ID: P-Love of Ninja Tune, Turntable Lab, and Tableturns Montreal

TITLE: Afrofilipino
ARTIST: Bataan
LABEL: SalSoul 1975

Everyone knows that Foxy Brown and Rob Schneider are part Filipino, and who doesn't know about Q-Bert, but no one ever name checks Joe Bataan, one of the first Filipino artists (half African-American, half Flip) to make it (somewhat) big in the States. This album is dope for a couple reasons ' the record is divided into "East Coast Side" with NYC musicians and "West Coast Side" with LA cats (diversity=flava!) laying down grooves that go anywhere from disco-ish to bluesy ballads, all on the Latin tip. The title track has him singing "I'm just an ordinary guy, Afrofilipino average kind of guy". How hot is that?!

TITLE: Come By Sunday
ARTIST: Danny Apolinar
LABEL: Stereoddities

This record I picked up in Montreal, under the "??????" section. I have no idea where this cat came from, but this shit's hilarious. He kinda looks like a cross between Leonard Nimoy and Jim Carrey on the cover. Highlights include "I'd Rather Cha-cha Than Eat", or when he breaks it down in his cover of "Let's Do It", which sounds like if Spongebob Squarepants sang in lounges.

TITLE: Jazz Friends
ARTIST: Jazz Friends
LABEL: Blackgold 1977

The last of my "Not Really Known Filipino Artists" trilogy. Until I heard this record, I was forced to believe that Filipino modern music consisted of mainly sappy love songs, or so-cheesy-it's-awesome rap tapes my relatives would always bring me. ("You like de rap music? Hair ees some Pilipino rap, ees bery good!") Then I picked this up from Uncle Bong-bong's crates and bugged out. These are probably the funkiest guys to ever eat with their hands.

TITLE: Sings the Blues
ARTIST: Nina Simone
LABEL: RCA 1967

This was my make-out record in college. Nina Simone has one of those voices that's sweet but also capturing. I almost cried when I heard her cover of "Since I Fell For You". If she sang "Paolo, eat my shit", I'd have the fork and spoon in my hands and a bib on my shirt. Bring it on!

TITLE: Pearl Bailey Sings For Adults Only
ARTIST: Pearl Bailey
LABEL: Roulette 1958

Most of Pearl Bailey's recorded stuff is straight up lounge-y jazz ish. This record shows her nightclub alter-ego: racy lyrics, voice full of innuendo, song titles like "She Had to Go and Lose It at the Astor". The warning on the cover boasts "performance of this album RESTRICTED from air play". Of course the record came out in 1958, so by today's standards there are Captain and Tennille songs that are racier.

TITLE: Army of Me promo 12"
ARTIST: Bjork
LABEL: One Little Indian 1995

My Bj'rk-stalking career started in high school, when my first girlfriend got me into the Sugarcubes. Back then I was like "they would be so much better if they got rid of that guy who just barks through all the songs." Lo and behold, a year later Bj'rk's solo album comes out and I'm waiting at Tower Records at 8 in the morning so I can cop it. She's just such a badass, flipping all styles and punching out journalists on the side.

This double promo has two more versions of "Army of Me", my favorite being the ABA All-Stars Mix, which was remixed by Mike D and is a bit more chill than the original. The other is a mosh-pit worthy version with extra distorted guitars courtesy of Skunk Anansie, which would be ideal to play if you want to get all psyched up and punch someone out.

TITLE: Dr Bombay 12"
ARTIST: Del the Funky Homosapien
LABEL: Elektra 1991

Every East Coast kid who likes hip-hop goes through an ignorance phase where they're like "Fuck West Coast, the East is where it's at". I slept on Del's first album ("Mistadobalina? What the hell is that shit about? Pass me a Tribe record") and Snoop ("Fuck that gangsta shit, pass me a Tribe record") because of that phase. Then I heard "Eye Examination" years later and woke the fuck up. There's a reason people call it one of Del's best tracks ever. I never had real friends until now. Peep the "White Rabbit" sample.

I'm not a diehard vinyl collector so I'm not totally against reissues, but when I saw the reissue for this, I was a little annoyed. Come on, is nothing sacred anymore?

TITLE: Close to Me promo 12"
ARTIST: The Cure
LABEL: Elektra 1990

Only my closest friends knew about my obsession with the Cure in high school, and now I come clean to y'all. I'm way too happy to listen to the Cure these days, but every once in a while I'll drop this record at a club just to look at the weird faces people give me. The "Closer Mix" was produced by Paul Oakenfold, who's a superstar house DJ these days. When the drums kick in, it's like driving on the Palisades on a sunny day after getting a hummer from your girl. The B-Side also has the "Just Like Heaven" Dizzy Mix, which has the drums playing at half-speed, on some dirty-south shit, but not really. I dressed up as a Cure groupie one Halloween.