Chris Beast 621, Josh Milan, Janine Sugah Lyrics Lyons, and all the wonderful folks who came uptown to get down. It was a great night!

You Can Do It Baby – A tried and true, go-to house track that works on any NY crowd. Def in my top ten Masters At Work productions. I have no idea how this recording actually went down, but I like to think Louie and Kenny just put on the groove and let George Benson wing it – in that way only he can. I recall Giant Step releasing a promo interview CD about the making of the record that I must track down. This was the first 12” I got from the Nuyorican Soul record, and I played it countless times over the years, so it holds a very special place in my brain. It’s pressed on really thick vinyl and the weight of it just always felt good in your hands.

Calling Out – This dope gospel number came out on 7” in 2017. UK singer Sophie Lloyd got Detroit trio Dames Brown to play the instruments live, striking a great balance between live gospel and a straight house cut. There’s a faster Floorpan remix, and I do love me some Floorplan aka Robert Hood, but I much prefer that authentic sound of this original version. I made an edit to extend the chorus on both the front and back end, cuz it just felt like it was made for long blends.

Someday (Brian Tappert rework) – This Brian Tappert remix came out in March on the Foliage Records compilation “Deep Rooted”, but it’s actually an older track by French producer Rocco from 2008. Tappert jettisons a lot of the original vocals and just keeps it simple. This samples Aretha’s version of Donny Hathaway’s “Someday We’ll All Be Free”, that came out on Spike Lee’s Malcolm X” soundtrack in 1992. It’s a stellar recording worth owning, as is the original. This gospel treatment makes it feel very socially conscious, but the Donny version is much more personal in tone.

Park Row – I put this on a mix just last year, but I really wanted to hear it played in a club. Jordan O’regan is from Bristol and he clearly knows how to get things moving. He’s released tracks on many US deep house staples like Nervous, Large, and King Street Sounds – which is precisely where this type of joint is most at home. I used a Mr V acapella and subbed in my own name for his cuz WTF else was I gonna do? Can’t have some other DJ saying his name on my mix LOL. He’s a cool dude and I’m confident he will forgive me.

Jeopardized – Switzerland-based Kosovo-born Sabb has been making noise in Europe since about 2014. This track came out just last month, and it really has a great sound to me. Very techy and Berlin-y, but slyly soulful and wonderfully stripped-down to the bare essentials. Reminds me of Dixon / Ame stuff from the early 2000s. I’ll be checking for this dude on the reg henceforth.

Yemaya – No NY house party worth its weight in head wraps is complete without Yoruban call and response in the mix. It’s in the DNA of NY house music (and, indirectly, just about all American music, if you wanna go there). Percussionist Luisito Quintero grew up in Caracas where he played with the orchestra and toured extensively with Venezuelan salsa legend Oscar D’Leon. Louie Vega was smart enough to snatch him up for his Elements of Life sessions way back, and he’s been in regular rotation ever since. There’s a bunch of mixes of this, but I prefer LLV’s stripped own version, with just drums and vocalist Nina Rodriguez. What more do you need?

DJ Clock VS Michael Watford EDIT – I did this edit last year for a Soulgasm party, and I kinda can’t resist playing it. The vocals are from Michael Watford’s 1994 classic “Michael’s Prayer” produced by Roger Sanchez. DJ Clock is Kholile Elvin Gumede, a South African DJ and producer who has been big over there (and worldwide) since about 2007. This hit the NY clubs about 4 years ago and still gets the party moving. If you listen to South African house, you’ll notice a whole lot of it follows a very similar formula of having some kind of dominant synth sound droning throughout the entire song. Not sure who started it,  but it is definitely working. I recently saw Black Coffee play at The Apollo and he played like 2 hours of songs like this, and you couldn’t stop dancing.

Put Your Back In It – A Shelter classic from Peven Everett that I absolutely love. My man Quentin Harris put some extra percussion on top and some really weird, kinda-janky keyboard stabs that somehow still work. There was a period at Shelter where every record had Quentin just playing keys on top of the whole fucking song, and nobody seemed to mind at all LOL.

We Had A Thing – Speaking of NY club classics, this one was more favored on the Body N Soul end of town. This remix was produced by Matthias ‘Matty’ Heilbronn, who had a lot of hits around this time. Monique Bingham killing it on vocals, as usual.

It’s Getting Late – This Floetry remix has always been at the top of my list of the DFA bootlegs that Daryl James and Fred McFarlane were churning out almost weekly in the early 2000s. Bronx-native Daryl James made his rep with a very long-running radio show on KISS FM, and held down 90s residencies at seminal clubs like Bentley’s. His DFA productions brought back a much-needed R&B feel to house music at that time. Fred McFarlane (RIP) is probably best known as the guy behind the Robin S debut hit “Show Me Love”.

Funkanova – One of the great one-hit-wonders of dance floor classics, by Wood, Brass & Steel, who released just one LP in 1976. Members of the group went on to form Tackhead as well as play with The Sugarhill Gang. I recently read an interview where Ron Trent mentioned how younger club heads  would probably be surprised to know that this particular song was referred to as “deep house” when it was being played in clubs like the Music Box in the early 80s. O.G.s from Chicago and NY will tell you that the term deep house had a much broader meaning when it first surfaced, referring to anything “deep” a DJ might play to move the crowd. Almost 40 years later, you probably still couldn’t get 2 people to actually agree on the definition LOL.

Flying Machine (The Chase) – I must confess I try to play this 1978 War song almost any chance I get. It’s one of my all time favorite club records, and arguably the best instrumental song War ever made (though plenty of DJs would probably fight me IRL for not choosing “City Country City”). My man Jules Gayton put me on to this years ago. He always seemed to have it in his crate, and it would never fail to get the Rocksteady Crew members in the house completely open. It was also among the many LP cuts David Mancuso was known to play at The Loft, when he was casually and organically inventing American DJ culture in the 70s. I mean, just listen to it. It has like THREE different energetic peaks, and the amazing, heavy synth build up at 2:00 very much foreshadows the way rave culture would embrace these kind of crescendos in the 90s and beyond.

Bordeaux (Kaidi Thathum remix) – I still carry a torch for Broken Beat, simply because I prefer mixing up the rhythms of a dance floor. Too much straight 4/4 house makes me ZZZZZZZ. This is a 2014 remix by keyboardist Kaidi Tathum, who’s name is synonymous with the genre, thanks to his work with Bugz In The Attic and The Herbaliser, among others. I added the Police “voices in my head” acapella on top to give dancers something to grab on to, if they weren’t sold on the beat switch up. I played this for the first time on Saturday and people seemed to dig it so YAY.

Ronco Da Cuica EDIT – I woke up with this song in my head 2 days before this Bronx party. Hadn’t heard it in years. I think I put it on a mix in 2006. I couldn’t find my vinyl copy so I had to download it digitally and try to recreate the edit the morning of the party. Still sounded great. Da Lata is Brazilian-centric band from the UK started by a couple of DJs who mix Funk and Bossa and Samba with a bit of an Afrobeat feel. The song is actually a cover of Brazilian guitarist Joao Bosco from 1976.

Starfish & Coffee – One of my all-time favorite Prince songs. I added the SP12 drums from the dub of “Eric B Is President” to give it a bit more thump, and that worked out swimmingly, don’t ya think?

Afterparty – This Koffee Brown joint was a dance floor filler back when I was playing at Frank’s Lounge in Fort Greene in 2001. Back when people still used the term “neo-soul” to describe any R&B that wasn’t completely throw-away. These guys were a male/female duo in the Ashford & Simpson tradition. Falonte “Fonz” Moore and Vernell “Vee” Sales. Naughty By Nature’s DJ, Kay Gee, put the group together and signed them to Arista. They only released one album.

I Can’t Go For That (Pomo Remix) – I’ve been dying to play this Hall & Oates remix in a club since it came out in the Fall. Really solid production skills at work here, and the little chimey keyboard accent seemed like a good match for a similar thing going on in the previous track. These are the kind of nerdy details that I doubt most people actually notice, but I firmly believe make for a smoother dance floor experience.

Spanish Joint (Kero remix) – There’s been a ton of remixes of this particular track from D’angelo’s sophomore masterpiece “Voodoo”, probably because it was the most uptempo song on the record. Kero was smart enough to use the “acoustic demo” version of D just playing piano and belting it out, which gave him a lot more space to add in synths and drums and samples.

Lil Louis VS The Fog EDIT – I did this edit for this party, taking the beginning and end of “French Kiss” and laying Dorothy Mann’s vocals from The Fog’s 1993 banger “Been A Long Time” on top. Towards the end I layered in a few more acapella samples for dramatic effect, leaning heavily on Sinnamon’s “I Need You Now” (1983), which is in every house DJ’s arsenal. I used to stay away from these acapella standards on G.P., but every now and I then I hear them in a club and I’m reminded how great they are when used just right.

Fadjamou (St Germain Remix EDIT) – I did a little rearranging of this Tony Allen & Oumou Sangaré track – to give it more of a verse/chorus/verse/chorus structure. This remix came out in February. If you’re a fan of Mrs Sangaré, I did put another great song from the collabo by these two West African giants on THIS MIX, if you want to hear more.

Uyankementeza – This Afro Warriors song is a couple of years old now, but still beats any NY dancefloor to death. My man Lil Ray played it at the Shelter anniversary a few months back and myself and everybody else in the room was like OH SHIT THAT’S MY JAM! Afro Warriors are two Angolan DJs, Dr. Renas and Bráulio Silva, who I had wrongly assumed were Brazilian, based on their names alone, but I forgot Angola was under Portuguese rule up until their independence in 1975.

Alexander Technique VS Mastiksoul EDIT – Another edit I made for this party. I wanted to recreate the sound of switching back and forth between two techno tracks, without having to actually do the work live, cuz I’m old and lazy. The young me would have been up to the challenge, but nah. Alexander Tecchnique’s “Big Up” came out in February, while Mastiksoul’s techno-meets-batacuda “Land of Spirits” is about ten years old. A few Buju Banton samples from the Alexander Technique song glued it all together nicely.

Leikeli47 VS Moi Renee EDIT – This Leikeli47 song has been in heavy rotation for me since it dropped in 2017. It’s part B-More booty club house, part straight up Bass music, and all attitude. Since I was digging around playing with classic house acapellas, Moi Renee’s “Miss Honay” seemed like a good thematic match. Always LOL’d at the bitchy line “YES I’M BACK, AND I WANNA TALK!”. Drop this shit at the right time and the children go nuts.

Groove La Chord – The track that put Aril Brikha on the map. So damn good. He seems to alternate between two different kick drums or something, so that just when you think the track is at full tilt, all of a sudden and even thicker kick drum drops and sets off the party. This was a staple at Body n Soul in 1999, and has endured in house clubs, techno clubs, and even Detroit booty clubs. No small achievement in today’s hyper-silo’d club scene.

Bellhead – NY’s Liquid Liquid formed in 1980 and held down their own corner of the No Wave scene for 3 years with their percussion-heavy free-form jams that they dubbed “big beat”. They’re of course best known for “Cavern”, the basis of Grandmaster Flash’s “White Lines”, but this track is my shit, and so damn fast I have to pitch it down to like -7 just to prevent househead heart attacks.

Friday Night – Some weekend jump-up sounds from Ghana by way of London’s Busy Twist. This came out in 2012 but I didn’t discover it until a few years back. I had thought about segwaying into a soca tangent at this point, but you never know how that will go. As a DJ, the closer you are in proximity to Eastern Parkway, the better chance you have that your soca tangents will cause a dancefloor eruption, rather that an evacuation.

Ashewo Ara – Speaking of Ghana, I only discovered this absolutely amazing afro-disco song from 1982 just last year. Kabbala was lead by two brothers, Michael and Isaac Osapanin, who put out just one other single after this, but it failed to match the relentless energy of this joint.

Deputy of Love – A classic NY floor-filler that I just don’t get to hear enough. Don Armando’s 2nd Ave Rhumba Band was lead by Armando Bonilla Jr., who had played percussion in Dr Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band. Clearly he shared their affinity for long names and a perfect blend of disco with a Latino big band swing sound. The great Fonda Rae on vocals.

I need You (Dim’s Sunday Morning Mix) – This is probably the best thing Dimitri From Paris ever fucking did, and with the incredible catalogue of remixes and edits he has given us, that’s saying a lot. I mean, shit…he held back on the drums for like THREE minutes! Nobody has that kind of self-control. I absolutely love it. And not only do you really get to hear Sylvester’s voice crystal clear, but also Martha Wash & Izora Armstead on backup. It’s joyous and ecstatic and a fucking STOMPER from beginning to end. Try not to dance.

Don’t Go – I spent at least an hour looking for a house track that could blend out of that Sylvester joint, and the stripped-down nature of this David Morales beat from 2016 was just what the doctor ordered. I added in the David Byrne vocal loops just to liven things up.

Afrik’ami – DJ and producer Stan Zeff has been deep in the house scene since the 80s, first in London and then in Atlanta with his global Tambor party. He comes from Soundsystem Culture, so you know he comes correct. This percussion-heavy jam came out in March and has been in rotation on my commute ever since.

CamelPhat & Elderbrook – Cola – This was an international crossover club hit last year, and with good reason. Catchy. Bouncy. Impossible to ignore. And just shy of too cheezy. Just…

The Funky Drummer (Jorun Bombay EDIT) – I had wanted to open my set with this but you have to feel out the room. Dropping down to 85bpm from 125 is not always the best move when getting on the decks. Then I ran out of time. This was recorded in Cincinnati in 1969 and only released on 7″. The legend goes James Brown named it during the recording, simply reacting to how tight Clyde Stubblefield’s groove was. He even tells him not to solo. “Just keep what you got… cuz it’s a mother!”

Spread Love – If you weren’t paying attention to gospel acapella groups in the late 80s, you could have easily missed Take Six. To me, they were like the antidote for the Broadway sappiness of The Manhattan Transfer. But then the 45 King sampled “Spread Love” in the 90s, and it became a staple of every NY Hip Hop DJ, myself included. This is just the first verse or so, pitched way-the-hell-up, to act as a bridge between Mr. Brown and Mr Tip.

Breathe & Stop – Fuck what you heard I still play this shit. Q-Tip‘s beat is just SO fucking CRISPY. Try not to nod your head to this. I dare you.

Work Song – Like DJ Shadow, King Britt, and even Moby, Romare aka Archie Fairhurst is one of those DJs who has a very particular collection he samples from, giving his bass music an eclectic sound all his own. It may not all be dance floor-ready, but this Nina Simone-sampling track always stood out to me. Came out in 2015 on his “Projections” LP on Ninja Tune, which is well worth owning.

Further On Up The Road – I think Jamie 326 gave me this edit, back when it came out on Mick Hucknall’s “Tribute to Bobby” LP in 2008. That’s Mick, as in Micky from Simply Red, and Bobby, as in Bobby “Blue” Bland. It’s unapologetic throw-back sound brings back some straight up American rhythm and blues to a club sound who’s waters were muddied many times over since this first dropped in 1957. The original has a great Texas shuffle going on.  You can really hear this kind of blues shuffle in the DNA of cats like Stevie Ray Vaughn, Clapton and Jeff Beck, to name a few. If Karaoke bars had this on tap, instead of Justin Bieber, I might just make an appearance.

Always There (Ashley Beedle remix) – This is a slightly beefed-up edit that Ashely Beedle put out in 2004. It’s pretty true to the Side Effect original, just with a bunch of added video game sound effects and spacey whooshes n shit. The original came out in 1976 on their third album “What You Need”. The Incognito cover with Jocelyn Brown was in heavy rotation back in the Acid Jazz days in NYC, but the original always does it for me.

That’s it. Next time I’ll record for real, and you’ll hear just how sloppy I can get when properly motivated. As always, Thanks for listening. Peace Love and Music.