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Beginning in 2010, DJ Chris Read, in collaboration with Nick Armitage, began to put together a monthly party/mix series called “Classic Material.” 1 The basic concept was that each month, they’d put together a party and a mix celebrating a year in the life of hip-hop music, finishing in 2000. For 14 months, this was one of the things I looked forward to since Read brought great creativity and song selection to each of these mixes. To top it all off, they created special boxsets, including a custom-designed logo, riffing off of hip-hop labels. 2
This month marks [...]
Continue reading THE SIDEBAR #23: DJ CHRIS READ
It’s been a minute since the last Sidebar podcast but I figured I could make things up to y’all by busting out an interview with Syl Johnson, the legendary R&B/funk musician/singer out of Chicago. Syl’s going to be playing in Los Angeles, with Breakestra no less, on February 11th and I am hella excited to see how they’ll team up.
Syl’s been riding a wave of re-discovery every since his Complete Mythology anthology dropped on Numero Group back in 2010.1 We talked about how busy he’s been, especially in working with a new [...]
Continue reading THE SIDEBAR #22: SYL JOHNSON
One of the side projects I’ve taken on has been helping working on the podcasts for the Los Angeles Review of Books, both in terms of recording and engineering.
I’m very proud to direct people to this podcast between two good friends, Andy Zax and Simon Reynolds, talking about Simon’s Retromania, which has gotten praise for being one of the best music/culture books of the past year. I didn’t conduct the interview but I did all the post-production editing (and believe me, this one was a challenge) but all in all, I’m pretty happy with how [...]
Continue reading LA REVIEW OF BOOKS PODCAST WITH SIMON REYNOLDS AND ANDY ZAX
The last few weeks have been a storm of activity around Soul Sides Central (the fruits of which labor will reveal themselves shortly) but I did have one great podcast in the bag that I finally as able to finish editing.
I’ve been a fan of Mike James Kirkland since at least the mid-90s when his extraordinary solo album, Hang On In There was reissued by Luv N Haight. A masterpiece of socially engaged soul of its era, the LP was simply one of the many remarkable chapters in Kirkland’s career.
An [...]
Continue reading THE SIDEBAR #21: MIKE JAMES KIRKLAND
As promised, here’s part two of our interview with Thes One (recorded in August). If you haven’t peeped part one yet, please do!
And don’t forget that the new PUTS album, Highlighter is now out.
The Sidebar #20: Thes One, Part Deux
Music used in this episode:(All instrumentals available on the forthcoming Ten Years of Thes One *except when noted.)
Acid Raindrops (vocal version) *Target (from Lifestyle Marketing) *Duralcha: Ghet-To Funk The Dig (vocal version) Breakdown (vocal version) Brownout (vocal version) The Fun (vocal version) Gamin On Ya (vocal version) The [...]
Continue reading THE SIDEBAR 20: THES ONE, PART DEUX
Aaron and I have corresponded through the years – we’re mutual fans of one another’s musical interests – and he was in Los Angeles in late August to screen the (hopefully) forthcoming documentary on Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace, her best-selling 1972 gospel album. It’s a topic very close to Aaron’s heart, especially as the author of the new 33.3 book, Amazing Grace, which examines the album through exhaustive historical research and interviews.
Aaron and I chatted in my kitchen about the album, his book and the documentary (plus a bonus podcast of a few of his [...]
Continue reading THE SIDEBAR 19: AARON COHEN, AUTHOR OF “AMAZING GRACE”
This morning, Will Holland, aka Quantic, dropped by the studio and I couldn’t be more pleased since I’ve been a massive fan of his work for years and though we’ve corresponded via interweb and have some mutual friends, this is the first time I’ve met him in person.
Quantic has had a remarkably prolific and diverse career over the last decade, all now captured in the new 32-song double-CD anthology, Best of Quantic. With that in mind, I asked Will about his history as a producer, beginning in his early years, recording sample-based [...]
Continue reading THE SIDEBAR 18: QUANTIC
In the latest edition of our Soul Sides / Sliced side project, Joseph Schloss breaks down one of the all-time funk (and sampling) classics, “Sing a Simple Song” by Sly and the Family Stone. Schloss focuses on Stone’s innovative use of stereo panning effects that later hip-hop producers learned to use to their own advantage.
Other updates: part 2 of our podcast with Thes One coming very soon (later this week). Meanwhile, PUTS’s newest album, Highlighter is out. For digital heads, peep out the 24-bit HD version! If you don’t know what that means…Thes breaks it down [...]
Continue reading BREAKING DOWN: SING A SIMPLE SONG
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gigs No gigs currently scheduled. I am available for private parties such as weddings, et. al. |
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