Friday's Cover: People Are Strange

I was never really a Doors fan. I dug a few of their songs, but those fucking posters of Jim Morrison with his shirt off in every chick’s dorm room made me spontaneously vomit and seize. I mean I guess it’s cool that he whipped his dick out on stage but shut up about it. I know plenty of dudes that would like to whip their dicks out on stage and that doesn’t make them revolutionaries or poets. I guess I don’t really know a lot of dudes that would whip their dicks out and in retrospect that sounded far gayer than intended, but you know what I’m saying. So, “People Are Strange.” Song by the Doors that I actually liked. I guess it’s all about being socially outcast (can anyone relate?) But I always thought that song was kind of hokey.

Stina Nordenstam is a Swedish chick that makes music. I don’t really know a lot a bout her but Unkle did the remix and there was a time in the late 90’s that I considered anything done by Unkle was pretty much gold. What I’ve read, she was a jazz based lass who decided to do some experimenting and released a record of covers from which this is taken. It’s far more eerie and moody than the original and added those weird and uncomfortable feelings that compliment the lyrics more in my opinion. But this isn't about me. This is about you and your beleifs.
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Treebeats A To Z Posting Compilation Of Really Dope Things. The Letters H&I

Alright y'all I didn't have enough H or I to make a complete mix so I combined and purged. I'm tired and I gotta go to bed but enjoy.
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01 - Hall & Oates - Private Eyes
Darryl Hall and John Oates came up with the punny genre “Rock & Soul.” They made outrageously large mustaches, jeri-fros, and mullets sexy as hell. They also made some good music. When I moved back to the States in 82 my cousin had made about 6 beta-max tapes of Mtv. My brother and I acclimated back into American culture by watching 36 hours of shitty new wave videos. I then got into several fights on the first day of school. Apparently tying bandanas around your thigh wasn’t really a good idea. Who knew?
02 - Handsome Boy Modeling School - If It Wasn't For You (Feat. De La Soul & Starchild Excalibur)
So, I’ve tried to find out about what exactly Starship Excalibur did on this track but I’m at a loss. I simply put this in because it was De La with Prince Paul and that’s always a great reason to listen. If you haven’t heard any of the Handsome Boy Modeling School then go get both their records. They are certified dope. If you don’t like it I will personally come to your house and erase all traces of memories of listening to it with my aural deletion apparatus.
03 - The Herbaliser - Another Mother (must be downloaded separately)
I think Herbaliser was my first taste of Ninja Tune and I was hooked immediately. It was when I got my own apartment and started really getting into production techniques and straying from hip-hop a little bit. I didn’t consider it a stray but some of you cats that require a drum machine and an M.C. would. Anyway, it was downtempo instrumental hip hop at it’s finest for me. It also was my first taste of Jean Grae who I was feeling.
04 - Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - Whipped Cream
Certainly my favorite record cover featuring a female covered in whipped cream ever. I was so excited when I got a good copy of this and was able to put I ton my wall. I felt like I worked in a record store. This is actually from the Rewhipped version of this album which was great and Herb Alpert had a lot to do with it and re-recorded some trumpet work for it. It’s a classic record that was reduxed well. Check it out if you haven’t
05 - Herbie Hancock - Rock It (Feat. Grand Mixer DXT)
I remember seeing a live version of this when it was touring on TV and being absolutely blown away. I was sitting with my dad too and it was one of those moments where we shared a musical moment that I’ll always remember. Herbie Hancock was an amazing jazz artist who understood the importance of hip-hop and embraced it as it began and was never trite and made the best cross-over record for at least a decade. Maybe ever.
06 - The Hives - Hate To Say I Told You So
The Hives are the hardest group from Sweden you’ve ever heard. Really more punk than rock, they are a pretty hard ass band. This song, by means of basic deduction does also indeed rock.
07 - Hollertronix - So Many Shrimp
If you’ve never heard Diplo and Low Budget doing there mash-up thing you should. It’s one of those rare occasions for me when I can listen to southern gangsta rap for an extended period of time and still enjoy myself. They work together a lot of material, not to the dizzying amounts of Girl Talk but this certainly is not a blend tape.
08 - House of Pain - Jump Around (Pete Rock Remix)
It seems like this version is making the rounds on a lot of the blogs I go to now but here it is again. I have to say that I think Pete Rock was lazy by cutting out the first “Pack” in Pack it up. This is simply a production gripe and otherwise it was similar to the PE remix he did. I mean that in the sense that it was fucking ill as shit and if you heard it when it came out and House of pain wasn’t one of the six rap records you owned you quite possibly shat your pants and played it several times in a row.
09 - The Housemartins - People Who Grinned Themselves to Death
My brother was a fan of these guys and I kind of hated them but always liked this song. I don’t know anything about them and don’t care enough to look it up really. All I know is that Fatboy Slim was the bassist which is kind of like saying KT Tunstall will have a grammy winning rap album in 10 years. I always kind of liked that about Norman Cook.
10 - Ice Cube - The Nigga Ya Love To Hate
I honestly can’t think of a first track on an album that I like more than this and that set the stage better for what an M.C. was about to do to you in the next 45-60 minutes. Maybe the Roots’ “Proceed” but this was so fucking beautiful. I mean the bomb squad did shit that made Hip-Hop production into an art. There were drum beats you heard for one measure. Or a loop that only played for on hook and no the rest. I really like them and this isn’t about them but sort of is. Cube always shined in NWA and with the addition of good production he released one of my favorite albums and EP’s of all time. By the way, O’shea Jackson, I don’t hate you. I think your recent work with the “Are We There Yet” series of motion pictures is truly your legacy.
11 - Ice-T - I'm Your Pusher
There was a Time when Ice’T wasn’t a punchline. A time when there was no Coco and Darlene’s joyfully underdressed form adorned his covers. This was the time of L.G.B.N.A.F. and Ice-T was more of an M.C. than a pimp of an actor or whatever the fuck he does now. “I’m Your Pusher” was the first record I had 2 12”s of and I juggled it poorly for a long time. It’s also one of my favorite songs of his, probably for the same reason.
12 - Idlewild - Annihilate Now!
I’d like to sound cool and say I was down with these dudes from day one but I honestly didn’t know about them until I started looking for the latest Outkast travesty and stumbled over them. Scotland makes some really good rock and roll. These cats started of a lot harder and have certainly mellowed out. Maybe it’s switching labels. Maybe it’s breaking up and getting back together. Maybe it’s just getting old. There new record, while good and all doesn’t have the same hunger that their earlier work did.
13 - Ill Al Skratch - Where My Homiez (Come Around My Way)
I kind of thought of these guys as a modern day (15 years ago) Nice and Smooth. I mean they weren’t as compelling to listen to but they had that rhyming/singing thing going on. It’s amazing how poorly this aged and how dated they sound “We over here G” Come on. What’s worse is that I used to sing that shit and think that there was a possibility I would shoot someone if they looked at me funny but I didn’t have a gun and cried at camp when they killed a frog so it was even more disturbingly ridiculous. Loved it when it came out though.
14 - Interpol - Untitled
Their debut blew me away. This was my favorite track from it. Very moody and emblematic of that “New York indie scene” sound. Basically they wear tight jeans that are taperd and use far to much product in their hair. In any event, they made a really great record and this was part of it.
15 - Iron & Wine Calexico - He Lays In Reins
I thought this track had a little more balls than the rest of his catalogue. Kind of an interesting story. The dude was a professor in Miami and his friend found some tracks he had recorded at home, sent them into Sub-Pop and he was signed. I have a personal man love for this dude. I first heard him several years ago on Christmas, severly inebriated at my brother’s house. I didn’t know how to work the audiotron at my brothers and ended up listening to his album for three hours while I read Ego Trip’s Book Of Rap Lists. It was one of the most bizarre experiences in my life. Also, my wife walked down the aisle to his “Our Endless Numbered Days” that I had looped to glorious results. Awwww.
16 - Isaac Hayes - Walk On By
I kind of wish I had used this for a Friday’s Cover, but this is just a fucking great record that has been sampled ad nauseum for good reason.
17 - Isley Brothers - Between The Sheets
This record has also been sampled ad-nauseum. Here’s what I came up with off the top of my head, Biggie’s “Big Poppa”, Keith Murray’s "The Most Beautifullest Thing in the World", A Tribe Called Quest’s "Bonita Applebaum" and Da Brat’s "Funkdafied". I mean, those are pretty significant records and all sampled from the same source. Believe it or not. (Ripley’s reference that doesn’t translate in a 12 point font.)

I wanted to find a clip of Halle Barry in Catwoman but I thought this was probably better.

Mixtape Monday: Cold Krush Cuts

Coming from the double cd release of Coldcut and DJ Krush, this is the second side and by far my favorite. It’s a Ninja Tune mix and I’m sure that may scare a few people. Please, don’t fuck up the rest of your future and any chance of getting laid by not listening to this mix. Its 68 minutes and 39 minutes of aural ecstasy. A lot of cat’s think that hip-hop is limited to a having an M.C. or else it ain’t real. This is not only limiting it's why were stuck actually giving a fuck about Curtis Jackson. Not that I like him but he's part of my reality, whether I like it or not ("not" for therecord). There are actually, 4 elements to Hip-Hop and DAT’s are not one of them. A posse of your boys protecting your poor stage presence on stage is not one of them. fronting, sadly, is not one of them. And what I find absolutely unacceptable, dress-length, white t-shirts are not one of them. The original four, if anyone cares, is M.C.’s, B-boys/girls (but really who cares about b-girls or female M.C.’s) Graffiti, and DJ’s. This is an example of the latter. The production on this was ridiculous. The mixing was pretty on point and flawless. We’re blessed with my favorite version of “Autumn Leaves”, gum shoe samples, esoteric stories about insects and some brilliant fucking music. Everything goes together well and seamlessly. For all the heads, there is a Wu Tang sample if that gives it the necessary cred to give it a listen. I bought this on a whim in 97 or 98 as I was getting more into production and was really lucky I did. It’s not a rap mix. Don’t misunderstand. It is however one of the greatest blends of downtempo, Drum & Bass, Instrumental-abstract-jazzy-Hip-Hop and any other Genre that Ninja Tune helped to create and develop. Do yourself a favor and check it. If you don’t, you will hurt yourself in a mysterious horse riding accident.
01. Funki Porcini - Groover
02. KT & Hex - Global Chaos (Archi Version)
03. 2 Player Vs. The Herbaliser - Sometimes (Feat. Shin)
04. DJ Vadim & Mark B - The Breaks
05. The Herbaliser - The Real Killer Pt. 2 (Rooftop Prowler)
06. Luke Vibert - Get Your Head Down
07. London Funk Allstars - Goodbye Cruel World
08. Coldcut - Naked Leaves
09. DJ Food - Spiral
10. Hex - Harmonic
11. Cabbage Boy - Mod You
12. DJ Toolz - Ready Brek
13. Amon Tobin - Creatures
14. Peezee - Nightrous
15. Up, Bustle & Out - An Unmarked Grave (In Memory Of Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid)
16. Up, Bustle & Out - The Revolutionary Woman Of The Windmill (OestroGwen Mix)
17. The Herbaliser - Mr. Chombee Has The Flaw
18. DJ Food - The Breaks Of Wrath
19. Drome - Alice Effekt
20. Gideon - Glass
21. DJ Food - Sun Vibes
22. E.V.A. - Oddly Godly
23. Funki Porcini - Going Down

A few things...

So Curtis Jackson says he'll stop making records if Kanye out sells him. I beg everyone to buy Kanye's record. And then burn it. Or you can return it. It's my plan. Second, I go back to work tomorrow. I'm not sure how this will affect postings but I will be curled in a ball weeping for at least two days in shock. I'm also finishing up the H&I episode. Finally, I thought I'd drop this beautiful example of why I don't really like blonds and why I don't really like pageants except for the Miss Nude USA pageant.

Friday's Cover: Fell In Love With A Person

The White Stripes are made up siblings? No. Lovers? No. Divorcees? Yup. And oddly enough the ending of the marriage led to their successful relationship as the punk/rock/country/blues powerhouse that is the White Stripes. With Jack on guitar and Meg on drums (buxom chicks on drums are hot by the way) they seemed an unlikely big-time rock group but somehow it worked for them. The song, “Fell in Love with a boy” is all distortion and a loud and basic backbeat. I mean that in a “this-song-rocks-your-ass” kind of way. Unbeknownst to the irreconcilably differentiated couple, Steve McDonald, of Redd Kross fame, added a much missed bass line to their White Blood Cells record (A hint that they took and since have had bass in each following record.) and re-released it song by song n his website as Redd Blood Cells. It is this version, dear readers, which I bestow unto you. The song itself is about some dude getting with a chick who is taken. Some believe it’s about lesbianism, the “Bobby” in the song being short for Robyn and not Robert. I say who cares as long as Joss Stone is involved with the lesbian possibility.

Segue

Joss Stone covered it an embarrassing 1 year after it’s success and while it may have been a deplorable way to sell some records, she did make an alright cover. Joss Stone, the lover of bare feet and interracial dating, really has quite an impressive voice for; I think she was 16 at the time. She mellows it out and does her own thing to it some hate it (me) and some love it (my wife, she wanted me to do this one). Thankfully she is now of age and all the dirty remarks made previously are not quite as uncomfortable. She ruined the girl on girl fantasy by singing “Fell in love with a boy” and I hate her for that. Enjoy.

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Michel Gondry Owns your ass!!

Mixtape Monday (But it's Tuesday): DJ Drez

So, I don’t know a whole lot about this cat besides I really like the mixes he does. Dj Drez has been DJing in the LA underground circuit for several years. I don’t have a whole lot of info on him but he DJ’s for the A-Team (and Project Blowed) and worked with the Black Eyed Peas before they took on tig bittied meth addicts.

He has a plethora of Mix Cd’s out including hip-hop, rare grooves, reggae and dub. Recently he’s been doing more studio work. All of it is well done and worth checking out. I’m hitting you off with Cool World Chapter 2. Mostly hip-hop with some diverse instrumentals mixed in. Very mellow, which is pretty much the norm for my man Drez, and good to play on one of the remaining lazy summer afternoons. No track listing for this one, sorry guys. If anyone has one please let us know.

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Sorry 'bout that

So, no Monday Mixtape. Sorry. I'll try to get it out tonight but since my hot sexy wife is home I may need to get busy (read: thwarted) all night. However, I did want to show you guys and gals stage 1 of my tat. It's about 2 inches high and 6 or 7 inches long on my upper (undefined) arm. The dude who's doing it likes it so much we're filling it out at a tat convention. I think it's dope. But then again I think my son is dope, so his name in graffiti on my arm is quite possibly the dopest thing ever. What can I say, I'm a bit biased on this one.
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