quick audio picks: 1
So right now Michael McDonald has got a dope ass commercial on TV for MCI's new calling plan. I look at that dude and I'm like damn! He's gettin old, but his hair looks dope as hell. I can only hope that...
expand review when I'm over fifty my hair will be a huge flowing silver mane like MM's. That brings me to a second thought- white guys whose records are bought by black chicks are the coolest dudes ever. It's like they're ambassadors of cool, showing both sides that we all have common ground. In that case, I think the pope should be working on sainthood for Michael McDonald as well as Mother Teresa. So if MM is a saint, Boz Scaggs isn't far behind. "Lowdown(1)" is one of those songs you always hear on "urban" oriented radio that you love but you can't remember who does it. Now you know, it's the man Boz Scaggs. Yep, that album that you've seen thousands of times with the funny looking white dude sitting on a park bench has a good joint on it. Only two 12" pressings of this song exist to my knowledge, one 80's CBS gold classics, and this blue label bootleg. It never got the12 treatment when it came out, so stop looking like I have. You'll need doubles cause J-Rocc did it on Live at The Sex Machine. The b-side has two house songs, "Lady" you all know with that raspy voiced dude on vocals, and one by Anastasia BNA Taylor Dayne. They both kinda suck, but "Lady" is a certified guilty pleasure and now you can have it without actually buying it. -roc
quick audio picks: 12
Well, we had to do it. Here for your enjoyment is the notorious boot of the only two songs that people want from the shouldn't-be-so-rare Juice Soundtrack: Rakim's "Know the Ledge(1)" and Naughty By Nature's "Uptown Anthem(2)". The odd thing about this...
expand review single is that each side is presented as a sort of DJ mix, in that new songs from the soundtrack come in at the end of each selection (Big Daddy Kane and Salt-n-Pepa, respectively). This doesn't really matter, since you'll be fading out long before you get to that point, but it is sort of perverted. Especially since there's an additional 'bonus cut' on one side (a loop of "The Grunt") that I guess had some hope of being a DJ scratch backing ala the competition scene in the movie (also known as the worst DJ scene in a movie ever). Ignore these strange concoctions, or peruse them out of curiosity, but play the hell out of the main cuts here. They're loud, deep grooved and made for DJ's to tear the hell out of. You sure don't want to fuck up your original "Know the Ledge" 12" if you're lucky enough to have one. This "Ledge" edit is a superior mix to the OG anyway, as it extends the intro giving you enough time to work the blend. I heard Rakim actually played the drums that the Bomb Squad looped for this beat. -monk
quick audio picks: 1234
A historic record in the micro-history of cut and paste, and hip-hop sampling. This was Danny Krivit's first edit 12", released by the bootleg label TD in the early 80s and reissued here on the original label. The actual track "Feelin James(1)"...
expand review is a cut and paste of several JB breaks mixed with some stragglers. The flip side also has major significance in sampling history. Mr. K expertly re-edits 3 well known breaks(2,3,4) with production finesse way beyond the time period. Eric B most likely jacked the first one for "I Know You Got Soul" while the other 2 have become staples of the hip-hop/b-boy consciousness. These 3 breaks truly make this record sound relevant today, an amazing feat that makes this record more than just a dusty time piece. -the mgmnt
quick audio picks: 12
Ahh, more shady NYC dance edits! The Cuco Mix of "Love Is The Message(1)" takes its cue from the definitive Mr. K (Danny Krivit) mix of this MFSB classic; a mix that is, for my money, one of the greatest dance records...
expand review ever - it's even been called the Brooklyn national anthem for God's sake. Cuco's mix doesn't take as many liberties with the MFSB original as Krivit's, but it does extend the song's climactic groove, and it has the dope "now that I've got your attention" break. Basically, LITM is like boiling water - pretty hard to mess up, and this is an essential mix to have if you're an NYC dance head. The flip has the dope edit track "The Circus(2)," which starts off with the drums from Martin Circus' "Disco Circus" and then proceeds to shoot through quick snippets of NYC dance classics like Liquid Liquid's "Cavern," ESG's "Moody," Modern Romance's "Can You Dance," "Billie Jean" etc., all at a rate of about one new track every 20 seconds - if I listed them all here it would fill up the whole page. Great, nutritious and educational. -Language
quick audio picks: 123
"Notice Me(1)" in this incarnation is the eight-and-a-half minute "Notice The House Mix" of the big freestyle hit from 1988, which was originally pressed on Fever. A very understated mix for Clivilles and Cole (better known as C&C Music Factory), it's kinda...
expand review reminiscent of "Break for Love." The two-note analog bass line, claps, and dubbed out vocals are sure to get old-school house heads wriggling on the floor, and the organ solo in the last third of the record is worth letting it play out for. The "Dub Mix(2)" is a Jellybean Benitez-style edit of the freestyle version with less cheese than the full vocal mix. (For those not familiar with freestyle, it's a New York/ Florida latino dance music style – think Shannon, Lisa Lisa & Stevie B. If that doesn't do anything for you, think throwback Night at the Roxy.) On the flipside, "A Little Piano (3)" and "What You Need" are jazzy house classics, both early nineties productions by Italy's Soft House Company. -ayres
quick audio picks: 123
One for all the Bjork fans. The most random things end up on nyc black labels and here's 2 cuts from the Sugarcubes remix album that came out in the early 90s. I've actually been passively trying to track this down for...
expand review a while (I think these mixes were only released on promo vinyl). The pick here is the classy house version of "Leash Called Love(1)," remixed by Tony Humphries. The added piano loops are brilliant... now if they'd only edited out the annoying Einar vocals (ed's note: that's the dude in the Sugarcubes who always pops in right when you're really getting into the sweet Bjork vocals, ruining many a teen-Pete chubb session). There's also a second harder remix of the track, but that damn Einar chimes in from the beginning. B-side treats here are a rare vocal dub version of "Back to Life(2)" with an alternate dark dance beat, and another house classic, No Limit's "Koro Koro (Black is Black)(3)." -the mgmnt
quick audio picks: 12
The last year has seen a resurgence of interest in the history of dance edits like Danny Krivit's extended re-works of MFSB's "Love Is The Message" and JB's "Funky Drummer," and cut & paste joints like Double D & Steinski's "Lesson" -...
expand review check the excellent article in Grand Slam No.1 if you wanna geek out. Some of the most sought-after pieces of the genre are the six volumes of the Big Apple Productions "Genius At Work" series. The b-side is what drew us to this particular volume. Its an obscure Pal Joey' re-edit of MFSB's "Love Is The Message(1)," which throws some nice 808 claps & rhythmbox nastiness under this NYC dance classic. On the flip, "Genius At Work(Vol. 4)(2)" is a little more on the early house/dance tip than some of the others in the series. It utilizes the "I'll House You" and "Big Fun" beats as the foundation for assloads of vocal clips and snippets (some of which are little naughty, word to the delicate flowers out there) from sources as diverse as Gwen McRae singing "took my love away" (from "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But The Rent"), to Al Pacino in Scarface exclaiming "hokay!" The overall effect is dope cut-up madness that puts house right smack next to hip-hop (where it belongs, godammit). A really really good record. -Language
quick audio picks: 123
Timeless organic jazz/dance excellence captured on a wide-grooved platter, courtesy of the long lived Loft Classics series. Front and center on this installment are Johnny Hammond's unbeatable "Los Conquistadores Chocolates(1)" (drum break heads wrap your mind around the intro) and the full-length...
expand review version of the Crusaders' suave "Street Life(2)" with Randy Crawford on vocals. Dexter Wansel's lush spacefunk "Life On Mars(3)" is also included: dig on one of the coolest intros ever, a swirl of fender rhodes that coalesces into a keyboard riff of galactic magnetism. Anyone interested in the roots of house music look close. -monk
quick audio picks: 1234
I hate to say it, but these cheesy (and cheap) pressings sound as good as any official reissue out there. Not as crisp or heavy as an original 12-inch maybe, but pretty damn good and certainly playable. Willie Hutch's well-known "Brothers Gonna...
expand review Work It Out(1)" (intro dialogue preserved, Dre fans) is paired with the unknown-to-newjacks "Sure Know How to Love Your Man(2)," a beatbox-fired funk cut and Francois fave (hint: mixes with house). Flip the record for my pick, the Supremes' forgotten club hit "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking(3)," a secret disco scorcher ripe for the plucking. The essential and superb Philly soul cut "Look Me Up(4)" by Blue Magic rounds out this exceptional seventies soul selection. Oh yeah, did I mention that these are secret Mr. K edits? Shhh, don't tell nobody. -Monk
indepth
