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By O-Dub 
Bob Azzam & The Great Expectations: Rain Rain Go Away
Berimbau
Tricky Soul
From S/T (Audio Fidelity, 1969)
Where in the world is Bob Azzam from? If you knew nothing about him and needle-dropped through the album, you could easily believe he’s from (take your pick): the U.S., the U.K., Brazil, or the Middle East. Azzam was actually born in MonacoCairo to a Lebanese family but his career really got started in France even though much of his best known work (to contemporary ears) was originally recorded in Sweden. You [...]
Continue reading AZZAM IS UNIVERSAL
By O-Dub 
Even if you’ve never seen Brian Cross aka B+ in person, you’ve definitely seen his photography. Starting in the early 1990s, B+ has become one of the premier music photographers of the past 20 years, especially (but hardly exclusively) in the hip-hop community.
B+ is also one-half of the L.A.-based production outfit, Mochilla, who’ve put out the renown Keepintime, Brasilintime and Timeless series. And, he’s author of one of the best books ever written about hip-hop in L.A., It’s Not About a Salary.1 Suffice to say, of all the folks I’ve met through [...]
Continue reading SIDEBAR #12: PHOTOGRAPHER BRIAN CROSS/B+
By O-Dub 
The last four weeks have been…awesome. Every day, I wake up and I get to write and write and write, usually pausing to get my noodle soup on. I’m trying to hammer my way through revising enough of this project to get it off to my publisher (the beginning of the end…but nowhere near “the end”). It’s great for my academic career, not so great for doing other stuff (hence why I’m writing this post at 11:36pm).
I love the Summer Songs series but this year, I just had to take a [...]
Continue reading MY SUMMER SOUNDTRACK (SO FAR)
By O-Dub 
There are other songs that could have made this list but I really went with those songs that, at the end of the year, I still enjoyed as much as when I first heard ‘em. Interesting trends I noticed in my listening taste as a result of putting this playlist together: gospel was obviously big for me this year, reggae was not, and despite a wealth of Latin, only a few songs really stayed with me. As always, soul was huge but not so much funk. Jazz was totally shut out. We’ll have to see what 2011 [...]
Continue reading 2010 REVIEW (FROM THE BINS)
By O-Dub 
I sat in for Michael Barnes on KPFK’s Melting Pot today. Included a few tracks I’ve had up here of late but a lot you haven’t heard from me yet. Enjoy!
The Melting Pot, 11-14-10
Quantic: Cumbia De Dilla
The East St. Louis Gospelettes: Have Mercy On Me
Kanye West: Devil in a New Dress
The Whatnauts: I’ll Erase the Pain
Golden Harmonettes: I Do Love You
Syl Johnson: Try Me (LP Version)
Syl Johnson: All I Need Is Someone Like You
Syl Johnson: Soul Heaven (All from The Complete Mythology)
Continue reading GUEST SET: MELTING POT 11/14/10
By O-Dub 
Martinho da Vila: Disritmia
From Canta canta, minha gente (RCA Victor, 1974)
(Editor’s Intro: DJ Rani D hosts the bi-weekly “Soul in the Park” party at Footsie’s in Cypress Park and I’ve had the distinct pleasure to DJ with him many times over the last couple of years; he’s one of the guys who turned me onto cumbia and his ability to switch genres in the middle of a heated mix is a skill all its own. For his summer song post, Rani D takes us back to a swinging hammock in Santa Teresa. –O.W.) I [...]
Continue reading SUMMER SONGS 2010: DJ RANI D
By O-Dub 
Cassiano: Onda
From 12″ (Polydor, 1977)
The 2010 edition of the Soul Sides Summer Songs series has a few small changes. For one, the archive has been moved over to Word Press. Secondly, I’m going to post all summer song posts to our main site (here) but still archive everything at its dedicated site.
Most importantly, for at least this year, I’ve asked contributors to write about just one song. For some naive reason, I thought this would make it easier but it’s actually been quite a challenge from folks to limit [...]
Continue reading SUMMER SONGS 2010: LAUNCH!
By O-Dub 
Chicano Batman: Lembrancinha (snippet)
Itotiani (snippet)
From Chicano Batman (Unicornio, 2010)
When Super Sonido’s Joseph Franko sent me this album, I wasn’t sure what to expect. A name like “Chicano Batman” doesn’t really instantly invoke a particular sound – it’s a bit hard to reconcile, say, East L.A./Whittier Blvd. soul with the “Batman” theme – so when I threw it on, I was prepared to expect anything and yet I got was a genuine surprise of the best kind.
Chicano Batman is made up of the Los Angeles’ trio of Bardo Martinez, Eduardo Arenas [...]
Continue reading CHICANO BATMAN: LOS CABALLEROS OSCUROS
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